A/N: So yeah. Another story. I know, I know, Tracee, you're piling too much onto yourself. This, Oceanside, and 500YOP! My! But this idea has been knocking around in my head for the better part of two weeks, and it won't leave me alone, so here is the beginning. And Oceanside's almost at the Final 8, so that should be over in a few weeks. Oh, and no, this is not another SYOT, and it might be related to 500YOP, not sure yet. Enjoy, and expect sporadic updates. Oh, and, just so you know, by this time there is an Academy in every District, so there will be at least 2 or 3 Careers from all of the Districts :)
Sonoma Taverns, 23, Capitol Socialite and cousin of President Florian Coppers
I pulled back my midnight black hair into a high ponytail, making sure every flawless, smooth strand was tucked underneath the stretchy black hair band. Already, my makeup artist, an older woman who used to be part of District 8's Prep Team, started applying foundation. Octavia was older and had lost all of her beauty, but she still could apply makeup like she was still 21. Different shades and layers formed on my face, covering the small, disfigured scar on my upper lip, the small blemishes and acne scars on my cheeks and forehead. My already beautiful face was transformed. She applied coppery eye shadow and thick mascara before dusting my cheeks lightly with sparkly pink blush. Light pink lipstick was applied heavily to my lips.
I slipped out of the spinning, cushioned black chair and looked at my reflection. Standing at only five feet tall, I looked dangerous and beautiful. My tight, knee length coppery bronze dress showed of my curves nicely. Octavia slid clunky beige pumps onto my feet, and then brass rings onto several of my fingers. She carefully set a complex bronze necklace around my head, letting it fall a small distance to the base of my neck. I adjusted it to my liking, and then I snatched up a tan colored wristlet, which I filled with cash, my caller, and some regurgitating medicine in case I decided to have more than one meal tonight.
Octavia helped me out of my penthouse and into the elevator. It slid down thirteen stories to the ground level. The doors slid smoothly open, and I strutted out, as stunning as usual, if not more so. The bellhop stared a little too long at me as he held the doors out into the streets open.
A stretch limousine waited outside, and inside were six of my favorite party friends. The bellhop opened the door for me, and I took a seat inside the long, sleek black car. The driver revved the engine to life, and I squealed as we shot down the street and did a sharp, exciting turn.
"Sonoma!" Chara, my friend, yelled excitedly. We hugged tightly. She was dressed in earthy tones; it suited her curvy frame and light brown hair nicely.
"We just opened a bottle of champagne, darling," Russet said, and I swooned. Russet leaned over and kissed me hard on the lips before pouring me a glass of champagne. My fiance, Russet was smart, charming, and very, very handsome. He was the Victor of the 497th Hunger Games, from District 1.
Our four other party friends greeted me. Albia, Tiberius, Junia, and Sergia all drank heavily from their champagne glasses, like the rest of us, until the limo pulled up at our destination. The Presidential Palace.
Lights glowed, music blared, glasses clinked, and people danced. It had been 10 months since the 499th Hunger Games, where a unique, albeit confusing twist was presented. Only one tribute from every District entered the Games, and the Reaping Balls for both genders were mixed into one. This was a subtle hint I'd caught onto; if they lowered the tribute numbers in the 499th Hunger Games, surely more than 24 tributes would be entering the Games in the 500th.
All seven of us emptied out of the limousine, and then it swerved away, driving into the shadows of the night. Russet clasped my arm tightly to his chest, helping me walk up the steps into the Presidential Palace. Our friends congregated behind us, laughing, already a little bit tipsy from the two bottles of champagne we drank in the limo. I, in fact, was a little drunk already myself.
We found our dining table, near the stage where President Coppers would present the 20th Quarter Quell twist. I was his cousin, and Russet was a Victor, so we and our friends got prominent placing at the get together.
On stage sat the Victor of the 499th Hunger Games and President Coppers' wife and two sons. The lights dim, and President Coppers strutted onto the stage, grinning handsomely, an envelope marked with a silver 500 grasped tightly in his hands.
Iria Axelle, 14, Victor of the 499th Hunger Games, District 6
How had I prevailed, you might ask? How did a 13 year old girl outwit 11 others?
It was rather easy.
There were Careers from 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, and 10 that year. We arose in a small forest arena, nothing new, nothing special. They didn't want the Games before the coveted Quell to overshadow it. The Careers killed the boy from 3, the girl from 7, the girl from 9, the boy from 11, and the girl from 12 in the bloodbath, and forgot about me. The boy from 1 killed the girl from 8, and the boy from 10 killed the boy from 2 before they all went their separate ways. Day 2, the girl from 4 was killed by mutts. Days 3 and 4, deathless. Day 5, the boy from 10 was killed by the girl from 5. Day 6, all three of us were pushed to the Cornucopia by flames. The girl from 5, badly singed, was easily speared by the boy from 1, but she put up a fight at the last second, slashing open his stomach. He heard her cannon, but not the trumpets signaling his Victory, and he started screaming, asking why he wasn't the Victor. Then I climbed out of the bushes, smiling, and he remembered me, and then I tried not to puke as I shoved my dagger into his neck, killing him.
I was one of the youngest Victors ever. There'd been three other 13 year old Victors; Luissa Germaine of District 3, during the 150th Hunger Games (the twist was that tributes were aged 12 and 13), Symone Truette of District 12, during the 234th Hunger Games, and Ventrin Kolasii of District 4, during the 451st Hunger Games. There had also been a 12 year old Victor, Rue Crimmond of District 11, during the 74th Hunger Games.
I knew I had gotten off easy. My parents still acted like I was a child, and they forbade me from moving into the Victor's Village. They didn't want me to start morphling like our three other Victors: Nadia, who won the 451st, Greasa, who won the 470th, and Axel, who won the 482nd. Not that I needed morphling. I rarely had nightmares. I truly had gotten off easy.
President Coppers began to list of the 19 previous Quells in rapid fashion, so the audience would not become supremely bored.
"For the First Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes that who would represent it."
"For the Second Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that 2 rebels died for every Capitol citizen, twice the number of tributes were Reaped."
"For the Third Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that the Capitol can be generous and kind, dead tributes from previous Games were Reaped and brought back to life."
"For the Fourth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that the Capitol can change the rules, no Victor was allowed that year. At the end, though, to show rules can be changed and that the Capitol has mercy, the final tribute was saved and named Victor."
"For the Fifth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that the upper 6 Districts proved more loyal than the lower 6 Districts, yet still have to pay, 4 tributes were Reaped from Districts 1-6."
"For the Sixth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that even the youngest cannot escape the Capitol's power, the tributes were ages 12 and 13."
"For the Seventh Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that the upper 6 Districts that they were more loyal than the lower 6 Districts and shall be rewarded, 4 tributes were Reaped only from Districts 7-12."
"For the Eighth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that no one can escape the Capitol, there was no age limit, though children 8 or younger and seniors 70 or older were not added out of pity."
"For the Ninth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that one District was demolished while the rest were left to prosper, all the tributes were chosen from one randomly chosen District; District 10."
"For the Tenth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that the final battle where the Capitol won lasted 39 days, 39 tributes will be Reaped, regardless of District or gender. No volunteering will be allowed."
"For the Eleventh Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that when they broke the bond with the Capitol and made a bad mistake, two pairs of twins from each District will be Reaped, and if one twin dies, their bond breaks and the other twin will die, while the winning twins will both be crowned Victor."
"For the Twelfth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that many women lost their lives in the rebellion involuntarily, the tributes will be all female, and no volunteering will be allowed."
"For the Thirteenth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that many men lost their lives in the rebellion involuntarily, the tributes will be all male, and no volunteering will be allowed."
"For the Fourteenth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that even those closest to fame and power cannot escape the Capitol, the tributes, ages 10 to 30, will be in some way related to a past Victor."
"For the Fifteenth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that the Capitol dictates what happens in the Games and in Panem, the Capitol chooses what will happen in the arena and who will live and who will die."
"For the Sixteenth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that certain groups of people are luckier than others, each District will Reap a number, from one to twelve, and and whatever number is Reaped, that is how many tributes will be supplied. Tributes were chosen from a mixed, single Reaping Ball."
"For the Seventeenth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that wrong doers are punished and punished more, the tributes, ages 16 to 35, were criminals or Avoxes."
"For the Eighteenth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that not every District was the same in the rebellion, females were Reaped from the odd Districts, and males were Reaped from the even Districts."
"For the Nineteenth Quarter Quell, as a reminder to the rebels that the Capitol could leave them helpless at any time and in total anarchy, there will be no volunteering, no supplies in the Cornucopia, and no sponsors."
"And now, for our 20th Quarter Quell."
I turned my attention to President Coppers' hands as he ripped open his envelope.
"As a reminder to the rebels that the rebellion caused mass deaths at different times, the Hunger Games this year will have 3 parts. The first part, called the Preliminaries, will be where each District provides 24 tributes, 12 male, 12 female. They are paired with another District to make a Games with 48 tributes, and the Top 12 of each of those Games heads to the Semi-Finals. At the semifinals, the Top 12 of 3 of the Preliminaries will be put into a Games, and the Top 12 of 3 of the other Preliminaries will be put into another Games, both having 36 tributes. The Top 12 of each of these Games will be placed in the Finals, where 24 tributes will battle it out, and one Victor will arise, Victorious, having survived 3 consecutive Hunger Games."
I was stunned into silence, just like the Capitol crowd and all of Panem. So many deaths. I quickly did the math in my head. 288 tributes...I gulped. Thank the heavens, I thought. Thank the heavens I'd been picked last year and had won and was safe from this devastating Quell.
"Oh, and one last thing; since these Games are so rigorous, and so much life will be lost, the Capitol will provide the Victor's District with 10 years of extra supplies, and they will be exempt from the 501st thru the 505th Hunger Games. Any District that gets a tribute into the Final 8 of the Finals receives a year of extra supplies, and the District with the most tributes in the Finals receives another year of extra supplies."
At least there were some benefits. But still. 24 from every goddamn District. 288 children. 287 of them would die. One would survive. It would go from 288, to 72, to 24, and then to 1. I wouldn't be surprised if the survivor committed suicide or died of drug overdose soon after this nasty Games, this ugly Quell.
"The first pair of Districts to face off in two months will be..." President Coppers trailed off as he pulled two slips out of a miniature Reaping Ball.
"Districts 8 and 12!" President Coppers exclaimed, holding up the neat pieces of paper, a gold 8 on one, a gold 12 on the other.
"Have a good night, Panem," President Coppers said, his fake smile twitching as the cameras shut off.
A/N: Yep. 288 tributes. I know, I know, this is SO ambitious and all. It actually is, and I'm going to do it. You know me; I do an SYOT and a story about the first 500 Hunger Games at the same time, and now this. Ambitious is practically my middle name. Don't worry though, I'll get it done.
I'm sorry to announce that I will be postponing my second SYOT, at least for a while. SYOTs are too stressful at this point in my life, after several things have popped up to stress me out and limit my time. This story will be updated whenever possible after I finish my SYOT, and this story will become my focus after Oceanside is wrapped up. This story isn't the reason I'm postponing my next SYOT, this is just something easier to write than an SYOT. I change my mind a lot so a SYOT may come out soon :). But when that story comes out, I won't be leaping right into it and updating every other day. Just a notification.
If this is released with another chapter or two, it is because I didn't want to post the first chapter and leave everyone hanging for a while. I really hope you decide to stick around and read about the slaughter of 287 kids. I'm superbly cruel. Panem is lucky I am not a real Gamemaker, or the Games would be even worse than they were. Hehe.
Anyway, ignore my insanity. I really hope you enjoyed this and are ready to go through bunches of Hunger Games (9 to be exact) with me and our 288 tributes.
P.S. Thanks, meaperson1, for letting me use your a few of your great Quell ideas! Oh, and so it is clear, Rue won the 74th Games, so the 3rd Quarter Quell twist had to be changed and the Games continued.
P.P.S. Some of the QQ ideas above are so great, I might just write some of them in the future! (More ambition, piling on...)
Until next time,
Tracee
