Chapter 5: In Which Magnus Makes A Friend

"If you ain't scared… you ain't human." James Dashner, The Maze Runner

"You need to stop sneaking away," Helena said, grabbing Annabeth's wrist as she rejoined them. "They're going to notice."

Annabeth jerked her arm out of Helena's grip, giving her as fierce of a glare as she could muster. Which wasn't much of a glare if she was to be honest. Her mind was still reeling from the conversation she'd just had with the girl.

The girl who knew Luke.

She hadn't seen him in years. And then someone who knew him — who he had said something, many somethings, about Annabeth to — came to her.

Annabeth knew that Luke had been a part of some sort of rebel group. A group looking to overthrow the Capitol and take back the districts for the people. A group looking to end the Hunger Games.

She hadn't heard whispers of a rebel group for years — mostly just when Luke had been about. Then again, it was hard to hear whispers of a rebel group between the loud motors and mechanisms of the factory. Maybe the people who worked the fields would have a better idea? It was possible.

Annabeth shook her head and reclaimed her seat between Matthew and Bobby. They quickly took her hands and snuggled back up to her.

"Did I miss anything?" she said, trying to ignore the way her whole body felt sticky from sweat.

"Two people died," Bobby said, his voice soft. He gave her hand a squeeze. She returned it and leaned her head against his. It was an uncomfortable position, but he snuggled closer.

"Anyone we know?"

He shook his head, burying his face in her arm.

She made herself more comfortable and felt herself starting to drift off into sleep as the face of the boy from District 4 filled up the screen.

Funny. She didn't even think he was still alive.

[line break]

It was midday on Day 4 when something finally happened.

Magnus was running from the last two surviving Careers, outpacing them by some sort of grace delivered to him by the heavens. He'd made them run right through a series of traps that he clearly didn't know were there, as he gaped as they both fell down their own separate holes dug into the ground — their cries of surprise turning to cries of pain.

He blinked for a moment then continued on, gasping for breath and coughing as he walked. Smartly, he rested his hands on his hips and took slow, steady breaths. It wasn't much, but he didn't have his medication to help ease his breathing.

She highly doubted that the Capitol would be willing to send him anything, especially in the middle of the games. He would really need it, though, if he ran anymore that day.

Just as it seemed as though his breathing was returning to normal, another body slammed into his. Both of them went down hard, groaning.

Annabeth held her breath as both of them lay there, waiting to see what the other would do. Well, it looked like both of them were really just wallowing in their own misery, but she didn't know much about the other person who'd slammed into Magnus.

After a moment, the camera panned up from some grass and moved to show their face.

Dark hair that was messily kept and brilliant green eyes squinted upwards. His eyes were unfocused and he gasped for air. Her best guess was that colliding with Magnus had thoroughly winded him.

Magnus seemed to come to first. He took one look at the other boy as he got shakily to his feet and moved toward him. He was still struggling to breathe.

"Hey," he said, "you okay?"

"What are you doing?" Annabeth hissed. "Leave him. You're going to get yourself killed."

It was worthless, she knew. Magnus couldn't hear her.

The other boy nodded, gasping as he rolled onto his side and got up.

Magnus grabbed the other boy's arm and drew it over his shoulder. Together, they hobbled into the treeline and out of sight from his earlier pursuers.

She waited for the other boy's heavy breathing to get their attention. She waited for them to notice the pair behind the bush. She waited for… something to happen. Anything.

The Careers bickered before settling on Magnus getting away and following the trail the other boy had made before running into Magnus.

The boys waited for several minutes before speaking.

"I think they're gone now," Magnus said, poking his head over the bush to check and see. "Uh, yeah. They're gone. Followed your trail. Huh. How long do you think we have before they realize they're heading in the wrong direction?"

"With my luck," the other boy said, "two more minutes. If they run into the guy chasing me? An hour, tops. If he doesn't kill them first."

"Somebody was chasing you?" Magnus's forehead wrinkled. "Who?"

"Don't really know. A big guy with red hair. He destroyed my nets, though, so I tried to get him back. Didn't really work out, though."

"Bummer." After a beat, he said, "I'm Magnus."

"Yeah. You announced it to everyone during your interview."

"I'm not really good with those."

"Me either." The other boy propped himself up on his elbow, holding out his other hand to Magnus. "I'm Percy, by the way."

"Perseus-just-call-me-Percy Jackson, right?"

The other boy barked out a laugh.

"Yeah," Percy said, giving a lopsided grin. His cheek dimpled in that annoying manner. "That's me. Truce?"

"Sure, truce."

[line break]

One good thing about the alliance with Percy, Magnus was featured a lot. As in, the pair of them are shown as much as the older Careers. The older Careers who somehow managed to survive — with minimal injuries, sadly — the battle with the other Tribute, the one Percy had terrorized.

Terrorized was a tentative term for what happened. She still hadn't gotten a clear image of what had transpired. And that was even after watching the video footage on the rerun of the day's activities.

The fact that the two youngest Tributes in the current games had managed to survive this long and struck up a friendship was something the Capitol seemed to enjoy. Immensely enjoy.

Annabeth was relieved. She was, honest. She just didn't want to see Percy on her screen as often as she did. There was just something about him that didn't sit right with her.

She mostly chalked it up to him being that troublemaker he claimed to be during his interviews. No, she reminded herself, trouble seemed to find him. At least, that was what he'd claimed.

She really hoped it wasn't true. She didn't want Magnus to get into any more trouble than he was already in. Although, she really couldn't think of any trouble bigger than the Hunger Games.

Speaking of interviews, the family interviews for the surviving Tributes were coming up.

Annabeth… wasn't sure how to feel about that. Interviews were incredibly invasive. They picked apart every single thing about each and every family member.

Then again, it could work in their favor. It could help get Magnus sponsors and bring him back to them. He would… just have to survive the rest of the Games.

If only a handful of Capitolites hadn't barged in, scrubbed them pink and raw, primped and plucked them into some kind of creatures resembling the monstrosities that roamed the Capitol streets, and dressed them in clothes that were much nicer than anything she would ever own. And then paraded them down to the Justice Building where the interviews would be filmed.

It was humiliating.

She touched the fine chiffon skirts they'd strategically pinned on her. It was unbearably light and delicate. She felt it would tear should she touch it wrong with her calloused fingers.

Speaking of wrong, every time she moved a pin that was holding her tightly wound hair atop her head would jab painfully into her scalp. It took a lot more patience than it should have to school her features into an emotionless plate.

Which ended up being a good thing, because one of the Capitolites — a junior member of a styling team — had decided to touch up her makeup. Everything smelled either too floral or too powdery. She was genuinely surprised that she hadn't sneezed as much as her sinuses wanted her to.

"Wish that we'd brought some longer lashes for you," the junior stylist said, smoothing out… some glittery product they were brushing against her cheeks. "You have very pretty gray eyes. I could almost pop them right out of your head."

She blinked at him.

"What?" she said, face forming into a frown.

"It was a joke, love. You do know what a joke is, don't you?"

"Usually our jokes don't have to do with plucking out people's eyes."

"Then what do you joke about?"

She bit the inside of her cheek, just barely holding back a comment on how most of her district joked about Capitol fashion — which was a joke all by itself that needed little to no explanation. After a moment, she tactfully said:

"I make jokes about textiles. They're all fabricated."

The junior stylist took their turn in blinking. Slowly, but surely, a smile spread across their face which was followed by a nasally laugh.

It was better than Zephyros and Boreas's tittering, at least.

"You're funny," the junior stylist said. He reached out and tapped her nose. "I like you. You keep that up, and you'll win every heart in Panem."

He smiled at her. Lines crinkling just at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth. There were dimples in his cheeks.

"I don't think I ever got your name," she said, smoothing out the delicate skirt.

"You never asked." They swiped their brush through the glittery powder again before brushing it against her nose. "I'm Ganymede."

"Annabeth."

"Magnus's favorite cousin."

"That's just because we're the closest in age," she said, looking away. She brought her hand up to brush her hair behind her ear, but she stopped. It was pinned up in a bun. Right. "Matthew and Bobby are a couple of years younger than us."

He hummed and his raised eyebrows. He wanted her to continue, which was a surprise, but they were interrupted by another stylist.

"It's time!"

Annabeth allowed Ganymede and the other stylist to lead her back to the room she'd said goodbye to Magnus in. Her insides twisted to knots at the sight of it.

He'd stood just by that window right there…

"Alright," said the stylist dressed in an array of purples and grays, "you sit here and you… right there. No, no, no. Over here instead. And you… Yes, you… right in the middle. There you go."

Annabeth sat on her hands in order to force herself not to squirm while she waited, right in the center of the family. She would, undoubtedly, be the central point of all questions given by Apeliotes.

Great. Just great.

The odd camera whirred to life in front of them. A holographic image of Apeliotes on the central interviewing stage flickered to life. The sound was muted, but he was laughing at something or another.

"Get set," said one of the stylists — Annabeth thought he was the one who had done Helena's makeup. He dug out a little remote from his tailored jacket and pressed a button. The sound of Apeliotes's voice filled the room. "I'll count you in. Ten… nine… eight… seven…"

A flash of orange numbers flickered across her vision.

Annabeth dug her nails into the soft fabric of the chair, the fibers filling the space between her fingernails and her skin. She breathed in through her nose.

"...joined by Magnus's family," Apeliotes said.

She flicked her gaze up and forced a smile on her face immediately, sitting up straighter and smoothing out the chiffon skirt. She settled her hands neatly on her lap.

For Magnus, she had to be everything the Capitol expected her to be.

"Hello, hello, hello, everyone," Apeliotes said, smiling widely at them. "How are we this fine afternoon?"

There was a short hesitation from everyone. Annabeth felt Randolph shift behind her, as if moving to speak.

"Hi, Apeliotes," she said, grinning as wide as she could. Her cheeks were going to ache afterwards. "We're doing well. How about you?"

[line break]

"That could have gone," Helana said, pausing to find the right word to say and settling for the easiest, "worse."

The stylist team and cameras and… whoever else was with them left a few minutes ago, taking away the pretty clothes and makeup with them. Which was a blessing.

Annabeth let her head rest against the desk, opting to take the mayor's chair that faced out at them. The wood was blessedly cool against her skin. She tried to ignore the fact that it absorbed her heat too easily.

"Randolph, there really was no need for the… hostility," Frederick said.

"Uncle Randolph was being hostile?" Bobby said. He and Matthew shared a look.

"What's 'hostile'?" Matthew said.

"I wasn't being hostile," Randolph said. "You should do a better job at keeping that girl of yours in check."

"She was perfectly within her right —" Helena said.

"She was out of line!"

"'That girl' is right here," Annabeth said, sitting up straight.

"Annabeth is the closest to Magnus —"

"His mother wanted him to live with me."

"And yet he stayed with us."

"Would you all stop?" Helena said, shooting up to her feet. "Randolph, I had just as much of a right to speak as you did. Frederick, Randolph has his reasons. Annabeth, dear… you did wonderful. But everyone needs to take some time to cool off and then we can come back to this later.

"Right now, we have to worry about Magnus. Who knows how much longer the games will go on. And how much longer he'll be able to survive. If you don't mind, I'm going to wash off my face and then head back outside.

"Listen here —" Randolph said, halted by the look Annabeth, Frederick, and Helena gave him. He huffed and stormed out of the house, the door slamming behind him.

Annabeth let herself deflate, resting against the back of the chair.

"Ever since Caroline, Emma, and Aubrey," Helena said, "he's had a bit of a temper. I know it was traumatic, but still, going after your niece for speaking about her cousin? Not exactly appropriate. And to do it in front of the entire country…"

"Sorry," Annabeth said.

"You did fine." Helena reached out and gently brushed Annabeth's hair from her face. She gave her a soft smile. "Better than fine, actually. Absolutely wonderful."

"Come on," Frederick said, hands stuffed in his pockets, "we should go find Matthew and Bobby. Make sure they haven't destroyed the entire district without us."

The three of them slowly trekked back out to the front of the Justice Building. Some people looked away from the screen but most kept their eyes locked ahead of them. There was no doubt in Annabeth's mind that there were going to be rumors about them later.

Helena would love that.

Thankfully, Matthew and Bobby were easy to find. They'd taken up the family's usual chairs near the front of the screen. Seeing their parents and Annabeth, Matthew got up to open up Annabeth's usual spot. She was about to tell him he could have stayed in place when Magnus's voice rang out across the silence of the place.

"They're coming," he said, his blue eyes wide and wild. He was looking around for a place to run or hide. And it seemed as if there was nowhere for him or Percy to flee, except for a river.

The pack of older Careers was creeping in on them, their faces alight with a sort of vicious glee. Annabeth couldn't imagine what it would be like to experience it in person.

"Do you trust me?" Percy said, inching closer to the edge of the cliff.

"About as far as I can throw you," Magnus said.

Percy gave a short laugh.

"On my count."

"Wait, seriously?"

"One."

"Percy!"

"Two."

"Percy!"

"Three!"

Despite all hesitation, despite his fear, despite everything, Magnus jumped with Percy into the water below.

The cameras did a split screen of the pack of Careers on the cliff running up to the edge to see what would happen, and Magnus and Percy attempting to swim their way through the river without getting their attention. Well, Percy was swimming like anyone from District 4 could. Magnus was… flailing about in a vague attempt at what District 8 could call swimming. With Percy's help, of course.

The pair managed to get away just fine, however. None of the Careers seemed to want to go after them. It was a miracle that Magnus didn't drown on his own, let alone get away.

They'd made it a safe way down the river before Magnus and Percy moved towards the land.

"You did good," Percy said. "I didn't think people from District 8 ever got the chance to swim."

Magnus spat water out at him, making the other boy cry out.

"We don't," Magnus said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I just kind of tried to do what you did and hoped I didn't drown."

Percy laughed and helped him to his feet. Just as he did, an arrow buried itself in the grass and dirt next to them. They both looked over to the other side of the river.

The Careers had found them.

"Run?"

"Run!"

[line break]

Annabeth pulled her legs close to her chest. After a long day of cat and mouse with the Careers, Magnus and Percy had finally managed to shake them off their tail.

Her shoulders and back relaxed, and her breathing became easier. She hadn't even realized she'd been so tense until her aching muscles protested any and every movement she made. Even the ones to simply get comfortable in the chair again.

Night had set in. The sky had gone from a swirl of pinks and oranges and purples into a vast expanse of navy velvet dotted with soft glimmering stars. It was too pretty to actually be anything other than a projection from the Capitol.

Magnus and Percy slept in turns, though they were failing at it. Both boys had drifted off for a half hour each at most.

Annabeth found she couldn't blame them. She'd probably do the same thing after a day like that. And, she'd hoped with the prolonged chase of the say, the Gamemakers would have given the Capitol their fill. But no. They had more planned for Magnus and Percy.

It started with a low wail. Distant and far from the sleeping boys.

Then another sounded. Closer this time, but not a reason to cause an actual panic.

And then the third came and it was much, much too close for comfort.