Instead of Lucy Gray, he gets her younger, little sister, Rosalie Jade.
Thank you guys SO much for the wait. I have been really busy recently with work and haven't had lot of time to write. I know this chapter is a little on the short side, but I really wanted to get something out for you guys. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Warnings: Talk of death by giving birth by a menace (Dr. Gaul).
No! What are you doing? Run!
Coriolanus sat, watching in fear as Rosalie Jade frantically looked around to find Jessup. And when she did find him, he could only sit still as he watched her try to run to Jessup all while trying to escape all of the horrors of the Bloodbath.
“Jessup! Come on, we gotta go!” She yelled at the unaware boy.
Coriolanus glared at the screen in front of him, shaking with fury as he was forced to watch his poor little sister try to save someone who just wasn’t worth saving. Jessup wasn’t even standing when she had gotten to him! He didn’t seem aware of his surroundings, he could barely stand by himself, he could hardly even walk by himself without Rosalie Jade’s help. There was no point in trying to save him. He was just a lamb ready to be slaughtered.
Just let him go and hide.
But Rosalie Jade did no such thing. Rather, she pushed Jessup to his feet and dragged him along to go to the place that Coriolanus had told her about. She saw the divot in the ground a few feet before her and knew that was what he had to have been talking about. So she tried her hardest to get herself and Jessup there, but it just wasn't enough. Coral and her group were gaining on them and they looked bloodthirsty. She tried to pick up the pace, but it wasn't doing them any good. She frantically started to look around before she came to the simple conclusion. They were going to die.
Rosalie Jade had completely stopped moving, quickly whispered something in Jessup's ears, who seemed to have become aware of his surroundings, and he ran.
“What's wrong little songbird? You not gonna fight?” Coral taunted Rosalie Jade.
By now, there was no one else out in the open of the arena, and if they were, they were either in Coral's pact or were dead. The handful that got away all hid in safety, something Rosalie Jade should have done.
“I ain't gonna fight you, Coral. Not anyone of ya’.” Rosalie Jade told the group, cautiously moving closer to them.
“Yeah? Well we're gonna fight you!” Coral yelled, running towards Rosalie Jade.
And within a second, Coral stopped, shooting the trident she had gotten from the Cornucopia right at Rosalie Jade's heart, causing the beautiful golden fork to fly right into her teammate’s chest.
Tanner let out a dreadful scream, his hand weakly gripping onto the trident, eyes looking up at Coral in fear.
Everyone was confused. Coriolanus, the students, Lucky, Coral. Hell, even Gaul was confused. How did Rosalie Jade not get hit, but Tanner did?
Then out of nowhere, Rosalie Jade stood up from behind Tanner and pulled the trident out of him, causing him to scream yet again as she whisper yelled a small, ‘I'm sorry’ to him and then threw the trident straight at Coral's arm.
Rosalie Jade had shocked everyone. She had seen Tanner coming up behind her to trap her in between him and the rest of the pack. So when Coral started to run at her and stopped to throw the trident at her, she had simply ducked, in turn killing Tanner. Then, while Coral was still confused, she took the trident and shot it at her perfectly and quickly ran down to Jessup.
“Ahhh! You fucking bitch! Get her!” Coral hollered at Mizzen and Treech. But it was too late. The cameras had already shown Rosalie Jade pushing Jessup into a safe place, closely following him and hitting a brick over a lonesome tribute's head, stopping her from getting in.
Everyone stared in disbelief at what she had done, let alone gotten away. This little twelve year old girl had a hand in a tribute's death, took the murder weapon out of his body, apologized for it, shot the weapon at another tribute, got herself and her friend to safety, and to top it all off, had struck another tribute over the head to stop them from getting in. That, in itself, seemed to frighten the other student mentors watching while it baffled Coriolanus.
She said she had no other skills and that she didn't want to kill anyone. So how the hell did she perfectly throw that trident at Coral’s arm? She could have easily missed or thrown it at a more deadly area and how did she se-
His thoughts were quickly cut off by hearing one of his classmates, Domitia Whimsiwick, violently puke after watching tributes, along with her own, get brutally murdered.
“Now if you are watching this at home, that was a very graphic and disgusting thing that just happened. So kids, never do this to one another,” Lucky somberly told the camera, “And Miss. Whimsiwick, if you are going to get sick, please do it elsewhere. Now, you can still make bets and change them if you would like Now that e-len-ven tributes are out of the Games. We will be back when there is more action for us to see. And that was the Bloodbath of the 10th Hunger Games.” With that, the screen cut to the Panem symbol and the anthem played.
“Someone please clean that up and if your tribute died, please get up and go to the audience,” Lucky announced, “God, that smell is putrid.” Lucky cringed, gagging.
Coriolanus looked around to see who had all gotten out, and indeed, eleven mentors went into the audience, and when he looked into the audience, he saw Tigris. She looked so sad, having watched kids kill And fight each other. But something else caught his eyes, Gaul. She was talking to one of her gamemakers and nodding to her when she caught Coriolanus’ eye. She smirked at him and nodded towards the screen, proudly.
She’s proud of me. Rosalie Jade caught her attention and she's proud of me!
Gaul was indeed proud of Coriolanus. He had gotten this innocent young girl to chase another tribute to die and hurt another's. But that wasn't the main reason she was proud right now. No, not because of Coriolanus, but of herself.
For the Peacekeepers had found their lost tribute, and she had the perfect welcome back plan for him.
“You might want to get your friend out of here, Mr. Snow.”
It had only been around three hours since the Games had officially started and not much had happened since the Bloodbath. Every now and then, a few tributes would come out of hiding to see if there was anything left in the Cornucopia that could help them, but quickly went back into hiding after seeing Reaper stalking up in the stands. The only tribute that didn’t back down was the girl from District 7, Lamina. She was perched on top of a beam, lying peacefully, for her and Reaper seemed to have made an unspoken agreement, ‘you don’t try to kill me, I don’t try to kill you’. So far, it was working, to the displeasure of the Capitol. They wanted to see death and destruction, and all they were getting was Lamina sunbathing and Reaper angrily staring into the cameras.
Coral and her group seemingly disappeared after the accidental killing of Tanner. Everyone was still in shock at Rosalie Jade’s quick reflexes and thinking. People had thought that she would be one of the first to go during Bloodbath, hence the pity donations. But after her stunt, more donations were raking in, but not from pity, but from the sheer desire to see the young girl bring more death to the arena. The lonesome district girl was the last death to happen in the arena and it was clear that the Capitol wanted more deaths to come from the small girl. But they were proven disappointed when all that she did was comfort and calm Jessup down in the vents.
“He might not like what he’s going to see next.”
Ah, right. Dealing with the anxiety of what might happen to Rosalie Jade and not being able to do most anything to help her if something were to go wrong, Coriolanus now had to deal with Highbottom’s cryptic warnings.
“I beg your pardon?” Coriolanus questioned, but was soon answered by the loud sound of a crash.
“YOU’RE MONSTERS! ALL OF YOU!” Sejanus roared out, face scrunched in anger.
Confused and shocked, Coriolanus looked over at the incompetent fool and saw what Highbottom and Sejanus were referring to. The lost tribute, Marcus, had been found and a helicopter was slowly lowering his bloody and tortured body down while he was literally hanging on by a thread. A pure white rope was wrapped around his hands, slightly tinted pink where his hands met the rope. The rope wasn’t tied very tight, but Marcus wasn’t putting up much of a fight to get out. He looked like he was on the brink of death.
Sejanus had just finished throwing his temper tantrum and had stormed out when the loose rope had broken, and Marcus had fallen right onto the beam next to Lamina. The soft sound of bones breaking could be heard as Marcus landed. Lamina looked at the boy’s broken body and gripped her axe. She looked over to Reaper who was staring right at her, not nodding his head or shaking it, just staring at her. When she looked back down at Marcus, he was already staring at her, nodding his head, giving her the, ‘it’s ok’ sign.
By now, the noise had caused Coral and her group to come out of hiding to see what all the ruckus was. They watched from a distance, trying to decide if they wanted to try to kill Lamina or not. Lamina noticed them almost immediately and wanted them gone. So, as a warning, she looked down at Marcus, who had closed his eyes, and swiftly brought down her axe, killing him in one motion.
“Yes!” Pliny, or “Pup”, Harington, cheered out for his tribute.
But Lamina didn’t stop there. No. Marcus was already dead when she brought her axe down again and again, chopping at his neck a total of five times, with the first being the only one that actually killed him. She held onto his hair, and when she was done, she stood up and took the head, throwing it in the general direction of Coral’s group.
“Oh!” the audience called out.
While Coral smirked at her, she regretted asking her to join her group because she thought she wouldn’t be strong enough or have the guts to kill anyone, but she was easily proven wrong by Lamina’s actions. The rest of her group looked away from the head, gagging and trying not to throw up. Coral quickly turned on her heels, knowing that if they were to try and attack Lamina right now, she would have the advantages of knowing they were there, the high ground, and an adrenaline rush. They would need to sneak up on her and surprise her if they wanted better odds of killing her.
As the group ran away Lamina looked back towards Reaper, but he was nowhere to be found. When she heard shuffling below her, she saw that Reper had collected Marcus’s head and was looking up at her, waiting. Confused for a moment, she gripped her axe again to show him that if he wanted to fight, she would fight back. Reaper shook his head in response, pointing towards Marcus’s body. She raised her eyebrow and moved closer to the body and nodded her head towards it. Reaper nodded back in response. She looked at him like he was crazy and then cautiously pushed the beheaded body down onto the ground, landing it right in front of Reaper’s feet.
He looked back up at her and tipped his hat to her as a ‘thank you’. Lamina just nodded back, still confused with Reaper and his actions. She watched as he dragged Marcus’s and the other dead bodies to the bottom of the Cornucopia, laying them in a line.
Everyone watching was shocked. No tribute has ever made a grave for the other tributes before. It was unheard of, unthinkable. And yet, here was Reaper Ash, doing the unthinkable. When he finished putting them all in a line, he looked down at them again, deciding that Marcus should get his own little spot a bit farther away from the others, as an honor of escaping and of his brutal torture and death. When he completed putting Marcus in his own little area, he looked back up at Lamina, staring right into her soul. She looked back at him and scooted back a bit. And when Reaper finally looked away and started to head back to his spot, she put her head down in guilt, knowing that she didn’t kill Marcus out of pity like he wanted, but out of self gain so Coral and her group wouldn’t come at her.
“Now, was it a mercy kill or for self gain? We may never know,” Lucky softly remarked, “Now if you want to change your bets, do it while you can! Betting closes tonight, but you can always donate throughout the whole Game!” Lucky beamed.
“Woo! Go Lamina!” Pup cheered, sending water and an apple to his tribute.
Instantly, everyone’s attention was on the screen. This would be the first time to see if Coriolanus’ drone idea would work. It took a few minutes for the drones to get there. The first one was carrying the water and was headed straight towards Lamina. Stirred by the noise, she lifted her head and saw the drone at her. She heard another sound and looked behind her, seeing the second drone carrying the apple. She smiled and went to the edge of the beam towards the drone holding the water since it was closer, but her smile quickly dropped when she realized that the drones weren’t slowing down. Just in the nick of time, she lowered her head and covered it with her hands, causing the two drones to crash into each other. Both the water and the apple had been lost because of the crash.
“Hey! It almost hit her!” Pup shouted. Lucky just shrugged at him.
“Will she get another water and apple?” Pup demanded.
“Depends, do you want to spend more of your donations?” Highbottom asked.
“What? No! That’s not fair!” Pup yelled at him.
“Life’s not fair, Mr. Harrington.” Highbottom reminded the angry boy, causing him to yell out and sit down with his arms crossed, very pissed off.
Well good thing no one knows the drones were my idea, just the donations with the food and water.
Coriolanus looked back to Gaul, feeling her burning holes into the back of his head. But when he looked back, he saw the proudness and glee in her eyes. He wasn’t fooled by it this time, though. No. He watched her nod her head towards the screen again, just like she did after Rosalie Jade had killed that girl tribute, just like she did after talking to her gamemaker. He understands now. He knows he wasn’t the reason she was proud. He never was.
And he was going to change that.
Walking home in the summer was never something that Coriolanus enjoyed, but walking home in the summer at night, now that was something he did. It was calming for Coriolanus, having the wind lighting blowing on his face always cooled him down on the hot summer days and ever since the war, the nights were the only time in the Capitol that ever brought Comroilanus peace. There would always be small groups of people who would sneak around and party at night, but other than that, Coriolanus could think in peace. And Coriolanus needed all the time he could get to think.
How did she even know Tanner there? Hell, I didn’t even realize he was there! It was like she saw him or heard him like he was some sort of predator trying to catch her, his prey. Or was she the hunter, and Tanner was the unaware prey? She threw the trident right Coral’s arm, but didn’t throw it to where it would cause her to lose her arm. All she did was put three holes in Coral’s arm. She had perfect aim and could have easily killed her. So why-
“Coriolanus!” Coriolanus quickly looked behind him after being hollered for.
“Coriolanus! Oh, Coriolanus. Please, where is he?” Mrs. Plinth worriedly questioned.
“What? Where is who Mrs. Plinth?” Coriolanus just wanted to go home after his monster of a day and Mrs. Plinth hounding him with stupid and vague questions was pissing him off.
“Sejanus! Where is my Sejanus?” She asked anxiously, trying to keep her voice down so as to not wake people up, but failing.
Coriolanus shook his head, “I haven't seen him since he ran off after Marcus got dropped into the arena.”
“Oh,” She croaked out, “Oh dear. That's not good.”
Pale and softly swaying left and right, she looked as if she was going to pass out.
Coriolanus fights off an eye roll when she looks left and right to see if anyone was still out. Some homes were lit as a result of her distress.
“Maybe he's home already? Came back when you were looking for him. Have you checked your apartment yet?” Coriolanus questions her.
“I did, but not since I left looking for him a few hours ago. Maybe you are right, I should go look there.” She mumbled, almost talking to herself.
“Then how about I take you inside and you can go look for him there. Yeah? Great!” Corilanus cut her off before hse could even start talking, the time to be a friendly neighbor was over. It was time for him to figure out how to save his little sister now.
Coriolanus put his hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her towards their apartment building. He had not realized that he had walked home so quickly and that they were only a handful of homes and buildings away from their homes. As they got closer to their destination, he noticed someone waiting outside.
“Tigris?” Coriolanus called out.
“Oh! There you are Coriolanus! I was starting to wor-” Tigris announced, but quickly cut herself off, instantly running to Mrs. Plinth’s side, “Oh, Mrs. Plinth, are you ok? What happened?”
And, oh, how that set her off. Balling her eyes out, Tigris quickly hurried her inside so no one would be woken up by her wails for her lost son.
Coriolanus rolled his eyes, bitterly thinking about how now Mrs. Plinth knew of the Snow’s misfortune. She just had to let her come inside. She couldn’t stay home alone after not finding her son there. ‘No Coryo, it wouldn’t be right’. The second Tigris had said those words, he knew that he had yet another person to worry about keeping their family secret. How he hated Tigris and her empathic heart sometime.
“I j-just don’t know where h-he could be.” Mrs. Plinth sniffled. She had finally stopped crying by now and was just complaining about her lost son now.
“Nor do I know where my tea is, maid!” Grandma’am shouted.
Grandma’am. The only thing making this situation better, or rather funny. She had been hounding Mrs. Plinth down for stuff the second Tigris led her into the barely functioning penthouse. First it was about the laundry that hadn’t been done in two weeks, then she wanted her son’s bedding changed, stating that no man should sleep on those disgusting sheets. Now it was about her nighttime tea.
“Grandma’am, I told you, this is Mrs. Pli-”
“I don’t care who she is! I want my tea!” Grandma’am cut Tigris off swiftly, flailing her arms around like a toddler not getting the thing they wanted at the store.
“Maybe I should go.” Mrs. Plinth murmured, grabbing her robe. In Grandma’am’s defense, Mrs. Plinth was wearing a long, blue nightgown that had most definitely seen better days. It had ragged edges and holes on the bottom. It must have been one of things she brought from District Two. She truly was dressed like a servant made for a Capitolite.
“No!” Tigris called out, causing everyone to look at her, “Please, stay. I can’t imagine what you are going through right now. I don’t know what I would do if poor Coryo here was lost. Please, just stay.” Tigris softly told the odd woman out. Mrs. Plinth looked down at her robe and up at Tigris again. She saw how her eyes were shining with hope, to that, she slowly stepped back towards the living room, away from everyone else. She watched as Tigris’ faced slowly dropped, but she just wanted to go home now and see if her son was finally there now. Besides, she, just like everyone else, can and will never know what someone hopes for. Whether it be good or bad.
Tigris went to open her mouth to speak when she was cut off again, this time by the phone ringing.
Coriolanus looked towards Tigris and her face mirrored his. Confusion.
Who could possibly be calling at this time?
Pushing past Mrs. Plinth, consequently allowing her to get farther away from the kitchen, Coriolanus walked over to the ringing phone.
“You’ve got a problem and I need you to fix it.” The voice demanded.
“What?” Coriolanus asked, “D-did something happen to Rosalie Jade?” Coriolanus quickly added, thinking of all the horrible things that could have happened to her.
“Not yet. And if you want to keep it that way, I suggest that you get down here and fix. it.” Gaul harshly barked out.
Is she threatening my sister ?
“I’m sorry Dr. Gaul, but until you tell me what I ‘need to fix,’ I can’t help you.” Coriolanus snapped back just as harshly.
Gaul let out a breathy laugh, and just when she went to answer, Coriolanus heard Grandma’am yelling for her tea again.
Now she’s just doing it for attention. She hates tea.
Coriolanus turns around quickly to tell her to try to be quiet since he was on the phone, but when he turns around, all he sees is Mrs. Plinth's pale face. She looked like she saw a ghost and was about to cry again. And when he follows her eyes, he knows why. On the small T.V. screen that the Snow’s were just barely holding on to, there is a shadow covering Marcus’ lone body. But it wasn’t just a shadow, no. It was Sejanus.
“Oh my God.” Coriolanus muttered in shock.
He seriously didn't think this one through.
“Have you figured out your problem yet, Mr. Snow?” Gaul taunted.
Coriolanus gulped, “Yes.”
“Good. We need someone to get him out of there,” Gaul was clearly annoyed by all of this, “He bribed some dull Peacekeeper and the second I find the one who did, well I’ve been wanting a new pet to play with.” Gaul growled out while bitterly laughing out the last part. It was very clear how furious she was, Coriolanus didn’t even know that one’s life could be threatened with something worse than death before he met Gaul. Now he was regretting being so short with her not just even a minute ago.
“Who do you want to g-get him? I have his mother next to me now if you want.” Coriolanus cursed himself for stuttering in front of her.
“Well we wouldn’t want him getting scared and him running on us like a terrified little bunny, now would we?” Gaul chuckled.
“You want me to get him?” Coriolanus timidly asked.
“What a great idea Coriolanus! What a wonderful best friend you must be!” Gaul sarcastically let out, or maybe she was being truthful, Coriolanus would never know.
“I am going to freeze the screens when you go in. You have exactly an hour to get him out otherwise people might start asking questions as to why the screens black.”
“How is this safe, though? How will I get ou-” Coriolanus anxiously started asking the crazy scientist before she cut her off.
“You will be fine. There will be Peacekeepers there to make sure no tributes get out. You will go out the way you came in. Easy peasy.” He could hear her smile through the phone, the smile that proved that she didn’t care if he got hurt, or rather died, or not.
“Listen to me, Coriolanus. Do not mess this up. I fear that my Games may be coming to an end and I need you to help me fix them.” Gaul seriously stated, and with that, she hung up the phone.
Coriolanus just put the phone back down in shock. Grandma’am had been whisked away to her room by Tigris the second she saw Sejanus on the screen. Tigris was now holding Mrs. Plinth in a comforting way, but it was no use, she was petrified for her son’s life.
Tigris looked up at Coriolanus, “Who was that?”
“Dr. Gaul.” This got Mrs. Plinth’s attention.
“She wants someone to get him, doesn’t she?” She asked, standing up, causing Tigris’ hand to fall out of hers. Tigris reached for hers again, but Mrs. Plinth was already in front of Coriolanus. “I’ll do it. I’ll go in.” She confidently told him as if she wasn’t just about to have another mental breakdown just seconds ago.
“No, you can’t! You could get hurt or die!” Tigris nervously told the older woman.
“I have to, he’s my son.” Mrs. Plinth told the younger girl.
Coriolanus just shook his head, “No, you’re not going into the arena to get Sejanus. Gaul doesn’t want you to.”
Tigris looked at him confused, “What do you mean she doesn’t want her to?”
“She wants me. I’m going into the arena.”
She needs my help. She needs me.
“You’re getting that damned kid out?” The Peacekeeper looked Coriolanus up and down in disbelief.
“Yes, so could you open the doors the second you see us, I wouldn’t like to be killed by any of those animals.” Coriolanus snapped. Of course he didn’t mean his Rosalie Jade, no. She was an angel sent from Heaven for him. But this Peacekeeper was starting to piss him off. He had been giving him a hard time since the beginning. First he wasn’t allowed to bring in anything to protect himself and now they won’t even keep the doors open for him.
“Ahm.” The Peacekeeper nodded his head, covering his mouth with his hand, stifling his laugh.
Coriolanus rolled his eyes and started to walk towards the entrance of the arena. He looked back at the Peacekeeper and nodded, signing for him to open the gates. The second they opened, Coriolanus knew he fucked up. A red alarm started blinking, temporarily blinding him, and when Coriolanus took his first few steps in, he was sure the entire arena knew someone new was in here.
Coriolanus had completely forgotten about that stupid voice that went off every time someone entered the arena.
Well if they didn't know someone was in here, they do now.
Coriolanus knew that he needed to be fast, faster than he first intended when he entered the arena. The animals would sniff him out soon and without anything to protect himself with, he's just prey standing in their open jaws, waiting for them to close down on him and end his mundane and insignificant life.
Coriolanus’ eyes searched the arena, determined to find Sejanus. And that he did.
With his back to the door, Sejanus was still kneeling in front of Marcus’ headless body. As Coriolanus hurried over to Sejanus trying to be as quiet as possible, stepping over a broken bow and shattered glass from the bombing, he saw a bag of bread crumbs and heard sniffling.
“Sejanus!” Coriolanus whisper yelled.
The kneeling boy flinched and snapped his head to look at Coriolanus, “I thought they would've sent my Ma.”
Coriolanus looked to his left immediately, hearing a sound only one of the tributes could have made in this desert of an arena. “Yeah, well I wished they did.” Coriolanus muttered. He was starting to rethink his choice to come and get Sejanus and how he wishes he let her do it instead of him.
“What are you doing Sejanus? It's not safe here, we have to go.” Coriolanus tried to usher the boy up, but he was as still as a rock.
“I'm spreading breadcrumbs over his body. In Two we believe it helps with the journey to the afterlife.” Sejanus mumbled. He truly was hurt from the loss of his friend, even if he didn't consider him a friend anymore.
“What do you think this is going to accomplish Sejanus? Do you really think that you’re helping anyone right now?” Coriolanus kneeled down to his level, trying to get him to think rationally.
“Yes, I am Coryo. When people see-”
“You really think Gual is going to let anyone see this? Huh? See how an 18 year old Capitolite rebel bribed a Peacekeeper to get into the arena just to spread breadcrumbs on a dead and headless body all because of some District tradition just to be killed by animals?” Coriolanus didn't intend to be so harsh, but he knew that the animals were starting to close in on them.
Coriolanus put his hand up, shutting Sejanus up. “No. Gaul paused the feed the second she saw you in here. No one is ever going to know we were in here. You die here and she'll tell everyone it was from the flu.”
Sejanus looked down in guilt, “I'm so sorry Coryo. I never meant for you to get involved. I just wanted to make a change and help them!” Sejanus sobbed out.
They were getting ready to pounce, Coriolanus was sure of it. “You want to help right? Well you're not going to be able to do anything if you're dead,” Coriolanus reasoned with him,“You're rich, you have money and influence. Use it. You can't change anything here except the day you die. You want to help do it out there.” Sejanus just looked at Coriolanus and nodded, finally standing up.
“Now let's get out of here Se-”
Suddenly, voices screamed out and the boys quickly realized that it was Coral and her little posse and they were running straight at them, weapons raised.
“Run!” Coriolanus pushed Sejanus forward, pulling him out of his shock and they both ran as fast as they could to the exit.
Coriolanus looked to his right only to see that Sejanus had tripped right over something.
He quickly reached down to help him get up but instantly felt pain in the back of his left arm.
Coriolanus then noticed that the dumbass didn't fall over something, but rather someone .
The young male tribute quickly got up and started to attack Coriolanus while Sejanus ran for the exit to get help. “Help! Someone, we need help!”
“Fuck! Get off!” Coriolanus grunted and used all his might to push him off. They both stood up and the tribute started to swing his knife at him and managed to get him on his arm again. Coriolanus dodged the few more swings the tribute gave, but the second he saw Coral and her group gaining on him, he pounced onto the boy and started to deliver brutal punches to his face.
He looked to his left and saw that they were closer now. He looked down and saw that the boy's face was bloodied and disfigured, almost like one of Gual's mutts. He looked back to his left, but something cut his eye before he could even see where they were now.
A large piece of rubble that had a pipe coming out of the top. It was like Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, calling Coriolanus’ name.
He hastily got up and picked up the makeshift hammer. He could hear their running feet and panting getting closer. He could smell their sweat and blood radiating off of them, but he didn't care. Just like Lamina, he chose self gain.
The boy was dead. He had been since Coriolanus had obliterated his face with his fist, causing him to lose too much blood along with his dehydration. But the feeling of hitting the boy over and over again was fucking euphoric for Coriolanus. He couldn't stop, not when he felt this good, this powerful.
Sejanus finally registered the fact that Coriolanus hadn't followed him and quickly ran back to him to pull him off the dead boy right before Treech started an axe at him.
Running for their lives yet again, the boys ran at full speed, determined not to die. They saw the gates open and quickly ran through them and they closed right before any tribute could get through.
“You better keep an eye on that songbird of yours!” Coral yelled out, causing Coriolanus’ eye to twitch at the threat. He knew if he even looked at the hollering beast he would end up doing something stupid. But he wouldn't forget about her threat to his little sister.
Bending over himself, Coriolanus panted as he watched Sejanus run into his mother's loving arms.
When the hell did she get here?
Eventually looking up, feeling someone glaring holes into the back of his head, he looked up to see the two different colored harsh eyes of Dr. Gual. She was standing next to Mr. Plinth and neither one of them looked happy. Deciding to look elsewhere, he caught Mrs. Plinth's eye and she smiled at him and then quickly escorted herself and her son into the car waiting for them.
Coriolanus tried to stand tall when he looked towards Mr. Plinth but the ache in his arm didn't agree with him. He sucked in a breath of pain and looked towards Gaul who motioned for him to get into the waiting car to his left.
Looking back at the both of them, he saw the check being given to Gaul from Mr. Plinth. He sat down in the car, driving away with one thought in his head.
Coriolanus was currently in the hands of Dr. Gaul. She was the one nursing the cuts that he had gotten from the arena. She, the most merciless human being to be alive that let one of her own students get bit by her own monstrous creations, was caring for him.
“What?” Corioanus was confused. He was barely keeping his tears in from the pain. The pain from his arm and the pain for that fact that he actually did kill that boy. The guilt was starting to catch up to him and being grilled questions by Gaul wasn't helping.
“Mankind.” Gaul pulled the stitch tightly, causing Coriolanus to suck in a breath.
“Now who would have thought that Crassus' Snow's baby boy would be fighting for his life in the arena he made.”
“And I thought that you would have finally understood after seeing it in person, but I suppose I was wrong.” Gaul spoke over him.
“I don't understand? What do you mean, humanity?” Coriolanus obviously wasn't going to get a direct answer about his father from the mad scientist, but he could at least try the other question she asked him, seeing as she wouldn't let it go.
“That boy, the one you kil-” Gaul started, but Coriolanus didn't let her finish, pissed that she even mentioned the now dead tribute.
“How does that have anythi-” Coriolanus sucked another breath in, cutting himself off as she yet again pulled the stitch too tight, clearly annoyed that he cut her off.
“You going back to that already dead boy, repeatedly smashing his skull open when you didn't need to, was true mankind. Mankind in its raw and natural state. Where boys are willing to beat each other to the death just on the pure hope that in the end, they will live, or rather win.” She pulled the last stitch tight, signaling that she still had something to say, and tied it up.
“You didn't need to go back and beat him to the pulp. Imagine what your little dove would say? She would be mortified and so disappointed.” Just like Highbottom, Dr. Gaul had seen the way Coriolanus acted and looked at Rosalie Jade, and what he had called her. But unlike Highbottom, she intended to use this to her advantage and mold Coriolanus into her perfect successor. Coriolanus already fit most of her molds. She just needed his mind to be in the right spot, out of his heart and into his head.
Coriolanus’ tears had finally fallen at the mention of her. If she had witnessed that and seen what he had done to the boy, Coriolanus wouldn't know what he would do to himself. She wouldn't ever want to see him again, and after feeling the warmth that she brought him, there was no way in Hell that he was going back to living his cold and cruel life. Not without her.
“I suppose you should be getting home now, your poor cousin must be worried sick.” She patted his back as a sign to ‘get the fuck out’ and she stood up, walking over to her mutts.
Coriolanus hurriedly buttoned his shirt back up and was careful to not pull his stitches doing so. He stood up and looked over to Dr. Gaul with the intent to thank her for her fixing the wounds she had caused, but he stopped himself when he saw her looking at a mutt she was taunting.
It had to have been a person at one point, Coriolanus knew that much. He could see the remnants of melted skin, and he could smell it too. It smelt ghastly. The thing had finger nails coming out of what was left of its hand every which way. It had no eyes, rather an endless hole of darkness that would lead you to nowhere. It was twitching every so often and Coriolanus wondered how it was still even alive. How any of those disgusting mutts were still alive.
“Can you believe that I studied to be a midwife, helping mothers deliver their precious tiny humans into this unforgiving world while some take their own mothers life just for their own self gain?” She randomly announced, still looking at the new mutt.
Coriolanus just headed closer to the door, not liking how this new conversation made him think of his late mother.
“What a boring world we would be living in if I had continued too.” She slowly turned around looking towards Coriolanus questioningly.
Coriolanus just stared at the mad woman for a moment, before giving his thanks.
“Thank you, Dr. Gaul.” With that, he quickly turned on his heel and left the nightmare of a lab hurriedly.
Gaul just smiled. For she knew exactly what he was truly thanking her for.
“Coryo! Oh thank God!” Tigris quickly ran to Coriolanus’, checking to see if he was OK and that he didn't get hurt.
“What happened in there? What took so long?” She asked when she saw him wince after she touched his arm.
“I'm fine Tigris, a tribute got me on my arm, but Dr. Gaul fixed it up.” He calmed her down as best as he could, but she just would let up. Her baby cousin was hurt and she needed to help him.
After getting him some tea, making sure that the kettle didn't scream so as to not wake Grandma’am up, she finally asked him the question that had been in the back of her mind.
“What happened to the tribute? The one that hurt you.” She whispered to him.
Coriolanus’ eyes met hers and she knew instantly. But their eyes didn't match. While hers showed remorse and even guilt , the only thing in Coriolanus’ eyes were annoyance and power.
“Tigris, he almost killed me. I-I…There was nothing else I could do. I didn't mean to, it was like my mind was on autopilot and I wasn't going to die in there. It wasn't supposed to happen, and, yeah I felt bad, but it also just felt so…so powerful .” Coriolanus ranted, almost feeling as though he needed to explain himself. And when he finally finished, he looked back at Tigris. Oh how he wished he hadn't.
“Coriolanus, when I look in your eyes, all I see is Him right now,” she motioned towards the large glass painting of Crassus Snow overhanging the front door, “All that was in his eyes were hate and greed. You don't have to be like him. You're a good person. You are good. You don't need to be him, please.” She desperately told him, holding onto his good arm.
He just nodded his head at her, just wanting to skip this lecture. He knew he wanted to be his father, he hated his father. Why would he want to be something he hates?
So the two young Snow's walked into their respected bedrooms without the knowledge that their lives would forever be changed after tomorrow, never to be the same all because of a 12 year old.
“Tigris! Do you know where my other pair of pants are?” Coriolanus yelled out, frantically searching his room. He had already worn this pair of pants for almost a whole week and it was starting to become obvious. There was still a tiny dirt stain left on the left knee of the pants from when he fell into the monkey exhibit on the day he was reunited with his little sister. He had watched Tigris struggle to get the stain out that evening, but the small amount of dirt was persistent. While, thankfully the uniform ordered skirt just covered the spot, it was still annoying and shameful for Coriolanus to look at every time he sat down. The skirt riding up just slightly enough that only he could see how the Snow’s couldn’t even afford to clean their own clothes.
“No, I’m sorry Coryo. I haven’t been able to get to the cleaners in a while,” Tigris apologized as she came into his room, looking down in guilt. “Maybe I can visit the Plinths tonight after we get home. I’m sure they would allow us to use their washer machines. They’re both such lovely people.” She said happily, quickly exiting his room, telling him that they were going to be late.
As Coriolanus dressed quickly, he started to wonder about Tigris. Was she ok? Her moods have been changing like a switch, sad then happy, angry then calm. She would be fine one minute then freaking the fuck out the next. As he finished tying up his shoes and walked out to find Tigris humming to herself, he realized something. She would only act like this around the Plinths . Her mood would always change around Plinths . But she was fine around Sejanus, so why not his mother and father?
As the two of them walked out of their barely surviving apartment building and started their walk to The Hall to watch the Games, Coriolanus was just thinking of one simple thing.
What the fuck did the Plinths do for Tigris to like them so much.
“It seems that during the night, Bobbin was mercilessly slayed by one of the beasts in the arena. Unfortunately, the cameras weren’t working properly last night and we weren’t able to see which beast it was that killed him, or rather beasts. Was it Coral and her group or was it perhaps Lamina? Maybe she came down from her beam and decided to continue her little killing spree. We will never know.”
Coriolanus was finally able to calm down after Lucky’s little rant. No one was able to see the cameras to see what truly happened. No one knew Coriolanus and Sejanus were in the arena last night. No one knew Coriolanus killed someone.
“And it looks like someone is just waking up on this lovely morning,” Coriolanus looked up to see that Lucky was referring to Lamina who was looking quite scared at the moment, “Unfortunately for her, others have been up just a tad longer than her.” Lucky joked, as everyone watched Coral and her group taunt and tease Lamina with their weapons.
Lamina stood up, gripping her axe in her hand tightly. She looked down to see Coral tell Circ something and she watched as he started to climb up the beam she had found a safe place on. Coral obviously couldn’t climb up the beam with her arm and Coriolanusu smiled at that.
As he watched Circ get closer and closer to Lamina, he noticed Treech climbing up the other side, gaining on an oblivious Lamina. He watched in realization that Lamina had been set up to die. If she were to fight off Circ, she would be left vulnerable to Treech and vice versa. She was too high up to jump, and even if she did, Coral and Mizzen were waiting for her at the bottom if she didn’t die from the impact.
It seemed that as soon as Coriolanus figured this out, so did Pup.
“No! Lamina! Watch out!” Pup cried out to no one.
But it was too late. Lamina had chosen to fight Circ, unaware of the danger behind her. As she went to swing her axe at Circ, Treech grabbed her hand and swung his own axe. In one swift move, he cut off her hand, causing her to let out a scream of pain and betrayal. He quickly pushed her off the beam, feeding her to the beasts below.
“And to think that they were from the same District. They really do have no remorse, do they?” Lucky asked the audience.
And with that, Treech had pushed Circ right off the beam, letting him fall right onto Coral’s waiting trident.
“Woah! Plot twist! Did anyone see that coming? I didn’t, did you?” Lucky joked to Io Jasper in shock. “Well you know what that means everyone! It’s time to say bye Mr. Harrington and Mr. Jasper! Byeee!”
Both students stomped over to the audience section, annoyed by the events that had just happened.
Coriolanus counted up in his how many tributes were left.
Rosalie Jade, Coral, Treech, Mizzen, Reaper, Dill, Teslee, Sol, Hy, Panlo…Shit who else? Oh yeah, fucking Jessup and Wovey. Ok, she only has 11 more. Everyone else was either killed before the Games or during the “Blood Bath.”
“With only 12 tributes left, who do you think is going to win?” Lucky questioned as the cameras cut out.
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