Eyes of a Warlock

Jace wandered almost aimlessly into his room and dropped himself onto his sofa. He kicked his feet up on the leather and just laid there - numb. This numb, however, wasn't a bad one. It wasn't destructive or pulling at his ability to focus. He actually felt more focused than he'd felt in months. This gave him an idea.

Lifting his fist over his head he willed his solar blade into existence with little more than a passing thought. It held, which was unusual. He grinned, which was not so unusual. But the grin was warm and authentic - unusual. Turning the blade back and forth he examined it like he'd never really done before. Somehow he'd missed how beautiful the divine, almost-flaming extension of himself really was.

The young man released the blade with his will and it vanished. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with his hands. The night had flown by and it was late... But he didn't really feel tired. He felt...creative...

Grabbing his note pad and pencil, Jace began scrawling some lyrics and a simple chord progression furiously. The past couple days had been...inspiring? The cacophony of chaotic confusion had coalesced in the onyx-eyed youth's mind around one individual. And although he didn't really feel clarity or comfort in regards to that individual, he did feel...more focused.

But focus without the will to make it move is vanity. And as he scratched out and rewrote lyrics rather quickly, he wondered if he'd have the will to make things move. Or even to keep allowing them to move as they had been. That question formed the inspiration for the song taking shape on the crisp white paper in his hand.

When he felt he had enough to start actually putting voice to the idea, Jace picked up his 1969 Martin D-28 guitar and started to strum. The young man was shocked when it didn't produce the sound he wanted for the song... As much as he loved his present-day lyre, the vibrating strings were too earthy - or terrestrial - for the idea in his head. He wanted something different.

Snatching up the barely formed song, Jace threw himself over the back of his couch and crossed the room to plop down in front of his computer. He'd downloaded some free software that might produce what he was aiming for. After a few minutes of experimentation and building familiarity, the young musician start plunking out beats and rhythms. And a couple hours later, after rigging up a cheap headset microphone and converting a few wav files...he had something that resembled the song in his head.

Jace plugged his computer speakers into the system wired into his room and let the digitized sounds fill the place. He had to laugh at the absurdity of the whole thing, but it somehow fit. When he heard the recording of his voice, he winced. Then he got over it. Then he sang along.

:: Mount Olympus ::

From high on the ethereal mountain, two divine beings stood next to one another and watched the young hero sing. Their hearts were moved by the young mortal's sincerity. Aphrodite, goddess of love, turned a smiling face to her half-brother and lifted a brow in mock accusation.

"I had nothing to do with this," said Apollo, god of the sun.