District 4: Riddle Me That

Long, copper locks highlighted the shimmering blue water where tons of miscellaneous seashells lay. With her dark sea blue eyes, the young girl stared observantly at the shells. She smiled while putting a hand over her scuba mask to make sure it was secure. She didn't want to risk her grandfather any worry since he was 'ill.' She sighed to herself at the sudden thought. Needing to clear her head, she had decided to go diving that day before the reaping. It would help clear her head up a bit after a few situations she would rather not go through again. Suddenly, she spotted a rare auger sticking from a pair of underwater rocks. Her hands quickly reached out to grab a silver shiny auger but stopped cautiously when she noticed the crab peek out of it.

"Kalypso! Hurry up!" The girl stopped at the sound of her name and looked up toward the surface to see a jagged yet smooth outline of a person in the ripples. "I made something for you!"

Kalypso soon found herself pushing herself up toward the surface in a burst of energy to meet Pearl. Pearl was her most precious friend. If blood wasn't something that determined family, Pearl would be her sister most definitely. Kalypso could always rely on Pearl to help her when times are tough.

"What is it, Pearl? What do you need?" Kalypso asked as she took off her scuba mask and flippers. She quickly pulled her hair out of her face and plopped herself right beside Pearl in a casual manner before eyeing the necklace Pearl made. Kalypso couldn't help but observe the necklace and smiled at her friend's creation. "Is that for me?"

Pearl punched her lightly on her shoulder and giggled in glee. "Yeah.. you would expect that from me." Pearl nodded and gathered a handful of sand and dropping it onto her little sandcastle. She handed her a weaved netted necklace that was tightly tied. "I thought that we should have something to symbolize our friendship together."

Kalypso sighed and stared aimlessly into the sea before placing the necklace in her lap. "Why don't I use this?" She replied as she took out a spare fishing hook from her pack and gave it to Pearl. "Wouldn't it look cool?"

"Kalypso, you make almost anything in the water look cool." Pearl smiled and slid the hook into a series of loops and netted weavings. "The reaping is tomorrow morning so you should probably head back to Grandpa Jones. Off into the river and to grandfather's house we go! Sorry… I couldn't resist." She laughed and waved Kalypso off.

Kalypso raised an eyebrow and grabbed her pack and equipment to leave. "Are you sure I should go right now? I can stay a bit longer." She asked feeling a bit unsure of whether to leave her friend alone.

"Nah! I'll be fine. You GO!"

Kalypso nodded and headed down the path from the beach. She noticed the sun begin to set and stopped to stare in appreciation. Such beautiful things in the world were always so contained and unable to live in its full potential. Like me, Kalypso thought for a second but quickly tried to erase the thought. Grandfather Jones was always so strong and stubborn, but he was never this weak and frail. Kalypso's thoughts continued on for a moment before being abruptly stopped by a loud crash.

She looked up as a young boy dropped a clutter of fishing rods. Kalypso rushed over and grabbed a few fishing rods and held out her hand toward the boy. His copper, brown hair was spiky and ruffled, and he seemed to be in a hurry. She contemplated him for a second before looking down to grab at some of the other fishing rods.

"Thanks," she heard him say as he manages to get all the fishing rods in the box. He manages to glance up and give her a sweet, quick smile. "Are you heading home, Kalypso?"

Kalypso nodded and crossed her arms as she stared at the box of rods. The boy sighed at her and scratched the back of his head embarrassingly. His gold amber eyes were starting to tire, and Kalypso's forehead wrinkled in concern. "Do you need any help, Jace?"

"No! No... it's alright. You should head back to Jones.. oh, and tell him I said hi," Jace answered and with a wave of his hand as he started walking away.

"You shouldn't bite more than you could chew, Jace! You know that.."

Jace paused and seemed to ponder on that. "You're right Kalypso. I shouldn't.. But that doesn't mean I couldn't try." He turned around and seemed almost to smile as he stared into the sea blue eyes of Kalypso. Kalypso had to stumble back at his gaze. It was as if he was looking into her mind. Kalypso was suddenly afraid at that very thought. "Ciao! Kalypso.. be careful on your way back."

Kalypso shook her head and sighed as she watched his retreating figure. "Talk about yourself.." But nonetheless, she started on her way past the houses each complete with their own little symmetrical porch. Until finally, Kalypso found herself at a house not that much different from the ones across from it.

Kalypso scrutinized it and found a sort of dread when she noticed the peacekeepers in the front. She quickly snapped out of it and rushed inside to find her Grandfather sitting at the dining table with a pair of gamemakers. One of the gamemakers, a female, had her arm on Jone's shoulder as if she felt sorry for him. The other, a male, turned to look at the sudden noise with a smirk.

Kalypso glowered at both the gamemakers as she trekked toward them. She stopped and gaze at the female who had her arm on Jone's shoulder. She raised an eyebrow and proceeded to stand beside Jones and shoot Selene a warning look. "Would you get your hands off of my Grandfather, Selene. And why are you here?"

The male gamemaker grinned even wider and nodded at the female gamemaker to take a seat. His gaze was now set on Kalypso and seemed to say as if this was nothing short of what he expected from her. He seemed to be quite amused at her entrance. "My, my, looks like you've had a lovely day today as well, Miss Trident."

Kalypso almost snorted at that thought and put both her hands on the table. "What do you want, Veiger?"

Veiger smirked and propped both of his legs on top of the table. Kalypso inspected him carefully as he called for Selene to get his papers. "Straight to the point, eh? Well you see, Jones and I had a very nice chat while you were gone. Who were you with? Ah, the gem girl.. Pearl I think. Concerning his health, we have decided to be generous and came to offer a generous deal."

"No, Veiger, We absolutely did not have a nice chat," Jones retorted with a scowl on his face. He turned around and tried to give Kalypso a warning look.

"Whatever," Selene scoffed as she slid the papers toward Kalypso.

Kalypso raised an eyebrow and grabbed the papers. She scanned them over before setting them down to contemplate Jones. "Did you know about this? Is your cancer really getting worse?"

Jones looked away but quickly glanced back with a scowl on his face. "Of course not, Kalypso!" Kalypso's brow wrinkled and knew as soon as he looked away that he was actually getting worse. But his pride wouldn't allow him to act sick.

"Veiger, what is the meaning of this! Jones is in quite a quandary, but this is quite ordinary-" Kalypso stopped herself as soon as she realized she was beginning to start speaking in riddle. She gritted her teeth and stared expectantly at Veiger.

Selene, herself, stopped playing with her blue-green nails and yawned like she heard this everyday. "Kalypso you're such lovely girl who we know that works very hard for her grandfather, but do you even need to ask? You already know what we're implying, sweetie. Your trident skills will fit very nicely in the Games."

Veiger nodded and chuckled. Kalypso stared like she was trying to burn a hole in their faces, and she sort of wanted to, actually. Their eyes were a flaky blue mixed with a subtle but ugly shade of brown. It made her mentally laugh for a moment. Why can something so beautiful have a dark side, an ugly shade of brown or black that takes away all the attention. Staring, Kalypso took her hand off of Grandfather Jones. He shuddered and reached for her hand again.

Kalypso sighed and broke her eye contact from the Gamemakers who wore a sardonic smile on their faces. It made her want to wipe it and stomp on the ground multiple times to make them know how she felt.

"Miss Trident, have you made you decision? I'm sure you can see how... great of an offer it is." Veiger added to emphasize the point.

That's when Kalypso stopped. It was as if this proposal had the power to change her mind. If she accepted, she knew she could cure her grandfather. He might... There were a lot of mights that Kalypso could think of. But when it really came down to it, she was scared. A scared little girl.

"A man and a woman, each shrouded in clouds of glitter, were certain of their route. Needed of a choice, they were merciless. But if their force was stopped, well, they would be nothing but a toy lost to it's home." Kalypso uttered and bit her lip.

It was easy to tell they found Grandfather Jones a bit repulsive. It shouldn't give her any fear but yet Kalypso found herself even more fearful of what the power of her choice had. Even with Jones besides me she felt so alone.

Selene smirked and eyed Kalypso up and down. Her gaze left a disgusted and vulnerable look on Kalypso. "Kalypso, darling, we all know how hard you work for you Grandpa, and I admire you for that, I truly do. But as a victor, think of all the possibilities... that a woman with your power can have. Certainly you can get people to like you... or not."

Kalypso paused at that and stared at her Grandpa. Jones began to suspect a change of thoughts and seemed to plead with Kalypso to refuse. Kalypso sighed and stared out a window as a baby bird fell out of it's nest. But as it began to fall, it opened up its wings and began to fly. Something struck Kalypso in the heart and suddenly she wasn't so afraid anymore.

"To unlock the bond, you must find the chain that binds it all and the locks will fall. Insecure and all, the lock will be broken." Kalypso remarked and began to push Selene and Veiger out the door. "The chain will only appear to those who have been chosen to seek it."

Selene hissed at her grasp and began to try to stop Kalypso from pushing her out the door. But Kalypso's grip only tightened. "Girl, you tired out all of our generosities. This may be your last chance."

Veiger nodded. "So what you're trying to say is that you're agreeing?"

Kalypso couldn't help but let out a smirk. "Why don't you reflect on it?" She stated as she was about to close the door. "When you do, come back anytime. I'll be waiting."

Selene and Veiger seemed to glower past the door. They're faces were dark as they disappeared off into the night and one could be seen whispering into the other's ear. Not one could be seen as the gamemakers handed a note to the peacekeeper beside them.

Of course, things went back to the right place: like it should.

Morning: Day Of Reaping 8:00 AM

One hand gripped on the copper ruffles of his hair, the boy stared drowsily as the morning light began to register in his mind. The golden flecks in his eyes began to come in focus as he became more aware of his surroundings.

"Jace! Jace!" Sudden voices resonated down the hallway and into the ears of the copper-haired boy. His golden, brown eyes widened for a second as the sound came closer and closer until out popped a girl who looked almost identical to the boy beside her. The little girl's blue eyes sparkled in excitement as she poked at Jace's face.

Jace was relieved at the sight of the twins and began to smile warmly at the little girl who who was currently playing with his hair. He didn't mind Azzura messing with his locks. As long as he could see the happy faces of both Azzura and Azul, he was fine. Noticing Azul edging closer to him in the corner of his eye, Jace let out his arm and beckoned him closer.

The little boy grinned and ran up to hug Jace. Jace's eyebrow lifted and contemplated the both of them and chuckled. "What a greeting, Azzura and Azul," he remarked and commenced to pat the twin's heads. "Is there any reason to this?"

"No," the girl replied and stuck out her tongue. "We just wanted to surprise you."

"Yeah!" the boy added as well.

Jace nodded and looked down at the blankets for a second. His was beginning to feel anxious, and he didn't want the twins to feel his discomfort. The Reaping was beginning to unravel more and more of his smile until it was going to be an emotionless state. He was almost at his smile limit, and it was starting to hurt. His golden brown eyes quickly flickered between the twins and his eyes seemed to shine a bit more gold than usual.

It wasn't necessarily a fake smile that he let out but more of a smile that created a wall between his feelings and what he showed. And that's the way he always kept it. "Well then. That was an unexpected surprise. Let's grab some breakfast and get ready for the announcement today." He couldn't bring himself to mention the reaping. It felt too bitter, too strong, and too everything in his mind.

The twins nodded and hopped off the bed. Jace's eyes narrowed as he saw that they were already dressed for the reaping. He suddenly felt his breath hitch in his throat. Suddenly a mass amount of emotion washed over him and his heart started to pound ferociously. But as soon as it came, Jace bit his tongue and it went away. He was back to his compassionate and caring self.

The twins, fortunately, didn't notice or didn't act like they noticed. Their hands quickly grabbed the stretchy cotton of Jace's cloak. They dyed it a golden, amber so that it would bring out Jace's complexion. Jace, himself, represented what they thought would fit the District 4 Theme. "Here, Jace."

Jace showed a toothy smile before sliding the cloak on. "Thank you." He answered smoothing his cloak and tucking in here and there. He went over to the bathroom to splash some water on his face and to run his fingers through his ruffles. Finishing up pretty quickly in the bathroom, he quickly greeted both Mr. and Mrs. Maz who each seemed anxious and cautious of today's reaping.

"Good Morning, Jace," Mrs. Maz greeted and patted Jace on the head. "Gina told me how hard you worked yesterday.. you shouldn't tire yourself out that much, Jace. You still got your health to think about."

Jace smiled. "No worries. I have to repay you guys for taking me in." Heading out the house with a toast in his mouth, he waved and slowed his pace to a trot to keep up with the twins. Mr. and Mrs. Maz were meeting them there. His hair managed to get more messy and ruffly than he had it in the beginning, but he didn't mind.

The District 4 crowd began to ensemble and they were each looking at each other expectantly. They were looking for the careers and the people they thought might volunteer this year. Little did they know, the millenia games were quite different this year.

Jace felt strange staring up at the escort since it was the only place he could look without getting crushed. A bunch of girls crowded around him and each one of them wanted him to acknowledge them. He gave them each a half-hearted smile and mentally slapped himself for his popularity. The escort, though, had strawberry, blonde hair and blue almost smoldering eyes that seemed to cry out snake. She didn't seem much like an average escort. Something about that sneer and the way she held herself just didn't make her seem much of D4 escort. Little did he know, things were about to get more and more complicated.

"-Time for the Reaping! I, Selene Isimis, shall now call out the tributes for this year's 2000th Games!" Selene smirked and began to reach into bowl. Her hand seemed to swirl and grope the paper as if trying to prove she wasn't fooling anybody.

Kalypso's eyes widen as she noticed Selene on the stage. She was a gamemaker why would she be up there? Kalypso's blue eyes widened as the realization struck her. How could she be so foolish Kalypso groaned.

"Kalypso Trident!" Kalypso turned around and seemed to keep her gaze on the careers but their heads were only turned and seemed to be somewhat guilty. She began to understand this all and inside she felt betrayed. Her eyes flickered to Jones and realized he wasn't there. A gasp could be heard as one tear manage to fall from Kalypso's neutral face. She wouldn't let herself show how angry she was. She had too much pride for that and too much trust.

As she walked up, her face was neutral and almost flat. She stood almost as if she couldn't wait to strangle somebody beside Selene and gave her glowering stare. Selene only smiled in response and began to descend her fingers on the next lucky tribute. Kalypso didn't even pay attention anymore as she stared aimlessly int the crowd. She began to feel quite itchy in her white lace tank top and blue skirt.

"Azul Maz!" She called out and narrowed her eyes toward a weak looking boy. He didn't look like much of a powerful tribute she thought and shrugged internally. Mr. and Mrs. Maz looked worriedly and anxious at Azul. They've began to tear up and Mrs. Maz began to sob. Jace's eyes were wide open and as soon as he heard that. But one voice echoed above all the rest.

"I volunteer!" The crowd of people turned around and saw a twelve year girl that looked almost identical to the boy who was called. There were two voices that screamed that phrase and surprised many ears of the District. One, Azzura, her face flushed with caution. The other, Jace, his face passive and dark.

"I'll take his place," Jace answered and turned around to look at Azzura. She slowly back down and ran to Azul. Jace slowly began to walk up. "Azul and Azzura aren't things that can be called out so carelessly." There was no smile on his face as he took his place next to Kalypso.

"Well here's the tributes for the year's Games," Selene answered lifting an eyebrow at the tributes for this year. Jace and Kalypso each eyed each other with more interest. They both smiled and regarded the other with respect. The utmost respect that was needed between two District partners.

Goodbyes

Kalypso felt strange waiting on the train while her district partner was departing his family. It seemed that she was right about all if this being planned out. She couldn't help herself that she was in a terrible mood. They already took Jones, and Kalypso realized how well-thought out it was. They were using her. Using Jones as her motivation to kill and using her abilities in the Games. But the sad part was, Kalypso reacted exactly how she was suppose to.

The only person that did came to see Kalypso was Pearl. Kalypso was glad somebody could get her out of her foolishness. Pearl understood her more than anyone, and Kalypso didn't feel so betrayed anymore. Eyeing her green eyes of worry, Kalypso tried to smile and reassure her. It didn't work very well.

"Kalypso!" Pearl cried throwing her arms over Kalypso. "They took Jones..."

"I know." Kalypso replied solemnly and started to tear up. "Pearl, I don't know what to do anymore!"

Pearl nodded and grabbed something out of her shirt. It was the necklace that she made that day at the beach. Pearl's weaved netted necklace was beautiful and seemed very powerful with the carved fishhook that Kalypso gave her earlier. "Maybe this would help... Kalypso. It'll be our good luck charm, a token!"

Kalypso nodded as well holding the necklace to her chest tightly. "Thank you Pearl! I will try to win this."

"You better," Pearl nodded before hugging Kalypso once more before being kicked out by the peacekeepers. Now, it was just Kalypso on the train waiting for her partner to finish saying his goodbyes. She felt sort of uncomfortable in the silence of the room. It was almost torture.

"Hey Kalypso," she turned around to face a familiar pair of golden-brown eyes and copper hair. Kalypso raised an eyebrow and scooted closer to the window to make room for him. Jace took the seat next to her and eyed the train warily.

"Why did you do it?" Kalypso suddenly asked. She was expecting a cryptic answer from Jace but was surprised when Jace seemed to think about it.

He eyed her with renewed interest. "My purpose in life is to stop some of the suffering. That way when I go to heaven to my Mom and Dad; they'll be proud." That's when Kalypso realized how much they had in common.

"A father began his day, the mother was very much awake as this happened. Each accompanied each other on their trip of paradise but, alas, a calamity broke through. And all was lost to a little girl." Kalypso smiled as she realized that Jace understood. Not like Pearl can. But with a feeling of connection that they both shared.

"Well.. riddle me that," Jace replied and looked on. "Seems like we have a lot in common." Jace and Kalypso laughed and for the first time, it felt like freedom.

~Pika Gold (:3)

Dear Readers, I realized how terrible and corny my riddles sound... :3 I know.. I know.. it sucks. But I really wanted to make this chappie special for Kalypso's creator, Silent Wolf Singer (also the creator of Ruby Luxes) I might've of failed at that... not sure. But I hope you enjoyed it. I spent about 3 weeks writing this chappie and after that long pause... I didn't know if anybody still paid attention. I'm very happy that JGrayzz reviewed. You made Olive and I very happy and we have very big plans for your character. But no spoilers yet. I hope I reflected on what Kalypso is like. I didn't want her to seem so perfect (she still kind of is) and sort of dull. I mean we seen a bunch of those characters before. So... I would really like it if you reviewed and tell me your feelings about it. Also... I tried to use as many details as I could from your form. Olive and I had a change of plans... so I would only be writing two reaping chappies. I'm very sorry for those tributes who didn't get to see their tributes being reaped but we'll be sure to introduce them. :3 I hope you find Kalypso and Jace as interesting and amusing as I found them.

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(o 0 0 o)

( )/ PIKACHU! heheh