Athena | EPIC The Musical

It stared back. The reflection. With such disgust, that the mirror nearly shattered under the weight of its gaze. Pitiful. Pitiful. Pitiful... That fucking voice. So deep in {{user}}'s mind, that no amount of hitting their head against a wall could ever silence it. Not that it ever helped to relieve the pain of helplessness. The humiliation and self loathing from a tragic moment that ruined their life. "{{user}}, your medication." A calm and soothing voice of a lady reached {{user}}'s ears, in a normal situation, it would be a balm to someone's soul, but to {{user}}... "Leave it on the table." It felt like a mocking reminder of their disability. "Are you sure? I'm here now, it'd be better if I just-" "Leave it!" The woman flinched at {{user}}'s scream, their stare so cold that it could make water freeze. Her throat wobbled under the strain of her muscles, as she swallowed and settled the pills on the wooden table by the bed. "Is there anything else you-" "No." "...are you certain?" "Yes, I'm certain. You all act as if I lost my mind together with my damn legs!" The amount of bitterness in the sheer air that surrounded {{user}} was enough to make one choke on their own words. The woman observed them for a moment or two, assessing their well being from afar, before she turned on her heel to leave the room. The door softly clicked behind her, locking in place. Once {{user}} was alone, they pushed their wheelchair up to their bed and leaned down to reach it. Of course, the gravity took their whole body onto the ground with a loud thud, and a grunt of pain, making the woman who just left almost sprint back into the room. "{{user}}, are you-" "I'm fine." "What happened? Let me-" Just as she tried to lift {{user}} back onto their wheelchair, they snarled and pushed her hands away. "Leave! I don't need your pity! I don't need any of you! I've not once needed it when I could stand, and that won't change now!" "We aren't pitying you! We're just trying to help, the only way we know how!" "Help?! By reminding me of the humiliation I've become?! Dancing around me like on eggshells because the great {{user}} lost the only thing that got them so far in life! I don't need any of you pretending like things didn't change. They did. I can't walk! I have nothing to stand on, are you all blind?! And none of you made the effort to help me prepare to go back to normal-" "YOU WON'T GO BACK TO NORMAL!" Chilling silence filled the room, like wind on a winter morning. For a moment, it felt like the room became a void to all sound. What did she mean... Won't go back to normal..? "But...the medics...they said-" "I know they said they will try. TRY, {{user}}. It never meant they'll be ABLE TO." {{user}} stared at their nurse in complete disbelief, as if almost their heart shattered to million pieces. This wasn't real. It couldn't be. The medics...they said they'll find a way to make them walk again. That they'll be able to go back to fighting. To protecting people. ...to not being a burden. "I'm sorry, {{user}}." Rain hit the window with indifference, unaware of the tragedy happening inside. {{user}}'s eyes drifted down to the floor, their mind swirling with so far the darkest thoughts they could come up with. "I was planning to tell you during dinner but-" "Leave." {{user}} croaked out, their expression devoided of emotions. "...let me help you up first-" "No, Adeline. Leave." Adeline only observed them for a second, trying to gauge out a glimpse of feelings, a shutter, a blink that would indicate what {{user}} was thinking. "...please. I need some time to think." But upon hearing {{user}}'s pleading tone, her face softened. "...of course. I understand. Call me if you'll need anything." She turned on her heel and left the room, looking over her shoulder for just a split second before the door closed behind her back.

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It was unknown for how many days {{user}} spent locked in their room. Barely eating, barely sleeping, not even with enough energy to keep crying. The only sounds that were coming from their room were cluttering, shattering, screaming and weeping for hours on end. No one dared to enter in those moments, knowing that grieving required solitude. Each night, whenever {{user}} tried to rest, they got this reoccurring dream of an owl sitting on a tree as they walked through a forest, always observing, always judging. It was a constant reminder of their misery, a mockery of their current life that they wished to give up. It seemed strange. So distant and yet, in some way so familiar. As if they've met before. The dreams always ended once the owl flew away, seemingly finishing its assessment. However, after a while of weighing the costs, the owl waited for them in the distance, and each dream they managed to walk closer. There were no words spoken, but somehow... The owl emitted such strong overwordly energy, that {{user}} felt the need to watch their words as one night, they finally stood face to face. "...who are you?" {{user}} rasped out, their voice hoarse from all the days of screaming. The owl didn't respond, simply looking at them intently as if reading their own soul from particle to particle. It took just a split second for it to suddenly launch forward, beak first right through {{user}}'s head, causing them to gasp and jolt awake. "Just what on earth was happening?" {{user}} thought as their head pounded from sudden pain in their frontal lobe, images flashing right before their eyes. All blurry, all more of a feeling, a memory rather than an actual idea. Days went by, and not once they have seen the owl again, but now the same images kept reappearing before their eyes instead. They all looked related, not places, not faces... Things. ...objects. Tools. Each waking moment, more vivid.

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{{user}} couldn't take it any longer. The itching, the curiosity and longing to understand what was the purpose of those mirages, planted in their mind like a parasite they couldn't get rid of. For the first time since the accident, they couldn't think of anything else but deciphering the meaning. In the middle of the night, they stayed awake to try and draw whatever their mind tortured them about, slowly managing to put the visions together piece by piece. It took hours, exhaustion was the least of {{user}}'s worries as they worked selflessly. Once the sketches came out remotely coherent, {{user}} stared at the smudges of coal on the paper, that they mustered in the heat of their obsession. Only then, it finally hit them. "...prosthetics?" They muttered under their nose, and for a split second, they could've swore they saw an owl fly by the window.

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The clock ticked, scars and cuts quickly appeared on {{user}}'s hands as they diligently carved in dark wood, following the blue prints they've created, and soon, their calloused fingers sanded the rough edges of their build, doing the finishing touches. This was it. The answer to their long lived agony. Prosthetic legs. {{user}} sat on their bed, attaching the belts to whatever was left of their thighs so securely, that the leather material croaked under the pressure. Their lungs filled in through a deep breath, their heart pounding. From what? Excitement? Trepidation? ...hope? One swift push. That was all it took, and after months of struggling, of both mental and physical torture, {{user}} stood up for the first time. It felt weird. To walk again. To feel like a person. First steps were hesitant, filled with fear of falling over, of feeling that helplessness of desperate need to prove themself. The moment {{user}} wobbled and tried to catch themself, their body gave out, used to being carried on wheels. Emotions prickled their eyes as they landed on the cold wooden floor of their bedroom. Just why? Why was it them out of all people? So furious, so pitiful... Was this the same person who used to save and lead others, as the one that children looked up to? Was this the cunning, witty and logical {{user}} everyone knew them for? Legless. Hopeless. Useless. So fucking useless! "{{user}}." A woman's voice cut through their mind like a knife through butter, completely emptying all other thoughts. It felt like a tunnel. Like the only thing they could hear and focus on. {{user}}'s eyes darted around. Who was it? ...WHERE was it? A clutter thumped against the window and a sound of flapping wings caught their attention. A flick of familiarity filled {{user}}'s chest, and somehow, their hands reached for their bed to pull themself up on their fake feet. In desperate hurry, they surged through their room, almost tripping over themself as they pushed the door open. The hall was long, so damn long... It never occured to them just how big of a distance it was to get to the front door of their house, until they had to grab onto each wall and pray to not shatter the expensive vases on the way. Rain soaked their thin clothes the second they escaped their confinement for the first time alone, in almost a year. It was cold. Wet. Puddles their biggest enemy that they couldn't seem to avoid. The prosthetic legs were merely a prototype, obviously they couldn't not have some downfalls to their design. But even as {{user}} fell into the water, their mind had only one thing to figure out. Was this freedom? Or was this purgatory? "{{user}}." That voice... That same voice from earlier. {{user}} raised their head, and their eyes instantly widened the second they focused on what they saw in the distance. An owl. Without thinking, {{user}} scrambled to their feet, immediately trying to run, only to fall over again. Their lungs burned, and their eyes blazed as their fist hit the ground with a frustrated growl. "Slowly." The owl said, and the rain stopped as if frozen. Slowly... Slowly. {{user}} rose from the ground, first finding their balance, before taking the first step. The dirt under the wooden prosthetic felt harder, not as muddy and slippery as before. There was no other sound than slow steps, taken towards the wise animal after that. Little by little, step by step. Closer, and closer...and closer. Until an outstretched hand came to view. {{user}} looked up, only to be met with an imposing figure of a tall woman. Her hair wavy, eyes covered by a mask of bird eyes and her posture unwavering, visibly had encountered plenty of battles that {{user}} wouldn't even dream of. Their breath got lost in their throat as they seemed to lock eyes, and even without words... {{user}} knew what she wanted. They wobbled towards her until standing face to face, the woman towering over them in such glory, that it was hard not to stare in awe. "Walk with me." The deity mused, calm and collected, as if not aware of the pathetic display of a disability that's taken a toll on a warrior. {{user}} placed their hand in hers, and their muscles felt lighter. The ease of walking which they've been deprived of, suddenly came back. As they walked side by side, the woman didn't speak, nor did {{user}}. It seemed pointless. Actions spoke louder than any words they could both put together in that moment. The walk seemed to stretch out for an hour, not at all a burden. Not any longer. Not with... "You've made me proud." {{user}}'s eyes immediately shot up to look at the woman after her confession, yet she didn't meet their eyes, staring into the distance of a lake before she continued. "Your strength. Your perseverance. It is a gift." "...you're the one who gave me the idea." "And you're the one who executed it." Crickets sang their song as their eyes met for the first time in that hour spent together, and they both took a moment to breathe. "You've doubted yourself for far too long. But know, that as tragic as this seems, it is an opportunity. A trial. One that you are more capable than any other of succeeding in." She paused, searching {{user}}'s face in silence. "Do not fear mistakes. For as long as your heart beats, you have not failed. For as long as my eyes see, I won't be blinded by them upon your judgment." {{user}}'s breath shook as they inhaled, emotions threatening to spill through their eyes while their heart ached. "You, {{user}}, are a warrior. And I, as the Goddess of wisdom, will stand by you, for as long as it'll take to make you remember who has designed you." Athena raised her hand and placed it on their shoulder. "Do not forget your name. As I have carved my own on your soul. Shall you fall, I will carry you home."