malia vindicta || district nine || fin

You were freshly born, and you were destined to rule. 

From the moment of your birth, you had the destiny of leadership thrust upon your shoulders. As the firstborn child of Leo Vindicta, leader of the Vindicta gang, you were first in line to inherit his wealth and power upon his demise. 

And yet, he wanted nothing to do with you. Believing that a daughter was unfit to rule, he cast you aside and set off trying to produce a male heir for his criminal empire, impregnating not only your mother but also several local women he took in as concubines many times over. 

Only, by the time a son was finally birthed to him, you were well on your way to ruling yourself. 

---

You were eight years old, and you were learning to rule. 

Not courtesy of your father, who at the time was still trying in vain to produce a male heir. Instead, you were being taught my your mother. The daughter of a minor crime lord married to your father as part of a non-aggression pact, she had no love for him, a fact only reinforced by the multiple pregnancies she went through in your father's ultimately futile quest. 

It seemed the man was incapable of producing anything but daughters, for eight years after you had been born, you had seven younger sisters, courtesy of your mother, and moreso from his many concubines, yet not a single younger brother. 

As you grew older, your mother, growing fed up with both your father and his rule, began secretly grooming you for leadership from behind the scenes. She may not have been a Vindicta, but she was still a daughter of a crime lord, and was still taught in the ways of leadership in the event that she would one day succeed her own father. 

And so, your training for your eventual role began. But what you didn't know at the time was that you weren't being trained to succeed your father.

You were being trained to overthrow him. 

---

You were twelve years, and you were being prepared to rule. 

It was your first year of eligibility for the Hunger Games, and in the rare chance that your single slip of paper was pulled from the great glass ball on reaping day, contingency plans were prepared to deal with such an eventuality. 

Your mother had told you that the daughter of one of your father's advisers had been bribed into volunteering should the situation arise. When you asked what would happen if she didn't volunteer, then your mother had bluntly replied that her next eldest daughter, Severus, would take your place as heir to the Vindicta throne.

It was then that your mother told you of the true purpose to your grooming, one that, after the initial shock had subsided, you responded to with eagerness. Like your mother, you had no love for the man you called father, and if your path to power meant knocking him off the throne in the process, then all the better.

The only thing you were disappointed about was the fact that you couldn't usurp the leadership right then and there. Your mother reassured you, advising patience, and said that while you might be ready now, by the time you had made it through your period of reaping eligibility, you would not only possess the skills she had taught you, but you would have the experience of six more years and a group of followers with unwavering loyalty at your back. 

When you asked who would follow you with such loyalty, your mother had said nothing at first, only giving one of her rare smiles. Then, she had responded with a question of her own, asking you who among the gang not only shared your distaste for your father, but shared a unique bond with you that was stronger than any other?

It took you a moment to realize that she was talking about your own sisters. 

---

You were fourteen, and you were making plans to rule. 

But for the first time, it was without the knowledge or consent of your mother. 

No, instead, it was with a girl named Calypso Delacroix, a recent recruit to the Lion's Pride. A year older than you, she had joined the gang for financial reasons, having a family of her own to support. You found kinship with the strange girl between your shared status as eldest of a large family of sisters, and again due to your mutual disdain for your fathers. 

You became fast friends with the mysterious girl, and it wasn't long before the relationship evolved into something more than friendship. 

For several glorious months, you felt like you had it all. You had a steady girlfriend who matched your intellect and cunning, a band of sisters who shared your ambition, and a seemingly foolproof plan to become one of the most powerful players in the underworld of Nine.

Alas, the times weren't meant to stay. You learned the hard way that Calypso had joined the gang only for her own ambitions, and you watched with a mixture of betrayal and horror as your former lover rose up her own gang, utilizing knowledge gathered from her time spent as a Lion and secrets to leadership you had naively shared while wrapped in her embrace. You watched as she stole key territory and resources out from under your father's nose, while you were helpless to stop or even slow it. 

It was an embarrassing moment, but also a humbling one. Through your own naivety, you had successfully created not only a threat to your power, but a rival in your ex-lover.

That day, you vowed that Calypso Delacroix would pay. Never again would you be so naive to trust anyone that wasn't a blood sister to that level again. 

But before vengeance could be executed, you had a throne to claim.

---

You were eighteen, and you were ready to rule.

Your last reaping had passed some months ago, freeing you from the threat of the Games once and for all. You had been groomed under the consistent, competent tutelage of your mother for over a decade. You had the backing of each of your sisters, the training of the best fighters in the gang, and plenty of knowledge at your disposal. 

Though your mother cautioned you on acting rashly, you knew deep down that you were ready. You were no longer the dark-haired little girl that you had been; now, you were a woman, full grown and battle tested. Countless hours of battle training had honed your body, while more of leadership training had trained your mind. 

Besides, you argued, if you didn't act now, there would soon be none of the Pride left to take. 

Emboldened by the rise of the Delacroixs, various minor crime lords had either broken away from the main Vindicta power or broken the peace treaties that had guaranteed their survival at the height of the Pride's power. They were sloppy and unorganized, but your father was worse, making key tactical blunders that allowed the many small thorns to become a real threat to the survival of the gang. The Delacroixs, too, had become a power surpassing that of the Pride, and it was only through pure luck that they hadn't caused the incompetent Vindictas to capitulate. 

Convinced by your argument, your mother reluctantly gave the go-ahead for the coup. She would lure your father and his elite council to a building on the outskirts of Vindicta territory under the guise of a Delacroix defector who wished to speak with him personally, where you and your sisters would then execute the trap. 

A wiser ruler would have viewed such a thing with suspicion, but luckily for you, your father was not a wise man. The lure was successful, the trap executed flawlessly, and you personally put an end to your father's reign, firing a single bullet into his temple. 

At long last, you had achieved your longtime ambition. But the true struggle was just beginning. 

---

You are nineteen, and you've never enjoyed anything more than ruling. 

Your father and his supporters had been decimated by your new Lioness army. The minor crime lords that had risen against the Vindicta name had been crushed, remnants scattered to the wind like dust particles in a windstorm. The strength of the Pride has been replenished to nearly match that of the glory days. You've proven to be a brilliant strategist and capable leader of the new iteration of the Pride. 

Yet there is still one thorn sticking in your side, one obstacle standing between you and total domination of the underworld of Nine. Calypso Delacroix and her own family gang had remained dormant during your period of reconquest, partially because of the death of one of her own sisters to the Games, partially because you suspected that she was recruiting for the inevitable war that is surely to break out between Delacroix and Vindicta. 

And inevitable it is. Even if the Wolf Pack was not the greatest threat to a Vindicta-led underworld currently, you have a personal score to settle with Calypso herself. By defeating her family in battle, you would successfully kill two birds with one stone, eliminating your rival and gaining dominance over the rest of Nine's underworld in the process. 

Though you have come far in the months since you seized control of the Pride, your ambition will not be sated until the Vindicta name once again returns to its former glory. 

After all, you were born to rule, and you will suffer nothing less than complete domination.