King of the Sea || odair

.two.

.two. 

The justice building was cold, sterile, and an with emotionless grey color to the walls. The furniture was plush and sea green, just like his eyes. The fourteen year old was led into one room, while his best friend was led into the one next to it. Through the walls of his cell he could hear the sobs that she could no longer contain when she thought she was alone and no one could hear her. 

Finnick cut the distance from where he stood, to the wall that connected with her own room in the justice building. There, he knocked to her her attention and her sobbing stopped almost instantly. It was then that he decided to speak. "Aqua, don't cry." He called out to her in a voice that was a whisper, yet still loud enough for her to hear him through the walls. "We'll make it out of this, I promise." Though he tried his best to sound reassuring, he was certain it wasn't working too well for him. 

Several thoughts drifted in and out of his mind, many of them questions as to whether he would have the courage to eliminate his best friend if it came down to it.

His sea green eyes glanced at the door when he heard someone open it. But he had been mistaken. The door to Aquamarine's room had opened, not his. From the slightly muffled sounds of various voices speaking at the same time, he realized it was her parents and her younger sister Annie. 

Finnick decided to give them some space and went to sit on one of the plush green couches made of velvet cloth and ran his fingers over the soft material. Velvet was expensive to buy in the districts and the feel reminded him of home because he had a one person couch back at his house. Though the people from District Four had it better than many other districts, the life of a fisherman was hard. His parents had saved up money for so long to have that luxury when they were younger and Finnick was a little boy.

It was a few more minutes of waiting until someone finally came to his door. The first person who visited him was Mags, a woman who had one the hunger games a long time ago and he knew she would be his mentor. All Finnick really knew about her from watching reruns of the games was that she had been in the eleventh hunger games and emerged as victor when she dug a hole with a net made of sharp hooks at the bottom which she covered with grass and fallen leaves. Her victims would fall in and become covered with injuries from the hooks, making them die a slow and painful death while she was hidden out in a cave. It had been one of the most effortless victories in the history of the games.

Now she was seventy years old, spoke in a mumble, and needed a cane to help her walk upright. But she had once been one of Panem's most loved tributes.

She smiled as she was led into the room by two peacekeepers who closed the door behind her. The elderly woman set her cane down by the door and walked towards Finnick who got back on his feet to greet her.

Mags took one of his hands in both of hers and gave it a light squeeze. "I'm so sorry you got picked for the games." She said to him, her voice full of honesty. "You're so young, so is your counterpart. But I promise I'm going to work really hard to help you survive."

Finnick appreciated her words of encouragement, but he knew it would be difficult. There would be other tributes, especially careers who wanted the same thing he did. They all wanted to live, but only one of them would exit the arena alive.

-

Mags stayed with him for a while, talking about his abilities and what he could work on before the games. Finnick told her that all he was good at was fishing, and Mags thought about it. She knew that it was something that could definitely help him since fishing was essentially the same as hunting. She would just need to convince him that killing other teenagers for the sake of the country's entertainment was something beneficial for him. It would keep him alive.

When Aquamarine's family left her room, Mags went to visit her. Finnick sat in his room of the justice building without receiving anymore visits. Tears stung at his eyes when time ticked by and no one else showed up to see him, not even his parents. Mags had been his only company. His friends from school hadn't had the courage to visit either, no one liked to think about it when someone they knew was reaped and sent off to die in front of millions. Finnick didn't expect them to arrive anyway. His school friends weren't as close as the friendship he shared with Aquamrine. When he needed it most, he saw that he had been abandoned by all except one. She was his only true friend.

His parents were probably back at home, cowering under the covers, too immersed in their own feelings to consider him. Finnick sucked in a breath, wiped the spilling tears off with the back of his hand and steeled himself for what was about to come. If his parents weren't going to support him, he was going to have to do without them.

He waited in that room alone for what felt like hours. 

The doors finally opened and the peacekeepers grabbed him by the arm, leading him somewhere unknown to him. He guessed they were headed to the train station which would get them to the capital. 

He was led to a car with black tinted windows while the press of the capital tried to catch pictures of them. They were more delighted than concerned that two children were being sent off to an arena to die. Finnick resented them in that moment, but swallowed his pride and shot them all polite smiles on his short path to the car. Aquamarine caught on quickly to his strategy and soon did the same. Mags climbed into the car behind them and they were on their way. 

"You got a bunch of visitors." Finnick commented, looking down at his hands to keep him distracted. He didn't want to start crying in front of her, and in turn make her cry as well. "My parents didn't even get out of bed for the reaping." He said bitterly.

Though everyone was required to attend the reaping, the rules were a bit more lenient for adults. They weren't required to get their fingers scanned for official attendance records, and that gave them the opportunity to miss out on the ceremony. 

The thirteen year old sitting next to him shrugged her shoulders. "They just didn't want you to see them cry. You are their only son." The little girl explained. She then slipped her hand into her pocket and got out two things. One of them was a necklace with a tiny wooden ship's wheel as its pendant, while the other was a piece of fishing net tied into a bunch of knots. Grabbing the little ball of knotted net, she grabbed his hand and placed it on his palm. "Annie told me they asked her to bring this to you. Its a chunk of your lucky net, the one you use to catch a bunch of fish out on the beach. They love you Finnick, but they're afraid of losing you."

Finnick closed his hand around the ball of knots that had been a part of his net.

Though his parents hadn't showed up at the Justice Building to bid him farewell, at least they were showing him an ounce of support. Suddenly, he was feeling more confident about going into the arena.

-

i was finally able to update this. its a long weekend, and all that so its great. i may go to tijuana tomorrow if my dad doesn't lag it. but happy presidents' day weekend everyone! chivas lost this week, but im confident they will win the next one. they better or im going to fucking flip out.

have a great week! and i hope you're liking the story.

-clary xx