AN: Hello everybody. You probably weren't expecting this were you? Life has been pretty intense for me. But I am back! and for the like three people who are also still around, I'm going to try to finish this. So without further ado, let's get into the next chapter.
Joaquin Diaz, District Five
It was probably because he had taken a hallucinogen half an hour ago, but Joaquin found his entire situation hilarious. He stood in a large holding area that stunk strongly of horse, where twenty-four teenagers were decked out in costumes of varying quality.
His outfit was probably one of the worst. Aquarius couldn't have been one of the easiest zodiac signs to design for, but Joaquin suspected that even besides that his stylist was not particularly talented. He had gone for the literal approach, and Joaquin was given a hat that looked like a large water barrel. To make matters worse, he was shirtless. Not that he was particularly self conscious about his body. In fact, Joaquin knew that he was fairly attractive, with a lean runner's frame and smooth light brown skin. But the Hunger Games were a contest of survival, and his body still carried the clues of childhood starvation. The more of his bare skin people could see, the more capitolites might notice the physical damage of his upbringing that Joaquin was working so hard to repair.
Additionally, the chariots were pulled by horses, and he wanted to have as many layers as possible between him and the manure.
Once his chariot pulled out, he imagined that things would seem different. The worried last minute preparations would fade away, leaving only the show. It was amazing what the Capitol would do to forget they were senselessly murdering children. Joaquin figured that was the true reason behind all this pageantry. It helped them sleep at night.
People could go to monstrous lengths to convince themselves that they weren't monsters. The thought struck Joaquin as particularly hilarious, and he ended up laughing hysterically.
"What are you on and can I have some?" He heard a voice behind him say.
Joaquin turned around to see a boy with shaggy dark blonde hair and a toothy smile leaning against a stable door. He looked young, and his chariot costume didn't help with his appearance. It was an all-white robe that sparkled slightly, with a strange device jutting out of his collar that reminded Joaquin of mobiles that people made for newborns. He had no idea what any of it meant.
"You're a bit young for that sort of thing, aren't you?" Joaquin said.
"I'm older than I look."
"So you're twelve. Good for you."
"Fifteen actually, malnutrition can do wonders."
Joaquin knew from firsthand experience that this was true. Orphaned early, he spent most of his childhood bouncing in between care centers until he decided to leave the system entirely. District Five's orphanages were by no means the worst (he'd heard of some in District Twelve where they were practically death sentences), but they had limited resources and many children went hungry. At the moment Joaquin was technically homeless, sleeping on a pile of blankets at a friend's house. Yet he was currently better off than he'd been most of his life.
Well, aside from the whole Hunger Games business.
"I've got something you can have, if you tell me what the hell you're supposed to be."
The boy looked down at his outfit. "Right. We're supposed to be snow? Because Virgo is a virgin and snow is… I don't actually understand the connection. I mean, could be worse I guess. Look at the Capricorns."
Joaquin turned his head to see two of the careers irritably walking around in fake beards and droopy horns that looked more like they were made out of cardboard. This was probably the only time a career would look this bad, and he couldn't help but take a dark pleasure from it.
"Perhaps. But you and I are still probably the bottom three looks, aren't we?"
"Oh definitely."
The boy fulfilled his promise, so Joaquin decided he might as well do as the kid asked. He took a pouch out of his pocket and handed the boy a small vial of silvery liquid.
"What is this?" the boy said, holding it up to the light to examine it.
"I call it Tri-morph. Morphling based, but twice as potent and half as addictive. I just finished the formula so I only have ten samples or so. But I took all of them with me, because I'll be damned if someone in Five gets rich off my ideas."
The boy chuckled slightly, and suddenly Joaquin remembered his reaping.
"Aren't you the kid from Three?" Joaquin asked, "The little rebel."
"Bixby." He said, a hint of annoyance coloring his words as he downed the Tri-morph
"Right, Bixby. You've got a lot of balls, speaking out against careers and the capitol on live television. You could be killed for that kind of thing, you know."
Bixby didn't say anything, just gestured towards the stable. The area was full of tributes talking, trying on costumes or wandering around anxiously. Joaquin found his eyes drawn to a sullen girl dressed as a scorpion, complete with pincers and a tail, who stared back at him with an even, piercing gaze. He could tell that this girl knew she probably wouldn't survive this.
"I suppose you have a point." he said, breaking his gaze away from the girl, "But I'm still willing to take my chances."
"Which is why you've hoarded all your drugs."
Joaquin shrugged, "You can't be too careful."
Bixby laughed, and for once it seemed free of cynicism. "You know what? We should be friends."
It was a strangely direct request, but Joaquin found that rather refreshing. He found Bixby refreshing. "I mean sure. Not like we've got much else to do."
Allly Thimblewhitte, District Two
When Ally first heard that careers and non careers would be making zodiac pairs together, she was concerned that she might end up with a lower district tribute. Sure, she had the District Two alliance to fall back on, but the Capital often linked pairs together in their minds. If she had an uninteresting or incompetent sign partner, it may affect her chances in the arena. She had hoped desperately to pair with another career. Now she was beginning to think an outer district would have been a better choice.
"You know if you frown so much you're going to get wrinkles." Frazier said while looking in the mirror for the fifth time in twenty minutes. This seemed to be a habit of his, regardless of what he was wearing. The ares pair were the last to arrive anywhere because Frazier had to make sure everything about his outfit was just perfect before he 'met his public'.Even worse, their prep team seemed enamored with the boy and gave in to his every whim. Ally was afraid that he was going to start coordinating her own outfits to ensure that they didn't clash.
It wasn't even that Frazier looked bad. Their stylists had been fairly competent, creating armored outfits to portray the fact that they were careers. Their dark bronze helmets curved outwards into stylized ram's horns. Ally liked the way she looked in it, fierce and somewhat terrifying. Yet Frazier was an absolute vision in it. He looked like a figure in old stories about legendary heroes fighting incomprehensible beasts. The boy was so beautiful, so aware of his own beauty, and so experienced with talking to others that when she was next to him it was almost like she didn't exist.
So this was the power of a high social grade. Part of her regretted buckling to social pressure and neglecting the class in favor of more combat oriented learning. But the rest of her just hated him. He reminded her of her brother, charming and easygoing and prepared to leave everyone without any thought to the consequences. Gregory Thimblewhitte had disappeared when Ally was younger, less than three months after their father couldn't work anymore due to complications from his peacekeeper injuries. Their mother went blind years before that, a genetic condition that Ally deeply feared developing. Yet none of that had mattered to him. That was when Ally realized the only person who would care for her family was herself, and began to truly concentrate on her career training.
"I want frown lines." She snapped at Frazier, "They make me look intimidating. Unlike you. You might have the Capitolite's attention, but that means nothing if you can't back it up in the arena"
Her words didn't seem to have any affect on him. He merely continued to smile, then plucked a stray hair from his eyebrows. Why did he have a pair of tweezers on him? "I suppose that's what you're here for, darling. We can make up for each other's weaknesses."
Ultimately, the boy hadn't said anything wrong. He irked her, but there was nothing malicious to his teasing. While certainly capable of cruelty, Frazier didn't strike her as a bully. But that didn't matter that much at the moment. Her thoughts were swimming with memories of Gregory and the things she sacrificed to help her family. It all coalesced into a hot burning rage that wanted to hurt anyone that was near.
In a moment of clarity, she realized that he had just given her an opportunity. She took it without hesitation.
"Oh, *darling*." She made her voice into a cruel mirror of his, sickly sweet and clearly mocking, "Did no one tell you? We're not going to be allies, you and I."
The look of surprise on Frazier's face gave her deep satisfaction. "Why not?" he asked, "I thought it was pretty obvious by now that District Three's careers are as good as any of the rest of you."
Ally hadn't meant to touch that particular nerve and backed off a bit, "No, it's not that. District Two is making their own alliance this year. Since we're big enough. No other careers. So, so sorry."
Perhaps she shouldn't have apologized so dramatically. It twisted the knife more than was necessary. But there was something satisfying in watching the musician squirm.
"I see." Frazier said, a series of emotions crossing his face before he turned around and walked away. She wasn't entirely sure where he was going, but watched as he knocked over the small boy from district Twelve who was currently wearing a boxy and unflattering crab costume.
It didn't matter much to her. She had won that encounter, even if the battle was ultimately pointless. A voice in the back of her head screamed at her, cautioned her that she was becoming a bully. Perhaps a worse one than her original tormenters, since she intimately knew all the ways that a person could feel small. She considered listening to that voice, but she got a sudden feeling that someone was watching her and turned to find the source of the sensation.
From the far end of the barn, eyes stuck to Ally while he helped the Sagittarius pair get into their lackluster archer costumes, was Gregory Thimblewhitte dressed in the unmistakable clothing of an avox.
Amber Black, District One
"Can you believe this? The utter indignity. District Two thinks they're better than us, don't they? The stuck-up, meatheaded pricks."
Amber leaned against a nearby chariot as Lustre continued his rant. Her district partner had little patience and a short temper. But he usually kept his fury hidden behind his kind persona. The fact that he was willing to be so vocal in such a public area suggested that Lustre wasn't just angry, he was fully furious.
"District Two's always full of themselves," Amber answered. Now wasn't the time to disagree. If she pushed on his narrative, the anger would turn towards her, and now that Two were no longer her allies she needed to keep Lustre on her side. "Weren't you saying on the train that the careers were too big? That maybe we would strike out on our own?"
The statement seemed to pull him out of his thoughts long enough to slow his momentum. "I did. But I thought we could take a couple of Twos with us. Because if you think I'm going to work with Margenium…"
"I'm not asking you to work with BV." Amber quickly interrupted before Lustre could get himself too angry again, " We can keep it small. You, me, and Carnation."
"Who?"
Carnation was standing slightly away from them, trying to give the two tributes from One some privacy. She turned around when she heard her name, which gave Amber a full look of her chariot costume. The white shimmering dress was even more elegant than the sketch was, with the teardrop detailed in a brilliant black material. It was breathtaking, which Amber was grateful for because it might make convincing Lustre easier.
"Your sign partner? Isn't she from Seven? Bit of a hot subject right now, with the riots and all."
"Her family's all loyalists. She's been training for the games since she was a child. Next best thing to a career. Possibly better, since she's an unknown quantity."
"Hm." Lustre's anger faded a bit as he looked Carnation over, "What weapons does she have experience in?"
"She can talk for herself, you know." Carnation answered, "I specialize in close-quarters combat. Hand to hand, small blades, the like. And an axe of course. I'm a Seven after all."
Amber knew Lustre incredibly well, which she suspected was one of the main reasons she was selected as his district partner. The boy was charming and talented, but dangerous without some sort of stabilizing influence. She spent a large portion of their time training together learning about his moods and the best ways to circumvent them. As she watched the boy transition from fury to thoughtfulness, she knew that this effort was worth it. Lustre had a fierce and analytical mind. Giving him a potential solution to think about was an excellent distraction from his own emotions. It also allowed him to feel more in control of the situation. Above all things, he craved control.
Provided she got what she needed from him, Amber was perfectly content with providing him the reassurance that he was the one in control in their relationship.
"And you were the one who volunteered for your sister, right?" he continued.
Carnation hesitated at the question and averted her gaze for a few moments. Amber considered this a good sign. It would reinforce Lustre as their team's leader, which would calm him down. "I'm not sure that's the best thing to bring up." the girl from Seven said, "I didn't exactly do it for altruistic reasons."
"Really?" he smiled slightly, "You'll have to tell me the story sometime. But you could always lie."
"Lie? Is that the best idea?"
"Who's going to correct you? Your sister? If she changes the story while you're actively in danger, she'll look like the asshole, not you. Or you could lean into it. Villains go far."
"I've spent my whole life being a villain." Carnation answered, "I suppose I can do it for a few more weeks."
"Then we can work on it. Consider yourself on a trial basis. I'll watch you during training, and if I think you're good enough, then you can join us."
"Are you really in a position to turn me down?"
That was a dangerous question. Lustre may think nothing of it, but if he was offended, Amber could see Carnation becoming the next in a long line of mysterious accidents that followed the boy.
"We're still District One." Lustre said affably. Most people wouldn't hear the threat behind those words, but Amber could, "Don't think that just because District Two decided to go up its own ass, we're desperate."
"I understand." Carnation said, and she seemed to.
"Besides," Amber added, "If the chariots are any indication, we came out better for it. Look around, Lustre. Look at the designs. Look at yourself."
Lustre paused for a moment and looked at himself in the mirror. He was currently dressed as a koi fish, the light golden color complementing his pale complexion. The costume was created by an innovative new pair of designers who started last year but were already becoming quite popular. Amber could tell why. They did something to the fabric that allowed the fabric to ripple and move as if the tribute was swimming through a pond.
"I know we're leaving BV to his own devices, but the Capitol doesn't know that yet. So they'll group him in with us." Amber waved over to the other District One tribute, who was dressed as a majestic bull that appeared crafted from stars. It even shimmered off and on like a glowing constellation.
Lustre took this information in, then turned to the district Two costumes. An incredibly terrible pair of goats, a pair of scales. The girl in the Aries costume looked quite intimidating, but she probably wouldn't attract that much attention. After a moment, he laughed.
"They bet on the wrong horse, didn't they?" he said. Amber knew it was rhetorical, and said nothing.
Rudy Jackson, District Ten
The arena where the parade was contained more people than Rudy had seen in his entire life. He spent of his time inside the walls of the church, with the same handful of people he always interacted with. When he was younger he used to go out more, but his parents limited his access to the outside world after the Incident when he discovered his abilities as a spirit medium. The only time he ever saw large crowds were during the reaping, stacked away in his own section so he couldn't see everyone. Riding through countless crowds while everyone looked at him was incredibly overwhelming.
It was even more difficult because his stylist insisted that he pose a particular way throughout the parade. His astrological sign was Libra, which Rudy knew was a constellation of a pair of scales. He and Hades' stylists decided that it would be most conceptually interesting for both of them to represent one whole scale together. Attached to their slate gray outfits were large protrusions that extended out to their arms and connected to each other in the middle. Hades was supposed to place his arm downwards while Rudy's was upwards, completing the illusion. It didn't escape him that the career was supposed to be the heavier point on the scale. The most weight. The most likely to mean anything in the games.
Then again, why would anyone expect anything from Rudolph Jackson? He was from District 10, an area that was too poor to care about but too functional to worry over. They had found strange popularity in the Games, where ranchers had some physical advantage over others. But despite a long list of finalists, Ten only had two living victors to their name.
Even among his own district, his church was seen as an oddity. A cult. Rudy didn't care much about outsiders' opinions of such things. He knew what he was, what he was capable of.
The thoughts came to him unbidden in the middle of the parade and his center arm held onto the chariot so tightly that his knuckles turned a ghostly white. He was always told not to go into the basement by his parents. That was where they kept the dark objects. Items possessed by demons, too dangerous for this world. It wasn't a place for a child. Yet Rudy had heard the screams of his mother, so he went down there anyway.
Things happened very quickly and even now it was difficult for him to process everything. But that was the first time that Rudy saw a demon. Since that day, he became an important part of the congregation. He shared his power with the people of the church, and in return the church and his parents protected him. From demons, from the disbelief of outsiders. Everyone.
Except as powerful as their faith was, the church was not quite strong enough to stop the Capitol. When he was in the justice building, Rudy prayed and prayed. For deliverance. For safety. For an answer to why he was chosen for these games.
So far there were no answers, except a strange feeling that the demon in the basement had something to do with it.
He reached up to rub his injured eye, just as the chariot hit a bump. In normal circumstances, that would have done nothing but Rudy was scared and distracted. He tumbled out of his chariot and fell onto the sandy ground of the arena.
The entire parade came to a halt. Horses made distressed noises and rose onto their hind legs. Avoxes came from all angles to calm them down. Then Rudy was overcome with his own memories.
What did you just do?
What I had to. Who knows what he saw?
Darkness. Pain. Voices that were at once familiar and completely foreign. In his memories, this was when his parents drove off the demon. Yet for some reason, this recollection had no demon. Just the sensation of curling up on the cold concrete ground of the basement and three forms he couldn't see clearly.
"Are you all right?" A voice said, once again strange and recognizable at the same time. He reached for it, using it as a compass out of his own thoughts.
Rudy was on a stretcher, to the side of the parade route. Next to him sat Hades with an unreadable expression on his face. Rudy looked around for a moment. The arena suddenly had a different feel to it. Nothing had changed, at least on a surface level. But he could no longer deny how much death there was in this place.
How many years had the parades occurred here? How many tributes riding to their demise while a crowd watched. Rudy felt nauseous suddenly.
"Can you hear me?" Hades asked again, "What happened?"
"You reek of death." Rudy said after a moment.
"I know you don't like me, but that's a terrible thing to say."
"But it's the truth. So many people are going to die because of you. Just…so many." Rudy felt like he was going to fall in on himself. The weight of the entire situation was falling on him. He could feel the heartbeats of his fellow tributes and knew which ones would stop beating in a manner of days.
He was too much of a coward to listen to his own heart. It was a knowledge he didn't want.
"Hey there." a calm, soothing voice told him. It came from the other side of the bed as Hades. Rudy turned and saw the assistant doctor he talked to earlier. The boy had kind eyes, and it calmed him down a little.
"I see… I see so much." He told the assistant. Helios. The name came to him like water cracking from a dam.
"You're in shock. That can lead you to seeing all sorts of things. Don't worry though. We've got you. Mr. Yamaguchi? Thank you so much for your help but I think it might be best if you rejoined the parade."
Rudy felt more than saw Hades nod, and the other boy retreated back to the arena.
"Here, drink this." Helios said, giving him a mug of warm water. Rudy took it and tried to push his thoughts away. It would do him no good to dwell on death.
AN 2: My parade chapters are always so fricken dramatic ya'll. So how did you like it? I'm going to put some of my notes on the costumes down here just in case you guys missed any.
ARIES: Stylized ram armor, curved helmets. It's interesting GOOD
TAURUS: celestial bulls. Ronan and co. GREAT
GEMINI: yin yang. The twins. GREAT
CANCER: crabs. More like boxes. It's bad. Really
LEO:minimalist lions, middling, Brutus. GOOD
VIRGO: snow. It's… just a little too high concept EH
LIBRA: one pair of scales. It's...interesting at least. EH
SCORPIO: they have tails. GOOD
SAG: archers. Kind of basic EH
CAPRICORN: goats. Honestly I don't think these people were even trying. BAD
AQUARIUS:Jugs on head BAD
PISCES Koi. Polyphemis and Scylla gets this. It's fricken great. GREAT
Anyway, thank you so much for reading. Hopefully I'll see you soon.
