BET ON LOSING DOGS
Hunger Games, Will you let me lose

               SEPTIMUS
               I couldn't protect her. She went in front of me, it doesn't make sense. Why would she do that?

MAGNOLIA
You were made to kill, not to protect.

The dagger is in your hands, they don't need to ask me again;

                        This is you.
This is who you've always been.

                   This is the beginning. Septimus Crain embraces his father for the last time.

He can feel the cold embrace around his shoulders and the sudden breath of relief he lets out when his father lets go of him.

His father loved him like you love a crime scene before a crime is being committed. It was stirring in his mind, a wild anticipation of whom his son would grow to be. He hugged him goodbye before looking at his features with a more concern look. He looked nothing like him. In a few months, the images of his son would begin to blur until all that would remain was the idea of him being victorious.

Following the next two years, his father grew into a distinct memory. He soon became a stranger, a souvenir he could not hold unto. His arms grew more muscular and his mind more wary of strangers. Now, his hands were made to carry a weapon. His fingers would fold perfectly against the handle. He has not missed a throw since the age of twelve.

Here's something you should know: Septimus has been trained to win the Hunger Games. He knows fighting techniques in the back of his hand and he executes them with no inch of doubt. His hands have been forged to kill. Soon he will be a tribute, a victor.

Do you not see, son? The voice of his mentor would echo in his mind through a distant ringing. Everything you have learned has led you to this day. Everything you have endured, every fights you have won—

Every friends I have wounded.

Not your friends, Sept. He would throw his weapon for the boy to catch, his eyes bruised and shallowed. They were never your friends.

Septimus was twelve years old when he came to the realization that he would never know friendships of his own. Instead he grew up idolizing alliances formed in the arena. He was raised upon trusting his district partner so they could blindly follow each other in the arena. Then as the days would advanced in the games, one of them would be forced to leave the other and the alliance would end. It is the closest thing he would know to friendship, the closest bond to ever trusting a stranger.

The faces of his family had blurred long ago until all that remained were names being whispered on his tongue. Almost like foreign words he could not prononce.

Soon enough, the idea of home being a warm kitchen was replaced with a training center surrounded by racks of weapons. When Septimus closes his eyes and thinks of home, he smells cherries, sees the racetrack and Orion Blackbird running between the track limits.

               You will be a champion one day, the words of his mentor were sincere. Every members of the council within the Academy had faith in him. Septimus Crain was born to be a victor.

               The day does not come soon enough.

At sixteen years old, the day finally comes and Septimus is chosen to represent District Two in the 69th Hunger Games. He had been bathed in glory, they clung into him as a god to be worshipped. Then, she finally came in; Magnolia Cassidy.

Her name is sung like a chant, a prayer to kneel upon.

You have to kill her before she kills you, he reads out loud in the dark. A haunting echo leaving its trace in the training sessions. Their bruises are becoming more apparent as the deadline approaches.

It is in that moment he realizes she is only a stranger to him.

They'll ask you how well you know her.

Barely at all.

Who is she? There is it again. They will ask you the same question, this time they will whisper it in your ears as a tender prayer. Do you really know her?

You don't. (Soon enough you will know she is a murderer.)

Will Poulter  ✷  Septimus Crain
The Academy's champion / Seventh, restorative power

Anya Chalotra ✷ Magnolia Cassidy
The people's heart / Sacrifices and endurance

Froy Gutierrez  ✶  Jonas (D4)
As described  ✶  Orion Blackbird
Alex Høgh Andersen  ✶  Ivar Servina (Mentor)
Devon Loki  ✶  Isidore (Escort)
Mackenzie Foy  ✶  Willow (D8)
Cynthia Senek  ✶  Gloria

Author's note

⚔︎ I've been working on this story for almost two years now. I'm not sure how I feel about this synopsis but I like it better than the previous one. This story takes place during the 69th Hunger Games, therefore before Katniss and Peeta's story. I plan on making a book for Catching Fire if one day I manage to finish this part first. Also, English is not my first language. I apologize in advance for the mistakes.

⚔︎ Careers are known for volunteering to win the hunger games. Therefore, this book will contain a lot of violence. Septimus and Magnolia mean everything to me. They went through so many different versions and drafts of this story that I can't even keep count. This version is (not surprisingly) my favorite. I could literally talk about them for hours. I've been a fan of thg since I was about twelve years old and I'm afraid it will never go away.

i. Disclaimers: I do not own the Hunger games. All rights go to Suzanne Collins. I only own my original characters and the plot around them.

          ii. Content warnings: violence, gore, character death (children included), mental and physical abuse, mental illness, descriptions of substance abuse, alcohol addiction, unhealthy family dynamics, abandonment, malnutrition, post traumatic actions, depression.

          iii. This is dedicated to mazernrs girlcanines finalghouls  uItrons duaIism  siriussllyjoking discobell alvezlqvr TheDarkFlame jeangreys

⚔︎ Special mention to Verena thank you for listening to me rant about them, you might be the main reason I haven't given up on this story yet.

Bet on Losing Dogs,      Will you let me lose