Raijinken: The Past - 1. Act I Begin

Raijinken

Mt. Olympus, a few thousand and some years before the present

“What have you done now, Father?”
“Um…well…you see…”
“You know that if the harpy finds out, I don’t think that you’ll bee seeing the light of day for quite awhile.”
“Look, Athena, I can’t help myself sometimes. I see something beautiful, and immediately, I want it. You know how I am.”
“Yes, Father, I do know how you are. Unfortunately, so does she. Her fury shall be unimaginable if she ever finds out that you have been unfaithful to her again. Speaking of which, who did you cheat on her with this time?”
“Not who, Athena. What.”
“‘What’? What do you mean by ‘what’?
“It was an animal not a mortal.”
Athena pinched her brow as she sighed. “Ah. I see. Well, I have seen stranger happenings. At least grace me with the knowledge of what type of animal you have mated with. And how did you ever get away with mating with an animal in the first place?”
“I turned myself into a panther, as was the species of the animal. But it wasn’t just any regular panther, no, it was an extremely special one. It had midnight black fur.”
“Wait, don’t panthers have black fur anyway? What is so special about this one?”
“It also had pure white fangs.”
“Most panthers do.”
“It doesn’t matter. There was just something special about him.”
“A male? Well, at least there was no way you could get him pregnant.”
“That’s the thing. I used some of my power on him to make him able to conceive. And after I did that, I had…relations with him. It is now, as far as I know, pregnant.”
Athena’s eyes snapped open under her helmet. “Are you serious Zeus? Yet another child on the way…” She slapped her head in frustration. “I can’t believe that you would do something like this. No, wait, I take that back, I do believe that you would do something like this. But did you ever think about what Hera would to the child after it is born?”
Zeus was silent for a moment as he stroked his beard. He looked at her. “I know what I must do.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And what will that be?”
“The child shall be hidden, somewhere very far from here.”
“Obviously, and where exactly shall this place be?”
“Ah, that, my dear child, is a secret that is known only to me at the time. I shall tell you at a later date, however, when the child gets older as it shall need a guardian to watch over it and to keep my wife away from it. An oracle told me that the child shall do many things that will have an impact on the world as time goes on.”
“And how does this pertain to you how? Unless it does something about Hera, I would picture that you would have no interest in this child of yours.”
Zeus said nothing as he walked away with a smile on his lips.
“Zeus? Wait, where are you going?” He said nothing, and disappeared in a flash of lightning. Athena sighed heavily. “This is turning out to be a bigger problem than Aries. Hopefully, the child won’t be as destructive as him though.”

Eight months later, somewhere in the African rainforest

A panther’s roar echoed through the trees, followed by the mewling of a newly born kit.
Zeus comes into the clearing where the big cat was located. He looked down at the kit with a large amount of pride in his eyes.
He looked at the parent, and waved his had, giving it the ability to speak.
The panther looked at him, pure fury showing in its eyes, its face curled back into a snarl. It voice was raspy. “I will never forgive you for this.”
Zeus merely smiled down at the male. “I did not expect you to. I’m sorry for how this had to happen, as I would like to spend some more time with you. Maybe I will one day, though.”
The male’s snarl lessened. It looked away. “Well if I ever do see you again, at least you should have the privilege of knowing my name.”
The panther got up. He started walking away, and as he looked back, he said, “Aresh.” He then blended into the forest shadows.
The sound of an owl behind him caused him to turn around. Athena was there to greet him.
“So what are you going to do with the child?”
“I thought I already told you that.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Do you know what any of its powers shall be?”
Zeus looked down at his newest son. The kitten looked back at him with big eyes, its paws under its chin. He mewled quietly. Zeus’ smile got wider as the kitten reached to scratch at his beard. “I won’t know until I bestow his powers upon him. I do know, however, that he shall be able to transform in between a two legged panther, and a human. Beyond that, I haven’t yet decided.”
“I see. Well, I suggest that we should leave soon. The gods of this country didn’t exactly give us permission to come into their territory.”
“You are right, as usual Athena. Go home. I’ll be there soon.”
She nodded and disappeared in a flash of light.
Zeus laughed as the kitten scratched at his neck. “Well then, little one, I suggest that we should get you to your new home, huh?”
He disappeared un a flash of lightning.

Mt. Olympus

“Hera!”
The Goddess looked around, thinking that she had heard her name, she shrugged seeing nothing.
“Hera!”
Apollo, the Sun God, appeared in front of her.
She moved back a step startled. “What is it Apollo?”
Apollo moved his long hair back to his neck. “I wanted to tell you that I saw Zeus today.”
She was not impressed. “And of what concern is this to me? So have I.”
“Yes, I know you have. You just didn’t see where I saw him.”
“And this would be where, Apollo?”
“Africa.”
This did surprise her, her eyes narrowed dangerously, thinking the worst. “And what, pray tell, would he be doing in Africa in the first place? I know that this wasn’t just some formal visit to one of the Gods there.”
“Ah, how right you are. He was there to deliver a child, but not just any child, another one of his own children.”
Hera’s face curled into an angry grimace. She hissed, “He got another woman pregnant?”
“No it was not a female. It was a male animal, a panther, that he enchanted so that it could have children.”
She started to pace around the room, hands gesturing to air around her as she spoke to herself. “How in the Underworld was I able to let this slide by me without my notice?! I am his wife! How could he keep this hidden away from me for so long?” Her deep grimace grew into a sinister smile. “He should have known that I was going to find about this sooner or later anyway.”
She turned towards Apollo, who shriveled a little under her gaze. “Apollo…” Her voice was an acid sweetness as she said this.
His voice stuttered a bit as he answered. “Y-yes Hera? What is it?”
She sauntered over to him. “Could you do me a favor, please?”
“All depends on what the favor is.”
She laughed quietly. “Could you go and get Hermes for me? I’m going to need him to do something.”
He nodded and walked away, happy to leave the witch-goddess. He muttered, “I hope Zeus will forgive me for this.” And kept walking in search of the Messenger.