Forbidden Dalliance

Apollo… Called by many names, worshipped by Greek, Roman and Celt - God of music and the sun and healing… Archer Son of Zeus and twin to Artemis… One of the Twelve Olympians, the divine Apollo resides on the holy Mount, but was well known for his involvement with mortal man. For millennia, he guided those who made the pilgrimage along the Sacred Way through the Oracle at Delphi.

The Oracles themselves were beloved by Apollo through the ages. He guarded them and spoke to them and in many instances… He fell in love with them. Although well known for having many lovers, both male and female, he left the Oracles to their Abstinence in order that they maintain their holiness and retain their role as Priestess.

However, Aalisha Kalfas, a powerful Oracle at Delphi, drew Apollo’s eye from her youth. His love for her grew over the years as she was prepared to be his priestess. And eventually, once she became the Delphic Oracle and he heard her prayers and she listened to his utterances, the golden god could no longer hold himself from her. Through one night of passion they conceived a child…

Across the Sea

The Cult of Apollo reacted violently to the Oracle’s blasphemy and betrayal and swore that she must die. They threatened to cut the abominable child from her womb, but Apollo intervened, sending a pride of mountain cats to guard the temple until she could give birth to his prodigy. He then momentarily blinded the cultists to Aalisha and her child as she fled Delphi and eventually Greece.

Hunted by the Cult, Aalisha changed her name to Lisha Bastion and raised her son Jace in the southern United States of America. The boy and his mother lived peacefully for a time as he grew in stature and power. Lisha was surprised to find her son healing neighborhood children of cuts and scrapes or mysteriously mending broken wings of fallen birds. She kept them transient for fear of anyone discovering who they were. As he grew, the onyx eyed youth knew no other life than running from town to town and he was happy. But his innocent happiness was short-lived.

Distraught after having lost her role as High Oracle and suffering withdrawal from the euphoric and trance inducing fumes of the Delphic Temple, the young Lisha became a hopeless drug addict and lost herself in a chemical haze. Always searching for a way to reconnect with her beloved Apollo, she substituted one addiction for another until finally she succumbed to the abuse. As she lay in a fading stupor, young Jace held his mother crying out for her to open her eyes. He instinctively tapped into the power he'd known since he was a toddler and tried to pull her from the brink of death. She was gone, however, and the weeping child was left alone.

Young Jace, only a small boy at the time, was remanded to the state of Texas (where they happened to be when Lisha died) and grew up in foster care. Bouncing from home to home, family to family, the child grew into a teen. Though never abused or mistreated, Jace always felt disconnected. Having never stayed with any family for more than a year, the young man felt that he didn’t belong and struggled to overcome a nagging sense of isolation. Through all of this chapter in his life, he withdrew from his abilities and never touched them as an homage to his mother. His failing in healing her caused him to shun the powers granted to him by his father. He moved from one family to another until his sixteenth birthday.

Life Begets Life

Jace felt particularly close to one foster brother who he'd spent an entire summer with. The two young men became inseparable and bonded over music (they spoke of one day starting a band together), camping, hiking and soccer. Nathan, who was two years Jace's elder, became a mentor and confidant. A tragic car accident on a family vacation, however, left the family wounded and Nathan near death. Overwrought and reliving the loss of his mother, Jace cried out as he held the elder boy's bleeding and broken form. The family looked on in horror as their son began slipping into death...

But Jace drew upon the well of Olympic power that was his by divine right and light pierced the darkness of pain and blood. Nathan's body healed before the family's eyes and he woke, fully recovered. Overcome with emotion and relief, Jace kissed Nathan full on the mouth and was greeted with a kiss in return. Quickly overcoming their relief at their son's healing, the overly religious family accused Jace of witchcraft and demon possession. Their looks of horror and heinous accusations caused the young demigod to run. He decided that day that he would live no longer with any foster families and that he must find his own way.