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MY LITTLE DOVE.

(chapter eleven, be careful who you trust)

the academy, 2248.

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CORIOLANUS DIDN'T SPEAK MUCH for the rest of the night. Dorothy supposed he wanted nothing to do with that family after all they had caused and hearing that the boy may have liked his sister caused his stomach to roil.

But as Dorothy laid in bed that night, cheek and ankle stinging, she soon realised that she may have been right. That maybe, Sejanus did like her. And maybe, Sabyn and Sejanus were right in that Dorothy had a heart, that she shouldn't lose that to become something she isn't. It was a matter of listening to Dr Gaul or Sejanus and Sabyn. 

The moment Dorothy woke up from her slumber, she heard the Grandma'am belting the anthem. Grudgingly, she made her way to the shower, removing any bandages that were on her skin and letting the hot water run over her body. And as Dorothy got out, she saw that the cut on her cheek was much more noticeable. Of course it was. Stitches were in her cheek again. So, Dorothy listened to Dr Gaul and applied concealer on it. It stung, but looked as if stitches weren't in her skin. For her limp, she would say she caught her heel in a cobblestone. She would have to wear heels today. 

When Dorothy threw a toothbrush and a fresh uniform into her book bag, she wandered to where the television was to make sure nothing had happened to Sabyn. Sure enough, the camera hadn't shifted and Lamina on her beam was the only one visible. Wandering into the kitchen, Dorothy found Tigris warming up the leftover jasmine tea with Coriolanus beside her.

"Come on." Dorothy gestured to her brother. "We're running late."

"Yes, we better get going," Coriolanus agreed.

"Take these for breakfast," Tigris said as she put the packet that Coriolanus had received last night into their hands, slipping a few tokens in as well. "And take the trolley today."

And so, Dorothy and Coriolanus took the trolley, eating the egg-and-sausage rolls Mrs Plinth had sent over. With the mention of the name Plinth, Coriolanus looked over at Dorothy.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Coryo. I thought it over last night and I am sure. Also, Dr Gaul said it as well."

"Well, if Dr Gaul said so, it must be true—"

"Stop it." Dorothy sighed. "Just because you don't like the Plinths. They are nice people—"

"Who have caused so much trouble," Coriolanus interrupted. "Well, do you like him back?"

"I don't know."

"How can you not know?" Coriolanus asked her. "You either like him or you don't."

"Do you like Lucy Gray?"

He went silent for the rest of the trip and Dorothy was glad when they entered Heavensbee Hall. The main student body was said to come at quarter to eight, but the mentors who still had tributes were there much earlier. And the only thing they served was tea.

"If we have to be here early, you'd think they could at least feed us," Festus grumbled as he came over to them. "What happened to your face?"

"Bike accident," Coriolanus said loud enough for everyone to hear. Dorothy sighed as she tossed the bag with the last roll to Festus, who's eyes immediately went wide.

"Thanks," he said. "This looks great."

Dorothy noticed Lysistrata and so she walked over to her, trying to hide her limp. But, of course, the girl noticed.

"What's wrong?" Lysistrata asked. "You're limping."

"I caught my heel on a cobblestone the way here," Dorothy lied to her. "Stupid things."

"Ahh."

They all took their seats as the other students began to arrive. The big screen was on and was showing a shot of the arena. Nothing had changed. Lamina was still on her beam, but others noticed the disappearance of Marcus's body. 

At eight, they all rose for the anthem and then Lucky appeared, welcoming them to day two of the Hunger Games. "While you were sleeping, something pretty important happened. Let's take a look, shall we?" They cut to the wide shot of the arena before zooming the camera round to the barricade, showing where Marcus's body laid from when Coriolanus and Sejanus had dropped it. And then, Dorothy had to hold a gasp as she saw Bobbin's battered body. He had a dislodged eye, face swollen, and bloody limbs. Coriolanus had done that. Coriolanus had killed someone. 

But suddenly, the screen cut back to Lucky as he pondered who did it. And then, he soon became joyful. "One thing we do know is that we've got something to celebrate!" Confetti rained from the roof as Lucky blew madly on a plastic horn. "Because one more tribute gone and we hit the halfway mark! We're so close, everyone! Whoowe! But that also means we've got to say our farewells to Miss Juno Phipps. Lepidus?"

"Something seems fishy to me," Juno Phipps told Lepidus as she reluctantly joined the reporter. "I mean, what's he doing over there with Marcus's body? Who moved it? And how did Bobbin end up dead? I can't even imagine a likely scenario. I feel like there might have been foul play!"

"What would qualify as foul play, exactly?" Lepidus asked her, bemused. "I mean, in the arena?"

"Well, I don't know exactly," Juno sneered, "but I, for one, would really like to see a replay of last night's events!"

Lepidus didn't say anymore and Juno was directed back to her seat. And then, the recording cut back to a sparkly Lucky, who leaned forward, barely containing his glee. "And now, what do you suppose? We've got an extra-big surprise — especially if you're one of the thirteen remaining mentors!"

Everyone exchanged questioning looks as Lucky skipped across the studio to reveal Sejanus sitting side by side with his father, Strabo Plinth, whose stern, cold expression nearly rivalled Crassus Snow's. Lucky took the host chair and patted Sejanus on the leg. "Sejanus, I'm sorry we didn't get a moment with you yesterday to let you comment on the demise of your tribute, Marcus." Lucky noticed the scrapes on Sejanus's face. "What's going on here? You look like you've been mixing it up yourself."

"I fell off my bike," Sejanus said, his voice hoarse.

"Ouch," Lucky said. Dorothy shook her head at his overdramatic expression. "Well, I guess you have some pretty big news to share with us!"

"Yes," Sejanus said quietly. "We, the Plinth family, would like to announce that we will be giving a prize for a full ride to the University to the mentor whose tribute wins the Hunger Games."

Pliny let out a whoop whilst other mentors just grinned at each other. But Dorothy knew all of them had the money to attend anyway.

"Sensational!" Lucky cheered. "What a thrill those thirteen remaining mentors must be experiencing right now. Was this your idea, Strabo? To create the Plinth Prize?"

"My son's, actually."

"Well, what a generous and appropriate gesture, especially given Sejanus's defeat. You may not have won the Games, but you've certainly taken home the prize for good sportsmanship. I think I speak for the Capitol when I say many thanks!" Lucky beamed, but the two Plinths' did not respond. "All right then, back to the arena!"

Dorothy, whilst concerned for Sejanus, felt a whole new determination fill her up. If Sabyn won this thing, Dorothy would get a free ticket to the University. But Dorothy just needed Sabyn to show her face. And she did.

As morning passed, more tributes popped out. Coral, Mizzen, and Sabyn roamed around together, collecting food and water from their mentors. Dorothy was squished between Festus and Persephone, clicking at her communicuff to send Sabyn gifts and whilst she felt giddy at all the sponsors she was getting, Dorothy was also stuck with hearing Festus's rusty flirting skills. 

"Should we tell him she's a cannibal?" Dorothy asked Coriolanus during lunch.

"Mm." Coriolanus cocked his head. "Let's wait until their wedding day. We can do a joint toast and announce it together."

"You're awful." Dorothy chuckled.

"And she's not for being a cannibal?"

When they returned from lunch, they found the mentor seats had been reduced to thirteen, leaving only enough space for those with tributes still in the Games.

"The Gamemakers requested it," Satyria told them. "It makes it easier for the audience to keep track of who's still a contender. We're to keep removing your seats as your tributes are killed."

The decision to kick the mentors who didn't have tributes anymore made Livia more snarky and bitter. And as she moved to sit at the regular audience section, she pushed past Dorothy. But Dorothy didn't pay any attention to this, for Clemensia was still eying her like crazy.

It wasn't until late afternoon did the screen show some action. The girl from Five, who no-one knew of, made her way onto the bleachers at the far end of the arena. Lucky couldn't find her name and somehow managed to connect her to the also invisible girl, Iphigenia Moss. The mentor was sending drones of every food she could find to her tribute. But the drones seemed to have gathered the attention of some tributes because Sabyn, Mizzen, Coral, and Tanner appeared from the tunnels and began to hunt the girl down. Dorothy watched with her brow raised as Sabyn chased the girl down, sword in hand as the four managed to surround her, Coral killing her with a trident to the throat. Sabyn did say she would kill people.

"Well, that's that," said Lucky. "What can her mentor tell us, Lepidus?"

Iphigenia had already walked up to Lepidus as she said, "Her name was Sol, or maybe Sal. She had a funny accent. Not much more to tell."

"Nice job getting her this far, Albina!" Lepidus called out. 

"Iphigenia," the girl said over her shoulder as she took her seat.

"That's right!" Lepidus hollered. "And this means we are officially half way with only twelve tributes left!" At this, Lucky threw a bit of a party, but he was soon interrupted when Lucy Gray came flying out of a tunnel, pumping her arms and legs as her hair flew loose behind her.

"Where's Jessup?" Lysistrata said with a frown. "Why aren't they together?"

As she said this, Jessup scrambled out of the same tunnel Lucy Gray did. Something was wrong with him, for he looked ill as the camera closed up on him. He swiped at the sun before crouching down. Dorothy raised a brow, but let out a sigh of realisation when foam began to bubble over his lips. 

"He's rabid," Lysistrata said.

"Did he get bit by something?" Dorothy murmured. Rabies was a big thing during the war since getting your pet vaccinated wasn't on the list of priorities. The dogs had spread it throughout themselves and then to humans. It killed over a dozen Capitol citizens before a vaccination program was put in place.

"He was bit at the zoo," Lysistrata said sadly. "But rats don't spread rabies. It was probably one of those raccoons."

"Lucy Gray said he mentioned fur, so I'd assumed..." Coriolanus began to say, but trailed off. "It was fast, wasn't it?"

"Very fast. Because he was bit in the neck. The quicker it gets to the brain, the quicker you die," Lysistrata explained. "And, of course, he's half-starved and weak."

At the sudden appearance of action, every student dropped back down into their seats. The cameras tracked Lucy Gray as she sprinted across the arena and began to scramble up the broken wall into the stands that held the main press box. The girl stopped for a moment before running to the debris of a nearby concession stand. The frame remained, but the centre had been blasted to bits and the roof had been flung off. And so, Lucy Gray crawled up the mess and planted herself on top.

Jessup made his way to her, but seemed confused. He soon began to climb into the stands, but he had trouble with his balance. And as he entered the debris, he fell twice, opening gashes on his knee and temple. Foam was dripping from his chin.

And then, a drone carrying water flew into the arena, making its way over to Lucy Gray. But as it passed over Jessup's head, he seemed to realise something as he began to swing at the drone with a board, causing it to crash into the stands as water pooled out. It sent him wild as he went backwards, tripping over stands. And with the realisation that people infected with rabies were scared of water, Coriolanus began to send multiple bottles. But Lysistrata stopped him and so, she sent water bottle after water bottle. 

Lucy Gray was still trying to escape him, but he kept chasing after her. But soon, the first bottle arrived and multiple drones closed in on him. His eyes went wide with fear as he tried to escape them, but since they were programmed to deliver to a specific tribute, there was no escape. In the end, he tripped forward and fell over the arena wall and onto the field. The sound of snapping bones made everyone wince as Lucy Gray began to whisper words in his ear before he took his last breath. 

"Whoa!" Lepidus said as he drew Lysistrata aside, Lucy Gray darting into a tunnel after Reaper appeared. "That was unexpected! Did you know about the rabies?"

"Of course not," Lysistrata said. "I would've alerted the authorities so they could test the raccoons in the zoo."

"What? You mean he didn't bring it from the districts?"

"No," Lysistrata said firmly. "He was bitten here in the Capitol."

"At the zoo?" Lepidus asked. "A lot of us have been spending time at the zoo. A raccoon was over by my equipment, you know, scratching around with those weird little hands and—"

"You don't have rabies."

"It was touching my things."

"Did you have any questions about Jessup?" Lysistrata asked.

"Jessup? No, I never got near him. Oh, um, you meant... Did you have any thoughts?"

"I do." Lysistrata looked right in the lens of the camera. "What I'd like people to know about Jessup is that he was a good person. He threw his body over mine to protect me when the bombs started going off in the arena. It wasn't even conscious. He did it reflexively. That's who he was at heart. A protector. I don't think he would've ever won the Games because he'd have died trying to protect Lucy Gray."

"Oh, like a dog or something," Lepidus said. Dorothy wanted to go over and strangle him. "A really good one."

"No, not like a dog. Like a human being."

"Huh," Lepidus muttered. "Lucky, any thoughts from headquarters?"

The camera cut back to Lucky, who was gnawing on his fingernail. "Oh, what? Hey! Nothing upstairs at present. Let's peek back at that arena, shall we?"

As they did, Lysistrata began to collect her things. Dorothy looked at her with sadness as she reached over, bringing her in for an embrace. She immediately reciprocated.

"Don't go yet," Coriolanus said. "Stay for dinner with us."

"Oh, no. I just want to go home," Lysistrata said. "But thanks you two. You're good friends."

"I'm sorry, Strata." Dorothy sighed. 

"Well, at least I'm out of it."

The other mentors gathered around Lysistrata to congratulate her and soon, she left the Hall. The student body followed and it was only the remaining eleven mentors left. At this, Lucky took the screen again and began to do a rundown of the remaining tributes and their mentors. A split screen showed pictures of the mentors and tributes side by side. They had used the student ID photos for the Capitol children and for the district kids, whatever random shot they could find. 

It went down in chronological order and so, District Two was first, showing Sabyn and Dorothy. They managed to get a flattering photo of Dorothy, also getting an image of Sabyn looking pretty at the interviews, a beaming smile on her face. "Starting off with Sabyn and Dorothy Snow! These two are definitely strong women! Sabyn is allied with Coral, Mizzen, and Tanner and is said to be in the running to win!" Then it followed with Urban and Teslee and then Io and Circ. "Our tech district tributes have us all wondering, what did they do with those drones?" Festus and Coral appeared, followed by Persephone and Mizzen. "The District Four tributes are sailing high as we pass the half-mark!" Lamina on the beam and Pliny's photo came on, but was soon replaced with Treech and Vipsania. "And crowd favourites Lamina and Pliny Harrington are joined by the District Seven boy, Treech, and his mentor, Vipsania Sickle! So, Districts Three, Four, and Seven still have their teams intact! Now to the solo tributes." There was a blurry photo of Wovey and Hilarius. "Wovey from Eight with Hilarius Heavensbee as a guide!" They then showed Tanner and Domitia, followed by Reaper and a photo of Clemensia before the snake accident. And then finally, there was Coriolanus and Lucy Gray. 

Nothing happened, not even after supper, and so, everyone was sent home. The twins took the trolley home and the moment they got into the apartment, Coriolanus went to go speak to Tigris whilst Dorothy went straight to her room, collapsing on her bed and snuggling into her sheets. But before she could, Coriolanus stormed into her room.

"Do you know how to knock?" Dorothy bolted up from her bed. "What is it?"

"The tax bill came today."

And Dorothy immediately knew what that meant. They didn't have any money and with the bill, they were sure to lose their home. And with that, Dorothy rushed out of her room and into the living room where Tigris was.

"How long do we have?" Dorothy immediately asked her.

"Six weeks," Tigris murmured.

They had six weeks to come up with money. Six weeks to get money that was the equivalent of Tigris's income for the whole year. With this in mind, the trio tried to assess what they might have to sell to get the money, but even if they sold every bit of furniture in the apartment, it would only last for a few months. And the tax bills would not stop coming.

"What are we going to do?" Coriolanus asked.

"Nothing until the Hunger Games are finished. You two have to focus on them so you can get that Plinth Prize or at least other ones. I'll handle this end."

"Tigris..." Dorothy started. "You do realise we can't both get the Plinth Prize? Only one of us can."

Tigris was quiet for a moment before saying, "I suppose that's the problem with twins. It's better that one of you gets it than none of you."

Dorothy tried to speak, but Tigris ushered her back to bed. And so, she dreamed of horrid things. She dreamed of the violent acts in the Games. She dreamed of Coriolanus beating Bobbin to death. How could Coriolanus kill someone that easily? Some may say self-defence and whilst it was, Dorothy felt uneasy.

As she dressed, she remembered that she had to drop by the Citadel to get her stitches checked. Without any makeup, Dorothy's cut on her cheek was a dark red, the black stitching making it look swollen whilst the one on her ankle looked similar. And so, Dorothy applied as much makeup as she could to hide it.

The two twins took the trolley instead of walking, eating their nut butter on soda crackers. It did not compare to Mrs Plinth's rolls and Dorothy nearly puked up her breakfast.

At the Academy, the mentors drank their tea, everyone in a bad mood. No-one wanted to talk about the Games considering it was draining all of them. But they couldn't do anything about it and so, the Snow twins moved to where Festus and Persephone was. Dorothy was trying to find Lysistrata, but then remembered what happened and that she was in the regular audience and so, she sighed before sitting down to Festus. She was not about to sit beside Persephone. To Dorothy, she always smelt of burning human flesh. 

Lucky Flickerman started the day off by recapping the remaining tributes and asking Lepidus to interview the remaining mentors. Coriolanus was up first and he explaining the whole Lysistrata-Jessup situation, everyone getting on their feet and giving her a round of applause. Of course, Pliny had to interrupt him, but Lepidus ignored him by waltzing over to Dorothy. 

He had her give background on Sabyn and how Dorothy thought she was doing in the Games. Dorothy, of course, expressed the upmost proudness that Sabyn had made it this far. And when Lepidus asked how Dorothy felt that she was allied with the pair from Four and Tanner, she said that Sabyn had made a good chance with finding a strong bunch, but also reminded the viewers that Sabyn was strong and powerful herself. That got a few pings from her cuff.

When interviewing Io's thoughts, she got cut short when Lucky interrupted her to show Reaper emerging from the barricade. He was walking to Lamina, who was still on her beam. Pliny had sent her a massive meal and it was all laid out. Reaper pointed up at the sun and then to her face. And with a zoom up, everyone saw that Lamina was badly burnt with her skin peeling and her feet red. And then Reaper indicated to her food. She seemed to consider his offer and the two went back and forth for a bit before coming to an agreement. Reaper jogged across the arena and climbed up to the flag of Panem. He pulled out his long knife and tore through the fabric.

Loud yells and objections echoed around the room as the thought of disregarding the sanctity of the national flag appalled them. But, of course, Reaper could not hear them and tore off a bit of the flag to make it a small blanket. At this, Lepidus hurried over to Clemensia.

"Well, it's a stupid move, isn't it?" Clemensia told them. "Who's going to sponsor him now?"

"Not that it matters, since you never feed him," Pliny mumbled.

"I'll feed him when he does something that merits feeding," Clemensia told him. "Anyway, I think you've got that covered today."

"I do?"

Reaper was jogging back to the beam where further conversation occurred between him and Lamina. And then, he tossed up the piece of flag as Lamina dropped down a piece of bread. But the material didn't make it high enough for her to catch and so after several attempts of getting it up, Lamina finally caught it and rewarded Reaper with a chunk of cheese. It was an unofficial alliance between the two, but Lamina let Reaper stay to eat his bread and cheese and when a group of people appeared at the far end of the arena, she pointed them out. Reaper gave her a nod of thanks before bolting to the barricade.

The moment Dorothy saw Sabyn pop her head out, she was already scrolling through her cuff to send her food and water. Festus, Persephone, and Domitia followed her as they sent them drones. The four tributes shared the bread, cheese, and apples that were dropped. And as they did, Dorothy peered at Sabyn. She didn't seem hurt, but dust was settled on her face and clothes. The cardigan was still being worn, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

They changed the screen to show Lucky trying to coax his pet parrot, Jubilee, into saying "Hi, Handsome!" to Dean Highbottom. But the bird was not having it as the dean folded his hands and waited.

"I don't think it wants to, Lucky," Dean Highbottom said. "Perhaps it doesn't find me handsome at all."

"He is a bit of an ugly bloke," Festus murmured.

"And you're not?" Dorothy whispered back.

"Persephone would say otherwise."

"What? Ha! Nooo. He's just shy in-front of strangers." Lucky laughed, drawing their attention back to the screen. "Would you like to hold him?"

"No."

Lucky pulled the bird back to his chest and began to stroke it as he said, "So, Dean Highbottom, what do you make of it all?"

"All...what?"

"All this stuff. All this different stuff happening in the Hunger Games," Lucky spoke. "All of it!"

"Well, what I'm noticing is the new interactivity of the Games," Dean Highbottom said.

"Interactivity. Go on."

"Right from the beginning. Even before, actually," the dean began to say. "When the bombing occurred in the arena, it not only took out participants, it changed the landscape."

"Changed the landscape," Lucky repeated. Everyone shook their head at the obvious statement.

"Yes. Now we have the barricade. The beam. Access to the tunnels," the dean explained. "It's a brand-new arena and it's made the tributes behave in a brand-new way."

"And we have drones!"

"Exactly right. Now the audience is an active player in the Games," Dean Highbottom said. "And you know what that means?"

"What?" Lucky asked.

The dean leaned forward and spoke the next words very slowly. "It means we're all in the arena together, Lucky."

"Huh. I don't quite get that."

"Think it over." Dean Highbottom smirked as he tapped his temple.

The only interesting thing that happened was during lunch. Everyone raced back to their seats to see that the pack Sabyn was a part of was walking across the arena until they were directly underneath Lamina, who was polishing her weapons with the flag.

After a brief conversation between the four, the pair from Four both gave their tridents to Tanner and Sabyn. Coral and Mizzen went to one of the metals posts that supported the beam, Sabyn and Tanner watching them as they began to climb their poles.

"Here we go." Festus shifted in his seat beside Dorothy.

"They'll never make it," Pliny told them confidently.

"They're trained to work on ships," Persephone pointed out. "They climb ropes as part of it."

"Rigging," Festus said with a grin.

"Yes, I get it. My father's a commander, after all," Pliny groaned. "Rope climbing is different. The posts are more like trees." 

Since Pliny was getting on everyone's nerves, they all joined Festus and Persephone in commenting on the pack. And Pliny was wrong in saying that the two wouldn't make it because even though they lacked Lamina's style, they were making it up slowly with Tanner and Sabyn directing them.

"Look, they're timing it so they reach the top together," said Io. "They're making her choose who to fight, then the other one will reach the beam."

"So she'll kill one of them and climb down," Pliny said.

"Where Sabyn and Tanner are," Dorothy reminded him.

"Oh, like your tribute can kill anyone!" Pliny snapped at her. "She's just a little girl, she can't do anything!"

"Have you ever heard the term 'don't judge a book by its cover'?" Dorothy smirked.

"Oh, shut up!" Pliny shouted. "Everyone just shut up!"

Everyone felt silent as Coral and Mizzen neared the top, Lamina going back and forth, trying to decide who to fight first. She headed for Coral and whilst Pliny had some words to say, Dorothy blocked him out as she gripped the edge of her seat. 

Lamina had reached the end of the beam and swung the axe down at Coral, just missing her scalp. Coral retreated whilst Mizzen managed to mount the beam, but when Tanner threw the trident he was holding up to him, it missed by a lot. And so, Lamina forgot about Coral and headed for Mizzen. But then, with a scoff at Tanner, Sabyn threw her trident up. Dorothy's face of concentration turned into one of glee as she watched the trident soar in the air, Mizzen easily catching it. He and Lamina fought against each other, axe and trident clashing against each other when suddenly, Lamina slid her axe down and brung the flat side of it against the outer part of Mizzen's knee. He fell, losing the trident and barely catching himself with one arm. 

The sound system picked up Coral's war cry as she gained the top. Pushing Tanner aside, Sabyn collected Mizzen's fallen trident, running to Coral's end as she hurled the trident up with ease like prior. Coral snatched the weapon and began to jab at Lamina, who blocked it with her axe. But suddenly, Coral began to twist the trident to distract Lamina before sticking the blade into her abdomen. She released the trident and stepped back, fiddling with her knife as she watched Lamina fall off the beam and die on impact.

"No!" Pliny cried, his words echoing around Heavensbee Hall. He stood shocked for a while before he picked up his seat and left the mentor section, ignoring Lepidus. He slammed his chair down beside Livia's and strode out.

Coral crossed to Mizzen, sitting down on the beam. She locked her legs for support and helped him up. The axe had injured his knee and he half slid, half lowered himself down as Coral followed him, who picked up the unused trident Tanner had tried to throw up.

After doing some dance over Lamina's body, Tanner skipped over to them. As he went over to Mizzen, Coral went over to Sabyn, who picked up the trident out of Lamina's body. After some quiet words, Sabyn nodded and Dorothy watched silently as her tribute drove a spear into Tanner's back. Everyone let out a gasp of shock as they watched the boy go around in circles, trying to get the trident out of his back, but he collapsed facedown in the dirt. Mizzen finished him off with a knife to the neck as he sat against the pole. Sabyn retrieved the spear and threw it back to Coral, who caught it with ease as the girl from Two went to get her sword that was laying on the ground. Sabyn had killed Tanner. Dorothy looked at Domitia, who was gathering her stuff.

"Did you just see what I saw?" Lucky's face was stretched into a comedic mask of shock.

"It's a surprise," Domitia said as Lepidus pushed the mic in-front of her. "I thought Tanner might win this thing. And he probably would have if his allies hadn't betrayed him. I guess that's the takeaway. Be careful who you trust."

"In and out of the arena."

"Everywhere," Domitia agreed. "You know, Tanner was a very good-natured sort of person. And District Two and Four took advantage of that." She looked at Dorothy, Festus, and Persephone sadly. "It's one of the many things I've learned from being a mentor in the Hunger Games. I'll always cherish my experience here and I wish all the remaining mentors the best of luck."

Once Domitia walked out and Lucky asked them to show the arena since he was trying to get his parrot down, the screen showed Coral bandaging Mizzen's knee as Sabyn looked at Lamina's body. But Coral nudged her and the two girls helped Mizzen walk to the tunnel they had come out of. And as they disappeared, Satyria came over and had the mentors rearrange their chairs. Io, Urban, Clemensia, Vipsania, Coriolanus, Dorothy, Festus, Persephone, and Hilarius were the only ones left.