Sorry for the delay in chapters; I've been so busy with starting university. Thanks for bearing with me, everyone!
Chapter 76- Terra Coppersmith
"Mail's here."
"You okay, Terra?" Deecey reaches out and holds onto my elbow, just as the cold air snakes towards where I'm sitting, from the front door that Woven just shut.
"I'm okay." The flashbacks don't come when I'm in the living room, for some reason. Every time somebody opens the door when I'm in the kitchen, it sends me back to the arena. Back to that last morning and the gold Cornucopia, and the blood covered snow-
"Are you sure you're okay? I can take Eli again if you want."
I shake my head, trying to clear the arena fog out of it. "No, I'm okay. I like holding him." Eli squirms in my lap, so I wrap my arms around him tighter, making him laugh.
"Thanks. I want to drink my tea," Deecey says, and sits back to grab her cup from the coffee table. I do love holding Eli, but it hurts and makes me feel better at the same time. I used to hold Iry like this, and I'm still seeing her ghost around every corner in this house. Still laughing, dancing, singing. Holding her kitten that I finally took back from Deecey yesterday.
The Victory Tour is over for us, so all we have to do is watch the television and wait for the snow to melt. It's snowing outside so hard that I'm surprised that Woven's come over at all.
Iry should have been on the Victory Tour. Not covered over in cold snow.
Why is my sister dead?
"Mail's here," Woven repeats, coming into the room with snow still melting on the top of her head.
"We heard," Shuttle says, sitting on the couch across from me, holding a red mug of raspberry tea. I don't have one, because I have Eli instead, and Eli and hot drinks don't mix very well.
"You could have said hello."
"Hello. What does the Capitol want this time?"
"Propaganda, like always."
"Let's see what stupid things they're promoting this month," Shuttle says, reaching out for the envelopes that are slightly damp in Woven's hand.
"I don't see why they bother sending it to us; we can't get any of the products they're advertising here."
"To entertain us," Shuttle mutters, ripping open one envelope. "Look, we can get the latest sapphire studs implanted in our faces for only 6000 pecuinae!"
"What a bargain," Deecey says dryly, and I laugh.
"Did you see Astrid's reaction in 2?" Woven asks, turning to Deecey and me.
"She held it together, until 2," Deecey says, taking a sip. "It was obvious, wasn't it?"
Woven nods. "That was that girl, Agrippina's district."
"No wonder she reacted like that."
"She looked like she cracked onstage; you could see her eyes. If she looked disturbed here, she got a thousand times worse in District 2."
"We got a free sample for Bindi Crumpet's newest line of liquid blushes!" Shuttle says, holding up the small bottle. "Now we can all look like Bindi Crumpet."
This time, Deecey chokes on her tea. "That's the stupidest name I have ever heard."
"There's worse, I promise," Shuttle says, setting the bottle down on the table and flicking to the next envelope.
"How many are there? I didn't look," Woven says, looking over her shoulder at Shuttle.
"Five."
"We should be so lucky." Looking back at us, she says, "But Astrid. She did fine in District 1, but you could see that she's confused at this point. It's not a good sign."
"Anyone want a free poster of Carius Small?" Shuttle asks, holding up a folded piece of shiny paper.
"I'll take it, why not?" Deecey says, reaching out for it. "It'll make Alex laugh at least."
"Are you really going to put Carius Small on your wall?" I ask as Deecey opens it up. It's upside down, so she turns it around and bursts into laughter.
"This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen."
She turns it to Woven and me, to show us the picture of a bright green man with his hands behind his head, overlarge lips, and green eyelashes that are a foot long.
"I never thought I would see anyone worse than Postumius," Woven says, leaning in closer. "But here we are."
Shuttle gasps, quietly, but just loud enough for us to hear; all three of us whip our heads towards her. "What is it?" Woven asks.
Shuttle holds one finger up, but she's gone light pink. Deecey and I exchange looks, and that familiar pain in my stomach tightens again.
"Shuttle, if you don't tell us," Woven starts, but Shuttle cuts her off.
"It's from Aero."
"Aero?"
Aero Carter? Why is he writing here? I haven't seen him since that last party in the Capitol, when he gave us his inheritance. Before Iry-
I shouldn't hate him. There's no reason for me to hate him, especially since he's the only decent person in the whole city. But he failed along with us to save Iry, and I can't help blaming him for what happened. Even though it wasn't his fault.
"Why is Aero writing?" Woven asks evenly. Shuttle shakes her head again, and keeps holding her finger up, but I can see the corner of her mouth turning up.
"Who?" Deecey asks.
"Aero Carter. He's Shuttle's-" I pause. What is he to Shuttle? They linked hands at the last party, but I don't know what they are. The idea that I've had is that they're in love, but I don't know. But if they are, I know how they feel.
I miss Fletcher.
"He's Shuttle's friend," I finish, and Woven makes a small noise in her throat.
"Little more than that," she mutters, and Shuttle's mouth turns up even more. Finally, she looks up, and her eyes are shining.
"Care to enlighten us?" Woven asks.
"I wrote to Aero last week. After we met Astrid."
"Why?"
"You know they're going to be all over her the minute she gets there."
"I think we all figured that out when we met her."
"So I asked him to look out for her at the party."
"You're thinking he can keep them away from her."
"If anyone can, it's Aero."
"They're going to take what they want, no matter what Aero says. You know that."
"He's always invited because of his father; he'll be there, and he says he'll stick around her like glue."
"Everyone at that party, besides Aero, is going to eat her alive," Woven says, rubbing her forehead.
"And she has no idea that it's going to happen. We couldn't tell her; it's up to Beetee to explain the whole thing to her. And we kept Terra safe when we were there. Aero was there too."
"No offense, Terra, but she wasn't as desirable as Astrid is. A redheaded District 3? And the first female victor from her district? She's too much of a novelty to pass up. And you think he can save her from that?"
"He can try. Maybe he can buy her some time, and get her out of there without any of them going after her. You know that Beetee isn't going to tell her."
"Beetee's brilliant, but he's never had to handle this before. He never went through it," Woven says. "It's not his fault either."
"It's no one's fault, except you know who," Shuttle says. "They wanted Beetee's brain, and not the rest of him."
"Well, they got his brain, didn't he?"
"Yes, and I don't want her to get added to their collection. You know, Woven. You know."
"I know. If anyone can do it, it's Aero."
"He has to. I don't want it to happen again."
The air in the room feels heavy. I hate the Capitol; I hate what they do to everyone. They killed Iry and Fletcher, they killed my father, they killed all of the other tributes, and they keep tormenting their victors. Nobody wins. Nobody wins the Games.
Sometimes I'm actually glad that Iry didn't win. They would have taken her too eventually, and I would never have let that happen to her.
"So what else did he say?" Deecey asks finally, breaking the tension.
"Nothing," Shuttle says, and flushes bright pink. Deecey snorts.
"Nothing?"
"Come on, Shuttle, what does he say?" I ask, adjusting Eli on my lap.
"He sent another poster of Carius Small with his clothes off," Woven says, and Deecey and I burst into laughter.
"You should paint that," Deecey says, wiping her eyes. "You really should."
"As soon as she finishes the one of Postumius stuffed for me. Don't forget to add the broken nose," Woven says.
"Sure, when I'm done Shuttle," I say, resting my chin on top of Eli's head.
"How is that one coming?" Deecey asks.
"Shuttle says that I've made her look completely human in the last week."
"I don't look at all like a potato now," Shuttle says, and Woven laughs.
"Really though, Shuttle. What did he say?" I ask.
"Nothing you need to know," she says, stuffing the letter back into the envelope.
"Definitely Carius Small," I say, and Deecey bursts into laughter again.
"Let's have a toast to Aero Carter and his mission," Woven says, breaking in.
"You don't have a cup," Deecey points out. Woven looks around and grabs a candlestick off of the side table.
"I'll use Eli," I say, and Deecey laughs again. Deecey and Shuttle hold their cups up, Woven holds her candlestick, and I lift Eli in the air.
"To Aero Carter," Woven says solemnly. "And the girl he's going to save."
"To Aero and Astrid," we repeat, then lower our cups, candlesticks, and babies.
She's a damaged victor; she's just like the rest of us. Even though Iry didn't win, I can't fault Astrid for winning in her place. It wasn't her fault that my sister died, just like it's not Aero's fault either.
I don't care what she did in the arena; I don't want them to hurt her, like I've seen them hurt Shuttle.
Please let Aero succeed.