Clouds of Compassion: Prologue
I see your face, an apparition,
But now it's changed,
Publius Cluilii, 47;
Head Gamemaker.
A gentle breeze flew past him, the little bells entwined in his hair giving off some chimes in response. It seemed like it was getting to be colder than it ever really did before at this time of year. It should still be considered summer, but it looked like fall would be approaching them quickly. No matter, he told himself. Publius always did enjoy the fall time more so than the dreadfully winter the Capitol had. Last year was a tragedy with so many events and parties being called of because of the weather, but this year, he hoped that it'd be different. Perhaps it would be.
His car had came to a complete stop before he was able to continue his line of thinking, glancing up to the rather rundown looking building that held his father. The fact that he was in here all by his lonesome self killed him inside, but it was for the better.
Father was a threat to himself and others when his episodes got bad- he needed to be around people that could manage his temper better than he could. He was never home either, he couldn't properly watch them. Publisus doubted that his condition would ever improve if he just locked him up in his rather small apartment. If he had to think further about it, he'd probably consider it elder abuse. That was no way for a Capitol-born citizen to live.
The man was better off here, he told himself almost daily. Here, he had several trained nurses that were practically living inside the mansion, avoxes that were being taught how to properly care for him if the nurses aren't there, and an endlessly calming atmosphere that just had to have some good effect on his well being. The dying willow trees gave a nice breeze all the time, the artificial pond in the front and the back yard allowed him to have beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and terrain… it was a perfect oasis for his beloved father.
He seemed like he was doing well, seeing as his violent temper has gone down dramatically, and appeared to look happy when he saw him. One of these days, the white haired man hoped that his father would start retreating back to his old state of when he was younger. Even if the Capitol was able to cure and treat some of the most debilitating diseases, so many of the mental illnesses that clung to young and old alike still stuck around.
Technology would never be able to cure these mental things, he this but he refused to give up on his hope.
Leaving the car, he gave a steady nod to the avox driving the car. He wouldn't be long- no, he only had a few hours before the President would notice he was gone and would instantly know where he was at. Publius didn't care to end up getting punished because of his father once again.
Walking up closer to the steps of the of the building, he stopped short. A lone avox had made his way towards the front of the building as he carried a large trash bag. He glanced up briefly, noticing the much taller man. Publius recognized a soft expression of his face, very easily remembering the fact that the avox, a young man from District Five named Menachem, was one of the more personal caretakers of his father.
Menachem was being trained privately by the nurses- which was interesting to see, seeing as the boy would never really be able to make anything from it unless Publius himself would fall ill.
"Is my father outside?" he asked, his tone a surprisingly light one today.
The avox nodded, bringing his arm up so that he could point to the back of the house. Of course, he'd be in the back. It was such a nice day, the breeze from the water would make him feel so much better.
Giving the avox an appreciative smile, he left him.
"Father?" he called out, glancing around the tiny backyard until he spotted his father standing just a few feet inside of the artificial lake.
Father was just staring at it with a limp, blank, unfocused gaze that made it impossible to find any set of emotion in it. He was having another bad day, he thought. Perhaps it was time he brought his father inside, or at least bring him back to reality.
"Father," he said once more, voice rising in hopes that it would force him out of his shell shocked state. The man didn't react at all, only further sinking into the water until Publius managed to grab onto an arm, gently tugging him towards an empty bench.
He gave him a confused look, weakly muttering something that Publius couldn't make out properly. Still, he let the man lead him, his eyes slowly becoming unblurry once again.
"Aloisius," he whispered, letting a shaky hand settle on his son's clothed hand. There was hope that was apparent in his voice, a sudden tug of his lips moving upwards. He was silent as soon as the words came out still, but kept his content look.
Settling him down on the bench, the younger man joined him, hands moving to claps his. "No, father… Aloisius isn't here- he's with mother, do you remember?" he wanted to pretend that his voice wasn't so soft now. It was a lie, he knew, but the truth would only further set his father back in any progress they made. His mother had long been dead now- since his late thirties, seeing as his father and mother had his brother and him at an older age than most.
He could swear he heard his mother's name- Tanaquil- but he couldn't be sure, only sure that that he needed to switch topics now. Soon he'd ask about Aloisius and his mother and he wasn't quite sure that he'd be able to keep changing the topics without him getting upset. Father hadn't had any incidents in weeks now, and Publius intended to keep the streak very much so alive.
"The President allowed my area, father," he smiled, rubbing his father's calloused hands. "She thought it would match up beautifully with the Quell… are you going to be able to watch my arena come to life, father? I know you've never been one for the Hunger Games…"
The older man didn't respond again, keeping his lips locked tightly as he turned away from him, staring up to the sky. He didn't seem to be up for much discussion today, but that was fine. Even when Publius was younger, his father was a private, silent man. Never cared to discuss his day to day life with him or Aloisius… it was nice to see that his main personality had changed that much. It showed some progress.
"They're selecting families this year," he trailed off, patting down on the shaky hands before dropping them suddenly. "Do you remember when Aloisius and I were younger? I'm sure the two of us would've selected each other to go into other places... we had such a rivalry going on for no real reason other than we just wanted to prove that we were better than one another. It seemed so silly now, don't you agree?"
There wasn't a response verbally, but he noticed a small nod from him.
"Has Aloisius called you?" he asked, though he quickly realized that most likely not. For one, his father's memory was awfully short term- there was a very low chance that he'd remember a call from his older son. And there was the fact that Aloisius was awful at following through on things… he barely managed to take care of himself, much less his elderly father. It almost felt wrong to rely on him for anything.
"I'll see about having him come up to visit before the Hunger Games start… would you like that, father?"
Again, he tried to smile.
Smoke - Pvris
Uh… so, hey, again. You guys are okay? Hows your summers all individually going?
This is basically just a quick grab by for reviews and to hit up my view count, but who actually admits this? :) Let's just call this a filler chapter and say it's just in case y'alls need to use this to review.
Honestly, I don't have anything to say… sorry? You all have about a week or so to send me in your tributes so still… take your time! Feel free to send me a message when the deadline is approaching (about the 25th would be the best) if you need a day or two extra to send in your tribute(s). Can't wait to see who everyone has sent in! I've a really good cast already and have some good plots so far.
Stick to Districts like Three, Five, and and Twelve though. Best shots in getting in...
Thanks to Haiden (Glitchkin), and Caleb (IVolunteerAsAuthor) for looking over this for me… again. Erm, now that I think about it… send your condolences to them for having to go over my work?
~Anna the filth
What do you think about Publius?
Out of all the syots you've read, which Quell Twist / twist in regular games has been your favourite?
How's my grammaries?
Why haven't you submitted yet? You literally have like a week left and I've done the majority of the blog already.
If you could, what arena do you think you'd survive in?
How long do you think it took me to write this chapter?
Okay bye
