The basement was fairly well-lit, with bright, incandescent lights hanging from the ceiling at even spaces, a drain in the floor, and... it looked currently like something out of a horror movie. Bloody smears on the walls looking like some ancient, unknown language, a stack of cages on the wall, an electric stove with two pots of boiling water, cages filled with chickens, and... an aquarium filled with lobsters.

And in the middle of it all, what looked to be an angel, wearing grey sweat-pants, with white, feathered wings giving off a faint golden glow. As Eyeball descended the steps into the basement; wearing his standard chrome helmet and a more casual, light, kevlar bodysuit; still in black, of course; he frowned. "Is... all of this deliberate, or did my people kick out some lunatic and give you his house?"

Gabriel glanced up. "Ahh, there we are. Welcome! No, this all has a point. From the animals, to the markings on the walls. The only part that isn't related is the water; I prefer not to waste meat, so as soon as I sacrifice the animal it goes right in the pot to be cooked."

Eyeball shrugged. "Okay. I'll accept that. I've got a video of what Odin did when he conjured up that storm. None of it seemed to make too much sense."

The angel flicked his wings, droplets of blood scattering on the floor. "Well. He's Odin. He's the one who figured out how most of this magic stuff worked, at least, here on earth. I'm sure there's some alien version of Odin out there in a hundred different places. You'll find that most magic, no matter where on earth it comes from, is based at least partially on the work he did in Egypt."

"..Egypt. Isn't Odin from... somewhere in europe?"

Gabriel chuckled. "He pre-dated the modern concept of europe. Now. Why do you want to learn magic?"

Eyeball gently popped the seal on his helmet, setting it atop one of the chicken cages. "Combat advantage. Anything I can do to give me an edge, I'll do. If it involves enchanting an item, or learning to throw a fireball, or whatever."

Gabriel nodded thoughtfully. "Not a bad motivation. A dangerous one, but understandable. And for the most part, it would be enchantments. Using magic in the midst of a fight is... problematic. You need all sorts of preparation to do it properly."

"Okay. So... whats the short version? How does it work?"

Gabriel walked over to the cage of chickens beside Eyeball, setting his hand atop it. "Everything living has energy in it. That energy persists after you die, and, if done properly, can be harvested when you're killed. In the same way a circuit uses electricity to do something, runes can be used to focus this life energy to do things. The only real difference is that all of these living creatures have their own will and emotions that can taint the magic, give it a will of its own."

He smiled. "If I built a circuit to make a calculation, unless its broken, I put in one and two, I always get three. If I make a series of runes to project an image of the number three and feed magic into it, all sorts of things can taint and twist how it works. If I -think- four while I make it, and think two while I put the magic in it, it might come out four or two. If the energy comes from a particularly angry, hateful person, I might get a string of curses and insults, or it could just catch on fire."

Eyeball sighed. "So... unreliable? Random?"

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"Sort-of. Magic always involves a source of power, a way to focus it, and someone to direct it. Me and you, we have enough power in us already we could do a few minor tricks just by, say, carving a symbol into a rock, spitting in it, and poof, done. Like.." Gabriel reached back and gripped one of his feathers; and after a brief grimace, plucked it. He lifted his hand, drawing a symbol on it in the faint trace of blood from the feather... and held it up. The symbol began glowing a vivid golden color.

"I could do this, all day, every day. Just the rune for light, and some power, and just think... light. Since its on my skin, it will keep running until I erase it. If I put it on the wall... it will fade when the power does. Do you have the weapon I asked for?"

Eyeball lifted his old 10mm handgun from the holster. He hadn't used it for a while; but this was the weapon he'd used to kill Lightning, and still had a certain sentimental value; so he kept a close eye on it as Gabriel set it down on top of what looked like a simple stone block.

"So. The power for the glow came from me. The rune I drew on my skin was the focus. And, of course, I directed how I wanted it to work. By thinking differently, I can change it, without changing the rune..." He looked at his hand. After a moment, the color faded from golden and bright to dull and red. "Some focuses have power in them already. If you put a rune on them, all you have to do is pick them up, and poof. Starts working. Such as, well. Doing it to yourself. Or an object that has a great deal of life-force bound up in it, the way that the Empress did to her swords. She was able to draw runes on scrolls, or on her body, and activate them simply by touching them to the sword."

The roughly hewn stone cube the handgun laid atop had slowly begun to glow. "Annd... that handgun also has power in it. I assume it was used to kill quite a few people?"

Eyeball shrugged. "Not that many. Honestly, the rifle I used in the service did more. Though... this one is what I used to kill Lightning."

The block's glow was steadily increasing in brightness. Several distinct runes were glowing far brighter than the others. "Ahh. Well. If you'd had it properly prepared beforehand, it might have been something more powerful than Hiroshima. Thousands of lives snuffed out at once is a dramatic amount of power, but a Titan... is hard to quantify. Like Atlas imprisoned in the earth, just inconceivable."

Eyeball studied the handgun. "We'll circle around to this Atlas thing later. If it has power, great. How do I use it?"

Gabriel smiled. "Well. Every magical device is at its most effective when wielded by the one who crafted it. So.. I'm going to need to teach you how to properly carve runes. We'll practice, for hours, days, or weeks. And when we finish, I'll help you carve that weapon, and make something that will be absolutely devastating, both as a weapon, and as a focus to help you direct other spells. It took me six years to learn what I know, practicing night and day at the feet of the Empress. We'll get you the basics in a few months if I can get some good hard work out of you... and see where we go from there."

Eyeball pressed his hand to his forehead. "l...Don't know if I can do that. Sergei has me in the simulator for at least four hours a day learning to fly a godforsaken fighter, I'm dealing with our new agreements with Taiwan, actually having to do my job as Chief Enforcer for once...."

"Then I suppose you just have to decide which to prioritize. If this wasn't important to you, you wouldn't be here."

Eyeball sighed. "Fuck. I can't master this, and piloting, at the same time, at least not in any reasonable timeframe. Teach me the basics. I need to get someone on the Eyetech team to handle the more complicated stuff, but at the very least I can try to turn my gun into an effective tool against the Jotun."

Gabriel shrugged. "I'm certainly available. There's a gentleman who goes by Artificer that works out of the US, does great work making magical trinkets for hire who is far better than I am. Odin might know some good candidates, and I understand you two have met."

"..Not sure I want to hire my ex-girlfriend's dad to work for me."

"I can find others without that baggage. And promise you that the worst I'll do is try to find some underhanded way to get you two back together."

Eyeball shook his head in exasperation. Despite Emerald having made it perfectly clear they were done, "Okay. Lets start with the basic runes."