it seemed as though every face in two was glued to the screens that dotted the mountainous district. everybody knew the name de castanheira, and when it was announced the oldest boy had made the final it came as no surprise. with that announcement came early celebrations. but no celebration was as brash as the one in the home of the patriarch - joaquim de castanheira. the ageing man sat proudly upon his armchair as he watched leon secure his seventh kill of the games. earlier in the day antonio had teased his father,
“he has more kills than both of us know.” and joaquim nodded, a deep laugh rattled from his chest. even though joaquim would never admit it as he sat surrounded by his children, his grandchildren and the children of his brothers and their family - he had always favoured leon the most. he had never told the boy this – obviously - for fear of boosting an ego which already teetered on the edge of obnoxious. there was a natural talent in him, he had the qualities of a gentleman that some of his own sons lacked. thankfully for them they made up for in brute strength, but it would never compare. leon was the perfect career, the natural successor as the head of the de castanheira family. so, when the boy pressed his knife to pixel’s throat joaquim stood and shook antonio’s hand.
“a fine boy you have raised son, he’ll be welcomed back better than any victor before him.” and whilst everybody cheered prematurely it was only little matteo that kept watching, and when his screams pierced the room, every head whipped back to the television to witness the madness in front of them. joaquim had watched his grandson grab the small girl and throw them into the cart before everything else around them came crumbling down. and his heart stopped.
and where the cheers once were, silence had taken over and where district two was once celebrating they now sat and watched and hoped that their boy was coming home. maria clutched onto antonio’s hand, their fingers had intertwined when the sound of a cannon fired.
“who’s is it da?” romeo murmured to his father, to which he was ignored. the man kept his eyes trained on the television and they watched as the rubble was removed and screams of horror rang through district two when the dead body of leon was recovered. covered in dust and grime and blood, it seemed like the scene of a horror movie.
it had been a warm day when the finale was announcement, but it felt like the dead of winter inside their family home now. nobody said anything, the weight of leon’s death suffocated them all to silence. maria was the first to get up and leave, and she was quickly followed by her husband. leon’s cousins and uncles and aunts looked awkwardly at one another, their eyes darted to the boy’s younger brothers who still transfixed on the screen.
theodore who had been standing by the door watched on in silence as pixel was announced as victor. a horrible mixture of confusion and anger clouded his mind as he slowly made his way over to his little brothers. matteo had stopped being little a long time ago, but there was something about seeing him with tears in his eyes that made him pick him up and press him against his chest. “is he dead?” the small boy whispered as if scared to speak it into existence. theodore didn’t want to say it out loud so he just nodded and saved his tears for later. he took his romeo’s hand and led them home knowing that they weren’t going to get much sleep tonight.
---
“i thought he’d look worse than that.” romeo wasn’t one for subtleties, and unlike his other brothers who refused to look at leon’s body, romeo stared at him - a deep scowl stamped on his face and indignation bubbled in his stomach.
“say goodbye to your brother.” but none of them said anything, and none of them moved. they had never been an emotional family despite leon’s constant insistence on the occasional group cuddle, but without him really there it seemed wrong.
“da, i don’t want to do the hunger games anymore.”
a statement that would have once filled antonio with anger, but today it made his grief deepen. antonio de castanheira was done sending his sons to the capitol, he had never thought a day would come where his love for the games and the capitol would transform to resentment. “i know. and you won’t. none of you will, i promise.” at this matteo breathed a sigh of relief, but theodore and romeo looked at one another in shame for they had other ideas.
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