There Is a Flower in the Underworld, but Only This Single One
"Impossible, completely impossible!"
Looking at the heroic face of the young girl across from her, and her dead serious expression as she praised her beauty while begging for an audience, Ereshkigal blushed instantly.
Even her giant skeletal disguise revealed a hint of bashfulness.
"Lady Ereshkigal is the noble Mistress of the Underworld," she said stubbornly. "How could she be someone so easily met!"
"Oh, really?" Hearing this, Xia Yu's smile grew even more radiant. "Then that really is too bad... It's a rare opportunity to have an audience with a deity, but in the end, my wish cannot be fulfilled."
"You... you person..." Ereshkigal's voice became increasingly bashful. "Right, you haven't said what your name is yet."
"Me?" Hearing this, Xia Yu put away her dual pistols and bowed gracefully in greeting. "Kiana Kaslana, Herrscher of Flamescion."
"Kiana? Kiana?" Hearing this, Ereshkigal frowned slightly. "The sacred Goddess of the Moon? What is your relationship with Diana, the Goddess of the Moon in Roman mythology?"
She simply felt that such a powerful person, coupled with a name that was packed with mythological meaning, definitely had to be related to that Goddess of the Moon.
"Actually, there's no relationship," Xia Yu said with a smile. "It's just a blessing from elders to a child."
"Hmph, is that so?" Ereshkigal didn't believe it for a second, yet she truly couldn't perceive even a shred of divinity on the other party's body.
"Then, what if there is a relationship?" Xia Yu couldn't help but continue teasing Ereshkigal in front of her. "Would that allow me to meet the noble Lady Ereshkigal?"
"Impossible!" Ereshkigal flatly refused upon hearing this. "Even if you were the Goddess of the Moon from a foreign mythology, in this Underground Underworld of Sumer, you would have no right to an audience with the noble Mistress of the Underworld."
In truth, it was entirely possible.
It was mainly because Ereshkigal had a guilty conscience. Just a moment ago, she had talked about how noble and grand the Mistress of the Underworld was; if she were to come out and meet her now, wouldn't that just be self-praise?
How embarrassing would that be... So she could only brace herself and keep up the bluff.
Looking at Ereshkigal's refusal, the corners of Xia Yu's mouth curled up slightly.
Oh, Tohsaka Rin, Tohsaka Rin, this tsundere trait of yours really is... it has already thoroughly seasoned Ereshkigal.
Presumably, Ishtar was about the same. The likable Goddess of Venus in the storyline was not what Ishtar looked like in mythology. If the true Inanna were to descend into the world...
Well, given her attitude toward Uruk, let alone helping Gilgamesh, it would be a miracle if she didn't join forces with Gorgon to play a game of mixed doubles against humanity.
"Sigh, although it has already been said, I still have to repeat it—that truly is a tremendous pity," Xia Yu shook her head, saying with a face full of regret. "I heard that this Sumerian Underworld is barren, dim, and desolate, but it possesses a beautiful flower that is unique in this world... To think that after arriving here by a stroke of luck, I wouldn't have the chance to see it..."
"A flower? What flower..." Hearing this, Ereshkigal didn't react for a moment, and the words slipped out of her mouth.
She had stayed in this Underworld for who knows how many years; if there were a flower capable of growing here, how could she not know about it?
But she immediately connected it to the context and reacted, her entire face bursting into a deep crimson.
"You... you person... what nonsense are you talking about..." Ereshkigal stammered, saying, "What flower... how could there be such a..."
Where would a pure Goddess of the Underworld have ever heard such sweet words? In Sumerian mythology, Ishtar (Inanna), the goddess of harvest, was the Earth Mother Goddess representing human life, while Ereshkigal, representing human death, was the Mother Goddess of Fear.
Ever since the Age of Gods, Ereshkigal had felt pain and hatred because she was despised by others and forced to live in the shadows.
She was born to fulfill her duties and spend her entire life inside this gloomy Underworld, whereas Ishtar, who was her equal, could fly freely across the vast world outside, possessing everything that she could never have.
The right to embrace the sunshine, the right to smell the flowers, the right to be free without having to fulfill duties, and the willful right to have someone clean up after whatever trouble she casually caused...
Yet all of this was something she, as the Mistress of the Underworld, could never possess. She could only gaze from afar within the Underworld, looking enviously at the living beings on the earth growing passionately.
She could only watch and could not leave, because the Underworld had to be maintained by her. If she left without authorization, the Underworld would be destroyed, and without the Underworld, the order of life and death for the living beings on the earth would fall into chaos.
Ereshkigal envied Inanna, and Ereshkigal hated Inanna.
She would not hesitate to inflict capital punishment upon Inanna when she willfully barged into the Underworld, both to uphold the rules of the Underworld and to vent the jealousy in her heart.
But Ereshkigal was a kind-hearted young girl with a beautiful soul.
She even harbored extremely maiden-like wishes such as, 'I want to live freely like Ishtar, too,' and 'I want to meet someone who knows I am the master of the Underworld but doesn't care about my status and will just stay by my side.'
Just as she was internally conflicted over thoughts like, 'I don't deny villains, and evil also helps humans in an evil way, so why is everyone so afraid?!' she learned of the impending Finality that the world of Mesopotamia was about to face. To protect humanity in her own way, she joined the Three Goddess Alliance and became an enemy of Uruk.
How should one put it... she really was a cute and charming 'villain character.'
So when Xia Yu described her as the flower of the Underworld, the pure young girl who had never heard such praise became completely bashful.
"Don't talk nonsense... you person!" That giant skeleton covered its face, saying, "Honestly!"
See, what a pure young girl; she didn't even know how to say a single harsh word.
A sudden surge of guilt welled up in Xia Yu's heart.
And then she flirted even more excitedly.
"What kind of reaction is that?" Xia Yu crossed her arms, frowning with a dissatisfied expression as she said, "Looking at you, you should at least be some sort of leader in the Underworld, right?"
"What, are you very dissatisfied with the noble Mistress of the Underworld, Ereshkigal?" She narrowed her eyes, speaking in a dangerous tone, "Don't forget, that is your direct superior!"
Hearing this, Ereshkigal froze completely.
"Or is it that you think Ereshkigal's beauty isn't worthy of such an evaluation? You brat..." With an unfriendly expression, Xia Yu drew Blazing Hope, tapping it against her hand bit by bit.
"Come, turn the back of your head over nicely. Let me see if you've grown a rebellious bone back there~~~"
Watching the heroic young girl in front of her adopt an attitude of standing up for Lady Ereshkigal, the pure Ereshkigal-chan was completely dazed.
What should I do? I've never experienced this kind of situation before!
No matter how you looked at it, the other party was sticking up for her; could she really turn around and attack her fiercely?
But if she didn't give a response, looking at her displeased expression, she would probably actually start a fight.
Wait, am I really that charming?
To think that I could actually entice a young girl I've never met before to not hesitate to go to war with the Underworld just to vindicate my name?
What should I do? Although it's a good thing, and my charm has been proven, which makes me very happy, but... ahhh!
How am I supposed to tell her?
Under these circumstances... saying that she herself was Ereshkigal was simply impossible to say out loud!
"I would naturally never be so treasonous," Ereshkigal could only say aggrievedly. "Lady Ereshkigal's beauty requires no further elaboration."
"Really? Do you truly think so?" Xia Yu raised an eyebrow with a face full of disbelief, but in reality, her heart was already bursting with joy.
The tsundere Ereshkigal, hahaha.
"Of course!" Ereshkigal answered decisively.
"I don't believe it," Xia Yu shook her head.
"Then what do you want me to do?" Ereshkigal was out of options too.
"Well, how about this, repeat after me," Xia Yu's eyes darted around, and then she said, "Lady Ereshkigal is unparalleled in the world!"
"What kind of form of address is Ereshkigal-chan?!" Ereshkigal-chan's face flushed red again upon hearing this.
"Of course it's a term of endearment for Ereshkigal," Xia Yu said solemnly. "Don't interrupt. Just say whether you're going to say it or not!"
As she spoke, she tapped Blazing Hope in her hand, and the four Gems on it lit up in sequence.
"Lady Ereshkigal is unparalleled in the world!" Ereshkigal repeated with a red face.
"Lady Ereshkigal outshines the moon!" Xia Yu said seriously.
"Lady Ereshkigal... outshines the moon!" The giant skeleton covered its face; this was so shameful!
"Lady Ereshkigal puts the flowers to shame!" Xia Yu changed the phrasing, mainly because Ereshkigal was indeed, well, not exactly exceptionally brilliant.
"Lady Ereshkigal... puts the flowers to shame," Ereshkigal was completely flushed; when had a pure maiden ever encountered this kind of situation?
"Mm, although it wasn't very sincere, since you were able to say it out loud, I'll count it as a pass," Xia Yu nodded in approval. "Remember, you are a subordinate of Lady Ereshkigal. When you are out and about, you must absolutely never lose face for Lady Ereshkigal!"
"If it weren't for the fact that Lady Ereshkigal cannot leave the Underworld, there's no way the title of the goddess of love would fall to Ishtar anyway," she said seriously. "No matter how you look at it, she ought to hold the authority of a goddess of love and beauty!"
"Is... is that so?" Ereshkigal's eyes had already begun to spin in circles, and her whole body was so embarrassed that she was about to emit steam, but she was a deity after all and still retained a sliver of rationality. "B... but hasn't Lady Ereshkigal never left the Underworld?"
"How do you people from the outside world know about her beauty?"
"Looking at you, you've probably never left the Underworld in your entire life just like Lady Ereshkigal," Xia Yu raised her chin at her, gesturing as she spoke. "Do you understand outsiders better, or do I, an outsider, understand outsiders better?"
"Uh, that makes sense..." Ereshkigal said lamely.
"It's not like I haven't seen that Goddess of Venus who governs harvest, love, fertility, and war before," Xia Yu curled her lip as she got to this point. "Her appearance is somewhat passable, but her core lacks something. How could she possibly be compared to Lady Ereshkigal!"
"Exactly, exactly!" This spoke right to the depths of Ereshkigal's heart.
"Look at her, causing trouble all over the place all day long; she doesn't have the demeanor of a goddess at all," Xia Yu struck while the iron was hot. "If she isn't trespassing into the Underworld, she's brutally killing her lover, or unleashing divine beasts upon city-states on the earth to commit atrocities for her own selfish desires, even destroying Mount Ebih, which even the gods must revere."
"And what about Lady Ereshkigal? She is completely dedicated to her duties. For how many years now, has the Underworld ever had a single mishap? It is precisely because of the existence of a dutiful and responsible deity like her that the living beings on the earth are able to grow passionately under the sunshine."
Xia Yu argued eloquently, "So, on what grounds does Ishtar compare to Lady Ereshkigal!"
"Exactly, exactly!" Ereshkigal became completely excited. For how many years now, someone had finally seen her contributions and validated them.
If it were normal times, she would have long since come out with tearful eyes to grasp the heroic young girl's hand in front of her, pouring out her grievances about how hard it had been for her.
But what had happened just now made it truly impossible for her to swallow her pride.
"So can I go have an audience with the noble Mistress of the Underworld?" Xia Yu finally revealed her true motive, saying, "Please!"
"N... No..." Hearing this, Ereshkigal averted her gaze guiltily. "As the Mistress of the Underworld, Lady Ereshkigal handles a myriad of state affairs every day; how could she have time to pay attention to such a trivial matter..."
"Sigh, then that truly is too bad," hearing this, Xia Yu shook her head, and then teased once more, "Actually, if I really want to see Lady Ereshkigal, it's not like there's no way."
"W... What way?" Ereshkigal felt a wave of guilt.
'As long as we start fighting, and the scale of the fight is large enough,' Xia Yu laughed wickedly in her heart. 'As the Mistress of the Underworld, Lady Ereshkigal will have to show her face no matter what.'
"Ah, this..." Hearing this, Ereshkigal froze completely. This was indeed true; if she made a scene, she wouldn't be able to suppress the other party without exerting her full strength.
But to fight to the death with her admirer... she was instinctively unwilling.
"But if that happens, I'll be hated by Lady Ereshkigal, won't I?" Xia Yu looked at the giant skeleton's nervous state, saying with a look of disappointment, "The Underworld that she has governed so diligently for so many years would be turned into a complete mess just because of my willful behavior..."
"Under such circumstances, even if I could see her, in Lady Ereshkigal's eyes, what difference would there be between me and the reckless Ishtar? I would definitely be hated."
"Yes, yes, yes, Lady Ereshkigal hates this kind of person the most!" Hearing this, Ereshkigal's eyes lit up, and she quickly followed along with the words. "If you really used this kind of method, then even if you met Lady Ereshkigal, it would be to no avail after being hated, right?"
"Sigh, in the end, it seems we have the affinity but not the destiny," Xia Yu shook her head in regret. "It seems I can only leave now."
"Ah..." Hearing this, Ereshkigal felt somewhat lost.
Initially, when an outsider barged into the Underworld, she was highly displeased and only wanted to drive the other party away.
But the other party cared about her so much, wanting to see her just once... Ereshkigal had never met someone she could talk to so well...
But... one wrong step led to another. How wonderful would it have been if she had admitted her identity right from the start... This girl in front of her who was like moonlight... she could have truly shared her heart with her.
Now... sigh.
"Th... Then take care on your way," Ereshkigal said hesitantly. "Also... you admire Lady Ereshkigal so much... will you still come to see her in the future?"
"Of course I will," Xia Yu flashed a radiant smile at her, saying, "The next time we meet, it won't be so rushed, where I haven't even brought a gift."
"When that time comes, I will definitely find a flower that never fades to bring to her as a gift."
"I promise!"
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T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me.
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