XVII. Embittered Intentions

In which if thou hadst understood its prayers
Already would be known to thee the vengeance
Which thou shalt look upon before thou diest.

Icarus Schuyler St. Augustine. 18.
District One Male.

Everything has not been going according to plan, but you'd be an idiot to think Icarus doesn't have back-up plans aplenty. So four of his allies just up and left him, that's… well it's unexpected at the very least, but that doesn't mean he still can't get under their skin like a pesky blackhead that keeps getting pinched at yet never pops (not that Icarus knows anything about having acne).

And that's partially due to Atlantis. He's not sure if he should trust her or not, in fact there's an alarm blaring in his head that tells him trusting her could be the dumbest thing he ever does, but since when is Icarus St. Augustine dumb? Love him or hate him, there's no denying he's one of the smartest people to come out of One in years, so he knows there's something off about that Atlantis Seasbane, he just hasn't been able to put his finger on what exactly it is. But it'll come with time, Icarus is sure of it. And for now, she makes great company and definitely could be helpful as he continues on with his methodology.

Because everybody has to be on his side, simple as that. Or… at least most people considering there's no way in hell Lethia will ever admit he's always been in the right, because he needs them to tell him things. He needs to know everything there is to know about them so he can exploit them at just the right time, and perhaps an alliance isn't necessary to obtain such information. He already know's Lethia's flaws, hell he's written them out on his whiteboard back at home. She's sycophantic to a fault yet hellbent on revenge, has the tendency to charm people into doing her bidding without even noticing that she's potentially being abusive, and of course, who could forget about those broken fingers of hers which haven't quite healed het.

"So, what do you know about Calsin?" He asks Atlantis as the second day of training begins, the two of them walking so closely together their shoulders brush up on one another, "Besides the obvious, which is that he's an impulsive little freak, of course."

She chuckles in response, "And he's a spoiled brat too. I'm nearly certain his rich family paid the Academy to select him to volunteer, and the bastard isn't even grateful for it."

"Despicable," Icarus scoffs, rolling his eyes, "I'll have you know Atlantis, I worked quite hard to be here today." Hard work is sort of exaggerating considering Icarus has always believed in working smarter not harder, but he can already tell that she's the sort of girl who places extreme amounts of value on earning your keep in life, so of course he has to pander.

"As did I," she crosses her arms, "Hell, my family couldn't even afford the Academy, I was lucky enough to get a scholarship, yet Calsin can't even be grateful for this opportunity. I tried to be nicer to him too, but then he ran away with that ditz from Two."

Her family couldn't afford the Academy so she had to rely on a scholarship, he jots down in his head. He's not sure whether or not he'll need to indulge in exposing any dirt on Atlantis, but it doesn't hurt to have some. That's one thing his mother taught him as soon as he was able to comprehend things, knowledge is never a problem. She'd always told Icarus that there's no harm in knowing everything about a person because there's always going to be a time where it's relevant to divulge their secrets to the world.

It's almost funny of her to say that, considering how long she'd been lying to him about, well never mind, but as hypocritical as she is, her advice is good.

He runs his hand through his hair and smirks, "Did he say anything about the Two girl to you yesterday?"

Confused, Atlantis scoffs, "Why's it matter to you?"

Slight anger issues, but we already knew that, he searches his mind for a possible way to explain everything to her, as hard as it is, "Because the two of us are here to get at them, destroy them from the inside, so to speak."

She doesn't buy his bullshit, which is actually quite intelligent of her, "So I should be just passing on information to you without any reward? Why should I trust you anyway?"

"You shouldn't," Icarus says as they arrive to the poison station, "And for the record, I don't trust you either."

"Wise," she picks up a vile of a purple liquid, examining the texture of the substance.

"But I know things," he continues, not really paying attention to all the poisonous substances since he knows his mind will always be more toxic, "You see Lethia over there?"

Atlantis' eyes wander to her, and the Two boy who she's been dragging along with her all over the place for the past two days, "Of course I do, I'm not blind. You two have history, don't you?"

"That's an understatement," he nods, and what he wants to say is, "We used to be good friends actually," but that doesn't truly capture the essence of their relationship. Lethia was his business partner, nothing more and nothing less. She was never actually important to him, obviously not, and he never had any strong feelings towards her besides utter jealousy. Or at least that's what he thinks, because the truth is, Lethia is the closest thing to a friend Icarus St. Augustine will ever have, and she's gone now because all he knows is to trust nobody and to not let even a small speck of dust get on his throne. So instead, he tells Atlantis, "Maybe we'd even be friends still if I hadn't messed with her."

As expected, it piques her interest, "You also mess with people?"

Of course Icarus does, it's always been his primary hobby. Even if he isn't doing it for his own personal gain, he can't ignore how happy it makes him feel to see other people so miserable because of his actions. He smiles at her, "It's amusing, and of course never without purpose. My mother wasn't able to afford the Academy for herself, so she worked long and hard to ensure that I could live out her dreams," but then he wanders off and thinks, Right because marrying rich is such hard work… ugh she's such a scam.

"So Lethia is like Calsin then in a way?" Atlantis begs for clarification, now looking at a different chemical and holding it close to her face, "Could explain why I never quite liked her."

"Well yes and no," He's nearly telling the truth, because he certainly does see some similarities between the two of them, "I'd say she's a lot more straightforward than he is. She definetly knows what she wants, and I have to admit her being my partner is a bit frightening. That and the fact she's volunteering somewhat to pay for her father's medical treatment. Maybe that's only weird to me because I haven't seen my dad in years."

"Neither have I," she says, and of course Icarus remembers it. He could have more in common with Atlantis than he initially suspected, though he still isn't quite sure he wants to have things alike to her, as he just knows there's this darkness to her that he hasn't fully uncovered. She continues, "Never really liked the guy so it doesn't matter much to me." But Icarus can tell it very much matters to her.

"My sympathies," He nearly bites his tongue from the half-assedness of his words, "Anyways, I'd be willing to help you take down Calsin if you help me with Lethia. We'll get their little allies on the way too, what do you say?"

Atlantis smirks, "Sounds like a plan to me, but I do question how you'll get to Beowulf. He seems pretty drawn to Lethia."

Right, but he's the type that's definitely drawn to any living creature who slightly respects him, which is rather pathetic, Icarus muses, then looks to see somebody else talking to them. A quick examination helps him identify that she's the girl from Twelve, "She may be a problem though." He remembers the way people in Twelve all tried to volunteer for her when she was reaped, yet she didn't let them, "Though maybe she'll be breakable too."

She looks snobby, or definitely pretend snobby since the richest person in Twelve would be the poorest person in One, and Icarus can't get over the fact that she's wearing a tiara on her head, even know, like she's the queen of the world or some similar shit.

Atlantis notices the crown too and laughs, "Well you know what they say about princesses."

"I don't actually," he replies in confusion.

She smirks, "If they can't lift their heads, their crowns are sure to fall."

Yeah, Atlantis is an odd one, but Icarus is certain she'll take him to the top, and unlike Lethia, she's already so clearly broken.

Bud Bancroft. 12.
District Nine Male.

His District partner scares him.

Fennella Farro, that's what her name is and he's heard a few things about her. Mainly from his father, ranting to his friends his job at the town hall in the kitchen whilst Bud tries to find something to draw or a book to read in the living room. What he says is usually filled with fear and loathing towards Fennella, because he'll say things like, "I can't believe that Farro girl's still missing, even after what she did to Triticale. I can't believe they haven't found that monster."

While Bud's never asked his father what exactly is wrong with Fennella, he's able to concur that at some point in time, she murdered Nine's old mayor. He doesn't know when it happened, probably during that time he doesn't quite remember much of, but he knows that Fennella Farro is bad, because that's what people say about her, it's what his father's said about her. Bud knows always to trust his father, because he's the only person Bud really has left to trust.

It's weird though, because Fennella was quite nice to Bud when they first met, offering him a hug and then an apology for him being reaped even during her own fit of tearful rage. He'd just nodded though, and he let her hug him though he didn't hug back and then he said, "It's not a big deal."

But truth is, of course it's a big deal. Bud's not naive enough to think that being practically sentenced to death is something minuscule, especially when everybody just assumed he'd died a few months ago and now he finally had a chance to prove just how alive it was, only for it to be taken away. He doesn't understand why bad things happen to good people, because yes even after what he did to come back home (because he knows he did something), Bud still considers himself a good person. He doesn't understand why he was chosen to fight for his life (a battle he's pretty certain he's fought and won before) when his name was only in the bowl once. Maybe he's just gotten unusually unlucky with the hand of card's life's given him.

He's found that it's easier if he doesn't think about the Games. His father always prevented him from watching them, because he said they were too violent and gory for somebody so young and innocent like Bud, and he listened to his father because he didn't think he'd ever need to see the Games, because he didn't think he'd need to know what to expect. Hopper Bancroft always sheltered him, maybe a bit too much, but neither of them thought this would ever happen.

Even beyond morals, the Games are horrific. They're violent and disgusting and Bud doesn't need to see severed limbs and bloodied corpses.

(He doesn't need to see them again.)

(It was on the first day that he went missing that Bud was instructed to go into the yard and drag in the cadavers from the protest. He hadn't even been to whatever protest it was that Mr. Avion was referring to, and he didn't know what the protest was about. But regardless, the man told Bud that unless he brought the bodies to him and wiped them clean, he'd come back to his house and take his father too, and then he'd kill them both and set fire to their remains. It smelled disgusting, the mangled limbs and dried blood soon to torment his dreams at night, yet Bud brought them to Mr. Avion anyways. And just as he promised, he used a hose and a towel to clean the corpses of their crimson stains, only receiving a slice of bread as a thanks. Because above all else, Bud Bancroft is a good boy. And good boys follow orders in hopes that someday, somehow they'll get to see their father again. He was sent to the yard for cleaning duty seven more times and yet it never got better.)

(But Bud doesn't remember that.)

If he's going to talk to anybody, it probably should be the boy from Ten who's been helping the girl from Eight who's young just like Bud around all morning, but he doesn't want to be a bother to them. Even if his father says he's not, Bud knows he's a bother to him. Sometimes he wishes he'd just stayed missing because then he would't have to waste his father's time going to wellness appointments with Dr. Hoffman to make sure he was eating enough. If he'd stayed missing, then Hopper would eventually get over him and Bud wouldn't feel so trapped in his own mind, unaware of what his own life even means at this point.

But that doesn't even matter now since Bud's been shipped off to the bright lights and stardust of the Capitol where he doesn't know anybody and he's never felt so alone in his entire twelve years, and the light at the end of the tunnel is just his father's return to misery. Somehow, he feels guilty for all of it.

(He shouldn't have been so determined to get away.)

Bud's made a point to stay away from the stations with weapons, because those are designed to hurt people and he doesn't want to hurt anybody. Whenever he sees the weapons, his mind flickers and fades, almost like it's trying to find the missing pages in the storybook of his life, trees and an old house making him dizzy, but he still can't figure it out.

The station for traps is much more his speed. The boy from Seven had spent most of yesterday practicing with a garrote, so Bud never got the chance to try anything out himself, but today the Seven boy's somewhere else which means Bud can practice whatever he wants.

And it's there that he meets Claude, an older boy, who's from District Three who notices Bud's difficulty tying a set of snares to one of the poles on the sides wall. Bud knows his name is Claude because the first thing he says to him is, "Hey! I'm Claude Neumann, District Three. Do you need help there, little guy?"

Immediately, Bud's enthralled by him, somebody who's going out of their way to lend a helping hand instead of just keeping to themself and figuring out all the ways they can kill. So he raises his voice and responds, "I'm Bud, I lived in District Nine. Help would be good." He's gotten better with speaking ever since Dr. Rosecrans began coming over to his house twice a week to practice stringing together sentences again, "Thank you."

Claude smiles and holds one end of the snares in his hands, "Back in Three, I did the lighting for my older brother's band when they performed concerts. These snares aren't a whole lot different from the cords we'd use to connect the instruments to amplifiers."

What he says completely goes over Bud's head. It's been so long since he actually heard music save for the fanfare at the parade a few nights ago, and Nine's never had a concert or anything, at least not one he's been too. But Claude seems cool, or at the very least he seems interesting. Bud just hopes he's not being a burden to him, because he sure does appreciate the help. "That sounds fun," he nods.

"It was a lot of fun," Claude wraps the wire around the pole and then loops one end to create a knot, "You see, it's that simple! And then you just tie it on your side and boom! You've set a trap." His expressions are filled with enthusiasm and his arms move when he talks. Bud remembers when he used to be the same way, but that was what seems like forever ago.

He unties Claude's knot and copies what he did just moments ago, though he has a bit of difficulty fully tightening the wire, "I don't think I'm strong enough. I don't think I can do this, Claude."

"Sure you can!" He grabs onto one of Bud's hands which causes him to shiver a tad and then guides him as he pulls the wooden handle, "You just did, nice work!"

Bud doesn't understand why this Claude guy is being so nice to him, but that doesn't mean he doesn't appreciate it. It's hard being alone and being so young in a place full of so much sickness and hurt, so a little help is definitely a good thing, and before he knows it, Bud is able to tie the snare around the pole all by himself.

"I knew you could," Claude says and pats him on the shoulder, "That's why you're my bud, Bud."

He giggles.

(It's not the first time Bud Bancroft's tied a knot, but he isn't expected to remember the noose. He isn't expected to remember the fear when his head was looped inside it and all he could do was hope nobody pulls, especially not Mr. Avion because he didn't want to get hurt for real.)

"Now, how about we go and learn something else?" He grabs Bud by the wrist and walks to the campfire area where there's a bunch of sticks and coal, "Do you think this'll be fun?"

It will be, provided Bud doesn't remember how loud Wheelan screamed when he was thrown into the flames.

He's lucky he doesn't remember Wheelan at all.

At least not yet.

Beowulf Haleot. 18.
District Two Male.

More than anything, Beowulf is confused. While he likes Lethia enough, and he understands that she probably just wants the best for him, he isn't really sure. She's assertive, he'll give her that, but maybe that's just because she's going to take advantage of him down the line. The way she talks, it's like she just sort of expects him to agree with her, especially when she's talking to him about Icarus, her District partner.

What she told Beowulf about him was indeed awful, she said Icarus broke her fingers and hand and before that he went around the Academy spreading rumors about people to work his way to the top. It's the sort of shit that would never fly in Two, or at least that's what Beowulf was raised to think before Endellion dropped in. While he'd heard of her sister Reina and how she had potential to win it all before she disappeared, Endellion was always known around the District as simply put, a burnt out loser. Yet here she is, running circles around the dining room with Calsin from District Four, acting like they don't give a shit about the Games despite them being so important.

Lethia's up to get more food when Icarus approaches him. Atlantis is by his side and he says to Beowulf, "I know you're staring at the two of them. Aren't they ridiculous?"

He simply nods, "A bit, I'd say."

"I get the feeling that strong morals are pretty important to you. I can see why you're so disappointed your District partner is such a fool," Atlantis adds on, and Beowulf relates to what she's saying, "I'm the same way. I do all of this hard work only for a rich brat to be selected to accompany me."

Truth is, Beowulf is beyond disappointed. He'd been told by everyone at Raleburg, "You're going to have to work well with the kids from One and Four," yet they all split apart when it was only the first day of training. Which is why he's stuck with Lethia now, well actually "stuck with" is a bit harsh, but he wasn't really sure he wanted to ally with her, but she swiped him away before he got the chance to think it over. Maybe she's right though, because all signs point to Icarus being a horrible person, but then again if he truly was horrible, how come he's talking to Beowulf right now instead of beating his ass?

"I'm sorry about that," he mumbles, not really sure where this conversation is going.

"My District partner's awful too," Beowulf shivers when Icarus pats him on the back and smirks, "I know you're friends with her and all, or at the very least you're allies, but I should warn you and say that you're making a big mistake."

"What do you mean?" He asks, because Lethia told him that Icarus was the monster, not her, but at the same time she could've been saying that to mislead him. And it doesn't make sense that Icarus broke her hand because it seems perfectly fine now and she said she was chosen to volunteer but maybe she was lying about that too.

"Lethia Aphelion isn't who you think she is."

Before Icarus can say anything more, the girl in question walks back with a plate of fried chicken and asparagus, scoffing, "What the hell are you trying to tell him now, you shit-faced pansy."

"That you're full of it," While Lethia's clearly speaking with aggression, Icarus' voice is calm and comforting, "Why don't you tell Beowulf how you really broke your hand, huh?"

Lethia rolls her eyes, "I already told him it was you."

"Sure it was," he laughs to himself, "I understand breaking your hand because you dropped a dumbbell on it is boring, but there's no need to blame somebody else to sound interesting."

"Oh, fuck off," she slams her fork against the table with a click, "Beowulf, please tell me you don't believe all this shit he's spewing."

He's nervous, because no matter what he says, he's going to make an enemy out of someone. No matter what he says, somebody is going to hate him, or rather more than one person is going to hate him and then he's going to be dead just because he's confused about the personal relations of two people he barely met. And with all this bickering, he hasn't even had the time to actually form an opinion.

"You agree with us, right?" Atlantis asks, but before Beowulf even has time to say anything, she turns his back on him and begins walking off with Icarus.

He's left shellshocked, confused, and miserable, and Lethia's face is still red from her yelling, "I'm sorry about that."

Beowulf sighs, still disturbed by the previous events, "Lethia, if I'm being honest, I don't know if I trust you or him. I'm afraid that you're both using me to kill one another." Immediately after, he follows up with, "I'm sorry if that sounded mean of me, that wasn't my intention, I promise."

"I understand where you're coming from," she nods, getting up from the table once more, "This all made me sick, I'll see you in the main room though."

He's already cleaned his dishes and spot at the table, or rather the avoxes did it and he thanked them profusely even if they couldn't verbally respond to him, so he walks out of the cafeteria and back to the main part of the training center alone, unsure of what he's supposed to do without Lethia, who he maybe should've waited for but he thought she was going to the women's restroom and he doesn't have anything to do there. She won't be gone for long anyway.

Yet at the same time, Beowulf's grown afraid of being alone because last time that happened, Icarus and Atlantis approached him and that just led to a complete and utter mess, but maybe it'll be better this time.

He fiddles with a small rope trap while he waits for her, but the first voice he hears isn't Lethia's and it isn't anybody else he knows either.

"I'm sure you're tired of being caught up their drama," Beowulf turns around to see the girl from District Twelve, her posture strong enough to cary the tiara she has placed on her head, "You're Beowulf, I was listening in. I'm Vancouver, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah, I guess you could say I'm tired," he sighs, but then he remembers that if he can't trust Icarus or Lethia then he definitely shouldn't trust this girl who's from an outlying District, "What does that matter to you though?"

"Oh, well it doesn't matter much. I just felt bad for you," she snickers, hands on her hips which sway back and forth, "I run a company back in Twelve, we do mining, and I can't really say that such aggression would fly there."

Beowulf gives into her attempt at conversation, "Despite the stereotypes of us being all brutal and nasty in Two, we actually try to be at least good leaders."

"I value good leadership," Vancouver sympathizes, tugging at the same rope as him, "It's probably what's most important to me, just helping people to be the best versions of themselves. That's why I let so many people join my coal company after that big explosion in Twelve. We offer lot's of benefits."

Again, Lethia approaches in the middle of a conversation, "Who's this?" She seems less hostile this time.

"Vancouver Easton, District Twelve," she extends her hand which Lethia shakes, "I was just talking to Beowulf about how nasty that Icarus seems."

Wait a minute— I could've sworn Vancouver was talking about both of them, oh my lord did I get it wrong? Well that's fucking shitty of me to assume. He takes a deep breath and says, "Yeah, she said that she really values good leadership."

"That's good to hear then," Lethia nods her head with a slight bit of suspicion, "Does she want us for anything, or? Is this just like, small talk?"

"Well actually I just wanted to see if Beowulf was doing alright," Vancouver says with a bit of sympathy that makes his heart swell, "But now that you say something, I could help you guys take down that Icarus if you're interested."

Again, Beowulf Haleot is confused. Just a moment ago, Vancouver was acting like an egalitarian, yet now she wants to be in some sort of a murder ploy? Is he just supposed to buy this too? He squints his eyes, "How exactly would you even do that?"

She bites her lip and slowly sighs, "Well three is better than two, is it not?"

"Not if one of us has no experience in combat, it isn't," Lethia's words fight against hers.

Vancouver's nearly about to walk away but first she grimaces ands says, "You don't know that, Aphelion. The mining business is tough. If you really want to see that golden boy turn to ask, I'd reevaluate."

Fennella Farro. 17.
District Nine Female.

Of all the odd things the training center could have, a batting cage with an automatic baseball pitching machine is probably the oddest. But Fennella isn't about to complain about that, since a large wooden bat is just about the closest thing she has to any actual weapons experience. She's lucky that she can live off the land if need be, hell she's been doing it for almost a year, but if Fenn wants to return to Nine and clear her name for a crime she never even committed, a pocket knife and a baseball bat are the only chances she has of being able to strike when push comes to shove. She'd tried to use a sword the day before, but she severely underestimated the skill necessary to properly wield one, and an axe served to be equally problematic but more so due to heaviness.

The batting cage makes Fenn feel at home too, remembering all the times Karim would throw a baseball towards her and she would hit it out into the field, the two of them proceeding to run and see who'd be the first to find it. Compared to the majority of people's activities, it's probably pretty boring, but it was one of the few things Fennella could pass the time with. One thing they never tell you about running away from the government is that it can be so utterly boring at times, so at the very least, playing baseball helps.

Training isn't boring yet it still has baseball, this time as a mechanism to learn to hit moving targets at high speeds. It's actually pretty smart, and low-key relaxing to Fenn after her miserable attempts at using other weapons and the way her head spun when she tried to climb the rope bridge. While she wishes it was Karim on the other side of the cage, because he'd get a real kick out of a machine that automatically spits out baseballs, at least Fenn can be assured he's safe in Nine, her parents offering to take him in even.

"Nice going, Fenn," the boy she's spent the past two days with, Noel from District Twelve says from behind the machine, "How do you feel about hitting five more?"

"Don't you want to try?" Fennella asks since Noel hasn't even attempted to hit a baseball yet.

His response is one that is filled with laughter, "Do you really think I should be hitting baseballs?" He flicks his wrist downwards and smirks, "Besides, I think I'm good in the weapons department."

That's true, she has to admit. That morning, Noel showed her all the ways he could strike with a pickaxe, citing previous work in the mines as his experience before saying he'd find a good weapon for her, and in exchange, Fennella promised to teach him everything she knew about plants and how to survive in an environment hellbent on killing you. It seemed like a fair enough trade, even if she's unsure she'll actually stick with him in the arena. She probably should, since she knows survival is more likely in groups thanks to Karim, but that was a very different situation. With him, neither were concerned about being the last two people remaining in a literal death match, they just wanted life in any capacity.

She's actually surprised that Karim didn't get reaped alongside her, since it doesn't take an idiot to see that the government clearly pulled her name on purpose as punishment for "killing the governor," which is pretty stupid, yet at the same time, Fenn's accepted that the world around her is out to get her, and she'll just have to push against them. And of course her District partner hates her, that poor and innocent child who she vaguely remembers seeing sit by the desk of his well off father when she worked at the town hall. Fenn's positive poor Bud was consistently told that she's an awful murderer, and that means he doesn't know better.

"Sure, give me a couple," she says, arching her back and lifting the bat so she's ready to swing. Noel fiddles with a couple of buttons until a baseball comes shooting from the machine, Fenn making impact immediately and letting the ball hit the metal bars that block her from Noel.

He enthuses, "Nice work!" and then sends another ball to her which she also successfully hits.

Just as promised, she hits three more baseballs before dropping the bat to the ground, removing her plastic helmet, and then leaving the cage. Noel greets her once again, "Great job in there, Fenn! Do you want to try and work on something else?"

Concerned for him, she inquires, "I haven't taught you anything today. Wasn't the whole point that I'd help you learn to survive in exchange for being taught some weapons?"

"Of the two of us, you have the better shot of living, so I'd prefer if I just helped you instead," he shrugs, and a frown immediately forms on Fennella's face. "Sorry if I sound like a downer, but the more I stay here, the more upset I get about the fact I'm definitely screwed."

"What do you mean?" She asks in confusion. Fenn thought that the two of them both had a chance, yet now he's being so aggressively pessimistic, seemingly out of nowhere.

"You know how you said that you think your reaping was rigged?" She had told him that the previous day out of her own frustration, "Well I know mine was." Noel's voice dampens to a whisper, "You know who my boyfriend is, right?"

"No, actually," she admits.

"Haymitch, he won a few years ago," he says, and Fenn nearly gasps out loud, "They've been slowly killing off his family, the Capitol has, and now that they're all gone, I'm the only person he has so it makes sense they'd kill me too."

She always got along with Noel, but now she knows that they're even more similar than she thought, which is honestly sobering. There's so much fear in his eyes, this poor boy who's being sentenced to die because of who he loves, she can't even imagine how awful he must feel. Fennella doesn't know if she should hug him, so she settles on patting his shoulder, "I really don't know what to say besides that I'm sorry."

"It's not your problem so no need to pity me," Noel sighs in frustration, "It's just that what really sucks is, Haymitch and I aren't even getting along right now."

"What do you mean?" Fennella asks and he tells her everything. He tells her about the way Haymitch would continue to drink until he was just about sure he was going to die. He tells her about the way he would scream at him and then tell him that he's going to get sober, he swears. About the way he'd constantly shit on himself for bringing Noel into this mess, only for him to find cocaine in his bag when they got on the train. It's despicable, and Fenn can't even blame him for being so angry.

Once he's done speaking, she actually hugs him because this time it feels appropriate and wonders, "Well do you think that if you tell the Capitol that you no longer like him, they'll somehow spare you?"

Noel corrects her, "I still like him, hell I still love him, and I don't even know why at this point. He's gone through the unimaginable again and again, and the last thing he needs if for me to probably die anyway after saying that I no longer love him. He's bad, I know, but much like how he is with me, I'm all he has."

She feels wrong meddling in the personal relations of somebody beside herself, and she doesn't know if she should care since caring about their drama won't be a valuable asset in the arena at all. Fenn's forced to be here, and she's going to use that opportunity to get revenge on a system that wronged her, not for the sake of helping somebody through relationship drama. None of what he's saying really makes sense to her anyway. She's never really understood love, but maybe she will if she actually does well in these Games.

Fenella notices tears welling in his eyes so she wipes them away with her fingers, "If he really means this much to you, you should try to make amends with him before the Games start. I think that would actually really help you."

"I guess you have a point," he rubs his eyes as well. "But that doesn't mean I'm still happy to be here."

Of course he isn't. Nobody's actually happy to be in the Hunger Games, after all. Yet somehow it's even worse when you're Fennella or Noel and the reason you're being sent to die is for the actions of others that were beyond your control.

She'll show them just how wrong they were for making her their pawn.

Ludovicus Jornmark. 19.
Victor of The 51st Hunger Games.

Dinner's fairly awkward on the second night of training, but then again, everything's been awkward since he left District Two. Even if Beowulf and Ellie weren't the two most different people he could possibly have for his first set of mentees, Ludo would still be sad. The Capitol, once a place of luxury and joy and pure excitement and thrill has had a dark shadow cast over it in his head ever since last year. Going back for the Victory Tour was hard enough on his spirits, and to have the Games looming over his head once again just makes him feel worse. He was in this exact same apartment sitting on this exact same chair last year, but now it feels even more foreign.

"How was training today?" His co-mentor Milan asks. She's actually been fairly helpful, or at least she has whenever she can be. Ludo finds that talking to other victors is fairly helpful, even if they don't have the exact same brand of misery as him.

As usual, Ellie's the first to speak up, "I personally had a great time!" Her voice can best be described as simply "fluffy," and the grin on her face is far too wide for somebody who's days away from the Hunger Games.

"Go on?" Milan inquires, trying her best to keep the conversation as polite and casual as possible.

She elaborates, "I didn't have to put up with anybody's bullshit all day. As you know, yesterday was a train wreck, and I'm just so glad I went off with Sinny. He's much more tolerable than anybody else."

It's been years since the assumed alliance between One, Two, and Four didn't happen, so long ago that Ludo can't even remember. That's another odd thing about this year, the distinct lack of community. Even though his own alliance last year had its quarrels, they were fairly functional at the beginning, and he can say without a shadow of a doubt that he had some sort of a connection with each of them. Meridian was sort of caustic to him times, but he's learned to understand where she's coming from, and he still feels guilty about leaving Magnificence to the Elevens, but he doubts this year's trained kids would even care if their District partner was getting tortured. Obviously him and Hesson had their arguments, but at least they were mainly in the Games, not before. And of course, there was Saia, a boy too innocent for the horrors he faced, a lovely soul he misses every day.

Cyra was there too, and especially now, there isn't a single moment where Ludo wishes she was by her side instead of just about anybody else. That's another reason the Capitol feels so grim now, because she was its only light.

"And you, Beowulf?" He can tell Ellie's about to go off on a rant of loathing and he wants to avoid that as much as possible, "How was your day?"

"Confusing, if I'm being honest," comes his reply. Ever since meeting him, Ludo's been reminded of Saia. Not in the "I'm mysteriously attracted to you but I won't show it because I want to preserve my own life" way, but rather he has the same innocence to him. Beowulf's a bit more broken than Saia, and by a bit he means a lot, but the two of them both clearly deserve better than life, even if the Games were something they both did to themselves, well actually Saia was reaped but he volunteered for himself so it's basically the same thing. He's way more robotic too, but Ludo can tell that there's a childlike innocence locked away in Beowulf, something he refuses to let loose.

"Why confusing?" Ludo's learned to talk gently with him, since he tends to get easily alarmed by aggressive language, "If you want, you can talk to me about it privately."

Ellie butts in, "It's because you hate how much fun I'm having and you're jealous, right?"

"The Hunger Games aren't about fun, they're about honor," Beowulf furrows his brow and pouts, "Not that I expect you'd know a thing about that."

"I'm here to honor my sister, not a District full of Capitol kiss-asses," she scowls.

Milan shuts them both up by saying, "We can all be here for our own reasons, that's what makes this whole thing so exciting!"

Ludo giggles because it's so clear she's full of bullshit, but at the same time she's actually successful, so he has to give her credit for that. There's a break in the conversation before Beowulf continues his initial statement, "I'll just tell you now, if that's okay?"

"Sure thing, go ahead," he nods his head to show support.

"The girl and boy from One have been fighting a lot, and then the girl from Four is on the same side as Icarus, that's the boy from One, and for some reason the girl from Twelve, her name is Vancouver, wants to work with Lethia, who's from One to help take out Icarus." Beowulf's words slur together as he's clearly quite a bit jumbled, "Or… to put it simple, I don't know if I should take the side of Icarus or Lethia and Vancouver, since both Ones keep telling me bad things about the other, and I know one is lying but I don't know which."

"That's why I left all that in the past," Ellie smirks, the frustrated expression on Beowulf's face proving her to be quite unhelpful.

But Ludo's going to try to help him, slightly out of guilt he could never quite help Saia but also because it's the right thing to do. He asks Beowulf, "Well who started the fight between the Ones, or who do you think started it at least."

"Icarus," He answers immediately. "Lethia told me a bunch of awful things he did, but then Icarus told me Lethia was wrong."

"Well I bet Icarus was only saying that because he was afraid of you and Lethia working together," Ludo tries to rationalize the situation, which is rather tough since it's nothing like anything he's had to deal with in the past, "So if I were you, I think I'd go off with Lethia. Or maybe Ellie and Calsin have room for you—"

"We don't," Ellie grunts before Ludo can even finish what he's saying, "Go with Lethia. Calsin's told me horrible things about Atlantis from Four and I think she could possibly be worse than Icarus."

Ludo hates that all the trained kids have basically turned into some sort of a rumor mill, acting like mere toddlers amongst one another, but at the end of the day he can't do anything about it. That's what makes this whole Capitol return of his so utterly miserable. For the first time in so long, Ludovicus Jornmark is helpless, and as much as he can try to be a good mentor and get either Ellie or Beowulf out of that arena alive, actions will always speak louder than words and Ludo can't control what happens once the Games start.

And he has to cope with this all in the same place he bonded with Cyra for hours, finally free to express their friendship without worry of their parents finding out and trying to kill them over it. They made a home in this apartment, watching movies and playing board games whilst drinking hot chocolate and looking at the stars, and now the exact same rooms are being used as a stage for chaos and misery. At times, if Ludo dozes off for long enough, his mind makes a series of tableaux. Cyra sitting across from him and laughing. Cyra on the couch insisting they watch The Terrible Treks of Faust Fornam for the third time. Cyra looking at her book of pressed flowers on the window seat, so eager to explain her collection to him. He's haunted by her memories and he'll never know serenity.

He's sitting on the couch after sending Beowulf and Ellie off to bed when Milan sits beside him and asks, "Everything all right?"

"Does everything look alright to you?" Ludo snaps then immediately apologizes, "That was too harsh, but of course I'm not fine."

"You miss her, don't you?" She states the obvious, "I've been in your shoes before. I understand."

But the problem is, Milan doesn't. During her Games ten years ago, one of the first things she did was kill her District partner, and sure she was fairly close to the girl from One and Ludo saw them kiss a few times, but that was completely different from how he feels when he thinks of Cyra too much. Sure, their relationship never was anything romantic, but that didn't mean it wasn't just as, if not more important that whatever Milan felt for a girl she'd known for only two weeks.

"You really don't," he admits in all his despair.

Milan frowns and puts her head in her hands, "I just wish I could somehow help you, Ludo. I hate seeing you like this."

"It doesn't help that our kids practically hate one another," he adds, crossing his arms. "I just wish they could somehow try and forge an actual connection, even if it's not like what Cyra had, or even like you and Valentina."

"At least they're not like the pairs from One and Four where they're actively scheming to kill one another," She tries to find the positive in this unbelievably negative situation. "Besides, you have more important things to worry about?"

All the color leaves Ludo's face when he asks, "What do you mean?"

"Well this is probably a horrible way for me to tell you, and I really should've brought this up when you weren't as upset as you are now," Milan prefaces whatever horrible thing it is that she has to tell him.

"Okay, well tell me now anyway," slightly agitated, Ludo scoffs.

Milan inhales, and then exhales before saying, "Aquila Ferncliffe's here in the Capitol."

Alright girls and gays and theys and Josephm611, we've got another chapitol in the books!

It's really an odd thing how much I've been enjoying writing these pregames chapters, so hopefully you all feel the same? Here we saw some more alliances being formed along the outliers as well as the Careers simply not getting along, so really the same as last chapter but different. We also got a special visit from our dearest Ludo, so overall I'd say it was a fun time.

As per usual, let me know what you think, and if you're no thoughts head empty then I'll see you next time when I squish training day 3 and private sessions into the same chapter because I can.

Fuck this shit, I'm out,
Linds