When the Mockingjay Sings - Coriolanus Snow/Treech

Chapter Twenty - Seven

When it was Athena's turn to watch, the sun had set, engulfing them in complete darkness. A fireplace was Within the living room, and Athena felt comfortable enough to light it, not caring if any other tributes would see it.

She looked at the sleeping figures in the distance; none moved. She debated for a few minutes, wondering if she should proceed with her plan. She knew she had already lost herself to the games; like Coral, she couldn't let it all go to waste by dying.

Athena picked up the dagger that Maple had grabbed from the cornucopia and slowly walked over to them. She hadn't mastered using a sword, but what she would do was simple.

Maple was the first victim. Athena pressed her knife to Maples's neck, and for a moment, she had second thoughts; maybe she could win without being ruthless. She pulled her knife back and shook her head; it's what needs to be done. She pressed her hand against Maple's mouth, slicing her neck.

She watched as Maple clawed at her wrist, eyes bugging out of her head. It had only taken a few minutes for Maples to go limp under her grip, and Athena felt nothing. No guilt, just relief.

The next victim was Jason. She was surprised when Jason barely budged; he just fluttered his eyes open and looked at her, defeated, almost like he accepted his death.

When she got to Rose, she was stirring in her sleep. She went quickly; she didn't even open her eyes, thankfully.

Azreil, on the other hand, was a concern. His axe was clutched in his hand; he was in a sitting position leaning against the wall. She could tell he had his guard up even in his sleep, so she had to do it quickly.

She slowly crept toward him, trying hard not to make a sound. Even in his sleep, he seemed like he was on guard. She cautiously raised her arm, weary that even the mere movement of her arm would wake him up.

She raised her hand to slice his neck, but his eyes flew open and kicked her in the chest, away from him. Athena gasped for air when her back slammed into the floor, knocking the wind out.

Azriel's eyes widened at the sight before him; blood was everywhere.

Athena moved into a sitting position, causing his eyes to snap towards her. She watched his eyes darken and narrow on her.

"You did this?" his voice was scarily calm.

"There is only one victor," Athena breathed out. Azriel's face turned red angrily; he lifted his axe and charged at her.

He slammed the axe towards her, only for her to move out of the way just in time for it to lodge itself into the wooden floor.

Athena had her staff leaning against the wall, declaring it useless.

Athena kicked Azriel between the legs, causing him to howl in pain. She took this opportunity to grab the axe and yanked it out of the floor.

She raised the axe over her head and went to slam it into his back, but he lunged forward, wrapping his arm around her waist and pushing Athena back to the ground. He slammed his fist into her cheek, causing pain to flair.

She struggled against his punches, managing to claw his arm and cheek a few times, but he was pretty strong. Not knowing what else to do, she aggressively sunk her thumbs into his eyes. She grimaced at the squishy feeling but quickly got over it when Azriel let her go and screamed.

"I'm blind," he wailed, covering his bleeding eyes. Athena was breathing heavily, trying to ignore the throbbing pain of her face. She could feel her hot blood falling down her cheek and dripping onto the wooden floor.

Azriel stumbled, tripping over Rose's body and fell. His head slammed into the floor harshly. His body went limp, and Athena slowly brought herself to a stand and carefully examined Azriel. It didn't seem like he was breathing, but to be sure, Athena slit his throat too.

The mess of dead bodies barely concerned her, and the throbbing pain on her face turned numb, making it easier for her to move on. She gathered everyone's bags and put all the water and food into hers.

She pulled on her jacket and gathered everything before leaving the house. Before doing so, she grabbed one of the touches they lit and dropped it to the ground. She slammed the door shut behind her, watching the flames grow for what seemed like an eternity. Only when the house was nothing but ash did she finally leave.

Athena decided to walk around the perimeter; she wanted to see how big the arena was. The cornucopia was the centre, and it only expanded a little. North of the Cornucopia was the Panem statue, east was Snow's house, South was the Zoo, and West was the president's Capitol house.  It was a small range, which was good for Athena.

Athena had her sword in one hand and staff in the other. She knew she had to go hunting.

She was lucky there hadn't been any snowfall to cover the tracks, but even then, she couldn't tell what was a part of the arena's destruction and what was from tributes.

Athena eventually came upon the zoo; it was weird to see it so empty. Instead of having tributes in the cages, there were still animals, like how they should've been.

In one cage was an ostrich; Athena was tempted to kill it for food, but she knew she had enough in her bag.

The wind started to pick up, and her cheeks began to sting from the bitter air. She needed to find shelter; the sun was going to set soon.

As she made the journey back to the cornucopia, she found a trail of blood. Feeling excited, she followed it. It was clear that the person was alive at some point. She could see their dragging footprints spreading the blood along the white snow.

The blood lead into a small house. Athena peaked through the window and saw two figures hovering over a limp one. Whether it was the injured one or not was unclear to her.

Athena pulled out the dagger in her back pocket and weighed her chances. She didn't know how to use the dagger properly, but her odds against two or three others would be a death wish. But if she could injure one, it would be easier to take them down.

Athena watched as the pair killed the injured kid. She quickly ducked under the window when they turned around, probably to leave the building.

She tried to stay as quiet as she could.

"Did you have to be so brutal?" Wolf grumbled at Neem as they neared the front door.

"Get over yourself, wolf," Athena could practically feel the eye role in Neem's words.

"You just didn't have to be so cruel." The two boys walked through the door. Athena tried hard to make herself small and quiet, so they wouldn't realize she was right behind them.

"Look," The two paused, and Neem grabbed Wolf by the shoulders. "This isn't the districts anymore. It's life or death here, and if you can't come to terms with that, you're as good as dead." Neem spat, letting go of Wolf.

"Eat or be eaten," Wolf mumbled more to himself than anything.

Athena started to feel guilty; Wolf's words made him seem more human than anything. But when his body fell to the ground, eyes lifeless with her dagger sticking in between his eyes, she was reminded of what she was doing.

"Stop, please," Neems gurgled. She had her knees pressing against his chest, hands pinned down by hers.

"Eat or be eaten," Athena said before snapping his neck. She rolled both of their bodies down the entrance stairs before going into the building for shelter.

In the centre of the room was Sunny, Neem's district partner. She was nearly blue from the cold and red from the blood.

Athena grabbed her by the legs and dragged her outside too, not wanting the body to stink up the room.

She gathered the broken furniture in the house and set it on fire. She was lucky the floor was stone, so nothing else would catch fire.

She had barricaded the windows and front door before curling up in the corner of the room and falling asleep.