Author's Note: We go straight into the inner workings of the most traditional career districts.

As an introduction/reminder, the victors and their Games are as follows:

District One: (Amadeus (3), Tanzanite (9), Gem (17), Satin (26), Diamond (36), Topaz (44), Luxor (51), Gloss (63), Cashmere (64), Augustus (67), Aria (72)

District Two: Junius (2), Enobarbus (5), Vita (8), Tiber (15), Cleo (16), Slate (22), Petran (39), Lyme (43), Brutus (49), Marcus (52), Malachite (55), Remus (57), Enobaria (62), Ember (69), Mason (73)

….

Change of Plans

With District One in disarray and uncertainty spreading across Panem, Gem had managed to find the eighteen-year-olds at the Academy peacekeeping jobs easily. She had managed to organise a graduation for them with a level of ceremony suitable for her district before sending them on their way.

Now the Academy would be the venue for the victors to train for the upcoming Quarter Quell. They all knew Gloss and Cashmere would be reaped. But Luxor was not wrong when he said that District One should put on a show and display the best of themselves. They would all train, even her and Satin to some degree, so their district would see a united front of compliant victors. They would outwardly do as they ought in the hope that they would set the tone for calm in the district.

But Gem was not stupid. At some point, District One would boil over and she just had to hope things would tip in the right direction. She knew that would not be the direction many of her fellow victors at home would want things to go, but she had had enough and had picked her side after years of playing around with her loyalties.

They would keep themselves away from broader district matters and train together every day until the Reaping. Gloss and Cashmere needed to be at their best once more. It would not do for them to become casualties in the bloodbath or go down easily to whoever District Two put forward. The rest of them ought to keep themselves in fine form too as Gem knew that one way or another, her victors would fight. It would not all be for the same side when it came down to choosing, but it would be a disappointment for any of them to let themselves and their victor status down.

They don't always listen to her, Gem having relinquished control over the Academy some years ago, but at times like this, she believes they will. So far, they have all shown up at the Academy each day and spent some time training in one way or another. Both she and Satin have not taken it too seriously, knowing full well they would not be reaped. Young and beautiful was District One's image and whilst they had both aged well, they could hardly compare to Cashmere or Aria.

Aria was devastated by the Quell. The victors' life had not turned out as she had hoped and getting through each week was no easy feat. Now, she looked as if she could lose Cashmere, her mentor. Gem had taken Aria under her wing, but she was more or less a grandmother to the young victor, not a peer. Aria would never willingly enter an arena again to save her mentor, despite their friendship. She would never volunteer and if she were reaped, Gem believed she would step off the pedestal early.

But Gem knew that Aria would take her side if and when it came down to it. If by some miracle Gloss and Cashmere are alive when the inevitable happens, they would too. The others would not. Satin was too loyal and for too long, she had not questioned in the way Gem had. Topaz and Luxor had found enjoyment and stability in their lives and would not risk what they had. Augustus was unfailingly loyal, having taken Luxor's attitude that bit too far in Gem's opinion.

They would remain a united front for the Games, but when it happened, a split would be inevitable, and Gem had no idea how that would play out. She would prioritise her own family and Aria over her own safety, knowing she had done what she could for the rebel cause already.

Money talked in District One and Gem had provided the rebels with lots of it, gradually, in secret over the previous few years. Their first victor Amadeus had done so too, having become disillusioned with the Games and the Capitol's regime. The money Tanzanite had left Amadeus also went to the rebel cause, the older victor having no idea what to do with a surplus when he already had all he wanted. Many business leaders had turned to the cause and had been making donations and in a place where money was paramount, bribery was never off the cards.

The rebel reserves would stand them in good stead. Leaders had peacekeepers under thumb and would turn the screws at the right moment. They would have weapons, defecting peacekeepers and with the tide turning, a great deal of public support. Gem hoped that prolonged fighting could be avoided.

If she could not save Gloss and Cashmere, Gem would do what she could for the people of District One. She had been undecided for too long in comparison to the likes of Mags and Seeder but she hoped she had provided enough. The needs of her home were above all why she had created the Academy those years ago. She took her belief that she could win the Games and when she won, instilled it in her home and provided the tools to create a winning legacy. The needs of District One would once again be paramount.

….

The remaining eighteen-year-olds stood in their usual formation before the victors. Cleo would make the announcement, flanked by Brutus and Lyme, with the other victors standing behind them.

"There has obviously been a change of plan. You will be disappointed. But the arena no longer beckons for any of you. Two of my own will return instead and we must now take over the training programme for our own needs.

To finish your time at the Institute in a manner fitting of your talents, we will still rank each of you as candidates and appoint who would have been the chosen volunteers to enter the Quarter Quell. The winners will be rewarded appropriately. Therefore, many of the usual selection tests will take place over the coming week whilst we victors take the time to make our own decisions.

Once completed, those of you who have indicated that peacekeeper training is where your future lies, will depart for your new roles. Those intending to become instructors, and the two chosen winners, will remain. Trainee instructors will be found appropriate places within the programme and the two winners will remain with us, sparring with our next volunteers."

Cleo knew that the final announcement would be well received and provide a little extra motivation for their final recruits to see through what would be an unusual week. The candidates looked up to the victors and could see joining their ranks within their grasp. Allowing the two winners into their fold would be seen as an immense privilege.

They had dealt with the curveball as well as they could have. The eighteen-year-olds would finish the programme early and the victors would choose their volunteers in the way they knew best.

"So you understand our position, Petran and I will lead the training programme for the younger candidates. The activities of the Institute must not cease altogether whilst we prepare. Two will always put forward its very best and secure our position for future years.

To avoid any questioning or rumours, both Petran and I have deemed ourselves too old for the arena. Mason and Ember are too young to return. They will support us in continuing the programme and assisting with our own preparations. The remaining victors will fight it out and re-do the selection tests until the two volunteers are decided. We have deemed you responsible enough to understand our processes, to not engage with the rumour mill, and to not question our decision-making. I trust that is understood."

Cleo dismissed the candidates and they each departed to their usual programme for the day. The victors eligible to re-enter the arena stayed in the main hall. They were to devise a timetable for the selection tests on their own terms. Cleo and Petran were going to let them take control of their plans, they were all adults, strong individuals who did not need coddling. Neither of them had the controlling tendencies they were all used to when Vita was still around.

Cleo and Petran lead the younger victors to their main office. The younger victors, free from the concerns of the arena, would need to step up and they would be trusted with more knowledge than they were previously.

It was no secret that the Quell had thrown Cleo's succession plans for both the Institute and the Victors' Village into disarray. She would need to revisit her ideas and set new plans in place and that involved integrating the youngest victors further into the fold faster than previously envisaged.

Cleo was currently their leader, both in charge of the Institute and the Victors' Village. But she had lost Tiber mere weeks ago and had reacted more strongly than she had anticipated. She had started to feel her age, lose energy and felt retirement calling her. But that could no longer be the case. It would be either Lyme or Enobaria, both of them her girls, who would return to the arena. Cleo would need to mentor once more. Nobody else could mentor Lyme and she would not leave Lyme in charge of Baria. The two women did not share the same understanding that Cleo had with her youngest victor. Enobaria would take her direction better.

Petran was to take over leadership within the Village after the Quarter Quell. She would retain control of the Institute for another year until they knew firmly what their new position would be beyond the Quell. Cleo's original intentions were to transfer the running of the Institute officially to Brutus and Lyme ready for the Seventy-Sixth Games. But now there was a strong likelihood that that plan may not work. It was highly likely that at least one of them would return to the arena, and even if they came home alive, they would be in no shape to run the Institute and continue mentoring immediately, if at all.

The futures of the younger victors were going to have to come into consideration earlier than planned. Cleo knew that realistically Malachite and Remus would not beat Marcus or Brutus in the selection testing, and she may have to prepare them for Institute leadership. If Enobaria were to avoid the arena, Cleo would begin to ready her girl to take over the reins from Petran in the leadership of the Village. It had become clear from the Seventy-Fourth Games that Enobaria was not a natural or keen mentor. Cleo was not going to force her girl into a role to which she was not suited.

Mason and Ember would need to take control of the programme for the sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds, for the time being at least. Cleo and Petran would oversee, but day-to-day operations and testing would have to come under the control of the younger victors. They would need to balance the programme alongside assisting the chosen volunteers in their preparations.

It would be all change in District Two for their victors. The reading of the card marked the beginning of the end of their current way of life. Their current stability would soon be upended, and they would lose one of their own. After losing Tiber, Cleo could barely entertain the prospect of losing both, but she knew that at some point she must consider the possibility. She would need to find a way for the Institute to continue without Brutus and Lyme if they both passed selection. The others needed to be prepared for the potential loss and how they would face both their home and Capitol audiences.

Finally, Cleo must steady herself to return to the Capitol as a mentor. Enobaria's survival in the Sixty-Second Games was supposed to be her last roll of the dice at mentoring. But now it seemed that the Capitol had other plans and District Two victors must do their duty.

If she were being honest with herself, the Quarter Quell did not sit right with Cleo. She knew she was not supposed to question the Capitol's decisions, no less because she had an inkling that this twist was the workings of President Snow himself. But she had been around long enough to figure out his distaste for the victors as a group and this Quell was all too convenient.

But District Two had not faltered, and they must not now as they prepare to return two of their best to the arena. Cleo had impressed that upon her victors already, prior to notifying their tribute candidates, and it would be a message she took to heart. She was not going to let one of her girls down. Her district was in a strong position, and they would do their utmost to maintain it and preserve their standing.