[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/2PJBa5R.jpg?1[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/FJSheJ4.jpg?1[/img] [i][h1][color=0076a3]Alec[/color] & [color=0076a3]Zeus[/color][/h1][/i][/center] [center][i]A throne of thunder and marble. A storm rages, clouds crashing with the drums of thunder overhead, illuminated from within by arcs of power. A man, wielding bronzed lightning, with eyes that see the heavens, the flash of electricity behind his gaze, dancing as sparks within his dark and tangled beard. Static, tingling the tips of fingers and toes, creeping its way up the spine and to chattering teeth. The scent of burning ozone, threatening to nauseate, to make the world spin and tumble out of control. A voice, roaring with the sound of a typhoon. [color=0076a3][b]"Do you see the storm, just over the horizon?"[/b][/color] [color=0076a3]"No."[/color] [color=0076a3][b]"Do you see the change it heralds?"[/b] "I don't want to." [b]"But you must. Watch. Watch behind the sky, within the clouds. Feel the direction the wind changes."[/b] "I... I don't want to. Stop." [b]"It is coming, boy. It is a duty undeniable."[/b] "Please, stop. Please... I want to go home. I don't want to see." [b]"You must, and you shall. It is our Fate."[/b] "How do you know?" [b]"I do not. I simply understand."[/b] "No. No, I won't see!" [b]"Face it, child..."[/b] "No!"[/color] The deafening explosion of thunder, cracking through the flesh and the bone and cutting through the mind, delving into the thoughts, the will, the soul. [color=0076a3][b]"... For it is already here."[/b][/color] And then the Sky came down as he screamed.[/i] --- [/center] The throbbing behind his eyes is what woke him up. The pain, Alec figured, ranked somewhere in the top five of his entire life, including the time he was 8-years-old and fractured his collarbone and humerus going downhill on a rickety bike. It made him nauseous for the first few seconds, and he refused to open his eyes. Motes of light flickered in the darkness behind his eyelids, and he felt the gentle warmth of the sun on his skin. His mind was foggy, clouded; he couldn't remember why he was here, what he was doing. He reached down, deep inside the mist of his memories, snaking through the dust and grasping for something; a thought, a conclusion, a reason. An image of his father, a beer between the two of them, an awkward smile shared between two men who might as well have been strangers. The creak of a door opening and closing, sounds of feet walking against pavement, [i]tap-tap[/i], on soft grass and dirt. He remembered walking up the incline, sitting on the edge of a plain, the rushing power of a train only a dozen or so feet behind him. He'd come up here, alone, to think on his future, his purpose. He felt anger, frustration. Sadness. He felt alone. The sight of all the little homes and houses, the businesses and buildings plopped into the middle of nowhere as if by the hand of God, bordered all around by green and brown, swathes of nature threatening to swallow up the little patch of civilisation. And the sun, so high up, big and bright and beautiful, an ever-burning flame that wrapped those beneath in its comforting glow. Alec came here to quiet his thoughts, to gather a spark of inspiration, a sign of what he was meant for. And then the sky disappeared. Followed by the sun, the land, the little homes and the grassy knolls and the parks, all swallowed up in darkness, before the world itself had simply just vanished... "'Ey, son," came a voice from beside him, blurted with such an urgency that almost made Alec jump out of his skin. "Are you... Are you awake?" Alec forced his eyes open, bringing up a hand to create shade against a bright high-noon sun. Odd, he was sure it was later in the afternoon when he'd left... "Son," came the voice again, and this time Alec saw its source, a grizzled old man wearing too much denim and a wispy beard. "Oh, my Lord, you're awake. I... I can't believe it." [color=0076a3]"'Awake'? Uh, sorry, did I fall asleep? I... Is that a problem? Sorry, I was just--"[/color] The old man looked frantic, eyes wide and breathing heavy. Compounded by the grogginess of just waking up, Alec suddenly felt very uncomfortable with the whole situation, especially when the man pulled out a cellphone that was several generations old and began dialling a number. With that, Alec decided to stand on wobbly feet, suddenly feeling tired and sore and hungry all at the same time. [color=0076a3]"Look, sir, uh, thanks for waking me up, but I should really go find my dad--"[/color] he went to take a step before the old man noticed that the young man was on his feet, doing a double take before waving his arms in front of him. "Wait, wait! Look, kid, I don't think you understand. I'm calling your dad right now. God, Donna said that sitting out here all that time was a stupid, wasteful favor to your father, I can't wait to see the look on her face--" [color=0076a3]"Calling my dad? What?"[/color] Alec paused, a quizzical expression on his face. [color=0076a3]"Sorry, who are you again?"[/color] "I'm Paul, Paul Westen. A friend of your dad's, Peter. He asked me to come out here every day, watch over you, make sure no one messed about with you or anything like that while you were out." [color=0076a3]"'Watch over me'? What? What do you mean? I went for a walk less than an hour ago."[/color] Paul paused in his dialling, staring at the phone for a long moment before slowly, painfully, looking up at Alec with an expression mingling between shock and pity. He hesitated, as if he was attempting to find the proper words for what he was about to say, as if he were about to tell the young man the world had ended. "Son," he went to reach out, as if to put a hand on Alec's shoulder, before deciding against it and dropping it back to his side. "You've... Been asleep. For a long, long time." [color=0076a3]"What? I couldn't have been out for [i]more[/i] than an hour--"[/color] "Kid, listen to me, and take a breath. You've been asleep-- you've been [i]gone[/i]-- for a whole [i]year[/i]."