The Life of A Victor || Finnick Odair

CHAPTER 37

"You can take the Victor out of the Arena, but not the Arena out of the Victor," Finnick commented bitterly as he rubbed his hands on his knees to calm himself down.

An awkward silence filled the room. Everyone wanted to change the subject, bring up something livelier, but how could they ignore the direct life-threatening moment Dove had just experienced? She was the first Victor to go through that, from what they knew. Normally, her sister would have been the one punished, not herself.

"Why didn't he poison me? If he wanted to entertain himself, why didn't he announce something about me while they were in the Capitol? Just like what he did to Melo on his tour," Angel asked as she placed an arm around her little sister's shoulders.

"Angel. . ." Librae tried to say, glancing at her oldest daughter as she squeezed Ron's hand. No one had told the oldest sister the truth of their deals. Angel only knew they were protecting someone they love, without specifying who that was, which she guessed was herself, since she was the only one who wasn't a Victor.

"Because you're not in danger. My deal basically means I die before you. I'm an obstacle in his way before he can hurt you. Any mistake, any stupid thing, will only get me killed." Dove interjected, glancing at her older sister with a bitter smile. "And once I'm dead, you'll be in danger."

"Since when?" Angel asked desperately, looking at Dove. Her arm fell from her little sister's shoulders as she turned to face her.

"Melo's Victory Tour. The illness bit wasn't just for show, but to keep you safe," Dove replied, looking straight into her older sister's eyes. "And I'm not the only one. Mum, Melo and Finnick are trying to protect my life too. And when I'm dead, it will change to you."

The three Victors Dove had pointed at, nodded to show she was right. All of them were protecting her life, not Angel's, at least not for now. "Me too," Ron said, glancing at the siblings with a bitter smile.

"He knew of my feelings for your mother and used it to his advantage. Now that we're a couple, I fear it'll only get worse," he explained to them as Dove stared at him, surprised. She didn't know that Ron had confessed his feelings to her mother.

"Oh, yeah. You don't know. He confessed horribly, believe me, Angie and I were there," Melo declared, taking advantage of the subject to lighten up his little sister's mood, which Angel caught on rapidly, although it took her a few seconds to put her thoughts into place before joining in.

Angel's thoughts were a mess. At first, she felt happy she wasn't the one everyone was suffering for. But when everything Dove said processed in her mind, she couldn't be more horrified. Her little sister at thirteen years old had traded places to protect her, even if that meant being exposed to die, not only in the Arena, but also after.

Not only did Dove volunteer for her in the Reaping, but now she was calling herself an obstacle. Just a rock in the middle of the road, an annoyance that would be taken care of at some point if President Snow felt like it.

Angel shook her head. It wasn't the time or place to have such thoughts. For now, her little sister needed to receive her full attention after a horrible week in the Capitol. 

"Yeah, he was consoling mum, and out of nowhere, he said 'I care because I see them as my own children, because I love you so much that being their father would make me the happiest man in all Panem'. So, I guess we should call him dad now." Angel commented mockingly, glancing at Ron, whose face was as red as Dove's hair.

"Took them long enough to get together," Dove said with a chuckle as she tied her hair with her rope to keep it on her back.

"So. . . Quick question, can I consider you my own children?" Ron asked nervously as he fidgeted with his hands, looking straight at the three siblings while they glanced at each other to decide.