"Welcome welcome to the beginning of the 73rd Hunger Games!" Effie anounced at the silent crowd. She wore a bright blue suit with gold swirls. Her blue hair was curled around a birdcage with a blue salamander in it.
I looked through the crowds and spotted young Ms. Everdeen with a blonde girl whom I recognized to be the mayor's daughter. They stood together while the video played and while Effie pulled a card from the Reaping Bowl. The two girls clenched each other's hands and I couldn't help but ask whatever God there was not to let Katniss get chosen.
But she has tesserae. Her name is in there multiple times.
"Our female tribute for District 12 is... Mira Hainskey!" Effie called out and a Seam girl around 17 years old climbed the stairs to the stage. "Now, any volunteers?" Complete and utter silence. That was when Miss Mira began to cry. "How old are you, dear?" Effie asked and Mira looked up.
"I'm eighteen." She managed to let out. Effie smiled and bounced over to the male drawing bowl. It was more full than the girls' bowl because most boys to tesserae for their families. The older brothers refused to let their sisters apply for tesserae.
"Our male tribute for District 12 is... Koltos Quinston!" A boy with messy blonde hair stepped up. He had tears in his eyes but they did not come down. He was tall, almost as tall as me. Quinston... the woman who had the small cafe. This was her son. "How old are you?" Effie asked once again.
"Seventeen."
"Now, any volunteers?" She asked. Dead silence followed.
Katniss wasn't chosen. Thank whatever deity there is for that!
I glared at the ground. The stupid voice in my head would not go away.
I don't think I ever will, what with the rate you're going at.
Thank you. For the memo.
"Now, our Mentors for this year's Tributes will be Haymitch Abernethy," to which Haymitch stood up and fell over, "and Cato Arckenson!" I nodded, and grabbed Haymitch by the collar, dragging him into the all too familiar Justice Building.
"I can walk, Monster Boy!" Haymitch stumbled behind me and I let go of his jacket.
"Go to the dining car and get food into your sorry little body." I growled and he stumbled along until we reached the train. Mira and Koltos were probably saying good-bye to their family and friends.
It took Haymitch three tries to get the door to the dining car to open correctly. We sat opposite of each other at the heads of the table while Effie was already to my right. Haymitch began to eat and Effie was frantically writing on a pink tablet while the salamander danced around.
After a few minutes, the doors opened, and Mira and Koltos both walked in with red rimmed eyes. They looked around awkwardly until Effie told them to sit. The amount of food before the two amazed them. They began to eat, and much to Effie's relief, both used a fork and knife in the proper manner.
Mira was clearly from the Seam. She had black hair and gray eyes that flitted back and forth, as if someone (most likely me) would stab her then and there. Her bony wrists were clearly visible and she had a light colored dress on. Her hands moved deftly, moving food from plate to her mouth in seconds. An eighteen year old that had never had a decent meal.
Look at the way her back is arched. She would be a good gymnast.
But what good is gymnastics in the arena?
Remember when Allis did a back handspring and dodged a knife? That's how she won.
I internally groaned. That was besides the point! Allis had been trained to the point of having two fractured tibiae!
But she won. It doesn't matter how you win. All you have to do is win.
Speaking of Allis, she would be Mentoring with Kelsa. Crassus and Graff were staying in the Capitol as Sponsors. Enobaria was going to spend the time at Father's house.
I blinked back to reality and saw Koltos staring at me.
He had dark brown eyes and light hair. The kid was made for fighting, but could he fight?
I thought about Juna. I had missed her eighth birthday party. She was now eight and loved training with Enobaria. She wanted to be like me without going into the Arena.
Strength runs in your family. Enobaria and your father are proof of that.
Touche. I finished eating and propped my elbows on the table, receiving a hiss from Effie.
"Now, do you have any skills? Possibly a few throwing techniques?" Haymitch asked and they shrugged.
"I'm flexible and I can run pretty quickly." Mira stated and Koltos blinked.
"I mean, I can swing pretty hard. I was the best at baseball with the boys in the Merchant's Village." He said and I nodded. If he could swing a sword as well as he swung a bat, we were in good shape. Haymitch decided to give his input with the traditional material.
"When you get into... into the Remake Center... Don't fight them. They won't alter you or anything, just don't fight them. We clear?" Not waiting for an answer, he poured two three glasses of vodka and handed two the Mira and Koltos. "Might be your last chance. Drink up. Oh, and no fucking in the dining car or the TV room."
"Haymitch!" Effie gasped, "Do not use such vulgarity in front of these children!"
"What? Might as well get some before they can't get some." He grunted and Koltos looked over at Mira. "Speaking of, Monster Boy, don't you have an appointment as soon as we get to the Capitol?" He quirked an eyebrow and I shook my head.
"Mrs. Seescreech cancelled. She's getting her eyebrows waxed before she and her husband go to the Sponsor Feast." I glared and Haymitch stuck his tongue out.
Juvenile.
I looked at Koltos and he shrugged. Sizing him up, I decided that he would be practicing with spears. Mira was small and lithe. That meant knives for her.
Walking around the train, I muttered to myself, trying to unscramble the jumbled mess of thoughts in my overcrowded mind.
"Games... Death... Swords... Nuclear productivity... Voice... Sex... Tributes." I paced and looked out the window. Everything was dull and gray. I felt lost in the mess of the corrupt world. There was the sound of a small thumping and I knew Mira and Koltos were heeding Haymitch's advice.
They're getting some before they can't get some.
The two seemed to have already been friends and were joined by the hip. Literally. I saw Haymitch in the TV Car and told him to replay the Reapings.
District 1 had a pair of especially nasty looking Tributes.
"Hermes Philip and Gracelyn Brilliant!" The boy was eighteen and the girl eighteen. They were both blonde, were both too tall, and too pretty for their own good.
District 2 actually had some good competitors this year.
"Roland Parell and Titania Orestes!" Luckily, both knew the difference between a turtle and a bird. They also knew that the sun was in fact, a star. Roland was muscular and strong. His dark brown hair contrasted with his bright blue eyes, giving him a very handome face. Titania had honey blonde hair and green eyes. She was slim and had a very graceful figure. She and Gracelyn would probably have to fight for "Most Beautiful in the Games" this year.
The rest were definetly under my line of "future competition" material. I knew for a fact that any one of them could be a ruthless killer like Johanna. She had pulled off her act flawlessly. Even Enobaria was fooled, and there was no way in heaven or hell you could lie to Enobaria.
"Koltos Quinston and Mira Hainskey!" They were shown boarding the train and that was it.
"Not much competition this year, huh?" Haymitch grunted and I nodded.
"Career Pack." I muttered and sat in a recliner. "You know, there's a fine line between being brave and being stupid. I wonder if the Careers know that."
"Tarquin and Celia obviously didn't." He guffawed and even I had to grin with him. Enobaria had watched the reruns and laughed until she cried. She and Harsk were so relieved that the two did not make it out alive that they popped champaigne and hosted a party with any Mentors and anyone from 2 who wanted to celebrate. Even Father had been there. He entrusted Juna to me (I had declined my invitation to the party) and we watched movies together and had popcorn.
"Monster Boy? Hello? Hey, you're in La La Land again!" Haymitch called out and I snapped back to reality.
Damn you have problems!
"What?" I asked and Haymitch shrugged.
"We have a couple hours till the Capitol. How 'bout a round of chess?" He asked and I nodded. Why not?
Haymitch pulled a large glass board from under the table and began setting up pieces. I was the black and he was the white. The magnets clicked and soon, the lights began to whir. The pieces came to life and we snapped our headsets on.
The headset was a white metal bar that went across your forehead and read your physical waves. It controlled the pieces and moved them to their positions.
Because Haymitch was the white side, he was allowed to go first. Rubbing his chin, Haymitch thought for a minute. Then, his knight moved forward. I thought about my options and mentally ordered one of my pawns to go. Activating my headset, it came to life as a blue screen and gave me the graphs for Haymitch's mind. The waves were particularly short, so he would be relying mostly on offense.
Are you sure?
I lost the first round. Then lost the second.
Lame.
"Face it, Monster Boy, you're not a strategian. Bow down to my superiority!" Haymitch slurred. Even though he had consumed enough alcohol to kill a man, Haymitch's mind was still going. He continued to beat me until I finally decoded his wavelengths. By then, Haymitch was nearly snoring on the ground, but his pieces continued to move, so I tried my best to beat him. The final score was 32-2 with me only winning two out of 34 matches, and we were minutes away from the Capitol.
Haymitch and I had our meals brought to the TV Car as we played. The way Haymitch played was ingenious. He lead me on with one tactic and suddenly reversed it. That left me hanging with nothing guarding my king. If I switched to defense, Haymitch's offensive power would triple and I would lose again.
"Bow... to my..." He began to snore and I rolled my eyes, deactivating the board with a swish of my hand. Effie opened the door and gasped.
"You two look filthy! Cato you should change into something less wrinkled." She scolded Haymitch for being 'a filthy drunk with no hope in life whatsoever'.
I changed my shirt and pulled a black jacket over it to give myself a moderately formal look. Haymitch had been dressed and propped against a chair by Avoxes and was snoring.
"Hey, drunk, get up. Haymitch! Let's go!" I yelled and he cracked his eyes open
"You're in charge of the Remaking. I'm not going in there." He grumbled and grabbed a passing Avox. "You're my human crutch for the day." He muttered and the two stumbled away.
I could hear Mira and Koltos before I saw them. They walked in nicely dressed and looked to me for orders.
"Remake Center. Now." I growled and they ran off. I pointed to an Avox and he gave the customary bow, and ran off to follow them. Effie found me next.
"Cato dear! We must get to the Tribute Building!" She exclaimed and I nodded. We rode an elevator the the 12th floor and I surveyed the all too familiar living quarters. It seemed the Avoxes had changed. Some girl with flaming red hair was a new addition to our staff. The furniture was cleaner than I had left it. No bloodstains in the carpet, no wine on the leather and no lipstick on the wall (I had thrown Callig's stupid blue lipstick after he tried to put some on me).
"Home sweet home." I grumbled and returned to the elevator. The Remake Center was calling me.
Clipping the earpiece in, I walked over to where Allis and Kelsa were standing. They nodded at me and continued to watch, sometimes tapping on their tablets. District 1 had sent Mace, but Silk was replaced by a man named Royce.
Vicious man. He holds the record for shortest Hunger Games in history. The whole thing lasted three days, and that was only because his final opponent kept running away from him.
I made a mental note of that. Mira and Koltos were having a hard time getting waxed. At least they did not resist any means of plucking or waxing. When the shots came, of course, they were held down and injected, but that was it. They would be taken to Callig and then the idiot would try his best to please me with his fashion. I had yet to see what he had planned for this year, but I did not anticipate it.
Why did District 12 have to be the coal district? Why couldn't they be the diamond district, or the nuclear industry district?
Because that would have tilted the balance of the Capitol. Just think about what happened in 13.
Wonder what Katniss is doing? I shook my head and remembered the frail girl in the Hob. She was venturing further into the woods now. Too deep, and she would never find her way out.
If you get in too deep, there's no turning back. You'll belong to them.