Eternal Glory // the hunger games

⁂ 𝐓𝐰𝐨: 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞 ⁂

We had ten minutes to go home and say goodbye to our families. A ten minutes that could be the last moments we would ever speak to them. Once I spotted the white wooden door of my home, I practically bolted inside.

I first took notice of my mother, who was sobbing into my father's arms. He appeared to be basically holding her up, and if he let go she would just fall over and die in her own sadness. My father held his arms tightly around her, trying to comfort her and stay calm the best he could. Mason made his way through the door right behind me, and rushed over to them. My mother looked at him with eyes of sorrow, but also gratefulness.
"You volunteered for him." She whispered, her eyes pouring with tears. "You're so good Mason." She added, wrapping her arms around her oldest son.

I noticed Kit poking his head out from around the corner where our kitchen was. His dark brown eyes no longer had tears in them, only fear. When he spotted me across the living room, he ran right toward me and hugged me tightly. I was extremely close with all of my siblings, but especially Kit. We were the closest in age, and he didn't really talk to anyone other than me, Mason, Ariya, and our ten year old brother Grey.
"You can win it Lilia." He told me then. "If you just remember everything mom taught us, you can make it out."

"I will win." I responded. I knew I couldn't. I knew the chances of me even making it past day one were next to nothing, and that I would probably just die a brutal death like everyone else had. But I also knew I couldn't tell Kit that. I couldn't tell my little brother that I was going to die, and there was no way for me to avoid it. Just then, Ariya, and my other brother Grey came down the stairs. Ariya spotted me, and immediately ran up, wrapping her thin, brittle arms around me.

"I'm so sorry. I- I should've volunteered or something." She rambled.
"No it's okay. I'll be fine, you would've died in there immediately." I responded. Although it may have sounded a bit rude, it was true. Ariya was sick, ever since she was a young child. She was extremely thin, and was basically unable to gain muscle no matter how hard she tried. She also couldn't run, and got winded extremely easily. She was prone to fainting, and had even had multiple seizures throughout her lifetime. We had no idea what exactly was wrong with her, we just knew she was sick and had pretty much always been that way. I could possibly have a chance at winning. For Ariya, it was quite literally impossible.

I hugged Grey next, but he did not say anything. He was the only one out of the kids in our family that wasn't in the reaping, which I know killed him. He had cried to me last night about how afraid he was. All of his siblings were up for murder, and he couldn't do anything about it. I explained that there was nothing anyone can do, and we just had to hope for the best. This was just the way our world was. He simply nodded with his tearful eyes and fell asleep next to me.

I went up to my parents who were still speaking with Mason. My mother looked at me, her light blue eyes red from crying.
"Oh, my baby." She sighed, pulling me toward her. I wrapped my arms around her back, laying my head on her chest.
"I'll be okay momma." I said to her. "You taught us well."

Ever since we were young, my mother had been giving us secret training, just in case we were ever reaped into the games. Her brother was reaped into the fifty ninth games and had died almost straight away on the first day. She hated talking about it. All I knew was he died, and she promised herself she wouldn't let us just die if we were ever reaped. We were the only family in eight who sort of trained for the games as far as I knew. That comforted me slightly. I could run, I could swim, and I knew my way around nature. I had a bit of muscle on my body, enough to survive at least a little while.

"I need you to fight hard." My mother then said to me.
I nodded in reply. "I will."
"No seriously. Don't hold back, no matter what you have to do." She added, smoothing out my hair with her hands. I knew what she meant by that. Killing. I would have to kill in order to survive. I always knew that, but it just truly hit me now. I couldn't imagine myself killing a person. I couldn't even imagine myself killing an animal. But now I had to. There was no other choice.

Our front door swung open. I turned around quickly, fully expecting the peacekeepers to be in my doorway, ready to grab me. I was surprised when two people I knew well stood before me; Cecelia Sanchez, along with her oldest son, Blaise Sanchez. Blaise ran toward me, and I found myself running toward him too. Our arms quickly wrapped tightly around each other, and I felt instantly relaxed. Blaise was my age, thirteen, and was my best friend for as long as I could remember. My mother was best friends with Cecilia, Blaise's mom and also the victor of the 58th hunger games.

"You better make it out." Blaise demanded, pulling back from the hug and looking into my eyes. His eyes were a sharp emerald green, ones that seemed to shock me each and every time I looked at them. Besides my siblings, Blaise was just about the only true friend I had.
"Don't say that. I don't know if I can-" I started, but I was quickly interrupted.
"You will." Blaise replied. "I just know it, and when have I ever been wrong?"
"Almost always." I joked, a smile forming on my tear-soaked face.
Blaise rolled his eyes rather dramatically, smiling as well. "Well I'm not wrong about this one."

Cecelia then stepped forward, moving toward me and lightly placing a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her, she was extremely tall, standing at about six feet. "Go pack a few things you'd like to take with you. They'll be here in about two minutes, then we'll have to leave." She explained. I nodded in response, then ran up the stairs to me and my sister's room.

I took a deep breath inward, really just taking everything in. This could be my last time in this room. The last time I ever see my clothes, my bed, the little cherry blossom tree that stood outside my window. The room smelled of freshly cut wood and flowers, just as it always had. I walked toward my bed, the wooden floor creaking beneath my feet. I picked up my little light pink teddy bear off my unmade bed, brushing my fingers across the fabric. My mother had made it for me before I was even born. Each of my siblings had one, all of our different colors. Mason's was blue, Ariya's purple, mine pink, Kit's green, and Grey's was yellow. Each and every one had our names neatly embroidered on the front in gold thread.

I pulled my large brown messenger bag out from beneath my bed and shoved the little bear in, along with a few clothes I pulled out from my dresser. The last thing I added to the bag was my sketchbook, which was the sixth one I owned. Drawing had always been a passion of mine, and my mother said I had a true talent. I looked up at the window beside my bed, getting one last good look at the cherry blossom tree. The cherry blossom tree my sister and I had idolized. The cherry blossom tree I had drew countless times.

My door was thrown open. Two peacekeepers rushed in. My heart stopped. It was really time to go. I threw my bag over shoulder just before each of them grabbed my arms. Their gloved fingers dug firmly into my skin, and I was almost certain they had left damage. They directed me back down the stairs, where my family was gathered, crying even harder than they had before. A peacekeeper held the door open as the two others rushed me out. My chest tightened immensely. Mason was already outside in the street, standing next to Cecilia, Falcon, as well as another man whose name I did not know, but had a familiar face.

I pulled back, freeing myself from the peacekeepers' firm grip. I ran toward my mother and father, and hugged them tightly one last time. I then let go, just looking up at them for a split second.
'This could be the last time you ever lay eyes on them' I thought.

Before I knew it, I was being directed out of the house and thrown into a little car amongst a few others. Me, Mason, Cecelia, Falcon, and the other man were all packed into the vehicle in what felt like two seconds. The man who's name I did not know appeared to be around fifty or sixty, and had a bit of gray hair on his head, along with a gray beard on his face that looked freshly trimmed. He was wearing an all blue suit that had some slightly darker blue flower details.

"Goodbye's are always really hard, I'm sorry it had to be so quick." Cecilia said. Her voice was extremely calm and comforting; it seemed to always be that way. It was often hard for me to believe someone so kindhearted like her could win a game where you had to kill a bunch of people, but somehow she did.
"We'll be getting on the larger train in about ten minutes, then we'll have to pass through district two, and then we should arrive at the capitol in about four hours." She explained, looking back and forth between me and my brother. Mason nodded in response, while I simply looked at the floor and said nothing.

"Very exciting." Falcon added, smiling his bright white smile. I knew he meant it in a way to get us excited for all of this, but at this moment I simply wanted to punch him right in his perfectly straight white teeth.