Hi again, everyone! I'm back, and here comes another suspenseful chapter. Brace yourselves, because it could be a wild ride…

The Influence Of La Dola

The district square was empty. Not one person was there, not even any Peacekeepers.

"Great," Johanna said sarcastically. "So we just left the others for nothing. That is just great."

"Where are they?" Sonia wondered. "If they're not in the Peacekeepers' clutches in any way or at home, then…"

"They might be with some friends of our family's," said Rue, worried. "At least, I hope they are. If they're not, I don't know where else we can look for them."

"There is no time to seek those friends out," Objectiva told them. "I've a very bad feeling that something bad happened during our absence. We must go back."

Pars nodded in agreement. "Right this way," she said, turning back the other way and beckoning for her companions to follow her.

Nessa, Haymitch, and Geolo did their best to break free, but the great number of Peacekeepers with them literally held on tight to them. No matter how hard they struggled, they just couldn't get out of their grasp!

Clove, meanwhile, smiled sinisterly as she watched the spectacle—or at least tried to, since she kept hearing the words "La Dola" being repeated inside her head. She then held out her hand and requested, "Now, Twelve Mentor, give me my dagger back."

The dagger's right eye briefly glowed bright red again, and Haymitch flinched, suddenly remembering that he'd seen the dagger before, and heard about it before. Seeder had told him that right after Cecelia had gotten stung by that cone snail mutt, she'd seen Bongo charging forward with it, as though he'd been possessed by it. Which he had been. And then he'd tried to convince the kangaroo to get rid of the dagger so it wouldn't control him again, which would have been successful if the weapon hadn't placed him into a trance and made him forget about everything he was now suddenly remembering.

"Give me my dagger!" Clove barked. "I don't know what those pesky fairies did to it, but it's a present I got for my birthday! That means it's rightfully mine."

One of the Peacekeepers holding Haymitch kicked him in the leg and snarled, "Give it to her, Mr. Abernathy. Now!"

"I'm not handing over something that has a mind of its own," Haymitch told the Peacekeepers.

One of the Peacekeepers kicked him in the hand—the one holding the dagger—causing him to let go of the weapon, which then fell on the floor. Clove picked it up and worriedly studied it closely, hoping its appearance hadn't been changed too much. It had been though; the end of the handle now looked like a skull that was half one face and half another face, and some small handwriting she couldn't read had been carved into another part of the weapon. Oh, those fairies were going to pay for what they did to her dagger. Dearly. It gaining magical powers was something she could let slide because that was what had allowed her to weaken Nessa's kangaroo friend, but she preferred her dagger's old appearance.

"Clove, why are you doing this?" Nessa fearfully asked. "Why are you helping them? They're mean!"

"Not to me they're not," the Career creepily told her, stepping closer to her to make her more scared. "The Capitol is actually pretty generous to my district. They let us live in a promising rich environment, and they let us train for the Hunger Games ahead of time, guaranteeing us more victors. So, yeah. It's only fair that I pay them back," she got very close to her enemy's face, "by making sure this is a game you won't win."

Nessa gulped. "W-what are you going to do with us?"

A new Peacekeeper entered the cargo bay and joined them, carrying a canister identical to the one that had unleashed the tracker jacker venom fog. "Miss Bronzitt," he said, "would you mind leaving our hovercraft? This canister contains fog we spent a lot of time creating, and it's not something we'd want you to breathe in."

"Thanks, but no thanks," said Clove, already knowing what the fog was capable of thanks to Sonia Woolweave. "I want to hold my breath and see those guys breathe it in. Her in particular." She pointed at Nessa, who moaned in fear.

The Peacekeeper shrugged. "Just as long as you stay away from the fumes."

"Which I will," the Career assured him, stepping away from Nessa and retreating to the other side of the room. "That Woolweave girl told me what it can do to whoever breathes it in."

Geolo tried once more to break free from the grasp of the two Peacekeepers who were holding him, but his attempt was futile. All he could really do was say, "Don't do anything to them, please! I'm begging you! You can make me suffer from the fog. You can even…you know, make me join my district partner! I don't care what you do to me, just please don't hurt them!"

"Oh, Genius," smirked Clove, turning her attention to him. "Too selfless for your own good, I see. I'll tell you what…how about you tell these guys why no one's heard from Thresh lately instead of trying to help people or animals you can't save?"

"Thresh?" Haymitch suspiciously asked. In all the commotion, he hadn't even become aware of that particular tribute's absence until now. And the fact that Clove seemed to know something about why he hadn't been with Nessa and her team when they'd found them tonight…that wasn't a good sign.

"Silence, Mr. Abernathy," snapped one of the two Peacekeepers holding him. Then, turning to Geolo, he said, "Tell us where Mr. Croppez is, and we'll spare one of your friends from the fog's influence."

Geolo sighed and admitted, "He's being held captive in District 13. We thought they could help us rebel against you, but apparently they don't have the resources to do it. Then Clove revealed whose side she was really on to everyone there and tricked them into thinking she and him switched bodies by force, and they took him prisoner."

"But that's not what happened," said Nessa. "You said that—"

"He lied to you when he said that," interrupted Clove. "We lied, so you and the others wouldn't go back and rescue him. He, Twill, and Patch never left the picture. He was just captured thanks to me, and I don't know for sure what happened to the other two, but I hope they're going through just as much pain as he is."

Haymitch didn't want to say anything that could get the rebels in any more trouble than they were already in, so he never asked who Twill and Patch were and simply assumed they were people that had joined Nessa's team at some point after they'd left the Capitol. He did, however, feel immensely let down by Geolo because the kid had let Clove seize a huge advantage over the many souls she'd unsurprisingly betrayed. Not that he showed it; Nessa did it for him by saying, "Geolo, why did you lie to us? I thought you were our friend!"

"I am," Geolo told her, trying unsuccessfully to swallow back the humongous lump in his throat. "But Clove said that if I told you and the others, she'd hurt my mother and Rue. And I didn't want that to happen…I'm so sorry, Nessa…"

Clove rolled her eyes in disdain. "Somebody knock her out. Now."

"Will do," said the Peacekeeper with the canister. He then brought the canister closer to Nessa, pressed a button on it, and stood back as a yellow cloud of fog began to seep out, heading straight for her face.

"Don't breathe it in, Nessa!" Geolo cried, helpless to do anything else.

"Hold your breath!" Haymitch ordered.

Nessa looked away from the fog and inhaled deeply, while the three Peacekeepers holding her were able to breathe normally because their helmets were fog-proof. The rest of the Peacekeepers, meanwhile, stayed where they were and watched the spectacle, with one soldier even leaving the cargo bay to get a helmet for Clove, who smiled in sadistic pleasure as she watched Nessa fidget like crazy, trying to get out of the Peacekeepers' arms while making sure she held her breath. But her attempts to break free were all unsuccessful, and as the fog engulfed her, she began trembling in fright. Try as she might, even Lili couldn't make her hold her breath for always. But she couldn't give up, or else she'd fall asleep and have bad dreams for the rest of her life! Oh, she had to find a way out of this. She just had to!

Haymitch could tell Nessa knew the horrible truth. Quickly, he mustered all his strength, pushed himself free from the Peacekeepers holding him, and rushed over to try and save her, only for both Peacekeepers along with two more to tackle him down. Geolo, on the other hand, knew there was no way he could break free himself and could only watch the giraffe and plead for her to not breathe in the fog.

Nessa did her best to hold her breath, but it was no use. Her belly felt like it was going to burst if she didn't exhale and inhale right away, and she was never going to be able to get out of the Peacekeepers' hold by herself. And without Haymitch and Geolo able to escape from the other Peacekeepers, there was nobody to help her. She'd have to take her chances with the fog and hope the Capitol would wake her up. So, she allowed herself to breathe out and then in, causing the fog to enter her system.

"NO!" Geolo screamed. But it was too late. Nessa had already breathed in the fog, and a wave of wooziness immediately came over her. It was only a matter of seconds before the hallucinations would begin.

Pars, Johanna, Sonia, Objectiva, Effie, Dial, and Rue were only four houses away from the drawing. However, everyone they'd last seen in that area was nowhere in sight, and Objectiva had a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that, despite that, they weren't alone. And that was stopping her from continuing forward.

"For goodness' sake, fairy," snapped Johanna. "If we really aren't alone, don't you think the Peacekeepers would have made that obvious by now?"

"Perhaps it is simply that they are waiting for us near the drawing," Objectiva worried. "Believe me, gut feelings of fairies never lie, especially when bad things happen."

"But what should we do?" Effie inquired. "You arranged for them to guard the drawing from the outside. So if they're not by the drawing, they must have all been captured by the authorities!"

After a moment of thinking, Dial groaned and gave his blaster to Pars. "There's only one way to know for sure whether or not they're waiting for us there," he said. "And that's me going over there in plain sight while you all stay here."

"But what if you get captured?" Sonia asked him. "There's only two hovercrafts you haven't seen yet, and for all we know they could both be waiting there, invisible to us!"

Dial solemnly replied, "Then we'll know whether it is or not. And you guys can wait until they're gone, get back with everyone who's in the drawing, and come up with a plan to save us."

There was a moment of silence, as the risky move that the young man was about to make fully registered with everyone. Then Rue softly said, "Just be careful, Dial."

"I'll try to be," was the man's response. "Who knows…I might even get you all a one-way ticket to the drawing right now, if things go down the right way."

"Don't speak too soon," warned Pars.

"I mean it," said Dial. "Follow me to the house next-door to yours and you'll see."

Hoping the worst wouldn't happen, and that Dial knew what he was doing, the girls obeyed him. Then, once they (at his suggestion) were hidden behind a shrub between the Croppez house and the house next-door to it, he said, "Okay. When I say go, get inside the drawing as fast as you can."

And then, before any of his companions could say anything, Dial dashed out from behind the shrub and toward the drawing. An enhanced Capitol hovercraft emerged into view right above him as soon as he did this, but he saw it right away and then, as fast as he could, he ran away from the drawing and his companions before the hovercraft could activate its bright light and suck him into the vehicle. The hovercraft instantly flew after him, but he forced himself to run as fast as it could fly.

"Go!" Dial screamed, once he and the hovercraft were far enough away from the drawing. And then one by one, Sonia, Rue, Effie, Pars, and Johanna ran forward and jumped into the drawing, with no other hovercraft appearing or making an attempt to capture them. Unfortunately, just as Johanna leapt in, keeping her mind on the Peacekeepers to stop herself from feeling scared of entering the drawing, Objectiva saw the hovercraft catch up to Dial, and she flew forward to try and rescue him somehow. However, her attempt only resulted in herself being captured alongside him, with no amount of flying being able to get herself free from the light's forces.

Once Dial and Objectiva were inside the vehicle, the nearest Peacekeeper swung his blaster into the fairy's head, knocking her out cold. Dial then tried to jump out of the hovercraft, but three more Peacekeepers tackled him before he could get near the entrance/exit.

"You're too late to grab the other rebels," Dial said, his voice strained as he tried to get up and out of the men's grasp. "They're in a place where you'll never find them."

"We know they're in the drawing on the ground nearby," said the Peacekeeper who'd knocked out Objectiva. "We saw Miss McLight and the kangaroo entering it, and since rebels always tend to stick together, we assumed that was where the other members of the team went. We'd go after them if we could, but our hovercrafts are far too big to fit inside of it."

A Peacekeeper who was standing next to the doorway leading into the pilot's cabin added, "So we'll just wait until they come out, and then we'll intercept them. One, two, three, or more at a time. We've called in the last of our reinforcements too, in case the elephant comes out and does something to us."

Dial glared at the Peacekeepers, but didn't say anything. He started to fight one of them, when suddenly a wicked cackle was heard from inside the cargo bay. While three Peacekeepers grabbed Dial and, with a strong effort, stopped him from fighting them, the one who'd knocked out Objectiva raced into that room to investigate, and was greeted by a very strange scene. The tracker jacker fog had suddenly turned into a swarm of bees that were cackling like deranged lunatics, a vampire with very long and sharp teeth was dancing around Haymitch, Geolo, and the Peacekeepers holding onto them, and several ghosts with sheets draped over them were flying around everyone in the cargo bay, spookily chanting in unison, "Ohhhh Neeeeessaaaaa…hahahahaha! Ooooooo…"

At first the Peacekeeper thought the bees, the ghosts, and the vampire were a result of Nessa trying to use her powers to scare her captors. But when the vampire bent down towards Geolo and his hand phased right through the tribute's shoulder, it became clear that it along with the ghosts and bees were nothing more than hallucinations.

"I don't understand though," one of the Peacekeepers holding Geolo said. "How are we seeing and hearing her hallucinations? That's not supposed to happen when someone gets stung by tracker jackers."

"Has someone with mind-powered scenery-changing powers ever been in this position before?" Haymitch unhappily asked him.

The Peacekeeper grunted. "I'd say 'fair point' if you weren't to be taken to the Capitol penitentiary."

The Peacekeepers who had Dial brought him into the cargo bay, and when they saw the spooky spectacle before them, they smiled sadistically. Clove did too…or at least tried to. She could still hear the words "La Dola" being repeated inside her head, and she was for some reason receiving what she could only describe as an automated and far-too-accurate flashback to everything that had happened many minutes before her dagger duel against Nessa's kangaroo friend—what was his name, Bongo—had started. Seriously, what was up with her all of a sudden?

On the other hand, Nessa was still feeling very woozy, and now undeniably disoriented. The Peacekeepers holding her released her, knowing she wouldn't be able to escape their hovercraft as long as she was in this state. And they were right. Once they let go of her, she could only collapse onto her side and cover her eyes with her ears, making the hallucinations vanish before everyone's eyes, making way for the fog's true appearance. However, they could still hear them all too well, and as she heard the bees buzzing and the ghosts taunting her, she bit her lip in fear. This was really scary, even more scary than Geolo had described. She tried to tell herself that it was okay—that the bees and the ghosts and the vampires weren't actually there, that she was just hallucinating—but it didn't help. They felt so real, so real that she never would have believed they weren't if Geolo hadn't said so.

"Let me go," Geolo pleaded. "I won't try to escape you, I just want to be closer to her. Please!"

Rolling his eyes, one of the Peacekeepers holding him told the other one, "Let him go to her. He seems like the exact opposite of a force to be reckoned with."

The other Peacekeeper holding Geolo reluctantly nodded, and then they released him. Next, the tribute from 3 held his breath and ran to Nessa's side, telling her, "Don't worry. There are worse things you could be hallucinating. Trust me."

Nessa swallowed hard. "Uh…Geolo? Would you mind…hanging onto me?"

"Of course," Geolo softly told her. He placed her head into his lap and his hand on her neck, and instantly yet another lump formed in his throat. There were a lot of souls that didn't deserve this, but she deserved it least of all. After all she'd done for him, for Sonia, for Rue—she just didn't deserve this. She was too innocent and lovable…which was probably why her hallucinations weren't as traumatic as trees turning into blood or something.

Nessa sniffled, trying to edge herself as close to Geolo as she could. "I don't wanna have bad dreams for always…" she whispered.

Geolo could only keep holding her, trying to comfort her without saying anything. He wanted to tell her that it would be okay, that someone would be sure to save her, but deep down he knew he couldn't promise that. The Capitol was, after all, a very powerful city, so of course they'd be far too prepared if the others came after them. On the other hand, there was no way he was saying that to Nessa. It might be the truth, but his goal was to make her feel better, not worse.

Haymitch glared at the Peacekeepers. "You bastards!"

"Don't call them that," snarled Clove. "Or you'll be next."

"It doesn't matter what you do to me, okay?" the man from District 12 told her and the Peacekeepers. "Just give her the fog antidote."

"Yeah!" said Dial. "Give it to her! She might be naive beyond belief, but I wouldn't use tracker jacker venom to tell her that!"

"It's not up to you to decide, and you know it," barked the Peacekeeper that had brought the canister into the room.

Yet another Peacekeeper entered the cargo bay, an unconscious Objectiva in his fist. "You done with the fog yet? We also need it to make this prisoner not wake up for just the right amount of time."

"We just need a few more seconds," said the Peacekeeper who'd brought the canister into the room. "It shouldn't take much longer."

Nessa scooted even closer to Geolo, bracing herself for the future. Any second now she was going to fall asleep, and once she did, she'd be having a lot of bad dreams. Probably dreams about weird and scary stuff, like the monsters and bees she was encountering because she was hallucinating. Or maybe something even worse, since Geolo had said there were worse things she could have been seeing and hearing! She couldn't think of anything that was even worse than what she was hearing now, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything worse than that. Ohhhh…she was not looking forward to what was coming…

Geolo wiped a tear from his eye while using his other hand to slowly and gently rub Nessa's neck. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked her.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Clove exclaimed. "Just pass out already!" Then suddenly the super long and accurate flashback overtook her attention, and she zoned out.

"Rue! You're here!" Iris shouted.

The twelve-year-old tribute ran forward and was instantly tackled down into a group hug by all five of her siblings. Iris and Daisy had been woken up by Fern after the latter along with Astilbo and Toolip had retreated into the castle and found them, and now they were ecstatic to see their oldest sibling had just entered the drawing, along with Sonia, Effie, Pars, and Johanna (who was at first a bit nervous about being in the drawing, but soon managed to push aside her fears by, with much reluctance, remembering Golias's words to her on that subject and deciding that if someone who was afraid of something as silly as the dark wasn't scared of this, it might not be so bad). Everyone else was outside of the castle too, except for Matt and Lili (he was still asleep and she wanted some time to herself).

Rue laughed as her siblings all tried to squeeze past each other and hug her. "Oh, it's so good to see you again," she gushed. This comment was mainly aimed towards Iris and Daisy, since she hadn't seen them up close since the reaping and she'd known they'd been among the kids that the Capitol had captured.

Meanwhile, Golias and Yuri once again rushed forward to greet whom they thought was Nessa, only for Effie to reveal that the two of them had swapped back.

"Oh," said Golias, surprised at first. But then he chuckled. "So where's Nessa?"

"I'm afraid it appears as though she's been taken prisoner," admitted Effie. "Haymitch, Clove, and Geolo too."

Foxface, Appara, and the Gearingtons froze, and everyone else stiffened. Nessa had been taken prisoner? And Geolo and Haymitch? Clove being taken didn't worry them, because Foxface had just told them about her unsurprising betrayal. But still. That wasn't good. They had to find a way to rescue the other three; now.

"And we saw Dial sacrifice himself so we could get in here," added Johanna. "Pretty impulsive of him, especially considering that it also cost us Objectiva, but also kind of impressive."

"Wait," Mec asked. "Dial's gone?" Coyle and Virt, meanwhile, just stood there in silence, wistfully and nervously staring at the ground.

"Not gone as in…injured too much," said Sonia, who had instantly been scooped into Esther's arms upon entering the drawing. "They're just gone as in not outside anymore. Like the other three."

"For now at least," Virt murmured.

Silence filled the drawing for five seconds, and then Sage asked, "So…what should we do now?"

"Oh I don't know," Johanna scoffed, "ask Bongo why he looks so energy-deprived?"

"Energy-deprived?" Golias asked, not noticing Bongo's uncharacteristically tired and spaced-out expression despite him lying only a few feet away from him. "What does that mean?"

"See for yourself, Hopeless," the young woman said to him, pointing at Bongo.

Golias looked where she was pointing, and the moment he saw Bongo lying on the ground with Foxface observing him, having been unable to figure out why the navy storm clouds had appeared and why the ground-changing thing had happened, he gasped in fear. He'd been so caught up in celebrating being reunited with everyone that he hadn't heard what Foxface had said or noticed one of his friends seemed a little under the weather! "Bongo! Are…are you okay?"

Bongo didn't respond in any way. He was just too spaced-out. So Foxface shook him and said, "Bongo. Bongo, can you hear me?"

Finally, he snapped out of his trance and murmured, "Sorry…I don't know what's wrong with me all of a sudden…"

"Yeah, something is wrong," worried Golias. "You never get that tired, Bongo!"

"It was the Knife Witch," whispered Bongo. "She gave me a haircut…with the magic knife I took…and now I'm really really very very…" His voice trailed off, and the spaced-out look on his face returned.

Golias squeaked in peril. "The Knife Witch cast a spell on you? Just like she did to Starpoint?!"

"Starpoint…" Bongo whispered. But within a second, he once again zoned out.

"She did," said Foxface. "I do not know who Starpoint is or where and how Bongo acquired that dagger, but it must be a magical one. As soon as Clove, the 'Knife Witch,' as you call her, took it and aimed it at him, the ground temporarily transformed into the top of a giant structure, and storm clouds gathered in the sky at an unnaturally fast speed. They swirled down on him just as the dagger touched his hair. Then he was physically weakened, so he and I were both sent in here."

"Oh no," Golias worried. "You have to stop her before she hurts Nessa too!"

"'You?'" Johanna asked him. "Why not we?"

"'Cause I don't want to make things worse by mistake again," he sadly explained. "Every time I try to help you, something bad happens and it makes you mad at me."

Johanna scoffed. "Really. So now you're giving up trying to prove your worth to me, right when the girl who likes you is in trouble?"

"Please don't say that," the elephant told her, doing his best to stay calm.

"Alright, alright," Effie cut in, not wanting things to escalate between the two of them again. "Let's simply focus on coming up with a plan to rescue our friends."

"And that plan is simple," said Johanna. "Hopeless will leave the drawing, on his own, and turn that hovercraft into something harmless."

"Oh no," Golias said. "No way."

"Face it, Hopeless. I don't care if you're scared. Bongo keeps zoning out, and I don't want those kids to be put in jail again, so it's got to be you. Now get out there and do something with your powers!"

Golias stared at her in fear. "But what if they try to get me with their fog?"

"Then just hold your breath! Come on, I shouldn't have to tell you to do that!"

"And you don't have to call me Hopeless either," Golias retorted. He then realized he'd lost his patience with her again and worriedly stepped back a bit. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. I'm just so tired of you being mean to me."

"G…Geolo?"

The tribute continued gently stroking his friend's neck. "Yes, Nessa?"

"Do you promise to stay with me when the bad dream part starts?"

"Alright," declared one of the Peacekeepers holding Haymitch down, hearing her say that despite it coming out in a quiet volume, "just for that, lady, we'll make sure you don't get any roommates at any time during your stay in the Capitol."

Geolo sighed and whispered into the giraffe's ear, "I'll stay with you for as long as I can."

Despite the sounds of the hallucinations still lingering, Nessa managed a small smile. She then started to thank Geolo for doing what he could, but then a wave of dizziness came over her, causing her to faint. As a result, the sounds of the hallucinations vanished, and her ears and the rest of her body went limp. Geolo's eyes practically burned with tears, but he pushed through and put his ear against her body, trying to find her pulse. He eventually succeeded after a few seconds, and was relieved when he found her heart was beating at a normal rate. She was still alive…and then he burst into tears of sadness and fear. She really really really didn't deserve this! Why did she have to undergo tracker jacker venom symptoms? Why?!

"Finally," said the Peacekeeper holding Objectiva. He walked toward the fog and lifted his arm—the one with the poor fairy inside the fist of—into the yellow cloud. He kept Objectiva in the fog until her next inhale was complete, then took her out of it and retreated to the other side of the room. He then noticed Clove looked a little spaced-out, and asked her, "What do you think, Miss Bronzitt?"

As the Peacekeeper who'd brought in the canister pressed the same button he'd pressed earlier, causing the fog to get sucked back into the object, Clove snapped back to the present, startled…and a little sleepy, she couldn't help noticing. "Wha, what?"

"Didn't you see me? I made sure this fairy here inhaled the fog."

The flashback tried to take Clove's focus away from the present again, as did the gender nonspecific voice inside her head that kept whispering "La Dola." But she pushed both back and replied, "Oh. Yeah, that's good news. I'm sorry, it's just that ever since I did whatever I did to the kangaroo, I've been hearing this voice inside my head. It keeps going, 'La Dola, La Dola.' I…" she almost zoned out again, but managed to stop herself, "…I have no idea what that means, or why the voice is there, but..." She then zoned out once more, but this time it took the Peacekeeper who'd brought in the canister clapping his hands together twice to snap her out of it.

"Sorry," Clove said again, her voice suddenly unable to rise above a whisper, "I don't know what's up with me…"

The Peacekeeper who'd been standing next to the doorway leading into the pilot's cabin entered the cargo bay and, having apparently overheard the Career's comment, said, "Not to worry. Our pilot just received word that the other last remaining hovercraft has just arrived. The Peacekeepers in that one will supervise the drawing while we return to the Capitol and get you to a doctor."

"And what about us?" demanded one of the Peacekeepers holding Dial. "Why can't we stay here and help the passengers of the final hovercraft watch the drawing?"

"Because it's also our duty to protect Miss Bronzitt," said the newly-arrived Peacekeeper. "President Snow made it very clear that she is to be the one who punishes the giraffe for all that she's done. If we stay here in District 11, she's only going to get worse. She requires the kind of medical attention that can only be provided by the Capitol, and right away!"

"Fine," grumbled the other Peacekeeper. "Page the other hovercraft's passengers and let them know we'll be leaving. They'll take care of finding a way to apprehend the other rebels."

The newly-arrived Peacekeeper nodded and went back into the pilot's cabin. As he did, Clove started to approach Geolo so she could taunt him some more, but then her flashback continued, and she zoned out again.

La Dola La Dola La Dola La Dola La Dola…

THUD!

Clove snapped out of her trance when she heard and felt herself fall on the floor back-first. This was so weird! What was up with her?

"Really," Johanna said. "You're tired of me being mean to you, and yet you're even afraid of standing up to me?"

"I'm not afraid of standing up to you, I just don't wanna not be nice."

Johanna unhappily rolled her eyes. "Let's get one thing straight. There's a difference between being mean to someone and just standing up to someone. You can scream at me like you did back in our hovercraft, and it wouldn't count as being mean!"

"It…it wouldn't?" Golias asked.

"No, it wouldn't," confessed Yuri. "All you'd be doing is telling her you had enough. Being mean is when you call people names and do other stuff that's not nice. Yelling at someone's only mean if you call them names or say other mean stuff."

"Look, let's talk about this later, okay?" Appara cut in. "My only son is in danger!"

"Oh right," Golias said. He then looked up at the drawing's light blue sky and took a deep breath. "Okay…I'll go out there and see what I can do. For Nessa."

Next, Golias stepped back a little, and then jumped outside of the drawing. At first he didn't see any hovercrafts anywhere, but then one emerged into view above him. Its entrance/exit opened after that, and then yet another canister was dropped out of the vehicle, landing next to the elephant with a loud CLUNK! More yellow fog came seeping out of the object, and Golias held his breath, willing himself to be brave. For everyone, but especially for Nessa. All he had to do was change that hovercraft into something that wouldn't hurt him or his friends.

POP!

Golias jumped, startled but not exhaling or inhaling. That sounded like a balloon had just popped—and looking up, he could see that the noise he'd just heard had indeed been a balloon popping. One of the balloons that had once been other hovercrafts (thanks to Bongo), to be precise. The ten Peacekeepers that had been inside of the one that had just popped could now be seen tumbling to the ground, screaming, and then there was a loud poof noise, as though they were landing on a very soft mattress.

Hmm…maybe it would be a good idea to turn this hovercraft into something stronger than just a balloon. Maybe a hot air balloon would be a better choice! Because those never popped…right?

Fighting back the urge to exhale, Golias blinked, and then suddenly the hovercraft just above him transformed into a hot air balloon with a very wide (even wider than the drawing) basket and a charcoal grey balloon. However, it turned out that the only passengers in that vehicle were Peacekeepers. No sign of Nessa, Objectiva, Geolo, Haymitch, or Dial anywhere. Which meant that the hovercraft that had them was gone.

After waiting outside the drawing for a few more seconds in case the correct hovercraft showed up—which it didn't; in fact, the only thing that happened was the hot air balloon suddenly transforming back into a hovercraft for some reason—Golias decided to return to the drawing's inside and tell the remainder of the rest of the team. He then stepped back a little before rushing forward and jumping in. Only after he was in did he finally release his breath.

"Did you find them?" Effie asked, worried.

"No…they're…not…there…" Golias gasped, trying to catch his breath after holding it for a while. He then recovered and added, "And there's more fog and another hovercraft out there, so we can't go outside and look for them."

"We…cannot?" Foxface asked him. When Golias shook his head no, her heart sank. Nessa was gone, and there was nothing they could do to save her. Sure, they could try to seek the Peacekeepers out once the fog cleared up, but could they do that without getting captured by the hovercraft that was present? And even if that hovercraft didn't capture them, who knew how long it would take for the fog to clear up? By then it might be too late for the poor giraffe. She could be enslaved, or worse…

Tears rapidly filled the furtive tribute's eyes. How and why did things have to come down to this? Here were she and most of the team, safe and sound as long as they stayed in the drawing. And meanwhile, Nessa, Haymitch, Geolo, Dial, and Objectiva were all in the custody of the Capitol, where the unthinkable was bound to happen to them! This was more awful than awful…and soon the fox-like teen was weeping, unable to think of anything other than the fact that the first soul ever to be genuinely nice to her had been captured by the Capitol.

Foxface felt Golias wrap his ear around her shoulders, and she heard Yuri walk up to her and say something. But she was too sad to gather what it was that he said. Without Nessa, she had nothing and no one to live for, no reason to be on this planet. Nothing and nobody to live for. Just a life where she'd have nothing to do but hang around with other souls, with not a day going by that she didn't wonder if they truly valued her or not.

"Hey…!"

Flinching, Foxface snapped out of her thoughts and became aware that Golias and Yuri were both hugging her, and that Bongo, who had stayed zoned out this entire time, was blinking uncomfortably. Correctly guessing that one of her tears had just landed in one of the kangaroo's open eyes, the teen apologized to him and then awkwardly asked the other two to release her.

"Oops! Sorry," said Golias, backing away from her with Yuri in tow.

Bongo looked up at his friends with worry, but there was an undeniable fatigue within him as well. "Where's…where's Matt?"

"He's in the castle, sleeping," said Daisy. "Do you want me to go get him, since so many of us are awake?"

"Yeah," Bongo murmured. "I need to talk to him."

Daisy nodded. "I'll be right back." She then returned to the castle, told the guard why she was doing so, and went inside the structure.

When she was gone, Bongo zoned out again, while Foxface buried her face in her hands and cried some more. She couldn't believe it. Nessa was in the Capitol's custody, and there was nothing she could do about it…

Many seconds of either awkward or sad silence passed, and then Daisy returned, now accompanied by Matt. He looked very sleepy at first, but when she pointed Bongo out to him, the boy was suddenly wide awake and very worried. "Bongo!" he shouted, running towards him as fast as he could. "Are you okay?"

"Matt," Bongo weakly said, as his best friend made it to his side. "Oh Matt…the Knife Witch cast a spell on me…and now I'm too tired to bounce…and I keep hearing the words 'La Dola', and I can't stop…thinking about what happened before the Knife Witch cast her spell…"

Matt froze in fear. "The Knife Witch? The same witch that cast that spell on Starpoint?"

"Yes," Bongo whispered, the fact that his best friend sounded so far away from him despite being right next to him only making him feel worse. "And it was an unbreakable spell…which means I'll never bounce again. I'll never bounce again…!"

La Dola La Dola La Dola La Dola La Dola…

Then Bongo zoned out again. Matt tried to get his attention, but he didn't respond in any way. The kangaroo, without any control, simply closed his eyes, and listened as the sounds around him slowly became distorted and even more distant. Well, that is, all the sounds except the dagger's voice, which he could now hear more clearly.

Sleep. Rest. La Dola La Dola La Dola La Dola…

"Bongo? Bongo!" Matt cried. He tried to shake his friend awake, but it was no use. "Bongo, wake up!"

Golias sighed, sadly. "I'm sorry Matt. But it looks like whatever happened to Starpoint…happened to Bongo."

"No, it's not the same as Starpoint's predicament," Effie blurted out. She could see Bongo's chest still heaving up and down at a normal rate, so he was clearly not dead. He was just taking some time out.

"It's not?" Matt, Yuri, and Golias all said in unison.

"Well then what is it?" Golias added.

"Never mind, never mind," said Effie. She didn't want the conversation to be steered in the wrong direction and reveal that Starpoint had actually been killed, while Bongo was truthfully going through a sleeping spell. At least, that's what it looked like...

Before anyone knew what was happening, Matt was even more in tears than Foxface was, and Golias, Yuri, all of Rue's siblings, and Posy Hawthorne were crowded around him, all trying to comfort him. However, nothing they did could make him feel better. His best friend was under a spell that, based on what he'd heard happened to Starpoint, he could only assume was unbreakable. Which meant he might never be able to talk to his best friend ever again because it was apparently a sleeping spell!

Two minutes went by, and as they did, Bongo's condition only seemed to get worse. Clove's did too; she rapidly became just as tired and weak as he was, and then when 11:59 PM came around, she fainted and drifted into the same unconscious state as he was in. Then, seconds before midnight, both of them simultaneously and suddenly seemed to undergo what Coyle and Geolo both saw as the clonic stage of a tonic clonic seizure. At least that's what it looked like to them. It might not have been a seizure.

"Quick!" Coyle still called, in case it really was a seizure Bongo was going through. "Something soft must be placed under his head!"

Rue swiftly removed her jacket and tossed it to Golias, who, with the help of a still-emotional Foxface, placed it underneath Bongo's head. He still continued moving his arms and legs around like crazy though, and his companions could only watch the scene and comfort a worried and sad Matt as the time passed.

Sleep till morning. Rest. Sleep. La Dola…

Then the clock struck midnight, and Bongo and Clove both went still. Their breathing stopped for just one second, and then kept going at a normal speed. However, neither of them woke up, which didn't make anyone who was worried about them feel any better. Even Geolo, who was busy comforting Nessa and keeping his fingers crossed that her innocence would prompt the tracker jacker venom fog to not show her anything too scary, had to admit that whatever was going on with Clove was pretty mysterious and worrying. What had happened? First the ground had temporarily turned into the top of a pyramid, then the storm clouds had taken away Bongo's energy, and now it was starting to affect Clove too.

And even more frighteningly, what was going to happen with them next?

Oh boy. That is a good question. And once again, only time will tell. One thing I can guarantee, however, is that yes; for Nessa, the tracker jacker venom won't be at its scariest due to her sweet and innocent mind. But that doesn't mean it'll be an easy experience for her of course.

Just thought I'd mention it before I leave for the time being. Anyways, see you all soon in the next chapter!