"Managing a country is an enormous job. A job for me, and me alone."


Wester Regalus, 63

President of Panem

He would never admit it, but he was actually excited for this year's Games. An arena set in Ancient Rome was a genius idea, everything the Hunger Games stood for—a bloodied land wrecked with slaughter he had only read about in old myths and fables. The fact that he held so many things over Rya's head only made him relish it more. It had to meet his lofty expectations, or else there would be punishment. Horrible, terrible punishment, torture which would make her repent for so blatantly lying to him and for disappointing the people of Panem and ultimately, himself. After all, the people would believe him. They'd be forced to, or die. All disbelievers would be silenced. They had to, for him to survive in this cutthroat world.

The hard metal heels of his leather dress shoes polished black clicked on the gold-gilded marble floors of the President's mansion. There was a loud commotion outside, loud enough to have penetrated the thick stone walls of the place, and highly annoying. Drunk, frivolous, partying Capitolites. Beckoning to a nearby Peacekeeper, he ordered, "Make sure whatever is going outside stops. They're disturbing the peace," and walked away as quickly as he had come, noticing the officer talking into the hand-held radio system, relaying the message.

Heading to his private quarters, Wester continued. He wanted to relax and take a break from all the nonsense going on, but after he had barely taken a few steps, another Peacekeeper came up to him.

"Mister President, they're not stopping. They're protesting," he said.

His first instinct was to react with anger. He was so sure to please the Capitolites, to satisfy them with their lust for entertainment by hyping up the Hunger Games. This was all that stupid Head Gamemaker's fault, and so he muttered a vague curse underneath his breath before breathing in slowly, composing himself and working to keep his voice level as he replied, "Fine." The best way to compensate for this uproar was to ignore it completely, so the protesters were protesting for no one. "Just ignore them. It'll fade away eventually."

And with that, he proceeded to his private quarters. Uprisings had been more common lately, especially after he killed the old Head Gamemaker, that lackadaisical, stupid fool, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary or threatening. For Capitolites went with the flow, following trends they thought "cool." They had no real ideas, no real beliefs, but were only encouraged by what was in trend. Leave them a few months alone, please them with a spectacular bloody fighting match, and it would blow over completely, another failed fad.

Their lack of knowledge and personality were almost scornful, but compared to the stubborn District residents, he would take it. Besides, he had a hot bath to get to, one deep inside the mansion, soundproofed, locked many times over, and available to him alone. There, his thoughts could fade away into the steam, and his anxiety could dissolve. In short, it was heaven.


"I did not know handling death threats was part of the job description."


Rya Lupus, 24

Head Gamemaker

A brief walk outside was all she needed to clear her mind and think of some more possible mutations that didn't seem too obvious to the Ancient Roman theme but related nevertheless. The fidget spinner wasn't working to take all the excitement from her mind and was more of a distraction than salve, so she had to resort to classical methods. Sure, there was some sort of a protest going on, but dressed in her hot pink dress with frills—an emerging trend—she would fit right into the typical pedestrian passerby. With a brief nod to some Peacekeepers in the atrium and her head held high, she slipped out one of the side exits. It was a secret President Regalus hadn't told her upon her hire, though it was probably an old tradition to. Showed how much he trusted her, anyway. Well, she didn't trust him either, and she sure as heck didn't think she owed him anything for appointing her Head Gamemaker. It was her own talent, her own creativity and hard work that had gotten her the job!

Now that the brisk air was in her face, and the sun shining lightly, enough for warmth, but not making the conditions too hot, a smile appeared on her face, mirroring the ideas which flowed in like water. One of the plus sides of all her impulsiveness, her excitement, and nonstructural manner was the inexistent boundary or blockade other people experienced while brainstorming. The procrastination and leaving things for the last minute—she was told that no Head Gamemaker previously had left mutt-designing alone as late as her in the process—but it helped. The adrenaline and urgency she felt, combined with the fresh, clear nature, worked wonders.

Already, she had two ideas for the mutations: Incitatus, the name of an ancient Roman horse who was almost made part of an absurd emperor's consul, and gladiators in the Colosseum. The latter of the two was necessary, considering the landmarks she had chosen to put inside the arena, but the former was a crowd favorite—one whose story she had heard even in the Capitol, where ancient history was considered frivolous, she remarked upon bitterly.

Her light footsteps turned into heavier ones, echoing her change in mood. It was silly, how all these stupid Capitolites took anything other than fashion and gossip and made fun of it... and of those who studied it, considered tryhards. Ones like her. How they could take something so real and turn it into a joke, a myth, was beyond any reasoning she could come up with.

Myth. That word, with so many of its connotations and connections to history, struck a chord within her. She no longer stalked through the streets but bounced through, elated. If she brought ancient Roman mythological creatures into the arena...

And there were so many, too. Medusa, the monster who could turn people into stone with a mere glance. Obviously, that would have to be weakened for the tribute-kill-tribute deaths to happen as well, but just the thought of having Medusa inside an Ancient Roman arena made her shiver with anticipation. So what others could she use? The Gamemakers might also be able to construct a Minotaur-like creature, and perhaps even a Sphinx which told riddles and gave clues to help tributes who could solve her riddles.

Rya grinned, caught up in the influx of her ideas and all the joy that came with the expectation of bringing her fantasies to life with her Gamemaking team. She was so lost in thought, so unaware of her surroundings, Rya didn't realize that she had circled the Mansion and was now in the midst of the protesters. This was not good; usually, Capitolites protesting were as manageable as a good history fact, but they looked unlike any other protesting group she had seen. They looked as if they knew what they were doing, organized into perfect lines and with chants all in unison, shouting what seemed like random strings of letters.

Though the curious and impulsive parts of her told her to stay, a logical and reasoned voice said to go back to the safety of the Mansion immediately, and she started turning back, before hesitating one last second.

That last second was what cost her. Someone must have recognized her facial features, or perhaps there was a plan to wait and see what she did before grabbing her, but either way, a figure with hands clad in black—not belonging to the protest, she observed with a tinge of surprise—came out of nowhere, snatching her away.


Minotaurs, Medusa, and mysterious questioners floated through her mind with excruciating detail. Was this President Regalus's punishment for her? Was this retribution, revenge, for sending in all of her information late and leaving the Gamemaking team with less time they would have liked to do anything? She found out when a masked silhouette with a rough voice awoke her from slumber.

"Rya Lupus, twenty-four years of age. Head Gamemaker for President Regalus, appointed before the fifty-seventh Hunger Games," the person stated, with no inflection in their voice.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Rya managed to ask, crushing the fear and apprehension under her.

The figure didn't answer her, and Rya almost got up and ripped the mask off their face herself. The only thing that stopped her was not the fear of the repercussions, which came to mind a few minutes after, but laziness. Getting up would be so hard, forcing her muscles to act after being subdued by drugs—or so she assumed—was a challenging feat, and not one she wanted to step up to.

After moments of mind-numbing silence, the person spoke once again. "I presume you have heard of former Head Gamemaker Felix Junius and his 'betting scandal?'"

"Yes." Rya knew what the President was capable of regardless of his old age, and he had practically affirmed the fact that he killed Junius first-hand while threatening her months before. But what did anything have to do with Junius? He was a man who had rigged the Hunger Games for the sake of his gambling odds. In her opinion, that was a stupid thing to do; he was probably in it for the glory and not for the dedication and passion of designing and implementing knowledge like she was, anyway.

"Former Head Gamemaker Felix Junius was part of our operation. Now that we have lost our top Capitol advisor, you must realize the situation we are in right now and our proposal to you. You are welcome to decline, but the consequences will be harsh, if not fatal."

Did they want to recruit her for their purposes? And were they blackmailing her to make sure she did? They were so stupid, to think she had even a sliver of insider information about President Regalus's doings. All he did was threaten her. "This has got to be a joke, right?"

"I'm afraid not, Rya. We need information that you have. You are actually in charge of it."

Oh gosh. So they were after the blueprints and arena plans. This was the untraceable group that leaked them every year, and they were serious. There was no point in keeping the quiet, then. Rumors were broadcasted occasionally about the Rebellion, and the leaking of Hunger Games arenas was just one aspect of their plan. They would torture her otherwise, and besides, didn't she want the public to share her interest, to hype about the topic she was so imbued with studying, history? This was why no one trusted her with secrets, this was why she had ruined so many friendships in the past, but speaking was oh, so tempting.

"It's themed to be in Ancient Rome." Her words came unregulated as she blurted the precious information to a dangerous group. Rya didn't think the president's violent tactics made him a good man, but to undermine the government, to undermine authority, with even more violence, was unthinkable. Why was she giving information freely to the enemy? The enemy which wanted all Capitolites dead, as well. It was unexplainable and she hated herself for it, but couldn't help herself. Historical information was what she specialized in, but what she got the most out of was telling that historical information to others. "I have the Colosseum, the Roman aqueducts, the Roman Forum, the Circus Maximus, the Rubicon river that Caesar crossed to begin the slaughter of hundreds of thousands—it's a historical link—and some villas and smaller landmarks."

The person didn't seem impressed, and Rya sat up at last, taking in her surroundings. They were inside a dimly lit room with a musty smell, but still graciously furnished. The plush luxury of the bed she was lying on and the ornate wooden chair her interrogator sat on was proof of that. "What about your blueprints?" they asked. "Put them on a flash drive and I'll figure out a dead drop we can use."

"Dead drop?" she questioned, stalling for time so she could think. What was that? And were they really done that easily? No torture, no bugging devices?

They responded, "A dead drop so you can slip the flash drive inside, and for me to pick it up later. It was a commonly used term during the Dark Days. I'd thought you'd know, considering your passion for history."

Rya's eyebrows raised and she flinched, pride hurt. Struggling to recover from the verbal blow, but not able to come up with a witty response, she merely said nothing. After enough time had passed, she declared, "All right, well, I'm leaving." The faster she could get out, the less likely they would remember they'd asked for the blueprints. And she wouldn't have to hand over the information.

"But actually..." She was doubtful they would answer, but no one had ever been able to staunch her curiosity, anyway. "Was the gambling scenario all a cover-up? And what else does your operation have planned?"

The shock had settled, and her logical mind activated. They wanted her to betray the president and disclose classified information. She was going to be in so much trouble when Regalus found out. She was going to die a bloody, violent death. This group had no qualms about her dying. She was probably some useless, disposable minion of theirs.

The other person stayed silent, not answering her questions, but they must have noticed the light in her eyes, the anger directed towards them. "All right, look, Rya. We just want the blueprints. We leak them every year, yet before Junius, a Head Gamemaker has never been killed by the president. You're safe as long as you don't spill anything or give any hint you have any connections with us."

As long as she didn't spill anything. As long as she hid her connections to this awful Rebellion group. Neither deceit nor keeping quiet had been her strengths. Why couldn't this group just have left her alone? Now she had to figure out everything.

"The dead drop will be on the corner of First and Main street. Place it by the small tree. Don't tell anyone anything."

Those were the last words she heard until she fell into unconsciousness once more.


A/N: Happy New Year! How's 2018 going for all you? I'm back at last. Sorry for not updating until now. BUT here's a small interlude that gives a bit of insight into the subplot. I'm determined and excited to keep writing this, and I won't give the story up, I assure you. I'm over two thousand words into the next chapter too, so that will be coming out soon as well.

So I thought we needed a bit of an update concerning sponsor points. I've been tallying them for everyone. If you had less than five points, I didn't add them to this list, but just ask me if you want the exact number. I may also have missed some points or reviews as well, so if you think the number is off, I'll check my records. Here they are:

Platrium - 55
CreativeAJL - 46
Golden Moon Huntress - 45
CelticGames4 - 44
recklessinparadise - 43
HoppsHungerFan - 39
HogwartsDreamer113 - 39
MysticalPineForest - 35
AmericanPi - 34
renee walker - 32
goldie031 - 29
IVolunteerAsAuthor - 27
panda-nati - 26
paperairline - 16
tracelynn - 14
Sparkly She-Demon - 12
TheReaper94 - 5

QOTC: What is the name of the horse Rya mentions? (I couldn't help myself.)

Veni, vidi, vici,

Tigress