The Capitol

Three Days After the Games

13:00 hours

Kalo didn't wake up from the events of the tenth day in the arena until earlier this morning. In the days that she was out, she was told that she underwent facial reconstruction, and her body has been injected with several extreme painkillers. Still, their hand keeps moving instinctively to where their various injuries were inflicted - from her shoulder to her leg, to the trauma to her head.

The images in their mind can never be erased, however. They were the first thing Kalo saw when they woke up; Nisa's dying eyes as she faded in Kalo's arms, Jorah's final breaths, and Amur being dragged under the water by those rat mutts.

Yet, of all of the twenty-six that went in, Kalo remains. Does that mean she'll have to go back to her father, for him to gloat at her that she's a killer now, a killer that's no better than him?

The strangest thing oddly about being awake is the light - having spent all those days in the deep dark. Kalo has found that she's had to cover her eyes every other moment and that an average-lit room feels like staring at the sun.

Moments after Kalo's lucid awakening, they were escorted into this plain, white cold room with a single one-sided glass panel running across the wall and then they were slumped at a table. The Peacekeepers left an hour ago, and since then Kalo has been left with nothing but their thoughts.

(The worst thing the Capitol could do to her right now is send them back to their father, so the fear has truly been removed from their heart. Right now, it feels oddly blank, they've managed to push all the fear to the bottom of it, and so, all they are left with is nothing.)

CLICK

The door opens to Kalo's left, and Prunus enters - with his eyes tucked under his glasses as usual. A somewhat friendly face. At least - Kalo thinks.

Prunus dumps a folder full of papers onto the table, pulling a chair up, and taking a seat opposite Kalo.

"Well… congratulations on your win."

Kalo doesn't answer, they simply stare at their mentor with a stone-cold expression.

Prunus raises his eyebrows. "Look, I know that's not what you wanna hear right now-"

"You know what I wanna hear? The Capitol does me a deal, they'll send me far away from Seven, away from my father… somewhere warm and sunny… like Four," She smiles slightly, the beautiful beaches which Nisa described flashing through her mind briefly. "And they'll never hear from me again."

Prunus gives her a warm smile but then he shakes his head. "We both know they won't do that… they have traditions, you see-"

"Then, what do they want? Why am I in this room?" Kalo asks, folding her arms.

"T-they could get you one of the nicest spots in the victor's village in Seven, even away from your father… they'll just want something out of you in return…"

"What?"

"Nothing more than information, I suspect. That boy… What was it? Jonah?"

"Jorah," Kalo corrects him, sharply.

"Ok… that boy Jorah was an enemy of Panem, and they just want you to tell them anything you know, anything he told you… f-for both our sakes."

Jorah told Kalo a lot… more than a lot. One of his dying wishes was that whoever one their battle would continue the fight afterward. They can't dishonor his memory… they can't let both their fathers win.

The stubborn girl from Seven shakes her head. "What if I said no?"

Prunus sighs, changing to a more intense expression. His nervous persona is dropped like a light being turned off. He straightens his back and removes his glasses. "I didn't want it to come to this…" his voice is deeper than before and more menacing.

Restraints suddenly clip around Kalo's wrists from the table. They wiggle their hands in panic but to no avail, the metal restraints are bolted tight.

"You see, we at the Inner-Table have other methods of obtaining information from people," he smirks maliciously, whilst tapping a hologram screen in his hand.

"Prunus?"

"The name's Kaŝita… forger for the Inner-Table," he tilts his head smugly. "Gotta say, I was gettin' tired of the whole mentor act."

He presses a button on his hologram, and a screen appears in front of Kalo, a whirling, black spiral on a white background.

"By the time our conversation is over, you won't even remember we met."

Kalo wants to look away, to blink but she can't… her eyes are drawn to the rotating image like a magnet. She's afraid and helpless… it's like she's back at home.

Out of nowhere, the door buzzes, knocking Kalo out of the hypnosis.

Prunus, or 'Kaŝita', furrows his eyes in confusion. He strides straight for the door and yanks it open.

Kalo's eyes turn left. There is a woman standing at the door. She is small and frail with dark black hair and pale wrinkly skin.

The woman clears her throat, then flips open a badge. "Hestia Varus, I've been assigned to take over the interrogation!"

Prunus snarls like a rabid dog and snatches the badge from her. "Hestia who?" He scans the badge, rigorously. "What's your clearance?" He demands.

"Highest… if you've got a problem, then I suggest you take it up with The Table."

Prunus groans, slapping the badge back into the woman's hands. "This isn't over."

He storms out, leaving Kalo alone with this new threat. The woman observes Prunus until he is fully out of sight, then shuts the door, sharply.

She rushes over to where Kalo is sitting. Kalo gasps in surprise as the Capitolite begins tearing the skin from her own face…. Then they realise - it's not skin at all, she was wearing a mask.

Hestia yanks the mask fully off to reveal a girl, roughly Kalo's age with olive-coloured skin, and a permanent cheeky smile. "C'mon, we gotta get you outta here!" She exclaims in a much higher-pitched and cheerier voice.

Kalo simply stares at her, mouth wide open. "W-what's… what's going on… who are you?"

"Oh! Sorry! Darrah Arinori!" She grins, sticking out her hand before promptly realising that Kalo's hands are restrained.

Of course! The survivor from District Seven! She's famous back home. But the problems of Darrah and the rebels always seemed far out of the scope of Kalo's own problems - so she never gave them much thought. Now they seem to have come to her doorstep.

"Arinori…the rebel from Seven?!"

"That's me," Darrah winks.

The quirky girl then begins fiddling around with a mechanism under the table to which Kalo is attached to. "Nope, that's not the right button… there we go!"

Kalo's left hand comes free! Then, immediately, Darrah bolts for the door! "Come on!"

"Wait!" Kalo yells, nodding their head at their right hand.

"Oh sorry."

Darrah frees her final hand allowing Kalo to finally stand up and follow the rebel to the door.

"What's going on?" She continues to persist - only to be ignored.

Kalo never planned to join the rebel cause, nor did they ever really want to - it wasn't their problem. But since the alternative is staying behind and either being brainwashed, sent back to her father, or both, this seems to be the best option.

Kalo stops behind Darrah, who is hiding behind the door frame and peering out. She mutters something into her comms in her ear. "IQ? The lights?"

IQ? What does that mean? - Kalo wonders.

The lights switch off, all at once - leaving the building in complete darkness. But Kalo's eyes adjust immediately - having spent all that time deep underground.

Darrah gestures for Kalo to follow her. So, she proceeds behind her, and her heart begins to pound. She truly has no idea what awaits her next. As they are sneaking through the dim corridor together, Darrah freezes at the sounds of hushed voices. Her eyes go back to Kalo, she seems to take note of the uncertainty in their eyes.

"Don't worry, I was nervous too during my first breakout," she chirps. "Yours will be way cooler, trust me!"

The girl gestures for Kalo to follow again when the voices have died down.

"Yeah, that's all well and good but have you got any idea what you're doing?" Kalo says.

"Of course! I've got everything under control," Darrah replies with a wink. She turns back, moving her eyes between two adjacent corridors, and placing her hand under her chin. "Now… was it left or right?"

Kalo sighs, and suddenly sirens begin sounding all throughout the building, accompanied by flashing red lights along the corridor!

"Right!"

Darrah zooms off down the right corridor, however, Kalo finds herself stuck in place. She stares back toward the room they came from - the dark dingy room.

(Maybe being stuck in a dark hole with monsters is all they were ever meant for?)

"M-maybe I'd be better off staying here…" they stutter.

Darrah pauses and spins around locking eyes with Kalo. "Are ya kidding me? I dyed my hair to get in here…"

She then trots back to Kalo, with excited, carefree eyes. "Listen, there's one thing you should know about the adventure - you don't go looking for it, the adventure finds you, and right now, it's found you."

It's in that moment, a spark in the back of Kalosani's mind reminds them who they are. A small girl filled with the thrill and excitement of adventuring, and the mystery it always brought.

Violent shouting begins echoing between the alarms, coupled with boots thudding in the corridor - getting closer and closer.

Darrah tilts her head. "It's now or never."

"Lead the way," Kalo smiles at the girl from her District.

As she trails Darrah under the sounds of the yells, and buzzing alarms, they never look back because whatever happens, her father will not be there to hold her back. She'll defy her father and they'll defy Jorah's father until the end of days…

They proceed up a staircase to the top floor and then through another corridor, which is littered with the dead bodies of Peacekeepers.

Finally, they make it onto a roof where a hovercraft is waiting. Two boys and a girl are waiting inside. Darrah takes a seat in the cockpit next to the young man with platinum hair, and a grey jacket and pats him on the shoulder. Kalo sits away from the others huddling their arms around themself.

The hovercraft takes off, bumping into some buildings along the way. "Grey! I thought you said you've flown one of these before!" Darrah groans.

"I have… once and I crashed…"

Darrah shoots daggers at him.

"Joke… that was a joke."

Kalo finds herself laughing. They don't mind. Whether it kills them or not, they're ready for whatever adventure finds them…

Hey Everyone! Thank you for reading if you got this far and thank you to VeneratedArt for Kalosani! I had a great time writing her arc I hope you had a great time reading and thank you for submitting.