The Hunger Games Galaxies: District 6
The Reaping cycle took place in Daath, as per usual. From the three large kingdoms—Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, Malkuth, and Daath—came to the central holy city to see which two teens from their world would have the dubious "honor" of entering the yearly Hunger Games between the Twelve Worlds of the Gods. Auldrant, known as District 6 to everyone else, often did fairly well in the games and, indeed, they'd had several victors in recent years, including Sync the Tempest and Arietta the Wild, the most recent and youngest of the victors.
The ceremony always began with a tandem reading of the Gods' will and the Score of Yulia Jue, which both explained the importance of the yearly Reapings to the continued survival of the world of Auldrant, and the justification for such an event in the first place. The fonic devices that captured their picture and video and sent it to the other worlds floated around the crowd of amassed possible tributes, stopping on several of the more important members in the crowd.
Luke fon Fabre had to resist the urge to smack one particularly clingy camera away from him. But a calm pat on the back from his best friend and former guardian, Guy, calmed him down. On his other side, Tear, Anise, and Natalia tried to stand with their heads high and faces expressionless, but Luke could tell from their shaking hands that none of them were particularly calm about the Reaping.
"Odds are none of you will be picked," Jade had said, shrugging at them before they entered the central square in front of the cathedral. "So when this is over, we have to get back to work on our own problems."
"Yes," said Ion, smiling. "Please, be careful… I'll be rooting for you all to make it through again this year."
"You don't happen to have any idea whose going to be picked, do you Ion?" asked Luke.
"Unfortunately, no," said Ion, sighing. "That was never part of Yulia's score… I think her justification was that it was to prevent the constant heartache of the family… or any who would try to defy the will of the Gods."
He was on stage, doing his part of the ceremony. Ion, as the head of the Order of Lorelei, was all but exempt from the Reaping; even if he was selected, there'd be dozens of volunteers for him. Nobody on the entire planet would even think of letting Ion enter the arena, not with his health. And especially not after what happened in Baticul the day they left.
Nobody was legally immune from the Reaping. So, when every child between 12 and 16 had had their names submitted for the initial Reaping back in Baticul, Luke, Guy, and Natalia had all been selected from a pool of well over 20,000 names, and they joined nearly 1500 sent from Kimlasca to Daath, with an equal number coming from Malkuth and about 700 from the Holy Empire itself.
When they announced that their beloved princess was among one of the names chosen, there had nearly been a riot. Several people had been injured by the response of the military and guards, until Natalia's pleas for calmness finally took over and calmed the raging crowd. Thus, the three friends had made their way to Daath, barely speaking to one-another, and were even more shocked and horrified when they'd arrived and seen that Tear and Anise had both been selected as possible tributes from Daath.
"And… there's more…" muttered Tear, sighing.
"What?" asked Luke.
"Asch was selected, too," she replied.
Luke had been searching for him all day long, but with no luck. Replicas had caused a strange and unique problem at the Reaping, with several instances of people trying to send their replicas in instead of the original children. But even so, Luke and Asch were decreed to be two separate people, and Luke's status as a replica didn't prevent either one from being put in the pool for the Reaping. And, as Grand Maestro Mohs, the unpleasant representative of the Gods, came forward for the first name, he felt his own stomach tighten.
"From the nearly 3,000 boys standing before me," he said, his voice echoing over the crowd. "Only one will have the honor of taking a spot in the Hunger Games… and that lucky man is… … … Guy Cecil."
Luke gasped and whirled around to look at Guy, who seemed momentarily stunned. Several cries from around them showed two of Luke's household maids, also selected for the Reaping, nearly collapsing into tears. As one of the floating fon cameras switched from Natalia's shocked face to Guy's, he affixed his usual, winning smile and started to walk away. Luke grabbed his arm as he passed, but Guy shook him off with a reassuring smile.
"And here he is! A big round of applause for this year's tribute!" Mohs said, grinning.
Much of the applause came from the remaining boys and their families, and it was only because they were safe. Guy gave a cheery wave and kept the grin on his face, making no effort to hide the empty tabard on his hip (all weapons had been confiscated as they'd entered, unfortunately). Mohs took his time as he wandered back over to the fon machine, which churned out a female name.
"And for the ladies' side… this tribute is… … … Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear!" Mohs practically shouted gleefully.
Before he'd even finished the name, the uproar had begun. Over two entire ships of Kimlasca citizens had arrived to support Natalia, and to a lesser extent, Luke, and they were all furious. Luke could only imagine the chaos going on back in Baticul; he knew this was being broadcast worldwide, as well as to the other Districts in the near future. And as she began to walk away from the group, disappearing towards the stage in the group of kids, the shock wore off.
"Natalia!" Luke cried, rushing forward, but before he could do so, he saw him. Asch.
"Now, now, Natalia, let's not keep the people waiting," Mohs reminded them from the stage. "You can say your good-byes a little later…"
Neither Natalia or Asch paid him any heed as he grabbed her wrists and spoke quickly to her, his face hard set and serious. And, as quickly as he came, he was gone, before Luke could see where he went. The cameras didn't follow him; they were resolutely on Natalia as she continued, now escorted by the Peacekeepers, to the foot of the stairs. Luke noticed that they were being very careful to not show the mini-riots from the Kimlasca citizens.
"Another exciting Reaping comes to a close!" exclaimed Mohs, the disgustingly evil look on his face. "And both tributes, this year, come from the country of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear; which means, a win for District 6 will be a win for Kimlasca!"
Mohs continued for a couple of minutes on this tangent, but Luke barely heard them. With the ceremony just about over, seeing them both on the stage made it final. They were both going into the arena… and only one could come back.
He started rushing towards the stage, but the remaining teens in the area weren't moving aside quickly enough to get by them. From behind him, he could hear Tear and Anise calling for him, but he ignored their cries. He knew what he had to do. If he could just make it to the stage, past those Peacekeepers, and show the rest of the worlds what they were about to do to District 6, then maybe they'd consider switching to someone else…
"I will not accept volunteers," Natalia suddenly said, stiffly. "I appreciate the thought, but, to my adoring citizens, I must firmly state my intention to compete in these Hunger Games."
Everyone fell silent at these words, and Luke's progress came to a screeching halt. Sure she knew that this was suicide… but she was facing it head on. Next to her, Guy moved forward as if to throw his arm around her, but he shivered and hesitated. His gynophobia apparently wouldn't let him do it.
Guy. Luke thought of all the times they'd had, back in the Manor, even with his terrible attitude. And their adventures around the world… and now he'd possibly never return… and Luke wasn't sure how he could handle that. He was… like family, a brother to him… and he needed to make sure he was okay.
So… Natalia… or Guy…? How… how do I choose which one I want to survive…? Luke thought, tears of frustration coming to his eyes. He felt a calm hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Tear, who was also trying to hold back tears, with an already weeping Anise behind her. None of them knew what to do; they were all lost.
Author's Notes:
Short explanation time on how this whole ordeal is going to work!
The games themselves are still in progress, so for now I'm only doing the intro stuff. All events that take place in the Districts will be in their appropriately-titled stories in the proper crossover section. Once that's all taken care of and it collapses into one story, I'll put the title at the end of each District Introduction Section (or just click on my author name to find it yourself).
The entire story is being decided solely on a complicated series of dice rolls, to prevent bias on my part and to make it so even I have no idea how this is going to end or who is going to win.
Let me be clear: this is not going to be an "everyone bands together and fights the evil powers and they all survive" story. As of writing this paragraph, eleven tributes are dead. So if you see your favorite character selected… well, don't get mad if they don't make it through.
That's all for now. May the odds be ever in your (favorite characters') favor.