. . .

PART II: MORITURI NOLUMUS MORI

We Who Are About to Die Don't Want to

_ . _ . _

Killing your idols is a chore

And it's such a fucking bore

'Cause I don't need them anymore

.

They tell me I'm hell-bеnt on revenge

I cut my teeth on wеaker men

I won't apologize again

Chapter 25: Valediction

Reaping Day, District Two

It buzzed through her bones.

Everything — the excitement; the apprehension; anger, terror, grief.

One year ago today; that was the last time I saw my sister alive.

But it was impossible not to get swept up in the sheer energy; it was Reaping Day in District Two, for crying out loud.

(The only thing that could possibly be more intoxicating, Venatrix expected, would be her Victory celebration.)

Nobody did today like Two. Venatrix knew this from the broadcasts; even the other Career districts didn't light up their streets like they did here, merriness and pride coloring the faces of the crowd. Flags and banners soared overhead from windows and rooftops, inscribed with varying Capitol and Two seals. Easy chatter passed between lips, not a flicker of fear in sight among Two's citizens. This was a celebration.

And why shouldn't we be proud? Venatrix thought as she stepped out of the car, smoothing the leather-pleated skirt of her Reaping Day dress. This is what we do. Her family flocked her like a pack of wolves, but today, she was the leader. Everyone knew it, the way they cheered, parting to let them through.

The Victors. Their Volunteer.

Chin up, Venatrix glided through the throng of people, doing her best to follow her parent's lead and look every bit the Victor she intended to be.

Earlier, her mother had brushed her dark waves into a tight ponytail at the back of her head, pulling a few thin strands out to cleverly frame her face. The final product gave the impression of a seasoned warrior (though not so weathered as to be unpresentable), an angle only bolstered by the black, gold-accented gladiator-like dress she sported. A thick, studded belt cinched her waist, lending itself to leather pleating that fell just above her knees. The halter neckline left her shoulders and arms bare, showing off her musculature while sitting high enough on her collarbone that it didn't distract from her angle. Leave the seduction to the Ones, she thought. I'm here for the real fight.

The summer heat pressed down on her, reinforced by the crowd, the district's trademark patriotism on full display now more than ever.

Her parents handled the celebrity treatment with grace, used to it by now. Iago, on the other hand, soaked up the attention like a sponge, even though it wasn't exactly for him, blowing kisses and waves to the crowd as they crossed into the Justice Plaza. Idiot. Venatrix rolled her eyes, though she allowed herself a grin when he threw an arm around her shoulders, lifting her hand in the air like she'd just won a wrestling match.

They separated, Venatrix and Iago to check in at the pens and their parents to the stage with the rest of the Victors. Venatrix easily spotted familiar faces among the masses of her peers — Percy at the front of the eighteen's section, barely meters from the stage; at the back of the seventeen boy's pen, Arthur and Sanji returned her expectant expression with nods of enthusiasm. Her fellow Careers, however, were few and far between among the sheer number of non-Academy kids crowding the square; sometimes, it was almost too easy to forget that Two was more than just her Career Academy, despite nearly revolving around it.

The Peacekeeper at the check-in station gestured for her hand, just as she caught Agate's wide grin floating within the crowd. "May the odds be in your favor, Ms. Pyke," he said respectfully, and Venatrix smiled, barely feeling the needle prick her skin as she thanked him.

She gravitated to her friend, pushing through the crowd of other eighteen year-old girls. Linking her arm with Agate's when she reached her, she pressed forwards until she stood at the front of the pen.

The location gave her a clear view of the stage; Venatrix caught her parent's gaze from where they sat with the rest of Two's Victors. Their escort had yet to make an appearance, though she saw the district's mayor exchanging quiet conversation with a helmeted Flint Ainsley far enough away from the microphone where it didn't pick up their voices. At the center of the stage, the pair of round, glass Reaping bowls stood, as fragile as they were unnecessary.

A nudge to her shoulder alerted her to Alystra's presence at her side, the girl's smile sharp. "Big day, huh?"

"I've only been waiting for this my entire life," Venatrix said casually.

Great, way to rub it in her face, she thought as she caught a flicker of longing in Alystra's dark eyes. But the girl buried it as more of their Academy peers began to crowd around them. The offending red hair of Poppy Styx came only close enough to briefly wish Venatrix good luck before putting Agate and Coquina, who'd appeared at the latter's shoulder, between her and Alystra's crew.

The support of her friends and peers sent a steadying wave through her body, purging the trepidation chewing at Venatrix's nerves. I'm ready for this. I am.

Glancing over to the boy's pen, she met Percy's gaze, his bright eyes and hyper-tense posture sticking out like a sore thumb. Every once in a while, the surrounding kids gave him a slap on the back, a ruffle of hair, or, in Lancelot's case, a kiss on the cheek. She grinned at his blush, and he shot her a pair of daggers, offset by his own smile.

As with her section, it was mostly Academy boys crowding the front of the pen, pressing against the rope; none of the civilian kids dared to impede on their boisterous eagerness.

It increased exponentially with the sharp click of the escort's heels across the stage, the noise soon overtaken by a deafening cheer.

Kitty Parrish had been Two's escort for just under ten years now; she basked in her warm welcome, her expression a blinding flash of teeth. Must be an interesting year in Capitol fashion, Venatrix thought; she'd replaced last year's blood-red wig with a short, almost feather-like headpiece of spikes plastered to her skull. The black-and-white materials formed the rest of her ensemble too, creating a high collar around her neck and narrowing into black-tipped points at her shoulders. Silvery white paint swirled up her arms and down the exposed parts of her legs, though the material of her shoes matched that of her headpiece and dress, the feathered spikes fading from white into black as they dripped down to her toes. Hints of red accents peeked out from the inside of her collar, the soles of her shoes, and Venatrix exchanged a raised brow with Agate.

Tapping on the mic, Kitty opened her mouth. "Good morning, District Two!" she crowed, and the crowd (Venatrix included) responded with a hearty roar. She sighed dramatically, completely at ease on the stage. "God, I love this place. Anyways, without further ado, Mayor Calacatta!"

The mayor took her place as she bowed out of the way, receiving a noticeably weaker reception from the gathered masses. There was a reason Kitty usually opened the ceremony; compared to her, the poor mayor had all the charisma of a slab of uncarved marble.

Sighing, Venatrix let the mayor's words pass in one ear and out the other; she'd already studied both Treaties of Treason enough in her classes. She'd always felt bad, though, for the poor kids who'd got cheated out of their chance to volunteer when they'd moved Reaping Day from July to June to keep it in line with the date of the treaty signing. The outer-district kids were probably grateful for it, she imagined with amusement.

A collective sigh of relief passed through the citizens of Two when she finished, the time until Venatrix herself took the stage ever-encroaching. She rocked back and forth on her heels, her muscles tensing in preparation to spring into action once Kitty said the word.

The escort took over, making quick work of the girl's Reaping bowl. Venatrix held her breath as Kitty read from the slip, not that it would really matter. Her voice rang clearly through the square.

"Hela Montgomery!"

Venatrix blinked in surprise. If the name didn't do it, her appearance most certainly did; there was no mistaking the pin-straight dark hair and terror-filled expression that bleached the face of last year's Selected Volunteer.

Involuntarily, Venatrix's jaw clenched at the sight of her. She shouldn't be angry. She shouldn't, especially now that she knew what the girl had gone through in preparation for Volunteering. It wasn't even Hela's fault; it had been Bell's prerogative to speak when she shouldn't have, to throw herself to the wolves.

But that didn't matter to Venatrix, not when Hela stood on that stage with the fucking gall to be alive while Bell wasn't.

"Any volunteers?" Eager expectation laced through Kitty's tone.

In her peripheral, Coquina's mouth opened, but Venatrix's voice drowned her out, erasing the backup from history as her hand shot skywards.

"I volunteer as tribute!"

From the Reaping stage, she caught a hint of pride in her parents' stone expressions, so much different from last year's round-eyed panic.

This is it. The Games start now.

Already situated at the front of the pen, Venatrix allowed the Peacekeepers to remove the rope in front of her; both Agate and Alystra clapped her on the shoulder as she made her way to the stage. Her sturdy-heeled sandals clacked confidently up the stairs, the summer breeze tickling peculiarly at her newly-hairless legs; her mother had taken her the other day to get waxed. "Prep teams like it when you do half the work for them," she'd said, effectively quelling Venatrix's protests.

Forcibly, she suppressed the flutter of her heart in her throat as she stepped up to take Hela's place, laying a steady hand on the younger girl's shoulder. She's not getting away so quickly. Venatrix's face sported a mask of confidence, as if reassuring the Reaped girl that she was safe now, free from harm. Angling her head, she spoke quietly into Hela's ear.

"You made a mistake last year, you know that, right?" Venatrix murmured, her grip on the girl's shoulder freezing her in place. "You should be dead. Not Bell; you."

The girl was trembling now; ignoring her father's subtly-raised eyebrow, Venatrix released her hold and Hela practically scrambled offstage like a scared rabbit. Some fucking Career.

"And what's your name, darling?"

Venatrix smiled. The question was perfunctory; everyone already knew. "Venatrix Pyke."

Even from this distance, the microphone picked up her voice, broadcasting her name across the square, across all of Panem. She didn't need to say anything else. She couldn't; the thunder-cloud cheers of her district drowned out even the escort's voice; Kitty had to wait for them to subside before she began again. Head held proudly aloft, Venatrix clasped her hands behind her back.

The escort cleared her throat. "And for our male tribute…"

The crowd had fallen into an eager silence as Kitty took her sweet time digging through the bowl of names, drawing out the unnecessary tension; Venatrix could practically feel Percy's antsiness from where he stood at the helm of the boy's section, ready to shoot forwards. Way back in the sixteens' pen, she picked out Iago's head of curls, his electric teal shirt. He sent her an eager grin, fazed neither by the proximity of Arthur and Sanji in the back row of their age pen, nor the look she shot him that said don't you fucking dare.

Venatrix didn't even register the boy's name before Kitty called for volunteers, and the two older boys jumped, grabbing an unexpecting Iago from the front and locking their hands around his mouth. Venatrix's lips twitched in amusement; heads turned towards the muted scuffle, attracting the attention of a few nearby Peacekeepers, but she didn't care, as long as Iago didn't—

"I volunteer!"

Percy. She breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of her friend's voice, her mouth stretching into a genuine smile as he climbed to the stage.

Where they were going, only one could hope to return, but that didn't matter just yet. The crowd cheered at Percy's name, and Venatrix realized she'd rather have him at her side right now than anyone else. She might be an idiot for it, but they shook hands — yet another promise to be drenched in blood — and she knew he felt the same.

"District Two, your champions!" Kitty cried; stepping between them, she raised their fists into the air, and Venatrix…

She was born for this, wasn't she?

Her smile echoed across Percy's face, passing around the crowd like a virus. No wonder the outer-districts practically pissed their pants at Two and her prodigies.

Kitty concluded the ceremony, and the two tributes marched proudly off the stage and into the Justice Building, their escort of Peacekeepers resembling a legion of bodyguards rather than a restraining force. However, the lustre of excitement began to chip once she stepped into the designated parting room, nearly stopping in her tracks.

It was the same room. (Of course it was; why would they use a different one?)

This room. The last time she'd seen her sister, the last time she'd hugged her. The kid had still been vibrating with energy right down to the end of her ringlets despite the shock-horror-terror on her family's faces, fleeting promises of Victory on her lips.

"See? They loved me out there!"

Oh, Bell…

The officer at her side tilted their helmet in a question, but Venatrix nodded them away. Control yourself, she demanded. You're doing this for her.

A plush-looking chair sat in the corner of the room, but Venatrix ignored it as she waited, standing with her hands held stiffly behind her back.

She knew who was coming to see her, and who wasn't; they'd organized it all with the officials beforehand. The door opened to the faces of her mother's parents first. Hesperia quickly swept her up into a hug, planting a kiss on her cheeks. "Oh, honey, you're going to do so well," she said, smoothing out the flyaways in Venatrix's hair. "We'll take care of Iago until you come home."

Venatrix smiled in thanks. The two of them usually watched over Venatrix and her siblings while their parents took on the Capitol during the Games season, as all Victors were required to attend. She felt a brief flicker of pity for poor Iago, left alone with their grandparents this year.

Felix gave her a similar quick embrace. "You come back with that crown, you hear?"

"Yes, sir," Venatrix said with a sharp nod.

Her grandparents spent the rest of their three minutes both boosting her confidence and giving her more needless advice, which Venatrix handled with grace.

At the end of their time slot, the Peacekeeper butted in, and they exchanged places with Agate, Alystra, and Coquina. Fat tears rolled down Agate's cheeks as she made her way inside, and Venatrix wanted to make fun of her for it, but she didn't. This might be the last time Agate saw either of her closest friends, and she knew it too.

Venatrix wrapped her in a tight hug. "Look after my brother for me." In case I don't come back. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

Agate nodded, sniffling. "That might be hard."

They huffed in laughter at that, and Agate squeezed her closer. "Love you, Trix," she mumbled into her hair, and Venatrix's lips tightened as they parted. "Please, please make sure it's either you or Percy," she said, wiping her face. "I don't think I could lose both of you."

"That's the plan, Aggie."

Venatrix exchanged a quick (albeit awkward) hug with Coquina, and then Alystra, the latter patting her firmly on the cheek before the officer poked his head through the door again. Before they could drag the girls out, Agate ran back over to give her another hug and a teary kiss on the forehead, and Venatrix's smile felt heavy. She thought she saw the blonde girl slip her hand into Coquina's as they exited.

One left; Venatrix didn't think she was ready.

The door swung open again to reveal Iago, looking only slightly battered as he strode into the room, his face a complex array of shifting emotion. "Good ol' Flint said we can have an extra minute," he said before they melted wordlessly into each other's arms. She couldn't see his expression, but the sincerity of the embrace almost made her regret her decision to volunteer, to leave him behind.

"That was fucking rude, by the way," he said when they separated, gesturing to his swollen face. "I wasn't gonna try anything, I swear."

Affectionately, Venatrix cuffed him on the ear. "Like hell was I gonna take that chance." Arthur and Sanji had been more than up for the task of gagging her brother after she promised that the competition for next year's volunteer spot would fall between the two of them.

Iago only gave a half-smile in response.

In the privacy of the goodbye room, Venatrix read between the lines of his expression. "Hey." He blinked. "I'll be back before you know it." Bellara had said something similar; of course she had.

Except this time, Iago would be without the company of either sibling, left to deal with the aftermath of whatever happened on his own, and suddenly, she understood his half-drunken proposition from the week prior.

"You'd better," he said, breaking her gaze. "You need to fucking come back because I can't do that again."

Venatrix pressed her lips together. She hated that she couldn't promise him anything, but she knew better after Bellara. "Listen," she said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Mom and Dad both think I can do it, okay? They wouldn't have picked me if they didn't." Thoughts of her final test flitted again through her mind; as harrowing as the experience had been, she knew she'd only benefit from it. She wasn't going in emotionally blind.

But her brother couldn't hide the child-like fear in his eyes, not now.

She met them head-on, having no choice but to let him see his expression mirrored in her own. "Just… whatever happens in there, please don't forget me, okay?" There was a smallness to her voice; she hated it, but if she died, the task of carrying their legacy would fall to his shoulders. "First or twenty-sixth."

He exhaled, his mouth twitching in a grin "The only way you're getting twenty-sixth is if you jump off the plate."

Well, she certainly had no intentions of doing that. "Brat," she huffed, and he nearly squeezed the air out of her lungs in another hug. The door opened again, the officer indicating their prolonged time was up, and they parted, Venatrix standing on her toes to ruffle his curls one final time.

She'd see him again. She would.

"Give 'em hell," Iago said on his way out, and Venatrix saluted in response, determined to capture his expression in her memory.

They didn't keep her waiting long before the Peacekeeper escort returned, guiding her and Percy to the cars that would take them to the train station. "All right?" she asked him as they slid in the backseat with the escort.

"Yeah. Saw my brothers, and moms, and Lance, of course," he said, tugging at his shirt collar. "Agate too. I'm gonna miss them."

"Me too," Venatrix said quietly.

The ride wasn't long, but they sat in pensive silence after minimal interaction with Kitty, who seemed to recognize their quietude and spent the ride on her cellular. As planned, her parents waited at the train station, having been unwilling to take away from the limited goodbye time she'd been allotted for her friends and the rest of her family.

Venatrix exhaled as she joined them on the platform. Meanwhile, up north, the Capitol was waiting for her.

true vengeance 151 . weebly . com

Song: Good Girls by CHVRCHES

A/N: I'm still on time in EST ;-; ..Listen, I had a full day today, let me live. Anyways, happy birthday Bellara ! (19 Oct) Happy 12th birthday. Forever. :skull: I've uploaded a drawing of her to the blog in her cute little arena outfit ;-;(discord kids can get the second version :skull: )

Small announcement here: filler submissions are officially closed ! Thanks to everyone who submitted; I'm glad I didn't have to reject anyone ;-; Maybe one day I'll get around to actually writing an SYOT, but in the meantime, I'll have fun killing them off lmao.

Last, official welcome to Part II of True Vengeance ! :D I'm so excited to be here, it's gonna be a fun ride c: Next chapter will hopefully be on 27 October, it's gonna be a tight squeeze getting one out for each birthday, but I'm determined ! See you guys then !

- Nell