Percy woke up the morning of the reaping, hating his life. It was understandable, he was malnourished, not as much as the rest of district 12, but still malnourished. He was poor, just like everyone else in the piss-poor district. The only thing keeping him and his family alive was the fact that he broke the law every day to go fish.

Percy sat up, the covers falling down down to his waist, exposing him to the cold. Symbolic, he guessed. With the reaping today, where the cold capital will rip away 24 children from their homes and watch them be murdered for their entertainment.

In the bed across from him lay his mother and sister. He guessed that Estelle had a bad dream. Again, that made sense, with the Reaping today. It was her first one too. Her nerves were probably frayed.

Percy got out of bed silently, not wanting to wake the two. He slips into a jacket, made specially from district 8. God knows how valuable it was.

He exited the house, if you could call it that. It was more like a rundown shack with 2 open rooms. They lived in the poorest section, which the community had deemed 'The Seam'.

The Seam was empty. It was usually abundant with coal miners, heading down to the mines for another day of health destroying labor, but there was none today.

Percy walked down to the edge of the district, where a metal chain link fence separated the district from the wilderness. It was supposedly electrified, but that was only true for like 2-3 hours in the afternoon. As a result, it was pretty safe to touch. And the loud humming that came when it was on was a pretty good warning.

He slipped under the hole that had been weathered from years of temporary escape. He reached the forest, and relaxed, as he knew he was out of sight from anyone within the district. He ran over to the lake.

The lake was pretty big, enough for lots of fish to live in. He grabbed his fishing rod from the hollow log that sat by the lake. He took the knife that was stashed in the log as well, sliding it into his pant's waistband. He made sure to keep the blade between his pants and his underwear. Didn't want to stab his ass after all.

Percy sat on the log. The knife made it a little uncomfortable, but he was used to it. He cast his line out into the lake and waited. Fishing required patience, and while Percy didn't have a lot of it, this he could make an exception for.

The fishing line started to leave the rod quickly. Percy stood up and started to reel it in quickly. Percy could feel that it was a big one. He idly wondered if his rod could withstand the weight.

He continued to turn the reel and the fish came flying out of the lake. It was a bass, and a larger one too, most likely a female. They were usually the bigger ones.

He fished for about another hour. He caught some cod as well as more bass. He placed all of his catches into a sack, and put away his fishing rod. He decided to keep his knife on him, thinking he might need it on the way back. After all, last time he forgot it... well that scar on his chest wasn't always there.

Percy slipped under the fence and headed to the Hob. It was something of a black market. It was in an old warehouse that used to be for coal storage, but when they had found more efficient ways to transport coal directly from the mines to the trains, it was abandoned.

Percy was a regular, even knowing almost every person's name. He traded a couple of bass for a soup from Greasy Sae. She was one of the only people who consistently sold wild dogs. Percy didn't like eating dog meat, but when you live in the poorest district, meat is meat.

He was quick with his purchases today, as he had to get back home to change for the reaping. The Hob was quite empty for a change, he noticed. Just as he was about to leave, he saw Artemis.

Artemis was another regular at the Hob, always trading in some meat. They had even talked a couple of times. One time, he gave her some fish when she was trying to get rid of an old dress. He took it for Estelle, but maybe for some other reason. Yeah, Percy kinda had a crush on her. What could he say, she was attractive, had a great personality (that he knew of from a couple of conversations); she was pretty much any person's dream.

They locked eyes for a moment, before Percy exited the Hob. He had to get home to get ready for the Reaping.

At home, Percy found a warm tub of water waiting for him. He scrubbed off any trace of evidence that he had left district 12. When he was done, he found a blue button down and jeans. Estelle was wearing a blouse that once belonged to their mother.

They ate, with Percy cooking some of his cod, and serving some milk from Estelle's goat along with the fish. They decided to save the bread from the bakery for the evening meal.

Once the meal was over, it was time for the actual reaping. Everyone was required to show up, with the only exception being if you were dying. Even Percy's best friend, Grover, who was crippled, wasn't allowed to skip the ceremony.

People start trickling in silently, signing in. Grover hobbled in, standing next to Percy.

"Hey man." Percy said.

"Hey, yourself." Grover replied.

They ended their conversation there, as Hemera took center stage and sat in a chair. She was part of the capital, with her literally glowing skin. Her eyes are literally alight. She looked like the living embodiment of day.

The clock struck 2, signalling the start of the main event. The mayor stood up and walked to the podium. He began his speech. Nobody paid attention. It was the same every year. The creation of Othrys, which rose from the ashes of a place called North America. He rattles off the constant disasters that ravaged the land to barely anything. What rose from its place was a shining capital surrounded by 13 districts, bringing peace to it and it's citizens. Then came the days of Tartarus. When the districts rose up against the capital. The 1st twelve were defeated, but the 13th was annihilated from existence. From then rose the new rules. Those which stated that as a reminder to never cause a new Days of Tartarus, they implemented the Hunger Games.

The games were simple. A boy and girl from every district were selected and thrust into an arena to be put in battle together. It would be shown live on every TV for however long it lasted. It was like a reality TV show, except you know, actually real.

It served as a reminder about the true power that the capital possessed. That no matter what the districts did, they would be there to stop it. "Look how we take your kids. Watch as they kill each other for our entertainment." They said silently.

To add insult to injury they forced the districts to treat it like a festivity. Like it was a sporting event with no consequences. The victors of the games would get a lavish life, one full of food and pampering. Treated like a member of the capital of Othrys.

The mayor ended the history lesson and started the next part of the reaping. He pulls out a sheet of paper. He lists the victors of the Hunger Games that came from District 12. In the 73 years, they had only had 2. And one is dead. The other one is Dionysus. No one knew his last name.

Dionysus was kinda chubby, probably from all the liquor he drank. Yeah, he was an alcoholic. A red nose sat on his face, and his eyes were bloodshot from drinking. If you looked close enough you could see that his eyes were a watery blue, not that you could get close enough with the horrible breath he had.

He wore a tiger striped shirt paired with some Hawaiian shorts. Running shoes were on his feet, though Percy doubted he ran at any point in his life. He kinda looked like a cherub, if it had been raised in a trailer park.

He had stumbled onto the stage, yelling something that not a single person could understand. He fell into the third chair on the stage. The crowd responded with an unsure applause. But the drunk got confused and tried to hug Hemera. She punched him in the face. That brought a smile onto Percy's face.

The mayor facepalmed. Since this was being broadcasted to all of Othrys, Percy was sure that everyone was laughing at them. This was why they were never taken seriously. The mayor responds quickly by introducing Hemera.

She took center stage, bright and bubbly as ever. "Happy Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favor." It was clear from her tone on 'ever' that she didn't think that the odds would ever be in the favor of District 12.

She went on and on about how much of an honor it was to be there. Everyone knew that it was a facade. After all, she only wanted to be bumped up to a better district. Preferably one where you don't get molested live on TV.

Percy looked at the bowls on stage. The ones filled with slips of paper. Twenty of the slips that had his name written on them. After all, he had tesserae. At its most basic level, you could put in your name more times, in exchange for food to be given to your family. They were also cumulative, so they stacked up pretty fast.

'At least it's ladies first, so I have some time to prepare.' Percy thought.

"Let's switch it up this year!" Hemera exclaimed. "Gentleman first!"

'Fuck.'

Hemera reached her hand into the bowl, and pulled out a slip.

You ever have those moments, where something you've been dreading doesn't happen, so you celebrate? But then what happened instead is actually worse? Well, this just happened to Percy. His name wasn't called. But then he realized who's had been.

"Grover Underwood!"

A/N. Well, this is the 1st chapter of my new multi-chapter story. As stated on my message board, it's in response to TheMuffinMan69's challenge. So, I hope you enjoy it. (That means everyone.)

I'm going to be following the book, because 1, it's a really fucking good book, and I want to read it again, and 2, I don't really have a clear plan. Like it's all vague. (Besides the very clear scenes that I have) So the book is a good place to start.

Also, if you think I have any idea for who I'm replacing with PJO characters, and who is staying, then you are only half right. Like Rue is going to be Hazel, and Cato is going to be Jason, etc.

Thoughts?