Alsace Cartier- District One male

I had to do it. It was all I'd been thinking about since I got to the Capitol. I'd wondered if I would see him around while we prepared for the parade or on the trains, but it hadn't happened. He loomed large in my mind as I rode the elevator. The door opened and I strode down the hall. I was coming for Loki.

I didn't honestly know what would happen when I saw him. I just had to confront him. I had to finally see in person the man who killed my brother. It was almost infuriating to think he had no idea I was coming. He'd barely known I existed until I volunteered. Lyon was nothing to him but a memory now, fading every year until he might not even remember what he looked like now. He was just a long-gone side character in the story of his life. I wanted him to know what he'd done. I wanted him to know how much he destroyed.

As I walked toward the Seven lounge, the door opened. I stopped and stood to the side of the hall as someone came out. The reflective line of a cane broke the doorway and adrenaline shot through me. Before the rest of his thin frame even appeared, I knew it was Loki. I stood frozen, breath swelling in my chest, as he walked the other way without even noticing me. He was real. He was really there.

I started to walk after him. I sped up to overtake him. When he notices me, what am I going to do? I wanted him to pay, but how could he make up for what he did? Beneath it all, it wasn't even about making him hurt. It was about making me not hurt.

Loki's head started to turn as he noticed the noise of my footsteps. I surged forward and grabbed for his arm. He jolted upwards like he'd touched a live wire. For a single instant I saw primitive focus in his eyes. Then his cane blocked the view as he swung it at my head. The impact loosened my grip and he slipped free. I got into a fighting stance to finish what he started, but as I did, he bolted down the hall.

"Hey!" I called after him. He ran through the door to the Seven lounge and I heard the lock click.

He didn't want to fight. This time, at least. That wasn't how it went down when he crossed paths with Lyon. He could run, but it wasn't over. After all this time I'd finally found him, and nothing had been resolved. I was still hurting and he was still oblivious.


Andromeda Dior- District One female

Alsace seemed effortless swordfighting his sparring partner. He didn't even have to try to look effortless. He was so confident and natural he wasn't even worried about how he looked. On the other side of the sword station, Medusa was equally graceful. And Sagar was clearly having the time of his life hitting every target with his javelin.

They think I'm the weak link. I know they do. I didn't look like a big, strong Career. I didn't have an upper-class accent or upper-class manners. I wouldn't even know when I was giving myself away as poor. But I knew they knew I was.

I wanted to look like them. I wanted their ease and their confidence. I wanted them to look at me the way I look at them. I'd hoped I could demonstrate my rapier skills, but Lyon and Medusa were already using swords. My rapier would look so fragile and laughable next to their scimitars.

Hand-to-hand it was, then. I'd focused on jiu-jitsu, specifically techniques that allowed a smaller person to redirect a larger opponent's momentum. I looked over the collection of partners and picked out the tallest instructor. As I squared up, I peeked out of the corner of my eye to make sure the other Careers were aware of me. Sagar was watching, so I had to make it good.

Even with all the training in the world, it's just plain harder to fight someone bigger than you are. Especially if they're a foot taller. My partner had reach, weight, and leverage on me. I tailored my moves and strategy to bring the fight to the ground where he couldn't use the advantage of downward power a tall opponent would otherwise have. We rolled around on the ground like a couple of pillbugs.

My partner headbutted me in the nose. Tears sprung to my eyes and I blinked them away without letting my face shift. I was sore all over from half a dozen blows, but I couldn't let any of it show. I had to look fearless. That was all Careers strove for, even though we all knew we were all faking.

My sparring partner grabbed my arm and leaned back, trying to get me to tap out by applying increasing pressure. I knew I should before damage was done and I would have in any other fight, but this time perception was more important than reality. I jostled him loose with a last burst of energy and jumped into a fighting crouch. I forced my breathing to slow as my sparring partner rose.

I snuck glances at the other Careers as I retired to the water fountain for a break. I saw Cyrene and Medusa talking and wondered if they were talking about how I held my own or how I shouldn't have gotten into an armbar in the first place. I hoped they were talking about how my skills complemened theirs and I was working to adapt to their needs.


Sagar Dewpont- District Two male

Us Careers already had the battle skills we needed. These few days in the Capitol were better spent cultivating what, in the end, really made the difference in almost everything: connections.

Pray and Ava and all the rest knew plenty about fighting and killing. But they- Pray especially- were fiercely independent. Suggest to Silver Claws that part of her victory was owed to the Capitolite that sent her the claws in the first place and you'd be lucky to escape unscratched. But it was true. So instead of the training room I was on the shopping floor of the Games building getting to know a trio of brightly colored Capitolite twenty-somethings.

"Oh, I guess I've been in a few fights," I replied to a green-haired man with a nose ring and purple eyes.

"Anything really bad?" he asked, eyes gleaming.

"Eh, broken bones heal, you know? I'm pretty sure he's walking again," I said. The three of them oohed and looked at each other to confirm they'd all heard it.

"It's just the way it is in Two," I shrugged. "You grow up early there. You learn to fight or you don't grow up at all." I shifted my bearing in a calculated manner that communicated both the tragedy of my fake past and the strength it had given me.

"That sounds terrible," a glitter-encrusted Capitolite said.

"It wasn't all bad," I said. "I know it's bad, but..." Here was where I'd hook them. "Have you ever wanted to just let loose? Really fight someone and give them all you've got? I don't look for fights, of course, but sometimes it just feels so good to let out all that anger. We all think about it sometimes. I've lived it."

"I've always known I could kill someone and not even feel a thing," the green-haired Capitolite said. "I have a darkness inside me."

"I hope someone sends me supplies so I can defend myself. Whoever does, it will be like we're connected. They'll be killing someone too. Spooky," I said. Usually I'm more subtle but these were Capitolites I was talking to. Capitolites more than ready to indulge their edginess fantasies with someone more than ready to do it in reality.


Medusa Gorgona- District Two female

Alsace's tray clacked against the table as he sat beside me at lunch.

"Hey. What's up?" he said.

"Not much. The normal stuff," I said. I scooted away so there was a gap between us.

We ate in silence for a minute. Then Alsace crooked his head and leaned a little closer. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I got ready to shoot out a barbed retort.

"That's a pretty necklace," Alsace said.

"Huh? Oh," I said. I wrapped my fingers around the little pendant and held it in my palm. "A snake. Because my name is Medusa. Creative."

"Looks handmade," Alsace said, and I was surprised. Hardly anyone noticed that.

"My sister made it," I said.

"You two close?" Alsace asked.

The ghost of a smile died on my face. "We were," I said.

"You grew apart?" Alsace asked. There was a heartwarming hope in his voice.

"She's dead," I said.

Alsace turned so our faces were side-by-side again. "So's my brother," he said. "I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for," I said.

"Yeah. But I still am," he said. "Pretty good crowd of Careers this year. Except Percy."

I was grateful for him changing the subject. "Well, you know Four."

"My instructor used to call them District Bore," Alsace said. "Not very clever, to be honest."

"We can't throw stones in Two because there's such an obvious joke right there," I said. Alsace squinted, then laughed.

"We're number one and number two," he said. "That's real mature." He laughed again.

"If I die, just promise you won't let Percy win," I said.

"There's no way you're going to die before Percy," Alsace said.

"True that," I admitted.

"As long as it's a Career, am I right? I'm tired of outliers making us look bad. This year it has to be one of us," Lyon said.

It has to be me, I thought but didn't say. Just like Alsace was thinking but not saying it. Like twenty-four of us were.


Percy Mordecai- District Four male

It was easy to find the rest of the Careers. They were the only ones who weren't trying to hide.

I walked up and gave a little wave. "Hey. We got a plan yet or what?"

"And why would you care?" Sagar asked.

I reeled back a little where I stood and blinked. "Because I'm a Career."

"Oh, you thought you were a Career?" Alsace asked.

"You volunteered for your little boyfriend. We volunteered to win. We are not the same," Sagar added.

"What? I trained! I went to the Academy just like all of you!" I said. The other Careers moved closer together, clearly marking the borders of the group.

Cyrene held up a hand and slid between Lyon and Sagar. She looked me over.

"We're not trying to be insulting. We're just not convinced you're an advantageous ally. Maybe we aren't advantageous to you either," she said.

"Advantageous?!" I spat. I felt my muscles tense and my teeth grind as surprise turned to offense and then anger. "Advantageous this!" I took the throwing knife out of my pocket and whirled around, throwing at the dummy at the archery station behind me. The knife lodged into the dummy's forehead.

"You want that where you can see it or you want it in the back of the head?" I said, louder than I should have.

"Maybe we should let him in," Andromeda said, then looked like she wished she hadn't.

"Okay, maybe," Alsace admitted. "That was pretty cool."

I smiled at Alsace and took a step closer, insinuating myself into the group. They didn't stop me.

That's right. Just give me a chance, I thought. I'd be a good ally. Especially to Andromeda and Alsace. I wouldn't forget they stuck up for me. I'd still kill them if I had to an all, but, like, last. And until then I'd be a good ally. A friend, even. That was all I wanted.


Cyrene Longuemare- District Four female

The Careers sat clustered around the hologram projected on the table between us. It showed a circle of smaller circles surrounding a rectangle.

"Obviously, a lot depends on who you're next to. I suggest that if we're by someone small, we run after them before going into the Cornucopia. The weapons will be there after the Bloodbath. Every Tribute that gets away has a chance to hole up somewhere and hide. We all know how well that went over last year. Kill them now and that's one less person." I tapped the table where one round circle was and an X appeared.

"We should go after the biggest targets," Sagar said. "Get them out of the way."

"I agree that should be the main focus," I said. "The smaller Tributes are just opportunistic kills if the chance arises. But for main targets, I think it's pretty clear."

"Rigel, Rachel, Antonio... maybe Katrina," Alsace said.

"We should all look for the nearest Career and then the nearest high-reward target. In a pair we should attack. That will negate any beginner's luck," I said. I knew Alsace had something to say about that, but I didn't look at him. If I wanted to be a leader that meant knowing that I wasn't in charge of anyone in the end and they would do what they decided.

"Guys, I know it's dangerous, but I think I can do it. I think I can take out Queenie," Andromeda said, her face earnest. I couldn't help but smile. The rest of us groaned or laughed and the intense vibe of the room dispelled.

"They'll probably make the platforms farther apart this time, so even if they look close enough, I wouldn't risk jumping," I said.

"Good idea. Also I think this Arena will probably be hospitable, since last one was so terrible. We'll probably have more food. Of course so will everyone else," Sagar said.

"So we'll just have to do more killing," Medusa said. "Perfect."

"Okay, that was unnecessarily creepy," Alsace said. Medusa shrugged.


Some weird timeline shenanigans going on here because I like to have SYOT years still be fresh in the minds of characters so they're referred to as the previous year even though I skip years for canon Victors sometimes.