The night was quiet, filled with the soft hum of crickets and the distant sound of water drifting in from the lake. Inside the small wooden hut, a gasoline lamp flickered gently, casting a warm glow across the room.
Luna sat on the floor, small and still, her legs folded neatly beneath her. Her long black hair fell down her back, slightly messy at the ends.
Across from her, the old woman spoke, her voice calm and steady.
"Long ago... in the land of Truth, there was a woman unlike any other.
You know how in our land, our hair turns a deep blue after we graduate from the university... and the chosen Judges' hair turns a lighter shade. But the Goddess... hers was different."
"What did she look like, grandma?"
"They say her hair was a very light blue. Not like the others. Like the sky just before the sun rises... the kind that feels so quiet and beautiful it almost doesn't seem real. Or clear water—so clear that when the sun touches it, you can see the light within it... shining back at you."
"...Wow."
"And her eyes were even brighter. Light blue. Clear... with something in them you couldn't quite look away from. They say they felt gentle at first... but if you had something to hide, they were impossible to face. She could look at a person and see everything—not just what they did, but why they did it. With their permission, she could look into their eyes and see their memories—the truth. And once she saw it, no lie could stand.
If someone else was part of that truth, she didn't need their permission. She could summon them, look into their eyes, and see their part of the story too... until nothing was hidden. And because she carried the truth, no one could take her life."
"No one?!?"
"Blades would not reach her. Poison would not claim her. Even those who wished her death... could never touch her."
"...She's sounds so cool, grandma. She can see everything... and no one can kill her?"
"Yes... She was.
But... with all that power, there was still something she could not have.
...They say the Goddess could love,
...but she could never experience it fully."
"Why?"
"Because if she tried to hold that love... if she tried to stay close to it... they say she would slowly die.
Not all at once. Little by little.
As if loving someone too closely... was something her body could not bear."
"That doesn't sound fair..."
"Yes, because being the Goddess of Truth can be a blessing.
...But for someone who loves deeply,
...it can also be a curse."
Luna didn't speak again. She sat quietly, like a child trying to understand something far too big for her.
But something stayed with her...