*—— atlantean .

“I’m positive.” His gaze hardened with his affirmation. The viperous grip on his notes only increased, as Lincoln spoke on the topic more. “This is your first-time leaving District Four, isn’t it? There’s a big difference between seeing the other districts and the Capitol on television and actually being there in person.” Anger caused his stomach to bubble more than it had in months, perhaps even years. “Is that what you want? You want to see me cry when I could be giving you the advice you obviously need? I’m not going to cry in front of you.” Lincoln bit back, ignoring the baseball-sized lump in his throat. His clouding eyes hardly helped either.

The pamphlet of notes continued to shrink in his large hand, as his vise-like grasp threatened to tear the papers into shreds. “No, Kayla was important. She might not be here anymore, but she’ll be important until I die. I made sure of that.” Interviewers frequently inquired about the moments with his young ally during the 72nd Games. They questioned the emotions he must have felt, as he desperately plunged his spear into her chest. “That’s where you’re wrong. You and I weren’t tossed in there. We both chose this. I volunteered for the wrong reasons, and I’m betting you did too. Kayla didn’t choose this. She didn’t want to be thrown into an arena with tributes twice her size. It took strength to kill her, but it wasn’t the twisted type of strength you’re thinking about.” 

While his grip never relented, Marina’s answer caused his brow to furrow. “Charlatan? Is that what you think they are?” A disbelieving chuckle escaped his lips before he could stop it. “They’re kids. I mean, shit, Marina, you act like you were never twelve. I doubt things were perfect growing up, but that beats knowing you’re probably going to die on television. You’d really kill a kid without a second thought for what? A crown? Money? Fame?” He responded, also knowing he volunteered for the same reasons.  

        ‪❛‬  YEAH ,  SO WHAT ?  ❜  her response to his question comes out more arrogant than she’d intended for it to .  leaving the districts was a privilege in itself ,  one that even marina reyes had come to appreciate .  although she’s not one to be muzzled ,  lincoln’s next remark has her speechless .  it was true ,  he had the upper hand when it came to the intricacies that surrounded the capitol .  no matter how highly she thought of herself ,  she’d always be district filth to the capitol residents .  and though she’d never admit to it ,  marina could have sworn that she absent-mindedly muttered an apology under her breath . 

       ‪❛‬  the wrong reasons ?  ❜  marina furrowed her brows .  that was a rather bold statement for the other to make .  a couple of hours in the train together and what ?  suddenly ,  lincoln conway knew everything there was to know about her ?  preposterous .  he knew nothing of her motivations for volunteering .   ‪❛‬  lincoln .  ❜  her voice is soft but methodical now .   ‪❛‬  we have trained our whole lives with the sole purpose of learning how to murder other human beings .  ❜  marina continued .  ‪❛‬  i don’t  have the luxury of moping around like a wounded puppy after every kill that i make in that arena ,  whether it be kids that are younger or of the same age .  ❜  the brunette responds in a visibly frustrated manner ,  setting down the piece of fruit that she’d been nibbling off of .  

‪❛‬  crowns ?  money ?  fame ?  none of that matters to me .  i’d kill a KID without a second thought if it brings me one step closer to striking back at the bastards that threw minnow fry into that arena .  ❜  marina scoffed .  exactly how materialistic did lincoln think she was ?  wealth wasn’t something that she lacked back in the districts .  sure ,  it wasn’t the capitol’s definition of wealth ,  but it was wealth to her all the same . 

“Four has done well enough. We’re better off than other districts.” Lincoln replied, eyes flashing dangerously for seconds before the indignation dissipated. “It sounds like you spend a LOT of time watching me . And I don’t cry every time I think about killing someone.” He defensively, despite knowing Marina had a point. It seemed no secret that District Four’s youngest mentor practically quivered at the notion of senseless killing. He murdered four tributes in the arena, and each death impacted him more than the last. Ultimately, he swore to never take another life in that soulless manner again.

Lincoln’s nose flared, and his grip tightened around his pamphlet of notes. His lips parted to protect Kayla’s memory, but the young man was overwhelmed by emotion. A combination of despondency and anger crept onto his face until he realized his breath became shallow. How could she? “Her name was Kayla Reed. She was only twelve years old going into that arena, and I was forced to kill her.” His tone became clipped, and he attempted to clear his throat. “She was just a kid and the same age as my sister. Have you ever killed a kid?”  

         ‪❛‬  PFT !  ❜  a small chuckle escapes from marina ,  and the brunette finds herself leaning into her seat more . ‪❛‬  are you sure ? ❜  she pushed further .   ‪❛‬  because you definitely look like you’re about to cry now .  ❜  marina continued ,  lips curling with cruel satisfaction as she brought her point home .  when the other’s grip visibly tightens around his pamphlet of notes ,  marina knows that she’s reached a point where she needs to relent .  

        ‪❛‬  then she’s just an unfortunate casualty of the arena then .  ❜  she responds in kind to the other’s statement .    ‪❛‬  it happens .  regardless of our reasons ,  we’re all tossed into that arena for a singular purpose .  if it wasn’t her ,  it would have been you .  be glad you had the strength to do it first . ❜  her tone is nonchalant and objective  ––––  so much so that it might even have seemed cold to those that didn’t know her .  but then lincoln pops the golden question ,  and marina simply can’t wait to answer . 

His dark eyes tore away from his notes on the Reapings, as Marina’s feet connect with the mahogany veneer of the table. His brow arched, and his gaze flickered from her feet to her face. “Shit, I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment to you.” Lincoln chuckled with a nonchalant tone, attempting to remain civil for the sake of this new alliance. He believed some degree of trust between them would be essential to her survival in the Games. “You know, I did win these Games four years ago. You’re going to need me more than you realize.” He offered, not quite believing the words leaving his mouth. District Four had numerous victors with more experience, so why should Marina seek guidance from him of them all? “The Academy got you this far, but there are plenty more things you’ll need going into that arena.” 

          ‪❛‬  yeah ,  and district four became so much BETTER off because of your victory ,  didn’t it ? ❜  –––––––  marina responded ,  eyebrows arching in an inquisitive manner .  ‪❛‬  i’d very much prefer a mentor that won’t cry every time he thinks about killing someone ?   ❜   she continued relentlessly .  perhaps she’d gone too far .  after all , he was her mentor and she’d have to rely on him to garner sponsorships .  it’d be a mistake to sacrifice a  PAWN  this early into the match . 

         ‪❛‬  still ,  i suppose ,  you were somewhat of a killing machine before you ended that poor girl ––––  ❜  the brunette paused for a second ,  allowing the effect of her words to sink in without finishing her sentence .  ‪❛‬  what was her name again ?  right , KAYLA .  a pity , really . ❜  she continued .  ‪

          ‪❛‬  so ,  you’re LINCOLN ?  my mentor ? ❜  –––––––  marina scoffed ,  kicking her feet on top of the mahogany table that decorated her district’s cabin .  as far as she knew ,  the train was hurtling straight towards the capitol ;  where nothing but a shameful death or glorious redemption awaited her .  

Moly was exhausted. Her muscles ached and burned from the effort to trek halfway across the arena to the predetermined meeting place Luna and her had agreed on. They would meet where the cornucopia’s tail pointed. It was simple enough but difficult in execution when you had to not only make your way over the terrain and avoid the remaining tributes.

Her brother was dead and every time she closed her eye she could see the glint of the blade, the blood, and… And… Well, she didn’t want to remember what came last so she tried to forget it.

When she heard the ruffle of the leaves, Moly reached for the tree branch she had started to file down with the blunt end of a stone. It wasn’t much of a point or defense against a sword, but it was something. Carefully, Moly hid behind a try waiting to see who or what had stumbled across her hiding spot.

@imlcna··

       『  SHE’D BARELY GOTTEN OUT OF THE BLOODBATH ALIVE . 』 ––––––– and for the first time in a while ,  luna felt a worrying mix of exhilaration and despair overcome her .  what would it have meant for fenris if she had died in the bloodbath ?  what would it have meant to her if he had died ?  did he die ?  there were simply too many questions and too little time to formulate the answers .   

she’s creeping through the bushes ,  adrenaline surging through her veins and her mind focused on one thing .  the plan .  and it was all going well too until the sound of panem’s national anthem began to play and a holographic screen was thrown up into the night sky .  they projected the faces of all the fallen tributes .  twelve .  four .  ten .  eleven .  fenris .  

there wasn’t any time to mourn .  she could mourn when she found her brother’s murderer , and made sure that they’d pay for what they’d done .  but for now ,  she continued onto the rendezvous point that she’d agreed upon with moly .  

luna wasn’t much of a tracker ,  but she could tell when the ground or soil had been recently disturbed .  and in this case ,  the area where they were supposed to meet showed signs of recent activity .  drawing her sickle ,  luna crouched and kept her body low .  

     『  TEN . 』 –––––––  and luna felt a sense of peace wash over her .  it was still hard to believe that less than two minutes ago ,  she’d been chatting with fenris .  their conversations weren’t anything spectacular nor out of the ordinary .  they talked as if they’d see each other again ,  and not as if it was the last .  but behind their pained expressions ,  they both knew otherwise .  so while their last embrace was passed off as a normal show of affection ,  luna and fenris both held on for a little longer than normal .  the others wouldn’t have felt it ,  but the mcdonalds did .  

NINE .  luna felt nothing ,   as if it were the calm before the storm .  she tried not to look at the other tributes for the fear that their expressions would change her own .  she needed to focus on her own survival ,  and if not her ,  then for her mother .  at least one of the two mcdonald twins needed to make it back home to her .  otherwise ,  she’d have no one left .  

EIGHT .  the countdown’s noise echoes throughout the arena ,  deafening all thoughts that attempted to formulate in luna’s head .  so she looks to the pedestal that she’d been placed upon ,  and how the waves crashed against the unmoving metal .  would she be this insignificant during the course of these games ?  during the course of panem’s history ?  who was she in the grand scheme of things ? 

SEVEN .  SIX .  FIVE .  nothing .  and by the time  FOUR  hits ,  the panic begins to settle in .  perhaps it was her mind’s natural sense of self-preservation .  was she going to die ?  

THREE .  her shallow breathing is the only thing she can hear ;  the heavy reverberations that pulsated throughout her chest as her lungs worked overtime .  TWO .  and her breathing intensifies .  if she was a lamb being led to the slaughter ,  then who was the shepard ?  the gamemakers ?  the capitol ?  or some force above ? 

ONE .  they say that time slows when you’re at death’s doorstep ,  and luna felt every millisecond that passed as if they were hours .  was fenris feeling the same thing ?  was everybody else ?  she took a deep breath . 

there’s a blast that echoes throughout the arena ,  and luna dives forward .  she’d originally planned to turn away and run from the cornucopia .  that was hours before the games had actually started .  but in the face of danger ,  it dawned on her that the cornucopia existed to reinforce the concept that high rewards came with high risks .  and if luna wasn’t an adventurous risk-taker ,  it would have desecrated her father’s memory .  

she’s not sure if she’s swimming forward or thrashing in place .  in fact ,  she wasn’t sure if she was breathing or drowning .  it was all a blur .   she’d swam before in the lakes and riverbeds that irrigated the fields of district eleven .  but this was something different .  if she was a minute or a few seconds late , that’d mean certain death .  

it’s a few seconds later before her hands collide with a rock .  pulling herself up ,  luna gazes upon the pandemonium that ensued .  tributes rushing towards weapons ,  blood splaying against the walls ,  decapitated bodies ,  and the rapid fire sound of cannons .  she couldn’t focus ,  and in the thick of it ,  she tunnel-visioned a sickle ( a weapon which she had some mild experience with while working in the field ) and made a bee-line towards it .  and as luna grabs it ,  a body collapses next to her  –––––  nettle greenroot ,  the female from district twelve ,  a sword in her now lifeless hands and a throwing knife buried into her mangled back .  she doesn’t question who’d just saved her life .  perhaps it was a stroke of good fortune ,  perhaps not .  either way ,  luna knew better than to stick around to find out . 

she immediately slips into the water ,  swimming as deep as she could to avoid any projectiles that the survivors would likely throw at her .  there’d been a plan ,  and as far as she knew ,  her actions hadn’t jeopardized it yet .  so she’d stick along with it because during these chaotic times ,  the existence of a well-structured plan would be the difference between dying on the first day and being one of the final contenders .  

『  THE GREATEST VICTORY IS THAT WHICH REQUIRES NO BATTLE . 』

Moly shrugged her shoulders as she kicked her shoes off purposely. “I don’t think my stylist gets a say in this.” Her dress was long enough no one was going to notice. Heels or not, there was still a risk she was going to trip over her dress or something. “I mean this is quite possibly my last night breathing and I should be allowed to not wear my shoes if I want.” When she looked at it like that, Moly could reason anything she wanted to do or say. It was a great way to get what she wanted, a privilege she felt every tribute had at this moment in time.

She nodded accepting the compliment from Luna. For a moment she sat there pondering what to say next and what her options were. Moly wanted to protect her brother, but she knew the logistics of it. So far the survival rate of thirteen-year-old tributes was 0%. It had never been done and Finnick Odair had been the only one to do it at fourteen. Moly loved her brother, but she couldn’t turn off her brain. 4% chances were all any of them had to assume equal odds (which wasn’t true in the least) and even if she took out all the young ones her odds only increased to 5%. Maybe she needed to make friends with her fellow tribute from District Eleven…

“Not in the slightest,” she admitted with a laugh. “Capitolites are far too dim most of them, so anything I say will probably go over their head. I’ll just probably say something cliche and boring that they can understand. You?”

      『  MOLY WASN’T WRONG . 』 –––––––  this could very well be the last night of their lives .  until the other had mentioned it ,  luna hadn’t really given it much thought .  it was all so surreal to her still ,  and the speed at which her impending demise was catching up to her was mortifying . over the past couple of days ,  they’d been pampered beyond what would have been thought to be possible in the outer districts .  in fact ,  she’d never been catered to more before today .  and she’d gone through it all without realizing that the sword of damocles had been hanging over her head the whole time .

❝ even if you were caught without shoes ,  what would they be able to do about it anyway ? ❞  luna chuckled .  ❝ ban you from participating in the games ? ❞  she continued ,  a warm smile emerging from her lips .  luna wasn’t sure what it was about the other that had instilled a sense of security in her .  perhaps it was the mutual understanding that there wasn’t a need to hide their feelings any longer .  no matter how confident , insecure , weak , or strong someone portrayed themselves as prior to the games ,  everything would be revealed tomorrow .  and when that time came ,  luna would prefer nothing else than to have a trusted confidant by her side .   or dare she say ,  an ally .  

❝ i couldn’t agree more ! ❞  luna was excited that someone shared the same views as her .  most of the other tributes were too scared to admit their feelings towards the capitol .  ❝ the only thing those nitwits are interested in tonight are drama between tributes , romance between tributes , or heart-throbbing stories about a tribute’s origins .   ❞  she continued .  ❝ all of which i fully intend to give if the circumstances are right .  ❞

from what buckingham could tell from watching years and years worth of footage from the hunger games, studying it for hours on end, was that outer district kids could be placed into two categories. tolerable and intolerable. she hadn’t concluded where she’d place luna but her gut feeling suggested the latter. 

“i’m hilarious,” buckingham replied, sarcasm dripping from her tone. if the girl from eleven would make her disdain evident then buckingham wouldn’t not do the same. sure the lack of reaction from luna just being called by her district number got under buckingham’s skin a little but she rationalised it was an act. nobody wanted to look weak before the games, especially in front of a career. the blonde knew that much.

“on the contrary, you’ve come to someone who has no insecurities at all,” she said with a shrug, watching luna intently. she wondered if the girl would be a problem later on. she hoped not. if she was correct, they got the same score. no matter how much she thought district eleven was below her, buckingham knew better than to let herself ignore the obvious that luna was somewhere along the same level as her. “i don’t blame you for leaving your floor; district eleven’s floor must get so… despair-ridden during these days leading up to the games.”

the comment of her score made buckingham wonder if the girl knew how much she hated scoring less than her brother. she doubted it after a few seconds but still - she didn’t need her weakness getting out. “you too. seven’s a nice number, isn’t it?”

      『  MISDIRECTION . 』 –––––––  a tactic that had been invented centuries ago that still held relevance today .  divert an opponent’s attention for long enough ,  and they tend to overlook the minor details .  and sometimes ,  those minor details were the key to victories .  even if luna were born in district eleven ,  her father wasn’t ;  and his willingness to teach her standard history made her privy to such knowledge .  

the blonde spoke ,  and luna almost felt the need to laugh .  no insecurities ?  everyone had them .  whether or not they decided to show them was a different story altogether .  and so far , luna had a hard time seeing what the female tribute from district three saw in buckingham de clare .  ❝ naturally ,  because we’re empathetic human beings with souls .  i can’t imagine that feeling being mutual on the careers’ floors . ❞  luna responded .  it wasn’t the best comeback that she could retort ,  but pushing it further would have exposed how upset she’d been by the comment . 

❝ yeah ,  it felt good to score as well as a career tribute . ❞. the blonde could hide behind her words but she couldn’t hide behind her micro-expressions .  in fact ,  no one could unless they’d been specially trained .  luna was willing to couch on the other’s quickness to respond as a sign of discomfort .  ❝ but i’m willing to bet that the other career tributes don’t think too highly of me .  or you for that matter .  after all ,  seven is a pretty low number to them . ❞  she continued .  

Shiloh watched her do it. watched her take a bite of a poison berry ground up with another poison herb. she knew that mix, she knew it well. the two often grew in close proximity, often called a double threat because while only semi-leathal alone, together (as they often ended up becoming) they gave a slow, and quite  P A I N F U L death.

“okay.” she said, quietly grabbing the herbs that would make the antidote. she’d learned it at home. those were plants found in 10, and plants that often made the horses colic. she knew how to fix it. and just in case this girl who was either a raging suicidal or undeniably brave didn’t know what she was doing…

no, she definitely knew what she was doing. but she was crazy enough to follow through. if she cracked under the pressure, Shiloh would be there to save the day. “this’s crazy, yanno. right? ya do know?”

      『  SUICIDAL ?  MAYBE .  CRAZY ?  DEFINITELY . 』 –––––––  and it was precisely what was needed for luna to stand even the slightest chance in the third quarter quell .  her mentors weren’t around in the training room to tell her to do so otherwise ,  not that they would have approved of her strategy anyway .  the careers were dumb but they weren’t completely brainless .  they’d been studying previous tactics their whole lives and by now ,  had probably worked out the most logical and efficient way to crush the other tributes if everyone acted logically .  

❝ oh , i know . ❞  luna replies ,  her grin widening as she observed the other tribute beginning to make the antidote .  it didn’t faze her ,  but it certainly bothered her .  whoever this girl was ,  she obviously had experience with botany herself .  and if she ended up being a threat to luna ,  then luna would just have to employ more ,  lesser-known poisons .  but until then ,  she’d just feign her ineptitude . ❝ i'm just following a recipe !  i’m relatively new to this sort of thing . ❞

buckingham’s eyed narrowed as she looked at the girl. she couldn’t remember who she was, really. solar? moonshine? luna? eleven. all the blonde knew was that the girl was from eleven. what a poor place to be a born, both figuratively and literally. as much as she abhorred the girl for being simply beneath her in panem’s massive social hierarchy, buckingham couldn’t help but be impressed. it took guts to talk in such a manner to a career tribute. there were many a story of tributes who got cocky with their words to those from one, two and four being killed in the bloodbath. buckingham had half a mind to keep that possibility tucked in the back of her head. 

“why go to a shitty room when i can be here? among flowers that look as good as i do?” buckingham mused, a slick smile appearing onto her face. it was one she had used thousands of times before to get her way. she didn’t expect it to work on the girl - outer district kids could be so odd - but if anyone happened to overhear them or see them, she’d look all nice and innocent. “however you want? amuse me, eleven, what do you want to do here?”

       『  NARCISSISM . 』 ––––––– that’d been the word that luna had been searching for .  if this was how all the children from the inner district spoke ,  then luna had certainly dodged a bullet .  in fact ,  it almost made her glad to have been born in district eleven .  they were poor ,  yes ,  but at least they knew the value of humility and character ;  none of which were present in buckingham de clare .  

❝ you’re a funny person ,  aren’t you ? ❞  luna chose her words carefully .  if her distaste for the other wasn’t evident by now ,  then the observer needed a reality check .  in that sense ,  luna didn’t feel the need to push it any further than she had to .  but then buckingham addressed her by her district rather than by her name .  how disrespectful .  how predictable .  luna wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing that she’d been offended .  but she wasn’t keen on raising her voice in her response either .

❝ you know ,  to find a place to get away from all the insecurities of the people upstairs . ❞  luna sighed ,  walking over the gaze at the flowers and not at the blonde .  ❝ but it looks like i’ve failed  ,  no ?  ❞

Moly chewed anxiously at the inside of her lip while she tried to focus her attention anywhere but on what lay ahead, the interviews. Interviews meant that the arena was only a few hours away and it made her want to throw up. Logically, she felt as if she should have been more prepared, but life wasn’t like that. Her emotions felt very bottled, mixed up, and ready to explode. Tonight might be the last night she and her brother were alive and together.

“Do you think anyone will notice if I take my shoes off?” Moly asked the girl that had come to stand beside her. She was from District Eleven if she recalled correctly. “Congrats on your training score by the way,” she added as she recalled Luna partly because she had been one of the other non-Career tributes to score well.

       『  WAS SHE SCARED OF DEATH ? 』 –––––––  no .  if the arena was going to be the last piece of land that she’d set foot on ,  then it didn’t matter what luna did beforehand .  she couldn’t run from fate ,  and thus had resigned herself to it .  instead ,  luna found herself quivering over the prospect of the interviews .  speaking ?  in front of a thundering crowd ?  a catastrophe in the making for sure .  

❝ your stylist might ! ❞  luna responded in a nervous manner .  she’d been given strict instructions by her own stylist not to tamper with her own outfit .  after all ,  tonight was the last night to secure sponsorships ,  and sponsorships meant survival .  it had to be perfect ,  no matter what .  ❝ but no ,  i don’t think caesar nor the crowd will fault you for it . ❞  she was quick to follow-up her previous statement with one of reassurance .  if communal solidarity wasn’t there for the impending events ,  what else did the tributes have ?   

❝ and you ,  on yours . ❞  the herbalist smiled .  part of what she’d said had been out of mere formality ,  but part of it was true as well .  the two of them had been the only non-career tributes to score that high during the third quarter quell .  that’d make an excellent reason for the two of them to form an alliance in the games .  in fact ,  it was high enough that they had tied with buckingham de clare .   and if there was anything that would help calm the nerves ,  it would have been the face of buckingham when she realized that she’d been rated to be on equal footing with less privileged districts .  a real slap to the face indeed . 

buckingham was, to say the least, annoyed. pissed off. exasperated. any and all emotions ran through her body as she had watched her brother get a higher score than her. of course he would. he couldn’t let her shine at any moment, could he? a voice deep inside her had tried to tell her that he didn’t intend to on purpose, that he wasn’t to blame. the blonde ignored that voice as she excused herself to try and clear her head. she knew better than that voice. champagne had tried to upstage her and, annoyingly, he succeeded. 

buckingham sat down on the bench in the small enclosed garden on the ground floor of the tribute’s tower. she hadn’t noticed it before, not particularly caring for anything of the sort, but it was the perfect solace for her situation. she knew she was being weak sitting there, acting like some poor kid from an outer district, but she needed time to herself. time away from him. champagne getting a higher score meant only one thing; he had to go. she ran a hand through her hair as she came to terms with that for the first time, properly considering it as one of her options. 

“you know, you’re making it really hard to concentrate on my arena strategy,” buckingham said as she heard the door open.

        『  SEVEN . 』 –––––––  all things considered ,  luna was content .  the score neither painted her as weak or as too much of a threat to the careers .  but that wasn’t to say that her brother’s score didn’t have any effect on how others viewed the two of them .  if she were being honest ,  she had higher expectations for fenris .  perhaps he was poised to pretend to be a weak tribute ,  or perhaps he was one altogether .  either way ,  luna would have to bear the consequences for both of them .  that was ,  unless she were to completely abandon him as soon as the countdown struck zero .  

the past couple of nights had been restless .  how could anyone sleep easy knowing that their days were potentially numbered ?  even the careers had to know that their deaths were a real possibility .  it bothered luna .  in fact ,  so much so that a breath of fresh air at the tribute tower garden despite it being dusk sounded splendid .  

Shiloh had been told by Kyanne to go visit the herbs and plants station. she knew the plants you could find in ten, but not in all of the plants in the whole world. that was what she needed to learn in two days, because she didn’t know what would appear in the arena.

no pressure.

she saw a girl there, pretty, just like all the other tributes, messing with pplants that Shiloh did know. she picked up rosemerry to chew on, while talking to the girl. “howdy, partner. y’all might not wanna eat that…. it’s kinda poison.”

         『  OBLIVION 』 –––––––  that was what awaited for the tributes that died in the arena .  in a few weeks time ,  luna was sure that no one would remember their names ( or hers for that matter if the same fate should befall her ) .  the stark reality was that they’d be nothing but distant memories .  and who wanted to be forgotten ?  

she’d watched the games before .  contrary to popular belief ,  the most lethal thing in the arena wasn’t the other tributes nor the arena traps once a someone managed to live past the first few minutes .  it was starvation .  hunger .  thirst .  and throughout the many games ,  several have tried to rely solely on their survival skills .  the morphlings of district six .   the tribute from district five during the last games .  the key to it all was being able to trust what you could eat and what you couldn’t .  

perhaps that’s why luna spent so much time at the survival stations .  she trusted herself to be able to wield a sickle well enough .  perhaps not as well as the other tributes that specialized in weaponry or the career tributes themselves ,  but that wasn’t her angle .  the herbs and plants station had several varieties of species .  it wasn’t exhaustive but luna could certainly make do .  luna had memorized the recipes in her mind ,  but until today never had a real reason to test them .  so when another tribute approaches her to question her scientific method ,  she’s all ears . 

The three of them have been through a lot together — insuperable no matter what happened. Peter misses the other part to their trio, not quite sure what Harry had been up to lately, but that’s a thought to think about later. He has to focus on the mission they’re on right now, wanting to give they his full attention. They did make a good team, investigating into what was going on in the city. He hates the idea of someone doing these experiments in the city, where millions of people called home.

“My best guess would be Kingpin. The last I checked Doc Ock is still locked up. I can make some calls tomorrow to make sure though.” It would be too dangerous if Otto ever got out, the last fight they had almost broke him.

He inhales for a moment. “I wouldn’t put it past Norman to be doing something sketchy like this either. We need more facts. I want to know what they’re up to — whoever is doing this. What is their endgame?· If they keep ramping up the seismic activity people could get hurt!”

『  THE FACTS SIMPLY DIDN’T ADD UP . 』––––––  no one in their right mind would even attempt something of this scale , let alone contemplate it .  even the most hardened of criminals such as kingpin had a line that they didn’t cross . new york city was their home .  to cause damage of this calibre would have lasting implications on the future of the world .

❝ no , even kingpin wouldn’t take it this far , pete . as evil as he is , this place is still his home . ❞  mj couldn’t help but scratch her temples . ❝ but if not kingpin ,  then who  ? ❞  her thoughts continued in silence , eyes scanning over each document as if for a moment , peter didn’t exist . while the documents didn’t have any specified radius of activity , most of it seemed to converge around times square and madison square garden .