The truth is this, every monster you have met or will ever meet, was once a human being with a soul that was as soft and light as silk.

Someone stole that silk from their soul and turned them into this.

So when you see a monster next, always remember this. Do not fear the thing before you. Fear the thing that created it instead.

THE TRUTH ABOUT MONSTERS / NIKITA GILL

THE VERY CONCEPT OF THE HUNGER GAMES WAS NOT CREATED TO BE PRACTICED. That was, until the Capitol saw it as an opportunity to further establish their power over the inferior districts, whose then-recent rebellion crashed, burned, and fizzled out not long after. Six decades later, the Games had evolved and continued their annual appearance. The country of Panem now revolves around the event. If the districts weren't tuned into the twenty-four hour broadcasts of the Games themselves, they were attending the mandatory visits of the most recent Games' victor.

Victors. The Capitol's life source. Stripped down to their bare bones after enduring the hell that is the Hunger Games until they're nothing but an empty shell of a person who no longer remains.

They're easier to manipulate that way. Easier to carry out the lives set out for them as soon as they become an unfortunate victim of the Reaping, thoroughly plotted by a group sitting around a circular table, all making desperate attempts to appeal to the man adorning a white rose in fear that this time, their wine will have been the tainted chalice.

Easier for President Snow to portray his role as the master puppeteer behind a silk curtain, moving each of his victors' limbs at his own totalitarian will. And though merely the ripe of twelve, Mira Bielatir would not be spared. Instead, she'd be showered in empty promises and given a new identity to mold herself into, penned by a hand other than her own.

Albeit selfish, the Capitol is biased towards itself and ignores its own mistakes; to them, they can do no wrong. They don't acknowledge that an abuse of power leads to mutations in the system that later become their largest threat. She may age, but Mira Bielatir will forever be viewed as Panem's Princess, presumed to be eternally young and naive. Rather than stripping away her power, however, she only grows stronger. Angrier.

Welcome to your swan song, President Snow. Enjoy hearing the Nightingale sing.

bailee madison, àstrid bergès-frisbey as MIRA BIELATIR

dylan sprayberry, sam claflin as FINNICK ODAIR

AND

caspian bielatir, jacob elordi

pano bielatir, unax ugalde

clifford briny, miles teller

dylan aberdeen, hannah john-kamen

zale hector, francisco lachowski

aegir torsney, idris elba

caligula, indya moore

paxtra, ella yelich-o'connor

FEATURING

cassia havelock, gemma chan
livia braun, jesse mei lei
madge undersee, gabriella wilde
artemis snow, sophie skelton

DISCLAIMERS: i do not own the hunger games series, i only own my original characters and plot lines. this book will include references to and/or depictions of: violence, gore, mental illness, ptsd, attempted suicide, sexual references, miscarriage, swearing, and death

DEDICATIONS: to elyse kat jj rory mads abby and each and every single one of you who read the original version of this book (nightingale) and showed me such incredible love and support!! nightingale helped me grow in so many ways and i wouldn't be the same without it and its many supporters. && special s/o to elyse for helping me recast mira w àstrid who fits the vision of mira in my head 10x more!!

NOTE: welcome to the rewritten version of nightingale, now to be known as swan song! all of the love and support on nightingale that i've received over the years is absolutely incredible, and i will forever be indebted to all of the readers of my first fic for my favorite character of thg series, the same series that started my love for reading!!

as much as i love and adore the og version of nightingale and mira, this being my first ever true written work, there is a lot of room for improvement. i've grown as a writer in general and feel more comfortable writing abt deeper, darker topics than i did the first time around - that being said, please take note of the content warnings above. i began to do it in the first rewrite, but i want to show more of mira's trauma post-her games vs simply brushing over it like in the og version. ptsd + the effects of the games is huge within thg series itself, and i want to transfer that over into here. but always always always put yourself and your mental health first, i appreciate you either way

also, ik some of you asked for me to keep nightingale as its own book with the rewrite being separate, but the reason why i'm not putting this rewrite in a new book is bc i want to be happy with all of the work on my acc, and while i'm definitely proud of nightingale in the sense of how many ppl it's reached (500k+!!!) and how much support it's gathered, i'm not entirely happy with its plot, characterizations, and writing (...so basically the entire thing 💀). i began to fix this with my first rewrite...but we all know what happened to that. so, this time around i will complete this rewrite and am so, so, so excited to present this revamped version of mira and her story, i hope you enjoy reading this new version of her as much as i love sharing it 🤍

BOOK II of the HOAX SERIES
I: a world alone, haymitch abernathy
III: dandelion in the spring, katniss everdeen

june 24, 2019 ━━ march 6, 2020
first rewrite: january 1, 2021 ━━
second rewrite: february 2, 2022 ━━ ???

© clinquaant