Author's Note

I do not own the Hunger Games.

Submitter Check-ins received from:

DoIReallyNeedToChooseNow

critixu

Lisan Al Gaib

MoonlightSalsa

Iridescence Sterling, 17

Phoenix flew from her roo m, her eyes wide with panic, her hair a tangled mess around her face.

"Emeria–!" she gasped, stumbling over her own feet and almost slamming face-first into the doorframe. Iridescence grabbed her arm and pulled her out the way.

"What about Emeria?"

"She's gone!: Phoenix waved her arm around and it took a moment for Iridescence to realise she was brandishing her comm. "She answered our call and her parents were there but then there was a monster and now she's gone."

Iridescence frowned. "A… monster?"

Phoenix nodded, gulping back sobs and continuing to wave her arms. "It was– was– and Emeria wasn't there anymore– I think it's killed her–"

"Phoenix. Slow down. Breathe."

She sniffled and dragged her hand across her eyes.

"What happened to Emeria?"

Phoenix looked up at her, and there was a broken kind of resignation in her eyes. "I think she's gone."

They all gathered in the main room, Vivaldi still speaking to Marcellina on his comm, while Ares was only just waking and trying to rouse Luminita on her own comm. Marcellina was out on the street now, making her way towards their apartment. None of them had been able to contact Zephyr.

"What exactly did you see?" Iridescence asked Phoenix for the third time.

For the third time, it was the same story.

A monster must have attacked Emeria and her parents at their home. She'd seen something on the comm feed. And now Emeria was gone.

"She can't just be gone. If we call the Peacekeepers–" said Ares.

Vivaldi shook his head. "We can't trust the Peacekeepers. We don't know if they were involved in this, and they ultimately answer to the President, who knows we're against the Punishment Games."

"You don't think she would do this because we oppose her?" asked Phoenix.

"I'm saying we can't rule it out."

Iridescence nodded. "He's right. We can't trust anyone that's not us."

"What about Thorin?" asked Vivaldi. Thorin's image was flashing on his comm, signifying a call.

"He's one of us. But don't answer him just now, we need to focus on Marcellina."

Vivaldi looked torn, but ultimately gave Thorin the 'occupied line' message and continued to speak with Marcellina.

"What about Andreas?" asked Phoenix.

Iridescence hesitated. That was a very good point. Andreas was one of them, a survivor of the simulation, but he held to very different beliefs, and wasn't afraid of trying to twist things to his own gain.

"Call him and ask whether he's okay. But don't invite him here," she said at last.

It seemed like the best decision. It was only fair to check on his wellbeing too, but they didn't know what was happening, and couldn't alert Andreas to something they needed kept secret. He'd only sell it, or use it to blackmail them.

"And Emeria?" Phoenix asked.

Iridescence closed her eyes. She still felt dizzy and unwell, even after having some sleep. "There's nothing we can do to help Emeria."

Thorin Marcoussis, 18

Zephyr didn't seem to have calmed, but had curled up on the sofa and fallen into some semblance of a restless sleep. Every so often he'd grumble, his fingers flicking back and forth.

Thorin still couldn't get an answer from Vivaldi on his comm. He just kept receiving the 'occupied' message, which meant Vivaldi must be rejecting him in favor of speaking to someone else.

He groaned, flopping back into the armchair. How had he ended up here, hiding in some dilapidated bungalow with a trembling mad boy? He'd wanted to change the world, once. Wanted to overthrow the government and change the way things worked. He wanted to make a better world for those like his fathers.

Instead, he'd found himself in bed, physically and metaphorically, with a group of Capitol children.

He tried Vivaldi's comm again, with no success. Something must be happening, but clearly no one was available to tell him what. That gave him a bad feeling. The same thing had happened with Iridescence's seizure and then the shooting at the hospital. Combined with Zephyr's presence and condition, something else must be happening now.

He flicked through the numbers on his comm until he found Iridescence's. She and Ares would be together, and one of them would surely know something.

Iridescence's comm rang and rang, until an answer finally came. She was standing in what looked like her hallway, her face pale and eyes wide.

"What's going on? Where's Vivaldi?" Thorin demanded.

"He's fine. He's just talking to Marcellina. We don't want to distract either of them."

"Distract them from what?"

"Look…" Iridescence shook her head. "Something weird's going on. None of us can contact our families. And Phoenix rang Emeria, who she now reckons has been taken away by a monster."

"A… monster?"

"Yeah."

"Does this have anything to do with Zephyr showing up in the state he's in?"

"Zephyr..? Why, what's up with him?"

Thorin explained the situation in as few words as possible, looking at where Zephyr slept.

Iridescence sighed. "He must know something. He always does."

"Do you want me to wake him and ask?"

"No. Just… make sure the two of you are safe there."

Thorin looked at his knife. "That I can do."