After slightly calming her surging heart, Metis spoke again, firmly: "Of course I will bear wonderful children with Zeus, but that child will first and foremost be Zeus's child."
"He will be loyal only to his great Father-God, revere his great Father-God, and in the end become his Father's most capable aide."
Then the corners of her lips lifted in a cold curve. She launched her counterattack without hesitation, asking in return: "And what of the children you bore with Zeus? Are they, in the future, to become rulers of all beings as well?"
Her golden divine eyes narrowed slightly; a smile returned to her delicate face, though her words grew sharper: "Yes—you are the all-knowing goddess of civilization and memory, and after the first union with the God-King, you successfully bore nine beautiful children whom all gods envy."
"And the authorities of these children are almost those of guides over all the universe's civilizations."
"If more children are to be conceived later, they will surely be even more extraordinary. No doubt they will become the supreme sovereigns of all civilization, won't they?"
Mnemosyne's polite smile vanished in an instant. The two locked eyes for a beat and tacitly stopped arguing this terrifying topic.
After a while, the All-Knowing Goddess spoke again, her tone now flat: "Embodiment of wisdom, what business truly brings you here today? Pray speak plainly."
The goddess of civilization and memory's voice had gone calm.
The goddess of wisdom looked intently at the omniscient goddess before her and said slowly, "Respected sovereign of memory, can it be that with your omniscience you truly don't know why I've come?"
Mnemosyne answered softly, "I have no wish to casually peer into any god's thoughts or privacy."
"And besides, some things are better said face-to-face."
Metis nodded lightly; her waterfall of shoulder-length purple hair swayed smoothly with the motion, like an endless lavender field brushed by a light breeze.
She lifted her gaze beyond the hall to the boundless, pristine sky. Helios, who had just been sternly scolded by the God-King, had long since roused himself to utmost diligence and was inspecting the world with meticulous care.
Metis began, her voice airy as if floating upon water, her words unhurried: "Respected Mnemosyne, as sovereign of memory, you should know better than any god."
"Zeus—our love—he is so dazzling, and so deeply revered by all beings in this universe."
"And likewise, loved by every goddess."
"He is the supreme sovereign, King of all gods, God among gods, the benevolent, loving Father-God."
"He cannot control his magnanimous love, just as we cannot control being deeply drawn to him, willingly drowning in the sweetness of his love."
The All-Knowing Goddess, hearing this, felt it completely. She nodded slightly and listened in silence.
Many times, saying certain things aloud—sharing them with another god in the same situation—lightens one's heart greatly.
Metis's voice drifted through the temple: "To monopolize all beloved and beautiful things is every being's instinct. And love and desire are the most fundamental springs of spirit."
"Just as jealousy and envy are a nature no goddess can ever truly erase."
"But I am even more unwilling for Zeus to be unhappy."
"Because if Zeus is unhappy, then I am unhappy."
"Even if jealousy's poison gnaws at my heart; even if the pain of loving without possessing tears me apart."
"Zeus, my love—our love."
The goddess of wisdom traced a bitter smile.
A sigh, beautiful in its sorrow, slowly left her lips: "Love is, by nature, selfish. To turn a love that is solely one's own into 'our' love—what a bitter taste that is."
"And yet, I savor it."
"Because Zeus is my everything."
"What Zeus loves is what I love. I delight in what delights him; I love whom he loves. No matter the circumstances, even if no god understands, I will never abandon him, to eternity."
Mnemosyne looked at the goddess of wisdom with a gaze full of complexity; the more heartfelt the words, the more immeasurable the sorrow within them.
She knew Metis's thoughts, and could even understand this nearly self-effacing love.
But if it were her, she could never be so tolerant, so magnanimous.
At most she could refrain from attending to the other goddesses around Zeus, refuse to let her thoughts run wild, nothing more.
Her gaze grew heavy and deep as she looked at Metis, her heart surged again and again by Metis's burning, forthright words. In this moment, even she had to admit she could not match Metis's love for Zeus.
This goddess of wisdom had nearly cast off "self" entirely, turning herself completely into Zeus's thought and will.
Metis suddenly smiled, a smile laden with indescribable complexity, like the finest yet most fragile glass.
She said gently, "Dear Mnemosyne, I am the only beloved publicly acknowledged by Zeus at the Grand Convocation of the Gods, and to this moment, without question, I remain Zeus's only wife."
Hearing this, Mnemosyne felt unwilling within, yet voiced no objection—this was indeed fact.
Seeing Mnemosyne silent, Metis continued: "I do not wish to see Zeus unhappy. Nor do I wish to be cruel to the many goddesses who, like me, cannot extricate themselves from Zeus's love."
Metis rose suddenly. She stepped forward and took Mnemosyne's hands in her own—two pairs of equally perfect jade hands clasping together.
Her golden eyes looked with utmost sincerity into the omniscient goddess's deep black gaze, and she said softly, "I have already told Zeus with my own lips that I will not stop him from taking other wives."
"Perhaps none of us can monopolize Zeus's love. But I hope the goddesses Zeus loves can likewise have the legal title of 'wife,' and not be wronged with nameless labels."
"Brilliant, illustrious goddesses should not be hidden in the dark."
Even though Mnemosyne knew Metis's thinking, hearing this with her own ears still shocked her greatly.
She opened her mouth to speak but stopped, then did so again, and at last asked in a small, hesitant voice, "Metis, I'm astonished by your magnanimity and grateful for it—but why?"
At this question, Metis's face brightened. She turned her head to the radiant sunlight beyond the hall and said softly, "Zeus is the most stalwart God-King, the most dazzling God-King, the most immaculate God-King."
"Whatever he does, he need not skulk. He should forever act in the open, in the light."
"Even if it is to have multiple wives. Even if it is to divide his great love."
Mnemosyne watched Metis in this moment in silence. Waves of thought surged within her, but in the end she said nothing.
The temple fell into a long quiet.
At length, Metis gathered herself and smiled lightly. "Dear sovereign of memory, though I will not stand in the way, whether Zeus publicly proclaims who is his beloved—that depends on one's own ability."
"If in the end you still cannot win a public declaration that you are his beloved, well—there will be no one to blame."
The goddess of wisdom narrowed her bright eyes and said proudly, "And remember this—and let any goddess hereafter remember it: I, Metis, goddess of wisdom, am Zeus's first wife, and forever his first wife!"
"I am the one on top! Your future stations are bestowed by Zeus and me!"
Mnemosyne's swell of emotion vanished without a trace. Quietly grinding her pearly teeth, she fully grasped Metis's intent!
A daughter of Ocean—yes, generous and kind, and possessed of an absolute love for Zeus, with even a measure of pity for other goddesses.
But her chief aim was advancing by retreat!
She knew she could not stop Zeus from having other goddesses, so she took a step back of her own accord to win deeper guilt and tenderness from Zeus!
And thus to secure, successfully, the unshakable position of "big sister"!
Truly, the goddess of wisdom had a deep game!
The All-Knowing Goddess cursed several unrepeatable words in her heart, yet outwardly smiled coolly and resumed her polite, gentle smile.
In a soft, slightly theatrical lilt, she said, "Dear Metis, thank you for your broad heart. May you and the great Zeus also soon bear an adorable child."
Metis's lofty smile vanished at once; in her heart she, too, muttered several unprintable words.
In truth, though, the two had grown much closer.
She no longer pursued this pointless war of words and instead raised the other proper matter she had come for today: "Respected goddess of memory, Zeus has joined with my younger sister Dione and a goddess has been born."
"Since she is now a goddess who has a husband-god, she should not long remain in her parents' home. I wish to go to Ocean myself to bring her to live on Olympus, and I hope you will have your adorable daughters accompany me to receive her."
The goddess of wisdom did not know Dione's true background, but the All-Knowing Goddess knew it perfectly.
At this she only paused a moment before agreeing, crisp and decisive.
Though it cost a bit of face, it hardly mattered. Metis was yielding much more; this was a peach returned for a plum—a courtesy in answer to Metis's willingness to share Zeus.
Metis was even surprised by how readily the All-Knowing Goddess agreed.
In principle, for her as the lawful wife to ask the children of Mnemosyne to go under her standard to welcome a daughter of Ocean to Olympus was not very seemly for the sovereign of memory.
To put it less politely, it was almost a public bow of the head.
(End of Chapter)
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