Do you find that you are on a journey? What is keeping you from taking that first step toward your destination?
Ahab Seafoam, Victor, Twenty-ninth Hunger Games
It's unsettling, knowing the ins and outs of the Capitol. The crown and title of Victor weighs heavy on the head of some and it's no different to Ahab Seafoam as he sits on a red velvet barstool inside Club Valentino's.
A glass of cola in between his hands, holding on to it tightly, the bitterness of alcohol tastes foul in his mouth, being put off by it because of his parents. Their excessive drinking was enough to give you scars, mentally and physically.
Beside his glass is a letter, white and neat, like a beacon, it stands out from the darkly lit bar, his tired dark brown eyes trying its best to scan the rest of the bar. Sparsely populated, like it always is during the off-peak time, when there's no Hunger Games to obsess over.
The only exciting thing, to the Capitolites; not for him, was the Victory Tour, happening in around a couple of weeks, keeping the memories of last year's Games fresh. Parading the latest Victor, Rudy Saxby of Ten, his victory over the Two male was celebrated by Panem.
In the last couple of years, they have seen Victors from the emerging trend of Ones, Twos and Fours. Him being one of those products, Brasidas Clovenstone is the one from Two and Sibyl Hawkes the other from One.
They were trained; they were prepared. The Hunger Games was easy for them, and yet it still posed a challenge after the Games, their mentality differs every day, their lives forever changed for the worst if anyone asked him.
He takes a sip of his cold drink before memories of his Games come to light in the dim setting, calming the terrors and the shaking of his hand as he places the glass back down on the wooden bar table. His pinkie finger brushing past the white letter once more.
He lets out the breath he is holding in, picking it up, feeling the paper within his fingertips as his eyes scan the page once more. A letter, an invitation, a demand, is written on it, neatly in pen and stamped with the same red wax he had come to abhor.
'Seafoam,
You are needed in the Capitol.
You have two days to make yourself here or face the consequences we had talked about.
Regards,
J.N.'
He tears off the wax seal on the letter and throws it away. There's no one to tell him off, and there's no one to watch him do so anyway; Club Valentino's has always been a safe haven for Victors, the Valentine clan had made sure of that.
The seal lands somewhere in the dark, he could not see it anymore, blending in with the red carpeted floor. There's a part of him that feels jealous of the seal, being able to hide so well, unable to be found no more.
He thought volunteering would do that to him, after graduating Triton with semi average grades, he thought he could run from his parents and his fake friends into the Hunger Games, he had thought he would die there if he is being honest to himself.
However, that's not the case as he is thrusted into the spotlight after his victory, the roster of tributes in his year were weak, Triton had told him that, and he was right. His alliance fell relatively fast in the arena and he was left alone for days on end, killing when he was threatened.
There's a trembling on his hand again as he calms it down with his other. He sips the drink once more, feeling the sweetness swirl in his mouth before swallowing it. He thinks of happier memories, shuddering the bad ones away.
The letter doesn't let him do it for long though. He looks at it once more, discarded on the bar stool beside him. He doesn't know where this letter would take him this time. The letter brings with it the shadiness of the Capitol; the secrets it holds within the alleyways and rooftop penthouses.
Ahab, sworn to secrecy, cannot ever escape from this. His fate is sealed with the very same red wax he threw away moments earlier. He could not break the cycle. If he did try then the consequences were brutal, and the punishment immense.
It happened to his friend, Esme Tripoline, and he doesn't want it to happen to him. He has a family to protect, by family he means his brother, Ishmael. Happy-go-lucky and innocent. Born into an abusive and debt-ridden family, he wanted him to have a better life.
So he volunteered, so that he can repay his parent's mistake and runaway with his brother, hiding himself within the Victor's Village, away from the grasp of his parents. Little did he know that he would be jumping from one grasp to the other as the Capitol holds him tighter than his parents ever did.
The Capitol that holds him hostage as he takes off his clothes for the rich and the wealthy, to parade his body for sex and other things, their manicured hands touching, groping, assaulting his very being all for the sake of keeping his brother alive.
"Ahab!" He turns from his pondering to the voice at the entrance, the dark lights opening up even more. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Caligula Valentine walks in to his club, two men follow after him with crates of liquor. A smile is plastered onto his face from seeing him. The very man that states that he could always go to him if he's feeling lonely, or if he's having a problem. He's been more of a father than his father had ever been.
"Mr Valentine," He says politely and then rushes to him, holding onto the letter. "You have to help me."
He does not want this life anymore, he wants his own life, a different one from where he can act like the person he is truly meant to be, a kind and caring figurehead for his brother. He has had enough of the cycle and he wants to break it.
He wants to defy the fates and their plan for him, cut his own thread and weave his own destiny. He had a plan for it, he had talked to everyone else that he could think off; his newfound friendship with Salvia from Nine and Esme is always happy to help him.
He doesn't know if he' doing the right thing, but he has had enough. The consequences may be harsh and the punishment severe, but he had planned for that, he had talked to his brother about it, and he's protected within the halls of Triton Academy until he turns eighteen.
"So…can you do it?" Ahab asks him, hopeful in his voice. "Can you help me?"
He watches, with anticipation, Caligula as he scans the brief letter. A seriousness to his eyes, brown eyebrows furrowed as his lips speak the very same words again and again. He stops suddenly and looks at Ahab.
"I will do my very best." He nods, seriousness in the tone of his voice. "Where do we begin?"
His plan is gearing up, finally starting from the small embers and the information he had gathered the last few years. He's going to break the cycle, and he's scared first and foremost but there's a sense of justice that he feels, or is that nervousness?
He'll be a fool if he doesn't think both.
A/N
Not me putting up a prologue of the next SYOT
Hi, it's me, Alec, a fool, fitting chapter title too, here to introduce my next SYOT: Tarot: The 33rd Annual Hunger Games! The idea had been in my head for a few weeks now and I just needed to get it out as soon as possible. I don't expect to add anything else to this story until my current SYOT is finished. The only things I will be doing to this story is adding Prologues until I get a full cast of tributes.
Well now let's get going! Here are the rules:
-Submit as many tributes as you feel like.
I'm aiming for the deadline for tributes submissions to be March. So it's a long time from now. I expect that my current story to finish then too.
-Submissions should be made through PM here or you can DM me in discord Al ec #8687
I will not be accepting tributes through reviews. Keep the secrecy alive!
-I would prefer not to get resubmissions, unless they weren't accepted the first time around.
I don't want to find out later on in the story planning phase that your character already appears in a different one, that would not be nice.
-Follow the general guidelines of my verse please!
There's information on my profile, or in the story Weary Whims of Vincent Cait. There's naming conventions and everything in there.
-Patience!
Don't ask me for updates, I have a full-time job and sometimes you just want to relax after days of working. I don't like it when stories become a chore, I write for enjoyment.
-It's not first come, first server.
You can show interest and then I'll note it down.
-If you need more information then message me either here or on discord.
I'll answer it ASAP.
That's that. It's a lot I know but it should help things for what I would like in my story. Now the form:
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Sexuality:
District:
Pick Three numbers between (1-56)
Pick One number between (1-22)
Appearance:
Face Claim:
Personality:
History/Background:
Family:
Friends:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Reaped/Volunteered:
Reaction/Reason:
Allies:
Preferred Weapon:
Pre Games:
-Chariot
-Training
-Private Session
-Interview
-Night Before
Games:
-Bloodbath
-Rest of Games
Other:
-Outfit Ideas
-Romance?
-Provide a quote your character might say
-Provide a song
I think this is the longest form I have ever done. Oh well, please enjoy. I am putting the deadline as March 15 2021 (It's my birthday) but if I don't have a full cast by then I might extend it to the end of March.
Thank you for reading, I will update my profile soon!
Alec