Muire Spencer, 17, District Three
Location: Left Hallway, Second Floor
As the countdown finished, Mu cautiously peeked out of her door. They weren't sure which way to go, but decided that the best would be to slowly move right, to the lower left corner of the Arena. Once they got there, they looked down the diagonal hallway, and saw that there was a balcony there; they also caught a glimpse of a familiar person in a matching black suit with yellow dress shirt.
Muire picked up their pace a little bit and got to the balcony. They called out to Drew, who didn't respond; Mu figured he didn't hear them, so ran a bit closer and tried again.
"Hey, Drew!"
"Mu! It's good to see a familiar face." Drew waited until Mu caught up with him. "How've you been?"
"I'm good," they replied. "What now?"
"It seems pretty late to me. I think we should take a rest and move on tomorrow."
"I'm fine with that. Do we have anything with which to set up camp? And where do we go."
"Camp is a lucrative term, but we do each have an extra outfit to work with. We could also go into that extra room over there. Or..." Drew looked over the balcony. "Let's go down to the Great Hall. It's bigger and more central, and I think being on the balcony could trap us in a bad way."
Mu nodded. "Sounds good," they said.
Drew led Mu down from the balcony towards the staircase; they carefully found their way towards the throne room and set up camp right behind the two thrones in the room, fairly far away from any of the doors and out of plain sight. "Well, that's camp," Drew proclaimed. "You can go to sleep right after the anthem. I'll stay up."
The two made small talk for a little while, but not three minutes later, the anthem began to play. Mu and Drew noticed that, not only had a whole section of the wall in the Great Hall transformed into a screen on which the images of the dead were projected, but they could also see the deaths on their trackers. Neither of the two were surprised by the first two faces shown. While Mu knew that they were not strong, they still felt that Drenaline and Silver were weak, and while they were sad to see the two girls die, they were glad that they were closer to coming out alive. But seeing Amaryllis's face really shocked her. It hurt her somehow to lose an ally, not to mention one to whom they felt close because of their shared struggles with the gender binary. But they knew deep down that Amaryllis's death brought them closer to living, which was an odd comfort for them. Finally, Narcissa's face came up, before the anthem finished with a flourish.
Suddenly, a butler came out of one of the rooms. Mu instinctively hid behind Drew, but then the butler said, very formally, "I have a package for Muire Spencer."
"I'm Mu," they replied timidly. The butler presented the tray to Mu, then turned around and went back into the room where it came out.
Mu sat down and carefully opened the package. In it they found a soft, warm blanket and a note that read, We know that you're dealing with the loss of an ally with whom you felt a deep connection. Take this sympathy blanket and rest for the night, and regain strength for tomorrow. -Your mentors.
"That's an interesting way to get sponsor gifts," mentioned Drew.
Mu carefully unfolded the blanket; it was both big enough and comfortable enough that Mu could curl up in it like a sleeping bag. "Bedtime?" they yawned, cuddling with the blanket like a little kid.
"Bedtime. Good night, Mu. I'll wake you up to change watch at some point."
And within minutes, an uneasy sleep washed over them.
Carina-Jean Laurent, 17, Captiol
Posing as Drew Voltas, 16, District Three
Location: Hovercraft, Above the Arena
CJ waited patiently on the hovercraft.
Well, she tried to wait patiently. Her heart was beating out of her chest.
She'd spent as much time as she could focusing on what she knew about Drew. The problem was, it wasn't much. CJ knew that Drew was a good guy, with an active streak, but with just what there was on video about Drew, she knew she would struggle to really emulate him. This wasn't only because she was a little tiny bit taller than he, or because her voice was just a bit higher; it was because she wasn't sure how to capture his essence.
But she did have a plan.
All she had to do was win the Games, and then Drew would be taking over as Victor.
The hovercraft's windows were blacked out; CJ had no sense of how late it was outside, but she knew she'd be coming down in the middle of the night. She was too excited to sleep, though; she could easily do that later.
Finally, after what seemed like a very long wait, Sami gave her the OK. The Gamemaker checked CJ's tracker to make sure that it was in place. Then, as the hovercraft lowered, CJ got into position on the electrified ladder, and waited patiently until the bottom of the ladder hit the ground. Then, the electric current dropped off, and CJ carefully stepped down.
First, she got a sense of her surroundings; CJ registered that she was in some sort of throne room or Great Hall. She immediately figured that she was in the central area of the Arena; it would be crucial to get out of there, because other people would inevitable be coming sooner rather than later to meet her.
Then she peeked around the hovercraft, and she noticed the ally that Drew had picked: Muire Spencer, from Three. CJ knew that Muire wasn't exactly the strongest tribute; they'd gotten a 4 in training, and were fairly weak in comparison to some of the other tributes. If CJ was to survive, she needed a stronger ally, and one not from Three to boot.
CJ took a deep breath, knowing the impact this decision could have on Drew and his reputation. But to a certain degree, she didn't care.
CJ made a beeline for the doors of the Great Hall, then ran through the courtyard, into another hallway, and then burst through the main doors of the castle, making a beeline for the woods.
Amethyst was sitting alone in the Gamemakers' Center, watching as the hovercraft containing CJ touched down. By this time of night, the Gamemakers were usually out of the Center; the only person that had to be cleared out was Luna, the night guard, which was easy; Amethyst had just given her the night off "by Ruby's instruction," and Luna was certainly happy to take it.
Things were going well so far. Sami didn't suspect at all that CJ was in the craft; the other Gamemaker still thought it was Drew, which was good. But Amethyst was specific.
Over the 25 or so years that the two had spent as the Head Gamemaker-President team, Ruby had had her fair share of crazy ideas. Sometimes, like with the 113th Games, they worked, despite Amethyst's protests; they'd even produced Effervescence Capek, possibly the most well-known Victor of the Fifth Quarter-Century of Games. On the other hand, the plan for the 100th Games had been dicey at best, and the entire team was flying by the seat of their pants the whole time; granted, it had been Ruby's first Games, but they'd been messy, leading Amethyst to implement a much more intensive pre-Games preparation process.
But this one took the cake.
Ruby might have gotten a contractual signature from CJ, but that didn't hold her to anything in the Arena; the tracker would also be less effective, as it was outside of the body, and there were only so many mutts in the Arena that could kill. If things went wrong with CJ, there weren't so many ways that the behind-the-scenes team could fix things.
Amethyst hoped it didn't come to that.
The Head Gamemaker watched carefully as the hovercraft touched down; as was the plan, it first collected Honey before letting CJ's ladder down. While Amethyst, knowing what she did about Drew, which was about as much as CJ did (in addition to his weapon of choice), wouldn't have run away from his ally, she couldn't exactly instruct the tribute on what to do; that was her prerogative, after all, and who knows? Drew may have done the same thing.
But then, as Amethyst took a moment to scan the area, she noticed something that alarmed her. And that she really should have noticed before CJ stepped down.
Muire Spencer, 17, District Three
Location: Great Hall, First Floor
Mu wasn't sure for how long they were asleep, but they were fairly sure that they'd slept at least a little bit. As they came to, they noticed that Drew had fallen asleep, a few yards away from where they were. Mu decided that it would be a good idea to stay awake for a little bit, just to make sure that everything was OK.
After a few moments of keeping watch, Mu noticed a hovercraft come down and pick Drew up. They didn't think much of it; while they didn't hear the cannon, Mu figured that it was the cannon that woke them up. She was broken; how had she lost two allies in the span of less than a day?
But then, things got weird.
As the hovercraft lifted up, Mu noticed someone else running away from it. The person was wearing a suit, meaning that they didn't identify as female. More oddly, that person hadn't been there when the hovercraft came down.
Mu shrugged. They figured that the person running away was the one who had killed Drew, and didn't think much of it. Then, exhaustion came over them; Mu decided to mourn Drew the next day, and curled up as sleep fell over her.
Honey Voltas, 16, District Three (yes, the real Honey)
Location: A Secluded Room in the Capitol
When Honey woke up, she knew that she wasn't in the same place that she'd been in when she fell asleep.
Because she didn't fall asleep in a small, white room.
Did a Career kill her in her sleep? Was this heaven?
Suddenly, a door opened, and a woman in a red outfit came in to lead her into a second, more colorful room. Honey followed with trepidation, but when she got into the room and saw Garnet Emerald, she breathed a huge sigh of relief; while she was still confused, knowing that Garnet was both there and real made her feel better.
"Hi, Honey," Garnet said warmly. "Take a seat," he said, motioning to a plush red chair across from him.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"I just have a few questions for you. Nothing to worry about. And yes, you're alive. Now, the first question that I have is, why do you and Drew switch places?"
"In general?"
"Sure."
"I don't remember exactly why we started at this point, to be honest," Honey admitted, "but we continued up until when we were Reaped because being Drew gave me more confidence. I had to pretend to be so bold and outgoing, and it rubbed off on me; the more I did it, the better I felt about myself."
"I see. And were you ever told not to do this?"
"Yes, by our mentor, Byte; she told us not to on the train to the Capitol."
"So why did you on the morning of the Games?"
Honey thought for a second. She didn't want to incriminate her brother – who knew where he was now? – but she knew that, as a whole, honesty would be the best thing for her in this case. "I don't know entirely. Drew suggested it; I think he wanted to try to instill a bit of confidence in me before we were told where we'd be going. But then I… um… had an emergency that I had to deal with, and so we didn't have a chance to change back, not to mention that the Peacekeeper came to get us much earlier than we anticipated."
Garnet checked his notes, then paused for a second to formulate his thoughts. "So, your brother Drew gave me basically the same answers, which is good. He is waiting over in the next room; we'll go there together now, and then I'll explain the next step to you guys."
Honey breathed a huge sigh of relief. As Garnet led her into the next room, she flung herself into her brother's arms. Drew clearly had a tear-stricken face; as he caressed his sister, he whispered over and over, "I thought I lost you."
Garnet let the two reunite momentarily, and then broke in. "Please take a seat again, my friends." The two obliged, still holding hands. "So, first of all, I have to say how much I appreciate your bond as siblings. My big sister is so much older than me; I don't have nearly this relationship with her. And I admire how Drew, you were willing to let Honey dress up as you to give her more confidence. We also appreciate that both of you are so good at acting as each other that it didn't shake you; neither of you gave the other away publicly, which is also good for us. While I appreciate your reasoning for switching places, I will ask you not to do so again; clearly, we see the danger that it's caused."
"Trust me," Drew assured the slightly older boy, "it will never happen again." He took the wig he'd been holding on to and gave it to his sister. "Never."
"And Honey, we'll be adding extensions to your hair until it can grow out just to be safe, so the wig won't be necessary, unless you'd like to keep it as a memento. Now, the remaining question is what to do with Drew. Obviously, you can't be yourself anymore, unless CJ manages to win."
"Who's CJ?" Honey interjected.
"Honestly irrelevant; you don't know who she is. Info is on a need-to-know basis, and you don't need to know. But anyway. Our plan for now is for you to wait around in the Training Center until the Games end, because the girls are going to be moved out of there; if CJ loses, you'll be posing as an exchange student from the Districts. You'll get some altercations and move in with a family that is willing to take you, and we'll give you a new name, likely Andrew something, depending on the district, so you can still go by Drew. That does, however, mean that the two of you will probably never be together as Honey and Drew again."
Drew nodded. "Sounds fine. Honestly, I'm just happy to be alive, and for Honey to be alive too."
"I'll leave the two of you alone for another few minutes, and then Honey, you'll follow someone into where you're sleeping in the Training Center; the other people don't know that Drew was ever here, and Drew did the smart thing and went back to his room last night, so you should be fine. Just say that you were tired and overwhelmed or something. Drew, you'll stay in here for the night – here's a bed – and tomorrow we'll move you into the Training Center around noon."
"That sounds fine."
The twins looked at each other. Like the enigma that was CJ, their lives would never be the same again.
But at least they would both be alive.
Locations of the Tributes at the End of Day One
CJ Laurent, Posing as Drew Voltas: The Woods Outside of the Castle
Muire Spencer: Great Hall Complex, First Floor
Eloise LaBelle: Lower Hallway, First Floor
#FindDania (Elysia, Weave, Kylis): Upper Hallway, First Floor
Nyx Heyton: Upper Left Diagonal, Second Floor
Upper Pack (Arieyn, Ravi, Vixyn): Lower Left Corner, Second Floor
Middle Pack (Lavender, Carissa): Upper Right Corner, Second Floor
Tistera Leone: Lower Right Corner, Second Floor
Freida Muller: Upper Left Corner, Third Floor
Lower Pack (Blaze, Nanami) + Ferrari: Upper Hallway, Third Floor
District Ten (Cheyenne, Peach): Balcony of Great Hall, Third Floor
Pix Drexel: Right Hallway, Third Floor
Hey friends! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I know that things are super complicated in this storyline, especially with who is actually who and where, but thanks for sticking with me! A reminder that in Mu's POV (and, for that matter, all of the other tribute POVs), the perception is that Honey (or later on, CJ) is Drew, and so CJ-as-Drew (as we get there later on) will be referred to as Drew by the other tributes. Yes, this is a complex plotline. Yes, I do this a lot. No, it's not quite finished yet, and won't be until CJ and Honey die/win/get sent home. Because they're still characters.
Anyway, no deaths this chapter, mostly because of plot driving. I guess in that regard there's not much to say. Did CJ make the right choice by running from Mu? How will her actions (and Mu's actions, in that respect) impact everyone else?
Next chapter we'll be checking in with the Selected girls, most likely, and then we'll go back to the Games! I'll be putting a poll about the Selection ladies on my profile, so make sure to check that out.
Thank you all so much for your support. We've got like 550 reviews, which is amazing; thank you all for that. It really makes my day to read every single one!
-goldie031