Alex Mason POV

There's a reason we kill. Some of us kill to live. Some of us volunteer so no innocent will ever have to. Others savor the violence and thank the Capitol for a chance to do it without shame. Some of us don't know any better, and some of us are told we're worthless and unlovable without our honor. For me, violence was all I'd ever known.

Life used to be so sweet. Mom and Dad were happy and we had everything we needed. When Dawn was born, something went wrong, and Mom was gone in a flash. Something like that can change a man overnight. Dad went from hugging me and playing with me to snarling and backhands. Whenever my tiny sister cried, I bent over her and took the blows he meant to silence her. I don't remember much of that, since I was three when it started. It's almost like that was the way it always was.

I was eligible for the Academy when I was six, but my father didn't want me learning how to stand up to him. Robyn and Eddie signed up just so they could pick up some tips for me. They never got the hang of it, but they reported everything they heard and coached me until it was like I was really there.

When Reaping Day came, I stood in the crowd and waited for my moment. Philomena reaped a name none of us listened to, and Margo volunteered. I didn't know her personally, since she spent all her time at the Academy, but Robyn and Eddie told me she was fierce, and I knew her curvy and cherubic frame hid a warrior. Philomena chose the second name.

"Cassius Sod!" she called. For a split second there was silence, and I knew the rumors were true. Word was the male Academy crop was so pathetic this year that the officials hadn't picked a volunteer. The door was open.

"I volunteer as Tribute!" I called. A few of the Academy boys looked at me like I was a cockroach and silence reigned as I stood beside Margo. For her part, she just looked at me with curiosity.

Robyn and Eddie came back and cheered me on. They were so sure I would win their optimism was contagious. Then Dawn came in, and everything got real. She was crying with fear, and I knew she was afraid for me, not her.

"Don't leave me," she begged. I held her close and tried to comfort her.

"Don't worry. I'll come back and you'll never have to see him again," I said. Dad was too much of a coward to see me off, so I left Dawn with a message.

"Tell him I'm coming back, and if he touches you, I'll be coming for him," I said. After she was gone, I took out my token: a picture of her. We're not all the same in Two. Some of us don't have any other choice.

Margo Caspian POV

There's no room for show and style in the Games. I trained at the Academy to learn how to kill and survive, not how to put on a good show. That's the way it is in Two. You come back with your sword or on it. I could have been a blacksmith like my father or a homemaker like my mother, but I chose to go the distance. In Two, there are the Academy-trained and the second-class citizens. Even if I didn't get picked, I'd have the prestige of having tried.

It wasn't easy clawing my way to the top. I was blessed with all the curves a Capitol model would have killed for. My pink cheeks and green eyes made me look like a child's doll, and I had to force the Academy to respect me. I earned every victory and I earned my ranking as the Academy's most promising female student.

I wasn't nervous when Philomena took the stage. I only wondered who the male volunteer would be. I hadn't heard any of my fellow students bragging about getting picked. They were an anemic and lackluster bunch this year. Whoever it was, it shouldn't be difficult for me to outlast him. Philomena picked a name and for a second I was nervous.

"Jadis Caspian!" she called. My cousin, two rows ahead of me, started and looked up. It made my decision that much easier.

"I volunteer as Tribute!" I said. I probably would have anyway, but I couldn't stop the waves of doubt that overtook me now and then. Sometimes I felt like a million bucks, and sometimes I felt like I couldn't do anything right. I stood on the stage and felt my confidence return when I remembered the state of the male students. Philomena reaped a boy who didn't even train. This was the one year he might have been in danger, but he didn't have to worry long. A dark-haired, wiry boy I didn't know stood beside me. He was a mystery, and he made me nervous.

Ling and Stella came back to tell me I'd do fine and to say I should leave a few Tributes for the other Careers. I joked around with them and felt my worries slip away. Even if I was nervous, I was still skilled. I had to remember that.

I fiddled with the token I'd chosen years ago, a heart-shaped purple locket, before my family came. My little brother Cory was the first to enter.

"That was so cool! You're really doing it?" he asked. He'd heard my half-hearted second-guessing a few times over the years.

"Yeah. Guess I am," I said.

"Do us proud," my father said.

"We'll love you no matter what," my mother said. I knew she meant it, but it wouldn't help me much if I was dead. Suddenly, it didn't seem like I had to worry about that. I felt like I could take on the entire Arena and all the Tributes. I was Two's best hope, and I would win it all. For the moment, I felt like I could do anything.

I had to start with Two because I have Priscilla's name but not her form. Once I get her, I'll do One.