#coriolanussnow

Coriolanus had made a huge mistake. he hadn't meant to kill Mayfair, he just panicked. He was just going to let her leave but then you walked in, making you a part of Sejanus' horrible plan.

"What's going on?" You spoke, eyes moving from Coriolanus to the weapons that lay on the table. Coriolanus saw as your eyes widened and he hurried to comfort you. "Corio, what's going on?" You questioned again, clutching onto his bicep, hoping for reassurance.

"Y/n, it's gonna be fine-" Coriolanus started, attempting to soothe you as he ran a hand across your cheek.

"Oh, none of you are going to be fine. I'm gonna tell my Daddy what all of you did and he's gonna string you up!" Mayfair spoke in an almost taunting tone. Her threat casts a chilling shadow over the room. As Mayfair turned to leave Spruce, fueled by tension and adrenaline, raised the gun to her back.

"I can't let you leave," Spruce spoke. Y/n took an unconscious step back, recoiling from the potential for violence. Coriolanus could tell you were scared and he felt horrible for being the reason you were involved in this. His mind was racing, he knew he had to get you out of there.

"She's bluffing, she won't actually do anything." Billy Taupe defended, eager to avoid any harm that might come to his girlfriend and to deescalate the growing tension in the room.

"Really? Was I bluffing at the reaping? Tell me Lucy Gray, how did you like your time in the Capitol?" Mayfair spoke, eyes staring at Lucy Gray, who gasped. Mayfair smiled as she turned to leave. Coriolanus jumped at the opportunity, lunging for the weapon on the ground. In a single second Mayfair had fallen to the ground. You gasped, your eyes fixated on Mayfair's fallen figure. Coriolanus was quick to shield you from the unsettling sight, positioning himself in front of you.

"I need you to go home y/n. I'm going to get this figured out. But you need to go home right now and you can't look like anything is wrong," He spoke, his tone firm and filled with urgency. "y/n, please." Coriolanus spoke again when you didn't move. You had stood still, trying to process the events that had just unfolded in front of you. Finally, you looked up at Coriolanus, a nod of reluctant understanding breaking through your shock. You trusted Coriolanus, he would get you guys out of this.

Coriolanus watched you leave, a mixture of relief and worry painted on his face. Once you were out of sight, he turned back to the remaining people in the room. He was determined, now that your safety was at risk nothing else mattered.

That's how the two of you ended up here, walking through the woods, in search of life beyond the districts. Despite some attempts at small talk, the weight of the recent events hung heavily in the air. Coriolanus could sense you were struggling to come to terms with the deaths of Mayfair and, more importantly, your shared friend Sejanus.

"I just don't understand what happened. Sejanus' plan was horrible but he seemed like he was being careful," You rambled on, your voice heavy with confusion and grief. You were unaware of Coriolanus' involvement in the death of your friend. You also didn't notice the tension of the captured Coriolanus at the mention of Sejanus.

"He apparently wasn't careful enough," Coriolanus responded, his tone colder than usual, a deliberate attempt to steer away from the conversation surrounding Sejanus. He longed to focus on the two the two of you would spend together, the new life you could start. Coriolanus was taken aback when you came to an abrupt stop, forcing him to backtrack to stand in front of you. You stared up at him, your eyebrows furrowed.

"Do you not mourn for Sejanus at all, Corio?" You spoke, your eyes reflecting the sadness and confusion that weighed you down. Coriolanus felt a pang of guilt for being distant. However, the truth of Sejanus' death was a burden that he couldn't bear to share with you. He knew you would've never forgiven him.

"Of course, I do," Coriolanus spoke, his tone softer now in an attempt to console you. Coriolanus brought a hand to cup your cheek. "But, it was his actions that killed him." You still seemed unsure, offering a careful nod before turning your gaze to the ground. Coriolanus dropped his hand, moving to walk next to you again.

Eventually, the two of you arrived at the cabin shown to you by Lucy Gray and the Covey. Coriolanus couldn't shake the feeling of your silence, finding it unsettling. The two of you walked into the cabin, setting your things down. "We should fish for a while, we're going to need some food for the rest of the trip," Coriolanus suggested.

"Lucy Gray said there should be some poles under the floorboards," You spoke, avoiding eye contact with Coriolanus as you hung your belongings on the hooks by the door.

Coriolanus nodded, moving towards the boards he found to be loose. He lifted the boards, his eyes widening as he lifted the sheet to reveal the guns that had been used to kill Mayfair. You observed from across the room, a twinge of concern gracing your features. "What is it, Corio?" You questioned, his familiar nickname being a small sense of comfort in the moment of the unsettling discovery. He remained silent, picking up the gun as he turned to face you. Your breath caught in your chest as you saw the weapon, your mind flashing back to the violent events.

"It's the guns," Coriolanus stated, his eyes moving between the weapon in his arms and you. "This means we can go home," You hummed, nodding in agreement. The revelations held the promise of an escape. The promise of a way home. But, they also unearthed memories Coriolanus knew you could never fully forget.

"I'm going to see if I can find anything to eat around the lake, maybe that one root Lucy Gray mentioned," You spoke quickly, shaking your head as she grabbed one of the small shovels left near the door.

"Y/n, wait," Coriolanus spoke, sensing the uneasy energy that surrounded you. "It could be dangerous," Coriolanus spoke, his protective nature kicking in. You smiled as you recognized his instinct to protect you.

"Well, it's a good thing I've got this," You spoke, attempting a teasing tone as you held up the shovel. You could tell Coriolanus didn't quite believe you and you hurried out of the door. Coriolanus was worried for you but brushed off the interaction, trusting that you could take care of yourself. He rewrapped the guns, hoping to drop them into the lake, burying the echoes of the past.

Coriolanus stepped outside heading towards the boat. His eyes circled his surroundings, hoping to find you. However, he didn't see you. He looked around again, his breathing becoming more ragged as he called out for you. He was met with the horrifying echo of his own voice, no response from you.

You had ventured into the forest after finding that Katniss was not ready to be eaten. You had hoped to find some berries, remembering the ones Maude Ivory had collected for you to eat. You attempted to ignore the way the trees seemed to close in on you, the path you thought you knew being erased. You ignored those thought, you had been going in a straight line, there were no place to get lost along the way.

"They should be up here," You whispered to yourself, letting out a sigh as you hoped to break the silence that lay within the forest. The rustling leaves and distant calls of birds engulfed you as you moved throughout the forest.

You had been walking for a while, looking around you realized you have never been in this part of the forest, a sign that you had gone way too far. You turned in various directions, spinning around as you searched for the way you came. Panic began to set in as you quickened your pace, unfortunately leading you to venture deeper and deeper into the forest.

In her disoriented state, you failed to see the root sticking out of the ground. Her foot caught on the root, causing you to stumble forward. Desperation clawed at you as you tried to regain your balance. However, the forest had other plans.

A divot in the ground forced you to the ground as your hands reached out to break your fall. The forest floor met you with a sickening thud, your head colliding with a moss-covered rock. The world around you spun, the pain in your head intensifying with every breath you took. As your consciousness slipped away, the forest seemed to blur into a blend of green and brown, the shadows seeming to dance together in a mesmerizing rhythm.

Back at the cabin Coriolanus grew restless as he awaited your return. The seconds felt like hours as he stared at the tree line, willing you to appear. Finally, Coriolanus was sick of waiting and decided that he would find you himself.

As he ventured into the forest the trees seemed to swallow him. His breaths came out fast, each step propelling him further into the silent forest. Anxiety was clawing at his chest, hundreds of what-ifs raced in his mind.

"Y/n? Did something happen? If something happens we can talk about it!" Coriolanus shouted, pausing as he awaited a response. But he didn't receive one, he only had the rustling leaves to greet him. The silence that surrounded him was deafening.

"Y/n, please say something. I need to know you're okay," He pleaded again. The forest remained silent, offering no hope to comfort his growing concern. Fear painted vivid scenarios in his head, each one darker than the last.

"Please, y/n, if I did something I'm so sorry. We don't even have to talk about it, please just come back with me." Coriolanus pleaded. His pleas became more urgent. His mood shifted from worry to complete despare quickly.

"Please, I can't lose you too." He spoke, this plea much quieter than the previous ones. His voice broke as he spoke, his eyes searching for any clue of you. His steps quickened as he moved around the forest, his handles trembling as he pushed branches out of his way.

"Please, y/n," He called one more time, assuming the worst. He'd come to the conclusion that you left him. It was either that or you were dead, but he couldn't bring himself to grasp the idea that you were dead.

Unbeknownst to Coriolanus, you began to stir on the forest floor. The pain in your head still lingered but the sound of someone's voice distracted you from the pain. You listened more closely as you tried to sit up. Your senses were snapped back into reality when you realized that it was Coriolanus' voice you were hearing. The closer you listened you realized how distressed he sounded and it practically broke your heart. You listened again to his ever-present calls, trying to hear which direction they were coming from, his voice acting as a life-line.

"Corio," you called out weakly, standing as you braced yourself on one of the trees. Coriolanus' head snapped in the direction of your voice. He hurried in that direction, his eyes wide with fear and relief. "Coriolanus," You called out again, wondering if you had imagined him calling for you.

"Hang on y/n! I'm coming," He spoke. Relief washed over him when he finally saw you leaning up against one of the trees, Coriolanus rushed towards you. In your disoriented state you barely even realized he had found you until he engulfed you in his arms. Your senses finally started to come back to you as you reciprocated the embrace, wrapping your arms around his waist.

Coriolanus pulled away for a moment, his eyes scanning your face, he could hardly believe he'd actually found you. He'd thought you were gone for good. Your eyes met his, being met with a vulnerability from Coriolanus you'd never seen before. Coriolanus hated the way you made him felt. He hated how worried he always was for you. But, he also couldn't deny how much he loved you.

"What happened?" Coriolanus finally spoke, brushing your hair out of your face to examine the cut on your forehead.

"I was looking for those berries, the ones Maude Ivory showed us and I got lost, and then I think I tripped," you began to ramble, stopping yourself to take a breath before speaking again, "It's all kind of a blur." Coriolanus nodded as he processed what you said, unraveling his arms from you as he wrapped an arm around your waist to help guide you back to the cabin.

"Well, I think we should get you back to the cabin," Coriolanus spoke and you laughed as you nodded. You'd had enough of the woods.

Back at the cabin Coriolanus used one of the med-kits you'd brought to clean you up. Your heart swelled at how gentle he was, his hands moving cautiously over your face.

"So, will I survive?" You questioned, a smile gracing your features.

"I think you'll be okay," Coriolanus responded, a smile of his own coming across his face. But, you could tell the smile didn't meet his eyes. You could tell something was still bothering him. The sunlight pouring in from the windows illuminated the worry that was still present in his eyes, a silent acknowledgment of the fear he'd felt when he thought you'd abandoned him in the forest.

When Coriolanus finished cleaning the wound he set the supplies to the side and leaned in, placing a delicate kiss on the spot he'd just tended to. The warmth of his lips lingered on your forehead, a comforting gesture that transcended the physical healing.

"There, kissed it better." Coriolanus whispered as he moved away from you, cleaning up the remaining supplies of the med-kit.

Despite his comforting gesture, you couldn't ignore the concern that was still etched on his face. As he finished putting the med-kit away he turned to look at you, being met with your questioning gaze. "Corio, you've been on edge since we got back. What's wrong?" You questioned him, taking a couple steps closer to him so you could wrap your arms around his waist.

Coriolanus hesitated, his eyes betraying his turmoil of emotions. He opened his mouth to respond but the words got caught in his throat. Tension lingered in the air as you searched his face for clues on what he was feeling.

"It's nothing, y/n. Just a scare, that's all. Everything is fine." Coriolanus spoke. However, despite his attempts to comfort you, you could still sense his unease. You reached upwards, cupping his face to draw his attention.

"Come on, Corio. Talk to me," You spoke. Coriolanus sighed, he was torn between his desire to shield you from his concerns and the intimacy the two of you had always shared. Eventually, he gave in.

"I just... I can't stand the thought of anything happening to you. losing you in the woods, even if it was just for a moment, it terrified me." Coriolanus confessed softly. Your eyes softened at his confession.

"I'm right here, Corio. I'm not going anywhere." You assured, he nodded. "I love you, Coriolanus. Wherever you go, I'm gonna be there." You spoke, his words caught him off guard. The two of you had never used the word love.

"Y/n..." Coriolanus started, his eyes moving away from you. However, your hold on his face forced his attention back onto you. "I've never been good at this, relationships. I'm afraid of losing you, of not being enough." You nodded, you understood Coriolanus' insecurities as he'd previously voiced some of his concerns to you.

"Corio," You took a step closer, "I love you for who you are. I don't need you to be perfect." You assured him. Your words hung in the air, in that moment, leaning into Coriolanus, your lips meeting his in a tender kiss. Coriolanus, having been initially surprised by the kiss, eventually surrenders to the kiss. When the two of you pulled away you spoke again. "I want to go back to the Capitol, Corio."

Coriolanus looked surprised but that was overtaken by a look of happiness. He wanted nothing more than to return to his home and family, and now that you did too there was nothing stopping the two of you. "Wherever you wanna go, I'll follow you." Coriolanus spoke, repeating the words you'd said earlier, you smiled at him.

“Is that you Mrs. Phoenix, how have you been?”

She seemed out of breath as she did one last drag of her son’s arm to plant him right next to her. She quickly fiddled with his coat and smoothed down his unruly curls to try to make him look the least bit presentable. The cold air took his hair and flung it around the place despite her efforts. Seraphina thought of offering up her frizz cream, but she left it at home. ”

“Yes, I have been as I’ve always been, you?”

“Oh yes, well, I am doing well, thank you for asking. This is your daughter?” She stumbled a bit on her words. Seraphina’s mother seemed to have that effect on people, her way of speaking always seemed to intimidate the other person in the conversation. It had a twinge of perturb, as if the counterpart was a distant face even if it was her closest acquaintance. It always left her wondering if her mother tolerated the person she spoke to or if she despised their entire being.

Mrs. Phoenix tapped Seraphina on the back as a gesture for her to introduce herself. 

“Hello ma’am, my name is Seraphina Phoenix, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Her robotic voice chirped in a phrase that seemed very well-thought-out. It should have been, for she had been taking lessons on her manner of speaking ever since her mother caught her with a twinge of a District accent. It was all the fault of the books she had been reading, ever since she could actually retain information no book was left untouched. There were books on the lower shelves which were thoughtfully laid out by her dad so she could read both informative and children's books. These pages usually ranged from counting sheep to learning how to genetically modify an organism. The end of that range was typically avoided till her older years, since she could barely hold the weight of the book back to her seat. Mr. Phoenix eventually switched those informative books into more comprehensive information a five-year-old may understand. Although, they still talked about how our DNA can be altered into a different species. It just spoke about it in a more understanding sense, often using pictures of a chicken’s head on a monkey’s body. There were some books, though, that were made by people in the Districts. These books often talked about imaginary places, they used vocabulary Seraphina would not hear in any other place. The problem arose when her mother caught her using a slang word and ultimately decided to discard those books for good. Those were always her favorite, she would get lost in the imaginary lands that would take her far from the actual world she was in. She could see why her mother did not like them, she always said that maladaptive daydreaming was for the poor. The Phoenix’s were far from poor, but not wasteful. 

“Aren’t you a cute one, very well-spoken. This is my boy Sejanus,” she looked at her son expectantly. He looked like he wanted to go run and hide in his mother’s coat. After a bit of silence, his mother laughed awkwardly and pushed him a bit towards Seraphina.

“Um, I’m Sejanus,” he spoke after the slight nudge, the Phoenixes assumed that was his name after his mother just spoke of it. Seraphina kept that to herself because she could see he was nervous due to the possibility of it being his first time meeting someone of their nature.

She outstretched her hand and plastered a big smile which cracked her lips open a bit, “Good evening! Are you going to the same school I’m going to?”

The little boy eagerly shook his head in an up-and-down motion and relaxed his shoulders a bit. His posture was so rigid it looked like he could break in half, she immediately thought of those peacocks she read about. The males who tried to puff out their feathers to appear stronger, confident. 

Sejanus outstretched out his own hand to shake hers, “I think so, are there multiple schools?”

Seraphina took her finger and placed it on her chin, in deep thought she spoke “Well no, so I guess you are.”

Her mother started to gesture towards the path in an attempt to keep moving, “We must be going, it was nice to meet you Seraphina.”

Seraphina waved at her newfound friend, she thought he was a bit timid and spoke weirdly but thought not much of it. He probably did not have to go through the lessons she did, all she knew was that his hand was nice and warm within his mother’s grasp and those gloves were not made of wool.

As they continued on the path to the school, she looked around at all the kids her age and tried to make a mental note of each one. These were to be her new classmates, a sort of family in a sense. Her mother said that these are going to be faces she will be seeing for the rest of her life, unless one fails so badly that they would have to be removed from the program. It would be a disgrace upon their whole family. It should not be too hard to pass this level, for she was only seven. The older girl who is their next-door neighbor told her that it gets harder every year, so someone as young as she is only has to deal with information a seven-year-old should know. 

“Mother, who were those people?”

Her mom kept her head straight while answering, “The Plinths, they are new to the Capitol. They come from District Two and their little boy is a year older than you are.”

Her head swarmed with this newfound information. District, they are a family from District Two and her mother held a conversation with them. It was a short one at that, her mother was never one to babble. Except with her father, he was the only one able to make her laugh and talk. She sometimes earned a smile from her mother, but Mrs. Phoenix would only speak when her child started the conversation. She loved her daughter, just in a different way than most mothers did. 

“District? You said all people from there were not, what is the word again?”

Her mother’s mouth upturned at the sides just a little to ghost a bit of humor, “Unsophisticated?”

Seraphina brightened at the reminder of the word just at the tip of her tongue, “Yes! That one, you said they don’t belong here. So why are they here?”

Her mother took a moment before speaking, “It’s a bit complicated.” Mrs. Phoenix tried her best to rack her brain to think of a way to explain this to her seven-year-old without compromising everything she understood. “They used to be District, but now they are Capitol. They have become sophisticated, like us. They proved their image to be well enough to live amongst us.

“Does that mean District can be like us,” Seraphina questions.

Her mother shook her head, “Most cannot be taught. They’re like animals, some can be caged while others are too rabid.”

The Plinths must be a special case, some that most people do not agree with. Judging by her mother’s body language toward Mrs. Plinth, she did not really have a certain conviction for the family. It was safe to assume that interacting with the little boy would not be of much interference with her family’s image. That thought brightened Seraphina’s day, he was a new friend to go through this new phase in her life.

After some time lost in her own thoughts, her mother stopped amongst a set of stairs to a large building. There was water spurting out of a large fountain that she must have missed while in her head. All the other children started to say goodbye to their parents and head in. Some kids were crying and refusing to be left alone. Seraphina could understand where they were coming from. She too, was a bit wary of the large building in front of her, the pillars that held the building up looked like Jack’s beanstalk her father used to read to her about. The swirls that were carved into the white stone reminded her of the branches that would help Jack climb to the treasure. The treasure, this time, would be the gift of knowledge and a chance at a future to make her family proud. 

“Are you leaving now,” Seraphina turns to her mother and she nods her head.

“Yes, you’ll have to walk home today for your dad and I will still be at work,” Mrs. Phoenix fixed her daughter’s scarf up a bit and adjusted her coat. “Make sure to stick with a buddy on your way home, we don’t want you getting lost or hurt.”

Seraphina starts to walk up the steps, “Yes mother, I understand.”

Mrs. Phoenix raises her voice just a bit, “Make sure to do your best, Phoenix’s do what?”

Seraphina turns her body and shouts, “They soar!” She turns back around and starts to quickly move up each steep step.

Her excitement grows as she enters the building, there are people directing her to a door that leads to a massive hall. Above the doorway read “Heavensbee Hall,” and inside were chairs all lined up perfectly. The space between each chair was evenly distributed with miraculous accuracy. Everything was symmetrical to lead attention towards the podium that was at the end of the walkway in the very middle. 

Seraphina assumed that important adults were the only ones allowed to be on the podium. She saw a kid that was a bit younger than her try to climb up onto it before he was stopped by a guard. They took the boy by his arm and led him to his seat near the back, she found that those of higher status would sit in the front. She could tell they were higher class because of the minuscule details her parents made sure she had. Like a special type of hair clip made out of fine stone and socks that were laced with the finest of cloth. Silk bows adorned these little girls' hair and the boys’ shoes were polished with a slight blue shimmer that only a certain type of brand could achieve. It also helped that these kids were a bit familiar to the eye, for a lot of them were neighbors to the Phoenix household. A lot of their mothers would bring them gifts in an attempt to soften Mrs. Phoenix up to them. It never worked, she always detested suck-ups. She taught her daughter that suck-ups are people who try to fill in the void where there is nothing to show, no talent, no charm, no power, nothing.

While admiring the tall ceilings, a boy accidentally bumps into her back, causing her to trip on the carpet below. Luckily, she caught her step quickly enough and fixed her posture. When she turned around to find the culprit, it was Sejanus, the same boy who she met earlier that morning.

“Oh hello, it’s you again. Are you okay?” Seraphina looks at the boy on the floor who scrambles up quickly. 

Sejanus fixes his stance and rubs his nose in an attempt to hide his embarrassment, “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. This is just a really big room.”

Seraphina giggled quietly and continued on down the hall, she looked back to see if he was following, but she caught him staring wide-eyed at the surrounding environment, “Are you coming? We have to find out seats.”

“Oh yeah, yeah of course. My Ma told me that I’m in the second row,” Sejanus quickened his steps in order to walk right beside her. His shoes were polished, with a blue tint that only the richest could afford. He looked uncomfortable in the shoes, like he had never worn them before. From what her mother said, he is probably new to them. The Districts never got much, except for some sneakers and sandals that were always too small. She would catch a few strays digging through the family’s trash in hopes of finding useful items. One time she put some clothes her mother said she was outgrowing in the same trash for those people to find. By the next morning when she checked the garbage can the clothes she laid out were gone, all that was left was an engraving in the dirt that read “Thank you.” At least, she believed that is what it said because the handwriting was quite awful and some words were misspelled. The words were written in a way that sounded right but looked wrong.

“I like your shoes,” Seraphina pointed out. They were nice, she was sure that if she had a brother then he would have the same shoes he did.

“Thank you, Ma polished them for me!”

Seraphina furrowed her brows for a bit and then relaxed into a neutral expression. She assumes that the “Ma” he is speaking of is his mother. She had never heard anyone refer to their mom like that. It is usually in some form of “Mother,” “Mom,” “Mrs,” or “Ma’am,”  more on the formal side. 

“You call your mom, Ma?”

Sejanus nods his head and starts squeezing his way into the second row of chairs, “Mhm, what do you call yours?”

Seraphina smiles, “Mother, sometimes mom when we’re home.”

The conversation ends while he is trying to find the seat that belongs to him. He steps on a few people’s shoes which aggravates a lot of the kids in the section he is in. He then changed direction and moved back to the front of that specific row. Seraphina hopes he doesn’t make too many enemies, they only just started, and she doesn’t know if she would be able to explain her new friend’s personality to the boys and girls around her. She fixes her hair and adjusts the headband on her head before moving towards the front. Most of the kids are already sitting, except the front row who is standing and conversing with each other. She notices that none of the rows look behind them to speak to the other ranks. It might be a power play or the nature of the Capitol. She hopes that it is not an unspoken rule of any kind because she would break it when speaking to Sejanus. 

Seraphina looks at the front row and sees a couple of chairs without any inhabitants, but she is not so sure if they all have assigned seats. Since Sejanus went looking for a specific seat, she assumed that they were reserved for specific people. She does not want to anger anyone by taking their seat on the first day, so she asks a little girl around her age who was seated in the very first chair, “Hello, my name is Seraphina Phoenix. Do we have assigned seats?”

The little girl jumped out of her seat and took Seraphina’s hand into hers to shake it dramatically, “I’m Arachne Crane, it’s nice to meet you! My mother has told me much about the Phoenix’s and their legacy,” she continues babbling on for a bit before remembering the question at hand. “Oh the seating, the first row is for the elites, we get to choose the specific seat we prefer. Each row down is for the generations after us, they are all assigned a seat based on their family’s influence.”

Seraphina refrained herself from laughing at the boisterous girl in front of her. She talked super fast and she liked that about her. People who talked slowly usually did not know what to say and took their time to buy themselves more time to scramble a response.

“Can we be seating buddies,” Seraphina asks in hopes of not getting stuck with the seat all the way near the end. Her friend Sejanus is in the seat behind Arachne, so sitting here would be easy access to talking with her friend. 

“Yeah sure! The girl who tried to seat her earlier didn’t have an accessory in her hair. She even tried to borrow mine.” She scoffs, “As if, someone who can’t buy a simple accessory doesn’t belong in this row.”

Seraphina subconsciously adjusted her headband, “I guess so, maybe she forgot hers?”

Arachne shrugged, “You see on the other side, the tall boy? He’s my brother, they are all a year ahead of us. He’s always bragging to me about how he’s smarter and whatever. I mean, of course he’s smarter, I haven’t even started school yet.” She rolls her eyes and continues talking about all the awards she is planning on winning. She starts talking about these equations she has been studying, but Seraphina tunes her out after a bit of time. Seraphina started to take the bulky coat she had on and placed it, along with her scarf, over the head of her seat. When she turns to put the items on her chair, she casts a quick glance over at Sejanus.

He is seen fumbling with his fingers and making quick conversation with the kids around him. He has more of a response when speaking to the row behind him rather than his own row. The girl next to him looks like she is fuming smoke out of her ears, Sejanus probably stole the spot her family would have been in if he did not rise up in status. The poor boy is already making enemies by just existing. Her attention sways back to Arachne, who just finished her opinion about how fictional literature is a waste of the brain’s capacity. 

“Arachne, since we are friends now I have to make a nickname for you.”

Arachne abruptly stops what she is talking about and plasters a decent-sized smile, “A nickname? For you to call me or everyone?”

Seraphina pondered for a moment, “Well, nicknames are usually for close groups or people you know very, very well. So, maybe it can be for us in the front row,“ Seraphina clapped her hands excitedly. “We can have nicknames for just each other, something that tells us apart from the other rows.”

“I like that idea, your name should be Sera,” Arachne chimed. Seraphina liked the name she was given. It is simple, and an easy name to remember. She loves her name because of the meaning behind it, but it does get tiring to say. Her name is a bit long to write on a name tag as well. When she was practicing the letters during study time at home, her name was the hardest to perfect because of how many letters it uses in the alphabet. The length of it always made her hand hurt quicker from the number of times she had to repeatedly dot it down. Sera was a nice, simple name that sounded pretty to the ears and used the best part of her name. The small amount of syllables made it easier for the brain to remember. Since it rolls off the tongue, people will want to say her name more often. Her full name was usually rarely ever called since it required a lot of effort for the other person to remember the way it was pronounced. All of her teachers at home would misspell her name at times. Her new friend here would probably understand, her name sounds difficult to spell. 

“Ara is pretty too, you have to remember to introduce your full name and then your nickname after so people use it too.”

Arachne nodded, “Yes I will, but only this row. I won’t tell my brother because he will probably do the same thing. I hate when he copies me.”

Seraphina will probably relate to that in the future once her baby sister is grown up. She is looking forward to finding her clothes missing, with them draped over her sister’s head. When her father is at work, it’s quiet in the household. Her mother is typically out or lost in a book, she takes after both of them in various ways. Once she starts reading a book, it is hard to put it down. Getting that book in her hand is a difficult task, she is always bouncing off the walls in a  frenzy.

Most of the seats seemed filled, with the chatter slowly dying out. Two more guests arrive and make their way to the first row. One of them was a girl, tall with fair skin and a sharp chin. The boy beside her also had fair skin with blond curls. He had sharp blue eyes that seemed to pierce the room in scrutiny. As they made their way to the front row, the whole room hushed into whispers.

Arachne turned to look back from her seat, “Looks like the Snows are here.” She quickly stands from her chair and fixes her dress by patting it down to rid of the wrinkles that may have formed from sitting. It was a ridiculous idea, for her dress seemed ironed to the point where any more heat would have burned a hole through the fabric. 

The little boy let the girl he came with walk in front of him to a seat near where Ara and her resided. There was a free seat next to Seraphina, although only that seat was free, as the other seat was inhabited by another. The little boy gave a look to the guy seated in the chair, and he quickly stood up to pick a chair on the end side of the row. The blonde boy then took a seat beside Seraphina while the other girl took the seat right beside him. Seraphina could feel her friend Ara practically bursting with excitement over these seating arrangements.

Arachne gently pushes Sera’s shoulder back in an attempt to have access to the boy better, “My name is Arachne, from the Cane family, but you can call me Ara.”

The boy next to her glances her way and nods his head in such a small movement that it would have been missed by any other if not paying attention. 

“My name is Coriolanus Snow, this is Tigris, my cousin. It’s nice to meet you Arachne.”

At the mention of her name, Tigris turns her head towards Arachne and offers her a smile, ‘Hello Ara! We have heard much of the Crane family, your house is across from ours is it not?”

Arachne continued to stare at the boy named Coriolanus, “It is, my father is well versed with yours. I shall call you Coryo.”

Coryo seemed displeased with this nickname, with a slight grimace at the mention of it. His cousin made that nickname a while ago. It was only acceptable when Tigris called him that.

“What is your name?” Seraphina looks to her left to see both the Snows looking at her expectantly. She believes the boy, Coriolanus, is the one who asked her the question. He probably is trying to escape the penetrating eyes of her friend Ara.

“Seraphina Phoenix, it is nice to meet you both.”

“That’s a pretty name, rolls off the tongue,” Tigris exclaims.

Coriolanus tilts his head slightly, “Phoenix? You’re the daughter of Emery Phoenix.”

Tigris moves Coryo’s head out of the way to get a better view of Seraphina, “Like the guy who created pyrotechnics?”

Coriolanus laughed a bit while fixing the one strand that got out of place when he was pushed backward, “He’s done much more than that Tigris but yes. The fireworks we buy for your birthday come from him.”

Tigris’s smile grew unbelievably brighter. Seraphina was afraid that it would widen to a point where it would hurt her mouth from the stretch.

“Oh I do love those fireworks,” she says. “They always spell my name out, like magic!”

“It’s one of my favorite inventions he’s made so far, the first time he tried them out he almost burned down the room,” Seraphina reminisces. He set off one of those “fireworks” in their library. She was sitting in a chair reading when he came in to show her his new invention. The firework, he called it, was said to burst into a thousand little stars with a chivalrous bang. She quickly found out what it did when he accidentally lit it when showing her where to light it up to set it off. Luckily, her mother was able to stomp out one of the sparks that caught onto the rug. They were in a fit of giggles while her mother was scolding the both of them for almost burning down the building and themselves, while all they could manage was laugh. Her mother ended up fighting a smile while confiscating the leftover firework parts. Her father always managed to put a little spark into their lives.

“Oh how scandalous, are you both alright?” Tigris asks.

Arachne furrows her brows, “Of course they’re alright, she’s right in front of you?”

“You can call me Sera if you wish, or my full name, whichever is easier.” she interrupts. “My friend Ara and I made these nicknames, so our row could use them to distinguish each other”

Tigris smiles, “Sera is very pretty, my name is already short so I assume I wouldn’t need one.”

Seraphina shakes her head, “You can have one too! Like T, or Titi, or Ti, or maybe Iris.”

“Ooh Iris is a good one,” Arachne agrees.

Tigris gently giggles and shakes her head, “I think Tigris is fine.” Tigris then directs her attention towards Sera in a whisper, “You can call me any of those if you want, just not Iris.”

They both giggled and turned their attention back to the center podium, where a man stood at the center, tapping the microphone to bring everyone’s attention to where he stood. He is an intimidating man, with dark eyes that seem to seep into your desires and thoughts that are never to be spoken in the presence of anyone.

“Settle down children, we are already behind schedule.”

The chatter that once filled the hall immediately quieted down until all you could hear was gentle breaths being emitted. Except for someone in the far back, wheezing a bit too loud. It was probably the dust that adorned every item in this dated building. They should hire maids to dust around here, it might dirty someone’s clothes or mess with the freshly polished shoes most boys seem to be wearing lately. 

“Welcome to the Academy, My name is Casca Highbottom and this is where you will be spending your time studying and advancing your way to further years. As children of the Capitol, you are expected to uphold challenging expectations. As of now, this program is fairly new and was created to introduce the younger generations to knowledge before the four years of the official academic program the Academy offers. The children on the right are the first group of students to test out the program, this is now their second year and will be attending secondary school after they have been fully through this vigorous program. They have shown miraculous improvement in their comprehension skills, which has furthered the program into allowing another wave of students to join, which would be you lot.”

Arachne’s brother is in the group Mr. Highbottom mentioned, this program was made just last year to improve their student population’s test levels. The past generations seemed to have been slowing down on their academic vigor, and none have produced the level of creativity and intelligence the academy used to produce. Their parents were the last generation to truly show results in their teaching who moved on to become important members of the Capitol with their innovations. This program allows kids ages six through eight to enter the program, it goes by groups of years rather than ages, which is why there are six through eight-year-olds scattered within the groups of students. Seraphina is seven, within the middle group, so not too young to grasp things but not too old to be expected to know much.

Mr. Highbottom coughs into his handkerchief and wipes the inner corners of his mouth with it, “You are to uphold our values and if you prove promise then the brightest students may move on to the Academy. We hope to see these promising faces in the years to come. Make sure to pick up the list of supplies and the books that should already be memorized and easily recited when asked. 

Once the Dean steps down the hall erupts with voices, some excited while some wavered. The Snows immediately stand up from their chairs and Coriolanus moves to retrieve two papers for both him and Tigris.

“We must be going,” Tigris says. “It was very nice meeting you Sera, and you Arachne.” She picked up her coat and quickly moved her long arms into the sleeves. The two children made their leave out of the hall, and out into the cold winter. 

“I can’t believe Coryo sat near us, my father is going to freak now a Snow knows of me. Once our families are well acquainted with each other then I could see Coryo anytime I want. Oh and that cousin of his, don’t you think she’s a bit weird?”

Seraphina took the coat off of her chair and started buttoning it up to her neck, “Not really, she seemed quite sweet.” After putting on her scarf, Sera spoke a quick goodbye to Ara and waved at Sejanus for him to join her.

“What did you think?”

“Of what,” Sejanus questions.

“Of this program, it’s a lot to take in. He spoke kind of fast.” 

“Oh yeah that,” Sejanus attempted to put on his gloves, but his fingers kept fitting into the wrong hole, “I’m worried about the reading, I haven’t read a lot of books, so I would have to catch up.”

Seraphina thought of the plethora of books she had read so far, when looking at the list she snagged, she noticed that a lot of these books were read when she was merely five years old, “I can help you if you want. We have all of these at home in our library, I can give you a rundown of most of them if you can’t read them all in time.”

Sejanus’s mother was waiting for him at the bottom of the steps, waving at him. 

“You are the best, I gotta go, my Ma is waiting for me. By Seraphina!”