Hurricane • F. Odair

seven » goddamn rebellion

A L T H E A

   Whatever Cashmere, Gloss, and the ax instructor had expected, it wasn't what they got. Johanna launched one of her axes at the dummy, embedding it in the head. Then both women attacked the dummy with such fervor the instructor nearly stepped in. They swiped and hacked at that dummy as a fatal team.
   They were not to be messed with.
   And that made them targets.
   Johanna finished their onslaught by hacking off the dummy's head with a clean blow. Althea panted, wiping beads of sweat off her forehead.
   "I thought decapitation was my specialty, Mason." She tossed her ax lightly to the display. With an enraging and unsettling feeling, she sensed Gloss' gaze on her back. She would know that disgusting feeling anywhere. Those eyes. Those hands.
   "Althea," Johanna dragged her away from that rabbit hole. "Find a new specialty then." She surprised the Hawkforge by stripping her clothing, tossing it aside. "I'm going to make the wrestling instructor uncomfortable, care to join me?" The thought of anyone other than Johanna seeing her naked made her hands vibrate even further.
   Never again.
   Althea huffed, "You wish. Have fun." She left the station, breathing deeply. The smell of sweat didn't do much to help calm her nerves, but it helped at least a little. Her feet carried her to the archery station.
   Let's just say she had her own show to watch this time.
   Katniss looked directly at her as she shot the first hologram. Althea watched the seventeen year old completely demolish the training activity. Holograms shattered left, right, and above.
   Althea also wasn't the only victor observing. Brutus, Enobaria, Thatcher, Chaff, Seeder, Blight, and others had joined her in watching the show. When Katniss finished, Althea was startled when Mags began clapping beside her. She hadn't heard the woman come up.
   Althea grinned at the smaller woman affectionately. Mags had always been the grandmother she never had, which included getting smacked in the head with a wooden spoon a few times. Mags smiled back sweetly. The older woman intertwined their hands and gave a gentle squeeze.
   "Hey, Magsy," Althea greeted.
   "Hello dear." Mags' speech was garbled. It had been that way since her stroke four years ago. There were a select few who understood the woman, but given time and patience, it certainly wasn't impossible. The younger woman wasn't nearly as good as Finnick was, but she was still better than most.
   Althea guided them to the elevator. Katniss' show had signaled the end of the training day.
   Two more days.
   "Is Annie you mentor?" She briefly remembered Donald, a middle aged victor with skin like tanned leather from years in the sun. But she also recalled that he hadn't been at the reaping.
   Mags smiled sadly. Annie was a beautifully, tortured soul. Althea remembered the woman's hysterical cries of anguish before Mags volunteered her own life for the young redhead. Her admiration for the elderly woman grew ever so much —not that she didn't adore the woman already.
   "Perhaps I'll come visit this evening. I need to speak with Finnick anyways. It'll be good to see her before—" she cut herself off.
Before they were shipped off to kill their friends for the entertainment of the Capitol.
   Mags' gaze turned even more solemn. "Finnick won't be in tonight," she garbled.
   Althea frowned. "Why wouldn't he— oh." Her body filled with rage immediately. Heart aching with burning white fury, she gave Mags a bittersweet smile as they reached the fifth floor. She placed a tender kiss on the woman's cheek before Mags exited the elevator with a sad and loving smile. Althea's blood boiled in her veins, but she kept the smile in place until the doors closed.
   In that moment, she wanted to release the ugliest, most guttural scream she could muster, but she could never give Snow the satisfaction.
   Snow. That reptilian bastard.
   She didn't allow herself to wonder what Finnick was currently going through or which Capitol citizen had him in their greedy, disgusting clutches. He was days away from being sent to his death. Did that mean it was going to get worse? It was liked the Capitol had put out an advertisement.
This product is going out of stock soon, get some while you still can!
   She wanted to vomit just thinking about it. After all, she knew her fair share of being used for her body.
   The elevator doors slid open, revealing Laguna and Logan on the couch. The two seemed to be deep in discussion, but her father stopped speaking upon seeing her entrance and expression.
   "Althea," he greeted. She could sense his question behind the simple word. Shaking her head, she sat on the opposite end of the couch. Thatcher entered the room, his hair dripping wet. He must've left training early in order to shower before dinner. And with the smell emitting from her pits, Althea wished she had as well.
   "I've heard from nearly every District except for the Careers, Six, and Three," Logan started. Althea was slightly shocked to learn that either a Peeta or Katniss wanted them as allies, but not entirely. Peeta was incredibly too quick to trust. However endearing the trait was on the boy, it was naively fatal.
   "But there is something the both of you need to know," Laguna interjected. She looked to Logan for some reassurance before speaking again. "We are asking you to put Katniss Everdeen's life above your own."
   Althea's eyes snapped to her father. Logan was looking at his clenched hands, unable to meet her gaze. He was asking his own daughter to put her life under that of a seventeen year old girl. But then it dawned on her. This is what he had been speaking to Haymitch about the night before.
   The goddamn rebellion.
   "As long as Cassia is protected, I'm in." Thatcher's quickness to agree shocked her. He barely thought about it for thirty seconds and he was willing to throw his life away for a rebellion that was barely even beginning.
But oh how wrong she had been.
   She sucked in a breath. "She doesn't trust me, Dad. How am I supposed to convince her that we're on the same side?" Katniss had been right to be wary of those around her. But adding onto the fact that she was almost as stubborn as Johanna, it made for difficult team-building.
"We have a strategy for that. But for now, play nice."
Thatcher scoffed, "She's nice to select people."
"Katniss will come around," Laguna said, nodding her purple head. It was definitely a reassurance for herself.
"I wasn't talking about Katniss," he countered. Usually Althea would've thrown a pillow or faked an injured gasp, but any energy she had disappeared when Mags told her of Finnick's agenda for the evening.
"Are you in, Althea?" Logan asked, still actively avoiding her gaze. She stared blankly at him. The rebellion was partly at fault for her mother's death, and here he was, asking her to join it.
But she knew for a fact that Finnick would sooner make out with a poisonous sea urchin than pass up an opportunity to overthrow the Capitol.
"I'm in."

A/N: how are we doing, folks? how is quarantine? thoughts on the chapter? hope you enjoyed! love you xoxo