𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄 | finnick odair

- 𝟏𝟐

༻ CHAPTER 12 ༺
" true power is in giving
instead of taking. "

     TWO YEARS LATER, atlantis found herself waking up early looking as the sun rose up in the sky, painting it different beautiful colors of orange, yellow and red. if only she hadn't been so tense. tomorrow it was reaping day. the 68th hunger games. every other year, atlantis had managed to come out lucky, but even then she was anticipating everything.

     yearly, she and finnick would meet before the reaping. throughout that time, atlantis had noticed many different things about the boy. he'd matured at a much faster rate, his attitude turning into an elusive, sometimes flirty one. she couldn't put her finger on it, but he seemed much more miserable every year. finnick was good at hiding such things though.

     when atlantis woke, she knew she couldn't stand the pressure from the oncoming event. she had become impatient and just wanted to get to finnick as quickly as possible. he'd always been the best at calming her down - almost like he was her lifeline. at the same time, she behaved like his.

     every year his tributes died, she was there to help him. at times, it seemed like it was the cause of something else. at least they had each other.

     hastily, while viewing the tv program of caesar flickerman teasing this year's hunger games, atlantis stuffed the piece of roasted fish in her mouth and pushed her plates into the sink before shoving her shoes on and leaving the house.

     instead of waiting for finnick like normal, she'd just come to him. her heartbeat had been accelerated all morning from the stress and she just couldn't bear it anymore. her course was the victor's village.

     she weaved her way through the townspeople at a quick pace, not even bothering to look around at the dissatisfied faces. once again, people were becoming worried about the games. they had replaced the happy ones when finnick had managed to win.

     eventually, atlantis reached the victor's village. however, there was only one thing wrong. there were two high-ranked peacekeepers guarding the gate. she'd never seen something like it, probably because she'd never directly went to finnick a day before the reaping.

     taking a deep breath, the girl took a few strides up to the gate, making eye contact with the peacekeepers, "i need to see finnick."

     one of them didn't seem particularly impressed and just shook their head, putting up an arm to deny her entrance, "no can do. no common people allowed here."

     "i know him, i always come here whether you're guarding the gate or not." she shot back, crossing her arms, "so are you going to let me in or not?"