Mystic - Unlike his grandparents, Ashton's magic is not actually dependent upon the paraphernalia of traditional "magic". His spells are a manifestation of his will and his demonic nature. The "incantations" that now just appear in his mind are actually nothing more than the demonic words for what he wishes to do, even if he does not realize that he is speaking demonic.
Elemental - Tied to his demnonic heritage, Ashton has the ability to conjure and control fire. The flames that he calls up is actually the very flames of hell itself. Fire, mundane or otherwise, merely dances on his skin, but does no harm to him. As a side-effect of his inner flames, his body temperature tends to run a little high, as if he has a slight fever, and keeps him warm even in cold weather. This does not render him immune to cold based attacks, just from being uncomfortable from exposure to normal cold temperatures.
Dark Whispers - Ashton can hear the thoughts of those around him or speak directly into the minds of others, when he concentrates, or sometimes when he is not, as he is still learning control of his developing "gifts" of his blood. His telepathy stems from his mystical power, which means that mental shielding developed to resist psychic intrusions are less effective against Ashton, while things to block magic is quite effective against it.
Faustian Music - Ashton has the devil's gift for music. After just a few minutes he can play any instrument as well as any master. Ironically, one might say that he has the voice of an angel.
Fiendish Resilience - As his demonic side started to develope with the onset of puberty, Ashton has become a lot more difficult to hurt. Physical injuries mend quickly. Weapons that are "holy" or made of silver, however, bypass his resilience. His hybrid physiology offers him no protection from psychic assaults.
Magical Senses - Ashton can feel the presence of magic. When magic is in use he sometimes feels a "tingle", other times he sees a golden glow on things or people that the magic is active on. Right now, he has little control over this.
Autarchic - Ashton is incredibly independent. In fact, one might even say, that he has a problem with authority at times. It is not so much that he has a problem following the rules, but has more of a problem being bossed around. Structure is fine, order is fine, just as chaos is fine, after all, there is a certain peace in a storm. At the same time, it means that Ashton is not easy to manipulate or control, it also means that he finds it a bit difficulty trusting people or accepting help.
Can't Pick Your Family - Ashton is not aware that he is considered to be little more than a tool by his grandparents and the various "aunts" and "uncles" (which are all members of the Order of the Gnostic Fire). He knows that he is expected to one day take charge of the family companies and holdings, but no fourteen year old, including Ashton, really thinks about that. In addition, he has a father who has been watching him from another dimension, watching to see what his mortal, well mostly mortal, son will become.
Devil's Spawn - Ashton is half demon. Things designed to work against demons affect him. Binding circles, warded against demons, will hold him in place. Due to the fact that Ashton is half-demon, demons recognize Ashton as one of their own and act accordingly.
The Beast Within - Like many demons, Ashton is a creature of passions. When he loses his temper, he is more likely to lose control of his power. When he calls forth bale fire, his demonic heritage tries to assert itself. If he can be calmed, he can regain control of himself and his power. Ironically, one of the gifts from his demonic heritage is his gift with music. Often music can calm Ashton down.
Reginald and Vivian Talbot are members of a group of power-hungry would-be self-titled sorcerers and mystics that call themselves the Order of the Gnostic Fire. Most of the "Order" are little more than rich men and women who play with the occult; others, such as Reginald, have a minuscule amount of actual power. Reginald claims that his family has been practitioners of the crafts dating back to the sixteenth century. When their daughter, Evelyn, had reached her sixteenth year, they intended on using her as a sacrifice in order to summon a demon to bind it to their will. So in a dark ritual, the elite members of the Order gathered in robes and summoned a demon. In their pride and arrogance, they thought that they were in control of the situation. The demon prince was amused, but instead of taking the girl's life, he ravished her, leaving her alive but emotionally scarred. It then departed before they even had the opportunity to dismiss it.
Nine months later, Evelyn gave birth to a baby boy. She released her last breath as the world heard his first cry. They had half-expected the baby to be born with cloven hooves or horns or a tail, but instead they had an absolutely beautiful grandson. Throughout his childhood, Reginald and Vivian watched for signs of the child was more than just human, but saw nothing. What they saw was an almost angelic looking boy born with an amazing musical gift that could possibly easily rival Mozart or Paganini. They raised him as if they were doting grandparents, providing him with every luxury that money could buy. He was their only heir to their fortune and legacy. When Ashton grew old enough to ask about his father, they told him that he was a boy that his mother was in love with and that when she told him that she was pregnant with his baby, he denied being the father and wanted nothing to do with him once he was born.
Throughout his childhood, Ashton showed an incredible independent streak and at times perhaps too much willfulness. Never forgetting that their grandson was half-demon, Reginald and Vivian started hedging their bets and experimenting. They discovered that if they slipped a little bit of holy water into his drinks that he would fall slightly ill and that spells geared specifically to work against demons seemed to affect the boy as well. So when they wanted to, they would "poison" Ashton to keep him a little sickly, all the while grooming him to carry own their name as they had been unable to have another child. Having a grandchild that seemed to be a musical child prodigy certainly didn't hurt their ego either.
With puberty, Ashton's life started to change. In more ways than the normal. The normal cuts and bruises normally associated with youth would disappear almost as quickly as they appeared. He started hearing voices in his head, and moreover, his grandparents started to hear his in theirs. This was the sign that they had been waiting for. Reginald started leaving books out for Ashton to stumble upon, books on magic with a books of "beginner's spells". When Ashton asked about them, Reginald laughed it off as part of the family's history, telling Ashton just enough to wet the boy's curiosity.
When Ashton gave into temptation and started playing around with the spells in the book, he was amazed that they actually worked. He immediately ran and showed his grandparents. They were absolutely delighted. The boy picked up in a few days what some spend years to achieve and most never at all. Everything was going just as Reginald and Vivian had hoped. That is until the library incident. Apparently, one of the school bully's decided to turn his attention on Ashton one day, while he was in the school library. As Ashton grew angry enough to lose his temper, the library suddenly erupted in greenish flames. In moments, the room was engulfed in a blazing inferno. While several of the students suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation, Ashton did not have a single burn or singed hair.
Immediately, Ashton's grandparents figured that he had been the cause of the fire and paid off who they needed to to sweep his involvement under the rug. They sought to test their hypothesis out and arranged for Ashton to get angry and watched time and time again small fires burst into life. Reginald decided that perhaps Ashton needed some training to help control his power, but why risk either Vivian or himself or anyone else of use to them, so they sought to have him enrolled at Coral Springs and let the potential danger fall on someone else.