Gods Can Fall Too

the victor is talking again. surely something nice and meant to soothe, but annie can’t make out the words. like static, white noise buzzing behind her skull. can’t think, can’t focus, can barely handle being alive. she should be dead.

whatever they’ve pumped her full of has calmed her enough for now, but it’s only a matter of time until she lashes out again. until she’s back in that arena, clawing at herself or someone else, the water rising ever higher until it consumes her. 

she catches the tail end of the other’s words. home. a thought she clings to. all those quiet afternoons on her uncle’s boat, sunbathing while he brother tried to impress her with nasty fish. accompanying her father to the market on sundays, falling asleep while her grandmother braided her hair, bonfires on the beach with her friends. it won’t be the same, of course, when the train rolls back into four. she won’t ever really go home, but the thought of that salty air greeting her skin is perhaps the only thing keeping her in the present. 

“home.” an echo, quiet from lips barely parted. ocean hues flicker to athena, stare intently before darting away again. and she is forcing words from a throat clogged with fog. “when do we get to go home?”

The Capitol hasn’t released them yet. The whole process is taking longer this time around than when she had won. The Capitol had been much quicker to put a crown on her head and parade her around before sending her home to get ready for the victory tour. Annie’s win has already rocked the boat and they’re waiting until they’re sure she can stand on a stage without being an embarrassment to the games and the game makers. 

Athena can’t help but miss home too. She wants to be back on the ocean or be back home with her parents. Really anywhere but the Capitol would be fine. Anywhere that peoples hands don’t wander her body and taint it in a way that no seventeen year old should have to deal with but it’s the life she lives now. She has to stay strong for herself and her parents or they’re not gonna survive. She’s had enough practice in the last year to stay strong for Annie when she needs it. That’s what mentors are supposed to do. 

“Soon,” she says despite the fact that it might not be true. What was one more lie in an already complex web? “We’ll be back before you know it.” She’s able to say that with some confidence considering she’s seen what the Capitol medication can do. It makes things hazy and time seemed to move by quicker. She remembers that even if they hadn’t kept her on it nearly as long as they have for Annie. “We’ll be here every step of the way.” 

Athena can remember winning the games. Despite the fact that only a year had passed she can still remember it like it was yesterday. There had been the mixed emotions of being a survivor. Guilt over the other children who had died by her hand, happy to be alive and see her family again, and the fear of the haunting nightmares that were sure to come. She had mixed emotions about surviving before she had learned the truth. Before she had learned there were far worse consequences than the guilt. She remembered who angry she had been that nobody had bothered to tell her the truth about winning and yet here she was doing the same thing to Annie.  She couldn’t break that news to the already fragile girl.

Part of Athena was hopeful that the older girl wouldn’t suffer the same fate. Afterall the Capitol people hadn’t been ecstatic about her win. It had been a flux really. Plus the Capitol people already had two District Four “sweethearts” to choose from. Did they really need a third? She hoped not for both Annie’s sake and Finnick’s.

“ I know everything seems like a lot right now but the best way to handle it is step by step and day by day,” Athena advised the newest victor with what she hoped was a gentle tone and a reassuring smile. “ Sometimes it helps to think of home and seeing your family again.” 

“ I think making it to only fifteen would have been fine too,” the brunette said with a small shrug of her shoulders. Her life had been simple, not always easy, but simple nonetheless until she had won the games. Finnick and Mags hadn’t bothered to tell her that there were more consequences to winning than most people cared to imagine, but it was a lesson she learned quickly. She was just another pretty doll for the Capitol to play with in any way they pleased. She may not have been an experienced victor like Finnick or Cashmere or even Gloss but she was one of them now, even if she still felt like a complete outsider. Finnick had told her she had to make allies and friends in the Capitol if she wanted to survive. She was trying her hardest but it felt as if she was a little kid trying to sit at the grown ups table. Part of her was convinced that the only reason other mentors and victors hadn’t kicked her to the curb was her relationship to Finnick. “I guess it’s just a matter of opinion.”

              Coraline’s experience with the seemingly emotionless woman creature acting in loco parentis allowed her to be more in tune with those in the possession of more emotive eyes. And, for what she could tell, Athena clearly didn’t believe a word out of her mouth. Not to be expected, of course, but she did at least mentally thank her for having played along halfway. That, however, doesn’t keep her from wanting to prove herself.                It was awfully hard to be an almost dead child whose kidnapping story wasn’t believed. Whenever Wyborn’s grandmother had told her parents that it was certainly true, the Joneses seemed to discredit their landlord as some madwoman. And she wouldn’t even try and convince them to believe a single sentence from Mr. B’s mouth agreeing with her.               God knows that no one believed him, anyways. She couldn’t blame them, though, what with the odor that emitted from his apartment. Whoever said that cheese and wine was a good pairing was completely wrong. Then again, given his Russian heritage, perhaps that was vodka. She wasn’t really the expert on alcohol.

              Coraline ignores Athena on this, instead making her case. “You don’t believe me.” Less of an accusation, more of a statement. It was clear, she was used to the denial of her story. “It happened, look, I’ve even got a scar.” A small arm is thrust out, a small circular mark on her arm. Of course, it could have been a birthmark, though even her mother had found it peculiar how the spot was so perfectly round.

Athena gently took the young girls arm in her hands as she looked at the girls' scar. Tentatively she looks Coraline over from head-to-toe for any other visible sign that the girl has been hurt. There’s nothing out of the ordinary. She looks like a healthy child. She doesn’t want to jump to any conclusions about the girls home life, but part of her is a little worried considering the perfectly round little scar and the crazy story she’s telling.It’s not the kind of scar a child gets from an accident. They were signs that something might not be right in the Jones home.

“Coraline, honey, it just seems like an impossible story that’s all.” She doesn’t want to belittle the girl, but she couldn’t in good conscience tell the girl she believed her. It might only encourage her to continue in believing her own words, which could lead to a whole other list of problems down the road. Parenting your own child was hard enough and Athena knows that she doesn’t have the authority to try and parent Coraline which leaves her wondering what to do. She’s the adult now is what she has to remind herself despite the fact that she doesn’t always seem like one. She’s going to have to come up with a solution herself. 

“Do you think maybe it could have all been a dream? Sometimes our brain plays tricks on us like that” Athena explained in a soft tone.       

cont with @fallengxddesss

              “ i suppose you’re right, i’m just still so new to all of this. ” something of a chuckle escapes the redhead. she has not been in this system her entire life. from birth to seven and then eighteen onward, not much time was there for learning especially as she grieved the loss of her chance at love. as her grandmother told her, country before heart, because your heart must be purely for your country. especially in these trying times, oh how awful it was to go from a simple life in an orphanage to very suddenly the leader of the country as the sole survivor of the romanovs. 

              it puts her at peace to be partnered, in a way, with another young female. with the male leaders she never felt fully at ease, or as if she were to be taken seriously. even if a spark were to fly and she burst into a rampage, anastasia feared that they would only laugh and later mock how such a voice sounded so well with the chorus of her dress’ fabric swishing. “ you mustn’t admit my self consciousness on the subject to any others, though. i already struggle to keep attention when it is just me, rather than some male advisor in a meeting. ”

Athena was born and raised with her role as royalty in mind. It had loomed over her before she was born. It had always been part of who she was. She had never known any other life than that of being a princess. “ In times like this it feels as if we’re all new to this,” she said sadly. They weren’t born when the first world war started and even now there is more at stake than that of the war that was supposed to end all wars. It’s a new playing field for everyone involved not just the Romanov princess.  

“I would never think to expose you like that,” Athena told the redhead sincerely. Back home Athena was respected for her role as princess and was first in line to rule even if she were to marry the power would remain with her and her bloodline. That was how it worked in her country but she knew the rest of the world did not see the power any and all women could possess. She had learned that the hard way when she was young and had gone to her first diplomatic meeting. The men had treated her as if she was just a pretty face and not the next ruler of a country. “ Don’t let them phase you. Men think they run the world but they will soon realize that women are more resilient than they could ever wish to be.”

“Oh…oh good,” Barry replied, a relieved sigh escaping him after she spoke. Honestly he should have expected that whoever his soulmate was would get some kind of rambling statement. At least it was something like this, and not his rambling conspiracy theories when he was still actively trying to figure out the man in yellow. “I…I don’t know. I guess I just worried…what sort of thing I might say.” He shrugged his shoulders. “But I’m glad…I…I know that your words have kept me going.” On the nights where he had felt the most alone, he would trace over his tattoo, reminding himself that there was someone out there who was meant for him. He wasn’t truly alone.

His smile lit his entire face. “Maybe it’s what we need now. I don’t know. I really don’t fully understand how it works. Much as I wish I could. Smarter scientists than I am have yet to fully figure it out, so…” he realized he was all ready to jump into theories and all that and shook his head. “Sorry. The important thing is that we’re here, right? We get to finally talk to each other.”

Barry looked confused for a moment, having forgotten what he had been hurrying to do. How could he focus on work anyway when he had just met his soulmate? “Oh…oh yeah. Yeah I’m a CSI here. A forensic scientist for the CCPD,” Barry explained, a sheepish smile on his face. “I have a bad habit of running late, so the Captain gets kind of annoyed with me. But today…today I have a good explanation so. He’ll understand. I think.”

“Well, you don’t need to worry about it now. I love it,” she reassured. She hadn’t been too worried about what her first words to Barry would be considering that she had left the life of trying to be a hero to mankind behind but if she was still out and fighting crime like Diana she would have been worried too. She decides then that settling down into as regular of a life as possible is for the best, especially now that she’s met, Barry. It will be easier to hide her past than to have to lie to him if she was out there trying to play hero. 

“ Mythology says it’s fate that brought us together,” she told him with a soft smile.  Well, it is evident know that Barry is a man of science Athena has always been a daughter of the humanities. She believes in science and all the ideas that come with it but being created by the gods she knows there are some things that science will never be able to explain. Soulmates are one of those things. Men of science do not believe in the idea that Zeus split people into two so that they could find their perfect half. “I’m really glad I got to meet you today Barry. You’ve made my bad day into something marvelous,” she told him gesturing to the soggy police report in her hand.  She’d have to remember to grab another one on the way out. 

a very glee starter ! for miss @fallengxddesss

              “ you ! soccer uniform ! ” informal. everyone knows miss cashmere aveline, the reigning queen of lima, ohio. a quick break for health reasons (( pregnancy )) and she’s back on her throne, or rather, the top of the pyramid. her popularity, however, doesn’t mean that she recognizes every person in school, even if this girl was close with finnick now. she wasn’t the best girlfriend by a long shot, and was possibly an even worse ex. “ congrats on the game. ” what a bland, vanilla compliment. even she herself couldn’t be proud of that, but it’s meant to be simple. junior prom is just months away, which means her campaign for queen is even closer, and she’s made it her goal to secure her spot through vague compliments and a bitten tongue in order to hold back characteristic quips.

It isn’t often that Athena runs into someone that doesn’t know her name. She pretty involved in the school between sports and honors society so when someone shots down the hall about having a soccer jersey on she can’t help but double check to see if any of her teammates around. Noting that she is, in fact, the only soccer player in the hall she turns to face the other and is only a little disappointed to find that it’s Cashmere. They’re not friends and it’s not like she has any direct beef with the blond, but she’s Finnick’s friend and that’s his ex. Needless to say, she doesn’t make it a point of hanging out with the cheerleader. 

“Uh thanks, Cashmere. It was a team effort,” Athena said with a simple shrug of her shoulders. The blonds opinion of her soccer skills couldn’t matter less to Athena. Really any of Cash’s opinions didn’t matter to her, but the topic is polite enough that Athena won’t voice those thoughts. “ I heard you're going to be on prom court, congrats,” she says back because it’s really the only compliment she can think of.

HE DIDN’T ENVY HER IN THE SLIGHTEST , the victors forced to stay in the capital once winning the games were even more CURSED than those allowed to return to their districts . at the beginning , there were talks of him staying , but the injury sustained during the games , the permanent DAMAGE of made him less adequate in the eyes of the captiol which preferred to preserve their PERFECT image . so he was allowed to leave , only brought back each year he was expected to mentor . & the thoughts were always the same , he HATED everything the city stood for & meeting the young tributes who would soon DIE in the name of politics & entertainment . appear as they want you to appear & play the game , that’s all it took to SURVIVE.

head turns , eyes focusing on the other as brows pinch together tightly .     “   i prefer to IGNORE it .   ”     while he had heard the changes already brought on by the tribute from twelve , it wasn’t enough for uncas to become HOPEFUL over . after all , he wasn’t ignorant to the ways of the capitol . even after everything , they still remained IN - CONTROL of the way panem worked , the games that took place . to go AGAINST it was unheard of & something that would probably never happen in his lifetime , so he ignored it , preferring to stay OUT OF THE SPOTLIGHT in his own effort of self - preservation .

a small SMIRK spreads across his lips but disappears as quickly as it’s formed . it was true , his tributes were dead & for him , that meant the game was OVER . while a sigh of a relief was had for that reality , there was also a moment of silence for . two more lost .     “   you’re still doing okay . do you think one of yours can WIN it ?   ”

“ They do say that ignorance is bliss.” She knows that he isn’t ignorant. None of the victors are. They’ve all learned the system out of a need to survive. They’ve all picked up tiny little tricks to make things more bearable. Maybe there was supposed to be a point when they just became indifferent to the things they saw and the things she did. Athena wondered if she’d ever get to that point, it had been five years since her own win and she still couldn’t help but feel responsible for her tributes. Maybe the indifference would come when she learned to drown herself in alcohol like Haymitch. 

She doubted it would ever come. How could she not care about the kids who had once been like her? They at least deserved some form of comfort before death and if fate had it someone who would show them the ropes of being a victor. She had only one win under her belt as a mentor and that had only been because Annie could swim and that she and Finnock had thrown themselves on the line for the girl. It seemed that they were still paying for that sacrifice.

“ Oh no they aren’t going to win,” she said with a simple shake of her head. They had known they were hopeless when the names were drawn, plus she was certain the Capitol wouldn’t let District Four win anytime soon, they had three victors over the span of five years after all. “But everyone already knew that.”