Welcome to Tales From The Labyrinth! Each chapter is a separate little ficlet based on a daily prompt, each from a different POV from my fic Unto the Labyrinth, up through Chapter 11: Camilee. Previous reading of Unto the Labyrinth is not required, as each ficlet can stand alone, but it is encouraged due to the fic spoilers you may encounter.
Credit goes to SunnyJustice for the prompts!
I hope you enjoy!
Prompt: Day 1: Onstage
POV: Saphira Ingram (D1)
Saphira Ingram sauntered across the stage in her dazzling teal gown, her brown hair in perfect waves tossed behind her shoulders. On the other side of the stage, her co-star stood, awaiting his lover.
She thrust herself into his arms, before practically moaning out the amorous monologue she had memorized in the weeks before the play, drilling the words over and over in her head the way the instructors at the Academy drilled survival skills into her head. It was funny, the way her life in the actor's troupe bled into her life at the Academy.
It was even funnier now.
Saphira finished her monologue — a passionate declaration of love for the male lead — with heaving breasts and a wide, doe-eyed look, and, as carefully rehearsed, the two of them kissed to the audience's delight. They cheered and clapped as the actor — Saphira honestly forgot his name, but he wasn't bad-looking — deepened the kiss and clutched Saphira closer to his chest.
The audience — applauding and whistling — had no idea this was Saphira's final performance as Saphira Ingram the actress.
Her next performance would be as Saphira Ingram the female District 1 volunteer.
Yes, she had secured that spot. It wasn't easy. She had to make high marks in the weapons, survival, and agility evaluations, make the top twenty-four girls. Then, she and those twenty-four girls participated in their mock Hunger Games, where they threw them on the side of a mountain for a week with rubber weapons and supplies. Saphira had been the last one standing, and so the Academy had held a private ceremony just for her crowing her the District 1 female volunteer for the 57th Hunger Games.
In one week's time, she would be the one volunteering for the Reaping.
The audience had no idea. They just saw the beautiful love interest, in her shiny gown and heels, swooning over the male lead – a perfect pantomime.
Starting next week, the world would become her stage. She'd put on the performance of a lifetime, playing the part of herself, the entirety of Panem becoming her audience. It would either be the grandest performance of her career — or her final one.
Even as a seasoned actress, acting in plays since she was a young girl, Saphira still felt a bit of stage fright every time she stepped onstage. Always a fleeting twinge of nerves, maybe an increase in heart rate, before the rush of being onstage kicked in, and it melted away. For her upcoming performance, her stage fright was immense. Like nothing she'd ever felt before.
Saphira would never admit it to anyone, but she was terrified.
The nightmares had already started. Every night, when she went to sleep, she'd dream of the arena, and all the different brutal ways she could end up dying, or worse — suffering. She'd wake up with sweaty skin and her heart practically bursting from her chest from the sheer fear of it all. Her academy training gave her a huge advantage over most of the other tributes, but even she was still terrified of what was to come.
If she wasn't afraid, then she wasn't human. Something her acting coach once told her. Or perhaps it was one of the Academy instructors. They all blended together at some point.
She didn't even expect herself to win the role. She thought it would go to someone else, and upon the conclusion of the 57th Hunger Games, she'd graduate from the Academy and move on to full-time acting, despite her parents' disapproval of her vocational choice. But it seemed fate had other plans for her.
Saphira was terrified, yes, but she promised herself she'd fulfill her role until the curtains went down on her — one way or another.
The music started up again, cueing Saphira and her co-star to exit the stage. They clasped hands and guided each other to stage left. In the dimming, blue-tinted lights, Saphira hoped nobody in the audience could see the pensive fear that dwelled in her painted eyes.