Chapter: The Odds Weren't in Favor
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The sun was starting to rise.
First rays of the sun casted across the ocean waters of District 4. It caused the surface of the water to sparkle as if someone poured a dust blanket of diamonds over the deep blue water.
Built on the waterfront were shacks that were constructed with thick wood from the inland. Docks were all across the water, connecting to each other to lead to different areas. Some houses were built on the water, but slightly hover over the water on support beams.
It was a beautiful area by the sapphire color water and the beach had soft light tan sand. Palm trees were here and there along the beaches, against some houses and some used for collecting coconuts. During sunrises and sunset, it was always a breathtaking sight to behold even if they lived in a world where there was bloodshed.
District 4 was known as the fishing industry district since it was on the ocean coast. The residents were known as skilled fishing individuals, but also, skilled with whatever had to do with the water. Whether it is swimming, diving, fishing, making hooks and spears, District 4 residents were excellent when it came to the water.
The bloodshed part came in because District 4 was a part of the other Districts in Panem. There was twelve districts altogether—used to be thirteen. The bloodshed was the Hunger Games.
The Hunger Games that were enforced every year on the districts for the Capitol entertainment. How the Games got started? How did it form?
The Hunger Games was formed because the story was that thirteen districts had been formed in Panem. Not wanting to be ruled under the Capitol anymore, they decided to go against the Capitol. In the end, they had lost, especially when District 13 was destroyed. The District was known for its nuclear, its technology and mining graphite. Once that district was gone, the Capitol ended the battle.
Though the war had ended, Capitol wanted to punish the Districts for their rebellion. Thus, the Hunger Games was formed to punish the Districts and a reminder of why they were being punished.
The Hunger Games was where every year a boy and a girl ranging from twelve years old to eighteen were chosen from each district. There would be twenty-four in total from all the Districts—unless it was a Quell then it was doubled. Once chosen, they were brought to the Capitol where for a week they are pamper and trained to enter the arena that the Gamemakers designed and constructed for them to fight in. Once in the arena, it was fight to the death until only one was left standing. There they would be known as the Victor of their District. All the while that this was all happening, the Capitol people watched this as entertainment. While the other Districts that watch it as a form of punishment and will always remember why there were the Hunger Games in the first place.
Today, the start of the 52nd Hunger Games will be happening.
First the Reaping Ceremony will be taking place to choose the two tributes from each District.
The reaping ceremony was early today and that was were boys and girls ranging twelve through eighteen have to go check themselves in with the Peacekeepers. There their names were on paper slips and put into two bowls—one for boys and one for girls. As the years go on, more slips would be added to the bowl. A twelve year old only gets one slip put into the bowl while an eighteen year old already has seven to eight slips in it. Sometimes, more slips were added in if that boy or girl requested some sort of extra food or supplies for their household. Their payment was more of their name slips added to the bowl. At times, there were volunteers, which was usually the Career Districts. Districts 1, 2 and 4 were known as the Career Districts, but mostly 1 and 2 were the Districts to volunteer as they were the ones to specifically train for the Games.
At the moment, eighteen year old Reyna Brines was deep underwater near her home and was swimming to the bottom. She grabbed hold of a rock to hold her down as she quickly grab hold of the crabs trying to scurry away from her.
Snatching them up with quick hands, Reyna stuffed them into a wire netting connected to her belt. When she felt her lungs tightening up with need of oxygen, Reyna pushed herself off the sandy floor and swam up to the surface.
A deep inhale entered her mouth and she turned her head to the docks that were near her to see a small group of kids.
"You almost stayed underwater for two minutes! That's amazing!"
The years of growing up near the water, Reyna was in the water a very young age. A lot of District 4 children were put in the water immediately, and at a young age they learned to swim and learned about the ocean. As she grew, Reyna always tested her limits to see how long she could last underwater.
"Told you she's good!"
Reyna laughed at the little boy with messy dirty blonde hair crossed his arms over his chest and gave the other kids that surrounded him, a smug smirk.
"Leo, enough."
The five year old boy whirled around to stare at Reyna climbing up the wood ladder and she stepped up onto the dock.
"But Reyna—"
Placing her hand on top of his head, she rubbed the top of his head causing his messy blonde hair to go everywhere. The other children giggle as Leo tried to slap her hand away, but she obvious stronger than him.
"Reyna! You have to get ready!"
Reyna looked to her home where her mother was waving at her. She sighed and looked back at the small group of children that always liked to hang around Reyna as she had that personality that was caring. Though, she could be very strict when she wanted to be, especially when it came to getting down to business.
"Reyna, is this your last year for the reaping?"
"Yeah, it is. See you guys later." Reyna winked at them as she walked away while unhooking the metal netting off her belt.
When she entered the house, Reyna could feel the tense air. Her mother laid out a teal V-neck dress for her. Reyna washed first to get the saltwater off her skin and hair before she pulled on the dress that hugged her slender body. Her mother zipped it up the back and Reyna then pulled on flats.
Reyna faced her mother and they stared one another in the eyes. Matching color mossy green color eyes. Her mother, Ambrosia pressed her lips on Reyna's forehead then stepped back with unshed tears.
The reaping was one of the scariest moments for a parent. To watch their children go through the ceremony and praying their child didn't get picked for the Hunger Games.
When it was close to eight, Reyna made her way out of the house and she walked across the sandy beach toward the mayor's home where the Peacekeepers used the open area on the side of the mayor's home as the area for the reaping ceremony.
Checking in, Reyna moved to the spot near the back as the rows went youngest in the front to oldest in the back. Reyna eyes flicker around to see how stiff everyone was. She shut her eyes and listen to the ocean that was behind them. The sound of the water splashing against the beach edge then being sucked back into the ocean before going through the same cycle again.
The escort for District 4, Quinn came forward to the microphone with a bubbly look. Excitement clear across his face.
Reyna just ignored the usual speech that Quinn made about the reason behind the Hunger Games. She only paid back attention when Quinn began the drawing of the names. The males went first.
"Zane Ruins."
A small skinny boy with short light brown hair and muddy brown eyes slowly moved out of the row where it was thirteen year olds. He slowly crept up the stairs where Quinn took him by the shoulder and dragged him over to the microphone before letting him go. Next Quinn went to the female bowl and he took his sweet time twirling his hand around inside the glass bowl.
Time went slow as Quinn stepped back up to the microphone and open up the slip of paper.
"Reyna Brines."
She sworn her heart stopped.
A buzzing sound came into her ears and it blocked all sounds around her. She couldn't hear the relaxing waves of the ocean anymore. Everyone turn to look at her as she stood there with a blank expression.
Many stared at her with pity and sadness as they never want someone to go to the Hunger Games. But also, Reyna was known around their District as a compassionate young lady who lends a helpful hand whenever needed.
"Reyna Brines." Quinn called out again.
The buzzing slowly disappeared from within her ears and she could hear again. She slowly made her way out of the row and began the dreadful walk toward the stage where Quinn was widely smiling upon the sight of her. Peacekeepers appeared on either side of her as they made sure that she did no funny business on her way to the stage or try to escape.
On the stage, Quinn grabbed her by the hand and stared into her eyes.
"Well, aren't you a beauty." He said lowly making her to stare over his shoulder at Mags, who was the mentor for District 4.
The older woman, who was the victor of the 11th Hunger Games. She was always quiet and not anyone has ever heard her speak. She stared at Reyna was sadness and her fragile hands came up to rest over her mouth to hide her frown.
"Here are your tributes. Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor." Quinn happily said before he dragged the two tributes away.
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Reyna stood in a middle of a room looking out at the ocean. When the door open up behind her, she whirled around to see her mother and her father entered. They ran up to Reyna before she could move and hugged her closely to them.
The Brines family shared their tears together as they held each other close.
Reyna's mother Ambrosia had to let go and step away to bury her face into her hands while Reyna's father, Caius hugged her close in a tight bear hug.
At that moment, hearing her parents crying and not wanting to let her go, Reyna arms tighten around her father.
"I will be back."
"You better be." Caius mumbled into her dark brunette hair before he laid his lips on the top of her head.
The Peacemakers soon entered the room and escorted her parents out of the room. A peacemaker stayed behind to lead Reyna to a shiny sleek silver train. On entering, Reyna froze as she stood in the doorway of what appeared to be the sitting and dining area.
"Oh, come in, come in. Don't stand there like a scared cat." Quinn waved his hands about for Reyna to come sit down with a visibly shaking Zane.
The comment made Reyna to bite her tongue from saying a snippy comment at Quinn. It was a no brainer of why she was frozen, but obviously Quinn was a Capitol resident. He saw the Hunger Games as entertainment while the Districts saw it as a harsh punishment. It was an execution for the hell of it.
When a gentle hand was placed on her right shoulder, Reyna jumped and turned her head to see it was Mags. The older woman slid her hand off of Reyna's shoulder and grabbed her hand to lead her over to the seats.
Once again that buzzing sound came into Reyna's ears as she stared down at her lap when the train began to move. It would be a short trip since District 4 was right next to the Capitol.
"…eyna…Reyna!"
Snapping out of her daze state, Reyna looked up from her lap to see everyone staring at her.
"Huh? What was said?"
"We will be arriving in fifteen minutes. Be prepared." Quinn told her, frowning a bit as he saw how Reyna wasn't showing any emotions.
In Quinn's eyes, Reyna was the perfect candidate to be a victor this year. He knew she would get sponsor because of her natural looks. She was eighteen years of age and was developing into a young woman. Plus, he had heard through rumors Reyna was known as a caregiver type of individual. If she shown that, sponsors loved a good storyline and would definitely fall in love with her. But also, rumors about how great of a swimmer and spear user she was. Her body was womanly yet when she walked, the muscles were clear in her slender body, especially in the legs and arms.
Yes, Quinn believed she would be in the top three tributes to be betted on to be the 52nd Hunger Games Victor.
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The arrival into Capitol was overwhelming.
The crowd of Capitol residents were screaming and reaching out to try to touch Reyna and an obvious frighten Zane, who was pressing up against Reyna side. Reyna stared down at him with a small frown and she wrapped her right arm around his shoulder, rubbing his arm up and down.
Her gesture seemed to get the crowd to 'awe' over her sympathy over the younger boy. Reyna held herself back from making any sort of facial expression as Mags led her two tributes through a building where a Capitol prep team would be waiting for them.
Reyna was soon dragged off to a room where she was washed down and then dried off. She got into a gown that felt like paper and she laid down on a steel table where she went through painful waxing on her whole body.
Her hair was let down to be trimmed and her eyebrows were plucked to perfection.
"I must say you have beautiful hair."
"Oh yes she does, unlike those other districts."
"Like 12."
The two Capitol laughed together as they kept working on Reyna, who sent them a frown they did not noticed. She did not like how they just insulted the District. They did not have a damn clue what it was like outside these Capitol walls. If they were put out in the Districts, they would be eaten alive by the District lifestyle.
Once she was all done, Reyna laid in a room where she waited for her stylist. When her stylist had arrived, Reyna couldn't help but stare her stylist up and down. She did not believe they were a part of the Capitol other than the fact they had neon red hair with black spikes.
"Hello, I am Leon. I will be your stylist." Leon stepped to her and clapped his hands together with an excited smile on his face.
"Reyna."
"The prep team was right about you. You are a pretty one with a nice body."
The comment made Reyna feel as if she was getting her body prepared to be serve for dinner. She let Leon grasp the underside of her chin and tilted her head back to stare into her eyes.
"Yes, yes, I got a perfect idea for you. Did you know your name means Queen?" Leon said with a sly smirk appearing on his lips.
Reyna hoped Leon wasn't going to do some sort of revealing outfit on her. The last few years of the Hunger Games for District 4, the tributes were either dressed in bikini style suits or shells to cover their body.
The look in Leon silver eyes had Reyna a bit worried.
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The sound of the crowd was echoing down the long tunnel where all the Districts chariots were lined up, waiting for the signal for them to go forward and onto the 'Avenue of the Tributes.' There were stands on either side of the street filled with Capitol citizens who would watch the tributes come through the City Circle.
This was the opening ceremony to the 52nd Hunger Games.
Reyna had been trying to comfort and calm Zane down when she felt eyes on her. She looked up from the young teenager to look ahead where District 1 male tribute was eyeing her. He sent her a wink making her to roll her eyes and look away from him.
When the drums began, the first chariot went out of the tunnel and soon the others followed. The lights were bright as they exited the tunnel, but soon it cleared up to show their surroundings.
Immediately, Zane clenched the front of the chariot in a death grip while Reyna stared around with amazement. This time she could see part of what Capitol looked like.
It was high skyscrapers in various shapes and colors. Lights were flashing everywhere and she couldn't make out the stars in the night sky. Looking back forward, Reyna saw the crowd freaking out over the presentation of the tributes. Her eyes flicker to the poles which had screens on them and she found herself staring back at her.
She was amazed at how well Leon designed her outfit.
It fitted the District 4 theme of fishing yet leaned more toward the ocean side. Someway, somehow, Reyna couldn't believe Leon made netting look like a dress. It was black netting with a daring and dangerous V-neck style dipping down between her full breasts and the tip of the V-neck stopped right above her bellybutton. He made sure it clung to her body, but flowed around her legs for her to be able to walk and also to let it flow behind her. Golden gladiator sandals went up her calves. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail with a poof in the middle. A golden tiara was on top of her head. It had three jagged pointed tips, the middle piece being the tallest. Light makeup was done upon her face, but enough to make her radiant and her moss green eyes to appear to have a glowing effect.
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In the announcer's box were two well-known figure heads when it came to the Hunger Games. It was the head announcer of the games, Claudius Templesmith and the Master of Ceremonies, Caesar Flickerman. Both showing equal excitement for the Games like the rest of the Capitol population.
The Master of Ceremonies, Caesar had been an announcer for about eleven years now. He started when he was eighteen and just turned twenty-nine of age. Before his years of becoming the Master of Ceremonies, he was known as a great speaker and knew how to turn negative comments into positive ones.
He was good with persuasion and comforting those that need it. With his family being one of the top high class family in the Capitol, President Snow took in consideration at how good Caesar was with communication. Soon enough, Caesar found himself the Master of Ceremonies since the last one got addicted to morphling—which was known as a narcotic pain killer—and they went downhill from there, especially when they tried to attack the President during a Victor's party.
After that, Caesar built his reputation up to be one of the best Master of Ceremonies for the Hunger Games. He felt special in a way when it came to interviewing with the tributes and the victors because he tried to make them feel good about themselves before they were sent to the arena. Or in victors cause, try to make them feel good about themselves and try to help relieve their pain of what they were going through.
Deep down though, Caesar could admit the Hunger Games were brutal. The first few years as a Master of Ceremonies, he was giddy with being so close to the action to the tributes and victors. To get to know them better than anyone else. But as the years kept going on by, Caesar found himself feeling sadness for these tributes. He couldn't say he understood what they were going through, but with the years of being in this job, Caesar found it hard to swallow at times.
Though there was another good skill Caesar could do other than turning the topic into a light-hearted one. He was good at putting up a mask of a smile and happiness on his face even if he did not feel that emotion.
"District 3 looking, well, technology as ever." Templesmith pointed out with unsureness as they looked at the outfits that were computer chips laced together to cover their private areas.
Clearing his throat, Caesar looked to the next District.
"And here is District 4. Wow, would you look at their outfits. It truly demonstrates the skill set District 4 has. The female tribute, Reyna Brines, looking like the role her stylist said she was."
"What was that, Caesar?" Templesmith asked as he looked at the Master of Ceremonies.
"If you must know, Reyna name means Queen while her last name means salty water. Her stylist wanted to turn her into a queen of her district…And what a queen she makes." Caesar said though he couldn't understand why he had paused and lowly said the last part.
That would be caught by the higher ups of the Hunger Games and some of those who worked closely with him. He couldn't understand why he acted that way, but he realized that as the chariots rode on by, he eyes kept flickering to District 4 female tribute, Reyna Brines.
Even when he continue to talk about the outfits, the history of the districts and amongst other information facts for the viewers and potential sponsors watching, Caesar eyed Reyna.
When the microphone cut out and they went off air, Templesmith turned to Caesar, who was staring up at President Snow announcing the start of the 52nd Hunger Games. That got the crowd to roar with excitement.
"Caesar you paused. You never pause like that." Templesmith whispered to Caesar, who was being prepped up by his personal stylist Ora.
"What are you talking about?" Caesar kept his voice calm as he played it off as if he didn't know what Templesmith pointed out.
It wasn't like Caesar to be caught off guard. He was always the one that caught people off guard. Therefore, Caesar kept his mouth shut and stared down at the street where the tributes were riding back down the street to head back inside to go back to their rooms. Caesar saw the producers waving at Templesmith and him to get ready to go back live and to discuss about the tributes this year.
"You know what I am talking about." Templesmith mumbled.
"Nope." Caesar replied simply then put on his million dollar smile onto his lips as the producer counted down and then pointed at them to signal them back on air.
The thought of the District 4 female tribute looked fit to be a queen burned in his mind all the while.
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Hi Everyone,
So, I have decided to do a story on Caesar F. I don't know what compelled me to do so, but I was already having ideas in my mind and I was like why not. So, here we go and I'm going to try it out. I have been holding this story out for years now, but finally decided to post it and see where it goes.
JUST A HEADS UP — The development throughout the chapters might appear fast but it is because I want to get to the movies where there would be a lot going on. Thus, just a heads up, development of the characters might appear to be fast and the first few chapters, but it is because to get closer to the movie series. Also, it might appear as if Caesar might be out of character, but this is more of what would Caesar be like when he is not in the spotlight. So it is sort of a what if, especially with all the years of being apart of the Games, it is sort of showing him questioning the Games.
Anyway, I am just going to apologize now if I don't get any sort of information right. So, I am sorry ahead of time.
(Also, I am basing off the movies, not the books. Just a heads up).
Disclaimer for this chapter and the future chapters: I do not own anything about the Hunger Games Series. However, I do own my original characters like Reyna, her family and Zane.
Please Enjoy and Review!
Thanks!
