Chapter Text
The dirt of the cage was growing boring to stare at. The rocks were beginning to become less and less comfortable for seats as the hours passed. Not even the dying trees could hold his attention much longer.
Achlys had found what he could to make a small concoction of a spell for Coriolanus tomorrow. Even if it wasn't much, it would still account for something. That rose really came in handy.
"Achlys," The call of his name pulled his attention to metal fence.
"Coriolanus?" Achlys stood to his feet and made his way to the bars. "I said come tomorrow, what are you doing here now?"
"Tomorrow would be too late, wouldn't it?" Coriolanus then unraveled a fabric, red napkin to unveil a sandwhich cut perfectly at a diagonal.
It was more than what Achlys was expecting to be given; however, the ache in his gut was growing more noticable by the minute. Leaving it simmer on empty for any longer would likely lead to stomach pain.
"Thank you, really," He took a half of the sandwhich and held it tenderly in his hands, as if it would crumble if held wrongly.
"Take both slices, please. You need the sustenance." Coriolanus urged, holding out the other half closer to Achlys. He needed his tribute fed, at least, even if a sandwhich was all he could muster at the moment.
"Coriolanus, you've gotta eat yourself, I can't leave you nothing when you've got me this already." Achlys carefully pushed back the other slice. Coriolanus refused, persistently holding it out.
"You promised the spell, I promised food. I won't be left with nothing, just take it."
Achlys sighed in defeat before taking the other half of the sandwhich. The Capitol boy wasn't wrong, he wouldn't be left with nothing. Achlys did promise the spell, and that was something.
"Fine," He held both halves in one hand while the other sifted around one of the pockets on his bottoms. The flowy fabrics hid the opening, but his hand knew just where the mouth of the pocket was.
"The rose," Coriolanus pointed out the missing flower. "You used it didn't you? You said you burned them for protection back in Twelve."
"Perceptive, ain't you," Achlys teased as he pulled out a small wrapping of black cloth. "I didn't have any pouches left over, just my own clothes on my body."
Achlys held out the bundle, using their other hand to gesture to their hair. The small, black headscarf that once shielded the crown of his head now held the contents of whatever spell was inside.
"Ah, so that's what felt different about you," Coriolanus pulled a small smile to his lips, even if the humour felt dry. The blonde took the small bundle, feeling over the fabric with his fingers. It was a surprisingly good quality for a district fabric.
"It's a protection spell," Achlys started, nodding to the wrap of cloth. "It'll keep you as safe as you can be for the Games."
"For the Games?" Coriolanus questioned with a furrow of his brow. "Why do I need protection from the Games, you're the one being thrown into the arena."
Achlys simply hummed and shrugged, bringing a half of the sandwhich he had been offered to his mouth and taking a bite. His eyes trailed over to the girl with pigtails, Arachne, a matching red academy uniform adorning herself.
He merely shook his head in dissapointment. Brandy, the tribute that was assigned to her, was being taunted with a bottle of what seemed to be water. That girl knew that food was a weapon and was using it as such, how evil.
Achlys's gaze then caught sight of another academy student with a sandwhich of his own. He was calling another tribute's name, likely his own, for a sandwhich as well. His tone wasn't as demeaning as Arachne's, and he seemed rather upset when the tribute didn't approach him. Achlys's brows knit together for a moment before he waved his hand to catch Coriolanus's attention again.
"That other sandwhich boy," He pointed. "He your friend? He wouldn't be so polite with this if he wasn't."
Coriolanus felt flattered at the idea of seeming polite, knowing he felt far from it. He couldn't dwell on such remedial thoughts at the moment, he had a tribute to tend to.
"That's Sejanus, you could call him my friend." Coriolanus responded with a nod of his head. The bundle still being fiddled with in his palms.
Achlys hummed once more, taking one of their final bites to their half a sandwhich. He let his eyes fall away from the Sejanus boy and back down to the food in his hand. They then looked up and back to Coriolanus. The Capitol boy seemed so entranced by the bundle, like he had never seen herbs wrapped in a fabric before.
"You think we would've been able to meet under different circumstances?" Achlys asked, his voice quieter than before as if telling a secret. The likelihood of either of them meeting face to face, and not in these conditions, was as likely as birds reverting back to dinosaurs.
There was a chance, but a very fickle one.
Coriolanus picked at a fraying edge of the fabric, a shallow swallow making his throat bob. Would they have been able to meet? He wouldn't ever dare touch the districts without reason or without being permitted to. They were riddled with vermon... nasty vermon.
"Possibly," Coriolanus answered, the ends of his mouth quirking upwards. "I could have seen you work your real magic for your people."
"Hm, indeed," Achlys accepted the answer for now, taking the 'could have' as a 'should have'. Achlys's eyes flickered down to the bundle in the Capitol boy's hands, a twisting in his gut tugging deep.
Before Achlys could make any sense of it, a shriek erupted from beside them. Everyone's heads whipped to scene, Brandy had grabbed hold of Arachne and yanked the bottle from the girl and smashed it against the bars.
Achlys jumped back from the gate and distanced themselves from the altercation. As soon as the bottle swung for Arachne, Achlys shielded vision and looked away. They'd seen enough violence in the district, and he didn't want to get a preview to what was bound to be seen in the arena as well.
All the while, Coriolanus couldn't help but to stare with a slack jaw and a shaking head. His feet moved before his mind did, and he found himself attempting to help Arachne in any way he could. There wasn't anything he could do aside from say it was alright and stare at the gushing blood that spewed from her throat. He dropped the spell beside her at the ground to grab her arms.
"Help!! Somebody, help her—!!" He shouted out to where peacekeepers approached. The second time the words began to spill from his lips, bullets sprayed from both peacekeeper's guns and at Arachne's tribute. Brandy didn't have a chance to get a yelp out before she collapsed.
Coriolanus had ducked his head, as many others did, and the tributes inside the cage dropped to avoid getting accidentally hit in the crossfire. When things began to settle, Coriolanus was left speechless; Arachne dying beneath him, her blood on his hands, and the ringing silence around the area.
He yelped as the same peacekeeper's began hoisting him up, attempting to bring him to his feet but inevitably having to drag him away. Coriolanus's eyes staggered upwards in time to catch sight of the spell bag.
"Sejanus!" The Capitol boy yelled out to his friend who had approached Arachne's now still body. "The bundle!"
The peackeeper's tugged Coriolanus hard enough it made his neck ache in a way he hadn't felt since his last midterm assessment. He had no time to check if that Plinth had listened and grabbed the damned thing, the only thing he could focus on was the twinge in his neck and the pull in his shoulders from being dragged away. That, and the drying of blood on his hands.
"Sejanus," Achlys's voice called quietly as he approached the bars once more. His eyes brielfy glanced down at Arachne, or what was once of her, and back to Sejanus. "I gave that bundle to Coriolanus, could you hand it here. I'll keep it safe until I see him again."
The Sejanus boy swallowed with a nod, leaming down and picking up the now loosely wrapped fabric. He brushed off some dirt and ants that had crawled onto it and handed it back to the tribute through the bars.
"I'm so sorry this happened..." Sejanus apologised, shaking his head. "It-it was... there was only supposed to be food, and... we didn't think—"
"It's alright," Achlys nodded. They saw the dissapointment and genuinity in the boy's face alone. His voice just added another layer of icing to the cake. "It's not your fault, Sejanus... barely could even say you were at fault."
Soom enough, the peacekeeper's in the surrounding area were moving to remove any extra passer-by leave the tribute zoo. Achlys let a deep breath fill their lungs before clearing his throat.
"If you get the chance, tell Coriolanus I said thank you. He'll know what I'm thankin' him for."
Sejanus nodded and took a few steps back from the cage before being made to leave by peacekeeprs. Achlys stepped further into the space they had, passing glaring tributes, before taking a seat on a large rock.
The bundle was loose already, so they likely had to redo the spell they put together. Achlys shook off a few ants that crawled onto his hand, tsking at the annoyance. Sure, he loved all things nature but ants could be a real bugger sometimes. No pun intended.
As the tribute undid the wrap they did around the herbs, he noticed more ants crawling his hands. The distinct colour made his breath stutter before he got to the center of the wraps.
A sharp gasp escaped his throat and he dropped the cloth and herbs to the ground. The other tributes nearby turned their hands and grimaced with confusion at Achlys's display.
"Fire ants," He stated quietly at first, which caught the immediate attention of the same tributes who had grimaced. Nobody liked fire ants. They were the meaner and much more painful variant of regular ants... assholes for a better term.
"Fire ants!" Achlys called out louder, backing away from where he had dropped the herbs. The other tributes began to get up and move away as well, some going as far as their backs hitting the edges of their enclosure.
The worst part wasn't even the fact that there were fire ants in the tribute zoo, but the fact that they were there at all. In the spell for that matter. It had only been on the ground for barely even a minute, and Sejanus picked it up with ease. Achlys held it and unwrapped with no issue until the center.
Those ugly fuckers came out of nowhere and somehow got into the bundle, and there were tons of them. It almost looked like it had always been fire ants. The white petals of the rose were covered so heavily they couldn't be called white anymore.
The District Four tribute, Coral, marched up and stomped down on the ant pile. She grumbled to herself as she tried killing the colony of ants. Achlys rushed forward and grabbed the girl by her arm.
"That's not gonna work, they're just gonna crawl all over you and bite you to oblivion!" He scolded Coral, tugging her back from the ants until she retaliated. She ripped arm out of Achlys's hold with a frusterated yell.
"You're the one who brought them in here, don't go tellin' me what to do, you pansy!"
"I did not! There were never ants in it to begin with!"
"Oh, tell me somethin' else, I'll believe you when you loosen that crap around your waist!"
Jessup, thank the heavens, swooped in and grabbed Achlys's arm. He tugged his district partner back to create distance between them Coral.
"Achlys, calm down," Jessup chastised. "You're not helping, let them do what they want. She's just hurting herself in the end anyways..."
Achlys huffed slightly with anger. He nodded his head in agreement and ran his hands over his hair. The missind garment on his head made him stop and bring his hands back down.
"Right... right. It does nobody any good," Achlys turned, pushed passed Jessup and to a spot far away from the ants and the District Four girl. He sat himself on a mildy grassy patch and rested his arms on his bent knees.
A heavy sigh left his lungs as he sat there and watched the sun. There were more pressing matters that started tomorrow, fire ants and a rage feuled girl were the least of his worries. Any ants that made their way towards him were met with the face of a boot in the end anyways.