"You're a fucking idiot." I said and glared at Callig. He seemed close to tears as I surveyed the tributes.
District 1 was in stylish jewel encrusted armor. I felt blinded by how bright their clothes were. Of course, 2 looked fearome even in peacock feathers. Willose had designed an emerald cape to be like one large peacock feather for Tarquin. He had a green vest on and nothing underneath. His pants were a dark blue. Celia was in an emerald dress that showed all of her arms. It was cut around mid-thigh and had a belt. A huge peacock tail flowed from behind her and I saw many other Tributes eye the two enviously.
Of course, the District I had to care for was in very very very very bad shape. Callig had decided to put them in skimpy black underwear and coat them in coal power. They also got yellow hard hats with blinking lights.
"Did I mention you're a fucking idiot?" I muttered to Callig.
That's probably the last straw for him.
I hoped so. The speakers called for Tributes to get to their chariots. I followed Haymitch to the Victor's Box and sat with Enobaria. She smirked raised an eyebrow as the tributes began rolling out. The Careers shone and 12 left a trail of coal dust.
Disaster. Disaster. Disaster. Disaster. You're not going to make it!
I spoke with a few other Mentors and Victors. Many were old timers that had come to the Capitol on business and ended up staying. The Victors from 1 were very nice and so were the ones from 4.
I messed with my jacket and watched the Tributes round the U to turn back into the Main Building. I took the elevator with Haymitch and watched the two shakily step down from their chariot.
At least they didn't fall off.
"Good job. Now, we prepare for Caesar Flickerman." I said brusquely. Haymitch choked on his liquor and I slammed a fist down on his back, sending him to the ground in a coughing heap.
"Fuck... you... Ca-"
"Let's go." I said while Effie reprimanded me for hitting someone older than me. I rolled my eyes and stepped into another elevator. District 7's tributes were with us and I nodded at Jacen and Para. Their female tribute had red eyes from crying and the male slouched.
Training sessions wee hard on the both of them and when it was time for individual assessments, I knew there was nothing else I could do but wait.
Hopefully they won't score lower than 6. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if they did.
I was getting annoyed at the voice, but I had a job to do. Haymitch was too drunk to help most of the time, so I balanced the chores of helping a Tribute.
The next day, they left to get judged individually. I waited and met with future sponsors to try and steal from Enobaria and Silk's army of supporters. Everyone seemed to believe the Career Pack was going to have a Victor, so they began flocking to Enobaria, Harsk, Silk, and Mace. I saw a woman who had already tattoed the roses on Vanity's necklace onto her cheeks.
Damn, that takes courage.
Shut up! I have to work!
Fine, fine. I'd go for the woman in the red dress with the blue skin.
I went over and shook her hand.
"Hello miss. I'm Cato Arckenson representing District 12's Tributes. It would do me a great honor if you would help sponsor my Tributes." I smiled and she blushed a darker blue.
"Well, because you asked oh so nicely..." She murmured and grinned at me, showing pink dyed teeth.
"Thank you." I answered and turned to another man. He looked me up and down and purred a yes.
"But I swear, President Snow should allow men to buy time with you! It's unfair! If only I could have you naked in my bed..." He scoffed, walking away. I knew exactly what he was talking about. My first year as a Victor and I'd already been sold by the President. My numbers were high and my only competition was Finnick Odair. I seriously hoped my numbers would fall, but unfortunately, they remained very high.
I found two more people to sponsor my Tributes and left. I was thoroughly annoyed with the strange accents and idiocy of these people.
"Had a fun time? Scores are about to come." Haymitch called from the living room. I sat down on the sofa next to Effie and watched as Caesar Flickerman anounced scores.
Luxe- 9
Vanity- 9
Tarquin- 10
Celia- 10
The rest were a mixture of random numbers and the girl from 7 got a two.
"From District 12, Haylie Greenwell, with a score of four. Also from District 12, Warren Pental, with a score of eight. That's it for tonight, folks! I'll see you for the Interviews! Good night!" Casear signed off and nodded in aproval to the two.
"Good job. Now, for the interviews, you need to find an edge for yourself. Make them remember you. Let's get dinner." I nodded and Effie lead us to the dining room where Callig and Brexallin were the first to sit.
Her name sounds like some type of medicine. Brexallin.
While we ate, I discussed edges for the two and we decided on a lost, lonely girl who wanted to go home. Warren would be the lively one. I knew all attempts were futile, but it couldn't hurt to give them a chance.
Ah, optimism. What a great way to kick the Games off! So, who do you think will die first? I bet on the girl. She's too flimsy.
I took a bite of salad and said nothing.
"Cato, what do you think about a pink dress for Haylie and a red suit for Warren?" Callig asked and I raised an eyebrow.
What is this, Valentine's Day?
"A red suit and a pink dress? Did Valentine's Day get moved because I must not have gotten the memo." I sneered and Effie nodded.
"He is right. They'll seem like a couple if that happened. Why don't we do a dark gray suit and white dress." She smiled and I nodded.
"What would this team be without you, Effie?" I asked and she smiled.
"Thank you, Cato. Now, I hope you two know how to act when in front of a large audience. Please please please, I cannot stress this enough, mind your manners."
~'~'~'~
Once again, Caesar Flickerman was on stage. His bright gold hair and eyes illuminated the stage and made me want to destroy the stage lights. District One was fearsome and District 2 was stupid.
Luxe was a good fighter and was never afraid to overstep boundaries. Vanity had a secret move and the entire Capitol was clamoring for details.
"Anything interesting you want to tell us, Tarquin? A secret weapon or anything?" Caesar asked.
"Oh, I saw a really fat and ugly bird once! It had a wierd shell and no feathers. I don't think it could fly because it as crawling in sand." He gasped slightly. "Maybe it was hurt!"
Were the Trainers on Morphling when they chose the Volunteers this year?
I looked over at Enobaria who was hitting her forehead with her fist.
"Damn idiot. Damn it, Harsk, if he comes out alive, remind me to castrate the child so he doesn't reproduce." She growled and Harsk shook his head.
"Not if I get to him first." He growled and Tarquin flashed a thumbs up to Enobaria who glared at him with all her might.
"Now, Celia, would you like to tell someone at home something? Possibly tell them you will survive or send love?" She nodded eagerly.
"I have a poem prepared. To Zayne, the sun is not a star. It's a fucking sun. I'm not crazy, you are." She smiled and Caesar blinked.
"Okay... Give it up for Celia!" I looked at Enobaria. She had a murderous look on her face and Harsk looked like he was going to jump on stage and kill her then and there.
I think Enobaria's going to let both of them die this year.
Agreed. She bared her teeth and growled at her tributes. I watched and waited for Warren to step on stage. Everything went smoothly and he seemed pretty loose.
"Would you like to tell anyone anything?" Caesar asked, cringing slightly.
"Yes, um, Mom and Dad, I love you guys so much. I'm sorry if I don't make it back, and to Vallera, I love you." He said and I nodded. Caesar gave a very audible sigh of relief and nodded.
"Good job." Haymitch muttured and Haylie took the stage. Her interview went slightly sour after she started crying in the middle and had to be escorted off stage.
Let the Games begin.
God, leave me alone!
Nah...
~'~'~'~
In the conference room, I watched as all 24 Tributes braced for the gong. All Mentors were not allowed to buy their tributes until the Bloodbath ended.
There were many screens in the conference room and everyone was looking at their tributes. They were in a desert and many bottles of water were stacked at the top of the Cornucopia, and each tribute had one bottle right next to their standing position. The arena was split into four different areas. There was a flower field, an area full of caves and craggy rocks, woods, and a desert.
I watched Haylie fidget and Warren's hands shaking.
30... 29... 28... 27... 26... 25... Haylie dropped her ball and the land mine under her exploded. My mouth dropped and Haymitch was silent.
Fuck.
Enobaria and Harsk burst into laughter. I glared at her while she held onto Harsk's shoulder. Silk and Mace were smiling as well.
"Oh my God, Cato!" Enobaria screeched with tears running down her face and I looked at the screen. Warren's expression was a look of horror. Tarquin and Celia were roaring with laughter and Luxe was grinning. Vanity remained hard-faced and neutral.
15... 14... 13... 12... 11... 10... 9... 8... The Careers signal each other and assign areas. Tarquin and Celia had one half of the arena and Luxe and Vanity had the other half.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... The gong rang out and Vanity was the first to reach the Cornucopia. She sprinted through the hot sand easily and picked a sword up. Tarquin reached the Cornucopia next and began passing weapons to Celia and Luxe. Then they began to massacre every being in their way.
Where's Warren?
I looked around the screens and spotted him holding a blue backpack and two knives along with his waterbottle. He was sprinting to the woods.
Run.
Vanity's secret was not one to meddle with. She would slash each Tribute from neck to navel and leave them there to drown in their own blood, black and red organs spilling from the gash in their torso. Tarquin and Celia fended for themselves and took down almost as many as Luxe and Vanity. One tribute caught my eye.
A small girl who was quietly climbing the Cornucopia. She loaded her backpack with water, food, and a single axe. She had another in her hand and hopped off of the Cornucopia and ran into the cavernous side of the arena, passing by Tarquin.
How in the hell did Tarquin not see her?! She ran right past him!
Well he did think a turtle was a bird...
Regardless, he can't be that dumb!
I beg to differ. Vanity seemed to slow down and tried to catch her breath. I crossed my fingers for someone to kill her but no such luck. The District 10 boy seemed to be fending for himself quite easily and Tarquin went to speak with him. So 10 was in the Career pack.
It was boggling that Luxe allowed Tarquin to be the leader.
That's the word. Luxe allowed Tarquin to be the leader of the Career pack.
So Luxe was going to kill Tarquin in his sleep or later on. The girl from 11 was small for her age. A twelve year old. She went to the woods without looking back and Vanity smiled, yelled for Luxe to cover her and sprinted after the girl.
"Hey! Stop!" She yelled, but the girl ran faster. I looked at Silk and she was glaring at the screen.
"What the hell is she doing." Silk growled. Vanity grabbed the girl's shoulder and pushed her down.
"You're joining the Career pack, missy." She smiled and the girl shook her head.
"No!" The District 11 Mentors were praying for her to accept the offer.
"Here's the deal. Join now and I don't kill you until a later time, or don't join and die now." Vanity glared and offered her hand. The girl took it and stood. "Stay out of our way." Vanity said and ran to complete the bloodbath.
Eleven died during the bloodbath.
I was lead into a room with four different TV's and a tablet. An avox handed me a headset and I snapped it into my ear. This was District 12's sponsor room. I could go into the Mentor Room at any time, but I needed to see what Warren was doing.
As soon as I turned the TV's on, two had a red X over the screens. Those were for Haylie. Haymitch entered just in time to see Warren cover himself in leaves at the foot of a tree and fall asleep.
"He survived the bloodbath. Good for him." Haymitch nodded and I picked up the crystal decanter next to me.
"Drink?"
"Never thought I'd hear those words coming from your mouth, but sure." We sipped whiskey and vodka as the arena grew dark.
The anthem played and the the Fallen were shown.
Districts 4, 5, 6, 8, the boy from 9, the girl from 10, and Haylie were eliminated from the Games on the first night. A fire was lit and the Career pack left Luxe to guard the food and took the boy from 10 and the girl from 11. Vanity was sent to scout on her own.
Once the Careers left, Luxe immediatley grabbed as many packages of food and bottles of water as he could. He stuffed two duffel bags and jammed weapons into another bag. Vanity returned and took the bags from him, running deep into the woods.
"Silk, Mace, now would be the best time." He looked up and a silver parachute came beeping. Inside was a load of white powder. Luxe hastened to sprinkle a bit on everything edible. He even opened a few bottles of water and shook them thoroughly.
He left without a single trace, taking the parachute with him. The cannon went off and the hoots of Tarquin and Celia echoed through the woods. If Enobaria was watching, she would send some form of notice to them. I hoped she would not.
Even Enobaria must heed the wishes of the District. Now I get it. The Trainers wanted to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Smart...
It was ingenious and almost foolproof. The powder must have been extremely potent because as soon as Celia and 10 took some water, they began writhing and screaming in pain. Tarquin choked and spit the food out before he could swallow any. When the girl tried to get away, Tarquin slammed his sword into her stomach. They died slowly. 10 was the first to go, retching a fountain of blood from his mouth, nose, and eyes.
District 1 is using your mother's idea. You know, the whole poison everyone and win thing?
Celia and 11 were next. Celia screamed bloody murder as she threw up. Her body writhed on the ground as the girl fought the poison. With a pale face and green complexion, more blood poured from her mouth. Tarquin finally had enough sense to put a sword through her heart. She coughed and became still. 11 had a knife jammed into her throat, and Tarquin remained.
"Smart." Haymith muttered and I nodded. District 1 had upped it's game.
You know, you could have a lot of fun in the arena. Just you. So many Districts to kill and so much time to do it! Start with Haymitch! Go ahead! He's drunk, do it!
No. What?! Where was this coming from?!
You know you want to! Looking at all this blood makes me want to kill something. So start with Haymitch.
"No!"
"Huh?" Haymitch asked and I stormed out of the room and into the elevator. I slammed my fist into the Gym button and felt the elevator go down.
Enobaria and Harsk were sparring. They turned and looked at me.
"Couldn't sleep?" Harsk asked and I nodded. Pulling a pair of leather knuckle guards, I began slamming my fists into a punching bag.
One, two, three. One, two, three.
I'm disappointed in you. You are a failure.
"You realize the Careers disbanded? Celia, 10, and 11 are dead." I stated.
"Already? Man, I'm sad I missed that. Was it bloody?"
One, two, three. One, two, three. Picking up a spear, I flung it at a dummy on the other side of the room and cleanly pierced it.
"Very. District 1 poisoned the food and water. They all threw up blood except for 11. Tarquin stabbed her."
"Nice. They pulled a Junallia. Open your stance a bit." Enobaria called, slamming the wooden sword into Harsk's. "Cato, does-is there still a voice in your head?" She asked, straining under a well aimed blow.
"Why... does this matter?" I panted and she clucked.
"You're out of shape. It matters because your mother had the same thing. Junallia wouldn't want you to be like this." She said, walking over to where I was mauling the punching bag. Harsk followed behind and raised his eyebrows.
"He has the same thing Junallia had?"
"Yeah." I growled.
But she died before her voice left. Let's see if I'll leave before you die! This will be so much fun.
Right when I'd gotten used to having a voice in my head, it decides to get me to lose control. Great.
"Did my mother ever try to kill anyone?" I asked.
"Inside the Huner Games or out?" Harsk asked and recieved a solid elbow from Enobaria.
"Out you idiot!" She exclaimed and I nodded. Enobaria rubbed her chin. "I don't think so."
"Then what's wrong with me?" I demande and Enobaria shrugged.
"That's the thing. We don't know."