Mousetrap
110th Hunger Games
Roar Part II
You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder gonna shake the ground
Mikra Vode, Daughter of the Head Gamemaker (15)
"Hey, Mikra," Stelena Merope drawls at me. "I think this year is finally the year that the so called 'great' Talitta Vode will crack, don't you think?"
I role my eyes at the brute of a girl. I know what you're about to ask, so I'll answer you. Yes, she is always this annoying.
It's not my fault my mother has been a successful Head Gamemaker since the one hundred and third Hunger Games and will no doubt continue on the path of success for many years to come, while Stelena's father messed up so badly the first day on the job as a regular Gamemaker that my mother fired him instantaneously. She was really kind. She could have had him put to death if she wanted to, but she didn't. Stelena should really be thanking me. But she's just too selfish to ever thank anyone for anything they or their parents do.
"Nope," I respond. "No, I most definitely do not think so. But you know what I do think?" I smirk. "I think that leopard skin body suit you wear nearly every day is entirely cliche for a Capitol girl, and so thirty years ago. I think you have no friends because you are rude and obnoxious. And I think I have to get to class."
I shut my hot pink locker door, and wince as some of the rhinestones fall off of it. Now do you see what I mean about Stelena ruining all the good things in life?
"Ooh. A feisty spoiled little girl. But, please, Mikra Vode, when was the last time you went to class?"
I smile falsely at her. "Right now."
She's well built, and compared to her I am a scrawny little thing, but causing the rhinestones to fall off of my locker door is the last straw! I plow the bigger girl aside and continue walking, yes, to class of all places, not bothering to look back at her. She doesn't deserve my time, and frankly, one more moment looking at that body suit of hers would make anyone cringe.
"Miss Vode, so nice of you to join us," Ms. Terinathy, my old, horrid history teacher snaps the second I enter the room.
She doesn't like me very much, in case you couldn't tell.
I smile falsely at her though just as I did to Stelena. "Why thank you, Ms. Terinathy. It's always nice to be appreciated. And I like the new face lift I can tell you just got."
She should really ask them to be more discrete about it. Not that I entirely can blame the women. After all these years of no man giving her the time of day she must have been so desperate, she purposely asked the surgeon to make her face lift evident so that some guy will take pity on her. I wonder how that's working out for her.
The class laughs as I sit down, the teacher looking appalled with me. But unlike Stelena, she can't do anything to me. President Balthazar Mortis would have her head if she laid a hand on the precious daughter of his favorite Head Gamemaker of his reign to date. But I still have Stelena to worry about, along with anyone else who is not scared of the president, or claims not to be.
Ms. Terinathy continues her monotonous lecture about the history of Panem and the third Quarter Quell rebellion and Katniss Everdeen - may she rot in hell - and blah blah blah blah blah.
Meanwhile, I stare at the back of Arecelis Jodier's head. I make sure to sit near him in every class. He's easily the hottest guy in this school.
"Arecelis," I whisper.
He doesn't hear me.
I try again, a little louder. "Arecelis!"
He turns around. Ms. Terinathy gives me an evil look but says nothing.
"Yeah?" He rubs his perfect blue eyes, exhausted. Poor Arecelis. He's not wealthy like me and most of the Capitol; he and his siblings have to work all kinds of odd jobs to support the family and their ill mother, while their father wastes away on Morphling and alcohol and who-knows-what-else. Arecelis doesn't get much sleep ever. I would donate some of my endless wealth to him . . . except that it's mine. And I don't give away things that rightfully belong to me. Why should I?
I twirl my newly glittered hair and look down for a while, trying to come up with something interesting to say to him, until I feel like I am losing his attention.
"I need you to be the good friend that you always are right now," I whisper to him, laying the urgency in my words on thickly.
"Um . . . okay?"
"No, really." I look away, as if I'm deeply saddened by something. "Really, Arry? Can I call you Arry? Yeah thanks. Stelena's teasing me about my mother failing at being Head Gamemaker and b-b-being k-killed and I just . . . I don't know what to do . . ."
I put my head in my hands, making it look as though I'm crying, and sniffle repeatedly.
Arecelis puts his hand on my arm, and I smile at the touch (of course he does not see this because my face is hidden).
"Hey, it's okay, Mikra." I like the way he says my name. "You have nothing to worry about." He scrambles for something to say. I am so pleased. I've been looking for an excuse to have an entire conversation of this length with Arecelis for a while, but not until now has a situation arisen. I guess I have Stelena to thank for that, as annoying as she is. See? I give credit and appreciation where it is due. Unlike dearest Stelena.
"You don't understand," I say theatrically. "Nobody understands."
Arecelis is about to respond, when finally, Terinathy - the witch! - has had enough. "Miss Vode and Mr. Jodier, if you both don't look up and start paying attention to the lesson, there will be serious consequences!"
I scoff. I've had enough with this class. Time for my grand exit.
I stand up. "Yeah, Ms. Terinathy? You think you have a harsh punishment for me? Well unfortunately for you, I have already seen it all. Just this past weekend in fact I had a man show up at my house with mice!" Some of my classmates gasp which is good; it builds the dramatic effect.
I storm out of the room without a second glance, much like I did when escaping Stelena. Oh yeah. Stelena. I hope she has something better to do than prowl the halls and wait for me to show up. I roll my eyes at her once again, despite no one being here to see it.
What to do now?
I could run to Caelius right now, but he's a serious student. He would be very upset with me if I interrupted his learning for no reason. And Mifoe is out too, as she's down the block in school with all of the younger kids. And Daddy gave specific instructions to Jaranus, the chauffeur, not to pick any of us up before the school day is over. Daddy is a very smart man. He knows full well that I'd want to leave after, oh I don't know, how long have I been in this place anyway today? It feels like an eternity.
Sighing, I return to my locker and melt to the floor, not even caring about the dust and grime that might be ruining my new white dress.
I see a couple of the rhinestones on the floor, but don't bother to pick them up. Everything is ruined. Why bother trying to fix this one little thing?
Arecelis probably thinks I'm a brat for complaining to everyone about the mice. I only did that for attention, but he might not know that. I'm sure he's seen a lot worse things than mice. I should have been more sensitive in saying that in front of him.
But I have even bigger problems than my crush never wanting to speak to me again, if you can imagine that. What if what Stelena says comes true? I mean, she has zero influence in the Capitol, and I'm sure she doesn't have any sources to tell her when a Gamemaker will be fired or executed - nobody would ever care about her or her family enough to tell them anything - but she could have made a lucky guess.
All that stuff that Spyro said the other day . . . - you know, after Caelius and I established that he wasn't trying to rape me - I hope it'll make for a good arena. I really, really hope so. I mean, the Hunger Games is to torture the districts, right? Mice are good for that; I sure did freak out about them. But what about all of that other stuff Spyro said, about traps and cheese and . . . and Mifoe being cuter than me! That last one was just plain offensive, but honestly, do I care what some sleazy exterminator has to say about me and my sister? If I were Mifoe I would probably take that as an insult anyway. Being complimented by an exterminator is like being called gross.
Yep, that description fits my sister.
But getting back to the Games.
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I lived in the districts. I like to imagine myself in my mother's arenas, and think about how I would deal with them. One year, the tributes were stranded on a tropical island surrounded by salt water. Half the tropical fruits were okay to eat and half were poisonous, but they all looked the same. The tributes had to figure out how to tell which were edible and which were not.
I remember that arena well. It had been the one hundred and sixth Games. I was eleven, Caelius was thirteen, and Mifoe was nine. Myself, my parents, and Mifoe all thought it was quite hilarious, as we had just been to a tropical island vacation the summer before, and it was hard for us to imagine half of the kiwis, coconuts, pineapples, and mangoes we had enjoyed so much, being used to kill people. We laughed and laughed as the ape mutts pounded away at the tributes, pounding their own chests for good measure, and as sharks popped up and killed some of the children as well. We laughed as the tributes themselves went crazy and killed one another, and we clapped and cheered as District Ten's Relio Audist was proclaimed the Victor. He had been one of my favorites. Almost as attractive as Arecelis.
But this year, I don't think I will be laughing at the tributes' pain. They won't be having a tropical island vacation with poisoned fruit, which seemed so hilarious to me four years ago. They won't be plowing their way through a stack of needles and hay like they did two years ago.
They will be surrounded by mice I gather? Or better yet; they might be the mice. That would not be funny at all. That would be disturbing to see.
This year's Games will not be funny for me to watch as a girl the same age as some of the tributes. They will be disturbing. And I blame Spyro, Mommy.
Yet, if disturbing is what Balthazar wants, than I will simply turn away for all the disgusting parts and I will close my ears so I won't have to listen to Mifoe shout out in excitement. Because at the end of the day, Stelena cannot be right. Mommy cannot possibly have had her run as Head Gamemaker. I need her to succeed year after year so that she can be there for me and my siblings as we grow up.
Maybe funny is enough for me, but not Balthazar. Maybe he needs her to step up her game.
And when Mommy is told she needs to step up her game, she does exactly that.
And I will follow in her footsteps.
I will step up my game with Arecelis, against Stelena and Ms. Terinathy and in anything else I do.
Because I am Mikra Vode, the daughter of Hebrino and the Great Talitta Vode.
And I am fabulous.
Roar by Katy Perry
Woo! All of the tributes are finally in and we have a truly fabulous bunch this year!
The blog has been posted! Here is the link (just remove the spaces) I'll also be posting it on my profile soon, but for now, just use this please.
mousetrap110hg .blogspot
This time, I added something to the blog which I didn't have in Heights. Above each tributes picture is a word that pretty much describes the tribute's essence in a nutshell. Of course, the tributes will change and develop as the story progresses, and they all have more than just this to their personality I guess, but yeah.
Here we got to see a little more of Mikra! Caelius and Mifoe got mentions, but they weren't featured. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and this insight into Mikra's school-life :P
A special shoutout goes to JabberjayHeart, or Corey. He is so kind in allowing me to borrow his SYOT format (and alter it slightly, to make it my own) so thanks so much Corey!
If you have time to review, I would love that! Thank you so much!
Aaaaaaannnnnnndddddd now for the questions! There's a lot of them this time.
Did your opinion on Mikra change from the last chapter until this one?
What did you think of the other Capitolite characters who were introduced here?
How was my writing in this chapter?
Your opinions on the tributes just from the blog (going by just names, weaknesses, blog titles (the words on top), pictures, or anything else I'm forgetting here xD)
Any early favorites from the blog?
This is the Hunger Games. 23 of your tributes will die, as you know. Character deaths will be based on a number of things some of which include future story arcs and plot lines that I have in mind for the tribute, realism, which tributes I like best, and which the readers and submitters like best, and whether the submitter is reviewing the story. The only reason that this is included is that I think this is fair, because I'd like to keep tributes in the Games longer (if possible) if I know that the submitter is reading the story, and the only way for me to know this is if you review. If not, I have no idea whether or not you're reading the story. You all knew the odds when you submitted a tribute. I'd love it if you stuck around and continued to read the story if/when your tribute perishes, but if not I understand. I'm not trying to be one of those evil, "review or I'll kill your tribute" authors. There are many other factors taken into account, and I really do cherish and appreciate every review I get, I just don't think it's fair if I'm wavering between two tributes to keep in, to kill off one who's creator is reviewing if the other is not or something like that.
And now, without further adieu! Your wonderful tributes :DD A huge thank you to all who submitted! These tributes are truly incredible :D To those who submitted a tribute who did not make it, I really am sorry. I believe this did not happen so often, and I'm pretty sure I already informed everyone, but yeah.
District One
Male: Baron Palladine, 18
Female: Felise Cassian, 18
District Two
Male: Merlot Marquise, 16
Female: Brielle Embrey, 17
District Three
Male: Cable Huxley, 16
Female: Marceline Sybilet, 16
District Four
Male: Irvin Conway, 17
Female: Vivien Vale, 16
District Five
Male: Maas Horton, 14
Female: Ayra Morse, 16
District Six
Male: Barend Kruger, 15
Female: Daphne Martin, 16
District Seven
Male: Andros Starbuck, 13
Female: Vepar Hecate, 18
District Eight
Male: Lev Sagathy, 15
Female: Delaine Organdy, 18
District Nine
Male: Duncan Crest, 18
Female: Llili Ceres, 17
District Ten
Male: Gaius Morgan, 18
Female: Naida Fynn, 17
District Eleven
Male: Cristano Lerete, 17
Female: Nika Wiley, 17
District Twelve
Male: Sebastian Brundyn, 17
Female: Arryn Vance, 15