Hey guys! I'm back once again, with another chapter! Wow—looks like we've got a dance contest on the horizon! Who will win, Golias or President Coin? Let's read and find out :)

Swishy And Smart

Stomping her left foot, and twisting her hips at the same time. Stomping her right foot, and pumping her fists above her head and into the air. Stomping her left foot again and rolling her shoulders. Placing her right foot behind her left and then spinning around.

Rue smiled. She didn't dance too often (the real reason why she'd volunteered to play her current role in the dance contest was to save time and stop her friends and siblings from arguing), since she spent so much time ensuring that her family and then new allies as well survived, but she did know some moves thanks to her fourth-latest school teacher. Mrs. Pearson, a fun-loving young woman whose goal was to keep her students happy along with educated, had a tendency to keep her students inside her classroom for ten extra minutes every time recess began so she could teach them how to dance. Having acquired the knowledge of how to dance in eleven different ways thanks to Glitz Allgood, a Hunger Games victor from District 1 who'd spent his entire Victory Tour dancing rather than giving speeches, Mrs. Pearson taught her students, a long list that included Rue and all of her siblings except for Toolip, everything she knew, every year. That was why, once she got onstage tonight, Rue had a routine of dance moves ready to show Golias and President Coin.

Despite having four legs that were all very short, no shoulders, and no hips, Golias was able to prove himself to be a very good (or, as he, Yuri, and the rest of his friends described, swishy) dancer, not to mention good at copying Rue's moves with his legs, body, and ears, much to Coin's surprise. How was someone with a body like his so good at dancing? It just didn't make sense! There was no way winning this contest was going to be easy for her—unless she did a little something to guarantee herself victory. The problem was, she couldn't do that as long as she was copying Rue's dance moves, since what she needed was in her pocket.

Rue kicked her left leg forward, jumped, stomped both of her feet, and quickly stepped to the right, then to the left, clapping every three steps. Golias and Coin both copied her movements, and then she moved on to another dance routine: placing her hands on her hips and kicking each of her legs forward three times, one by one. Both contestants mimicked her, but Coin did something else as well: slip the fingers of her left hand into the pocket of her pants while her hands were on her hips and keep them there until the twelve-year-old tribute did the next thing on her agenda—swing her arms this way and that as she skipped to the left—prompting the contestants to do the same.

Wait a second. Something was now in Coin's hand. Was it a…it was! It was a dart! Rue could see it, and in an instant she realized the ugly truth. Whether it was nightlock juice or a simple knockout serum, it was still obvious that something was loaded up inside that dart; something that could help Coin cheat. She had to stop the dart from reaching Golias, and she knew exactly how to do it. Quickly, she placed her right foot in front of her left foot, twisted her hips to the left, and then thrust both of her arms to the right with the force of it being so powerful, she hoped copying that movement would cause the dart to accidentally fall out of Coin's hand and away from Golias.

Unfortunately, Coin held on tight to the dart when she copied that dance move, and it didn't leave her hand. So Rue had no choice but to keep dancing, all the while closely observing her surroundings to come up with another plan, and fast.

As the dance contest continued, Lili stifled a yawn. She wanted to stay awake and see if Golias would win the contest, but it was either very late or very very very early in the morning (not that she was going to admit she didn't know what time it was), and she had to go to sleep. Yuri then yawned as well, but without making any effort to hide it, and after that, he asked Boggs, "Hey, um…mister soldier, can you take us to a bed or something so we can sleep?"

"Yeah," said Toolip. "I wanna watch my sister dance, but I'm so sleepy…"

Although he looked very unsure about leaving the room, Boggs nodded and said, "Anyone who wants to go to sleep, follow me to the elevator."

Yuri, Lili, Matt, Toolip, Fern, Iris, Daisy, Astilbo, Prim, Posy, Vick, and Rory all ended up following Boggs to the elevator. Gale, Hazelle, Esther, Coyle, and Mec went with them too, but it wasn't because they were tired. It was really just to bring the still-unconscious Katniss, Paul, and Bongo to bed as well. Because of this, there were too many people there to fit inside the elevator, so Boggs made a deal: five people at a time could go into the elevator with himself counting as the first person each time, so they would know which floor to go to. Everyone agreed to this arrangement, and Matt, Yuri, Lili, and Toolip were the first quartet to join Boggs inside the elevator.

Once the elevator was on its way to the third level, Rue did another jump, this time stretching her legs out behind her as she went into the air. Golias and Coin both copied her move as best as they could (it wasn't easy for him because his legs were so short, or for her since that move took a lot of practice to really master), and as they both landed on the floor and on their feet, it created such an impact (mainly because of how strong and heavy Golias was) that Rue saw the disco ball start to wobble a little. As it did, the tribute became aware that Coin was now right under the disco ball, while Golias was just a foot away from it.

Rue's heart pounded hard, and not from the dancing. Coin wanted to cheat, possibly by killing off her opponent, who didn't at all deserve that fate? Fine. Let her at least try to cheat. She had her own cunning plan in mind, and all she had to do to put it in action was one simple thing: put her hands together, jump even higher, and spin while she was in midair.

Golias and Coin managed to copy her move with ease, and as they both landed on their feet again, the impact shook the room so much that the disco ball fell off the ceiling and on top of Coin, knocking her down and crushing her skull.

"Golias, over here!" Rue quickly said, continuing to dance just to stop him from looking Coin's way. She didn't blame him for wanting to know if she was okay, but he was just as innocent as Nessa, if not even more. She didn't want him looking at the mess that was probably under the disco ball.

Everyone else in the room that was awake, meanwhile, gasped in shock when the disco ball hit Coin. Boggs, on the other hand, did nothing more than flinch and widen his eyes once he returned alone via the elevator to pick up the next quartet, before rushing into the room to stop the other three soldiers from apprehending Rue and Golias as punishment for killing their president.

"But look at what they did!" insisted the soldier whose favourite colour was light brown.

"Neither of them meant to do it," assured Boggs. "The girl was simply trying to give them a variety of dance moves to mimic, and the elephant was doing nothing more than mimicking her. It was an accident, soldiers. A simple accident."

But while Boggs' words got through to all three of the soldiers, Rue's present siblings, Appara, Coyle, Virt, Johanna, and Foxface had seen things that the soldiers had not. The dart, the determined-to-protect-Golias look in Rue's eyes right before her latest jump. What'd happened to Coin had been no accident. Rue had seen her looking for the best opportunity to cheat, and she'd stopped her in the only way she could: by causing Golias to perform a dance move that was powerful enough to knock the disco ball off the ceiling and onto the woman while she was too busy dancing to notice her true intentions. That was how things had really gone. Yet none of those who knew the truth said anything. Coin was a twisted hypocrite, and now that she was out of the picture, there was a stronger chance they'd be able to get Thresh back. Boggs was Coin's right-hand man after all, and he was on their side…

"There's something else you have to understand too," Boggs told the three soldiers. "Coin lied to all of us. The fairy never went mad, and Soldier Croppez and Miss Bronzitt never swapped bodies. The Webb soldiers heard Coin mentioning the truth in private with their own ears. You can put them on a lie detector, and they can tell you the real story."

So that was exactly what the three soldiers did, with the help of some other soldiers who were on the "night shift" downstairs. Twill and Patch were each put in separate rooms and placed on lie detectors, and they both explained everything they'd told Foxface, Sonia, Golias, and everyone else in the drawing back in District 11. The soldiers, aside from Boggs, were shocked that President Coin had apparently lied to them after all, and one female soldier even checked to make sure the lie detectors were working properly; which they were. The soldiers then had no choice but to interview Wish-Trish in private next, and when she revealed the reason why Coin had let Clove rejoin Geolo and the other members of Nessa's team and made sure Thresh was put in a torture chamber despite him being a rebel, Boggs was easily able to make the other soldiers release him.

As soon as he was released, Thresh was brought up to the ground level via the elevator, where, while Boggs took the opportunity to bring Mec (and Bongo), Fern, Iris, and Daisy to the third floor, the young man shared an emotional reunion with Sage and Pars, not being very vocal on the matter, but extremely relieved, happy, and thankful to be reunited with them at last.

"Oh, we were so worried about you," gushed Pars, wrapping her brother into a tight hug. "I thought you were gone at first, and then I heard you were really just here, I…"

"I'm okay," Thresh reassured her and Sage. "Really. Wasn't hurt that bad."

"Are you sure?" Sage asked. "You were here for at least a few hours! Long time for them to hurt you…"

"I'm fine," said Thresh.

While the Croppez family basked in their reunion, not knowing Golias was closely and happily watching it transpire, Wish-Trish fluttered toward Effie and said, "Hello Nessa. We've never met, but my name is Wish-Trish. I was the one who made you and Effie swap bodies."

"It's me, Effie," said Effie.

"Effie?" Wish-Trish exclaimed. "But…but…how did you…?" Then she noticed Effie was wearing one of the green amulets that Annabelle Andrews had lent, and she understood everything. "Ah. No need to explain. I see it now."

Appara, who was standing close enough to the duo to hear what they were saying, asked, "Would you like me to give you a refresher on what happened?"

"Oh yes, please do," said Wish-Trish. "Where is my cousin Objectiva, for starters?"

So Appara, with Golias and Foxface's help, explained everything that Wish-Trish had missed once Effie introduced the fairy to those who hadn't known about her until tonight. Thresh started also paying attention to the conversation and to who was present and who wasn't after the duo passed the parts about District 13, while Boggs slowly but surely brought Astilbo, Prim, Posy, Vick, Rory, Gale, Hazelle, Esther, Coyle, Katniss, and Paul to the third floor using the elevator.

When they heard that Objectiva, along with Nessa, Dial, Geolo, and Haymitch, had been captured by the Capitol, Thresh flinched, while Wish-Trish gasped in horror and exclaimed, "My only cousin…she's been captured?!"

"We're afraid so," said Rue, jumping off the stage to join her companions with Golias following her, thankfully too focused on the conversation his companions were having to pay attention to the now-deceased Coin. "But don't worry. As soon as we finish getting a good night's sleep, we'll head back to the Capitol and save them."

"Whoa there," the soldier whose favourite colour was light brown cut in. "We know you want to save the Capitol's prisoners, but we can't just waltz in there and get them out."

"Yes we can," said Golias. "We have to! Nessa and Objectiva are in there!"

"It's not that simple, soldier. There'll be thousands of Peacekeepers and hovercrafts guarding the prisoners, if there isn't already."

Johanna nodded, although she didn't look happy about what Boggs was saying. "Not to mention the fact that they've got your powers on their side, thanks to you, Hopeless."

"I don't care," said Wish-Trish. "I am not resting until my beloved cousin is safe and sound."

"And I'm not giving up on my official best friend," added Sonia.

The soldier whose favourite colour was grey reminded everyone, "We cannot take any risks that are too high. President Coin said so herself. We have resources, but not enough of them to start a rebellion."

"Well, Coin's in no position to give any orders," said Boggs.

"And besides," added Sonia. "How many more people have to get hurt to the same extent as her before you supposedly 'have enough resources?' I mean, the whole point of rebelling is to save lives before the Hunger Games jeopardizes them once again, right? How many Hunger Games rounds does there have to be before you finally come out of hiding? How many people have to get captured and hurt by the Capitol before you do anything to save the country? How many?"

The soldiers fell silent, realizing her point. Waiting until they had enough resources was a good way to ensure them a successful rebellion, but still. The longer they waited, the more people in Panem would get killed, whether due to the Hunger Games or due to causing an uprising and not getting away with it. The sooner they came out of hiding, the more lives they'd be able to save.

Finally, Boggs broke the silence by saying, "Alright. First thing tomorrow, we'll gather the strongest of our troops and go to the Capitol."

"Yay!" Golias cheered.

"In the meantime, it's 2:37, so we'd better get some sleep," continued Boggs. "Remember, we'll have to wake up earlier than the Capitol if we want to catch the right opportunity to free the prisoners."

And with that, the remainder of those who were by the landing pad headed to the third level of the underground bunker series. Since Golias was too big to fit inside the elevator, Coin's right-hand man led him down the stairs while everyone else took the elevator. Then, while Boggs went to inform every other soldier in the district of the plan that had been made, the others went into different compartments and hit the hay. Well…almost all of the others did. Two of them tried, but no matter how hard they attempted to do so, they simply couldn't fall asleep.

One of those souls was Golias. Since there wasn't enough room for him to sleep on the bed Yuri was sleeping on with him because Lili and Toolip were occupying that bed too, he decided to sleep on the floor. But there was so much on his mind, sleep just wouldn't find him. Bongo was still out, and two more of his friends were captured by the Capitol. And the worst part was that there was nothing he could do besides sit back and trust that his friends would succeed in saving them. Not if he wanted nothing to go wrong.

Golias tossed and turned on the floor for thirty seconds, and when he just couldn't get to sleep, he sighed, glanced at the sound-asleep Yuri, Lili, and Toolip, got up, and went into the hallway alone. Usually when he couldn't sleep he talked to Yuri about how he was feeling, but tonight his best friend was asleep and it was really late. Or early, that is to say. He didn't want to wake him when it was almost 3:00 in the morning. Tonight he was just going to have to wait to talk about his feelings until everyone woke up hours later.

As he walked through the hallway, Golias passed by a room labeled Compartment 306, opened its door, and peered into it. A sad energy came to him the moment he did. Matt had moved into this room once Mec had placed Bongo into it, and like his best friend, the boy was now sound asleep. As for Bongo, it looked as though he hadn't woken up since he'd first lost consciousness, which wasn't a good sign.

"Bongo?" Golias loud-whispered. "Are you okay? Are you awake?"

No response from Bongo, let alone Matt. Both of them remained silent and asleep, prompting him to leave, close the door, and continue wandering through the hallway. He reached the next room, which was labeled Compartment 307, and then opened its door and peered into it, curious to see who was inside of it. He then jumped, startled when he saw that one of the people inside the room was still awake and sitting on the edge of one of the beds.

"Golias?" asked that person, who was none other than Effie.

"Effie? Is everything okay?" Golias replied.

Before she could answer his question, a soldier appeared behind Golias and barked, "Hey! No one's allowed out of their compartment after lights out."

"Oops! Sorry," said Golias, quickly stepping into Compartment 307 and closing the door behind him.

A few seconds of silence followed, and when he was certain that the soldier was gone, Golias whispered, "So…are you feeling okay?"

Effie started to nod, but then shook her head. "Not really. I can't seem to fall asleep."

Golias observed the other people in the room—Etain, Bizz, and their father, all of whom were asleep—and admitted, "Me neither. I can't stop thinking about Nessa and Objectiva, and everyone else that got captured. I mean, I wanna do something to help them, but…things always seem to go better when I don't do anything."

"Why would you think that?" Effie inquired, surprised to hear that.

"Because a lot of the bad stuff that happened was my fault. Wish-Trish is fine now, but I was the one who squashed her with the door. Then Blight and Chaff got stung by the tracker jackers because I stopped to catch my breath, and the Peacekeepers can do magic stuff now because I didn't listen to Foxface when she told me how to do things right. And then when Yuri needed rescuing for real, I didn't do anything to help…and he got rescued."

"That doesn't mean we're better off without you," the escort told him.

"It kind of does," he said. "It's like Johanna said. Every time something bad happens, it's my fault. And when something good happened, it was because I didn't do anything to help."

"Golias, you mustn't make an assumption like that! You never meant for any of those things to happen. You simply needed to be mentored more than you were." Then a wave of sadness came over her, because using the term "mentored" made her think of Haymitch.

"What's wrong, Effie?" asked Golias.

She sadly gazed at the floor. "Honestly, I haven't been able to stop thinking about those who were captured either. Particularly Haymitch. The two of us, well…we have our differences, but…we still bonded. So it scares me most that he's being held prisoner by the very people I used to look up to."

Golias nodded. "Yeah, I know how you feel. Well, sort of. Yuri's the one I look up to, but when he was captured, it scared me too."

The two of them then fell silent for a second, before Golias asked, "Is Haymitch your best friend?"

"My best friend? Oh, I'm not sure about that. I mean, we are a bit…close…compared to the other mentors and escorts, but I'm not sure we'd necessarily qualify as best friends."

As she spoke, however, she couldn't help remembering when Haymitch, in one of his drunken states, had hugged her without her consent at the most recent reaping. Had he done that because he saw her as his best friend and didn't have the courage to admit it seeing as they only saw each other for about two weeks a year? No, that couldn't be the case. They were too different to be best friends, even now that they were both technically rebels and he'd sobered up for at least long enough to help everyone else involved in their adventure! Then again, on some occasions footage from the Hunger Games proved that best friends could be found in the most unexpected places…so maybe Haymitch did value her to that extent. Or maybe not. The only way she'd know for sure was if she asked him, and that wasn't going to be happening any time soon.

"Oh," said Golias. "Well, even if he's just your friend, I'm sure he's gonna be okay."

"Yes, he…he probably will be," Effie answered. "Saving him, Objectiva, and the others is our next step…" Her gaze then shifted towards the wall on her right, which she knew was the only obstacle between them and Bongo, and she sighed. "Golias…I don't think you should stay behind when it comes time for us to return to the Capitol. With Nessa both gone and back in her body, and Bongo under that spell, you are the only one left aside from Matt, Yuri, and Lili with scenery-altering abilities. And I'd rather not risk losing the children again."

"What? I mean, I wouldn't stay behind, but if I go with you it'll make things worse!"

"You don't know that for sure," Effie told him.

"Yes I do. Every time I try to help, I do something bad."

"But it's always an accident. Anyone can do something bad by accident, and the important part about it is that you learn from it whenever it happens. And the only way to prove you've learned from your mistakes is by taking a chance and trying to help us again."

"Well what if Johanna tries to get me off the team again or something?"

"Then simply look her in the eye and ask her to give you one more chance. If she says no, remind her that Nessa's gone and Bongo is under a spell. I know she'll take that into consideration. The one thing the two of you have in common is that you both want to protect Matt, Yuri, and Lili."

Golias stared downward. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "She might be really mean, but she just wants to help. And so do I." He then smiled confidently and said, "You know what? I'm not gonna stay here. Yuri and I are gonna go back to the Capitol and do something to save Nessa, Objectiva, and everyone else that got captured!"

"Golias!" Effie loud-whispered. "You mustn't bring Yuri along. I know he's your best friend, but he, Matt, and Lili must stay here."

"They all have to stay here? Even Yuri? But, we just got him back! And Lili!"

"I understand, but you don't want them to be captured again, do you?"

"No I don't." Golias tooted his trunk in a low, melancholic manner before saying, "Sorry. It's just that, now that Yuri's not with the bad guys anymore, I don't want us to get separated again. 'Cause uh…until you and Nessa switched bodies, Yuri and I never got separated from each other. We did everything together. We even slept in the same bed! I just let us get separated those two times because I wanted to protect him…and help Nessa too." With a wistful sigh, he concluded, "Poor Nessa. I really hope she's okay."

At this, Effie could only remain silent, slide off the bed she was sitting on, and gently place her hand on the side of her awake companion's head. She wanted to and was tempted to tell him that Nessa would be fine, but she knew better than to say such a thing. As she'd learned the night before, her hometown was never merciful when it came to dealing with rebels, even if the rebels in question were Capitol residents like herself. Unless they got to her in time and saved her, Nessa would be in for a fate most unpleasant, especially considering the fact that the arena breakout had been her idea.

Feeling her come to him, Golias managed to smile at his friend. Everything really would be okay. He would just have to trust that, as long as everything went right in four hours or so, Nessa, Objectiva, and the others would be just fine. Which was easy as long as Yuri, Effie, and the rest of his other friends were by his side…right?

He sadly stared at the ground. Who was he kidding? Nothing felt right knowing Nessa was in trouble.

"We are ghosts!"

"We are vampires!"

"I'm Clove, the Knife Witch!"

"We are big bad Peacekeepers!"

"We are scary monsters and scary people, and we're here to scare you!"

Nessa stood there (at least it looked like she was standing; she felt like she was lying down), wishing she could close her eyes with her ears instead of remaining frozen still. That song had been playing for what felt like hours now, and no matter how many times she tried telling herself it was just a scary dream, it just wouldn't stop! Neither would the vision that continued to play before her: all the ghosts, vampires, and Peacekeepers, not to mention Clove (who was dressed in a black witch gown, black pointy shoes, and a black pointy hat), dancing around her, Clove stroking the blade of the dagger she'd used to weaken Bongo and everyone else wiggling their fingers and simultaneously holding up their hands; a gesture that always made Nessa think they were going to do other scary stuff.

"And guess what?" Clove then said, smiling maliciously. "Your best friend's not here to make you feel better!"

"Enough!" Nessa finally screamed, though it took some effort for her to get the words out. "You're wrong about Lili! She's gonna come and save me from you, tracker jacker fog. She might even be here already!"

"Lili?" asked one of the ghosts, in a spooky manner. "Why would you think for one second that she was talking about her?"

Clove then held her dagger back, and a thunderclap was heard. Next, she swiftly put the hand holding the dagger out in front of herself, and the scene went dark and quiet.

"Uh…hello? Clove? Scary stuff?" Nessa called, nervously. Which also took some effort to do.

There was no response…which was even scarier. She was tempted to bite her lip, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't move her teeth.

"Boo!"

Nessa screamed and whirled around, coming face-to-face with yet another ghost. She backed away from it in fear, only to bump into someone else, whom she was pretty sure hadn't been there a second ago. Turning around again, she was surprised and scared when she saw who was behind her: a sad, teary-eyed Lili.

"I'm never going to change, Nessa," she wept. "I'm never going to be as nice to you as Foxface is. And your other friends from home are never going to really like you as long as I'm not with you."

"What? No…" Nessa said, once again having to muster all her strength just to be able to speak.

"Yes," said the ghost, in an evil-sounding voice. "Your friends never cared about you! You've got nothing to go back to but fake love."

"Don't say that," pleaded Nessa. "You know it's not true! My friends are my friends!"

"Trust yourself. They're not," the ghost told her. Then the ghost shook off the white blanket covering her body, revealing her true form: a giraffe that looked exactly like Nessa, only with lavender glasses rather than light blue glasses, light blue ribbons tied in bows on her horns instead of lavender ribbons, and a raspberry-coloured body with pink spots instead of the other way around. Oh, and a sinister energy that the real Nessa definitely did not possess.

Nessa tried to step back, but her legs just wouldn't budge. "Are you…me?"

"Stop trying to resist the fog," said the other Nessa. "The more you do it, the more times you'll have to talk to me—that one part of you that knows Matt and Yuri and Bongo and Golias don't actually care what happens to you!"

"No," said Nessa. "You're wrong. They do care, they just—"

"They just don't care," snapped the other Nessa. "And I'll prove it. Remember this?"

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Nessa found herself back at the giant multicoloured fish tank that Lili had used her powers to bring all her friends to that other day. A wave of exhaustion suddenly came over her too, as though she'd just finished pushing Lili's special stool to a new area of the fish tank; the one Yuri and Golias were admiring at the time. "Here you go," she said, this time with ease, exactly as she'd done the first time.

The exhaustion on her face couldn't be more obvious, and yet somehow, when Yuri and Golias turned around to face them, it was only to wonder what Lili was doing there, since her special spot had been in a different place. They didn't once bring up Nessa, or ask if she was okay. Just like the first time.

As she stood there, trying to recover from her exhaustion and watching as Lili tried to talk Yuri and Golias into trading spots with her, Nessa tried to sigh, but couldn't. All she could do was hope that, outside her dream, Geolo was still with her, and that her other allies would be there to rescue her soon.

Clove sleepily opened her eyes and was surprised to find she was in a bed, in a different room. A dull-looking one, come to think of it. How much time had passed since she'd lost consciousness? Where was she? She couldn't be in the Capitol; this room looked too dull to possibly be from there. But if she wasn't in the Capitol, then which city was she in? And how had she gotten here?

The Career yawned, and then flinched. Why did it sound like a man had just yawned? Was she hoarse? She cleared her throat…no, she wasn't hoarse at all. Her voice just sounded like a man's voice for some reason—but what was that reason? She sat up to think, and was instantly met with an odd sensation: something was sticking out of her body, just above her rear end. It was ridiculous, but she had to say it, since it was the only explanation for the scenario—she was pretty sure had a tail. A long tail that was just as strong as her arms.

But that's silly, Clove thought. Why would I have a tail? Then she reached up to rub her eyes and almost screamed. Both of her pinkie fingers and all of her fingernails were gone, and the rest of her fingers had become dark green! Even worse, the rest of her hands and her arms were now green and furry! Just like…oh no. OH NO! Quickly she felt the sides of her head, trying to find her ears, only to feel nothing more than fur. She then looked down at her body, which consisted of not her clothes or even her human features, but a body that she instantly recognized as Bongo's.

They'd switched bodies. She didn't know how, but they had. And now she was in this weird place, with a little spiky-haired boy sleeping next to her, while he was in the Capitol, probably being checked out by a team of medics. With her dagger in hand, seeing as she was the last one to have it before she'd blacked out. This was a disaster! How had they switched bodies?

Then, slowly, all the pieces fell into place. The moment she'd given Bongo a haircut with her apparently-bewitched dagger was when a whole bunch of strange things had begun happening. The fairies had the power to make others switch bodies, and that was one of the weird things that'd happened after she'd used the dagger. Had the dagger been what caused this body switch? If so, she had to find a way back to it so she could get her body back—fast, before that kangaroo made her look like a rebel or something!

The boy lying next to her stirred a little, then yawned and stretched. Next, he opened his eyes and looked at her. Instantly he smiled with relief and excitement. "Bongo!" he exclaimed, hugging Clove tightly. "You're awake! Oh, I thought you'd never wake up."

If only what this kid had thought would happen had happened, instead of the second body swap this month! Then Clove would be in her own body, the guy she'd switched with would be out of the picture, and she could listen to what sorts of instructions President Snow had for her now that their plan had resulted in only some of the rebels—thankfully including Nessa—being captured by the Capitol!

"Are you okay?" the boy asked.

"Um…yeah. I'm okay," Clove replied. She was still trying to decide whether or not she should reveal to anyone here that it wasn't Bongo he was talking to.

"Great!" the boy said. He then got off the bed, ran toward the door leading out of the room, opened it, and yelled, "Hey everyone! Bongo's awake!"

"He is?" a man's voice called from the room next to this one. Then, before Clove knew it, Effie and Golias had rushed into the area. Golias then pulled her forward with his trunk and hugged her with his large ears, while his companion simply stood back and watched. But it was clear that she was happy to see "Bongo" was fine too.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay Bongo!" Golias told her.

"Me too," said Effie. "What happened to you was very strange, and scary!"

Clove flinched, caught off guard by the hug. She was very tempted to yell for Golias to let her go, but ultimately resisted the urge to do so. In order to figure out what to do next, she had to find out where she was and what was going on; something she could only do if she pretended to be Bongo for a while. And she was pretty sure that, in this situation, the real Bongo would never turn down a hug from Golias.

Lili then came into the room, followed by two more kids that Clove instantly recognized as Yuri and Toolip. "Bongo!" Lili exclaimed, while Yuri and Toolip simply smiled with relief. "You are okay!"

"Of course I am," said Clove, doing her best not to sound impatient. "Now, could someone tell me where we are? And what happened while I was asleep?"

"Of course," answered Effie. She then proceeded to explain how Nessa, Haymitch, Geolo, Dial, and someone named Objectiva (based on the process of elimination, she knew that had to be the fairy that had been taken alongside Dial) had been captured by the Capitol, and the Peacekeeper reinforcements had been unable to capture the other rebels because Twill and Patch had returned with a hovercraft and a new friend from District 13. They'd blown up (although when Clara arrived just in time to say that part, she worded it differently because of the kids' presence) all the Peacekeepers that were there, and then reunited with the rebels to inform them of what had happened to Thresh and why. Next, they'd all gone back to District 13, which was where they were now, where they had managed to rescue Thresh and Wish-Trish. President Coin had tried to stop them by being in constant denial regarding the truth, but Matt—whom she was then inadvertently taught was the spiky-haired boy that'd been the first to express relief that she was awake—challenged her to a sports competition, which she'd lost to Golias after the giant disco ball that'd appeared on the ceiling fell down and squashed her.

"I don't know what happened to her after that," Golias then said. "The last time I saw her, she was still under the disco ball."

Curse you, District 13, Clove angrily thought. If it wasn't for you, the rest of the Capitol's enemies would have been arrested too. But out loud, she asked, "So are we staying here where it's safe, or are we going to the Capitol to save Nessa and the others?"

"Are you kidding?" Lili asked, shocked. "Of course we're going to the Capitol! Nessa's in trouble, and I wanna save her! Even if…even if she doesn't wanna be my best friend anymore."

"I'm sorry, miss," came Boggs' voice, "but such a mission is too dangerous for you. Only a group of adults who are fit to fight will be allowed to go on it."

"What?!" Lili demanded. "That's not fair!"

"Actually, it's a very fair decision," said Coyle in a calm, kind tone, joining the group just in time to hear Boggs' words. "You and your human friends from home have already been captured once, and even if you hadn't, their punishments for rebelling against them can be very severe. So severe, children your age could have bad dreams if they were to see them."

Lili sighed in disappointment, while Matt and Yuri simply adopted disappointed expressions. Yet they all accepted the facts, reluctantly agreed to stay behind, and even promised not to sneak off again like they had back in Brasília after a nervous Effie asked them if they were absolutely sure they'd stay away from the Capitol.

"How are you gonna decide who does get to go?" Golias inquired.

"It's already been decided," Boggs told him. "Every soldier that's going, myself included, volunteered for it, and earned a rightful place in the squad by acing all the fighting classes we have here long before you all arrived. However, there's still one more thing we need to discuss."

"What's that?" asked Toolip.

Turning to Golias and Clove, Boggs said, "On the way here, your allies mentioned that the Capitol now has access to magic as well as weapons. So we're going to need both of you to come with us."

"Both of us?" Golias replied. "Well, I would, but I'm too big to get inside the hovercrafts!"

"Well not to worry," said a female soldier, walking up to join them. "I'm from District 6, and taking that into consideration when Soldier Boggs gathered most of us up for a meeting once you all went to bed, I stayed up late and made some modifications to one of our hovercrafts' entrances. You should be able to fit inside of it now."

"Oh," said Golias. "Okay."

As for Clove, she simply nodded, already brainstorming her next move. Herself, in Bongo's body, and Golias and a bunch of District 13 soldiers going to the Capitol to rescue everyone that had been captured—it was perfect. All she had to do was wait until they arrived in the luxurious city and then use Bongo's scenery-changing powers to fatally attack the soldiers that were coming with them. That way, they'd think the Peacekeepers were using Golias's DNA to ambush them and never suspect that she and Bongo had switched bodies. And speaking of Golias…well, if he was naive enough to make the mistakes Johanna had gotten so angry at him for making yesterday morning, he was definitely naive enough to not stand in her way once it came time for her to recommend they leave the Capitol without Nessa and the others due to losing too many of their teammates. Really, it was too perfect!

"Hold it," said Johanna, stepping forward to join the conversation with the Hawthornes and Gearingtons not far behind her. "If you're serious about getting Nessa and everyone else out of the Capitol, let me go with you."

"And me," Gale piped up.

"Yeah," Clove agreed, interrupting Hazelle's attempt to object to her son's decision. The more people she had an opportunity to kill, the better. "Let them come too. The more the merrier, right?"

"Alright," decided Boggs, "you can come too, Soldier Mason and Soldier Hawthorne. Now let's go. The less time we take, the better."

"Wait," said Effie. "Do you know your way around the Capitol?"

Boggs looked at her reassuringly. "We have a digital map of the entire city. Don't worry."

"A map," Effie repeated. She smiled, impressed. "How did you acquire such a thing?"

"You're not the only person from the Capitol who's interested in rebelling against it," was Boggs' answer.

Not the only person from the Capitol who was interested in rebelling against it? That was news to Effie…yet also a relief. It made her feel like she wasn't alone. That all the conflicting emotions and fears she'd experienced throughout her adventure weren't only felt by her. Other people in the Capitol knew the things she'd come to learn as well, and weren't brushing them off like she'd imagined they would. They were truly taking them to heart and, as a result, they were now allied with the district she'd thought had been obliterated. Just as she was.

As she watched Boggs leave with Johanna, Gale (who was followed by his worried mother, who kept trying and failing to convince him to back out), and the two remaining Big Big Friends, ready to join the rest of those of the soldiers who were embarking on that rescue mission, Effie became aware that any lingering doubts she had about rebelling against the Capitol were finally—slowly but surely—melting away. She never would get back to her duties as an escort for District 12 tributes of the Hunger Games…but for the first time ever, that thought didn't bother her in any way. The new friends she'd made and the Capitol residents that were working with the rebels would be there for her if she needed it. They would help her find a fresh start and adjust to life without the Hunger Games. She just had to open up and ask them for help, and they would help her. Or at least, Haymitch, Golias, Objectiva, and Bongo would. They were the only ones who had truly confirmed that to be true.

Haymitch, Golias, Objectiva, and Bongo…

Effie sighed nervously. Half of those friends of hers had been captured by the Capitol, and the other half were on their way to the Capitol to rescue them. And, being someone who hadn't taken any fighting classes as well as no longer being in Nessa's body, there was nothing she could do besides stay in District 13, wait for them to return, and hope nothing bad happened to them or everyone else that had been captured. Oh, how she hoped nothing would go wrong…

Oh dear. A second body swap, and it's with Clove and Bongo! What sorts of things will THAT cause to happen? Be sure to stay tuned if you want to find out…