The Sun and Sky

The Daughter of Jupiter--Charlotte

"Hey sleepy....rise and shine," she heard a voice.

Charlotte felt someone poke her arm.

"Get up sunshine, it's breakfast time," the voice said again.

Charlotte's eyelids slowly fluttered open to find bright, golden eyes staring down at her.

"Ahh...she's awake!"

The girl smiled and walked over to the window, pulling the curtains open, letting blinding sunlight in. Charlotte let out a groan, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm Hazel by the way," she said, flashing a smile. "Are you hungry? Breakfast in ten minutes."

Charlotte nodded her head, her stomach growling like a lion on the prowl.

"Okay, wash up. I'll wait outside."

Charlotte flung her legs over the side of the bed and walked over to the bathroom.

"Uhhh," she moaned. Her entire body felt like it had been hit by a train, surprisingly, it did not look like it had. Charlotte grabbed a hairbrush from the sink, quickly getting it through her hair before meeting up with Hazel.

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They walked through the camp until they reached a vast building that reminded Charlotte of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.

"The Mess Hall," Hazel stated as they made their way inside.

It was an extremely large room with tall ceilings, filled to the brim with kids, many too busy stuffing food in them to realize Charlotte and Hazel walking in.

"Come with me, I want you to meet someone." Hazel led me over to a large table placed along the wall.

"Frank! Reyna! I want you to meet someone," she called.

Two people looked up. One was a tall, buff, black-haired guy and the other was a beautiful, black-haired woman, who had the aura of confidence around her.

"Charlotte, this is Reyna, one of the Praetors of the Twelfth Legion. And this is Frank, the other Praetor of the Twelfth Legion. And my boyfriend."

Both, Hazel and Frank, blushed as he gave her a peck on the cheek.

After giving the two a hard look, Reyna reached to shake Charlotte's hand.

"It is nice to meet you, Charlotte. Welcome to the Legion," Reyna said quickly, taking the attention away from the love birds.

"Well, I have waited long enough to get here," Charlotte answered.

Reyna smiled, "As we all have."

Hazel suddenly grabbed Charlotte's hand and led her to a table of laughing kids.

"This is my Cohort. Come, sit," she urged.

Charlotte sat between Hazel and another Roman, who had his feet up on the table, slowly plucking food from his plate and throwing it across the room.

"Mason, this is Charlotte, she's also new. Be friends." Hazel waved at them both, before grabbing a cheeseburger and stuffing it in her face, putting her feet up on the table.

"Another new kid Hazel?" a guy across the table looked at Charlotte and huffed. "Lupa is getting quick with her training. How can we be sure she is properly trained?"

"Excuse me?" Charlotte snapped back. "Are you insulting the goddess that put you here?"

"Well, what was your name again? Charlotte? I'm Liam. You see here," he motions to his tablemates. "We're fighters here, Charlotte, and we don't like weak links."

Charlotte's eyes started to narrow, ready for the challenge.

Liam stood. "You just don't look like...the fighting type, honey."

Everyone at the table had their attention on the two of them.

"Maybe we can make you a cook instead. I do like my-"

Before Liam had time to finish his sentence, Charlotte was across the table with her small, golden knife to his throat.

"Don't I? How about we figure out who the 'fighting type' is?" she whispered in his ear.

"You think proving your fast is gonna do anything, sweet cheeks? We're all fast-" His words were cut off again, this time by Charlotte fiercely lifting Liam up by his shirt and slamming him down onto the table, food and dishes scattering everywhere.

Now, the whole Mess Hall was quiet. Charlotte slammed her fist down on the table, causing Liam to flinch.

"What? Cat got your tongue, kitchen boy?" she sneered at him, putting the knife under his jaw, forcing him to bring his head up.

"One day you're gonna get yourself killed, Liam. Stop bugging the new kid," Hazel warned him.

He rolls his eyes at her.

"Let him go Charlotte," she said.

Charlotte then stabbed the knife into the table, next to his head, and let him go.

Liam laughed nervously as he made his way back to his seat. "I like her."

Suddenly, Liam's eyesight trailed above her head, his face turning pale.

"You're 16," he states.

"Yeah. Why?" Charlotte asked, preferring not to get into another argument.

Liam became quiet and stared at her, dumbfounded.

She looked around at everyone staring at something above her head. Charlotte then looked up to see a bright symbol floating above her head, not entirely sure of its meaning.

She looked down at Hazel in confusion and pointed to the symbol.

Hazel just smiled at her with a mouthful of burger. "You've been claimed."

Charlotte looked around to see multiple jaws dropped and shocked expressions. Even Reyna's eyes widened. Charlotte could not tell if it was shock or fear. Maybe even a bit of both.

Reyna carefully stood, fixing her expression, though Charlotte could tell something was off with her.

Her voice carried over the entire hall, "Welcome Charlotte, Daughter of Jupiter."