Yara Sublino D1 [Fin]

Death.

I've seen it over and over again. Whether it's on the screens in one every year or the people who fall into the graveyards of one, I've seen it all with my own two eyes. Bette Sublino had died on that screen in the corner, with those breathless moments where she bleeds. Death is supposed to be the be all end all of life, but I never saw what Snow had in store for us. Acceptance is the hardest part of death. I watched Bette Sublino die on that screen with tear-streaked eyes and a heart shattering cry, but Snow was the type to play with the emotions of the people in Panem.

All of it was a joke from the start.

A joke to strike our hearts out with a flicker of a candle.

Anger in my veins, bloodshot eyes from a lack of sleep, and images flashing of life after death. Tributes were meant to die. Voices silenced by the metal blades of weapons, never to be heard form again, except I heard her voice again. Whether it was painful or not, part of me wanted to believe Snow was pulling our legs, putting a sense of false hope into our hearts, but she came home. Bloodied, broken, and different all at once. Words couldn't fathom the way I knew she had suffered more than any one of us. Large changes to who she is and who she will be, but I'm not her. I don't know Bette Sublino's story. I'm only a piece in the puzzle of the Sublinos anyways.

Born as a career, I learned the trade of using the body for pain. Broken noses, body weight centered, and swift strikes. I knew how to take down ever the largest of opponents. Though, nothing worked better than the antique guns of the Sublino shop. I'm not necessarily the most excited of people. A toned body, but not enormous like the other careers, I struggled for a long time trying to match them, but only recently I was able to. Training had been second nature to me for a long time, before Bette Sublino had been reaped. It was all I saw myself doing for a long time, but after the eightieth, things changed. Those bruised knuckles felt more and more like a death wish than fun.

I knew when things changed in my life. It's hard to surprise me anymore. Life falls apart and I pick up the pieces of myself, knowing there's a place for me if I follow where the wind takes me. Career training wasn't my thing. I learned that soon enough, instead I focused on family. Bright smiles and heavy glares, I was able to make my own here in the antiquary. A generation to take over from the last. The secret was always there, long before I figured it out. A better cause than being a career to sacrifice a life to the games. No need to become the next Bette Sublino, except I wouldn't be so lucky. Life over death was no longer a thing.

Death would always be over life in Panem.

Wordlessly, I sit in the corner with a book of legends from a time long gone. The smell of the room is metallic in essence, but the familiarity of it creates a calm for me. Noises of repairs, creations, and anything else that happens in the workshop fills the room with that buzz of something more in the world. Something bigger than Panem itself. My eyes wander from the door to the workers to the customers that are here for the Sublino goods. A cautious eye over the happenings around the room, heavy eyes waiting for the next person to try and make a scene.

A scene that will inevitably lead to my role in this place.

Silence the problem, subdue the problem, or end the problem.

Safety is the first rule of the antiquary. Family is the most important part of my life. No one will get in the way of that. Even if they try, she's always got her own ways of dealing with people. Sublino runs in my veins, just like the creative ways we thrive. Blood is nothing more than the means I use to keep them all safe, whether they could handle it themselves or not. I am a guardian to them. I pull my own weight in the only way I've ever known. A smile from my lips as I listen to my family work, a legacy of our time continuing.

Snow may have taken Bette and thrown the Sublinos throw hell and back, but we'll be the ones with the last laugh.

Death should have never become the norm over life.

Life is the true path Panem needs.

I am gonna be the catalyst to make sure that happens.

No matter what anyone says.

I'll help create a better world.