Neptune Guevara, District 4
"You're still a soldier in your mind, though nothing's on the line."
Arcade Fire, Intervention
Breathtaking.
That was the word that came to mind as Matrion Sideris stared down at the massive, sprawling, white-walled room below him. A room filled with scientists and designers, the best of the Capitol, and all of whom reported to one man: him.
Being Head Gamemaker definitely had it's perks.
"Alright, let's get this thing going!" he cried, the rush of elation coarsing through his body even as the words left his lips. "Sixty seconds to launch!"
The twenty-two people below him frantically tapped and swiped away, each making sure this Arena was absolutely fantastic. Another desert this year, a controversial choice given the rather bland Games the year prior, but there were enough special protocols to make sure that these Games were the best they could possibly be. And the start to that was a successful bloodbath.
The tributes rose out into the Arena, and the first thing they realized was how dark it was. The sky was a deep shade of navy, decorated only by stars dotting the landscape. The Cornucopia was naturally, well lit, with lights all around the base as well as around each of the platforms and dotting the playing field. Inwardly, Matrion smiled. The stunned looks on the faces of the tributes were exactly what he'd been going for.
The timer hit zero, and the tributes took off, sprinting towards the Cornucopia. Matrion could see a couple headed away from the supplies, there always was, but they would die quickly. Mutts or something, probably.
The boy from Four hit the supplies first, grabbing a sword and promptly swinging it around to lob the head off of the boy from Eight. A couple of Gamemakers cheered, but Matrion only watched the chaos unfold with a small grin.
Soon, bodies littered the sand around the Cornucopia. The girl from One was elegantly brutal, her knives carving wounds into three poor tributes. Her counterpart wielded a battle axe, an odd choice for One, but he knew how to use it. Two more bodies hit the sand with his blade in their chests. However, it was that monstrously brutal boy from Four that had the Gamemakers grinning and whooping. Five kills. More than even Amethyst Goldwyn in the bloodbath. Beatrix Carmen only had four. Matrion smiled as he watched the boy take his sword and plunge it into the heart of the final kill of the day, the girl from Eleven. All in all, a wildly successful bloodbath. Twelve deaths, right where Matrion wanted it to be, and the crowd already had several favorites to root for. He sighed and stood up to survey his work.
"Excellent job today," he said with a smile. "Tomorrow begins the real Games."
And he was right. The morning started off with a bang, the Careers already on the hunt for fresh blood. They found the girl from Three hiding in a rock formation, and even Matrion had to look away as her screams filled the Control Center. Perfect.
Three days in, however, the Careers were riding hot, two more kills under their belts, and that's when the outliers made their move.
There was something shifty about the red-headed girl from Five. She'd mentioned in her interview that she had a baby boy waiting at home for her, and the entire Capitol fell for the heartwarming act. Matrion knew the truth. He'd seen her private session, when she'd correctly identified every poison in the set in under a minute (a record), expertly lit a fire, and, to top it all off, hurled ten knives, eight of which hit the center and only one of which was further than two rings away. Matrion and the other Gamemakers watched as the girl crept up to the supplies, all the while watching the snoring boy from Two who was supposed to be on watch. Matrion grinned. If nothing else, these Games were definitely going to be exciting.
The supplies went up in smoke like a lightning strike, flames filling the never-ending night sky. The boy from Two jumped up, drawing his sword and looking around, shocked and confused, but the girl knew what she was doing, and she was gone. The rest of the pack arrived a few minutes later, and the boy from Four didn't even think before he shoved his sword into the chest of his ally. The girl from Two roared and turned her sword on Four, only to find her path blocked by Four's own female counterpart. It looked like the split would happen early this year.
The rest of the Gamemakers seemed to realize this, too, as uneasy whispers filled the room. Matrion's assistant, a woman named Minerva, turned to him.
"Sir? Should we-"
"I see it. Unleash the flood." Matrion's words were short and concise, just like his own personality. The Gamemakers around him nodded, and began preparations for possibly the biggest moment in the Games up to that point.
In the Arena, the boy from One now lay dead on the sand as well, with the girl from Two likely to join him soon. Four was bearing down on her, his sword glinting ominously in the moonlight. Beside them, the girls from One and Four dueled furiously. The girl from Four slipped, her opponent raised her knife-
And a strange rumbling filled the air. The four dueling Careers lowered their weapons, staring at the distant mountain range. The boy from Four glanced at his partner.
"What's-"
And then they saw it. The wall of water, extending as far as the eye could see, headed straight for them. The girl from One took off, running as fast as she could away from the impending flood. The boy from Four, however, only stared, paralyzed, at the flood.
His partner grabbed his arm. "Neptune. Nep, come on, we-"
Suddenly, something like a spasm shot through the boy's body. The sword in his hand twitched, the blade flashing, and suddenly the girl from Four lay dead on the sand. Matrion quickly glanced at Minerva.
"Status?"
"Dead, sir. Firing cannon now."
Sure enough, the cannon boom echoed across the Arena, quickly followed by another marking the death of the boy from Seven. Even as Neptune collapsed to the sand, staring at the body of his district partner, the wall of water slammed into the boy, and suddenly all Matrion could do was hope the boy from Four could swim.
Twenty minutes and three cannons later, the floodwaters subsided. The girls from One and Two, as well as the boy from Eleven, were all dead. Neptune had washed up on a cliff, panting, terrified. The girl from Five was lying somewhere near the cornucopia, nearly dead from exhaustion. Matrion decided that maybe the duo deserved a break.
"We have 24 hours to rest and let the tributes get their bearings," he said from his balcony. "This time tomorrow, the Games begin again. Use your time wisely."
And with that, he turned on his heel and strode out of the room to take a long nap.
Okay, well that was a wild ride. Matrion Sideris is an interesting character. He's far from morally pure, but he'll be making a few appearances in the future, ones that I'm quite excited to write. As for Neptune himself, we won't be seeing much of him in the future. 40th HG confirmes that he's completely whackadoo once he wins, so he won't be doing much for mentoring.
Speaking of mentors, next up is possibly my favorite Victor in this canon. I already published his chapter, but I'll be reposting it under this story.
If you haven't yet, drop a review and tell me what you think!
PS: Apologies for the two desert Arenas. I realized I'd written myself into a corner when I was writing this, and just decided to roll with it. It'll be a sec before we get another one, though.