| THE LOVE HE HATES | HUNGER GAMES | COMPLETED

15 | THE MEMORIES THAT HAUNT US

     ATHENA STOOD BESIDE Dallas as he slowly attempted to lift a cleaver, it had been his weapon of choice during his Games although he only used it to kill one tribute. Athena kept her eye on the older man, she was worried for him of course and that made her worry about herself as she knew it could be a sign of weakness to the other tributes.

Peeta walked towards her, he seemed nervous. "Athena, I want to apologize-"

"No." She cut him off, glancing up at the game makers. "I forgive you, don't worry."

Peeta had noticed the way she glanced around and picked up on the fact that she clearly didn't want people to be aware of the events he had stumbled upon. Eventually the two settled into a conversation about their allyship, both thinking it to be a good idea. Athena told him that she was allied with Finnick, which would be really useful for them.

Throughout their training, Athena spoke to other tribute, finding a fast friend in Johanna and a good ally. Athena was often seen checking on Dallas, he was usually just sitting alone with the cleaver in his hand, but half of it resting on the floor.

However, that night Athena noticed that Dallas had not come out of his room. So she went to get him for dinner, but as she opened the door, she realised what had happened.

"Valencia!"

Dallas had died, an overdose that he somehow managed to commit without anyone knowing. But that left Athena as the lone tribute for District Ten, a much easier target. Valencia and Bellona didn't really know what to do, they worried that they would instead send Bellona inside as a second female tribute to even out the numbers. However, the Game makers decided that it would be an unfair disadvantage for the District to have two female tributes, so they stuck with just Athena. However, she believed it to be more unfair as she was alone.

Aeschylus snuck into Athena's room, wanting to see her after finding out about Dallas. He found her sat on the edge of her bed with a letter in her hand, Dallas had left it. He sat beside her, taking it out of her hands to read it himself as Athena was simply covering her eyes and crying quietly.

'I am sorry, but I cannot go back into those Games. They have haunted me for seventy years. I have hope in Athena that she can win, I have hope in the Mockingjay that the Capitol will have its final downfall. I hope that President Snow sees Lucy Grey among the faces of Athena and Katniss, I hope he loses his mind.'

Chy furrowed his brows at the name of Lucy Grey, he had never heard of it before but it seemed like Dallas had and he knew that it had something to do with Aeschylus' grandfather. He stood and threw the letter into the fire place, he knew that if anyone else had found it, that Athena could be punished for it. But the name stuck in his mind and he knew he had to speak to his grandfather about it.

But for now, he sat back beside Athena and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her head before resting his chin on top of it. "I'm sorry."

The two slowly moved into Athena's bed, the girl curling up inside Aeschylus' arms as he held her tightly. Athena eventually fell asleep, feeling comforted by his presence, but Chy stayed awake. Many questions flowing through his mind as well as ideas to sabotage the games to either make them stop or allow for Athena to win. But he knew of nothing that wouldn't get himself and Athena killed in the process. It seemed he would have to leave it up to the Games to decide who would win.

Athena found herself sat alone as she waited for her individual assessment, she noticed some of the pity looks she was getting from the other tributes, especially her possible allies and Finnick. But she held a numb look on her face, not showing any emotion to anyone as she did not want to show a sign of weakness. She barely knew Dallas, he had never once spoken to her so why was she so upset at his death? She wasn't alone in the games, she knew that, and in one positive, she now didn't need to look after him during the games.

"Athena Rake."

The girl stood, giving a tight smile to Katniss and Peeta before heading into the room. Her eyes landed on the multiple dummies and sword that waited for her. She felt anger bubbling inside her as she saw the Game Makers protected behind their forcefield, no doubt Katniss' work. Inside was also Chy, who stood right at the front.

Athena grabbed one sword after another and launched them at the dummies, watching them get imbedded inside. But before she was done, she grabbed a marker nearby and scribbled on them the names of known Capitol members, a few left out of course. But one of them held Snow's name and that worried Aeschylus for many reasons.

After the assessments were over, Aeschylus found himself stood in his grandfather's office. "Who's Lucy Grey?"

The President froze at the name, slowly turning to face his grandson. "Where did you hear that name?"

Chy gulped lightly. "I found a letter in Dallas' room, it mentioned the name but I threw it in the fire. Who is she?"

Snow stormed over to him, grabbing him by the collar tightly. "I don't want you to ever mention that name again! Do you understand me?!"

"Yes!" Chy nodded, he had never seen him so angry before, it scared him and it seemed the name Lucy Grey scared Snow also.

Snow shoved the boy away, breaking into a small fit of coughs. "Get out!"

The young man raced out of the room, breathing heavily, but now he had only one thing on his mind. Finding out who Lucy Grey is.