"Guinevere, the phantom, won her games at the age of 12, the only to have ever done it"
Guinevere St James was a child, a child that was turned into a weapon far too early.
"the odds have never been in our favour, its time we all realised that."
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she woke up in district 7, having gotten on the train early that morning and fallen straight back to sleep in her bunk.
she woke up with a dress placed out, a yellow summer dress with darker yellow flowers embroidered all around it.
Evie smiled softly and pulled it on.
she was officially 13.
why did it feel so bittersweet?
your birthday is a reminder that you survived the last year.
she only wishes she hadn't.
her speeches at 10, 9 & 8 went flawlessly well, she hadn't known any of their tributes. she hadn't known most of the tributes.
she still cried once she was done.
she was lying to people that had lost so much.
district 7 was the most difficult.
her ally, Forest, and also her kill, Willow..
this was their home.
she stood on the stage with her head held high.
"i'm happy to be with you today, on this special day.. my birthday." she smiled at them. "district 7 is a special district to me.. for it's where my ally came from." she looked at his family.
a mother. a father. and a girl. she couldn't have been older than 6.. and her brother was gone.
"Forest was so sweet to me from the moment we met. and i'm sure you saw on interviews.. i liked him a lot. he died far too early in that battle, he deserved to fight for a little longer. but his sacrifice isn't in vain." he looked at the other family. "neither of their sacrifices were in vain. everything we do.. we do for a better, safer Panem. thank you."
she went inside, quick enough to catch Johanna roll her eyes at the end of the speech.
"happy birthday, sweet girl." she mumbled, hugging her tight against herself. "even if that speech was utterly horrendous."
her eyes widened at the idea that she didn't do district 7 justice.
"your words were beautiful, Evie. i just don't believe them." Evie nodded softly, she knew that. "anyways! it's your birthday! i don't know how to decorate for a party, but i did get you a cake from the bakery." she smiled, the only time anybody ever saw her smile was when Evie was around.
she was Johanna's ultimate weakness.
luckily, the Capitol loved her too much to use her against her.
"yes!" she cheered, running out of the building and in the direction of the Victors Village. "cake!"
Flavius rolled his eyes at the young girl, cake was nothing special.
however, the other three smiled at the pure joy on the kids face, at something as simple as cake.
"i have plenty of rooms." Johanna mumbled as they arrived at her house. decorated far cozier than anybody had expected from her. "Evie and Finnick you'll be upstairs, Atala you've got the downstairs bedroom, and Flavius," she smirked "you've got the couch."
"preposterous!" he exclaimed. "i do not sleep on a couch!"
"you do now." Evie giggled as she ran up the stairs.
pausing as she saw a picture on the wall, Johanna with her parents, and a little girl, about 8, in the picture, but Johanna couldn't have been older than 15.
Johanna nudged her further when she saw where her eyes were. "go. i'll talk to you later." she mumbled.
she showed Finnick to where he'd be sleeping, and then Evie, to let them get sorted, then she showed Atala to the downstairs bedroom and Flavius to the couch, smirking at his dramatics.
she then went and sat in her own room before everybody was ready.
it didn't take long for Evie to knock. "come in.." she mumbled.
she didn't need to be told twice, she came in and sat down next to Johanna.
"who was in the picture?"
Johanna smiled sadly. "my little sister, and my parents. God, that must've been.. 5 years ago now? she'd be your age if she was alive."
Evie gulped slightly and curled into Johanna's side. "what happened to them?"
Johanna took a deep breath before deciding that Evie deserved to know the truth. "Snow did.. he didn't take likely to me telling him no. i came home from my own victory tour, two years ago, to find them.. dead."
Evie frowned deeply. "i can't tell Snow no? to anything? ever?!" she began to panic, as any child would.
Johanna quickly held her face. "hey, hey, i couldn't protect my sister. but i will protect you. do you understand me?"
she nodded softly.
"you have me, Dylan, Finnick, Atala.. we won't let him do anything to you, i promise."
"that's why you hate him so much.. not just the games.."
Johanna smiled sadly. "let's go get some cake."
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authors note Johanna's story is DEVASTATING
like, breaks my heart devastating.
like- so so unnecessary, painful, breaks my heart.
but she gets a second chance with Evie, and she'd be damned if she fails again.
gonna skip 6 & 5, go straight to 3, do 2 & 1, and then we're at the Capitol
