Do Not Go Gentle

Persephone "Seph" Jollet35 | District 2 Stylist Wife & Mother of 2 Hunger Games Au Roleplay Blog for Ultima Volatus

[persephonejollet]

HUDSON

Hudson developed his first juvenile crush on Persephone around a year ago, which was a lot more awkward than he anticipated considering the amount of time he spent watching over Rosie while she played with the woman’s kids. It was one of those stupid, humiliating, slightly involuntary rules of being a heterosexual teenage boy. He couldn’t talk about it to his fathers either — why would he though? Regardless of her gender it was something he would be teased relentlessly for, even lightheartedly. But it had passed, he’d moved on to, uh, girls his age, yet you wouldn’t be able to figure that by the way he’d begun acting when she approached them.

He gulped dryly and heard himself laughing. “Haha, yeah, it is huh?” He scrambled with one leg to collect the candy out of her hand. Nodding swiftly, Hudson made sure to soothe his sister enough as to lull her crying. She had a tendency of making it seem as if she were dying every time she cried. “Yeah, yeah, we should be fine… I’m just a klutz is all hahah.” More laughing. What was so funny? 

Seph returned the small nod to Hudson, then glanced over at Rosie. There was a bit of a pout on her face yet, the tears already starting to dry. She must have fallen, too. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” she asked gently, tipping her head to the side to try and catch Rosie’s attention. But Hudson seemed to be right there to comfort his sister, which made Seph smile.

Hudson had answered for them both, and even offered a nervous laugh in response. Seph chuckled, moving to have a seat on the curb next to them. Mason and Lyssa were down the street, but they knew to find her once they were ready to move on. “Happens to the best of us,” she replied. “Are you two out by yourselves tonight?” It would have been a little surprising in light of recent events, but at the same time, kids liked to be independent. “Mason and Lyssa wanted to trick or treat around the Village before going to some of the houses and shops closer to the Village in The Capitol. If you guys haven’t gone yet, you can come with us?”

[persephonejollet]

HUDSON

The night was still young, yet Hudson had managed to visit all the houses open for trick or treating in the Village thanks to his well-developed stamina from track. He began en route to the Capitol for some extra grabs, hoping to find the residences giving out king sized chocolate bars, balancing Rosie on one hip and carting around a bag teeming with candies in his opposite hand. As he approached the gate he felt his little sister shuffle in his arm, a rush of panic overwhelming his system before he lost equilibrium, sending them both tumbling into the dirt. His ankles were twisted and half the candy they’d collected had spilled from the pillowcase. 

“Shoot…” he murmured. It hurt whenever he tried to bring his feet up; ankles swelling rapidly and knots growing from the impact. He checked on Rosie, who of course was in a puddle of tears beside him. “Shh, it’s okay — ah, shit.” Hudson couldn’t refrain from cursing. He quickly pulled her into his lap without moving his bottom half, scooping up a nearby candy and occupying her with that while he inspected her for bruising or any other damage.

It wasn’t long until they’d caught the attention of passersby. “Uhhh, don’t mind us. We’re just… Chillin’.” he reassured, his voice muffled from the sheet covering his face. 

As usual with the kids getting older, Mason and Lyssa had run off ahead of Persephone, running for the first house with its front porch light on before moving to the next. Seph knew she should just let her kids have fun for the night, but there was still that maternal concern to keep them within sight at all times. Since the attack, she had been borderline overbearing with her kids and she knew it was getting on their nerves. So she did her best to give them their space and let them have fun, but also have a balance so she wasn’t panicked whenever they weren’t within her sights.

Persephone had started walking down the street after her kids when she heard someone take a tumble behind her. Near the gate to the Village had been two kids she recognized only in passing. Well, one of them, anyway. She could only assume the boy with the sheet over himself had to have been Hudson Rossier-Archer, especially if he was taking his little sister trick or treating. 

“Right. Looks like your candy’s making a run for it, though,” she teased, reaching down to help pick up some of the loose pieces of candy for them. When she turned back toward Hudson and Rosie, she held her hand out to them with the candy, “You both okay?”

[persephonejollet]

Persephone was glad to have Mason and Lyssa back at home. They got to leave before most of the Victors, mostly since they only had bumps and bruises versus the larger injuries the Victors received. That in part had been courtesy of Ares, and she wanted to see him and see how he was holding up. But she also wanted her kids to have fun, so they got dressed up in their costumes and they went down street by street to visit the Victors' homes. At least those with their lights on.

She waited at the end of the street, Mason insisting that they were old enough to be able to go around to the houses and get candy on their own. And Persephone knew she shouldn’t hover, but since the attack, she couldn’t help it. She watched her kids carefully as they went from house to house, only looking away when she heard someone approach.

“Hey,” she greeted, “a little chilly tonight, isn’t it?” Her arms crossed tightly in front of her chest, the thin jacket she wore not helping much to block the chill of the night. //@uvstarters​

[blondiepoison]

[persephonejollet]

ARES

Ares was lost in the voices and the feeling that he was being surrounded by the Colosseum again. Somehow, Seph had brought him some shred of comfort in being there. He didn’t understand why she was standing in the middle of his arena, but that’s all he could process. He clung to her, the fear dipping into his psyche to the point he was nearly lost in its darkness. 

But she was calm. Her shushing penetrated his thoughts but he didn’t release his grip onto her. He squeezed at her waist, burying his face into her stomach as she was only at that level to him and he was still laying down on the bed. His head hurt to the point where it was blinding, but that was part of what spurred on how afraid he was. He couldn’t find back. His body felt too heavy to fight back even as the panting and the grunts and growls grew closer, and his mother’s incessant shouting became deafening.

A sob tore through his throat as he closed his remaining eye and clung to his sister’s shirt, trying his best to seek shelter there. Except she was calm and her hand was combing through his black hair soothingly as if nothing was wrong. Was there anything wrong? His breathing staggered as he struggled to take a breath in. 

“I hear her,” Ares whimpered. “I hear her. She’s somewhere… she’s somewhere…” He wheezed out his breaths as his fingers tightened at her hips.

“She’s nowhere near here.” Her tone was anything but argumentative. It was quiet, collected. Even though her hands trembled slightly, she still did her best to stay calm, to be a rock for Ares as he seemed to be in the throws of a panic episode. Lacking a name, Persephone was more than aware that Ares was talking about their mother. Who else would have induced such a reaction out of him? “It’s just you and me.”

Seph could feel the eyes of the nurses at her back, but she paid them no mind, focused on calming her brother down. And whatever she was doing seemed to work since he wasn’t thrashing about anymore. Instead he clung to her, much like Mason or Lyssa had when they had seen her again in the hospital. Throwing their arms around her and seeking comfort in their mother. Seph swallowed hard, moving her hand from Ares’ hair to his back.

“You’re safe here. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” Watching Ares crumble like this was unsettling. She had experienced some of the ways that the Victors from Two broke down and while some were terrifying or disheartening, it was a whole other thing when it was family. Even with their strained relationship, Seph didn’t know Ares had been so haunted. 

“You’re okay, Ares.”

[persephonejollet]

ARES

The amount of electricity that pulsed through his body at the thought that something might have been off was staggering. He felt like he was getting shocked several times and it wasn’t letting up. The voices in his ears were so loud it almost drowned out his sister’s words. The confusion that pummeled him was the cause of it all, the way that his mind forgot the things that he was told and his insecurity on whether or not things around him were as they seemed.

Persephone’s voice wasn’t helping much other than giving him an anchor to try and hold onto for some semblance of sanity. He couldn’t remember who had been there before her all of the sudden, why he was there, what had happened. Everything had suddenly restarted in his mind as if there were a reset button. His breathing staggered as he tried to catch his breath, but his lungs felt like pin needles. 

Persephone stopped him from ripping the needles out, but as soon as he felt her hands, he immediately moved in spite of his pain toward her so he could try to hold onto her as much as he could. His mother’s screams of hatred were the loudest above the bears and the dogs. His panic dissolved him into sobbing as nurses popped in to see what was happening. 

“Seph, she’s so loud,” Ares cried. “She’s so loud. Please, she’s so loud.”

She felt him move in her grip and for a moment she thought he was trying to break away, to shove her hands away and get at the IV. “Ares, no--” but instead, he had clung onto her arm, even pulled her closer and he sobbed against her. For the first few moments, she had no idea how to react. Never had she seen Ares react in such a manner, to immediately dissolve into sheer panic and fear. To even lean against her for comfort.

Footsteps had her turn her head over her shoulder. But Ares’ voice drew her back in, so desperate and afraid. Her heart felt heavy in her chest, despite its desperate pounding. Maternal instincts were screaming at her to comfort him, but how would he react to that? To an older sister that had been so cruel to him before? But it didn’t appear to matter to him now, not when he had been thinking about someone. Someone Seph knew had tormented the both of them at some point in their lives.

“Shhh.” But there was no urgency to keep him quiet, no sense of shame in the nurses catching them like this. She was trying to comfort her brother, despite years of having tormented him like their mother had so ruthlessly done. She didn’t know if it would work, but she equated the situation to when Mason or Lyssa had nightmares, when they were overwhelmed and just needed comfort. 

“It’s okay,” she whispered softly, fingers gently carding through his matted hair that wasn’t covered by the bandages. Though her hand did tremble, her shoulders tense as she watched her brother crumble so suddenly in front of her. “You’re okay, Ares... no one’s going to hurt you here.”

[persephonejollet]

VISTA

Vista gave the woman a small smile. “I hope they’re okay. Who you’re visiting that is…” She told her hoping it wasn’t too awkward. Course the woman was there visiting someone, who wasn’t? Most people didn’t come to hospitals willingly otherwise. Vista also knew better than to ask who was in the hospital. It was none of her business.

“Do they still think the person responsible for all this is still around?” Vista asked softly. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t imagined that possibility before. Everyone insisted all of them were safe in the hospital, but they were supposed to be safe before. She had only wanted to go buy some sweets for her younger siblings and she had ended up in the hospital with them bringing her sweets. “They must if they’re out there still looking. This is a hospital…” Surely someone wouldn’t try to blow up a hospital, right?

“Yeah, fortunately.” She took in a quick breath, clearing her throat and averting her gaze to maintain her composure. The idea of her kids being anything but all right was unfathomable. But she had just seen them, they were safe, just bumps and scratches. And she was so thankful it wasn’t far worse.

She was glad for the topic change, albeit slight, and Seph shook her head, “I have no idea. I don’t think they’re quite sure, either. There’s speculations of radicals having set off the bombs. But nothing too specific beyond that.” Seph had been keeping close attention to the news before the lock down had been lifted. Trying to glean anything off of the information The Capitol might have had, even if she knew there was a heavy chance of it being biased. She just wanted to know if her kids were safe. 

Seph met the girl’s gaze and she shook her head, “With how many Peacekeepers are around now, I would be surprised if they tried anything now.” But she had to admit, it was unsettling that they hadn’t caught the people responsible yet... “They’re just watching the hospital. There were a few other Victors and some Capitol officials caught in the explosion, so they probably want to make sure the hospital’s well guarded.”

[persephonejollet]

INDIE

Indie turned her head to see the woman- someone who looked vaguely familiar but not distinctly recognizable- and let out a sigh of relief. “Well I guess that’s one thing to be thankful for.”

She took a bite out of her apple, adjusting herself so that her left arm- hanging in a sling and numbed by all the morphling that had been thrown into her system despite Indie’s protests- sat a little more comfortably on her body. When they’d told her they were giving her the very drug that had turned her parents into shells of their former selves, rotting from the inside out all the way back in District Six, Indie had yelled for help, shouted that they couldn’t make her take that stuff.

It turned out they could make her take it, even though Indie had pulled the IV drip out at every chance she had.

“Well… good luck finding something decent to eat,” she shrugged. “Whole bunch of Capitolite kids just ran through here and decimated the pickings. They didn’t seem interested in healthy stuff, though, so the produce table is free.”

She recognized the younger girl as one of the Victors, and from the look of it, she had been one of the unfortunate ones caught up in the attack. She knew that the Victors from Two were caught in the chaos, but there was also some of the other Victors, too. Along with a chunk of the Capitol citizens. She still had no idea how many had been killed. Honestly, she was just glad that her kids were okay, that Ares and Alex had made it. 

Seph glanced toward the buffet and noticed that not much had been left over to choose from. Not that there wouldn’t be more later, but she didn’t seem to pick the best time to come down and get something to eat. “Thanks for the heads up,” she replied. Guess she was going to eat extra healthy today, then. Maybe even take a little extra to bring up to her kids.

“Might have to come back down later for something better. I was hoping to snatch some snacks for my kids. The jello cups they’ve been getting haven’t been doing it for their sweet tooth.” She tried to keep the conversation light, despite why they were there in the first place. “If you want I can grab something for you later?” She offered. "Maybe bring something in next time I come?"

[persephonejollet]

ARES

Life suddenly became disorienting. He couldn’t remember anything but he remembered the heat and the pain. He was in the hospital again, unsure where the people he cared about were. Ares was having trouble remembering that Fell had been with him not that long ago. His memory was starting to play tricks on him as he began to wonder if he was really in the hospital after something happening in the Capitol, or if he had just gotten pulled out of the Colosseum again. As he began to question what his reality was, he started to hear more than just the beeps of his heart monitor and his sister’s voice.

He heard the growls and noises from the animals in his old arena… and the sound of his mother’s screaming tirades. 

At that point, Ares’s heart monitor reflected the panic that was beginning to set in. The confusion was obvious in the one good eye he had as he began to descend from his flaking memory and into insecurity. Serenity wasn’t there. Where was Fell? No one had showed him Mason and Lyssa. He didn’t see Alex. All he could register was how the pain was beginning to settle in and the sister that used to hit him and call him names was sitting so close by. Soon enough, Ares forgot entirely that he had seen Fell at all and he forgot the majority of what the nurses had filled him in on, his head trauma proving it was a little more than just several stitches and some blood loss. 

Except the one thing that stuck with him, despite the fear of her, was the fact that Seph was there and her voice was calm. 

“Seph…S-Seph…!” Ares cried out as he started to panic, moving his head to the point where he let out a cry of pain, the stinging pain racing up the back of his head and behind his right eye.

His breathing began to get more rapid as the noises began to get louder inside of his head, sounding as though the wolves and the bears were descending upon him then. Only mixed with the sound of his mother shouting ‘kill him!’ intertwined with it, as if she were commanding the beasts to do the work she had always wanted to do herself. 

“SEPH!” Ares screamed in his terror as he nearly ripped his IV’s out to try and bring his hands up so he could try to cover his ears from the sounds.

The beeping of the heart monitor suddenly became more insistent. Seph looked up toward the monitor, then to her brother. He didn’t look good. His gaze was distant, even though he was right there physically in the room with her. He appeared dazed, in another world entirely. She swallowed hard, not sure what to expect. She scooted to the edge of her seat, reaching out to take her brother’s hand.

“Hey, hey,” she started, trying to keep her voice calm despite her brother’s sudden panic. “I’m here, it’s okay...”

Seph looked over her shoulder toward the hallway. The heart monitor had to be attracting the attention of the nurses. Ares had been manic at that point, screaming for her as he frantically moved about in the bed and tried to rip the IV out of his arm.

“No, no, hey, Ares!” she started, trying to grab his hands again, “You’re okay, you’re in the hospital.” Seph didn’t know what else to do. The nurses would be able to help, but in the meantime, until they got there, she was the one that was going to try and get through to Ares, “Hey, look at me. Look at me, Ares. You’re gonna be okay. You’re safe here.”

[persephonejollet]

ARES

Ares was still dealing with a lot of the haze that came with the drug and fighting his brain versus what he was told by people in the hospital about what happened. He had yet to see Alex and he hadn’t seen Serenity pass through either. He was starting to get worried for his girlfriend and he wanted to see his niece and nephew. All of that stress was starting to build up, considering how little comfort Persephone had brought him. He desperately would have preferred Seraphina over her. At least Seraphina never laid a hand on him, never said a cruel word, and actually attempted to do right by him.

Ares remained quiet for a moment, listening to his sister as the stress of knowing what was happening around him was starting to catch up with him. His head was playing games and inducing his anxiety, which made his heartbeat begin to spike. 

“Seph,” Ares breathed as his voice shuddered. “I can’t… can’t remember… a lot of what… what happened. Just… just what people tol-told me.”

Ares didn’t speak for a while and she thought that maybe they were just going to sit in silence for a moment. And she would have been find with that; silence was better than them butting heads and getting into an argument, especially with Ares already injured as he was. She had avoided talking about what happened to keep Ares calm, thinking that if she brought it up it would have made him anxious. But instead, it seemed to do the opposite.

She lifted her head to look at her brother, frowning. “It’s okay that you can’t remember,” she assured him, “everybody’s okay. Mason and Lyssa only have bumps and scratches, Sera and the others were back in the Village when it happened... Alex had been caught up in one of the explosions, but I’m sure he’s okay, too.” Had anything happened to him, she was sure The Capitol would have reported on it by now.

“I’m sure everybody else is on their way to come see you. Might take a little bit with the Peacekeepers still out and about.” It was strange for her to be comforting Ares, trying to assure him everything was okay when her childhood memories of him were her doing the exact opposite. Being so mean and cruel to him, giving him reason to be scared and hurt. She hated reflecting on it. Hated that she let herself be so mean. But she had been making an effort to show she was trying to make it right, trying to do better by him now. 

[persephonejollet]

VISTA

“I think you’re the first non-family member I’ve seen, are you a nurse or something?” Vista asked the lady that had randomly been ushered into her hospital room. Not that it was uncommon, whenever the Peacekeepers felt the need to do random sweeps for safety, they tucked people away into whatever room was closest at the time. Surely that wasn’t a safe idea in case the person behind the bombing was around, but no one said they were overly bright.

“Sorry,” Vista said softly realizing perhaps she had come off a little rude. The pain wasn’t the best motivator when it came to being nice. “But really, if you’re a nurse, I don’t want to get up just yet.” It hurt to move let alone get up and walk around.

@persephonejollet·

Persephone was too exhausted to argue with the Peacekeepers, letting them escort her to one of the rooms while they had made a sweep of the hospital. She had just gone down the hall to one of the vending machines to get a couple bottles of water and snacks for the kids. But the Peacekeepers came along and ushered her to a hospital room before sliding the door shut before she could even say anything to them.

“Hm?” she hummed, a little startled by the voice behind her. A young woman was in a bed, looking toward her expectantly. “No, I’m a visitor,” she replied, pointing to the sticker on her shirt that said as such. She knew if she elaborated on who she was visiting, she wouldn’t keep it together, so she just hefted one of her hands with the water bottle and a bag of crackers tucked between two fingers, “I was on snack duty.”

Seph shook her head, “I’m not going to make you get up. I was just heading down the hall. Peacekeepers are making another sweep of the floor, so they needed the halls clear.”

[persephonejollet]

ARES

Ares waited until his sister gave him a straight answer. That was the important part. Fell had filled him in and so had a nurse on what exactly had happened, so it wasn’t a shock to him that he had acted as quick as he did to protect the children. As much as his relationship with Seph suffered, he’d never forgive himself if anything happened to his niece and nephew. 

Still, she filled him in on her side of the issue and he nodded his head with a heavy breath. His brow creased as he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to let the ache in his face pass. He was too tired to have a panic attack, probably because they kept him on a low dose pain killer, but it also didn’t help that his head felt like an atom bomb. 

“That would be cool,” Ares mumbled as he blinked his eyes open to look at his sister with the one eye he had that wasn’t covered. She looked like hell. “You know I’d never let anything happen to them. I’m not Mom.”

Persephone nodded in agreement. She would be sure to bring the kids over maybe a couple days from now, depending on hos Ares was doing. Right now wasn’t the best time. Not when he was gradually coming out of whatever drug induced haze he was currently in. And not when they were still trying to get over their own experiences from the attack. 

She lifted her head to meet his gaze. “I know,” she replied softly. It was no secret Ares adored his niece and nephew. It was one of the reasons she had kept going back to the Village other than for work. The visits also gave her a chance to try and fix the fractured bond between herself and her brother, but it was still very much broken from years of misunderstandings and cruelty on her part. 

“I know you wouldn’t,” she repeated, “and I can’t tell you enough how much that means to me. Pretty sure you’re the complete antithesis of Eladora.” She let out a small scoff, reaching up to wipe at the corner of one of her eyes. 

[persephonejollet]

ARES

Fell had spent a lot of time with him throughout the majority of the day, but eventually, he moved onto go and check on Alex, much to Ares’s encouragement. He hadn’t heard anything from the younger man and Fell was the best person to do that. He hadn’t heard from Serenity or his niece and nephew either. Things were so up in the air for the people that Ares cared about that it was nearly making him sick and teetering on the edge of a panic attack. Nothing was being told by him and the painkiller the nurses had him on had dulled his senses almost to the point of stupidity. 

Fell hadn’t been gone long when another person entered the doorway and knocked on the frame. Ares couldn’t see who had come in since the left side of his face was nearly completely bandaged from the crown of his head to the bottom of his cheek. He tried to turn his head, only for a splitting pain to rocket from the base of his skull and behind his eyes. Ares hissed in pain as he heard the familiar voice of his sister speaking to him.

Persephone. 

It took Ares a second to pass the pain so he could find his words. “I didn’ so much as stay wit’ ‘em as much as I jus’ kinda… fell on ‘em,” Ares slurred. He was having a hard time talking and staying awake from all of the painkiller he was on and the pain that coursed through his body simultaneously. His entire left side of his face hurt and he had a migraine from hell. 

“Are they okay?” Ares asked softly.

Ares’ face had been nearly covered in bandages. She was a bit taken back by the sight. It was one thing to have to watch The Games, seeing all the violence and gore that came with it, but it was another knowing the person, being family to them. Not to mention this wasn’t The Games. And her children had been in the line of fire. Seeing Ares in that bed didn’t feel right to her, but there they were.

She walked a little further in the room as he spoke and took a seat in the empty chair by his bed. He had been slurring his words, probably the pain killers taking hold on his mind. Tiring him out, but he needed the rest. If he fell asleep, she wouldn’t mind. At least she told him she was grateful for staying with Mason and Lyssa.

“They’re fine. Just scratches and bruises,” she replied. “Mason told me you protected them.” And seeing how Ares looked now, she was grateful for him keeping them safe. Even if she wasn’t sure how to show it other than telling him. “I didn’t know anything since the explosion happened. None of the doctors or Peacekeepers told us anything.” She shook her head, dropping her gaze. 

“But yeah, they’re fine. I can bring them over later to see you when you’re feeling a little better?”

[persephonejollet]

INDIE

The hospital was suffocating. 

Indie’s decade-old burn wounds had reopened, the right side of her body screaming with that familiar pain from when she had caused an explosion in her own arena years ago. The burns weren’t as bad as they had been upon her exit from the arena. This time, though, there was the falling rubble. And when a cement block fell on her left arm, pinning her to the ground as searing hot pain returned to her skin and up those scars that remained on her flesh, Indie thought she very well could die here. In what was supposed to be the safest place in the country.

She’d been thrown into the hospital- one of the first to be evacuated from the site due to being a public persona- and had her wounds bandaged, her arm carefully wrapped and placed into a cast. And she’d been left there. The room was stark white, the air stagnant and nearly impossible to breathe.

As soon as she’d been given the go-ahead after several days, Indie spent as much time in the hospital cafeteria as possible. The amount of people here was comforting; she loved the circulation and the motion of people going about their business here. So here Indie sat, slowly munching through an apple that she’d picked up off the produce table, when a figure approached close to her.

“Please don’t make me go back,” she sighed, assuming it was one of the nurses attempting to push her back into that stale room.

Persephone was so relieved to see her kids again. She wasn’t able to see them for three days, and even during that time, she hadn’t been sure that they were alive. No information was given to her until the lock down had been lifted and she and her husband were able to see them. The Capitol’s methods were beyond unprofessional and questionable, but all she had cared about was being able to see her kids and to talk to Ares.

After a few hours of doting on Mason and Lyssa and staying with them in their room, she had decided to try and see Ares. Mason had told her that he had protected them from the explosion. Putting himself in harm’s way for their sake. Seph was grateful that he had stayed with them, that he kept them safe, and she wanted to tell him.

But she also hadn’t eaten anything first, so she figured maybe she should get something to eat. Seph had made her way down to the cafeteria and was about to pass a girl when she heard her speak. She blinked, glancing behind herself and then looking back at her. “I’m not... a nurse,” she replied slowly, “I was just coming down to get a bite to eat.”

[persephonejollet]

Persephone had been at her studio working when the explosion hit. The Capitol had been on complete lock down after the other two bombs had gone off. Plenty of rumors had been circulating, that it was some sort of accident, that it was a terrorist attack, that the rebels were starting a war-- all sorts of horrifying rumors. But all she could think about were Mason, Lyssa, and Ares. Panic had overtook her in the last two days, frantically calling each of the hospitals until she managed to find the one where all three were taken. 

Even so, they refused to tell her much. 

Seph hadn’t been able to sleep, nearly inconsolable when her husband tried to comfort her. She needed to see them for herself, make sure that they at least were all right. They were in the hospital, that had to be enough to let her know they were okay. On that third day, they had immediately rushed to the hospital.

Mason and Lyssa had minor injuries. Scratches and bruises, but nothing life threatening. Seph sat with them for hours, holding them close and so relieved that they were okay. Mason had told her that uncle Ares had protected them, made sure that they were safe before the first explosion had gone off. 

After another couple of hours with her kids, Seph had gone further down the hall toward Ares’ room. She gently knocked on the door frame to get his attention. Her eyes had been puffy from crying, the skin around them and her nose red. Her hair had been put up in a messy bun, a few strands falling loose. She wore no make up, just a casual outfit in her haste to get to the hospital and see her kids. Slowly, she stepped into the room, arms crossed tightly in front of her. 

“Hey,” she greeted, swallowing hard and clearing her throat when her voice faltered. “Thank you... so much for staying with Mason & Lyssa. I, um... I’m glad you’re all alive. They didn’t tell us anything for three days.” //@ares-carnahan

[iliedtoo]

[persephonejollet]

MINERVA

Restraining a relieved sigh, Minerva offered a grateful smile. She was always thankful when someone refrained from indulging in the ‘endearing’ nickname. “Ah, thank you… You’re one of the few non-Victors that do.” she admitted. 

The name rang something familiar in the background noise of her mind, though she had trouble recalling her specific Games. “I’ve heard of her. District 2, right? I used to enjoy watching the Career wins.” Her eyebrows knitted together, “I wouldn’t judge anyone for being reclusive after something like that, but why towards your own children?”

“Really? I feel like if you don’t like being called by the nickname, you shouldn’t have to deal with everyone trying to pin that name on you.” It never was fair how some of the Victors were treated by The Capitol. More so as objects than people, valued for how well they killed people rather than for the fact that they were people. 

She nodded, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Eladora had been a big deal back when she won, mostly because she was young and beautiful, and was a Career from District Two. All the right things to thrust her into the spotlight as a Victor. She tried to get as much of the spotlight as she could, even now with other Victors taking up her spotlight. And she didn’t like that one bit.

“Because she wasn’t ever meant to be a mother,” Persephone replied almost in a monotone. “But she ended up with four daughters and a son I don’t think even she was sure she wanted. Though kids got her attention from The Capitol, as a Victor, so...” Persephone shook her head, looking over at Minerva, “But that’s a whole other thing. I’m just glad I’m not living in the Village with her anymore.”