The Era of Midnight Pentalogy - Part 1 - Tyranny (The 230th Hunger Games)

TBE

WARNING: Contains swearing and mature references.





Tyranny is the first part of the Era of Midnight pentalogy of events, written by Billie.

(Comment from Billie) These Games will not be like those that I've written in the past. I guess this is the turning point of my writing style, more mature and less childish.

The history of the Midnight family/dynasty and how they came to be
Leona Midnight, the founder of the Midnight family (later presidential dynasty), was a poor yet beautiful girl from District 14. She was born sometime before the Second Rebellion of Panem, which she survived.

Leona was one of a kind. Despite her upbringing, she was intelligent and political savvy. Hardly anyone else in 14 was like Leona, only a rare few were.

(Just imagine Leona to be the poorer THG version of Margaery Tyrell)

20 years after the end of the Second Rebellion, life was about to change for the girl.

It was this intelligence and political savviness that got Leona noticed by then Commander of District 8, Rhearta Stone, who wanted someone to teach so that they could carry on with her work when she dies.

Stone was visiting District 14 when she saw Leona and how talented she was at political manipulation. She thought that Leona was destined to be her protégé. Leona had beauty as well as brains, making her deadly and a useful weapon for Rhearta to use against her political opponents.

Rhearta introduced herself to Leona, before requesting Leona to become her protege. Leona was reluctant at first, but after realising all the potential benefits that come out of this, she accepted Rhearta's offer.

Leona moved from District 14 to District 8 to be with Rhearta. She was used at first as an advisor fo Rhearta, helping her to fend off District 8 invaders and defeat her enemies in negotiations.

For over 40 years, right up to Rhearta's death from old age, Leona remained a loyal advisor, as well as the only friend Stone had.

After Stone died, Leona took the opportunity to succeed Rhearta as Commander of District 8. She had only one goal: to complete what Rhearta had never been able to finish. She did just that. She also listened to the citizens and made sure they had the necessities of everyday life (food, water, comfortable clothes), making her well-respected by the people of 8.

Sometime after taking up the position as Commander, she fell in love and got married to an unknown man. She also gave birth to his child or children, how many they had being unknown. This was, unknowingly to Leona, the start of a family that was to play a major role in the history of Panem.

Events up to present day
Leona's trait of political manipulation was passed down to generations and generations of Midnights. The easiest way to identify a Midnight family member was by how persuasive and manipulative they were politically.

Eventually, sometime after Leona's death, the Midnights moved to The Capitol.

Using the natural political manipulation, many Midnights were able to gain jobs of high power, up to the point that the family would become some of the President's trusted advisors.

However, there was one Midnight who was extremely power hungry and wanted more than to be classed as the President's trusted advisors.

Jeremiah Midnight wanted to ''take over as President. ''It took extreme planning, the assassination of the President and the gathering of those who believed that Jeremiah could change Panem for the better for this goal to be achieved, in which it was.

The Midnight presidential dynasty was born and it was to have a major impact on Panem for years to come.

Present day
The Midnight that was currently President was Adon Midnight, The Capitol victor of the 168th Hunger Games at just 12 (these Games was after a rule was established allowing The Capitol to compete in the Games for extra "entertainment"). He used to be a charming, caring boy but like most victors, the Games made him into a completely different person.

He went on to claim Presidency, marry three times and have a total of fourteen children (7 daughters, 7 sons).

By this point, he was tyrannical. He didn't care about the welfare of the citizens of Panem, he didn't care about his family, he didn't care about Panem at all. The only thing he cared about the Games and whether people was watching them or not.

His ignorance has led to riots. Adon dismisses this as nothing, when it isn't "nothing". Now, his presidency is under threat, by his own son.

Jason Midnight, Adon's fourth bon son, who was permanently blind in one eye, currently resides in District 5. He has secretly always been outraged by his father's ignorance with what should matter most, his people.

And so it wasn't long before he vowed that he would overthrow his father and deal with the issues in Panem, including the Games, once and for all.

Rules (Please read, to save yourselves from trouble)
(Comment from Billie) There are three things I will be when it comes down to the Games, that I haven't been for other Games: organised, strict and extremely detailed (My Games have always been detailed when I come to think of it but this time, I will be extremely detailed).

I know that there are many rules but these must be put in place in order to maintain a good Games.

Submitting tributes

 * 1) No reservations, but if there's an emergency or you desperately can't submit a tribute right away, a 24 hour reservation will be arranged for the desired tribute spot(s). But if the tribute(s) that will fill the spots are not submitted once the 24 hours are up, the spot(s) will go to someone else.
 * 2) You can only submit four tributes each. This number may change, depending on the circumstances.
 * 3) I can reject tributes. I will mainly reject Mary Sues (see the example if you're confused as to what I mean by Mary Sue), tributes that are missing information and basic tributes with hardly any detail.
 * 4) Speaking of the latter, if your tribute(s) has/have a lot of detail, they have a better chance of winning the Games. Detailed tributes also make it easier for me to write the Games.
 * 5) Only links to tribute profiles allowed.
 * 6) If there is anything else I need to know about the tribute(s) that has been/are submitted, please message me on my Message Wall.

The Games

 * 1) The Capitol and the Districts (up to District 14) will participate in these Games.
 * 2) Please note that anything could happen to your tributes. I am an unpredictable person so be aware of unexpected surprises and twists.
 * 3) Don't threaten me or other users if your tribute(s) dies/die. If you do so, an admin will be contacted and they'll deal with you.
 * 4) I did warn people that there will be swearing and mature references in these Games so if you are sensitive to either swearing or mature referencing (or both even), please don't join these Games.
 * 5) Have fun and enjoy reading the Games.
 * 6) Also, any feedback (positive and negative) on these Games and the writing of them will be highly appreciated.

Sponsoring and pledging

 * 1) Every day, you can pledge four tributes. Who you pledge is entirely up to you. I don't control that aspect of the Games. But one thing I will say is that at least pledge other people's tributes as well as your own.
 * 2) Each tribute starts off with $100. They gain more sponsor money through pledges, doing well in training, killing tributes and surviving a certain amount of days in the arena,
 * 3) Instead of a sponsor gift lift to refer to, just tell me the gifts you want to send to your tribute(s) and we'll negotiate on a price. Once a price has been agreed on, it will be taken out of the tributes' money and I'll write it into their POV (if they get one) or into the summary of the day they get that gift.

Backstory

 * 1) Your tribute(s) must be supporting either the President Midnight or Jason Midnight. Please tell me what side your tribute(s) will be on when submitting them.

Tributes with missing information

 * Name: Bla bla bla


 * Age: 14
 * District: 3


 * Gender: Male


 * Weapons: ?


 * Backstory: Bla bla bla bla...

Mary Sues

 * Name: Bla bla bla


 * Age: 18


 * Gender: Female
 * District: 1


 * Backstory: Bla bla bla... I have much more experience of fighting and using weaponry than other tributes and I will win.


 * Strengths: I'm good at everything.
 * Weaknesses: Nothing.

Basic and undetailed tributes

 * Name: Bla bla bla
 * Age: 17
 * Gender: Female
 * District: 2
 * Backstory: She was born in District 2. She got good in weaponry. When she was old enough, she volunteered for the Games. She hopes to win.
 * Weapons: Sword.

Arena
This information will be revealed the night before the Games.

Chariot Parade
The two main themes for the chariot parade outfits this year is transformation and color. The tributes will have two outfits: a beginning outfit and an ending outfit. Also, each district (and The Capitol) has been assigned a colour. The ending outfit will be in the assigned colour.

Alliances
Bold represents the leader. Italic represents the co-leader. A name that has been  striked through  means that the person is deceased.

Careers
Bridget Idylwyld (Capitol), Aquilo Hudson (0), Caratt Rybie (1), Lizzy Brooks (1), Severus Seaclan (4), Pharmacy Ombra (11), Kaleido Esquire (13)

Oswald Alliance
Emilia Oswald (4), Emilio Oswald (2)

Coleman Alliance
Sunny Coleman (7), Samuel Coleman (7)

Elliot Alliance
Kimberly Elliot (12), Philip Elliot (12)

Random Alliance
May Blester (3), Bluebella Kidd (5), Max Brites (5), Ia Stone (6), Jynx Corradini (10)

Anti-Careers
Winter Glacius (0), Huxley Binarie (3), Camiren Paisley-Idylwyld (8), Melody Reeve (9), Reeva Olympia (14)

Loners
Lyssander Ghan (Capitol), Hilda Cavangh Souma (2), Adam Rintha (6), Francais Bridgeport (8), Julio Zethes (9), Dansi Neon (10), Kal Soonon (11), Dean Evayston (13), Monoro Banks (14)

Former Tributes
Serena (13)

Introductory POV (3rd Person)
It was that time of year again. Only a matter of days before the reapings were to take place.

The white and fluffy clouds of The Capitol sailed through the pastel blue sky. Sunshine beamed through any cracks in the clouds, onto the metropolis below.

As it was lunchtime in The Capitol, most of the citizens were packed into cafes and restaurants for a meal that would provide them with energy to last the rest of the day or for a quick coffee and a chat.

The rich children were in school, most likely preparing for their own lunch, whilst the poorer children wandered around the slums, which were hidden away by glistening skyscrapers, and got themselves into petty shenanigans as they knew that they could get away with it.

To someone who didn't understand or have any knowledge of what was really going on, The Capitol seemed like a utopia.

However, The Capitol was far from a utopia.

In the Presidential Mansion, specfically the lounge, President Adon Midnight, his silver hair combed over and wearing a raven black suit, sat in his favourite leather chair. He rested his arms on the arms of the chair.

The chair was facing a 100 inch TV, which had been mounted to the wall. The TV was currently showing the interviews of one Games.

The interviewer of the tributes for that year's Games stood in the middle of the stage, in between two pink chairs. He looked very dapper as he was dressed in a sequinned red suit. He also looked around the age of 20.

"Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Panem, put your hands together for the beautiful Capitol female, Darcia Bosethon!" cheered the interviewer. The audience was suddenly in an uproar of wild cheering. The interviewer reached his arm out, gesturing towards Darcia's entrance.

A slender girl with curly lime green hair and violet eyes made her way up to the stage. She picked up her golden dress to prevent falling, revealing golden high heels in the process.

As soon as she was on the stage, Darcia offered her hand out, to which the interviewer kissed.

"You're beautiful."

"Thank you." Darcia smiled and giggled before sitting down.

Darcia turned out to be the President's district partner for those Games. He sat and remembered the things that he had learned about Darcia; Darcia was fifteen, she had a love for music, her aspiration was to become a famous singer and she wanted to win the Games to see her boyfriend again (much to the sadness of most males that watched).

The President crossed his arms when he remembered how Darcia was trying to portray herself as a sweet, innocent girl who wouldn't harm a fly. The majority of The Capitol believed this as back then, there were more citizens that were pro-Games and pro-government. Now, defiance is too close to home.

Darcia turned out to be a secretly ruthless killer, managing to be a respected Career tribute and be responsible for the murder of five tributes before getting murdered herself.

"Thank you Darcia. Ladies and gentleman, give it up for Darcia Bosethon!" The audience cheered as Darcia was helped down the stage by one of the security guards. The interviewer waited until Darcia left to introduce the next tribute.

"Now, you've all heard about the young sword dynamo. Please welcome our next tribute, Ado-"

The sound of the interviewer's voice was overpowered by the sound of someone running. Adon swiftly turned his attention towards the entrance of the lounge, where the running was coming from.

The person running turned out to be one of Adon's servants.

"President." The servant stopped running as soon as he was in the lounge. He stood like an obedient soldier whilst panting.

The servant was carrying a message, which had been intricately tied in a blue ribbon.

"You've brought a message." Adon took the message from the servant and untied the ribbon. He threw the ribbon away and opened up the message. The message read:

Check the news.

After closely examining the message, the President coldly glanced at the servant.

"Who wrote this message?"

"The Head Gamemaker, Leonicus Amberly, President." replied the servant. It was obvious to see from the servant's face that he was intimated by Adon. After all, Adon is the victor of probably the most captivating Games ever, at just 12 years old.

"Right, take the tape out, turn on the news and then you can SCRAM. Also, take the tape up to the archives." The volume of Adon's voice when saying 'scram' made the poor servant jump in fright.

"Yes, President."

Nerve made the servant act quickly. He took out the tape, turned on the TV as quickly as he could and ran off with the tape containing the interviews.

The President went back to sitting comfortably in his chair. Or rather uncomfortably, as soon as he saw who was on the news...

There, live, was Adon's fourth born son, Jason Midnight. Jason was a lanky, thin young man, with light brown hair and a blue eye. He liked to dress in white. Due to being blind in his right eye, he liked to fashion a white eyepatch.

He currently resided in District 5 with his girlfriend, who appeared to be the brunette girl cuddling into him. Jason put an arm around the girl and then turned his attention to the camera, whilst microphones were being shoved near his mouth.

"Is it true that you are the son of the President?" asked one of the reporters.

"Yes, I am the fourth son of the President." Jason replied angrily. He was coldly staring at the camera, never taking his eyes off it.

"Is there anything you would like to say to the President?" asked another reporter.

"Yes, in fact, I'd like to give a speech towards my father. Father, I hope you're watching this because you need to hear this once and for all. Things are going to change from now on.

But before I address the changes that will take place, I need to tell you straight. You're a terrible President and when you go, you'll be amongst the deceased Presidents that are remembered for all the wrong reasons. You're neglective to the people that should matter the most to you, the citizens of Panem. In all of the years that you've been President, you've done nothing to solve this nation's major issues, the main one being starvation in the outlying districts. People are getting tired of your neglect, even people in the districts that are traditionally allies with The Capitol are rioting and rebelling against you. All you've contributed to is the making of the annual Games. Come on father, hardly anyone watches the Games these days. It's just the same thing every year, children getting unnecessarily slaughtered. No matter what measures you go to to gain more followers, it's always going to have the same outcome. Tributes die, the remaining tribute/tributes in the arena is/are crowned victor/victors, they go on a victory tour and then depending on how old they are, when you've had enough planning the next Games, you either wait for them to become eligible to your disgusting manipulation and sexual exploitation or right after the victory tour, you throw them right into the deep end of it all. If they refuse or defy your orders, other people suffer because of it. Every President that has done this have all suffered brutal deaths. If you keep on doing this father, you're eventually going to die a horrible death. And no one will mourn your death, not even me.

Not only are you neglective towards your people, you're neglective to your family too. You don't care about us. You've never shown love towards any of us, not even when we were born. From my observations as a little boy, whenever any of us interacted with you, you were completely abusive to us (and still is to this day, but towards everyone). Luckily, I'm not living under the same roof as you as I had the common sense to pack my bags and leave, as soon as I was old enough to. I took Jocelyn, Banor and Salina with me so they could grow up in safety. I don't know whether my other siblings and my half-siblings are okay or not, but regardless, I wish for them to be able to live the wonderful lives that they deserve, without the crap and abuse of you Father. Despite being blind in one eye, I've managed to raise Jocelyn, Banor and Salina from when they were infants. I was only a teenager when I left the house and I'm an adult now. Banor, Jocelyn and Salina are now beautiful, wonderful kids who are well-liked and are doing exceptional at school. I'm their father figure, as well as their brother, because you didn't give two flying fucks about them. I've shown them the love that you never had for them-"

Adon smirked and rose out of the leather chair, before walking out of the room. However, he still left the TV on.

"So Father, live on national television, I am officially declaring war on you. Panem will overthrow you and make me President. I, however, don't want to be President to carry on the Midnight 'dynasty'. I want to be President so I can resolve the issues that have troubled this country, once and for all."

Reapings (Four POVs)
(Comment from Billie) I will be writing about the reapings through the POV of the tributes. However, please do note that the reapings will have a twist. This twist is that two of the tributes will come across a particularly valuable or strange object. These two objects will hint towards the events of the finale of Part 1 and the beginning of the events of Part 2.

Update: I have reduced the amount of objects to two, because I feel like two objects alone can work with what I have in mind.

Bridget Idylwyld, The Capitol Female
Reaping day. I knew what I was going to do. I was going to volunteer. And as of the Games, I'm going to win and become a victor. I will bring more power and honour to my family. I will be a proud Idylwyld victor.

According to the silver clock, above my TV, the time was 8:45am. I was in my bedroom, taking one last glance out of the window before I left the mansion.

The sky was a mixture of red, orange and yellow. Fiery colours. But this was always the case in The Capitol. After half an hour, the sky would change to it's usual pastel blue and the sunshine would begin it's shift.

I felt refreshed, from my shower earlier, and prepared. I was more prepared than the sky was for the upcoming day.

Once I had finished looking out of the window, I turned towards my walk-in wardrobe. The brown jacket that I liked to wear hung on a white coat holder. The coat holder was always next to the rack for my elegant dresses.

I grabbed the jacket from the coat holder, put it on and walked out of my room. I strutted down the narrow corridor, which was lavishly decorated with paintings that depicted historical figures and past events, as well as a glass chandelier, until I had reached the main staircase of the mansion.

I made my way down the staircase, to be met by the presence of my parents. They smiled at me, with pride in their eyes.

"Here she is, our future victor." My father remarked. I giggled a little.

"I know that you'll be the best in that arena, sweetie. You're going to bring so much honour to this family." My mother commented. I knew that these comments were true. I'm will be the best in that arena and I will emerge as the victor.

I hugged my parents, thanked them for their support and made my way outside. Father had informed me that he had hired a limousine to escort me to the Presidential Mansion, where the reapings were to take place.

I thanked Father for hiring this limousine for me, before getting inside it. As soon as I was inside, the limousine drove me away from the Idylwyld mansion.

The limousine was illuminated in neon lights and there were blinds covering any shred of daylight.

In front of the sofa that I was sitting on, there was a drinks cooler. I peered inside to see that it contained cans of different sodas. I took two cans of cream soda from the cooler and placed one in a pocket of my jacket. The other, I opened it and took a sip.

The perks of being an idylwyld.

I put my legs up on the sofa and continued drinking the can of cream soda, when a memory hit me.

''"Where is Camiren Idylwyld?!" I yelled angrily, as I arrived. Everyone in the Career Academy of District 2 fell silent and moved as far away from me as possible, in either fear, respect or surprise. They had recognised that I was an Idylwyld. An Idylwyld who wants to find Camiren fucking Idylwyld.''

''I was clutching my prized chain whip. ''

No one uttered a word, so I spoke up again, this time in a sarcastically sweet tone:

"Let me rephrase what I just said: Give us Carmen Idylwyld, or die a painful death. The choice is yours."

''And still, nobody uttered a word. That's when I noticed a particularly scared man, trembling and worrying. I went up to that man, wondering if he knew anything. ''

"Please", "Don't hurt me! I don't know any Carmen Id-"

''Before he could finish his sentence, I smacked him with my chain whip. One blow to the head killed the man immediately. The people around me shrieked and gasped, as they had witnessed for themselves the deadly Idylwyld wrath.''

''One of the people came at me. I smacked him with my whip as well. And after that, shit went down.''

By the time the flashback had finished, the limousine arrived at the Presidential Mansion.

"Miss Idylwyld, we have reached your destination. Do you, by any chance, have money for me?" The driver asked me.

"Didn't my father pay you?" I asked the driver, wondering as to why he was asking me for money when he should have been paid by my father for taking me to the reaping.

"No." He replied, looking at me sweetly so that I'd give him money. After a while, because the look irritated me, I threw a bag of 20 Panem coins at him, some of my own pocket money. The bag was made of purple velvet and it was tied with golden ribbon at the top.

"There. You'd better spend it wisely or I'll persuade my father to never hire you again. That was out of my own pocket money, so consider yourself lucky. Also, people who use cutesy looks to try and get me to do so something is one of my biggest pet peeves, so don't do it again." I replied to him.

"I won't, Miss Idylwyld. And thank you." He smiled.

"Welcome." I briefly responded, in a dull tone, before getting out of the limousine. The driver drove the opposite direction from the way we came.

Still clutching my can of cream soda and keeping the other can in my jacket, I took one glance at the Mansion. Despite seeing it almost everyday, I still liked to observe it.

It was a mansion/arena. A flag with the Midnight family sigil flew wildly on a flagpole, on top of the roof on the mansion. The mansion was square and marble. Inside it, where the yard would normally be, was the arena, where the reaping and the chariot parade took place every year. Most people think that before you can get to the arena, you have to get through the mansion first. However, a few years back, a tunnel that took you straight into the arena was built. This was so that the Mansion didn't accidentally turn into a place for the public to visit.

I made my way into the Mansion and walked through the tunnel. Some annoying 12 year olds were giggling and gossiping behind me. I was tempted to throw my cream soda at them, but I didn't.

At the end of the tunnel, the Head Peacekeepers of The Capitol sat at the desk. They scanned the fingerprints of those eligible for being reaped, like always.

When it finally reached my turn...

"Name."

"Bridget Idylwyld." I replied, simply. He (the Peacekeeper sat on the left) scanned my fingerprint and doing so came up with some information about me; mainly my name, my age, my odds of winning the Games and what my predicted training score would be.

"An Idylwyld, huh?"

I nodded. After I nodded, the Peacekeeper who sat on the right took my can of cream soda away from me.

"No drinks allowed in the arena, kid."

"Give me back my fucking drink." I yelled, reaching out to retrieve my drink.

"Hey, do you know who this is?" The Peacekeeper on the left elbowed the bastard who was preventing me from getting my drink back.

"An Idylwyld. Still, she's not the most influential one so I don't care." He replied. I snarled at him, making him laugh.

"But she's dangerous and a force to be reckoned with. All Idylwylds are dangerous. So I suggest you give her back her drink."

"Eugh. Fine."

He finally gave me back my can of cream soda. The other can was still in the pocket of my jacket, and the Peacekeeper hadn't even looked to see the other can.

"Go ahead." The Peacekeeper gestured towards the end of the tunnel with his hands. The Peacekeeper placed a white sticker on me. The sticker had my age on it; 16.

I mischievously smirked at the Peacekeeper who stole my drink from me, before exiting the tunnel.

The end led me to the section which contained seven doors. Above the doors were LED signs which displayed nothing but an age (from 12-18). Every kid that was eligible for being reaped had to go through the door which displayed their age. Go through the wrong door and "serious consequences will follow".

I had time to take one single sip of my cream soda, before I was led through the "16" door.

The door led me to the part of the arena that was reserved for the female 16 year olds. I was glared at upon arrival, but I necessarily didn't care.

The atmosphere was loud as fuck. But I wasn't here to care about the atmosphere. I was here to volunteer.

On a balcony, which was a few feet above the stage, sat the President, the tyrannical old man who wanted nothing more than people to watch the Games, but we all know that the Games nowadays are boring. Next to him were who I assumed to be the Head Gamemakers.

The wild cheering and talking finally stopped when The Capitol's escort walked onto the stage. The previous escort, Dana Morrisson, died a few months ago, so we had a new escort. No one knew who the escort was and what they looked like, until now.

Mens' jaws dropped and boys began to drool. I looked towards the stage to see what the escort looked like.

It was like I was looking at a goddess.

She had long, flowing blonde hair, that sparkled in the arena's lights. Her eyes were sapphire blue. She wore a floor length, white gown, with droplet shaped cuts at each side, and high heels that matched the gown's colour.

"Hello citizens of The Capitol, my name is Astarlia Narushi and I will be The Capitol escort for this year's Hunger Gam-"

Suddenly, a group of men, who were obviously pissed off criminals, burst through and stormed down the track that divided the part of the arena that was reserved for the males that were eligible for reaping and the part of the arena that was reserved for the females that were eligible for reaping.

The group of men carried guns. Astarlia and most of the citizens looked traumatised and scared for their lives, where as others were angry or buzzing with intrigue.

The President rose out of his seat on the balcony.

"Peacekeepers, get those men!" I could hear him shout, whilst pointing towards them. Five Peacekeepers jumped from the balcony and rolled as soon as they hit the stage, before sprinting towards the group of men.

The men started shooting at the Peacekeepers, whilst shouting the words "Long live Jason", in support of the President's son, Jason Midnight. He was the guy who liked the white eyepatch and declared war on the President a few days ago, live.

Two fell dead, whilst the other three managed to disarm the men.

"I want all of them imprisoned and then, they shall be hanged tomorrow morning!" The President commanded the Peacekeepers. The surviving Peacekeepers nodded and took the men, who were now handcuffed, away.

However, the atmosphere didn't stop there. A fight suddenly broke out in the male part of the arena. The fight occurred higher up in the part, where the eighteen year olds were. In a matter of seconds, most of the males eligible for reaping were brawling with each other, even some of the twelve year olds were in scuffles.

And the same happened here. I don't know why most of the people were brawling, but I assumed that it was over the whole Jason vs President debate.

The President looked really horrified and tried to get everyone to be silent, but this was to no avail.

The constant brawling between my fellow Capitol citizens gave me time to get to the stage to volunteer, but I just had to make my way down the area first.

I rose from my seat, taking a few gulps of my cream soda. The soda was nearly running out and I still had the other can in my pocket. That can, surprisingly, was still cold and yet the temperature in the arena was very hot.

Still clutching the near empty can, I leapt seats from row to row. The fifteen year olds were too busy pulling each other's hair and kicking each other to notice me, the fourteen year olds were pretty much doing the same thing as the fifteen year olds and the thirteens looked too traumatised to even stop me.

It was after I had gotten away from the thirteen year olds part, when I had met unexpected and unwanted competition...from a twelve year old.

I was preparing to leap out of the whole female section and get onto the track, when I felt a hand grip my ankle.

"I don't think so."

I turned around to see that a girl, who didn't look or sound like your average twelve year old (she looked much bigger and nastier, with scars and acne spread all over her face, and her voice sounded much more masculine than feminine), wanted to volunteer too. But this girl couldn't beat me. She didn't know just how deadly it is to mess with an Idylwyld. "Hahaha, are you seriously going to try and stop me from volunteering?" I asked her, laughing.

"Yes. Just watch me." She replied, attempting to drag me off the edge of the barrier for the female section. She tried punching me, but she gave weak punches.

''This was just an ugly looking girl who couldn't fight to save her life. She would have no chance of survival in the arena.''

I threw the now empty can of cream soda at her face, before climbing the barrier and jumping off it, allowing me to land on the track on my feet.

After sprinting towards the stage, I grabbed the microphone from Astarlia's clutches, trying not to pant.

"I volunteer as female tribute."

Astarlia took the microphone from me, as soon as I made my announcement. I could hear a lot of girls groaning, as they knew that it was too late to volunteer. They had been too busy brawling to notice.

"Looks like we have a volunteer and the reapings have not even started yet. Tell me, what's your name?" Astarlia asked. Her voice sounded very...soothing.

"My name is Bridget Idylwyld."

And just like that, the brawling stopped. Many of the faces before me turned white, when I had revealed who I really was.

Astarlia turned to the Peacekeepers, who told her to thank me for "my sacrifice" and to just reap the male tribute. No annual showing of The Capitol's film about how glorious it was to win the Games and all the benefits that come with it, as well as some of Panem's history explained.

"Okay then, urm, thanks Bridget for your honourable sacrifice. Now, time to reap the male that will be representing The Capitol in this year's Hunger Games."

I watched her grab the first slip she could retrieve in the male reaping bowl, before walking over to her microphone.

"Ron-"

I looked towards the male part of the arena. One of the 12 year old males, who was a blonde-haired kid, had just climbed onto the edge of the barrier of that part. I could make out someone trying to stop him, but to no avail. He ran towards the stage and took Astarlia's microphone from her, like I did, but whilst panting.

"I...volunteer...as...male...tribute. My...name...is...Lyssander...Ghan."

Astarlia retrieved her microphone from Lyssander. I was correct in knowing his age as there was a white sticker on him, with '12' on it.

''A 12 year old volunteer. I'd say I wonder why he ''

"Thank you Lyssander. I think you should take some time out to catch your breath. Citizens of The Capitol, here are your tributes for this year's Hunger Games, Bridget Idylwyld and Lyssander Ghan!"

Everyone just burst into an uproar of cheer, laughter, screaming...whatever. The atmosphere from before, when everyone was brawling, had changed to how the atmosphere normally was in The Capitol.

The Peacekeepers that were standing behind us came onto the stage and gripped me and Lyssander. After gripping us, they took us back into the Mansion itself. They carried us into a corridor, where there were only two rooms.

I recognised the rooms to be where the tributes get to say a few quick goodbyes to their family and friends and whatnot.

"You, boy, in that room." One of the Peacekeepers pointed towards the room on the left. Lyssander was shoved into that room.

"And you, girl, that room." The same Peacekeeper pointed to the opposite room.

Ugh, another Peacekeeper who doesn't know about the Idylwylds.

Because I didn't want these puny Peacekeepers shoving me into the room, I walked into the room myself.

It was almost bare. There was nothing but a bookshelf, a bin, a flag with the Capitol emblem on it, a desk and a wine goblet?

That's right. On the desk was a wine goblet. The goblet was golden and it was covered in beautiful jewels.

What's a wine goblet doing in here?

The Peacekeepers had failed to notice the wine goblet. Instead, they just walked back to where they came from.

I took out the unopened can of cream soda from the pocket of my jacket, opened it and poured the contents of the can inside the goblet.

And now, I wait.

Once the contents of the can were inside the goblet and the can was empty, I threw the can in the bin and took my first gulp of the drink.

First object: Goblet

Aquilo Hudson, District 0 Male
There I stood, in the Square and within the barrier for the 18 year old males. I was cold, tired and hungry, but mainly tired. I had just said my goodbyes to Janna, before we parted ways (for possibly the final time).

Usually, I'm very cocky and lively, but right now, I didn't feel that way. I felt annoyed and like I've said before, cold. District 0 is the freezer of Panem, as the usual climate here was nothing but snow.

On the screens, that were lined at the top by fluffy snow, depicted the reaping of The Capitol. The female went by the name of Bridget Idylwyld. I had heard stories about how "big" and "powerful" her family was, and how she went on a rampage throughout the districts to find one girl. But I didn't care about it.

She volunteered. From the big white sticker that was on her, I assumed that she was 16.

The male was a kid called Lyssander Ghan. He had strawberry blonde hair and golden eyes. There was also a big white sticker on him, with the number 12 on it, rather than 16.

Moments after the pretty hot escort, Astarlia I think her name was, declared Bridget and Lyssander as the tributes for The Capitol, the emblem of The Capitol appeared, on a red background like always.

"Hello District 0!"

The sudden voice made me turn my attention towards the Stage. Our district escort, Rion Mercada, stood there, wearing a green hat, green winter clothes and red scarf. Rion was known for his heterochromia, as he had one green eye and one red eye, matching the colour scheme of his clothes.

"It's that time of year again, the reapings of the tributes that will be representing District 0 in this year's Hunger Games. Firstly, the female tribute."

Rion walked over to the female reaping bowl, which was on his left. Using a single hand, he rummaged around the bowl, until he picked a slip of paper. Then, he walked over to the microphone before opening the slip of paper to reveal the name of the reaped girl.

"Winter Glacius!"

A girl from the 15 year old barrier walked out, the majority of the District 0 citizens staring at her in either sympathy or glee. She was a pretty girl, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore lightly coloured winter clothes and a white hat.

"You must be Winter. How are you feeling, sweetie?" Rion shoved the microphone in Winter's face, as soon as she was onto the Stage.

"I feel sad that this has happened to me, but I have to retain a strong spirit. I have to win, for me and for my best friend."

During the part where she said 'best friend', she was mainly looking at an intensely sobbing girl. Some sympathetic girls patted her on the back and a boy, who I assumed to be her brother, made his way over to the barrier where his sister stood, to console her.

"How courageous of you. Well, honey, I'll be rooting for you to win without a doubt."

He patted Winter on the back a few times, before walking over to the male reaping bowl.

"And now, for the male tribute."

He went through the same process (as he did with the female bowl) to pick out a slip of paper. Once again, he didn't open the slip of paper, until he was back at the microphone.

"Aquilo Hudson!"

Suddenly, I had a horrible feeling within me. It was like a knife had been plunged into my heart, and twisted. I recognised the feeling to be guilt.

And I can recall just how exactly I "gained" these overwhelming feelings of guilt...

I had murdered one girl who was madly obsessed with me. She was called Clara. She was so in love with me, she wanted to marry me. It was much more than what I was used to.

All I did was ridicule her and make fun of the way she looked. I found her to be an annoying presence and I wanted her to go away, but she wouldn't stop following me. I liked to chase her away as well, just one of many resorts to get her away from my sight.

But one fateful day changed everything. One day, when I was coming home from school, Clara followed me like always. I brushed it off as nothing, as it was becoming a regular thing by this point. This time, however, it was something.

Clara was in possession of a knife. She wielded it whilst saying how she couldn't afford anyone else to look at me and how in her distorted mind, I was going to be her's forever, even beyond the grave.

She lunged at me, but I was too quick for her. I punched her in the jaw, making her slam into the ground with a hard thud, instantly killing her.

Luckily, Janna was there to help me dispose of Clara's body, but there was something I would never be able to get rid of after that: the guilt of killing her.

And that's what I was experiencing right now, only the feeling was severe this time.

"Aquilo Hudson? Where are you?"

Noticing that I still hadn't made my way up onto the stage, due to having the flashbacks of Clara's murder in my mind distract me, I paced towards the front.

As soon as I was on the stage, Rion grabbed mine and Winter's hands.

"District 0, here are your tributes for this year's Hunger Games. Winter Glacius and Aquilo Hudson will officially be representing your district."

There was only one recurring thought in my mind, at this point:

''This was the revenge of karma. Karma wanted me to pay for Clara's murder, with my life. But I wasn't going to let this faze me, because I know that karma was not going to win. I'm Aquilo Hudson. I'm ambitious and strong. I can do this. I can defy karma and win the Games.''

Lizzy Brooks, District 1 Female
"Hello ladies and gentleman, welcome to the reaping of District 1 for this year's Hunger Games. My name is Lucianna Clywell, and I will be your district's escort."

I looked towards the front, where District 1's new district escort, Lucianna Clywell, stood. This was the first time that anyone in District 1 had laid eyes upon Lucianna.

''Oh boy, she was a sight for sore eyes. And I had no regrets of having these thoughts at all.''

Lucianna looked like a very colourful character, wearing a neon green or yellow dress, with what appeared to be a fluffy red lining at the top of the corset. Around her neck was some sort of orange choker. Her leather boots were cyan.

And as of her hair, well her hair was the reason why I considered the woman in front of me to be a sight for sore eyes. At the front, the colour of her hair was divided into two colours: lime and magenta. She had her hair in curly pigtails, and the colour of the pigtails were purple.

It's really funny to compare the way Lucianna looked to how the citizens of District 1 looked: dressed up like glamour models, with luxurious dresses and dapper tuxedos. Even I dressed up glamorously, in a lime green dress.

"Wow, it's so amazing to be in the district of luxury. But unfortunately, with beauty comes sorrow. We will have a moment of silence to remember the previous district escort, who has recently departed this world. He will be remembered."

The screens changed from the Capitol emblem, to a picture of our last district escort. Hardly anyone knew his name, as he never bothered to reveal it, so we referred to him as basically 'the district escort'. All we knew about him was that he was old, he had a goatee that matched the colour of his hair, he was suffering from a long-term illness, he took medication regularly and that he was one mean man, nasty and strict towards pretty much everyone, even the President.

So probably most of us standing here are relieved that he's finally gone. But sadly, our current district escort seems to be obnoxious, so it seems like we're never going to get a decent district escort.

However, there were bigger things that I needed to focus on. Like the actual Games themselves.

I wanted to volunteer, because there was a spark of ambition within me. Like typical District 1 kids, I want to come home as victor and enjoy all the attention and newfound power. I have the capability to win, as I'm a fighter. A determined fighter. I also have luck as an ally.

All I needed to do, in order to get one step closer to achieving this, is fend off my competition, which is the majority of the girls surrounding me and not let anything get me down.

Most of us didn't care about the moment of silence. People were just chatting and talking anyway, which caused Lucianna to frown.

"Okay, thank you everyone for paying your respects." said Lucianna sarcastically, once the moment of silence was over.

About ten minutes later... Next came my moment. My moment to volunteer. It was time for the female reaping.

All of the females got ready to brawl, but they didn't know that it would be me who would come out as victorious.

Lucianna walked over to the bowl, which triggered the slaughtering to begin. I was positioned within the 16 year olds barrier, which was probably the area most engaged in combat right now. I just needed to knock the girls around me with something, get out of the barrier, by the side and run towards the stage.

But what was I going to use to knock my opponents?

Suddenly, it hit me. Of course, my high heels. I had time to take off one of my high heels, before someone was already starting to challenge me.

They were grabbing several strands of my hair. Before I could react to the pain of having my hair pulled, I striked the girl with my high heels twice, one in the stomach and one in the face. Being hit in the face by my high heel caused her to wail in pain and clutch her now bloody nose.

I done the same to the other girls surrounding me. Unbelievably, I managed to floor most of them and I gave literally all of them a nosebleed.

This allowed me to get out of the barrier, as every female was now engaged in combat and too distracted to try and get onto the stage.

I had just made my way onto the stage and volunteered as female tribute, to the dismay of the females. Some were giving me cold glares, whilst overs were actually facepalming because they didn't think to stop fighting and get to the stage in time, before somebody else took that chance away from them.

Fortunately for me, I was that person. I volunteered in time, before Lucianna could reveal who the female was that had been reaped.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Lizzy. Now, time for the male tribute."

Guess what happened once Lucianna had proceeded to walk over to the male reaping bowl?

The same thing as what had just happened minutes before, fighting.

In an oh-so-surprising twist of events, the reaped male actually ended up getting to the stage. He came from the 18 year olds barrier and well, was a dwarf.

I expected people to laugh at him and make fun of him because of his size, but this was actually not the case. Only a group of people made fun of him, that was it.

"You must be Caratt Rybie."

"Yes." Caratt replied.

Most of the audience looked dismayed, Lucianna officially declared me and Caratt the tributes for District 1 and then we prepared to walk into the Justice Building, alongside Peacekeepers.

That's when I suddenly felt someone place something in my hands. I had my back turned, so I didn't see who it was. But I heard them whisper mysteriously...

"Keep this safe..."

The object?

A vial of deep blue poison.

Second object: Poison

Emilio Oswald, District 2 Male
Stone, stone and more stone. That's all it ever was in 2.

Inside the Justice Building, I was sat. I was inside just one of the many stone rooms in the Building. The stone rooms was where the tributes were contained, before they travelled by train to The Capitol.

I had heard from others that it was like this in The Capitol, but minus the stone.

Currently, I was sat in an almost bare room. On the wall hung two flags, one with the District 2 seal on it and the other with the Capitol emblem on it. In front of me was a wooden desk and against the wall, which was on my left, was a bookcase.

I could see through the window that my district partner, Hilda Souma, was sitting in the room opposite to me. The contents of that room were the same as the contents in this room.

What I noticed about Hilda was her chocolate brown hair and eyes. There was something dark and sinister about her, but I couldn't figure out what it is. I hadn't even heard of her until she volunteered and uttered her name to the rest of the district.

It'll probably be during training or the actual Games themselves when I finally figure it out.

One of the Peacekeepers came into the room.

"It's time for you to board the train to The Capitol. I am ordered to escort you to the station."

I gave a simple nod, before tucking the chair that I had been sitting on underneath the desk. I walked out of the room. The Peacekeeper closed the door to the room behind me.

"Wait here." He ordered, pointing towards the floor before going into the room where Hilda sat.

Within seconds, Hilda was standing next to me. Under the supervision of the Peacekeeper, we walked to the station. We didn't talk to each other.

The only thing we did was quickly glance at each other, before looking at each other.

We arrived at the station and boarded the train. Our district escort, whose name I didn't know, was on board already, tending to her makeup.

It was when I sat down near the escort, when a name popped into my mind.

Emilia...

Where have I heard that name before?

Mystery of the Items: Notice
So the objects identified, during the reaping POVs, are the vial of poison and the goblet.

For those who want to try and guess how the two objects will be used, you have the whole Games to submit your predictions.

The person to predict what will happen with the two objects correctly will have a major advantage in Part 2 of the pentalogy.

I will keep a note of the predictions that you guys have made, as a way to help me remember.

Current predictions
I will keep a note of the predictions that you guys have made, as a way to help me remember.
 * Max: I think someone will try to poison Jason, since both the people who got the objects are against him.
 * Emilia: I think that Jason has secretly selected one of the tributes to poison the President.
 * Connor: It is a bit early to predict that, but I believe Jason is going to get a tribute to poison the President. The poison will not kill him, but will cause major damage to him. I also believe that riots are going to take place, and escapees might appear

Head Gamemaker's Interview POV (3rd Person)
It was nighttime in The Capitol now and the glow from the moon shone down at the metropolis.

All of the reapings were over and done with. With the exception of the tributes representing The Capitol, Bridget and Lyssander, the tributes were on their way to The Capitol via train.

Citizens were preparing to sleep, but there were many who stayed up for one thing: to prepare for the interview of the Head Gamemaker, Leonicus Amberly. Usually during the traditional interview of the Head Gamemaker, intriguing details and gossip about the tributes and the Games was normally exposed.

But Panem had to be careful, for it was currently a time of possible civil war.

The host of the Games, Neil Eplanosom, stood on the stage, in between the two chairs where he and Leonicus would sit. He was donning his trademark neon suits. The colour of the suit regularly changed. Right now, it was neon pink.

"Hello ladies and gentleman, citizens of Panem, welcome to the traditional late night interview of the Head Gamemaker!"

The crowd, who were obviously on the side of the President and excited for the Games, rather than part of the Capitol citizens who were on the side of Jason and dismayed by the Games, cheered. Neil grinned, before resuming to talk.

"Please give it up for this year's Head Gamemaker, Leonicus Amberly!"

Neil directed his hand towards Leonicus, who suddenly appeared from a dark corner in the room. He smiled and waved at the crowd.

Like always, he was wearing pink and purple. He wore his beloved purple scarf with pride.

"Please take a seat, Leonicus."

"Thank you Neil." Leonicus smiled at Neil, before taking the seat on the left. Shortly afterwards, Neil sat down in his seat. The audience's cheering died down and they all sat down in their seats, as they had been standing when Neil was introducing Leonicus and Leonicus made his entrance.

"So, the reapings have concluded. We have an exciting bunch of tributes this year, don't you agree?" Neil asked Leonicus.

"Yes, I certainly agree. I've taken a certain...liking to The Capitol's very own female tribute, Ms Idylwyld. I'm trying not to be biased, but I see a certain boldness in Bridget. I feel like she's going to be a big contender in the Games." Leonicus replied. The audience cheered, showing support for their female representative, before sitting back down in their seats.

"I personally love Bridget already, but we must take other tributes into consideration. One tribute that has caught my attention is Aquilo Hudson. He's very good looking." Many females in the audience swooned when Neil mentioned Aquilo, making the two men on stage glance towards them.

"Aquilo is definitely attractive. There's also Emilia and Emilio Oswald, who look very identical to each other. Their surname makes me think that they must be somehow related."

"I think they might be twins. But who knows?"

"Who knows?"

There was an interval of applause and cheering from the audience, before they sat back down again.

"Could you let us in on some gossip about what will be in store for the tributes in the arena?"

"Well, since we're currently in dark times and people are sadly losing interest in the Games, we're going to do our best to make sure that these Games are spectacular and interesting, so that we can get people intrigued by the Games again. We are going full out big and extreme this year. The arena for this year's Games is going to be the biggest ever and we're going to include so many twists and surprises so that it will be a real challenge for the tributes to stay alive."

"That sounds incredible, right folks?" Neil encouraged the audience to cheer yet again. They did just that, before sitting down once more.

"We just want to make sure that people enjoy the Games, especially since times right now are dark and sinister."

"Well that is obviously the case, Mr Amberly."

"I know that. I do have an understanding of the events that have occurred over the past few days, but I mean something else. I feel like something big and scandalous is going to happen. I feel that many are going to see an end to their lives. I would explain myself further, as this sounds like the recent events but I have to be careful as to what I say, or I could be one of the people who sees an end to their life."

Most of the audience were in shock by Amberly's words. There was no cheering or standing ovation right now, just lingering silence. Amberly may have just lessened his life span.

The interview concluded earlier than normal.

"Thank you, Leonicus. Please give it up for Leonicus Amberly, Head Gamemaker of the 230th Annual Hunger Games."

There was such a contrast in the atmosphere. The atmosphere from when Leonicus was arriving seemed like ages ago from now.

''No one applauded him as he left. Silence resumed to linger.''

Chariot Parade (Five POVs)
Comment: There will be four POVs from the tributes themselves and a POV, from the eyes of a Capitol citizen witnessing the parade for themselves.

Camiren Paisley-Idylwyld, District 8 Female
"So, what do you think of it?" asked my stylist, Brandon, who I had been introduced to just yesterday. Only two days ago, I had arrived at The Capitol from District 8.

We were in a small, white room together. In fact, this room was just one of many on a corridor, in the tribute living quarters. There was a room like this for each tribute. According to Brandon, the doors of each room, more like a compartment, were made especially so that we can't see the other tributes walking past and see their outfit before we were meant to.

In fact, tributes were going to make their way to the chariot room one by one. So because of this "rule", at least twenty tributes will have entered the chariot room before it's my turn to do so.

In this room/compartment was a sofa, a clock on the wall, a mirror, a small platform and a rack, holding several wacky outfits. Brandon was standing on the small platform. My chariot parade outfit had been revealed to me. It had been kept in a blue hanging suit, until now, as Brandon had zipped the suit right to the bottom. The hanger that the dress was on had been hooked onto the top of the mirror.

My chariot parade outfit? Well, it was identical to my wedding dress.

Ore...

"It's lovely, Brandon. Thank you." Images of me and my husband flooded my mind. I smiled as I remembered Ore, who was mainly my motivation. He was the reason why I wanted to survive. The images suddenly faded, when reality hit me again.

Brandon smiled at my feedback on my chariot parade, before turning his attention to the metallic clock.

"We have an hour until the parade commences, so I think it's time for you to try your outfit on. I also have to add in the special effects and sort out your hair and makeup as well, so we don't have much time really."

"Special effects?" I asked, curious.

"I have a few surprises up my sleeve, to help you get noticed and gain sponsors. You'll see when you're on the chariot with Francais. But the main problem is that all of the stylists are using special effects, so there's a competition of the best special effects, as well as outfit."

I replied with a simple 'okay', before taking the dress and going into the small closet that was attached to the room. Brandon locked the closet for me, allowing for me to have some sort of privacy. But through a miniscule slit, I could see him sitting on the sofa.

''The Games were not just a chance to show Ore that was I determined to get home to him, it was also a chance to show the people who I once called family that I was not sacrificing myself, and that I was stronger than ever. Their attempts to have me killed for what I believed were just a distant memory. I was saving room for the memories that I will make, as a determined person.''

The dress was officially on me. I had walked out of the closet and gave a twirl, to Brandon's delight.

"You look so beautiful already and I'm not even finished yet." He put both of his hands together and gave me the 'Oh you look fabulous darling' look, before sitting me down on the sofa and styling my hair.

"District 8 tributes are always really lucky when it comes to parade outfits. You can pretty much wear anything and it'd still be relevant to the district's industry." He remarked, whilst he worked on my hair. From looking in the mirror, I could see that he was planning on styling my red and white hair in some sort of bun.

And that was the case.

It reminded me of my wedding day.

"Now, time for the makeup!" Brandon cheered, moving onto the makeup after finishing my hair. He decided to use white makeup, to go with my dress (as well as my high heels, which were also white).

Once my makeup was finished, he pulled out from behind the rack an earpiece and a small machine, with a strap attached to it.

"The earpiece is so that I can speak to you, whilst you're in the chariot, and tell you when I'll be activating the special effect. The other thing that I have hold of here goes around your leg. This will enable the special effect to take place."

I lifted my dress up a bit so that Brandon could place the special effect activator around my leg.

"And how will you be able to activate the special effect using this..activator?" I ask.

"I have a machine that's connected to the activator." He replied. We exchanged smiles for a moment, before Brandon suddenly glances towards my hand...and my heart shaped engagement/wedding ring.

"Wait a minute, are you married?"

I simply nodded, once before informing my stylist that my outfit looked identical to my wedding dress.

After a moment of silence, Brandon told me that he'll be rooting for me. He also said that whoever I was married to was lucky to have someone like me and that he didn't have to worry about losing me as I was strong enough to win.

I thanked Brandon for his compliments.

"Camiren Paisley-Idylwyld, District 8." I could hear the speakers outside boom. It was time for me to go.

I walked out of the room, with Brandon by my side. In just a hour or so, I'm going to be turned into a public spectacle and in a week, I'm going to be thrown into an arena to fight for my survival.

''But love and luck were my best friends right now, so maybe Brandon was right in his words. I might win after all.''

Dansi Neon, District 10 Male (Placeholder tribute)
Note: As this POV is from a placeholder tribute, the events taking place will mainly be focused on, rather than personal details/regular referrals to a backstory.

I was walking with my stylist, Accaia, to the chariot room. According to Accaia, it took at least a mile to walk to the chariot room from the individual "dressing rooms".

My parade outfit was a cowboy's outfit, with a twist. I had been informed that the cowboy outfit wasn't actually my final parade outfit. Accaia didn't tell me anything about what my actual final parade outfit was going to be, so I had to wait until the parade itself.

"So, are you looking forward to the parade, Dansi?" Accaia asked me, with the now-familiar-to-me sweet tone in her voice.

"Yes, I guess." I reply.

We didn't talk after that. My awkwardness and that horrible feeling that you get in your stomach when you're nervous settled in.

After further walking, we had reached the ground floor of the building, when a Peacekeeper stopped us in our tracks, his gun hidden away in the pocket of his pants.

"Are you the District 10 male tribute, boy?" He asked. He had a low voice, which was strange for someone of The Capitol. But then again, he could be from District 2.

"Yes, sir." I replied.

"And are you the-"

"I am his stylist." Accaia intervened before the Peacekeeper could finish muttering what he was going to ask her.

"I'm surprised your mentor and your district;s escort isn't with you."

"My mentor is in his room, too drunk to move without injuring himself and the district escort is already at the arena." I began to be honest towards the Peacekeeper. I didn't like to lie or deceive, but sometimes I had to. As the people before us used to say, honesty is the best policy.

"I see. And the reason why I wanted to talk to you in the first place is because there's been a new change regarding the chariot room."

That was the last thing the Peacekeeper said, before walking off. I watched as the gun in his pocket bounced up and down with every step he took. When he looked over once last time, I turned away.

"Come on now Dansi, we need to get to the arena and to the chariot room. I wonder what that Peacekeeper meant by the new change."

I followed Accaia out of the building, suddenly being hit by the beams of the Capitol sunshine. The heat and the warmth was so delightful after being nothing but cold, thanks to my individual dressing room.

Car-, well limousines were parked outside. Black limousines. Each limousine had a district seal on them, indicating that the limousine was to transport the tributes from that district to the arena. The limousines for The Capitol, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 were not parked, indicating that they were at the arena or getting to it. The limousines for 11, 12, 13 and 14 were parked.

The limousine for 10 had gone too.

"Oh the driver must have taken Jynx, Louisiane (Note: 10's district escort) and her stylist, whose name I've currently forgotten right now, to the arena." Accaia reassured.

After an awkward moment of standing outside, enduring the feeling of being covered in glitter and "sparkles", "the Capitol touch", the limousine for District 10 finally arrived.

"Where's your mentor?" asked the limousine driver, who was fresh-faced and looked no older than 20.

"Drinking himself to an early grave." Once again, I provided someone with honesty.

"Haha, you're funny kid. Use your humour in your interview." The oh-so-friendly limousine driver gave me some quick advice whilst I got into the limousine, just wanting to get to the arena before me being annoyed did some damage.

Pharmacy Ombra, District 11 Female
The limousine transporting me, Kal, our stylists, our district escort and our mentor finally arrived outside the arena. The District 10 pair, Jynx and Dansi, were making their way into the mansion/arena, where the chariot parade was to take place.

My parade outfit? A dress made entirely of flowers, and when you got up close to it, the dress had a fruit salad like fragrance. But my stylist had something else in mind, a surprise which he was keeping hidden until later.

Kal also smelled like fruit salad. He was wearing dungarees, with flowers scattered all over him. We looked like we had been frolicking and rolling about in a flower field.

"In you go, Pharmacy and Kal."

We followed our entourage. They directed us into a tunnel and led us to two Peacekeepers.

"District 11, I'm guessing?" asked one of them.

"Yes." Our mentor replied.

"Follow us."

The people we were following now were the Peacekeepers. They directed us to a room with 16 doors.

"Each door is for each district. As you're from 11, you go through the District 11 door. The door leads to your individual chariot room segment, whatever." The other Peacekeeper explained to us, leading to confusion amongst us.

"Isn't the chariot room traditionally meant to be one whole? Why is it divided now?" I asked.

"The chariot room was split into segments on the orders of the President. It's so that each chariot can go one at a time."

Well, that's unfair. But then again, depending on what our stylists have prepared for us later on, there's a chance that we could get noticed. Usually, District 11 tributes don't really get noticed often, unless they do something memorable, whether it'd be in training or the chariot parade or the Games themselves.

But then again, I don't want to get noticed, really. I just want to outlive the other tributes, win the Games and forget about the horrible experiences that have happened in my past.

We went through the District 11 door and settled into our individual chariot room "segment". Our chariot was covered in flowers and the horses were wearing flower crowns.

So many flowers.

Philip Elliot, District 12 Male
"You two look so adorable."

Our district escort, Vanessa-Kiara, put both of her hands together and placed them under her chin, admiring the outfits that we were wearing. I wore a sequined black suit and Kimberly wore the same, only as a dress rather than a suit.

"But the outfit that's about to come later is even better." added Kimberly's stylist, Calastin.

Once Calastin had finished speaking, I turned to Kimberly. She was staring at the door, which would open to let our chariot out and onto the platform. I could tell that she was not okay, as her "stone face" was visible.

"Is it time for the parade to start yet?" Kimberly asked, not looking at Vanessa-Kiara or Calastin.

"It hasn't started yet, as The Capitol's tributes haven't left their chariot room." Calastin replied.

There were no windows in this room, so we couldn't see everyone outside. There was only the door, that was big enough to allow the chariot to go through it. It was like a garage door.

I decided that the best way to pass the time was to speak to my twin sister and try to comfort her, when suddenly an outburst of cheering started.

"The Capitol tributes must have left their chariot room now." concluded Vanessa-Kiara.

"The favourites to win, more or likely." Kimberly remarked. Hopefully, what she said was not true.

"That's not true, Kimberly. With the Games or even the interview and the training before it, anything can happen."

''Kimberly, we'll win this and we'll get home. I'm sure the other tributes have the same attitude that I have, but my spirit is stronger. We'll be the ones to win, not them.''

Rubianna, Capitol Citizen
Note: Rubianna is a Capitol citizen, meaning that her POV is focused solely on events that are occurring.

Me and my family managed to get seats, that were near the commentary box, where Neil Eplanosom and Leonicus Amberly sat. I spent my time glancing at the platform, waiting for The Capitol chariot to come out, whilst overhearing what Leonicus and Neil were saying.

"There they are! Bridget and Lyssander, the tributes representing The Capitol in this year's Games. Oh don't they just look golden, Leonicus?"

"They sure do, Neil."

According to what someone said, which I managed to overhear whilst making my way up to the President's mansion/arena, all the tributes had two different outfits that they were going to wear. The first outfit set was an outfit that was representative of the district's industry. The second was a complete surprise.

On the big screens that stood at either side of the seating area was Bridget's face. Her unique red hair, with blonde streaks at the tips, had been put up into a bun. She wore visible golden eyeshadow, black masacra and golden lipstick. The eyeshadow matched her outfit, a dress like no other.

''Her dress was made out of Panem coins. The symbolism here is that The Capitol didn't have an industry. If it did however, it would be money-spending.''

"I wonder how many coins it took to make that dress." Leonicus remarked.

"A lot." Neil added.

To top it all off, a golden tiara rested on her head. She seemed very enthusiastic, waving and smiling at those who were either cheering or wolf-whistling.

"I feel like Bridget is going to be this year's favourite." Neil laughed after what he said. His laugh was reminiscent of Caesar Flickerman's laugh. Of course, Neil wasn't making fun of Bridget, as she really was the favourite, by the looks of it. I think he was just trying to throw some laughs in there as after all, his laugh was one of his "trademarks".

"Her visible enthusiasm reminds me of Estrella Montclair's enthusiasm." Instead of laughing with Neil, Leonicus was in a thinking position.

"Ah yes, Estrella. The Capitol's darling of last year's Games. It's such a shame that she decided to end her life, when most people thought that she had the capability and the courage to win. R.I.P."

"R.I.P."

Both men continued to reminisce about Estrella Montclair, the female tribute for The Capitol last year. She was a total diva and had survived for a while in the Games, manipulating most of the Careers and getting her own way, a lot of times. One night, however, the pressure of the Games finally got to her and she ended her own life, something that many didn't expect for her to do.

Back to the parade, the next person to appear on the big screens was Lyssander, Bridget's 12 year old district partner. The only part of Lyssander's outfit that was made of coins was his tunic. As of his behaviour, he was quiet. He didn't wave, instead just maintaining a relaxed look on his face.

"Lyssander looks like he doesn't have any troubles."

"But then again Neil, you never know. Looks can be deceiving."

"True."

Suddenly, when The Capitol's chariot reached the halfway point of the platform, there was a burst of fog. The fog covered the view of the other side of the arena, the big screens, Lyssander and Bridget. It also made those in the first few rows cough their lungs up.

"What's going on, Neil?"

"Must be preparation for the second outfit."

And the anticipation for what the second outfit was ended as quickly as it began. Once the fog had cleared, it was revealed that the second outfit was just a sequined golden suit for Lyssander and a sequined golden dress for Bridget. But the makeup still remained.

The confusion on their faces, as well as most of the audience, was evident. I knew immediately that this was not the work of their stylists. Something has happened.

"Neil, do you think something has happened with the outfits?"

"I'm not sure, Leonicus. But all I know right now is that Bridget and Lyssander look very confused."

When The Capitol's chariot had reached the end of the platform, above where the President was to stand, the District 0 chariot came out. The cheering and the wolf-whistling continued once more.

"And here comes Winter and District 0's manwh-, I mean sweetheart, Aquilo."

"I know what you was going to say then, Neil. Tut tut tut. You shouldn't say that about a tribute."

"It was called making a joke, Leonicus. Some people just don't have a sense of humour."

"I do have a sense of humour, thank you very much."

"So then Head Gamemaker, tell me what makes you laugh."

"Well funny puns make me laugh the most."

"Ah, I see now."

Once again, back to the parade, Winter and Aquilo now graced the screens, wearing starry costumes. Literally starry. The fabric of Winter's and Aquilo's outfits had the starry night sky on it, to represent District 0's industry of astrology. There was some traditional trend going on, with the female tribute wearing a dress and the male tribute wearing a suit.

I'd like to see a change eventually, because from what I concluded so far, the stylists are running out of ideas. But then again, it's bound to happen after having 229/230 years of the Games.

The same happened to Winter and Glacius eventually. More fog appeared, and when it had cleared, the pair we wearing a starry coloured version of what Bridget and Lyssander was wearing.

It happened over and over again. The tributes wore extravagant outfits to begin with, but when the fog appeared, the outfits would change. So by the end of it, we were left with confused tributes who were wearing different coloured versions of the same outfit: The Capitol gold, District 0 starry coloured, District 1 pink, District 2 white, District 3 electric blue, District 4 light blue, District 5 yellow, District 6 brown, District 7 dark green, District 8 purple, District 9 beige, District 10 red, District 11 light green, District 12 black, District 13 lime and District 14 maroon.

"This is extremely odd, Neil."

"It sure is, Leonicus."

Everyone was left confused and baffled, even those who didn't want to be here. Moments later, the President had arrived onto the balcony, looking more miserable and angry than ever. He got Peacekeepers to display a bunch of pale corpses. I recognised the corpses to be the group of men who had intervened in the Capitol reaping. They had been sentenced to imprisonment and then hanging, which was obviously successful from the looks of it.

Most were startled and horrified by the bodies, but others just wanted an explanation behind the outfits being the same.

The next few minutes were tense. The President revealed that he was the one who changed the outfits. It was apparently a part of his plan to strengthen his hold of Panem and show everyone that he had adopted a new idealogy which he wanted to encourage, that if someone wanted something, they were going to have to work extremely hard for it. Something like that at least.

This was pretty outrageous, as everyone, or most people, had been working hard for centuries to get what they needed.

He also said that he accepted Jason's offer of war, officially plunging Panem into a civil war, or a civil rebellion again.

Jason's First Order (3rd Person)
To Jason, everything that his father had said was outrageous. People, especially those in the outlying districts, had been working hard for centuries. They had endlessly worked several hours of the day to provide The Capitol with neccessities, whilst getting hardly any themselves.

"How can he do that to the outfits?" asked Jason's girlfriend, Sierra. Both Jason and Sierra were sat on the sofa, watching a broadcast of the chariot parade.

"Because he's a horrible bastard. That's why," He replied, rising from his seat on the sofa. "I need you to look after the kids for me, while I deal with my dad once and for all."

"I promise I will look after them, like always."

Jason kissed his girlfriend on the forehead, before she went upstairs to check on Banor, Jocelyn and Salina. When she had finished checking and came back downstairs, she was feeling more than inquisitive.

"Jason, now that your father has accepted your offer of war, what do you plan on doing first?".

"Sierra, my dear, it's easier to think of the current events as a chess game, and that I'm Player 1 and my dad is Player 2. Since Player 2 was the last to enter the game, it's Player 1's turn to make their first move. So I must make my first move, which is to gather a law enforcement force of my own. But whilst I do that, I need to make sure that Banor, Jocelyn and Salina do not witness the Games and know about what's going on. They just need to focus on their education. I also need to get my other family members to be on my side, including my other siblings/half-siblings. So much pressure."

Sierra walked up to her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around him.

"Jason, you're a strong, clever and brave man. You'd make a better President than Adon. I know that you'd be the one to finally rectify the issues in Panem once and for all, and you will gain the support of Panem because of it. You already have so much support. You can do this. Your supporters have faith in you and I have faith in you."

"Thanks Sierra."

Jason smiled, before kissing Sierra.

And so the game of civil war and rebellion can begin, and Jason has already decided on his first move of the game.

Lyssander Ghan, The Capitol Male
"Wakey wakey, rise and shine Mr Ghan!" Astarlia cheered. I wanted to sleep until the day of the Games, but unfortunately, that won't be the case. I would rather be well-rested than a favourite to win the Games. The Capitol can give that honour to my district partner. I only volunteered to escape from being imprisoned in a psychiatric institution for the rest of my life, thanks to my social anxiety and manic depression, as well as being placed under social pressure. This caused me to beat my own mother to death.

I opened my eyes. I was facing the door and not the daylight which Astarlia had exposed me to, by opening the curtains, so fortunately I wasn't blinded extremely.

I was still blinded a little bit though. This was until my eyesight was becoming clearer.

"I can't believe it, you're only twelve and you're a favourite to win the Games. Imagine how brilliant your success story would be. You could compete with Ashlynn Mauntell's story or even the story of one of the Seacrests. I know that family has about two victors. One of the victors died, I think."

I honestly didn't care about the success story of victors. And twelve year olds have won the Games before, so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

I rose out of bed as soon as my eyesight was the clearest it can be. Astarlia paced towards the door.

"I'm going to inform the Avoxes to get started on breakfast, now that everyone's up. You get yourself a shower or a bath, whatever you prefer, and then get changed into the training clothes that are hung up outside. You and Bridget have a crucial day ahead of you."

"I know, training day."

Astarlia gave me a quick smile, before leaving the room and shutting the door. I decided to follow what Astarlia said, to get a shower.

5 minutes later...

After getting a shower, changing into the clothes that I was forced to wear for training: a black shirt with a C on the back and black pants and putting on some black boots, I walked out of my room and into the living room, where Bridget and our mentor, Noran, sat. Astarlia was obviously with the Avoxes and our stylists must be in the dressing rooms, planning our interview outfits.

"When can we go to the training center already?" Bridget asked, whilst picking at her nails.

"You're eager. You and Lyssander can go to the center after you've had your breakfast." Noran replied. Bridget stopped picking at her nails, folded her arms and crossed her legs.

On the TV was The Capitol news channel. The anchor, Ambrietta Stokes, sat at the desk. A laptop was on the desk, as well as paper, a pen and a cup of water. She wore her normal working attire of a white blazer and a black shirt underneath. A pearl necklace loosely dangled from her neck and her lime green and violet hair was pushed back with two black and white clips. A few strands of her hair managed to cover up a horizontal scar on the side of her face.

In the studio, her amber eyes would obviously be facing the teleprompter and the cameras, all the equipment used to broadcast, but in our perspective, it looked like she was glaring at us.

The headlines scrolled past at the bottom. Headlines included deaths of people from famous families, mainly families that were made famous because of victor(s), like the Mauntells, the Seacrests and the Jadisons for example, random incidents occurring in districts, food shortages, the weather in every district and then, of course this:

"Top news this week. It has been confirmed. Panem is now in a state of civil war and rebellion, again. At the chariot parade last night, several unexpected events took place. Everyone was confused as to who would do something like change the parade outfits. Many suspected that it was the work of Jason, whilst others predicted correctly that it was the work of the President. The President revealed that it was part of a plan to retain his hold of Panem. He also revealed the three bodies of the men supporting Jason who interrupted the Capitol reaping and accepted Jason's declaration of war, before leaving..."

"All this talk about civil war is depressing me. I'm gonna go and get me a beer." Noran walked out of the living room and into his room. Five minutes after he left, the broadcast ended and the programme where a random anchor from the channel interviews a celebrity came on shortly afterwards. This time, it was Mavelyn Morak.

''But I didn't care about the TV. ''

Me and Bridget were left alone together, in the living room. When she finally stopped watching the TV, she turned to face me, trying to intimidate me with her grey, colourless eyes.

"I feel sorry for you." She remarked.

"Why do you feel sorry for me?" I asked, curiously.

"Because even though they say you're a favourite to win the Games, we all know that you'll end up being nothing but a corpse and I'll end up becoming the victor."

"Well Bridget, let me tell you this. Arrogant people who think that the future will go their way normally die almost immediately. No one can predict the future, so no one knows what will happen in the Games."

My response to Bridget garnered an angry glare from her.

"Mind your tongue, kid. I'd suggest you go back to being the quiet, wimpy kid that you are."

''Quiet and wimpy? Seriously? Maybe you'll get a shock in the Games, when you end up dying. And when you're dying, you'll end up being the quiet and wimpy kid.''

I would have answered back at Bridget with the response that I had in mind, but before I could, Astarlia and the Avoxes arrived. The Avoxes carried two bowls, with spoons and our breakfast in it.

"Enjoy my dear tributes." Astarlia smiled, before walking to her room. The Avoxes placed the bowls in front of us, before walking back to where they came from.

Basically, the contents of the bowl was crunchy pink wheat hoops and milk. The hoops, despite being wheat, smelled and tasted like cupcakes with strawberry icing. I didn't look at anyone, just my bowl and ate the hoops, until there were no more hoops and I felt like I had consumed a lump of sugar.

Once I had finished, the Avoxes came back and took my bowl away, before leaving once more. Bridget finished her bowl shortly afterwards.

I rose out of my seat and prepared to leave the apartment, for the training center. The center was not far from here, it was only about a two mile walk.

Unfortunately, Bridget was walking behind me. It wasn't long before she started saying something to me again, in a further attempt to intimidate me. Or well, more like whispered.

''"Cornucopia Bloodbath." ''

I knew what she meant. She was trying to convince me that I was going to die in the Bloodbath. Well like I said before, arrogant people don't last very long in the Games and no one can predict the future, so no one knows what will happen.

''Even the favourites can die. No one is safe. And even after the Games, no one knows what will happen because although Panem is in a state of civil war again, this time, it's the most unpredictable war yet.''

But all I know is that the "golden sweetheart" won't be so golden for long.

Bluebella Kidd, District 5 Female
I've been stood in the training center for around half an hour now. In the center was me, my district partner Max, who was observing the different stations, the Capitol pair Bridget and Lyssander, who had only just walked into the center, the pair from nine, Julio and Melody, the District 11 male, Kal, and the District 4 female, Emilia.

Our trainer hadn't arrived yet, but from gossip and overhearing conversations of the Capitol's citizens, I knew that there was going to be a new trainer.

A Peacekeeper who had been standing nearby, in case anything was to happen, immediately took Bridget to the side.

"What are you doing?" Bridget asked. The others turned to face her. The Peacekeeper whispered in her ear, thinking that he was being so quiet that no one else could hear him. But I could. I did have good hearing after all.

"Stay away from Camiren. I know you have bad blood with her and you can hurt her in the Games, just not here. Okay?"

Bridget folded her arms, and gave a 'he-really-doesn't-know' kind of laugh before responding.

"I may be the sassiest person here, but I do abide by rules sometimes. I won't hurt Camiren until the Games."

The Peacekeeper nodded before walking off. Bridget stood next to the archery section.

Eventually, everyone was here. The twins, Emilio and Emilia awkwardly talked to each other, finally reuniting. Another pair of twins, Philip and Kimberly, also talked to each other. Then Philip put an arm around the back of his sister's neck. Those two must be close, I concluded.

Aquilo was eying the trident section. The third pair of twins, Sam and Summer, whatever their name was, stayed by each other.

''Three pairs of twins. This has obviously got to increase the competitive spirit, as there's going to be a female and a male victor. And all three pairs of twins were boy and girl. ''

Winter and Lyssander stood near each other, being quiet and facing the front. Caratt and Lizzy were talking to each other and looking around at everyone, like I was doing before the new trainer arrives.

I had a feeling that Caratt and Lizzy was observing everyone to look for potential fellow Career members.

Hilda stood a distance away from everyone else, Huxley observed the stations whilst also standing a distance away from everyone else, May was talking to Jynx and Ia. I could see an alliance blossoming between those three. Severus was quiet, Max still continued to observe the surrounding stations, Adam, Francais, Dansi, Kal, Dean and Monoro were all quiet and then everyone else was just talking.

The new trainer suddenly arrived. She wore a black long-sleeved shirt, black waterproof jacket, a black-onyx necklace and black jeans, with black and white trainers. She wore her hair up in a bun and donned black studs, which looked like beauty spots on her ears.

In terms of appearance, she looked like a tomboyish version of Astarlia Narushi. She had a very similar face to Astarlia and even had her hair and eye colour.

"Hello guys. My name is Katia and I will be your trainer."

Katia talked to us about the Games and the civil war. She also went over the different stations and the rules of training, the main rule being that ''you can't kill a fellow tribute before the Games. ''I could understand why the rule was always enforced. I glanced at Bridget again, who was more than willing to kill her cousin, Camiren.

As soon as Katia discussed everything that needed to be discussed, she dismissed us. Everyone branched off to different stations.

The only stations that seemed appealing to me were the traps and knife stations. The Elliot siblings occupied the traps station, so I walked over to the knife station.

The knife station was basically a dummy, a knife and a timer. I had to see how much I could slash the dummy with the knife in a minute. According to Katia, this station was helpful towards increasing strength in the muscles in the arm.

I grabbed the knife and pressed 'Start' on the timer, before focusing on nothing more than slashing the dummy as quickly as possible. Everything that was going on around me didn't matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was what I was focusing on.

Once the minute was up, I placed the knife back on the nearby pedestal. The timer revealed my results for me, in an automated voice:

"You slashed the dummy exactly 300 times."

I smiled, feeling pleased with my results. As soon as I walked away from the station, the timer reset itself, waiting to start for the next person to approach the station.

Suddenly, the girl from 3, May, and Max came up to me.

"Impressive." Max complimented me.

"Thanks." I simply replied to his compliment.

"Bluebella, is it?" May asked. Max nodded at her to confirm that her enquiry was correct.

"Me and Max have formed an alliance. We're now looking to expand our alliance-" May explained. She was going to explain further, but she didn't need to, because I knew what she was going to ask next.

"You want me to join your alliance?"

"Yes."

I gave myself a minute to think about the question. My main preference was to stay a loner. That was my best bet, as the alliances could turn on each other at any point during the Games, especially the Careers. But I wasn't going to ally with the Careers. Even the siblings that allied with each other could possibly turn on each other. It's happened before in the Games.

But then again, an alliance would come in handy. If the alliance does turn on each other, I can use this opportunity to steal their supplies and make a swift exit.

The idea of betrayal oddly excited me, mainly because it wasn't really like me, until I remembered my clumsiness.

When it reaches that point, I'll decide what I'll do then. Now is all I had to focus on really.

And so I accepted their request.

"I'll join your alliance."

The pair immediately smiled. I gave a small smile back, before walking off with them.

Severus Seaclan, District 4 Male
And so we, the five members of the Careers, congregated near the gauntlets.

"Is it me or does it look like there's fewer tributes this year?" Lizzy asked us.

"We're so used to having double or triple or whatever the amount of tributes that now there's a regular Games, it feels different and something we're not used to." Pharmacy replied.

Everyone agreed with what Pharmacy said as it sounded like a good enough explanation behind the feeling.

"And we're also in a current state of civil war so there's a lot of hostility in the atmosphere at the moment." Caratt added.

"Oh can you shut up about the civil war already?" asked Bridget, who had walked over and was now standing in front of us. She had her arms folded. "We all know the President will quash Jason anyway."

I was in no mood to argue with Bridget and point out to her that you can't see the future. What I had to focus on right now was getting a high training score and surviving the Games. Me becoming a victor will bring honour to my family, which is my ultimate goal.

"What are you doing standing here Bridget?" Aquilo asked.

"Oh, isn't it obvious? I want to be leader of the Careers." Bridget replied.

Personally, I didn't want Bridget in the Careers. I'll probably just end up killing her during the Bloodbath. But for now, to shut her up, we had to give her the opportunity.

"Okay then."

Bridget smirked as soon as she got her own way.

"So, which station are we going on now?" She asked. I pointed her towards the gauntlets, which were next to us.

"Alright, I'll go on them first."

Once Bridget was making her way over to the gauntlets, Aquilo walked over to me and whispered:

"You'd make a much better leader than her. Kill her soon and then we can be proper Careers. Don't give two flying fucks about her being a Capitol favourite.'"

"I don't care about her being a favourite. Favourites die all the time."

Aquilo simply nodded in agreement. Once our small talk had finished, I payed my attention back to the gauntlets and our temporary leader.

Sunny Coleman, District 7 Female
"Look what I made, sis."

Samuel was holding a small, wooden cart that he had made using the wood that was provided on the station and some superglue. The station that we were at was a new one, one that was meant to improve resourcefulness.

"It's lovely, brother. But we have to focus on what matters right now, surviving the Games. Also, why would they (the Gamemakers) place superglue in a station when they know that anything could happen?" I responded.

"I'm pretty sure everyone here is smart enough not to mess around with superglue." Sam replied, still in awe with his creation.

"You never know. Looks can be deceiving." I say to my twin brother, before my attention was diverted to a sudden argument between the Careers, specifically Lizzy and Bridget.

"Don't be a liar Lizzy. I know you was laughing at me."

"I wasn't laughing at you Bridget. I was laughing at a joke Aquilo made earlier."

"I can see it in your eyes that you're lying. I can see right through people!"

The argument turned into a catfight, which was eventually intervened by Peacekeepers. The Peacekeeper that gripped Bridget was the Peacekeeper that spoke to her earlier.

"Bridget's going crazy and the Games haven't even started yet." Sam remarked.

"She was already crazy. The Gamemakers and the Peacekeepers have to separate her from her cousin because they fear that she'll kill her." I glanced at Camiren, who was standing with the alliance that she formed herself, the Anti-Careers. It seemed fitting that Camiren was the leader of the Anti-Careers whilst Bridget was the leader of the Careers.

The Anti-Careers consisted of Winter, Huxley, Camiren, Melody and Reeva. A part of me hoped they would survive longer than the Careers.

"It amazes me how she's one of the current favourites to win."

"It's called being deceptive. You act all sweet and innocent for The Capitol, but you show your true colours to your opponents. And the favourites change all the time. Capitol betting is so unpredictable." This was the last thing I said in response to Sam, before we were summoned to the waiting room by the Peacekeepers and Katia.

"TRIBUTES! IT'S TIME FOR YOUR PHYSICAL INDIVIDUAL TRAINING SESSIONS! PLEASE LINE UP IN DISTRICT AND BOY/GIRL ORDER AND PREPARE FOR YOUR SESSION." Bellowed one of the Peacekeepers. His unexpected bellowing made me jump out of my skin.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked me, giggling.

"Yeah, I just didn't expect the Peacekeeper to yell so loudly." I reply, before I met with the fiery gaze of the Peacekeeper that had bellowed.

"Silence girl!"

Quickly, avoiding the further wrath of the Peacekeeper, I stood in the line, behind Sam and in front of Francais.

Good luck Sam.

What's happening regarding training? (Answered)
Basically, the tributes will have two training sessions: one physical session, which is first, and a special session (this will be explained later), which is second.

For the first session, a leaderboard system will be put in place. The person at the top of the leaderboard is obviously the person who has done the best in their session and the person at the bottom is the person who has done the worst.

I have used the system before in a previous Games of mine.

The leaderboard position of a tribute, as well as how they do in the special session, will contribute to what training score they eventually get.

Mystery Assailant POV (The First Death)
My heart was pounding against my chest. I knew that what I was about to do was completely wrong, especially before the Games. I've killed animals before, but not humans.

But this was for Jason and for the civil war. At first, like my other fellow tributes, I didn't care about the civil war. My opinion changed when I was encountered by an elderly and very mistake-prone affiliate of Jason's, who was secretly living in The Capitol, the day of the chariot parade.

It happened when my stylist had finished getting me ready for the parade. Bored and needing some fresh air, I snuck past my district partner, my mentor, my district escort and both stylists, and went outside, despite how I looked. That's when he approached me.

He sounded like he was originally from District 9 or 10.

"Hey kid, I need to talk to 'ya."

"Who are you?"

"I can't say, kid. I have to keep ma identity under wraps, ya know what I'm sayin'?"

"Wait a minute, are you working for the President's son?"

"Sssh! Keep ya voice down. And yeah, I'mma supportin' Jason. That kid can do some good for this rut of a country, like gettin' rid of those damned Games for a start. An' I'm glad to say that I've already contributed to tha war."

"By doing what?"

"I gave one of tha tributes, tha Capitol female, a goblet, and tha District 1 female, a vial of poison."

"Bridget and Lizzy? You do know that both girls are from districts that support the President, right? It should be obvious because The Capitol is the HOME of the President and it's been a tradition for the Career Districts to support the President and The Capitol for centuries. I can't believe you can be that stupid to give the items to people from Adon-supporting districts."

"Hey, cut me some slack here kid. I'mma elderly man, my memory's goin' by the minute and also, I didn't have any time to er- travel around Panem. I was just followin' Jason's orders. He told me to take tha vial of poison and tha goblet to any of tha tributes, mainly tha tributes from tha outlyin' districts. But me bein' weak and old, as well as short for time, I can't travel very far. So instead, I went to tha Capitol reapin' and dropped off tha goblet. Then I took a quick freight train ride to District 1 and dropped off tha vial of poison, before comin' back to The Capitol."

"There are elderly people who are still capable of doing stuff like this and have a good memory. But then again, most of those elderly people are from The Capitol and the Career Districts, and from your accent, I can definitely tell that you're not from The Capitol."

"Yeah you're right, kidda. I'm from tha outskirts of District 9."

"Understandable. So Jason wanted you to take the goblet and the vial of poison to one of the outlying districts, hoping that the tributes will hopefully hold onto them and survive long enough to be able to....?"

"Jason was gon' poison Adon."

"I knew it."

"But now we don' know what tha tributes who have tha items are gon' do with them. At least there's a back-up plan."

"What back-up plan?"

"Tha back-up plan is for one of tha tributes from tha outlyin' districts to start workin' for us, by committin' rebellious acts. Anythin' to try and hijack tha Games. That was Jason's ultimate goal regardin' tha Games in tha first place."

"Jason wants to hijack the Games and get one of the tributes to start working for him, by doing rebellious deeds?"

"Yeah. Destroyin' tha Games would be a big devastatin' hit to Adon, as that's all he truly cares about. It also gives Jason more powa."

"I know. Is this why you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah. I recognised ya as one of tha tributes from tha outlyin' districts. Ya also a very fierce person, so ya tha perfect person to help us out. So are ya gon' work for us?"

"What's in it for me?"

''"Maybe we can smuggle out some of ya, when we get an aircraft. This can piss off tha President even more. An' we'll make sure ya and ya family get safe accommodation an' food an' water an' the rest once ya out of tha Games." ''

"Okay. I'll work for Jason. I'll try and hijack the Games as much as possible."

"Great. Now go back to tha chariot parade. We'll speak again soon."

So now, I've embroiled myself in the civil war. I was also officially working for Jason now. I had to destroy the Games as much as possible.

I had decided as to what my first act was going to be. And that is well, murdering a tribute before the Games. I could murder pretty much any of the tributes, regardless of whether they were supporting Jason or Adon.

''Why would I murder someone supporting Jason? ''

The answer was that someone had to die, even if they were supporting Jason. I know that if people found out that Jason gave the orders for someone supporting him, then they would go berzerk. But luckily for Jason, no one will know because I'm going to make sure that it is kept secret.

Besides, I'll frame the murder on someone who is associated with Adon so everyone will believe that Adon is behind it.

And then not only will I have dealt a devastating blow to the Games, I'll also be digging a deeper hole for Adon.

I had put on full black clothing, exposing nothing except my eyes. I was also wearing a black cloak and I was carrying a small dagger, which I had retrieved from one of the kitchens, and a gadget that changed your voice when you spoke into it, a voice changer.

I was making my way to the elevator, which was at the end of the corridor. When I had entered the elevator, I pressed the button pointing upwards as I wanted to go further up the building to carry out the murder.

A few moments later...

The elevator had arrived at the District 13 corridor. I got out of the elevator and walked towards the double doors that led to the District 13 conpartment.

Unfortunately for me, there was a voice recognition machine at the side of the double doors. Those who were not part of the District 13 team, Avoxes or the tributes themselves had to use this machine to gain access.

But then again, I could use the voice changer to change my voice to somebody else's.

I used the voice changer to change my voice into Dean's.

"Dean Evayston, District 13's male tribute."

"Access granted."

I was able to enter the conpartment now. I entered quietly and observed my surroundings. Everyone was asleep and it was pretty dark, save for a few lights that were on.

I snuck around, looking for the chambers of the nearest tribute. The nearest tribute turned out to be Serena, the siren/fairy/human hybrid. Her chambers were afacing the toilets.

Once again, I remained quiet as I opened the door to Serena's chambers. She was lay in bed, facing the opposite way from me, sleeping. The quilt didn't cover her fully, especially not her elegant, glistening wings. Strands of her sea blue hair was scattered all over the pillow that rested underneath her head.

She was still human and still vulnerable to death.

I walked over to the side that Serena was facing. In my right hand was the voice changer. It was very hard to grip with gloves on. In the other hand was well, the dagger which I was about to use.

I took one last glance at Serena to decide whether I should stab her or slit her throat. If I stabbed her, she would probably scream. If I slit her throat, her death would be much more quieter as she wouldn't be able to speak. She'd just be gasping for air or choking before her impending fate.

Slitting her throat it is then.

I slowly placed the dagger against Serena's throat. She didn't open her eyes, but she made a small movement. After she had finished making the movement and snuggled into her pillow, I put the dagger deeply into the throat and made one swift slash across the throat.

Serena's reaction was so sudden and quick. She opened her eyes and I met her gaze for a few seconds. She clutched her throat and fell out of her bed, gasping for air like I had predicted.

There were so many attempts from her to try and survive, but it was futile. Blood was constantly spraying out of her neck.

I knew it was finally over for her when she closed her eyes and hit the floor with a thud, dead.

As soon as she did, I began to panick. I needed to get out of here before anyone noticed Serena's dead body.

The person that did eventually enter the room was an Avox, whose eyes had widen when they spotted the blood and the corpse of the fairy/siren/human at my feet, whose wings were now black.

''"You saw nothing." ''I used the voice changer to scare the Avox in a deep, masculine voice. I couldn't warn her because she couldn't talk. The Avox nodded before walking off.

I may have just gotten away with murder, for now.

Mayor Cattrall's (of District 13) POV (1st Person)
Yes, I heard about the death of Serena, the female tribute representing the district I was in charge of. That was all people talked to me about.

A lot of people, mainly the rare few in my district that supported the Games, constantly asked me what I was going to do about Serena and the District 13 female tribute.

To be honest, I was on Jason's side, just like most of the people in my district. I didn't like Adon. I could relate to Jason better as we were both young adults and we both wanted the best for our nation. I hated the Games and I wished that I could take Dean out of them after everything that had happened, but I couldn't. If I did, Adon would never let me see the light of day again and then he'd take my head off my shoulders.

That's why I was pretty nervous when Adon had invited me to The Capitol via broadcast. I had to make sure that I didn't say any pro-Jason things.

I had received the broadcast this morning. Immediately after receiving it, I made my way to the train station and took a train ride to The Capitol. Now, I was here and I was getting ready to shake hands with Adon, something I didn't feel like doing but I had to. For the sake of mine and District 13's safety.

"Here you go, Mayor Cattrall. The Presidential Mansion." The driver had parked his limousine beside the road in front of the Mansion.

"Thank you." I said to the driver, before getting out.

Stood in front of the Mansion was Adon and two of his bodyguards. I made my way up the steps, until I was in front of the President.

"Mayor Cattrall." Adon shook my hand. He had a firm handshake, I must say.

"President Adon." I responded, addressing him.

"The reason why I have invited you to The Capitol is because we need to discuss what will happen regarding the District 13 female tribute."

"I see." I replied as we had made our way into the Mansion and walked the opposite way from the entrance to the Arena.

"But before we discuss what we are going to do, I just have to discuss some issues with other mayors."

I nodded in response and in understanding, before following the President to the meeting room. There, I was greeted by four other mayors. They were the mayors of the Career Districts; 1, 2, 4 and 14. Each mayor had a name card that was placed in front of where they sat. Mayor Diamond was the Mayor of District 1, Mayor Mendoza was the Mayor of 2, Mayor Bryston was the Mayor of 4 and Mayor Lago was the Mayor of 14.

Diamond was a blonde haired, blue eyed slender man. I wasn't surprised as most D1 citizens were blonde haired and blue eyed. If you were blonde haired and blue eyed in 1, you were considered the epitome of beauty.

Mendoza looked much more aggressive. He was bald, muscular and had dull grey eyes. Unlike Diamond, Bryston and Lago, who were wearing suits, Mendoza wore a white vest and trousers. That was probably because he couldn't fit his muscular body into a suit.

Bryston had sea blue eyes and ginger hair. Looking into his eyes was like looking into the ocean.

Lago was slender. He had brown hair, with grey hair at the sides and brown eyes. He looked a lot more miserable than the other mayors.

"Cattrall, that's Diamond, Mendoza, Bryston and Lago. Guys, this is Cattrall, Mayor of District 13." Adon had pointed out of each of the mayors to me, even though I could read their names on their name card.

"You look awfully young and inexperienced for a Mayor. How old are you?" Diamond remarked. I nervously laughed before responding to him.

"I'm 20 years old, Sir. A lot of my family have been Mayors of District 13."

"Ah, so you're a legacy Mayor. I see now." Bryston commented, just managing to get his comment into before Lago could interrupt him. Mendoza was just observing what was going on around him.

"Most of your district supports Jason, doesn't it?"

"Yes, Mayor Lago."

"I hope you quash the rebels in your district. Don't make the wrong decision by sympathising with them."

Once again, I nodded.in agreement, trying to conceal anything that would suggest my actual views, one of them being that I supported the rebels, before taking my place at the table. Like the other mayors, a name card had been placed at my seat.

"Gentleman, since the war began, there has been numerous deaths and rebellious acts reported. Six districts have defected to Jason's side so now he has control over them. These districts are, unsurprisingly, the outlying districts and that's where most of the reports of rebellious acts originate. It's also been reported that Jason is now attempting to get District 5 to defect to his side. We need to stop this happening and you gentleman must do everything you can to maintain your hold on your districts. Eva..."

A young woman, her silky sun-kissed hair tied back into a ponytail, walked into the meeting room, dressed smartly and professionally in black.

"Yes, President?"

"How many deaths have been reported so far?"

"At least 140, President. About 90 rebels, 20 civilians and 30 Peacekeepers. These deaths have all been traced back to the districts which Jason now has control over. There's been no reports of deaths in other districts so far."

"Thank you Eva."

Eva walked out of the meeting room.

"I have a proposal." Mendoza suddenly announced. Adon gave him the notion to explain his proposal.

"We could send 200 Peacekeepers to each of the outlying districts to patrol them. And then we could create a secret network of spies and informants. The spies and the Peacekeepers will be working together. This way, we can bring down Jason and the rebels with ease. It's obvious that there's spies and informants working for Jason and there's going to be Peacekeepers who have defected to Jason's side, probably by bribery, so this should give us all the more reason to create an opposing network of spies."

"I like this idea, Mendoza. In fact, I will put this idea into motion. The main base of operations of the network of spies will be located in District 2. And 200 Peacekeepers will be sent to each of the districts to patrol."

Mendoza smirked at Adon accepting his proposal. The other mayors seemed to agree with his proposal. So now a solution had been agreed on for that issue, a solution needed to be agreed on for the next "issue": preventing Jason from convincing District 5 to join his side.

"As of District 5, this could be an operation for the spies."

"Okay."

And then finally, the matter of Serena and her death. But before that...

"Cattrall, where does your opinion on the war lie? Are you for Adon? Are you neutral? Or are you like your district, against us?" asked Lago. I remembered that I couldn't say anything pro-Jason in front of the President and the Mayors of the Career Districts.

I decided to take the risk of lying. I wasn't a good liar because I hardly lie. When I did, it was for my district.

"I am currently neutral, analysing every option I have to see if it will benefit my district."

Surprise was on the faces of the men before me. However, a part of me did feel that they weren't convinced by my lie. But it was what the President was about to say next that worried me.

"I have figured out a solution to the District 13 female tribute issue. Cattrall, tonight you will gather all of the females in your district, aged between 12 and 18, and host a nighttime reaping. As soon as a female is reaped or someone volunteers, you will send that female on a freight train straight to The Capitol. That female will arrive on time for the next part of the training session tomorrow."

Reaping at night? This will obviously anger most of my district and I don't want to anger my district. My district wants me to get District 13 out of the Games, not send another civilian of the district into them. But that would result in my execution. My head would be placed with the heads of the rebels who had been already been slaughtered by the Peacekeepers.

When knowledge of the reaping reaches Jason, I know there's an advantage, a bright side. He'll know that this was all Adon's orders.

"So do you agree to follow my orders?"

I had no choice.

"Yes."

''I may have just agreed to follow Adon's orders and I will anger my district, but I will reedem myself. If my district supports Jason, then I support Jason.''

District 13: Nighttime Reaping (Kaleido Esquire's POV) (1st Person)
It was 11 at night. Two hours ago, everyone in District 13 was given a notice to get any females aged between 12-18 that they lived with ready to attend a nighttime reaping.

Like everyone else in the district, I knew why this reaping was being held. To find a replacement for Serena, the siren-fairy hybrid girl, after her death.

District 13 was now under the control of the President's son, meaning that the district was now a rebel district. And because 13 was a rebel district, the majority of 13's civilians were now rebels. Those civilians wanted 13 out of the Games, especially after Serena's sudden death, but Cattrall was sending another civilian into the Games to join Dean, so the young Mayor will have to see to angry civilians tonight.

''But then again, Cattrall was probably pressured into hosting the reaping by Adon. After all, he did leave the district earlier for The Capitol. Yeah, he's obviously been pressured into hosting it. So this was Adon's work, not Cattrall's.''

I had a shower and then I got changed into a black T-shirt and black pants. I put on my favourite dark heeled boots and my favourite pair of earrings. I styled my hair in what I consider to be my trademark hairstyle, a tight bun with not a single strand out of place.

After styling my hair, I put on my leather jacket.

Once I was dressed, I was immediately escorted out of the house by my parents. As soon as we left the house, the cold nighttime draft immediately hit me. I decided to take one quick glance at the beautiful night sky, which was covered in tiny stars. From down here, they looked like diamonds. Then there was the glowing moon.

Here's the thing. I wasn't born into some ordinary family. I was born into the Esquire family, a family that has produced masses of victors and has gained respect from the Capitol and the Career Districts, thanks to the friendly rivalry we have with the Idylwylds, a well-known family from all over the freaking country. My parents smirked when they saw that Bridget had volunteered to be the Capitol female tribute.

The Esquires were originally called Aspen, but one of the Aspens were given the honorary title of Esquire and that title was then passed on to the next generation. Over time, it eventually merged into our last name. But as a reminder of the past, my parents gave me the middle name of Aspen: so my name was Kaleido Aspen Esquire.

You'd think I'd be proud of this. But I'm not. I've always hated the Esquire-Aspen way of life. I hate the Careers too, but I keep quiet about it obviously because if I just blurted it out in front of my parents, they'd disown me. That's why I keep my opinions to myself and I keep up appearances.

I'm not against my family or my family's traditions, but I'm not loyal to them either.

However, my personal opinions haven't stopped me from being influenced by my family. I tend to mentally criticize. One of the traditional Esquire traits to criticise. I also like combat and fighting, I'm knowledgeable in these things. In addition, I'm a perfectionist and I'm determined; willing to strain myself to reach success. All of these traits can be found in Esquire family members.

I went to the Career Academy not because my parents urged to but because I wanted to; for combat. Those who picked on me immediately shut up when I revealed my last name to be Esquire, making my life that little bit easier. That was the beauty of being in a family like the Esquires. I didn't like being one but people would either leave me alone, just stare at me in awe/shock/whatever or bow when I informed them that my last name was Esquire. Thanks family.

But there's also the part of me that hated it. Hated having this respect all because of my family name.

My dad is, unsurprisingly, strict. Ever since I was younger he's pushed me to train and volunteer. I didn't want to but in order to keep up appearances, like I said, and avoid being the black sheep of the family, I went ahead and followed my dad's orders. However, luck has been on my side. When I was 12, I volunteered but a different volunteer went up onto the stage. I was spared for a year and for that year I was in relief, until I was 13 and I reluctantly had to volunteer again. That year, someone else got picked. When I was 14, there was another volunteer.

I was relieved. But my parents weren't. They were outraged.

It carried on until now because luck's no longer on my side. It's dried up.

I observed my surroundings a lot. People stared at me due to me being an Esquire. When they didn't stare, they bowed. Like always. My parents just wanted me to keep walking forward to the square.

After I said goodbye to my parents, I got my fingerprint scanned by the Peacekeepers. They didn't say anything to me, leaving me alone, which a part of me wanted.

I walked to the 17 year olds barrier. I stood at the back of the barrier, looking towards the stage. When I did look around, most of the people here were unsurprisingly tired or angry, ready to unleash their anger upon Cattrall.

And I was right.

Cattrall looked and sounded exhausted.

"Hello and welcome to the-ergh nighttime reaping of District 13."

People yelled insults at Cattrall, the main one being traitor.

"This reaping will be held to look for a replacement for Serena."

The insults continued. But there were also questions that were being asked:

"Why are you sending a civilian into the Games?", "Why aren't you taking District 13 out of the Games?", "Does this mean you support Adon?", "Why are you doing this?"

"I am following the President's orders." Cattrall replied. That's when things turned ugly. Someone threw a rock at his direction, but they missed. Cattrall looked officially terrified.

The whole crowd began to shout, yell, scream and chant loudly. The most popular chant was "Cattrall is a traitor, a traitor to the rebel cause". Cattrall looked on not only in terror, but in disbelief too. He was losing control of his district because they thought that he was a traitor by following Adon's orders, but I was one of the people who could see that Cattrall supported Jason.

''"SILENCE!" ''Someone yelled. I immediately recognised the voice as Jason's. As soon as Jason arrived onto the stage, everyone shut up. Like always, Jason wore his white eyepatch. His attire right now was a black cloak, a white shirt, black pants and black shoes.

"Jason, aren't you supposed to be in District 5?" asked one of the crowd.

"I am currently undergoing negotiations with the District 5 mayor, so yes. But I've been hearing a lot of things about how Mayor Cattrall here has been treated by you guys."

It was like the rebels were the students in a classroom, Cattrall was the supply teacher that nobody was listening to and Jason was one of the respected teachers.

"Jason, he's doing what Adon say-"

"Mayor Cattrall is not loyal to Adon. He is loyal to me. He's giving Adon what he wants whilst actually supporting me. So what he is doing is actually saving your lives because if he had revealed to Adon what he truly thinks, he'd be dead. Adon already wants us dead so the least you can do is be appreciative of the actions taken to prolong your lives, as a lot of them will be lost in this war."

Everyone was still silent.

"Now, let Cattrall resume with the reaping."

Cattrall glanced at Jason, probably to thank him, before walking over to the reaping bowl. He didn't rummage through the reaping bowl for an envelope, he picked the first one that was in his reach.

After picking up the envelope, he opened it up.

"Melisant C-"

"I volunteer!" I shout. All the attention was suddenly diverted onto me. I could sense my parents gazing at me from behind.

"Come on up." Cattrall ordered. Quickly, I walked out of the barrier and made my way up onto the stage. To deceive my parents, I pretended to be energetic and enthusiastic when the reality was that I was unwilling to go through with all of this.

"What's your name?" The Mayor asked. Jason was standing behind him, looking at me.

"My name is Kaleido Esquire."

After facing me, Cattrall turned his attention to the crowd of females.

"Kaleido Esquire, the female tribute for District 13."

Silence continued to linger. All I could think about was my unwilling fight for survival. It had commenced the moment I had volunteered.

Jynx Corradini, District 10 Female
Today was the second training session, but apparently it's not going to be physical training. From what I've heard, it's going to be mental training. But then again, it's only what I've heard from other people.

Everyone is so serious and tense. I know Panem is going through a rough time at the moment but I think there should be some light hearted comedy around here, just to soften the atmosphere a bit. Luckily, I'm the person who always provides light hearted comedy...by pranking of course! Hardly anyone was here. There was only me, Adam, Dansi and Monoro here.

Out of the three males, I picked Adam. But now it was time to choose the prank I'd play on him. What should I do? Should I just go for something classic like the ol' slip up on a banana peel? Or should I go for something more complex?

But then again, if I went with something complex, I'd probably get busted easier as there's only four of us here and there's no stations.

Classic it is then.

I decided to go with my first idea, the banana peel. I noticed that one of the Gamemakers on the balcony was scoffing a banana. I couldn't get up onto the balcony unless I was a Gamemaker or a Peacekeeper.

In order to get to the balcony to ask the Gamemaker for the banana peel once he had finished scoffing the banana, before all of the tributes arrived, I had to disguise as a Peacekeeper. But before that, I'd have to sneak into the Peacekeeper Uniform room.

The lengths I go to to prank people.

As more tributes arrived, I stood near the back of the room, near the door to the Uniform Room. Two Peacekeepers were stood nearby. I needed them to leave. Luckily for me, Bridget and Lizzy were at war again, just seconds after they had arrived.

"Bridget, please stop. You're getting annoying with your unnecessary boasting."

"Oh really? Well get used to it, because it's true. I am going to be the victor."

The other Careers seemed to agree with Lizzy. I think I heard Severus and Aquilo talk about usurping Bridget as leader of the Careers yesterday.

Oh well, that's them. As the two females got into another catfight, the nearby Peacekeepers gripped them and took them out of the room. Dansi and May looked at me. I responded by putting a finger to my mouth, signalling my desire for them to not spill the beans on what I was about to do. They nodded in confirmation.

When Katia exited the room, probably to talk to Bridget and Lizzy, I made my move and entered the room. Nobody was here.

Peacekeeper uniforms surrounded me. I expected the uniforms to be heavy, but surprisingly they were light. I put on one of the suits. Immediately, my body felt somewhat sweaty. After putting on the suit, I put on the helmet.

And now I can get the banana peel.

I could see through the helmet and it's dark lense, so luckily I knew where I was going. I opened the door and closed it. From where I stood, the balcony was technically above me, so no one on the balcony could see me. Besides, the Gamemakers were probably drinking and scoffing down too much food to even care.

The room was still occupied by only tributes. I ignored the other tributes and used the door next to the Uniform Room door. This door actually led to the staircase, which led to the balcony. I walked up the staircase and entered the balcony.

Immediately I saw that the Gamemaker was currently not here and he threw the banana peel in the bin. In fact, none of the Gamemakers were here.

Adon probably called them to a meeting.

I took the peel out of the bin and went down the staircase. When I went back out into the training center, nobody was there.

What was going on?

I placed the peel secretly next to a barrier and then rushed back into the Uniform Room. I took off the suit and managed to sneak back into the now returned crowd of tributes, when it happened...

Adam slipped over the banana peel.

"What's this banana peel doing here?" Adam asked angrily. I walked over to him, cheering my catchphrase for everytime I had successfully pulled off a prank.

"You just got Jynxed!"

Everyone was either giggling or staring. Adam stared at me for a moment, before giggling himself.

"You got me there."

I giggled with him and helped him back up on his feet when he offered his hand.

Adam Rintha, District 6 Male (Placeholder tribute)
I have to admit. She did get me. But joking aside, I had to focus on the Games. After Jynx helped me up, Katia entered the room.

"Hello tributes. Before I tell you what's going to happen today, I'd like to introduce the District 13 female tribute." The way that Katia was moving her hands suggested that Serena's replacement was about to walk through the door in a second.

And she did. She looked militaristic. Her raven black hair had been placed in a bun, she was lean but slightly muscular and she had dark eyes.

"This is Kaleido Esquire."

When I observed the other tributes, I saw that those from the Career Districts either bowed, stared or grinned at Kaleido. That's when I remembered.

The Esquires are a family of victors.

Kaleido walked over to the Careers. All attention diverted back to Katia.

"Today is going to be mental training."

Suddenly, a major screen appeared behind Katia and buzzers rose from out of the ground. All 32 buzzers were in a row.

"Pretend your mental training is a game show. I will ask you questions, mainly to do with general knowledge. Whoever buzzes in first and gives me the right answer will receive a point. The person with the most points will end getting a higher training score as a reward."

With the mentioning of the reward, many of my fellow tributes' faces lit up like lights. Especially the Careers.

Lizzy
Well now I had a reason to be interested in this. Katia was offering the tribute who answers all of the questions correctly a higher training score.

Meanwhile, when everyone was suddenly buzzing with intrigue over what was happening, I had remembered the vial of deep blue poison. I still wondered who gave this to me and why.

I was quick to assume that it was someone who was involved in the civil war. I still think that this was the case.

I kept the poison in my chambers. I figured that I should use it as a secret weapon. After all, it was given to me.

After remembering the poison, I quickly glanced at Bridget.

I'm gonna get you.

Another person also glanced at Bridget. The girl from 12. She also glanced at me, like as if she knew something that me and Bridget didn't know.

Weird but okay.

"Okay, first question. We'll start off with easy ones. Last year, how many tributes died-"

Both Bridget and Severus buzzed in, but it was Severus who buzzed in first, Bridget buzzing in seconds later.

"25." Severus responded.

"And that is correct."

Huxley Binarie, District 3 Male
Unsurprisingly, it was the Careers who had answered the most questions, mainly Severus and Bridget, who were at a tie. Camiren, Bluebella and Lyssander were not far behind. I got three of the questions right.

"Final question. What was the name given to the DNA contained in the rat muttations of the 120th Hunger Gam-"

Before Katia could finish asking the question, Severus buzzed in.

"Project Decode."

"Correct. Severus, you have won. You get a higher training score." Katia smiled. As Severus revelled in his joy and Bridget's dismay, "EUGH!", Peacekeepers suddenly burst into the room and started grabbing us.

"What's happening?!" Katia asked the Peacekeepers, in sudden panic.

"New orders from the President." One of them responded. Another Peacekeeper tightly clutched my left arm and carried me away into this secret corridor. I was following the Peacekeeper who had hold of Hilda, the female from 2, and behind me was the Peacekeeper who had hold of my district partner, May.

What was going on?

Finally, the corridor had somewhat broken off into individual, white tiled rooms. The Peacekeeper who had tightly clutched my left arm had now shoved me into the room nearby. Before I could react towards the Peacekeepers, they had locked the metal door behind me, now sealing me inside this white, tiled room.

The only other thing that was in this room besides the glistening white tiles were wall sconces on each of the four walls.

"Hello tribute."

I heard an automated voice behind me. A loud automated voice. I turned around to see that the voice was from a hologram. The hologram depicted a woman who looked very plain, with her hair tied up in a bun. She looked similar to Kaleido in terms of appearance.

"What's going on? Why are all the tributes being kept in these white rooms?" I ask the hologram.

"Under the orders of the President, every tribute is required to take an aptitude test. However, this is not any ordinary aptitude test. This aptitude test has been designed especially to fit the circumstances surrounding Panem at the moment. It determines whether you align with our glorious President or his opponent. You could even be neutral. Shall we begin the aptitude test?"

"Yes." I say to the hologram.

''"Very well. Please be seated." ''