The Basics
Full Name: Bailey Benjamin Raynes
Age: 17
Birthdate: 08/19/1994
Gender: Male
Godly Parent: Zeus
Personality
Favorites
Color: Blue/Gray/White
Food: Meat, particularly steak
Drink: Energy drinks, coffee, anything with electrolytes
Music: Pop, Alt-rock, (secretly) show tunes
On the surface, Bailey seems like little more than an introverted over-achiever. Some interpret his self-imposed outsider status as aloofness, him thinking heâs better than everyone else. Others see the tell-tale signs of over-extension and worry, since it seems that he carries the literal weight of the world on his shoulders sometimes. More still find him boring, and just donât much care.
He might have been one of the academyâs alpha-males. While he canât quite match the ferocity of one of Ares' children, or the raw intellect of a daughter of Athena, he comes close on both counts. Seldom the best in class, heâs always in the top few, and that combined with the power of his father makes him a force to be reckoned with. His Power Control in particular is advanced, and while he might not be the greatest at tactics, he does have a talent for identifying and supporting the strengths of other when it comes to Battle Strategy. Heâs also adept in hand-to-hand and with the copper spear he favors, both for combat and channeling his abilities. As a result, heâs quite confident in every arena but the social one, very difficult to rattle, and usually composed.
Instead, he keeps mostly to himself. Most of the conversations he does engage in wind up being related to one class or another, or the sort of light socialization that doesnât mean much of anything. He does a lot more watching and musing when it comes to his peers than actual interaction, and if he werenât so talented, heâd probably exist well off the radar altogether. Heâs quite neurotic, given to over-analysis of himself thatâs hopelessly misguided.
The few friends heâs managed to make were mostly by accident. A few were acquired as a result of his fervent anti-bullying stance. Itâs something he just canât abide, whether physical or emotional in nature, and heâs gotten into more than a few scraps on behalf of others. Others were just matters of circumstance; days when the stress, lack of sleep, or both caught up to him and he let something slip he didnât mean to. He isnât as talented at lying to others as he is lying to himself (in fact, he sucks at it, so most of the time heâll answer a direct question or just change the subject), so once he opens up, itâs hard to go back.
Contrary to popular belief, he does have a sense of humor. Itâs just self-deprecating and obtuse enough that most people have no idea when heâs making an attempt at levity.
Bailey is also a noted insomniac. Those boys unlucky enough to share quarters with him have to get used to the fact that he tends to come and go at odd hours, and that on occasion, he wakes up screaming from the nightmares that he never tells anyone about. Itâs sort of a mixed blessing; thanks to his stamina, heâs able to squeeze in the extra training and study he craves, but then again, heâs always tired, and at least once a week he has a âcrashâ day where he catches up on sleep and misses most of his classes.
Romance and Bailey are not on good terms. For one thing, heâs pretty dense when it comes to realizing he likes someone, or vise versa. Heâs a teenage boy, so the more lustful thoughts are definitely near enough the surface, but usually he fuels them into battle practice or exercise. Heâs come to terms with the fact that he likes guys, but is absurdly reluctant to act on those feelings in any way, and doesnât feel that itâs anyoneâs business, so only close friends are let in on that particular secret.
Thereâs one secret that nobody learns, though, and itâs probably the crux of his motivation, intricately tied to every aspect of his personality: Bailey knows heâs going to die. Not in the philosophical sense, in the not-so-distant future sense. He dreams about it on those rare occasions that he gets to sleep, pseudo-prophetically, but itâs usually different- a reminder that, even with the future constantly changing, that particular event is fixed in Fate.
It all started with a prophecy from a child of Apollo, and ever since, Bailey has been preparing for the day to come. It informs his drive to exceed (if heâs going to sacrifice himself, heâs taking as many of the bad guys with him as he can), his lack of personal relationships (the fewer who care about him, the fewer who will be hurt when it comes to pass), his insomnia (that oneâs obvious!), and even his romantic difficulties (since the prophecy states heâll make a sacrifice for love).
Overall, he isn't particularly happy (not hard to see), but he's driven, and has more purpose than most of his peers. It makes him seem older than he really is, and is probably one of the reasons he tends to get along better with adults than his fellow teens.
Similarites to Their Godly Parent: While he lacks the standard version of charisma, it's undeniable that Bailey has leadership potential. He's calm and in control at almost all times, and has no difficulty making the tough choices. He's also above the curve in terms of power and strength, typical of Zeus' progeny.
First Memory: Riding in a pick-up truck, watching a storm brew from the passenger side window in the western sky.
Relationship with Mortal Parent: He considers his step-father a hero, and now that he knows about his mother's past, is proud of her as well, for getting out of "the life".
Bailey was a military-brat. After his mother, a stripper at the time, got knocked up, she decided to quit the sex industry and shack up with an on-again, off-again boyfriend permanently. That boyfriend happened to be a Marine officer, and as a result, Bailey spent most of his childhood moving around. He didn't get to put down roots very often, and after a while he learned not to bother due to painful good-byes.
His step-father was hard on him, but Bailey learned discipline from that hardness and is glad for it. As he progressed from elementary to middle school, he had all the makings of a prototypical asshole jock... but for some reason, he didn't care to become one. He looked out for the little guys, and got into more than his fair share of fights defending others from the bullies he could so easily have been one of.
It was one such fight that resulted in him learning the truth of his parentage. He was sixteen at the time, and had earned himself a nasty black eye and a broken nose defending a younger boy. That boy's sister, who was actually a daughter of Apollo, thought to reward him with a prophecy... but when he looked at his thread of Fate, she saw only darkness and death, a sacrifice in the name of love. After that, Bailey began dreaming of his own death every time he managed to sleep. That coupled with misgivings over his sexuality culminated in a suicide attempt, and that was when his real father finally deigned to clue him in to the fact that he was the result of a fling between the King of Olympus and his mother.
Arrangements were made for Bailey to attend Olympus Academy, in hopes that he might be able to gain a better understanding of who he was. Instead, he opted to try to dodge Fate by closing himself off from others, that he might never love, and by becoming the best demigod he could, for when that dark day finally came.