Ocean Eyes - Finnick Odair

Thirty-One

"This is Finnick Odair, winner of the Sixty-fifth Hunger Games. And I'm coming to you from District Thirteen, alive and well. We've survived an assault from the Capitol, but I'm not here to give you recent news."

"Peeta?" Marissa's aching arms tremble as she shakes Peeta's seemingly lifeless body. He lays in a puddle of his own blood which soaks into the white sheet Marissa had been wrapped in after her most recent encounter with Mr Wraith after the interview where Peeta had warned District Thirteen. "Peeta, wake up."

"The truth, not the myths about a life of luxury. Not the lie about the glory for your homeland. You can survive the arena. The moment you leave, you're a slave. President Snow used to... sell me... my body, that is. I wasn't the only one. If a victor is considered desirable, the president gives them as a reward or allows people to buy them for an exorbitant amount of money. If you refuse, he kills someone you love. So you do it."

Peeta groans out, Marissa's touch clearly hurting him and she quickly retracts her hands. His eyelids slowly flutter open, focusing instantly on Marissa. His vision is blurred from the pain but he can still make out her basic features, pale skin and fiery hair.

"What did they do to you?" Marissa asks him, gently brushing back some of his blond hair. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No... they just beat me up," Peeta manages to plaster a wonky smile onto his face. It's for her benefit, not his. "It doesn't hurt much, I'll be okay."

"I wasn't the only one, but I was the most popular. To make themselves feel better, my patrons would make presents of money or jewellery, but I found a much more valuable form of payment. Secrets. And this is where you're going to want to stay tuned, President Snow, because so very many of them were about you. But let's begin with some of the others."

"Peeta, you're bleeding..." Marissa whispers, frightened for him. "I... I'll rip some of this bedsheet and I can wrap it around any bad cuts... I don't want you to... to lose too much blood."

Marissa, who's weak from enduring torture, prostitution and malnutrition, wearily tries to rip apart a bit of the bedsheet that conceals her naked figure. She despairs when she cannot do it and, with a lack of access to sharp objects to cut through it, she accepts defeat. "I'm... I'm sorry."

And, Finnick delves into the tales he learned during his years as a prostitute. Charges of incest, backstabbings, blackmail and arson.

"Did they... did they make you see him again?" Peeta notices the bedsheet now, frowning deeply at the thought of Marissa having another 'appointment' with Mr Wraith.

"Yes... but it's fine," Marissa dismisses his concern. "I'm fine. But you're not... I don't know what I can do to help you."

"And now, onto our good President Coriolanus Snow," Finnick says. "Such a young man when he rose to power. Such a clever one to keep it. How, you must ask yourself, did he do it? One word. That's all you really need to know. Poison. He stopped every mutiny before it even started. There are so many mysterious deaths to adversaries. Even to allies who were threats. Snow would drink from the same cup, to deflect suspicion. But antidotes don't always work, which is why he wears roses that reek of perfume. Help cover the scent of blood from sores in his mouth that will never heal.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine," Peeta shrugs her off, denying the seriousness of his injuries. Marissa is just about to express worry for his condition again when a large smash echoes through the building.

"What was that?" Annie Cresta croaks from her adjoining cell, the noise startling her.

"Hopefully someone's trying to blow up the building," Johanna remarks bitterly from her cell.

"Johanna, that's not helpful," Marissa snaps, knowing her friend's comment would only distress Annie further. "I'm sure it was nothing, Annie. Someone probably knocked something over."

"But he can't hide the scent of who he really is. He kills without mercy. He rules with deception and fear. His weapon of choice is the only thing suited to such a man. Poison. The perfect weapon for a snake."

Marissa is still fussing over Peeta's extensive injuries and trying to reassure a now distraught Annie as well as trying to quieten Johanna's snide comments when the door to the cell room opens and gas fills the air.

"Marissa!" Annie cries out, cowering in the furthest corner of her cell. "What is that?"

"Just... just hold your breath, Annie," Marissa instructs, unsure of what else she can say to help her. Peeta does not take her advice and the gas slowly renders him unconscious. Marissa shakes his shoulder again, willing him awake. "Peeta... Peeta!"

Marissa is just starting to lose consciousness when a group of heavily armed soldiers, dressed head to toe in black armour with masks covering their faces to filter out the gas.

"No!" Marissa rasps weakly when they break through the door to their cell and cease Peeta. "Stop... don't... don't hurt him..."

One of the soldiers wraps their arms around her waist, hauling her to her feet and securing the bedsheet around her body.

"Let... let go..." Marissa fights weakly. "You're going to hurt him."

"Marissa," the soldier says calmly. It's a woman's voice; a voice Marissa would recognise anywhere at any time. "Marissa, it's okay. We're helping you."

"Mira?"

"It's me, Marissa! It's me."

Marissa's lips tug up into a smile, an expression that hasn't graced her face for a long time before she gives in to the gasses effects and falls limp in her sister's arms.

❛ ━━━━━━･❪⚓️ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

A/n: sorry this one is short again but we're so close to their reunion
Also sorry this update took so long I've been... busy.