A/N: Hmm… This didn't turn out at all like I thought it would, but I think I like it. Do you? Tell me through a REVIEW!
I was never strong. Or brave, for that matter.
No, I was just the good-looking one, who no one really liked (Charlie was the only exception). They just wanted something pretty to look at, and I could provide.
But I couldn't provide anything else.
I couldn't provide bravery to fight Luke when I realized what he was really doing.
I couldn't provide strength in the battle.
I couldn't provide healing for those who were dying (because of me).
No, I just sat there and let others feel sorry for me, not knowing that was breaking me a thousand times more than my heart had already been shattered.
Charlie alone saw anything worthwhile in me.
He told me I was strong when I failed to duel in my heavy armor with my impossibly long sword.
He told me I was brave when I cowered in the corner.
He told me I was kind when I scoffed at a girl's large nose and ears that stuck out.
He never told me I was beautiful. Most girls (especially the daughters of Aphrodite) would dump their boyfriends after a while of this, but it thrived in the special attention my personality was finally getting.
No, never my looks. It was never my looks he paid attention to. Just me. The real me.
Or what he thought was the real me.
For a while, we were happy. He helped me learn to be all the things I had once secretly admired from afar of the Ares cabin with gentle encouragement. I was not yet brave or strong or encouraging or anything useful at all when the Battle of the Labyrinth occurred, but slowly but surely, I was getting there.
It was his memory that allowed me to dig deep inside my soul to find that tiny scrap of courage that he had so carefully built up. I led the Ares children to battle.
As the poison hit my face, burning, destroying the high cheekbones and delicately sculpted nose, I realize I don't care that I'm not beautiful.
Brown hair whipped across my face as my eyes searched for Charlie. He was there, I could sense it. Blue found brown, and I tried to smile, only to find my once so pretty pale pink lips were incapable.
As I entered Elysium, Charlie immediately wrapped huge, strong arms securely around me. I smiled at the familiar feeling.
He never stares at my ruined face. He never comments, never trying to reassure me I still am beautiful.
For he alone understands me, my desires, and my warped face.