Trigger Warning: Abusive parents and guardians, mentions of suicide.
10. The Illustrated Man - Forgiveness
Hephaestion Dell'Anno, District 2, 76th Hunger Games, Placement to be Determined
Hephaestion Dell'Anno was shocked to see the victor walk into his cell.
Hephaestion had met Tarquin Baretti before. As one of the top students in the Academy, he'd often been given the opportunity to interact with Two's many victors. But he didn't expect that any of them cared enough to visit him after the arrest.
"Is Iolaus okay?" Hephaestion asked. "Is he still in hospital?"
The last time Hephaestion had seen his brother, Iolaus had been unconscious and unresponsive but still breathing. In a fit of panic, Hephaestion had stolen his foster parents' car and driven Iolaus to the nearest hospital. He hadn't put much thought into an alibi. He hadn't even changed out of his bloody clothes.
Tarquin shook his head. "He was arrested the moment he woke up. He's probably somewhere else in this jail."
"What?" Hephaestion asked. "But… Iolaus didn't do anything. He didn't help me at all. He was unconscious the entire time. You can't arrest him for just… being there."
But after saying it out loud, Hephaestion realised that this wasn't the first time Iolaus had been arrested just for being there.
The day of The Incident - which Hephaestion realised it would probably be more accurate to refer to as The First Incident now - Hepaestion had been taken to the peacekeeper station and questioned for about fifteen minutes. Iolaus had been taken into peacekeeper custody about an hour before Hephaestion had been. Hephaestion had no idea what they'd done to Iolaus when they'd been questioning him but he hadn't said a word for weeks afterwards.
There had been proof that Hephaestion and Iolaus hadn't willingly committed any crimes on the day of The First Incident. The peacekeepers had found drugs in their bloodstreams. They'd tested the porridge that'd been left in their unwashed breakfast bowls from that morning and had found drugs in that as well. Hephaestion wondered if there was enough evidence this time to save Iolaus. He knew that Iolaus had been knocked unconscious shortly before the murder had taken place, but how could he prove it? Because it looked an awful lot like two brothers murdered their foster parents, and then the older one beat up the younger one to give him an alibi.
"I don't think you realise how serious this situation is," Tarquin said. "While you were murdering your foster parents, a major terrorist incident took place in District 3. The peacekeepers think you and your brother are connected to it."
"That's ridiculous," Hephaestion said. "There's a terrorist incident in District 3 every day. If I'd killed Mr and Mrs Corleone a week ago, would they have suspected us of being involved in District 3's five-hundred-and-seventeenth riot in the last eighteen months?"
"This is more than just a riot, kid," Tarquin said. "The rebels raided the Justice Building during Fawkes Chau's victory banquet. They took six victors hostage."
"What?" Hephaestion asked.
"From the information we currently have available, Ramona Hirose is dead, Fawkes Chau is in the hospital and the other four managed to get out of the district unharmed," Tarquin said.
Hephaestion felt the world crashing down around him like it had done the day of The First Incident.
Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.
"I didn't know," Hephaestion blurted out. "I swear on the Capitol, I had no idea what was going on in District 3. They… Mr and Mrs Corleone… They were beating Iolaus, and he blacked out and I thought they were gonna kill him so I… I had to stop them."
"So that's why you killed them?" Tarquin asked.
"Yes," Hephaestion said, tears spilling down his face. "You have to believe me. This has nothing to do with the attack in Three. I just… I just wanted to protect my little brother."
"I believe you," Tarquin said.
"Really?" Hephaestion asked. Nobody had ever believed him before.
"I've reviewed your records from the academy. You seem like an honest boy, and we're aware that the late Corleones took a… tough love approach to raising you and your brother. You're our top male trainee Dell'Anno. We're currently trying to reach an agreement with the peacekeepers to get you out of prison. But there's something that you need to do for us."
"I have to volunteer?" Hephaestion asked. Back in July, Tarquin and the other victors had summoned Hephaestion to a private meeting and told him that he would be chosen as District 2's volunteer next year. Hephaestion had told them that he wasn't worthy of the honour. He'd never planned to volunteer. He'd hoped that, if he trained hard enough, the peacekeepers would invite him to join their ranks and he'd actually be able to make a difference in the world. He'd be able to help kids get out of bad situations. He'd be forgiven for The Incident.
Tarquin nodded, gravely.
"I'm never going to be a peacekeeper, am I?" Hephaestion asked, softly.
"Of course not," Tarquin said. "You are the son of a rebel suicide bomber. You were involved in the attack, even if you were drugged. And now you've committed a double murder on the same day as Panem's worst terrorist attack in the last six decades. Even if it's just a coincidence, most people aren't going to believe that. You do not have a future in this district. Your only option is to volunteer."
"Do you really want me to win the games?" Hephaestion asked.
"No," Tarquin said. "You must be aware by now that this country is in a very volatile situation. The Seventy-Sixth Hunger Games is going to play an important role in changing things for the better. You saw how the Quell went. I remember Jiro told me that he believed that if he killed Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, he would win. And he was wrong but he also had a point. The best tribute for the Capitol did win, it just wasn't the one who killed the Twelves, it was the one who gave the best interview. It was obvious from interview night that Fawkes Chau had to win, and the fact that he killed Régine Maurin in the process was just the icing on the cake. I'm sure, that for the Seventy-Sixth Hunger Games, there'll be a tribute like Fawkes. One who obviously has to win. And then there's you. You're the Régine Maurin. You will make sure that you're in the final two with that tribute and then, you'll reveal that you're a rebel, you'll have a climactic final battle and you'll make a 'fatal slip-up'. Our new victor will be the Capitol's choice and they'll have killed a rebel figurehead to demonstrate their loyalty."
"You want me to die?" Hephaestion asked.
"I want you to die for your country," Tarquin said. "It's no more than what would be expected of you if you were a peacekeeper."
Hephaestion remembered the day he'd decided he wanted to be a peacekeeper. He'd been eight years old, standing by the hospital bed of Perseus, the peacekeeper who'd rescued him and Iolaus from the mines on the day of The First Incident - his mother's suicide bombing. Perseus had been wounded by the bomb but he'd refused treatment until he could be sure that Hephaestion and Iolaus were safe. He was the one who'd limped through the tunnels to find Hephaestion. He was the one who'd suggested the drugs test that had proved that Hephaestion and Iolaus hadn't willingly helped their mother carry out the bombing. But during that time, his wound had become infected. Perseus was dying in a hospital bed.
Perseus had told Hephaestion that he didn't regret anything, because he'd saved Hephaestion. He'd told Hephaestion he was the bravest kid he'd ever met and he was going to grow up to do great things. Hephaestion had thought he'd become a peacekeeper and do everything in his power to protect vulnerable kids. But now it was clear that it wasn't possible. District 2 had never forgiven Hephaestion for what his mother had done, and now he'd committed murder they'd never forgive him for that either.
Maybe volunteering for the Seventy Sixth Hunger Games and sacrificing himself so the Capitol could have their perfect victor was the great thing Hephaestion was meant to do.
Maybe then he could forgive himself.
"I'll do it," he said.
"Good," Tarquin said. "We'll try to cover up the murder and get you out of prison as soon as possible."
"What about Iolaus?" Hephaestion asked.
"He'll be staying in prison for the time being," Tarquin said. "We need someone else to pin the murders on until the games. Iolaus is the easiest option. In his current situation, prison is probably the safest place for him. He's fifteen years old and his legal guardians are dead. Would you rather he go back to a community home or stay somewhere where the peacekeepers can close an eye on him and make sure he isn't hurt?"
"I could be his legal guardian," Hephaestion said. "I'm an adult. I know I'm only going to be around for six months but-"
"You are going to be spending those six months focusing on training," Tarquin said. "Just like every other student in the Academy aiming for the volunteer spot. You won't have time to care for Iolaus. He won't be in prison forever. When you go into the games, and confess to your crimes, Iolaus will be released. And by that point, he'll almost be sixteen, old enough to buy a house and live alone. The academy will ensure he has a house and he has enough money to keep himself alive for the final two years of his studies. I doubt he'll volunteer, unless he seriously improves his grades, but we can pull a few strings and set him up with a good job once he graduates. You just need to stay in line for the next six months and your brother can have a bright future."
"Are you sure?" Hephaestion asked. "He'll be alone. And people will hate him. His mother was a rebel. His brother's a rebel."
"The academy is the most powerful institution in District 2," Tarquin said. "We'll find a way to protect him."
"Okay," Hephaestion said. He knew he would never see forgiveness. But maybe, if he sacrificed himself in the 76th Hunger Games, Iolaus would.
This was one of the prompts where I didn't immediately know which tribute I wanted to write for it. Some tributes I briefly considered were Binah, Régine and Ramona. But eventually I settled on Hephaestion.
Hephaestion presented me with a unique challenge in that he is the POV tribute from A Traitor's Tale who gets the most attention in Yours Faithfully, so most of the scenes I considered for this prompt would be rewrites of scenes from Yours Faithfully but from Hephaestion's POV. And after typing out several pages of dialogue form TBOSAS to rewrite a scene from Lucy Gray's POV yesterday, I wasn't really in the mood for that. So I decided to do a flashback to all the District 2 political shenanigans that came in the wake of Hephaestion killing his foster parents. It was fun getting to focus a bit more on Hephaestion's relationship with Iolaus.
Our next act will be The Magician.