Into the Depths [Anapos Stand-Alone]

Sitting in your make-shift cell in what you now realize is an old locker room in some sort of stadium. Perhaps it is an old pre-Panem football stadium, given our society’s love of toxic masculinity and violence, you have some time to reflect on what is probably your last moment before you die. You heard the announcements about the Hunger Games, knowing that this was the “reality tv special” that the Peacekeepers kidnapped you for. You know that you have never been a fighter, you skill lying in deceit and craftsmanship, meaning that you will most likely die. But Styx told you to never go down without a fight. So fight you will. You think about your family and your old friends when you see her eyes. You don’t remember her name, but you recognize her from home and the pain in her eyes. You have seen her on the front lines fighting in the ports and the old harbor square. You realize that you are the reason that she’s here, and most likely the reason why District Four fell.

You were captured towards the beginning of the end for Four while trying to set some vital chokehold traps. You were supposed to secure these last essential positions, one of them the fallback position. You failed. You somehow allowed yourself to get captured, which meant the nets that were supposed to hold back the Capitol were never set in place. You think about Chance, your partner in crime and in life, with his warm smile, bright eyes that only seems to glow brighter when talking about the future without the tyranny of the Capitol, screaming in pain as he is dragged away through the building. The last you saw of him was his arms reaching out for you crying for you as the Peacekeepers hit him with the butt of their guns. His screams for you echo throughout your mind, he was the only person who you allowed to call you “Ani,” you didn’t even let your younger sister Krios call you that, even though she meant it in a lightly teasing fashion. “Ani” became your codename because of it though, and he was the only one who called you that in private. Now Ani had become cursed, knowing that it was the last word Chance said before he was killed, murdered for fighting his freedom.

You think about Styx, your older sister who taught you how to use the passion of net making into something that actually helped people. You also learned how to use your eyes for deception. Her sharp ocean blue eyes were able to adapt to any situations that she was in, always hiding her true intentions, and you soon followed suit. Your own crystal blue eyes became their masters of deception, allowing you to move through the world without those in power, seeing you as a target. And now you don’t even know if she’s alive, you worried hoping that you can see her again. Fear and anger build in your chest as you think about the future because even if you do win the so-called Hunger Games, you can’t guarantee the safety of Krios, as she’s only 10 years old. She still has to live through the possibility of being Reaped, going through this torturous hell you are going through. You punch the wall out of anger, fear, sadness, and grief for your family, friends that you lost throughout the years of the Rebellion. You were not captured, it’s kidnapping.

Now they are preparing you for The Hunger Games, washing you up, and making you look presentable for the cameras. At least you got to keep the locket that Chance gave you, a puzzle piece the says

- u I’d
- he depths

The full quote when put together saying For you, I’d go into the depths. For Chance, for Styx, For Krios, for your parents are probably long gone, for your friends who gave their lives for the possibility of your freedom, of everyone’s freedom yet failed, You will go into the depths because, for you, this war is not over.