Solar Oracle/Ode to Flying

:: Mount Olympus ::

The Dodekatheon sat in council upon the Sacred Mount, each of the Twelve Olympians taking a moment to address the assembly. The Golden God Apollo watched, his ever youthful eyes taking in the majesty of the Pantheon in which he dwelled. Zeus, Father of Gods and men, listened to the petitions of his Olympian family, unmoved in most cases, by their pleas.

A moment of silence indicated that the God of sun, music and healing could indeed make his plea. “In regards to my son in the City of Paragon… I, Apollo, God of…”

“No,” echoed the voice of the God King. “The rules are plain and we observe them without exception.” He who calls sky and thunder turned his head to the next petioner, but Apollo did not relent.

“Father,” said Apollo choosing the rarely used honorific. “A simple gift is all I wish to bestow. And not by my own hand… The laws of Olympus allow…”

“Aegletes, how is it that you manage always to break the laws which have stood for generations?” Zeus, always flirting with fury, continued - his voice tempered by eons of barely contained patience. “His existence is, in and of itself, an affront to this council and the Delphic Code which you ordained. A simple gift, it may be to you, but what would come next? An incarnation? Immortality? No, Apollo! He wields too much power as it is.”

“A simple earthly lyre… That is all I wish to impart. Through any means that pleases this assembly…” Apollo’s immortal visage scanned the crowd, searching for an ally. He found one in his sister, Artemis, ever the virgin.

“Regale us with the tale, brother Apollo,” said Artemis, her voice light and ethereal. “Entertain us with a song of the hero and what circumstances brought you here seeking this boon.” Murmurs of agreement echoed about the great white hall. The gods always loved a story.

Apollo smiled and nodded to his sister and received her smile in return. Turning his head to his Father he waited for permission to proceed. Zeus settled into his throne and sighed a hurricane into existence. “Very well,” he said, easily relenting to the request. “Tell us the tale…”

Apollo produced a golden lyre from the ether and strummed a chord of crystalline light, instantly bringing a smile to all assembled, but for Hades. His velvet tenor voice rang out through the halls of Olympus as he composed and sang the Ballad of New Thebes…

 ::New Thebes, Talos Island, Paragon City::

Jace, carrying his black hardcase, ran headlong down the street avoiding pedestrians with little success. He muttered a brief but sincere, “Pardon, excuse me, my bad,” with each new shin he bruised or knee he whacked with the cumbersome case. He momentarily paused outside the entrance to Pocket D, and considered one more time whether to rush in and check if any of his friends or acquaintances might join him. But just as before, he decided he wasn’t ready for performing in front of people he knew. With a final sprint, and heaving the shoulder strap of his guitar bag onto his back, he ducked into Pandora’s Box book store. The bell over the door rang out and echoed through the subdued book store drawing the eyes of the patrons gathered therein. Jace smiled sheepishly and crept behind a book stand for cover. Moving around the periphery of the store, Jace made his way to the stacks of books near the register. Someone had prepped a spot for him to play as per the agreement made just the day prior. The teen musician quickly pulled out his old guitar, his one and only worldly treasure, and settled onto a stool to tune her up.

“So the rumors are true,” said a familiar voice near him.

With shock and apprehension, Jace identified the voice quickly. "Key," he exclaimed, his voice cracking a little with the surprise. He stared wide-eyed for a moment before rambling into a cacophony of confused queries. “I wasn’t…How did you know I was…but I didn’t want…”

The serene monk lifted a hand to calm the younger man. “Breathe…” His tone was comforting and full of authority as usual.

Jace did breathe. Quickly, but effectively, he drew in a long sigh and let it out as he deflated a little. “I sorta wasn’t ready for an audience yet…”

“Then do not consider me an audience.” Key turned to a nearby shelf and drew out a book at random. “Think of me as a patron aspiring to learn the finer secrets of,” he paused to read the cover of the book he’d grabbed, “Sexual Intercourse As A Portal for Demonic Possession.” The monk reddened as he read the title of the book again silently. “A topic I’ve always been intrigued by," he added seriously before quickly returning the book to its berth.

Jace chuckled nervously and enjoyed the rare moment of discomfort from the always-together monk. He’d known Key for only a few short weeks since the martial artist had moved into The Komturei, but they’d hit it off nicely. In fact, Key had been training Jace in the evenings – a new tradition that the young demigod quite enjoyed.

The clerk behind the counter caught Jace’s eye and motioned for him to get started with a stern expression. The teen nodded vigorously and finished tuning his guitar. He resigned himself to the fact that Key had somehow learned of the event and was here to listen. “It is what it is,” he muttered to himself under his breath.

Closing his eyes and trying to find a calm in the center of his storming emotions, Jace strummed his first chord. And with rapid rhythm he began his first song, an upbeat acoustic nonsense number he’d written about life in Paragon City and absolutely nothing. His resonant tenor filled the small shop and he sang with all his might…

As Jace sang, he opened his eyes to the smiling face of Key, his hands clasped behind him in his customary stance. His azure tattoos contrasting his fair skin along with his friendly countenance made him look both fiercely primal and devastatingly serene. Jace’s mouth turned up in a smile coloring his tone with a little joy.

Suddenly a thunderous crash burst through the front door and splinters of wood and glass sprayed those gathered in the store. Cries of pain and anguish silenced the happy song Jace had been playing and he fell off the back of his stool. Key fell immediately into a defensive stance, his eyes blazing with focus.

Tub Ci Tang entered the store through the gaping hole left in the front of the building flanked by a Tsoo Chi Master and an Ice Wind Warrior. He stopped in the center of the store and put his hands on his hips, his expression full of fury. “Key of the Order of the Sky… I will know what binds you to your power.” It was not a question. With a nod to his side, the Ice Wind launched a flurry of cold air toward the Immaculate Monk.

Jace reacted. Flinging his hand toward his friend, he thought of warmth and protection. Tendrils of divine energy danced around his fingers as a web of living fire crept up around Key’s muscled frame, protecting him from the icy barrage.

Then chaos ensued.

Tub Ci Tang launched himself towards Key and the Chi Master followed. The Ice Wind, buoyed by his cold currents flew towards Jace. Books and countertops exploded in the battle that followed. Drawing from the well of power he’d always sensed just outside of his perception, the teenager opened a chasm to the underworld and the monstrous tentacles of the Kraken immediately reached through towards freedom, binding up the Ice Wind where he stood. Turning towards the clerk and other patrons, Jace immediately followed his instincts and began drawing glass from wounds and knitting up torn flesh with his power. He healed an old woman’s mild head trauma and mended a broken arm before he began to sense his hold of the portal to the underworld weakening. He let it go quickly and the chasm snapped shut, allowing the Ice Wind to proceed unhampered. Casting a quick glance toward Key, Jace was reassured the monk was holding his own. Though fighting two on one, the tattooed Martial Artist held Tub Ci at bay while he engaged the Chi Master blow for blow. A crack to his skull, pulled Jace back to his own fight and he fell over dazed. The Ice Wind had lobbed an enormous cube of ice at his cranium and hit home. Jace drew on his power to clear his own mind and began casting orbs of divine fury toward his opponent as he worked his way around the periphery of the store. This slowed the attacker but he did not relent and closed the distance between them with one mighty leap. Taken aback, Jace fell over himself and cried out pitifully. His cry distracted Key, who got nailed in the temple and then in the gut by his own adversaries.

Lying on his back and looking up into the hateful eyes of the Ice Wind bearing down on him, the youth struggled to form a Solar Blade at his fist. But try as he might, he couldn’t summon the will to coalesce the energy into a weapon. The Warrior laughed at the youth’s attempt and summoned his own blade of razor sharp ice. In a blinding flash, he brought it down towards Jace’s exposed chest, but the youth responded by instinct just as Key had trained him, and rolled to his right before spinning under the arm of the Warrior. The icy sword sliced the boy’s arm, but missed anything more vital. Then flames erupted in Jace’s eyes and he reached into his power as his fists ignited in fire and he drove a projection of solar energy through the Warrior’s back. The enemy crumpled as the innocent eyed teenager looked on in genuine horror. He’d fought in a number of battles while patrolling Paragon’s streets but until this moment, he’d always kept himself from killing another being. The fact mortified him momentarily until a cry of anguish from behind him pulled him out of his self-involved pity.

Jace turned to see the Chi Master with his arm around Key’s throat and Tub Ci bearing down on the monk with an ornate dagger. “I will skin you for the tattoos… And I will know their secret,” said Tub Ci, a wicked smile glaring across his face.

In a blinding move, Jace launched himself from gravity’s control and flew toward the enemies. As he passed over his fallen guitar he grabbed it by the neck and swung it up over his head. Using his own inertia and strength he smashed the guitar over Tub Ci’s head, stunning the villain for a moment but halting the fatal attack on Key. Unable to halt his brief flight in time, the teenager barreled into Key and the Chi Master, breaking the latter’s hold on the former. Key rolled and launched a devastating attack of his own, his fists a flurry of kinetic energy ending the Chi Master’s existence where he landed.

The two young men rebounded and turned to face Tub Ci, their backs together and their defensive fists rising up before them. They stood frozen, eyes locked onto the arch villain. Vibrations of energy hummed off of Key’s tattoos as his own mysterious magic readied him for battle. Drawing from his friend’s example, Jace found the focus he’d been lacking and his fists erupted into two flaming blades, his eyes an inferno of fury.

Tub Ci, knowing he’d lost this round, lowered his own defenses and bowed to the two young men. “This time is a draw… But I will have the secret of your power, Key of the Order of the Sky.” And in a flash the villain was gone…

 ::Mount Olympus::

Apollo finished his song in one final verse celebrating warriors’ camaraderie between young men, and Ares’ eyes danced with sheer enjoyment.

His voice trailed away and echoed off divine marble.

The Twelve Olympians, even Hera, applauded politely. Ares and Artemis bellowed cheers of delight and even Zeus nodded his approval. “Very well, Apollo,” said the King of the Gods. “I give you leave to allow your muses to inspire the boon you seek to impart. But the laws must not bend… Inspire, but no direct contact...”

Apollo smiled slowly and nodded his head in respect before turning to leave for Helicon…

 ::The Komturei::

Jace sat on his bed with a mass of wood and metal strings piled up before him, his mouth turned down in a gloomy frown. He had very little as far as possessions went, and his guitar had been all that he’d brought with him from Texas. Now it was a shattered mess of garbage. Sighing deeply he flung the remnants of his instrument off the bed and onto his floor.

“Temper temper, young kit,” said Key from the doorway. He’d called Jace ‘kit’ from the initiation of their training together. Evidently it meant baby fox, but Jace wasn’t bothered by it. The doorframe hid most of the monk’s form from view, but his bright eyes cast a playful accusation at the onyx-eyed youth. “Anger without control consumes the heart and her ability to focus her owner’s passions.”

Jace didn’t rise to the bait and dropped his eyes to the floor. “Blah blah blah,” he said curtly. “And my heart's not a her! He's a him! Er...it's a him!" Jace sighed and fell back onto the bed for a moment. "Sorry for getting all bent out of shape, Yoda, but this really sucks.”

“I know,” agreed the Monk with a twinkle in his eye. “And since your guitar gave its life in defense of mine, I feel honor bound to repay the debt.” Coming around the door frame, Key presented Jace with another guitar. Gleaming silver strings stretched over cracked Brazilian rosewood of what looked to be an antique guitar. “It doesn’t look like much, but the pawn shop owner assured me that…”

“Holy gods,” cried Jace as he sat up quickly, his black eyes wide and his mouth agape. “That’s a Martin D-28!!! Don’t tell me that’s for me? Is that for me? Are you giving me this guitar?” His words fell out of his head in a flurry of excitement as he bounded off the bed and snatched the guitar from the barely elder man’s hands.

Key smiled and nodded serenely.

“Sweet mother of… I can’t accept this, man! This is too much…”

Key raised his hand in his customary gesture of quiet and Jace acquiesced. “It is a gift and it is my prerogative to give it. The only condition is that you tell me each and every time you are going to perform somewhere.”

Jace’s eyes danced and he beamed down at his new guitar. “Deal!” Without further debate the young man snatched up the guitar and flopped back onto his bed. Key turned to leave with a smile on his face.

“Hey, Key,” Jace called his black eyes full of light.

The monk paused and looked back over his shoulder.

“Just thought I’d let you know, I’m playing my guitar right now… Right here…” His mouth slowly stretched into a crooked smile. “Wanna hear?”

Key too smiled and he turned back into the room. Settling into the lotus position on the floor he nodded his agreement.

That night, music rang out through the Komturei deep into the night.