The Purest Snow

Chapter 15: Strength And Love

He must have had his father's instincts for combat, because before the boy could reach his sister, he swung at him. He brought his knife down on Coriolanus, and the blade cut his shoulder.Coriolanus reacted quickly, and reached back to find a two-by-four in the rubble. He brought it down on Bobbin's temple like a club, over and over again.

"Coryo! Stop!" Rosella shrieked.

"We have to go!" Sejanus shouted, and the two sprinted for the barricade. Rosella had crawled under at that point. When Coriolanus reached the barricade, barbed wire caught his shirt, and when he turned to pull it free, he saw that the two tributes from District 4, Coral and Mizzen, and Tanner, were running straight at him. Mizzen drew his arm back to throw a trident.

The tributes started up a whooping sound, rattling their weapons against the barricade as they tracked the mentors through the labyrinth. Sejanus grabbed his arm and began to pull him. They ran to where the Peacekeepers were clustered at the temporary bars. Sejanus stayed steady at his elbow, but the tributes were gaining.

"Oh for god's sake!" Rosella screamed. She grabbed a gun from the peacekeeper closest to her and pulled the trigger, firing a shot into the air of the arena. "Everyone back off now or the next shot is on you!" She took control, and the Peacekeepers managed to tilt the unit of bars inward, and Coriolanus and Sejanus were pulled under. The bars were slammed into place, and bolts locked down the unit, but the tributes were undeterred. Tanner, Mizzen, and Coral jabbed their weapons through the bars.

Coral laughed like some sort of villain. "You may have gotten away this time, gorgeous. But you're little songbird is next on my list," she said through clenched teeth.

Coriolanus digested this for a moment, then turned to the peacekeepers. "Incompetent idiots! Why did my little sister have to do your only job for you!" He screamed.

"Coryo, Coryo," Rosella said, running over to him and pulling him to his feet. She grabbed his face to look at her. "I'm okay, we're okay."

Yeah! No thanks to you!" He continued to shout at the peacekeepers. "I can walk!" He turned to Rosella who was trying to steady him.

"No you cannot!" She snapped back at him, unfazed, and continued to drag him out of the arena.

The three made it back outside, along with their peacekeeper friends. Mrs. Plinth awaited them, along with an ambulance.

"Ma," Sejanus said, embracing his mother. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She just nodded.

"It'll be okay..." She said to the three. "Rosella dear, I want you to take my car back to your apartment... let your grandma and cousin know Coriolanus is safe-"

"I don't want to leave them," Rosella said.

"I'll go with them. Not to worry," Mrs. Plinth replied. "The car will come back for Coriolanus once he's patched up!"

Rosella nodded shakily, and hugged Mrs. Plinth, Sejanus, and then Coriolanus. 

"I love you, get home safe," he whispered into her hair. Rosella just nodded, unable to say anything else, before getting into the car.

Rosella climbed into the backseat. "Just back to the apartment, please..." She said softly. She leaned her face against the window and watched the city go by. She meant what she said to Mrs. Plinth, about liking the city at night. It was calmer, and the possibilities seemed more attainable. Here in the capitol, where dreams were meant to come true. Where the opportunities were. Where anything could happen

And so much had happened within the last two weeks. Ever since Coriolanus was assigned to mentor the girl from District 12. She used to be invisible except for when she sang. She was afraid of her ex boyfriend. She worried that her brother resented her. She had never seen anyone die before, not that she remembered anyway.

Now everyone knew her either for trying to save Arachne, or for puking in front of the school, or for both. She stood up to not only Wren, but to Felix Ravinstil and Dean Highbottom too, and she was no longer afraid to do so anymore. The images of Arachne's throat gushing blood, Brandy being shot dead, Marcus hanging by his arms and her brother beating Bobbin to death flashed in her head over and over. At least now she knew for sure her brother really did love her. Enough that he killed for her.

The guilt hadn't changed, though. She already ruined her reputation, and by extension Coriolanus's. Now she had turned him into a murderer. The thought made her sick. She wished Bobbin had just killed her.

No. She thought. I'm stronger than this. I need to stop thinking this way. I need to live to help all the others who will come after Bobbin. Dr. Gaul and Highbottom are to blame. Not me, not Coriolanus, not Bobbin, not any of the other tributes. It's the people who put us in the situation. If he didn't kill him, we'd both be dead now. It was self defense. She justified her thoughts desperately.

The car rolled up to the apartment and she thanked the driver, who of course, could not respond. Once inside, she found Tigris at the table, wrapped in her mother's coat. It brought her comfort, as her mother's powder compact brought to Coriolanus. She didn't have anything like that. Coriolanus and Tigris themselves were her only comforts, so she was happy to find one of them there. Especially given the state of the other.

"Tigris," she said.

"Oh, Ro! What happened? I've been watching but I couldn't see anything," Tigris ran over to hug her.

Rosella burst into tears. "They, they sent Coryo in the arena," she choked out. "Sejanus tried to kill himself..."

Tigris gasped. "Oh, Rosella..."

Rosella continued. "I went in after them... one of the tributes, the little boy from eight, Bobbin, he came after me, and Coryo and Sejanus... they were going to kill us, so, so..."

"What? What happened? Is he okay?"

Rosella shook her head, crying harder. "Coryo killed him!" She burst out. Tigris gasped again. "They're fine... him and Sejanus, they got out... Mrs. Plinth is with the, at the hospital. Bobbin cut his shoulder before... before he died, and Sejanus got a cut on his leg or something..." Rosella sobbed. Tigris just held her.

"I don't even know what to say at this point in my life. I feel like I'm at war with myself. Not the capitol or the games, but just myself. It's taking everything in me not to throw myself into the arena like Sejanus. Trying to stay in the world. I know one day I'll be stronger and return from this. But right now, I have to play at living an enviable life. Being a capital girl. Watching people die and pretending it's entertaining. I have to pretend that strength if I ever want things to change. But it's really hard... on the inside I'm just such a weak crybaby."

"Of course it's hard, Ro... But the fact that you feel this much, and that this is affecting you to this level... It shows you're a good person. I don't see a weak crybaby, I see someone who is kind, and compassionate. So much like your mother... and the opposite of your father. I've seen what having no feeling and no heart did to him. He was just full of hate. But you're mom... she was nothing but love. She was kind and nurturing. She treated me as her own, even though I wasn't her blood. For the longest time, I never knew the difference between siblings and cousins or mothers and aunts because it was all the same with her. And she would have loved you, Rosella. She does love you. I know she's watching over you, over all of us, and is so incredibly proud of her kind, loving, talented, courageous, compassionate, brilliant girl."