Peeta abruptly jerked his horse to a stop, almost sending the men behind him blundering into his back. He turned his head west and narrowed his eyes.

"What is it?" Finnick asked.

"Katniss is that way," he said.

"Not with the Spartans?" Deimas said. "Surely this is good news."

"We will see."

They robe west.

Brutus had run back to Panbank at top speed. The return trip took longer than him running by himself, of course. Even mounted, Cinna and Cecelia could not compare to his speed, and by the time he sensed the edge of Chaff's forest, he was worried it was too late.

When they broke the tree-line, they saw only four unmoving bodies.

"Is she breathing?" Cecelia exclaimed, sliding off her horse and hastening to Katniss' side. She tried to roll Katniss onto her back but stalled at the sight of the arrow in the back of her thigh.

"Is she?" Cinna asked.

Cecelia nodded. "Quick, grab her friends. It is getting late and the blood..."

Cinna crossed into the field to the body of a woman.

Brutus held the man with Katniss' look in his arms.

"We must get them back before dusk," said Cinna, strapping the blonde woman securely onto the romp of his horse. "This one will not last if not treated."

Cecelia rose to tie Katniss to her horse, but suddenly Katniss gave a heave, retched, and lurched upwards.

"Katniss! Katniss!" Cecelia shouted. "You are safe!"

She tried to grab Katniss' flailing arms, but it took both her and Cinna to subdue the struggling woman.

"What is it? What ails you? Katniss!"

"Seeder!" Katniss finally managed to splutter.

"Seeder?" Cinna said evenly.

"I know who Seeder's replacement is…" she said.

Brutus lowered himself onto the ground beside Katniss. "Seeder's replacement?"

Katniss caught his eyes. "Yes, she has passed her powers on to somebody else, to continue to protect this land as she used to. The same as Chaff."

"And who is that? Who is Chaff's replacement?" Brutus pressed.

"I am," Katniss said.

The three hovering over Katniss could not comprehend what that meant though. They had a hard-enough time believing gods could be replaced, let alone their male-god representation being replaced with a woman.

Katniss tried to rise, but Cecelia pressed her down. "Katniss, it would be best if you let us carry you. You've had a shock, and your leg... you cannot walk. We must get you to Panbank. It is best that —"

"No," said Katniss, struggling to her feet. "No. I have to find... Peeta..."

"Wait." Brutus pushed his hands against her chest to stall her. "What do you mean you are Chaff's replacement? He chose you? I am his rightful heir."

Katniss brushed his hands aside. "It doesn't matter –"

"Doesn't matter?" he snarled, taking her arm. "I didn't save you for your benefit and not mine!"

"Stop," she said, trying and failing to rip her arm from his hold. "What are you saying? I am trying to save this land, like you –"

"This is our land, not yours!"

"Brutus, calm yourself," Cecelia said, her voice frantic.

Cinna stepped forward – like Twill might of once – to touch Brutus' arm, but he was shrugged away.

"You're wrong," Katniss said. "It is not yours anymore, it has been taken and it wants to be taken, by people who are nefarious and corrupt. That is what is important!"

Brutus tightened his grip on her.

"Let me go…let me go!" She started slapping ineffectually at Brutus' hand, twisting one way and then another to dislodge him. "Let me go…"

"You will aid me, one way or another," Brutus said. "You will restore Chaff, as Seeder intended–"

"What are you doing? Let her go. Let her go!"

There was a flurry of hooves and the heat of a horse's body as it pushed into the little struggling group. Taken by surprise, Brutus lost his grip on Katniss and fell to the ground as the horse careered into him.

Peeta reached down and grabbed at Katniss, who had raised her arms to him. He lifted her behind him on the horse, then turned it about in a tight circle, making Cecelia, Cinna, and Brutus, who had managed to regain his feet, scurry backward to keep from being knocked into by the beast.

"Leave…her…alone!" Peeta said very slowly, very menacingly, his eyes furious, and then Peeta twisted the horse's head about, and they were gone.

Brutus was left staring angrily after them.

"Damn her," he whispered, then shoved by Cinna and shouted as he ran off, "Damn her!"

The trees plunged by at an alarming rate as Peeta rode off. I clung to his waist, my head spinning from blood loss. The energy it took to fight off Brutus – very ineffectively – had nearly sent me to my knees. I struggled to stay conscious, harboring in my mind the knowledge that I had just shouted out moments ago.

There was more I had not shared with them.

Upon Annie's departure, I had attempted to make a power source, but I had underestimated my injuries. I was not strong enough and the effort caused me to fall unconscious.

In my mind, I was in the great stone hall, but it was not the stone hall I loved. The marble was cracked, and many of the archways had collapsed. Blackened vines crawled over the walls and slithered underfoot.

Worst of all, a god stood before me.

He had the shock white hair of an elderly man, but he was not wizened with age. He was pale and held himself rigidly. He wore heavily layered white robes, and when he saw me, he hailed me with a hand.

"Katniss," he said. "I have been waiting to meet you. My name is Coriolanus. Allow me to apologize for the circumstance of our meeting."

"What are… what are you talking about?" I asked. My lips felt dry and I licked them nervously.

"All that messy business with Seeder." He waved his hand as if her death was nothing more than a trifling matter.

"How…"

He pulled from his robes the wicked knife that Asterion had used to kill her.

"This is no ordinary weapon, Katniss. It is cursed… or blessed. It depends on who you ask."

He held it out to me, but I did not dare move.

"Katniss, I am going to speak plainly. You have something I want, and I am offering you something in return. This knife, if used to kill a god, leaves their godwell and power sources unharmed. No fuss."

"Like Asterion killed Seeder…" I muttered, appalled.

"Yes, exactly. You are a quick study. I can see why you are so involved with the gods. Now take this knife and use it to relieve yourself of your worst enemy, Clove. In return all I ask for is my bands to be returned to me, along with what remains of my power within Peeta."

I remembered his name suddenly!

It was him!

The god of poison… Coriolanus… the being Hera had warned me about. He had finally come, and if I had not remembered that dream, perhaps I would have trusted him and his offer, but I knew better. There had to be a trick.

"It is my understanding you are in opposition to Clove?" he asked when I remained silent.

Again, I did not respond.

"You should know Seeder knew that I would come for her. Perhaps she was not expecting me to send Asterion so soon, but she knew. As a condition of her death, I was to destroy Clove. Simply take the knife, Katniss, and kill Clove, and all will be settled."

"I cannot."

Coriolanus raised an eyebrow.

"Why not… why not send Asterion?"

"Asterion cannot enter the mortal realm, of course. Nor can I, not without my bands."

He cracked a smile, but it was unnatural, like he did not truly know how. He stepped closer to me and placed a condescending pat on my head.

"If you are too frightened of Clove, then ask your friend Darius," he said. "It is of no consequence who does the deed. As long as you bring me my bands and Peeta. I will not harm Peeta, just take my power out of him. It is beneficial to both of our goals, don't you think?

He placed the hilt of the blade into my hand, and I did not resist.

How cowardly I was! Where was the woman that had stood strong and stubborn against Sparta's king?

I was terrified, and the reason why was his eyes. I was mesmerized by them. They were remarkably similar to black-eyed Peeta's. All the hate, anger, and violence that black-eyed Peeta had released into my world was only miniscule in comparison to the amount I saw encapsulate in those eyes.

I pressed my face closer to Peeta's back, remembering.

A blunder of horses and men rode past Peeta and I. Peeta waved them towards the field we had just escaped.

I squeezed Peeta's mid-section tighter.

"They won't hurt them, will they? They are friends."

"They won't hurt them," he assured me, but just as quickly he asked, "Who are these friends of yours?"

"They are friends to both of us," I said. "They helped me escape... we owe them."

Peeta nodded in acknowledgement and I sighed in relief, but he was not done with me yet. Once we found the north road and he set his horse on the path, he reached back with a hand and felt out the arrow in my thigh, careful not to shift it.

"What were you thinking?" he whispered.

"I was thinking of peace," I said. "I was thinking of Panem. I love this land."

"And not yourself?" he pressed. "You love this land so much you would go off into a dangerous enemy's war camp, alone, in hopes that perhaps they will listen to your pleas? Katniss..."

"Yes," I answered, cutting him off. "I do."

"Katniss..."

"I would do anything for this land."

He did not speak for a moment, and then his voice was wracked with pain, "I could have lost you."

"I know."

There was a long silence, with just the clomping of the horse's hoofs and the lowering of the sun into the afternoon. I did not want to ruin his mood completely, or to rip his settled nerves into a frenzy once more, but I had to tell him before it could blow up in my face as so much before this.

"Peeta..."

"It's alright, I'm not angry."

"No, there's something… something I have to tell you."

"Is it about the Spartans? Gale?" Peeta tried to guess. "Prim told me. I am not angry."

I shook my head against his back, and he tensed, perhaps thinking the worst.

"Is it about the night you left? The confession… was it… real?"

Oh. That hurt, hearing the doubt and sadness in his voice. He thought I meant to manipulate him with my admission.

A small voice in my mind told me to tell him this was the truth.

Tell him it was fake. Don't deal with the fallout.

My prolonged silence did Peeta's nerves no great favor. "It is alright," he said, stiffly. "I do not–"

"Real," I said, hurriedly. "It was real, but Peeta... there is trouble–"

"Spartans?"

"No, something worse. Peeta… Coriolanus–"

And then there he was.

My words slammed to a halt and I jerked away from Peeta in surprise, staring open-mouthed at the figure that had just appeared on the road ahead. Sunlight caught against his hair, giving Darius' mournful face a crimson halo.

"Katniss? What of Coriolanus?" Peeta twisted about to look at me. "Katniss?"

Darius stared back at me. There was blood on his clothes and on his arms. He held out his hands in a supplicative motion, and then, just like that, he was gone again.

Almost two months of not knowing where he had gone, only for him to appear so inconveniently, and then to simply leave. There were so many questions that burned on my tongue to ask – about his whereabouts, what happened, why he had been gone for so long – and he could not even stay long enough to speak a proper greeting.

To say I was frustrated, was an understatement.

Consumed with the weight of these questions and the wicked knife tucked in my robes, I put aside what I had intended to say to Peeta.

I merely grabbed at my leg, moaned, and spoke of pain. Peeta, after a look or two, let my strange words slide and considered my health more important. He turned about, took the horse's reigns in hand and urged us into a much faster pace.

We were in Panbank within the hour.

Before I was pushed into a whirlwind of healers, Primrose came running up to me. I pressed the knife into her hands and spoke quickly into her ear to secret it away. She was nodding as I was carried away.

The next few hours I spent either unconscious, moaning in pain, or drunk on numbing wine.

Throughout these hours I was aware of only a few things. I knew Peeta hovered near, and that at one-point Achates had been with him – but not long, for I did not want him to remember my screams – and once or twice Cinna or Cecelia appeared, telling us of Madge and Gale.

"Gale is already conscious and is fast healing. He is strong," Cinna reported.

"And Madge?" I heard Peeta ask.

"Unconscious still. She's no longer bleeding, and the arrow is out. Now it is a matter of waiting."

Yes, I thought, waiting.

For two days I remained bedridden.

The time that passed was more maddening than the time I had spent inside the Spartan's camp.

I suppose it was not all bad. I had my loved ones around me. Achates was a constant, always tucked in the blankets with me or cuddled against my chest. Prim and Aurora swept about the hut, cooking, laughing, and making things lively. Prim's fear was only conveyed in a look or two on a day to day basis, but never spoken. Then, of course, there was Peeta.

As promised, Peeta welcomed Gale and Madge as allies, not enemies. They'd been given a hut – much smaller and shabbier than ours, but a hut nonetheless – near our own, where they remained as bedridden as I. Though I had heard Gale was well, I had as of yet to see him, and I was told that Madge had made no improvements.

It was still about waiting, and I waited two long days, before I got my respite.

It was not in the form of Madge waking or of a large confession to Peeta of what happened to me. I had not told him about the beast, how I was Chaff's replacement, nor had I told him about what happened when I met Coriolanus.

I needed to, soon, but not yet.

I had to make sure I had everything in place before I acted.

On the third day of waiting, Darius, accompanied by Rue, materialized in the hut, nearly startling Achates and I to death.

"Darius!" I said. I could not help feeling that if I did not immediately identify him, he'd sweep away just as quickly as he had the first time.

He gave me a strained smile in return.

"Let me," said Rue, perching herself on the edge of my bed.

I said nothing as she moved her hands over the layers of bandages on my thigh.

Darius paced the length of the hut.

"Prim went out to the market," I explained. "She'll be back soon, or I can send for her. She will be ecstatic to see you. I told her about before... when you appeared on the road. We have been worried. I think she was as disappointed as I to not have spoken with you."

When he did not reply, I asked, "Where have you been?"

"The knife," he said, turning to me, and I could see he had not heard a single word of what I had said. "Where is it now? You have it, don't you?"

"Hidden," I said. Carefully, I placed Achates on my bed and rose to my feet, heartily relieved to see that my leg was as good as new.

Rue stood beside me, touched my arm softly, then promptly left.

I frowned after her.

"She has other things to do," Darius said, as if knowing my dismay, then moved on. "Hidden where?"

"The meadow."

"The meadow?" he echoed, sounding irritated. "Are you a fool?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do you have any idea what that knife is?" I opened my mouth to reply, but he cut me off. "Show me where it is!"

"I don't know where," I said. "Prim hid it. I have been stuck here, injured."

"And I have healed you," he said, moving for the door. "You're welcome."

I started to follow after him, then remembered my son and turned back to pick Achates up, before racing outside to catch up with Darius.

"What's wrong with you?" I demanded.

"What do you mean?" he asked, not paying me any true attention and instead scoping the pathways and town for Prim.

"Where have you been?" I said instead.

"Many places."

"Darius."

"Katniss."

"Damn it, Darius," I said, stepping in front of him, clutching Achates to my chest. I forced him to meet my eyes; his were the false green of his disguise. "Where?"

"I have killed Asterion," he informed me, and I blinked in surprise. "Where I was does not matter."

"But... how… why…"

"Not easily. And it doesn't matter. What matters now is what he has told me. He told me of Coriolanus' plans and of the knife."

"Why did you show up before? Back when I was on the horse?" I asked as Darius stepped around me.

"Does it matter?" he asked, exasperated.

When I was about to argue, he spotted Prim.

"Ah, Prim!"

I grabbed at his arm before he could meet with her.

"Tell me! What do you know of Coriolanus' doings?"

He turned his head to me. "I only know that he is hoping to do what he has always done: to destroy everything he touches. I must keep the knife as far from him as possible. What do you know?"

"The knife… you know about the knife?"

Darius gave a cautious nod. "I saw it, briefly, with Asterion. I could sense an enchantment in it. I do not know who made it, nor what it does, only that it is very powerful. Asterion told me that it is what he used to kill Seeder."

"An enchantment?" I said. "Coriolanus simply said –"

Before I could put together all the proper words to form a sentence, Prim appeared, grinning broadly.

"Darius!" She threw herself at Darius, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, and he laughed breathlessly.

"Hello, little duck," he said, and I shut my mouth, afraid for the first time, that Darius might not be on the same side as me, as I had always thought.

Once Prim and Darius' enthusiastic reunion was over and Katniss had returned Achates to the hut under a nearby Mother's care, Prim led them toward the meadow.

"Where's Peeta?" Prim asked as they crossed through the long grass.

"He is with Clove, preparing the dancers. The ceremony for their godwell is days away. He does not know I was healed as of yet. Rue did it."

"Did she heal Gale and Madge, too?" asked Prim.

"She did," Darius said, as Katniss opened her mouth.

"She did?" said Katniss. "Really?"

Darius shrugged. "Figured that if you had to come up with an explanation for your own miraculous healing, might as well come up with one for all three. Plus, they helped you out. They deserve it."

"How do you know they helped me?"

"I saw them."

"You saw?" Katniss sputtered. "You saw and heard me praying, but didn't come?"

"You prayed for me?" Darius asked, lips quirking.

It was the first that his old teasing had reappeared, and Katniss forgot her momentary outrage, then flushed. He made it sound like it was something…

"Well, it didn't do me any good, did it?" Katniss said. "But you did see, didn't you?"

"I saw only you escape the camp with them. I had tuned out after that. I didn't know the tribal men were upon you until well after it was over."

"'Tuned out'..." Katniss narrowed her eyes. "So, you can just check on us all you want, whenever?"

He shrugged.

"You do realize we can't do that, and we've been here, unknowing for..."

He shrugged again.

Before she could lose her temper, Prim pointed to the ash tree. "There!"

She went forward, pulled the silk-wrapped knife out from a crevice, and crossed back to the two.

Darius snatched at it, examining the blade in the sunlight.

Katniss reached out a hand and rested it over his, easing the blade into her own grasp. She sent him an uneasy look, before purposefully stepping back.

"Neither of you should be near this thing," she said.

"Why?"

Katniss did not reply. She turned the knife about in her hands.

"Coriolanus made this," she murmured.

"You spoke to him?" Darius asked, alarmed. "When he gave it to you?"

"Yes, unfortunately…"

"And?" Prim pressed.

"The blade is enchanted... he said it would make quick work of a god, but I do not know what that means."

"A knife that can kill an immortal god?" Darius mused.

"He did not say if it was only for those without a godwell or not, but he implied it did not matter either way."

"A weapon that can kill the immortal…" Darius face looked weary. "Why…"

"I do not know. Coriolanus said that he needed me to kill Clove and return his bands to him. Without the bands, he cannot enter our realm, but if I do this… even if I do it to free Peeta… what will he do with the freedom and power he gains?"

In her head, Katniss heard Hera's warning: He will hunt. He will hunt for you, Katniss.

"I don't understand," Prim said. "I thought Coriolanus was banished by Zeus. How is it that he walks these other realms freely and can communicate to you?"

"He's been left unattended," Darius said. "There is no Zeus to trap him. Thresh has left many of Zeus' prisoners thus."

Katniss did not look surprised by Darius' explanation, but Prim became appalled.

"Then you must tell him to attend to the prisoners! They are dangerous!" she exclaimed.

"Thresh doesn't care. He will not hear me. He will not hear you. He has his eyes on bigger problems."

"Tell him of the knife and he will listen," Prim insisted. "He can't ignore something like that!"

"He'll laugh at us," Katniss said. "No god will believe a knife like this exists. They won't want to."

"But..." Prim was lost. "But why kill Seeder? Why was that this Coriolanus' first action after escaping exile?"

"Coriolanus said that Seeder had made a deal with him. He could be lying. Perhaps he killed her because he knew it would get my attention and he wanted to proposition me to return his bands and bring Peeta to him," Katniss said.

"Perhaps, but why did he choose you in the first place?" Darius wondered. "There are plenty of beings mortal or otherwise who dislike Clove and Peeta, or that would gladly accept a reward."

"I only know what he told me," Katniss said. "He told me that it was a part of Seeder's deal. That I be the one to kill Clove… and that Coriolanus must cleanse Peeta. Of course, he would want to because he wants all of his power back…"

"But why would Seeder ask that of Coriolanus?" said Darius.

Katniss glanced quickly up at him and then to Prim. She sighed and turned her back to them. "There is something else I have not told you."

"Well?"

"I need to make a power source…"

Darius walked around to her front, touching her elbow. "What do you mean?"

"Can you not feel it? The power… in me?"

Darius looked her up and down, then frowned. "I just sense you."

"I am Chaff's replacement… an 'Enlightened' Chaff…"

"Since when?"

"Since Chaff's death, but I did not know it until Seeder's passing. Since then I have had no way of knowing how to make a power source, and while I waited for your return, I had been trying to figure out who Seeder's replacement is… but…"

"But?"

"If Coriolanus is to be trusted… he told me… well, he said it was Peeta."

"Why would Seeder make Peeta her replacement?" Darius asked. "Coriolanus must be lying to further motivate you. It would make no sense for Peeta to be."

"No, you're wrong," said Prim, startling both of them. "It makes perfect sense."

"How?" Katniss asked her, and her tone betrayed that she desperately needed this assurance. "How do I know Coriolanus is not just playing off of my feelings for Peeta?"

"First, it answers why Seeder would make this deal with Coriolanus. If Peeta is Seeder's replacement, of course she would ensure a plan to make him pure again, even at great cost to her. Further… while most would expect Seeder to pass her powers to Katniss, I mean this in no offense, Katniss, but you have never been anything like Seeder. Chaff was the fire in Panem. Him and his power represents inspiration. It is stubborn, bold, and his role was always the protector. Seeder… she was eloquent, charming, negotiable, born to leadership, and not to slight you, but that doesn't sound like you. It sounds like –"

"Peeta."

"Exactly."

Darius face suddenly brightened with realization. "Seeder and Peeta's power were already melded together," he said. "When he made you his power source, and you were already hers. He has been destined to be her replacement since that day he saved you."

Katniss looked between the two with brightened, excited eyes. "So it is true?"

"It must be."

Katniss turned away from both of them again, raising her gaze to the distant rise of sacred hills. Panem… the land… perhaps it was not lost. Perhaps, her and Peeta's paths were swiftly converging, and together, they really could save Panem from all threats. Seeder had been planning their success this whole time. They were… destined, if fate were to be trusted.

"Well… what will you do?" Darius asked. "Killing Clove will solve a lot of problems for us."

"And it will cleanse Peeta of all the poison in him!" Prim chimed.

"But it will give Coriolanus strength," Katniss said. "And…"

"And?" Darius asked.

"And… how can I trust him not to harm Peeta? Or Panem, afterwards?"

"We cannot, but we have to try, don't we? What other plan do you have to save Panem from Clove's tyranny – and Peeta from it as well?"

"You are right. I think I know what to do, but I am not strong enough yet. I need to make a power source." She frowned at Darius. "Can you help me with that?"

"If you mean to kill Clove, gladly."