The Real Mockingjay
Plutarch Heavensbee Meets with Coriolanus Snow one last time before his execution.
The guards were reluctant to let me in. After all they were under strict orders from President Coin to allow no one inside, but they also knew my orders carried weight and I would make their life miserable if they didn't let me in. It was something that needed to be done, even if no one was to know this meeting ever happened.
Former President Snow was sitting in his chair, looking extremely bored since he was not given the right to a Book or Television. His eyes briefly went over me, and I could tell from his barely noticeable frown that I was the last person he expected to meet. But his voice didn't betray his surprise. "Plutarch Heavensbee, Come to join me or to mock me?"
I quietly closed the soundproof door and took a seat on the table across him. "How are you feeling President Snow? Is there anything I could offer you to ease you? Perhaps a letter you would like to leave for the future?" I asked respectfully, but he obviously took my words as Mockery. However, I was probably the only interesting thing that happened since he was sent here, and he indulged me.
"I believe perhaps I should leave a few words of wisdom for the future, not that I believe any of your kind will ever wish them to become public knowledge. And I of course would like a few berries as my last meal. It would be poetic don't you think?" He asked me with a grin. "My last meal being the very things that brought this mess upon our shoulders."
"You are wrong Snow." I said with conviction, having finally reached the moment in our conversation I had been expecting. It was time for me to lay out my heart to this man, and tell him exactly who was responsible for his fall. "If you want a dish that will summarize the reason for your downfall, I advise you ask for a bowl of Ice Cream, the coldest we can offer, with rose scent."
He raised an eyebrow. "I believe you have something to get out of your chest." He said with a tone that led one to believe he was on top of things. "Very well Plutarch, tell this corpse what you came here to tell. It's not like I have anything more interesting to do than entertain you." He said lying back on the chair.
"The reason all of this happened was not because of that act of rebellion. For starters, none of this would have happened had Senecca Crane not reverted the Rule at the very last second. Which I believe he did under your orders." I answered feeling like a heavy weight had been lifted from me.
"Don't be ridiculous Plutarch. Did you really believed, for one second, that I would allow for two Victors to be crowned? Crane should have never brought up that rule. If anything I should have made sure he would eliminate the pairs before reversing the rule, but I was too late to do anything about it. Do you dare say I acted wrong."
"You did, and in many levels. You showed by changing the rule and then unchanging that the Capitol had no qualms about messing the rules to suit their own interests. You showed the rebels you would forever be inhuman, and thus had to be dealt with A.S.A.P. You instigated the Rebelious mind of Miss Everdeen, the moment you messed the end of the game was the moment YOU became the Mockingjay." I said with an accusing finger.
"I said it once and I will say it again, DO. NOT. BE. RIDICULOUS!" He shouted. "Do you have any Idea the trouble I went trough to stop those insurgencies?"
"For Peet's Sake Snow, do you think we are that foolish?" I asked him. "It is much more than changing the rule. Everything you did from then on was adding more Ice to the Snowball that was the Revolution. Think about it for a second, you were bested by Katniss Everdeen, she made a fool of you, and you knew many people realized it. Katniss knew you were onto her ages before you moved the first piece of the chess against her side. But what did you do, what was your next mistake?"
He gave a soft laugh and spoke "I am sure you are going to tell me." And so I did, pulling a picture and placing it over the table. It was a still from the Coronation, showing the glare he was sending towards Katniss as he placed the Crown. "I see what you mean, but why not make it count on our imaginary record?" He asked me.
"You showed you had been bothered. You could have easily ignored this incident, been the better man, and focused your power into minimizing damage. However, you showed by this picture that you were going to retaliate, and by that the Resistance knew Katniss Everdeen was the symbol of the Opposition to everything you stand for, it was the moment we decided Mockingjay was a good emblem for the Rebellion. But let's go to your next fatal mistake." I said taking another picture.
This one was of him going to the District Twelve "The President never bothers with meaningless details such as greeting a Victor before his Victor's Tour. But you did that, and you did that only with Katniss Everdeen when it was a fact that there had been two Victors that year. From the first picture, to that photo, to the way she acted during the Tour one could only assume you had threatened her and placed the blame of the rebellion on her shoulders."
"IT WAS HER FAULT" Snow said standing up, and I didn't resist punching him in the forehead for that outburst. It should have been the face but I was afraid his mouth would burst and he would choke on his blood, denying the Mockingjay her revenge.
"Don't you dare lie or play stupid with me!" I said in a calm tone "All the districts loathed your very existence long before that girl was reaped. And by the time you had decided to force her to pull a show you were well aware there was nothing she could do to prevent this mess. If anything you only added fuel to the fire because you pissed a lot of people by messing with that girl."
"Then came the abuse of force from your Peacekeepers, the Shooting in district Eleven, the mess at District Eight during the Capitol, all this information flowing freely behind your backs despite your attempts to keep the media under your control. Hiring Romulus Thread and messing up the rightfully owned benefits of district Twelve didn't help your cause in the slightest, and that Forgery at the Quarter Quell was the Last Straw and your worst mistake."
"You see" I said, not giving him the chance to reply. "You made an enemy of every single District, you sparked the will to fight for freedom even among those districts that knew they had everything to lose from such a battle. But then you had to really Fuck It Up and make an enemy out of the Capitol. People always frowned at your actions snow, but that Quarter Quell card was going WAY BEYOND THE LINE. It's been Seventy Five years since the Games Started, Mags Herself was eighty, and she was a weak survivor of the Slums in district 4. Do you really think no one among the original Game Makers was around? They could have risen up at any second and told the world that Card was a Fake. And it would have been their word over yours with all that was going on."
"Everyone knew what you had done. The Tributes themselves suspected it as the interviews revealed. And Caesar Flickerman interviews aren't edited. The Capitol heard the tributes and they knew who had the reason. It was because of that we received good sponsoring for those protecting Katniss and Peeta. It was because of that we were able to cause confusion among the chain of command of the Peacekeepers with some bribery, It was because of that that, After the Shield had been blasted, A Hovercraft was readily available to Rescue Katniss Everdeen and it was by a small fluke we didn't get Mellark as well."
"So, as you can clearly see. The biggest responsible for this revolution is yourself. Because you could not stand being flexible, because you could not stand being made a fool by a Tribute, because you tough you could overpower your enemies and bend the rules in your favor. In the End, the True Mockingjay is just a Pathetic man from the Capitol who made all the wrong choices thinking he would beat them all. In fact, it makes me wonder if that was not your intent all along."
He looked at me, and I could tell he was furious at my sincerity. "Maybe there is a shred of truth in all that you say." He sighted leaning back on the chair. "But there was one mistake in your time line of events, I now realize where my mistake lies, the one event that could have prevented all of this and which I, in my blindness, overlooked."
He had me curious, so I remained silent and let him speak.
"During the Feast, I was the one who approved all the gifts. How easy it would have been to change that medicine for Arrows or even poison, Mr. Mellark would have died, Katniss would have soon followed at the hands of Cato or she would have killed Cato all the same, it doesn't matter because there would have been a single tribute from each district. But I let the Medicine Go. And after that I allowed the Doctors to restore Peeta's life when he had been on the edge of death. How bad it would have been to just let him die. All the tribulations aside, there would still be a single victor."
"A part of you must have believed in their Love. Because even if it was a plot to Haymitch and Katniss, there was a hint of truth to it. That part of you prevented you from offing them on the two chances you had. I am sure you came to regret it latter, hence your reaction towards Peeta when he was Captured."
"Maybe you are right Plutarch. But even then I guess a part of me couldn't go trough with a full revenge. After all, even the worst of the Tracker Jacker induced nightmares can be reversed, even if the pain itself cannot. I could have easily used his body and made the necessary alterations to ensure he would kill the girl and many of you and die a merciless death after that, if you didn't off him first. But in the end it was only one more challenge to their love... All I did was a challenge to their love. And I was bested by that love, and you will be the only one who will ever know I admit it."
He took a breath and smiled, the smile of a man who was in peace with the Earth. "Forget about the letter, there is nothing I wish to leave here of myself, but I do have one last wish for you, and another I expect Commander Paylor to provide for." He took a breath and went on "I want none of this conversation to ever leave this room, and I want one last audience with her."
"I can grant you your first wish, but I doubt anyone will allow you to have a tete a tete with Miss Everdeen." I said "Not Commander Paylor at least."
"Tell her there is one secret I need to share with Miss Everdeen. One thing only she would understand. I swore I would not lie to her, and there is one confession I believe she needs to hear from me. Your President is not all she seems to be, you will know soon enough what I mean by that." He said turning his back on me, his way to tell me this conversation was over.
I sighted and nodded, leaving the room. I would give Plutarch the last request of Snow and let her deal with that matter on her own. There was much to do before the Execution, and I had a lot to do with the steps that needed to be taken. I was ready to give one last salute to president Snow before he met his end, it would be my thanks for the man who brought the revolution upon himself.