[90th] The Reaping - District 1
Feb 13, 2022 18:10:18 GMT -5
Post by Stare on Feb 13, 2022 18:10:18 GMT -5
Ridley knew, of course.
In a way, she'd been subconsciously aware of it for years, but it wasn't until the 90th Games had finally come to the forefront of the world's attention that she fully faced it. They're going to reap a Le Roux. At least one, maybe even two, to compete in their greatest show yet. The Capitol would go wild for it. The family would lift their chins and rise elegantly to the occasion.
And Ridley Le Roux's list of ghosts would grow.
The last time she had been in the Capitol, pulling at the threads of the seams that held the city together, Copernicus had tried to warn her. She was venturing too far, slipping too deep into the darkness, and any mess she created was going to be his to clean up. "If you get caught..."
She hadn't let him finish, cutting him off with a terrifying smile. "What are they going to do? Kill my family?"
Copernicus didn't quite understand. No one did. Ridley had nothing to lose, because the Capitol was going to keep slaughtering lions regardless of how well she behaved.
And so, when reaping day arrived and the inevitable came to pass, Ridley was ready. She could feel the eyes on her, tracking her reaction. How many hits can the Reaper suffer before she breaks? The Capitol watched her through their screens and lenses and smoke and mirrors, waiting. Ridley turned to the nearest camera with an empty expression.
And she winked.
Because what was a Le Roux tribute now if not a gut-wrenching inside joke between Ridley and the city she was determined to someday drown in its own blood? What was the performance before her if not a convoluted tragicomedy that seemed doomed to repeat over and over again? What was any of it if not a reminder that her family would have been better off if she'd died seven years ago? She almost laughed. She almost cried.
If any of you want to try to show me up, please be my guest.
And oh, they were trying. They were trying so hard to beat her, to upstage her, to shove her back into the shadows where she belonged, because even though the rest of the world saw her as a Le Roux victor, they all knew the truth. She was no lion, and they would drain the family tree of its young blood just to prove it.
No wonder they all hated her so much.