The Worst Kingslayer

[Shay Cormac]

Shay looked to both of his sides, still in the barren deserts of the Endless Dunes, only accompanied by the sand below his feet, the wind at his hair, and the family of three he had previously saved from a group of terrorizing bandits out in the middle of nowhere, or so it seemed. Shay stretched his arms upwards, not lifting the head which his wide-brimmed hat was placed upon.

Shay looked to the direction of Martha, a mother still holding her young daughter who went by the name Abby. Abby herself was about to doze off into sleep, to which Shay couldn't blame. Looking at the opposite side of which Martha was in terms of Shay's point of view stood Billy, the young teen son who seemed to be more bored of this than Shay was, surprisingly.

Still following the almost endless amount of broken down rail-road tracks, Shay continued to look forward, hoping to find something worthwhile on these sands. Breaking the silence, Billy suddenly began to speak, mostly towards Shay.

"Alright... We should be headin' off towards Nippur any moment now... Jus' keep lookin' on into the horizon, and you won't be able to miss it. Small city, but considerin' the place we're in, it's impressive." Billy said, as Shay looked backwards to face Billy, still walking.

"Hm... I might ask, how are we going to be getting in this 'Nippur' anyhow? I'd assume a city like that would be easily accessible without any guards patrolling the place." Shay asked Billy, awaiting a response to come. Billy smiled a bit, giving the message already that he knew what his plans were.

"Well, I already found a place for us three to live there, but since you've got other businesses to be attendin' to, I'll just tell 'em we brought someone extra. They'll recognize me, so don't you worry about it." Billy spoke to Shay, to which Shay turned back around, satisfied with how well Billy thought this through. Shrugging a bit, Shay was happy enough that they were about to reach their destination, at the very least. Shay continued to follow his eyes on the rails they were following, focusing on the horizon of the Verse's sands. The group continued to walk forwards, before the railroad suddenly stopped, sinking into a large, sandy hill. The four stopped for a moment, looking at each other.

Shay nodded his head to Martha, before beginning to walk up the sandy hill, Billy and his mother quickly following. The hill was steep, and the sand was loose, constantly threatening to knock Shay off of his balance with every step he took. Proceeding upwards, Shay put his hand at the top of the hill, climbing up, before taking Martha's hand and pulling her to Shay's level. Billy didn't need any assistance however, considering he got to the top before Shay himself did.

Looking at Billy stare off into the distance whilst smiling, Shay looked behind him after helping Martha, before his eyes were immediately met by a large stone city, guarded by a wall circling it's perimeter, and at it's front, a single huge two-door gate. Shay scratched at his subtly bearded chin at the sight, impressed with how it looked from where he stood. Billy interrupted the moment by sliding down the front of the sandy hill, to which Shay was about to do the same, before realizing Martha still needed help with Abby sleeping in her arms.

Holding Martha by the shoulder, Shay began to step down the hill, looking on at Billy, who continued walking. Martha giggled at Shay's offer for help, gratefully accepting it, silently rocking her child in her arms. The three still coming down the hill almost tripped a couple of times, but thankfully it didn't escalate more than a couple of missed steps.

Shay jogged towards Billy, remaining behind him so that he'd be the first to give an explanation to the guards standing at the gates of the city. Squinting his eyes, Shay saw the guards in question wore slightly bulky armor on top of their ragged clothes, helmets obstructing their faces. The two armored men standing on each side of the gate seemed to be emotionless, and more eerily, motionless. This tipped Shay off that this place indeed meant business.

Billy looked behind him, winking at Shay and Martha, then turning his back to run towards the guards, waving to them to make himself look friendly. The two guards started to stiffen their movements, before they loosened their muscles upon recognizing Billy's face. Billy continued to wave at the guards, jogging over, before slowing himself down to a walk. Shouting, Billy then exclaimed, "I brought everyone I said I would over!"

The guards looked at each other, before the two noticed Shay. As soon as Billy got close enough to the guards, the one on the right expressed his concerns, responding in a gruff accent to which Shay hasn't heard of before. "I see you have gotten your family, a woman and a little girl, but who is this man here? You did not mention anybody else in your leave." The guard on the right finished his words, crossing his arms. Billy put his hands to his side, smiling as he looked up to the guard on the right.

"Nope, he's a new friend of ours. Th' reason why we took so long is 'cause a huge group of banditos kidnapped us for whatever money we had on us... He came over to the town just as they were about to rob us of whatever we had at that time, before one of their damned scouts saw him coming over. They tied us up and hid us, but before we knew it, he found my mother, freed her, and took all of 'em thugs down for us." Billy explained to the guard, to which the armored man nodded his head.

The guard Billy was talking to signaled for his co-worker to open the gate with a tilt of a head and a thumbs up. The guard on the opposite end took a lever behind him, pressing it downwards, making a gigantic mechanical clicking sound. Both guards walked over to the handles of the gate itself, opening the huge metallic gates for the family and Shay to enter. Smiling, Shay nodded to Billy, bowing towards the guards whilst Martha closed her eyes to take a moment and admire how proud she was for her son.

"Isn't he precious, Shay?" Martha softly spoke, making sure not to wake up Abby, silently snoring in Martha's arms. Shay chuckled, glad with how things are turning out at the moment. He turned to Martha, replying in a low voice to match her tone. "Well, he certainly knows how to handle himself..."

When the group entered the city, the gates behind them closed with a loud metallic bash. Shay held onto his hat to make sure it was still on, making sure the wind pressure from the gates flew in their direction didn't cause it to come off of his head. Turning to Billy, Shay noticed he was about to walk off to the left of the city itself, as if he were set on which direction he was going. Martha was also following him. Billy then spoke to Shay in a somewhat loud tone of voice so he could hear, still walking.

"Shay! I'mma be moving off to our new house, getting everyone settled in. If ya wanna meet king Gilgamesh, just keep followin' the road you're standing on, straight as an arrow! Should lead you right to his palace! Thanks for all your help!" After Billy finished everything he needed to say, Shay responded, yelling back.

"I'll make sure to visit you three sometime! Enjoy yourselves!" Smiling, Shay then held his hat as he watched the group of three walk out of his sight, Martha waving at Shay before he couldn't see them anymore. Closing his eyes for a second, Shay sighed in relief, satisfied with how everything is going so far. Walking forwards, Shay began to notice more and more people populating the streets the more he entered the city itself. Merchants lining the sidewalks with their food stores, miniature bars popping up every so often, with locals walking in every which direction, going about their daily lives, seemingly a lot more happy than those in Coruscant.

It was only then Shay noticed how much he seemed to "blend in" with everybody here. Almost everyone wore similar apparel as Shay's, which could be described as very western-looking and dull-colored. Shay decided it would be best if he stood out in a crowd more, or at least attempt to look professional. Walking into a back alley-way of a couple small buildings, Shay made sure nobody was there to see him as he began to once again channel his Omnilium.

A bubble of light formed around Shay, as per usual with the summoning process. Shay expected his head to begin hurting, but for once, it was much easier on Shay's head, even though it still took just the right amount of focus. He figured his mind wasn't used to this strange energy just yet, and it was starting to ease on him, but Shay dismissed this thought immediately as he noticed the bubble of light around him fading, focusing harder.

Shay stood, leaning on the stone wall behind him, remaining like this for a few minutes as he summoned a new batch of clothes ever so slowly. The somewhat familiar sound of his Omnilium flowing throughout Shay's body let him know that his new clothes were finished. Well, new in this universe, anyways. Shay looked down as the bubble of light faded away from him, smiling as he saw a familiar set of red robes, laced in elegant golden designs on almost every line of the robes itself.

Shay adjusted his new undershirt, before running his gloved hand through his slicked back hair, glad he doesn't have to cope with a hat anymore, although he realized how much he'd come to miss it upon feeling the horrid heat of the sun almost directly above him. Shaking his head, Shay began to walk out of the alley, checking behind him if anybody saw he was a Prime, to which nobody was there, thankfully.

As if the removal of his hat brought to him some sort of heat-ridden curse, Shay suddenly began to feel thirsty again. He reached towards where he put his flask of water, before realizing it went away with the rest of the clothes he was wearing previously. Sighing, Shay walked towards a mini-bar, to which an old man behind it's single counter was selling drinks. Sitting down, Shay flipped up a coin from one of his pouches, sliding it off to the man behind the counter, who was cleaning a cup beforehand.

The elderly man caught the coin sliding across the table, before nodding towards Shay, preparing him a drink already. Shay was slightly impressed with how fast this service was. Tapping his fingers onto the table, the man preparing Shay's drink began to speak in a husky voice, indicating Shay the man really was as old as he looked.

"You look quite fancy to be roaming around in a town like this... Tell me, are you here to meet up with the king?" The old man slid a small cup filled with ice-cold whiskey across the table to Shay, to which Shay immediately grabbed and started drinking. The feeling of something cold soothed Shay to immense levels, almost to the point where he forgot the old man with quickly graying hair behind the counter was even talking to him. Putting the drink back on the table, Shay wiped his mouth, looking at the old man continuing to clean the small, used cups.

"Got that right, I've come here to talk with this 'Gilgamesh' fella." Shay finished his sentence, almost immediately going back to finishing his whiskey. It only took a couple of drinks to finish, but at least Shay left the cup empty as soon as he began to feel better about himself. Shaking his head, Shay passed off the cup to the old man, giving him yet more work to do, although he didn't mind in the slightest.

Stretching again, Shay almost began a yawn, only to be interrupted by the suddenly silent crowd, who then started to murmur amongst themselves. Shay looked in both of his directions, not quite sure what exactly was going on, before the people started looking in his rightmost direction. Looking with the crowd of people, they began to separate themselves from the street, as if somebody were passing by. Shay still couldn't see who or what exactly was coming his way, but the more and more people that got off of the street and onto the sidewalks, the more Shay tensed up.

It was as soon as Shay could see the street entirely, Shay saw three individuals who looked extremely outlandish from the rest of the city itself. The first one Shay observed was a little... boy, or girl, Shay couldn't tell. The little one had a purplish pink short hair, and a strange black "dress" that went down to the individual's ankles. He/she looked shy and timid, shaking beside the man in the middle. The one on the opposite side of the one in the middle was a man with white hair, and large white garbs, but his most noticeable feature was what Shay assumed to be a bandage wrapped around his left eye. All of his clothing was traced with subtle amounts of red, as well.

The two following the one person in the middle were certainly interesting sights to see, but not nearly as interesting as Shay thought this one in the middle was. From his neck to his toes, all the man was covered in was complete gold armor that glistened in the blistering sunlight. Everything about this kid screamed royalty, his blonde hair, jewelry, armor, complete confidence in his walk, how easily everyone got out of his way... This had to have been the supposed king Shay was after.

Shay slowly turned to the old man behind the counter, to which he nodded back to Shay. Now he knew, it was most definitely him. Gilgamesh.

Inhaling deeply, Shay put his hands on the table, getting up and making a small waving motion to the man behind him who had previously served him a drink. It was about time Shay met this king, although Shay still wasn't quite sure what exactly drew himself to this person in particular. The city he ruled seemed prosperous and it's citizens were happy, whereas in Coruscant, everything seemed to be a rush, or it was downright melancholic. If this king could protect these people that well, Shay would no doubt use his time for the good of these well-mannered people. If not them, at least for Martha.

Besides, it was about time Shay got up and fought for something. Shay made sure his hair was all the way back, and any traces of dirt (or blood, more importantly,) was wiped off of his clothes and face. Pulling his hands upwards, Shay popped up his collar, adjusting his crimson-red and golden robes. Shay slowly began to walk towards the street, which thankfully wasn't as populated with people to watch, but still a few looking on at their king passing by. As Shay moved towards the middle of the street, he put on what he hoped to be a gentle smile, loosening his shoulders to make himself look the least hostile as he possibly could.

Gilgamesh squinted his eyes at the sight of this sudden newcomer. The purple haired Crona, and the white-clad Seraph, for which Shay could not name yet, looked surprised at Shay's arrival. Crona, being confused and what looked to be somewhat scared, while Seraph seemed to be amused. Gilgamesh however, simply looked annoyed.

The tiny Crona shook a bit, half-expecting a sudden attack. After all, they were out in the open, it was easy for somebody like Shay to come up and eliminate anybody who looked to be so vulnerable. Seraph placed one foot backwards, thinking the same thing Crona was at that moment. Shay saw Crona's mouth quiver, before it opened, and (to Shay's educated guesses,) he began to speak.

"G-Gilgamesh... I-I mean, uhh, my king... Who is that man? He looks scary..." As Crona slowly looked up to Gilgamesh, the king himself dryly responding, still looking at Shay, who had stopped in the middle of the street just then.

"I do not know who this man is, but we shall soon find out." Gilgamesh squinted harder at Shay, the latter of whom was still trying to make himself look friendly. Raising his hand, Gilgamesh quickly pointing at Shay, raising his voice to what almost sounded like a scream.

"You! What business do you have here, blocking my path?! Do you not know I, king Gilgamesh, have much more important matters to attend to?

Gilgamesh's voice boomed, making the crowds go silent again. Shay blinked, his smile quickly fading. Puffing out a bit of air, Shay put his hands behind his back, straightening himself, before bowing down to Gilgamesh.

Shay, now kneeling before his soon-to-be king, spoke in his most confident voice he had. "King Gilgamesh, my name is Shay Patrick Cormac, and I have come to you in request to serve you and your city." After explaining this to Gilgamesh, Shay stood to his feet, keeping his back straight. Gilgamesh raised his eyebrow in response, lowering his hand. Shay continued.

"I originally came here as a result of my curiosity peaking from Empire propaganda, but seeing all of your citizens so prosperous made my curiosity turn into interest. Coming to the Omniverse as a Prime myself, I was quite lost, but I feel as if taking this chance to turn myself into something more than I already once was. I don't expect you to trust me so quickly, but if I can do anything at all to prove my worth to you and your people, I will gladly take it." Shay made his words quick and simple for Gilgamesh.

It was then Gilgamesh remembered that he was leaving his city with nobody going after the "joining process" in which to enter New Babylon. The Empire's influence in Carrefore was troublesome, especially considering the city's best man, Gilgamesh himself, won't be there to protect it. Besides, he couldn't turn down anybody wanting to serve him. There was something about Shay that caught Gilgamesh's eye, although he didn't show it in the slightest.

Crona loosened himself upon hearing Shay shouldn't be a threat to them, although still a bit shaky from Gilgamesh's loud and commanding voice. Seraph continued to look onto the scene, half-entertained, half-bored. Gilgamesh broke the silence by letting out a large sigh. Somebody was going to have to do the job. Looking upwards at Shay, Gilgamesh reluctantly obliged to Shay's requests.

"Very well... If service to me is what you wish, then you shall have to prove yourself first and foremost." Gilgamesh's spoke in a lower voice than what was previously heard, although Shay didn't even crack a smile at this point. 'I've got to look calm,' Shay thought to himself. Honestly, none of this was really making Shay flinch. He could care less if anybody rejected him, or even attacked him at this point. If what Omni says is true, then nothing would stop him from coming back even harder the next time he'd spawn. Thankfully, that isn't the case for now.

Shay continued to listen in, telling Gilgamesh he understood with a simple nod. Gilgamesh followed, continuing to assign Shay a task, "There have been recent reports of Empire soldiers in the place of Carrefore, a Stormtrooper outpost located somewhere in this Verse, whereas a single Stormtrooper captain has come to raid my beautiful city, and attack it's citizens on the Empire's order. If you truly wish to protect those that are here, then you will go to Carrefore, neutralize this threat, and as proof, bring to me his helmet."

Shay couldn't help it now, smirking with satisfaction. Starting off with an assassination mission, could there be anything more fitting? Thinking that was all Gilgamesh had to say, Shay finished with his final words.

"Yes, sir... I will gladly accept this as my initiation test if that is what it comes down to. I'll leave before the night comes, so I'll have a better chance at-" Shay was then interrupted by Gilgamesh raising a fist into the air, his eyes closed as if he were waiting for Shay's attention. Catching on, Shay listened in to what his new king had to say.

"It's unlikely you'll be able to do this alone, Shay Patrick Cormac. I also have other Primes, one in particular I need to show themselves to me. Her name is Agnés Oblige, and she awaits in her room located in my palace. You have my worded permission from the great king Gilgamesh himself, that you are allowed to speak with her and prepare yourselves for the mission. No matter the cost, get it done." Gilgamesh lowered his eyebrows, making his words sound as intimidating as possible. It didn't seem to have much of an effect on Shay however, who was just then clasping his hands together, almost as if he were excited.

Gilgamesh walked over to Shay, getting as close as possible without reaching arm's length. Crona and Seraph soon followed, still observing the scene Shay was making. With one final set of words, Gilgamesh then began to walk out the city of Nippur.

"Do not disappoint me, Shay."

Shay looked behind him as Gilgamesh continued to walk, Seraph coming with him without a word. Crona kept looking behind him, shaking at the sight of Shay. It almost made Shay feel bad that he did this so suddenly instead of waiting for a more opportune moment, but Shay figured the boy was just shy. Not as if it mattered now, anyways. Shay looked ahead to the now crowded streets, and far behind that, Gilgamesh's palace.

The name Agnés kept repeating in Shay's head. He didn't know who this woman was, or what she was going to be like. He only hoped that whoever she was, she was going to be able to help on this mission, however the case may be. Sighing in relief, Shay pulled down his collar, and began walking silently towards the king's palace, moving through the seemingly endless crowd of happy locals.

It didn't take long before Shay found himself at the entrance to Gilgamesh's palace. The place was huge, although not the biggest he's seen before. Needless to say, it was quite impressive. Huge, rich, and everything about it screamed royalty. This was the place, alright. At the front of the palace's entrance, Shay could see yet again, a pair of two armored guards protecting the doors. Only these two were bigger, and bulkier.

Walking calmly towards them, Shay raised his hands to show the two he meant no harm. Shay then explained to the two guards his business at the king's palace.

"I have come here on the king's orders to prepare myself on a mission the king assigned me. If you would let me enter and speak with his highest ranking person of servitude, it would be appreciated." After Shay finished, the two guards opened the door to Gilgamesh's palace without a single word, surprisingly enough. Shay paid no mind, entering the large royal building.

If the outside of this place was impressive, then no doubt the interior of it was as well. Fancy, rich, and pleasing to the eyes. Shay nodded to himself, enjoying the fact that he'll get a room here after completing his task Gilgamesh ordered him to accomplish at Carrefore. Continuing to walk inside of the palace's interior, before a faint giggling sound could be heard.

Shay stopped in his tracks. He had no clue where that came from. That is, until he looked up to see the figure of a very small woman dangling from a chandelier, looking down at Shay with crimson red eyes. Shay swore he saw horns on her head, and couldn't help but to exclaim, "Oh my god, what-"

Interrupted by a growl and girlish, animalistic battle cry, the woman pounced at Shay, knocking him to the ground. Shay grunted as he hit the ground, even though it didn't hurt at all, this still surprised him greatly. Raising his hands to block any oncoming attacks, Shay then loosened up looking at the woman's petite face. He was right in the assumption of horns, and to add onto that, strange animal ears on top of her head. Saying that Shay was confused at this moment would have been a great understatement.

The strange animal woman looked very excited that she had "caught" something, judging from her wide, child-like smile, and her body seeming to wag back and forward. Before Shay could express his confusion, the woman on top of Shay accidentally dug her claws in Shay's shoulder, before she began to talk with a very playful demeanor.

"Oh lookie! A new Prime, a new Prime! I hope you're trespassing, because that would mean I get to kill you! Oh, by the way, my name is Eudocia!" As this Eudocia woman talked, Shay bit his lower lip as she continued to play around.

"No... That won't be... necessary, I... came here on the king's orders... Please get off..." Shay kept his head on the ground as he tiredly responded, not really wanting to get up at this point. Eudocia only stopped upon hearing the sounds of footsteps entering the room, and a man's voice soon following.

"Eudocia, there you are! Why do you continue to mess around when the king is not present?! It is absolute-..." The man stopped to look at the scene going on just then. Shay looked at the man, his face practically pleading, please help me, and get this weird woman off of my body immediately.

"DAMNIT, EUDOCIA! Get off of that man this instant!" The young man screamed at Eudocia, to which she simply giggled, quickly hopped off of Shay, and ran off again.

Groaning, Shay sat upwards, nodding at the person who had just helped him get out of a very awkward situation. Or make it more awkward, judging from the weird silence that followed. Shay walked over to the man, outstretching his hand.

"Hello, sir. My name is Shay Patrick Cormac, thank you for... whatever that was... Anyways, I've come here on orders of the king. Might you happen to be one of his servants?" Shay spoke as the man shook his hand, nodding silently.

"Yes, actually... I go by 'Anos,' and that very annoying nuisance of a woman you had trouble with just a minute ago was, as you probably figured by now, Eudocia. I don't know what's up with her lately, but she's acting so disobedient towards me it's-... Never mind her, if you come here on Gilgamesh's orders, what must I do for you?" Anos asked Shay, looking at him dead in the eyes.

Shay replied, standing straight and confident. "I've been assigned to complete a mission over at Carrefore, mainly to eliminate a Stormtrooper captain threatening to target Nippur. I'd have gone alone by now, but king Gilgamesh wanted me to tag along this woman named 'Agnés Oblige.' Might you know where she is in this place?"

Anos sighed, still looking off to where Eudocia ran off to inside of the palace. Shaking his head slightly, Anos switched his attention back to Shay.

"I actually assigned that woman a room not to long ago... Go to the right here, and then take another left after reaching the hallway, Agnés' room will be the second one to the right. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to have to catch Eudocia again, wherever the hell she's run off to... I swear, if she makes another mess, I'll-..." Anos stopped himself mid-rant, waving at Shay, before jogging off.

Sighing, Shay took the directions Anos had given him, taking a right, and then a left... before reaching a hallway filled with rooms left to right. Second one to the right, easy enough. Shay walked over to the door in question, silently putting his ear to the door itself. He heard a feminine hum gently ring in his ear. This was the one, it had to be.

'Quite the eventful day, this was...' Shay thought to himself, before raising his hands, knocking on the door.