Chapter 23: The Tragedy of Nero
When Sera was five, she remembered waking up one morning and the sky was bleeding, at least that's what she thought at first.
From the small cracked window in the shared room with her sister, she could see the sky clearly. Initially, she thought she was dreaming and shut her eyes but when she opened them again, the sky was painted with splashes of crimson, vivid yellow and oranges. The white was engulfed completely, hidden away.
"The sky's burning." Talissa had marveled at the sky in awe. However, her fascination with the strange occurrence was short-lived.
Sera remembered her mother before she was called away, rushed to cover the windows with whatever she could find. Her mother made it clear to all of them that the windows and doors should not be opened no matter what happened or who knocked. She had dragged the children to the living room where there were no windows around and the walls were made of the thickest concrete.
What most people in her family except Ramiel didn't know was that Sera didn't listen to her mother. Ramiel and her quietly crept up to aunt Dahlia's room where there was a skylight and opened it to watch the hauntingly beautiful burning skies.
Her first mistake.
Ramiel had stayed on the lookout and let her watch. Again it was a mistake, a mistake either should've known but the two were too young and in awe of the strange phenomena to know what was right and what was wrong as most children are. She didn't know that was the last time she would be healthy. A few years after her stupid childish decision, she collapsed at school and was bedridden for next few years.
During the initial incident, her mother wasn't allowed to stay at home with Sera and her family for long and was later called away to be a medic at Nero, where her father and uncle worked. There was an accident, most had claimed it such and help was needed.
Sera never saw those uncle and father again and when she did see her mother, she wasn't the same.
Though her mother survived, she withered away quickly within a year or two of the incident. Aunt Dahlia lost her sister and husband to the same disaster and was left to raise Sera and her siblings along with her own son alone.
Everyone in District 5 lost someone or something the day the skies burned. Sera lost her parents, her uncle and now she would lose her aunt. It was the unspoken truth that hung in the air at their home in the Victors' Village that aunt Dahlia was living on borrowed time.
Plutarch's words haunted her. Burning skies. Only thing she recalled whenever she heard of the sky burning was the incident at Nero that changed the lives of everyone she knew and loved. She hated to admit, Plutarch was right. She only cared when she was the one affected, selfish, she knew but she couldn't afford to lose what she had.
As a result, she busied herself managing the shop. What she didn't expect was for Zephyr who now lounged on the moss-covered concrete seats, to be there. She also didn't expect Huxley to help out.
"Am I doing this right?" Zephyr held up a bouquet of half-pruned seasonal flowers along with the pruning shears he was given. "I don't think I'm doing this right."
"You're doing fine." Huxley grumbled out.
Sera had discovered something after Zephyr's tour ended. Strangely enough, Huxley and he didn't have a good relationship. She expected them to get along for the sake of Clarisse yet Huxley was cold to the newest victor. Occasionally he'd grumble something under his breath and glare at Zephyr before pretending he did nothing.
Looking at the clock behind her, she sighed. "Two hours till opening." She remarked, eying the two victors. One was her mentor and the other was her tribute. How odd it was that the two didn't get along.
"Relax, we'll be done in time." Zephyr remarked. "Besides, I've memorized the pick-ups and deliveries for the day so we've got that covered."
"And why are you even here?" Huxley suddenly asked, putting down a jar of lavender lotion bars. "I'm sure Mr Starek, your uncle would appreciate your help more than…"
Now it wasn't like Huxley to pick a fight with some but looking at him, she was a little surprised. It wasn't a secret that Zephyr's relationship with his uncle's family wasn't the best. They had kicked him out once he turned sixteen for no apparent reason.
"Huxley, can you come help me out in the back." Huxley didn't move, she had to pull him away to the back before she shut the door behind her. "Can you please get along with him for one minute? I don't get why you're so…cold to him. He's not that bad."
"I never said he was."
"Then what is it? Because you haven't been acting like yourself lately, especially around him."
He looked around for a while and picked up a basket of spring flowers. "Since when is Clarisse friends with him?"
"That's it? Clarisse being friends with him. Hux, they're friends."
"Talissa and I were friends once and now we're married."
Sera choked hearing him speak. He had a point, she didn't know the true extent of their friendship. It didn't exactly help that Zephyr was well-liked, almost as much as Oran by the girls and some boys at 5. "Does it matter? If Clarisse is happy which she is then let things be." She had to stick up for her friend and decided to talk back to her mentor and brother-in-law.
"You don't understand. There's enough eyes on us as it is. A victor marrying into another victor's family and now they're connected to another. People in the Capitol will treat this—"
There was some truth in Huxley's words, she'd agree yet there was no point. No matter what she did, she'd gather attention. "I don't think so. They have more things to be concerned about than us."
"You don't know that."
"Oh but I do. District 5 isn't an interesting district. We're nothing compared to the careers or even District 3." She still remembered how the mere presence of Cashmere had eclipsed her presence along with the nervous victor from 8. Career victors were more interesting than non-careers.
"That doesn't mean—"
"Hux, be nice to Zephyr. We don't know what his future will be like."
Remembering Sera's ordeal, his face softened and he nodded. Soon it would be Zephyr's turn to be in her place where they picked him apart and sorted him into a profession he never asked for. "How's your work going?"
"I mean I haven't killed any children lately so that's a plus." Answered Sera with a blank face. Huxley tried to read her face but when he looked at her, it was blank. Her eyes didn't give anything away and she looked too calm for his own liking. A bout of pity struck him and he realized the damage had been done. Sera had gotten too used to her new job. "I've killed about seven old people and a few couples."
Still, Huxley wanted to be there for him, not because she was his family but because she was his tribute, someone who could relate to him. Even his wife wouldn't understand the nightmares he still had after years out of the arena. "It must be hard." He rearranged the basket and placed some jars of calendula ointments inside. "I'm sorry if I knew…"
"You couldn't do anything. It was either this or becoming another Cashmere." She involuntarily shivered and sucked in breath. Thinking about it now, she was really fortunate. "That reminds me, Finnick Odair knows."
Huxley's grip on the basket slackened and it almost slipped out his grasp before he quickly grabbed onto it tightly. Finnick Odair knew. He didn't have a good opinion of that boy who was too hard to read and too complicated to understand for someone like Huxley. "Everyone, even the President told you to stay away from him and you just had to—ah!"
The door shook loudly as a few knocks echoed against the backroom before the noise faded and Zephyr called out from the other side. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine." Answered Sera, quickly composing herself much to the surprise of Huxley. He was a little impressed. She wasn't nearly as nervous as before.
Laughter was heard in response before the doorknob twisted and Zephyr threw open the old door. "You know, I can hear you two right?" He eyed the two victors with Huxley scowling at the boy. "I have really good hearing."
"Of course you do." Huxley rolled his eyes and brushed past him with the huge basket of items needed for the restock.
Zephyr followed after him while keeping his gaze on Sera. "Hey, you two might as well let me in on all of this. I'm going to be going through this soon enough."
"Wait. You…know?" Sera closed the door to the storeroom and stared widely at her former mentee. He knew. He was brighter than she had expected.
The older boy shrugged in response. "I noticed a few things here and there. I'm sure you did too before you won."
And she did.
Unlike him, however, she never bothered to actively ask around for more. In fact, she was the opposite, trying to shy herself away from the crowd of Capitolites who either thought she something of a saint or those who shunned her and thought she was undeserving of a victory and was better off dead.
She became a wallflower after she had won or attempted to be.
"I don't know if you can handle it." Huxley said while unloading the canisters of calendula ointments and put aside a few, no doubt those were for Leora. The stubborn victor refused professional medical help for her mysterious injuries and was a frequent customer at their hybrid shop.
Zephyr chuckled. "I'll have to and I know I can. I'm older than Seraphine."
"Sera." She corrected him. "You might as well call me Sera, it's less of a mouthful than Seraphine."
"Okay then so lay it on me. I'm ready."
"Well you have two options—you don't get to choose." Sera shared a look with her brother-in-law and gestured to him to take charge. "Option one is you get sold."
"Sold as in?" Huxley pulled him close and whispered something into Zephyr's ears. His carefree grin vanished and his face fell. "Oh no. No. Absolutely not. What's option two?"
"Option two is charity work."
"Sounds good to be true."
"It is. You have to listen to the last words of people on their deathbeds and report it back to the President. Bonus points if you kill them yourself." Sera answered, snipping off a daffodil stem and measuring it with her eyes.
The boy stumbled back into his previous seat on the concrete chairs. "That's…it? No other options? I mean Huxley survived." He pointed to Sera's mentor who smiled sadly in response.
Though Huxley was considered attractive to some Capitolites, he was dreadfully hard to talk to. Even Flickerman struggled to make him talk or give him any personality. "Because I'm boring and I was engaged to Talissa. They don't like married victors, they're considered damaged goods."
"Oh so I can just marry someone, shouldn't be too hard. Clariss—"
A small metal canister of a calendula ointment crashed onto the floor, slipping out off Huxley's hand. It was all crushed with the contents leaking out. Sera sighed loudly and stomped over to the sight of the accident with a mop. She shoved it into his hands, annoyed at the mess.
"There's an option three." Huxley suggested while angrily scrubbing the floor under the watchful gaze of Sera who again was not pleased at his behavior.
"There is?" Sera and Zephyr asked at the same time. Momentarily, Sera forgot her grievances with Huxley and shared a look of surprise with Zephyr at their synchronization.
"It's mostly for District 3 victors. Beetee Latier is a famous example of it. They mostly allow 'gifted' victors to work for the games, security or medicine. It's mostly technical stuff."
"What if I tried for that?" Zephyr offered.
It wasn't a terrible idea, Sera thought. If he had a choice. He didn't have a choice. No one did. Choices were considered a luxury for people like them.
"And how exactly are you going to do that? Nobody knows anything about you apart from your quick reflexes and good memory."
"I'm also good at fixing and making things."
So he was. Sera remembered the alarm clock Zephyr had spent taking apart and putting it back together with a completely new function in the midst of a conversation with her about his game strategies. It could work. "Then you need an opportunity." Said Sera, finally showing a little interest in the fate of her mentee.
"Opportunities aren't that easy to come by." Huxley argued. He was right, Sera knew that.
Beetee Latier, she'd heard of him in passing whispers back at the Capitol. The man was mostly working on security of the Capitol and occasionally the games. She'd seen him around the clinic as well.
Her foggy mind held back a few pieces of her memory, preventing her from recalling where exactly in the clinic she had seen him. If she could observe him a little bit more, she'd know how he managed to get the attention of Capitol. Of course, his games were a clear example of his abilities but even so, the games were quite limited in certain aspects.
Where? Where did she see Beetee Latier? She tried hard to recall and suddenly she let out another sigh, throwing her head back in frustration. Everything really did lead back to that man. "Plutarch Heavensbee." She bit out scornfully.
"The former Head Gamemaker?" Huxley questioned, confused at the anger and rage in Sera's voice. It wasn't like his sister-in-law to be easily angered. "What about him?"
"Him and Beetee, they're working together."
"Obviously." Zephyr curiously glanced at Sera. "I mean, Huxley did mention, Beetee Latier has worked on a few games with some of the gamemakers."
Shaking her head, she beckoned the two to come to her. She needed to be quiet about this if she was going to speak about something so treasonous. "...Plutarch Heavensbee approached me a few months ago, around the time the 69th Games started—he wanted me to work for them."
"On the next games?" Sera shook her head again. "Then what?"
"No." Huxley said without wasting a moment. "Please tell me you turned him down."
Of course she did. "You know something?"
"I don't but I know enough to know it's never good news if someone so close to the President wants something from you." Huxley looked down at the floor. He failed her. He promised to protect her and he failed her.
"It's not your fault." She never blamed anyone but herself for everything so far, least of all him. "And you're right, he is up to something…a rebellion." With a hand over her mouth, the words that followed after were muffled but it was just audible enough for the two boys to hear.
Zephyr let out a quiet gasp while Huxley made a choked sound. "Shit." Muttered Zephyr. "The hell did I get myself into. What do we do?"
"Nothing." Sera and Huxley said at the same time. "I turned him down obviously and you don't have to worry about this, it's about me. He was pretty insistent."
"It's not a bad idea—we're long overdue for one."
Closing his eyes, Huxley covered his face with his hands and let out a deep sigh into it. Zephyr was right and so was Sera.
A rebellion, a change was desperately needed in Panem. Under Snow, the nation was reaching its breaking point but Sera couldn't put herself out there, not without risking her loved ones.
Talissa…
Huxley's chest seized up with pain, thinking of his wife. If Sera wasn't careful, he could lose his wife and his future. Sera, Zephyr and his futures were tangled up together now. Any choice one made would affect the other.
Between the silence, Sera could easily read what was going on in Huxley's mind. He obviously wanted her to keep being a pawn of the President even if it meant sacrificing herself and her happiness. While Zephyr was definitely considering it.
"...I want to take part." Sure enough, Zephyr had made up his mind. "Don't look at me like that. We need something to change. People are dying in the Slog every minute, especially those still affected by the 'Tragedy of Nero'. I lost my parents in that."
"So did we but—"
Zephyr cut Huxley off. "Then you should agree with this. Both of you should!"
Again, Plutarch's words echoed in Sera's mind. She'd change her mind soon. Was Zephyr going to be the reason? She hoped not. She had more to lose than Zephyr and she could never forget that. "Someone's at the door." She said, glancing at the door where a silhouette of a tall boy moved side to side in front of the thick glass door. "Oran? The store doesn't open for another hour and a half."
Unlocking the door for a moment, Huxley let Oran in before locking the front door again. "I need to talk to you." Oran hurriedly brushed past Huxley and went straight to Sera.
"Is this about Ira?" Zephyr asked, poking his head out from behind Sera.
Oran pulled at his sleeve nervously and nodded. "Can I talk to you alone?"
"Is this about you and your little friends breaking into Nero?" Huxley questioned. "I have someone who was part of that little group." He added with a small smile, trying to comfort the boy.
Reluctantly Oran nodded. "Ira followed you when you broke into Nero. I remember that. What happened this time?" Sera cared little about Ira or what was going on in Nero as long as it didn't affect her or her family.
"They started production again." Still fidgeting, Oran answered. "It began last week. We tried to protest and some of us, including me and Cyrus, were recruited to work there."
How did someone react to something like that? Sera didn't know. She sympathized with Oran and the others but what could she do? Nothing. Victors were just symbols of a failed rebellion after all. "Oran, I don't know what you want me to do."
"I…uh…I don't know…something. Don't you have some influence on the people in the Capitol?" She did but it was only surface level. If she put more effort into her role, she'd have more influence. "Come on, Sera. I—no—we need you and the other victors to do something."
"Hold on." Huxley pushed himself to stand in front of Sera. "Look I understand you're distraught but Sera and the rest of us, don't have any say in the public policies of Panem and that includes how the plants work."
Frustrated, Oran sobbed and pulled at his hair. "PLEASE!" He sobbed. "Do something! I'm begging you people—people will die. Nero isn't a normal plant—it's a nuclear plant!" He cried out and immediately, his sobs were snuffed out by Zephyr who covered his mouth.
"Are you insane?!" Zephyr hissed, looking around as Sera worked to shut the display window. Oran was going to put her family in danger before Plutarch managed to do anything.
The metal shutters of the store clanked loudly together as it slowly descended, covering the window inch by inch.
A dull headache was starting to form as Sera massaged her temple. "Whe-where did you learn about this?"
Oran's eyed the closing shutter. "At Nero."
"You shouldn't be telling us this."
"You're one of the most influential victors our district has had in a while, I thought…" Oran was running out of breath. He tiredly breathed and forced out another sentence that nearly stopped Sera's heart. "I thought you'd care because your brother was assigned to Nero."
Pain shot through Sera's heart and her throat constricted, blocking air into her lungs. Her breathing became heavy and she turned to Huxley who, like her, was shocked to hear such a thing.
Huxley carefully helped Sera lean on the counter before shifting his attention to Oran. "When," His voice was hoarse and raspy. "When did this happen?"
But Oran never answered, a huge boom accompanied by a flash of lightning shook the entire district and silenced Oran before he could speak. When the dust cleared the four looked at each other and outside but what they saw made Zephyr and Oran fall to their knees in anguish.
The sky…was burning.
Sera was out the door within seconds running through the gathering crowds of people. It took Huxley a second to realize what she was doing before he gave chase to her and Zephyr along with Oran followed.
Her mind was in a disarray and she was running straight to Nero. Plutarch's words strongly stood out loudly against the noise of her own thoughts.
"When the skies burn, you'll see things a bit more clearly."
But she couldn't see a thing as black smoke billowed out from the direction of the mountains west of District 5 where Nero was. The black smoke combined with the shifting colors of sky blinded her as she stared up at the sky, mouth agape.
A hand covered her vision and swiftly but gently started to pull her backwards. She tried to struggle and fight against her captor. "Don't!" A familiar rough voice hissed into her ears, slowly turning around to face him. "Go back home, Seraphine."
"Sc—Icarus…" She breathed out with much difficulty. Scarus was in District 5, he was in front of her, blocking her path to Nero—to her brother. "I can't…my brother…he's in there…I can't…I can't leave him…I can't…" With each word that spilled out of her mouth, her tone became more desperate as tears threatened to spill out.
Scarus was taken aback. Nervously, he licked his dry lips and glanced around. Sera did the same. Behind him, she found herself looking straight at none other than Plutarch who gave her a look of sympathy. The two didn't have a chance to say a word to another as Scarus was already dragging her away.
"No! No! No…I'm not—" Sera tried to fight against Scarus. He held her hands in his. "Please…just this once…please!" She tried and he ignored her. He looked pained as he took out a thick plastic coat from his bag and wrapped it over her shoulder and covered her face with a gas mask before tossing a few plastic coats and masks to Zephyr and Huxley.
Again, Sera tried to fight against Scarus; Huxley swiftly marched up to the pair and separated them but not before whispering something into Sera's ears. She calmed down immediately yet her eyes were reddened and wet from holding back tears of rage and desperation. Scarus never knew Sera could make that expression and he couldn't look away even when the sky was burning, something not gone missed by the former Head Gamemaker.
Author's note: I'm almost out of my reserve chapters but luckily I have a few more in progress. I've been more inspired about this and 'Memento Mori' lately, don't know why. 'Come As You Are' is on a short break (I ran out of reserve chapters, only have half written ones).
Anyone who is also reading 'Exile', that is going on hiatus for a bit until I reach a certain point in 'Gamble of Wits'. The next few chapters written for 'Exile' kind of spoil some future chapters in 'Gamble Of Wits', something I only realized while writing the chapters out for 'Gamble of Wits'. Exile's earlier chapters where the setting is District 12 is technically set during 69th-post 70th Hunger Games and lot happens post-70th for Sera that directly effects the rest of Panem that I really don't want to spoil so I'm kinda sorry to those readers.