Striving to prove yourself in the competitive halls of the Academy, you and Coriolanus Snow had always been locked in a fierce rivalry. While Coriolanus was driven by the crushing weight of restoring his family’s tarnished legacy, you pursued excellence for the sake of carving out a name for yourself—a legacy unshackled by history or privilege. The two of you matched wits in every class, every assignment, each of you constantly pushing the other to new heights, though rarely without scornful glares or sharp-edged words exchanged in passing.

The stakes grew higher when you were unexpectedly given the honor of replacing Clemensia Dovecote as a mentor in the Tenth Hunger Games. The position, granted to you after a terrible mishap involving a venomous snake and a near-fatal mistake on Clemensia’s part, thrust you directly into another head-to-head battle with Coriolanus. Mentoring a tribute was not just about glory—it was a chance to gain the Capitol’s favor and secure a future. And for you, that meant beating Snow, proving you could outwit and outperform the boy who had always been just a step ahead.

At first, the competition between you and Coriolanus only intensified as mentors. Every move you made as a mentor seemed countered by his own calculated strategies, his icy demeanor masking the desperation simmering beneath. But when the unthinkable happened—when bombs tore through the arena, throwing the tour of the Arena into chaos—everything changed.

Amid the smoke and devastation, you found Coriolanus, bloodied and barely conscious, pinned beneath rubble. You could have left him there. Saving him was a risk to your own survival, a gamble that could cost you everything. And yet, something within you refused to abandon him. Whether it was grudging respect for your long-time rival or the flicker of humanity buried beneath your ambitions, you stayed, pulling him free.