Revan Allerix, 19.
Victor of the 207th Hunger Games.
January 5th, 212 ADD.

"Diesel?" Revan called, pushing the door closed to their shared room. It was uncharacteristically dark- Diesel always left a light or two on even if he wasn't home, since he wasn't a fan of the darkness. "You here?"

There wasn't any response as Revan fumbled for a light switch, flicking it on. "I guess not."

Moving through the room, Revan tossed his bag onto the floor next to his bed. He hadn't left the Resistance base since bringing Diesel back all those months ago, but Verity's victory tour had required his presence in Five and the Capitol. They'd only been gone a few days, but it'd felt like an eternity. They hadn't been Revan Allerix the Victor in months. They'd even foolishly hoped that he'd never have to assume that role again.

Something told Revan that they never would.

Flopping onto his bed, Revan dug the palms of his hands into his eyes- at least they were home now, and back to his routine. As they shifted, rolling over and grabbing his pillow, something heavy nearly fell right onto his head. Opening their eyes, Revan quickly grabbed the bundle, wrapped in paper.

"The fuck?" Revan muttered softly, tearing into the paper. A pair of goggles- similar to the ones Diesel would wear sometimes- were revealed. Revan held them up and looked them over. They were carefully painted red and black, the lenses glossy glass.

"Wh-" Revan started but was quickly cut off by the door opening, Diesel stepping in.

"Huh?" Diesel mumbled as the pair made eye contact. "Wh… I thought uh, you'd be back in a few hours?"

"I left early," Revan shrugged, holding the goggles up to Diesel. "What's this all about?"

"Um…" Diesel trailed off, casting his eyes toward the ground. "I know you uh… said your birthday was around now… and I know you don't usually um, celebrate, but I figured I could at least get you something? Sorry."

"Oh," Revan said, looking from Diesel to the goggles. "These are… for me?"

Diesel nodded eagerly, his face steadily turning a bright shade of red.

"I don't mind a bit," Revan responded quietly, in awe- nobody had ever remembered his birthday growing up, much less gotten them a present. "What do they… do?"

"Oh! A few things," Diesel said, quickly moving on as the red flush faded. "They'll help your vision and stuff, for if they uh… send you out. Block out extra light, and hopefully enhance how far you can see overall."

"Woah," Revan exclaimed, eagerly pulling them over his head. "These are way better than that stupid helmet."

"Um… I hope so. That's why I picked them, since you always talk about how much you dislike the helmet," Diesel admitted, perching on Revan's desk chair.

Revan could only grin as he secured the goggles over their eyes- they fit perfectly. "What now? Do I have to turn them on?"

"There's toggles for what you want on the left side. The first button is for dimming the lenses. The second one adjusts how far you can see."

Revan felt around for the buttons, eventually finding them, each doing exactly what Diesel had described.

"Thank you," Revan grinned, pushing the goggles down around his neck, closing the distance between the two in an instant as they wrapped Diesel in a hug.

"Oh," Diesel let out a soft sound as they collided. After a long moment, the other boy hugged back. "Of course."

A sharp knock rang at the door, breaking the two apart after just a few moments.

"I've got it," Revan said, letting Diesel go as they scrambled for the door- had he ever actually hugged Diesel? Revan couldn't remember, but he hoped Diesel hadn't minded. Flinging the door open, they found Havoc, standing in the doorway.

"I heard you were back," Havoc stated starkly. "We're having a meeting we need your input on."

"Me?" Revan blinked- it was rare they were pulled into such things. It wasn't like the Resistance needed him to make up their minds. "What for? Is Diesel coming?

"There's no time to stand around and talk. He's welcome to if he wants, but he doesn't have to," Havoc explained. "Let's get going then, come on."

"Diesel do you um… want to come?" Revan asked, turning to look at his friend. "You don't have to."

"Is uh… is Reign going to be there?" Diesel mumbled.

"Likely," Havoc nodded.

"I… um, I'd rather not. Unless you need me to come," Diesel said.

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Revan affirmed, a wave of relief washing over Diesel's face. Revan turned their attention back to Havoc as the pair started down the hall side by side. The walk to the office was silent, Havoc looking unbothered as ever- Revan couldn't glean anything about what was going to happen based on his expression.

Soon enough, Havoc stopped in front of one of the doors, pushing it open. "After you."

The meeting room was small, with a few chairs scattered around the table. Only one was occupied so far- by Omega Riley. Revan kept their head down, as they moved to take a seat in the corner.

"Where's the kid?" Havoc asked, firmly closing the door behind him.

"I figured we should work this out before bringing him in," Omega responded. "Just uh… in case."

"What are we even figuring out? What do you need me for?" Revan asked, both men turning to look at them.

"Well we have an issue," Omega answered.

"Clearly, since you need my help."

"Yes we do, kid," Havoc interjected. "Based on the information we're getting from our people in the Capitol they're preparing something- something big."

"What does that mean?"

"At best, they're readying to tighten their grip on the entire country," Havoc explained.

"And…?"

"At worst they're preparing for war," Havoc said simply- too simply, considering the weight of his words.

"War…? Against who? Us?"

"Well, they're placing the blame for Snow's death on us. Which… that was actually our fault. But that's beside the point," Havoc continued as nonchalantly as ever. "The issue is-"

"The Capitol would overpower us in an instant," Omega finished his brother's sentence. "In an all-out fight, they will win."

"So what does any of this have to do with me? Or Reign?" Revan asked, baffled as they leaned back in their chair- sure, Revan was aware of the war all those hundreds of years ago, but there'd been over two hundred years of peace since. There was no reason for the Capitol to go to war when they were uncontested in ruling over Panem.

But the Resistance had given them a reason now- they'd contested them. The Capitol wouldn't just let that slide.

"Well, we think that bringing in Reign's forces from Two might be… beneficial to us," Havoc explained. "It's just we need Reign to collect his people, and to do that… well, we'll have to let him go back out into the world."

"And risk people finding out about him being alive?" Revan sighed.

"Well, that's why we wanted your help. You've spent your fair share of time as a guard. If anybody knew how to pull this off without being found out, it'd be you," Omega said, cutting into the conversation. "So, what's your take?"

Revan paused for a few moments, wanting nothing more than to sink deeper into their chair. There was no way it'd be a good idea to let Reign out. Surely there was some way to pull this off without releasing him. Revan simply couldn't wrap his mind around how the leaders of the Resistance ever considered it to the point of asking Revan to help. Especially taking Reign's consistent lack of cooperation into account.

"I don't think we should let him out at all," Revan settled on eventually. "He's too dangerous, and- I know that we need the people and resources he could pull in. But I'm sure there's another way to go about this."

Omega exhaled deeply. "It's not that easy."

"And I know that. But I don't think you get how dangerous he really is-"

"I understand perfectly well."

"Who was the one who caught him the first time? Who was the one who put him in jail to begin with? It was me," Revan countered. "And you asked for my opinion on the matter- well now you've got it. He's dangerous, violent and entirely unpredictable. I'm sure if you let him out of here we'll never see him again."

"Well, how do you propose we go about doing this then?" Havoc cut in. "Because I don't see any way we could get his people to follow us without him."

"I'm sure given some more time we could figure something out," Revan suggested.

"We don't have the time to spare, Allerix," Omega sighed. "We're running out of options and resources. Unless you want to see us wiped off the face of the earth and watch everything we've been working towards this past year go to waste, then it'd be in your best interest to help us out here."

Revan knew- they knew this wasn't a good idea. Something deep in the pit of their stomach told them so. Reign Legatus would ruin them all if he was given the chance, and the men seated before him clearly didn't understand that despite what Revan had said.

Why did nobody ever listen to him?

"You wanted my opinion. It's not my fault I didn't join in on your little circle jerk of grand fucking ideas," Revan growled, pushing himself to his feet. "If you didn't want to hear what I had to say, you shouldn't have brought me here."

"Well-"

"Well listen to me then! Just listen to me! He is far more dangerous than you realize. I'm telling you this is not going to end well! And you are more than welcome to do whatever the fuck you please. If you let this happen, just remember who warned you first."

"Allerix, you're dismissed," Havoc snapped, both Revan and Omega falling silent in an instant. "See yourself out, kid."

"Gladly," Revan responded curtly, keeping his eyes locked on the floor as they exited. They closed the door gingerly behind them, making the short trek back to the room he shared with Diesel. As Revan stepped in, closing the door behind him, Diesel lifted his head from his work.

"How'd that go…?" Diesel inquired cautiously.

"Terribly," Revan responded sharply. "But that isn't my problem now."

"Oh…?"

Revan perched on the edge of Diesel's bed as he relayed the events of the meeting. Diesel continued working as Revan talked, occasionally interjecting with an engaged noise or two. As Revan finished their tale, Diesel looked up, his face scrunched up with worry.

"I don't know what to think of this," Diesel said, simply enough, placing his tools down on the table before him.

"Me neither," Revan agreed. "But… if anything goes wrong, and we need to leave, I… I'll do my best to get us out of here, okay?"

"Okay," Diesel half whispered, offering Revan a hand. "We'll be okay."

"Of course," Revan nodded, clasping his hand tightly.

Revan hoped he'd be proven wrong about everything- about Reign, about the Capitol, everything.

(But how could things ever be that simple?)

January 13th, 212 ADD.

"Hold these wires together please," Diesel asked, gesturing to the two loose-ended red wires.

"Like this?" Revan responded, pinching them between his gloved fingers. Diesel nodded, moving around the table to hit a button.

"Hopefully this won't implode again."

"Again?"

"I ran some experiments while you were gone," Diesel muttered, pulling his goggles down over his eyes. "They didn't go well."

"Clearly," Revan snorted, as Diesel flipped another switch. "What did that do?"

"Turn it on. Now we have to see if it uh… moves," Diesel explained, dragging the laptop on the table closer to him. He hit a button, and just as the robotic fingers of the model hand began to move, the door crashed open.

"The fuck?" Revan said, whirling around to find Havoc standing in the doorway. "What?"

"We have a problem," Havoc declared.

"Um… what can we do to help sir?" Diesel asked, moving around the table to stand next to Revan, their test forgotten.

"It's Reign," Havoc said. "He's… gone."

And Revan's heart sank.

Revan crossed their arms in front of them, leaning back in the chair. "Is your brother okay?"

"He's stable and in the medbay," Havoc replied, sinking into his chair. Diesel lingered for a moment before Revan patted the seat next to him. "They don't know how long he'll be out for, though."

"And you have no clue where he went?" Diesel added. "Um… did you put any kind of tracker on him? Anything?"

"We did, but it went dark hours ago."

"Fuck," Revan hissed. "How could he just disappear like that?"

"His people aren't stupid. They know what they're doing," Havoc reasoned. "Hell, we can't even tell Northcroft about this, we'll just have to… wait."

Revan sighed, sinking their face into his hands. He'd known this would happen- known Reign would escape and endanger them all. If onlysomebody, anybody had listened. If only Havoc and Omega had taken him seriously when they'd had the chance.

They'd gotten themselves into this mess, without him. Certainly, they didn't need Revan's help to fix it, since they were clearly so capable.

"Waiting… for what?" Diesel inquired.

"Any sign of him, I guess."

"What if it's… too late?"

"I don't know," Havoc growled. "I don't fucking know."

"Well you better figure it out," Revan interjected. "You had every chance to listen, and now you've put all of us in danger."

"I know!" Havoc exclaimed, his voice overwhelmingly loud in the small room. "I fucking know! But the least you can do is lend a fucking hand because I cannot do this on my own!"

"Well good luck figuring it out. I'm sure there's plenty of other people here who could lend a hand," Revan said, taking Diesel by the arm. "C'mon."

Diesel didn't speak a word, shaking beneath Revan's hand as they quickly exited the room. Revan didn't drop Diesel's arm until they'd gotten a minute or two away from the office.

"Hey," Revan whispered. "You okay?"

Diesel only shook his head, remaining silent.

"Let's… um, let's just go home then?"

Diesel didn't respond, so Revan took his arm again, gently leading him back to their room. Revan let Diesel go as he wandered to his chair, curling up in it despite his lanky frame. Revan wasn't sure what to do with himself now, so he simply paced the length of the room.

"Revan?" Diesel spoke up after what felt like an eternity, his voice barely a whisper. "I'm scared."

Revan knew the answer to his question before they even asked it, and yet they asked anyways. "Of?"

"What… what if he goes for Verity? What if something happens to her? I'm.., I'm safe in here, hidden away from everything, and she's out there where anything could happen… it's not fair," Diesel's voice cracked as his words spilled out. "She won, she's supposed to be safe."

"I…" Revan trailed off. There was no way to assure Verity's safety. With Reign freed, and war on the horizon Revan doubted the Capitol could guarantee anyone protection.

Really, there was only one way Revan could see to ensure her safety.

"I'll do it myself. Maybe you can't leave here, but I can," Revan said, as he stopped his pacing to face Diesel.

"Please… please don't put yourself in danger," Diesel sniffled.

"I can't guarantee anything, but she's important to you, which means she's important to me," Revan countered. "Just let me do what I can."

"I…" Diesel trailed off. "Okay. Just… please be careful."

"Of course," Revan smiled wryly- there was no guarantee, no absolute that he could do this. Even if he wanted to, Revan couldn't make it a promise.

He would simply have to be enough.

Verity Blanche, 18.
Victor of the 211th Hunger Games.
May 10th, 212 ADD.

Verity sucked in a deep breath, clasping her hands in her lap as she waited. She'd never been called to anything important like this in her life- the soon to be President of Panem wanted to talk to her of all people. She couldn't figure out a reason why, either- she couldn't wrap her head around what Northcroft wanted from her, especially just a few days before his inauguration.

So she would sit and wait like she'd been told until she was called in.

Except Verity couldn't help but notice the paintings decorating the walls- portraits of every Victor there'd been, lining the halls of the Parliament building. Across from here was a Victor from the mid-170s from Ten- Verity didn't recognize her, but that meant she wasn't far from her own portrait. She'd had to sit to have her picture taken just after her interview for it, and she'd been trying her best to keep her crown from falling off her head the entire time.

Looking left, and then right, Verity pushed herself up to her feet- there was nobody around. And it wasn't like the officer who'd delivered her had told her she had to wait exactly where she was sitting- just that she needed to wait. It couldn't hurt to look at some portraits while she waited.

Padding further down the hall, Verity followed the numbers on the paintings as they steadily climbed higher. Rounding a corner, she found herself nearly in the 200s- many of the Victors were familiar to her now, all of them much younger than Verity knew them to be. Eventually, she spotted one painting in particular that caught her off guard- Revan Allerix. She paused, scanning the painting over. He looked so young, his face rounder and softer, the crown resting on his head nearly too large. Although plenty had changed about Revan Allerix, his eyes hadn't, as they were still just as intense as they'd been when he was fourteen.

Verity quickly moved on, eventually arriving at her likeness. It was odd, how they managed to make her so regal and important looking. She knew how special Victors were, but Verity couldn't help but feel like it didn't quite apply to her- she didn't feel any different, especially not since Diesel had left her.

Nothing made her feel important quite like Diesel Malstrom had.

"Miss Blanche?" A voice echoed down the hall. "The President will see you now."

"Alright, thank you," Verity responded, turning away from the portrait, and making her way back down the hall. The servant directed her back to the large door she'd been sitting near prior, pushing it open for her to step through.

"Good afternoon, Miss Blanche," Northcroft said, waving her in. The doors shut behind her, with a kind of finality Verity didn't particularly like.

"Oh Verity is just fine," Verity said as she sunk into her chair. "It sounds so… stiff and official. Like I'm somebody's mom, you know?"

Northcroft chuckled, nodding. "I think I can do that, Verity. Now, you're probably wondering why I called you in today?"

Verity nodded eagerly as Northcroft continued speaking. "I know you're already attending my inauguration, but I was thinking about how perhaps we could give you a bit more of an important role."

"What kind of important role?" Verity inquired, her curiosity piqued.

"Well, I've heard you've got quite the love for mysteries, correct?" Northcroft stated, Verity, nodding enthusiastically.

"Well I've had some of my best men investigating President Snow's assassination in the past months, but we've been stuck… and of course, I want to get answers to the people of this country as soon as possible."

"Of course," Verity nodded. "Answers is what Panem deserves."

"Yes, yes. But we've been caught up on a few things, and so… I was wondering if you'd be willing to lend your expertise."

"My…?" Verity trailed off in awe. "You want me…?"

"Of course, who better?" Northcroft chuckled softly. "It certainly helps you're our newest Victor- who better to assure the citizens of their safety than one of their own?"

"Okay, okay," Verity nodded- they really wanted her help, of all people. "I… I think I understand."

"Of course though, it won't come without its benefits to you."

"Oh I don't need payment or anything," Verity shook her head, waving her hands. "Really I don't- just you wanting my help is enough."

"Aren't you interested in my offer though?"

Verity stopped in her tracks, blinking at Northcroft. "Um, yes."

"Now, you know we never found all of your District partner's body, right?" Northcroft said, as casually as ever, but Verity froze where she sat.

They'd never found him?

"I… no, no I didn't know that," Verity shook her head. "Where is he then? What happened to him? I thought he was dead?"

"We don't know," Northcroft responded. "We found blood- too much of it for him to still be alive, but the most we found of him was, well… a hand."

"Oh…" Verity whispered. "What… why are you telling me this?"

"I figured you'd maybe be interested in looking into it yourself since you two were close. I can't guarantee you'll find his remains if there are any after that explosion but…"

"No, I want to try," Verity insisted. "Let me try."

"Let's make a deal then," Northcroft grinned. "You solve the President's murder, and I'll let you go back out to your Arena to search."

"Deal!" Verity exclaimed, eagerly shoving her hand out to Northcroft. He took it, shaking it firmly. "Thank you."

"Of course, I'm glad we could come to an agreement here. You're dismissed now. I do hope to see you at my inauguration in a few days," Northcroft said, and as Verity nodded he turned his attention back to his paperwork. Quickly, she made her way out of the stuffy office.

Verity had seen it all. She'd seen Diesel get caught in that explosion, buried and mourned him. He should be dead- there was no option but him being dead. But if Diesel was gone, where was his body?

And if he was alive, why hadn't he come back to her?

Verity had to find out the truth for herself.

May 13th, 212 ADD.

Scooping up another drink, Verity spun around, scanning the crowd. She couldn't deny, this was much better then the long, drawn out inauguration ceremony- at some point Verity had started to wonder if they'd ever stop talking. They eventually had, but still Verity hardly knew anybody here- Gideon had stayed in Six to look after her dogs, and she wasn't particularly close to any of the other Victors yet. There weren't many Victors from Six to begin with, and so her opportunities to meet the others were limited by how many Capitol gatherings they were invited to.

Tonight would be as good a chance as any to make new friends.

Delving into the crowd, Verity was simply happy to be done with all of the formalities. The inauguration had felt like it'd gone on forever, every speaker droning on about how wonderful Panem was and all of the other things she found disinteresting. As she wandered, Verity found herself nearly bumping into a smaller girl- probably no more than nine or ten- looking around the crowd, awestruck.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you okay?" Verity asked, crouching down to get on the girl's level.

"Woah…" the girl responded, peering up at her with wide eyes. "I'm alright! But you're… like that Victor lady aren't you?"

"That's me, Verity, pleased to make your acquaintance!" Verity responded brightly, offering the girl her hand. It wasn't often kids ended up at these things, usually attached to their incredibly important parents, but Verity was very familiar with it nonetheless. She'd spent her share of hours being towed around at parties by her parents, the other adults actively ignoring her very existence. The least she could do was stop and talk to the girl.

"Oh wow. I'm Monique!" Monique responded, shaking her hand eagerly,

"Are you going for a wander? Do your parents know where you are?"

"Of course! Being stuck to them all night is so boring," Monique responded, scrunching her face up. The longer Verity spoke to the girl, the stronger the resemblance to her younger self got.

"Of course," Verity nodded. "If you don't mind the company, I'll walk with you."

"Really? Liberty won't believe this," Monique laughed, as Verity offered her an arm. The girl wrapped her small hand around Verity's arm, pulling her along through the crowd.

"So what are we getting up to?" Verity asked, letting herself be towed through the crowd.

"I haven't decided yet. Usually, I'd drag my brother out to play hide and seek, but my parents told me not to do that since this party is very important."

Verity could only laugh. "Of course, but if you're careful enough your parents would never know, right?"

"Woah… yeah! That's right!"

Verity grinned, as they came to a stop near the buffet tables, Monique scooping up a glass of something fizzy.

"You know, my Dad always told me it was a shame we're from the Capitol," Monique stated, matter of factly as she sipped her soda.

"Why's that?" Verity responded, picking up her drink.

"Cause Dad said having a Victor in the family would be good for our image, or something like that."

"What do you think of that?"

"I think it sounds like fun," Monique shrugged. "I mean, why wouldn't the Games be fun? You're on TV, how could that not be fun! Didn't you have fun?"

The glass in Verity's hand half-slipped, but she just managed to catch it. "Oh-"

Before Verity could get another word in, a woman burst out of the crowd, her voice shrill as she yelled. "Monique, what on earth are you doing!"

"I'm making friends, Mother," Monique responded, her voice significantly less bright than it'd been just a moment before. "This is Verity!"

"This is…?" Monique's mother trailed off, looking from her daughter up to Verity. "Oh goodness, Miss Blanche, my sincerest apologies if my daughter caused you any trouble."

"Oh no, not at all," Verity laughed. "She's wonderful."

"See Mother? She's my friend!"

"Of course dear, we must get going now though. Thank you, Miss," Monique's mother said, hurrying her daughter away. "Oh, and by any chance do you know that man up there? He seems to be watching you quite intently."

Verity turned, following the Capitolites finger up to the curved staircase. She quickly picked out a familiar figure with long dark hair- Revan Allerix.

"Why yes I do," Verity confirmed. "Thank you."

The woman nodded, before dragging her daughter off into the crowd, Monique protesting the whole way. Verity began navigating through the crowd towards the stairs, keeping her eyes locked onto Revan. He seemed to be purposefully avoiding eye contact with her, looking further up the stairs as she began climbing up to where he stood.

"Hello again," Verity said, as she came to a stop on the platform next to him. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Free alcohol was on the menu," Revan responded simply, rattling the drink in his hand slightly, his gaze still fixed away from her.

"You like alcohol? That's cool, do you wanna get a drink… or um… something…?" Verity asked, stumbling over her words. "Ooh, or do you have a dance partner, they might be making us dance. We could do that?"

Revan shot her a lazy look, cat-like, as the light gleamed dangerously off his eyes. "I don't see why not."

"Cool, cool," Verity nodded- she didn't think she'd get this far, especially after her last interaction with Revan. "So like, why did you run off at that last party?"

"I didn't run off," Revan answered, pushing off the railing he leaned on in one fluid motion, discarding his glass on a side table nearby. "Since you'd gotten safely back to the ballroom without getting lost, I figured I could go attend to other matters."

"Oh, I see. I just never got the chance to thank you."

"There's no need," Revan shrugged, holding an arm out to her. Verity took hold as they began descending the stairs. She took care not to misstep- the last thing Verity wanted was to trip and take Revan down with her.

"So you're from Five right? What's it like there?"

"It's a shithole," Revan shrugged. "I don't miss- uh well, I certainly don't miss it when I get dragged out here."

"Uh-huh? Most of the other Victors said you didn't like these types of things," Verity remarked. "And also that you don't talk to any of them."

"Why would I?"

"Maybe they… know stuff! Mentoring stuff, right? Some of them have been mentoring longer than we've been alive, right? I think we could learn a thing or two from the older Victors!"

"Suppose so," Revan shrugged, as they hit the bottom of the stairs. "Where to now?"

"Well the dance floor is right there, how about that?"

Revan grunted his agreement, as they navigated through the crowd. Revan steered her towards a corner of the dance floor- not so far from the doors to the gardens. She could see slivers of moonlight shining down on the fountain outside, even.

"Do you know how to dance?"

"Yeah, I'm not very good though," Verity admitted- she'd stepped on Gideon's feet more times than she'd like to admit at the last Capitol party she'd attended.

"That's okay," Revan remarked, holding his hands out. "Do you mind…?"

"Nope!" Verity grinned. Revan awkwardly placed his hand on her side, clearing his throat nervously. "Lead away."

"Alright."

They began gliding around the floor, following the same path as the others. Revan's hand was steady on her waist, keeping her on course. Still, he hardly looked at her,

"So do you know anybody else here?" Verity asked, trying her best to catch Revan's eye.

"Not really."

"What about back home? Do you have any friends?"

"Um…" Revan trailed off- his face was steadily growing a brighter shade of red, but he was finally paying attention to her. "Yeah, one I guess."

"Well now you can say you have two," Verity beamed.

"Who…?" Revan trailed off.

"Me."

"Oh," Revan blinked, his eyes going wide- whatever cold facade he'd been holding up earlier was steadily crumbling away, it seemed. "Alright then."

"Maybe you can introduce me to your friend sometime! We can all… hang out maybe? Have you ever been to the beaches in Four? They're so pretty, we don't have anything like them in Six."

Revan laughed quietly. "Maybe, yeah. I've been but only in the winter."

"Well, let's make it happen then mister!" Verity exclaimed as they twirled around once again, Revan falling silent for a moment- but Verity didn't mind a bit. She'd finally managed to connect with another Victor, much less one her age. Verity guessed that nobody but another Victor would know the pain of Victory, and perhaps…

Perhaps Revan Allerix could understand.

Until screams pierced the air like shattering glass.

"What's that?" Verity whispered harshly as they came to a sudden stop, Revan perking up immediately. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Revan responded, taking hold of her hand. "Stay close though."

"Okay."

Revan kept a tight grip on her hand as the very ground beneath their feet shook- gasps sounded from the crowd around them, and just a moment later the lights flickered- once, twice, before they were plunged into complete darkness.

She'd seen this before. Verity only knew of one thing that could shake the very earth beneath her feet- bombs.

Verity thought she'd left all of that behind in the Arena. She thought she'd be safe now that she'd won.

Glass shattered and fell, just like her dreams reminded her- like rain from the sky.

(It rained the day Diesel Malstrom died.)

Perhaps the Arena would never truly leave her alone.

"What do we do?" Verity hurriedly whispered.

"Do you see the moonlight out there?" Revan responded, nudging her towards the windows. "If anything happens, we run that way."

Verity didn't respond, only squeezing Revan's hand as the ground shook again even stronger then before. Despite that, the lights blinked back on, Verity sighing in relief as she looked around the room- how bad could things be if the lights were on?

Turning to Revan, she quickly realized his gaze was transfixed on something- no, someone- on the balcony.

Verity barely had time to register who it was- the familiar face of Reign Legatus, although-

"Fuck," Revan hissed, as Reign lifted something in his hand, his grin wide. "Run, now!"

Verity didn't think twice, taking off towards the doors to the garden, Revan pulling just ahead of her. Many of the other partygoers began scattering and rushing in every direction, screaming and yelling echoing through the chamber. Revan didn't waver though, weaving them through the crowd as if there wasn't a single obstacle in their path.

Crashing into the door, sending it flying open, Revan ushered her through quickly.

"Where now?" Verity panted, looking around the dark garden- the lights were flickering again, but when they went out it wasn't quite as dark as Verity would've expected it to be. As she focused in she realized why- the buildings on the horizon were blazing bright with orange flames.

"Just get down," Revan yelled, pulling her down, her face pushing into his chest harshly.

The last thing Verity could remember before an overwhelming wave of sound hit her were arms wrapping around her tightly.

And then, nothing at all.

Verity gasped, her eyes flying open as she sat up. Dazed, Verity looked herself over but there was nothing wrong, save for the fog weighing her mind down.

"Fuck," Verity sighed, turning her attention to her surroundings- the shockwave, Revan, everything came flooding back to her. The sky was still dark, although a dim light illuminated her surroundings well enough that she could make out the destruction, gleaming off the shattered glass surrounding her.

"Revan?" Verity called hoarsely. "Hello?"

There was no response, and so Verity dragged herself to her feet as carefully as she could manage. She paused for a moment to ensure she wouldn't immediately fall again, wavering slightly. As soon as Verity was satisfied with her balance she began picking her way through the debris.

What had once been the ballroom was now nothing more than a large gaping hole in the side of the building- what had once been a gorgeous, grandiose room had been reduced to nothing in the blink of an eye.

In her focus on the building, Verity found herself stepping on something that didn't crunch like broken glass- as she looked down, she realized exactly what it was beneath her.

"Revan?" Verity murmured, kneeling next to him, gingerly shaking his shoulder. "Hey, wake up."

There was no response, as Verity inspected him a little closer. Brushing his jacket aside, she realized just how much blood there was- the dark combined with the dark colour of his suit disguised it, but there was no mistaking the gaping wound in his side. Hands shaking, she pulled her jacket off, pressing it to his side.

"C'mon you'll be okay," Verity whispered, leaning in closer to Revan- he was still breathing, although shallowly it gave her some more hope. Gently, she brushed a few strands of dark hair out of his face. "See, you're breathing, that's a good start on the not dying front!"

Where was help, though? Verity didn't know, couldn't hear a damn thing other than her ragged breathing. The longer it took the more people would die- Verity was only one person, she could only do so much.

It was too long before the whirring of helicopters came, steadily growing louder. Just a few moments later, a blindingly bright swept over the area, Verity half covering her eyes with an arm. After a few moments, her eyes adjusted, and Verity took a closer look at her surroundings-

It took her a few moments to register exactly what she was seeing- bodies discarded as if they were nothing more than a toy a child had thrown away. She couldn't even tell where to begin- how many were alive? How many were dead? Verity couldn't tell until her gaze swept across a familiar face- the girl, Monique. Verity had just been talking to her no more than half an hour ago. She'd been so full of life, of potential, despite everything the Capitol had taught her. Now she was half buried in rubble, neck twisted at a terrible angle- there was no question she was dead.

As Peacekeepers swarmed the area, descending on her and Revan, Verity resided herself to one thing. She would find out why this happened- she'd get to the bottom of this disaster.

It was all Verity could do to bring justice to the dead.

happy birthday revan, i love you.. umm yeah im alive guess im doing another none of these bitches... uhhhhh idk do i need to say anything else, i think y'all know whats going on. syots closed, ive got my whole cast, list is on my profile. ill be back in 3 ish weeks with the first set of intros? yeah cool okay see you there byebye

-phobert