[Flowers] • The Hunger Games

Twenty Eight

Snow hadn't exactly given her a timeframe for this whole thing. When an engagement needed to happen by. They were only a few weeks out from the 75th games. A Quarter Quell meant a fresh new spin on the games. She assumed that this whole thing needed to happen before the hype for the new games started.

But, as time had dragged on, Asteria continued to keep what Snow had said to her a secret from Gale and and Madge. She was too smart for her own good. She'd started banking on the idea that she knew Snow better than he thought she did.

He would kill Gale's family no question. Madge's father was up next. And she felt truly sorry for them, she did. But that was just the life of a victor. She'd experienced it, Haymitch had- it would turn an already bitter and spiteful boy into a monster. But a loveless marriage would have made Madge hopeless. A man becoming a monster was a tale as old as time itself. But the hopeful losing themselves- that was truly a loss to the world.

It was easy for Asteria to say. Gale's brothers were not her family. His mother had not shown her the kindness she had afforded him. She could remove herself because she wasn't personally attached to them the way she was Madge.

She was being selfish. She knew that, and she could accept that. But she refused to lose Madge.

Finnick was another issue entirely. That train of thought was a gamble, but Snow had already forced her to play the game. He assured her that he wasn't bluffing. That he'd kill Finnick, and Asteria partially believed that. But she believed that he wasn't nearly as keen to the idea as he'd wanted her to believe. Sure- maybe she'd get some of Finnick's family or friends killed. Annie Cresta was a good guess as to the extent Snow might go to punish them. He'd make Finnick hate her, being the one responsible for the deaths of people he loved. And him hating her was a better punishment to Snow than killing him would be.

She could live with him hating her. Because to hate meant that he'd still be breathing. And part of her had already accepted that they just weren't meant to be in this lifetime. A career from district four, a malnourished little girl from district twelve. Fate had never been on their side.

Maybe they'd have a better shot in the next life.

Asteria watched the mandatory Capitol briefing in the Seam. It played on every screen across the district as thousands of people watched. Asteria had stopped in the middle of the street to watch the President give a briefing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the 75th year of the hunger games." Snow addressed Panem, standing behind his podium as several cameras caught the address from different angles. "It was written in the charter of the games that every 25 years, there would be a Quarter Quell, to keep fresh for each new generation the memory of those who died in the uprising against the Capitol."

Same bullshit as every year. Blame the districts for what happened rather than understanding why the districts had rebelled those years ago. Those same problems not only still remained, but had worsened over the years. The uprisings against the Capitol had been completely warranted. But, the Capitol had won. Therefore, they could make the story into anything they wanted.

"Each Quarter Quell is distinguished by games of a special significance. Now, on this, the 75th anniversary of our defeat of the rebellion- we celebrate the third Quarter Quell." He spoke.

Asteria waited, listless. The first Quell had required districts to vote for their own tributes. Send those kids to die personally. The second, Haymitch's games, had twice the amount of tributes. Four tributes from each district instead of two. What could be now?

She'd spent a lot of time wondering what would give the Capitol the best show. Maybe they'd make the games bloodier by having the strongest-looking kids from each district be pulled as tribute by their chaperone. Maybe they'd erase the age limitations and put everyone's name in there, meaning it would be entirely possible to have an elderly person or a toddler enter the games. Maybe they'd do an all-male games, or an all-female games. They could run two games concurrently, and have the victors from either games fight each other to the death in a separate arena-