𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 * 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐔𝐒 𝐒𝐍𝐎𝐖

𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐌𝐈𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒

He had to have known being a Peacekeeper never truly meant to keep peace, it was a more digestible title for crowd control. To maintain the compliance in the Districts that the Capitol needed to survive and remain in power. She hoped silently that Sejanus and Coryo would stick together, that he would be able to save him from himself. As the car glided to the front of the War Department headquarters, Venus folded her letter and placed it in her leather backpack for safe keeping.

Any and all sense of emotion and vulnerability needed to evaporate before she stepped foot into the marble building.

Working with Dr. Gaul proved itself to not be the worthy distraction she needed. Just as promised, their studies began the day after Graduation with Venus's first assignment being to chart and feed her flurry of mutts scattered across the Laboratory. At first the creatures unsettled her with their grotesque mouths, ragged skin, or how simply unappealing they looked to the eye. She was never scared, merely curious as to how Gaul conjured up such monstrosities in her mind and applied them to living things.

"Do you know what you'd like to study at University, Miss Hummingstill?" Dr. Gaul asked, handing Venus a feeding chart. The woman had taken a certain liking to her mentee, any hostility she had shown before was seemingly all part of her act.

With a gloved hand, Venus threw raw meat into the cage of a wild animal. Its snarls not sounding as loud as they did on her first day in the lab, it was growing more familiar with her. "I believe Science, Microbiology more specifically. However, as of late, the idea of Politics are fascinating."

"Politics could be a waste of your talents." The Doctor warned, handing the girl another piece of feed for the last of her twisted creations. "So rarely do they elect and allow headstrong women into governmental positions of power."

Venus nodded to herself, eyes scanning the chart as her mind continued to race. "What would you classify yourself as then, Dr. Gaul?" She asked, allowing her focus to be fully on the woman. Venus was met with a pregnant pause, the woman seemingly stumped at her simplistic question. "You are the Head Gamemaker. You carry out the traditions of the Dark Days. While you may not have been placed in an election and ran campaigns, you are still a powerful political figure. Do you see yourself in that light?"

Dr. Gaul's red lips spread into a twisted smirk, the smallest chuckle sneaking out of her body. Her ego demanded and craved satisfaction from the public, but, the intimacy of a young girl who reminded her so much of herself singing her praises was unmatched. Venus held so much potential, so much intelligence that if curated for the correct cause could have the ability to change Panem. Dr. Gaul held herself firmly in the belief that the trauma she inflicted within the last week of her time at the Academy was worth it. Purely instrumental in turning her from a silly girl into a dynamic woman.

Completely unaware that the trauma unlocked ways of wickedness that Venus had begun to fully embrace.

"I see myself as a God." Dr. Gaul said.

Stripping her gloves and disposing of them, Venus returned to her desk within the lab. "And what happens to the non-believers?"

"You break them," Gaul stated with zero hesitation. "And if breaking them is not enough, you eliminate them. Any non-believer that is not contained is a threat to everything I have built. If the option is them or me, I'm choosing myself each and every time."

As much as she wanted to protest, to suggest another way of thinking to Dr. Gaul, Venus could not part her lips to speak. There was no other point of view to be seen considering the women operated with a similar set of values. Venus used the Hunger Games, used Dill as a pawn, even used Coriolanus to save her life. She knew if her mortality was never on the line that Dill's health wouldn't have reached top priority in her mind. The option was Dill or herself and she didn't hesitate in her choice of who to save.