Reputation (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 21

      Sleep didn't come easily for Atlas that night. She spent most of the night staring blankly at the high ceiling. Drowsiness filled her bones and exhaustion painted her face but even as the sun started to rise over the Capitol skyline, Atlas had only managed a few minutes of sleep over the whole night. As she stood from her bed, her bones cracking and her hair flowing over her shoulders, she took one last look out at the sunrise, knowing it would be the last real one she got to see.

      Atlas yawns deeply as the door to her room opens, her prep team walking in from behind it. Her prep team makes quick work of her, considering she had just seen them the night before anyway. Atlas makes her way up to the roof where the hovercraft will be picking her up, every movement feeling robotic and static. Even as the girl sees Diamond waiting for her, she can't get herself to feel anything but the eery calm coursing through her veins. 

     As Atlas sits on the uncomfortable seat of the hovercraft, she can't help but scratch at the spot on her arm where the tracker had just been injected. It itched from under her skin and she couldn't help but wish she could just rip the stupid thing out from under her tanned skin. 

     The ride to the arena seems significantly shorter than it had been last time but Atlas just chalks that up to the lack of anxiety she has compared to her first stint in the games. About halfway through the flight, Atlas looks up to see Diamond picking lightly at her nails.

      "I never got to talk to you about the dress."

      Diamond looks up, her eyebrows furrowed, "From the interviews? We did talk about it, before you went out." 

      Atlas shakes her head, looking up to see the two peacekeepers onboard both distracted with their own conversation, "Not my dress."

      Diamond hums in recognition at the girl's words, a small smile breaking out on her otherwise grim face, "Yeah, the dress was beautiful wasn't it? And the fire thing was so wonderful. Cinna brought it up to me after Snow ordered him to dress her in that wedding dress. He thought he'd have to abandon the second dress completely but he combined them so seamlessly. You know, Cinna designed the fabric for your dress?"

     Atlas raises an eyebrow at that, "Oh yeah?"

     "Oh, yes. Has his name on it and everything. The funny thing is that Ceaser asked me about the dress last night, told him it was a collaborative effort. Although Cinna was the one to approach me with the design to begin with, I just brought it to life." Diamond looks so proud talking about the dresses and Atlas can't help the small smile that drifts onto her lips as she watches her friend speak so passionately about her job.

      "Hmmm," Atlas hums, eyes glancing briefly to the side, "I mean, both the dresses were so beautiful. I wonder what my mom would've thought of it."

      Diamond's eyes widen and she looks over to the peacekeepers before speaking in a slightly lower voice, "Well, I heard that your dress caused a real... riot in District 5. Both of them did, of course. I'd probably cause a few fights over those dresses if I'm being honest, just so gorgeous."

      Atlas hums again, leaning her head back against the cold metal of the wall behind her. This was what she wanted, wasn't it? For the Districts to fight back? To rebel? Of course, she had been fighting for this but the mention of her mother put a seed of doubt in her mind. She had already lost two of her family members in such a short space of time, she wasn't sure what she'd do if she lost another. 

      Once they're inside the launch room at the arena, Diamond recommends a shower and Atlas agrees quickly, hoping to wash some of the exhaustion away. The shower is small though, and the water runs cold quickly, a sharp contrast to the luscious showers back in the tribute building. The soap washes away quickly and smells of nothing but a faint scent of lavender and cinnamon. The smell reminds Atlas of her mom's shampoo and Atlas finds herself trying to wash the scent away as much as possible. Diamonds brushes her hair out and ties it back into a high ponytail, the blonde strands swaying as Atlas slides the arena uniform on. It feels decently waterproof, or at least water-resistant. So something aquatic and as Atlas feels the thin fabric, she thinks it must be decently hot as well. Maybe the beach, they hadn't had one of those in a while. 

     Diamond grabs Atlas' wrist and slides the gold bangle onto it, sliding past the few scars that litter her hands from knives and swords over the years. Atlas picked her won fruit and the small knife she used to harvest and cut them wasn't the best, often slipping and hitting her hands in the process. She had the money to buy a new knife but her current one had been a gift from her sister, who would she be to get rid of it? Especially now. Diamond rubs soothing circles over the longest scar on her hand that runs from mid-forearm all the way down to her thumb. Some brutish kid with a dagger had dragged it down her arm just before she killed him. She's not sure why he did it, she had already stabbed him. One last act of defiance, she guesses.

     They sit like that for a while until the disembodied voice announces that she should prepare for launch. Diamonds pulls her from her seat and ushers her onto the platform, a sad smile gracing her shining features. Atlas just stands still on the platform, a deep sigh coursing through her lungs. Diamonds leans forward suddenly and crushes Atlas in a tight hug. Atlas can't help the small laugh that leaves her throat as she hugs Diamond close.

     "This is not a goodbye, remember?" Diamond leans back and points right at Atlas, a stern look gracing her face, "I'll see you on the other side."

    Atlas smiles softly, "I'll see you then."

     The glass closes, effectively shutting off Atlas from Diamond. Diamond seems to say something but the glass cuts off her words and Atlas just shakes her head, turning around to face the other side, her head turned up to look up toward where she'll soon be exiting. It takes a moment but soon the platform starts to rise and sunlight breaks into Atlas' eyes and she flinches slightly. 

     Her eyes take a moment to adjust as she's raised up into the arena and just for a moment Atlas thinks she hears a muffled scream but as she looks around, she's been raised completely into the arena, salt water lapping at her feet.

It was probably nothing, right?

A/N

Sorry y'all, I've been in my F1 era.

Also, I'm perpetually in my football era and there's been a lot of that this winter break.

Happy holidays y'all!!! This is your gift xx

- Sunny 🌞