Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

“Hecate, can he really succeed?”

At dawn the following day, watching Zeus’s retreating figure as he headed southwest, Selene felt somewhat unsure.

“How should I know?”

Sitting on a tree branch swinging, Hecate casually remarked, “If he succeeds, consider it as him teaching that Divine King a lesson for me. If he doesn’t, it doesn’t concern me.”

“I’m not the one prophesied to overthrow the Divine King. If anyone’s going to be unlucky, it’s him. At worst, I’ll just keep my distance in the future, and avoid going to land. It seems that, for the moment, the Divine King doesn’t have any way to deal with the God of the Ocean’s lineage.”

“Ah?”

Selene had thought Hecate was determined to confront the Divine King head-on and was ready to persuade her otherwise. But she hadn’t expected that Hecate was just speaking casually, with no intention of getting overly involved.

Yet, Selene couldn’t help but admire Hecate’s audacity in being able to make such decisions lightly; she had assumed Hecate had contemplated deeply.

“There’s nothing surprising about it; after all, he’s going to look for Metis.”

“I don’t like that woman. She seems approachable, but in reality, she looks down on everyone. Let him go see for himself what kind of advice ‘Wise Metis’ can give him.”

“The God of the Ocean’s lineage should be on his side anyway; nothing unexpected should happen.”

Perched on the tree branch, Selene swung back and forth, then leapt down from the highest point. Hecate landed on the ground, dusting off non-existent dirt.

“Let’s go,” she called out, “Let’s head west and see.”

“My earlier astrological reading told me I’d encounter a little surprise to the west. I thought it was Zeus at first, but now, I think it’s not him.”

“The astrology I did on a whim probably doesn’t predict anything about the fate of the Divine King.”

On the other side of the great sea, after leaving Hecate, Zeus headed straight southwest.

Previously, the two goddesses hadn’t really given him any advice. They had only told Zeus about the prophecy, the curse, and the Divine King swallowing his children.

These matters were widely known in Chaos, but few deities dared to speak of them openly; Hecate had no such reservations.

In the end, Hecate told Zeus that although she was a wizard skilled in witchcraft, she didn’t understand schemes and tricks. If he didn’t want to live forever in the shadow of the Divine King, he would need to find someone suitable to provide him with strategies to overcome the stronger foe.

And across the sea, ‘Wise Metis’ was undoubtedly recognized as the most intelligent of goddesses.

“Everything seems to be arranged, even if I hadn’t had this encounter; I would have sought out the Goddess of Wisdom because of the dying words of Goat Amalthea.”

“Maybe, as she said, the God of the Ocean has been watching over me all along, he was just testing my abilities.”

He claimed so, but whether it was his nature or not, Zeus didn’t like this kind of ‘test.’

Yet, reality forced him to accept it, as with his own abilities alone, he couldn’t think of how to confront his almost omnipotent father, the Divine King atop Mount Othrys.

“I hope the rumors are true, that Metis is indeed more intelligent than others and that she is willing to help me,”

After two more days of flight, as the sun set, Zeus arrived at a small island.

It seemed Selene had underestimated his flying speed, because it did not take as long as she said for Zeus to find the vibrant, flora-filled little island.

Looking around, unlike other places, the small island in front of him was covered with flowers of various colors, green grass, and many different land animals living on it.

These were all things Zeus had never seen before, and even Goat Amalthea had not told him about them. After all, even a wise goat could not traverse the ocean; it knew nothing of the silver beings created by Mother Earth and the God of Speech.

Seeing this, Zeus became even more expectant. A goddess who lived in such a beautiful place must be beautiful herself, and probably had a very pleasant personality.

Goddesses like Hecate were also pretty, but whenever Zeus recalled the phantom sun that had brushed past him, it dispelled all of his thoughts.

“Who are you, and what brings you here?”

Just as Zeus was engrossed in his thoughts, a gentle female voice came from the sparse woods on the island.

Looking toward the sound, he saw a beautiful goddess with delicate black hair and a slender figure. She wore a crown of flowers and a long dress woven from plants; at first glance, Zeus took a great liking to her.

“Esteemed goddess, I am a traveler from distant Crete Island. There, commanded by the last wish of Goat Amalthea, I have come in search of the Goddess of Wisdom, Metis.”

Choosing not to reveal his own name just yet, Zeus decided to wait until he met Metis. But before that, he did not forget to create a good impression of himself.

“Goat Amalthea was kind to me, it shed its ignorance through the Goddess of Wisdom, and entrusted me with the gift of its hide to Metis Your Highness, to express its gratitude. I am touched by its benevolence and thus have traveled a great distance to be here.”

Surprised, but even more so, admiring, Eurynome did not expect that a deity would travel so far for the request of a mere creature.

“You are indeed a faithful and noble deity,” she praised, “Sadly, my sister left a few days ago and it may be a while before she returns.”

“My name is Eurynome, daughter of the God of the Ocean, Metis’s sister. If you don’t mind, you may wait for my sister’s return on this little island.”

“Of course, my lady, it would be an honor.”

With a face full of surprise, Zeus inwardly thought the same.

He did not know what sort of deity Metis was, but that did not prevent him from getting to know her in advance.

If she was only known by reputation, he would merely treat her as a stepping stone on his way to meet the two principal Titans. But if she truly had substance, conversing directly with this ‘wise one’ would invariably make Zeus a bit cautious. Now, having the opportunity to learn some information from her sister was more than ideal.

After all, this goddess named Eurynome seemed easy to talk to.

“In truth, even though I have not yet met Her Highness Metis, I am already content.”

“To come to such a beautiful island and meet a goddess as beautiful as yourself has truly filled me with great joy.”

Zeus’s handsome appearance, coupled with his charming words, easily won over Eurynome’s trust. She didn’t even ask for Zeus’s name before leading him deeper into the island.

And so, before he had a chance to meet his fated first wife, Zeus had made the acquaintance of another. He realized for the first time that appearance and eloquent speech indeed made it very easy to persuade a goddess to stand on his side.