"Greater in battle
than the man who would conquer
a thousand-thousand men,
is he who would conquer
just one —
himself.
Better to conquer yourself
than others.
When you've trained yourself,
living in constant self-control,
neither a deva nor gandhabba,
nor a Mara banded with Brahmas,
could turn that triumph
back into defeat."
~Gautama Buddha
"And... I think that's it." Annabeth took a deep breath before handing the man behind the counter a vanilla folder with copies of all her important documents: birth certificate, medical history, and all that good stuff.
"Alright. We should be able to get back to you within two weeks." He took the vanilla folder, and snapped a black binder clip to the open side before setting it to the side, where there was a small pile of similar looking folders, no doubt with other recruits.
"Thank you so much." Annabeth grabbed her purse and turned to leave when the officer's voice stopped her again.
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen," she said without hesitation, turning back to see that the officer had worried look on his face.
"It's not my place to tell you to do anything, but you're awfully young. Are you sure you want to do this?" A sudden white, hot rage surged through Annabeth. How dare he... she'd worked too hard to get here and get through with this behind his back...
"Are you insinuating that because I'm a girl, I can't deal with the challenges of army life?" She shot back. "Because I'm sure a lot of eighteen year old guys turn in applications, whether online or here, everyday, and I don't think anyone warns them." The officer didn't reply, but he also didn't back down from her stare.
Angry, sad, and a little, dare she say it, scared that there was no going back after this, whatever this was, Annabeth swiftly left, pushing the door out way harder than she needed to. The sound of the banging door gave her a sense of satisfaction.
She'd done it. She was going away. Army training. Then war. Maybe she'll even embrace an honorable death.
Only a few more weeks of sneaking. Then she'll be free.
Let's see how her father likes that.