Yesteryear

The Tower of Babel

"Are you ready to go?"

Mingi bounced in the door excitedly. The gleam in his eyes at the prospect of exploring the city he had grown up in told Wooyoung that rather than their trip, Mingi looked forward to sharing Wooyoung's company. It was adorable to watch. Wooyoung presumed Mingi had few friends between his work and his life at the palace. He was still young, too, barely a match for the brusque and hard-working men that filled Babylon.

Wooyoung brushed some flaking skin off his nape. His sunburn had resorted to a painful throbbing by now, but he promised himself it would be the last time he made it worse. After today, he would return home and share Mingi's theories on the end of immortals with Yongguk. Through the ages, he would find their trail and find out if their means for a prolonged life were adaptable to modern humans. If immortals already existed and they had to die to create a handful of new ones, Wooyoung would treat the case as impossible until further research. But as of now, he still had 2500 years of history to work with. If more theories crossed over with Mingi's, he would visit the epoch of Bilgames and try to witness his end.

Since the researching part of his mission was over now and Wooyoung brimmed with theories and hypothesises that he needed to share with Yongguk to filter out period-typical nonsense, it was time to unwind. And what better to do than to visit the Tower of Babel with Mingi?

"I am," Wooyoung smiled once he had adjusted his clothes. He followed Mingi out of the door and down the corridor. Mingi's step had a little bounce to it that had his garments flutter around him. Amused, Wooyoung watched his glee.

He hadn't seen Suusaandar again after the gardens. As if the man had been swallowed by the ground, he was nowhere in sight. When Wooyoung had got food for himself and Mingi that morning, he had even taken a detour to pass the foyer in front of the throne room. But no sign of the concubine. Wooyoung didn't think too hard of where he could be and what he was doing.

The morning was still mild as they stepped outside the palace. Instead of through the bazaar, they used a less populated street free of carts and stands to travel to the tower. Mingi knew the city like the back of his hand, and he was excited to point out how their canal system fed the greens of their sandy oasis and how other travellers had marvelled at the colourful bricks lacing the city wall. Wooyoung listened in awe and agreed with everything the other man said. He would miss Babylon. Visiting the few archaeological ruins of Babylon in his day would serve only as a tragic reminder of the fallen metropolis.

"It's not the right moon for us to witness the religious rites in the temple, but I can show you how prayers work for us. Then again, you also showed little interest in our magnificent banquets. Are you by any chance a runaway slave?" Mingi eyed Wooyoung warily, but no threat crossed his brows. Even if Wooyoung were, he wouldn't refuse him.

"I'm neither a eunuch nor a slave," Wooyoung assured him. "My beliefs merely include a different take on intimacy. Not that I shun your culture."

Mingi looked at him funny, but he nodded still.

"You better not tell that anyone else. We regard the junction of people as a gift of Ishtar. Denying it means denying her grace. She blessed us with the ability to pleasure each other and use it to our joy."

Explaining the concept of rape to Mingi would have been a lost cause. So instead, Wooyoung acknowledged that information.

"As long as you all agree on that, I believe it to be a legitimate practice. The temple also has rites like that?"

They had reached the foot of the mighty building now. For the past few minutes, Wooyoung had watched it come closer to loom over them like a vengeful god. The sun made the stone of the ziggurat shine and fed the plants on the steps the building comprised with rich warmth.