𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

●・○・●・○・●

It was a few days later when Juniper woke up in a blank empty white room when she realized she was the victor of the 69th Hunger Games.

She was strapped down to the bed in a hospital gown, she kicked the sheets off of her and realized the giant scar that was on her calf was now gone. A few scars on her arms were also completely gone. 

Juniper struggled against the restraints, wanting to get them off of her immediately. She only saw red, wanting to escape.

"Hey, hey!" She heard someones voice call to her, but she didn't care, she still struggled until she felt arms wrap around her. Her breathing calmed down and her vision came back to her, and she realized Finnick was in the room now- hugging her.

Amirah and Serenity were watching from the doorway with their hands covering their mouths.

"What happened?" Juniper's hoarse voice asked. "Where are we?"

"We're in the capitol, you won the games, dear." Serenity slowly walked to the girl. "You were starved and dehydrated, it's been a few days since you've won." 

Finnick finally let go of Juniper when her heart rate had completely calmed down, leaving a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm proud of you." Finnick said.

"I'm proud of you." Wade smiled, but that didn't take away the sadness in his eyes and the guilt from Juniper's heart.

"I'm not proud of myself." Juniper whispered. Nobody seemed to hear her. 

A hoard of peacekeepers walked in.

"What is this?" Amirah asked, being shoved out of the room with Serenity and Finnick. Finnick reached out for Juniper but the door was closed.

The restraints were removed from Juniper and she rubbed the marks left with her hands. 

"What's going on?" Juniper asked. 

"President Snow has requested your presence." Said one of the peacekeepers. The moment that was said, she was lifted up out of bed and forced out of the room. Their grip around her arms remained tight as they forced her to walk down the hall.

"I can walk myself!" Juniper yelled, being shoved down the hallway. They had let go of her after they had pushed her, but it remained silent amongst them.

Eventually, they opened double doors leading into another room. She stepped foot inside, and the doors slammed shut behind her. Making her jump slightly, but she took in the room. It was a bit more colorful than the last, but still nonetheless blank and empty.

"Mr. President." Juniper looked at the man who sat on the other end of the room. His chin rested on both of his hands, his elbows rested against his desk, and he was just staring at her.

"Miss Juniper. Wonderful to see you in such great shape." Snow smiled. Juniper just had on her hospital gown, she looked down at outfit and raised her eyebrows. 

"You can call me Ms. Plinth, please." Juniper had a blank face. Snow nodded after a moment of nothing.

"How did you enjoy the games?" His eyes never left her figure, his eyes always stayed interlocked with hers- which made her uncomfortable. She felt unsafe.

"How did you enjoy my song?" Juniper retaliated. "Give you any memories?"

Juniper smirked when she saw Snow's eye twitch, obviously hitting a nerve. He crossed his legs in his seat and released a deep sigh, leaning back in his chair. 

"Oft I heard of Lucy Gray..." Juniper sang lightly, making Snow tilt his head. She released a breathy laugh, tilting her head in return. Taking a few steps towards him. "I know you put the snakes in the arena on purpose. That's how her games went, right?" Juniper's outburst began, and Snow just watched.

"The game makers didn't gift me this bracelet, you did!" Juniper held up her wrist that the golden bracelet rested on. "That's why the snakes didn't attack me, they recognized the scent." 

"Ms. Plinth."

"I didn't understand it at first, but then I realized those snake mutts had an enhanced sense of smell. I read about it in the survival section. Nobody in that arena stood a chance. You cheated, why? Do you expect me to forgive you for everything you've done to my family? My grandfather?" Juniper raised her voice with every word, and Snow seemed to have no visual reaction.

Snow cleared his throat, cutting her off and Juniper backed up a few steps, realizing she was closer to Snow's desk. She ripped the bracelet off of her wrist and threw it on his desk. 

"I won't admit I cheated." His voice was low, looking at the gold jewelry laying in front of him. "But you know of Lucy Gray, your grandmother has told you stories, yes?"

"Don't bring her into this."

"She was brought into this the moment you sung... those songs... in that pub, Ms. Plinth." Snow stood up from his seat, he refused to say Lucy Gray's name. "The moment she taught you all of those songs, the moment she told you about your grandfather." 

"Why did you kill Sejanus Plinth?" Juniper questioned angrily.

Snow smiled. "I'm not getting much in return for this information."

"Give me answers and I'll think about giving you something in return." Juniper walked to his desk and hit her fists against it. "I'm not scared of you!" 

Snow took a deep breath. "He... was my best friend."

"Say his name!" Juniper yelled.

"Sejanus was a radical." Snow's voice raised, but he took his time with each word, sitting back down in his seat. "He was a danger to the capitol."

"He was your friend! He had your back, and you killed him." Juniper yelled. "He only ever wanted peace for this country, not all this killing."

"I could say the same about you. You turned on your friends, didn't you, Ms. Plinth?" Snow said. "You killed your career alliance, and the reason all the rest of your friends is dead is because of you. You didn't bother to help them. Their blood is on your hands."

"I couldn't help them." Juniper tried not to let Snow's words get to her, but it doesn't mean they weren't true.

"I'll tell you a story if we agree not to lie to each other." Snow smirked. 

"Why would I do that?"

"If you want your sister to live, I encourage you to accept my proposal"  

Juniper's heart shattered. 

Snow knew this entire time that her sister existed, and now he was going to use her life against Juniper. Juniper may not have been afraid of the old man in front of her, but she was certainly scared of what he could do.

Juniper dug her nails into her palm.

"You thought I wouldn't find out about her? Your mentor certainly has a loud mouth."

"Finnick told you?" Juniper's voice broke. Snow smiled, never taking his eyes off of her. Her sister was now in danger. Juniper was safe because she was a victor, but Lilo was not. "What do you want from me?"

"It seems your games has brought the thought of rebellion in the districts." Snow cleared his throat, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "You're now known as The Serpent, Ms. Plinth. People look at you for hope. I need that to be crushed."

"I didn't do anything to cause that. I was trying to survive." Juniper said. "I didn't want a rebellion, I wanted to live for my family."

"I believe you." Snow said. "But I need you to do a few things for me." 

Juniper stood silent in Amirah's dressing room, looking at herself in the mirror. She didn't recognize herself at first.

"Snow wanted you to wear this dress." Amirah sighed. "It's not my favorite, but you pull it off."

"I look good." Juniper said, picking up parts of her dress. It was a black scaled dress and the ruffles were green. Snow wanted to her completely embody her new nickname in the Capitol.

"Are you okay?" Amirah said, and Juniper looked at her with confusion.

"I'm doing great." Juniper spat, lying. 

Juniper had completely sold her talents to President Snow in exchange for her sister's safety and information about what had happened in the past. President Snow and the capitol wouldn't harm her sister as long as Juniper didn't fall out of line. 

She also had to show full support to the capitol. If she told anyone about the stories Snow told, he wouldn't hesitate to do something about it.

She looked at the golden bracelet on her wrist. The green gemstones for eyes seemed to look directly into her soul.

"This bracelet is something I had bought for her." Snow mentioned, picking up the bracelet she had thrown at him. "When she ran away from me, this was left behind."

The only reason Juniper had agreed to take the bracelet back is because it was the last thing left behind from Lucy Gray Baird.

"Ready for your coronation?" Amirah Belle said, finishing up her hair. Juniper hummed in response. "Are you sure you're alright?" 

"I'm wonderful, ready to greet the Capitol with open arms." Juniper put on a fake smile, worrying her stylist friend. 

Juniper stood next to Caesar on stage, waving to the crowd of Capitol citizens that sat before the two of them. She had been on stage for about a minute already, and they weren't able to get one word in due to all the applause.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome your victor of the 69th Hunger Games!" Caesar yelled into the microphone, and the applause only got louder. 

When they had eventually calmed down, Juniper sat down, crossing her legs and easing into the comfortable chair. 

"Juniper! How wonderful it is to see you again!" Caesar smiled. 

"It's a wonder to see you again Caesar, and all of you too!" Juniper smiled, looking at the audience, getting a few whistles. "It's an honor to be back here with all of you."

"Now, Juniper. We've all heard how you've gotten the famous nickname, The Serpent! What do you think about that?" Caesar asked. 

"Well, I think it's a deserved nickname. I don't know how I was able to survive without the help of the snakes in the arena."

"How did you befriend the snakes? Do you know?" Caesar asked. "It's just a bit crazy that the snakes attacked everyone besides you. And how a snakebite was left on all of your kills."

Juniper was a bit shocked, not knowing that last part. "I'm not sure why, I just remained calm and once I befriended one, the rest followed." Juniper just kept smiling and shrugged, not knowing how else to answer the question.

"You really are known as The Serpent now! Isn't she folks?" Caesar yelled, and the crowd whistled and applauded, cheering her new nickname. "Let's talk about your performance, you got five kills. If you count your army of snakes, you got a total of... eight!"

Juniper's heart dropped. She was blamed for the snakes killing her three friends on top of the cornucopia. It was her fault. 

"I needed to stay alive." Juniper said. 

"Did it hurt seeing your friends fall around you while you would stand and do nothing?" Caesar asked. Juniper's heart began racing. She looked in the front row to see Amirah giving her a small smile. She noticed Finnick in the corner of her eye.

"The districts are using your friendships as a mean for rebellion." Snow said.

"They were just my allies. It hurt seeing them go, but I needed to win." Juniper's heart shattered saying that.

"Well, look where you are now!" Caesar cheered. "Don't tell anyone I told you, but you're definitely one of our favorites." He began laughing along with the crowd.  "Before your coronation, I heard you have a special performance for us." He winked.

The crowd cheered and Juniper waved them off, but the sound of disappoint filled the room. 

"You did promise us a song if you returned!" Caesar said. "Didn't she?!" 

The crowd went crazy. "Well, I need a guitar." Caesar waved to the wings of backstage and a guitar was brought on and handed to Juniper, who rested it in her arms as she stood up.

She walked up to the center of the stage as Caesar sat and watched. She took a deep breath, looking at Finnick in the audience, who smiled at her, but she didn't smile back. She looked away.

"When I was a babe, I fell down in the holler... when I was a girl I fell into your arms."

●・○・●・○・●