The Peacekeeper Ball

She had screamed so loudly when the letter arrived tucked underneath their front door that one, on the other side of District Four, might have thought someone had been murdered in Mathilda Perch's home.

"I'M GOING TO THE CAPITOOOOOOOOOL!" screeched India Krigel, sprinting around the living room and manically waving a gold-lettered envelope above her head.

"HAAAAAAAAAAA! Suck it Arie, you stupid invite-less normie!" she yelped, stopping only to shove the opened letter into her sister's face.

She wasn't, it turns out, going to the Capitol. In her excitement Leon Krigel's eldest daughter had missed reading the exact location of the Peacekeeper ball. Thankfully it was a grandparent who had delivered her the news under closer inspection, two of the only people on earth that India wouldn't blow up at pointing out her mistakes.

Regardless, Two was a lot closer to the Capitol than Four. It also didn't stink of fish. Her siblings, it turns out, had also gotten invitations, but India held on to the fact that she had received hers first. "It's only right," she chided on the train, gawping at the view through the giant windows. "I'm the eldest."

India never let anyone forget it.

Stepping through the doors, dolled up head to toe with curled hair, red lipstick and a ruby-coloured dress, India sighed. Cloud nine, if she dropped dead right on this very ballroom floor she wouldn't even care. There was nothing better than this, she decided, invitation tucked neatly into her bag. She'd pin it up on her wall, perhaps frame it, treasure it forever.

In the crowd she searched for her father, having to rise up on polished tip-toes even at sixteen years old in order to see. There were dozens of hair colours and faces but none of them blonde or chiseled like Leon's, like hers. Crestfallen, she shook it off. His absence was nothing new. She'd managed just fine without him for all these years, and wasn't about to let him ruin her evening of networking, charming and possibly fighting.

As she dove into the crowd, she secretly allowed for the idea of him to show up, grab her arm, ask her to dance. To be his daughter.

She always had. She always would.

- india krigel -

Spitting image of a ghost with a pulse: Leo felt invincible that night, sliding across the floor in his new shoes. They were light and also tight in a way he couldn't explain, like wearing socks made of polished leather? Whatever. They had no grip which made them pretty useless in a pinch, but he could slide on the tile so, whenever he was sure no one was looking, he began to skid like a penguin slipping on ice.

After some time, he supposed it was time to join the party in the banquet hall; if his mother heard that he'd spent the entire evening in the foyer she might've shipped him off to the Capitol or something- she was always saying he was the dramatic one. Um, please. She screamed at him for everythinggggg. Oh, he slipped and accidentally broke a lamp? Well, that's basically the same thing as committing a murder! "I'VE TOLD YOU A THOUSAND TIMES TO STOP RUNNING UP THE STAIRS!" Never mind how he was doing- barely escaped with his life, mind you. That lamp weighed, like, two tons because it was some kind of dumb art thing she bought.

He peered in, buttoning his blazer- you're supposed to keep it buttoned when you stand, and unbuttoned when you sit. India was already mingling with the masses, talking to some old guy and actually managing to look like she wasn't ready to chop his head off. Not that that meant anything, she was still liable to do so at any moment, but for now he was comfortable enough to wait.

He hadn't yet caught sight of Arie with the Capitolites started herding to him. Spitting image of his father, dashing young fellow: "Of course I'll take a picture with you!" Desperate pigs, all of them. He was sixteen now, people talked to him a bit differently. A way that made him more uncomfortable than when they talked to him like he was still a baby, that was for sure. He smiled politely at them and ducked into the crowd as a measure of escape, before snagging a drink, tasting it- sip- and whispering a silent, "Yes! Alcohol!" to himself. He locked eyes with India, holding the drink up and sticking his tongue out with pride.

- leo krigel -

They didn't invite Marley.

It felt wrong, somehow. Like he didn't count and he guessed, by their measurements, he didn't. Couldn't go soiling the good name of such a long-respected person of authority now, could they? And as much as Mackenzie hated that Marley was not regarded as his sibling in the same way Maxine was, he was also grateful for it. Max was too old to be reaped when and if Mackenzie ever messed up. It didn't mean she was safe from the Capitol: no one ever was. But at least their hand would've been forced. It would have been public, word would get out. Hell, he wouldn't have been surprised if there was an uprising because of it. Marley got to be exempt from that, and so Mackenzie told himself that it was okay.

He put on a brave face and acted like Max should be excited. Her first time leaving District Seven, not that she ever would have wanted to leave one district just to show up in another, but still an experience unlike any she'd ever had before.

Maybe it was because he couldn't force himself to apologize to her. Her being invited was completely his fault. He knew it and she did just as well. When a person is reaped, it's easy to think of how hurt everyone would be if they died. And sure, a family would grieve and they would be forced to readjust and it would be hard. But then they would move on. Grow. No one ever thought about the punishments for living. No one ever thought about that.

When she squeezed his hand, he squeezed hers back and he smiled.

"Thank you," he whispered. For being my sister even in times like these. For putting on the dress and smiling for the cameras. For being here.

And then he let his hand fall back to his side.

"I'm gonna go find Teddy and Nico. Care to join me?"

He'd heard through the grapevine that they'd both be in attendance, but no word on Stella. He missed her a lot those days; the phone calls were less frequent, but he understood. Love and life have a tendency of taking up a lot of free time. Still. He had already made his mind up to ask Nico about her as soon as he got a second.

- mackenzie pryce -

"Oh Teddy," Lili sighed dreamily, pointing at everything they walked past. "Look!"

This moment's enrapture was the snowflakes that seemed to float from the ceiling. And then the next was the fancy Keeper uniforms. And the tiniest, littlest pastries. And her jewellery. Seven years had passed since her brother had won the games and he'd probably seen it all, but Lili was enchanted by what Two had to offer. How different it was from Six. How vibrant, how interesting, all the things worth leaving the house for now on display for her to drink up.

She giggled at the way champagne tickled the inside of her nose somehow and grinned at the thought of her sad, pathetic parents who had given up on Teddy, given up on this. Her dress matched the invitation they had sent her: gold. Glistening. On her wrists were rose gold bracelets that clanged every time she raised her glass to her lips and there were such fascinating people here with all sorts of different coloured hair and nails and eyelashes. One might not appreciate a girl from Six interrupting their conversation, but with every "Excuse me" Lili uttered, followed by a compliment or a question about how she too could have pink hair, the guests beamed and laughed and asked for her name.

Ursa, the most powerful thing she owned was her last name. "Lilibeth Ursa," she told them. "Teddy's sister."

Seventeen, just a sister, but she was proud nonetheless. She wore her name on her sleeve, not caring what it meant. Not worrying about who would be listening, writing it down, sending it back to the Capitol's powers that be. Lilibeth Ursa flitted through stranger after stranger and she loved every second of it, and they loved her. As if she belonged. She didn't, of course. Not really. But a girl could dream for a night.

Drunk on affection, she glistened with the lights and the jewellery and drank another, another, another, until she plopped onto a chair melded to her back and grinned into the night, dazed and adored.

- lili ursa -

It was around the time that Kieran heard the coughing of a small child that he decided whoever coined the term terrible twos deserved to be executed in a public and painful manner. His reasoning: it was not refined to the age of two, because his four year old was currently covered in something and looking at him like it was somehow someone else's fault. There was a big puddle on the floor, as well as a cup, because the sneaky little punk had inched his way back there with hopes of filling it up with enough chocolate to drink.

And he could tell, just by the face that Emerson was making, that he would start crying if Kieran even dared to raise his voice, and there were enough heads turned as it was. He hefted Elonna up onto his hip- thankfully this one was still small enough to prefer being carried to walking- then he grabbed Emerson by the hand without saying a word and escorted him to the bathroom, though he didn't know what could be done at that point. He was covered in chocolate, the entire front of his shirt stained brown.

"What happened?" Kieran asked, daring his son to lie.

"Uhh. Uhhh. I don't know."

"You don't know?"

He'd wet a towel and was trying, completely unsuccessfully, to clean Emerson's shirt.

"Uh... no! I tried to- I had the, uh- I saw that chocolate. And it just gotted all over me!"

"Yeah, okay pal. Well, it's not coming out."

By some miracle, his jacket was mostly clean, so he sat Elonna down and was in the process of taking Emerson's shirt off and turning it inside out when he noticed that the three of them were blocking the entrance and there were several people standing there waiting to get by. Most of them wore judgmental looks on their faces.

"What? Oh, like your kids are perfect?!" he called, moving further inside so that they could come in.

"Next time, I think we are gonna see if Auntie can keep you guys!" he said, which caused Elonna to perk up and start repeating the word Auntie, only it sounded like an-deh, over and over and over and over again.

"She's not here, Hun."

"Andeh Andeh Andeh-"

"Oh my god," he whispered.

- kieran emberstatt -