Broken Promises

chapter 3

 As soon as the District 7 chariot screeches passed, the crowd is utterly silent. Athena glares at them with undeniable venom.

“How dare they not even cheer for us after we come out here to entertain them with death?” Athena thinks furiously. She hates every single one of them. She allows a gracious smile though and even waves slightly.

“District 2!” is chanted over the whole stadium. The Capitol citizens actually enjoy the Careers’ brutality. After every chant, Athena’s anger only increases more.  Athena felt the urge to growl threateningly at every person in the stadium when their chariot halted to a stop in front of President Paylor’s balcony. The whole stadium continues to cheer loudly for the Careers who bask in the ambiance of it all. President Paylor silences the crowd after only a few short attempts. She welcomes the tributes to the Capitol just as every other year and after minutes Athena and Jason are inside the elevator going up to their level of the building.

As soon as they step foot inside the room, Athena is awestruck. Her mouth drops open and is left agape as she walks around the huge dining area. She’s never seen anything this fancy in District 7, except maybe the Justice Building and a few stores in town but never this luxurious. She walks over to the plush couch and throws herself across the soft felt.

Jason walks over to the couch and takes a seat as far from her as he can. Athena gives him a questionable glance to which he returns with a genuine smile.

“See you in training, Athena.” He chuckles before gliding towards his room.

*

The elevator ride to the training session is silent and you can feel the tension in the air. Athena notices Jason staring at her from the corner of his eye and she sends him curious looks until he hastily looks away.

“Awkward.” Johanna coughs out into her fist. They eventually arrive at the training room floor. Johanna tells the pair to try out every section they have provided to them. She also informs them to stay as close as possible to each other which is surprising to Athena. As Jason and Athena casually saunter out of the elevator, they notice that every other tribute is already in their positions. All eyes are on them as they walk towards their spots as quickly as possible. The lady at the center of the circle, Atala, explains safety precautions before being allowed access to any of the weapons provided. The tributes disperse once she’s finished her speaking and Athena is left alone in the presence of Jason. Disregarding Johanna’s orders, Athena leaves Jason’s side and aimlessly walks over to the archery station. She’s never really handled a bow before so this practice should be of some use to benefitting her skills.  It only takes her a few shots before she’s got the feel of the bow in her palm.

Athena continues shooting until she gets the arrows near the center almost every time. She knows how to toss knives and obviously throw an axe so she skips those stations. Athena is probably the only tribute here that has experience with an axe. From the corner of her eye, she sees Jason at the fire making station attempting to start a flame. How does he live in District 7 and not know how to pitch a fire? Athena grumbles under her breath and stomps over to the swords and spears. Athena picks up a light-weight spear and launches it with all of her unreleased anger behind it. The spear digs right into the stomach of a prop dummy that was hanging by a rope at the center of the training room. Athena is pleased with her handiwork and she’s about to turn to grab a sword but stops in her tracks when she feels the stares of the Careers burning into her back. She flushes a shade of pink and scampers over to the only person she’s familiar with, Jason. He turns around abruptly with a knife held in his hand gently. Athena jumps at the sight but he quickly apologizes and tells her he was only practicing making a net. She nods understandably and begins to tie knots with him wearily until they eventually grow disinterested. The pair essentially finishes all the stations before Jason unexpectedly stops Athena in front of the axe station.

“Do what you were born to do.” He whispers into her ear sending sensational shivers down her spinal cord. He steps to the side of the locus as Athena walks over to the display of axes. She silently lifts up the one that reminds her most of the one from home. She gets a good grip on the handle prior to walking a satisfying distance from the dummy. She steadies her feet and flings the axe in the direction of the dummy. The head falls to the ground with a thud. Athena walks to where the axe landed and picks it up gently. As she returns to her original position, she hears the unbearable silence that plagued the room. Out of the crowd, her eyes land upon Jason‘s smiling figure. This is what he had planned for. He wanted the others to envy Athena’s abilities. But suddenly, he walks over to her and collects the axe from her hand. Jason bends his knees and positions himself just as Athena did and copies her move precisely. The head of his dummy falls with the same audible thud. He turns to smile at Athena warmly causing her insides to erupt with butterflies. The rest of the tributes leave after their performance but the Careers linger glaring at them openly. It is clear that Athena and Jason are superior to them yet she’s not so sure if it’s a good thing.

 *

“Show them what you can do with that axe. And just make sure you flaunt it girl.” Johanna preaches with a flirtatious snap of her fingers.

“I will.” Athena replies with a soft giggle. She gives her a quick embrace before Athena walks into the waiting area with the other tributes. Jason is already seated as Athena takes a seat next to him silently. They wait while the other tributes take their private training sessions in front of the Gamemakers until a robotic voice calls out Athena’s name. She stands calmly and makes her way over to the raised gate. She stops suddenly at the sound of a familiar deep voice calling out to her.