Big first day in the Games! After all that it's just now time for the first Anthem.
Quarla Hydrargyrum- District One female (16)
Arroyo walked through the doorway at the bottom of the stairwell and stopped so quickly I ran into his back.
"What-?" I started, then caught sight of what lay past him. The room wasn't destroyed but it was definitely damaged. Everything was damp, for one, and there were little pockmarks in the floor and in some of the furniture. Some of the desks seemed a little... melted.
"Goodness, what happened here?" Arroyo asked.
"Acid, maybe? That was probably what killed everyone," I mused, then felt a chill come over me as I put together that this would kill Careers as much as it would kill outliers.
My breath burned in my throat with exertion and the last bit of chemical fog in the air as Arroyo and I sprinted into the Cornucopia room. The first thing that caught my eye was the movement as Alysanne, her upper body smeared with white cream, jumped up at the sudden arrival of possible attackers. Then I saw Tulsi's body.
DIONYSUS BACCHUS- Quarla Hydrargyrum
We'd expected as much when he and Charybdis hadn't made it back before the Anthem started playing. Faces started projecting on the full-length glass windows and he was lucky number one. He didn't get mourned as much as he should have since we were all holding our breath for what came next.
CHARYBDIS KINCAID- Arroyo Cardoso
Our last bit of hope went out the window. The first day into the Games and half the pack had been wiped out in a minute. It was a hell of a way to go, especially for someone already as troubled as Charybdis.
EZRA AARYN- Royce Saturn
I could see the faces on the window from the crack beside the refrigerator I was hiding behind. I had been getting water from one of the fountains when the acid rain hit. It was just luck that I was close enough to the little dining area to run for cover and that the fire system didn't reach behind the fridge. I got away with nothing more than really sore and reddish arms and a still-tingling face. But Ezra got away with a clean death so who was the real winner?
TULSI SA- Alysanne Audren
Arroyo and I snuck dismayed glances at each other at Tulsi's face. The plan had been to wait until we had the numbers and then strike out with our own alliance. Now our heaviest hitter was gone and neither of us knew if the other even still wanted to ally. I still did. Arroyo was more stable and less intense than most Careers and that matched my skill set well. I'd have to find a time to talk to him about it.
ERIDA AMPERE- EDWARD MATTHEWS
We'd allied but I couldn't really say I was sad about Erida dying. She was kind of a terrible human being. I used to be pretty bad myself but at least I was trying to improve. It remained to be seen what kind of ending I would get.
MATTIE LEE, COLTON DOUGLASS- Flint Kenyte
Losing someone was hard enough. Losing two people at once was something most people never went through. And going through grief in the Arena was just unimaginable. How can you make peace with death when it's a constant presence all around you?
VULPES KERR- Vasily Nikulin
Vaslav would have killed me if he'd found a chance. I was sorry the Games killed him but not sorry he couldn't kill me. I had enough to deal with after the Gamemakers sent acid through the fire system and stung my arms all up before I could dive under a desk. I should have been happy it was just blisters instead of really deep wounds that would get infected but it still hurt.
MARROW HOLSTEIN- Clair Mushroom
Ten was gone in the first day. It was a haunting thought. What was it like if both you and your partner died in the Bloodbath and your District had nothing to do but cry? I would feel like I failed them even though I was the one who was the real victim.
SCARLETT ANTONIA- Gaius McClellan
I was the only Twelve left. I couldn't help but think about how very many "only Twelves left" there had been in all the years of the Games and that only two of them had survived that title.
In other news, Alysanne got sponsored some burn cream and Fleur got sponsored that lobster I mentioned (just reminding myself so I remember to credit her as not hungry), a canteen of water and a poison kit ooOOOoOoooh (though she seems to have poison already so really no one needs to be any more worried than they already were)
