(A/N) THE HUNGER GAMES IS BEGINNING. THAT'S ALL I CAN SAY WITHOUT SPOILING ANYTHING.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THG OR PJO
Percy POV
"You're going to be fine, calm down." Silena urged as I began to hyperventilate. We were standing next to the tube that would take me up into the Games. This was it. The days where I could think that the Games were far away had come to an end; the Hunger Games was now.
"I'm sorry! It's just that what if I lose everything and everyone I've ever loved and I have nothing to return to and I need help now!" I was screaming now. I grabbed my hair and collapsed against the wall; sobbing. After a little while Silena put a hand on my shoulder and helped me back up. I sniffed and wiped furiously wiped at the tears that were coming down in waterfalls
What is wrong with you, Jackson? I chided myself. Get it together. You look weak. I poised myself and blinked the rest of the tears away.
"It's okay to cry." Silena told me quietly. I collapsed into her arms and wept until I had no more tears left to cry. Why does this have to happen to me? Why couldn't I just die to get it over with? Why? Why!? When I'd emptied my tear ducts out I drew away from her, leaning against the wall for support. I needed to get my act together or else I'd rise into the arena red-faced and frail-looking. That definitely wouldn't get me much sponsors. I took several deep breaths and composed myself. I would not break down again.
"Percy." I turned to Silena, whose face was serious. "I have a little time to tell you what's going to happen. Well you'll rise onto a platform, one of twelve. The other tributes will be on the other platforms. Don't get off of that platform until the voice says so or else your legs will be blown off; bombs lie under the surface and they deactivate when the Games begin. The platforms will be around a cornucopia, or at least, we call it the cornucopia. It holds weapons and tools beyond belief. You can either run away, weaponless, foodless, and supplies-less but still be safe, or you can risk running into the cornucopia, getting a weapon, and possibly being killed by other tributes that are already there. A tip from me; run the cornucopia as fast as you can, grab the first weapon you see, then get the hell out of there. Keep close to the cornucopia, though; you don't want to go too far away or else you'll hit a force-field. One blast from that thing and you'll be dead.
"When someone dies, a canon sounds. At the end of every day in the Huger Games, the pictures of the people who have fallen will appear in the sky. Be careful. Only trust your allies and try to stick with them. I'm just warning you; there will be a bloodbath when the Games start, so don't be surprised if you hear cannon blasts and see the dead body of one of your friends. Be safe." Silena planted a kiss on my cheek and walked out. My lower lip quivered. One of my friends was most likely going to die during the bloodbath.
I turned to the sound of stomping and two Cyclopes peacekeepers came over to me. I backed against the wall. Did I do something wrong? What was going to happen to me? One Cyclops lunged at me and grabbed my arm, holding it out. I didn't struggle; struggle would earn me a good beating. But I'm going to die anyway. The other produced a long syringe. My eyes widened. Uh-oh. I tensed as the cold metal touched my skin and plunged deep into my arm. I winced, but I didn't dare yelp or cry. That would show weakness.
The Cyclopes let go of me. "It's a tracking device and the thing that disables your powers. It also monitors your heartbeat and breathing; tells us if you're dead or not. If you die, the device sends a signal out to the cannon and fires it." One of them, the one who stuck me with the needle, grunted. I should've thrashed. I should've put up a fight. I already felt my powers waning; I felt…dizzy and tired.
Before I could react, the peacekeepers shoved me into the tube and I collapsed against the wall. A glass film was all that separated me from the Cyclopes peacekeepers and a door made of the same substance slid across the only exit. I slammed against the tube walls; spouting curses and rapping against the surprisingly strong glass. This was probably bulletproof, though it didn't look like it. I screamed for Silena, but she probably wouldn't hear me. I didn't even get to say goodbye. Tears streamed down my face as I slammed against the glass; pleading for mercy, but the Cyclopes only gave me smug grins. That's when a voice sounded over the intercom: "All tributes report to their assigned tubes in ten seconds. If one of you does not enter your tube you will be beaten to death on sight."
I sat against the glass, shivering. The clothes I was wearing offered no warmth whatsoever; a black jacket, black legging-like pants, black T-shirt. Black everything. I tried to slow my breathing, but my heart was beating so fast it was impossible. The voice sounded over the intercom again: "Five seconds till launch. Four seconds. Three seconds. Two seconds. One second. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor."
I leaped to my feet as the platform I was standing on began to rise. I clawed at the edges of the tube, trying to grapple my way back down, but it was no use. One of my peacekeepers waved mockingly at me, a huge grin on his face, and I screamed, banging on the unbreakable glass. Pretty soon the glass was out of sight and I was rising through a layer of electronics, wires, tubes, and metals. A thick layer of dirt passed. Then some grass. I looked up to see the sky rising towards me and the platform dispensed me onto this circular dais.
I looked around at my surroundings. We were in a huge circular clearing in the middle of a huge forest. Trees of all shapes, sizes, and species sprouted from the earth like jagged spires. A large lake was off to one side. I could retreat there; stay underwater until the Games are over. Then I realized that I didn't have my powers anymore; I would drown. Stupid tracking device. In the center of the clearing was this huge metal shape; the cornucopia. As Silena had said, it was filled with weapons, food, supplies, and other amazing things you could need. I realized that the better things, such as weapons, were farther back than the more useless things, such as a pair of scissors, a butter knife, and other junky items.
Now it was time to monitor the tributes. Some of them were obscured by the cornucopia, but the two tributes to my immediate left and right were Leo and Jason. We nodded to each other in a silent agreement; let's not kill each other. Jason winked at me. We were a partnership; we had to stick together. All of a sudden a hologram appeared above the cornucopia, broadcasting Polybotes' ugly face.
"Hello, tributes. It is my honor to welcome the twelve of you to the 75th annual Hunger Games!" he bellowed and hidden or invisible speakers projected his voice throughout the arena. My heart was beating a mile a minute and it took all of my effort not to hyperventilate. "It took me and my team of skilled children of Hephaestus and Vulcan a lot of effort and time to build this. Here's the purpose of the Games: Survive until the end. At the end of his, eleven of you will be dead and one will be victorious. It starts in thirty seconds."
(A/N: Catching Fire never happened and quarter quells don't exist. This is the 75th Hunger Games. Deal with it. *puts on shades*)
The picture of Polybotes changed into a digital clock that started with thirty seconds on it and was now counting down. I turned to Jason, who bent his head and pointed behind him so subtly that nobody else noticed. The gesture was obvious: Run. I shook my head and faintly gestured to the cornucopia; the place that could hold the key to our success. Jason shook his head vigorously, his expression determined. He didn't want to risk it. The holographic clock began to wind down.
Ten.
Every tribute braced themselves to get a head start off of their platforms.
Nine.
Blood roared in my ears and my heart pounded so loudly I wondered if anyone else could hear it.
Eight.
Jason bounced on his toes nervously, his muscles tense and his feet ready to propel him off in to the trees. Too bad he didn't know that I wasn't going to follow him.
Seven.
My legs shook uncontrollably and I tightened my muscles in order for them to stop trembling.
Six.
Give your life to protect your friends. You cannot be the one to win. Don't let anything happen to them. I thought to myself and balled my fists.
Five.
I leaned in, as did the others.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
A horn sounded and I propelled myself off of my dais, cringing as my feet touched the grassy ground. I didn't hesitate; I ran as fast as humanly possible. I saw the other tributes running towards the cornucopia as well, their faces determined. I was the first one to reach the cornucopia. I grabbed two swords; one for me and one for Jason, and a pack of ambrosia. I was just running out when I saw Raven chuck a knife at me.
Time seemed to slow down as the knife went spiraling towards me. I nearly froze, but I forced myself to move; rolling under it so that it only nicked my ear. Blood began to trickle down and Raven cursed, drawing another throwing knife. Then I saw Tetro looming behind her. I nearly screamed for her to watch out, but I kept running. Forgetting all about me, Raven clashed with the tribute from District 2, sword on dagger, and they wrestled and slashed at each other ferociously; like two wolves fighting for dominance.
My heart was pounding as I ran away; into the forest where I saw Jason run in. He probably thought I'd been right behind him. Even worse; a tribute may be right on my tail and I would be leading them right to Jason. Instinctively, I looked over my shoulder. Nobody seemed to be following me. The trees had swallowed up the clearing and the cornucopia and hid them from sight behind thick boughs of trees and foliage. The cannon sounded. My eyes widened and I pushed myself harder. Did Tetro and Raven kill each other? Who won? Did one of my friends die? Even worse, did Jason die?
"Jason!" I shouted, stumbling through the underbrush and hacking it away with the two swords. The ambrosia bounced in my jacket pocket and more than once did it fall out. Was he dead? The cannon sounded again. "JASON!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I knew that it was going to give my location away, but I didn't care. Had he run into the force field? Was he attacked by mutts or another tribute? What the hell happened to him!?
All of a sudden there was a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and swung my swords at the other tribute; they could be hostile and about to kill me. I looked down to see Jason on the floor, his hands up in mock surrender.
"Oh my freaking God, Jason. You gave me a freaking heart attack." I moaned and collapsed against a tree, rubbing my temples. Jason chuckled, but it seemed rather strained. His expression became hard and his gaze was steely.
"I told you we should run, and like the little prick you are you ran into the cornucopia anyway. You could've gotten killed. You could've died-" Jason's voice cracked and his mask of emotions crumbled. He hugged me and I went rigid; Jason wasn't the touchy kind of person, but I finally relaxed and wrapped my arms around his waist. We sat there for a while, gathering our energy and thinking about the future. We weren't even an hour into the Games and two tributes had died already. I dreaded to see the pictures in the sky, and other people's pictures may join them.
"All right." I said finally, breaking away from Jason. He wiped at his eyes furiously and put his mask on. "We should constantly be on the move and only camp in the trees. We don't want anyone finding us." I said sullenly, handing one of the swords to Jason, who was nodding in agreement.
"Any longer in that hug and people would start shipping us. Heck, Jercy might even become everyone's OTP and we'll be the Star-Crossed Lovers." He joked and strapped it to his belt. I chuckled at this.
"I doubt that." I scoffed.
"Aww, you know you love me." Was Jason's snarky reply. He blew me a mocking kiss and I pretended to blush.
"Anything for you, dear." I said in the most feminine voice I could manage, which was still pretty bad. I sounded like someone who was choking on a duck. We both had to lean against a tree to keep ourselves from collapsing. Jason was clutching his gut, trying to breathe between fits of laughter and I was just laughing because Jason was laughing so hard; the son of Jupiter's guffawing was pretty freaking contagious.
"Okay…okay…that's enough…we should get going." Jason managed to gasp. He chuckled a little and the happiness was gone. This was the Hunger Games; it wasn't a joke. I nodded forlornly, hoping for just a few more moments with Jason; when we were just laughing and talking as if everything was going to be okay. I knew it wouldn't be okay, though; at the end of these Games one of us or even both of us would be dead. If any of us were going to live, it would be Jason.
"I will protect you with my life, Jason." I muttered under my breath. "I swear it on the Styx."
