Chapter Two 

the runt of the family

3rd person pov 

they walked in together and dorothea looked around in curiosity before they heard their names called and they turned to see clemensia walking towards them. she knew how close clemensia and coriolanus were so she decided to give them their space and walk off leaving them to their senses and walking into the room. 

"thea" she heard and she turned to see sejanus looking at her as she waved at him and walked over to the others as coriolanus grabbed her arm yet again and he stood next to her 

"finally, the star pupils. what are those buttons, tessarae? and what is that fabric, a bedsheet?" arachne said and dorothea froze for a second but she snapped out of it as coryo spoke up 

"that's why they remind me of the maids bathroom" he said and dorothea let out a sigh as he ran his thumb over the side of her arm. the two of them leaved the same life and so he understood why she didn't say anything or speak up. too in fear of them knowing the truth about her family and what was going on. 

"have you tied this lamb? its scandalous" felix said and dorothea laughed under her breathe 

"only the vulgar eat with their fingers, Felix. what, daddy not teach you table manners?" he asked and dorothea looked at coryo as his hand tightened on her arm and she stood still. 

"maybe he would've if he wasn't so busy running the country. They called us here for the plinth prize, right? Because I heard Dr. gauls in the building" felix said and he tilted his head towards sejanus 

"plinth I mean look at it spawn who would've thought that you could buy your way into the capital?" he said and dorothea stiffened, to think that people didn't know about where she came from felt weird. They bought their way into the same way that sejanus's family did and it made Dorothea worry that they would find out her family did the same thing 

"well, you can't buy class did you see his mothers outfit? Sorry his mas" he exclaimed 

"dress a turnup in a ball gown, and it'll still be begged to be smashed" coryo said and dorothea removed her arm from his hold as she looked around. she was looking for Andromeda, the girl was her favorite there and would make it so she could get away. 

"don't do that we all know that you like him" arachne told coryo 

"I don't like him Arachne i tolerate him hes district" coryo retorted and dorothea finally spoke up 

"I like him. I mean, even if he bought his way in  he is still a part of the isn't he? So that makes one of us. And by the way, the plinth prize, it's from his dad. So I would watch what you say." you exclaimed and they watched sejanus walk over as he rested his head on dorotheas back and she smiled 

"sejanus. You made it to the reaping for once" festus said 

"and you made it to graduation. We're both shocked." he said and dorothea laughed 

"spill it. who won the prize?" arachne tried to force out and dorothea scoffed with a shake of her head and a sigh. 

"oh, no, I'm not gonna ruin my father's big day. No one here actually actually likes him, but they do love his money you know what that's like don't you arachne?" sejanus stated 

"funny" arachne said and the music played making them all walk to their seats and sit down. dorothea sat next to clemensia and coriolanus as clemensia smiled at the girl and dorothea smiled back. they didn't know what they were going to hear but they didn't like it and with that they heard dr.gauls laugh 

"how tantalizing to see all your shining young faces on this auspicious day. I am Dr. Volumnia Gaul, your humble head game maker, in charge of the ward department and all it's affiliated concerns. I am free of my laboratory today to examine you. the leaders of the next generation. I won't be around forever, after all, and now to that end I am honored to introduce to you the creator of the hunger games themselves Dean Casca Highbottom" she said and with that they heard a clear of the throat and turned to see him 

"select students, faculty, and of course, dr.gaul. I have summon you all here today for the 10th annual reaping ceremony in which we choose 2 children from each district to throwing into the capital arena to fight to the death in the hunger games and here sit our own 24 top prospects, all waiting to hear the results of a hard study in this prestigious institution. Eager to learn who won the plinth prize, no doubt and a golden future. However, I am here to tell you that there has been a change this year one final assignment to prove your worth because the esteem citizens of the capital have grown board of the games and simply aren't watching anymore and if the games are taken at all there must be an audience. so, head gamemaker dr.gaul has stepped in to incentivize patriotic values with her own unique flare starting with you. The plinth prize will no longer be determined by who has the best grades but by who is the best mentor in the hunger games. This is a brand new role. As the reaping progresses live, I will accolade each district tribute to a mentor behind-the-scenes one who must just persuade them to perform for the cameras" he told them and dorothea shook her head 

"this is insane" she told clemensia who nodded her head. she knew that the plinth prize was between her and coriolanus, there was no way it wasn't but this changed everything now. 

"obviously, the best mentor will be the one whose tribute wins the games" festus stated 

"what if I get a pathetic run from one of the districts like eight or 12? They're just gonna die in like they did last year and the year before." arachne exclaimed and dorothea sighed. she hated that they only thought about themselves int his situation, all she could think about was the tributes and how they would this change. 

"your role is to turn these children's into spectacles, Miss Crane, not survivors. Victory in the game is only one of our considerations your entire future rest on this last project. oh, and I must tell you that anyone caught cheating to give their tributes an unfair advantage will just have no feature at all. oh! here we go" he said as the music played and he sat down with them 

"let the preparing ceremony begin" he exclaimed and they all watched as the named got called out and they watched. dorothea waited and waited until they got to district seven and she stared at the screen. there it was, wovey, the girl she used to watch when she was young  and her breathe stopped 

"girl, dorothea castial" he said and she stared at him and then she heard clemensia 

"you got the runt of the family" she said and dorothea scoffed 

"you forget I'm apart of that family" she exclaimed and they kept watching and waiting for anything. then when they got to twelve, there she was. 

lucy gray baird on the screen in front of them, and dorothea couldn't help but stare at the girl with a stare that coriolanus noticed automatically. they watched her walk up 

"what is that dress? is she some sort of clown?" arachne said and dorothea scoffed as she smiled at lucy grays dress. she remembered how they prepared for this and what lucy gray had told her before this whole thing happened. 

"don't forget me" she said as she kissed the girl and dorothea kissed her back; what happened between them was forbidden but they didn't care. not then and not now but she couldn't imagine that lucy would forgive her for this. 

they watched as lucy gray stuck a snake down the girls dress and she walked up to the stage when she got up there, she got hit and she fell to the ground making dorothea gasp and coriolanus noticed. they all watched the girl on the screen 

"just give me a minute boys" they heard and then they heard it. the song and dorothea smiled. she remembered that lucy gray wrote it and she shook her head 

"singing? is she singing?" arachne said and dorothea nodded as she sang and they all watched. dorothea was purely enamored by the girl and she smiled as everyone stared 

"you can kiss my ass" she yelled and they all laughed. this was when she bowed and she was lead away. 

where would they go from her and what would dorothea say to her? 

-ABBYS NOTES-

MAPPING OUT THIS FIC AS OF RIGHT NOW MLS