Not everything can be mastered.
Omega Vernus, 16
District Two Female
Today marks the minus two years anniversary of when I volunteer. And I will volunteer when I'm eighteen. Just two more years. Then I will have my glory, I will have my recognition. I will become District Two's next victor, up there in the legends with Boaz Nolan and Enobaria Slater.
"Omega, come downstairs, you need to get breakfast." Mum yells from downstairs. I sit up and reach for a hairbrush to pull through my hair. Then I pull on a blue dress and bolt downstairs. I stop outside the kitchen door and hear a Mum and Hadrian arguing about something. He lost the volunteer competition, to Julian no less, and he's very angry about it. He's been smashing stuff all over the house, and Mum has been yelling at him because he almost broke one of the windows. Me and Domitian are tired of it.
"Just because you didn't mean to do it doesn't mean you can."
"It's not my fault! I didn't mean to."
"What did I just say?" Mum's voice yells, and then Hadrian hurries out of the door and runs upstairs, closely followed by Mum, who pauses quickly to tell me to have a nice breakfast. Then I go into the kitchen and find Dad and Domitian sitting together at the table.
"Ah, Omega, you're up. Come and sit down." Dad pats the seat next to him, and I go and join them. I serve myself with toast and a glass of orange juice. We eat in silence, and when Mum comes in with Hadrian five minutes later they seem to have had a shouting match upstairs. Mum probably won.
"Omega, you should go and see Vicia, give some moral support to her sister." Mum tells me. I nod back, and leave my family sitting in awkward silence. Vicia is probably my best friend, and her older sister Valetta is volunteering this year. I'm actually quite glad Hadrian isn't volunteering. Valetta is a force to be reckoned with, even when she's only half awake and armed with a scarf. She'd probably strangle her opponent with it. That would be fun for the Capitol, being strangled with a scarf.
I pull on some black boots, head out of the door, into the empty streets. Most people in the district are having nice relaxed breakfasts, or attending the parties at the volunteers houses. The parties aren't supposed to be very extravagant – they haven't won the games yet – but for the volunteers, it's supposed to be a last hurrah if they end up dead.
I knock on the door. Someone opens it almost immediately.
"Omega, it's good to see you!" Vicia says.
"You too." I tell her and then. "You seem very..excited?" She's practically bouncing around the wooden door frame.
"Not much. Come inside." She says. I step inside. Valetta and some of her friends are chatting in their living room, and I think they might be drinking some form of alcohol – a rare thing, even in the rich districts. Vicia offers me a drink, and promises me it's non-alcoholic. I accept.
One of Valetta's friends must have got their hands on a guitar, and they can play it decently well. It really feels like a party. I wonder what my party will be like when it happens.
About half an hour later, her mother comes in and tells us to get going, because Valetta needs to be in place for the reaping. A lot of people notice her on the street, offer her good luck, give her their best wishes, and she accepts them all. I don't think it's very good for the size of her head. She can be pretty full of herself.
The six of us make our way to the square, where we separate to the different areas. Valetta and her friends to the eighteen-year-olds section, me and Vicia to the sixteen-year-olds section. I can see this years mentors on the stage, and I'm really hoping Boaz won't mentor my year, although it's likely. His games are the only ones I look away from when they show the reruns. Lyme is there as well. She often mentors, and I don't see why because we have lots of victors younger than her, with more recent experiences.
The mayor stands and starts his speech, and I listen with interest when he gets to the section about the dark days. I wonder what they were like.
"Now, Platon, would you draw the names?"
Our escort Platon gives a smug smile, and walks towards the front of the stage. "It is an absolute honour to be here, so let's not delay." He says. "Ladies first!"
He reaches for a slip, running his hands through the paper slips, and then choosing one and slowly raising it in the air. He begins to unfold it, and then I hear Valetta's voice.
"I volunteer, I volunteer!" She yells running forwards. "I volunteer as tribute!" One of her friends starts clapping, and then the others, and soon the whole square is clapping and smiling.
"What's your name?" Platon asks with a rather self-satisfied grin.
"I'm Valetta. I'm Valetta Stalakmyte." She says.
"Well, Valetta, I'm very sorry to say that Head Gamemaker Ruso has decided that there will be no volunteering this year." He says, but his face says he isn't sorry. Valetta is too shocked to say anything for a few seconds, and then she finds her voice.
"What? But-"
"I'm sorry but Head Gamemaker Ruso has made her decision." Platon says. Then he turns back to the slip. "The female tribute for District Two will be…" He unfolds it. "Omega Vernus!"
What? This wasn't supposed to happen yet. I'm supposed to volunteer when I'm eighteen, not sixteen, I don't know everything yet, I haven't finished training. But my shock is replaced with a satisfied smile, making my way up to the stage one slow step at a time, dragging it out. I see Valetta giving me a glare, Vicia looking like she isn't sure if she should laugh or cry, smile or be angry.
My parents smiling with pride. My brothers laughing ad clapping.
I get to the steps, and give the whole square a smile.
Looks like the Vernus family is going to have a victor sooner than it thought.
The Capitol is strong.
Placus Larcgrove
President of Panem
Reaping day. It always interest me. What the tributes are like, and how they react. How they see the honour of being part of the games. How upset they get, how they feel, how confident they are. And of course, who people think will be the victor. I have to say I'm excited for these games. Juventia says she's got something special up her sleeve for these games, and she's never boring on normal years. A recent poll showed that every year since she became head Gamemaker has been a favourite in the Capitol.
She's always interesting. That thing she said about not judging a book by it's cover has got me intrigued. In the Capitol, it would be strange not to judge someone by their looks, by their cover. So this was clever on her part. Juventia Ruso – intriguing the Capitol to the day she dies.
I head out of my room, down the hallway full of people. Avoxes running around holding various stuff. Projectors, food. The viewing area is full of people
"President Larcgrove, your seat is over there." One of the attendants directs me to a seat that resembles a throne in the middle of the room. I make my way there, a lot of people dodge around me.
Someone flicks a switch which dims the lights, and all the servants and caterers and the people who help them scurry to seats or leave the room. They all seem very excited, but they're good at hiding it. Apart from the avoxes, who just seem terrified. Some of them are from the districts, and some are political prisoners from the Capitol – people who were part of the rebellion. All of the ringleaders were killed, but some of the lesser offenders were allowed to live as avoxes.
The Capitol seal appears on the screen, glowing in the dark room. Then it fades to black, and it starts with the District One reaping. Their escort, Nikoleta Vedrix, seems rather enthusiastic, and the tributes look like they'll be make for an interesting year in the games.
District Two is next, and the mayor starts his speech, which I've heard so many times. Still, I smile through it, and the smile is almost genuine. Platon, the escort, smiles as he walks towards the front of the stage.
"It is an absolute honour to be here, so lets not delay. Ladies first!" He takes his time choosing a slip, but eventually he chooses one and raises it in the air.
"I volunteer, I volunteer!" A voice from the square yells. "I volunteer as tribute!" The camera pans to a girl running forward towards he stage. The crowd begins to clap.
"What's your name?" The escort asks, smiling.
"I'm Valetta. I'm Valetta Stalakmyte." She smiles at him.
"Well, Valetta, I'm very sorry to say that Head Gamemaker Ruso has decided that there will be no volunteering this year." Says Platon. So that's what Juventia was planning. I smile.
Her face is a picture. "What? But-"
"I'm sorry but Head Gamemaker Ruso has made her decision." Platon says. Then he turns back to the slip. "The female tribute for District Two will be…" The camera scans over the crowd, trying to find the tribute before the name is called. "Omega Vernus!"
The camera keeps on moving until it stops on a girl looking shocked. She slowly starts to smile, takes a step forward. Then another. And another. All the way forward to the stage. The volunteer girl glares at her.
"Now, for the gentlemen!" Platon reaches for a second slip, and starts to unfold it. The cameras pan over the crowd. "Mason Grant!" The cameras scan over the crowd, and settle on a boy in the eighteen-year-olds section. He runs up to the stage, and the cameras capture some people glaring at him. My guess is they were supposed to volunteer, but got foiled by Juventia. "Shake hands." They do. I can't say this wasn't fun, and these two – especially Mason – remind me of someone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the tributes of District Two!"
And here we are, at the end of our first career district. Unfortunately, I have not been able to rename this chapter, so it will remain the District Two Reaping. I realise that I completely forgot to thank Rawlimad000 who submitted August and WritingRookie18 who submitted Charles last chapter. This time I would like to once again thank Rawlimad000 who submitted Omega and Wiifan2002 who submitted Mason. Thank you for reading, and may the odds be ever in your favour.