Chapter 54: The First Spark

District 11 was rioting.

That was the first thing Sera was told the minute she woke up.

District 11 was rioting but there was no news on the television. No scenes of violent fights or raised voices fighting against Peacekeepers. There was nothing in the papers or news. All the news showed was recaps of the games or some politician or actor having an affair. None of that really mattered.

District 11 was rioting because of Katniss Everdeen and the death of young Rue but there was no trace of proof anywhere apart from the whispers that Finnick had picked up early that morning when he was forced to leave his bed and her. But he was back before the sun had risen with grim news of Eleven.

Finnick was horrified at the prospect of the rebellion starting early and a little happy, telling Sera that it would've been much better if another two or three districts rose up. Only for Sera to point out that it was a horrible idea. The Capitol was still very much in control.

But there was one thing Finnick had said right. "Maybe if it was a district like Five, they'd listen."

"Why? Because we're the district of power?" He nodded and helped tie the back ribbon of her blouse. "We'd be another Thirteen but without the weapons." Five only had power, no weapons.

"At least, Five would cripple them for a long time." He retorted and she had to agree. "They can't survive on coal, not with how advanced they're technology has gotten."

"If Five stands up. The others would probably take that as an opportunity to riot and rebel but the downside is…" She trailed off to let out a pained sigh. "My family's still in there."

Finnick gave her a tight smile and pulled her in for a embrace before she pulled away, pecking his lips and reminding him that her assistant was coming in an hour.

Emilia had stormed into Sera's apartment just as she had managed to see Finnick off, her assistant narrowly missing him. Her frantic voice and movements almost caused Sera to panic until she realized that Eleven's riots had nothing to do with her.

She wasn't the one at fault and nothing could link her to it.

No, the one at fault was Katniss Everdeen.

Not even a victor yet and she was already starting fires. Impressive.

"No, not impressive." Emilia had said, almost pulling out her hair. "It's too soon." She said. "We're not prepared for everything yet. The supply stockpile is barely full, we need another year."

Absent-mindedly, Sera nodded while moving the pieces on the chessboard Plutarch had gifted to her the year before for her birthday. A heavy marble set with white and black marble pieces and a board with light gold veins. She'd taken to having it on display on a shelf in the corner of her living room.

"It's not like Eleven's riots are going to lead anywhere." Sera pointed out. They were unarmed mostly and most of them were too young or too old to fight the Peacekeepers. "We'll get more time." She assured her assistant and herself. She still needed to prepare her family.

"I hope you're right. I'm trying to convince my stupid sons to leave Capitol and get on the damned train outside before things get worse."

"And what about you?" Emilia had paused to look at Sera with pursed lips. "Oh. Emilia…"

"I lost my husband here." Her assistant said slowly. "If…if I should die, I'll die where he did."

There was nothing Sera could say to that so she turned away. The whole idea of love was still new to her. She loved her family but loving someone else was still new to her. She was still learning to love Finnick and there was a part of her that believed she'd spend her whole life learning to be better.

"Eleven's riots should stop before the end of the games." Sera moved a black knight forward and a white bishop back before taking a step back. "I can imagine Seneca Crane will have a hard time since Rue from Eleven's death was streamed live."

"He already is." Emilia confirmed and looked around. "I heard through the grapevine that President Snow summoned him at three in the morning and the other gamemakers have been scrambling to cut out Katniss' send-off from the recaps and all records."

"The bit with the flowers."

Sera could still see Katniss and Rue in front of her. Rue covered in flowers as she laid asleep but really dead as Katniss laid her to eternal rest. Her little symbol was apparently not well received. To Sera, she thought it wasn't just bold but a beautiful gesture, something so similar to what she and her allies had done for Jenny back during her games.

"That's not the problem." Emilia sighed, taking a seat opposite her. "The problem was that little salute she did. Nobody in the Capitol knows what it means."

Sera didn't know what it meant. Still from Katniss' sad and rage-filled gaze, she could guess it was a sign of grief or goodbye.

"Some think it's a…gesture of rebellion. An open rebellion and she's still a tribute." Emilia gasped out and reminded Sera that no matter what her assistant was a Capitolite at the end of the day.

"Or she's saying goodbye to her ally." Sera suggested instead because Katniss wasn't a fool. None of the tributes that went into the arena were complete fools to openly rebel in the arena, especially not Katniss. From what little they'd spoken, she was more cautious than anything. "We did the same to Jen—a tribute from Four during my games except we let her body float down the half-frozen river, remember?"

Emilia shook her head. "The difference is that you weren't alone or that little gesture wasn't seen as rebellion, Katniss' is."

"Except I also decorated Jen—my ally with flowers and some of our supplies before sending her off."

"There were no gestures! Or salutes!"

"So? It's not like Katniss Everdeen told Eleven to riot."

"No, but they did anyway." Emilia threw her head back and sighed again. "It's over. She's gone and they'll start cracking down on you and the other people from the districts. That's what always happens. One person steps out of line and the rest of us get punished."

"Relax. Everything will work out." She'd make it work out if she had to. Plutarch too. He wouldn't dare let an opportunity like Katniss Everdeen die just like that.

A spark had been lit and the first fire had burned in Eleven. All they needed was more time and another opportunity for another spark to light.

Seneca Crane tapped his feet on the marbled floor impatiently. Suddenly, she was reminded that she wasn't in her apartment anymore but rather in President Snow's glass house filled to the brim with white rose bushes. Emilia and Finnick were almost a distant memory with how long Sera had spent in that humid and near silent garden.

Flutters of ocuwings were the only things that accompanied, apart from the roses and the Head Gamemaker. Though the numbers of the ocuwings had obviously dwindled in the past few years, Snow was killing them. Maybe those pale insects had met the end of their use.

Another glance at a Seneca Crane and she looked back up at the dying ocuwings who were now useless and back at Crane.

There was a hint of nervousness in his movements with fear hidden behind his eyes. But he'd pause and look over across the artificial garden every now and then, distracted as his ears turned red and he looked away whenever Sera's dull gaze landed on him.

With a thin smile, Sera snipped off the head of the thorns of a white rose bush. The fatigue was wearing her down and the heels were digging into her feet. President Snow was nowhere to be seen. If she was correct, he wouldn't be appearing for another hour but the meeting between Crane and him was set for exactly 8:00 in the evening but the clock hanging from the roof of the glasshouse read 10:12.

President Snow was running late.

President Snow was never late. He was always on time no matter what. It didn't take much thinking on Sera's part to understand that Snow was angry with Crane. Nothing to do with her. She was here as an ornament or someone to get inside Crane's head and scoop out all the little thoughts in his mind, bringing it back to Snow like a good little dog.

If she knew Snow was angry with Crane, she would've gone along with what Finnick suggested and feigned sickness but her rational mind convinced her that somehow Snow would know she wasn't really sick. Now she was bored and annoyed, tending to a garden she'd rather burn down because of how nauseating all the white roses made her feel.

She didn't even hate white roses before she became victor.

One more look at Crane and she almost let her true emotions show as her thoughts wandered off into the darkest side of her head. The garden shears in her hand felt heavy. Maybe if she snipped off his head, she'd feel much better. She was sick of seeing his face flush whenever he looked at her.

She wasn't even wearing anything to look at, a simple long tulip sleeve red blouse with matching red trousers that had white vines crawling up from the hem. Her blouse even covered up her neck. There was nothing to look at.

"The star-crossed lovers from Twelve? It's tragic for them to be reaped together." Sera remarked out loud, breaking the wall of silence between the two. She threw away the head of a rose and looked at him with a brow raised.

Crane unclasped his hands and took long strides towards her. "It's no different than a brother and sister being reaped." He said.

"The last brother-sister pair of tributes Panem had were Estelle Clarence and her brother from my district and that was almost twenty years ago."

"So it has." Crane mused, taking a fallen rose from her hand and holding it up. He thought about putting the rose in her head but she moved away. "We've never had a star-crossed pair did we?"

Her face fell and her eyes dulled. She should've expected it. No one would've remembered Thyme and Acadia from the 68th Games—they didn't win. Losers never got a mention. But that didn't mean Thyme and Acadia had been scrubbed from her mind.

"Oh we did, two tributes from my games." She started. She'd make him remember even if he wasn't the gamemaker for her games. "A girl from Six and a boy from Eleven." She wanted them to be remembered. "You've probably forgotten, given how long my games were, I don't blame you."

Red was the color of his face, not in lust but rather in embarrassment as he bowed his head and looked away, ashamed that a head gamemaker didn't know the games. "Ah and a lot was going on." Her games were long and dragged out with many days filled with nothing of event but she smiled through it all. "But it was nothing on this scale."

Katniss and Peeta were simply unfortunate that they had the displeasure of being from the same district and knowing each other before being reaped. That was much worse than whatever Thyme and Acadia faced but at least the Mellarks and Everdeens could comfort each other in their eventual losses.

"No, two tributes from the same district being potential lovers is a first time." Sera said, acting like she agreed which she did but it was so unfair that Acadia and Thyme were forgotten. "A tragedy" She stated and eyed Crane's reaction. He flinched and looked away. "And the people are rightfully upset."

"But they are tuning in."

"They just want to see them happy." She lowered her voice with a slight tremble in each of her words like her heart ached every time she thought about the poor star-crossed lovers of Twelve. "Even if it's impossible." She carried on and looked up at Crane who was already reading between the lines. "Can't imagine how sad it would be if they never even get to see each other again in the arena."

"Doubtful. The boy allied himself with careers and the girl has mostly been alone." He remarked but the seed was already planted in his head. "Even if they were to meet…it wouldn't make sense. Why would they meet again?"

"But they did meet—the Tracker Jackers? He warned her."

"Didn't end well for him, the boy from One injured him."

"He's still alive." Sera pointed out and that meant he was still in the game.

"He's not going to last long even if he and Katniss Everdeen reunite, she'd watch him die."

"How tragic."

"Very." He agreed. "The people want them to be together but I don't know I'm going to make it happen and at this point, I…" He chuckled. The source of his success was the source of his fear. His lips twitched and he looked around for a sign of the President before closing in on her. "Between you and me, I was thinking—well, I—someone suggested that I should let them reunite in some way, to make Katniss tend to him. It would boost the ratings."

She had a guess who that someone was. "And the people would be happy. I think Katniss would be happy too, considering she lost her only ally yesterday."

Taking a step back, she watched in silent passive glee as the color drained of Crane's face. "Ah…yes…that girl." He wiped the sweat off his brow, his eyes trembling as he looked around the garden like a cornered animal. "The one from—have you heard…about Eleven?"

She cocked her head to the side in feigned confusion. "Weren't we talking about Katniss Everdeen's ally? The little girl from Eleven? That's what you meant right?"

"Ah…yes. Th-that's exactly what I meant."

"She was so young." Crane wasn't listening to Sera anymore. He was unfocused and the fear of President Snow's reaction to him.

That little fire storm in the early days of the games was a strange so early in the games and it was clear to Sera from his little reactions that the fire was meant to eliminate Katniss. He failed and now Eleven was rioting and the noose around his neck was getting tighter while he tried to loosen the collar of his shirt.

Sweat formed on his temple and his upper lip, he kept wiping it off and pretending he was fine. Right in front of Sera's eyes, he was falling apart just thinking about President Snow's reaction. He wasn't fine at all.

"I heard the ratings saw a spike." Sera's voice sounded almost like music to Crane, soft and almost child-like but there was a bitter and sharpness to her tone hidden deep under. "You must be proud of yourself."

"Proud?" He echoed back. His lips twitching as he tried to smile only to look pained. "I'm proud."

"I'm sure President Snow will be pleased with the rating."

Sera turned her back to him and pulled up her gloves, picking up the shears again to cut out the thorns on the roses.

"Katniss Everdeen is already a victor to everyone. I can already picture the aftermath when she wins but if she die–loses…" She trailed off, letting silence fall between them like a thick curtain before she lifted it. "If she dies—I don't think the people will be too happy. I can also picture how…unhappy everyone will be. She and Peeta Mellark are the main events of the show this year, don't you think so?"

"They are." He breathed out, again loosening his collar to breathe.

"If they were to meet again and work together, it would be nice. The people would like it as well no matter how tragic things will be, it'll give them moments of happiness…even if it's fleeting."

"I suppose it will." The wheels were turning his head and he couldn't help but agree. "But what if there were two victors?" He asked suddenly, so full of life.

Two…victors?

For a second, Sera thought he was joking. But when he didn't laugh or smile, she knew; he meant what he said. Two victors? She felt slighted, angry and so wronged at the thought of two victors. It was irrational and childish but it was so damn unfair that only now was a gamemaker considering two victors.

She didn't say anything. Her rage bubbling underneath her skin as she stiffly smiled a plastic smile. No one, not one person had that idea for her games. Gaius could've lived if they were two victors. Someone who'd understand her.

Selfishly, he could've been someone who could take her burden. She wouldn't need to poison herself and keep herself ill if Gaius was here. Her anger felt uncontrollable.

Breathing in and out, she calmed herself away from Crane's gaze with her back turned. Only when she felt some calm control did she turn back to face the Head Gamemaker who looked eager for feedback.

"The Quarter Quell is next year." Was all she could think of saying.

"I know that but this could be a pre-Quarter Quell celebration, two victors from the same district—"

"The star-crossed victors." The rage she felt disappeared into a vacuum, leaving behind an empty sickness in its place. Her stomach churned and she swallowed rising bile in the back of her throat, wetting her drying painted lips, she said. "T-that's a good concept but I think you might need to get permission from the President."

"You think he won't approve."

Getting the ratings up was one of his promises to President Snow. The higher the ratings the more Hunger Games there would be in the future, that was natural and likewise, if he was successful, he'd be the gamemaker running the third quarter quell. He'd go down in history.

"Well, I don't know." President Snow would have Crane executed in private or public depending on his mood for even suggesting dual victors for an ordinary Hunger Games especially when the Quarter Quell was coming around the following year. "I just…I'm just a victor. President Snow would know better than me." She tried.

"Exactly," Crane said, excitedly gripping Sera's wrists.

She held in her hiss of pain and smiled through it before she pictured herself stabbing him with the shears and cutting off his vocal cords and watched as he drowned in his own blood.

"Exactly, you're a victor." He said, shaking her a little. "You know what'll get the interest of Panem."

"I—I don't know. I just think…the idea of two victors before the Quarter Quell is a little…"

"A little?"

"Ambitious." And she left it at that, watching as his eyes lip up with challenge.

Men like him loved a challenge they couldn't overcome. Their egos were far too big for their bodies, blinding them from seeing the bigger picture. A little push and she'd get an outcome better than what she and Plutarch had planned. Peeta Mellark would be a good victor even if he was the spare and even through her anger and envy, she wanted more tributes to live.

But Crane would pay the price.

A life for a life.

At least, Sera warned him.

Stepping back, she watched as he started to pace around the garden while tightening his collar and fixing his outfit when he spotted the two assistants of President Snow appear from the foliage. They bowed their heads and relayed the message that the President would be there soon before disappearing into the foliage once more.

"Crane." One word. A single word greeting was all President Snow spared Seneca Crane. "How are the roses?" He ignored Crane and focused on his roses.

"More thorns." Sera sighed and held up a few stems of roses up to him. "I'm afraid, these three bushes," She motioned towards the three she was surrounded by. "Might've just changed to grow thorns."

President Snow scoffed in disbelief. "You expect me to accept that. Those bushes were bred to be thornless."

Nodding, Sera pulled up her glove again and tightened her grip on the shears. "Well, sometimes thornless roses grow thorns." She said softly, eyeing a shaking Crane behind President Snow. "Especially when they're plagued by insects. I think these bushes might be infected."

"I didn't expect my roses to have thorns or insects."

"The insects must've somehow managed to get inside."

"And?" He questioned. "What are you going to do about the roses?"

"There's nothing I can do but cut the thorns."

"But they'll grow back."

"They'll grow back..." She glanced at Crane again and back at President Snow. "Unless, you have them removed."

His face twisted with rage and anger before he made a motion towards the entrance of the garden. A few avoxes appeared through the bushes and dropped to the floor. Like flies, they gathered around the three bushes and ripped them out from the roots, leaving a mess of dirt and dead roots behind.

"Mr President, I—" Crane was silenced when President Snow held up his hand.

Sera took off her gardening gloves before washing and drying her hands and putting on a pair of silk gloves. "Seneca was telling me about the spike in ratings for this year's game." She instead said, in a light-hearted tone.

"Ah, yes. A spike in the ratings and spike in violence in Eleven." President Snow airily retorted. "Do you know how many children died in Eleven because of that little stunt Katniss Everdeen pulled, Seraphine?"

"Well—" She almost laughed. Children? He was thinking about the children? A damned hypocrite. She'd never felt so angry with anyone. "...I didn't know there was violence in Eleven." With wide eyes, she turned to Crane and let out a quiet gasp. "But I hardly think Seneca is to blame for this."

"You're defending him?" Calm rage could be heard through his voice.

"Not at all." She replied. "I'm pointing out that Seneca isn't at fault. He's only the Head Gamemaker and that's all. It's hardly his fault that Katniss Everdeen is…so thoughtless and selfish towards the rest of Panem."

"Yes…" He said slowly, his rage subsiding a little. "Katniss Everdeen was…selfish. Incredibly selfish."

"But people do love her for her little selflessness in the reaping." Crane tried. Oh, if he valued his life as much as he valued ratings and fame, he'd actually have a shot at staying alive.

"They'll forget about it." President Snow spat out. "Or you'll make them forget it."

"People are attached to her and Peeta Mellark." Sera softly reminded President Snow, kicking a little dirt away from her. "If the odds are in her favor, she'll stay in the game with Peeta. If not…"

"Both will lose." Crane finished even though that was no what Sera was going to say. "Or both could win." Her frown told President Snow enough. She wasn't with Crane at all.

"Both?" President Snow echoed. "Is there anything I should know, Crane?"

"I had this idea that perhaps we could…use the idea of the star-crossed lovers to promote the Hunger Games and the ratings over all." He looked at Sera for approval and support, finding nothing in return. She looked away, acting as if she wasn't there at all. She didn't want anything to do with that.

Shutting his eyes, President Snow opened them before turning to Sera with a look. She said nothing, staying still as the marble statues in the garden. An ornament, that was why she was here.

"Do you understand the implications two victors for a normal Hunger Games will have on Panem and the history of games?!" President Snow's calm anger rose again and she swore she saw the Crane flinch a little.

Crane again looked at Sera who refused to acknowledge him. "I…I understand it will be a challenge but I have an idea."

"Oh, an idea?" President Snow echoed, sarcastically as he plucked a rose from one of the thornless bushes, inspecting it. "Let's hear it."

"There won't be two victors." Crane said instead. It looked like he came up with that idea on the spot to escape President Snow's scrutiny. "We'll make an announcement for the change of the rules to gather the remaining tributes together. There's not many left and they're all scattered. We could do what Plutarch Heavensbee did in the past, which was to wait until night to…transport the tributes to gather them into one place but I thought that's too…artificial."

"What does that matter? Gamemaker Heavensbee's methods were tried and true. Yours are not."

"If I gather the tributes in one place, Five won't fight." Crane tried again, desperately trying to make sense of his plot. He just wanted two victors but now he was trying to save his skin. It was too late, he'd already taken a step into the trap. "The boy from Eleven's a challenge but he won't attack Katniss Everdeen. Peeta Mellark is too injured to fight which leaves the pair from Two."

"If it fails?"

"It won't." He was confident even though again it was obvious to both Sera and President Snow that Crane was coming up with all of this on the spot. "I have a mutt that I've yet to try out in the game. I've been saving it for the grand finale."

Her interest piqued, she turned head a little but still appeared distant like she didn't care to listen in on the conversation. Zephyr didn't know anything about the mutts even though he worked in the same building on the technology while the scientists worked on the mutts.

"A mutt?" President Snow laughed in disbelief, crushing the rose in his hand and tossing it. The white bruised petals of the rose was crushed under his feet as he moved along to inspect the other bushes. "If a mutt is your best option then maybe consider stepping down. There's many who can do a better job at playing the Head Gamemaker."

"But you chose me."

"I can choose another, Crane. I hope you remember that." Crane's face paled and his eyes were bloodshot. "Don't forget that your position was conditional. Ratings are not the only thing that will determine whether you stay."

"B-but we can't just get rid of those two." Again, Crane was right and this conversation was a circle, going round and round. She was getting sick of it. "The people…like them."

"So what will you do when you make that announcement of the rules changing and those two manage to outlive everyone? Will you change the rules again and make a fool of the Hunger Games."

"No. I'm hoping that the other halves of Twelve and Two die out before they make it to the end."

"Hope?" President Snow laughed, shaking his head. "Hope is a dangerous thing, Seneca. It lures you into a false sense of security and allows you to make mistakes that have grave consequences. Get rid of that hope and tell me exactly what you plan to do if you fail."

"I'm sorry." Crane swallowed, fidgeting with his collar again. "I meant. I know one half of each pair will die off before the end. I predict that the end will be a showdown between Katniss Everdeen and the boy from Two."

"And if it's not."

"Well…"

"Accidents happen." Sera said quietly. "Maybe one half could pass away…from injuries. I did remember seeing Peeta Mellark being heavily injured by his former ally Cato for letting Katniss escape. Without the proper medical treatment, he'd pass away which would be very tragic."

"Yes, yes." Crane let out a sigh of relief at Sera's intervention. "Peeta Mellark is injured, he'll die soon and if he doesn't my mutts that my team has been working on can handle the rest."

"And you think doing all of this, promising a lie is going to increase the ratings and get things back into control?"

Crane paused, breathing heavily before he said. "Yes."

The noose was tightened and all that was needed was a little push.

In silence, President Snow turned to Sera. She felt nothing knowing that Crane might be living out his last days and only nodded in response, turning her back to the two men and leaving to make preparations for the finale of the game that year. Crane would be part of it just like the victors.

Sera did warn him.