"After interest in the Games drops to an all time low, President Snow is determined to regain the once amazing popularity. Twelve tributes. One 'arena.' And one game-changing twist. Welcome to the 80th Hunger Games, the Rebirth."

~ The Rebirth Games ~

Chapter Twenty-Four:

A Is For Answers

"Are.." I choke his name out. "I thought you were.. dead."

He smiles. "I wasn't. That's the advantage of Umbree giving me a stab resistance vest when my psycho partner betrays me."

"Your partner?" I say. "Celia?"

"Correct. She just couldn't deal with the fact that I wanted you to be the lone survivor with me as the victor.. She thought it was always going to be her and I out. She was dumb. I was hardly going to kill my own brother, was I?"

Brother.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

Are gives me a big grin. "Danix, you're my brother! It all started fifteen years ago during the second rebellion, in a hospital room away in the Capitol..."

A newborn baby silently cries as the mother holds it in her arms. She sits up in the hospital bed as the father stands by her side, a small tear streaming down his face. A nurse stands at the door, a huge smile on her face.

"What are you going to name him?"

"Danix. We're going to name him Danix," the mother says, sniffling between each word.

"What a lovely name.." the nurse says. "And what about the other one?"

The father spins around, gently rocking the sleeping baby in his arms.

"We're going to name him Are."

In the cold night air, hovercrafts shoot through the sky and drop several bombs over the city. Smoke covers the skies, explosions rock the ground, terrified citizens run around aimlessly. Flickering flames cover the roads as every inch of the Capitol erupts into hell.

"They knew it wasn't safe enough," Are continues. "The Capitol was cleared of any rebels that night. In the early hours of the following morning, we were split up.."

The train station is completely packed with emotional parents. Fathers hug their wives, waving their last goodbyes to the children on-board the trains. Hands stick out the small windows, desperately trying to break free. The childrens' cries slowly fade into echoes as the trains disappear through the tunnels.

"You were sent to Four, obviously.. I was sent to Seven. Four, Seven, One, Two and Three were the only districts allying with the Capitol at the time.. We were both greeted by caring parents once we reached our destinations."

"You're saying that my parents aren't.. my real parents?" I ask.

Are nods his head. "You're going to have to ask them to find out why they never told you. However, mine told me. I knew all along."

"This doesn't make any sense," I continue. "Are you telling me that this was all just a big coincidence? That two twin brothers split at birth just happened to be picked to enter the Games?!"

Are shakes. "Not at all. Did you ever wonder what your parents were doing in the Capitol as their job?"

I can already see them less than a week ago, breaking the news about heading to the Capitol. They were working on a television show just the same time as the Games were starting. How did I not know all along? I'm not surprised when Are tells me the truth.

"They're Gamemakers."

Umbree sits down in her seat in her office and smiles. "As a family of Gamemakers who feed the nation who live and breath on entertainment, we have come to our final concept for this year's Games. We want to reunite Danix and his long lost brother in the Games and guarantee that they both survive as victors."

The man with curled brown hair opposite her gasps. "You managed to find Are? I can't believe this!"

The woman beside him sheds a single tear. "This will be the perfect family reunion.."

Are points at one of the walls in the room. "Behind this bricks, you're parents have been watching all this time. We've been planning scenarios, perfect situations to let you escape dangerous attacks at any moment. Those other tributes never had any chance of winning at the start. And the best part of all this? Them citizens of Panem are never going to know."

Are claps his hands. "This is the first year that the Games aren't live. That way the footage shown on television tonight will be edited. In fact, the only parts of this conversation that will be shown is the stuff about how we're brothers."

"So they're just going to think that this was all a big coincidence?" I ask.

Are lets out a giggle. "Yup. They're stupid."

For the first time, I don't see Are when I look at him. I see something else. A coward. A monster. A murderer. I don't care if we're brothers. I quickly yank one of his feather blades from his wing and raise my hand to stab. He quickly smacks it out of my hand and shoves me back into the wall. He grabs onto my wrists and make sure I can't move an inch.

"You killed them all and you knew what you were doing all along!" I yell. "The least you could have done was let Celia do all your dirty work! You're a killer and I trusted you!"

Suddenly, he stops smiling and the joy from his face vanishes. He looks sad, gloomy, depressed. Something's wrong. Then he chokes out his next words.

"They made me do it all along. Umbree said that I needed to get involved more. Otherwise me being your brother would be pointless to the Games.. It never helped that there were three people involved."

"Three people?!" I exclaim. "It was only supposed to be you and Celia!"

"Then there was Solly."

Solly marches through the underground tunnels and puts his Mockingjay mask on over his face, a knife held tight in his hand. He climbs a flight of steps and pushes up on a trap door, opening up a hole in one of the bedrooms. He climbs up, shuts the door and sneaks under Danix's bed.

"Solly was never undercover, or whatever he said he was.." continues Are. "Celia and him were planning all along to kill you.. Umbree never knew and I had no time to tell her. I had to stop him."

Are bursts through the trap door and shuts it behind him, pulling on the string of his chainsaw. With one foul cut, Solly's head comes clean off and lands in Danix's hands. Are runs out the door, Danix following close on his heels and ends up trapping him in the weaponry in the basement.

"Why do you think the Mockingjay killer jumped out of your closet and attacked you on the first night?" Are asks. "Then suddenly, the Mockingjay kills Solly and spares you? Don't you get it? All along, it was me and Celia.. One moment you're trying to be killed, the next moment you're being spared. Two different people in this costume. Two different people with opinions, one who hates you, one who loves you."

"So you killed you're own partner to save me?"

"Yes!" exclaims Are. "I couldn't just let Solly murder my brother! The whole point was that us two were the final ones.. Solly and Celia were both in on the secret but never liked it. If they murdered you, Umbree would probably have executed all three of us."

"Who did you kill?"

Are frowns.

"Igneous."

Are runs through the crowds away from Livvy, Tren and Celia and down a dark alleyway. A ramp opens up on the concrete ground and he runs down into the depths below. Umbree stands there with a pleasant face, holding the Mockingjay costume in her hands.

Danix lies unconscious on the ground after the extinguisher explosion and Are runs out the emergency exit. Out in the snow, he whips off his mask and wipes his forehead clean of the sweat as he pants.

He hides himself around the corner of the hospital and watches as Igneous and Danix run away up the hill. He tags along not far behind them.

Are slices Igneous in the back of the head with his wing. He fights with Danix and gives him a blow to the head, knocking him into darkness.

"We should just kill him."

Are spins around and sees Celia standing in the doorway.

"He's my brother," says Are once he pulls off his mask. "I'm not going to hurt him." Celia huffs. Are gets out of his Mockingjay suit and hides it away in the corner of the basement behind some cardboard boxes. Once Obedience arrives with a cup of tea, Are puts on a fake scream of terror.

"I think they're both dead!"

"How did the basement door open?" I ask. "I was freed somehow."

"Gamemakers unlocked it down in the Control Room with a press of their button. They did the same with Fern in the supermarket," Are explains.

"What about the maze? I was attacked by Celia in there, I'm guessing.."

"Yup," says Are. "I overheard everything. The whole plan Livvy gave to you in the kitchen about killing Celia. I was listening right by the door, and once you guys had finished I interrupted and walked straight in.. We arranged a plan with Umbree that night. We were all in our rooms, so Celia and I went through the tunnels and to the Control Room. Umbree told Celia that when Livvy came to kill her, she should follow a set path through the maze. She would change into the Mockingjay suit that was at the final direction and she would kill Livvy... But you entered the maze and she tried killing you."

My eyes fill with tears and I spit out one word. "Tren."

Are shakes his head and sniffs. "The boxes were all Umbree's idea. Celia was meant to unmask herself on the roof, Fern got in the way and you pushed her off.. Those footsteps that we followed to the village were Livvy's when Fern freed her from the basement. I was meant to meet you down in the tunnels, that's why that box leading to the tunnels was my one.. But Umbree ordered Celia to be revealed first. She wanted to save me and my brother story for last. But I had no idea what was going to happen to Tren..."

Are climbs across piles of rubble, watching as a huge explosion is set off in the center of the road. All he sees is Danix fly through the air and he screams his name.

"The Control Room was in such a panic," he continues. "They were trying to revive you, make sure you weren't going to pass out. They ended up fixing you. I carried you all the way through the tunnels and back up into your bedroom."

Finally, he starts to sound misunderstood. Like being the Mockingjay wasn't all that good after all. A single tear streams from his eye and runs down his face.

"I never knew that the box was going to blow up.."

I stare at him straight in the eyes, refusing to shed anymore tears. Refusing to feel a single bit of compassion for him until he answers my question. "How did you know Maris?"

"Maris?" he says in a puzzled tone. "Who is Maris?"

"You know who she is," I say.

"No I don't. There's no other tribute called Maris in here."

The other tributes. One lone survivor alongside the Mockingjay or the Mockingjay dies and the rest are victors. What do I do? Who do I side with? I can't think straight. Either me, Destiny, Crazy and Obedience or just me and my brother.

"Where are the others?" I ask. And once I ask that, I hear Caesar Flickerman's voice ring throughout the house.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here are the victors for the eightieth Hunger Games: Danix Tides and Are Tulgrid."

Are looks up at me and answers my question.

"They're already dead."

Author's Note:

A is for answers like A is for.. ARE! :D

Hello everybody! Welcome to Chapter Twenty-Four of The Rebirth Games: A Is For Answers! I really wanted to make the title 'A Is For Answers, A Is For Are' or maybe 'Answers In The Are,' but that's just too spoilery. xD

So obviously in this chapter, we got answers on how Are pulled it all off! Obviously, there are a few more questions... Maris, the other tributes, blah blah blah, etc. They will still be answered in the next few chapters. And what do you think of that cliffhanger? THE OTHERS ARE DEAD!

OMG! WTF!

So I'm obviously going to explain what happened in the next chapter or two. Also, how do you think they suddenly died? HINT: there was a time period where Danix was unconscious after the explosion where anything could have happened. Also, if you go back to Unmasked: Part 1, you'll see that both the killers were there - Celia and Are - once Danix woke up. xD

I put little things like that throughout the story - for example, Are not voting for Celia to be put on trial because they're partners, and when Celia is voted to be put on trial, suddenly there's a twist that 'the most voted person is actually the judge' - so hopefully you'll be able to catch a few of them! :D

Okay, so currently, what are you thinking about Are? Do you like him? Do you think he's misunderstood because he was forced to kill? Or do you HATE him for killing the other tributes? Let me know in a review if you have a bit of time!

The story is not going to end just yet. I'm guessing in about FOUR chapters, it will. I'm going to attempt to post a chapter each day until the story's done, so that means I'm scheduled to have it wrapped up by Wednesday. :(

Hopefully you'll all enjoy or at least appreciate the stuff that is to come. After all, why would I write four more chapters for post-Games stuff? Usually it's only about one or two. ;)

Thank you all so much for reading, byeeeeee! :D