A/N: Trigger warning for Ardent's section.

Chapter 4:

District One

Ardent Sterling, 18

Nine Months Before

As Ardent comes to and first gets blinded by white lights, there's almost a moment of relief that washes over him. Relief that this could all finally be over… But as he becomes more alert and feels the cold metal around his wrists, the pain in his throat every time he takes a breath, and then the beeping of a monitor… Tears start to pour down his cheeks, leaving cold tracks as he begins shaking his head, keeping his eyes shut and wishing he wasn't here. "Why?"

Someone clears their throat next to him and Ardent quickly tries to reach up to wipe his tears away, only for the handcuffs to stop his wrists before he can reach his face. He tries to turn his face away from the guard standing by his bed, not wanting them to see him crying, but the action is limited by the brace around his neck. He can feel his anger slowly building at the humiliating situation he's put in, unable to stop his tears from falling down his cheeks and unable to do anything to hide them. "I've been wondering why myself."

Ardent looks at the guard in confusion for a moment and they soon take of their helmet, and Ardent sighs and shuts his eyes when he recognizes him. "Sorry you have to watch me in the hospital once again. I'm sure you'd rather be back in the prison."

"I volunteered to watch you. Someone had to do it, so I figured I would be the one," Marble tells him and Ardent peeks open one eye to look at him, questioning his intentions. He still questions how he can be genuine about Ardent and part of him is almost certain that deep down Marble views him as a monster, just like the rest of them, and is just waiting to pull the rug out from him and break him even further. If that's even possible…

Marble steps closer to the bed and pulls over a chair, sighing loudly as he flips it around and sits backwards on it. He studies Ardent for a long time, a sad look on his face before finally gesturing to Ardent's body. "What happened? You were doing so well lately and I thought you were finally getting better. You have a goal in mind and you're working towards it so…what happened Ardent?"

Ardent tries to blink back some more tears, but it's useless. They just keep pouring down his cheeks and he stares up at the ceiling, unable to face Marble when he tells him why he provoked a fight with the strongest prisoner. He's been so encouraging of Ardent, believing he wasn't the awful person everyone else thinks he is, including his own family… "It was one year ago today."

Ardent shuts his eyes as a sob rips out of him, stinging his bruised throat. Why couldn't he have just died this time? Why couldn't this have been the time the others went too far instead of just beating him and sending him to the hospital? And yet…part of him is terrified of that actually happening, no matter if he's done this at least five times in the past year.

But with his eyes closed, Ardent can still clearly see the image burned into his brain.

Ardent didn't know what time it was, just that his head was pounding and his throat was parched from drinking too much. As he tried to sit up, the world spun around him and he fell back down, shut his eyes tight to try and stop the dizziness. He chuckled at himself, still a little tipsy from the party, and he started to noticed the person that lay beside him. "Babe, is that you?"

Ardent squinted around him, the world still spinning, as he searched for who lay beside him. "Amethyst? Babe?"

But the smell hit him before the sight did. Despite so many years of training and watching the Games, he wasn't prepared to see all that blood in front of him. Ardent tried to get away from the body, his girlfriend's body, but the metallic smell followed him. His stomach quickly emptied its contents and as he stared down, he started to notice the blood on his hands. "No…" Ardent whispered, shaking his head as he looked first at bloody hands, then the body near him.

"Ardent?" The voice that called to him was full of alarm and Ardent looked up at his best friend and found Jasper standing there with a look of horror on his face. "I heard yelling… What the fuck did you do?"

"I didn't…I didn't do anything," Ardent answered him, but he honestly didn't know the true answer. The evidence was right in front of him.

Ardent couldn't have done this…but if not him, who?

"Ardent!"

Ardent's whole body shakes with violent sobs as he opens his eyes, finding Marble hovering over him with deep concern on his face. Ardent blinks a few times, trying to place himself in the present, but how can he when he's living a shell of his former life? "The worst part is," Ardent whispers to him, voice shaking. "I don't even know if I killed her. But I know I could have…it's what I was in training for years to do."

Marble sits back down with a heavy sigh, now that he knows Ardent is back in the present and not reliving the moment that destroyed his life all over again. Ardent sometimes doesn't know what option is worse: knowing he did kill his girlfriend or knowing he was falsely imprisoned for it… At least the second one might mean his family would forgive him if the true killer came to light. He could be freed, have his name redeemed…

Or most likely keep rotting in jail, all because he let his anger get the best of him. Such a promising future thrown away, all because of one drunken night.

"Ardent, you can't keep living in the past," Marble tells him, making Ardent scoff at his statement.

"Why not?" Ardent asks, bitterness in his voice. "At least in the past I was free."

"You're working towards being free," Marble reminds him, but when handcuffed to a hospital bed and with parts of him bruised, if not broken…it's hard to imagine himself actually free. "You're going to volunteer and you'll be pardoned for your crime. And then when you win, you can launch a full investigation into who really killed her."

"Stop," Ardent whispers, unable to even picture that future. It's too far away and the present is too bleak. "What happens when they discover that I actually did kill her? They'll throw me back in jail, victor or not. Or more likely, I'll die in that arena."

"You don't know that for sure," Marble tells him, but Ardent just shakes his head, staying silent. Marble eventually sighs and stands up, moving the chair and heading back towards the wall. "Fine, I'll just leave you be."

"That'd be great, thanks," Ardent answers, staring up at the ceiling above him through blurry eyes, wanting to just sulk in silence.

Ardent takes a shaky breath, knowing that soon he'll be sent back to the prison where he'll get put in solitary confinement for a couple weeks as punishment for lashing out and starting a fight. Forced to be away from everyone else, no sort of reprieve by being able to run or work out, just left to his thoughts…

"I can't do this," Ardent whispers, hating himself for how pathetic he sounds. He had been making such good progress towards recovering and accepting that this is his life now, only to completely backtrack in just a day. He feels like that shattered boy once more, filled with anger at himself and his former best friend, wondering if either of them was responsible for this. Jasper could have done it and set Ardent up to take the fall, all because he found out the truth between Jasper and Amethyst and she chose Ardent. Why would they do any further investigation into the murder when Ardent was right there, covered in her blood, and knife nearby? He doesn't deserve to be in prison for the rest of his life all because of a dirty cheater – no…that's so wrong to say about a dead person… But Jasper…

Ardent just can't keep living this life. He's only eighteen… He can't rot away in prison for the next fifty or sixty years. God, he can't fucking do that. He has to get out of this prison and Marble is right. There's one way that he can do it, one finally opportunity to volunteer for what he was supposed to be the shoe in for. He can only hope that for some reason Thetis will let him be the volunteer…

Ardent has to be the volunteer this year and go into the Hunger Games. There's just no other option left for him. And either way, Ardent will be freed by the Games. Be it death or victory.

Mercy Mersaille, 18

Two Months Before

"I figured you'd be up here."

Mercy smiles over at her younger brother Peace, his head popping up over the side of the roof to grin at her. He climbs up the rest of trellis and pulls himself onto the roof as Mercy pulls her knees up to her chest and tugs her hoodie over them, fighting back a chill. Peace lets out a content sigh as he lays down on the roof next to her, arms behind his head, and he stares up at the cloudy sky. "You don't normally come up here when it's cloudy."

"No, I don't," Mercy agrees with him as she picks at the fraying end of her hoodie. She sure wishes the stars were out tonight to seek a small bit of comfort at them to fight back the gnawing anxiety twisting her stomach and keeping her awake. "Tomorrow's the big day."

For the last few weeks, the trainers have been putting them all to test after test, different scenarios, anything and everything to test their ability to survive and win the Games. And tomorrow is the day it all ends with them announcing the volunteers. There's nothing more she can do about it and surely they already have their decision made, yet she couldn't stop her brain from rethinking every mistake, every decision she made during the tests until she had a list that was too long for comfort. She barely got up on the roof before the panic set in, rooting her in place and making her lash out at herself in anger. She doubts they're going to pick her. Not after she did so many things wrong. But she tried so hard… She's never worked harder in her life for something and to know that it could all be for nothing…

Mercy puts her head down as she feels the prickle of tears, thankful for the darkness of the cloudy night for preventing Peace from being able to see them. She doesn't need to see his pity. She'll be seeing plenty of it tomorrow when she comes home after the trainers don't announce her name. And then she'll have to come home and face her mother first, then her father when the weekend is over…

"Mercy, I know you," Peace says quietly, reaching over to take her hand. He gives it a small squeeze before letting go of it. "No one has worked harder than you and I know you're your biggest critic. You're a shoe in for the volunteer spot."

"You're just saying that because you're my brother and don't want to hurt my feelings," Mercy points out to him and glances over to see him shaking his head at her, only making the pit of anxiety worse.

"I'm not, but if you want to think that, that's all you. I just don't understand why you're so worried about this," Peace tells her. "You're going to get picked."

"No you don't understand, Peace!" Mercy snaps at him before immediately regretting letting her stress turn her angry. "Sorry," she mutters, turning away from him to avoid seeing the judgement in his eyes. She doesn't need another thing to feel insecure about, especially from the one person she trusts. "I just…I have to get picked. There's simply no other options. If I don't…"

"The world will keep on turning," Peace offers and Mercy lets out a scoff at that. She wants to believe him, but she can't. If only it was that simple. "And instead of going into the Games, you'll get to go to the university and study astronomy. You'll still be happy either way."

"I doubt they'll accept me as a nobody and not a victor," Mercy grumbles, feeling hopeless at the thought of what will happen when she doesn't get picked. "And even if they do accept me…Mom and Dad won't be happy about that…"

"They'll get over it," Peace offers to her but she doesn't believe that. She knows they never got over the last time she failed to do something they pressured her into. She can still hear the things they yelled at her for finally cracking from the pressure of doing too many things, all in their wish for her to be well-rounded and successful. And then days later…

"It will just be one more reason why they are separated that's my fault," Mercy pulls at the loose thread on her hoodie, pulling at it until it keeps fraying, needing to focus on something other than the intense anxiety building in her. She sighs loudly and sets down her hands in her lap as she glances up at the sky, finding the clouds starting to thin out a bit. Please, let the stars come out and give her some comfort. The one constant in her life… "I just can't take this waiting around. I feel like I should be doing something with my time but don't know what there is to do. I can't sleep because I keep replaying everything I did and every mistake. It's a damn cloudy night and I can't even look at the stars. I just…I don't know what to do."

She lets out a groan of frustration before she flops back onto the roof next to her brother with a soft thud, before wincing and hoping she wasn't too loud and the noise will wake up her mother. If she did…God, she can't think of a worst night for her to get scolded by her mother. It might even make the dance recital mess pale in comparison with how stressed she is. "I just want tomorrow to be over with already."

"Well, it was already about 2 am when I came up here, so technically it is tomorrow already," Peace offers and Mercy groans once more, this time at how late it's gotten. She's not getting any sleep tonight.

"You should go to sleep," Mercy tells him but he doesn't move. "No reason for both of us to not sleep today."

"I don't mind staying up here with you," Peace says softly as he turns to look over at her. "Mercy…please try to have a little faith in yourself."

"I'm trying," Mercy answers him honestly, but she's struggling to find that faith. "Can we just…talk about something else, please? Anything, just something to distract me."

"Hmm," Peace says as he contemplates what to talk about since Mercy is more the talker than him. "We could talk about how Anastacia is cute."

Mercy scoffs at that statement and shakes her head. "You think so, but not me." She crosses her arms as she thinks about their latest…not even a victor. She's ruining the training center with her delusions. There isn't a toxic environment in training, what is she talking about? If anything, she's the toxic one. Who kills her District partner before the final two?! Everyone knows better than to do that. "If I somehow get picked, I really hope she's not my mentor."

"Pfft, I'd have her as my mentor if I were you," Peace answers and turns to her to wiggle his eyebrows. "Come on, she's cute!"

"And way out of your league," Mercy scoffs as she gives him a gentle shove. "And you're like, twelve, anyways."

"I'm almost sixteen!" Peace says defensively, his voice cracking on the last word and making them both start laughing. "Okay, okay…point proven." The fall quiet for a few minutes, with Mercy's brain finally starting to calm down a little bit with his distraction – even if it is a Games related distraction. He points up at the sky at where some of the clouds are clearing up and letting the stars show through. "How about you tell me which star that one is?"

Both of them know he already knows which one it is from Mercy talking way too much about it before, but she still perks up in excitement and launches into a description, giving way too many facts about the star and its constellation. Peace just listens and nods his head, occasionally asking questions to keep her talking. She knows what he's doing and she can't even be mad at him when it's worked to distract her.

Mercy keeps going until she can't keep fighting off yawns and can feel her eyes growing heavy. Peace nudges her with his elbow, startling her awake. "Hey, we should go inside before you fall asleep up her. I'm not explaining to Mom what happened if you roll off the roof."

"Oh that would be so bad," Mercy groans at just the thought of explaining that – plus the possible injury repercussions. She stretches as she sits up, watching her younger brother do the same. When he notices her looking at him, she gives him a small smile. "Hey…" she says softly, reaching over to take his hand. "Thanks for coming up here and talking with me. It…helped a lot."

"I figured you needed the distraction," Peace answers her, giving her a smile in return. "You know I'm here for you, especially tomorrow. Regardless of the outcome, I got your back."

Mercy didn't realize how much she just needed to hear that someone is in her corner. "I sure hope it will be a good outcome."

"It will be, I know it."

So there we have our pair for District One! Big thanks to mistycharming and foxfox12 for Ardent and Mercy respectively! Looking forward to these two a bunch!

So shocker, D1 does not have their shit together with volunteers, to no one's surprise XD When does Thetis ever have things go smoothly lol. But we have a convicted criminal and the chosen volunteer. If you expect career drama with this, then you would be correct. We can't ever have a fully functional pack in one of my stories lol, it just isn't possible.

RQ #4: Any guesses on who lets Ardent volunteer and why? (we'll find out later, I just like predictions and seeing what people guess lol)

With that, we are a third of the way through the intros! I have no idea when the next update will be because I haven't written them yet (oops told myself I would during the time I had this updates stockpiled lol whoops) but hopefully that will be in a week or two! So I will hopefully see you soon!