The Rolling Stone
When Sunya was bound to the Underworld in her place, Inanna went to the King of Gods, Enlil, to win him back.
"So what you're asking," Enlil said, "is that I go to the trouble of dragging some man whose face I don't even know out of the Underworld?"
His response was less than favorable.
"Consider it a valuable lesson. From now on, know your place and keep quiet. Unless you want to lose something precious again, the way you just did."
The Underworld was a troublesome domain even for the King of Gods. Enlil had no desire to risk himself for a stranger, no matter what his granddaughter said. And even without that, he had always found Inanna disagreeable — so his refusal was only natural.
"I'm sorry, Inanna. I'm sure a better man will come along eventually. For now, you'll just have to let this one go."
"There is no man better than Sunya!"
Her father fared no better. Nanna, the gentle Moon God, lacked the courage to enter the Underworld for his daughter's sake.
"Stubbornness won't change a thing. You should have behaved yourself in the first place."
He even scolded her — something he rarely did. That was how badly he wanted nothing to do with the Underworld.
"I don't see why I should help some little girl."
Inanna went to Enki next. But Enki, for his part, was quietly pleased with the current state of affairs. If a being who might throw the world into chaos remained bound to the Underworld for the rest of his existence, nothing could be better.
"Don't worry too much. I'll go check on him and see how he's doing."
Utu, who had been listening nearby, pitied his younger sister and offered his help first. As a judge of the Underworld by night, he could come and go more freely than most gods.
"Thank you, brother."
"…If only you were this well-behaved all the time."
When night fell, Utu departed for the Underworld. He cared for his sister, of course — but he was also curious about this man called Sunya. What kind of man could have stolen the heart of Inanna, the infamous tomboy? He couldn't help but wonder.
"If it's that Sunya fellow, he's probably busy fixing everything that little hellion wrecked."
Following the directions Ereshkigal had given him, Utu arrived to find reconstruction well underway. He didn't need to ask anyone who Sunya was. A young man matching the description Inanna had given him was generating hundreds of hands of light, single-handedly handling the workload of hundreds of laborers. He was impossible to miss.
Even so, Utu did not approach right away. He needed time to judge what kind of person this man was — what kind of god, what had drawn his sister to him, what temperament he possessed.
From a distance too great for divinity to be sensed, Utu watched Sunya in secret. At first, seeing the man's fine craftsmanship and delicate touch, he wondered if Sunya might be a god of architecture or smithing — someone useful for building palaces and temples. But the longer he watched, the stranger things became.
Utu was the Sun God, and also the god of law and justice. Like the sun that rose and set in the same place every day, he was — charitably speaking — diligent and steadfast; less charitably, rigid and inflexible. He was poorly equipped to deal with the unfamiliar or the alien.
And so, to Utu, Sunya was an incomprehensible being.
The spread of some unheard-of pastime called "board games" was manageable enough. The colossal handprints left behind while annihilating hordes of monsters were shocking, but still within the realm of acceptance. What truly filled him with dread was this: through words alone, in less than ten days, Sunya had turned the majority of the Underworld's residents into his followers.
What god in all the world could create devotees through eloquence alone? If that were possible, the gods would never have needed to flaunt their power or shower gifts upon humanity just to win faith.
And so Utu was afraid. One of the Seven Great Gods, afraid of an unknown entity named Sunya.
A god's power was the power of faith. The more who believed and relied upon you, the higher your divine rank rose. In Utu's eyes, Sunya was a true monster — one who threatened the very order and structure of the world. And the fact that he could conceal his own divinity only made him more dangerous still.
What do I do?
This was no longer about Inanna. Utu rushed to warn Ereshkigal of the danger — but her reaction was lukewarm at best.
"The Underworld — this city especially — is like a part of my own body. You don't actually think I wouldn't notice the flow of faith, do you?"
"You said he can hide his divinity. Then—"
"Then I would have noticed the dead's faith flowing toward Sunya. The truth is, that man doesn't deal in the power of faith at all."
"…What are you talking about?"
"He said so himself. He uses only the power he has accumulated through cultivation — not faith."
Utu could not make sense of it. Power built through cultivation?
"Have you even properly listened to the philosophy Sunya preaches? That people shouldn't depend on others, that they must find their own path. Hardly a doctrine designed to gather faith from the masses, if you ask me."
"…"
Ereshkigal was right. Sunya's teachings might be insolent, but they were poorly suited to collecting faith. Did that mean he had truly cultivated such power through practice alone?
"…This is beyond what I can handle on my own."
In the end, Utu reported everything he had seen and heard to Enki. The King of Gods was his grandfather Enlil — but compared to his half-brother Enki, Enlil was unreliable in far too many ways.
"I see… So that's how it is."
Enki's reaction was surprisingly calm. He seemed surprised, yes — but nowhere near as alarmed as Utu had expected.
"You already knew about Sunya."
Utu frowned.
"Yeah, I did."
"Why didn't you tell anyone else?"
"And what would that have changed? It would only have sown more chaos. Besides, even I didn't know exactly what kind of power Sunya possessed. The hands of light, the way he spreads his philosophy and creates followers — I heard all of that from you for the first time."
Something about it still didn't sit quite right, but Enki's words were almost certainly true. Even the God of Wisdom could not tell a lie.
"…What do you intend to do?"
"Leave him be."
Enki said it so casually that Utu's brow furrowed again. Seeing that he was far from convinced, Enki added an explanation.
"Spreading word about Sunya among the others would only accelerate the chaos. And if the consensus swung toward eliminating him — do you think Inanna would sit still? What happens if something goes wrong with her in the process?"
"That's…"
Utu trailed off. His rigid mind could produce no adequate solution.
"All we can do is prepare for the worst. He's dangerous, yes — but I've already put certain countermeasures in place. Don't worry too much."
"…Understood."
He was not fully persuaded, but Utu had no choice but to trust Enki's word.
When he returned to Inanna, he offered advice he knew was futile to his twin sister.
"I think it would be best if you gave up on this man Sunya."
"What are you talking about?!"
"…Ereshkigal seems rather fond of him. In the Underworld, no one crosses her."
"Sunya is different!"
"Then I suppose he'll never leave the Underworld at all."
"Hey! Are you done talking?!"
Inanna's eyes flashed with fury, but Utu paid it no mind. He was too restless, too frustrated, to notice such trivial things.
When even her last hope crumbled, Inanna was utterly crushed. Anxiety and dread kept her from sleeping. She shut herself in her chambers and stared blankly at the passing hours.
"My lady, if I may be so bold — perhaps a walk outside would do you good? Fresh air and a change of scenery might lift your spirits more than staying cooped up in one place. It would be better for the child as well."
Ninshubur voiced her concern, watching her mistress — normally so full of energy that people called her wild — listless and barely able to manage daily life.
"…Fine. All right."
Following her attendant's advice, Inanna left the palace. She wandered the human world, feeling the sunlight and wind on her skin. It was certainly better than locking herself indoors.
She drifted aimlessly wherever her feet carried her — until, all at once, she came upon a great and beautiful poplar tree.