Before the Music Dies Legacy
ANT Companion: The Place of White and Gold
Chapter Fourteen: A Finish (Or, A Fall)
Four Months Later
Opinions on the Sector Ten leaders varied. It wasn't so much that most of the state was against them—no, most agreed with their views, if not how they treated the people, but… it was such a radical, turn-around change from the last leaders that it was a hard adjustment to openly go back.
Most of the state had gone back to supporting the Games, although for different reasons than the Capitol. The Capitol liked them for control, intimidation. Fourteen thought the districts didn't need that—where had they been during the Dark Days? If they weren't going to rebel then, they didn't see them rebelling in the future. So they supported the Games as retaliation, if only Fourteen were to get their own point across with them.
(But they didn't have the resources to rebel that we did, argued the minority. And those kids never did anything, why punish them? They need help to stop this—)
Sector Ten—well, Headquarters, now—was also becoming concerned with learning more about the Games, how they worked. The idea of spies came up again, although there were few volunteers, then. (One day, volunteering wouldn't matter.)
In the past, Jack had a lot of effect on the future Sector Ten residents. So when it came to how they looked at the Sectors, they were much like Headquarters had been in the past. They didn't care. They kept none of the proposals from the last leaders. They took the place of the Minister, and Deputy, choosing the Representatives, who really had next to no power at all.
It felt like no one did.
. . . . .
From the Record of Altair Morrose, Conspirator (A Torn-Out Page)
They say you never miss someone/thing until they're gone. I think that's true. I feel like I should miss Licinius for how he was "before", but I don't, not really, knowing what came "after". Justice is missed though, by none more so than Deneb. Engageing him in conversation's a long, slow and painful process that never actually succeeds.
I don't try for that as much as Lance does. I think he's in shock and only time'll snap him out of it, if it does.
I should be surprised that all of this happened, but I can't make myself be. It was never much of a secret that Licinius' and Justice's views clashed horribley, although I really didn't think he'd ever do something like this.
Licinius said fix the people, with a good leader the system didn't matter, Justice said fix the system, and the leader wouldn't matter. Then there was the aliance with the districts or according to Licinius, not.
I could see it from the start that when Justice joined us the views would shift, and well, she just had more support than Licinius ever did even if he was in charge. Technically. Even though there weren't many technicallities with us. It just made him nervous, maybe. But clearly something more than that too. None of us expected him to snap like he did though.
At least I didn't. If anyone else did I'd like to think that… I dunno, something would've been done about it.
Too little too late now.
*A.
. . . . .
The new conspiracy meetings went well. Their networking system was better, their passion levels were better, their subtlety was better.
There was just one missing element. Well, person. Lance had been unable to get Deneb to come to a single meeting so far. No amount of pleading, begging, bribing, coaxing, threatening, or physical dragging could get him to change his mind. Lance was just so sure that if he could see how much improved things were now, with the new group, it would help. He didn't want to push him, but if he could just see what they had done—
Finally, he succeeded in bringing him to meetings, which worked much differently. They were hoping that eventually, they wouldn't have them at all, and find a different system of communication, with much less chance of getting caught. Getting him there at first required a combination of please and just this one and the others want to meet you and you'll get some fresh air, at least (and dragging) and the do it for Justice card that Lance hadn't really wanted to play. (It was a bad topic.
He needed her like he needed air, and now he was just suffocated all the time. Even his official resignation as Minister hadn't phased him.)
The fact that there had to be a Minister election for the next year was a popular topic with the new conspirators. If the election did happen, it would almost certainly be one of the Sector Ten leaders officially instated. But there had to be some hope, right?
Deneb was almost silent at the meetings and didn't go to all of them. But it was a start, at least, thought Lance.
. . . . .
One could look at the picture of the conspiracy, their hopes, their dreams, their martyrs.
(Felicity, who was eternally young and nothing but sweet and died because she was good with people. Hale, one of the bravest out of all of them, who perhaps had gotten tired of fighting after all of his years. Justice, who'd just wanted a better world for the child she would never have, and gave her life for it.)
One could take a step back, and look at District Fourteen, the suppressed dream brought to life and corrupted, their leaders.
(Cygnus, who cared about all of the wrong things and was less of a leader than anyone knew. Jack, who was lucky and advanced with his new ideas that weren't so new at all.)
One could take another step back, and look at the oppressed masses in general.
(The siblings who watched their home and family burn. The tributes who died at the hands of each other, figures that crawled out of the walls in the night, and an endless black abyss.)
One could look at the Capitol, the supposed ultimate enemy to them.
But everyone's opinions varied on that.
. . . . .
Author's Note:
Last chapter. "The End", of this first District Fourteen era. Thank you all for sticking with me through this story. Most of the last updates to the page, etc., are up, so please give it a last look (I don't know if I'll take it down eventually or not) and leave a final review with your thoughts. And may the odds be ever in your favor.