Almost 7k... I've set a new record for chapter length. I hope the content is worth the attention span required^^. Thanks for your reviews.
Date: Year 9, September. Twelve days after Mags' victory. Part 2
The sea shone red, ominous and menacing, when the two women set foot on the narrow beach a quarter mile south of the town. They stood well behind the harbor, where the reefs reached out all the way to the nearest bay and broke up in morsels deep into the ocean, like clawed monster awaiting sailors suicidal enough to tempt fate in those seas. Any ship bigger than a rowboat would sink were she to try and sail closer than a quarter mile off that part of the coast; beneath the calm waters lurked even more treacherous reefs eager to tear through hulls like a rabid shark through flesh.
The money had arrived by hovercraft within the hour. Mags had called the Capitol central bank and been directly referred to the President. Achlys had curtly validated the sum before hanging up. Mags mentally hugged Glynn and prayed all the powers she had ever heard of that they would safely recover Esperanza.
A single wooden boat, barely large enough for two people, was waiting for the women on the last strip of sand. Riviero Gibbs gave them a big gap-filled smile when they showed up.
"Been waiting. I'm glad to help you do your business," the old man cheerfully said, "I think you can only make things better 'round here. Don't get discouraged. People are stubborn old goats, but they've got good hearts."
Mags looked down, her jaw clenching painfully. She had to swallow back tears at the thought this honest man was being used to ransom her sister. Her mother put a hand over hers, her gentle reassuring touch so at odds with her outward stiffness. Angelites stood like an avenging Erinyes of old tales, she seemed chiseled from hard marble and ready to strike down everything in her path, and Mags was astounded that, despite the gloom, Gibbs didn't flee for his life.
Sudden shuffling near the reefs caught her attention. Two peacekeepers were pointing torches at a shadowed spot in the reefs. What were they doing here? Only the older children gathering crabs and other mollusks walked the cutting reefs and never so close to nightfall, when the tide grew high and slipping could get one crippled for life.
"You there, show yourself," the shorter of the two men ordered.
Mags begged for them to have found a foolish child trying to fill one last bag-full of crabs. Sweat pearled down her forehead as the straps the backpack carrying the ransom dug in her shoulders. The peacekeepers had to leave, now, or Esperanza's captors could think she'd brought law enforcement with her.
A masked gangly figure sprang out of the reefs. It moved towards the two women, jumping from rock to rock with more agility than the foreign peacekeepers could ever hope to match. Mags tensed further, afraid she would soon snap and fall to the ground. Masked? Why?
"Stop moving, or we'll use stunners," the same peacekeeper barked, apparently not caring if the man crashed on the slicing reefs.
The youth stopped five yards away from Mags and stared at her through the slits in his hood.
Mags heart plummeted. No matter how hard she tried to, she couldn't hope in a lucky coincidence anymore. Why? Why couldn't things have gone according to plan?
"You got Pisscops involved?" He snarled, incredulous. "You were that stupid?"
Gibbs frowned, looking terribly confused. He grasped the cudgel in his rowboat. "Mrs. Abalone? You know the lad?"
Mags's eyes darted around and saw three more uniformed men approaching. A whole patrol? What were peacekeepers doing here? This wasn't their usual route. How had Glynn managed to screw up so badly?
"We've been keeping an eye on the victor since the first day. What's happening here?" A tall, square-jawed peacekeeper said sharply. His patrol leader insignia gleamed in the sunset light.
Mags swallowed back her unfair imprecations about Glynn. These people had nothing to do with the kidnapping. She clenched her fists so hard her nails dew blood. Even if there always were a few peacekeepers in town, how could she have not noticed she had been under loose surveillance for twelve days? One of the peacekeepers was a statuesque blonde who Mags now could not believe she hadn't identified sooner. Panic rose inside her, a crashing wave she couldn't avoid. How dearly would she pay for her distraction?
She snapped her face to the sides, desperate for a glimpse of her sister, her thoughts frantic and fragmented but her body unable to move.
"Go away, officers, now," Angelites said, her expression so dark that despite the distance, three of the five peacekeepers stepped back without a second thought.
The leader hesitated but didn't obey. He gestured at the others to close the distance and grab the masked youth.
The young man gave them the finger. "I thought you'd be more reasonable," he rasped, his voice rough and deep, "Or cared about the little one. You've screwed me over, ladies. I have to return the service now," he said in sickly sweet tones laced with fury, "She's really of no use to the district anymore, is she?"
Mags realized he'd kept his other hand closed over something. Something small and round and familiar. Something that should have disappeared after the rebellion. The seventeen-year old froze, her whole being refusing to accept what she saw.
Long-distance explosive control.
"Shoot him!" She gasped, lunging forward.
Time slowed, but she was slowed with it. Too far, she was much too far. A knife whistled past her and embedded itself in the masked man's heart before the nearest peacekeeper had the chance to arm his weapon. The man clutched his chest, his knees buckled, a gurgle escaped his lips, but his other hand only clenched the sphere harder.
No!
A loud noise tore through the landscape, a cracking rumble merciless and final.
A hundred yards away, in the middle of the peaceful ocean, the surfacing reef moved. It heaved and groaned and crumbled upon itself like an ancient fortress finally vanquished by time. The rock island cracked in half, an entire fraction plunging down into the depths as if it had never existed.
Mags stared, her mouth opened in shock. Her mind refused to think, her lungs forgot to breathe.
They ripped the mask off the fallen body, but Mags was too stunned to make sense of anything she saw.
"She's not dead until we have at least the certainty she was in there." There was a steel in her mother's voice that Mags had only ever glimpsed before, but it was not enough to shake her out of her stupor.
"A ship, officers," Angelites said. Her curt order, delivered so soon after she had silenced a man with a single knife, had the effect of a whiplash.
Not dead, not dead. Those words filled Mags' mind, over and over, vibrant shouts and gentle whispers, occluding everything else. The victor didn't notice people milling all around her, she didn't move, as if her world was on hold.
An emergency flare sailed from the fractured island through the orange and blue sky. It petered out almost instantly, as if it was too old to still be on a ship. But it captured Mags' attention like a lighthouse's glare.
"Someone's alive," one of the peacekeepers said.
The words seemed to echo. Alive. Mags slowly focused on the sea before her. The roar of peacekeepers' inflatable motor boats filled the air.
She started breathing again when she recognized her sister's raven hair on the returning boat. When the twelve year old jumped off the boat and ran towards their mother, Mags' legs moved towards them of their own accord, but she lacked the energy to cheer. She stopped a foot away from her kneeling mother and sobbing sister, soaking up the sight in sheer relief.
Fate had been kind, but Mags had never felt so little in control. How could she have missed peacekeepers trailing her for twelve days? Her blindness had almost cost her sister her life. Mags hands would not stop shaking.
A familiar voice made Mags start. "Does he get directly put in a cell, or did he grow a brain –or a heart- and help you, Esperanza?"
Mags turned to Glynn and realized she was pointing to the young man the peacekeepers were holding. He'd been in the same boat as her sister. He'd been part of this. Mags felt her blood boil.
He was tall, with long muscled limbs and a slightly hunched frame and scars on his bare chest that proved he'd come out on top of a fair few fights. Or he was unspeakably clumsy with the hooked nets... He lifted his wide green-eyes and Mags frowned, aware she should recognize him. Light freckles covered his clean-shaved face and unmarked skin proving he had land-bound trade.
Her brain clicked. Kyle. He'd coordinated the sale second-hand school furniture at school. He had to be nineteen now. Mags had good memories of him, he'd been useful, friendly and handsome. Now, her jaw clenched in rage. Someone she'd known and talked to. Someone who had smiled to her, who was part of her life. A murderer. How many monsters were concealed behind masks of normalcy?
Her sister must have said something, because the peacekeepers' hold loosened slightly.
"Who else was involved in this?" The patrol leader asked.
"You set me up to harm the kid? I'll break ya legs, Boy," Gibbs spluttered in rage, waving his cudgel menacingly. He was soon restrained by one of the peacekeepers, and Mags' heart went out to him. How horrible he had to feel, used like a half-wit. "I swear, I'm going to found every one of you an' knock so much sense into ya that you won't be walking 'till spring!"
Kyle ignored both of them, looking ill. He turned to Mags, his green eyes haunted.
"I was told that your sister was to be used to open negotiations and create some sort of committee so that you didn't take decisions concerning our district alone. We wanted a say in the ways things were done too." His voice broke slightly when he saw the dead body on the beach. "I… When I saw there were explosives, with her tied up, I… I'm sorry, I never imagined Douglas would be so insane." Kyle raised his clenched fist to his mouth. "He blew Rio, Calder and Genny up before they could get out. If the rocks didn't crush them, the water getting in soon will."
So he agreed to kidnapping and thought it would be alright as long as no one got hurt? Mags fumed with poorly concealed rage and disdain. Couldn't they have tried to contact her like civilized beings first? The victor could understand people not trusting her and wanting control of her money, but this she couldn't understand. Never had she thought any in her family risked being physically harmed, not in her calm little town, now harsh reality had caught up with her. Now that Esperanza was safe, anger was slowly burning away the last of the panic.
"There's a chance the others are trapped but alive. The explosion wasn't that violent," Glynn said, her face ashen and her voice hesitant, as if she was apologizing for pointing out that particular fact.
Mags snapped her head back towards the crumbled reefs. Kyle's earlier words finally registering. "We should dig them up," she said, her voice still thick from fright and rage. They had minutes if the three were underwater. She stopped to stare at the peacekeepers, slightly horrified they would leave three wounded people in the middle of the sea without an afterthought. Kyle had to have told them.
"On a volunteer basis," the peacekeeper leader said, sounding unconcerned as he met her gaze. "We'll not be risking our lives to move collapsed rocks in a submerged cave for such trash."
"I'm going," Mags said without any hesitation, feeling her limbs loosen and fresh oxygen clear her mind. Justice wasn't about letting people drown, they had no time to lose. If she wanted to stop this craziness once and for all, she needed to show everyone that there was nothing to admire in those fools. She needed them alive and sorry, or alive and unrepentant criminals, bad enough for the world to see the truth. She was glad not to recognize the names, even if Rio sounded familiar.
Her mother stood up and put a restraining hand on her shoulder, the other still linked with Esperanza's. "The boy can give us their addresses. We'll have their parents and friends flex their muscles."
"Genny and Calder are from Sickleport," Kyle replied in low tones, looking anywhere but at the incensed woman glaring daggers at him.
"Well, Sickle Bay isn't far, is it? Have the mayor call their mayor and hope their parents own a fast boat," Angelites replied coldly.
"Mama, I'll help," Mags said, determined as her sister all but dived in her arms. "We can't stand by and let them drown, it's just wrong," she said, her eyes on her mother as she clung on to Esperanza. With her sister's warmth seeping into her, she was feeling more herself again.
The raven-haired woman glared. Mags could see that she didn't want to help, not at all. These people had hurt her child and would maybe try to hurt her in a last desperate attempt to escape capture. Angelites' dark eyes then softened, and Mags knew that her mother understood that her eldest daughter couldn't live with herself if she didn't at least try.
"Well come on," Angelites said tightly to the peacekeeper steering the boat, the feminine blonde woman. "Glynn, mind my daughter. If she complains to me later, I'll kill you."
Glynn winced but quickly shook herself and nodded.
"Don't go," Esperanza muttered against Mags' chest, her arms crushing her ribs.
Mags brushed Esperanza's face with a hand, relieved to see no marks on her smooth skin. "I'll be as quick as I can," she promised, her voice made thick by the hurt in her sister's tearful eyes. It felt so wrong to leave her to Glynn so soon.
But Mags couldn't let people drown, guilty or not, and no one else would help.
Glynn took Esperanza's hand and gently lead her away. The thin all-too-polite smile she flashed at Kyle when he made a move to follow showed she certainly wouldn't tolerate him tagging along.
Mags spared the young man one last look. He'd made the right choice in the end and saved her sister. Despite the rage still churning in her stomach, and the irrational sense of betrayal, she couldn't pretend to ignore it. She promised herself to ask the peacekeepers to treat him right before there could be a trial.
Esperanza's POV
The expression on Glynn's face could only be interpreted as oh shit as if she didn't want to do this. Esperanza still found herself clinging to the older girl, feeling wretched and abandoned. The sight of her mother and sister leaving made her want to cry and run back to them. How could they leave her alone? It was almost nightfall and she needed them now.
"The fact that your mother preferred to indulge Mags' saving people thing rather than ordering her to bundle you home speaks volumes on how strong they believe you are, even if it's just subconsciously" Glynn said, following her gaze. "If they thought you couldn't handle it, trust me, the criminal idiots who hurt you would have been left to drown."
Esperanza suddenly noticed the shock mingled with awe in the older girl's eyes and her emotions were replaced by something very different. Something warm and bright and powerful. It was so sudden she almost stumbled in shock.
The shaken girl finally straightened and smiled triumphantly. They weren't fussing over her not because they didn't think she was upset enough to be worth not helping the morons who had stolen her away, but because Mags couldn't let people die. Mags had survived the Hunger Games, she was strong beyond belief, but she was hurt too. It killed Esperanza to know there was so little she could do to help except being cheerful and affectionate and show Mags that she was awesome, but now... Her mother believed a stupid kidnapping didn't make her a load. She was strong enough to help Mags, even now.
She was now grinning stupidly, as if she'd taken a warm shower and taken a nap. "I hadn't realized."
There would be all the time in the world for hugs and kisses later.
"They'll still apologize, because they just physically can't not protect you, but don't mistake it for them thinking you're weak."
Esperanza nodded. She'd never hated being the youngest before, even if that meant she was babied more than was fair, but now, she couldn't wait to grow up to be strong and truly part of what her mother and Mags were going through. Glynn's words made her hope this would happen sooner than she had feared. She sat down near Glynn on the sandy grass, just far enough not to see the dead man on the ground. Esperanza hadn't seen his face, she wondered what had happened.
"So what was their awesome reasoning for sticking you on a ship and saying they had a right to half of your sister's hard earned money?" Glynn said, her lips curled in distaste.
Esperanza snorted, not wanting to show how the way they had spoken of Mags had hurt. "That it's not our money. They said that if we care about Four, we need to listen to them because they know how things really are and Mags doesn't. They shouted a lot in my face, but they were repeating the same thing over and over."
Had they been so brave, they could have volunteered themselves. Esperanza hadn't bothered to listen once they'd said Mags was weak and didn't know what had to be done. They had no idea of what strength really was.
"Loud and repetitive until it sinks in," Glynn said with a resigned smirk, "did you tell them that's a Capitol tactic?"
"I was too scared to," Esperanza admitted, letting her head fall against Glynn's shoulder. They would probably have punched her and some people just couldn't be argued with, especially when they were in groups. She was glad Glynn agreed they were stupid. Somehow, it made her feel less bad about not having tried to tell them the truth.
"You know, if they insisted so much about Mags being wrong, it proves her speech struck a chord. People are listening to her, I heard them talking when she had left. In time, false rebels won't get away with their behavior anymore. Mags will make things change like she wants to."
Esperanza smiled. Said like that, things seemed much brighter. Hopefully, Mags would see it too and start to relax again.
Glynn put an arm around the younger girl's. "They didn't traumatize you out of trusting guys who glance at your breasts, did they?"
Esperanza snapped her head up and stared. How had she known? Glynn had a way of making it sound so silly.
"The loud one, their leader, he said it was a pity I wasn't older because he was bored," she said making sure her jacket was closed. Her pretty new jacket, and they'd said it Mags had bought it for her with the blood of district children. She shivered, hating them and their words. "He was staring at me. The others didn't look so cool with him saying that, so I wasn't too scared. There was a girl there too, but they all had masks on. Kyle took his off when he shot the flare."
"The leader... The tall thin man with the gravelly voice?" Glynn swallowed when Esperanza nodded angrily. "Douglas... He's the one who blew up the reef. Your Mum killed him. She… she threw a knife at his heart."
Her mother had…? Esperanza's eyes widened. "She did that? Will she be in trouble?" She hadn't known her mother was good with knives like that.
She wasn't sorry for Douglas at all.
"No. There's something inherently scary about your family, you know? They're badass, but scary. I now see where Mags comes from," Glynn's voice dropped to a whisper, "I don't think I could kill."
"You ask yourself too many questions," Esperanza said with a shrug. "Someone threatens your family, you defend yourself. Killing an innocent is unforgivable and you deserve to be judged and punished, but someone who wants to harm you like that asked for it."
She hadn't killed, but if someone kidnapped Mags or her mother, she knew she wouldn't stand around to negotiate.
Glynn sighed. "Rebel education," she muttered, sounding resigned.
"Well, yeah," Esperanza said with a chuckle. She climbed onto the older girl's lap. "I was so scared. I thought about jumping off the boat so many times. The rope knot wasn't very strong, and maybe I could've swam fast enough," she said, her lower lip trembling, "but probably not and I was afraid they'd throw a knife at me if I got away, to wound me and slow me down, but that they'd miss and kill me."
"It's responsible to wait for rescue sometimes. It's brave even. I imagine that waiting without doing anything is worse than trying out some half-assed escape plan."
Esperanza nodded, reassured. She still wished she could have done something more useful than just wait and keep her mouth shut. She lifted her eyes to Glynn. The short-haired girl was both prettier and nicer than she had expected. "Mama said you're exhausting. I think you're okay."
"It's because I've been telling you you're awesome, Sweetheart," Glynn said, flashing her a grin, "do you mind if I braid your hair properly? It's a bird's nest."
Esperanza nodded with a small smile, finding suddenly hilarious that Glynn would want to do her hair right now. The teenager fished a comb out of her bag.
Esperanza let the girl's gentle tugging at her hair soothe her. "I should cut it," she said, "long is stupid with the salt and everything. It's little girl hair. It's twice as long as Mags and hers touches her shoulders already. Mama doesn't swim, so she can afford it, but I love to swim."
The twelve year old clicked her mouth shut. She couldn't believe she was talking about her hair in a moment like this. Glynn was going to think she was an airhead. yet it was her fault for doing her hair in the first place.
"Grow up whenever you're ready," Glynn said with a smile, "but you won't have to work, except to learn crafts, grow tough and bond with people, so you can use the extra time to learn to braid your hair nicely and buy expensive strengthening shampoos and other cool Capitol stuff."
"Capitol stuff isn't cool," she replied automatically, surprised Glynn would even want one of their shampoos.
"So the medicine that saved your sister isn't?"
Esperanza stuck her tongue out. She had meant that behind each of their objects, there was a hungry family working too hard for too little.
"Keep your hair long a while longer," Glynn said with annoying fake seriousness.
Esperanza punched her on the shoulder. "Don't patronize me."
"Was gratuitous violence also part of your education, young lady?"
Esperanza punched her again, refusing to let Glynn make her feel silly. "Don't push me, Glynn. I just got kidnapped, be nice."
"Rescued too," Glynn pointed out, "and if I'm too perfect, you'll regret me giving you back to your mum and sister."
Esperanza snorted. "Fat chance of that happening," she said, her attention now on Glynn's many bracelets. They were gorgeous, woven in thin dyed rope with all kind of motives. She wondered if she could get Glynn to make her one later. "Why were you upset when Mama told you to take care of me?"
Glynn rolled her eyes. "Upset? No, I was terrified. Cheering someone up is a big responsibility," her voice fell to a tense mutter, "especially when their knife-throwing parent is so worked up." Glynn smiled. "You're tougher than I thought."
Esperanza looked down. She hadn't felt so tough back then. She'd been so scared they'd refuse to free her and no one would ever think to look in that small cave hidden in the reefs. There was no way in except from the sea and if she had screamed to get attention, they'd have ambushed and killed whoever would have tried to get in and they'd have hurt her too. She shivered and then blushed for shivering, afraid Glynn would think her silly.
"Esperanza, you were grabbed by surprise, stuck on a boat, led to a cave, shouted at by cretins with an over-inflated sense of their own intelligence and morality and then almost blown up. I'm sure they threatened Mags and Angelites and..." Glynn stopped. "I'd be worried if you weren't upset," she said in gentle tones.
Esperanza tensed, more in anger than in fear. Her mother was ten times more clever than those idiots and would kill them in a heartbeat. Even if they ganged up and used brute strength, there were always peacekeepers keeping an eye on Mags and her mother. Esperanza had never been so glad for peacekeepers. Who'd have thought the Capitol would ever defend her family? Pride filled her at the irony. She still couldn't believe Mags had gotten the President to do what she wanted.
"About the threats," Glynn continued. "Tell your family everything, your doubts and all. Whatever those genii thought up, Mags already thought about ages ago and she'll have answers. About the near death experience, I suggest fireworks to avoid getting scared of explosions, and I also think that no matter how obvious or silly it feels to ramble about it, you should. It might also get Mags to talk more to you about how she felt during the Games to show you that no fear is ridiculous."
The last sentence sparked Esperanza's interest. Mags had been really closed off about the Games. "Talking will get Mags to treat me more like an adult and talk about the Hunger Games?"
"It's likely." Glynn poked Esperanza's nose, an amused cast to her face.
Esperanza was tempted to try and bite her finger. Glynn was much more fun than she'd expected, but so damn patronizing.
"Don't just do it to manipulate your sister, Hope," Glynn said, her tone serious once more. "To be a strong adult, it's better to deal with dark stuff quickly to avoid being dragged down once it's become baggage."
Esperanza nodded, coloring a little at being called Hope. Her uncle had called her that. She missed him and cousin Lazuli. She hated that they had left to go back to One. It was such a stupid thing to do. She hoped they weren't dead and hated that she'd probably never see them again. What was so great about District One that her uncle had had to leave them?
She nodded a second time to show she meant it. She didn't want to become a weakling who squeaked at every loud noise because of stupid people who had almost blown her up. She shivered at the thought. Capitol fireworks then. Maybe they could throw a small party in town. The Capitol didn't like parties, not in the districts, but Mags was good at talking them into things.
"Do you know someone who's deadly at hand to hand combat? You know, in case this happens again?" Esperanza said. She needed to learn how to rescue herself. People couldn't go around thinking kidnapping her might work. They had to stop being idiots and start listening to Mags.
"I don't, but I'm sure someone around here has to be," Glynn's lips broadened into a guilty grin. "Ask your sister about Vicuña, you never know."
Esperanza's eyes widened in dismay. She hadn't seen those Games, but she'd heard enough. That's not who she'd had in mind, at all. "Yeah… she's deadly alright." She wasn't sure she was that comfortable with it anymore.
She then shivered, remembering the rough hands forcing her to the ground and throwing her on the boat as if she was a sack of fish. Esperanza squared her shoulders. She wouldn't be helpless.
"I'll ask Mags about her. Vicuña sure knew her stuff."
"We'll get someone to walk you home all the way if Mags can't anyway, and -"
Glynn abruptly grabbed Esperanza by the arm and lifted both of them up. She gestured at the group of peacekeepers keeping people away. Esperanza quickly saw them part to reveal Dylana and Marlin. The girl mustered a brave smile for Mags' friends. They looked terrible.
"What happened?" Dylana said, flushed with worry. "Are you alright Esperanza? Where is Mags?"
"Kidnapping," Glynn said with a tight expression. "Mags and Angelites are trying to limit the collateral damage." Glynn turned to Esperanza and frowned. "Where did you get caught, Hope?"
"Over there," the girl mumbled pointing at the reefs closest to the path to victor's village. She was never going to cut through there again. Ever.
Dylana and Marlin both paled, but Esperanza couldn't tell if it was because they'd done anything. They looked horrified more than anything, and that reassured Esperanza tremendously, even if she didn't think they would ever have betrayed Mags. They'd been around forever and Esperanza liked them both a lot.
"Who?" Dylana whispered. She was gazing at her feet, her eyes wide and far away as if she couldn't believe this had happened.
Esperanza barely believed it herself. She clutched Glynn's arm with both hands, wanting it all to be just a bad dream. Even now, her heart hammered feverishly again, refusing to slow.
"Douglas, Kyle -who thankfully grew a conscience- and three others, two from Sickleport and Rio, the deckhand with the shaved head. They're still stuck on the reef Douglas blew up," Glynn smiled grimly at Dylana's gasp. "Yes, blew up, and blew up thinking Esperanza would get killed and not caring a whit about his four friends." The short-haired girl's voice took a strong sarcastic edge. "You know, for the good of District Four and to show those trashy Capitolites that we're not stupid and are so much better and clever than Mags when it comes to doing good. It's always interesting to note that those angry well-meaning idiots are those who get the least useful stuff done," Glynn said, her tight smile directed specifically at Dylana.
Dylana bristled. Her eyes flared with fury. "I'd never hurt Mags like that!"
Esperanza's eyes narrowed in utter confusion. Why would Dee feel the need to say that? She wasn't like those people. She couldn't be.
"And had it been another victor's anonymous twelve year old sister? Imagine she'd been a little less cute."
Esperanza inhaled sharply. She didn't understand why Glynn was suddenly being mean. The air sizzled with tension, as if lightning was about to strike.
Marlin moved in between the two seventeen year olds, grabbing an arm Esperanza hadn't see Dylana raise. "Listen -," he tried.
"Are you accusing me, Glynn?" The brunette spat, growing redder by the second. "I never said a word to that madman."
"No," Glynn said, "I'm telling you you're now hanging with the kind of people who'd do that. They flocked to you when Mags won precisely to use you to get to her. Mags said truer things that have been said in a while this morning."
"You're hanging with people like Douglas?" Esperanza exclaimed, betrayal squeezing at her throat like a rough cord. How could she?
"No," Dylana exclaimed, her face falling. "You really think I'd be friends with people who'd blow you up?"
Esperanza felt suddenly awful. She really wanted to say no, but she wasn't sure what to believe anymore.
"You think Douglas' friends knew he'd do that? Of course they didn't," Glynn said, rolling her eyes. "They just were stupid enough to think that someone who says 'whatever it takes to get control over the money that should be rightfully ours' meant 'except blowing up kids, of course'. People who think details are beneath them and dismiss collateral damage for their noble cause will cause collateral damage, Dylana."
Like me, Esperanza thought, feeling tiny all of a sudden. She clutched Glynn harder, hating how helpless she felt. Collateral. It sounded so cold and evil.
"You've always been a presumptuous bitch, you know that?" Dylana spat, looking as if she'd been struck. Tears were beginning to pool in her eyes. "My best friend's sister gets hurt and you convince her I'm the enemy?"
"She's expecting you to defend yourself instead of attacking her, Dee. You haven't talked, not really, to Mags yet," Marlin lifted his hands up in a placating gesture when his friend shot him a venomous glance. "I know why you haven't, I'm not saying you should have. I'm saying that Glynn is trying to get you to say what you think for once instead of bottling it in. Mags didn't tell us she'd volunteer, and it's hard, but we need to get over it."
"The Games weren't about you, Dylana," Glynn said, her eyes full of understanding, "but I won't pretend they didn't affect you, hurt you, a lot. You're being taken advantage of by people who are telling you what you want to hear but also destroying all the faith you have in your best friend, on purpose. They're parasites and you should be very careful. Unless you can tell me Yarrow and his friends haven't been sitting in a circle mumbling about how unfair and cruel things are and growing even more hateful without doing anything real."
Who was Yarrow? Esperanza was confused, and afraid, because it sounded bad. She also felt bad for Dee and didn't understand why the girl hadn't come to see them during the Games. They could have freaked out together and her mother could have made her less angry at Mags. Her sister didn't deserve to be angry at, not by her friends.
"Mags thinks she's smarter than Achlys, but she's not. She's trapped. She's their pawn," Dylana said, staring anguished at the tiny figures moving around on the shattered reef.
"No she's not," Esperanza snapped."Why does making people stop breaking windows to protect us from tornadoes make her a pawn? It'll be District Four lives saved, not Capitol!"
That Yarrow guy went around saying that Mags was some puppet? Esperanza scowled. She vowed to kick his ass once she'd have learned to defend herself properly. She couldn't wait to begin now.
"Mags is constructive and she knows that getting the Capitol to approve of something doesn't mean hurting the District," Glynn said. She wasn't raising her voice but she said things in such an assertive way that Esperanza couldn't imagine the truth to be any different. "I'm not saying she's right all the time, but she knows to listen. Mags earned her power, she didn't get it by accident. She took a risk, she's planning every step of the way, giving only what she has to, to do what is best. And if you think the Games are a stupid risk to take, Caspian and Maris didn't volunteer, they gave themselves the means to change things. Why doesn't Yarrow do that? He can't pretend he needs money or influence, Caspian didn't have either before."
Dylana swallowed, the heat seemed to have left her face but her traits were still hard. "I heard you," she muttered, "I'm glad you weren't hurt, Esperanza. I need to go."
Go was just another word for running away. Dylana turned around and all but started running.
Esperanza wasn't sure if she should give Dee a hug or throw a stone at her to knock her brain back into place. She'd never felt so conflicted. Friendships weren't supposed to be complicated.
"She did hear you," Marlin said, looking exhausted. "She'll eventually realize she's wrong. She's not stupid. You just can't imagine what Mags volunteering without telling did to her. She feels betrayed and she's furious, all the time. She's really worried about Mags and somehow got in her head that Mags is being used and has to be saved. She says Mags could have been hijacked for all we know."
Esperanza scowled again. Dee had know Mags for ages, how could she think that? But dread burrowed in her insides at the mention of the word hijacked. Deep down, she knew that her sister was herself, but the fact the Capitol could do that... She didn't even want to think about it.
"Hijacking is messy and obvious when triggered, not a smooth alteration of personality, ask the veterans," Glynn said with forced patience. She crossed her arms, worry clouding her features. "If Dylana comes around in six months, that's still enough to cause an insane amount of damage, and the guilt will follow her forever."
"So what do I do, put her on house arrest?" Marlin snapped, his voice rising. He paused, calming down. "She's talking to me now, if she stops, there will just be Yarrow, Brooke and the other four idiots whispering in her ear. It doesn't help that Yarrow is so understanding and handsome."
Glynn's face darkened further. "I had to call her out, Marlin. She needs to vent or she'll say these things to Mags, and Mags doesn't need to be told she's a deluded murderer who's using blood money stolen from the districts right now. Dylana shouldn't even think that, no matter how furious."
Esperanza gasped. How could anyone think to say that? Yet is was disgustingly similar to what they'd told her. The two ships were coming back, and Esperanza hoped Mags had been able to save someone, because her big sister really didn't need a new reason to be sad, but she also hoped the three would have big painful scars from the explosion. They deserved them.
"What can Yarrow tell Dee that you can't?" She said in a small voice. Why would Dylana listen to all the wrong people?
Glynn sighed and pursed her lips in annoyance. "That he's not judging her."
Marlin chuckled, earning himself a glare from Glynn, but she was smiling a bit.
"I need guy friend. Girls are driving me insane," Marlin said, wiping sweat off his brow. "You free tomorrow, Glynn? We should talk."
Glynn nodded. "Eleven AM, your place?"
"Sure, " Marlin said with a smile that Esperanza found oddly shy.
Marlin reached out to squeeze Esperanza's shoulder. "You're tough, remember that," he said with an earnest smile, "you'll be better soon. We'll get to the bottom of this. Dee cares, she's just thick sometimes. I'll run after her before she gets odd ideas."
Esperanza wrapped her arms around herself and sat back down on the sandy grass as she watched Marlin's leave. She was still curious about his smile to Glynn. There was no way she wouldn't have known about Marlin dating. "You two have history?"
Glynn's affectionate smile was tinged with wistfulness."We were great friends when we were little. He ditched me for your sister and Dylana when we were ten. He was self-conscious of people's opinions and I was apparently too embarrassing to be around."
Esperanza's mouth split into a cheeky grin. "I'm sorry, but I can't fault his taste. You're cool, but Mags is awesome."
She squealed when Glynn treacherously tickled her.
AN
The second POV was to show things are happening all around Mags too, in addition to giving us insight on Esperanza.
Esperanza means Hope in Spanish, for those who missed it, hence Glynn's nickname for the girl.
Almost all the names from Four are regular names with sea/water-related meanings. The little we had from canon showed District Four used rather 'traditional' names, not really fancy ones.
Please review.