AUTHOR'S NOTES: Obviously with the kind of stuff that's going to go down this year, there's going to have be a lot of necessary buildup. Similarly, since I don't imagine that Zelda and Roy are about to goo all RPG-mode and talk to every person they see, and so they can watch the reaping footage to get an idea of who-and what-they are up against this year. Yup, Zelda and Roy are going to be important-District 9's gonna play its part this year for sure.
Happy Reading!

CHAPTER 3: The Board is Set

The revelation struck Zelda and Roy in a way that made them hardly believe what they had heard. They glanced around, but the only other person in the compartment was Olivia, and the elderly woman had not said a single thing the whole time. However, Carver's words seemed to be her cue.

"I watched the reapings from the other districts while Hera was in here flappin' her gums to y'all." she explained, "and I noticed a few peculiarities as I did so."
"do you know any of the victors?" Zelda piped up,

"Sweetie, I'm one of the oldest victors left." Olivia retorted, "I know them all. It's the little tributes they've chosen that you want to watch out for. I don't think any victor wants to be scorned for being the one to pick a sickly weak little kid to join them in the arena."

"Then let's get started," Zelda ordered, "I want to know about this scheme going on."
"Right then," Olivia smirked, turning on the television and flipping to the reapings for District 1. A large, well-dressed man and an equally tall but much more slender woman graced the stage as the victors.

"Lucas Drazen, District 1," she turned to the others as the man guffawed and pulled the Capitol escort into a huge hug before comically lifting her over his head for a moment. A bit of amused laughter erupted as the woman was set back down and straightened her wig and skirt. "friendly guy; good sense of humor too. He's a nice drinking buddy for anyone from District 9, as it stands. He might seem harmless, but he's still got a fighting spirit to him, so don't let his age fool you."
"And what about that girl," Roy piped up, "she's rather cute."
She was tall and slender, with long, golden curls extending past her waist. However, it was neither that nor her striking blue eyes that caught Roy's attention—but rather her stoic expression and pursed lips.

"Lux Calameda, District 1," Olivia explained, "pretty thing; she can't speak at all, but she's very expressive. I'm fairly certain she generally hates people, so she's one to watch out for. She was ruthless in her games 5 years ago and will most likely be the same way elsewhere. Coming along under the title of Mentor are siblings Cashmere and Gloss Ritchson, winner of back to back games a few decades ago. They've definitely still got a few years of fighting spirit left in them."
"Who is that?" Roy asked, pointing to the screen where a messy young man with a quaint eye twitch stood and pointed to a name on a piece of paper, which the escort woman called out.

"Katsuo Raiden, District 2," Olivia frowned, "won the year right after his sister—both of them went crazy and were not even fit to be mentors. He volunteered to try and get a glimpse into the suffering of his sister, but unfortunately, fell into the same rut that she did."
"And so I take it that that equally creepy girl next to him is that sister?" Zelda raised an eyebrow.

"Kaede Raiden, District 2," Olivia nodded, "so you would be correct. She was a prized fighter back in her day just as well—these two siblings won the 81st and 82nd Hunger Games back to back. Neither one of them likes talking much, but don't let their frightened demeanor fool you. They're killers to the core underneath all of that. Some tricks just don't die."

Carver and Marian stayed quiet as they knew what Olivia was about to mention next.

"It's the mentors from '2 you want to watch out for: Amy Zavala and Korra Francisco. Strange as it sounds… they're the ones that will probably orchestrate this revolution. Korra's got leadership skills that have united people across Panem over the last few years. Watch her closely."

The television flipped again to show a much more colorful district, although the people here appeared thinner and not as opulent—this was the Technology District, which explained why there were no glass bowls for the lottery that all non-career districts used. Instead, they used large digital screens for that purpose, which accomplished the same thing.

"Shigeru Lombardi, District 3," Olivia continued, watching the boy, "won a couple years ago if I recall, so I don't know him as well as some of the others. He's a clever little bastard though, and outsmarted the career tributes comparatively early. He seems to know his way around the outdoors, so don't doubt his survival skills either.

"Is that who I think it is?" Zelda's attention suddenly went to the girl, who was slightly older, but wore the same conniving smirk that a victor 20 years ago had worn.

"That's the one and only." Olivia smirked as well, "good eye, kid."
"I'm not drunk all the time," Zelda protested.

"Ikki Ortolani, District 3," Olivia almost seemed to be deep in thought, "youngest victor ever—she won the games hardly a week after she turned 12, and is still the only one to ever win the games that was younger than 14½. Rumor has it that she's used the training center in the years since then, and that now not only can she fight, but she's still just as good at inventing deadly traps from sticks and scraps as she was in her games."

Olivia went on to describe the other victors as they showed up. District 4 produced Gill Wainright and Mandy Ikezhen, both of whom seemed to carry a laid-back and carefree attitude to themselves what with their postures and demeanors. Olivia warned that Mandy and her partner had both scored 12s in their games, but that despite it, they didn't really go on any killing rampages or even join the career pack at all. Their behavior had been erratic the whole time.

"If there's anyone that's hard to read—it's District 4." Olivia pointed out, "District 5 might be the most mysterious, but '4 has the people with the most unpredictable behavior."

Olivia's explanation went onto District 5 and District 6, the former of which produced victors Cadence Montoya and Bethany Shanza, and the latter of which bringing Shishio Meraxa and Meili Meisha to the table. She described Cadence as a blunt young man who was not afraid to do whatever he pleased; Bethany as a mellower woman who also did not say much; Shishio as a brilliant-minded (albeit drug-addled) boy with a knack for mechanics, and Meili as a tough bruiser despite her age.

District 7 brought forth Resin Balthezar and Kara Petersen, both of whom were slightly older and seemed more like war veterans than anything. District 8 produced Connor McIrish and Lyndis DeSiete, both of whom came from lines of rebellious families.

"Obviously, District 8 is in on this," Olivia informed the others, "much like District 12. Carver and Marian didn't choose you two to kill you—they chose you because you can fight."

The television switched to District 9, and Olivia just laughed. "you don't need to know anything about these clowns that you don't already know. '10 shouldn't be much different either." Both districts only had three victors, and while Olivia's comment towards Carver and Marian might have seemed rude, it was actually endearing—when one's victor pool was so small, it was easy to single out these local legends.

"Ah… now we're getting to the threats again," she shook her head as District 11 showed up on screen. The names that the two victor tributes read off sparked an intereste for Roy and Zelda, realizing that with names like "Josiah Flax" and "Amari Flax", that the two tributes were siblings.
"Seems like District 11 is in on whatever this thing is you're all doing." Zelda quipped.

"Definitely," Olivia nodded. "And these victors might look young, but they're dangerous—especially since I heard that Zenzi Tallarico and Sagittaria Svenja are their mentors."
"So who are they?" Roy pointed at the victors on the screen."
"Kozue Sowa, District 11," Olivia explained, "won her games in a wild twist of events that turned her into a rather erratic figure, but like most kids from '11, she's as resilient as they come. She'll be hard to kill and easy to get struck by if you're not careful—but hopefully if she's in on what we're doing, killing her won't be a thing we have to worry about."
"I'm more worried about the big guy next to her." Zelda pointed to the young man.

"Eli Christiansen, District 11," Olivia smirked, "beast of a man but he's got a heart of gold. He drinks a bit less than Lucas does, but otherwise they're fairly similar. He's a friendly guy too, actually. If you want to make allies, get these two on your side."

"And what about those two," The screen had changed again, and Roy was pointing to District 12, which practically seethed rebellion. It was clear that these tributes did not plan on letting themselves get dragged to the arena without at least a fight.

"Vigo Zakatau, District 12," Olivia nodded, "he's the boyfriend of that girl you see there—won his games a few years ago using typical underhanded cunning tricks that '12 is particularly famous for. He seems calm, but there's a fire in him that is all over those kids in their district. Mentors Katniss Everdeen and Haymitch Abernathy are going to make sure of that."
"and that girl is…?" Zelda raised an eyebrow

"Aveline Togisala, District 12," Olivia sighed, "lost her brother to the games the same year she went in. She feels the same way about Vigo as he does to her, so they'll definitely be close—and be an asset if you wish to ally with them. Don't let her tiny size fool you. She's a killing machine."

"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us then," Roy frowned.

"Don't lose hope too quickly, kid," Carver reassured him, "we've got gusto this year that I haven't seen since my own games. District 9 isn't about to get pushed around this year. We're making sure of that."
"And who is 'we', if I may ask?" Zelda raised an eyebrow.

"hmm… it's Olivia, you two, us two," Marian began, "…and 12 districts full of rebels."