Seneca Crane, 16

Capitol Citizen & Gamemaker Intern

The Head Gamemaker lowered himself into his chair and folded his hands, watching Seneca in silence. He stared at his polished black shoes, sweat beginning to drop down the back of his neck. What had he gotten himself into?

Finally, Creed spoke. "Did you get to meet your grandfather? Or did he die before you were born."

The odd question made Seneca raise his head.

"He died when I was a baby, sir. I never met him."

"Ah."

After a few beats of silence, Seneca spoke up.

"Why do you ask?"

Creed leaned back in his chair. His eyes danced in the light of the luminescent creatures.

"We were good friends when we were young men. He was a Gamemaker, like I was, and everyone knew he would accomplish great things. He was a storyteller, you see. He turned the Games into sheer poetry. It was beautiful."

The Head Gamemaker's voice no longer sounded rusty and strained. It was now deep and warm; enticing in a way Seneca couldn't explain.

"He was not a greedy man, but one can't help but enjoy the power they've been handed. As he rose through the ranks, his ideas became more and more radical, blasphemous even. He had to be stopped."

"At the time, Gaia Uttsgard was the Head Gamemaker. She wanted him to be taken down. But I proposed a different approach. You see, your grandfather was a storyteller, but also a story lover. So what better idea than to make him the main character or his own love story?"

"His wedding to Diamond Lannister was held three months later. He spent the remainder of his life with her, in District 1. And as you know, he died there. It was an illness; cancer, I believe. He was a wonderful man."

Seneca's head whirled. His grandpa had been friends with the Phoenix Creed?

"But sir," he managed to choke out. "Why couldn't he have moved back to the Capitol? I mean, I understand that he had to be displaced, for the safety of the Capitol of course, but if he had been a normal Gamemaker, why wouldn't he have returned?

Creed smirked. "A woman's influence is a powerful thing. Diamond had captured your grandfather; and he was happy to be her prisoner. Remember that, Seneca Crane. Do not underestimate a powerful woman, and do not underestimate the power of a love story."

Nefertiti Bazaar (don't ask her age, it's rude!)

Gamemaker

Nefertiti tapped her pen against her lip, turning ideas over and over in her head. She'd spent countless evenings in this office, working overtime, kept awake by coffee and sweets. And tonight was no different.

Progress was already being made on the arena, and Nefertiti was still struggling with the fine details of her new poisonous twist. Last year's arena was her brain baby. This year, Phoenix Creed wanted control back.

'Probably thinks I'm going to take over when he retires,' she thought with a scoff. The press was buzzing with the rumors that she'd be taking over when he retired. But did she want to be Head Gamemaker? Hell no.

Nefertiti worked with poisons. She knew that the role of Head Gamemaker was a slow-acting poison. It would eat away at your mind; your sanity. No, to maintain power here, she needed a puppet. Someone sturdy, but empty. Someone she could sink her golden claws into.

She set down her pen, vision blurred with mathematical calculations and charts of data. Blinking, she began to run down her list of coworkers in her head. Orlando was too old, and too awkward around the press. Coco was funny and personable, but she didn't have the stamina for a job like this.

As she considered her options, she heard a light crash outside her door, followed by a muffled curse. Rising from her seat, Nefertiti pulled open the door to reveal a pile of papers spread across the floor and a frazzled young woman with bubblegum pink hair on her hands and knees.

She looked up when Nefertiti opened the door and gasped softly.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry Ms. Bazaar. It's late, and these are new heels… I just lost my balance for a moment. Sorry to disturb you. I'll just-"

"It's quite alright," Nefertiti said, kneeling to help. "Like you said, it's late. And accidents happen." She forced a small smile, which Bubblegum returned.

"I don't believe we've met before," Nefertiti said after all the papers had been picked up.

"Oh!" Bubblegum gasped, watery blue eyes wide. "I'm Ceraphina. Ceraphina Bowtrinkle. I've only been working here a few years. I work in Trap Design & Control."

"You were the one who caught the error with the sandstorm's borders the year before last, weren't you?" Nefertiti asked, a memory flashing through her head.

One of the young prodigies had screwed up the calculations for a sandstorm that was supposed to target a certain area of the arena for the 49th. It would have done a lot more damage and made for a very bloodless finale if Ceraphina hadn't noticed his mistake.

She smiled shyly, looking at her toes and nodding.
"Well, nicely done," Nefertiti told her. Her smile widened.

"Thank you, Ms. Bazaar."

"Please, call me Nefertiti."

"Oh!" Ceraphina looked up, shocked. "Really?" Nefertiti nodded, and Ceraphina grinned.

"Thank you Nefertiti. And again, sorry to bother you. Have a nice night!"

As Ceraphina hurried down the hall, face flushed, Nefertiti retreated to her office. 'What an adorable little puppet', she thought with a smirk.

Hi! Sorry for the gap between updates; I got caught up in D&D stuff. But, because of that, I decided to make a tumblr for updates on this story. It's a MUCH easier way to let all of you know what's up. It's fionas-ashes . tumblr . com (without the spaces).

Also, I know this is on me, but half of the original submitters are no longer active. So I want to re-open submissions for those specific districts; 3, 6, 8, 9, and 10. All the info is on my profile.

Thank you all for being patient with me as I get back into this, and please leave a review. I always get so excited when I see them. Let me know what you think of Nefertiti as well. I like her a lot :)

Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!

~ Fiona