Thunderstorm ➪ʜᴀᴢᴇʟ Lᴇᴠᴇsǫᴜᴇ [𝟷]

𝗜 𝗩

𝘽𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 chance to finally leave camp and be a hero.

She'd been waiting for this opportunity for ages, and yet, despite being a camper longer than everyone else, she'd never gotten it.

She'd been at camp since she was two, growing up in the Big House, with Chiron and a bunch of teenagers with swords as friends. Bronte had been raised with weapons and mythological monsters just on the horizon.

It was a interesting life, but one that Bronte was used to. Chiron and Mr. D had been mediocre 'parents', she supposed, but Bronte turned out alright.

She woke up early, filled to the brim with excitement. She'd only been out of the camp borders once, to go to a war, but it was super exciting—until the war actually started, that is.

Bronte had packed a bag last night, with weapons, clothes, and lots of ambrosia and nectar. She'd written a packing list when she was nine, but had never gotten to use it. Most of it was either illiterate or useless, but she made it work.

She slipped out her room at 8 A.M., making her way downstairs, missing all the creaky steps. Where did she need to be?

Jason would be waking up soon in the Zeus cabin, so she could go there. Maybe talk to him about the quest, and all that. Piper would be in the Aphrodite cabin, and Leo in the Hephaestus cabin, but Bronte got the feeling that they knew less than she did.

Camp Half-Blood was calm, early in the morning. Not many people were awake yet, and it was quiet as Bronte ran toward the cabins. The Zeus cabin was conveniently located nearest to the Big House, but it still took her a while.

Bronte came to a stop just outside the double doors. She could hear voices inside, so she stayed quiet, pressing her ear to the door, which was embellished in a thick layer of gold for some reason.

"Bronte's a good kid, really," Annabeth was saying. "Strong, powerful, experienced. She's just . . . young."

Bronte scowled.

"She's, what, fourteen?" Jason replied.

"Yeah. She's wanted a quest since I went on my first one. Uh, four-five years ago? Yeah. She was nine, and Chiron told her that she could go on a quest when she turned twelve, because that's how old I was."

"That didn't happen, did it?" Jason asked.

"No, and for a multitude of reasons." Bronte could hear Annabeth move, probably sitting down. "I don't think Chiron ever planned on letting her go. They're close, mostly because Bronte's been here forever. I think she's the first one who was actually abandoned here, instead of coming around 13-ish."

"Bronte wasn't very happy, was she?"

Annabeth chuckled. "Oh, she was furious. That was probably the first time she's actually caused serious damage with her power—accidentally, of course."

"Her power?"

Bronte took a couple steps back, and plastered a smile on her face. She wasn't exactly thrilled with Annabeth for spilling her entire life story to Jason, but maybe now he'd know just how important this opportunity was to her. He'd know how much she prepared, how ready she was.

She walked up to the Zeus cabin again, knocking on the door loudly. Before she could get a response, she cracked the door open slightly, calling out a quick, "Good morning, you two!"

They were sitting together on Jason's little cot, pressed into the corner of the room. He looked a little guilty, but Annabeth smiled as she saw Bronte.