NOTE: This chapter reveals what training scores were given to each tribute. If you have not read about what happened during the private sessions yet, I'd highly suggest reading the previous chapter first, then returning here.
Hortensia Parcel, Head Trainer:
Jack Cannon struts out onto the stage in a slim black suit and his traditional Hunger Games wig, a bouncy, voluminous, cherry-red affair that seems to get more satiny each year. Next to him, Iris Whottenberg sports a sleek, supple ponytail in varying hues of gold, her surgically implanted chin horns protruding unnaturally as her overplumped lips curl into a smile that drips with violet, honey-thick lip gloss. They look fabulous, as always. Jack and Iris, both middle-aged but altered to look about twenty, are experienced with facilitating the Hunger Games and showing up dressed to the nines. They've clearly saved some excellent outfits up for tonight.
I'm sitting in the box of honor, alongside President Mikhail, Head Peacekeeper Marius, and Head Gamemaker Saccharyn. Lucent and I because we facilitate the Games, the President because of his power, and the Head Peacekeeper because he always likes his right hand man nearby. We have the prime seating, right next to the stage. Today, Jack will be conducting short interviews with us as he invites us up to reveal elements of the Games and what the tributes will be like this year. Lucent, seated just to my right, puts a comforting hand on my shoulder. She's much more accustomed to the public eye than I am. She already warned me that there were a few unexpected performances, so I should be prepared for Jack to ask me about certain tributes.
What I know is that I did my absolute best to prepare them for the Hunger Games. I lectured them about what things they need to keep in mind. I answered every question that was asked of me. I provided the very finest trainers, stations, and weapons that could be made. It'll definitely sadden me to see twenty-three of them die, because I definitely have a few favorites, and it's going to be painful when they go. I even have a soft spot for Soren, who constantly pestered me and wanted nothing more than to leave the Training Center. Even the most troublesome tributes deserve a shot, and I hope that each and every one who passes through my Training Center fulfills their potential.
Jack begins his opening remarks. "Welcome, citizens of fair Panem, to the Four Hundredth Annual Hunger Games! That's right, folks, in less than forty-eight hours, we'll be celebrating four whole centuries of these things. The man who reunited Panem following the Dark Days, our dear President Ravinstill, instituted the Hunger Games as a punishment for the districts' failed rebellion. The Hunger Games are a tradition beloved by all, District-born and Capitolite alike. Ever since their establishment under President Ravinstill, they have blossomed into a ceremony where those from the districts are reminded of their forefathers' foolishness and their children's bravery. Every twenty-five years, there is a Quarter Quell, a special sort of Hunger Games with a unique twist that is chosen at random. This year marks our sixteenth Quarter Quell. Can I get a huzzah for that?"
The crowd galvanizes in shouts of support, and it takes several minutes for all the clamor to die down. "Yes!" Iris exclaims. "And let us also just take a moment to remember some of our history, and all our government has done for us in these four glorious centuries. Ever since the Hunger Games were founded under President Ravinstill, they have endured through each Presidency since, from the second President, Coriolanus Snow, to his granddaughter, Alexandria, after he passed away of illness. Then came President Seymour and President Lockbell, one a Head Gamemaker, one a Head Peacekeeper, who each served as an interim leader for a few years as Transportation Minister Fuchsia Hornbreadth rose to prominence. President Hornbreadth ruled graciously for fifteen years before her untimely assassination. The individual responsible was caught, and the Head Secretary found himself forced to step in. He turned out to be one of Panem's most widely revered leaders, and of course was the first in the Pearce dynasty, in which he and his descendants held the Presidency for exactly one hundred fifty years. That was around the time Delphi Tricketstern, the powerful young Head of the Senate, seized the throne, where she oversaw Panem wisely for many decades before passing it on to her son. There was the whole kerfuffle around that time regarding the power struggle and the briefest hint of rebellion, but that was quashed by the government official that eventually won out. Head Peacekeeper Myra Kirkwood succeeded him, and on her deathbed, she proclaimed rising political star Gilbert Mikhail as the next President of Panem."
"President Mikhail, though still reeling from the death of his mentor, stepped up and set out on a mission to unify Panem once more, and this year, he found the perfect opportunity: only five years into his Presidency, as luck would have it, there was a Quarter Quell! After former Head Gamemaker Langston Arquette died due to a sudden onset of lung illness, Mikhail noticed a junior Gamemaker who was his friend at university. Recalling her excellent work ethic, he made the difficult decision only two months ahead of the Games that she had to be the new Head Gamemaker. That Head Gamemaker is of course Lucent Saccharyn. Emboldened by her most recent station, she's planning a truly spectacular arena for us this year, undoubtedly fit for a Quarter Quell, and we even have her and a few other special guests to interview tonight!"
A roving spotlight settles on Lucent, President Mikhail, Head Peacekeeper Marius, and me. I smile for the cameras that are undoubtedly trained on us. "In fact," Jack booms, "Why don't you fine folks come up here right now?" Two servants emerge from behind a curtain, setting a cushy velvet sofa out for us. The President makes the decision for all of us, gliding smoothly up the stairs. I follow, careful not to topple over in my high heels, and make it to the safety of the sofa with relative ease and dignity. "I do apologize to the audience for the brief delay, but I know you'll all love to see Panem's top officials as they react in real time to the training scores! Which reminds me, now is time for us to read the training scores. Iris?"
"Oh, Jack, there are so many promising tributes! This year's batch is particularly strong, which will make for a fitting pairing to this year's Quarter Quell and in-Games features. Lucent, is there anything you can tell us about those?"
Lucent laughs lightly, a titter for the benefit of the viewers. "Well Iris, I might, but however could I say what they are? It would ruin the surprise, would it not? No, I'm afraid you'll all just have to wait until the tributes enter the arena, which is at exactly ten in the morning the day after tomorrow. You won't want to miss it!"
"An excellent answer from our Head Gamemaker. I know it's tempting to pry, but it's so much better to feel the suspense and learn at the same time as the entire rest of the country! It really is exhilarating. Now President Mikhail, I know you've been communicating in private with the Gamemakers. Is there anything you'd like to tell us?"
"Well Iris, it's been delightful working with Lucent. We were friends growing up, and although our career paths diverged after we finished school, I was so pleased to learn she had been working as a Gamemaker in the two years we hadn't seen one another. She was always hardworking, intelligent, and creative, and I knew I'd stumbled across her for a reason. Of course, Jessiah Marius was also a classmate of ours, and he and I had grown closer together as we bonded over our duties. The whole friend group really came together again, manifesting itself in our shared need to govern, and I can't tell you how incredible it's been to have her running the Hunger Games. She and I have been working together on some truly unprecedented in-Games events, though, so make sure to keep an eye out!" The interviews bounce back and forth between Lucent, the Head Peacekeeper, and the President, but at long last, I'm asked a question.
"As for you, Ms. Parcel," Jack says, furrowing his brow in question, "As our Head Trainer, what can you tell us about the tributes' performance in training as it might relate to their scores?"
"You know, things can go either way. I can tell you that the majority of this crop of tributes look especially promising, and I believe that will be largely reflected in the training scores. However, there could always be an upset or two. Some strong tributes might crack under the pressure or pretend to be worse than they actually are so they can fly under the radar. Previously unassuming tributes might reveal a hidden skill or drop an existing facade to show us they were playing weak and timid all along, but want to make their mark on the Capitol while there's still time. Several of the tributes this year are exceptionally crafty as well, so I can assure you, at least a few have tried to project an untrue reflection of their abilities. I'm not privy to the private training sessions, but I supervised the tributes during the waiting period, and several were studying notes or reviewing their plans. I might not be able to give you much new information, but I can tell you I'm on the edge of my seat to see what the past three days have culminated to. I'm as excited as you are to see how things turn out!"
A picture of Oscar Poudret, the boy from District One, appears on a screen angled so that those of us onstage and the audience members can all see it. There's his initial photo, then a snapshot of thim during the Tribute Parade, and a candid of him laughing alongside one of his allies in the Career Pack. A list of information pops up beside the images, displaying facts about him such as his age, height, and district of origin. I recall him clearly, threw knives for most of training and visited the private booths to learn how to poison his district partner. "Iris will now announce the training scores," Jack explains. "Each tribute is gauged on a scale of zero to twelve, zero if the tribute fails to show up entirely, and twelve if they surpass all expectations and do something incredibly skillful and unprecedented. We will begin with the male of each district and move on to the female, stating first their name, then their predicted placement, and finally their score."
"District One Male, Oscar Poudret, predicted to place third, with a score of...Ten!" To me, that seems like an appropriate score for him. He's an excellent knife thrower, and his score reflects that. I'm well familiar with his allies Rafe and Livi feuding over which gets to be the leader, and I'm aware they elected to decide based on whoever gets the higher training score. Lucent mentioned that one pulled off a performance that was marvelous and shocking with a flamboyant finish, whereas the other produced an equally incredible show until their fatal mistake at the end. The ending of the better performance was so good that she gave serious thought to giving that tribute a perfect Twelve, and considered settling on an Eleven instead since the tribute did only use two weapons, but she ultimately deemed them worthy of the maximum score possible. This means that the leadership and the fate of the largest and strongest alliance in the Hunger Games depends on what number leaves Iris's mouth next.
The screen changes to show Livi, Livi in her initial photo, Livi wearing her bejeweled Tribute Parade costume, Livi chatting with her mentor. "District One Female, Livi Carnelian, predicted to place first, with a score of...Twelve!" I barely have time to process what just transpired before the crowd erupts in a deafening roar. Elevens are uncommon, usually used to put a target on the back of a rebellious tribute, but are occasionally earned by some truly amazing Careers. Twelves have only been given a handful of times before, and certainly none in Lucent's tenure as a Gamemaker. That's why she was so hesitant to give out a Twelve. She wasn't quite sure of the criteria required to assign a tribute that sort of score. The younger Capitolites haven't had a tribute score a Twelve in their lifetimes. I was a baby the last time it happened. Livi was an impressive tribute in training, sure, but she definitely had an ace up her sleeve. I can only imagine the hubbub going on in the District One apartment. Livi, with the top score, is sure to be a real threat.
That, of course, means Rafe must have been the one to err dreadfully in front of the Gamemakers. I doubt he'd do it on purpose, since he has so much pride, which means his fighting, however passionate, is flawed. He tends to experience fits of anger and then get violent, and my theory is that he loses some control of his weapon and isn't as precise when his emotions lead him. "District Two Male, Rafe McClellan, predicted to place ninth, with a score of...Nine!" Nine would normally be low, but if I'm interpreting Lucent's words the right way, he ended up in a position where he would have been injured, which caused her to take off points.
Iris continues on. "District Two Female, Eliza Maddox, predicted to place second, with a score of...Ten!" This doesn't surprise me. Since she did the same thing as Oscar in training, it makes sense she'd do the same thing as him in the private sessions. "District Three Male, Soren Ventra, predicted to place twenty-fourth, with a score of...Zero!" Soren doesn't like doing anything, and he has a chip on his shoulder about doing things that don't immediately benefit him, so he avoided showing up at all. Sad, but not unexpected. He just lost most of his potential sponsors. "District Three Female, Pola Velek, predicted to place twentieth, with a score of...Four!" Pola's score also seems very fitting.
Next comes District Four. "District Four Male, Ardledge Merton, predicted to place twelfth, with a score of...Eight!" Ardledge certainly pushed through his early troubles, and he's displayed plenty of strength with his tanto and boxing in training. That's probably what he did in the private session, and I'm glad it worked out for him. "District Four Female, Lyra-Rose Ripley, predicted to place tenth, with a score of...Eight!" Lyra-Rose's arrogance has hit record levels, and I'm hoping the reality check of a lower end Career score will dispel that nasty attitude of hers. However, I have a bad feeling it'll just make her act more unappreciated and woeful. The Careers are liable to kick her out at any time now.
"District Five Male, Ryan Ritz, predicted to place seventeenth, with a score of...Five!" Ryan might have done better, so I'd guess he made some kind of mistake that resulted in points being subtracted. "District Five Female, Thys Kurono, predicted to place thirteenth, with a score of...Seven!" Thys did fairly well, but she tends to lack self control when fighting. I think Lucent picked up on it, and that's why she scored slightly poorer than Ardledge, despite probably doing similar things.
"District Six Male, Quinten Aramdale, predicted to place sixteenth, with a score of...Five!" Quinten didn't do so well in training, but it wasn't for lack of trying. He put in a ton of effort, especially at the spear station. He probably did some survival stuff, and his score got boosted a point or so because of attempting to use a spear. "District Six Female, Amiee Smith, predicted to place fifteenth, with a score of...Six!" Amiee has an excellent memory, and I hear her telling her allies that she planned to recite proper survival procedures. Her score seems to be appropriate for that.
"District Seven Male, Damon Archer, predicted to place eighth, with a score of...Nine!" Now, this one is a bit of a surprise. Damon was playing weak during the days of training, so I assumed he would also try to get a lower score to match that. However, it seems he's trying to shock the Capitol into sponsoring him, and it appears to have worked. Nine is an extremely high score for a younger tribute. "District Seven Female, Jenna Reyer, predicted to place ninth, with a score of...Eight!" Jenna's been practicing with her axe and is very good at it, so this was expected. It's good for her, but it's even better for Damon, since he outscored his much older district partner.
"District Eight Male, Harry Striffer, predicted to place nineteenth, with a score of...Four! District Eight Female, Elle Callas, predicted to place eighteenth, with a score of...Four!" Harry and Elle weren't very impressive in training. Harry just wasn't good at much of anything, and Elle was playing weak. However, she's not doing herself much of a favor. Nobody wants to sponsor someone who did so poorly. Elle might have received a higher score if she actually tried, which would have made her more appealing to the sponsors. Harry probably actually was trying his best, and his score seems to be more fitting of his abilities.
"District Nine Male, Radley Allaway, predicted to place fourth, with a score of...Ten!" I would have predicted an Eight, perhaps a Nine, but it seems he was toning down his sickle abilities in training to protect himself from Rafe and the other Careers. I was livid to learn how long it took for my subordinates to intervene. Lucent was the one who informed me of what had transpired. Radley is definitely a strong tribute, and from what I saw, he's also excellent with survival skills. "District Nine Female, Zea Poales, predicted to place fifth, with a score of...Ten!" Zea's also on par with the Careers, no surprise there, and she's been throwing knives expertly all three days of training. District Nine is emerging as a real threat this year.
"District Ten Male, Trey Copper, predicted to place seventh, with a score of...Nine!" Trey's also scored appropriately. His Nine is an accurate representation of his abilities, and is enough to keep him in the Career Pack, but his district partner catches me by surprise. "District Ten Female, Emily Parker, predicted to place eleventh, with a score of...Seven!" Emily seemed very weak and incompetent in training, so she must either have avoided her best skill, secretly have a knack for acting, or done something really creative. I have no idea how she managed to score so high, but it's sure to shake up the betting predictions a little. Jack and Iris determine predictions of their own, which are the ones being read out, but the bettors will have their own ideas. A young girl snatching up an almost Career-level score is certain to shake things up.
Districts Eleven and Twelve are a letdown, and I barely pay attention to them. Both tributes from Eleven attempted to play weak in training, so I was expecting them to do the same in their private sessions. Griffin Jagger gets a Six and is predicted to place fourteenth, Soya Orlando and Chip Maxen each earn a Three and are tapped for twenty-first and twenty-second. Sorrel Harding rounds out the field with her Two and prediction of twenty-third place. Neither she nor Chip have any skills to bring to the table, but Soya and Griffin, despite their unassuming scores, will be catalysts in the arena.
"To conclude," Jack announces, "We'll remind you all that our lowest scoring tribute is Soren Ventra of District Three with a Zero, and our highest scoring tribute is Livi Carnelian of District One with a Twelve. Now, Lucent, what made up your mind to assign such a wide range of scores?" There's another wave of applause and cheering, and then Lucent primly tucks one ankle over the other.
"Well, Jack, it was quite simple, actually. Soren neglected to show up at all, and Livi really impressed. I know a promising tribute when I see one, and let me tell you, I daresay you're correct that Livi is destined for Victory. Of course I don't prefer any single tribute over the others, but I'll be thinking about that young lady's performance for decades to come. Hortensia obviously gave them all the tools they needed to succeed, as you can tell from the plethora of high scores, and I'm looking forward to working with them all in the arena."
Lucent trails off in a long speech, but I tune most of it out. My job is over, the ball is in someone else's court. If I, the person who knows the most about the tributes' skills and strategies, am unaware of what some of them did to earn their scores, the rest of Panem has no clue. They're totally in the dark, and I look forward to seeing the Hunger Games unfold as I learn what my trainees are fully capable of.
Hey y'all!
First of all, happy Easter to those who celebrate it! Second, I have at least one more chapter coming out today, possibly two. I hope you have an excellent day, and I'll hopefully see you all around noon for the next update!
– LC :)