The 'Flower of Panem' or 'The Angel of Mercy', Seraphine Reza is the jewel and pride of Panem. One of their most treasured victors in the history of the Hunger Games and a favorite of President Snow.
While she smiles, comforts and plays her part ev...
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"Got everything you need?" Talissa asked as she poked her head into her bedroom. Her older sister smiled awkwardly as her daughter played with a necklace around her neck. "I know this is asking too much but..."
"Lissa." Sera began and her sister sighed while her niece laughed at her mother's expression. "You always ask me this and the answer never changes."
"I know that but can't you at least try. Everyone knows about your condition-didn't Porter get exempted from mentoring because of her injury? And Leora was exempted too."
Sera sighed. "Leora was exempted. She went back two years ago, remember?" Talissa nodded. Her daughter reached for Sera with a bright smile and Sera waved at her niece. "It's fine. I'll live, Uriel's funeral was weeks ago and I've been okay since then. It was just a one-off thing."
Her niece clearly didn't think so as she made a sound of disapproval, catching Sera off-guard.
Rosy's cheeks and brown wide eyes with a short mess of dark curls inherited from her father, Dia Foret looked up at Sera with big eyes that seemed to take up her whole face. Her doll-like gaze held so much warmth that it made Sera falter in her steps but still she smiled brightly and pinched Dia's rosy cheeks before lovingly patting her head.
Somehow, everytime Sera looked at Dia or Talissa, she couldn't help but feel a little bitter and green. It was irrational and she knew it well enough but still somehow the bitterness seeped through and she had to turn away from them. She was happy for her family. Really. She was happy. This was what she wanted.
It was almost bittersweet for her. She felt happy that her little family was growing but at the same time, she felt bitter.
The whole world had moved on and found something to be happy about and seeing her siblings and Clarisse, she felt the change. Her heart felt hollow whenever she thought about it, she was the only one who stayed right where she had started.
Everyone she loved found happiness, everyone but her and she couldn't help it.
The bitterness in her heart bubbled and burned her worse than any poison ever could. She hated it. She hated herself more than she hated anyone else. She worked so hard to make everyone she loved happy but she was so unhappy that she felt like dying.
Her aunt had made her promise to be happy as a dying wish and she had broken that promise without thinking, pushing away the one person that might've made her happy. It was her own fault and she hated herself for it but there was no point thinking about useless things.
"Be good to your mother." Sera whispered with a soft fond smile that looked almost foreign on her cold face. "Don't stay up too late playing with your brother, okay?"
Dia shut her eyes and giggled innocently in response. Her rosy cheeks became redder as she made an attempt to grab her aunt and keep her from leaving.
Her mother made a face and gently tried to remove her from her aunt. "No Dia, don't. Auntie Sera has to go, she's late." Her sister tried her best to coax her daughter, only for Dia to look up at her mother with fierce teary eyes. Talissa was weak to her daughter's tantrums, something Sera found amusing. "Dia..."
