A/N: Trigger warning for this chapter.


Chapter 3:

Marian Lilley, 18, District Two

Three Months Before The Reaping

How many days has she waited until she could finally give her family this news? How many restless nights of not feeling good enough or told that she would never be picked? How many countless days when she really considered giving it all up but forced herself to keep going? Too many days. She's been waiting for this for years, ever since she started training.

And now…now this fancy piece of paper in her hands is going to give her the escape she's desperately been craving her whole life.

Yet despite a large part of Marian wanting to strut right into the shitty home and give her parents a middle finger while telling them to fuck off, she still hesitates at the door, a small part of her afraid of the massive shit storm that is going to happen when she tells them she was chosen. It's going to be an absolute disaster because none of them actually believed she would be picked as the volunteer. Even when she shows them this piece of paper, hand signed by Kat Liero, she still doesn't think they'll accept it. They'll just try to put her in her 'place' and remind her that she will never be as good as the boys. Which is complete bullshit considering she beat Kaz in their sparring match today, meaning she is now winning against him this month 10 to 9.

"Are you going to stand out there all night?"

Marian looks up at the teasing of her younger sister, finding Jazmyn hanging out of her bedroom window on the second floor, laughing as she looks down at her. Marian rolls her eyes while fighting the urge to smile up at her, not wanting to encourage her. "Yeah, hang on, I'll be up in a minute."

"Hurry your ass along, I'll be counting," Jazmyn laughs as she shuts her window, leaving Marian to hurry up inside because she knows her sister will be impatient. And she's impatient too to tell her about this before she tells their parents. She did this just as much for Jazmyn as she did it for herself. Marian has to keep protecting her little sister from the full force of their parents' misogynistic views. Well, the seventeen year old isn't really little and she's been taller than Marian for years now.

Marian takes off her shoes quietly, listening to her parents talking in the kitchen, making sure they aren't going to hear her coming in. But then again, even if they do hear her, they aren't going to actually say anything to her. She runs up the stairs and finds Jazmyn standing in her open bedroom door, staring down at her watch. "Fifteen seconds left."

"Oh shut up," Marian teases as she pushes her sister aside so she can enter her room. She sits down on the bed and folds her legs under her as she watches her sister shut the door. She can see Jazmyn trying to hold in her impatience and she wants to keep making her wait, but it's hard to force down her grin of excitement.

"So?" Jazmyn finally asks her.

"So what?" Marian asks, making Jazmyn roll her eyes so much she worries they'll disappear into her head as she walks over to sit next to her.

"The results!" Jazmyn says as she gives Marian a shove to move her over, but doesn't do much to actually move her. "You didn't come home crying, which is a good sign."

"Oh that," Marian says quietly, watching Jazmyn's smile falter right away, which almost makes her burst out laughing right away. But she holds it in, turning her face down and even letting out a dramatic sigh as she holds the piece of paper out to her sister.

"Oh Mar, I'm sorry…" Jazmyn says quietly, even giving her a quick side hug before opening up the paper to start reading it. She watches her face, waiting to see the exact moment when she finds out Marian was picked. And sure enough, her jaw drops open as she looks up at Marian, before smacking her on the arm. "You bitch! I was ready to be all sad for you, maybe even cry one dramatic tear."

Marian can't help but laugh at her sister's response, and Jazmyn doesn't stay annoyed for long and soon she's grinning as she keeps reading over the letter. "Mar, this is amazing…you're going to get out of here."

"I know," Marian answers quietly, still in a bit of disbelief that she really has her way out from this hell hole. She can see Jazmyn growing upset at this though, no doubt at the nagging thought she always has when they bring up the Games. "I'm going to get you out of here too. I won't let them force you into being a submissive person that shouldn't stand up for yourself."

"I know, but…"

"No buts," Marian tells her, knowing where she is going with that thought and refusing to think about that alternative. She has to keep believing that she will win and get freedom for not just herself, but her sister. "Unless it's a butt on a cute person," Marian teases, making Jazmyn crack a smile right away. She pokes her in the side, making Jazmyn laugh as she tries to get away from Marian poking a ticklish spot. "Come on, have some faith in your big sister."

"I'm taller than you," Jazmyn teases her, a fact she loves to point out.

"Okay sorry not all of us can be nearly 6'," Marian answers with a laugh. But before they can say anything else, their smiles quickly disappear by the voice calling up to them.

"Girls, dinner time!"

Jazmyn looks at her with scared eyes and Marian quickly pulls her into a hug. "This is going to turn out okay, I promise. Just…stay out of it, okay? Don't let them get upset with you too."

"But I hate sitting back and listening to them treat you the way they do," Jazmyn says softly.

"I know," Marian answers, leaning back to give her sister a kiss on the forehead. "But just three more months and then we'll be out of here."

"I'm counting down the days," Jazmyn scoffs as she lets go of Marian and gets up. "Come on, let's go."

"Me too, baby sister, me too," Marian answers as she follows Jazmyn out, getting an annoyed glance back over the shoulder of her not quite baby sister. And while normally the teasing would have made her laugh, an anxious pit has started to form in her stomach as she realizes that she can't put off telling them any longer. And she has no idea how this will turn out.

They enter the dining room and take their seats silently, their parents already in their spots. Marian silently eats her food, half-listening to her mother asking their father about his day at work, trying to figure out how to bring it up. All of the fire in her earlier to tell them and spite them has slipped away, making her unable to form the words that need to be said.

But, turns out she doesn't need to bring it up first. "So today was when they chose the volunteers, correct?" Her mother says and Marian looks up right away, wondering if she already heard. "I'm sure you must be disappointed, but don't worry dear, you'll realize this will be for the best in the end. It was only a matter of time before you realized this was a waste of time."

"Actually," Marian says as she sets down her fork and uses her napkin to give herself a few more seconds to figure out what she is going to say. "It wasn't a waste of time." Marian glances between her parents, waiting for them to put it together, but her mother just stares at her in confusion. "I was chosen. To be the volunteer."

Tense silence falls on the table as her parents freeze up, her father blinking at her with his fork half raised to his mouth and her mother sets down her silverware, looking as if Marian just personally insulted her. Which, she did in a way. "But what about Klaus?"

Marian scoffs and rolls her eyes at the pitiful excuse of a boy that her parents have tried in vain to set her up with for years, all because of his parents being more influential than her family. "He'll be fine. This was the deal, you would let me train and I promised if I wasn't picked I would marry him." Not that she would actually marry him. She thinks he's disgusting and, well, also the fact that she has a girlfriend. But her parents didn't need to know that or they never would have agreed.

"Yes, but we didn't think you would ever have even a remote chance of being selected!" Her mother slams her fist down on the dinner table, causing some of the silverware to hit the plates and the noise makes Jazmyn jump in her seat. "We made that deal to keep you preoccupied and to get you to stop fighting us at every turn, just waiting for you to realize that what you're trying to achieve is ridiculous and just going to end in your death!"

"Why, because I'm a girl?" Marian asks them and their silence speaks volumes. "Because I'm supposedly weak and incapable of doing anything?"

"Yes!"

"You seem to be forgetting about quite a few of Two's victors," Marian crosses her arms as she glares over at her parents. She moves one hand though so she can start counting on her fingers. "Let's see, we have Glacia, a Quell victor-"

"Just going to end up like her grandmother," her father interrupts and Marian just gives him an exasperated look, before continuing on.

"Maylene, Viola, Roxanne," Marian counts on her hand, pausing before reaching her favorite victor. "And Kat Liero."

"And you're neglecting the male victors, which include the two to set the record for back to back victors, as well as our youngest."

"Youngest for now," Marian counters, "Until I win."

Her mother shakes her head and lets out a loud sigh at her. "Marian, when are you going to stop being delusional about your chances of actually winning?"

"Never," Marian retorts with a scoff. "I know I can win and so does Kat."

Marian knows they have reached a stalemate, one they have reached many times before. But she isn't backing down this time. Not when she finally got what she has worked towards for years. "I'm volunteering and you're not going to stop me."

The three of them stare each other down in long silence that drags on. Her father takes a sip of his wine before slowly setting the glass down, before pointing out of the room. "Then there's the door."

"What?" Marian stares at him in shock, never anticipating this reaction when she told them.

"You heard what I said," her father continues coolly, refusing to meet her eyes. "If you refuse to listen to us, you won't be allowed to live under this roof any longer."

"Are you serious?" Marian asks in disbelief. Sure, she hates living with her parents, but she doesn't want to get kicked out. She doesn't know where she will go and she doesn't want to leave Jazmyn all alone without Marian there to take the brunt of their misogynistic comments. "I'm your daughter! You can't just kick me out!"

"We can and we just did," her father continues calmly, seemingly completely unbothered at the fact that he just made his eldest daughter homeless. Marian looks at her mother to see if she will say anything to stop this, but of course her mother has her eyes down, being weak and submissive to whatever her husband says, and it disgusts Marian. "You're eighteen and legally an adult. We have been kind enough to allow you to stay under our roof for this long, but we will not tolerate you disobeying us."

"Fine," Marian says, trying to fight off tears of frustration, hating the fact that she is getting emotional about this. It will be just one more reason they list why she will die in the Games. "I'll just get my things and-"

"You will do no such thing," her father tells her. "They belong to us. You disgust me so just get out of our sight before I call the Peacekeepers to remove you from my house."

Marian stares at him for a few seconds, before pushing back her chair to stand up, letting it fall to the ground. Her mother jumps at the noise, but Marian doesn't take her gaze away from her father. "I am going to win those Games purely to spite you and prove you wrong," Marian says quietly, doing her best to keep her voice from shaking out of anger. She turns to leave their house, part of her in disbelief that they are actually kicking her out over this. All because she told them she was chosen. Halfway to the door, she turns back around out of spite, wanting to rub salt in their wounds. "Oh and by the way, Dany has been my girlfriend for two years, so thanks for letting her sleepover all those times."

If Marian wasn't so damn upset and frustrated right now, she would have laughed at the shocked expressions on her parents' faces at the knowledge that her best friend has been her girlfriend all this time. Her father soon stands up, his face red with anger as he points at the door and screams at her, "Get out! You disgusting excuse of a human being!"

"You're one to talk," Marian yells back as she takes steps towards the door, beyond ready to leave this all behind. Yet she hesitates from the guilt overwhelming her that caught up in the middle of this and being left alone with them is her sister. Marian turns to her sister, finding Jaz pleading with her silently. "I'm keeping my promise, Jaz. I'll be the victor."


Flannery Escouvier, Escort for District Two

There's always a buzz of excitement inside her whenever she steps out onto the stage in District Two, and this year is no different for Flannery. She loves the excitement of the crowd when they greet her, a familiar face and the only escort that some of them have ever seen in their lives. Not that Flannery likes admitting that she is starting to get older. But she'll be damned if she leaves District Two any time soon. She is going to get them at least a few more victors before she decides to retire.

But this year, there's a bit more excitement than normal about escorting. She gets to work with her first victor from Two and her most recent victor. Plus, she heard from Mae that her very first victor will be escorting as well. Somewhere in the years of escorting, the victors have become her closest friends, and she is looking forward to spending time with them once more.

And she trusts they picked tributes that will make sure they show District Four that last year's victory was a fluke.

"Good morning, District Two!" Flannery says cheerfully as she greets the crowd, getting people in the crowd responding to her. "You all know me, Flannery Escouvier, and I'm excited to be back and to get you yet another victor!"

The crowd cheers as expected, filling her with pride for the place she might even call her second home. "Shall we see who will be fighting for us this year?"

Even though she knows it won't matter in the end what name she picks, she still takes her time and pretends to contemplate who to pick, making the crowd laugh a bit. "I wonder who it will be! Let's see…Janine Urbana!"

A girl quickly makes her way out from the very front section, glancing over at the crowd and shaking her head at someone. "Chill dad, there's going to be a volunteer."

Flannery raises an eyebrow as the girl takes the stage, looking bored at being up there. "Overprotective parent?"

"Yeah," Janine scoffs. "Scared I'll end up like his former flame."

"Well I am sure that someone would like to step forward?" Flannery asks the crowd.

And sure enough, a girl steps forward right away. "I volunteer!"

Flannery grins as she watches the girl head up to the stage, her head held high and carrying confidence in herself. Flannery knows the confidence that she surely has from wearing a form fitting pantsuit. The girl has her natural hair curly and just a dash of makeup, letting her confidence speak for her appearance. "Marian Lilley," she tells the escort before facing the crowd, shoulders back as she takes a deep breath, before letting herself smile when someone in the crowd yells "Yeah girl, kill 'em!"

"Welcome, Marian," Flannery smiles at the girl before heading to pick the other name before there is a volunteer. "And how about we bring up Jouko Bossert."

The young boy makes his way up to the stage quickly, making no comments to family member's in the crowd like Janine. But he lacks the fear of kids reaped in other Districts, armed with the knowledge that someone else will soon be taking his place.

"Any volunteers for Jouko?" Flannery asks the crowd once more, not afraid at all about someone not stepping forward.

"I volunteer," a voice calls out and soon a boy steps forward, wearing a nice teal dress shirt and black dress pants. He avoids eye contact with the crowd as he approaches the stage, even biting his nails a little out of what Flannery can only presume is nerves. But when he reaches her, he just sticks out his hand to her right away. "Kaz Aberdeen, volunteer for the Games."

"Yes, welcome, Kaz," Flannery says with a smile as she shakes his hand, hoping to help the boy relax a little bit. But he only meets her eyes for a fraction of a second before looking away, keeping his gaze off of the crowd. She puts a hand on his shoulder for a moment to comfort him, recognizing a tribute that is not the best at being in front of crowds. But that doesn't make her doubt him for one second. She knows District Two will have picked their best possible volunteers, like always.

"Well it looks like we have our two tributes for the 137th Hunger Games!" Flannery tells the crowd, growing excited about getting to know these two so she can do everything to help them win. "Let's give a big round of applause for your tributes, Marian Lilley and Kaz Aberdeen! I know that they are going to do their very best to make you proud!"


And we are back earlier than expected! Marian is the first of mine and of course Flannery has been in a bunch of my stories so far, but big thanks to VeneratedArt for Kaz! I didn't plan on having this update today but I wanted to write one of my own characters and just go nuts and, well, here we are XD Can't say next update will happen quickly, but I aim to have one Legacy for every two Senseless chapters!

So thoughts on Marian? I love my D2 tributes so she was fun for me to write lol.

I'd like to invite you to come participate in the SYOT Alliance forum's third annual SYOT Awards! This event is a yearly thing we do to recognize another great year of SYOTs and those involved! We are currently in the nomination stage of the awards so please check it out, let others know, and come participate :) the link to the forum is on my profile because FFN does not like links within the actual story.

RQ #3: edddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddtyyyyyyyyyyyybh hl...;/,m... -Stache, my kitten. Answer that as you like XD

Well, I'll see you idk when XD Next we will be heading to D10 to take a look at Sissel!