JarvisAI in the house…err web….. I have a writers block for my other story "Hidden Demigods" and I have had this idea rolling around in my head, keeping me up at night. So, after internal debating I decided to write/type it. I hope it sounds as good on paper as it does in my head. This is the longest chapter I have ever typed, out of all my stories.I'm altering Finnick's games a little bit, instead of being in the 65thgames; he was in the 68thgame. The title might sound slightly misleading…..
I don't own The Hunger Games
The Fallen Rebellion
Kai
I
Reaping day. The day that kids start fearing years before they have to take part in it. I feared it more than others, though I shouldn't. When I was six, my older brother Finnick, was reaped to take part in the 68th Hunger Games. He was only fourteen. He had trained at the Career Center, along with hundreds of others. Yet, no one had the courage to volunteer for him. Not one single blood-thirsty, eighteen year old Career volunteered for him.
He going into the game tore apart our family. Since our dad was lost at sea just after I was born, Finnick was one of the main sources of income for our family. Marina, our sister, tried to help out but, there was only so much a ten year old girl could do. Many people refused to hire someone under twelve.
Majority of the time we didn't even know if Finnick was alive, Mom refused us to watch the games. With time I realized she didn't want me and Marina to see what Finnick had to become to survive. As we grew older, we saw what the games did to people; they turned sweet, innocent people in to cold-hearted killers. The sweet older brother I knew was still there when he came home, but many people didn't see it. No one pushed him to talk about what happened to him in the Hunger Games; it was the unmentioned subject.
The Capitol became the object of my hate. They took pleasure in watching kids kill each other. They took pleasure in seeing kids lose their sanity. And they made the families of the kids watch. This was our so called punishment for a rebellion that happened sixty eight years ago.
When Marina turned twelve, she was sent into her first reaping. Finnick held onto her for dear life. He didn't want her to possibly go through what he went through; the odds were in her favor though, she had never had to take tessera because of Finnick's winnings. She had her name in once. Unlike all the other possible tributes in District 4, she had no Career training. Since, Finnick won before Marina and I started to train, we never had the need to. Finnick said he would do anything in his power to keep us from the games, which included keeping us from the training center.
The odds stayed in Marina's favor the rest of the day. The girl tribute for this year was the average, run of the mill Career, itching to 'bring pride to her district'. I felt guilt in wanting to send anyone but Marina into the games; no one should suffer that fate. But, at the same time I was happy, glad even, that someone else was sent into those games. The one thought that kept me from feeling worse was that I knew she was a Career, she had training.
We had the same luck with the reapings for the next three years. Today would be Marina's fifth reaping and my first. I was terrified. My name was in there once and Marina's was in five times, I shouldn't be scared stiff. There were people with their name in there fifty times, but my mind kept nagging at me, "What if today was the day the Odair's luck ran out?"
Finnick had to leave early this morning to join all the other mentors for the reaping. Before Finnick left he gave me a bear hug and whispered, "Good luck."
Marina and I slowly got around for the reaping, each terrified that our luck would run out today. As we made our way to the town square, Marina and I held hands, knowing that today could be the last time we saw each other.
We signed in with the silent Peacekeeper that took our blood, and separated to join our respective sections. I glanced around the town square; there were the multiple victors that District 4 had at the bottom of the stage, including Finnick. Behind me was the large crowd of frantic parents and the children to young to be in reapings. I quickly spotted my mother and mouthed, "I'll be okay." She nodded with a small, sad smile upon her face.
Costal Cry, out district escort, walked onto the stage, tapping the microphone created a screech that caused everyone to cover their ears. "Welcome, Welcome," she said in her annoying Capitol accent. "Today is an exciting one, Reaping Day, the official start of the Hunger Games festivities!" Here I rolled my eyes, how oblivious could you get.
"As always we will start with the ladies," she said as she walked over to the bowl with all the girl's names from ages twelve to eighteen in the district, and set her hand over the opening and searching for a name.
I held a breath, "Not Marina, not Marina," I chanted over and over in my head.
Costal slowly opened the slip of paper, not realizing she was torturing all of the parents and siblings in the district. She took a deep breath and spoke into the microphone in a crisp Capitol accent, "Marina Odair."