Athena stands on the front lines

Forever battle ready

Armed with words and a shield of silence

She's going to break down the enemy. 

 

Before she attacks she must plan a strategy

Battling thoughts isn't easy

But she must defeat this darkness

Before it consumes her.

 

She cannot burn sadness, and she can't drown misery

Shooting isolation would never work

Pain doesn't have a heart to stab

Grief no soul to crush.

 

Fighting an invisible enemy

Athena begins to wither

The demons that dwell in her head

Filling her with thoughts of suicide and death.

 

In a vain attempt to protect herself

Athena raises her walls

But you can't keep out

Something that's already inside. 

 

Finally the realisation hits

That if this darkness is a part of her

The only way to hurt it 

Is to hurt herself.

 

Athena raises her sword 

Slicing it across her arm

And for just a moment the darkness falteres

But it's back the minute the wound heals.

 

Athena finds sanctuary in the cutting

For even if it can't defeat the enemy

It keeps them at bay

Still she knows it's only a matter of time before she ends this war for good.

 

Finally the time has come

To put an end to this internal battle

Athena walks along the cliffs edge 

Looking down at the icy waters below.

 

She braces herself

She jumps

She falls

She never hits the water.

 

She looks up 

There's a hand wrapped around her wrist

Pulling her up

Out of the darkness.

 

The hand lays her on solid ground

Then reaches out for her

She takes it 

Feeling the sparks between there fingertips.

 

She lets her walls collapse

She drops her sword

She discards her armor

She surrenders

She can't fight this alone

She lets her savior guide her

Back towards the light. 

 

Years later she still remembers this battle

Tracing her fingers along the scars that line her wrist and forearm

She calls them her battle wounds

The mark of a true warrior.