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a⬩naf
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Late October, 125

Hestia Fiore fiddles with the strap of her training bag as she waits, alone, in the entryway of Vesta Academy. Even though she just turned eight, she's not allowed to dismiss herself yet; that won't happen until after the Games, when she graduates to the nine-year-old class. Hestia thinks this is silly, especially because her fathers work in the building next door.

Vesta and Vulcan are partner Academies; trainees from Vesta nearly always graduate to Vulcan when they become Reaping eligible. But because they are separate Academies with separate buildings and separate protocols, Hestia can't go right from one to the other. Instead, she has to wait until one of her fathers can find a spare minute to bring her over, meaning she's often one of the last trainees to be picked up.

This is the first time she's ever been the last kid waiting.

Hestia wouldn't mind being the last one left if it meant she could practice more in one of the gyms. But the trainers had all gone home already, so there was nobody to watch her. So instead, she begins pacing back and forth, nothing else to do but to think. And Hestia doesn't really want to think right now, because if she does, she'll think about last night, and she'll get all upset again, and…

Her thoughts about thinking are interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Papa!" she exclaims, bursting through the entryway towards her father.

"Hi, honey," Papa says, reaching out for his daughter's hand. "How was training?"

"Good! We've been doing a lot of… conditioning? Running and pushups and stuff. Not a lot with weapons yet."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Papa's brow furrows. "We'd already been sparring with wooden weapons for at least a year by the time I was your age," he mutters.

Hestia shrugged. "That's what my group is doing at least."

"These Academies have all gone soft since Emerald made the Games changes. If you trained with us…"

Hestia sighs. She's heard her fathers complain so many times that their jobs don't allow them the time to train their own daughter. It's a relief when they reach the entryway to Vulcan Academy; once they go inside, Papa can't say anything bad about his job.

But they don't turn into Vulcan Academy. Instead, Papa leads Hestia straight past the entryway.

"Papa? Where are we going?"

"Straight home."

"Why?"

"Your father and I have some news to share."

Hestia's eyes flutter open. For a moment, she thinks about getting out of bed, until she realizes that the sun isn't peeking through her curtains. She glances at the clock – 12:15AM.

Ugh.

Her fathers always say that when she wakes up in the middle of the night, the best thing to do is to close her eyes really tight and breathe deep until she falls asleep again. So she buries herself under her covers, forces her eyes closed, and takes slow, deep breaths. When she finally opens her eyes again, she swears it's been hours.

She looks at the clock again – 12:18AM.

Dang it.

Maybe I need a drink of water, she thinks, slipping out of bed. But as she opens her door, she hears a pair of voices floating up from downstairs.

"…finally feel like we're settling in," Papa's voice filters up to her.

"We said when we took this job that, even though it's not ideal for us, we could use it as a stepping stone towards something bigger and better. This is bigger and better," follows Father's. "It's an honor."

"Sure, assuming we don't lose all of our standing here in the process. And you can't tell me there's a clear way to get it back."

"Unless we can get a Victor there, Adonis."

"What are the odds of that, Hermes?"

"She'll count there."

"That's still ten years away. And she'll lose all of the resources here."

"We always wanted to be the ones to train her. This is our best chance."

Hestia's stomach drops. Her fathers can't know that she knows what they're going to tell her, especially because she doesn't like it. The last thing Hestia wants to do is to move! 'Cuz she's not sure where they could be talking about moving to, but she has a feeling they're not talking about a cool district.

And Hestia doesn't want to leave one of the cool districts.

But she knows that it's not up to her. Her fathers know what's best for her – what's best for their family – and if they think that moving is best, they're going to move. So all Hestia can do is sit tall at the dining room table, the biggest smile she can manage plastered on her face, as she waits to learn her fate.

"So Hestia. Papa and I have some big news to share," Father begins. "You might have heard on TV or from your teachers that the Capitol is looking to open training academies in every district in Panem. Of course, that means they also need trainers for all the new academies, so the Capitol sent recruiters to every district to see if they could find anyone who might be a good fit. And when they came to One, they spotted us.

"We went through a few rounds of interviews since then, and this week, we were offered jobs as lead trainers in one of the new Academies. So in a couple of weeks, we're going to move to District Seven as representatives of both the Capitol and District One. Construction has already begun on the Academy there, so it won't be long before we can open our doors and begin to train."

"I know this is a big change," Papa jumps in. "It is for us, too. We both grew up here just like you did. But out in Seven, we'll be able to put more energy into training you ourselves, so that you can be the best tribute you can be. And then, when you're old enough, there should barely be any competition for you to volunteer!"

Her fathers look at her expectantly. Hestia takes a deep breath, then opens her eyes wide, forcing them to sparkle as brightly as they can. "I'm excited! It's truly an honor to represent both District One and the Capitol," she insists. But she's just saying exactly what they want to hear.

Maybe if she says it enough times, she'll believe it herself.

Lotte Everest throws her backpack over her shoulder, then takes her spot as the caboose of her class's line. It's still fall, which means that the classes in her age group, the youngest in their school, have to be escorted out to their parents by their teachers. The adults explained that it's to make sure that the parents can find their kids – and that the younger kids don't get trampled by the older ones.

Generally, Lotte thinks this policy is silly. For one thing, she and her peers are not that much smaller than the oldest kids in the school; for another, they all run around together during recess and after school anyway. But today, she actually doesn't mind; in fact, she's thrilled to be in the first class to leave the building. Getting out of school first means that she can find her dad quicker, and then they can go right to the first day of orchestra! Lotte's been looking forward to the first day for weeks.

Problem is, Lotte's not really sure what it means to be in an orchestra.

She knows it has to do with music because she's seen orchestras a few times on TV, on the Capitol channels her dad can pay for since he was born there. Also because she had to pick an instrument to play. But other than that, she doesn't know anything; it's not like there was any way before this to learn about music in Seven.

Maybe that's why her dad insisted that she could pick any instrument she wanted. He says all the time just how guilty he feels that she couldn't be born in the Capitol. Lotte doesn't really understand what he means by that, but she does sort of know that her father gave up a lot to move to Seven to marry her mother. And besides, if he'll give her anything she wants because he feels so guilty, who is Lotte to complain?

So she picked the harp.

But as she rushes through the main doors of the school, directly towards her father, she notices that no instrument case rests by his feet.

"Hi, Daddy!" she exclaims.

"Hi, Lotte bug," replies her father, opening his arms for a hug. "What's that look on your face?"

"I thought we were going right to orchestra rehearsal. Where's my harp?"

His face grows serious, but Lotte swears she sees the corners of his mouth tweak up into a smile. "Your mother and I have something we need to talk to you about."

"But Daaaaad," Lotte whines, magically turning the one syllable into five. "I've been looking forward to this for so looooong!"

"I know, sweet pea." Kavyn takes hold of his daughter's hand and sets off for home. "Your mother and I have been working on what we're going to talk about for a long time, too. We didn't expect anything to happen quite so fast."

"Whyyyyyy? Can't it waiiiiit?"

"It can't, honey. Or we might lose this chance."

Lotte pouts, trudging along begrudgingly a few steps behind her father. This isn't fair! She's supposed to go to orchestra and show off her harp and she's gonna be the coolest because none of the other kids are gonna be able to get a harp and it's the prettiest harp because it's from the Capitol and… and…

It just isn't fair.

Lotte walks so slowly and so petulantly that it takes twice as long as it should for her and her father to make it home. Once they get there, Lotte parks herself in the doorway; of course, being six, it's all too easy for her father to lift her up and carry her to their dining room table. She keeps her body stiff as a board as she's deposited in her seat, a frown on her face and her arms crossed angrily over her chest.

She might have to sit at the table for this family meeting. But Lotte Everest does not have to like it.

"So, Lotte. Your father and I have some big news to share," her mother begins. "We've been working – well, hoping for this, really, for a while. And we know it might be a big change but we think it's going to be what's best for our family."

Lotte can't help but lean a little bit closer to the table as her father continues. "You know that I'm from the Capitol, and your mother was born here, in District Seven. When we decided to get married, the only choice we had was for me to move here from the Capitol. But we always hoped to move to the Capitol, because it's a safer place for you and Garrett to live.

"Well, a few months ago, the government made a change that gave people from the Districts permission to move to the Capitol if they could get a visa. As soon as the applications opened, we put ours in, and we finally got approved this morning."

Lotte's eyes bulge out of their sockets. She can hardly believe her ears. Every night in her six-and-three-quarters years on this earth, her father has put her to bed with a story about the Capitol, painting a picture in Lotte's mind of a glittering, shimmering paradise. It's the kind of place, he repeats every night, where you can be anyone and do anything. "The world is at your fingertips in the Capitol," he insists; "if only you lived there, you could do so much more." And now…

"Are we really gonna live there?" Lotte breathes.

"Yes, really. I know it might be hard to leave-"

Before another word can leave his mouth, Lotte cuts off her father by flinging herself into her lap. "This is the best day ever! When do we go?"

"We're hoping to leave early next week. As long as we can get our stuff packed up on time."

"So let's start now! What are we waiting for?"

Lotte tries to scramble off of her father's lap, but she doesn't make it far before his arms pull her into the tightest hug. "What do you think? Was this worth missing orchestra for?" he asks, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Absolutely. This is the best day of my life."

Early April, 136

"Got any plans for tonight, Hestia?"

"Not sure," Hestia announces, sliding her knife belt off with one hand as she picks up a washcloth with the other. "I think my fathers wanted to work one on one with me, but I'm not sure if they want to do that right now or once it gets dark."

"They really like the nighttime stuff," Frankie replies.

"Father says it's invaluable to get experience in natural environments. And Papa says that having the forest around us is the biggest advantage we get by being in Seven, something that nobody else has except those from Four."

"Works really well if the Arena is indoors," scoffs Carmen from across the locker room.

"Well, we do train indoors most of the time," Frankie rebuffs.

"Fair point."

"Anyway, what are your plans, Frankie?" Hestia asks, brightening her tone as she turns her whole body to face her peers.

"Carmen and I have to go pick up our tesserae," Frankie explains, pulling a change of clothes out of her training bag. "After, we might go out to the pond with Maple and Hadas. You're welcome to come if you'd like!"

"I'd be happy to come! If my fathers let me."

She has no interest in going. Hestia sees no reason to waste time she could spend training frolicking around in whatever gross waterhole they like to spend time at; it's times like these where she misses the gorgeous blue pools at One's Academies the most. The fact that she can use her fathers' reputation to camouflage her distaste just makes Hestia's life that much easier.

There is a part of Hestia that misses when her fathers were willing to let her spend time with her peers. For the first few months she spent in Seven, Hestia was given free rein of the training center despite being at least a year younger than those in the youngest class of trainees. "We want you to feel comfortable in Seven," they had explained, "and comfortable with your future training partners. It'll help you train better once you're nine."

And comfortable Hestia became. It didn't take long for her to leverage her status as the newest, prettiest gem in town. She might have traded marble and stone for dirt and trees, but she also traded mediocrity and obscurity for excellence and notoriety. There was nobody in the Academy who did not know the name Hestia Fiore, no trainee who wasn't sure that she would be Seven's first Career Victor.

(So what if Ivey Hunterson got there first? Hestia doesn't mind that Ivey beat her to the punch, stealing the title by sole virtue of the fact that Ivey is four years older. No, Hestia doesn't mind at all. It doesn't matter that Ivey didn't play the Games like a Career at all, that she chose to forsake the Pack to ally with a weakling from Eleven just because they had the same name.

(No, none of that matters to Hestia at all.)

The rest of the time in the locker room passes by in a sickly-sweet haze. Hestia keeps a smile plastered on her face as the other girls babble on about whatever banal gossip is making the rounds, making sure to say goodbye to each of her peers individually as they leave. Once she's alone – finally – she takes a moment to massage her cheeks before leaving the locker room.

God, it hurts so much to pretend to be nice.

Whenever she has to stay after school for training – so, every day nowadays – she meets one of her fathers in the main gym, while the other joins as soon as he can. But today, she finds both of her fathers waiting for her, standing in front of the double doors to the training room.

Doors that, at this hour, aren't usually closed.

"Papa? Father? What's going on?"

"Let's go for a walk," Papa replies, a concerning undertone to his voice. "We have something to tell you."

Hestia swallows hard, then follows her fathers to the main doors of the Academy. As they cross the threshold, she notices a pair of Peacekeepers stationed on either side of the doors. "All clear," Father says, giving one of the PKs a genteel nod.

"Much appreciated," the Peacekeeper replies, following their partner into the Academy and closing the door behind them.

Hestia's brow furrows. But as she turns to Papa, questions sitting on the tip of her tongue, he shoots her a look that she can read all too well.

Not here. Not now.

So, falling silent, Hestia follows them deep into the forest, to the small campsite they use for wilderness training. Together, she and her fathers scout the area, then sit together around the remains of a campfire.

From a distance, they must look like the picturesque District Seven family.

God, how Hestia hates that thought.

"I'm not going to mince words," Father begins, keeping his voice low. "Today, President Emerald notified us that all Capitol Academies are to cease training protocol until further notice."

"What? This close to the Games?" Hestia exclaims.

"This close to the Games," Papa confirms.

"Why?"

"Officially, she wants to do a review of the training programs at each Academy, and she does not expect to be able to do so before this year's Games," Father suggests.

"Unofficially?"

"Who knows." Father sighs.

An idea pops into Hestia's mind. "Does this mean we could move back to One?" she asks excitedly.

"No. We're still technically Capitol employees dispatched to Seven until either the President reopens the Academies or fully closes them," Papa explains. "Plus, moving to One right now would be a huge detriment to your chances of entering the Games. One definitely has their tributes picked out by now, and if they didn't, you'd have a hard time asserting yourself in time because of how vast the Academy system is. Here, you have no competition."

"And we do plan to keep up your training," Father adds. "Without other trainees to focus on, we'll be able to put all of our energy into preparing you as best we can for the Games. We're going to petition President Emerald to allow us to work with you in the Academy under the supervision of Peacekeepers. And of course, we'll still have access to the woods for wilderness training. I think it's very likely that you will be the most prepared tribute to ever enter the Arena."

Hestia does her best to listen to Father as he goes through their new training regimen. But all she can focus on is one singular idea: when she volunteers, she'll be able to get out of Seven. And if she wins? She can live wherever she wants.

And that is a reward in and of itself.

For the first time since she started training, Hestia feels a fire underneath her. The Games have never been Hestia's biggest goal, perhaps because they've never felt so attainable. But now, everything she's ever wanted is within reach.

Hestia Fiore is going to get herself out of District Seven. Or she is going to die trying.

"Got any plans for the weekend, Lotte?"

"Nothing in particular," Lotte admits, shutting her locker. "I'll probably hang out with Erin and Vivian like usual."

"Well, if you want," Lance suggests, "we just got a copy of that new Chainsaw Massacre movie that came out a couple months ago. I'd be happy to have you over tonight!"

Feeling her cheeks flush, Lotte opens her locker again to hide her face, nearly slamming the door into Lance's face. "I have to ask my parents but that seems lovely!" she hurries. "I'll let you know tonight."

"Awesome. Hopefully I'll see you then!"

Lotte waits until she can no longer see Lance's feet before closing her locker again. She groans; one of these days she's going to have to tell that boy how she really feels. But that day is not today. And probably not tomorrow, either.

She lingers for a moment on Lance's shrinking frame before turning around and walking the other way.

Her father picks Lotte up from school about half the time. If he doesn't, she takes the Everest Studios bus. It was Lotte's idea to buy buses to take kids directly from the middle and high schools in her neighborhood to Everest Studios for free. Not only were they safer than public transportation, making parents feel more comfortable sending their kids alone, but they were also cheaper, freeing up more money for the kids to spend at the park.

When she proposed the idea to her father, he'd marveled at how economically his daughter was thinking, how committed the teen was to making sure Everest Studios stayed profitable. But why wouldn't she be? The theme park was her birthday present, after all.

"Shock" is nowhere near strong enough a word to describe the emotion Lotte felt the first time she laid eyes on Everest Studios. As her father led her around the park, sharing all the things that Ruby Emerald herself had suggested they do with the property, Lotte couldn't help but wonder if she was in a dream. To think he'd been working on this project since before they moved to the Capitol, hand in hand with President Emerald! To think he kept the secret from Lotte for five whole years.

And to think that this place will be hers forever.

It didn't take long for Lotte to start thinking of what else they could add to the park. She quickly realized that, while there were plenty of stands to buy popcorn or pretzels or cotton candy, there was nowhere to get an actual meal. That problem was quickly solved by the addition of a number of cafes and restaurants, one of which quickly became Lotte's favorite: Sweet Treats Sweet Café.

She pushes the door open, stepping into the cheerful atmosphere of the café, with its cheerful pastel tables and chairs and pretty pink floor. Its walls are decorated to look like a picturesque Capitol street, and along the left side of the restaurant is a bookshelf packed tightly with all sorts of board games.

Or at least, it's usually packed tightly with board games. For some reason, all of the boxes have been removed, and now sit in towering stacks on every surface in the restaurant – including the ordering counter.

"Erin? Vivian?"

"Oh, hi, Lotte!" calls Erin's voice from behind the counter. "Do you want your usual? Medium emerald matcha milk tea with boba and a key lime waffle?"

"You got it. What's going on in here?"

"We're taking inventory," Vivian chimes in, poking her head around a stack of boxes. "Making sure we have all the pieces to all of our games, and then numbering and categorizing them all."

There's a certain undertone to her voice, something anxious or somber or something in a way that Lotte can't quite place, as if Erin and Vivian know something Lotte doesn't. Though a bit apprehensive, she does her best to brush her concerns away. "Sounds… fun?"

"It's what we gotta do," Vivian concedes. "Wanna help? We're gonna break to eat in a few minutes anyway."

"Uhh…" Lotte wavers. She wants to play games, not to count their pieces. That's like putting a bunch of candy in front of a baby and telling them not to eat. "I don't know. I had a long day today," she fibs.

"I feel that. Well, if you do feel inclined-"

But Vivian is cut off – and Lotte is saved – by another jingling at the door.

"Oh, Lotte! There you are."

"Dad!" Lotte exclaims, whipping around – and immediately noticing the concerned expression on his face.

"Hi, pumpkin. Can we take a walk?"

"Sure," Lotte replies, her trepidation finally peeking through. There's clearly something big she doesn't know, something that's affecting everyone in her park.

And Lotte doesn't know if she wants to find that thing out.

She and her father say their goodbyes to Vivian and Erin and, with promises to return for Lotte's order, head back out into the park. They walk in silence until they reach the centerpiece of the park, a large, emerald sculpture carved to look like an evergreen tree. Lotte sits on a bench directly beneath it, folding her hands onto her lap; her father carefully sits down beside her.

There's a beat. Two. Three. Then her father takes a deep breath.

"Just tell me," Lotte snaps, a little harsher than she means to. "Something's happening, I know it. rip the bandaid off."

Kavyn sighs again. "We have to move back to Seven."

"What?"

"President Emerald is locking down the Capitol. Anyone who was not born in the Capitol has thirty days to return to their home district or face deportation to any district in Panem."

"Why?"

"The president did not specify. Some sort of security concern."

"But you were born here! Can't we stay?"

"You and your brother and your mom were not. I've been trying to petition President Emerald because of the success of Everest Studios, but she's not budging."

Tears well up in Lotte's eyes. "What's gonna happen to Everest Studios?"

"I'm not sure. I might try to sell the park for now, until things are more stable and I can buy it back for you, just so it can stay open. But if not…"

"And there's nothing you can do?"

"I'm sorry, love," Kavyn says. Lotte can see the tears that appear in his eyes. "There's nothing I can do."

Lotte opens her mouth to speak, but no words come. This place was supposed to be hers forever, her beloved birthday present that she put her heart and soul into. How can the very same family that gifted her this place on a silver platter even think to take it away so brutally? It's just not fair! They can't make her leave!

She's no stranger to the fire that ignites inside of her in that moment, but this is the strongest she's ever felt it. Nobody is going to separate her from Everest Studios. Nobody can take from her the place that she has poured her all into, that's given her unprecedented fame and popularity amongst her peers.

Lotte Everest is going to find her way back to the Capitol. Or she is going to die trying.

Happy International Women's Day to these two girlbosses! No two other kids are more deserving of a chapter posted today, so I know it's a bit late at night, but as soon as I realized this was possible I jumped for the chance. Massive thanks to rising-balloons for Hestia and Platrium for Lotte! Aren't they so fun? I had a lot of fun with this chapter. I've said a bunch on Discord that I'm having a ton of fun pushing the boundaries of format and it's been nice to intro six different kids in six different ways! Will this continue? We'll see!

We move next to District Five! I have no idea when that chapter will come but I've been looking forward to it for a long while, so hopefully not too long. See y'all then!

xoxo, xxxi