Section 8: Flowers Bloom in the Abyss

So this is the abyss... There really isn't anything here besides this water...

I've heard the herb of immortality grows at the bottom, but I can't seem to sink past these waves...

Of course not. Did you really think a living creature could sink to the bottom of the abyss without even a guide to show them the way?

Now that Enki is gone, the bottom of the abyss is not primordial, but hollow.

To reach the bottom of this sea is for every part of you, down to your soul, to return to nothingness.

A living human can never become part of it. Just like they can never hope to soar among the clouds.

You are trapped here now, repulsive visitors. This is the end of the line.

？！

You should have resigned yourself to dying on the surface. What do you hope to accomplish here?

Did you come to save Ereshkigal? How foolish. No, not foolish. Disgusting beyond belief.

The Queen of Kur felt ashamed of her irresponsible conduct, as she should, and chose to leave the underworld to us.

She vowed to make amends for ever helping Chaldea, and for permitting them to record data about her.

No doubt you came here thinking you could save her from her fate...

...but as an outsider, the only thing you are accomplishing is sullying her noble sacrifice.

Good, Master. Just ignore him. He doesn't know what he's talking about.

For one thing, we're not outsiders. After all, you're Ereshkigal's...

Um...friend? Classmate? Coworker from her part-time job...?

The point is, neither you nor I are outsiders.

Where, you say? Heh. Hehehe. Hahahahaha...!

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Think what you like. This is no courtroom, and the decisions here are not up for debate.

All I require of you is your deaths, here and now. For Ereshkigal's sake.

Once you disappear, everyone who knew Ereshkigal will be gone. Faith in her will vanish completely.

Do you understand? The reason Ereshkigal continues to humiliate herself at the bottom of the abyss is because you're here.

You came to help her, didn't you? Don't you want to respect her wishes?

Then I shall kill you myself. Once I do, the underworld will finally be mine!

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The bottom of the abyss... An ocean... I can't believe it. Another hurdle, right at the end...

My sheep can cross a river if they really have to, but there's no way they can reach the bottom of an ocean...

Well, I can figure that out later. Right now, Nergal comes first...! Let's show him who's boss, Master!

It's useless. Our malice has taken root in the underworld itself. We are the collection of voices calling for a new underworld.

You cannot kill us. Only the underworld's ruler can keep us in check.

We can't do this without Ereshkigal's help...! Fujimaru!

We need to dive to the bottom of the abyss and pull her out...!

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Precisely. You have no way of doing that. The only path left to you is death...!

THIS is a job for...muscle pooower!

What!? A third prisoner...!?

Who are... Wait, don't tell me! You're candles given human form!

Wrong! I am the guardian of flame who awakens only at Christmas. My name: Leonimas I!

At least, that is what Lord Merlin asked me to call myself. I hope you will oblige!

Lord Fujimaru! Trust in my words, and in my muscles!

Look to your hand and grasp what you hold there with all your might! You already have everything you'll need!

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What...!? What are the keystones that guided the King of Uruk to the abyss doing here...!?

Fwahahaha! Gather as much sand as you can!

Do that, and its weight will lead to your salvation...salvation...salvation...

Now I see! The sands' weight can help us sink down to the bottom...! Let's go, Fujimaru!

I'll hold on to you...! O Candleman, take care of that whiner for us!

Hahaha, it shall be done! Handling complaints and suppressing riots are two of my specialties!

All you need worry about is speaking with the goddess of the underworld!

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Not at all! Now go! Descend into the abyss! Godspeed, my friends! Godspeed!

...You ARE there, right, Fujimaru? I can sense you, but I can't see you...

I can't even see myself, for that matter. So this is the bottom of the abyss, a place devoid of light...

...I can't believe it. A human, ignoring my warning, and coming down all this way.

？！

That's the fifth time you've spoken my name. Now you are REALLY dead. That said...

... (Sigh)

Whatever your reasons are, I really must commend you for actually making it here.

So before I skewer you with my spear, I can at least ask you this:

Why did you come this far, human? Why have you shown yourself before me?

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I see. In that case...

Can you still look upon me so fondly, even after seeing me like this...?

...! (Her face... It's rotted off...)

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I don't know anything about you. Any memories I had of fighting by your side are gone.

Nergal told me about Chaldea. He also told me that as long as you're around, I'll never be able to disappear.

...I can't have that. Now that I'm losing my power, I can't rule the underworld anymore.

I have nothing against you personally, but I need you to go away if the underworld is to survive.

...Wait. I've been thinking about this a lot, and it doesn't make any sense.

You say you need Chaldea to go away so that you can disappear yourself.

But I also heard that you'll disappear even before Chaldea succumbs to the Sumerian Fever.

So then, why attack Chaldea at all if things are going to turn out the same regardless?

...It would not be the same. Anyone who could reduce me to this state is far too dangerous to let live.

Whether I exist or not, Chaldea is a threat. In which case, as the ruler of the underworld, it falls to me to do something about it.

So before I disappear, I'm going to make amends for my sins. When you are facing death, you humans put your affairs in order, right?

That's what I'm doing. I'm using the last of my power to help the underworld.

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Fujimaru?

Well... Because...

...Oh, that's bad. Really, really bad. That's the sort of thing Ishtar would

...You're right. I must thank you for your words.

Now I no longer have the slightest compunction about punishing you.

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That's enough, Ereshkigal. You and your guests have said plenty.

You have done your job well. Now, I shall take over for you.

The underworld is the last bastion for the gods that have declined and vanished. A mystic land of darkness the light of humanity can never reach.

If you truly wish to protect the underworld, then you will obey me. Do that, and the underworld shall become a land where the dead writhe in pain...

Do that, and it shall be reborn as a garden of terror, as a world of death, dust, maggots, and plague!

...

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...I see. Now it all makes sense.

That's Nergal's Authority. The same one Ereshkigal laid claim to.

When Nergal lost to Ereshkigal in the underworld, he left behind his hatred. His rage.

Now, with Ereshkigal weakened, that rage has gained new life...and it's using Nergal's remnantshis Authorityas an avatar.

It's basically Nergal's spiritual substitute, representing his essence.

Another ruler of the underworld who would never have shown himself if Ereshkigal hadn't been weakened.

Correct. Ereshkigal is the good Gallû Spirit, and I am the evil one.

We are both incarnations of the underworld itself. We both represent its future.

Humans cannot hold gods to their standards of good and evil. There are times when so-called good decisions can kill an entire world.

Now, come, Ereshkigal. The time has come to fulfill your duty. Kill them, and disappear completely.

...

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...I am not the Ereshkigal you know. I am the Queen of Kur, fallen to disgrace.

It is only right for one who has lost their power to vacate their position. ...But before I do, I must make amends for the wrongs I have committed.

I have watched your descent through the underworld, mage from a distant land. I will even admit that I enjoyed it.

But I cannot forget the ruin and disorder that you have brought to the underworld. Now, I will pass judgment on you myself...!

HEH... HAHAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Now do you see? You never stood a chance!

There is no one in the underworld who can hope to defeat Ereshkigal!

Absurd. You should have seen the futility of your struggle, but you persisted in this ill-conceived venture.

Just how foolish are you? Is your skull empty of anything but air?

Then again, humans were originally born from clay. I suppose there was no chance of you being intelligent!

...

...I'm sorry. I apologize for Nergal's harsh remarks.

But, I can't blame him for thinking that. Your recklessness defies comprehension.

...I will ask you one more time. Why did you come all this way?

To save Chaldea from the Sumerian Fever?

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Ahh... So this is what it means to pour salt on a wound. How tragic. It brings tears to my eyes.

Tears of mirth, you pathetic cretins! You've come all this way only to fail!

...I see.

Thank you for trying to help me. I do appreciate that...and I'm sorry.

But...there's nothing you, or I, or anyone can do now. I cannot accept your kindness. I have no right.

After all, I've already cast it aside myself.

I no longer have any precious reason to

I have them.

Hahahahuh?

...Huh?

I was waiting for you to mention it. For a while, it looked like it might never happen.

But you finally mentioned something precious.

Which means this belongs to you after all. It's not right for me to keep it.

All right...

Ho ho ho. Thank you for waiting, children.

Santa is finally ready to deliver her present.

Something a certain little sheep entrusted to me...

The very memories that Ereshkigal discarded.

You have Ereshkigal's memories!? That can't be! How did you...

Oh, never mind! Ereshkigal! Kill her! Shut that foolish Heroic Spirit up before she can say another word!

Well... Uh... You know, I'm actually really interested to find out

Oh, don't give me that now, you fool! You were the one who discarded those memories, remember!?

Enough of this! Lend me your body! I shall kill her myself!

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I can't let you do that. Deliveries must be signed for by their intended recipient.

Doom Zed... It's you!

I told you Doomzy sounds better. And to answer your question, I'm the one who recovered Ereshkigal's memories and kept them safe.

I even threw in the gift wrapping for free.

You're...Dumuzid, the God of Shepherds!?

Come to think of it, I haven't seen you around in some time. What have you done now...!?

I would prefer not to comment. I've never gotten along well with bullheaded boors like you.

Now then. Beautiful Altera, fluffy Fujimaru.

You did well to make it this far. I'll take it from here.

Terrible Ereshkigal!

Wh-what!?

Now is the time to return to your true form. Remember Nergal's Authority? The brilliant light of the sun you once laid claim to?

Now is the time for you to awaken to the sun's gleaming shine. As they say, no time like the present.

After all, don't you feel like you could pull that off now?

If these memories are truly precious to you, you should also start to shine bright.

Proud goddess of the underworld, there was once a time when you didn't even know what the sun was.

You knew nothing of the light. You did not know what it was that you admired.

Baaa. But as you are now, you just might be able to shine.

Ah...! Ah, ahhh!

What have you done, you foul creature!? Her memories are even stronger now than they were before!

They would have just disappeared if you'd let them be, but you went and reinforced them! How dare you use the water of life for something like this...!

Dumuzid! Whose side are you on here!? We are both gods of the underworld who have been cruelly mistreated!

Have you forgotten your humiliation at Ishtar and Ereshkigal's hands!? The anger it aroused!?

Oh my, this is terrible. Just terrible. I think I'll turn into a serpent and make my escape.

Dumuziiid!

Shut. UUUP! Get out of my body, NOW!

Wha... Aaah! Nooo! We're being stripped away... This light...it can't be...!

Oh yes it can! I'm back to my old self!

And this light is nothing less than the heat of the glaring sun! In your honor, I hereby name it this:

The Scorching Shrine, Ki Gal Meslamtaea! It shall be the sun of the underworld! It shall be the mark of peace that warms its untamed lands...

And, um... As for you, human!

R-really? It hasn't even been a month since all that went down, has it?

I-it feels like it happened just yesterday for me, but I guess for you, it feels like it's been way longer!

...You're welcome. But you don't have to thank me for anything.

I did it because I wanted to. I only helped you for my own sake.

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I know, right!?

I-I mean, that's not important now! Hmph, you really do just say whatever comes to mind, don't you...?

Still, I think I've powered up a fair bit since last time!

But that's not important right now, either. This is great and all, but there's something I need to handle!

You... How dare you purge me from yourself... What happened to your responsibilities, Ereshkigal?

How long will you cling to that unseemly Spirit Origin!?

Do you plan to leave the underworld behind and be free? Or perhaps to abandon it for a life on the surface?

How dare you... I forbid it!

All the hate and rage swirling around forbids it! You WILL disappear, and the underworld will be reborn!

Don't get the wrong idea, Nergal! I admit, I'm not giving up this Spirit Origin.

But I'm not sticking around for my own sake. I'm sticking around to protect the underworld!

Now that I've heard your plans for it, I realize what my real mistake was.

It wasn't breaking my oath. It was deciding to let you take over the underworld for me!

You don't actually care about the underworld. You just want a place to call your own.

A world that exists just to worship and glorify you. No way I'm entrusting my underworld to a god like that!

This is a land of tranquility that exists to shelter souls after they die, to protect the longing they still have for their lives!

And no onehuman, god, or otherwisegets to threaten that!

I am Ereshkigal of the underworld, the Queen of Kur!

On my honor, I hereby banish Nergal's residual malice from the my domain! Effective immediately!

...All right. Let's do this, Fujimaru.

I may have delivered the present, but I think I can afford to put in some overtime.

The best celebrations are those you share with others. Now let's join forces with this goddess and play our victory jingle together!

Gwaaaaaaaaa!!!

Why!? Why is this woman able to use my Authority so well!?

No... Why did I ever give her my Authority!? Does this mean I've forgotten the humiliation I endured? The hatred and resentment I felt in defeat?

You were the only one fixated on that Authority. But there's hardly any sense pointing that out now.

You are the malice that was born from your battle with Ereshkigal, so you don't know what happened afterward.

Nergal was an arrogant god, but that arrogance was tinged with generosity.

Nergal did not begrudgingly submit to his victor.

He willingly handed over his Authority to the goddess who defeated him, as a friendly gesture of respect.

But you never knew that, because you were left behind and forgotten.

That cannot be true... It cannot! I refuse to accept it!

The underworld is a land of suffering, of humiliation! It should be a world ruled by fear and lamentation!

Just like me! That is how I have always been. If the underworld was like that too, then...

...then both it and I could have remained a part of humanity's mythology forever...!

I understand how you'd see it that way. But I'm afraid you're the only one who does.

It's sad when one simply cannot understand, isn't it, Nergal?

You've been that way since the Age of Gods, which is also why you never had many friends.

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I-I'm impressed you managed to make it back up here on your own. You must be a pretty good swimmer.

I can't say it was as easy for me... I can't believe I couldn't use my rainbow rail underwater...

There's only so much sheep can do, you know. If you want to get around the seabed, you should look for a dolphin, or a Heroic Spirit with a submarine.

Wait, Dumuzid!? You're really here!?

I guess I wasn't seeing things after all... But, why do you look like that?

Wait a second... That's the Authority I always wanted, isn't it!? So you stuck me with serpents and gazelles and kept sheep for yourself, huh!?

It's all about affinity. Serpents and gazelles simply take to you.

At any rate, we're running out of time faster than a sheep loses its flavor.

In a few minutes, this descent into the underworld will be over. And with time to spare before Christmas, too!

Once the date rolls over to December 24, we shall all go back to our own times.

Chaldea will return to December of 2019, and the underworld will return to December one year prior.

Of course, the time difference won't matter if you choose to stay here, but if you did...

Fujimaru would either be stuck in the underworld forever, or emerge to find himself much older or much younger.

R-really!? Wait, what time is it now... 11:30 p.m.!?

That gives us hardly any time at all! We finally have a chance to see each other again, and I don't even know what to say!

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...I can see from your smile that you know this isn't the end, Fujimaru.

You're right. This is not goodbye forever. I can see you're very smart.

True, even after all your hard work, you won't be leaving with a reward from Ereshkigal...

...nor will the underworld be throwing a party in your honor. That's just not the sort of place it is.

But...the bonds you've forged here are greater than anything more earthly.

...You're right. Since I did break my oath, I was planning to give up this avatar and go back to being my old, gloomy self...

But if I just said goodbye now, after everything you've done for me, I really would be a failure as a goddess.

You saved me. You've more than paid me back. From now on, I can hold my head high...

...and continue to help you as this Spirit Origin...the Ereshkigal you know.

Call it a Chaldean bond!

I'll do my best tooh, um, I mean, depending on how your adventure goes, we'll still have plenty of chances to see each other!

Exactly. Though I'm afraid you will have to wait another year before you can be summoned.

I'm sure it will be dull and torturous, but at least you will have something to look forward to.

I-I know that. I'm a goddess, remember? I'm not gonna go jumping the gun.

I can wait here for another year, no problem! ...Although...

...you calling for me and me running to your aid are different things. So, if you ever need help, even if it's not "you" you...

...I promise I'll be there.

I'll show up looking super awesome, and be your totally amazing goddess of victory.

Hey... Why're you so confident about that? Now I'm getting kind of nervous...

(Don't tell me I'm the type who screws up when it counts? I'll start practicing in front of a mirror every day as soon as I get back to my temple...!)

Wh-what's so funny!? I'm gonna do a great job, okay!?

No, wait. Messing up is one thing, but if I embarrass myself as much as Ishtar did...

J-just don't give up on me, okay!? And if worse comes to worst, just pretend you didn't see anything...!

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...Anyway, we don't need to talk about the future now.

...

I really thought I wouldn't mind disappearing. After all, there was something I valued more than myself.

...So I figured, as long as that was safe, it wouldn't matter if I was gone.

No... Even if I did disappear, I thought your world would be just fine without me.

...But honestly, I was really anxious.

Even if nothing ended up changing, I wasn't sure if those unchanging things would remember me.

Which is why...

...I'm so happy you came all the way to the abyss just for me.

Thank you...for being you.

Thank you for staying true to what you think is right, no matter who you meet or what happens to you.

No... No presentno matter how grand or extravagantcould ever make me happier.

...What a wonderful smile. That alone made this whole journey worthwhile.

Right you are. It's embarrassing, even as a sheep. But, it's all part of Christmas.

Even a young girl who has always had trouble expressing herself gets to experience a little happiness.

Indeed. ...I know now that Christmas is warm, heartfelt...good civilization.

Although...there is still one thing I don't understand. What was YOUR objective, Doomzy?

You hated the underworld just like Nergal did.

Well...I suppose your grudge should be against Ishtar and Ereshkigal. They're the ones who took your power and your life, after all.

So why did you help Ereshkigal?

You misunderstand me, beautiful Altera.

I am Dumuzid. I don't take sides. Yes, Ereshkigal may have worked me to the bone, and punished me relentlessly...

...but I still owe her a debt.

And, yes, Ishtar made my life hell...but I don't exactly hate her.

I don't really see a problem with the fact that I once held a, uh, Goddess Downfall Appreciation Sale...

...and so I can't really blame Ishtar for making me take her place.

Yes, I may have experienced great pain, and begged and pleaded for mercy, but I don't bear them any ill will.

That's just how we gods think. What matters is that it all works out in the end.

And this turned out very much to my liking. Though it is a shame that I wasn't able to save Nergal.

I see. I knew I was right to trust you, sheep. I always thought there was something different about you.

Not at all. I was blessed to find such a wonderful partner. In fact, I think I'm falling in love with you.

If only you didn't have those marks on your body, we could have "collaborated" in the best sense of the word.

I see you're just as fickle as your myths made you out to be.

Tell me then, where does Ereshkigal rank on your scale?

... ...Good question.

Ereshkigal has often lamented how there are no flowers to be found anywhere in the underworld...

...but if you ask me, there IS one beautiful flower here. And it's much closer than she realizes.

...Now, as lovely as it would be to end on that note, I believe it will soon be tomorrow for us?

Oh, right! Master! We need to escape from the underworld right away!

Quick, get on Zerco, before it becomes the 24th! Hurry!

？！

Did you finish saying your goodbyes? Are you certain you have no unfinished business?

I see. ...Yes, that is a lovely promise. That is exactly how Christmas should be.

Very well then, hold on tight, Master. We're going to break out of the underworld at Mach speed.

But before we do that, I have a message for the underworld as well.

...I don't know what I was thinking. I've been here all this time, and still haven't said the most important words of the season.

One could hand out all the presents in the world, and they would still be wasted without these words.

Would you mind saying them with me? I don't think I'm quite up to it on my own.

Ho ho ho. Are you ready, Master?

What is the most important message to spread at this time of year?

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