Althea Lux - Capitol - Finished

[achilles]

althea lux,
age 28 / capitol / she/her

[achilles]

ALTHEA    L U X

A well-aimed punch whipped Althea’s head back, her teeth biting painfully against her mouthguard. A loud cheer rang through the crowd around her, and she focused on the sound through the pain, forcing her head to clear. She tapped her knuckles together, the blood of several other people staining the gauze around her hands as the stinging brought her mind closer to the surface.

Quickly dodging down to avoid another punch, she swept her leg out, kicking her foot harshly into the other girl’s knee. She began to lose her balance, and Althea jabbed her in the side before she could right herself, causing her opponent to topple to the ground. She tried to pull herself up to her palms, but Althea slammed her knee into her forehead with a loud crack before she could struggle back up. The girl, originally covered in a light green face paint but now smeared more with red, did not try and stand up again. Althea knew she was still breathing from the heavy heaving wracking her body, but also knew it was likely that she would have to be carried out tonight. Despite this, she shoved her knee into the small of her back as the announcer stood above them counting down, his words inaudible even to her over the screams of excitement around them, and then the bell signaling her official victory.

A wide smile burst across Althea’s lips as she held her arms high, her mouth tasting of blood, so she grinned wider, knowing it would only raise the volume of the cheers. Her back was clapped by the ref, quickly guiding her away from her downed opponent being helped up towards her manager. The crowd parted to let them through, and she pushed her way through those not attentive enough to have moved quick enough. Izahia met her close to the exit, reflecting her grin and waving a fan of bills out to her.

“Great job as always, Althea!” he called out as she came closer. His hair was tucked back in a cap, or at least what was left of it. Small sunglasses covered a part of his eyes, and Althea had to hold herself back from rolling her eyes at the sight of them. When she first met him, she had assumed he was a creep, standing back and watching her during several fights before approaching her to see if she would work for him. But she quickly came to learn he was quite connected through a few other fighters, and just a bit off putting when first interacting with him. Before she started working for him, she was lucky if she found even one fight a month, generally unable to find out where or when a match was going to happen. But when he had scouted her at one of the few fights she was able to get into and promised her so many more, she had scoffed at him and his stupid glasses and left. Not before he pressed his card into her hand though.

It only took three weeks of no fights for her to reach out to him and set up a meeting with him. She became his only employee, and even though he took fifty percent of her earnings, she was now earning miles more than she was before. The two had been working together for several years now, and they both had risen to a form of fame within the community, and Izahia had taken on a few more clients, though none as successful as Althea.

She grabbed the money out of his hand, spitting her mouthpiece onto the floor next to her. “How much did we pull in tonight?” she asked, already shoving the cash into her back pocket. Her jeans clung to her with sweat and other various liquids from her opponents, and Althea just had to hope the money wouldn’t absorb any. Her fingers ached as she did, and she hoped that it passed soon. As she began unwrapping her knuckles, he laughed.

“Same as usual, and I’m still banned from betting on you.” he answered with a slight smile, already leafing through his own stack. “But with the three fights, you should be good for the next week or so.”

Izahia knew what she had to make in a week and she was thankful for his dedication to her making it. It wasn’t something she was willing to budge on, and neither were the men collecting the bills. She was always set in the weeks leading up to The Games; an official tribute trainer was a well paid position. But only for a few weeks or so, the rest of the year she was on her own to fill in the gaps. Which she found herself fighting for, literally and figuratively.

She glanced at her now unwrapped hands and grimaced. Blood caked the split skin, and the swelling was already making it hard for her to move her fingers. She was sure nothing was broken, but she was glad for the break she had coming from fighting to heal them. It wouldn’t make it any easier to play her bass later tonight, but she could force herself through it as she had many times before.

“We’ve gotta find a way around that I think. Maybe get someone in on it, split the extra with them?” Althea suggested, wiping as much blood off her hands as possible on her pants, the dark fabric hiding any other stains. It did little else than smear it though. “Maybe Tannis?”

“Nah, everyone knows they work for me. I don’t even think we could get away with it once.” He handed her a damp towel from the table next to him, signaling to her nose. “Plus, they’re enough of a dumbass that they might just admit that we gave them the money to bet.”

Althea laughed, mopping up her face and wincing slightly as the towel dragged roughly across her likely broken nose. “You’ve got me there. You need me to put some money on anyone?”

Izahia shook his head after a moment, staring thoughtfully at the bookie across the room from them. He was surrounded by spectators, arguing animatedly with a woman who looked ready to fight for the cash in his hand. Althea wondered if she had made the mistake of betting against her. “I’ll let you know, but I’m all good as of now. You going to get going?”

Althea threw the towel back onto the table, feeling a bit cleaner than she had before, but still definitely in need of a hot shower. “Yeah, I’ll be heading out to a show at The Last Drop with Zeus and the crowd. You want to join?” she joked, knowing that a club was anything but Izahia’s scene.

He chuckled, “I’ll let you know next time you have a fight. Let me know if you need anything sooner, alright?”

She nodded, and headed towards the door. “And Althea?” he called, causing her to pause as she held the door open, turning back towards him. “Tell your father I’ll be by to visit him soon.”

Althea turned with a brief nod, letting the door slam between them and end any further conversation.

[achilles]

finished! @fabulousraven

[Deleted]

ITS HAPPENING WELCOME WELCOME
zeus says stomp on me mommy