Over the next few days, Clove told the other tributes about what was going on. This was not an easy task, as at least half of them were still afraid of her. I made my bed so now I have to lie in it, she thought. After that, she went to speak with Juno.
"So I told a bunch of the others," she said. "Not like they would listen, though."
"That's alright," Juno said. "The tributes from their own districts might have told them anyway."
Suddenly, there was an announcement over the intercom. "Attention, everyone," the voice said. "We are pleased to announce that there will be a gladiator fight this Friday at seven o'clock PM. The tributes who are involved will be from Districts One and Two. The District Two gladiators will be Juno, Carbon, and Clove, and the District One Gladiators will be Beau, Fuchsia, and Glimmer.
Clove shrugged. She knew that the fight was mandatory, so she had no choice but to take part. She thought that Glimmer would be easy to defeat, but as for the others, she was not so sure. Beau, and Fuchsia were both good fighters and they would easily be a match for herself and Juno, but fighting against Carbon? After concentrating on the past Games that she watched, Clove was able to remember watching Carbon a few years before when he was in the 71st annual Games. This was also Minerva and Fuchsia's Games as well. Clove was twelve years old at the time, so she would have been able to volunteer if they allowed twelve-year-olds to do so. In District Two, there was an unspoken rule against letting twelve and thirteen-year-olds volunteer.
At the Reaping, Minerva shoved her way to the stage, stormed up to the microphone, and hastily volunteered. Carbon, on the other hand, was not as willing. He volunteered, but it took a few minutes of coaxing from the escort to finally get him onto the stage. Carbon's older brother, Arsenic, who was a victor and had since become disillusioned with the Games, was horrified. When the escort presented them, Minerva was triumphant, but Carbon looked as stiff as a board. Just by watching him, everyone could tell that he was a goner. Meanwhile, in District One, Fuchsia cheerfully skipped onto the stage and volunteered, and a boy named Gem waved to everyone as he enthusiastically sauntered up to volunteer immediately after. Finally in District Four, a girl named Molly and a boy named Storm reluctantly volunteered and hastily walked onto the stage.
They turned out to be quite a team until Minerva betrayed them one night. Storm was the first to die. She slit his throat while he was sleeping. After that, Carbon woke up and saw what happened. He shouted at the others to wake up, but then Minerva pinned him down and tore him open with one of her knives, letting him bleed to death. She then grabbed Fuchsia from behind and slit her throat. Gem was enraged by this and lunged at Minerva, who grabbed a spear and impaled him when he came close enough. She then grabbed Molly and threw her into a pit of toxic sludge. Minerva was certain that she had won, but then Johanna Mason, who had dropped her weakling façade and went on her own killing spree, emerged from her hiding place, charged at her, and sliced into her forehead with a hatchet. After that, Johanna was crowned Victor.
Clove remembered the Victory Tour. Johanna came and did her speech. It seemed forced, like she did not mean any of the things she was saying. Everyone tried to hide their resentment, but it was pretty clear that many people, especially Minerva's family, hated her.
All the people in the other Districts and a lot of people in District Two secretly hated the Hunger Games back in District Two, and Clove was beginning to see why. She used to look in the mirror and see a Victor, but ever since she arrived in Superbia, she would look in the mirror and see a demon. All of the training and conditioning she did before the Games had turned her into a monster.
She lowered her head and walked into the lounge, bumping past Minerva on the way there. "Watch it, pipsqueak!" Minerva shouted indignantly. Clove didn't bother to apologize. Minerva would have just ignored her if she did.
The next few days were spent preparing for the fight. She was still very skilled at knife throwing. She thought that she might have gone a bit rusty after dying and being brought back to life, but she was still very good. When she wasn't training, she was watching Juno and Carbon.
Juno was also very skilled with throwing knives, as well as a trench knife. Carbon was very skilled with a dagger, but Juno was much faster and more skilled at fighting. Their training methods were very vicious. Instead of merely sparring with each other, they were full-out fighting and inflicting wounds on each other. But they were not badly injured, as their wounds immediately healed after they formed. After fighting for what felt like twenty minutes, they slumped down onto the floor, tired and out of breath.
"That's exactly what will happen to you in matches," Juno explained; "So it helps us get used to being cut open."
"Then how do we know who wins?" Clove asked.
"Whoever's the first to draw blood wins," Carbon said. "It's easier said than done, since our injuries heal very quickly."
Suddenly, Clove felt a spear being impaled into her shoulder and coming out on the other side before being pulled back out. Blood gushed from the wound before it healed. She looked up and noticed Juno and Carbon looking at someone standing behind her. She turned around and saw Minerva holding a spear with its tip coated with blood. "See?" she jeered. "This is how you draw blood."