Chapter 10 (POV of Harley Quinn, the head Gamemaker)

I frown at the screens laid out before me.

"That's not what I asked for." I snap at a new game maker. The screen in front of us displays the new arena, untested and ready for attention. The man turns around and stares at me, blue eyes wide.

"But-" He begins.

"No excuses." I snarl at him and jab at the screen. It zooms in to my touch. "This is the cornucopia, correct?" I ask him and he nods.

"Yes Ma'am."

"Why is it in a castle?" I ask him, leaning down, and giving him my most vicious stare. He blinks at me and swallows.

"B… Because that's what the president wanted." He blurted. I frown t him and stand up straight.

"What do you mean… What's your name?"

"Merlin, Ma'am." He tells me, regaining his control a little. "I mean that the president's PA approached me a few weeks ago and told me what the President wanted." I frown and click my tongue.

"I specifically told him that we were choosing a maze. What's he doing taking over my control?" I ask, annoyed. Merlin shrugs.

"I… I don't know." Merlin mumbles. I stare down at him.

"Rhetorical question, idiot." I roll my eyes.

"Sorry."

I stare at the screen.

"Move." I order Merlin and he clambers out of his seat in front of the screen. I place my fingers splayed out on the map and pull together, zooming out. I flick about the arena, noting the grounds and interior of the castle. It's huge. "Have the pods been assembled?" I ask him.

"Half of them." Merlin replies. "See here." He points to an area on the map and zooms in. There's a little glowing light where his finger is and he taps it. Another image flashes up, and I see an animated footage of what will happen if the pod is triggered. This one is cat like mutts. I observe the creatures carefully.

"Have the mutts been prepared?" I ask.

"There's still a few left to go. These Lynxes are one of them.

"Fantastic." I mutter, and scroll across the map. I'm incredibly annoyed. How dare the President take over my responsibility?! It's a week before the games begin, and I have to put up with this massive setback. I bet he planned this. Wanted his own arena. Because now it's far to late to change location. I'm going to have to work with the castle arena. Sighing heavily, I sit back in the chair. After all that time I spent drawing the maps of the maze, designing the mutts, it's all gone to waste.

I stand up.

"Continue work on this arena. Does it have a name?" I ask him and Merlin nods.

"Camelot."

"That's a stupid name." I remark, contemptuously.

"President's choice." Merlin shrugs. I push my blonde hair back with my gloved hand, exasperated.

"Find me when it's completed. I'm having nothing to do with this arena until the games begin." I decide, throwing my hands up. Then I march out of the command room.

I'm pissed off. And of course because it's the president, I can't say anything against or about it. I wish he'd given me a little control, or even some notice that he was changing the plans for the arena. This has made my job so much harder I've seen the tributes, the audience are expecting a show, and if I don't know the arena, I can't guarantee them one. If a Head Gamemaker disappoints, a Head Gamemaker dies. I can't have that.

Taking a taxi back to my house I open the front door. I live alone. Sometimes. Occasionally friends stay over, but I'm busy as head Gamemaker. My duties, not that a lot of people realise it, are not solely limited to the games. I control the victory tour, and I control the promotion of the Capitol. Most propaganda decisions, if not all, are down to me.

As much as I respect the President, he's completely ripped me of authority. I hate him for that.

I run upstairs to my room, ignoring Lupin, my avox, as he bows his head to me. I don't care for Avoxes. They're about as important as pigeons as far as I'm concerned. As I busy about my room I catch sight of my reflection in the mirror and stop for a second. Chalk pale skin, which could either be down to my makeup or to the lack of sleep recently. Straight, glossy blonde hair, which is the only physical feature of me I've left alone when it comes to alteration. I'm wearing my usual clothes. A black and red cat suit, with the symbol of playing cards printed on. I stare at myself in the mirror, thing every inch of it. I scowl at myself and in a fit of anger a throw a hairbrush at the mirror. Most of the glass shatters and clatters to the ground in shards. I glare at the fragmented pieces of silver, strip of the cat suit and take a shower. I wash every inch of makeup from my body. I hate the Capitol right now. I hate everything that comes with it. Once I'm clean, I wrap a towel around my body and return to the mirror. Lupin has dutifully cleared up the glass on the ground… but there are still parts left of the mirror. I stare at my reflection, fissured and wrong. I look, for the first time, normal. Not perfect. I could be. I have enough money for a full body polish, but something always stopped me from getting one. I'm glad I never did. A freckle here, a spot there; all sorts of imperfections dot my skin.

I sigh and look away from the mirror. The Capitol demands perfection.

Head Gamemakers who disappoint, become Head Gamemakers that die.

CRAZY BATMAN/MERLIN/SELF-ESTEEM CHAPTER. Sorry for this random one. I kind of went off on a tangent, but still :) Please review/follow/favourite the story if you liked it :) THANK YOU FOR READING! :D

Lucy xxx

P.S: The Lupin in this is taken from The Roman Mysteries series, not Harry Potter :)