AMNESIAC || Finnick Odair

ℂℍ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔼ℝ 𝟛𝟙

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The room fell into silent chaos. Nobody knew what to say. Olive volunteering for Annie was something that they all expected, but the oldest twin's eyes didn't gleam with determination to survive and come back to the person she was volunteering for. In fact, they didn't shine at all. Olive's eyes were lost, staring at her intertwined hand with Finnick as if it was her only connection left with reality.

"OK," said Librae. "Then, I'll volunteer for Muscida."

"And I for Librae," added Muscida, giving Ron a comforting smile.

"Olive," mumbled Mags, her hand landing on Finnick's shoulder, snapping the teen out of his nightmarish daze.

Annie grasped Angel's hand firmly and raised her head to look into her fellow victors' eyes. "I'll volunteer for Mags."

"Annie—" Olive tried to dissuade her sister, but it was to no use.

"No, stop protecting me." Annie rose from her chair, driving the attention to herself. "I'm your twin, not your younger sister. I know I'm not... that I'm Crazy Twin Two, but I can do this. You want to protect me, alright, but then you have to let me protect whoever I want, too. Doesn't matter if that person's you or anyone else."

"Finnick?" Ron asked, needing only one glance at Rhett and Clem to give Finnick an idea of what his plan was.

Theo slammed his hand on the table, cutting short all chatter about volunteering. He gulped loudly, blinking away the tears that were threatening to escape his eyes. "Stop talking about volunteering and dying for one another and instead make plans for the Arena."

Gianna and Joe copied him, diverting the attention from Theo to them. In a minute, they had come up with ten different training methods and things that they had to glance over again: edible plants, physical strength, endurance, fighting, and the use of weapons.

"Mags, Rhett, and Annie are the expert in plants," Angel pointed out. "They could refresh everyone's minds."

"Finnick, Clem, and Ron should be in charge of revising the fighting," said Theo, his grip on the table knife increasing as the television kept showing the Capitol's astounded reaction to the news. "Olive's great at climbing, and there might be a situation that they'll need it, so whoever doesn't know how to, learn."

Gianna ran her fingers through her hair, ignoring her reddish cheeks and the strong urge to cry as she stated, "Muscida and Librae are great strategists, we might need to have pre-thought plans to prepare how to act in front of all kinds of Arenas and mutts attacks."

"However," said Joe, raising the remote to turn off the television, "that will all be planned out tomorrow. For now, everyone goes back to their houses and off to sleep. First thing tomorrow, with the very first ray of sun, we eat breakfast here and make a schedule, alright?"

It took a second for the words to be processed in everybody's minds. Soon they all came to realise that what Joe suggested was the best thing they could do for now. Making plans when the entirety of their minds had been consumed by a mix of rage and fear could not create a good result.

"Alright," they all said.

After exchanging quick goodbyes, the victors left. Olive had to be assured over and over again that she could move out without worrying. She didn't know why, only Annie seemed reluctant about it. Even after Angel asked to live together with her in Annie's own victor house, the twins kept feeling that lurking uneasy feeling. However, Olive could only guess that, like Johanna, Piscia, or the new Head Gamemaker, there was something everyone knew that they didn't. Something was happening, and they weren't being told.