"All done." Kallia's makeup artist said as she turned her around to look in the mirror. It was a beautiful job, as always. The face of the Hunger Games couldn't afford anything less than the best when it came to appearances. Still she made a show of leaning in and inspecting the work, flashing the girl a blinding smile.

"It's perfect Aenea." She said with joy she didn't feel. Her smile was just as much a mask as her makeup, covering up imperfections and diverting attention to the parts of her that people found most appealing.

It hadn't always been this hard. In fact up until recently Kallia had downright enjoyed her job. It was a little bit more grim than she had anticipated when she was a child fawning over Caesar Flickerman, but that dark reality had only bolstered her dedication. Everyone had an interesting story, a spark unique to them that could shine given the right light. Seeing the tributes in the flesh, talking to them, made Kallia painfully aware of their humanity. And it became her job to make sure every single tribute she interviewed came off in the best light possible. If she drew out that spark, made the Capitol aware of the amazing person they all were, it would give them one more weapon in their fight for survival. It wasn't much, but it was vital.

Yet lately, the more brutal parts of the Games were all that she seemed to see. During the 93rd Hunger Games an interviewer like her had died. And of course there was that whole tragic business with what happened afterwards. Kallia survived by keeping her life in boxes, and now all of the horror of the Games was starting to seep out and stain her floor. Not that she would tell anyone. Kallia Haversham was a smiling beacon of hope for all of Panem. A joyful woman in a bleak time. And that was what she had to be, even if her belief in the concept was faltering.

She made her way onto the stage, attendants flocking behind her. She answered a couple of questions and made a few requests. It was all part of the routine, part of her image. She felt a bit like a robot nowadays, but the familiarity kept her together. That was what mattered, ultimately. The camera started rolling and she stepped onto the stage, the vision of grace and beauty.

"Hello all of Panem!" she greeted the cameras smiling, "I know you have all been waiting for this announcement. Today we will reveal the twist of the mini quell!"

The studio audience broke out into applause and Kallia smiled until they calmed down.

"Twenty Years ago, Katniss Everdeen entered the Hunger Games and through cunning and a duplicitous nature almost tore our fine country of Panem apart." Once again Kallia paused for the audience to react, this time with booing, "But we held strong, and so to remember what came to pass the Capitol initiated a mini quell every ten years. The first Quell went off splendidly, don't you think?"

Ten years ago during the 84th Hunger Games, the Capitol had included the twist that since Katniss betrayed her District as well as the Capitol, any district pairs that were still alive after the top eight were revealed would automatically be executed. It had resulted in a bloody, paranoid arena where district partners turned on each other almost immediately. It was Caesar's last Games, with Kallia assigned as his assistant. She firmly believed that if she could work through those conditions, she could work through anything.

But during that last quell, it had been Caesar not her who had plucked the twist from the bowl.

"Well let's see if this one can top it. Nero, bring out the bowl!" She said, waving her arms dramatically towards off stage. Her stagehand Nero brought the bowl out, resting on a gold encrusted podium for effect. It was certainly a grand thing. Kallia could almost forget just what was inside.

She shook her doubts away and drew a slip of paper. It felt smooth for something twenty years old. She supposed that the Capitol kept the slips well. Opening it with every ounce of showmanship she had, Kallia read the twist out loud.

"As a reminder that all of the Districts joined together in their rebellion against the Capitol, all twenty four tributes shall be reaped from the same pool."

The audience erupted into applause again, though Kallia suspected it was more out of habit than anything. She could hear confused murmurs among the crowd that echoed her own confusion.

"So we won't have two tributes from each district?" Nero asked, "They will all be drawn from the same bowl, completely randomly?"

"That's right." Kallia said, since it sounded correct enough, "Isn't that exciting?"

The crowd roared and this time it was genuine. It was certainly a fascinating twist. Depending on how the names were drawn, this year could be a Games full of nothing but Careers. Or the tributes could all be girls. There was no telling quite what would happen.

But despite the roar of the crowd, Kallia couldn't help but feel an impending sense of dread.

AN: Hello everybody! This is my first prologue chapter of my new SYOT. This is a mini quell, which is like a quarter quell just every ten years. And this twist is that instead of taking a boy and girl from each district, I'm just going to take the 24 tributes that I like the most. So let your imagination run wild, give me awesome tributes, don't be afraid to be district specific. Because you're not competing for a single spot. This is also a sequel to my last SYOT desolation. Reading isn't required but it might be useful. It's also in my opinion worth the read. Anyway, I digress. Submissions are open and will be until March 1st. The form is already on my profile. Thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoy!