TW: Mild descriptions of physical ab*se. Please take care of yourself first, I will happily give a summary, just reach out to me on FFN or discord. I love you all

*This prologue takes place in between the 94th and 95th Hunger Games*

Nausicaa Halcyone doesn't sleep.

At least, not intentionally. These days, she stumbles around her home in Victor's Village with a bottle in her hand, drinking until she collapses in some obsolete corner of the house. These blackout moments are the only rest she gets, but it's never enough. She could sleep- if she tried. But normal sleep gives her nightmares. Nightmares of the District Four kids that will never come home.

The first few years after Nausicaa's victory of the 89th Hunger Games, she was the assigned mentor of all District Four females. The first four years, her assigned tributes showed her no respect. Many of them trained alongside her prior to her volunteering. All of them despised all of the attention and praise Nausicaa continued to receive, and they were not afraid to admit it. After a lifetime of being praised, she struggled with the shift to being looked down on. Young, naive Nausicaa.

And by the time she was finally older than her tributes, she had found the bottle. It took complaints from both tributes and the male mentor, Chryss Baratos, to have Nausicaa replaced with Kate Wakai. She hardly noticed. She definitely didn't care. It didn't help that her best friend, Aleida Edevane, also enjoyed liquor and pills. Whenever they were in the Capitol together, well, they hardly remembered their time.

The added pressure from the Capitol didn't help. As soon as Nausicaa was eighteen, they wanted nothing more than Nausicaa to provide them with an offspring. The city wanted more than anything than to revel in the child of Panem's first 13 year old victor. Especially after she found love that same year.

A boy, Marius, a year older than her. She learned of him while he was in training to volunteer for the 94th Hunger Games. But he was beaten out by another boy, a name that didn't stick with Nausicaa. As Marius' parents ostracized him for failing them, he found solace with Nausicaa, who was ostracized her own family. A family who didn't understand why the Nausicaa that returned from the arena wasn't the same Nausicaa that returned. Nausicaa helped Marius find his own calling, fishing in the ocean surrounding the beautiful district. Nausicaa fell for him quickly. The rumors of pregnancy spread rapidly. A child that was never born.

Well, it almost did in her early twenties. She found herself pregnant with her fiance's child. A dream of his, Nausicaa was certain. But not her own. New nightmares plagued her mind, of her son or daughter volunteering at the age of 12, to beat their mother's set record. No, Nausicaa couldn't have this child. So she made sure no one found out about the pregnancy.

Marius was kind, gentle, and never judged Nausicaa, at least not openly. Not for her upbringing, nor her actions in the arena, nor her attitude towards trainees or Capitol citizens or other mentors. He rarely showed any disagreement with her drinking. Maybe it was because when she was with him, she drank less. Or maybe because he refused to see what he didn't like. Too late, he realized how far she had sunk. And he couldn't keep up.

So Nausicaa continued living alone, enjoying her time with Aleida in the Capitol, drinking their way through life. Ignoring the pains in her heart and her abdomen. Heartache, alcohol poisoning, she doesn't care.

When she dies, she just wants it to be fast.

Little does she know, what's coming will be way worse than death.

Aleida Edevane couldn't see.

Not that there was anything for him to see. At the age of 17, he had seen it all. Going through the arena and living to tell the tale, he killed. He loved. He lost.

A volunteer that took the Capitol by storm, victor of the 88th Hunger Games. He didn't intend to come back. But he found a reason.

Alvin gave him that reason. A boy reaped from District Three that Aleida unintentionally allied with. It wasn't a perfect alliance, but they ended up bonding. Alvin taught Aleida more in a week than anyone else could in a year.

Alvin gave him a glimpse into the future. Aleida was going blind, thanks to his juvenile glaucoma. Alvin was blind, born blind. If Alvin had survived, maybe their alliance could have turned into something more. But that's not the nature of the Games.

Aleida was so mad that the Capitol reconstructed his eyes after they took him out of the arena. He felt as if he let his friend down. He had to threaten multiple lives, including his own, in order for them to return Alvin's cane to him.

Returning home was hard. His brother, Esch, was still angry at him for volunteering. His dad wouldn't speak to him- not that Aleida wanted to speak to his father- but his brother's silence hurt him a lot.

Aleida was no stranger to drugs and alcohol, and it didn't take long for him to fall back into that lifestyle. After a few years, it became common for young men and women to flock to the young victor's house to spend a night with him. And when he was in the Capitol, the story was the same.

At least the drugs were higher quality there.

Aleida didn't expect to find solace with another victor, let alone a Career. But Nausicaa Halcyone proved him wrong.

He paid her no mind when she volunteered. He paid her no mind during training. And when his tribute died during the bloodbath during her games, he turned his focus back to his shenanigans.

It was only when she won did he realize how broken she had become. Something that wasn't unique to her, per say, but less seen in Career victors. And no one was sympathetic. So Aleida was.

Nausicaa didn't open up to Aleida immediately. She didn't even speak to him for quite some time. But she kept him around for the liquor he always had on him. The first time she did speak to him, she was slightly inebriated.

But their friendship worked. And it was a closer companionship than simply just getting drunk or high together. Nausicaa's family pressured her to volunteer and has been disappointed in her massive personality shift since returning home. Aleida's family was betrayed by him volunteering. Returning home didn't alleviate those feelings. The two of them had no one- except each other.

It might not be a healthy pair, but they don't care. As long as they have each other, they'll be some semblance of okay.

*A few minutes after the end of the 95th Hunger Games*

Damn. I thought she had a chance. Nausicaa watches as Marissa falls dead to the ground, ax embedded in her neck by the boy from Six. The boy who Nausicaa hasn't seen much of lately, actually. Took out both tributes from Nausicaa's district. She wasn't all that upset when Taliesin fell; Nausicaa didn't think the Capitol would want him to win anyway.

Oh well. Another year, another failure. Not that a crowned victor would necessarily feel "victorious." They could end up very much like herself. Forgotten, shamed, . She made history, sure, but now they're happier to forget she ever existed.

Nausicaa's eyes start to drift shut, an effect of being curled up on the couch, body covered by the comfort of a fuzzy blanket. It'll either be him or the other Career…what's her name?

Silence. Her eyes open fully as the TV goes black. She leans forward to pick up the remote when the face of the announcer replaces the black.

"We will be back shortly." Her face is quickly replaced with a rerun of the fight between Conrad and Taliesin. A fight Nausicaa doesn't really care to watch again.

Nausicaa is confused. Was Tatiana crowned victor? Was Conrad? Marissa wasn't, that's for sure. Nausicaa is sure that Kate, and District Four in whole, isn't too pleased about that. She couldn't really care.

The phone rings. Nausicaa lets it. One, two, three rings pass before it stops. The silence is short lived. Then, the ringing returns.

Fine. She kicks the blanket off and trudges over to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Nausicaa." She barely recognizes the familiar voice of her best friend. Has she ever heard him panic?

"Aleida? What's wrong?" Now it's her turn to start worrying.

"Are you watching the Games?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I was. What happened?" Nausicaa glances back towards the television. The old fight is still playing.

"I don't know, I don't know. I can't get ahold of Kate, or anyone in the Capitol. Nausicaa, they've never delayed a Victor announcement."

"Okay, take a breath. I'm sure there's an explanation. Maybe there was a glitch. Go find a Gamemaker or something."

"Nausicaa." Aleida snaps through the phone. The ambience of the Capitol roars louder and louder behind him.

"I'm just saying-"

"And I'm telling you, I think we're in danger." He must turn his head away from the phone, because she struggles to make out the last word. Or maybe it's just a word she doesn't particularly enjoy hearing.

"I think you're being dramatic. Like always-" Nausicaa stops. Through the phone line, she can hear new voices in the background. Voices yelling, Aleida yelling back.

"Aleida?" His phone clatters to the ground with a loud clatter, causing Nausicaa's heart to jump. There's another impact, another scream from her best friend. Impact, impact, impact.

"Aleida!" The line is cut. Silence echoes through the receiver. She can't stop her hand from shaking as she slowly lowers it back into the holder.

A car pulls up in front of her house. Bright lights blind her through the blackout curtains that cover all glass openings. She's dizzy, panic settling in faster than she can register the situation. A series of footsteps echo throughout the large, empty house settled in the back of Victor's Village.

Screams from her neighbor, Chryss, snap her into action. She bolts upstairs just as the first BANG cracks her own door.

Into a guest room. She cracks the door and crawls under the bed as the front door splits from the pressure.

The footsteps are now inside, and someone's shouting her name. She covers her mouth as the shadows inch up the stairs.

More screams from Chryss. She closes her eyes, releasing the tears down her cheek.

The heavy boots on the wood creak around Nausicaa's head. They must be in the guest room. She can't distinguish the chatter. She's too focused on not dying.

Then there's an arm pulling at her own and she's screaming as her body's being dragged out from under the bed.

"Let me go!" Nausicaa kicks and flails but the sheer number of Peacekeepers overwhelm her in an instant. One gets her hands behind her back and drag her back down the stairs. She doesn't go without a fight, that's for damn sure.

She's shoved back into the center of her living room, face to face with an older Peacekeeper, the only one with his mask off. He's leaning against her couch, arms crossed.

"I'm only going to ask once. And I want you to think about your answer before you give it to me. We can leave you to your business. Or we can do a whole lot worse." Nausicaa's fists clench as the old man's voice rattles her brain.

"Where is Kate Wakai? Remember, think about your answer-"

"How the fuck would I know?" Nausicaa doesn't need to think about her answer. What's there to think about?

The peacekeeper shakes his head and rubs his temple. From behind, a sharp pain shoots through Nausicaa's lower back. She falls back to her knees, realizing one of the peacekeepers slammed their rifle into her back.

"I thought you would cooperate. I'm disappointed." He walks towards the door. Nausicaa's eyes follow him, until another rifle slams into the side of her temple.

She blacks out before she hits the ground.

Two months later

Aleida sits in the corner of his small, metal room. There's a mattress in the corner across from him, along with a toilet across from him that only flushes half the time. Once a day, a peacekeeper will slide a metal tray of trash they call "food" under his door, along with a bottle of water.

If there were a mirror, Aleida doesn't think he would recognize himself. He doesn't even know how much weight he's lost since he's been captive in the Capitol. He's bloodied and bruised, random aches of pain reminding him of what's to come. Withdrawals are hitting harder than expected. His hands will shake for no reason, his head will pound, he'll sweat while shivering, and his nightmares, well, he didn't think they could get any worse.

Rebellion. Kate. Tatiana. Conrad. Over and over, the Gamemakers will interrogate him about it. Every time, he will insist he doesn't know a single thing. The truth. Yet they either don't believe him or don't care.

He knows they have a handful of other Victors too. He hears their faint screams throughout the day and night. Whatever is happening, Aleida has never seen the Capitol so afraid of it.

From his hours in interrogation, he's learned a few things. One, whatever happened at the end of the 95th Hunger Games both surprised and upset the Capitol. It seems like an underground rebel group broke into the arena and took Tatiana and Conrad out. Aleida believes the Capitol has Darrah; he's heard her name whispered from a few guards. But he doesn't think she's being held in captivity like he is. No, they wouldn't torture the only tribute they have left. At least, not physically.

Aleida does know Nausicaa is here. He's seen glimpses of her, heard her voice echoing through the halls. And knowing that hurts more than the physical pain. Aleida has known Nausicaa for almost a decade, he knows how much she's hurting without Capitol intervention. He can't imagine her fear, her pain. She's already suffered enough at the hands of the Capitol. How can they justify torturing her any longer?

God, how long are they going to hold us here? Aleida doesn't want to imagine another hour in this stupid room, knowing his fellow victors are suffering directly beside him. There's no way the Capitol actually thinks any of them have knowledge they're not giving up at this point. So they must have something else planned for them.

Whatever it is, Aleida hopes his suffering ends soon.

Welcome to my newest SYOT, Extinguished! This story will take place 15 years after the end of Town of Shade, my last SYOT and collab with Nautics. There will be three or four prologues introducing the victors of my verse, and to start us off we have Aleida Edevane and Nausicaa Halcyone! Both of these lovely characters were created during SYOT Verses annual victor exchange. If you're not apart of the Verses Discord, PM me for an invite! It's where I'll be tracking interest/subs and where you'll get all the juicy updates on my SYOT.

A big thank you to goldie031, rising-balloons, and Nautics for beta'ing!

Thank you for your support, and may the odds be ever in your favor!