Hello! Welcome to my very first Hunger Games story! This will be a partial SYOT, but I'll explain all of that below! For now, enjoy the story!
"Sir, you asked to see me?" Alana asked. She clutched her clipboard to her chest nervously, biting her turquoise glossed lip. Her first year as assistant to the president, and she had already failed. The butterflies in Alana's stomach fluttered even more violently when she saw the bored, almost disappointed look on President Sebastian's face. He didn't even look up from his tablet to acknowledge her arrival.
"Alana, would you please come over here," Sebastian requested. Alana squeaked and speed-walked over to his desk as fast as she could in her midnight blue stilettos. He gestured to the seat in front of his desk and she immediately sat down. The president gently set down the tablet and looked directly at Alana. His grey-blue eyes seemed to look straight into her soul.
"Could you please bring me a cup of tea?" He said, his serious face slowly melting away. Alana breathed out a sigh of relief as her boss's expression softened. She stood up, tugging down the hem of her midnight blue pencil skirt and then snatching up her clipboard.
"Any particular kind?" She asked. Sebastian shook his head, still smiling from his little attempt at a prank. Alana then turned to the door and started to leave the room.
"Oh, and Alana?" Sebastian called after her. She stiffened and twirled around again. What did he have to say this time?
"Make yourself one too," He said, grinning warmly. She nodded and left the room for real, starting towards the room where they held the teacups, teabags, and all the other necessities for making Sebastian's favorite beverage. Hands still shaking from the scare, she pulled a pearly white teacup decorated with golden flowers down from the shelf (Sebastian's favorite teacup), followed by a plain white one for herself. She poured water into the kettle and set it out on the stove, waiting for it to warm up so she could make the tea.
"Hello Alana. Making President Sebastian's daily cup of tea?" a feminine voice asked. Alana turned from the stove to see the Head Gamemaker, Medusa Light. The tall, busty woman hadn't changed a bit since the previous year. Her skin was still gorgeously tanned, her hair was still wavy and golden blonde, and her lips were still matte red and full. She was dressed in a typical business outfit, consisting of a lemon yellow blouse, black pinstripe slacks, and a matching blazer with lemon yellow heels.
"You know how much he adores the drink. On particularly stressful days he'll drink multiple. Remember last year, when he drank four whole cups?" Alana said, giggling at the memory of President Sebastian, shaking from all the caffeine he had drank.
"Well, then you better prepare yourself for more than one cup of tea," Medusa pointed out. The kettle whistled and Alana gently poured the boiling water into the teacups.
"Why is that?" She murmured, plucking two teabags from the variety of flavors and colors that the shelves held and placing them into the water. Medusa tilted her head back and cackled, grabbing the full attention of Alana with her loud voice. When the Head Gamemaker finally stopped laughing, Alana gave her a look as if to say, "What's so funny?".
"He drinks a lot of tea on stressful days. This year is the announcement of the Quarter Quell! He's been glued to that tablet so he could review the previous games!" Medusa said with a chuckle, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Alana's eyes went wide and she scanned her clipboard, which she had placed next to the stove to make the tea, for any mention of the Quell announcement. To her surprise, it was right there on the page: 5:00 pm- Quarter Quell Announcement. Smacking her forehead with disgust in herself for forgetting such an important thing, she fished the teabags out of the teacups, which now held a pale pink, sweet smelling tea. Tossing them into the trash, she placed the teacups on matching saucers and set them on a silver platter with little dishes of sugar, honey, and cinnamon.
"I'll carry the clipboard," Medusa offered, picking up the light object and bowing as if she had just done the most chivalrous thing in the world. Alana sighed and lifted up the heavy platter by herself, carrying it to the office. Medusa was not far behind.
"Your tea is ready!" Alana chirped, placing it down on the table and smiling sweetly at the president. Sebastian seemed delighted by the whole setup, pouring a little bit of honey in his tea before taking a sip and relaxing back in his seat.
"I see you went with the raspberry tea this time," He observed.
"I figured that you needed a little sweetness to calm your nerves, since the-ah- Quarter Quell announcement is today," Alana said quickly. Medusa suppressed a giggle and Sebastian's eyes fell upon the Head Gamemaker.
"Please, Ms. Light. Have a seat. I need to discuss the upcoming Quell with you two," He set down his favorite teacup and pointed to a seat. Medusa settled herself into the chair and crossed her legs.
"If it's about which Quell was our favorite, then I have to say the 75th. I'd like to kiss the person who came up with the idea for no weapons in the Cornucopia. Purely brutal hand to hand combat," She said, grinning widely. Alana's nose wrinkled at the memory.
"I for one think that the last Quell was the best. Only volunteers made for a fascinating Games," Alana piped up.
"If by fascinating you mean boring," Medusa yawned. Sebastian shook his head at the spat and downed his tea before it got cold. At the sight of her boss's obvious disappointment, Alana clamped her mouth shut and turned her attention back to her own tea.
"Anyway, Medusa, I was just about to call you in! With the fifth Quarter Quell coming up, I need you to definitely make sure that the arena is amazing. Unless, of course, the Quell has to do with the arena itself. I want the whole shebang: deadliest bloodbath, deadliest weapons, and make sure that Sheena designs the deadliest mutts as well," Sebastian requested, setting down his now empty teacup and picking up his silver tablet. He tapped at it for a little bit, then spun it around to show the ladies an image.
"Now, can you two tell me what this is a photo of?" He asked. The two leaned forward to get a better look at the image. It was of a boy and a girl, both about 17 or 18. The girl sported dark hair and olive skin, traits of a District 12 person, and was lying on the ground, dagger in hand. The boy, who had been from District 5, had red hair and pale skin. He was standing over the girl, axe raised above his head. Alana narrowed her eyes curiously at the small screen. She definitely knew this image. It took place during a final battle for the crown. The young assistant, however, couldn't quite figure out which Hunger Games it was from.
"It's a victory battle from one of The Hunger Games. Easy peasy," Medusa leaned back in her chair, proud of herself for coming up with the simple answer before anybody else could. Sebastian nodded and set the tablet down.
"Yes. One of the more exciting final battles, in my opinion. I want that kind of excitement this year," the president demanded. He nodded towards the door and Medusa stood up and toddled out of the room in her deadly sharp heels to talk to the other Gamemakers and designers. Sebastian glanced at his watch and smiled with a violent glint in his eyes.
"Only a little bit longer… a little bit longer until the announcement," He whispered. Alana nodded and set down her tea cup before applying another coat of turquoise lip gloss. She wasn't quite how to respond to President Sebastian's murderous tone. Suddenly, he stood up and Alana immediately followed suit.
"Where are we going sir?" She asked, struggling to keep up with her boss. Alana felt a little guilty for leaving the dirty teacups in the office, but waved it away. She knew that the lower assistants would clean it up. That was their job. This was hers.
"We have a meeting with the stylists to get us ready for the reading of the card. You of all people should know that," He said calmly. Alana looked down at her clipboard and winced. Another thing that she had missed!
"Oh. Yes. Of course, sir," She mumbled. She ducked her head and let her strawberry blonde corkscrew curls fall into her face to hide her blush.
When they arrived at the prep room, the stylists who would be dressing and prepping them welcomed them with open arms. They were obviously excited at the fact that they were chosen to design for the high ranking Capitol members. When they got inside, Alana saw that Medusa was already getting her blonde waves washed.
Alana's hair was washed with a flowery scented shampoo, and a similar smelling lotion was used to scrub her down. Her hair was curled into its usual style, and they allowed her to also wear her trademark turquoise lip gloss so it would match her lavender and turquoise dress. Lavender kitten heels and a dusting of silver glitter finished off her look. Suddenly, pairs of Peacekeepers burst into the room. They would escort them to the reaping.
Medusa and Alana followed at a slow, steady pace behind Sebastian. Cheers of "President Grand!" and "Sebastian!" filled the crowd of brightly colored people. Alana held a brown wooden box. Medusa was pretty much just there for excitement and visual appeal. Her black and gold lace dress was absolutely stunning, and her black lipstick popped against her tanned skin. Many people in the audience also called out compliments to her. The two stood nervously as Sebastian went over the previous Quells.
On the twenty fifth, the tributes were voted in. On the fiftieth, there were twice the tributes. On the seventy fifth, there were no weapons in the whole arena. On the one hundredth, all the tributes had to be volunteers. Alana scurried forward with the box. That was her cue. Sebastian snatched the envelope marked with a 125 and opened it, clearing his voice.
"On the one hundred twenty fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even with the right supplies, they cannot defeat the Capitol, there will be no Bloodbath," He read out, followed by a gasp from him. All the tributes were to start at different areas of the arena. Each would have a pack with one weapon, one food item, and a varied survival tool. The Capitol seemed surprised as well. Suddenly they burst into applause. The three onstage looked at each other, confused by their joy. Then it hit them: no Bloodbath means longer Games. More excitement. More death. The three slowly smiled. They were determined to make this the most exciting games yet.
So, a partial SYOT means that some of the tributes are taken by me. However, the other spots are free for you guys to fill in! Also, there is a chance that one of my tributes will win. Not necessarily, but there is a chance. If that isn't your cup of raspberry tea, then just don't submit. It's that simple. For those of you who haven't left in disgust yet, the info, as well as a link to the blog and the form, will be on my bio. Ciao! Also, I will be doing a Chapter Question at the end of every chapter, so be excited for that!
Chapter Question: Who was your favorite Capitolite this chapter? Medusa, Alana, or Sebastian?