What Remains
When Enlil opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Ninlil's face looking down at him.
"Ninlil…"
"You're awake?"
As always, his wife offered him a gentle smile.
They faced each other in silence, neither speaking a word. Only after a long stretch of quiet did Enlil finally break it.
"That day… I truly thought I was going to die."
"…"
"I had killed so many humans, and yet when death stood before me, I was terrified. I never knew how frightening it would be — the thought of never seeing you again, of never greeting another tomorrow. The title of King of Gods meant nothing at all."
It was a shameful confession. Had it not been Ninlil, he never would have dared to speak it aloud.
"The humans I killed must have felt the same. Trapped as the waters rose, unable even to plant their feet, they must have felt the terror of death creeping closer — the agony of never seeing their loved ones again, the emptiness of losing everything they had built."
"…"
"What have I done?"
For the first time, the arrogant King of Gods felt genuine empathy for the insignificant humans who crawled upon the earth. At last he understood why the other gods had mourned so deeply for the dying.
"How could something so simple have taken me this long to understand?"
Enlil wept. The self-loathing rising within him made him want to hide away that very instant. The screams and cries of the humans on the day of the Great Flood had become a guilt that began to devour him from within.
"I have no right to be king. I am nothing but a foolish, arrogant, reckless butcher."
"…"
"I… what am I supposed to do now?"
"…I don't really know either."
Ninlil, who had been listening to Enlil in silence, spoke for the first time.
"I don't know what makes a king worthy, or what the right path is. All I know is that spilled water cannot be gathered back up, and words once spoken cannot be taken back — not without some extraordinary power."
She continued.
"This will surely be the same. Time may dull it, make it seem as though it's fading — but in the end it will remain as a scar that never fully heals, and it will torment us. And even beyond this, we will make many more mistakes, fail many more times, and commit more wrongs. Still, the only thing I can say to you is what I've said before."
The goddess of grain took her husband's hand in both of hers as he lay there.
"No matter what happens, I will always be by your side. Even if you commit sins, even if you suffer, even if people point their fingers at you — I alone will always stand with you. Even if the end of that road is despair."
"Ninlil…"
"So let's try. Let's try not to repeat the same mistakes, to become better, to make more righteous decisions. I'll stay right here beside you and help…"
Ninlil pressed a kiss to Enlil's forehead.
In the end, Enlil could hold it no longer and broke into sobs. He forgot every scrap of the dignity he had always fought so hard to maintain and wept like a child. Ninlil wept with him at his side.
"So unsealing him ended up meaning nothing after all?"
Ninhursag said, gazing at Marduk as he recovered steadily within a great sphere of water.
"It wasn't meaningless. At the very least, we were able to free our son from that prison."
Enki slipped an arm around Ninhursag's waist with easy familiarity. He spoke in his usual light tone, but Ninhursag knew that inside he was deeply troubled.
"…What happens to us now?"
"Well, it would be nice if everything just quietly blew over as though nothing had happened — but that's not going to happen."
The near-death of the King of Gods was one thing, but the real problem was the power Sunya had displayed that day. His transcendent strength was more than enough to threaten the whole of Kienkingir on his own. Naturally, questions about Sunya's origins were bound to surface. It defied all common sense that a god of such overwhelming might — not some minor lower deity — had remained completely unknown until now. And once that conversation began, they would have to reveal that Sunya had come from beyond this world, which would only make everything far more complicated. Everyone would realize that the peace they had felt until now had been nothing more than an illusion.
"Are there many beings that strong outside our world?"
"How would I know?"
"What if a war breaks out someday? The way it was before Kienkingir took its present form."
"Then we'll have to do everything we can to make sure it doesn't."
"…Sorry for keeping asking things like this. You must be frustrated enough as it is."
"I am, a little. But I know it's because you're anxious, so it's fine. I'd be the same in your place. If anything, I'm the one who should apologize for not being able to give you a satisfying answer. Which is why…"
Enki's hand found Ninhursag's hip.
"How about we take some time alone and make love, for once?"
"Even in a situation like this, you…"
Ninhursag sighed. Even so, she knew full well he was doing this to put her at ease. There was probably some selfish desire mixed in as well.
"…Fine. All right."
"Really?"
"It's not as though we have anything else to do. As a change of pace, it wouldn't be so bad."
"Good. Then let's do it right now."
Enki scooped Ninhursag up into his arms at once.
"Wait — aren't you being a little too eager?!"
"Ah-ah. These things shouldn't be dithered over. You just dive right in."
And with that, the two of them headed straight for the bedchamber.
"My son-in-law isn't a bad fellow, but…"
Nanna sat across a table from Utu, tilting a cup of wine. He could scarcely remember the last time he had shared a drink alone with his son like this. In recent decades, he had raised a glass with Sunya far more often than with his own boy.
"Your father was reckless, too. No matter the reason, to kill that many humans… Honestly, watching my son-in-law teach them in Ku'ar, it was plain how much he cherished them."
"Even if His Majesty the King of Gods was in the wrong, there are still laws and proper procedures. My brother-in-law should not have done what he did."
"Laws and procedures… I wonder how much those really mean in the society of the gods."
Rigid as ever, Utu criticized Sunya's actions — but Nanna took his son-in-law's side. That was how fond he was of Sunya. It wasn't only that the man kept him company while he fished, or that he often brought gifts. Sunya himself possessed a peculiar, personal charm. There were times Nanna had felt more paternal affection for him than for his own children.
"I only hope nothing comes of this…"
"It won't be that simple. Order has already been broken. We can't simply pretend it never happened."
"Utu… do you want something bad to happen to your brother-in-law?"
"…No. I don't."
Utu did not dislike Sunya either. As far as he could tell, Sunya was a genuinely good man. He had often thought that if there were more people like Sunya in the world, it would be a better place to live.
"But if this is simply overlooked, it will cause serious problems for the divine realm."
"Yes. You're right about that, Utu."
Nanna drained his cup with a bitter expression.
"Still… I hope no trouble comes to my son-in-law."
At that same hour, the children of Sunya and Inanna were gathered in the corridor of their mother's palace, deep in a grave discussion of their own.
"What do you think is going to happen, sister?"
Nanaya asked Sharpunitu. Sharpunitu went about with her eyes closed, much like Sunya, and always gave off an air of composure — but quite apart from that, she had a sharp sense for people and a quick grasp of any situation. And as far as the eldest daughter could see, the present circumstances could not be called good even as empty flattery.
"There won't be an immediate war. Every god in Kienkingir learned that day that even if they all came at Father together, they wouldn't stand a chance."
"Then…"
"But hoping nothing happens at all is too much to ask. Attempting to kill the King of Gods is no small matter. Even if it was only an attempt, the attempt itself is fact — and if they simply let it go, it will create all kinds of political and social problems."
"I hate to put it this way, but even so, what can they actually do? They can barely handle Father alone, and Mother — not to mention most of the people here — will take his side. No one is going to casually propose doing something about him."
Kalam offered his measured opinion. Even so, Sharpunitu's expression did not brighten in the slightest.
"Even then, we can't be certain of anything. It's possible that the Supreme God An may decide to involve himself in this."
"An? I've never even seen the old man's face. Has anyone here met him?"
Nanaya looked around, but no one raised a hand.
"He's basically a retired old man in the back room these days. Only the greater gods run into him now and then. Would he really step forward just because his son got roughed up a little?"
"The king he personally chose as worthy nearly died. He may not care much as a father, but he might be the type who takes his pride very seriously."
"This is useless. I've never even seen him, so I can't judge either way."
Ashur thumped his chest in frustration.
"Breaking news! Breaking news!"
Hearing a palace servant come running and shouting only made their anxiety worse.
"What is it this time?"
Nanaya demanded in an irritated voice. The servant hesitated for a moment, then cried out at the top of his lungs.
"The Supreme God An has left the palace for the first time in hundreds of years!!"