—True Love—

Persephone decided, as he was still gone when she sat across from Reaper again, that she wouldn't bring up her outburst to Coryo. She didn't need him to worry about the situation she had newfound control over. Everything was going to be okay.

She didn't notice the way Lucy Gray eyed her pale face glistening with sweat.

After the hour was up, both the Mentors and tributes were rounded and lined up in their corresponding pairs. Coriolanus was still missing as the Ignis girl swiveled her head around every few seconds to catch a glimpse of him as soon as possible. In the back of her mind, she was getting a little worried.

As they filed through, a certain District 12 girl slid up next to Persephone and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You alright? Saw you dash out the door and came back lookin' all sick."

"Yeah," Persephone only nodded, "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."

Now, Lucy Gray Baird was not one to stick her nose in the business of others, but the way she brushed off any concern left her suspicious. And something was special about Lucy Gray—she could spot a lie like a needle in a haystack. Something told her she couldn't let Coriolanus not know of his best girl's little hiccup after he left.

"Capitolite." Reaper used her new nickname, mildly surprised she had responded to it. "What's the plan?"

She leaned closer to him and murmured a rough idea of how productive they could spend their time in the arena. "Look for places to go, places to turn to when you're cornered. Inspect every inch of the arena for the upper hand. Find advantages."

It was why they were granted a tour in the first place.

A shiver racked her spine as she took a prolonged look at the grand, stadium-like arena. Persephone, even watching the Games from the years prior, never got to witness the sheer scale of the battleground. In that moment, she was also reminded that for the District tributes around her, this was their deathbed.

With a gust of wind, Persephone only saw an Academy Rouge rush past her and the student's hand brushing over hers. She knew who it was with his gentle graze—her fingers chased after his, even after his ghost-like touch separated from their distance.

Her heart pounded as he left her utterly dizzy.

"Alright, let's go." The Peacekeeper, most likely in charge, nodded towards the rest of the soldiers.

At the front of the dual line, Lucy Gray leaned over to her Mentor and whispered, gaze involuntarily flickering to the girl a few rows back. "That girl you care about? Persephone? She done ran out for a few minutes after you left and came back in a cold sweat with a pale face. Asked her about it just now and she sweeped it under the rug. Got any idea what that's about?"

"What?" Was all Coriolanus could spit out before a few soldiers beckoned them to make their way into the arena. Lucy Gray shrugged her shoulders and mumbled "Seemed to shock her real bad" and began walking with the soldiers beside them.

Both tributes and Mentors were escorted through a dark hall only dimly lit by suspicious red lights. Like a theater or circus, they were forced to push past a turnstile. Persephone jolted the slightest bit when an automated voice spoke with every turn.

"Enjoy the show."

Could a bloodbath of unwilling children be considered a show?

Past the turnstiles, a small crew of broadcasters holding large cameras over their shoulders pointed directly at the group flashed a light over them all. Festus Creed called for their attention to focus on his tribute, which the Ignis girl thought was crass.

"This is where we're gonna die, Capitolite." Reaper murmured to his Mentor, taking in the view of all the tributes he could see in the dark lighting.

She couldn't agree more.

The loud slam of heavy doors made Persephone whip around to see them trapped in an even darker arena. Her heart began to race with uncertainty. A low rumble of metal and mechanics resonated throughout the large arena. When she looked up at the round roof, she found every window shutter lifting all at once. Bright sunlight was revealed in rectangular slivers growing bigger until the shutters had been completely removed.

"Welcome to the Arena of the 10th Annual Hunger Games. Tributes, Mentors, you have fifteen minutes to survey the space and discuss strategy."

If it hadn't been the great stadium that housed a bloodbath each year, it was a grand beauty. The shades of blue on the floor danced with an intricate geometric pattern, meeting at the symbol on Panem's flag in the middle. The light from outside graced the inside of the arena with a soft yellow glow. The more she spun around, breathing it all in, Persephone realized a deadly reality in an instant: there was nowhere to hide.

When she swiveled around to tell Reaper, he nodded as he, too, found the exact same thing. The boy walked off to Dill's direction and whispered something in her ear, allowing Coriolanus to sneak up next to her and gripped her upper arm with the hint of force.

"Why did Lucy Gray tell me you looked sick after I left?" Their eyes met and Persephone found an unusual coldness in his. He felt a distinct anger at her withdrawal of trust, like she purposefully had not approached him. Paranoia infected his thoughts. He was scared to lose her love—his power over her. She took a prolonged blink and exhaled sharply. "Are you keeping secrets from me now? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Have you forgotten you've been here for maybe a minute since you left? There was no time to pull you aside."

The reciprocated harshness he had shown her seemed to seep into his mind. Coriolanus realized his mistake when handling her in an instant and took a softer approach. One she would like, where he could keep her infatuation for him. His grasp on her arm loosened into a more intimate one, then his gaze softened on command. "I just wanted you to tell me as soon as possible, Darling. I'm worried about you."

Another pomegranate seed he laid out for her that she licked up like a starving dog.

Her shift in demeanor was obvious to a man as attentive as him—Coriolanus feasted on how easily he could read Persephone Ignis, the girl he knew like the back of his hand. He never got sick of the adoration and care he found in her gaze every time she saw him. "It's just- It's fine, Coryo, I can tell you later, but I need to create a plan with Reaper."

She failed to notice the quick furrow in his brows at the mention of her tribute's name. He believed Lucy Gray, only his somewhat friend, a ticket to the Plinth Prize, but the way Persephone would be willing to discard the chance to someone he knew she potentially loved for her tribute? Some District 11 boy? His grip on her arm tightened excessively.

"Ow, Coryo-" Persephone grimaced and pulled at his wrist with her free hand. "Let go, that hurts- Coryo!" Out of the corner of her eye, she recognized Reaper stalking up on the boy once he noticed her pain. Her eyes widened as she feared how both of them would react when provoked. "No, Reaper-!"

A deafening boom shook the ground. Then another. And another. Dust kicked up, blinding every eye in the Arena. Persephone ducked, coughing when she inhaled too much debris with a gasp. Bright flashes of explosions ruptured around the walls.

Persephone's only instinct was to jump over Reaper and protect him from harm. However, Coryo's newfound iron grip he never let go stayed secure on her arm. Perhaps to prepare to drag her away from large debris or he hadn't realized he kept his grasp on her.

Just as she swiveled her head around to free herself, she saw his gaze glued to the crumbling roof of the Arena. One she had just been admiring. Loose chunks of concrete and stone crumbled down, foreshadowing its demise.

Before she knew it, large slabs of rock sailed rapidly to the pair. When Persephone froze in terror, Coriolanus was the one to drag her away as fast as they could run. He knew, deep in his mind, they weren't fast enough. He shoved her forward to save her and slammed to the ground to take the impact.

"Coryo!" He heard her familiar soothing voice scream for him. Reaper held her back from running to save him, arms wrapped around her middle to ensure she didn't put herself in danger for him.

Reaper pondered his burning question briefly: was this what unconditional love looked like?

With his last bit of strength, he used every survival response to crawl away from the debris falling down on him. His efforts were futile. He groaned in agony, feeling the hot lick of fire on his back and the sting of its weight.

"No!" Her voice cracked. Persephone thrashed and writhed violently within the solid hold of her tribute. She was only let loose when she dug her nails painfully into his forearms, then dove to the boy she cared too much for and used all her strength to lift the heavy rubble off his back. "No, Coryo!" She strained to set him free.

Even as her hands received cuts and scrapes from the rough metal, Persephone persisted. Despite Lucy Gray appearing to assist her with little strength from her starved District 12 body, the debris didn't budge. Coriolanus was still trapped.

What was recognized to be Sejanus's tribute, Marcus, ran past them and attempted to bring Lucy Gray with him. "Come on, the gates are open!" He tried to beckon, but gave up and disappeared off into the bright sunlight outside.

"Please!" Persephone's eyes darted up and found Reaper stuck in his place instantly. "Reaper!" She wailed with a hoarse voice and a cough worse than Dill's. "Please, Reaper, help me!" Tears streamed down her face like a faucet. She continued to strain herself to save the boy stuck under, the boy Reaper believed she might somehow love.

The girl named Persephone Ignis was the only Capitol citizen he found to care for him. Not some bullshit care out of pity, but real care. In return, he also found a place in his heart to care for the girl he called Capitolite. It wasn't hard to spot the unresolved infatuation she had for her classmate. It had been even blatant in the lingering touches they shared.

So when Lucy Gray was dragged away by a singular Peacekeeper and just an Academy Rouge with genuine compassion for her tribute was left, Reaper stepped forward and latched his calloused hands onto a twisted metal wire. He lifted it with ease, allowing Coriolanus to crawl out and free himself.

"You love him too much, Capitolite." She heard him say through the ringing of her ears.

Even as two soldiers pulled him back to containment, Reaper gave her a single nod of his head. Compassion like hers came from a deep place in her heart, a full heart available to love every little thing. Persephone Ignis, as he observed, was the kindest girl he ever met.

So if that meant saving some guy he had suspicions about because she practically loved him, Reaper was willing to help.

Thank you, she mouthed to him as her cheeks were streaked with tears. Her face was covered in dirt and grime and her uniform was roughed up. Persephone was far from what she appeared to be in the moment of despair for a boy she refused to admit she loved.

When she patted out the flames off his back, she ignored the licks of stinging heat. "Coryo," she cried out for him, turning his body around so his back was prompted up on her lap. Her fingers tangled themselves in his curls to prop his head up. Persephone knew he was drifting out of consciousness by the way he blinked in a haze, but it didn't stop him from reaching for her free hand and squeezing it with the last of his power.

Someday, in some other world where he wasn't so drunk on his obsession to maintain his manipulative power, he could have let himself love her the way she deserved to be loved. Loved unconditionally the way she did for him. Coriolanus could have thought of her as a wife he would love every moment he breathed and beyond instead of just a doll with strings he could control as his First Lady of Panem.

Only once he couldn't think properly, he found the undeniable urge to bring her lips down to his and kiss her—not out of lust or to feed her any pomegranate seed, but just to kiss the girl he loves with what was potentially his last breath. A fine way to die, one with his lips pressed sweetly against his true love's, Persephone Ignis.

Sometimes, he wished his desire for power didn't dominate his desire for her.

His grip loosened as he fell limp in her lap, comforted by the lovely smell of her hair and a dream of her kiss.

She didn't let him go until she was pulled away by paramedics and he was loaded into an ambulance strapped on a gurney. "Is he going to be okay?" She asked, frightened by all the possibilities.

"He's going to be alright, Miss Ignis." And the man clad in scrubs observed her gaze on the boy being lifted into the van. "True love, I presume. " He commented, shaking his head as he snapped on his rubber gloves. "Either the best or worst thing to happen in your life."

Persephone only hoped love was enough to save the both of them.

(It would be their demise.)