Liberosis - The Hunger Games

29

Two years later

They called it a boating accident, what happened to the Castellan family and so many others, Everyone in District Four knew better. My nightmares had now progressed to include not only the tributes I killed but the odd a hundred of my fellow district members that had sunken on a boat doomed from the start.

Two years later they had finally managed to pull all the bodies from the water. Two more tributes had been sent into the games, two more would be reaped in a few short hours. Ophelia had graciously filled in for me last year due to my need for recovery after the accident. I had started up training at the academy, working with some of the younger kids as opposed to the older ones. It was almost worse that they were so young, so full of life yet here I was breeding them for slaughter.

The waves crashed around my ankles as the moon was set high in the sky. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I stood in the Cove, waiting for someone to come and rouse on me. It was my first year as a mentor and I was little in the way of being prepared. Finnick had told me not to get too close to the tributes, he said it made their deaths ten times worse to recover from. I knew I would struggle no matter how close to the tributes I was, essentially, I would be reliving the horrific experiences I had encountered two years ago.

A hand on my shoulder brought me out of my daze and in a short combination of movements, my attacker was face down on the ground. "Oh, hi there, Aurora, it's nice to see you too." Ophelia's voice resounded from the sand.

"Barnacles," I grimaced, pulling my friend up from the ground, "Opie, I'm so sorry,"

Ophelia frowned at the nickname Finnick had christened her with, though both of us found it endearing. "You need to sleep," She told me soothingly, leading me back to the rocky cliff face we needed to scale.

"I know," I whispered back, avoiding the reason that I wasn't, I knew going back would mean a lot of experiences I wasn't prepared for. Finnick was still engaged in an arrangement with the President- it had put a strain on our intimacy as of late, but I had brushed past it, knowing it was out of both of our hands. "Ophelia I don't know if I can do this," I mumbled.

"Then don't, I already offered-"

"No." I cut her off sternly, "You need to stay here with Phoenix and Astrid,"

Astrid Ophelia Hadrianus was only six months old, Atlas had once again been christened as godfather to the child. It was a duty he took very seriously, calling two-year-old Phoenix routinely. Phoenix could string together some basic sentences, but for the most part, he babbled excitedly into the phone at the sound of his Uncle Atlas' voice. Uncle Finnie had quickly become a favourite of his, which I envied the man heavily for, Mags had been announced as Grandma Mags to which the woman was eternally grateful.

I was known as Aunty Rory, it was a position I took very seriously, Phoenix came over fortnightly for painting playdates. For the most part, it involved him messily colouring the drawings I would sketch for him, nevertheless, we had fun. Becoming Aunty Rory was something very close to my heart, I could let go of the games as the children scribbled along mindlessly beside me. Reign, Ophelia, and their little ones had been a big part of my recovery. All the victors had been.

Mags would come over almost daily to check on me during the worst part of my rehabilitation. We played chess and other similar board games to give me something else to focus on. Ophelia was the best person to go to when I needed to smile. I could not help but smile around the young mother, she had quickly become a close friend of mine. Reign was wise, he seemed to have the right answer for everything. He was extremely observant too, often he knew something was wrong with me before I recognised it myself.