Thank you for all of your amazing reviews! This song was inspired by the song "Scars" by Papa Roach. I don't own it. I don't own Heroes of Olympus either.
"How'd you get that scar on your lip?" Reyna asks out of curiosity.
They're cleaning the weapons in the armory. Polishing them until they sparkle. Rearranging the stacks of armor and helmets and swords. They have to make sure they're neat and orderly or else Vitellius will have a fit.
Unlike most people, Reyna actually sort of likes the armory. She likes looking at all the old swords and shields and artifacts. She always wonders what heroes used which weapons, and what monsters and emperors were slain with them. Reyna wishes the weapons could speak. That they would be able to transport you back in time once you touched them and show you their history. She'd love to see the battles they've seen.
"I honestly don't know. I guess I was just born with it."
Reyna rolls her eyes and looks over at him,"No one's born with scars. They're created. I don't really see why people flip out over their scars and try to cover them up and stuff. I think scars define a person better. It makes them more beautiful."
Jason looks at her as if she'd been blabbering in Greek.
"What?" She snaps.
"How do you think someone's scars make them more... beautiful?"
Reyna shakes her head. It makes sense in her mind, but she just can't put it into words.
"Never mind." She sighs, exasperated and bristling with annoyance.
Reyna picks up a dented wristwatch and slaps its surface. The wristwatch opens like a camera shutter, spiraling outward until it's a full shield.
The shield is Celestial bronze. It was found by a few demigods on a scouting mission to spy on Saturn's base. They'd decided to ditch their responsibilities and go take a tour of Alcatraz island, where they found the wristwatch shield. The only reason Reyna knows this is because her friend's boyfriend had been the one to find it. Some child of Vulcan fixed it up and put it in the armory.
Reyna looks at the thin layer of dust on the bronze surface. Then she looks past it and studies the images etched on the metal. There was a Cyclopes riding what looked like a horse with a fish tail, and a girl fighting a giant. As well as a boy fighting bulls on a hill. The images leave a bad feeling in her stomach. As if it's owner were her enemy. The faces on the shield did look familiar... Reyna snaps herself out of her thoughts. She forces herself not to think about the creepy watch-shield anymore.
"Would you polish it?" Reyna asks.
"Um, sure. I guess." Jason gives her an odd sort of look, then takes the shield from her.
"Gods. That shield gives me the creeps." She mutters.
"Why? It seems fine to me," Jason says. "It's not cursed is it?"
"How would I know?"
He shrugs,"Well, can't you sense curses and stuff?"
"Well, on weapons kind of. But no, I can't. My sister can, though."
"Because of the training with the creepy witch lady thing?"
"If you call Circe a creepy witch lady one more time I'm going to sew your mouth shut in your sleep."
"Did I say creepy witch? I meant kind and caring sorceress."
"That's what I thought you said." Reyna smirks at him.
Jason smiles back and her heart seems to stutter. She quickly asks him a question before she loses herself in those endless, stupid, beautiful eyes of his.
"How do you think you got your scar?"
Reyna drops her gaze and goes back to stacking helmets. She blows the dust off one and awaits his answer.
"I think it was a monster. Maybe a empousa tried to kiss me when I was three. Who knows? What about you? Any scars you care to show?"
"Oh, you wish I had scars to show to you," Reyna winks at him playfully. He gets what she means immediately and blushes a deep pink color. "Sadly, most of my scars are emotional, psychological, and metaphorical. They aren't really scars anyway. Just old wounds that reopen whenever I have nightmares."
"That sounds depressing." Jason comments. Reyna shrugs.
"It's a part of life. Everyone has scars, but that's what makes them stronger. It's what makes them tougher. What I meant to say earlier was that everyone wants to hide their scars because they're afraid it makes them look ugly. When in reality they should be proud of their scars. A person's scars aren't just an ugly mark. To me, at least, scars show us our inner strength. It shows us our instinct to keep moving on in the most difficult times. That we can survive those difficult times. Scars are what make us- us. What would you be without that scar on you lip? Just another pretty, flawless, son of Venus-looking demigod. What would I be without scars? I'd be back at Circe's island being pampered and catered to. We should be proud of our scars. Both inside and out."
Jason presses the button on the shield and it turns back into a wristwatch.
"You know Reyna, you're really pretty when you give mini pep talks like that. I never thought of scars that way."
"I didn't used to either. Then I realized that scars will always be there. Why hate them when you could love them?"
His eyes glisten softly. He cocks his head to the side and gives her a look he's never given her before. It's a combination of newfound respect and admiration. And love. That too.
She looks down at the watch in his hand because she really does like the look he's giving her right now. It makes her toes tingle. Reyna feels warm and fuzzy inside. Funny, she doesn't usually feel fuzzy. But, that seems the best way to describe it. She doesn't feel solid. Reyna just feels here. She feels like she's floating in space. Like Jason and her are both constellations. Almost like there's too much space between them. Still, Reyna feels like she's suspended above the world. Even if it is just for a moment.
She takes the mysterious watch from his hand and places it on the table. Then she gives Jason a passionate hug and holds him tightly because at the moment it's all she can do to keep herself from kissing him. And she certainly didn't want that to happen.