The Forbidden Game

The Past Will Tell The Present

As Luna's words echoed in the living room, the orb began to shine brightly. It cast out what could best be described as stardust, above itself to reveal a white scene.

In an almost movie like way, it began to project the past...

A young woman with long curly black hair, similair to Luna's took over the scene. She wore a white greek style robe and had beautiful lavender eyes. She stood in the middle of a tranquil forrest, with a small waterfall and lake. She was surrounded by other women dressed like her and animals all around. It was a scene out of an old fairytale book with no houses or anything modern around. The woman was singing with the birds and Luna noticed she wore a flowered crown, like children would make, upon her head. A large white deer with a huge set of antlers on its head, came to sit beside her.

"Have you finished your morning walk around the land, Elafi?" she said to the deer with a pat to his shoulder.

The deer grunted and licked her cheek. The women all seemed to have a companion of sorts with them and it seemed this white stag was this woman's.

A loud bang interrupted the peacefulness of the scene and it looked as if a lightning bolt had came from the sky to hit the ground close to the forrest.

"Battle stations ready everyone!" the woman raised up her hand and the women and animals scrambled to get into position behind her. The stag had walked proudly beside the black haired woman and she stood tall as they approached the scene of the crash. There was a large smoking hole in the ground where the lightning had hit and as the smoke cleared, a man was seen unconscious. The man had shoulder length grey hair and was in fancy greek robes of sky blue and gold. He was muscled and tall. The women all gasped and whispers began to stir among them.

"It's a God!"

"Which God is that?"

"He's got to be one of the top ones, look at how he's dressed."

The black haired woman held her hands in front of her and her eyes shone a shimmering amethyst. Vines began to come from the forrest and lifted the man from the hole and carried him into the clearing, with the women following close behind. The black haired woman laid him on a bed of leaves and took a cloth to dampen in the crystal clear lake and wipe his forehead, never saying a word.

Some time later, the man began to awaken, his silver eyes as bright as lightning bolts. He looked to his left and noticed a woman with dark raven hair, laying ontop of a white deer as if the animal were a pillow.

'What a beautiful maiden..she makes Aphrodite look like a hag' he thought.

He got up from the bed of leaves and walked over to her quietly and placed a hand on her cheek. She opened her eyes and looked at the man.

"Are you the one who brought me here?" he asked her.

"Yes," was all she managed to whisper.

"What is your name, Nymph?" he asked her softly.

"Callisto," she said. The God smiled at her and from that moment, sparked a love affair that even the Olympians couldn't contain.

The orb seemed to have skipped as it laid out a new scene in the very same woods, but this time the woman was obviously pregnant.

"Zeus, I'm so happy, I think the baby will be born soon!" she giggled as she began to set a bed of leaves by the lake. Zeus smiled at her and looked around nervously.

"Why do you keep doing that?" she insisted putting her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry my lovely flower, I am just nervous I suppose. I just want to make sure you and the baby are safe," he said with a sigh.

"We will be alright," she said gently as she laid her hands on his. "This is a momentous occasion, this will be the first child ever born of a Nymph."

"And to the Queen of them no less," he smiled as he watched her move vines around the bed in a makeshift hut and make the flowers bloom around the doorway.

The sun was beginning to set and Zeus knew he had to get back to Olympus before his wife, Hera, found out where he had been going ever day for a year. He wrapped his arms around her and held her for a few minutes. She smiled and nuzzled into his big chest. He bent down to kiss her swollen belly, "I can not wait to meet you, don't give your mother too much trouble and come easily."

She laughed at him and rubbed her belly lovingly, "Will we see you again tomorrow?"

"No one could stop me," he said before he planted a kiss to say goodbye.

Elafi, Callisto's deer, had noticed someone else in the woods, watching the two lovers. By the time he ran to the creature with his antlers at the ready to attack, the creature had ran off on a golden chariot towards Olympus. Not thinking much of it, the deer remained quiet and laid proudly down beside Callisto.

"Finish your rounds, did you?" she said as she pet his big head lovingly. "I have a feeling a new little being will be in our forrest tonight, don't get too jealous."

The deer snorted and rolled its eyes at her, as if it would be jealous of something tiny and new.

The orb skipped to a late night with the stars shining brightly in the navy sky and the moon was bright and full. Screaming could be heard in the makeshift hut.

Callisto had never felt pain like this before. It felt as though she were being torn apart. She was in labor and this was the first time any Nymph had experienced this, no one knew what to do. They had seen animals give birth and had aided a few here and there but this was no animal, it was their queen. Callisto insisted on no one intervening and doing this by herself, the only one she wanted in the hut with her was Zeus and Elafi, but Zeus was nowhere to be seen.

Callisto was lying on the bed of leaves with Elafi at her head as a pillow to keep her steady. She panted between contractions, not that there was much of a between anymore.

"I don't know if I can do this," she huffed at Elafi. She wanted to burst into tears at the pain but also in anger for allowing herself to feel so weak. Zeus was not with her and she knew why he had not come tonight. Yes, it hurt he was married at first but it was an arranged marriage he was not happy with and she could live with that, considering she never thought she would ever be in love in the first place.

She screeched as another contraction tore through her, breaking her from her thoughts. Elafi nudged her shoulder with his nose, as if telling her she needed to continue to push. She nodded at him, done feeling sorry for herself and pushed hard. She continued this until the stroke of midnight, when the moon was at its highest and brightest, a new sound entered the magical forest never heard before. A baby began to cry. All of the Nymphs and animals gathered at the hut and when they peered inside they saw their queen naked holding a tiny and naked baby in her arms. She was beautiful, with black curls like her mother and pale skin as bright as the moonlight above.

After Callisto had gathered herself, she went to the lake to wash herself and the newborn in the cool water. Once she was up to knee level, she sat in the water and held her baby tight as she washed her with a cloth. The baby stopped crying to open her eyes and stare at her mother. Callisto smiled when the infants eyes were as silver as her father's.

"You my darling, are born both of Heaven and Earth. You shall do wonderful things my little star," she said as she kissed the infants forehead. The baby reached and grabbed her mother's long hair before yawning to sleep.

Callisto got out of the lake and dried them both with blankets before placing a robe on herself. She left the infant wrapped in a blanket and began to feed her from her breast, as she had often seen animals do with their new young.

"What shall we call her?" asked a Nymph named Daphne.

Callisto thought for a moment before looking at the moon above them. She smiled at it and looked at the tiny baby in her arms. "Luna, that's what her name shall be."

The Nymphs and animals cheered at the birth of their new princess. The tranquil scene only lasted a moment, as fire came down from the sky. Hera, the queen of the Gods, descended upon the forest and stopped in front of the Nymphs. Holding her head high and draped in golden robes, she narrowed her eyes at Callisto.

"Ungrateful Nymphs, how dare you sleep with my husband and cheer when his bastard child is born."

She began to step forward towards them and Callisto held her newborn tight to her chest. Hera saw a glimpse of the child before she was wrapped and saw she was a rare beauty, one that Olympus would have.

Hera was kind-hearted really, she would take in the child but she would never outshine her own daughters and never know of her real mother. She could marry her off when the time was right and be rid of her for good then. Zeus wouldn't allow the child to die but as far as he knew, this Nymph died in childbirth.

As Hera raised her sword, Elafi ran at her head bowed and struck her with his antlers, knocking her back a few feet. He bleeted at Callisto to run and the animals and other Nymphs went to war.

Callisto ran through the trees and bumped into Artemis, the Goddess of the hunt and moon. Artemis, who was happy the child was named after one thing she rules over and who had heard Callisto in childbirth held out her hand.

"I can take you to the human realm, for but a few moments, you can leave the child there and it will be protected from Hera's wrath. You would not be able to stay for your power is too great and it would disrupt the natural balance."

Callisto held her baby and looked at her pristine face sleeping peacefully. Artemis was asking her to make the ultimate sacrifice. "Yes, let us go to the human realm."

Artemis shot an arrow into the woods and a shimmering portal opened. They stepped through together and found themselves in a modern suburban neighborhood with many nice looking houses. Callisto was looking at them all wondering which would be best for her daughter.

At a brick home with a bright colored door, she could hear a woman crying softly, by herself she lived it seemed. She noticed a baby blanket and stuffed animal on the table she bent over and thought maybe she had lost a child. She seemed like she could use something to love her unconditionally, and little did she know how right she was.

"We must hurry Nymph," Artemis said while looking at the portal.

Callisto muttered a protection spell to her daughter and sealed it with a kiss on her tiny lips. The infant glowed a faint purple before she laid her gently on the doorstep.

She wrapped her once more to make sure she did not get a chill, slipped a small paper she had been holding in the blanket, tears streaming down her face. "Grow well and be warm, you are the most lovely thing I have ever seen, my little star....I love you..."

She pounded on the door with her fist before running off with Artemis through the portal. The woman inside opened the door and looked around. She heard a small coo and looked down with a gasp. It was a baby bundled up with big beautiful silver eyes. She picked her up and held her, when she did the small paper fell and in, what looked like greek writing was the word 'Luna'.

"Luna, pretty name for a pretty girl," the woman smiled kindly at her. "I think you're just the one I needed to help my broken heart." The woman took the infant inside the home to live with her new daughter.

The scene cleared and the orb stopped projecting its light.