Disclaimer:

I do not own the Hunger Games book series. It is the property of Suzanne Collins and the publisher Scholastic Press. The movies are owned by Lionsgate and other associated producers and creators. I am simply a humble fan, writing this for the enjoyment of other fans. Please support the official release.

Arena - Day 3

Temperance Hale

Capitol Citizen

Temperance could only marvel at the set of events that lead her to spend time inside one of the oldest clubs in the Capitol.

The idea that she would inherit not only the best citizenship in the county but a huge fortune? Influence and connections? It was crazy. What were the odds that she would look like the only daughter of some rich old man? Whatever the odds that he would use his wealth and connections to bring her to the Capitol to become his heir? Maybe the odds really were in her favor.

When she had come down to eat, the biggest feast she had ever set her eyes on lay on the table. Honorius smiled and told her to have as much as she wanted.

After a large breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast, Honorius had given her ten thousand denarii to spent. Her mouth almost dropped at the sum. That was one month of her aunts Victor's stipend, and he was giving it away so casually? When she asked why, Honorius told her he was going to be in a social event with the President all day, and he didn't want her to be bored alone. She could spend a whole day exploring his house, trying on all the finest clothes he had bought her, relaxing in the absolute lap of luxury. and he thought she might be bored?

In the end she decided not to lounge around the manor, instead wanting to see the city she had only seen on the holoscreen for her whole life.

Flanked by paid servants, Temperance tried to navigate her way through the crowds. She felt out of place, lacking any crazy hairstyle or painted body parts. She had grown up seeing the people of the Capitol as freaks, and she wasn't about to see get any augmentation. Maybe some tattoos to help her fit in.

Hours in and Temperance had left, ditching the attendants Honorius slatted her with. Her account is full of all the denarii her uncle had given her. In the Capitol, citizen I.D.'s and bank accounts were connected to a thumbprint and a DNA sample, which meant that she didn't have to carry any coins. It had been easy enough to get lost in the crowd, but now the problem was that she was lost. She was about to give up and see if she could call Honorius for help when she spotted a familiar face. Her aunt Mercedes was speaking to a small crowd of people, doing her best to sell Romeo to the crowd. She seemed to have a few who appeared interested, but most of them moved on. Temperance watched as she got thumbprints, no doubt transferring denarii.

She approached once the crowd was gone, suddenly having a good idea where she was going to spend all the denarii Honorius had given her.

"Aunt Mercedes?" She called. Her aunt had a look of disbelief on her upon seeing her.

"Temperance? How are you here?" She managed to get out.

Temperance smiled. She was still a bit overwhelmed herself. "It's a long story, and I'm also hungry. I can tell you everything over a meal. I want to sponsor Romeo while I'm at it."

Maisie Rosale

District 9 Female Tribute

If it had been any other time, she would have left the armory alone. She didn't care for knives or other weapons normally, but this was the hunger games. They needed weapons to defend themselves. Which was how she found herself suited with four knives tied to her belt. Wallace had two sickles, one in his hand, and one on his belt. The same kind that he's used in the fields since he started working. Romeo was fitted with small shield and a spear, both of which he had never touched before today. If he used the shield to protect his body, he could jab tributes with the sharp end of his spear.

"So you lived in Victor's Village?" Romeo asked her.

Maisie nodded. "With my mom. It's nice. There's even a playground for children," she told him. It wasn't out of the ordinary to see a few of Aaron's brothers around it or some of Silas' kids. She had grown up on that playground. It was the only one of its kind in all of Nine.

"Did you live in the village, Wallace?" Romeo asked.

Her quiet district partner shook his head. "My grandma was Nine's first Victor. She died before I was born. My mom was her daughter, and she had a falling out with grandma," was all he said.

"Did you live in Six's Victor's Village?" Maisie asked, falling in step behind the boy from Six.

Romeo shook his head. "No. My mom doesn't have the best relationship with my grandfather. I don't think they're on bad terms, but distant would be a better way to say it. He did buy my parents a house in Upper though."

"Upper?" She asked. The upper side of the district?

"Lower and Upper are two different parts of District 6, separated by a river. If you live in Six, you want to live in Upper," Romeo explained.

"Is Lower a slum?" Wallace asked.

"That's a good way to put it," Romeo nodded. "It's where all the factories are. The housing blocks, most of the schools. It's riddled with gang violence and drugs. The Peacekeepers actually help keep the peace... When they're not bought off by the gangs. That's where I go to school."

Maisie tried to imagine that kind of place. District 9 was by no means a nice place to live for majority of the population. The hours in the field were long, and her people were forced to work under the burning sun, or in freezing winds. During the harvest seasons, the workload was doubled, hours increased, and the pay remained the same if they were lucky. Children were often employed after school, and it wasn't uncommon for them to be injured. If someone tried to steal, the harsh Peacekeepers would whip or beat you. If it kept up, the thief would be shot. On the other hand, the place Romeo described sounded terrible.

Was Lower a worse place to live? She imagined the wages in the factors weren't much better than the fields. Being confined to an area with drugs and gangs, full of violence?

They came to the end of the hallway, turning right into the connecting corridor. A door was one the right side of the wall halfway down the corridor.

"Why would you go to school there? Was there a school in Upper?" Wallace inquired.

"Upper has one school. The best you could get in the district. That's where the officials and Victor's children usually ended up. I probably would have gone there if my Grandfather hadn't convinced my parents. He thought it would be better to see how the less well off lived," Romeo answered. A smile slowly crept its way onto his face. "That's where I learned to apply myself. The first school I went too didn't care to teach the students. It was in one of the worst parts of Lower, and I think the teachers just gave up. Half the students were on drugs. Nothing I did at that school mattered, and as long as I showed up the staff didn't care. I wanted to spite them, so I started visiting my grandfather's house more to read. I taught myself a lot before my parents finally let me change schools."

That was also hard for her to imagine. The school in Nine she attended took itself seriously. The teachers did their best to make sure the students learned, which was probably why she wasn't very popular with them. Sitting down in a desk and studying bored her to tears, and she never could stop fidgeting.

"Quiet!" Wallace suddenly hissed. He stopped moving, holding his hands out to stop them.

At first, she didn't know what he meant, but a moment later she could hear something. It was a little ways off, but it was getting closer. The sound of footsteps coming towards them.

From her side, Romeo frowned. "Do you think it's another tribute-"

"HELP!" A voice screamed, coming from the direction of the footsteps.

"In the door, now!" Wallace ordered. He threw the door open, holding it for her and Romeo. She didn't need to be told twice, running through the doorway. She heard someone come in behind her, followed by another before the door was slammed shut. The screaming voice covered the sound.

Ryker Bedford

District 2 Male Tribute

The boy from Three was faster than he would have liked. The hallways made throwing a spear annoying, especially when he ducked into another one, leaving Ryker to dig out his spear out of the wall as quickly as he could.

It was starting to look like the boy from Three might have been able to get away, he collided with a stone pedestal, falling to the ground. Before the boy could get up, the five of them caught up to him. They quickly surrounded him, leaving no way out.

"End of the line, Three," Cassandra hissed, drawing her katana from its sheath.

"Lead us on quite the chase here," Gleam said, a grin spreading across his face.

"I say we make a show out of him!" Helene grinned, drawing the whip from her belt. It was tipped with glass.

"Let's just kill him," Margaret replied. "We still have ground to cover. If we make it a show, it might take a while."

Three's eyes flashed around them quickly, a wild look appearing on his face. He quickly shot up, running towards the spot between Ryker and Helene. If he was hoping to rush through, it was bad luck for him. Ryker raised his spear and thrust it through Three's leg when he got close. The boy let out a howl of agony, dropping to the ground.

Ryker stepped on Three's leg, ripping his spear out. Another yell escaped his mouth.

"Help!" Three yelled, staring up at him in terror. "Please, someone! Help-"

Before his allies could say anything, Ryker brought his spear down into the boy's throat.

"You're no fun, Ryker," Helene pouted. Her hand found her hip.

Ryker shrugged. "He was trying to run," he said in his defense.

"How long do you think it will take for him to die?" Margaret asked. Three was gurgling in his blood.

"Not long," Cassandra said. She looked at him. "He's Ryker's kill. He should be the one to finish him off."

Gleam nodded. "Sounds fair. Finish him off quickly Ryker. No fun playing with damaged goods," he said.

Ryker snorted. He was going to be the one to kill Three, no matter if they all liked it or not. He grabbed the short sword off his belt and brought it down on Three's neck.

Wren Hyde

District 10 Male Tribute

He rubbed the spot on his arm where the bat had bitten him. He had left the cave for only a minute before the swarm of bat mutts descended on the forest. He had managed to get inside quickly, but not before one bit him. The mutts had swarmed all night, though they never entered the cave.

When the day had finally broke, the bats vanished. The ones who stared at the cave the night left with the rest. Only when he saw no bats as the sun climbed higher and higher did Wren finally took the chance to leave the cave.

"You're not getting eaten alive, are you?" Sequoya called.

"No," he answered. If he was, Wren would have been screaming. Or running back to the cave. Or both. Probably both.

"You're not just keeping quiet, right? So I"ll come out and get eaten alive with you?" She asked petulantly.

Wren snorted. "I promise I'm not being eaten alive by bats."

She poked her head out of the cave. Once she saw that he was indeed fine, she climbed out, resting her axe on her shoulder.

"So I think we should go look for food," Sequoya started. "They wouldn't have put a survival station in if it wasn't going to be important"

Wren nodded. That was one of the reasons she allied with him. Since they didn't have access to the palace anymore, they'd have to get there own food. Neither his brother or Rowan sent them anything last night, and he was hungry.

"I think we should come back to this cave when we're done," Wren said a moment later. "It provides someone to lay low. If those bats come back tonight, I don't want to be caught out in the open by them."

Sequoya nodded at him. "My axes won't help us against a swarm."

"Great. Let's go berry picking," Wren said. It looked like that's what they were going to be living off for the foreseeable future. Unless this forest had animals they could butcher.

Though their more pressing concern would be water. The forest around the palace was there, so a source of water must exist somewhere. If they didn't find it soon, they might die of thirst long before hunger killed them. He cursed his name coming out of the reaping bowl. What he wouldn't give to be back in Ten, watching this on a holoscreen. To be back with the horse's, drawing as the sunset.

"Are you alright?" Sequoya asked.

Wren shot a glare at her. "What do you think?" He ground out bluntly."

The girl from Seven shrugged.

Cassandra

District 2 Female Tribute

The eyes of the painting seemed to follow them as they walked. It was creepy like they were never truly alone. In a way, that was true. Every move they made was being broadcast to the entire nation.

Another day and we only have a single kill, Cassandra thought as she and her allies walked through the doorway. It's going to be a long Hunger Games if this keeps up.

Neptune stood up from his spot by the Cornucopia when they walked out, but relaxed when he saw who it was. Not a second too late, as the golden doors of the palace closed behind them. The wooden doors leading out to the forest closed as well, sealing them off in the courtyard.

The anthem blared and the face of the boy from Three appeared in the sky. His was the only face that night, the seal of the country soon replacing it.

"Eleven down," Gleam said, taking a seat in front of the Cornucopia.

"Thirteen left to play," Helene agreed, sitting next to him.

Cassandra took her place between Ryker and Margaret. Neptune went into the cornucopia, pulling out two black cases. They opened to reveal an assortment of jerky strips, dried fruit, breed rolls, slices of cheese, large green apples, and six bottles of water.

Cassandra ripped her breed roll in two, putting two pieces of jerky stripes and cheese in between the two sides. She bit into her improvised sandwich, watching her allies with a keen eye. When the alliance broke, Gleam had to be the first one to go. He was the leader of the alliance, and most of the sponsors would probably flock to him unless another favorite was found before then. Margaret and Ryker would join her, she was pretty sure. Helene might or might not join her district partner. Neptune? Well, she never could get a good read on that boy. He was all swagger and winks.

Allying with Ryker and Margaret might be the best chance to get home, but she didn't know if she wanted to get back to Two. Ever since the accident, nearly the whole district had shunned her. Only the Institute didn't judge her for the accident. In a way, being there had been another hell. She was praised for her not being afraid to kill, and her skill in the fight. Cassandra had never set out to kill that night, and seeing the trainers and her fellow cadets never let her forget what she did.

"Cassandra," a voice whispered just behind her ear. A chill shot up her spine and she dropped her half-eaten sandwich. She grabbed her katana, and draw the blade out, slashing behind her. Her blade met nothing but air.

"Cassandra?" Ryker tentatively asked. Cassandra almost didn't hear him over how loud her heart was beating.

Cassandra slowly turned back to the ring of her allies, only vaguely noticing the concerned expressions on their faces. Each one of them had their hands on their weapons. Her attention, however, was drawn past them. A figure was standing behind Gleam, looking straight at her.

The girl from District 8, who she had killed during the open bloodbath, stared right at her. The girl smiled and started to laugh, blood leaking out of her neck.

It was worse when her alliance turned to see what she was looking at and jumping when they laid eyes on the girl.

"Cassandra," the girl said. Right before her head fell off her body.

Cassandra couldn't stop the scream from ripping out of her throat.

Plutarch Heavensbee

Head Gamemaker

Plutarch watched as the hologram of the dead girl from Eight disappeared before the Career's eyes. Not before causing a ripple of fear to run through their trained killers. It was only the first instance of what the haunted palace had in store, but it would hardly be the last. It already had the desired effect of the first tribute. He was curious to see how the hologram, portrayed as a ghost, would affect the Two girl.

Despite his effort to end the games and overthrow the Capitol, he was still a Head Gamemaker. The haunted palace had been his brainchild, and he was happy to see his innovation at work.

Watching his Careers start to gather a semblance of calm, Plutarch sighed. His innovation was being lent to a game of death, and no matter how much it pleased him to see his work play out.

"Good job," he praised his lessor Gamemaker's, putting on his Head Gamemaker voice. Looking down at the Arena Control Room, the Gamemaker's gave themselves a round of applause. "For now let's let the tributes rest."

Giving his orders, Plutarch turned back towards the Head Gamemaker's office. It was the only place in the whole of the building that wasn't bugged. That was what the President had wanted him to believe at the very least, but his spy network had agents in the President's office, and he knew it was a false lead.

Plutarch had just taken his seat when he heard a knock at his door. Groaning to himself (he never could catch a break), he called out the okay to enter.

One of his junior Gamemakers, Antonia, entered the room. She closed the door behind her and walked right up to his desk, full of confidence. She had only been a Junior Gamemaker for just over a year, and she was already climbing the ladder.

"What can I do for you?" He asked.

Antonia threw a device on the desk, crossing her arms. "It's more of what I can do for you. You are aware that Set wants your job, right?"

Plutarch nodded. After him, Set was the most popular Gamemaker active right now. She had been bitter since she had been passed over for the position, and was trying to do anything in her power to take his spot.

"Look at this, sir," Antonia said, pressing a button on the device. A hologram appeared, showing a corridor that resembled one in the haunted palace. He didn't know why she was showing him this when a trap door in the floor opened. It lead to a small room, and he could see gas being sprayed, as the trap door closed.

Plutarch frowned. While he did have certain areas incorporated with trap doors, none of them lead to a small room. A room that locked with gas in it.

"What is this?" He asked.

"Set had this room constructed," Antonia said, a smirk being pulled on her lips. "She's planning on drawing a few of the more popular tributes to the room and killing them off. Pinning all the blame on you."

Plutarch nodded. That certainly sounded like something his rogue Gamemaker would do. If popular tributes were killed off in such a boring way, and it was successfully pinned on him, it would him in a hard spot. His grasp on the position would become shaky. It could be called incompetent. The people of the Capitol might even go so far as to call for his resignation.

On the other hand, if he managed to blame Set, Plutarch could effectively get rid of one of his greatest rivals. The ever-present throne in his side.

The gears started turning in his head. He could put the blame squarely on Set's shoulder. Replace the gas with knockout gas, and put special commands into the trackers. Make it look like the tribute(s) were dead, while at the same time getting President Coin the living tribute(s) she wanted so much.

"Should I dismantle the trap, sir?" Antonia asked.

Plutarch shook his head. "No. I want all the evidence you have on this. If Set wants to play this game, I'll indulge her."

Author's Note:

Hello! I hope you have enjoyed the thirteenth chapter!