The Sanctity of Knowledge

Chapter 12
Chapter 12

A shimmering cloud of dust suddenly appeared in front of Alexa’s crib.  Initially without shape, the mass of sparkling particles began to coalesce into a humanoid form.  Alexa’s eyes widened in shock and surprise as the specter of a beautiful, dark-haired woman materialized before her.  The woman’s eyes were closed at first, but as she slowly opened them a pair of black wings spread from her back, spanning nearly the length of the nursery. 

A single feather fell from one of the wings, slowly falling towards the ground.  She opened her hand and the feather floated into her grasp, as if its gravity had been reversed.

“Hmph, molting already?  Well, it is Spring, I suppose……” she remarked.  “Now then, who are you?” she asked, pointing the feather at the crib-bound infant before her.  “You’ve had business with Athena, haven’t you?” 

Alexa silently stared at the woman through the bars of her crib, weary of the latest deity to enter her life.  The woman noted the confusion on the little girl’s face.

“It was the shooting star you saw.  We use them as ‘scouts’ where I come from.  Instruments to peer into and listen to the mortal realm.  Your prayer for relief was captured and cast across the Plains of Astraeus.  I saw your memories as you plead for succor.  Memories of the Goddess, Athena.  So, I’ll ask you again.  What business have you two had and why do you seek salvation from her?”

Alexa remained mute, a look of trepidation on her face.

“Can you speak?  Are you able?  Please tell me that I am not wasting my time here!” she insisted, a slight smirk on her face.  “Oh, where are my manners?” she apologized, folding her wings back into her body and walking towards Alexa’s crib.

“My name is Metis.  I’m what you mortals call a ‘Nymph’” she explained. 

Something about the woman disarmed Alexa.  This “Metis” seemed much different than Athena.  Somehow more human.  Well, as human as someone could be with two giant wings.  Finally, Alexa took a short breath and spoke.

“You ith….Gaw….Gawdeth?” she cautiously asked.  Metis raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Well, we aren’t going to get very far if I can’t understand you, I suppose.  Here, allow me to help” she offered, touching the fallen feather in her hand to the child’s lips.  Suddenly, the mental block that Alexa had suffered since her regression was gone.  Her vocabulary came rushing back into her head, along with all of the grammatical prowess she had enjoyed as an adult.  She moved her mouth around and found that she could now form the complex shapes needed to articulate her speech.  The sensation was almost overwhelming, but Alexa maintained her composure.

“I said……I meant to say……..Are….you…...a….Goddess?” she slowly asked, relishing each word and syllable as if they were cold drops of water in a scorching desert.  Metis returned a satisfied smile.

“I had a hunch that you were afflicted with a curse” she said matter-of-factly.  “You’ll no longer have trouble speaking, mortal.”

Alexa returned a shy smile of gratitude.  “Wow, so you really are a Goddess?  I mean, you must be….you gave me my speech back!”

“Mmmm, not quite” Metis admitted.  “I’m something in between a mortal such as yourself and a Goddess” she explained, staring down into Alexa’s crib.  “And you?  You have the mind of a mortal adult and yet your body is that of an infant.  How did this come to pass?  Are you born of Pygmies?” she asked, a puzzled look on her face.

“No, I’m not born from Pygmies” Alexa replied indignantly, clinging to the bars of her crib as she rose to her feet.  “My name is Alexa.  I used to be a woman.  Athena turned me into…..this” she explained, staring down at her small body.

“Oh, I see, I see” Metis responded, her voice trailing off.  “So, Alexa.  What did you do to invoke Athena’s wrath?  What did you do to deserve this fate?”

Alexa looked up at Metis, who towered over her, waiting for an answer. 

“She…..she said that I offended her by being disrespectful of her gifts to the mortal world.  That I used her blessings to enrich myself at the expense of others.  I offended her and her temple.  Not just me, but three other teachers I worked with” Alexa admitted.

Metis turned away, smirked, then let out a chortle.  She lowered the bars to Alexa’s crib, inviting the child to sit down on the floor in front of her.  Alexa slowly climbed from her crib and crawled to Metis’s feet, sat down on the floor, and stared up at her.  Metis began to pace about the nursery, her hands clasped behind her back.  She appeared to be deep in thought.  She walked to the nursery’s window and stared up into the night sky.

“So, what do you think of the Goddess Athena?” she asked, in a tone lightly seasoned with mockery.

Alexa was unsure of how to answer.  Although Metis appeared to be sympathetic to her, she still wasn’t entirely sure she could trust her. 

“You’re speaking to an ally, Alexa” Metis assured as she continued to stare out the window.

“Athena……she…..I…..” Alexa began, her voice almost a whisper as she struggled to speak out against her captor.  She was terrified of what might happen if Athena woke and caught her speaking with Metis.

“Don’t be afraid, Alexa” the Nymph encouraged.  “I’ve veiled us from her eyes.”

Alexa swallowed, then spoke. 

“Athena is a cruel Goddess.  She’s not kind.  She’s not merciful or fair.  She delights in humiliation and shame.  She took away my womanhood and turned my colleagues into babies.  She doesn’t want justice, she wants captives.  She doesn’t want to preserve her ‘gifts,’ she wants slaves and servants to blindly obey her.  She just wants power over others.  Now, you answer one of my questions.  How do you know her?”

Metis turned to face Alexa, an impressed look on her face.  “Quite the honest assessment, I’d say.  Well, you answered my question, now I’ll answer yours.  You asked how I know her.  The answer is that she is of my flesh.  Athena is my daughter.”

Alexa’s eyes grew wide with surprise.  “You’re her mother?  But……where have you been?”

Metis sighed, raising her head as if about to speak.  Her wings fluttered and she took a deep breath, stepping towards Alexa.

“I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that I was once married to Zeus.”

Alexa’s mouth dropped open in response.

“Yes, that Zeus.  A word of advice, Alexa.  Never marry your cousin…it doesn’t end well.”

“Um……ok, I won’t?” Alexa deadpanned.

“Ahem, well, take that advice and do what you will with it” Metis offered, hurrying the discussion along.  “Anyway, I was pregnant with our daughter, Athena when Zeus swallowed me in an effort to eliminate a future threat to his power.  Athena was prophesized to play a role in that threat.”

“Wait, wait, wait………he swallowed you?” Alexa asked incredulously.

“Ah, I keep forgetting that I’m talking to a mortal.  Yes, he swallowed me.  Things work, well, differently in the world that I come from.  Just take what I’m about to tell you on faith.  It will make this easier.” Metis explained.

“So, there I was, within the bowels of an arrogant, carousing God.  Oh, and did I mention that I was pregnant?”

Alexa quickly nodded her head, enthralled by Metis’s tale.

“I tried to escape with Athena, but being within Zeus had the effect of accelerating her growth in the womb.  I gave birth to her the same day he swallowed me and within minutes she was a full-grown woman.”

Metis lowered her head, a look of clear sadness and longing on her face.  Her partially opened wings drooped slightly.  “I was robbed of my motherhood,” she lamented.  “Robbed of raising her and guiding her.  I never got to care for her, tend to her or nurse her from my bosom.  She never even called me ‘Mother…’”

Alexa looked up at Metis sympathetically.  “But, it doesn’t sound like any of this was her fault.  Why are you upset with her?  What reason do you have……”

A dark, nebulous red aura suddenly appeared around Metis.  A low, throbbing hum surrounded her, a hum Alexa could feel as well as hear.

“Oh, child.  I have ample, ample reason, believe me” she growled, baring her teeth.  Her aura continued to darken and the hum throbbed louder as Alexa scooted backwards towards her crib, frightened by the display.  Metis then paused and inhaled deeply, closing her eyes in an apparent attempt to calm herself.  The aura slowly dissipated and the angry-sounding hum relented.

“My apologies, Alexa.  The next part of the story is a bit of sore spot for me” Metis apologetically offered, seemingly embarrassed by her display.

“Athena was a grown woman, but she was uncovered, exposed.  It was not entirely safe within Zeus.  All manner of dangerous creatures, born of his subconscious manifested themselves within his body.  I had to protect her.  Using my powers, I managed to craft armor for her.  A shield.  A spear.  It was the first and last gift I bestowed upon her as her mother.  This was not an easy task.  It took every last ounce of my strength to manifest them.  I was severely weakened.  Of course, I expected Athena to stay with me, to stay with her mother.  Oh, I was so, so wrong.”

“What happened?  What did she do?” Alexa asked.

“Athena had no intention of escaping together.  She told me that I was merely a burden and that I was keeping her from her destiny.  She walked away from me, leaving me to rot inside of her father while she looked for a way out.  I called out to her and begged her not to leave me.  Do you know what she said to me in response?”

Alexa listened in silence.

“’You’ve served your purpose.  You can die happily, knowing that your daughter will live as a Goddess!’” Metis recounted, choking slightly on the word “Goddess.”

“I….I’m sorr…..” Alexa stammered, before being cut off by Metis.  Her wings now began to flutter rapidly, seemingly in agitation.

“Athena made her way up to Zeus’s head, banging her spear and shield together.  She made so much racket that he had to cut her out of him. Thus, she was ‘born’ of him.  Being his daughter, she was entitled to dominion over certain temples.  One of these was the Temple of Wisdom, the temple which she claims you defiled.”

Alexa nodded her head in understanding.  Metis, despite her beauty and power, drew pity from the little girl.  “I understand now, but……but what are you going to do now that you’re free?  Why come to me?” she asked.

“When I freed myself from Zeus, I fled to the land of my birth to regain my strength and power.  I learned that Zeus had lied to the other Gods about Athena’s true nature.  I sent an emissary to him, to reveal that I had escaped and also to broker a deal” Metis explained.

“What kind of deal?” Alexa asked.

“To give Athena back to me.  My silence in exchange for her return.  I want my daughter back” Metis replied, shooting Alexa a determined, steely gaze.

“But……she betrayed you….she left you for dead…….why would you want her back?” Alexa asked.

Metis stared ahead, a look of deep thought overcoming her countenance.  “Because I believe that her unnatural birth caused her to become what she is.  She was born within the bowels of the King of the Gods.  I’m certain that she was corrupted by his essence, his lust for power.  Everything about her birth was profane.”

Metis then turned to Alexa, walking slowly towards her.  “Alexa, if you help me, I’ll make sure that your womanhood is restored.  I can’t give you back your former life, because altered fates must remain so in this mortal realm.  I can, however, offer you a life after this is all over…..”

Alexa looked up at Metis, then down at her body.  She had prayed for a way out of this predicament.  Here was the answer to her prayers.  She still wasn’t entirely sure she could trust Metis, but what choice did she have?  Alexa extended her small hand towards Metis.

“I’ll help you, Metis” she promised.

Metis took Alexa’s hand, clasping it between hers.  “Then we have an agreement, mortal.  In the meantime, tread lightly.  Do not reveal that your ability to speak and think has been returned.  We cannot arouse Athena’s suspicions” she warned.  Alexa nodded in understanding. 

“Good, then.  I have a plan, but I must prepare, first.  Until then, behave as if we have not met.”

With that, Metis dissipated into the cloud of luminescent dust that she had arrived in. 

The next morning, Alexa woke up in her crib as she usually did.  Today was another day.  Another day as Athena’s baby girl.  This time however, Alexa finally had hope that it would be among her last.