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A Mirror of a Shield
There was a third room. In the middle of it was a statue of the monster Stheno in all of her horrifying glory. On a pedestal at the end of the room was a shield so beautifully polished that one could see their reflection in it. According to the legend, the original Balor had used such a shield so he would only see Stheno's reflection and not look at her directly.
Balor had reached for the shield and only barely reached it. Although he did bring it down from the pedestal he nearly dropped it. The shield was as big as he was!
He looked at his reflection in the shield. He was ugly! Why girls called him handsome or boys not that bad looking was beyond him.
Then Gruadh and Brigid entered the room. While Gruadh looked at the statue of Stheno, Brigid walked over to Balor.
Brigis stood next to Balor, a beautiful young girl next to an average looking young boy. Her round features next to his square features.
"You're very handsome."
Balor placed a hand on his neck. He didn't see anything handsome. He was ugly! "I'm not!"
Brigid just placed a hand on Balor's shoulder. Why did he call himself ugly? Her father had been ugly but to Brigid he had been handsome for is ones father not handsome? Balor was average looking, neither ugly nor handsome. To Brigid he was handsome even if Balor considered himself ugly.
Kleos had been a stocky dwarf with a face that not even a mother could love. It was ironic that he would ally himself with the handsome giant Thomeheb, even if they both worshipped Mumm-Ra, considering the fact that Kleos would call anyone better looking than him an ugly beast and so he would call Balor an ugly beast whenever he caused the boy harm.
The abuse Balor had taken was both physical and mental and he truly did consider himself ugly.
"Balor, I gave you a compliment…"
"I know, Brigid, but I don't think of myself as good looking… Kleos often told me that I wasn't."
"That cruel dwarf?" Balor nodded. "Balor, why would you believe him?" Balor didn't have an answer. He wasn't sure why he believed Kleos… he just ended up believing the dwarf.
"But he's right!" Balor had ended up thinking of an answer. "Look at me."
Brigid took her hand off of Balor's shoulder. She looked at him and saw just another member of her race. What was Balor getting at? Was it because of his gray skin? She was gray skinned also and there were a few others they knew such as Gard, Zuvowang and the melancholy cynic. "I am, Balor. I just see another Evabon." She then placed a hand on the lightning bolt-shaped scar on his arm. "Is this why you consider yourself ugly? We all have scars, it is something that can't be helped."
Balor put the shield down and walked over to the statue of Stheno. Why was her not made of stone like her? When it all boiled down to it, it wasn't as simple as thinking he was ugly. It had more to do with pain. Balor hated pain. From the physical abuse he got from Kleos to the death of his mother and later the direction of his entire village the pain he felt was something he hated. It seemed that all his life was made from pain. Sometimes he'd have a happy face but still Balor's hatred of pain was something constant. But he was young. This would pass in time.