Author Games: Age of Rebellion

Final - The Betrayal - Peter Steele

Alithia Warwell had always been a sort of untouchable figure to me. Having come to power when I was a child, I had no memory of a Panem ruled by someone besides her. She was the one who announced the Quell that inspired me to join the Games. She was the one who placed the Victor's Crown on my head. She had to have been the one who ordered my family's death. She was responsible, directly or not, in the deaths of at least twenty five members of the Squad.  Alithia had played a far too important role in my life not to be present now.

"Welcome to the theater." Alithia said, even her welcome stern. "As we are here to negotiate peace, I would ask that you leave your weapons at the door."

I complied with her demands, leaving everything I had, even my backpack, at the door. It was the first time since I had entered the Capitol that I wasn't totally on guard. All of my weapons were out of reach, so I was practically defenseless. My bare hands could not compete with Alithia's sword, Elpis' bow, Kalea's mace, or even Pandora's dagger. None of them seemed ready to attack though. All weapons were sheathed, and Elpis had lowered his bow.

I should have been scared to face them all alone. If I were in the Games, I certainly would be. Even if Kalea didn't know how to use her mace, four against one was hardly a fair fight. If they chose to attack, I was as good as dead.

"If you wanted to kill us one-by-one, now's your chance." I said, folding my arms over my chest. It wouldn't do much to protect me, my heart was still an open target, but I at least felt protected.

"I am a woman of my word." Alithia said. It was impossible to tell if she was glaring, or if that was just her neutral expression. I hoped it was her neutral expression. "I said that we meant to negotiate peace; we will negotiate peace. What are your demands?"

"All we want is for the Districts to be equal to the Capitol." I replied, the phrase almost instinctive to me after months in Thirteen. "No more Games..."

"You know that isn't possible." Pandora interrupted. "The Games are an integral part of our society, one that has been developed over more than a hundred years. We will not simply throw it away because rebels cannot accept it."

"That's a small part of a much larger problem." I argued. "There's a disparity between the Capitol and the Districts that must be fixed."

"Hierarchies are evident in every type of society." Elpis called from above me. His bow was slung over his shoulder now, an evident sign of peace. "Someone has to have the power, and someone has to be subjected to it."

"Enough." Alithia said, her voice echoing through the theater. "We have come to discuss peace, not society. There must always be Games, and the Capitol must always have power." She said. A tone of finality made it clear that there was no way her mind would be changed any time soon. Arguing further was pointless. "You must agree though, that the Capitol is just and merciful. We sacrifice two of our own children every year, and we allow a Victor in the Games."

"Then you kill the Victor's family if they show any sign of weakness, and the Victors themselves if they rebel." I muttered, just loudly enough for the other Gamemakers to hear.

The stage lights flickered on, illuminating the once-dark stage. Kalea winced at the sudden light, but Pandora and Alithia seemed to not notice it at all. I looked out to the seats for some sort of explanation to the change in lighting, but I could barely distinguish anything past the first row. Searching the Gamemakers' faces served to be just as fruitless. The only clue was the broad grin on Elpis' face.

"Since negotiations didn't seem to work, just like I said," Kalea said, shooting a brief smile at Alithia. "we are left with only two options. We could kill you now, and hope to negotiate peace with the other two members of your Squad. That's messy though, and it would make us look bad. Our second option is to, for a lack of a better term, buy you."

"I don't want..."

"I know, you were the hard one to figure out." Kalea said, cutting me off. "None of you would go for untold riches, although Vibbius and Iliana would both settle for power. I think I found something that works just as well though."

With a dramatic flourish, the back curtain pulled away. Standing backstage, where props or equipment would normally sit, was a girl. Her hair, blacker than soot, reached her shoulders. Tall and thin, it was evident she had once been strong. Her shoulders were hunched, though, and she hardly looked up at the Gamemakers. Hands hung limply at her sides, she looked worse than most of the rebels just arriving at Thirteen. Still, I would recognize my Cassie anywhere.

My stoic expression broke for a second, and I wanted to run to her and hold her. I regained it though, unwilling to let the Gamemakers see that they had gotten to me. My hand wrapped around the cold, metal figurine in my locket, and I looked back towards Alithia. "The Hall of Victors said that she was dead." my voice wobbled slightly as I spoke.

"The official story is that she is dead, yes." Alithia explained, walking over towards me. "You took her on your wild escapade to Thirteen, and she died, alone in the forest. Her body was never recovered, but since Thirteen had no records of her, we were forced to assume. She is a very strong girl, I'll give you that. And you can have her back if you join us."

I took the lion out of my pocket, fondling it gently. The flash of silver caught her eye, and she looked up. From here, I thought I could see her smiling, although that could easily just be my imagination. Alithia looked at me, patiently awaiting my response. Elpis smiled, his flair for the dramatic shining through now more than ever. Pandora and Kalea looked like they couldn't care less about my response. In all honesty, it didn't matter to them. Either I joined them, and I had Cassie, or I refused and they killed me.

I looked at Cassie, who started to stand up a little bit straighter now. There was hope I'm her eyes, hope that had obviously been missing for so long. I thought of the pain of thinking that Cassie had died, and imagined watching her die before my own eyes. There was no way I could let that happen.

"Alright." I decided. "I'll comply with whatever you guys want me to do."

"Thank you, Peter." Alithia smiled. "You've made this much less difficult than it could have been. Go on now."

I broke into a sprint, running as quickly as I could towards Cassie. She stayed rooted in place, but it didn't matter. I wrapped my arms around her, a soft sob escaping my throat. She smelled different. Her hair wasn't soft anymore. Her skin was rough, and she was altogether a little dirty. She wasn't as strong as she used to be, and it almost felt like I might break her if I held her too tightly. But she was still Cassie, and she was still here.

"Do you want your token back?" I asked, pulling away from her for a moment. She laughed softly, and nodded slightly. I put the lion in her hand, and wrapped her hand around it.

Then, I hugged her again, having to make up for all the time I had lost with her. We were dirty. We were tired. We were broken. We were confused. Still, we were happy, and that was all that really mattered. I was always a sucker for a happy ending; it was about time I had one myself.