Post by jacen on Oct 1, 2010 8:10:13 GMT -7
Jacen walked up to the lake, looking at the trees reflected onto the water, and how the calm, gentle breeze affected the surface. He, he'd found, was always focused on such things nowadays; it came with his powers, he supposed.
Still. When he was young, living wherever he was that year, he never thought about the sea. Heck, his hometown was miles from it, yet not he was ever focused on it, ever aware of how close both it and the lake right in front of him truly were. He could hear the mental conversations of the breezes, and his cousins, the Nereids, if they passed close enough.
Now, after learning of his new 'family', he was still shocked to find how much they worshipped these uncaring gods, the rulers who dictated everything from their emotions, to their bedtimes, to the earth itself. People were only puppets, but there was no "Grand Design". He'd been Catholic all his life, only to learn that everything he'd ever been taught was wrong. It wasn't easy on a guy.
Jacen looked at the watr, how it sparkled in the afternoon light. Hmph. After so long in San Francisco, with Krios, he was still a bit scared of the dark. Krios, his "stepfather", was, after all, Titan of the night. Scary stuff, not the dark, he amended his brain, but what was in it. Many children, even himself a while ago, had always been told that there was nothing there. His father had assured him countless times, in fact, of its harmlessness.
Well, look where that got him, Jacen thought. And often, he'd learned in the past years or so, there was something in the dark.
To ease his mind out of this phase, Jacen played with a globule of water from the lake, watching the tiny colonies of algae in it swirl with his slightest thought. He briefly wondered if there was a god of algae, and decided against it; the gods were to ambitious to have a god of something that small, that useless.
On a whim, with a sudden thought, Jacen took of his shirt and catapulted himself into the water, the thin scar on his back protesting the movement. He'd gotten it, he realized, a year and a half ago. It didn't seem like that long; it seemed like but a month ago, he'd been whipped for his escape attempt.
The water, though, muted the pain, pushing it back in his mind. He swam with little colonies of minnows, and tried as hard as he could to purify the sometimes polluted depths. No, some part of earth would remain pure, without the influence of man, he decided. This could be it. Every week, if he had to, he would swim there, removing waste.
He created a small current, and laid on his back, floating calmly on the surface. He made a breeze touch his face, colling the summer sun a bit. Ah.
He continued playing with the water for the better part of a half an hour, until he rested on the bottom of a shallow sandbank, close to the shore, sleeping. He'd go unpack and see his dorm later, now it was his turn to relax. After all, when was the last time he'd simply slept? He couldn't.... couldn't even... remember.
Still. When he was young, living wherever he was that year, he never thought about the sea. Heck, his hometown was miles from it, yet not he was ever focused on it, ever aware of how close both it and the lake right in front of him truly were. He could hear the mental conversations of the breezes, and his cousins, the Nereids, if they passed close enough.
Now, after learning of his new 'family', he was still shocked to find how much they worshipped these uncaring gods, the rulers who dictated everything from their emotions, to their bedtimes, to the earth itself. People were only puppets, but there was no "Grand Design". He'd been Catholic all his life, only to learn that everything he'd ever been taught was wrong. It wasn't easy on a guy.
Jacen looked at the watr, how it sparkled in the afternoon light. Hmph. After so long in San Francisco, with Krios, he was still a bit scared of the dark. Krios, his "stepfather", was, after all, Titan of the night. Scary stuff, not the dark, he amended his brain, but what was in it. Many children, even himself a while ago, had always been told that there was nothing there. His father had assured him countless times, in fact, of its harmlessness.
Well, look where that got him, Jacen thought. And often, he'd learned in the past years or so, there was something in the dark.
To ease his mind out of this phase, Jacen played with a globule of water from the lake, watching the tiny colonies of algae in it swirl with his slightest thought. He briefly wondered if there was a god of algae, and decided against it; the gods were to ambitious to have a god of something that small, that useless.
On a whim, with a sudden thought, Jacen took of his shirt and catapulted himself into the water, the thin scar on his back protesting the movement. He'd gotten it, he realized, a year and a half ago. It didn't seem like that long; it seemed like but a month ago, he'd been whipped for his escape attempt.
The water, though, muted the pain, pushing it back in his mind. He swam with little colonies of minnows, and tried as hard as he could to purify the sometimes polluted depths. No, some part of earth would remain pure, without the influence of man, he decided. This could be it. Every week, if he had to, he would swim there, removing waste.
He created a small current, and laid on his back, floating calmly on the surface. He made a breeze touch his face, colling the summer sun a bit. Ah.
He continued playing with the water for the better part of a half an hour, until he rested on the bottom of a shallow sandbank, close to the shore, sleeping. He'd go unpack and see his dorm later, now it was his turn to relax. After all, when was the last time he'd simply slept? He couldn't.... couldn't even... remember.