The Fruit of Knowledge
Sunya had always loved stories.
Not because they held some special meaning — he simply, purely loved stories for their own sake.
And so from childhood he had read voraciously, and as time went on he found opportunities to immerse himself in visual media as well — dramas, films, animation. With each passing year, the store of tales he knew grew larger.
That was why, even after a full five years had gone by, he could still tell Inanna a new story every single day.
Separately from that, he was no poor storyteller either; even when he simply passed a tale along by word of mouth, he knew how to hold people's interest. In fact, he had something of a similar experience as a lecturer of sorts.
That was what had drawn Inanna to the summit of Mount Ebih day after day.
"I believe I've told you every story I can offer."
But even that vast reservoir of tales had finally run dry. When the inevitable end arrived, Sunya spoke the truth.
"What do you mean, the end?"
"I mean I've told you every story worth telling."
"Ah. I see."
Inanna scratched her cheek with her index finger, at a loss for what to say.
Even after five years since their first meeting, Inanna showed no outward sign of growth whatsoever. Whether her current form was her true essence, or whether the growth of gods simply differed from that of humans, Sunya did not know. Perhaps he never would.
"So… there's no reason for me to keep coming here?"
"I believe reasons to visit can always be newly made. But if you have no interest beyond my stories… then as you said, there would be little reason to come."
Sunya decided not to think too deeply about it. He simply began preparing, slowly, for farewell.
I've stayed too long.
It was time to leave. Just as that thought crossed his mind, Inanna spoke.
"There's still a story I haven't heard."
"Pardon?"
"I said there's still a story I haven't heard."
What could she mean? A look of puzzlement rose on Sunya's face.
"I haven't heard your story."
"My story…"
"The story of you. Where you were born, how you've lived, how you ended up stuck in a place like this — you've never told me any of it."
"But that is…"
"Aren't we close enough by now that you can tell me at least that much?"
"Well, that may be true, but…"
Without meaning to, Sunya kept trailing off. He had known Inanna was assertive by nature, but he hadn't expected her to press so sharply. He had let his guard down.
"First, your eyes. Why do you always go around with them closed?"
Fortunately, for a first question, it was a mild one. Anyone who had grown somewhat close to Sunya asked the same thing.
Or is it mild precisely because it's the first question?
"A question I hear often."
Sunya told her. That he simply saw far too well compared to others, so he kept them closed most of the time. That they weren't fully shut — he kept them open just a crack, in a fine squint.
Normally, people accepted that and stopped asking. But Inanna was different.
"Let me see."
"Pardon?"
"You say you're not blind, but you always hide them like that — of course I'm curious."
"E-even if you say that, there's nothing particularly special about them."
"I'll be the judge of whether they're special or not. Or what, you won't even show me this?"
"No — you don't need to come that close! I can show you just fine!"
Inanna reached for Sunya's face without the slightest hesitation. Sunya looked a little startled, but he neither pushed her away nor otherwise restrained her.
"All right then. Let's see just how strange they are."
Inanna lifted Sunya's eyelids with her thumb and forefinger. And then, as if by some unspoken agreement, her mouth fell shut.
Around the black pupil, an iris of luminous blue. No — even calling it merely blue fell short. It was like the open sky itself.
Words like beautiful or mysterious were not enough. Before that landscape of pure, shimmering clarity — more liquid and more luminous than any jewel — Inanna found herself momentarily lost.
"You're too clo—"
Sunya tried to say something as Inanna pressed her face closer than was proper. It wasn't just her face — her left breast had drawn perilously near his own. But the strange scent brushing past the tip of his nose sealed his lips without his meaning to.
Inanna's distinctive, provocative fragrance was more than enough to stir a virgin like Sunya.
I was mistaken. She hasn't failed to grow at all.
A mistake. To judge by outward appearance alone — the kind of error only a novice would make.
From the Inanna who had drawn so near, Sunya sensed a fierce divinity on the very brink of blooming.
Divinity, put simply, was the essence of a god. Depending on the divinity and the domain they governed, one might casually prefix words like sky, war, sea, or love — but how could their true essence ever be captured by a single word?
In that moment, Sunya understood why Inanna governed the contradictory domains of love and war.
In that sense, Inanna's essence was the peculiar heat and flame that life itself possessed. Fire, after all, was akin to life. The more it burned, the closer it came to death. Inherently contradictory. Paradoxical.
To live, it had no choice but to consume other things — and yet it shared its warmth, banished the dark, and allowed people to go on living. Just as living beings, for whom sacrifice was inevitable in order to survive, also had no choice but to live together, intertwined with one another.
And so — love and war. Creation and destruction.
Of course, from the first time he had seen her, he had felt the divinity on his skin and vaguely guessed as much. But if back then it had been a seed, or a sprout just putting forth its first leaves, now it was a flower bud on the verge of opening.
And that divinity of Inanna's reached even Sunya. The primal urge inherent in most living things — the instinct to propagate the species.
No.
He tried to avert his gaze, but as Inanna's full breasts swayed slightly, heat began to gather below. Come to think of it, Inanna's chest was rather large for her apparent age. Its shape and size were as firm and round as an apple — enough that one might unconsciously want to take a bite.
Automatically, Sunya found his mouth drawing toward a pink areola.
"Huh?"
Having finally managed to pull free of Sunya's eyes, Inanna realized something was off. The masculine scent coming from him. The strangely elevated sound of his breathing. Something about Sunya's state was different from usual.
Where until now he had been a sly yet serene sage, the figure before her felt closer to a beast. A wild animal licking its chops as it eyed its prey.
Looking at him like that, Inanna felt an instinctive impulse to throw herself into his arms. Not "it would be all right to be eaten" — something more masochistic: "I want to be eaten."
The aura of desire each of them was radiating touched the essence within Inanna.
"Haa…"
"…"
The atmosphere heated. The air grew hot. Their breaths touched.
What is this?
It doesn't feel bad.
It might even feel good.
Just as Inanna's gaze grew hazy and the thread of her reason was about to snap—
"This is dangerous."
Sunya took hold of Inanna's shoulders and pushed her away.
"…Huh?"
"Let's stop here."
"What?"
"I apologize."
And with that, he turned his body away from where she stood. The atmosphere cooled to a degree that was almost chilling. The steep, ragged breathing of moments before rapidly found its calm.
"You—!!"
Inanna's face twisted. Excitement became confusion. Confusion became rage. Rage became murderous intent. She didn't even fully understand what had just happened, and yet fury surged through her.
"I apologize."
That sincere apology was the spark that set Inanna off.
KWAANG!!
Inanna struck Sunya across the cheek. His head snapped to the side. The house exploded. The mountain shook. Villagers some distance down the mountain, thinking it was an earthquake, hurriedly ducked low.
"Go die!!"
Spitting out her savage emotion, Inanna turned and flew away. Sunya watched her retreating figure for a long moment, then let out a deep sigh.
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
Inanna screamed as she returned to the palace. It had been happening often enough lately that Ninshubur no longer even flinched.
"I'm pissed off! Pissed off! I'm so pissed off!!!"
But this time the intensity was something else. Even after returning to the palace, Inanna's temper wouldn't cool, and she smashed everything within reach. Only after a third of the palace had been destroyed did her rampage finally stop.
And even that wasn't by her own will.
"You crazy bitch!! What the hell are you doing in broad daylight?"
From some distance away, Utu — who had received word from Ninshubur — came racing up in a carriage. He flung a rope of light and managed to bring Inanna to a halt.
"Let go of this."
"Cool your head first."
"I said let go!!"
"What the hell set you off this time?"
"…"
Inanna couldn't say a word. She herself couldn't clearly explain this feeling. She knew she was angry — but she didn't know exactly where that anger came from.
It's frustrating.
She couldn't forget the look in Sunya's eyes as he had gazed at her. Why did you look at me like that? Why won't your face, your scent, your touch leave my head?
I want to know.
Why I'm this angry. What that desire we felt for each other was.