CHAPTER FOUR ♔ does it run in your blood to betray the ones you love

[coldheritage]

♬ The Truth - Nonpoint

WHO || Failboat, Rafael, Isabella, Nadia  [Closed]
WHAT || After an exciting Grammy night, the Knights meet up with Nadia to hear what she has to say
WHERE || Staples Center, LA -->  Warehouse
WHEN || Feb 8th, 2015  [back dated]
HOW || Actionspam

[  The Knights' mission to stop the signal and prevent Draken's cult from spreading whatever subliminal message  was lurking beneath Keijen Blade's performance was a success.  It didn't come without its bumps in the road, however:  Alexander Anderson showed up, and the Knights ran afoul of the Mind Master.    Buffy nearly died fighting Anderson, but in the end, he was defeated, beheaded, and hopefully put to death forever.   Finnick, though, found himself thrust into a mental illusion that convinced him he might still be in the Hunger Games, and left him uncertain about whether any of his life here was real.  

Another surprise came in the form of an announcement by Nadia Reichenov, an artist working with Crombe and company, that she was changing her band name and taking things in a 'new direction'.   This direction was perhaps revealed when after her performance, she approached the Knights in Rafael's dressing room - and handed them the necklace that connects her to the Nightmare God Malaak'a, saying she was willing to tell them everything.  ]

Comments

[65]

[he stares down before speaking, like he's afraid to force the words out and admit it to himself, but eventually spits out] Any of it. You, or this, or ... [he makes a vague hand gesture around them.]

[graveflowers]

This life. [ she nods, understanding cutting through her calm mask briefly with an expression of utter grief before she shoves it aside, swallowing. ]

So what is real? Since this is the only life I know, here.

[65]

The Games. [well that's one way for her to find out about his past that's he's only talked about with like ... hasmed, franny, myri, and mark.] I'm gonna wake up, any minute now. I'm going to be back in it. This is — it's not real.

[graveflowers]

What are the Games?

[ she's just assuming that dealing with this the way you deal with shock is the best idea -- keep 'em talking. ]

[65]

[ ♪ camisado - panic at the disco

he stares at her like how could she not know??? only of course she doesn't know, she's from the world where the games don't exist. the imaginary world. his brain is so broken right now. he's also afraid that naming it, explaining it, will somehow will it to exist in a place where it doesn't because that's how dreams fucking work, but he mutters through it anyway (also i rolled for how articulate he would be in this explanation and got 94/100 so he's probably reciting it in like, rote textbook form):]

There are 12 districts. Every year two children are taken from each district and placed in an arena. It's a deathmatch. Only one can win. Everyone watches. I already — I already thought I won. Why is it happening again? I don't want to go back again.

[graveflowers]

[ that is horrifying and it's clearly etched on vi's face. she's not from the capital, this is not any form of entertainment for her. it's disgusting. vi has fought in arenas and wars, but...

not like that. ]

Maybe you did win. This can be real, too, just real after. [ she doesn't sound overly sure about herself, but the veil is so confusing to her, she can't be sure. now would be a great time for jade's mom to come down and drop some veil realism on them.

but that isn't likely to happen. ]

[65]

I don't know. [ he doesn't seem to find that comforting, but his will save to not like burst into tears like a little bitch was actually really good, so he just looks extremely sad and broken.]

[graveflowers]

[ shifting a little, she pushes up on to her knees. baby steps. she wants to sit next to him and hold his hand, but she doesn't think he'd be down for that right yet. ]

Can you tell me about you Games?

[65]

Why?

[graveflowers]

Well. [ she chews on her bottom lip, abruptly shifting off her knees to sit again. ] We're best friends. I mean, for me we are. [ clearly not the same atm. ] And I don't really know you, I guess.

[65]

I remember. I remember that. I remember everything. But it doesn't ... it's just a dream. [he stares down at his hands, making motions like he's tying invisible knots.] You're not real.

[graveflowers]

[ silent for a long while, vi pushes to her feet and slips out of the room. she comes back a few moments later with the length of rope she learned to tie knots with and hands it to him. ]

I'm real for right now.

[65]

[he doesn't shy away from the shoelace (bc i'm like 85 percent sure it actually was a shoelace ok) like he did the food, just takes it and gets to his knot-tying coping mechanism while explaining some more of his sad miserable life.] I was 14 the first time.

[graveflowers]

[ well, he's not fourteen now. but since he said first time, she doesn't gently remind him of that. ]

The first time?

[65]

[still not looking at her] Usually that's it. If you play, and you win, your name is taken out. But for the last one, they only drew victors' names. And then — I thought I was here, but —

[graveflowers]

[ her eyebrows knit together, frown growing. ]

Victors. [ the moment when she realizes she accidentally named her child after her best friend and didn't even realize. ] You may have gone in and then just come here. [ this time she is firmer and clearer in her resolve. ]

[65]

No, I went back. I woke up.

[graveflowers]

Or, alternately, you were fucked over by the Mind Master. [ or that. ]

[65]

Every second I was there felt more real than the three years I've been here.

[graveflowers]

That doesn't mean this isn't real, too. That's what she does, that's why she's called the Mind Master. She convinced the entire world that Crombe was Chad. She can -- [ she trails off, almost as if she's resigned herself to the fact that she can't fix this. the mind master broke a part of finnick that none of them can fix except finnick himself and he's had too much trauma to manage it, or care.

with a heavy sigh, she slumps down next to him. ] I'm sorry.

[65]

[he goes back to quietly tying and untying knots in his shoelace bc that's a comforting, grounding gesture and doesn't involve reliving all his trauma.]

[graveflowers]

[ they can just sit quietly next to each other for a long while. until vi turns on the tv to abc family because it's grammy's weekend so of course harry potter is on. and it's the sixth movie, so they get to enjoy harry's pincers pantomime. ]

[65]

[finnick glances up occasionally and even cracks a smile at shit like the pincers pantomime, but he still doesn't seem that into it. sobs.]

[graveflowers]

[ vi isn't even into it, which says something. dumbledore dies and she sheds a single manly tear, brushing her cheeks absently. spoilers, she's not crying about dumbledore. ]

What do you want to do?

[65]

About ... ?