I. HAUNTING OF CROWS

CHAPTER ONE
↳ haunting of crows

- brief mentions of forced prostitution though
nothing explicit -

THE SICKENING REMINDER OF DEATH TINGED SLEEP LIKE AN INFECTION TO A WOUND, SCABBING OVER PAINFULLY AS THE YEARS PASSED SINCE AZRAIL'S DEATH. Whenever she would sleep, Clio was haunted by the ghost of Azrail Royce, stabbed and bloody as he drifted through her dreams. The caws of the crows followed his ghost, an eulogy in their melodies as they followed Clio Royce in her waking steps.

He was forever a wandering soul who could never let go of Clio, no matter how hard she tried to forget. It had been nearly eight years, yet it seemed she could never find peace and would forever bare the mark of his murder on her hands. It seemed as though he forever trapped her, encasing her in a dome where no matter how hard she hit, she could never be free from the cawing of the crows

Sometimes though, there is goodness in tragedy.

Cecelia Zhao reminded Clio of that, her generosity a beauty in such an ugly world. Cecelia was beyond kind with her words whenever she could. Ever since the death of her husband, Clio offered as much support to Cecelia as she could. The older woman practically took Clio in as her own after she won her games. She had seen Clio at her weakest and gratefully raised the fourteen year old up to the woman she was today.

The children, all three of them, clung to Clio as though she was their older sister.

The youngest, Audrey, seemed startled as Clio sat up. The young three year old was tiptoeing, struggling to hold a glass of orange juice. Her bright eyes were wide as Clio nervously rubbed her eyes, flinching ever so slightly.

Audrey's voice was soft, and Clio stared, the blurred appearance of Audrey Zhao with her wide eyes and bushy black hair seemed to immediately calm her. "It's okay, it's just me." She stood almost guiltily as she held a glass of orange juice, both of her small hands clasped on the glass which still seemed too heavy for her. The small girl's chubby cheeks upturned as she grinned. She seemed guilty, though also happy to have disturbed Clio. "Sorry. Momma said not to wake you."

Clio rubbed her eyes with a loud yawn. She breathed in and out steadily, gradually feeling her heartbeat subside. "Don't worry. I'm okay."

Audrey gave a sheepish grin at the older girl, laughing slightly as she reciprocated the yawn. "I brought you orange juice though. I think you were having a nightmare again and you always drink orange juice when you don't feel well." Clio looked down almost guiltily, hating how hyperaware the three year old girl was. She formed a toothy grin. "It's okay, momma has them too." She placed the orange juice on the bedside table, jumping onto the bed with a laugh.

"Yeah, just another nightmare." Audrey gave a pout to Clio, who furrowed her eyebrows in return. "What?"

"Momma said you shouldn't be keeping your nightmares to yourself, Li Li." Audrey crossed her arms at Clio, who grinned slightly. The nickname aimlessly rolled off the young child's tongue, even with the twinge of the lisp Audrey Zhao sustained. She pulled herself a bit closer to Clio, tightly wrapping her arms around Clio's waist. Clio tensed ever so slightly, before petting the girl's hair with fondness. "Momma also keeps talking about some fish boy but won't tell me who he is. Apparently he's your friend? I don't know why she keeps talking about him. Is he the pet fish you were going to buy?"

Clio placed a hand over her mouth, laughing at Audrey's innocent comment. "What? She is?" Clio's eyes widened, her heart thudding suddenly. She didn't know why she acted the way she did, but she did. She snickered lightly at Cecilia's nickname for Finnick. Clio had to admit, maybe she was an idiot for somehow maintaining a semi-non awkward friendship with Finnick Odair. But, of course she wanted it to be a lot more.

Audrey hummed lightly, a warm smile on her lips. "She's in the kitchen with Woof." Audrey jumped of the bed and outstretched her hand. She held onto the bed sheets and yanked them off Clio, ushering the woman out of bed. "Come on, you promised you'd help brush my hair today! I told Peyton you would!"

Clio exhaled. She turned to face her bedside alarm clock, slightly alarmed that it was nearly half past ten in the morning. Of course she couldn't see the light from her blacked out curtains, the entire house was completely dark. "Don't you have school today?"

"Schools closed, remember? Pey and Gabi are out in the garden on the swings. Momma let them out since the white men don't check gardens." The three year old grinned. Her grin seemed to reveal her toothlessness, something she seemed proud of. Her innocent comment on the Peacekeepers warmed Clio slightly. It was nice to see her slightly unaware of things,

Clio gave a grin to the child, nodding, and throwing on a dressing gown over her night dress. She slipped her slippers on, stumbling ever so slightly as Audrey pulled her through the hallways and down the stairs. She could clearly hear Cecilia and Woof's hushed whispers on something she could tell they didn't want her overhearing.

"Momma, who's the fish boy again? Is he gonna be our new fishy? Clio's here now." Audrey babbles as she ran into the kitchen, bouncing up and down as she paddles into the room. Her hand was tightly gripped on Clio as she pulled her into the kitchen, immediately jumping onto one of the bar stools. The slight bang rebounded and Woof jumped ever so slightly. Audrey gave a sheepish grin at the older man. As much as the adults wanted to pretend Cecilia's kids were ignorant to all their trauma, it seemed even the youngest easily noticed all their issues.  "Sorry Woof."

Woof forced a smile on his aged face. "It's alright kiddo, just sensitive." His hand came down to her hair, ruffling it ever so slightly. He turned and grimaced slightly at Cecilia, who held back a small laugh.

Clio moved over to the cupboards, grabbing a mug for Cecilia's coffee. She placed it besides her, her eyebrows already furrowed. "What's wrong with you two?" Clio questioned the pair of older adults. She could immediately tell just how tense the pair were by the way they shook ever so slightly. Ever so often, she would notice Cecilia moving the blinds carefully, before shutting them once more.

"Sudden Quarter Quell announcement later," Woof grumbled out, his eyes squinting ever so slightly. "Caesar announced it today after his gossip on the last victors."

"Already?" A frown seemed to become almost permanent on Clio's face. "I didn't think they'd announce it so soon."

Cecilia hummed in agreement. She placed the bowl of cereal in front of Audrey, who seemed ignorant to the seriousness of the conversation. "Yeah, we did too."

Woof shook his head. "They always announce Quell's earlier." Of course he knew this, he had lived through two Quarter Quells. Clio felt her stomach drop ever so slightly. "Like to bring up the hype."

Clio rolled her eyes. "Fun." She responded sarcastically, heaving slightly from dismay. She still couldn't fathom the fact anything to do with the games was remotely hype worthy. She rubbed her eyes with a yawn, already smiling at the sight of Cecilia frantic over her daughter's hair.

Cecilia patted down Audrey's chunky hair, trying to smooth it down, She sighed, clearly exhausted at having to attend to her duaghter's messy hair. "Audrey, sweetheart, I told you to brush it."

Audrey groaned, a toothless grin forming on her lips. "Momma! Clio said she'd do it and anyways," she pouted, before pointing at Cecilia's hair. "your hair isn't that neat either."

Cecilia shook her head at her youngest daughter. The three year old girl seemed to amass all the sass she once had, now a burden to Cecilia as a mother. "Audrey."

"Momma." Audrey replied in a similar tone, placing her hands on her hips mockingly. Woof couldn't held his gruff  chuckles, wheezing slightly at the three year old's behaviour.

Clio grinned slightly at the pair. Audrey was Cecilia's only kid who looked almost identical to her mother. All the others, Peyton and Gabrielle, looked more like their father. But, Audrey looked exactly like Cecilia. They had the same smile, eyes, and attitude. She reached into the kitchen draw, pulling out some detangling spray and a comb. "Don't worry, Ce, It's alright."

Cecelia shook her head. "No no, you're always doing the girls' hairs. You deserve a break. Come on, just have some breakfast."

Clio dismissed the woman. "I'm fine, I promise." She spun Audrey around to face her. "Pigtails or two braids?" The younger girl grinned at the first response, bouncing excitedly in place.

Meanwhile, Woof continued on his skeptical ramble on the Quarter Quell. "Well, we ought to be wary. Snow's not happy with 12 after that stunt that fire girl pulled."

"Girl on fire." Cecilia corrected, placing a mug of coffee besides Woof. He scoffed, taking the cup with a scowl.

"Do you think I care? That girl probably damned us all." Clio knew how much hatred the older man had for 12, she had witnessed his rambles when the pair were being all lovey in the arena. Wilfred found it ridiculous how quickly Seneca Crane folded for the pair, allowing both to live in the arena when in reality, only one could live. He appreciated the rebellion, but the consequences could easily impact them all. "Ce, don't look at me like that." He turned and saw Clio eyeing him up. The girl crossed her arms sternly at him, while Audrey besides her copied her as best as she could. "Li not you too."

"You know fully well those tributes didn't purposely doom us all, Woof." Cecilia scolded. Cecilia had a natural fondness for the duo after the games and when they came to District 8. Call it her maternal instincts, but all she wanted to do was do what she did for Clio and swaddle them up and protect them from all the woes of Panem. "Besides, it won't be their fault if we are punished. You know who the real enemy is."

Woof grumbled out, "Damn right I do."

Cecilia swatted him. "Then shut your gob about the kids from 12."

Woof looked down ashamed. "Yes ma'am."

Clio held back a laugh at the pair, "You think Snow'll punish us then?" Clio asked Woof nervously, evidently in the wideness of her eyes. The small quiver in her voice was obvious, though Audrey didn't seem to care. She was too busy grinning as she dug into her cereal, laughing loudly at the funny faces Cecilia tried entertaining her with. Woof gave a nod, making Clio frown. "But I thought all Quarter Quell's were preplanned?"

"Snow's a snake, Li. Wouldn't surprise me if it's rigged this year just for 12's downfall." Wilfred's morning pessimism was always a common feature of mornings in the Zhao household. Cecelia rolled her eyes at his attitude, grabbing Audrey's bowl and placing it in the sink.

"It's the riots isn't it?" Clio gently prodded Wilfred for an answer, hoping to get more information from the man. Woof crossed his arms at the girl. "The uprisings. You know? Especially the ones here in 8."

Wilfred reluctantly replied. "Can't even go out right now." He voiced another thing under his breath, though this seemed more about Clio. "Unless your customers demand something."

Clio pretended she didn't hear him. But it was clear how uncomfortable she was, shuffling to move the plates from the sink and grab a towel to dry them. She reached for the ring that hung from her neck, nervously fiddling with it as she spaced out momentarily.

Cecilia glared slightly at Woof. She was always a lot more subtle when talking about Clio's time at the Capitol. She knew of it, but never pried for details about what she had to do. All she knew is she had to serve people whenever they demanded her company.

"Thankfully, they've left Li alone." Cecilia remarked, draining a dish cloth in the sink. She watched Clio carefully as the girl placed the cups in the cupboards the moment she seemed to come back into reality.

No one said much on the topic afterwards.

Clio placed the final cup in the cupboard, jumping slightly as she heard yet another gunshot. "Fuck." She saw Woof covering his ears and scrunching his face up, while Cecilia was covering Audrey's ears. In return, the three year old tried her best (though failed) to cover Cecilia's. Clio looked out the window, shaking her head before shutting the blinds. "Mad fuckers out there the lot of them."

"The District?"

Clio laughed. "Fuck no, the Capitol."

JAZ SPEAKS !!

WELCOME TO THE BEGINNING.

for context, the reason it's explicitly mentioned how cecilia's kids were off school is due to District 8 being on lockdown due to the riots from rebels. There's more mentions of it in the next chapter, however i really wanted to make a clear nod to 8's rebellious nature.

i lowkey love highlighting 8's rebellious nature throughout this fic, it's my favourite thing.

if u wanna imagine audrey as anyone, just imagine a cute little kid with lily from modern family's personality.

honestly the found family dynamic at district 8 reigns supremacy. i love fic where oc is from district 8 because i absolutely adore cecilia and woof.

they're all a cute little traimatised family.

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