The news soon returned to the Underworld through Hecate. Hades and Metis began their preparations for the wedding.
It was not a celebration seeking noise and luxury, but a profound, solemn, and mysterious ceremony befitting the temperament of the Underworld.
The wedding took place on the banks of the River Styx.
The Hundred-Handed Giants stood solemnly on either side, like silent mountains, using their majestic strength to stabilize the surrounding laws and keep out prying eyes.
The Cyclopes used precious gems and luminous minerals from the Underworld to adorn a dark and shimmering starry sky, illuminating the path to the heart of the ritual.
Thanatos and Hypnos stood on opposite sides, symbolizing the witness of death and sleep.
Hecate used her magic to construct a powerful barrier, separating the inside from the outside.
Hera was dressed in a white robe symbolizing purity and solemnity. Although her divine power had not yet fully recovered, at this moment she held the ribbon symbolizing the marriage covenant, her face solemn and sacred.
This was the first time she had truly fulfilled her duties as the goddess of marriage, and her heart was filled with a sense of mission and newfound strength.
Hades still wore the dark armor of Hades, but restrained all coercion, appearing calm and majestic.
Metis had changed from her usual aqua-blue gauze skirt into a dark purple gown woven from the night dew of the Underworld and starlight. Her long hair was gathered up, adorned with luminous flowers, and her wise eyes flowed with the care and satisfaction of this moment.
Witnessed by the solemn flowing waters of the Styx, Hades exchanged vows with Metis in the clear and powerful sacred invocation of Hera.
Their vows were not fiery words of love, but a divine resonance based on wisdom, loyalty, and shared ideals, as well as a firm commitment to jointly govern the Underworld, maintain order, and remain together forever.
When Hera wrapped their wrists with the golden ribbon symbolizing union and proclaimed to the world: "With the priesthood of marriage and family, I, Hera, witness and bless this eternal covenant! From this day forth, Hades and Metis shall be halves of each other, sharing the darkness, their fates bound until the end of law!"
Boom!!
An invisible and great power of law arrived with a roar!
Not only the Underworld, but the entire world of Chaos felt it. The concepts of 'marriage' and 'family' were strengthened and clarified as never before!
Hera's entire body burst forth with brilliant divine light, and her originally weak divine power seemed to be poured into a river.
Her divinity rejoiced, surged, and was generously nourished and advanced by this symbolic ceremony!
She felt her power recovering and surpassing at an unprecedented speed!
At the same time, Hades and Metis also felt a deeper connection with each other. Their divinities, witnessed by the law of marriage, created an astonishing resonance and mutual assistance effect, and the order of the Underworld became more stable.
The last trace of anxiety in Metis's eyes completely disappeared, replaced by a firm sense of belonging, recognized by the laws of the world.
This wedding in the Underworld did not invite the gods of Olympus, yet it silently altered the balance of many forces.
Hera gained new power and a covenant with the future; Metis experienced the confirmation and security she craved;
Hades, on the other hand, further consolidated the core of the Underworld and planted more seeds that would influence the future.
When the ceremony ended, Hera was no longer an insignificant and awkward goddess.
She felt the power of her marital authority surge within her body, and also recalled the opportunity given to her by the pair from the Underworld.
At the same time, in the depths of Hades, Hades and Metis stood side by side, gazing at the illusory 'starry sky'.
"Are you at peace now? My Queen of the Underworld," Hades asked quietly.
Metis placed her hand in his palm, feeling the coolness and the promise hidden within, and smiled slightly. In this smile, there was no haze, only wisdom and satisfaction: "Eternity is not easy, my Hades. But I have... an anchor to face any difficulty."
At this moment, she and Hades seemed truly fused into two indispensable halves of the Underworld, sharing power and eternity.
The golden ribbon tied by Hera's own hands was like the most solid chain of law, firmly binding her fate with his, dispelling some of the anxiety caused by Zeus's romantic affairs.
However, this calm did not last long.
When the afterglow of the wedding had not yet fully faded, Hades conducted a deeper private conversation with Hera, the goddess of marriage, who now had a new appearance and surging divine power, for strategic considerations.
They stood by the tributaries of the Styx, discussing the future pantheon and Hera's potential role within it.
Hades valued Hera's solid and powerful new strength gained through this wedding, and expressed ample recognition of her abilities and expectations for future cooperation.
Hera, in turn, had earned long-lost respect and power, and showed considerable respect for this unfathomable younger brother, even exhibiting a sense of relief at finding a reliable support.
All of this was witnessed by Metis from the shadow of a colonnade in the distance.
She had originally come to inform Hades of the latest progress in integrating the Styx and the Dream Network, but accidentally witnessed a very 'harmonious' conversation between Hades and Hera.
In an instant, a cold and piercing thought, like a venomous snake from the deepest part of Tartarus, suddenly burst into Metis's heart and took root there:
Uranus united with Mother Gaia to create the era of the sky and the God-King.
Cronus united with his sister Rhea, overthrew the patriarchy, and established the Titan dynasty.
The first two generations of God-Kings, without exception, chose their closest blood relatives as queens!
Was this the iron law of the highest power structure in the world of Chaos? Was it an indispensable ritual for ascending the throne of the God-King? Was this ancient code meant to ensure the purity and legitimacy of power?
What if... what if deep down, Hades also aspired to the position of the supreme God-King?
What if his previous dormancy, disguise, and secret accumulation of power were not merely for clinging to the Underworld, but aimed at the peak of Olympus, which shines over everything?
If so, according to this 'tradition', wouldn't the partner he truly needed and should have chosen be his sister Hera, Demeter, or even Hestia?
Once this thought was born, it frantically absorbed the nutrients of Metis's mind and rapidly expanded.
She looked at Hera, the goddess of marriage she had just officiated for, talking amiably with her Hades.
Hera had regained her strength, radiated brilliance, and most importantly, she shared the same blood as Hades—the Titan blood of Cronus and Rhea!
What was 'I' in comparison?
An Oceanid, an embodiment of wisdom—noble, but ultimately a 'foreign relative'!
If the 'orthodoxy' related to the transmission of power from the world's origin was correct, would wisdom and covenant be ruthlessly abandoned for blood and tradition?
An unprecedented chill enveloped Metis.
She felt that the solid ground of Hades beneath her feet instantly turning to quicksand. The wedding just blessed by law, the golden ribbon, seemed fragile in the face of this cruel 'tradition'.
Hades saw Hera off and turned to find Metis standing motionless in the shadow.
On her face was still the calm of wisdom, but deep in those eyes, which were like the deepest ocean, darker and more turbulent waves than the Styx river were churning.
She did not speak, just quietly looked at him, her gaze as if silently interrogating, with an almost desperate vigilance.
Hades immediately noticed her anomaly. He approached her, a question in his eyes: "Metis?"
Metis did not avert her gaze from his. Her voice was very soft, but like a blade tempered in ice: "I was just thinking... Uranus and Gaia, Cronus and Rhea. It's quite a... pattern, isn't it? The union of blood and power always seems so... unbreakable."