Chapter 21:

Lisia Arune, Head Gamemaker

"And here you are," Fabio says as he hands Lisia a tall cup of coffee, preparing her for the long restless time ahead of them. Lisia takes it and holds it close to her with both hands as she stares at the screens ahead of her as Fabio hands Seraphim his own cup – that boy is as much a coffee fiend as Lisia is, which is quite the accomplishment. Seraphim sits quietly by her side, just taking in everything, which Lisia appreciates. She doesn't think she could handle a large amount of questions right now. She just can't take her eyes away from the screens, knowing that this will be her last time ever launching a set of tributes into the arena, the last time she'll feel this anticipation twisting her stomach, the last time she'll make this year's Games the most talked about thing.

She's going to miss all of this when it's over. But it's far from over.

"Let's get this show started," Lisia speaks up, instructing her Gamemakers sitting below as they wait for their cue to start. "You know the drill with the cameras, tributes first, then arena. But not too much, keep the audience waiting to see everything I have planned."

The tributes are brought into their launch tubes and slowly make their way up into Lisia's final arena, something she has spent many sleepless nights perfecting. As they get their first glimpse of the arena, they're blinded by dazzling sunlight and a crystal blue sky, not a single cloud to give them shade from the heat. But the cameras don't zoom out yet to show the audience the arena the tributes are in, taking the time to show the faces and reactions of each tribute first.

At the northernmost point of the arena stands Aberforth, carefully looking around to determine where his allies are and who is placed near him. To his left, Ally and Pascal share a moment of relief at being placed close to each other, before Pascal starts looking around and shouting for Betula. On the other side of Pascal is Sissel, who studies the supplies at the cornucopia with that careful calculating gaze of his before glancing around for his allies. Iroha on his left surprises Lisia with the way she is already preparing herself to get supplies, even if she keeps glancing nervously at Orin on her left, who stands there looking around at the supplies and tributes near zim, not looking bothered at all about the upcoming bloodbath.

But Sasha seems quite alarmed at being placed on Orin's left, yet she braces herself to grab a bag nearby that she is eyeing up. Jendaya, meanwhile, is looking at Sasha and Orin standing between her and Iroha, looking like the last thing she wants to do is get involved in a fight with one of them. But she just might not be able to avoid getting in the way of something, given the way Grey is intensely watching Sasha from the left of Jendaya, hyperfocused on her and ignoring his other allies. Dresden is looking away from the potential drama to his right, focusing instead on the supplies in front of him and getting to his ally Margaery. Betula has a defeated look on their face as they look at the tributes separating them and their allies.

The tribute to the left of Betula isn't ignoring them, something they take notice of and they start to tremble in fear. Rodrick is eyeing out the knives scattered around the cornucopia and both Betula on his right and Samis to his left, ready to do exactly what is expected of him. Samis doesn't seem like he wants to risk it at all for supplies with Rodrick next to him, but a small bag close to him seems to tempt him. Kaz isn't focusing at all on the tributes on either side of him, much to the relief of Artem on his left, instead focused entirely on the cornucopia at the center of them all and getting ready to run right for it. Artem is staring over at Grey and occasionally glancing down at his leg and the crutch he holds, fear on his face at the chances of him making it to Grey unharmed. On Artem's left, Laine is looking around for his allies, but growing more tempted by the supplies in front of him with each passing second. But so is Margaery next to him and it's clear both of them will try their luck.

Marian is braced to run straight into the action to the left of Margaery, seemingly decided on her target being the boy next to her. Grant looks defeated before the Games have even started, placed between Marian and Nativity. But Nativity isn't focused on Grant after sharing a look with Marian and the girl from Two giving her a not so subtle look not to take her kill, instead focusing on the tributes to her left. Gwenith doesn't seem to be paying any attention to Nativity, instead searching for Grey who is on nearly the complete opposite side of the cornucopia from her. And finally there's Asha, going back and forth between seeming determined to go in and get supplies and too afraid to risk it with careers nearby.

The cameras finally pan out to show off the arena Lisia has painstakingly designed. The cornucopia and the tributes surrounding it stand in the middle of a barren, destroyed land, the ground covered in ash and broken rubble. Buildings partially stand in the area, providing some cover for the tributes, something they will certainly want when the mutts start roaming the area. But to the north and south of the launch area, the arena has two similar, yet opposite sections. Seven buildings stand unbroken among the rubble on each side, six lining the edge of the arena and one grander building in the center, all made out of a different color marble. The buildings are massive to contain what lies in wait inside, but also to make sure the tributes know to go there. If the appearance doesn't make them go there, they'll have a reason soon enough.

The timer finishes the countdown to zero and Lisia clenches her coffee mug tightly in anticipation for the bloodbath, unable to move or take her eyes away from the screens as the gong sounds and her final Hunger Games begins.

The careers are the first ones off of their pedestals, with Kaz running straight for the cornucopia and Aberforth following his lead, albeit at a much slower pace with his legs. But the other four careers…they have all set their eyes on targets and don't seem content to end the bloodbath without a kill at their hands. The first tribute to be tackled to the ground is Grant, the boy struggling against Marian as she lets out a cry and grabs his head, killing him instantly with a twist of his neck.

"One," Lisia counts aloud quietly, afraid to blink in case she misses something.

The next tribute to fall is right near Grant. Gwenith cries out for Grey as she starts running towards him, but if he hears her, he doesn't run towards her, leaving her to fall victim to Nativity as she drives a knife into her chest. Both are taken by surprise when the knife disintegrates after striking Gwenith, leaving her to fall to the ground and bleed out faster as Nativity goes towards the cornucopia for a better weapon that she won't find.

"Two."

One tribute is trying to race to the other side of the cornucopia to reach their allies, but Betula doesn't have a chance of making it to Pascal and Ally. Not when Rodrick has set his eyes on them as his first target. With a quick stab to the neck, Betula falls to the ground, clutching their throat pouring out blood as Pascal lets out a cry at the sight of them dying, only to quickly get pulled away from there by Ally who clutches a bag she grabbed, barely holding back tears.

"Three."

Despite having appeared almost bored before the Games started, once the gong sounded, Orin leapt into action, showing the most energy Lisia has seen from zim in the entire time ze were in the Capitol. Orin has zir target and quickly picks up a knife before running over to Sasha as she ducks down to pick up a bag. As she stands up, she lets out a scream at Orin standing before her and barely has time to dodge a swing from Orin's knife, making the blade land in her side before falling apart. Sasha cries out as she tries to use her cane to smack Orin away, but ze don't even blink an eye as ze stop the cane in zir hand. But suddenly, Orin gets tackled to the ground and with zir knife disintegrated, ze have nothing to defend zimself against Grey as he drives a knife deep into zir chest. Ze cough blood in his face before he quickly gets up, holding out his hand to Sasha who stares at him with tearstained eyes. She soon takes his hand, finally agreeing to his alliance after he saved her, letting him lead her over to where Artem is doing his best to get over to them so they can escape, the boy from Five crying over witnessing Gwenith dying.

"Four."

Around the cornucopia, most of the tributes are daring to get supplies. Iroha has grabbed a knife and bag close to her, all the while watching Orin to make sure ze were not going to come near her. Jendaya starts running forward, but stops to let Grey race pass, before heading closer to the cornucopia than she seems comfortable with in order to grab a larger bag and to race around the conflict happening there. Jendaya reaches her ally safely, taking her arm as the pair gets out of there unscathed.

In the northern section, Asha was starting to run for a bag, but when she witnessed Gwenith get killed not too far from her, she quickly ran away from the career and towards Sissel, cursing under her breath that she didn't grab a bag. Sissel starts to run in to the cornucopia, but as he got a bit closer and realized there were only knives, he grabs one from the ground and a bag as Asha approaches. They both look around for Laine as he is tempted by a bag as he runs towards them, a bag Margaery also wants. The girl from Five makes no acknowledgement on her face as she drives a knife into his chest and rips the bag away from him before running over to Dresden, her ally staring at her with wide eyes of surprise, before the pair runs away from the cornucopia. With Laine dead, Asha and Sissel quickly run away before their alliance can take any other loss as the careers at the cornucopia are starting to look their way, the last of the tributes to be there.

"Five."

Lisia sits back in her chair, taking a long sip of her coffee as the action comes to a stop and she feels like she can finally breath. "Five deaths, a decent bloodbath," Lisia mutters to herself, nodding her head. She can live with that. More tributes alive now means more to explore her arena. "Fire the cannons."

The five cannons sound in the arena as the five remaining careers stand around the cornucopia, looking over at where Orin's body lays in various levels of surprise. It's not every year that a career gets killed in the bloodbath and clearly none of them expected that. And mixed with their surprise is the confusion over just what happened with the knives.

The cameras soon move to show the other remaining tributes as they head out into the arena. They'll be quite spread out throughout the arena, which is perfect for Lisia. She wants her final arena to be fully explored and it's easier for the tributes to do it on their own rather than for her to force them to explore. Running northwest, Asha and Sissel only slow slightly at the cannons sounding, but keep running, their path starting to veer west towards the closest of the buildings.

Ally drags Pascal with her, the boy trying to hold it all together after witnessing the horrors of the bloodbath. She is leading him right towards the biggest building in the center of the north, which will work out perfectly for Lisia's plans.

Iroha and Jendaya are heading directly east, the pair seemingly not trusting the buildings. Smart pair. But Lisia knows they'll soon realize the value of the buildings and it is only a matter of time before they seek them out.

Grey is leading Sasha and Artem along to the southeast, supporting Sasha as she keeps a hand pressed to the wound in her side. Grey keeps glancing back over his shoulder, making sure the careers aren't following them. But as their pace begins to slow, Grey becomes more concerned with Sasha's bleeding and he soon finds a broken building for them to hide in so he can tend to his ally.

Heading mostly south, Samis runs alone, continuing to glance around nervously as he makes sure no one is near him. And he doesn't have to worry, not when the next closest tributes, Margaery and Dresden, are heading to the southwest, towards a building that Lisia just might need to drive a different tribute towards.

The cameras come back to the careers as Marian sifts through the cornucopia, finding only knives there. She picks one up, studying the blade up close and finding the small print written on each of them near the handle. "It says 'Single Use Only'… What the hell does that mean?"

"You'll figure it out soon enough," Lisia tells Marian, even if the career can't hear her. Lisia can't wait to see how long it takes all of the tributes to figure out the gimmick with the knives and to realize that there are better weapons out there in the arena. They just have to be willing to take a big risk.

"So what do you think?" Lisia asks Seraphim, swiveling her chair to face him directly. She holds back an amused smile when she sees the look of awe and bewilderment on his face at seeing the bloodbath happen behind the scenes, remembering just what it was like her first time in this room. But her first Games had a much different start than this, something she has actively tried to prevent in her years as Head Gamemaker.

"I don't even know what to think," Seraphim answers honestly, still staring at all the screens tracking each tribute as they head further into the arena. "Except I can't wait to keep watching and see what happens when they reach the temples."

"That makes two of us," Lisia answers before turning her chair back around, wondering just who will be the first one to reach them. She takes a deep breath, letting herself get relaxed so she can focus on the upcoming days to ensure these Games are her best yet. "And now…let the 137th Hunger Games truly begin."


Indeed, let the Games begin! Welcome to Lisia's final arena where she is not holding back at all and pulling all the stops!

Eulogies:

22nd - Grant Gallitan-Montgomery [11], Killed by Marian [2]:

Grant was one of the non-featured tributes who we could have seen more of if he was willing to ally with people or if he was in a featured spot. It was just hard to get the depth of his bipolar disorder diagnosis in as a non-featured tribute. I knew he was going into the bloodbath in a depressive state and there was a slim chance of him making it out of it alive. Unfortunately someone has to go first and this time, it was Grant. Thank you ray. 51 for sending him! RIP Grant.

21st - Gwenith Drezzel [8], Killed by Nativity [1]:

A lot of you predicted that something like this would happen to one of Grey's allies, and for good reason. I knew he would become way too fixated on Sasha refusing his alliance and when seeing her threatened, would forget all about his actual allies in order to go help her. Unfortunately, Gwenith happened to be the poor ally that lost her life because of Grey's neglect. But honestly, it's better for her to go now than continue to get dragged along by Grey, who she unfortunately was too trusting of after everything that's happened in her life. Thank you Brooke2214 for sending her! RIP Gwenith.

20th - Betula Washington [7], Killed by Rodrick [1]:

Betula was one that I always knew was going to die in the bloodbath. With how much they had given up on their life before this point, it was just inevitable. But they died with the peace of having found good allies - dare I even say a friend in Pascal - and knowing they died and had the career focus on them rather than their allies would bring comfort to them in their final moments. Thank you 20 for sending them! RIP Betula.

19th - Orin Rensch [4], Killed by Grey [8]:

I imagine this death caught people the most by surprise. I knew I wanted to have a career death to spice things up in this bloodbath and unfortunately Orin ended up as that person. I knew it would mean sacrificing seeing zim in action in the arena, and it was a tough choice to make deciding which career went now. You know me, I always love careers so it's hard killing any of them in the bloodbath, but you know I had to do it to 'em. It had to be Orin because I just couldn't see any of the other careers attacking Sasha and knew I needed that to happen for my arena plans. Orin really did not care who ze killed and ze just happened to make the mistake of picking the one tribute Grey would be willing to protect completely. Thank you Goldie for sending zim! RIP Orin.

18th - Laine Lawson [9], Killed by Margaery [5]:

Laine was one of the few normal tributes in a very abnormal cast of tributes, which made him unfortunately fall to the background. There's always a couple tributes who try to risk it for some supplies, but it wasn't in his cards to successfully get his supplies AND get to his allies that were on the opposite side of the arena. Not his fault that he wound up next to the sociopath who had no qualms about killing over a bag. And so his time has come. Thank you dsalazz for sending him! RIP Laine.

I know, a relatively small bloodbath, but with the arena I have planned, I wanted to keep a lot of tributes alive to show off all the different parts! And yeah, I also couldn't bring myself to kill off any of the featured tributes because they're all so good lol. Just what is up with those Single Use Knives? And just what could be waiting within the temples? All will be revealed soon! And it will be soon, I'm hyped to get moving on these Games XD

The blog is now updated with the arena page, which features the bloodbath arrangement, arena map, and the has/needs list for everyone! In addition, sponsoring is now open and is done through the google form link that is on my profile (and the blog!). It's going to operate a bit differently than in the past. I'll be keeping the base price and increasing it at the final 8, as well as having gifts cost half price for non-featured tributes. In addition, the day that tributes receive their gifts will depend on...something. I'm not saying what yet and will leave it up for you to figure out for now, but some will get gifts on odd numbered days and some on even numbered days.

RQ #21: Did anything in the bloodbath surprise you?

One last reminder that Renegades tribute subs are still open at this time, but only until next Wednesday, June 24th! I've closed some spots but any spot that isn't closed at this time is fair game! So if you haven't subbed yet, now is definitely the time to do so :)

Alrighty, I will see you all soon with Day One! I think I'm gonna aim for Monday updates whenever I have a chapter finished, so be prepared for the possibility of an update on that day XD And as always, I'll keep updating my schedule on my profile so if you're ever curious to see what I have written, just check there! Can't wait to kick these Games into high gear!