Athena Daverns and Finnick Odair discovered what love felt like at the young age of 12 with each other. They were each other's world and when one was away from the other, they felt as if they could not function.
At age 14, Finnick Odair's name was c...
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Athena's nerves were skyrocket as her and Jax waited patiently in the elevator. Her and Finnick had been separated early that morning and he was now in a different elevator with Mags.
"Athena. You're gonna do fine out there. Just remember everything I told you. Don't step off before the countdown, the mines will blow you up. As soon as it does go off, don't think about getting a weapon, just run as fast as you can away from the Cornucopia because it's a bloodbath. Find a good place to hide. Nothing too obvious. Just stay hidden until the number of tributes decreases. There will be plenty of weapons laying around so find those. Be careful of tracker jackers..."
The elevator doors opened up, leading outside to a huge aircraft. Athena took a huge intake of air.
Before she could begin walking, Jax took her hand. "Hey. Athena. Remember, you can win this, okay?"
"Thank you so much Jax." Athena wrapped her arms around his frame, taking in her last moment with the mentor that became like a father to her. Jax sighed, hugging her back.
"Good luck, Athena." Athena pulled back, giving him one last look, before walking off to the air craft.
As she walked on, a middle aged woman led Athena to her seat, making sure she was strapped in.
"Give me your arm." Her gloved hand reached to to Athena. Gulping, she placed her hand in the woman's.
She took a tracker, inserting it in Athena's arm like a shot, the tracker falling into place in her skin in less than a second.
She looked around, her eyes connecting with Finnick's.
-
After landing, Athena was escorted off the air craft and through the halls by two peacekeepers. They opened a door, directing her in, then slammed it shut after her.
She looked around the room, meeting the eyes of Joyce. Athena walked towards her, returning the hug Joyce wanted.
"This is the moment I was dreading." Joyce sighed, pulling back.
"Thank god they put your hair in two French braids as I requested. Least they could do." Joyce chuckled, holding back tears.
"This is your jacket." She pulled it off a hanger, siding it onto Athena.
"30 seconds." An electronic voice echoed throughout the room.
"Okay, kiddo. You can do this." Joyce moved Athena's baby hairs sticking out, out of the way.
"20 seconds."
Athena shakily breathed in, looking at the empty tube awaiting her. She slowly approached it, her whole body shaking with fear.
"10 seconds."
She stepped into the tube, turning around as it closed behind her. Athena's eyes remained locked with Joyces' as she waited to be lifted to her doom.
The platform she stood on began to move upwards, causing her breathing to get heavier. And soon, she could no longer see Joyce.
The bright light from the arena blinded her as she reached the top. Athena tried to calm her breathing as she looked around the arena. She was surrounded by huge orange mountains, streams of water around them, and a rocky path.
A countdown from 60 began, an electronic voice being played overhead.
Athena's scared eyes roamed around the area, trying to find Finnick. He must have been blocked by the Cornucopia because he was no where to be seen. Her eyes then shot to the Cornucopia, looking at it and its contents. There were bows, daggers, machetes, and more. But no trident. Her eyes stayed put once finding a sword, but she quickly remembered what Jax had told her.
'As soon as it does go off, don't think about getting a weapon, just run as fast as you can away from the Cornucopia because it's a bloodbath.'
"20...19...18...17...16..."
'Don't go near the Cornucopia. Watch your back. Don't step off too early.' These exact thoughts swarmed Athena's brain as she waited for the countdown to reach one.
"3...2...1"
As soon as the countdown ended, every single person flung themselves off theirs pods, each sprinting in different directions. Some running to the Cornucopia, others trying to get as far as possible. Except Athena. She stood on her pod in shock until she noticed someone sprinting toward her. Widening her eyes, she stepped off, sprinting in the opposite direction. On her way, she noticed two small chinese daggers hidden in the pebbles. Athena made the quick decision to run over to them. She bent down to pick them up and when she stood, she turned around to run in a different direction, only to come face to face with Casper.
A smirk was present on his face, as his throwing knife raised Athena's neck, but before he could swipe it in one motion, he was interrupted.
"Put it down, Casper." Casper turned around to see Finnick in front of him. Finnick held the spear he had grabbed in place of the trident, pointing toward Casper. Casper raised his eyebrows, before lifting his hands in surrender, a malicious chuckle escaping his lips.
"Finnick, buddy, you know I wasn't going to do anything. I mean, why would I do anything to jeopardize our alliance?"
Our what?! Athena's eyes widened in shock as she stared at Finnick. He avoided her gaze, keeping his on Casper.
"Don't touch her. You understand?" Finnick's voice was low with authority lacing each word falling past his lips.
"Alright, Finnick." Soon, the other district one tribute and district two tributes joined their group. Each had already gotten blood stains on their clothing from their kills.
"Why don't we start walking?" Casper looked at everyone, before taking the lead, walking farther into the arena. The other tributes followed, Finnick and Athena trailing behind in the back.
"Let me explain, Athena."
"What Finnick? That you went behind my back and directly ignored what Jax said? You know how much I trust and follow his advise. I got just as close to Jax as you did with Mags and I don't think you'd be exactly happy with me if I went against something she said, now would you? Jax told us specifically to stay clear of other careers, and what do you do? Join their alliance behind my back and not tell me."
Athena's pace sped up in attempt to create distance between her and Finnick because frankly, she was extremely pissed at him. Jax was there for her during the time she needed him to be as they awaited the games. The fact that Finnick ignored and went against what he advised, infuriated her.
Finnick grabbed Athena's arm, holding her back. "Athena, you don't understand. You're angry. Trust me, I get it. But I need to tell you what happened. During training, Casper approached me and basically threatened me into joining their alliance. If I didn't join, you'd be their first target. They only wanted me because you didn't show off what you're capable of, so I agreed that I'd join if they didn't hurt you and you could stay with me. And this was all before Jax mentioned anything about the careers."
"Finnick... Why didn't you tell me any of this?"
"I don't know, Athena. I just- just couldn't. But you need to stay with me, so I know you're safe, okay? Stay. Please."
Athena heavily contemplated in her head, before coming to a conclusion.
"I'm so sorry, Jax." She whispered. "Fine. Fine. I'll join, but as soon as I feel unsafe..."
"You ditch them. Yeah, totally. I'll be right by your side if you do."
-
And the games begin! Y'all aren't ready.
If you want to get a good look at what their arena looks like, it's a replica of Zion National Park, so just look up images of that and you'll see what their games looks like.
