"Now, remember," Amethyst said, delicately shutting the manila folder in front of her. "The most important thing about these Games is that the audience always knows more than the tributes. We're taking a big risk by having there be so many ways for these kids to survive, so we need other ways to keep the bloodthirsty Capitol audience engaged. These are still going to be a bloody Games, don't get me wrong, but I don't want our ratings going down because they won't be as bloody as they could be."

"So we're not looking at another Second Quell," replied Celestia Flickerman, who was jotting down a few last notes. Celestia had taken over as interviewer from her father in the year leading up to the 83rd Games, alongside her childhood friend Magnus Templesmith, who became the new Games announcer. When Amethyst took over the position of Head Gamemaker a decade later, the two veterans sat down with Amethyst to review whatever she needed with them just before the Tribute Parade, to help Amethyst feel a little more relaxed moving into her first Games. Quickly, however, all three realized that having a chance to review any information relevant to the early days of Games coverage was very helpful, and so decided to continue to meet

"We might in some respects, but it won't be quite as brutal. And hopefully we won't have another Abernathy situation."

"We can only hope not."

"Do either of you have any last questions for me?"

"I think we're good," Magnus said, closing his folder as well. "I'm very excited for these Games. You've done some great preparation work, and I think it's going to be different than anything these Capitolites have ever seen."

"That's the goal," Amethyst grinned. "Well, I hate to kick you out, but I do need to get ready for this evening's festivities. I'll see you later tonight?"

"Of course. We'll see you later."

The two collected their things and left the room, making pleasant small talk as they headed off to their respective offices to pack up for the day. As they left the room, they passed Amethyst's three prep team members. Amethyst greeted her chattering team members with a small wave as she quickly cleared off her desk to give them room to set up. During the calmer times of year, Amethyst made a conscious effort to talk to her prep team members, as she knew how important their job was for her, and she wanted them to feel valued. But right now, with the Games approaching, Amethyst took any chance she could get for a little peace and quiet. And yet, her brain was still working, taking every opportunity it could get to work through the last few Games details that she hadn't quite worked out yet. Amethyst knew just how important it was that these Games go smoothly, so she could not waste one moment, not even one of the few opportunities for pampering she had.

As Amethyst was working through a particular series of logistics for the bloodbath, she heard a loud knock echo through her room. "Gia, can you check that?"

"Of course. One moment," Gia said, carefully closing the bottle of nail polish she held. "It's Ruby."

"Oh, let her in please? It's that button there."

"Of course."

As the doors slid open, Ruby Emerald stepped through them, wearing her signature red blazer and black pencil skirt. She walked slowly towards the desk, balancing two cups of coffee on top of two black corsage boxes. "Hi, Ruby. Corsages are ready?"

"Yes, they are."

"Very good. Gia, close the doors, please?"

"Of course."

"Thank you very much."

"How's it going, Amethyst?" Ruby asked, carefully setting the coffee cups down on the desk before placing the corsage boxes beside them.

"As well as it can be. There's still quite a few little details to work out for the Games. And did you see that memo that grandfather sent me?"

"I did. I'm a little confused about what it means."

"I am too, but hopefully he'll explain somewhat when we next meet."

"I hope so too, for your sake."

"Well, let's see them," Amethyst said, picking up the corsage box marked with a purple sticker. She carefully broke the box's seal and opened it up, revealing an elegantly made boutonniere, the centerpiece of which was a single red rose.

"It's red," Ruby marveled. "I thought for sure we'd see a white one tonight."

"Me too. Snow wouldn't miss a Quell's Tribute Parade for the world."

"He must not be well."

"He must not be."

Amethyst was always amazed by how her grandfather seemed to be prepared for every possible eventuality. It seemed like he had been preparing for this precise situation for literally decades. It was somewhere around the Fiftieth Games that he started cultivating his rose garden, deliberately beginning with white and red bushes, though he would add more colors later on. Around a decade later, as his daughter married and his family began to grow, Snow prepared a matching corsage or boutonniere for each member of his family who could wear one; sometimes he chose a colored rose, but most often, it was red or his trademark white. And then, for the 75th Games, Snow broke from tradition ("for the occasion of the Quell," he insisted) and did his speech not from the balcony of his mansion but live from his rose garden. For the next five years, Snow alternated giving his speech from the balcony and from the garden, until the idea of him giving his speeches from the garden was commonplace. So, when President Snow's health began to deteriorate, he started signaling to those in charge where he'd be delivering the message from via the corsages: white meant that Snow would appear in person, red meant that a feed from the rose garden would be played, live in some cases but usually pre-recorded. The transition to pre-recorded addresses from the garden whenever the man was too ill to attend the Tribute Parade live didn't alarm the Capitol audiences at all, nor did it tip the District audiences off to any weakness on the part of the president.

Coriolanus Snow could never be weak.

Once Amethyst was ready, boutonniere in place and all, she and Ruby took the private elevator in the Head Gamemaker's office all the way down to the basement, where a monorail was waiting to take them to the President's Mansion. When they arrived, a black-clad staffer guided them up to a foyer just inside of the balcony, where the rest of their families were waiting. Amethyst greeted her husband and three children, whom she felt like she hadn't seen in ages, with warm hugs and delicate kisses. The early mornings and long nights of the leadup to the Games were starting to get to her, as she was usually out of the house before her family woke up and didn't return until after they went to sleep. So any moments she could spend with her family, no matter how short, was incredibly rejuvenating for Amethyst. She sat on one of the couches, treasuring the way that her children chattered in her ear about whatever they pleased. After all, any moment like this could be Amethyst's last.

It didn't matter that Amethyst was President Snow's granddaughter. He had made it clear to her that she was just as expendable as every other Gamemaker he hired.

After a few moments, the Emerald clan began to position themselves for their entrance onto the balcony. Amethyst took her place at the front of the line as the effective second-in-command in government; her sister stood right behind her, followed by the rest of their families and then their parents, and then a number of other officials and dignitaries who had a spot on the balcony for the parade. As the various prep teams flitted around, Amethyst felt a tug on her sleeve. She looked down to see her niece, Cerise, looking up at her. "Hi, Auntie Amethyst!"

"Hello there, Cerise!" Amethyst turned around to give the girl a hug. "How are you? What are you up to?"

"I'm good! Violet and I were playing Gamemakers today and I got to be Head Gamemaker and she got to be the second in command and we planned out like twenty whole Arenas!"

"Oh, you did, did you? How did you decide who would be the Head Gamemaker?"

"I said I wanted to be so I did. And Violet said she was OK with being second 'cause she'd get a turn to be Head Gamemaker eventually."

Ruby and Amethyst exchanged a look. "Did she?"

"Yes!"

"And are you going to let her?"

"I will, someday."

Before either could continue the conversation, the lights turned on at full brightness, indicating that it was almost time for the official entrance. Amethyst turned back towards the double doors, doing her best to hold herself tall and proud. This wasn't the first time she'd led the procession out to the balcony, but something about this year felt different. Between her grandfather's declining health and the monumental nature of the Quell, it truly felt like this year was the end of an era. And it was slowly sinking in for Amethyst that she and Ruby would be the faces of the next one.

As the prep teams pulled the doors open, Amethyst stepped through, receiving the applause of the Capitolites with slight head nods and a delicate smile. She and Ruby took their seats on the chairs at the front of the balcony, Amethyst on the left and Ruby on the right, as if President Snow was sitting between them. Once everyone on the balcony was seated, the anthem of Panem began to play, and the Tribute Parade officially began.

The first chariot, as always, came from District One. Pulled by two snow-white horse, the tributes rode on a chariot that looked like a multicolored geode, dressed in elaborate, gemstone-laden outfits. Lydia wore a deep blue tuxedo and Khada a dark green one, the gemstones placed such that they seemed to be flickering in the light. Their silk shirts were nicely pressed, and each wore a white silk tie and shiny black shoes. But as elegant as their outfits were, they were completely overshadowed by the splendor of the girls'. Jaesa and Tyranny wore floor-length ballgowns, their hair swept up into elaborate updos woven with gems and their arms, necks, and ears adorned with tasteful yet sparkly jewelry. The outfits were identical in all but color, Jaesa's a light purple and Tyranny's a rosy pink. District One was always a great choice to lead the Tribute Parade, but this year's outfits might have just taken the cake.

Close behind were the tributes District Two, pulled by two gray horses in a chariot whose railing was made up of various weapons painted in pastels. The four tributes were dressed in outfits that emulated the style of Peacekeeper uniforms, but instead of white, each wore a different color: Smash was dressed in light purple, Crash in mint green, Acacia in pastel pink, and Nikau in baby blue. Despite the lighter-than-usual colors, the tributes from Two still managed to maintain the strong and menacing aura that was the signature of those from the Masonry District.

While the outfits for One and Two were usually strong, the quality of most of the other districts' outfits varied depending on the year and the stylist. Fortunately, Amethyst had designated a Head Stylist for these games for the first time to ensure that every district had a top-tier outfit, a uniquely designed chariot, and well-mannered horses, and that they all adhered to the guidelines she'd set for them. This method seemed to help the often-lackluster District Three. Pulled by two black horses, the tributes rode in on an all-black chariot, with strings of ones and zeroes floating around them in shades of pink, purple, green, and blue. The tributes were dressed in black jumpsuits that covered their whole bodies, from their necks to the tips of their fingers and all the way down to their toes. It would have been hard to tell who was who were it not for the different colors of binary code that scrolled along their jumpsuits: shades of green on Cain's, blue on Evion's, purple on Vidja's, and pink on Nerida's. For a district whose outfits often looked clunky, it was the sleekest that Three had looked in years.

The team from Four had taken a slightly different approach to the chariots than the previous three districts; rather than dressing up all four tributes in the same outfit, they chose to give the two standard tributes one outfit and the two Quell tributes another. Pulled by speckled grey horses, the chariot had been transformed to look like a pond, complete with glass walls, a floor with a pattern reminiscent of multicolored gravel, and a small layer of water at the bottom of the chariot. Empra and Fenris were sitting on a small dock hanging over the pond dressed as fishermen, each wearing a pair of khaki pants, a khaki vest, and a pink (for Empra) or blue (for Fenris) long-sleeved shirt. Meanwhile, Bellona and Acestes stood in the water, their outfits designed to mimic things that might live in such a pond. Bellona's purple dress gave the illusion of a fish swimming in the water, while Acestes's suit appeared like seaweed. It wasn't the most elegant chariot outfit Amethyst had ever seen from Four, but it was certainly a spectacle, which was a good enough fit for the Quell.

The next two districts' outfits looked similar to their regular fare, just slightly more elevated than normal. The tributes from Five were dressed in glowing outfits in the appropriate color, suits for the boys and knee-length dresses for the girls. The bronze railings of their chariots were woven with small LED lights that shifted between pink, purple, green, and blue; the same lights were woven into the manes and tails of the two white horses that pulled the chariot along. The Sixes were dressed in dresses (for the girls) or tops and bottoms (for the boys) made out of colored latex, which then had shiny colored gears of various sizes and shapes attached. Their chariot, pulled by two dark grey horses, was decorated with the same colored gears. Neither outfit was remarkable, but Amethyst had to admit that things could have been far worse.

Amethyst was all ready to write off District Seven as another fairly typical outfit; sure, they might be somewhat glorified trees, but they'd likely be trees nonetheless. But as the chariot came into her view, pulled by two ivory-colored horses, Amethyst was blown away by what she saw. The tributes were dressed in suits and dresses that looked to be made out of different colors of paper: Amber's was pink, Toby's was blue, Moss's was green, and Helena's was purple. As the chariot, which also appeared to be made out of paper in the same colors, progressed down the Avenue of the Tributes, writing began to magically appear on the paper. Elaborate swirls of cursive, typewritten notes, small doodles of spirals and hearts and stick figures blossomed onto the pages until they were full. This was one of the most elegant, spectacular outfits from Seven that Amethyst had ever seen.

Unfortunately for District Eight, they had to follow the exceptional District Seven chariot. While nothing about their outfits was particularly bad, they certainly paled in comparison to Seven's. Normally, the stylists from Eight either tried to show off the breadth of Eight's industry, making the tributes look like a fabric shop had thrown up on them, or they showed off a specific element of Eight's industry, causing the kids to look downright dumb in costumes such as sewing machines and spools of thread. This year, conversely, the tributes were dressed in casual, simple outfits. Poise and Saskia wore sundresses, pink and purple respectively, while Harlen and Moss were dressed in polo shirts, green and blue respectively, and khaki shorts. They rode in a simple chariot, which had been painted in four stripes, one in each color; the merle-patterned horses had also been dyed in stripes of the four colors. It was a little gaudy, sure, but it was far from the worst outfit ever worn by the tributes from Eight.

The next two districts' outfits looked very, very similar. District Nine was dressed as grain farmers, wearing white t-shirts, straw hats, and colored overalls; each tribute even had a small piece of grain to hold in their mouth. The chariot they rode on was pulled by two tan horses and decorated like a grain field, with multicolored banners strung around the chariot, supported by tall poles at its corners. Meanwhile, the tributes from Ten were dressed as cowboys and cowgirls, wearing jeans, fringed boots, and appropriately colored plaid shirts and hats. Rather than ride on a chariot, however, the tributes from Ten rode in on Palomino horses. Amethyst supposed she couldn't expect much more from the agricultural districts, though at least their chariots were interesting enough.

Then came District Eleven, which often had outfits that were surprisingly good for a district that drew so much of the Capitol's ire. This year, however, the outfits were on another level. The tributes were dressed in deep green suits and dresses with vines woven around their bodies. As the chariot, pulled by two brown horses and decorated like a bioluminescent orchard, progressed down the Avenue of the Tributes, buds spaced out along the vines blossomed into glowing fruits to match those on the trees.

The Elevens' outfits were good enough as is, but they were somehow made even better by the outfits on the tributes from Twelve. Not that the Twelves' outfits were particularly good. They were dressed in what could be best described as artistic representations of miners' uniforms, riding on an all-black chariot with colored lanterns dotted around that was pulled by coal-black horses. The one redeeming quality to the outfits was that each tribute had a lantern and a headlamp that glowed in their color. In an inspired move, Eleven's stylist situated each of the tributes from Eleven in line with the corresponding tribute from Twelve. As a result, the Twelves' lights cast a glowing aura around the elevens, matching the glow from the fruits on each outfit. Amethyst couldn't help but note that this was perhaps the best impression that the Elevens had made in years; maybe they would be able to overcome the Capitolites' biases against them.

As the District Twelve chariot pulled into the City Circle, Amethyst looked out at the tributes assembled before her. They met the Capitol crowds with a range of emotions, from fear to excitement to stoicism to confidence. Some seemed physically prepared, some seemed emotionally prepared, and some did not seem to be prepared at all. But despite the differences between the tributes, Amethyst knew two things to be true about all of them.

First, that none of the tributes were truly prepared for what lay ahead.

And second, that none of the tributes knew that the Fourth Quarter Quell had already begun.

Hello again, everybody! I know the second half of this chapter got a little dense, but I happen to be, like, the only person on Discord who loves chariot out fits, so I wanted to show off. There also might be an ulterior motive here… what ever could I be implying?

A small, sappy note (that you might have seen on another chapter dropping today oops). Today's chapter is very special for me, as today marks my tenth anniversary here on fanfiction dot net! It's kind of hard to believe that I've been writing for that long. While it hasn't always been consistent, writing has been such a constant in my life that I couldn't imagine living without it. Baby!Goldie would never have dreamed that she'd be able to write and finish three stories, in a whole universe at that, with a whole bunch more on the way. And how could I have known when I started in 2011 how important people from this site would be to me? I couldn't have dreamed of Discord back then, nor really Skype even; that was back when the only instant messaging app was AIM, really. In the years since I've started, I've made friends, lost friends, and made ones who are even better. I couldn't possibly thank all of you whom I've met and gotten close to over the last year plus, but just know that I care deeply about each of you and I am so thrilled to have you in my life. I don't know how much longer I'll be writing, but I won't be stopping any time soon, that's for sure. So here's to the next… three years? Five years? Decade? Who knows?

And of course, how could I not post today with an Amethyst chapter? I've been working with Ruby and Amethyst for years, since I began to write fic back in 2011. So much of my writing career has focused on Ruby, so it's been nice here to get a chance to explore her voice in particular from a more mature perspective. You might not know it from my other fics, but she means just as much to me as Ruby does, so I'm excited to have this last chance to be with her before we go back to the future.

The good news about this fic is that I have quite a decent stockpile now! I have four chapters stockpiled at this point, and I'm anticipating being able to write the next two pretty quickly, as the format I'm using for training is going swimmingly. Each of the 35 POV kids will be getting a 500-1000 word section at some point during the three days of training, so you'll all get the highlights of what you need to know for each going into the Arena! After that, we'll have the score report format for private sessions, and then it's just two chapters before we move into the Games! My goal is weekly updates, but we'll see how well that goes once I burn through my stockpile, especially now that I'm juggling two fics.

As always, thank y'all for sticking with me for so long, and I can't wait for you to see what's coming next!

xoxo, xxxi