SUMMARY:

The dark days are over. Elise thinks there's nothing that could go wrong, right? The demigods are safe, right? Well, they are, until the Capitol introduces the Hunger Games. After being defeated by the odds, she is picked to go fight in the very first Hunger Games. Things get worse than that. When she finds out the male tribute, her life becomes living hell. On top of that, odd things are happening in the Arena. How will Elise survive in the arena as a demigod? How will her brother change the course of history forever? What is the REAL reason why the Capitol invented the Hunger Games in the first place?

PROLOGUE:

"This is the last time this will happen! I thought we kept them in order!" says a voice.

"Who are you talking about? Them, or the districts?" says another.

"BOTH!" the first voice yells.

"They still manage to get to out undetected," the second voice says quietly.

"SHUT UP! Call a council! We need to sort this out so this NEVER happens again!" the first voice says.

"Right on it, sir."

ONE HOUR LATER

"But sir, who says we can't influence the reapings?"

Note: I'm sticking in the first chapter here :D

Disclaimer: I do not own these fantastic stories I'm using :D

I personally think that it's hardest for me to get to camp. Since I live in District 2, we have our Peacekeepers, we're the Capitol's lapdogs (and right next to the Capitol) and I live one the direct opposite side of Panem from Camp Half Blood, which is located on an island in the ruins of District 13.

There has to be some way for me to get to camp. I need to train to survive because monsters can sometimes get past the fence in District 2. The mortals are oblivious, and never seem to notice them, though, so I have to take care of them. I need to train to fight them, so I have to get to camp. There is no doubt about that.

I have been just picked up to get to camp, and my backside doesn't like the feeling of being sat on for eight hours on a helicopter. Yes, we take a helicopter to camp. We can't exactly travel to camp by train or car or something, and District 13 has helicopters, so we're stuck with that.

My brother John is sitting next to me. He's also a son of Ares, and we both live in District 2. "Look!" he says. He points out the window.

At first, I only see charred, smoldering grounds from when the Capitol recently bombed District 13 to the ground. Then I look again, this time more closely, and I see a patch of grass. As the helicopter lowers more to the ground, I can see it more clearly. It is not just a patch of green amongst the burnt grass, but it is Camp Half-Blood. With luscious fields of strawberries, heavy woods with deadly monsters roaming around, and of course, the beautiful shining blue lake. This is my second home. The place where I've learned to fight off monsters practically my whole life.

"Finally!" I exclaim. I begin to stand up, but the assistant pilot of the helicopter gives me a cold look, and I plop back down.

I'm glad I got here safely, I think. I hope no one notices I'm gone. We're not really supposed to leave our districts, and every year since I was eight I always prayed no one noticed I was gone. Try explaining where you've been for two months to the Head Peacekeeper. Oh yeah! I went to summer camp! Yeah, the one where we learn to kill of monsters! It was so much fun!

The spring breeze started flowing the second the helicopter opened and someone let down a ladder to the ground. We are finally here! At last! My heart starts racing. I'm very excited and also anxious to get to camp. I've been sitting in this helicopter longer than anyone here, and I'm really desperate to stretch my aching legs. I run over to the ladder, accidentally shoving people out of the way.

"Hey, Peacekeeper girl, why are you so desperate to get to camp?" a girl named Avril teases. I stick my tongue out at her.

"Because," I say, "I'm fed up with being cooped up all year long in oh-so-sweet District 2. Also, my butt hurts." I smile.

"I thought you guys were just the Capitol's lackeys. Don't you only care about honoring your district?" she says. Ouch. That hurt.

"Yeah, do you think you could get some nicer Peacekeepers over here in 3?" said a Hephaestus kid whose name I didn't know. I laugh, and I start climbing down the long ladder into camp.

Ahh. . . Camp, sweet camp. A nice rest from the war that just ended, which the Capitol calls the Dark Days. The moment I step down onto the ground, I hear somebody call "Elise!"to me. I look around for a moment behind me and I see my best friend Lana. I run over to where she is.

"Lana!" I yell as I bombard her with hugs.

She hugs me back, and says, "I missed you!" She probably really does. It's not like we can communicate to people outside our districts.

"I just got here on the first helicopter ten minutes ago," she says.

"Do you know how many are left?" I ask her.

"I think two. Maybe three," she says.

As time goes on, we see the two other helicopters with demigods being brought from their districts. More demigods come off, including my four other siblings that we know are alive at the moment.

It's kind of weird, now that the Dark Days are over. Apparently District 13 is supposed to be demolished, and I can kind of see that now that everywhere outside of camp is burnt plains. Camp Half-Blood remains unharmed and as beautiful as ever, but I get what they mean when District 13 got bombed. No, not bombed. Probably nuc'd. Which is kind of ironic because District 13 produces nuclear power.

Whatever. I try to be happy because the war is over. Chiron greets us with a warm smile and welcomes us back. He obviously seems happy about everything, but I can see something in his face that seems wrong. I am about to go down to the beach to hang out with Lana, but before we disperse off to do that, he announces, "There is a required showing going on in five minutes. Come on into the camp-orientation-video-room." What now? I wonder.

"Like, Capitol required?" someone asks.

"Yes, Capitol required. I think they are just announcing that the Dark Days are over," Chiron replies. I can see in his face that it's a lot worse than that. He gives us a fake smile and trots over to the camp-orientation-video-room and we come follow him.

This is interesting. Us demigods aren't supposed to be around technology. I'm thinking as I walk arm-in arm with Lana. "What do you think they want?" I ask. "It's kind of obvious that the Capitol came up on top."

"I have no clue," Lana replies. We step into the room where Chiron went into. It looks kind of like a mini movie theater and there's a 54' inch plasma TV normally for the camp orientation video, hence camp-orientation-video-room. Chiron turns on the TV and he flips through the channels as more and more demigods come in. There's only about 25 of us total living from when we last counted, so we all made a tight fit in there. I am squished in between Lana and Avril.

"I think this is it," Chiron says, and I see the face of the dreaded president of Panem. President Justice stares at me with cold eyes and a fake smile. I glare back. "We have a very important announcement to make and we also have some good news!" he exclaims with an almost-convincing tone.

"Let's start with the good news," he says. "The Dark Days are finally ended, and of course, our wonderful Capitol has come up on top!" There are cheers from the audience behind him. There are groans from us, and probably the rest of Panem. He continues.

"Now, before any of you get the horrifying idea to rebel again, we have come up with a fun and entertaining way to remind you not to rebel. The Hunger Games," he says. More cheers from the audience, but this time it is sounds of confusion from us.

"That's a pathetic name!" someone in the room yells. I start laughing, and everyone else eventually joins in at some point. President Justice continues to explain what these hungry games are.

"Each summer, we will hold the Hunger Games, where 24 people will come to the Capitol; a courageous young man and woman from the ages of 12 to 18 will be picked at random from each of the twelve outlying districts. " More sounds of confusion went through the room. The Capitol inviting random people to the Capitol? This doesn't sound normal, but hey, it sounds cool.

"Here in the Capitol, they will be trained for one week on the art of survival. Then, the tributes will be put in an arena for a fight-to-the death showdown. The last tribute that is standing is the winner." My jaw drops. The President has a winning smile. Cheers from the crowds in the Capitol.

"These games will be the perfect opportunity for you to demonstrate your courage, sacrifice, and ultimately bring honor to your district."

"What?" Lana yells.

"Fight to the death?" someone else yells. It's really shocking.

"Yes, a fight-to-the-death showdown! We will be calling these games The Hunger Games. At the end of June, we will hold the reapings. May the odds be ever in your favor!" One last second of a gleaming smile, then darkness. The seal of the Capitol. Silence throughout the whole room.

It takes a few minutes for someone to say something. "Did that really just happen?" someone from the crowd says. More silence.

Slowly, after about five minutes, we all disperse to our cabins for about an hour to process exactly what happened and why the capitol is doing it. Lana goes off to the Demeter cabin. I go off to the Ares cabin.

Now that we're all separated into our different districts, it's easy to guess which god or goddess is your parent. All the Hephaestus kids are from District 3, while all the Poseidon kids are from District 4, and all the Demeter kids are from District 11. I'm a daughter of Ares, which kind of makes sense because I'm supposed to be a killing machine with this peacekeeper stuff we have in District 2.

I slowly walk back to my cabin to ponder what happened.

After a really awkward silence of everyone laying down on their beds, John says, "Well, like he said, it's a nice excuse to get some honor to our district."

"And possibly die," says Caleb, our other brother.

"Who cares? We've been training for this kind of thing our whole life. How hard can it be?" John says. He smirks, and then lies down again.

Well, I guess that that whole Hunger Games announcement just plain ruins the day. And maybe even the whole summer. After a dreary and silent dinner because we're still taking in all of this news, we head off to bead quietly without any fire.

We all had a big day that was crushed. Dreams were worse for me. Along with my typical bad demigod dreams, I start having dreams of me getting picked for the Hunger Games. Of me dying a horrible bloody death and nobody seems to care.

I wake up around 2 in the morning and my body basically tells me that I'm not going to get any more sleep the rest of the night. I slip out of bed and I don't bother to put on shoes. I slowly creep out of the cabin. I am about to go over to the Canoe Lake by myself until I realize I need Lana to come with me.

I go over to the Demeter cabin and whisper "Lana!" I throw a rock at the window. "Lana!" I say again.

The door opens, and I see a frizzy haired, tired looking Lana. "You couldn't sleep either?" she asks.

"Come on. We're going down to the lake," I tell her. I then make a run for the lake, and she follows me close behind.

I sit down on the sand. Little teeny waves are washing on and off shore. The moon is bright, and the sky dark. "Okay, spill it. Something's bothering you," Lana says. She sits down next to me.

"It's just. . . I don't know what to think about these Hunger Games. I mean, I don't want to die, or kill 23 people, but then again, in District 2, we're all about honoring our district. You heard what President Justice said. This would be the perfect opportunity to give honor to our district. And then again, I'm a pathetic excuse for a child of Ares, and I need to prove my worth to him . . ." I ramble on.

"Okay, I get it. I get it!" Lana says. "It'll be okay. There's what, 50,000 people in your District."

"Yeah, but not all of them are 12-18," I remark.

"Okay, fine. Let's say about 10,000 girls ages 12-18. That's still a really slim chance your name will get drawn. Don't sweat it." She has a good point.

"But what about Elijah?" I ask her.

"So what? His odds are really slim as well!" You may be wondering who Elijah is. He's my pesky 12 year old brother. Well, half brother. He's just a mortal. Even though he gets really immature at times, I love him to death.

"Don't sweat it. You can't let this ruin our summer. You'll be fine," she says. You'll be fine. I think to myself. You'll be fine.