𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗶𝗮 ♛ ꜱᴇᴊᴀɴᴜꜱ ᴘʟɪɴᴛʜ

♛𝗼𝗻𝗲♛

Aurelia knew only a few things for sure and certain.  One, she really hated the cabbage broth that her family was forced to shovel down every day.  Two, her family were the Snows.  Third, they were just as poor as an ordinary coal miner from District Twelve.

Her twin, Coriolanus, fondly known as Cori or Coryo, gagged as he took in another spoonful, shuddering as it slid down his throat.  The two eighteen year olds were waiting for the return of their cousin, Tigris, who would hopefully enter the apartment with something wearable for the boy.  Aurelia had found a suitable dress in the back of her mother's closet, a flowing cornflower dress falling just above the knee with delicate straps over the shoulders.  She knew it looked great and suited her beautifully, but when she glanced in the mirror all she could see was her mother staring back at her.  The golden hair that she was named for fell carefully over her bare shoulders, every strand obeying the girl's wishes.  She was waiting to put the dress back on so she wouldn't spill cabbage broth on it, but her face and hair were done.  

As the twins ate dutifully, patiently yet anxiously hoping for their older cousin's arrival, the daily recital of their grandmothers rendition of the Capitol anthem began playing.  

Gem of Panem, mighty city, through the ages, you shine anew.

The old woman was very good at many things, but by God she could not sing.  When the twins were five and Tigris was eight, during the war, the lady played the recording on national holidays for the kids as an act of defiance against the rebels.  Or perhaps it was to drown out the sounds of bombs landing everywhere outside their windows.  

We humbly kneel to your ideal, and pledge our love to you!

She could never really hit those notes.  Most of the notes were off, but those especially.  This was the girls least favorite part of the day, because she was sure everyone could hear her grandmother and think, wow, that batty old lady is at it again.  The stares she got when she had to leave directly after the anthem were horrendous.  Still, two more verses.

Gem of Panem, heart of justice, wisdom crowns your marble brow.

The Snow's lack of furniture didn't help with absorbing the sound.  Some of the twins' friends had begun to repair their homes post-war, but the Snows were dead broke and couldn't even afford to patch the cracks in the ceiling or buy Coriolanus a new shirt.

You give us light, you reunite, to you we make our vow.

Tigris really needed to work her magic today, everyone knew how important that was.  There was no way Coriolanus could skip today, and that would mean Aurelia would have to be out too.  People would know something was up immediately.  However, the blonde girl had faith in her cousin.  She was an apprentice to a woman named Fabricia, who was ridiculous and yet a fashion genius.  Tigris was less an apprentice, more a servant, but she loved her work and was thrilled to be able to work in fashion.

Gem of Panem, seat of power, strength in peacetime, shield in strife.

The final lines echoed around the building, and yet not fast enough.  Aurelia's brother stood up to open the refrigerator, checking for anything to make the cabbage more tolerable.  Not finding anything, he sat back down opposite the girl, reluctantly taking up his spoon once more.

Protect our land, with armored hand, our Capitol, our life!

Finally, the nearly intolerable anthem came to a close, and Aurelia let out a sigh she didn't even know she was holding.  She slumped forward, head resting on top of her hands, thinking of her grandmother.  She held onto the Snow glory days like a child hanging onto their mother, and was sure those days would come again.  Coriolanus was supposed to become president and Aurelia was supposed to marry rich.  Always "When Coriolanus is president..." and "Aurelia's husband..." over and over again.  Tigris had a little freedom, but the twins had their futures set since they were children.

Speaking of Tigris, the girl came bounding into the apartment with a covered hanger held high enough so the bottom of the garment wouldn't brush the floor.  "Look, look, I did it!" the girl squealed, offering up the shirt to Coriolanus.  Aurelia remembered the shirt the girl left with a few days ago.  It used to belong to the twins' father, in its prime a crisp white shirt just as stiff as its owner.  With time it yellowed, burn marks emerging on the cuffs, buttons falling off.  As her brother unzipped the bag, Aurelia saw the shirt.  The white was not fully returned, but the yellow faded to cream.  The cuffs were replaced with velvet to hide the burns and the buttons replaced by black and gold cubes. Tesserae.

The blonde girl smiled at Tigris' rambling about what she did to fix the shirt, but didn't really listen.  She took her soup bowl, only thinking about the reaping today.  She hated the games on a normal year, but this year would be especially brutal.  The twins were going to be mentors in the games, along with twenty-two of their other classmates, in the Gamemaker's efforts to have the games be more tolerable.  She would have to coach a girl or boy no older than her how to survive the arena by killing other kids.  It was morbid, totally morbid, and she almost couldn't bear it.

She was awakened from her thoughts by Tigris shaking her shoulder.  "Lia, get up, get up! You have to get dressed, it's almost time for you to leave!"  Aurelia glanced at the clock, hastily slurping down the remainder of the soup.

Getting dress swiftly wasn't much of a challenge and Aurelia was out in no time.  The dress perfectly matched the blue of her eyes, and though the shoes squeezed her feet a little, there were no heels and they weren't too difficult to walk in.  She made her way into the living room, receiving squeals from Tigris.  Coriolanus looked at her, his eyes a little unfocused, a reminiscent look plastered across his face.  She knew her resemblance to her mother would hit him even harder than it hit her.  Then he smiled, as if remembering it was his sister and not his mother.

Aurelia couldn't remember the last time her brother looked so regal.  He even looked like a future president.  If only she could look like that, instead of looking like a future housewife.

"Grandma'am, they're both out! Come see!" Tigris called to their grandmother.  The elderly lady held two scarlet roses in her hands as she padded into the room, making her way over to her three grandchildren.  She was wearing clothes that were popular pre-war, and yet grievously outdated now.  She offered one rose to each of the twins.  Aurelia took hers delicately, turning to Tigris so she could help her pin it on.  The girl's cousin smiled, pleased with her work.  Suddenly, a small gasp of pain came from behind Aurelia, and she turned to see her brother holding his hand away from the refurbished shirt, blood welling from a prick wound on his hand.  Blood the color of the rose trickled down the side of his hand.

Aurelia rushed to grab something to clot the blood flow, finding a bandage.  Tigris bandaged Coriolanus' hand before pinning the rose to his shirt.  She stepped back to admire the twins, before ushering the two to thank their grandmother.  They did so, and without a second glance behind them, rushed out into the Capitol street.

♛

thank you for reading the start of metanoia! i'm excited to write this as it will be the first time i'm writing fanfiction based off of a book instead of a movie or tv show! it's definitely a different experience but i like it a lot!

i've also never really written in the third person before so yeah!

i'm also going to start writing shorter chapters as trying to hit 2000 or 2500 words was a source of a lot of burnout in my previous book. most chapters will probably be 1000-1500 words, but i'm going to try and not do any less than that!

anyways, i'm gonna start doing a QOTD type thing at the end of each chapter but call it QOTC (question of the chapter)

so, QOTC: thoughts on the characters/writing so far? feel free to give criticism, like am i not being detailed enough, i want to take that into consideration. i also understand not much happened this chapter so dont feel like you have to know the characters yet!

thanks so much for reading and please take care of yourselves :)

jess <3