AUTHOR'S NOTES: this is somewhat of a continuation of chapter 13. If anything is to be gathered from this, it's that the conspiracies run even deeper than this.

CHAPTER 14

There was a pause, and Katara glared at Ikki, who eventually caved and giggled.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I couldn't pass that up. So anyways, there are things happening that The Capitol does not want people knowing about. How much attention did you pay to the 74th, 75th, 76th, 77th, 78th, and 79th Hunger Games?"

"I paid some major attention to the 79th Hunger Games." Katara rolled her eyes, "three guesses why."

"I paid attention to all of them, especially after I was chosen. " Ikki explained, "there are two things I noticed—one, so many different people were benders. The proportion of benders in Panem versus the amount of benders that have been in The Hunger Games is disproportionately high. This was even apparent in your 79th Games."

Katara thought back to the games. Including herself, there were 16 benders, which meant there were only 8 nonbenders—a 2-1 ratio. In Panem, nonbenders outnumbered benders about 4-1 or 5-1, so there was a serious skew in that game alone. Ikki began naming off tributes from the other games and mentioning the skews. The 76th Hunger Games had been comprised entirely of benders.

"What's worse," she replied, "is that Yangchen, Roku, Kyoshi, and Kuruk the gamemakers, are little more than puppets. They are as good as dead given that they don't have bending, and it seems that the Avatar kids are people who have a HUGE chance at getting picked to die."

"There were two Avatars in my games," Katara replied, "both from District 7."

"Exactly," Ikki nodded, "I killed Avatar Arkando of District 1 during my games, Avatar Jocasta of District 8 died in the 78th Games—2nd place to that District 5 boy whose name I can never remember, "Avatar Rue of District 11 died in the 74th games, and…"

It seemed that once Ikki started rambling, she wouldn't shut up until Katara spoke up.

"Ikki!" she barked,

"What," she gazed at Katara, bug-eyed.

"I get your point, carry on." Katara replied.

"So anyways," she replied, acting as if nothing had happened, "I think Avatar Aang and Avatar Korra were two of the last avatars. There is only one more that I am aware of, and either she is keeping herself on the DL, or she has no idea that she's an Avatar. All I will say about her is that she's from District 12, and that she's here in this city right now."

"Ikki, if you were trying to keep her identity a secret, you were stupid for telling me that she's from 12. That leaves only one option, and if you're telling me crazy-bitch is our only hope for the future of Avatars, then I might need another few drinks."

"Most people didn't even get the hint, actually." She replied, "People are stupid. Anyways, yeah, it's Katniss. She does not need to know this though, and don't tell anyone."

"Why the hell would I tell anyone something like that?" Katara exclaimed, "but how many other people know about it?"

"Hmm." Ikki mused, "Cato, Clove, a couple boys from 12, a girl from 4, some folks from 3, and four Capitol Citizens, one of which forced it out of me."

"Give me names." Katara cracked her knuckles.

"Fine—Gale, Haymitch, Kya, Wiress, Beetee, Pakku, Bumi, Effie, and… I forgot the last guy's name." Ikki rattled them off as if reciting them from memory. "anyways, it's not like those will do you any good. What you need are a few of these."
Ikki passed Katara a few Pai Sho tiles. Katara recognized them as Lotus tiles, except for one, which had a mockingjay on it. She picked it up and asked about it.

"Flip it over." Ikki replied without even looking up. Katara did as told and noticed that there was a lotus on the back. She flipped the three other lotus tiles over and say that there were mockingjays on the backs of each one.

"There's symbolism here, I know it." Katara replied, "Katniss is either the Lotus or the Mockingjay."

"She's neither, right now actually. If there was a symbol for Avatar that we could use without The Capitol knowing, she'd be that, hands down. I don't know who either of them are, but what we're trying to do is not overthrow The Capitol, but we're trying to get rid of the Equalist influence."

"So why are the Avatars important?"

"To counteract the bending removal triggered by the Equalists," Ikki answered, "only Avatars can properly restore bending. Ideally, we want Katniss to be able to restore the Four Avatars that run as gamemakers. However, our lack of a solid leader hasn't gotten us far, but you should keep those tiles handy. They will be important for the 80th Hunger Games."

"How are tiles going to affect a Hunger Games? Do they explode or something?"

"It's part of an alliance," Ikki replied, "see, I'm also a gamemaker, and I have helped design every arena since the 77th Games. There's a reason they watch me closely—I won my games in a very unorthodox way. I took control of the arena from the gamemakers, and made it work in my favor, frying everyone else. My technological proficiency had them drag me into creating the next two arenas for their enjoyment. However, it was seen as an act of rebellion—and that was the last time I saw my mother or my siblings. My dad Tenzin was picked the following year for The 79th Hunger Games through a rigged lottery. That is why we are not staging a rebellion—we are simply staging an alliance."

"We're victors. We don't have to go back to the games."

"Yes we do—in fact, it's going to be some of us. See, they're bringing back the Grand Quarter Quell this year—the one they were going to do in Game 75, but lacked the proper people to do it. The Quarter Quell is going to be comprised of victors from previous games."

"No," Katara exclaimed, "they can't do this!"

"Oh hush," Ikki replied, "there are at least two other girls from 8—Hama, Cecilia, and I swear there was at least one more… but anyways, the reason I brought you here is because I need you to volunteer with me. The others who are in on the operation understand this. Katniss, as dangerous as she is, needs to be protected. She is the Capitol's main target."

"What is she doing that's so bad?"

"They're onto the belief that she's an Avatar. Either she doesn't believe it herself, or she's got incredible willpower for keeping it secret. They're trying to get her back in the arena, because that's the only way that they know they can properly kill her without angering the citizens of the Capitol."

"Can't you just rig the odds so that she won't get picked?" Katara raised an eyebrow.

"I would if I could," Ikki replied, "but she's the only girl from District 12. If I'm not mistaken, she truly is the last Avatar, and that is why she is so important. That's the mission—that's why I'm here."