Trigger Warning: Disordered eating and implied SA.

9. The Snake Charmer - Mentor

Lucy Gray Baird, District 12, Victor of the 10th Hunger Games

Lucy Gray was used to seeing people as colours.

The zoo was full of a rainbow of tributes. The girl from Four was the deep navy-blue of the ocean at midnight. The boy from Eleven was a bruise-like purple. The girl from Seven was a soft pale green. Jessup Diggs was the orange of the edges of a campfire. But never in her life had Lucy Gray met someone who was pure white until she met Coriolanus Snow.

Coriolanus was the perfect Capitol gentleman. His face was utterly radiant, framed by silver-blonde curls. He wore a neat red uniform and a starched white shirt. He was polite and courteous. He gave Lucy Gray roses and snuck her food through the zoo bars. Why, tonight he'd given her his own mother's silver makeup compact as a gift to take into the arena. And in return, she'd given him a kiss goodbye.

Lucy Gray had to keep reminding herself that Coriolanus was only doing these awful nice things for her because he was her mentor. If she won the games, he'd be rewarded.

She'd been hurt by the boy she'd let into her heart before. She would not let it happen again, no matter how kind Coriolanus was.

Now the last night before the games had fallen. The other tributes seemed to be fast asleep. Lucy Gray was kneeling beside a rat trap, carefully trying to gather some of the rat poison in the silver compact. The poison could very well save her life. But if she was caught, she would surely be executed.

Lucy Gray closed the compact with a quiet click. Lucy Gray heard someone laugh right behind her. Startled, she turned to see the boy from Seven.

His name was Treech Fujiwara. He hadn't given it to Lucy Gray, as he didn't really speak to the other tributes. His district partner had. She'd said it in a way that made it obvious that he was well-known in Seven and not for a good reason. And looking at the boy, Lucy Gray had been able to guess exactly why. Treech was handsome, and a decent performer to boot. He could juggle and do cartwheels and tricks. But there was no light, no joy in his eyes. When he wasn't performing, he seemed to just retreat into himself. There was something a little bit haunting about him.

Deep down inside, Treech Fujiwara was as black as District 12's mines, as black as the coal dust within. Lucy Gray had never met someone so devoid of light and colour. That was what had drawn her to Treech. She was a girl of many colours. She could fill the last days of his life with light and warmth.

But that was also what she'd thought about Billy Taupe. Look where that had got her.

Now Treech was staring at Lucy Gray, his eyes pitch-black in the darkness.

"I was wondering when someone was going to notice the rat poison," he said.

"Are you gonna report me to the peacekeepers?" Lucy Gray asked.

Treech considered it for a moment.

"No," he said. "I don't think you deserve my help but… they deserve it even less. Besides, you can't poison me. I don't eat anymore."

It suddenly occurred to Lucy Gray that she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Treech eat anything and actually be able to keep it down.

Ten days ago, one of the peacekeepers had singled Treech out. For a few days, he'd taken every opportunity he could to get into Treech's space - shoving him up against the wall when the tributes were being searched for weapons, petting his hair when it was time to feed the tributes. That was when Treech had started vomiting. Then after the bombing, he'd started coughing as well. Lucy Gray had watched Treech waste away from a handsome boy who was a little on the skinny side to a pale, sickly ghost of his former self. At some point, that peacekeeper had lost interest, but Treech still hadn't started eating again. He'd vomited so many times now that the peacekeepers had given up on making him eat and they just half-heartedly chucked food at him and walked away. Somehow, he was still alive.

"You really should eat something," Lucy Gray said, gently.

Treech let out a low laugh. His voice was as deep and dark as the mines, made even more gravelly by all the smoke he must've inhaled during the bombing.

"Of course you'd say that," he said. "You're the one with the box of rat poison. That little trinket you store your poison in, it's very pretty. Did your boyfriend give it to you?"

Lucy Gray caught the edge to Treech's voice. "You jealous, sugar?"

"No," Treech said. "I feel bad for you, actually. It must be a real chore to pretend to be in love with Fucking Coriolanus."

"I ain't pretending," Lucy Gray said.

"Then that's even worse," Treech said. "He doesn't love you. He never will."

"How do you know?" Lucy Gray asked.

"He's Capitol," Treech said. "You're a Twelve. He's only helping you because he's your mentor and he only allowed you to kiss him because he's rich and popular and handsome and his reputation can afford to take the hit."

"I'm not a Twelve," Lucy Gray said. "I'm Covey."

"And I'm not a Seven," Treech said. "I'm… nothing. You're not special. You're not made of sugar. This isn't Cake-with-the-Cream Candyland. This is Panem. Even if you win this games, you'd better be ready for Fucking Coriolanus to cast you aside because he's an arrogant Capitol prick and you're nothing more than district trash. We will never be good enough for them. No matter how hard we try to convince ourselves that we're different, we will always be district trash."

Treech's eyes were full of sadness. Lucy Gray realised what he was doing now. He was so hurt that he was trying to drag her down to his level. The way Treech had worded his description of Coriolanus had stuck in Lucy Gray's head. First of all, because he'd assumed that Coriolanus was rich when really he was struggling to scrape together three meals a day, but also because how he'd said that Coriolanus could 'take the hit' of kissing Lucy Gray.

Lucy Gray had spotted Treech's mentor a couple times. She was short and mousy, one of the plainest-looking girls Lucy Gray had ever seen. She probably wasn't as popular as Coriolanus was. Could she 'take the hit'?

Had Treech wanted her to?

"I see what you want from me now," Lucy Gray said. "Your mentor turned you down, so you're trying to ruin my relationship with Coriolanus so I feel as awful as you do. Well, I'm gonna tell you that you deserve better than some ugly, stuck-up Capitol girl."

"I don't have a crush on my mentor! That's ridiculous," Treech said, a little too defensively. "And if you call Vipsania ugly again, I'll- I'll-"

Someone's in denial, Lucy Gray thought.

"Really?" she asked.

Treech let out a shaky breath. For a moment he seemed like a rabbit in the headlights. Lucy Gray wondered what to say if he started crying.

"Fuck you," he said, quietly. Then he stood up and left, disappearing into the night.

He must hate me, Lucy Gray realised. Then she caught herself. Perhaps it's because I remind him of how much he hates himself.

The woods had felt different ever since the games.

Lucy Gray tried to busy herself with unloading supplies from the wagon. She'd be making a new life for herself in these woods with her Coriolanus. There was no need to think of the games anymore. Still, she couldn't help but feel Treech's pitch-black eyes on the back of her neck.

He'd never talked about what he'd loved, what had made him happy. But she'd seen a different side to him in the arena. When Lucy Gray had caught sight of Treech on top of the scoreboard on the fifth day of the games, he'd been smiling and kicking his feet after eating a breakfast of sponsor-bought food. Maybe it was her imagination but Treech seemed like he'd put on a bit of weight in the arena. There'd definitely been a bit more colour in his complexion when they'd fought.

Lucy Gray wondered what had changed. Had Treech needed the wind in his hair and an axe in his hands to remind himself that his life was worth fighting for? Had he needed some privacy he'd never get in the zoo? Lucy Gray wondered if Treech had worked up the strength to eat something those last few days in the zoo, but he'd been awful discreet about it. If he'd eaten something while Lucy Gray was preparing for the interviews with Coriolanus, she never would've known. She was sure that Treech had been truly sick at some point but perhaps he'd seen a strategic advantage in making his sickness appear to last longer to cause his opponents to underestimate him. In retrospect, it had caused Lucy Gray to overlook certain things, like how Treech had been observant enough to spot the rat poison before she had and prudent enough to keep a close eye on it.

Treech had been strong and smart and ruthless enough to win the games. He was the one who'd come closest to killing Lucy Gray. That was why he haunted her now.

Treech would've loved these woods. He seemed to like climbing and he seemed to like spending time alone. She could picture him now, perched in a tree, the wind catching in his dark curls.

Pink veins spreading through his skin.

Lucy Gray was distracted from her dark thoughts by the sound of someone approaching her. Her Coriolanus! She rushed over to hug and kiss him.

That's something Treech wouldn't like about these woods, Lucy Gray thought. Treech had always hated Coriolanus for some reason. Lucy Gray had never figured out exactly what it was. Maybe he'd just hated everyone. Either way, with Coriolanus here, Treech was less likely to haunt her.

Coriolanus stroked the orange scarf in her hair, the one he'd given her.

"This seems very bright for fugitives," he said.

Lucy Gray beamed at him. "Well, I don't want you to lose me. You still up for this?"

"I have no choice," Coriolanus said. His halfhearted tone struck a discordant note in Lucy Gray. Shouldn't he be more excited to be running away with her? Then he added, "You're all that matters to me now." Lucy Gray was reassured.

They gathered up their supplies and set off towards the lake, chatting about the things that they were leaving behind. Lucy Gray hoped that the Covey would be alright without her. She was sure they'd be better off with her gone. These days, she seemed to bring trouble with her wherever she went. She'd left them her guitar and all her mother's dresses.

Eventually, they turned back to take one last look at District 12.

"Good-bye, District 12," Lucy Gray said. "Good-bye, hanging tree and Hunger Games and Mayor Lipp. Someday something will kill me, but it won't be you."

Then she turned away for the last time.

"Not much to miss," Coriolanus said. A tad dismissively.

"I'll miss the music and my pretty birds," Lucy Gray said. "I'm hoping one day they can follow me, though."

"You know what I won't miss? People," Coriolanus replied. "Except for the handful. They're mostly awful, if you think about it."

Lucy Gray felt a sudden chill on the back of her neck. She'd come to the sudden realisation as to why Treech had barely spoken to any of the other tributes at the zoo. Because he viewed people the exact same way.

"People aren't so bad really," she said. "It's what the world does to them. Like us, in the arena. We did things in there we'd never have considered if they'd just left us alone."

"I don't know. I killed Mayfair and there was no arena in sight," Coriolanus said.

"But only to save me," Lucy Gray pointed out. "I think there's a natural goodness built into human beings. You know when you've stepped across that line into evil, and it's your life's challenge to try and stay on the right side of that line."

Lucy Gray wondered if she was still on the right side of that line after what she'd done to Treech.

She'd seen in the zoo and when peacekeepers had been escorting the tributes around how he froze up when people got too close to him. When he'd attacked her with his axe, that was the only advantage she'd had over him. He was bigger and stronger than her and he wielded an axe with ease.

So Lucy Gray had locked Treech in her embrace and she hadn't let him go until her snake was on him. She'd felt the tension, the fear in his body. For a moment, he'd been completely petrified. She'd watched him succumb to the venom, trying to kill the snake in a fit of adrenaline and panic and succeeding just a little too late. With Wovey and Reaper, Lucy Gray liked to imagine they'd found some form of peace in their final moments. But with Treech, Lucy Gray knew she'd ensured he'd died in fear.

"Sometimes there are tough decisions," Coriolanus said.

"I know that," Lucy Gray said, resentfully. "Of course, I do. I'm a victor. It'd be nice, in my new life, not to have to kill anyone else."

"I'm with you there. Three seems enough for one lifetime. And certainly enough for one summer."

A ghostly cry came from nearby. Lucy Gray felt the chill again.

As far as she knew, Coriolanus had only killed two people.

"I'm going to make a walking stick," Coriolanus said. "Do you want one?"

"Sure," Lucy Gray said. "That could come in handy in more ways than one."

Soon, they were working together to snap the branches off a tree.

Should I ask him? Lucy Gray wondered.

Treech's voice in her head told her she should.

"Who's the third?" she asked.

"What," Coriolanus asked. His hand slipped on the rough bark and he cried out in pain. Lucy Gray ignored this.

"Person you killed." she said. "You said you killed three people this summer."

Coriolanus put his thumb into his mouth, as if to pull out a splinter with his teeth.

"Can you get this out?" he asked, holding out his hand to her.

"Let me see," Lucy Gray said, examining Coriolanus' injured thumb. "So, Bobbin, Mayfair… who's the third?"

Coriolanus hesitated a little too long.

"Myself," he said. "I killed the old me so I could come with you."

He's lying to me, Lucy Gray realised. He's never going to tell me the truth about who he killed.

Was Treech right about him?

She pulled the splinter out. "There. Well, I hope the old you doesn't haunt the new you. We've already got enough ghosts between us."

They fell into a tense silence. Lucy Gray could've sworn she saw Treech sitting on a nearby branch, dark eyes weeping pink pus tears. Watching her. Judging her.

She offered Coriolanus some water and tried to make small talk, hoping for a distraction, but they fell into silence again. Coriolanus looked troubled.

Once they reached the lake, they fished for a little while. Coriolanus caught nothing and seemed to hate digging in the dirt for the worms. Lucy Gray could see now he was beginning to regret coming out here, but she didn't understand why. Didn't he love her like she loved him?

Rain began to fall, so they retreated into the lake house to cook their fish. Lucy Gray set up the fireplace and lit a fire, while Coriolanus closed the door behind him.

"I brought along an old metal can thinking maybe we could carry some live coals from place to place," Lucy Gray said. "I don't have many matches and it's herd to get a fire going from flint."

"Uh-huh," Coriolanus said. He seemed distracted. "Good idea."

What on earth could he be thinking about? Lucy Gray wondered.

"Hey, what'd you find there?" She walked over to join Coriolanus and examined the burlap bag he'd found. It seemed to be full of weapons.

"Oh," she asked. "Are these the ones they had in the shed?"

"I think they must be," he said. "Should we take the guns along?"

Lucy Gray saw the look in Coriolanus' beautiful blue eyes and knew that it was over. He was lying to her. He didn't want to be here. And now he'd found the gun he'd used to kill Mayfair. If he could dispose of it, he could waltz back into Twelve like nothing had happened.

Lucy Gray drew back, rose to her feet and began to realise that the only reason why Coriolanus had left with her in the first place was because he believed that his reputation couldn't take the hit from killing Mayfair Lipp. It wasn't because he'd loved her.

Treech was right. He'd been the first to see the rat poison in their relationship, the observant bastard. Coriolanus had never really loved her.

"Rather not," she finally said. "I don't trust them. This will come in handy, though."

Lucy Gray pulled a long knife from the bag and examined it. She needed to get a weapon to protect herself with and then she needed to leave.

"I think I'll go dig up some katniss, since we got the fire going anyway," she lied. "There's a good patch by the lake."

"I thought they weren't ready," Coriolanus said. Clever boy.

"Two weeks can make a lot of difference."

"It's still raining. You'll get soaked."

Lucy Gray laughed. "Well, I'm not made of sugar."

And then she was out the door. Gone. Free.

Coriolanus Snow might've been Lucy Gray's mentor. But Treech Fujiwara was, by complete accident, the one who gave her the advice that mattered most. He was the one who told her to run.

It was inevitable that there'd be some Treech in this story. I've realised recently that the one aspect of Treech's character I didn't really explore in my other stories was his rivalry with Lucy Gray, and I also think it's something that Coriolanus overlooks in TBOSAS, so I decided that this chapter would be the one to do it. I have a feeling that if TBOSAS had been from Lucy Gray's perspective, Treech would've been the main villain for, at the very least, a third of the book.

So this chapter is what Treech would've looked like as the main villain in a Lucy Gray POV TBOSAS. He is mean, cynical and a big threat to Lucy Gray's life but, since Lucy Gray is such an empathetic character, she's able to recognise how much he's suffering and know that he doesn't deserve it. I made an effort to make the descriptions of Treech (at least while he's alive) different to how they were in If We Met Up At Midnight, because the Treech that Lucy Gray sees is very different to the Treech that Vipsania sees. While Lucy Gray is very emotionally intelligent, Treech is also very introverted and guarded, and he was only willing to show Vipsania his warmer side. But I also decided they were both going to see Ghost!Treech, because Ghost!Treech is cool. That's the one upside to writing an AU where Treech dies. I get to write Ghost!Treech.

As for how the Lucy Gray Vs Treech rivalry relates to the prompt, first of all, they were both in doomed romantic relationships with their mentors, and that fuels Treech's hatred of Lucy Gray because he's annoyed that she and Coriolanus can have a relationship while he and Vipsania can't. I also thought about how killing Treech might affect Lucy Gray after her games. In the book, she tells Coriolanus about her guilt over Wovey's death but she never mentions Treech, despite him having the most violent and traumatic death of her victims. My theory is that she associates Treech with certain thoughts that she doesn't want to share with Coriolanus - the doubt she has that he loves her. While Lucy Gray deserves credit for spotting all the red flags and coming to the correct conclusion, her conversation with Treech was also a factor in her leaving Coriolanus. She was in a place that reminded her of Treech when she saw all the red flags, so that conversation was fresh in her mind.

Our next act will be The Illustrated Man.