{Alone} in the {Atmosphere} [Riordan/Anarchy]

[Tom]

r i o r d a n   e i n f a l l e n

Beauty.

The capitol was gorgeous from atop of the roof. Lights flickering around the place that held them all like prisoners being sent to a firing squad. No. A firing squad would be better than what they were going to go through. The beauty of the capitol made his insides churn. People creating such wonders and sights that could be considered the most beautiful in the entire world around them. In his entire life, he's seeing the same view that Jequirity probably saw before being put in a hell that was designed for her death. For a moment, he feels her like she's there with him. Violins playing in the back of his mind. He knows she's not there. He knows it's all in his mind, but he can breathe for a second. Let out a sigh of relief upon the roof that shone. Only one thought stirring in his head as he watches the beautiful cityscape.

How could such awful people create something so beautiful?

This was running through his mind everytime that he saw something new. Something different that would be turned away at the first thought of it within the districts. All he wanted to do was reach for the beauty he can see. All he wanted was to join his dreams of beauty and happiness. He dreamed of a life that wasn't like this. A life where he didn't feel so broken and ready to sacrafice everything for his selfish wants. Broken to the core of his existence, all he could do was stare up at the cityscape imagining a world where children don't have to be forced to a death sentence in a game. A violent and bloody game that people enjoyed watching. Capitolites staring at a screen as they yell and cheer for their favorites. Jequirity had been a favorite from what he's seen.

He didn't hear the other person enter.

For a moment he swears it's Caspar. Following him as a volunteer under his nose, ready to shout at him. Something about being better than anything he was. Shouts and screams of vulgar words of how his death was going to be painful and slow and how he hoped Riordan would finally learn his lesson. Caspar would be the worst thing to appear or Ingran. He'd prefer it to be anyone else who wouldn't scare him from the inside. As his head turns, he notices her. A girl from four. Something about her seemed to lurch out to him. Curiosity of everyone was on the tip of his tongue. Expectations of being on the roof made him think that no one would follow him. They could think of anything they would want, maybe think he'd finally throw his life away by jumping off the building. Either way, someone ended up on the roof with him. Anarchy was her name if he could remember her name with the amount of tributes that there were.

"Hmmm? What are you doing out here?"

Side leaning against a wall as he stares at her. She wasn't the prettiest girl that he's ever seen, but beauty comes from within and not what's on the outside. There was beauty within every single human being, even if they didn't think so. He fell into that category. Curiosity still lights a fire within him to talk to her, even if she was some career who could stab him through the heart. After all, he was alone in the world. Eckharts or not, he felt like the weight of the world were stuck upon his shoulders. Hanging on by a thread of what he could feel in his heart. He smiles softly, the friendliness deep down coming out.

"I'm Riordan. Sorry for intruding on what you're doing. I'm just curious of why you'd come up here?"

[flyss]

Anarchy

District four | the 75th hunger games

It's been 30 minutes since I left the dining hall for lunch, and in those 30 minutes, 10 were spent throwing up and the other 20 were spent climbing to the roof by stairs. I can't help but stare at the sleeves of my jacket as I climb, once-fresh bile already beginning to crust on the hem. It stains the light grey fabric a mustard yellow; I hate mustard yellow.  When I finally reach the door to the roof, I take a moment to stare at it. Its fresh coat of paint mocks me in the dim florescence of a half-burnt-out light. By now, it has become apparent that my calves char from malnutrition, and that the fire causing such is quickly spreading to my lungs, a tightening burst of red and orange and yellow and black suffocating whatever oxygen left behind in my panted breaths. I stand there until I can no longer hear my heartbeat in my ears, and when the time comes, I press the metal bar on the door hard. I'm met first by a rush of wind, then by the scent of the city; fresh air nips at my nose when I breathe in, and I find myself in bliss by how gentle it feels. I'm reigned into reality by the click of the door closing itself behind me, and I spot a boy across the path-- district six-- leaning up against a wall. His mind seems to be somewhere else, eyes a glaze, set upon the city over 12 stories below, and I look at nothing  else but him until he notices me. "Hmmm? What are you doing out here?" His voice is soft-- kind-- and as he speaks, I join him on his side of the roof, keeping my distance yet closing it at the same time. I don't say anything, but he doesn't sound like he's done, either.  "I'm Riordan. Sorry for intruding on what you're doing. I'm just curious of why you'd come up here?" Silence. When he says nothing else, I grip the lip of the building until I'm white-knuckled, and after a few seconds, proceed to leverage myself up onto the ledge. After I have my knees pulled up to my chest, only then do I answer.  "Well, Riordan," his name feels foreign on my lips, and I accentuate it, pressing each syllable into my tongue, playing with the way he gave himself humanity so suddenly when faced with my presence. "if you must know, I came up here to jump off." I smile. "This force field makes it awfully hard to do that, though, now doesn't it?"  I don't offer him my name in return, nor do I say anything else after that. If he wants to talk more, I'll leave it to him. After all, while I can't say that I expected him to be up here, I also can't deny that it's nice to have the company. As I wait for his response, I turn to face the Capitol. From hundreds of feet away, I can almost hear the streets buzzing with the energy of a nation anxious to send its kids to their deaths. As if this reminds me of something important, I change my mind and choose to say my name.  "Anarchy." I pause, almost leaving it at that. "That's my name." And while it may feel basic enough, perhaps out-of-the-ordinary for someone like me, it feels right to give him that knowledge. Obligation is a pain in the ass.

• 585 words • D4 Female; 75th • notes:

♥︎

[Tom]

r i o r d a n   e i n f a l l e n

Worry.

He's known it since they day he was born. Worrisome acts of selfishness and selflessness that eat away at the heart. Hands begin to sweat and shake with the memories of worrying over the dead and living. Worry was everywhere he's been, even if he tried to hide it. Worry was within his veins, shooting up and down his body like the blood that provided him with life. When he watches her on the ledge, he can feel worry flowing through his blood. The only idea in his head is that she's gonna jump. Free fall to the earth, until her body goes smashed upon the concrete. He'd force himself to try and look away, but the image would be burned into his mind if it happened that way. Her words fill the air and only add to his worry.

"Well, Riordan," Emphasis upon his name, sounding so foreign to him. Years seemed to pass since he last heard of his name, when he spoke it at the volunteering. A name that he spoke with pride and mistakes. Regret filled actions that he couldn't return ever again. Death seemed so close and yet so far away. Filled with nothing more than fear of the unknown hell to come. Groups of tributes that seem like armies, standing tall and ready to kill him in a moment's notice. As she grips the wall, white-knuckled fists and determination upon her face, all he wants is to jump up and tell her there's so much more in life than jumping off buildings. Heart cut wide open, he wants to reach for her, but it wasn't true. If he could, he would jump off to be with her. The pain and suffering was eating away at him. Nothing left within his body. She speaks again, intelligence upon her tongue.

"if you must know, I came up here to jump off."

Heartbeats quicken with worry. His senses scream for him to run and pull her off the edge, but his brain tells him to let her die. Less competition and less amount of people who will try to kill him. Body screams for him to move, but upon her next words, his soul eases from the pressure and worry of one. "This force field makes it awfully hard to do that, though, now doesn't it?" A nervous chuckle escapes his body. A force field was not what he expected her to say. He expected something like her emotions to be the stopping mechanic within her body, but a force field was crazy. Closer inspection of the ledge and he can see a glimmer of something, but if he was honest, there was really nothing that he could think of that would be there. His words of curiosity comes forward.

"There's a force field? Interesting. I was always curious of why tributes never threw themselves off the buildings. Now I know, I think. Unless you're wrong? but you don't seem like the type of person to be wrong about things. I can see it in your eyes."

A smile pulls at his cheeks. Friendliness leaks from his skin. The sorrows replaced with a fake happiness, only for the girl's sake. Her name falls from her lips. The word Anarchy is her name. A perfect name from what he could tell about her from body language and the way she holds herself. Nothing like how he holds himself up. She was confident and curious. He was broken and selfish. They were opposites and yet the same in some way. He could feel it in his bones. An easy smile sits upon his face as he speaks again.

"A name that fits you. It's nice to meet you Anarchy. You can call me Rio, if you'd like. So now, show me how you can see the force field? Please? I'm just curious now."

[flyss]

Anarchy

District four | the 75th hunger games

She finds it funny how his face lights up in panic and then burns out again, dimmed and half-lit in a smile, just like the light outside of the door. This reaction is not a first for her, nor does it strike her as particularly odd, though; after all, the average, heartless volunteer wouldn't find himself on the roof, lost in the jail-barred cage known as thought. He obviously had a heart, but whether he wanted to admit that or not was something she didn't know him enough to tell.  "There's a force field?" Riordan asks. "Interesting. I was always curious of why tributes never threw themselves off the buildings. Now I know, I think. Unless you're wrong? but you don't seem like the type of person to be wrong about things. I can see it in your eyes." His tone shifts as he speaks, and his lips spread into a smile; this dance is in contrast-- almost compliment-- to his former expression, and yet, it fits him. Without reluctance, she returns the gesure, the corners of her mouth peaking, then falling back into place.  She can tell that his friendliness is genuine, albeit forced, but she doesn't mind. Their situation is rough, and she acknowledges that.  "A name that fits you. It's nice to meet you, Anarchy. You can call me Rio, if you'd like. So now, show me how you can see the force field? Please? I'm just curious now." She's thought on numerous occasions, enough to lose count, about how her name fits her freedom, and she suppresses a smile when he mentions this. Is her rebellious attitude that obvious? She supposes so. "If I'm being honest," she starts, pulling her knees closer to her chest with one hand and touching the air with the other. "I didn't know for sure until now. There's always been rumours that there was, but no one's really been around to confirm them." She smiles and turns to drop down back to the roof, picking up a rock from the lip as she descends. Her legs absorb the shock and she stumbles, but she's quick to regain her balance. She turns the stone over in her hands for a minute, the cool surface nipping at her palms, and then hurls it into the expanse of the city. It comes shooting back within seconds, disappearing into the piles of others behind her.  "Plus, they wouldn't give us access up here if they knew we had a way to get out of it all. We don't belong to ourselves anymore, you know." She thinks to add that they never really belonged to themselves, but decides against it for the sake of cliche. District 6 should know that better than her anyway. They haven't had a victor for at least the past 21 games.  "Aside from that, I don't really know much else about it, Rio." Anarchy wishes that the could tell him more, but she hates lying-- she's sure that she'll figure out some more about it during her stay here, anyway, and makes a note that when she does, she'll make sure to share it with him. With a softened smile, she bends down to pick up something larger- a spade, presumably left by an avox-- but decides against throwing it. Instead, she walks back over to the ledge and climbs up again, standing this time. "I'd love to, though. To figure it out." With a chuckle, Anarchy turns to the older tribute and closes her eyes, falling back until she feels a jolt of energy and a gelatin-like force pressing against her. The girl from four is flung forward without even a second to blink, and for a moment, she feels like she is flying.  That is, until she hits the pavement When she looks up, her knees are a mess of blood and loose gravel and chalk from the ledge, the different mediums blending into a slow stream of creme maroon, just like from all the times this happened as a kid. Granted, her ordinary experiences were't the cause of her throwing herself into a force field, but the outcomes were nearly identical. It was the feeling during that made it different, that made it fun, and the pain was every bit worth it if it meant that she got to feel beyond humanity for even a few seconds.

• 728 words • D4 Female; 75th • notes:

♥︎

[Tom]

r i o r d a n   e i n f a l l e n

Intelligence flowed through her skin, waves of thought crashing down as he watched her with both worry and amusement. When it came to be smart, Riordan had little to none of it, but he enjoyed learning more than anything. Knowledge was something that not many could learn. On his hand, he was more practical, learning was fun. Memorization was easy for him after years and years of memorizing lines for shows, songs for musical number, and the way to act out scenes with so much drama and passion. Anarchy was on a higher level than he was. It wouldn't stop him though from learning about the little things that he could read. A smile pulling at his lips, just as hers had come forth too.

"If I'm being honest, I didn't know for sure until now. There's always been rumours that there was, but no one's really been around to confirm them."

A nod appears to him. He couldn't help but agree. It's been decades of District Six losing every single games. Another instantaneous death after another. Wyatt's words were always running through the streets of District Six as children spoke them with terror. Heartbeats of terrifying words as people would be called to follow in Wyatt's footsteps as a corpse to come home. Volunteers had come forward occasionally, but never did anyone expect the amount of people who signed up for death this games. District Six leading with one of the biggest amounts of tributes. District Four up there with an army too. As he stares at Anarchy, thoughts of what he signed up for coming to his mind.

That's when he can see the smile on Anarchy's face. She looks at home up on the roof, testing out the functions of that forcefield. A rock tossed at it, bouncing back into a pile of others as the smooth and cool looking rock sits. Heart stopping, he stares at Anarchy who has curiosity in her eyes. There was without a doubt that she was going to jump to test it out. It was only a matter of time. The flicker of something in her eyes seems to tell him exactly what she was thinking. Fields of purple flutter his mind. The dead standing before him, arms out stretched, but this time he can see her. Anarchy joining them and for a second he loses his breath. Images in his head frightening him ever so much. Her words sends relief to him only for a second.

"Plus, they wouldn't give us access up here if they knew we had a way to get out of it all. We don't belong to ourselves anymore, you know."

It had been a simple phrase. We don't belong. The three words ringing in his head as he remembers saying the words to Theseus. Locked away in Tempus as he Riordan spoke of his will of never belonging to the world. Theseus had told him the same thing. We don't belong. After so many years, Theo had always been right in his words. Little things about Anarchy so far reminded him of everyone he's ever known. All he can do is drop his smile and nod. Words coming out of his throat, a bit choked up.

"I know."

A simple smile towards him, brightens his face up. Anarchy reminded him of the little sister that he had always wanted if his parents weren't assholes who lock their children up because it's dangerous. Curious, strong, and smart. The three characteristics of everyone else that he tried surrounding himself with. He'd need her. Unknown to him, he had no clue why he needed her to be his friend. It was like a voice whispering in his head telling him that she was smart and would be a great friend. If only it was under different circumstances. If only, he would have met her in another life, but everything vanished as she spoke again. The soft smile and twinkle of curiosity filling her eyes. The moment she speaks reminds him of the worry that pulls up his throat.

"Aside from that, I don't really know much else about it, Rio."

A hum of curiosity falls from his lips. The way she looks at the side as if she was ready to jump made him anxious. No real reason behind it, but for some reason everything was popping up in his mind. What if the forcefield didn't work on her? What if she fell to her death? What would everyone think? What if? As if he could stop her though. The glimmer in her eyes shows it. He wouldn't be able to stop her if it's what she wanted. Anarchy seemed like the type to be able to throw him off of her. Anarchy also seemed like the type to jump off cliffs to see how it felt.

"I'd love to, though. To figure it out."

The edge of insanity and curiosity.

Eyes close.

She falls backwards.

The scream that pulls from his throat comes first.

"Shit!"

As much as he would have liked to say, one down and fifty more to go, he couldn't help but worry. Hoping her theory was right and that she would bounce back onto the ground in front of him. He's standing now. Hand rubbing in his hair as she comes up. Falling to the ground a little harder than he had expected. Maroon leaks from her body and Riordan feels his heart pump quickly. A sigh of relief escape his lungs, but the worry still apparent on his face. He speaks quickly, with worry heavy on his tongue.

"Damnit Ripred. I'm glad you're back up here. L-Let me help you."

Quickly, he moves to his shirt, ripping off a sleeve that his stylist would complain about later. There were more important things right now than that. The rip of the seam was loud. Not caring of it, he wraps it around one knee. Ripping the other sleeve on his shirt, he wraps it around the other knee. Tying them up and frowning at her. Worry still apparent upon his face as he sighs again. If anything, he was becoming like his own father in that moment. He hated feeling like that. Silence fills the area as Anarchy looks like she had the time of her life. A chuckle escapes his throat as he watches her careful. Sleeves tied to her knees trying to quell the bleeding for now. His voice breaks the silence quickly.

"If you were going for scaring me, even though I could see you were more curious about it, it worked. I don't know what I would have done if I watched you plummet to the ground and die. I don't think I'd be able to feel normal if I watched you die like everyone else in my life."

Eyes darting back to her as he moves to the ledge on his own. Hands firmly placed on the concrete ledge. Wind blowing for a second as he feels alive for a second. The beautiful city before him would have been a dream come true, if it wasn't for the fact he was gonna have to watch others die or die himself. Either way he wasn't ready. Not yet. Anarchy had proven that so. He wasn't ready to see death all around him. He wasn't ready to see people crumble among the strong and the weak.

"Sorry. Glad you proved your theory though. Wonder what else they've done to put us in our place here. Probably more than we even realize."

A chuckle escapes from his throat. The fields of purple in his mind, silent. Anarchy was interesting. Smarter than most. Actually brilliant in everything he's seen. A smile pulls at his lips as the worry still hides deep in his chest. Anarchy was going to be someone to watch out for. After all, District Four was the one to end Jequirity's life, but inside he knew, Anarchy wasn't Jequirity's killer. A sigh escapes his throat as he smiles back. Hand brushes his side and hand in his hair as he speaks again.

"I'm glad you're okay."

A smile upon his lips as he speaks again, this time with a question.

"So Anarchy? Why did you volunteer?"