The Gift of the Lethe

A River of Answers

Athena stares at the entrance to the room for a long moment before she steps inside. Her uncle's head snaps up from where he had been conversing with his wife at their long dining table, his gaze narrowing on her. Athena gives him a sly smile.

"Greetings, Uncle. I hope I'm not interrupting something important."

He tilts his head at her with a frown. "As much as I would have preferred to not have this interruption, it is not disturbing any vital matters. So, what has brought you to speak with me?"

Athena lifts her chin up just slightly as she watches him. "There is a matter I have some curiosity in, and I believe you would be able to assist me in my research."

"And this couldn't wait?"

Athena laughs softly. "Uncle, do you really think that I would be watching you and my sister just to know when the right time would be to appear? I apologize if I have come at an inopportune moment, and I can return later today if you wish. Just inform me of when."

Hades sighs. "No need. Now is adequate. What are your questions?"

Persephone squeezes Hades' shoulder once before she sweeps from the room, her dark purple gown swirling around her heels. Athena pulls a out a chair across from her uncle and settles into it.

"I'm researching the process of rebirth and while I know much of the information, there is some that has been . . . difficult to find. Would it be possible for a reborn soul to remember their past life?"

"That is why they drink from the River Lethe, Athena. So they can't remember."

Athena smiles. "Humor me, Uncle. Is there a way in which it would be possible?"

"Perhaps if the soul didn't drink from the river, but all of them do. The new memories that form as they grow in their next life also push out the past ones, making the river a precautionary measure. Without drinking from the Lethe, there is a possibility that the past could bleed through, but not fully."

"So if a soul had no memories in this life, they could remember everything?"

Hades is quick to shake his head. "No. With amnesia, they still formed new memories that would push the old ones out. Only the lack of new memories could allow the past ones fully in, and only without the Lethe removing their memories."

Athena nods, frowning softly. So Pallas wasn't able to form many new memories as Nadia, but she also must have drunk from the Lethe. So how does she have all of her past memories?

"Would it be possible for me to speak to the naiad of the river?"

Hades narrows his eyes at her. "If she chooses so. Would you like me to take you to her, or can you find your own way?"

Athena has to hold back her laugh. She can always find a body of water, just as she can breathe in it. Triton's gift to her when she was young has lasted many centuries, and it will last many more.

"I think I'll be able to find my own way. But I thank you, Uncle."

With a nod, Hades leaves the room to go find his wife. Athena goes in the other direction, letting the faint pull in her chest direct her. It leads in multiple paths of course, one to each of the five rivers. But over time, she has learned to get a sense of the different bodies of water. She can feel the warmth of the Phlegenthon at her back, warring with the frozen waters of the Cocytus.

If she were to travel straight, she would find the Styx. It brings the feeling of tingling points of pain, as if blades were pricking her skin over and over. To her right must be the Archeron, because all she can think of if she directs her attention that way is the memory of Pallas dying, over and over again. So the last river, the one to her left, must be the Lethe.

It feels of nothing at all. Quiet and calm, the only ways she knows there is a river there at all is the pull. Athena follows the beckoning thread through the dim Fields of Asphodel. Spirits mill around her, reaching towards her but not making contact. She keeps walking, focusing on the bright colors of Elysium in the distance.

She may be a goddess, but the fields can still confuse her easily enough. Elysium will work as a focus point for her path rather than just the pull of the river. When she gets close to Elysium, she turns slightly away. The river won't be inside, but just beyond the gates instead. It doesn't take her much longer to find, a slow-moving body of water that curls around the place like a moat. Athena stops at the edge of the gate.

"Lethe, can you hear me? I would like to speak with you."

A young woman steps out of the river, her ink-dark hair shimmering like the water she came from. "Lady Athena. Welcome."

"I have a question for you."

Lethe gives Athena a knowing smile. "About the possibility of someone retaining their memories after drinking from my river? About Pallas?"

Athena blinks, the only indication of her surprise that she will show. "Yes. How is it that she retained her memories if she drank?"

Lethe motions to the bank, sitting on it herself. Athena follows suit. "The Fates came to speak with me that day, when she came to drink from my river. Do you know what they told me?"

"What?"

"When she died, all those centuries ago, she wasn't meant to. Her string was cut short too soon. She would have lived, should have lived, if not for your father's appearance. Pallas was always meant to guide you, to be your companion. So when she came to drink, they told me to give her not a new life, but a second chance at the one she had."

Athena frowns. "But how-"

"How did she remember? She still drank, but I prevented my waters from taking much of an effect. Just enough that she wouldn't remember her time here, but not enough to make her forget her life. I suppose once she was alive again, the fates influenced her life just enough to determine the return of her memories. More than that, I cannot say. I hope that is the information you wished for."

Athena gives the young naiad a reassuring smile. "It was, thank you."

Lethe smiles back as she gets to her feet. "It was no trouble at all. Pallas was a sister to me, as all nymphs are. I'm glad for her. But . . . please try and keep her from returning?"

"Of course."

Lethe dips her head to Athena and steps back to dissolve into the river. Athena stands and turns back the way she came. Anger is brimming within her at the knowledge she has gained, anger that she tries to push down. Pallas was never supposed to die, and yet because of Zeus, she did. So much pain to them both and to Triton, and it was never needed. Flame flickers in front of her and a metallic scroll drops into her palm. She unfurls the thin sheet and reads the message stamped upon it, grateful for the distraction. Hephaestus is ready for her.

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What did you think of the meeting with Lethe? Do the answers make sense? What do you think is going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out