A/N: Ok, I'm back! I had a whole POV for Clio, but I didn't like it, so it got deleted. I have forgotten to do this in my past chapters, but
a) I do not own the Hunger Games
b) I do not own the place that is the arena, not saying it so that it doesn't spoil it for you guys.
So yeah! Enjoy the chapter!
Celestia Snow, 16, The Capitol
Celestia Snow sighed in her office. When would all of this Games fervor end? She personally didn't like the Games, but if they didn't happen, she would have an uprising on her hands. She had been forced to grow up after her grandfather, Coriolanus, died. Why he didn't choose her mother, she had no idea. But everyone always said that she was his favorite, and therefore she, a sixteen-year-old girl, was chosen as the next President of Panem. It was an exhausting job, full of meetings and people treating her like a twelve-year-old kid. She was formally elected the previous year, because apparently she was too irresponsible to be allowed to run a country. Honestly, she wished that she still wasn't President, because then all of the pressure would be off her shoulders. The Ministers did a fine job before she was elected. Why couldn't they just wait for a few more years? She heard the door break open.
"Ce, are you in here?" It was her older sister, Agrippina. Agrippina was three years her senior, and at 19 looked much like their mother, Drusilla. For a while, they were opposing, but after the failed rebellion came to a truce. Agrippina was all in favor of the Games, whereas Celestia was opposing. Now, Celestia viewed the Games as a necessary evil that she wanted to abolish as soon as possible. Agrippina, who was always caught up in Games fervor, became somewhat more toned down, and never mentioned her support of them to her younger sister.
"Yeah, Agri, I am. Do you need something?" she asked.
"I just wanted to come in to see how you were doing. Are you ok?" she asked, seeing Celestia's face.
"I'm just tired. I have a meeting with Head Gamemaker Clio in-" she checked the clock, "Oh God, five minutes! I have to go Agri, I'll talk to you later!"
Agrippina laughed. "Got it, see you later. You should probably hurry, and cite traffic or something if you are late."
Celestia shot her sister a brief smile as she hurried out the door, already switching her persona from teenager to the President of Panem. She ended up running to a car stationed outside of the mansion just for purposes like these, when she was running late.
"Gamemaker offices, please." she said to the driver.
"Yes ma'am."
The ride passed in silence, with Celestia becoming more anxious by the second. At last, they arrived at the Gamemaker offices, a minute before she was supposed to meet Head Gamemaker Clio. She rushed up the stairs to Clio's office, composed herself, and knocked on the door just as it turned 11:00.
"Ah, Celestia. So glad you were able to join us today." Celestia's mother, Drusilla, turned around. Drusilla was a severe looking woman, with a turned up nose and pointy chin. Celestia held her mother in no high regard, for she had always favored Agrippina and was jealous that Celestia had gotten the appointment of President.
Clio gave Celestia an apologetic smile. Clearly she had not planned on Drusilla being here either. That gave Celestia a bit of relief, knowing that Clio was on her side.
"Mother," she acknowledged her mother with a curt nod, "what brings you here today? This is official Games business between myself and Head Gamemaker Clio. I'm afraid that you do not have access to this information, and you will learn it when the rest of the general public does."
Drusilla sputtered, clearly surprised by the turn of events. She regained her composure, and said sharply, "I am your mother, and I have just as much clearance here as you do."
Clio cut in. "I'm afraid that Madam President is correct, and I must ask you to vacate the premises."
Drusilla protested. "Celestia is underage, and shouldn't have been elected President in the first place. I will stay here, and you cannot make me leave."
"Ah," Celestia said, "but I'm afraid that we can. Head Gamemaker, can you please get some Peacekeepers to escort my mother off the premises?"
"Of course Madam President." With a slight notion of her hand, the Peacekeepers stationed at the corners of the room surrounded Drusilla, and began to march her out of the room.
"No! Celestia, I am your mother and I will not stand for this! Once you get home, you will tell me everything that happened in this meeting, and that is final!"
Celestia stood up, and said coldly, "No Mother, I will not. If you continue to protest, I will have you relocated to an apartment on the outskirts of the Capitol with Peacekeepers pulled in from the Districts. That is what is final."
She turned to the Peacekeepers. "You are dismissed. Please deposit this woman outside of the building, and do not let her back in."
"Yes, Madam President."
Celestia turned, and addressed Clio. "I'm terribly sorry for the ruckus that my mother caused."
Clio waved it off. "It's no problem. We both know how troublesome Drusilla can be."
Celestia smiled at the older woman. Well, Clio wasn't old, at thirty she had the wisdom of a much older woman, as that came with the responsibilities as a Gamemaker, and then, Head Gamemaker. She was pretty, with dark hair that fell in waves past her shoulders, dark blue eyes, and slim figure. She had a warmth that normally you don't see in a Gamemaker. After two years of working together, the two women had become quite close, often with their heads bent over some plan or paper. Clio handed Celestia a slim folder, with what looked like blueprints inside.
"Today, we will be working on plans for the arena. Take a look inside and see what you have." Clio said.
Celestia opened the folder to find a blueprint of what looked like a camp. There were twelve cabins clustered around a fire, and a bit farther away, a blue, four-story house. She turned the page to find a drawing of a lake surrounded by forest, and again to find a sort of sparring field. The next few pages consisted of stables, a strawberry field, and a climbing wall with lava flowing down it. On the last page, the Cornucopia was drawn, right in front of an arch that led down to the camp area.
"Wow." Celestia was amazed at the detail that had gone into making these blueprints. Clio smiled proudly.
"Our best yet, don't you think?"
"Absolutely."
Clio handed her another folder. "These have the plans for the muttations. You don't have to look over them yet, just look at them before our next meeting and you'll be good. If you don't have anything else that you need, you can go now. I heard that Shimmer is coming for a couple of weeks, and heading back for the District One Reaping. Her train is arriving in," she checked her watch, and it said 12:00. "About thirty minutes. I'll let you go, and you can meet her at the station."
Celestia jumped up and hugged Clio. "Thank you so much, the arena looks wonderful, and thank you for telling me about Shimmer. I'll leave now so that you can start working on whatever you need to work on. Goodbye!"
And with that, Celestia was out the door and hurrying to the car to get to the station.
Shimmer Gonzales, 28. Victor of the 70th Hunger Games, District One.
Shimmer Gonzales sighed as she looked out of the train window. Every year it was the same. Every year, she came to the Capitol, got sponsors, and watched her tributes die. At least this year she would get to see Celestia. She smiled. It was going to be a big surprise, no one knew except for the other teachers at the Academy, and Head Gamemaker Clio. She mentally slapped herself. Why didn't she think of that sooner? Clio and Celestia were friends, and Clio almost certainly told Celestia. Knowing Celestia's impatience, she was surely going to be waiting at the station. Probably with a big sign too. She chuckled at the mental image of Celestia in formal attire holding up a big, glittery sign with 'WELCOME BACK SHIMMER' on it. Celestia was like a little sister to her, because Shimmer had always stayed loyal to the Capitol. Staying loyal to the Capitol meant a bigger chance to meet the Snows and other important families in Panem. The day after the party in the Capitol celebrating her victory, Celestia had knocked on Shimmer's door. Shimmer opened it, and there stood a shy girl of six wanting an autograph. She invited the girl in, and was surprised to find out that it was Celestia Snow. Celestia was a shy little girl, and she almost didn't come in the door. After a bit of coaxing, Celestia came in, and they developed a strong friendship. Celestia trusted Shimmer completely, and Shimmer would never betray that trust. Soon, Celestia was confiding in her how she felt closer to Shimmer than she did to her own sister, Agrippina. Not that Shimmer could blame her. Agrippina was not a very friendly person, and Drusilla had her tucked right under her thumb.
She was jolted out of her thoughts by the feeling of the train coming to a stop. She looked out of the window to see an empty platform, but there was one person. Probably Celestia. After closer inspection, Shimmer discovered that she was right in her assumption that it was Celestia. She stood up and made her way to the door. An Avox opened the door for her, and as soon as she stepped foot onto the platform, Celestia barreled towards her.
"Shimmer!" Celestia exclaimed, "I almost didn't make it to the platform! Clio- sorry, Head Gamemaker Clio- just told me at the end of our meeting that you were coming and I rushed right here but traffic was bad and I thought I wouldn't make it but I made it just as your train made it into the station!" Celestia beamed.
Shimmer laughed and shook her head.
"Celestia, me being here was actually supposed to be a surprise."
"Oh no! I'll talk to Cl- Head Gamemaker Clio. Sorry. Sorry sorry sorry." Celestia said.
Shoot. Shimmer didn't mean to make Celestia feel bad, but she needed to just move on.
"So, how is the Capitol this year? Any new fashions, hideous plastic surgery, crazy things that you would never do if you were in your right mind?" she asked, laughing.
"Well, I had a meeting with some of the stylists, most of them didn't show up," Celestia made a face as if she was appalled that most stylists didn't attend, "and the only ones that showed up were the stylists from Three. One had a pretty toned-down look, it was really nice actually, and the other one was WAY over the top, she had bows EVERYWHERE."
Shimmer laughed. "Well, it's nice to know that the Capitol has stayed the same. Not that I thought it was going to change. On another note, I have about a week until I have to go back to One for the Reaping, is there anything that you want to do before I go?" she asked.
"Well, on the ride over here, I thought that you might want to stay in the President's mansion, and I called the Head Housekeeper and had her clean the room next to mine. I hadn't really thought about anything else, so it's honestly up to you. I mean, we could see a movie, go out to eat, oooh, I could- wait, I can't tell you anything about the arena or this year's Hunger Games, nevermind. I have a bunch of meetings that I have to go to, but I can cancel the ones that aren't strictly necessary. I'm sure Caesar will want to interview you. I can set that up, we can do a joint interview, but honestly it's up to you."
Even though Celestia was the President of Panem, Shimmer sometimes forgot that she was a teenager too. It was easy to forget, because Celestia was so mature for her age. She had so much weight on her shoulders at such a young age, always thinking about the next meeting or who would try to challenge her later that day. (Usually Drusilla)
Shimmer smiled. "I'm sure Caesar will want to interview me, ask why I came to the Capitol early and such. Of course, I would love to stay in the room next to you, and movies sound good, but where would we go to eat? Capitolites will be flocking there to get autographs and pictures."
"That's true," Celestia responded, musing, "I hadn't thought about that. Well, we could order room service and watch a movie or something!"
"Of course!" Shimmer said, "But you don't have to cancel your meetings for me. I can just wander around the Capitol, go into boutiques, maybe get a little plastic surgery done…"
She stopped when she saw Celestia's horrified face. "I'm kidding! Did you really think that I would go get plastic surgery done? I'm already one of the most beautiful people here!" She struck a pose, and Celestia laughed.
"Come on Shimmer, we have made the driver wait long enough. We can talk on the way back."
Shimmer allowed herself to be pulled along by Celestia, happy that she had received such a warm welcome, and excited to be able to be with Celestia for a bit.
A/N: Shimmer is not my creation, she is the creation of the wonderful Loveableheart.
Yes. Yes I just did that. I spent a couple of days looking for ideas, and then I was just over searching and decided to do CHB. I was debating between this or Havenfield from KOTLC, but this one won. So how did you like this chapter? PLEASE let me know, either PM or review. It really lights up my whole day to hear what you guys have to say. And PLEASE submit characters. I really love getting to ~know~ (ish) your characters. Let me know your ideas for mutts! I already have a few ideas (niads, centaurs, maybe rabid grapevines, monsters, etc) but if you have any ideas, feel free to share! As always, PM me with any questions, and have an amazing day!
-Annabeth