5 months before the 110th Hunger Games
Ellis Winslet has never hated his situation more.
He's always put one thing above everything else: his family. His wife, his children, their children; there is nothing more important to him than them. When he was reaped the first time, he promised his then-girlfriend, Meadow, that he would return home. He kept that promise. When he was reaped the second time, along with twenty-three other Victors (including his best friend and former mentee Kira Heart) he made the exact same promise to his now-wife. Somehow, he kept that one too.
It was hard moving on from the horrors of the Games the first time; it was near impossible the second. He thought about Kira every day. She was still recovering from the trauma of her first arena only two years prior when they shoved her into it for a second time. He protected her as best he could, but in the end, it wasn't enough. She died, along with so many of his fellow Victors. Many of them he didn't know well, but it still hurt all the same. Hadn't they already suffered enough?
After his second victory, he did his best to keep his head down. He played the role of a good Victor. He followed the rules. He mentored his tributes year after year, until someone else replaced him. He was a good father and a good husband. He did everything right.
But it wasn't enough. Panem fell. Or, almost. The 95th Hunger Games snapped the last string holding the country together. A rebellion, right under his nose. A few Victors knew about it. But he wasn't one of them.
It didn't matter. The Capitol thought he did. He was captured, interrogated, and tortured. But that torture paled in comparison to what they did to his family. He got a front-row seat to his wife's interrogation. He watched them do unspeakable things to her. When she died, he was almost relieved she wouldn't suffer any longer.
His son, Logan, didn't even make it to the interrogation room. He fought back and was killed on the floor of his own living room. At least Ellis didn't have to watch. He didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse. And he still doesn't know what happened to his daughter-in-law, Tina. He can only hope it was a quick death.
But all of that wasn't enough for them. They interrogated his grandchildren, but someone had enough of a heart to keep it to just questioning. What would two kids under the age of ten know about a rebellion? At first, Ellis thought it was a gift, returning his two grandchildren to him unharmed. Then, when both of their names were called for the 105th Games, he realized there was never a gift.
His granddaughter fell first. A spear in the back from a Career during the bloodbath. Ellis doesn't remember which Career. His grandson made it as far as the second day before he met the same fate by a different Careers hand.
All because of a goddamned rebellion Ellis played no part in. Maybe he should have. Maybe he should have listened to the whisperings with more curiosity. But he thought if he was complacent, he would be okay. How stupid could he be?
He spends many nights wishing it was him who died in the 75th Hunger Games. At least if he was dead, his family would still be alive. He should have tried harder to bring Kira home.
"Kira, stay awake! Don't do this to me." Ellis remembers her last moments as if they were yesterday. He watched the blood drain from her face. He remembers her last breath. She was too young. Just like his son, Logan. And his grandchildren. All too young, but all the same in the eyes of the damned Capitol.
Ellis spends a lot of his time in bed. He doesn't leave the house, not unless he's forced to. He hasn't mentored in a long time, so it's not often he has a commitment. It's how he prefers it, anyway. It's safer that way. The fewer people he becomes associated with, the safer they are from harm.
So it's a surprise to Ellis when he hears a knock on his door. Still in bed, he doesn't really have a desire to answer the door. He figures it's another Victor making sure he's still alive.
Another knock, this one more aggressive. "Go away," Ellis yells, burying his face further into his pillow. He wants to escape.
"Ellis! I know you're in there. Open up," Raven's muffled voice just reaches the master bedroom. To anyone else, Ellis would continue ignoring them. But not Raven.
Victor of the 104th Hunger Games, Raven and Ellis bonded after the horrors of the 105th. Raven felt extreme guilt that she couldn't bring home either of Ellis' grandchildren, but Ellis never blamed her. He doesn't think the Capitol would have let them win. No, he knows they would have been victim to a tsunami, or crushed by falling rocks from the mountain, or targeted by bloodthirsty mutts. He knew that as soon as their names left the lips of the escort the day of the reapings.
Ellis throws the covers off and begrudgingly heads downstairs. Raven just starts her next series of knocks when he opens the door, much to her surprise.
"You look like shit." She pushes through the door before Ellis has a chance to think of a response.
"Thanks?" He shuts the door behind her and follows her into his kitchen. She wastes no time taking a shot of whiskey, pouring herself a second by the time Ellis makes his way inside. He grabs the bottle.
"What are you doing?" He knows Raven, and she's a lot of things, but an alcoholic isn't one of them. Something's wrong.
"Loosening up." She reaches for the bottle, but Ellis is quicker and holds it higher than she can reach. One of the benefits of being nearly a foot taller.
"Bitch," she scoffs, taking a seat at the degraded kitchen table that still only sits one. Ellis vaguely remembers smashing the rest of the chairs throughout the years. It's not like anyone else uses them.
"What's going on?" He sets the whiskey down on the counter. "I'd like an answer today, Raven."
"You're a mentor this year. Congratulations. Maybe consider pouring both of us another shot," She holds the empty shot glass in her hand as Ellis takes in her words. He can feel his color shift to an even paler white, if that was even possible.
"No," he says, as if he has a say in anything he will or won't do in this world.
"Yeah. Beau is dead, so you're up." Raven gestures towards the whiskey. Ellis walks it over to the kitchen table.
"Dead?" Ellis rests his palms against the edge of the table.
"Too much alcohol, or something. I don't think…it's not what you're thinking. It's just bad timing." Raven pours another shot, but this time, gently pushes th glass towards Ellis.
He hesitates. He needs to be in the right frame of mind, at least for now. Ellis hasn't mentored in a few decades. Not since Beau was crowned Victor sometime after the 75th. God, Ellis can't even remember when that happened.
"I can't, Raven. I can't go through this again." With the realization sinking in, Ellis no longer declines that shot. It immediately warms him. It's no wonder Beau was never seen without a bottle in his reach.
"You can. I'll be right there with you. You're going to be okay." Her words, although intended to be supportive, only pierce his heart. These were the exact same words he said to Kira before they returned to the stupid Hunger Games.
He couldn't have been more wrong.
He knows now it won't be okay. Any opportunity for him to form any kind of attachment with anyone is just another opportunity for the Capitol to rip them away from him. To crush him, from the inside out. And he hasn't even healed from the horrible murder of every single one of his family members.
Ellis Winslet is strong. But even the strongest men have their limits.
"On the one-hundredth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that the actions taken by one affects those they love, the families of the reaped tributes will be taken by the Capitol and, when the tribute perishes, the family perishes as well."
This was the Quell announcement that made every family living in the districts of Panem fear for their lives. The Suede family was no exception. Although Lilac was the only one eligible for the reaping, she was more afraid than she had ever been. Her parents' lives were on the line. So was that of her younger brother, Sash, who under normal circumstances would have had another year before he would have to worry about the reapings. But against all odds, Lilac was reaped, and against even worse odds, she was crowned Victor.
Lilac Suede would never forget her district partner, Treuse Custer. Treuse had worked at the Suede family's factory for many years before the two of them were reaped. Lilac knew of Treuse, but Treuse fell for Lilac, and she reciprocated. He would have given his life for her, and, well, he did. His sacrifice helped her earn the title of Victor of the 100th Hunger Games, keeping both her and her family alive.
The Capitol forced her to move on. Demanded she marry and have a family of her own. She complied, too afraid to do anything else. But a piece of him remained with her. Her first child, a boy, had a nickname decided before he was even born.
He's only a toddler now, but Lilac still gets a tightness in her chest when she thinks about his future. Victors' children have a higher-than-average chance of being reaped, and a lower-than-average chance of winning. Lilac doesn't understand why, but another Victor's theory is that it would look rigged if the same family kept getting crowned victor. So they have to rig it in the other direction.
Good thing your first name isn't Treuse. That would really make for headlines, Lilac thinks as she holds her son, Milo, in her arms. The official name was chosen by Lilac's husband, Giovanni, as a name passed down through his family. And that's perfectly fine for Lilac. To her, he will always remind her of Treuse. A life taken too soon.
The door opens downstairs, and Lilac can't stop herself from flinching. Even in the safety of her own house, she's not safe. She's not safe anywhere anymore.
"Honey?" The familiar voice of her husband soothes her.
"Upstairs," she says, trying to keep Milo asleep. She stands up from her chair and gently places him in his crib. Thankfully, he doesn't wake up.
Lilac heads downstairs and instinctively enters her husband's warm embrace. She's always appreciated having someone to support her. He came into her life two years after her victory, and he's been in it ever since.
"How is he?" Giovanni asks after a quick kiss.
"He's fine. Getting bigger every day." The soreness in her back confirms just that.
"He's going to miss you when you leave," Giovanni says, a little disheartedly.
"It won't be long, you know that. Three, four weeks max." Lilac gently pulls away. She knows where this is going, and she doesn't know if she has the energy for it today.
"Lilac…" She knows what he's going to say before he says it. She knows that, although the Games don't last longer than three weeks, the lost pair from Eight stay with her for months afterwards. District Eight hasn't had a Victor since Lilac, and the loss never gets easier. It might actually make it harder, knowing that there had to have been someone capable of winning at this point, right? Why can't Lilac bring any of them home? Her partner, Adrien, should be bearing half of the weight of the whole mentoring thing. But every year, he hides in his room and doesn't come out, leaving Lilac alone to bear the weight of it all. It's taking its toll, that's for sure.
"G, what do you want from me? I can't just not show up." If she could, she would.
If I could just bring someone else home, they could take over.
"I just want you to take care of yourself first. Milo's starting to pick up on it. You just, you become a completely different person each time you come back from the Capitol," Giovanni's tone is soft but all Lilac can hear is accusations.
(Deep down, she knows she's overreacting. She knows Giovanni loves her more than she can ever fully comprehend. She doesn't know what hurts more: that she will never reciprocate, or that she will only ever feel that way for a dead boy.)
"I'm Capitol property. I'm not allowed to put myself first. You knew that when you asked me to marry you." Lilac turns before the tears can fall. By the time she's back upstairs with a slammed door behind her, she's not holding back.
Lilac has suffered a lot throughout her life. And yet she's one of the lucky ones. The Capitol hasn't murdered her family. She has a loving husband and son. She's rich beyond her imagination. But she's given her life, her freedom, and her identity to the Capitol.
When will it end?
Darrah Arinori doesn't trust.
She's tired of putting her trust in the wrong hands. Over and over again, it just comes back to bite her in the ass. She trusted Harrison at the end of the 95th Hunger Games, and that ended in her watching him get ripped to shreds by muttations. She fell into the hands of the rebels, who intended to get as many tributes alive as possible, but those hands were weak compared to the hands of the Capitol. It didn't take the Capitol long to get Darrah back, to lock her in a room and extract information she simply did not have.
Compared to other Victors, she was lucky. The Capitol needed a Victor to parade around. She was chosen, but not because she was their favorite or the strongest or the best. It was simply because, out of the three survivors, she was the only one the Capitol had in their possession.
She did her stupid Victory Tour. She doesn't remember a lot of it. The people she met, the faces of lost tributes' families, none of it stuck. She was under heavy surveillance 24/7, but she cooperated. When she returned to the Capitol, once they wrapped up the tour she cooperated. When they informed her she would not be returning to District Seven indefinitely, well, it's not like she could do anything but comply.
She lived in the Capitol for two years. The longest two years of her entire life. During those years, she had no communication with her family. She didn't know if they were dead, alive, ignored, or tortured, and she felt too afraid to ask. She refused to bring unwanted attention down on them. No matter what happened to her, she did not want anything to happen to them.
When the Capitol told her to board a train to return to Seven, she genuinely didn't believe it. And when she arrived at the station and saw her parents and brother eagerly awaiting, she was convinced she would wake up at any moment and find herself back in the Capitol.
All things considered, Darrah was a good Victor. She played by the rules, she mentored the new tributes, and between her and her fellow mentor, they even brought one home alive. It hasn't been an easy fifteen years, but Darrah thinks she got a better deal than a lot of Victors. Plus, not a word from her fellow survivors of the 95th Hunger Games.
At least, not officially.
Darrah likes to sleep in as long as she can, but sometimes Beltane doesn't let her. It doesn't matter how full her food bowl is, or how clean her litter box is, sometimes she just needs attention.
The fluffy black and white creature purrs as she forces herself in the bend of Darrah's knees. Darrah gently strokes her back and receives a few rough licks in return.
"Hi Bel." Darrah's eyes struggle to adjust to the sunrise peering through the curtains; it probably takes a full half hour before she's awake enough to get out of bed. It would be harder to get out if Tera was next to her, but alas, another shift in the lumber yard has taken her from Darrah again.
"You don't need to work." Darrah would tell her over and over again.
"I'm not taking your money." Tera would always remind her. Her pride won't let her.
Darrah knows that until they give themselves a label, Tera will keep this mindset. It's not that the two women don't want that- Darrah wants it more than anything. But labeling her as "girlfriend" gives the president another person to hold over her head. Darrah refuses to put anyone else at risk.
Darrah throws the sheets off of herself and sloppily grabs something presentable from her dresser. She gets herself dressed and heads downstairs. She eats a quick banana, preparing to head into town, when a knock at the back door surprises her.
Already? Darrah knows there's only one person who knocks at her back door. She just didn't expect him so soon.
She opens the door and, just as she expected, Raz is standing there with a basket of flowers.
"Cute." Darrah takes the flowers inside. Raz smirks, leaning against the frame of the door.
"I was instructed to get this to you quickly." His words cause her throat to close just a bit. Why? What's happened?
"Well, thank you for obliging. I'll get them situated."
Raz waves as Darrah shuts the door. Shaking, she manages to keep her composure as she drops the gift on the kitchen counter. Beltane jumps up, purring as she rubs against the basket.
Darrah rips the flowers out, dirt exploding all around her. She digs and digs until her fingers come across a different texture: a small, wrinkled piece of paper.
She didn't realize she was holding her breath until she let it all out, causing Bel to tilt her head slightly to the side. With all of the flowers removed, and most of the dirt now resting on the kitchen counter, the cat crawls into the basket and makes herself comfortable. Within seconds Darrah's sink is filled with water. She places the paper in the water.
The words on the letter slowly reveal themselves. Too slowly for Darrah's preference. But when it's done, she finds it in herself to calm down. Raz wouldn't have been so calm if it was urgent.
'Hey A,
Yes, this is sooner than normal, considering I just saw you. E and I are fine. Good luck on your upcoming tour. We'll be watching you carefully. Make sure the cat is well-fed.
-M'
Darrah rips the letter into a bunch of small pieces, a very easy task since it's soaking wet. Only once it's gone does she let herself take s in the words from the letter, words from a fellow tribute.
Hey A. Darrah doesn't know how it started, but he would always use their last names in his letters. Harder to decipher if it ever fell into the wrong hands, she assumes.
E and I are fine. Those are the only words Darrah needs to hear. She doesn't know where the two of them are, and if she doesn't know where they are, then the Capitol probably doesn't either.
Good luck on your upcoming tour. The Hunger Games. Another month of mentoring, and inevitably, mourning. Is this a warning? Does he know something she doesn't?
What the hell is Pitheart planning?
And they'll be watching her carefully…will she finally get to see them again? She hasn't seen them since she was in the arena. Sure, their faces are plastered all over the TV, along with facial constructions of what they probably look like now, fifteen years later.
Conrad Martell and Tatiana Emery. The two that got away.
The letter is a warning, Darrah knows that much. And it must be something severe for Conrad to have sent a letter. They keep their correspondence to a minimum. Darrah doesn't even know the people that it takes to transfer a letter like this back and forth. She doesn't know when someone in the chain will change their mind and turn them in for the biggest reward of their lives.
Darrah doesn't know what to do. Should she run? Should she make Raz take her to wherever these two have been holing up? Would that even be safe? She can guarantee every move she makes is tracked by her good friends in the Capitol.
God damnit Conrad, you can't do this to me. Realizing that there may not be anything for her to do, she runs the blob of wet paper down the drain. She spends some time cleaning up the flowers and the dirt, slow and meticulously.
He wouldn't have warned me to just scare me. She brushes the last of the dirt into the trash can.
He wants to help. To prepare me. Or…to tell me he's with me. On my side. Darrah pets Beltane, who's still curled up in the basket.
He wouldn't warn me if it wouldn't help me. Darrah holds her head up higher and, with her morning intentions still at the front of her mind, heads to the square.
Whatever's coming, Darrah Arinori can handle it.
3rd prologue is here! And our first POV of one of our lovely characters from Town of Shade, my previous SYOT/collab with Nautics. The fic is on his profile, check it out if you haven't!
Subs close in ten days, all the info is on my profile!
Big big thank you to Nautics, rising-balloons and goldie031 for beta'ing this chapter. Sorry it was a painful one.
Next chapter will drop a day or two after subs close and it'll have the cast list on it.
~Moose