A/N: This one's short, but more soon. Review, please :3
Chapter Two
Charlotte. Her name embodied her, seemingly old-fashioned and delicate. It was much like Ivy's name embodied her; beautiful and intriguing, but with a sharp, poisonous sting. Charlotte's eyes retreated to their home on the ground beneath her once more, and I wondered if her disposition was derived from natural shyness or something deeper.
Ivy had made her way back to her tree branch, propping herself up comfortably and studying her nails once more. Charlotte shot her a desperate look, willing her back to her side. I remembered Ivy saying she moved to 12 because Charlotte needed her, and that fact was becoming abundantly clear. Even her body seemed to function differently without her near. Charlotte's face flushed a deep pink, and she bent her fingers back nervously, sending an array of cracking sounds through the forest air. "We're both from 8, originally. We've been neighbors since we were 3. So when I told her I was running away, she pretty much had to come with me." She let out an airy laugh.
"You're my spirit animal." Said Ivy, and a genuine smile spread across Charlotte's face as she let out a suppressed form of Ivy's telltale cackle.
"Why would you run away from 8? I thought they had nearly finished the reconstruction there." I said. My heart sunk. "What's going on there?"
The two's eyes met simultaneously. Ivy spoke up. "Everything's fine in 8. But there are rumors."
"About District 2." Charlotte added.
Silence filled the air, as if they were waiting for me to inquire. But Ivy sliced through the quiet air bluntly. "There's going to be an uprising."
I felt the color drain from my face. Charlotte began to fiddle with her hands again, as if she was coping with the news all over again. A thousand questions came to mind, but Ivy was quick to enlighten. "We researched and Two was always closest with the Capitol. That was where all the Peacekeepers came from, you know." I nodded. As the son of famous rebellion leaders, my parents were sure to make me knowledgeable on the subject. "Well, it started out small, a few people getting together and discussing the problems with democracy, how it was better with the Capitol in complete control. Obviously, these were the people who reaped the benefits of the Capitol before."
"So more and more people in Two were siding with the old ways. Getting angry with the democracy. There were a few riots, but they were extinguished before anyone even knew about them. But it's just starting. The rumor is that they're plotting an uprising." Ivy's bright blue eyes met mine, gauging my reaction. The information hit me hard.
My parents risked everything they had to reform Panem and break the Capitol. I didn't know all of the gory details, but I'd seen the scars my mother wears like jewelry. I'd watched my father cling suddenly onto the kitchen table, shut his eyes tight, and make his body go rigid until whatever nightmare inside of his mind had subsided. I'd heard screams break the night silence, falter into sobs and only quiet under the soft, shaky melody of an old, familiar tune. It was enough to know that Panem couldn't fall again.
My palms began to sweat thinking about it. "So why are you here?"
"We need to stop this before it spreads," said Charlotte.
"And to be honest, you're the most powerful face in Panem." Ivy flashed me a bright grin.
My image to extinguish an uprising? In District 2? "I can't change anything from 12 without starting a panic."
Charlotte tore her shimmering hazel eyes from the ground to meet mine. "That's why you'll come with us."