The Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe (1)
Today, the Underworld was peaceful as always. It wouldn’t be long before the Goddess of Spring, who had left for the surface world, returned once more. Persephone… she held deep feelings for me as well.
As my thoughts drifted toward the Goddess of Spring, Demeter naturally came to mind.
Demeter’s request to look after her own daughter. To me, Persephone was still my niece… but it seemed I didn’t have the luxury to think about her just yet.
Right now, my surroundings were occupied by someone like the Goddess of Lethe, who had just entered with a determined expression.
"Hades! I… I want to go to the surface world with you too!"
"Pardon?"
I stopped my thoughts and looked at her, her silver hair fluttering. The Goddess of Forgetfulness wore an expression of solemn resolve, one fist clenched tightly as if she were heading into battle.
"Ah… that’s not what I meant… There’s a festival being held in Olympia dedicated to Zeus! I thought we could check on the humans’ situation while we’re there, so maybe we could go together…"
The festival held in the Olympia region was part of the rituals offered to the supreme god Zeus. It took place once every four years and lasted five days. Many gods often attended the Olympic Games to watch. During the festival, all acts of war or conflict were strictly forbidden, and even the wars Ares waged would come to a temporary halt. If any mortals violated this, appropriate divine punishment would follow. It made sense, since it was a rite dedicated to Zeus by the mortals.
"I’m sorry. I should have suggested it first. I’ll get ready right away and we can leave."
"What? You, Hades, first…?!"
"I happened to want to spend some time with you, my lady."
I approached the Goddess of Forgetfulness, who had frozen in place as if she truly hadn’t expected this. Looking straight into her blue eyes—mixed with doubt, embarrassment, and anticipation—I placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It seems I’ve been too indifferent toward you all this time… but I intend to change that now."
"Y-yes…"
I wondered if I might understand what love was if I experienced just a little more of it.
When we ascended to the surface world, we headed for the Olympia region where the festival in Zeus’s honor was being held. This place was completely under Zeus’s domain, so I supposed I should at least greet him while I was here. Zeus wouldn’t welcome a god wandering around the city while hiding his identity.
"Let’s head to Zeus’s temple first."
"You want to talk while we’re here?"
We concealed our forms so we would be invisible to human eyes and entered the interior of Zeus’s temple. As expected of the supreme god’s sanctuary, the building was enormous, and countless people filled the space. I wondered how it compared in scale to my own temple in Thebes. Considering that the Olympic Games were about to begin, the crowds of tourists, merchants, and athletes had to be taken into account…
"O great Lord of the Heavens, in gratitude for your benevolence…"
"These cattle here are healthy ones that I raised myself. I wish to donate them to the temple of Zeus…"
"I carved an eagle, the symbol of Lord Zeus…"
We passed the long line of people, moved beyond the human guards and priests, and went deeper inside. We walked past devotees who were carefully washing their hands and moving incense burners… When we finally stepped into the open area, the massive statue of Zeus revealed itself.
The statue of Zeus seated on his throne, holding a thunderbolt in one hand, was enormous—large enough to combine dozens of people. We passed between the marble pillars lining both sides and approached the statue of Zeus. The wooden frame was covered in ivory and gold, and the enormous throne was crafted from cedar and gold. The followers of Zeus had done a rather fine job depicting the throne of Olympus.
Thud.
I placed my hand on the throne portion of the statue and focused my mind. This was one of the places where Zeus’s power was strongest, so communication like this was more than sufficient.
"…Zeus."
"This voice… Brother Hades?! Why is my older brother in my temple in Olympia?"
"I came out for a bit to watch the festival the humans are holding in your honor."
"Ah… I see. I’ll tell my priests to treat you well—"
"No, that’s fine. I plan to watch quietly and then leave."
After exchanging a few words with Zeus, I removed my hand from the throne. He said he didn’t need to worry about the threat of the Gigantes this time, so he would observe the festival in person. He also spoke about Persephone, saying that even though she was his daughter, he was entrusting her to me… asking when the wedding would be… and that Demeter had recently begun to relax her expression while walking around Olympus. He shared all sorts of news. It must have been because we hadn’t spoken in a while, and he seemed to have been bored.
At that moment, the Goddess Lethe, who had been standing beside me with her arms crossed, called my name. Was it because of the human who had been watching us strangely from earlier?
White hair, a wooden staff, and an incense burner in his hand. An elderly mortal whose time to descend to the Underworld didn’t seem far off. But what mattered more was that he was the high priest favored by Zeus.
Tap.
"Could you possibly be… a g-god…!"
"Shh."
The old man, who had clearly sensed something unusual thanks to the blessing he received from Zeus, spoke up. I hated noise, so I looked at him and brought a finger to my lips. The priest nodded frantically. I nodded back and concealed our presence once more. To that human’s eyes, it must have looked as if the Goddess Lethe and I had simply vanished. I wondered if rumors would spread that other gods had visited Zeus’s temple.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
"Greetings, everyone! I will be overseeing this festival…"
The Goddess Lethe and I were inside a large circular stadium. More precisely, we were sitting in one of the spectator seats of the arena where the Olympic Games were held.
"First, we will perform a ritual honoring the great god Zeus! The offerings to be presented to Olympus this time consist of approximately one hundred young lambs and…"
The circular stadium was packed with people, and the announcer kept talking without pause. The Goddess Lethe and I watched while chewing on fruit-filled pies and dried fruits.
"Mmm…"
The Goddess Lethe, who was munching on dried fruit, looked somewhat dissatisfied. Perhaps it was because the surroundings were simply too noisy?
"My lady."
"Don’t feed me like that…"
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"….Ah."
When I held out a small piece of cheese, the Goddess of Forgetfulness closed her eyes and opened her mouth. She looked exactly like a baby bird opening its beak to receive food, so I placed the cheese inside. But once she had eaten the cheese, shouldn’t she let go of my finger?
"Mmm… Hades, you too…"
The goddess, who had apparently eaten either the cheese or my finger, opened her small mouth once more… and this time offered me a pie. Her face was flushed red and her hand was trembling, yet her eyes remained dazed. The Goddess of Forgetfulness, ruler of one of the five rivers that encircled the Underworld and granddaughter of Nyx, rarely showed any change in expression. That was simply the nature of the power of forgetfulness. Burning sorrow, fierce anger, even love that seemed as if it would last forever… when the memories containing all those emotions were lost, they would fade away like a dying flame. The faintness of emotion on the Goddess of Forgetfulness’s face was likely the same.
"What are you doing… hurry… ah~"
But that was only on the surface. If one spent a long time with her, it became clear that she possessed the sensibility of a girl in spring. She treated everyone equally with her dazed tone and expressionless speech… but I had realized at some point that she was slightly different with me. Was it from the time when we gods seized dominion over the world and I still bowed my head to greet her? Or because, unlike my wild brothers, I did not covet goddesses? Or perhaps when I personally rendered judgment for the first human entangled with a god and showed him consideration? Or maybe…
"Ugh… my arm is getting tired…"
"I remember the first time I met you."
"…?"
"It was not long after I had become the ruler of the Underworld. At that time…"
I closed my eyes and recalled the past for a moment. It was a very old memory. I had been inspecting the five rivers surrounding the Underworld. Since we had won the war against the Titan gods, I needed to learn about the Underworld that I would rule.
It was then that I met a goddess at the River of Forgetfulness. A silver-haired goddess sitting by the water with her head buried in her knees. As I approached her, I could sense the power of forgetfulness spreading in all directions.
"It is an honor to meet you. I am Hades. Are you perhaps the Goddess of Forgetfulness…"
"…Please go away."
Although our first meeting had not gone well, I continued to visit her, and as a result, we were able to have many conversations. Living beings that would forget even memories of themselves if left alone. Forgetfulness that swallowed the history of mortals. The Goddess of Hunger, Limos, would drive all surrounding creatures into starvation simply by existing. Gods could resist it, but only by continuously expending power. In a similar way, the Goddess of Forgetfulness inspired fear in mortals and was not particularly welcomed even among immortals. To be precise, it seemed she herself had fallen into despair.
Still, she responded when I kept visiting…
"We gods can resist the power of forgetfulness, can’t we? Wouldn’t it be better for you to live with us in the Underworld…"
"…Why do you keep doing this?"
"Because it doesn’t sit well with me to see you always staying here alone."
"For the busy Lord of the Underworld to come see someone like me…"
What had I said back then… Ah. I must have simply spoken honestly because I felt frustrated.
"This is also part of my duty."
"What…?"
"Helping a goddess who is shunned because of her power and feels depressed is something the ruler of the Underworld ought to do."
For the first time, she lifted her head, revealing a faint trace of emotion.
"There is no living being that likes forgetfulness. Just leave me…"
"…I like it."
"What…?"
After that day, the Goddess of Forgetfulness came to reside in the castle of the Underworld.
Returning to the present, I gazed quietly at the Goddess Lethe. I could feel a smile filled with my emotions naturally rise to my face.
"Why… why are you smiling, Hades?"
Her face as she looked at me also seemed to brighten slightly. It was a truly different change in expression from the beginning. Perhaps it was thanks to working in the Underworld for so long… No, that wasn’t it. I shouldn’t avoid it. I knew why she was acting this way. It was because of that emotion even Aphrodite found difficult to define… because of love.
"…It’s just that when I look at you, my lady, a smile comes naturally."
"Ugh… Here, eat some more of this."