Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Gospel belongs to Daneel Rush and this fic is written with his permission. The writing style and parts of the fic are based on the writings of Jenna Moran and Nasu.
Sha Nagba Imuru û He Who Knows Everything
Prolouge û A Meeting of Kings
He who has seen everything, I will make known to the lands.
I will teach about him who experienced all things alike.
Anu granted him the totality of knowledge of all.
He saw the Secret, discovered the Hidden,
he brought information of the time before the Flood.
He went on a distant journey, pushing himself to exhaustion,
but then was brought to peace.
He carved on a stone stela all of his toils,
and built the wall of Uruk-Haven,
the wall of the sacred Eanna Temple, the holy sanctuary.
Look at its wall which gleams like copper,
inspect its inner wall, the likes of which no one can equal!
Take hold of the threshold stone--it dates from ancient times!
Go close to the Eanna Temple, the residence of Ishtar,
such as no later king or man ever equaled!
Go up on the wall of Uruk and walk around,
examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly.
Is not (even the core of) the brick structure made of kiln-fired brick,
and did not the Seven Sages themselves lay out its plans?
One league city, one league palm gardens, one league lowlands, the open area of the Ishtar Temple,
three leagues and the open area of Uruk it encloses.
Find the copper tablet box,
open its lock of bronze,
undo the fastening of its secret opening.
Take and read out from the lapis lazuli tablet
how Gilgamesh went through every hardship.
- Epic of Gilgamesh, Unknown
In a World Beyond Mortalsà
Once upon a time, a man named Gilgamesh forgot who he was. This was not the world he knew and he was no longer as he knew himself; before the splendor of both, it was hard to remember who he was.
Even so, the man travelled east, for in the east he knew something waited for him. He knew not what it was, merely that it was a place he was supposed to be.
So he left behind the furthest regions of the Lower Realms and travelled towards the one above.
He walked east until the land itself ended.
He swam east until the sea itself ended.
He flew east until he reached the end of the sky.
And then he stood upon the boundaries of the world.
He peered beyond it.
The place Beyond the World he knew was swirling and filling and closing, like the surf. Upon it were patterns of darkness and light.
And though he knew not why, as he stepped in, his Heart was full of joy.
All around him the surf crashed. He could not breathe reliably. The Sea Beyond the World kept hitting him and it got in his mouth and his nose. Its waves made a sound like the Sunset. It felt like broken hearts and looked like lost love. It tasted like joy cut short. A Chain was wrapped around him and the Chain was a Snake. Its scales were like something he should have left behind, but couldnÆt.
He knew, in that moment.
Something was killing him.
XxXXxX
To the east, there was order. There were boundaries and those boundaries gave shape and form to the world. Around him, the sea was swirling and filling and closing like the surf, but to the east there were lines and dots, colors and shade, people, places, and things, though they were not as he was used to. The Sea of Chaos crashed against the shores of that place.
So Gilgamesh walked east, though Enkidu was killing him.
ôYou are my best friend.ö He told Enkidu.
ôAnd you are mine.ö The Serpent that was a Chain replied in a voice like Old Age and Weariness.
ôAnd it will always be so?ö He asked, struggling to breath.
ôForever.ö It lied, sounding like Mortality and Endings.
XxXXxX
He was soon to die, for Enkidu was killing him. The Chains that were Coils tightened around him the further east he went.
ôYou are my best friend.ö He told Enkidu, as if to remind himself. As if it would prevent something he knew would happen, but didnÆt wish for.
The Coils that were Chains tightened again.
Gilgamesh staggered and fell, one hand coming down on something hard and alive. Something he didnÆt want to acknowledge lurked beneath the Sea. His other hand tried to squirm beneath the coils around his neck.
ôEnkidu,ö He gasped, but could say no more.
ôWe will die here, for such is the fate of all mortal men.ö The Snake and the Chain whispered at the edge of a new world.
And the open spaces of the world spoke, and its voice was everywhere and nowhere and cruel and kind, and they said, ôThus far, but no further, mortal man.ö
Gilgamesh looked up and it was obvious even to the wind that he did not understand.
ôBefore you is a world,ö the voice said. ôThat was made for those above men. And to maintain that world, it is necessary to exclude those that do not belong and cast them out. Mortal souls may return to their father or serve in Heaven or Hell, but they have no other place here. That is the will of the Aspects, who made this world as it is, and that is my will. One such as you, a soul who even now is bound by the chains called Mortality, despite casting off your mortal flesh; one such as you has no place in my world.ö
And there is was; that which he did not wish to acknowledge.
Enkidu was dead.
He rememberedà
ôLet Enkidu die, but spare Gilgamesh his life.ö Said Enlil.
Oh, Enkidu; why did they absolve me, but cast you down to sit amongst the dead?
GilgameshÆs hand slipped away from his neck. The coils tightened.
And Enkidu tightened and Gilgamesh could not breathe and his right foot cracked the surface of That Beneath the Sea and his left foot shifted. His hands wrapped around the body of the Snake and pulled and his back bent and his arms stretched out.
He cracked EnkiduÆs neck against That Beneath the Sea and held his head beneath the waves. The coils loosened and the Snake flailed. His hands cracked scales that shone with something dear to him as his fingers sank into the muscle of the beast.
Loop by loop, the snake fell away from him and then the snake was just a chain.
His Mortality died beneath the sea.
He did not say: Oh, Enkidu.
He staggered upon the shores of the world with a chain that was no longer a snake and he put his head in his hands. The wind did not stop him.
ôWhat have I done?ö He asked.
Enlil spun around him curiously, and it is quite some time before he speaks again.
ôThe question is immaterial; you cast aside something that had no meaning in the first place.ö
XxXXxX
Sha Nagba Imuru û He Who Knows Everything
Prolouge û A Meeting of Kings
He who has seen everything, I will make known to the lands.
I will teach about him who experienced all things alike.
Anu granted him the totality of knowledge of all.
He saw the Secret, discovered the Hidden,
he brought information of the time before the Flood.
He went on a distant journey, pushing himself to exhaustion,
but then was brought to peace.
He carved on a stone stela all of his toils,
and built the wall of Uruk-Haven,
the wall of the sacred Eanna Temple, the holy sanctuary.
Look at its wall which gleams like copper,
inspect its inner wall, the likes of which no one can equal!
Take hold of the threshold stone--it dates from ancient times!
Go close to the Eanna Temple, the residence of Ishtar,
such as no later king or man ever equaled!
Go up on the wall of Uruk and walk around,
examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly.
Is not (even the core of) the brick structure made of kiln-fired brick,
and did not the Seven Sages themselves lay out its plans?
One league city, one league palm gardens, one league lowlands, the open area of the Ishtar Temple,
three leagues and the open area of Uruk it encloses.
Find the copper tablet box,
open its lock of bronze,
undo the fastening of its secret opening.
Take and read out from the lapis lazuli tablet
how Gilgamesh went through every hardship.
- Epic of Gilgamesh, Unknown
In a World Beyond Mortalsà
Once upon a time, a man named Gilgamesh forgot who he was. This was not the world he knew and he was no longer as he knew himself; before the splendor of both, it was hard to remember who he was.
Even so, the man travelled east, for in the east he knew something waited for him. He knew not what it was, merely that it was a place he was supposed to be.
So he left behind the furthest regions of the Lower Realms and travelled towards the one above.
He walked east until the land itself ended.
He swam east until the sea itself ended.
He flew east until he reached the end of the sky.
And then he stood upon the boundaries of the world.
He peered beyond it.
The place Beyond the World he knew was swirling and filling and closing, like the surf. Upon it were patterns of darkness and light.
And though he knew not why, as he stepped in, his Heart was full of joy.
All around him the surf crashed. He could not breathe reliably. The Sea Beyond the World kept hitting him and it got in his mouth and his nose. Its waves made a sound like the Sunset. It felt like broken hearts and looked like lost love. It tasted like joy cut short. A Chain was wrapped around him and the Chain was a Snake. Its scales were like something he should have left behind, but couldnÆt.
He knew, in that moment.
Something was killing him.
XxXXxX
To the east, there was order. There were boundaries and those boundaries gave shape and form to the world. Around him, the sea was swirling and filling and closing like the surf, but to the east there were lines and dots, colors and shade, people, places, and things, though they were not as he was used to. The Sea of Chaos crashed against the shores of that place.
So Gilgamesh walked east, though Enkidu was killing him.
ôYou are my best friend.ö He told Enkidu.
ôAnd you are mine.ö The Serpent that was a Chain replied in a voice like Old Age and Weariness.
ôAnd it will always be so?ö He asked, struggling to breath.
ôForever.ö It lied, sounding like Mortality and Endings.
XxXXxX
He was soon to die, for Enkidu was killing him. The Chains that were Coils tightened around him the further east he went.
ôYou are my best friend.ö He told Enkidu, as if to remind himself. As if it would prevent something he knew would happen, but didnÆt wish for.
The Coils that were Chains tightened again.
Gilgamesh staggered and fell, one hand coming down on something hard and alive. Something he didnÆt want to acknowledge lurked beneath the Sea. His other hand tried to squirm beneath the coils around his neck.
ôEnkidu,ö He gasped, but could say no more.
ôWe will die here, for such is the fate of all mortal men.ö The Snake and the Chain whispered at the edge of a new world.
And the open spaces of the world spoke, and its voice was everywhere and nowhere and cruel and kind, and they said, ôThus far, but no further, mortal man.ö
Gilgamesh looked up and it was obvious even to the wind that he did not understand.
ôBefore you is a world,ö the voice said. ôThat was made for those above men. And to maintain that world, it is necessary to exclude those that do not belong and cast them out. Mortal souls may return to their father or serve in Heaven or Hell, but they have no other place here. That is the will of the Aspects, who made this world as it is, and that is my will. One such as you, a soul who even now is bound by the chains called Mortality, despite casting off your mortal flesh; one such as you has no place in my world.ö
And there is was; that which he did not wish to acknowledge.
Enkidu was dead.
He rememberedà
ôLet Enkidu die, but spare Gilgamesh his life.ö Said Enlil.
Oh, Enkidu; why did they absolve me, but cast you down to sit amongst the dead?
GilgameshÆs hand slipped away from his neck. The coils tightened.
And Enkidu tightened and Gilgamesh could not breathe and his right foot cracked the surface of That Beneath the Sea and his left foot shifted. His hands wrapped around the body of the Snake and pulled and his back bent and his arms stretched out.
He cracked EnkiduÆs neck against That Beneath the Sea and held his head beneath the waves. The coils loosened and the Snake flailed. His hands cracked scales that shone with something dear to him as his fingers sank into the muscle of the beast.
Loop by loop, the snake fell away from him and then the snake was just a chain.
His Mortality died beneath the sea.
He did not say: Oh, Enkidu.
He staggered upon the shores of the world with a chain that was no longer a snake and he put his head in his hands. The wind did not stop him.
ôWhat have I done?ö He asked.
Enlil spun around him curiously, and it is quite some time before he speaks again.
ôThe question is immaterial; you cast aside something that had no meaning in the first place.ö
XxXXxX
