Goddess of Wisdom, Athena (3) Metis's Empty Place
Goddess of Wisdom, Athena (3) Metis's Empty Place
After my delightful time with Athena.
I lay naked in bed with her, savoring the afterglow.
"Athena, are you really not going to reveal your true identity?"
"No."
Athena smiled softly, her face buried against my shoulder.
"After you made such a grand spectacle of mourning with all those tears, it'd be strange to suddenly go 'ta-da! I actually reincarnated myself as your daughter!' now, wouldn't it?"
"True."
I had sent Metis off with tears.
The agony of that day was inexpressible, but seeing a man who had faced Cronus without flinching grieve so deeply over his wife's disappearance apparently taught the other goddesses a few things.
What did we gain from Metis' death?
First: that an Oath on the River Styx is more powerful than anyone thought.
Officially, Metis had sworn to love only me.
But it became known that Metis came to love her child more than me, and for that violation, she fell into an eternal slumber.
It became known that she bequeathed her physical body to her daughter Athena, and surrendered her soul and spirit to Zeus, to live together with him for eternity inside his mind...
Thanks to this, all of Greece learned that an Oath on the River Styx is a curse and a promise so absolute that not even the chief god or his wife can circumvent it.
—The penalty for breaking an oath sworn on my river isn't that severe! It's just falling asleep for nine years!
Styx herself was furious that her reputation had become so overblown, but since her inflated status made many Titans fear her, she had no choice but to keep her mouth shut.
Thus, the first thing we gained was the perceived severity of the Oath on the River Styx.
And second, I acquired the bizarre title of Greece's greatest Romantic Guy.
The man who sheds tears for his wife's eternal slumber.
This contrasted sharply with Cronus, who made his wife weep, and served as excellent propaganda to polish my public image.
"In truth, you were just crying because you were sad, but it got spun as if you forced the tears out to deceive everyone, right? Hee-hee."
"No? I wasn't sad. I totally squeezed those tears out on purpose to sell the Romantic Guy image, you know?"
"Hoo-hoo, sure you did. Tsk, that pride."
I cried because I chose to cry.
It was absolutely not because I believed Metis had truly died, vanishing under a karmic fate and leaving only a daughter behind, and I shed tears unconsciously out of sheer emptiness. Definitely not.
"But can you swear that on the River Styx?"
"Want me to lick your pussy?"
"It's a joke. If you're going to change the subject like that, seal my lips with a kiss instead."
Smack.
And so, the second benefit we gained: the title of Henpecked Husband.
And the third.
The legitimacy of Athena as the trueborn daughter of my first wife, Metis, and no other.
The Horae and the Moirai were born earlier, yes, but as the daughter of the first wife, Athena attained a tremendous stature among her sisters.
Though it placed her a step below Themis or Hera in rank, she would come to reign with immense authority over her generation of my children.
"The Horae and the Moirai wouldn't do this, but someday, there will be a child like that. A child who tries to steal Father's semen. A child who sees her mothers making love to Father and decides she wants to do it too."
"Hm."
It's inevitable.
With a perfect, magnificent, handsome Olympus Supreme God like me, it would be strange if a daughter didn't fall in love.
To be blunt, aren't Neptune, Hestia, and the rest all children of mine and Rhea?
From the perspective that Cronus killed all his children once, and from the perspective that I resurrected them, the title they should use for me isn't "older brother" but "father."
So Athena resolved, as my trueborn daughter, to 'control' her half-sisters.
"I, Athena, shall preserve my virginity against all other men."
Athena swore an oath as a Virgin Goddess.
She obtained the image of a noble and chaste virgin goddess, but she was now in a position where failing to protect her virginity would lead to catastrophic consequences.
Which meant even I couldn't touch her.
So she added one small clause.
"If any man is to take this virginity, the sole one permitted is Father Zeus, who granted Athena her maidenhood."
That was how Athena justified offering her virginity to me!
A. The hymen is part of the body.
B. The body is inherited from one's parents.
C. Therefore, the hymen is inherited from one's parents.
Hence, if anyone is to claim her hymen, it belongs to her parents—Metis and me!
'Thank you, Confucian teaching that one's body, hair, and skin are received from one's parents!'
I shall never forget the teachings of Confucianism.
And so, Athena publicly declared the moral imperative to preserve her virginity from all other men, alongside her secret covenant to give it only to me.
She would also travel the world openly proving her 'virginity' to all.
Unicorns!
It is said that unicorns, which revere only virgins, gore non-virgins with their sharp horns.
But since Athena is a virgin whose hymen remains intact, the unicorns cannot thrust their horns at her.
Accordingly, Athena decided to craft a chariot pulled by unicorns to demonstrate her purity.
Some unicorns even have wings, so she could fly through the sky as well.
In the future, a true virgin goddess will be born, but that's not yet set in stone, so who knows.
"Heh-heh, everyone would be shocked to learn the truth, wouldn't they? To find out that a woman they thought dead is actually alive, making love to her husband in their daughter's body."
"But you're a virgin."
"A virgin, yes. Heh-heh. I don't know what will happen if the others find out later... Ah, right. There's something I need to ask."
Athena's expression shifted, and she asked me with a serious face.
"With Metis gone, hasn't the time come to decide the 'principal wife'?"
"...Ahem."
I suddenly felt uncomfortable.
Since Metis had officially stepped down from the Olympian stage, the vacancy of 'first wife' and 'principal wife' had become a colossal issue.
If the first wife is lost, can't the second wife simply take her place?
—I must decline.
The second wife, Themis, resolutely refused the position of mistress of Olympus.
—I am not suited for that seat. I am an existence of the same generation as Cronus—an old figure unsuited for the Olympus Zeus will build as he opens a new era.
Having helped repel the Titans of Othrys and usher in a new age, Themis insisted that she should retire from the forefront and support from behind.
—Rather than an aged woman like me, a woman who shares this era with Zeus would better guide Olympus' young blood. However... this does not mean I am renouncing our conjugal bond. I will yield the principal-wife seat to her, but please do not forget that I, too, am Lord Zeus's wife.
—So you'll give up the mistress's seat but not the bed?
—...When you put it so bluntly, kyaah!
Themis is a good woman.
So I readily accepted her withdrawal from candidacy.
In return for Themis's beautiful concession, I repaid her with intense sex.
—Ahh, Lord Zeus, what in the world is this...?!
—Kh-huh, Themis's big-tit pussy is truly magnificent...!
—...I am so happy that you enjoy it this much, Lord Zeus...!
I shoved my cock between her cleavage and thrust in and out repeatedly.
Her tits had always turned me on, but seeing how I lost my mind over them, Themis was overjoyed that her body could excite me so much.
Splurt.
I expressed my delight by spraying semen across her cleavage, and Themis formally withdrew from the contest for principal wife.
And so.
The seat of Zeus's 'principal wife,' left vacant when Metis became Athena.
Over that seat, countless pregnant goddesses are now vying to become the mistress of the house.
Indeed.
"A showdown... no, a principal-wife showdown...!"
For she who claims Zeus's bed shall claim all of Olympus.
* * *
"This is a tilted bed."
"What do you mean?"
"Right. Beds are always tilted. Once Lord Zeus comes and goes... kyaah!"
The goddesses gathered in small clusters and giggled.
Seated together on a broad couch big enough for six, the laughing goddesses all shared one thing in common: they were all pregnant with the same man's child.
All pregnant with Zeus's child.
"...Seriously, this is beyond belief."
And Styx, a goddess who had recently and suddenly become pregnant with Zeus's child and joined this group, sat on a distant chair observing their chatter.
She had long been acquainted with many of them, and some even had ex-husbands like herself, but she had never imagined they would all end up thoroughly pregnant by a single man.
"Say, Styx, aren't you interested?"
"In what?"
"The seat of Zeus's principal wife."
"I'm not. Are you?"
"Yes."
Mnemosyne, a golden-haired goddess, brought both hands to her cheeks and blushed deeply as she smiled.
"Being united with the greatest man in this land is something I've only dreamed of."
"He's your sister's son."
"Hmph. That's irrelevant."
Mnemosyne puffed out her cheeks.
Why hide it?
She who governs memory is Rhea's elder sister, one of the six Titanides—daughters of Uranus and Gaia.
Even she, after coupling with Zeus, now coveted the seat of his principal wife.
Even though her sister Themis had already withdrawn from the running.
"That thing your sister said—wasn't it meant for you to take to heart?"
"I don't know. I've become a fool who can remember nothing but Lord Zeus. Ahh, my beloved Lord Zeus. Why were you born as my nephew just to torment me so...!"
"...She's lost her mind."
Styx couldn't hide her dismay.
But at her reaction, the goddesses merely snickered among themselves.
"Styx. May I ask you a question?"
"What?"
"Did you truly not want to be pregnant with Lord Zeus's child? Swear it on the River Styx."
"...That's."
Styx was rendered utterly speechless.
"I-I, swear on the River Styx... I..."
Her inability to speak made everyone burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs.
"Hoo-hoo, Styx, you're not honest at all."
"...Hmph! As if it matters. The principal wife is already decided, anyway."
Styx crossed her legs and leaned her head back lazily.
"Can any of you beat those three?"
"..."
Amid the silence, Styx shrugged her shoulders.
"See? The victor is predetermined. So—"
"Don't cross your legs, Styx."
Styx felt a chill as a hand settled on her shoulder.
"It's not good for the child inside you."
"...Lord Zeus."
Styx swept her bangs aside and immediately straightened her posture as Zeus appeared.
"What brings you here, Lord Zeus?"
"Ah, nothing special."
Zeus placed his hands on Styx's shoulders and spoke.
"I've decided on the method to determine my principal wife. I'm going with the method Athena suggested."
"Athena...?"
"Yes. She's a clever child, takes after her mother. Since most of you are gathered here, I'll announce it. Everyone..."
Zeus opened his mouth calmly.
"Seduce me."