Sumer

[Apollymi]

Tristan was a strange case indeed. His words could be taken several ways and most of them wouldn't be considered pleasant. Of course, Artoria herself acknowledged fully that facing her, wasn't something most would consider normal. "I take that as a compliment and all of you should be the same in your own way..." she mentioned. No one should want to face her Knights and she intended to have them know why. if they could survive her, no one should survive them. In her own way, she thought it a disservice to send her Knights out into the world without them having the full experience of facing someone overwhelming. Humility was a necessary trait and some learned it quicker than others. Of course, there was a certain amount of grit required as well, and she had a desire to test this aspect specifically. And so she would get to, as she aimed a barrage of attacks towards this lad, she found herself caught in what would appear to be a trap, a trap which triggered a vacuum effect. His words about a concerto should have been disconcerting, given the fact that the move he possessed with that name was deadly. But Artoria knew no fear, and moved forward anyways. She swung her sword at the start of the trap giving her the opportunity to surge with energy denying the after effect of the trap without fail. The only change in her actions there after would be the singular extra moment of space required to avoid tripping the other traps. But knowing this was the case, she aimed her slashes to try and divert Tristan himself towards his set traps. And she saw a clear path to carefully avoid them while restarting her barrage of weapon strikes. This was her new path to victory to show the lad the folly of this choice potentially made without foresight.

[Bloodedge]

"I did mean it as one," he said regarding his previous assertion. Around and around the pair went. Tristan continued setting traps, and beyond the first of them which was muscled through, Artoria continued evading traps where they were placed. As a result of these movements, Tristan would continue stretching the battlefield, taking a wider arc each time. There would eventually be little to no space for further movement without encountering a trap, even for him. He seemed to be doing an alright job of avoiding the traps himself nonetheless, thanks in large part to his Clairvoyance skill and the knowledge of what small signs to look for. Alas, he had to make something of this situation.

The additional space between himself and Artoria was just what he needed. By the time space became scarce, he was ready to use the final moment of extra breathing room to hop once more, moving all the way to the center of where it all started. His targeted point of landing was the space where his first trap had been triggered, but his next move would be made during the leap. The next song he played was one he considered a symphony, sending vacuum blades en masse directly from the harp, spraying out in a wide arc from their point of origin. Doing this, he intended to deter Artoria's hasty advancement with a far thicker net of offense than he managed previously, though he left a few openings that would allow a curved approach. Artoria herself was not his true target, though. His ultimate goal in this endeavor was to trip his own traps at range, creating a storm of blades from all around Artoria in addition to those which came directly from Tristan himself.

[Apollymi]

Artoria continued on her path, noting the difficulty of avoiding the traps set by Tristan and keeping up the offensive pressure on the man. She might have been worried about this, but her visage didn't show it, instead there was nothing but a smile on her face. There was very little difficulty in battle, there hadn't been for her in quite a long time, even so, she would manage to muscle through, until Tristan finally managed to pull that last ounce of space he needed to complete his grand attack. She'd been moving quite a bit, but didn't have the room nor foot space to follow the lad directly upwards as she had previously, and what he did next was quite shocking and worthy of praise. Another rain of arrows came from him, but this time, they came down into the traps he set. Artoria was surrounded! All sides and from above with and though she knew it instantly there was nary a thing she could do to escape directly.

'Hmpf, and I'm supposed to be the monster here...' she thought as she pulled her sword up before her. For the first time since this practice began she used an ability. Her sword glowing with magical light before her face, a gentle moment before she aimed a mighty swirling slice around herself. 'Destiny Break' was her newest ability and one which she had no reason to try before this very moment. The light of the sword and the intensity of her Mana, altered the course of events around her, allowing her to slash through even the rain of arrows and a multitude of exploding traps in an instant. Such a move was a conglomeration of all of her skills and would put an end to what happened around her in due course, but... there was nothing but happiness in the radiant woman's visage. The rest of the battlefield was marred around her, but the area of her body and an immediate space around it were unscathed and she was left holding only the glowing sword Excalibur before her own face. "That was brilliant! I would have never guessed that you Tristan, would be the one to make me test my newest ability first..." she said in no small form of praise. During these practices, Artoria generally limited herself to skill alone, pulling out all of the stops and using an active ability, even just to protect herself was more than what she could have hoped for, especially from a man not even wielding a sword.

[Bloodedge]

A successful escape, and a successful attack. Tristan exhaled an otherwise restrained breath as he beheld the effect of his assault, and the reveal of a previously unseen skill from Artoria. A brilliant display of light was created for Tristan and the surrounding knights to witness as Artoria spun around and made short work of his volley. It was such a grand show, Tristan couldn't prevent himself stopping all movements to stare in awe of how easily his assault had been felled. Being praised as the first to allow Artoria's use of this new ability was something Tristan wasn't certain how to respond to. Just when he had the will and opportunity to speak, though...

Clap, clap, clap-

Stairs next to this marred battlefield led upward, starting a long path toward the major city and palace of Uruk. The sound of clapping came from this set of stairs, drawing nearer and nearer with each individual clap. "HAHAHA! Subarashi! I commend you both; a fine show to mark the arrival of your king!" Gilgamesh had arrived after taking a bit of a leisurely stroll through the city. He had been close enough to make his presence known for a few minutes, but he wasn't going to miss a show the likes of what he'd just seen. Now though, he descended the stairs toward Artoria, Tristan, and the rest of the knights in this training ring. "Rejoice; I have decided I am feeling generous enough to grace the mongrels with my presence today!"

[Apollymi]

This battle was magnificent and nothing would have stopped Artoria from expressing this further. Tristan seemed to be at a loss for words, and though Artoria would have liked to prod a few more out of them, their practice session was being watched... and strangely, applauded? The slow claps of a golden haired, scantily clad man hit the ears of the Queen of Knights. And she lifted her head to watch his entrance into this place. She was not the type to defer, but her gaze was not one of challenging authority. "Gilgamesh-ou." Just this name was all that fell from the woman's mouth. Gilgamesh's own words could like Tristan's be interpreted badly in the moment, but just the same a small black haired girl with a tome in hand followed behind the man with soft words to be spoken. "It was quite a splendid match to see. Though I did indeed predict that you would be giving someone this sort of..." there was a pause inserted here as if she was trying to think of a non-offensive word to use here. "Challenge in practice, Artoria-dono," the lass said with all proper reverence given to all present. "Belris," the name was also spoken in the same tone this woman always seemed to possess. Whatever the case she had no hard feelings one way or another. "Surely, you two didn't come all this way just to watch practice..." she said. "Not that an audience is anything I mind," she mentioned as she sheathed her weapon and waited for the reason this pair of people had approached her.

[Bloodedge]

In the midst of his attempt to address Artoria, Tristan was paused by the arrival of Gilgamesh. He, like other knights below Artoria, turned to the blonde male and took a knee, bowing his head in silence. Gilgamesh paid no heed to those who took this stance, continuing his approach toward Artoria. Her being the one who refrained from basically prostrating herself didn't seem to concern him at all. No, perhaps he harbored a legitimate amount of respect for this woman. "Artoria," he said in response to hearing his own name spoken from the Queen of Knights' mouth. Soon, he was close enough to be within striking distance of the blonde woman, and there he stood with his left hand on his hip, and that armored right hand of his holding his book-like stone tablet at his side. "Perhaps we did come for exactly that reason! The throne is a boring thing at times, and what point is there in a king who doesn't seek his own entertainment from time to time?"

In spite of these things he had to say, even Gilgamesh wouldn't keep matters of importance under wraps for long. In his very next breath, he let go of the lackadaisical demeanor he held up to this point. Serious matters required addressing. "When we last spoke, I told you of my most recent dream. Gugalanna has been reborn."

[Apollymi]

Soon enough the Knights surrounding Artoria were bowed in reverence to the King of this place. Artoria herself took no such posture, but this wasn't a problem apparently. No instead a light and joking tone came from this man as he claimed he might have just come to seek his own entertainment, claiming that throne rooms were boring sometimes. "Indeed they are, it's why I don't have one. Entertaining one's self is a King's prerogative..." she said simply. Her hands came to rest at her sides and she maintained a certain amount of nonchalance at Gilgamesh's antics. She could expect him to get to whatever point he'd come for rather quickly.

When he did speak on the matter he'd appeared for, his tone was suddenly rather serious. Artoria's left brow raised upwards instantly as she was asked to recall their last conversation. Indeed he'd spoken of a premonition he'd had, of this city being destroyed by a certain Divine Beast. Gugalanna had caused him quite a few problems in the past, and the woman who'd owned it, was quite the headache for all involved. "If the beast has returned, then what do you need of us?" she asked of him with her own seriousness. Artoria had grown quite accustomed to the life she lived here, she had no intention of letting it fall. She and her Knights would defend it to the death, but such was their nature to begin with, she only needed to know what actions he needed her to take in this case, to avoid trespassing on his royal decrees. Belris was also quiet, feeling that the sharing of the extra information she had, should come at her King's discretion.

[Bloodedge]

"I'm sure that table of yours still finds itself lacking excitement from time to time," he quipped. He found it infinitely interesting that Artoria chose to be a monarch without a throne, but the 'Round Table' of hers was a suitable enough stand-in for one who ruled in the... interesting way she chose to. Gilgamesh did not share the beliefs which led to the decisions she made, but he also fancied himself a different sort of ruler entirely.

On to the matters of Gugalanna, Artoria clearly recalled the dream he spoke of. He knew her interests to be more aligned with his own in knowing something had to be done. Where most would fear for their lives, families and friends, these two were of a mind to protect the realm as a whole. Perhaps they had different reasons for this... perhaps. Either way, Artoria was at the ready to hear Gilgamesh's desire. Oddly enough, the normally arrogant king seemed willing to defer to her wisdom instead. "The Bull is in this world, but it is not connected to Ishtar. Before jumping to any conclusions, we need to know more about this mysterious summoner. How would you plan to go about this?"

[Apollymi]

"Not really. Though lacking in table is something entirely different..." stated Artoria. This was a joke perhaps, about the fact that the table itself was some piece of Camelot which often found itself in the hands of another person instead of actually being where it was supposed to be indoors. This didn't really matter though, as Artoria soon had much greater concerns. The woman known as Ishtar was a stain upon the grace of all female gender who had any self-respect. Knowing this, stamping out her ilk was something Artoria could put her faith in doing. Much to her general relief though, that woman wasn't the one who summoned the Bull of Heaven. Apparently an unknown person had accomplished this feat. That was a disturbing bit of information but still Artoria exhaled a kept breath and seemed to have her shoulders relax quite a bit. If it was simply a matter of finding out about the mystery summoner then the task could be rather easily handled in her own opinion. Beyond the norm of actions, her opinion was asked for, that same brow rose once more, but she could humor this request without causing strife, and so she would. "Summoning Gugalanna is a feat worthy of acknowledgement, for everyone but Ishtar. With this in mind, such a person should be approached with caution, especially given the state of the lower world. If all we need is information and assuming we know who to look for..." she gave pause and thought it all the way through. "I would send Lancelot. He is thorough in his investigations and would be able to blend in even there. Besides that I trust his intuition when it comes to people. So, if he said this wasn't worth being concerned about, I could trust that judgement."

Artoria's judgement on the matter made Belris smile. She could agree with everything this woman had to say. Of course, she also had cause to dislike the woman known as Ishtar. One could say the two individuals shared the same profession, but the difference between Belris and Ishtar was night and day. The only information she had on the new summoner of Gugalanna was the Avatar Name and by association the Online ID. Which was what made the information problematic. Neither name was easily recognizable and as such it was hard to advise one way or the other on the information gathered about their actions. Perhaps as Gilgamesh though a more direct observation might be necessary to ascertain the desires and actions of this new person. And put a stop to them potentially, if they happened to fall into the negative category.

[Bloodedge]

Gilgamesh kept an open ear for the plan presented by Artoria. She was quick to offer a specific name, a plan to send one knight to the world below for reconnaissance. If she could trust this Lancelot's judgement, Gilgamesh supposed he could afford to trust her decision to suggest sending him before offering a different solution. "It's a feat worthy of my ire. Gugalanna himself should not have the gall to enter this world again. If that whore were to find out about this, she might return to her old form. I'd tear apart the entire lower world alongside Gugalanna before I let that happen, unless I can trust its new master." Whomever this Ishtar individual was, it seemed Gilgamesh considered her a major threat of some sort. In truth, in a certain capacity, she was. She wouldn't destroy the world or anything of the sort, but what she could do was much, much worse. He could not let that happen while he was in charge of anything or anyone who may be affected. Nevertheless, the more concerning matter at present was Gugalanna's new owner. He very well couldn't go above and beyond to destroy Gugalanna once more, if he could have faith that its original owner could not get her hands on it. "Send Lancelot. Belris, make arrangements for a return key," he said, taking a deep breath and raising his head to the sky. "There's no need for council. I'm going to take a walk. Belris, make sure everything is in order."

Without further ado, Gilgamesh took steps away from the others. Bravado aside, the situation was a rather stressful one indeed. Even one so prideful as the ruler of the skies was troubled, so he thought to traverse the land of Uruk for awhile, taking in a few sights and reminding himself what all he'd done thus far had been for.

[Apollymi]

Gilgamesh had some very strong words about Gugalanna and it's former summoner. He claimed he'd sacrifice the entirety of the lower world to stop the rise of that individual where it was. There was nothing but a curt nod from Artoria. "Agreed." The simple words from the Queen of Knights were ones which seemed to align with the King's own thoughts. Though she likely had very different reasons for believing such a thing, she definitely had no desire to see a person like Ishtar rise again. After hearing out Artoria's plan, Gilgamesh agreed to it without question, leaving instructions for his assistant before leaving to take a walk. His assistant, Belris sighed gently. "Hai, I understand." and this was all that Artoria had to say to the man as he left for his walk. Maybe she, understood what he was doing, she often took walks around this place to ground herself and remind of the happiness of the life she currently lead.

"I'll be at the Moon Door when you are ready. And I will have both the Return Key and all the information I can give about Gugalanna's new master," she said softly. She'd take a bow and head off rather quickly towards the place, knowing that Artoria knew where the meeting was. "I understand, thank you for your efforts," she offered the young girl who swiftly bowed before she headed off. Artoria turned back to her Knights and called one in particular. "Lancelot!"

[Bloodedge]

Gilgamesh let his mind wander as his body did the same. It was nothing new for him to see Uruk at dusk this way, yet he still somehow saw it in a different light here and now. Nothing negative could befall this land; he could not allow it while he stood. He'd done so much, built the land in the sky from scratch since a simple time of playing a video game, and its people were his to protect. Yes, even one such as Artoria - a monarch in her own right - was one he intended to guard under his wing. To a certain extend though, the land had to fend for itself. He would ensure that prosperity remained intact.

As the king of Uruk wandered, Artoria called the knight she required for the task. A purple-haired, tall and muscular knight rose to the summons. He was among the group, seeming a bit sulky. In truth, he had arrived to the training grounds a bit late. He saw the latter half of Artoria's match against Tristan, wishing the entire time that he'd been around early enough to participate. Now, Artoria had need of him for something he hadn't been able to hear. Nevertheless, the knight named Lancelot approached his queen before taking a knee, bowing his head to offer whatever services she required of him. "How can I be of use?"

[Apollymi]

While Gilgamesh wandered around Uruk, his attendant, secured the device he'd mentioned and was in the process of making sure it could be bound to a certain individual. She did this while standing in front of what looked like a giant circle painted in the floor of a large room like dais. If the circle were to open it would show a long staircase which seemed to go downward at a terrifying angle. But that would only appear after a certain set of coordinates were entered into it. It was a magical device which would let the people from the top, travel down to the bottom world safely, though it would take quite a while to traverse. The other item in her hand, a 'Return Key' would allow for one to teleport back to this exact spot from wherever they were on the map. It was just to the west of the palace and as such was a key port to return to when entering Uruk.

Artoria had called Lancelot and though he hadn't been in the crowd when she'd started training, she'd expected him to show at some point regardless. Lo and behold the lad was indeed present and soon made his way forward. He took knee with bowed head before Artoria and she nodded. Knowing what needed to be done, she spoke quickly turning on her heel. "Rise, Lancelot, this is not time to stand on ceremony," Artoria said, feeling a strange sense of urgency even while knowing enough details to feel their currently planned approach would be fine. "Gilgamesh-ou, is troubled by the rising of the Divine Beast Gugalanna. The only information we have right now is that it wasn't risen by its previous master," Artoria filled this man in on the general information as she had it. "Your task would be to travel down to the lower world and investigate this person. Determine their alignment and find out if they are trustworthy. Then return and tell us... we'd rather not be blindsided by anything..." said Artoria. "Though I'd rather not crush a young life just because of something so simple, allowing Gugalanna to fall back into the hands of that... vile creature cannot be allowed," she stated clearly. "If you accept, then come. Belris is preparing immediate transport." And with the last sentence spoken Artoria began to walk towards the Moon Door knowing that the black haired lass had the vital information necessary and knowing that Lancelot wanting to be of use would make it so that his travels down below would be most fruitful.

[Bloodedge]

The first order of Artoria was a command to rise, and so, he did just that. His head remained bowed until the moment he stood erect, at which point he raised his gaze to behold the queen. A swift debriefing gave him enough insight to the situation at hand, and one specific mention left him slightly shaken. "Gugalanna!?" he repeated with applied shock and an upward inflection. He could at least take solace in the fact that Ishtar, the deity in possession of the Divine Beast according to the tales, was not the current holder. Even so, that woman had the ability to return to glory if she had contact with it. Lancelot understood his purpose. He followed Artoria without a moment of hesitation, keeping two paces behind her to the right as he made way for the Moon Door. "If I deem this new master unfit, are my orders to kill?" he asked. In his time, Lancelot had done a great many things, ending many lives for many purposes. If he was expected to eliminate Gugalanna's summoner upon considering her a threat, he would do so without hesitation. Either way, he was going through with this quest; he couldn't possibly say no. Artoria entrusted him with it above other knights, and he knew exactly the reason. Recon was more his forte than any of the others, so he would at least take the time to investigate his target. What would he do if said target were another Ishtar in the making, or even worse, though? That much would be left to the queen's order.

[Apollymi]

"Yes, Gugalanna," Artoria said. She could not fault him for his surprise. After all, she'd also been quite stunned to find out this information. A brisk pace took them towards the Moon Door but there was more to Artoria's order than meets the eye. When asked if he should kill the master of Gugalanna if they were found to be unfit she had something strange to say. "If this person can raise Gugalanna taking them on directly would be problematic. Besides that we are fairly certain Ishtar is still down below. Keeping her and that beast as far apart as possible is the goal. A kill there won't be necessary. You should return with any information you have though, we will need to know who to look out for, as they will no doubt make it to this level if they are at all like her..." she said as they approached the area which contained the Moon Door she paused her steps having one more thing to say.

"There is one other reason I thought of you for this..." she said carefully. "Though it would be unfair of me to give such an order, and the quest you are on is of the Highest priority. I cannot claim a particular bit of information for my own selfish desires. You should ask Belris about Galahad. She is your sister, and since you will be below... it might be one of few chances you have to find her. Freed is a fine Knight and took up the mantle beautifully but... her presence is sorely missed. Besides, if I didn't know where to find my sister... I'd be inconsolable," she said offering the lad the chance to look for his missing sibling while making it not an order. It was as heartfelt as she could have made the gesture. "Do with that what you will. Be brave and Honorable and return to us with any information on the situation!" she said giving her final order. In order to maintain some form of plausible deniability and allow the lad to find information on his sister without prying, she would leave his departure to Belris. Who stood beside the Moon Door ready to meet this Knight. "Brief him and see to it that he gets all the information you have to offer him." said Artoria before she turned and left at a pace of less urgency than she originally had. "Hai! I understand. Right this way..." were the words that Belris spoke as she waited for Lancelot to join her. Strangely, Artoria would later find herself walking the same path as Gilgamesh ending up beside him as he overlooked his Kingdom.