Solar Oracle/Sea Change

:: Atlas Park ::

:: Outside Vanguard ::

The building didn’t look intimidating at all. It was almost too plain. He’d seen it dozens of times – Maybe even hundreds. Vanguard at one time evoked feelings of awe and fear in the young man, treading just on the other side of adulthood. This day, it was just a building that held his next step. And he was in the mood to make steps today.

Moments before he’d walked out of Bailey’s for the last time, having turned in his final assignment. With backpack slung over his shoulder the demigod, a proud drop-out, strode confidently from the Academy certain that he’d learned what he’d been meant to learn. Now he was pressing on and pressing into the next phase of his journey. He could sense the tides shifting around him as he seized control of his own destiny.

Seconds later he was entering vanguard, his completed and legitimate application file in his hand. He’d passed the physical exams, the psychological exams, and the preliminary placement exams. All that had remained was for the proper amount of linear time to pass between his birth and this day. He had to be eighteen.

“I’m Jace Bastion,” he said the woman at the recruitment desk who’s back was to him. “I have an appointment with…”

“Were we unclear on the matter, young man,” said the woman as she turned around to face him. “Joining Vanguard isn’t part of your path… It will ultimately destroy you.”

“Attie,” said Jace as he gawked dumbfounded at one of the three mysterious women he’d met only nights before. He looked around quickly for her sisters, but didn’t catch sight.

“Good work with the memory, chuck, do you want a bone?” She wore a Vanguard civil uniform complete with cap and sensible shoes. She looked almost ridiculous. “Now carry your cute little rear out of here before you get yourself recruited! And before I get nailed by my snooty sisters for giving you yet another warning! We’re the gods-damned Fates, after all! I’ve got better things to do than watch your ass…cute as it may be…”

“Wha… No, Attie, I’m not leaving. I’m joining Vanguard.” His whisper was intense and final. Looking around to make sure they hadn’t been noticed he continued. “I’m not taking any more damned advice from people. I’m gonna do what I wanna do with my life and that’s it…”

“Jace you don’t…”

“That’s it,” he repeated with his eyebrows raised. He made a cut off gesture with his hand to indicate it was indeed his final decision.

Attie paused and gave him a knowing smile. She tilted her head sagely and her grin spread even further. “You are like your father after all… We were beginning to wonder. And where, pray tell, did you learn this newfound hard-headedness? Was it not merely weeks ago that you sought out every voice in the cosmos to give you direction? How is it that you suddenly have your own? And how long will it last?”

“Yeah, so I was a little lost…ok a LOT lost there for a while. Can you blame me?” Jace considered his words before continuing. “Here’s what I know… Everyone wants to tell you what to do and what's good for you. They don't want you to find your own answers; they want you to believe theirs. I want to stop gathering information from the outside and start gathering it from the inside.” He touched his chest with his fingers and tapped his heart lightly a few times. “I’m making my own way from now on, Attie… Professors, mentors, magicians, and spinners of destiny be damned!”

Attie nodded, grinned mischievously, and waved goodbye before her visage coalesced into a fog of flesh and became a young blonde woman behind the counter. “Sir? Mr. Bastion?”

Jace blinked and shook himself to. He looked around for any sign of the Moirae but she and her sisters were nowhere to be seen.

“Mr. Bastion, I can complete the application process, but you’ll need to sign here…and here…” She looked confused and concerned that perhaps Jace was not quite all there.

“Sorry…sorry,” said Jace, readjusting his focus. He signed proudly on the dotted line. The young lady produced a packet of information and handed it to the young demigod. “So…what… I’m in?”

She smiled at him with a hint of flirtation. “You’re ahead of the game, Mr. Bastion. This application file is complete and ready for processing. Technically you are ‘in’, but there’s still the matter of orientation and basic training. The next orientation is this weekend and the next training is…” She consulted a calendar. “You’ll be flying out in the second week of August.”

Jace beamed and looked down at the Vanguard emblem on his welcome packet. “So…say I needed to fly off to like…Turkey for a few days… I’m free to do that?”

The young lady looked pleasantly perplexed and chuckled at Jace. “Sure…if that’s what you wanted to do… You’re not owned by Vanguard until after basic. After that, however, things will change. As you might imagine.”

“Cool…” said Jace with a new intensity. His eyes narrowed and he turned for the exit. “Gotta pack for Turkey, then. Later, ma’am!”

And Jace Bastion pointed himself for The Komturei. “I wonder how long it takes to fly to Turkey,” he muttered to himself as he left the building and entered the bright sunlit day.

Themesong...

OOC Note: Generally a post or idea for a post will spark a song for me to write. In this case, this song sparked a direction for the character, thus this post. Good song. Good message. Good band. Check em out. (currently the link is SME protected. follow to youtube if you wanna...I'll work on a rip of my own in the meantime)