Chapter Text
On Reaping day, the sun always rose far too early for Will's taste.
It was their family thing: to wake up at the ass crack of dawn. They always found something to do in that spare hour or so before it's time to get ready for school: Kayla trains- it's a habit she inherited from Michael. Austin tries to stay in bed but never manages to get back sleep in.
Will usually gravitated towards the herbs garden in the back yard.
Today, of all days, Will was awake before the sun. As he watched the clock tick closer to Two p.m, six more hours until the hammer falls and two kids will be doomed to die.
He casted a look towards his sleeping brother: today, it'll be his first reaping. Today, all three of Apollo's remaining children would be eligible to die.
The last time it happened, Kayla was the one that turned twelve.
"Hey." He nudged Austin's bed with his foot. "Wake up."
No response.
"It's reaping day." Will grumbled, a little harsher this time.
Still, his brother remained silent.
Will threw off the covers, gasping when he found the bed empty. Where could he be?
The faint notes of the violin from downstairs gave him his answer.
Will left the room and snuck towards the stairs: the victors mansion's cold marble floor sent chills down his feet as he raced down the stairs two at a time.
His keen ears took him to the parlor- the source of the music, to find Austin awake, the rising sun illuminating his brother's dark brown skin in hues of gold-ish glow. His eyes were closed, his hand guided the bow over the strings with nothing but the memory of the notes to the symphony he was playing: effortless, heartfelt.
Will always wished he could do that, but never found the real passion for it. Not after Michael died three years ago.
He didn't want to stop the magic of the performance, so he stopped where he stood, listening. It was then he noticed he wasn't the only spectator listening in: his father sat parched on one of the silk covered sofas, his fingers traveling over his arm as if he was holding an imaginary instrument of his own.
None of them knew what his name was before he won the games. To them, their father had always been Apollo. The Capitol crowned him with that name for the many abilities he displayed in the arena- reminiscent of the ancient legends, and he seemed to pass those abilities to his children as well.
When he noticed Will standing in the parlor doorway, Apollo smiled. A wordless invitation to come sit down next to him. Will obliged, sinking into the soft fabric with a hiss.
When Austin finished, he opened his eyes to their joke clapping, his smile was crooked. "Couldn't sleep so uh.." he chuckled dryly. "Didn't know I'd have an audience."
"Waking up to the sound of music is always a great start." Apollo shrugged.
Will gave him a side-eye, knowing his father wasn't woken up by the music- he barely slept at all when he was home, especially since-
Will clenched his fists, the fabric of the sofa curling against them. Stop thinking about Michael. He scolded himself. On reaping day of all days too.
His little brother needed reassurance before his first reaping, not a reminder.
Austin lowered the bow and the violin, holding both under his arm. "Are we finally gonna talk about the elephant in the room?"
"I'm not sure what you're talking about." Will crossed his arms.
Austin rolled his eyes. "C'mon Will, I'm not dumb. I know what's today. What are the odds of one of us being picked now that all three of us are eligible?"
"Fairly low." Apollo intervened. "Your name is in the bowl only once."
For that, Will was always grateful: they weren't like Cecil- who's poor family needed every grain of tessarae he could afford to take. Even if it meant his name was in the bowl four times more than Will's.
"What about Kayla? Or Will? Or-"
Will stood up. "Hey. Our collective slips equal to ten: my five, Kayla's four and yours. That's so minuscule compared to the thousands of names inside. Cecil-" his voice shook. "Cecil's name is literally there 22 times, and Chris' even more." He wrapped his arm around his brother's shaking form. "You're literally the luckiest boy in the entirety of District Seven."
Austin exhaled. "You're right. It's going to be okay-"
The door leading to the backyard opened violently, and Kayla strode in. A quiver slung over her back. "What's this? A little family hug session without me?"
This made Austin release a half chuckle- half sob. "We didn't plan to, but now we can." Said Will.
Kayla let the quiver and the bow clatter to the ground and leaned in to pull Austin and him into a crushing hug. Not a moment later Will felt their father's arms attempting to encompass all three of them.
Will let himself savor the moment; at least until someone's clear of the throat made them pull away. "So you don't want to hear your final bullseye count, got it."
Kayla's cheeks reddened. "Sorry for running off."
Thalia Grace's glare- even a joking one- was a powerful thing, her electric blue eyes actually feel like a lightning strike when she targets a specific person. The Capitol nicknamed her Lightning Lash for those eyes, as well as her great aim with a spear and the bow.
She was a close friend of the family- and the only victor Apollo ever pulled out of the arena in the twenty one years since his victory.
They had that look, Will and his siblings called it "the victor look". When they held eachother's gaze for so long you'd think they were communicating in their mind.
Right now was one of those moments. And Will's eyes moved between them like he was watching a ball match.
Apollo snapped out first. "Right. Exactly how many arrows I'm supposed to replace this time?"
"Five." Said Thalia. "She split an arrow once- then split the one she used to split the first arrow. That's one impressive feat."
Will didn't miss the way his father beamed at Kayla after hearing the news. Affectionately ruffling her hair as he picked up the bow she dropped and offered it back to her. "Good one. Now go wreck some more. The more prepared you are- the better."
Technically, he trained all four- three of them now- in the art of archery, with Thalia helping by adding spear throwing training- even though it was technically illegal. (The careers were doing it, so why couldn't they?)
The problem was: Will wasn't as talented with the weapon as Kayla: he still hit the target, but only got one bullseye to Kayla's six and Austin's four.
Or to Michael's eight.
He tore his gaze from Kayla walking back out with Thalia and Apollo. Austin picked up the violin again, curling it against his heart. "If anyone can win, it's her."
"Don't jinx it." Will said, far to quickly, far too harshly than he meant to. "Look where that got Michael."
Austin's big, dark eyes turned luminous. "That flood killed Michael. If it wasn't for that, he'd have lived."
"Well, there's no point in speculating anymore, is there? He's dead." Will snapped.
Austin flinched as if Will slapped him, and that was somehow worse than if Will actually raised a hand on him. Will took a hesitant step towards his brother. "I'm sorry I didn't mean-". Slowly, solemnly, Austin set the violin back in a case on the glass table, tearing his gaze away from Will.
"Look- I didn't mean to!" Will circled the table and made an effort to grab Austin's arm. His brother flinched away. "its reaping day and- and it's just a reminder of the last day we saw him."
This made Austin actually look back at him, before he set himself free from Will's attempt hold and dissapeared in the music room upstairs.
To calm his mind, Will took to town, woulenteering in the town of Seattle's hospital was the only place Will felt not useless.
Kayla had "inherited" their father's archery skills, Austin focused on music, but Will had always, from a young age, took on private lessons in healing, it was "his thing" with dad.
After Michael's death he needed some kind of distraction, and so he seeked the "trial by fire" at the local emergency room as an assistant to Doctor Chiron.
"Heya Solace, early today, huh?"
Will turned to see a mess of red curls wrapping around him. "Hey Rach, what are you doing here?"
"My mandatory community service, remember?" Rachel made a face.
Will sighed, this was not the first time Rachel got away with community service for protesting against some decision her dad and the peacekeepers head decided. "What was it this time?"
"I spray painted the peacekeepers HQ wall with the faces of the latest dead workers in protest of the higher wages. They need to take accountability for that!"
Will tagged on his gloves with a smirk. "So I take it you don't regret it?"
"Not one bit." her smile made her freckles scrunch. "So.. hows your little brother doing?"
Will sighed. "He'll get better. It's just one slip."
Rachel nodded; but her face turned solemn all of a sudden. "Is everything okay with your dad? Did he tell you about something going bad in the Capitol"
Will stared at her, eyebrows furrowed. "Dad's fine, What do you mean?"
Rachel's tone was grave as she fidgeted with a stray curl. "I don't know. I just have a bad feeling about today."
The words sent a shudder down Will's spine. Rachel always had a knack for predicting things. He'd known her since they were kids.
They worked for the better part of two hours, until Rachel declared she had to run home to get "dandied up."
"Take care of yourself today, Will." She warned.
Her words followed him back to the victor village.
In Will's opinion, Holding Reaping day in the hottest hour of the hottest day in early July was one of the stupidest decisions the Capitol ever made.
He could already feel some sweat dripping down his back as he pricked his finger on the device. Hovering by as Cecil pricked his own finger right after. No sanitation done.
Because of course the Capitol wouldn't care about sanitation.
"Let's go." Cecil said softly, grabbing Will's hand and leading him to the section of Sixteen year old boys.
He caught a glimpse of Kayla on the other side, her lips pressed together in a thin line. He didn't see Austin, but he could see the stage: where Mayor Dare already sat with Apollo, Thalia and the escort, Kym Delosticos.
Will stood straight during Mayor Dare's reading of the treaty of treason, that doomed each of the 12 to 18 year olds standing all around him to this punishment for the last seventy four years. But by the time the Capitol usual propaganda film played, President Castellan's soothing voice echoing through the square, Will's legs were getting numb and his attention elsewhere.
By the time Kym returned to the stage to read the names, Will was ready to risk arrest just to sit down and massage his legs, or do anything that didn't include standing straight for an hour.
"Alright alright alright! Two brave young teenagers will take to this glorious stage and come with me to see the one time Marvel that is the Capitol- are you ready to hear who they are?"
As long as it gets all of us out of here faster. Will eternally groaned.
Kym titered towards the girls' bowl, her hand sloshing through the thousands of names. She plucked one. "Alright! Our first tribute will be- Kayla Knowles!"
Will's blood turned to ice. Besides him; he could hear Cecil inhaling sharply. He risked a glance towards Kayla, who broke out of the fifteen year old line without any emotion shining on her face except calm confidence. Another trick they learned from their dad.
Dad. Will's heart sank. His gaze followed Kayla up the stage as she walked past where the two victors sat. Only Will saw the little tell-tale signs of panic in Apollo's face.
Kym moved to the boys bowl. Will shamelessly decided to grab Cecil's arm for reassurance. As Kym plucked another name.
"Joining her, will be the brave Austin Lake!" Kym announced.
Will's body moved before his mind could even process what was happening:
"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"