Blades of chaos

Part 2

Joshua and I ran out of the market and into the packed square where thirteen twenty-one-year-olds were packed in front of the stage. I placed myself within the crowd and waited for the Reaper to begin the Reaping. The anthem played and the Reaper, a fairly burly man with a pale face, and disgusting dark yellow hair the color of dulled gold in a dress suit of a yellow more disturbing than that of his hair stepped onto the stage " Hello, District 26!" He squeaked in his high-pitched Olympi accent " I'm your usual Reaper, Octavarius Caesar. Welcome to the 114th annual Games of Hell, before we begin, we shall have a brief recap of the history of the Games of Hell! A huge screen seemingly appeared out of thin air. A video of our history began: Games of Hell, the only punishment deemed fit for the rebels who wiped out ninety percent of our previous population after wars with the gods,' "Lies, the Olympi did it" I muttered under my breath "Hey cupcake, all the districts know, just not the Olympia citizens. Besides, we're being recorded for their entertainment just to keep us in check." Joshua, with his superhuman hearing, replied to my unasked question. ' ...Our Games was created by our most just President Hyde, who has created our fair punishment carried annually, with that in mind...' the narrator carried on about the wiping out of our populace 114 years ago, the judgment of fair punishment, and our separation. I prayed that the Reaper would never draw my name in the Games in the coming eight years while the video played. The sound of the bells tolling abruptly snapped me back to reality, where even the gods have given up on us. "And now, time for the Reaping! Of course, ladies first..." Octivarius pulled out a simple sack with Hades' face etched in the fabric, he pulled out a silver rectangle the size of a business card "Tiffany Morgan" I resisted the urge to scream in delight, Morgan, with my absolute worst enemy was reaped into the Games, she would surely die trying to win! Just then, Morgan groaned " Can I not go on the stage, I hate stages..." She groaned in the crowd as she was ushered on stage, her face showed no signs of worry, anger, or even sadness in the slightest bit, not any hidden. But she smiled, it was beautiful in her, but it had a message etched within her slyness, and even the whole district gasped. "Now, for our other female tribute..." A lead square was drawn "Anastasia Lewis" My very first reaping has already reaped me into the Games, I gingerly walked up the steps and onto the stage, Tiffany grinned, whispering "Not so proud now, Lewis? I was going to volunteer for you if I weren't already reaped..." I cut in " Tiffany, none of your tricks will help you win, we're going to Hell if you didn't know?" Just then, Octavarius interrupted and continued with the reaping "Now, for our male tributes..." I saw Joshua clench his teeth in silent prayer, clearly wishing to not be reaped. " Rylie Grace" Octavarius announced, I felt the blush on my cheeks, and of course, Tiffany smirked "So you like Rylie, Lewis? Why else would you blush like that?" I murmured, " Shut up, Morgan." I secretly had a crush on him and forced myself to stop blushing. Rylie, a fairly muscular and rather charming fifteen-year-old, stepped on the stage. I glared sideways at Tiffany to see her eyes frantically scanning the crowd before relaxing, then stressing once again. Octavarius dipped his hand one final time and drew a gold plaque from the reaping sack, "Jarrod Howells" Tiffany's boyfriend stepped on stage. Tiffany and I blushed so furiously, we looked like we had put on thirty layers of blush, she glared at me, and seeing that I was staring right at her, she said nothing but her gaze and scowl said it all. Octavarius yelled " Wish our tributes, Tiffany Morgan" he gestured towards her, "Anastasia Lewis" gestured to me, "Rylie Grace" gestured towards Rylie, "and Jarrod Howells'' gestured to Jarrod, " luck and may they capture the blessings of the Gods!" We were marched towards the broken-down railway station, almost as if we were being arrested. We separated into different rooms marked with the order of our reaping. My mother came in seconds after I entered and sat down on that one velvet chair. I have a dislike for the feel of the velvet texture and slid onto the soft carpeted floor, I hated everything velvety within the room. My mother's eyes were brimming with tears, while I knew it was all fake, she made me take all the Annona, even though my two brothers both aged 15 were perfectly capable of taking some and even out the load, she would make me do all the hunting and cleaning, basically supplying everything for our family of five while my mother and brothers laze around and do nothing productive. My mother, Juno Black handed me a pin with a half-human, half-iguana set in bronze, quite expensive for us in district twenty-six " for luck, Ana'' she said, though I saw the glint in her eyes when she was most prone to be lying, I trusted her this once and pinned the leprius pin on my shirt. She smiles mysteriously, "I give permission, only in the arena." Soon after, my idiot brothers, Jordan and Polarus Lewis came in and dragged me out of the room, no time for Joshua, I wasn't supposed to talk to him anyway. In the tradition of the Games, female tributes were supposed to be carried onto the train by their male relatives and into their living quarters on the train by the male tributes, who were supposed to stay in the same quarters with the same gender tributes. Outside, Tiffany's father and brother half dragged, half carried a rather seemingly annoyed Tiffany, who was shouting all different kinds of colorful remarks on the situation, my brothers carried me by grasping my arms and lifting me like that, with my feet dragging across the floor, in all aspects, minus the leg flailing and colorful comments, just like Tiffany was being dragged. Her face did well hiding her fear behind all the resentment and anger, however, nothing could hide the wounds left behind by a knife, I knew it too well. For the first time in my life, Tiffany Morgan is vulnerable, weak, and afraid, everything she showed she wasn't, all revealed to me in four gashes on her arms. I heard her father yell at her, but it wasn't spoken in English, nevertheless, Tiffany understood and let out a whimper before her brother hoisted her onto the train, before my brothers passed me on board, Tiffany's father, clearly disgruntled by his daughter behavior, tore up the only picture of her in his possession " You are no longer my daughter, Tiffany" She broke up sobbing and I just didn't know what to think, I've learned so much information in the last three minutes, I couldn't see Morgan as the aggressive, arrogant bully anymore, she seems so weak, helpless and vulnerable, how could she take this? On board, Octivarius noticed Tiffany sobbing quietly in her quarters, and asked her if she was feeling unwell. I was trying to comfort her, to no avail. Octivarius shoved me aside and outside her quarters. Once outside, I saw Tiffany's ever-annoying boyfriend, Jarrod lounging on the sofa. Once he saw me, he seized me up, "What did you do to my girlfriend, Lewis? Have you damaged her until she bent to your will?" He pinned me to the wall while questioning me on and on about Tiffany, "Jarrod! Why would I do..." as I replied, he snapped " You cannot fool me with your silver tongue, Lewis! I know you have harassed my girlfriend and you. Will. Pay. In. The games." Being from the wealthiest part of district twenty-six, he had enough strength to pick me up and throw me into the wall with one hand. Dazed, I slumped by the wall having my strength sapped out by pain, I heard Tiffany screaming in her quarters, but it was muffled by the door and the pain, I looked across the train car, it seemed so far from my place by the wall, my head began to swim and I blacked out. I woke up with Rylie kneeling next to me, saying, " Anastasia Anastasia, you're finally awake!" I groaned "How long was I out?" He shrugged " Long enough for us to pick up the District twenty tributes, there's no clock, I can't tell exactly how long, so there. Oh, you missed four meals already." I loved his voice, smooth and sweet as honey. I struggled to pull myself up with the pain in my legs, I looked down and let loose a scream, someone had cut 'Heartless traitor' onto them and a pool of blood collected at the base of my thighs. Octavarius flung Tiffany's door, as he was still inside when I screamed, and had the medics come to treat my wounds, they smeared some clear gel on them and the wounds closed rapidly, leaving no scars at all. He helped me to my feet, and I ran into my shared quarters with Tiffany, wanting to hide from everybody on board despite my stomach's protests. Inside, Tiffany's eyes were bloodshot from all the crying. Despite this, she still pulled off her usual tone speaking to me, "Tell me why are you here, Lewis. Why shouldn't I tell your secret to Rylie and Joshua?" The color drained from my face. Five years ago, before we became enemies, Tiffany came across me at school. My father was still alive, so I was a person who didn't have a care in the world (Other than food). Tiffany saw me in the field writing in my possession, on the blank page, I wrote 'To whoever is reading this, though I haven't an idea who you are, I trust you with a secret. I feel like confessing my love for Tiffany Morgan, I think I am lesbian, I've had feelings for her since we first met, growing stronger with every passing month. I can no longer hold my feelings for her, no matter the objections of the Olympia or President Hyde, I MUST confess...' Tiffany, being her usual self five years back, grinned " What did you write there, Ana?" She snatched my notebook and read aloud, to my horror and every child on the meadow's delight. When she finished, she grinned, "So, you like me, Ana? Sorry but I'm straight." I don't know why but I hated her from then on, not wholeheartedly, but enough to drown out the love I still held for her, romantically. Sure, I loved Rylie but my affection for Tiffany was so much more powerful, it left my affection for Rylie feeling hollow. "Lewis, are you still here?" Tiffany slapped me back to the present, " You were out for like, an hour," "Tiffany..." I started but was abruptly stumped by how beautiful she looked when she wasn't either crying or raging, her eyes were no longer bloodshot and her pale face brought out the beauty within her amber eyes and rosy cheeks, her ponytail was undone and her long, dark hair flowed down her shoulders as a wavy waterfall would. Instead of her pale green dress which she wore during the reaping, Tiffany was dressed in a white sleeveless gown trimmed with gold, silver armbands circled her biceps, it seemed so unnatural seeing her like this, I've known her all my life as a brute, I would've never known this side, she was exactly how I pictured Aphrodite to look like, if she came from Olympus, I wouldn't have a clue who is who. "Are you done staring yet, Lewis? Should I slap you again?" I didn't know I was staring at her until she said it. I was startled, "Wha...Tiffany, I never saw you looking like this, anyone would fall madly in love with you..." Tiffany cut in, "Ana, is that love for me...in you still there, you sound weirder than usual, like the tone someone would use to declare their love," "Tiffany! Why are you always changing personalities? One moment, you're flirty, the other, you're just like, too vulnerable!" I sound exasperated, even with my standards. Tiffany just sighs, "Anastasia, you know we are being recorded every moment, except when we are in the quarters, we have to make ourselves look better to the Olympians, Aesir, Vanir... every deity and not to mention, Olympia's citizens, I don't want my death to be caused by some god thinking I'm worthless or something!" "Of course I know we're... wait, what?" Tiffany sighs and just told me to shower and maybe get some rest. I stepped into the bathroom within the quarters and stood there, for a solid minute, just staring. I went through the stupidest cycle I've ever done. Back home in Twenty-six, I would have been whipped for wasting precious water, but onboard the train to the Games, what was there to lose? I filled the bath and sat there, with the water up to my neck, and tried to enjoy myself. An hour and a half passed till I finally decided to leave the rose-scented bath. Once I stepped out, I felt a strong wave of heat and I was dried immediately. I dug around the closets, ignoring my black gown from the Reaping. I put on a white nightgown and went out for dinner, a bowl of stew sat on the table, having sat there for hours. I have no appetite for anything anyways, I was just hungry for something to eat, more than I ever was at twenty-six. Just as I was about to head back to my shared quarters, Octavarius came in from the boys' quarters, " Hey, Anastasia! Haven't seen you since you passed out, you must've been starving, let's get you some supper." He called for the servers and requested another bowl of stew. When it was served, I stir it around and asked, " Caesar, for all these years watching the games, do you have any strategy that could, perhaps, help me in the games?" He gave a slight chuckle, " Why don't you eat your stew while I tell you?" I reluctantly began, and Octavarius says " Look, Anastasia, all I know is, the games were made as a peace treaty with the gods for our Thousand Year War with them, they are the ones you want to please. Once you do something they have firm disapproval of, you will be struck down immediately. They have one hundred and twenty tributes, you are just another competitor until the last ten tributes are left," I interrupted, "Octavar...how do I pronounce your name? Caesar, if the games are held in the underworld as you said, won't we be technically unkillable?" He replies, " Anastasia, firstly, my name is pronounced Oct-ta-va-ri-us. Second, the gods have created an arena in the underworld which changes every year. Once you die, you simply resurrect in the Hall of Judgment and live out your eternal fate in whichever mythical afterlife you're supposed to be in, I believe that answers your question." I fidget with my spoon, " So, no strategy" Octavarius sighs, " None noteworthy for a person like you, most need either physical or mental prowess, which you don't have," I was tempted to tell him about my life beyond the fence, how I could spear any prey within forty feet, but I would be immediately executed, leaving Joshua feeding both of our families. I say, " Octavarius, just tell me, I'll need them quite soon..." He didn't quite see why I needed to know, "Anastasia, there's nothing we know about the arena, it's different every year, never repeating for the past one hundred and eighteen years, only if you adapt to your environment, then will you ever have a chance of winning," Obviously, I hate this, but that was the best advice I presumably will receive from Octavarius. I set down my spoon and left for some rest, if possible. I sat down on the mattress, having it much thicker and more comfortable than the one back home, my brain started wondering if this was Olympia's way of making the tributes' last days more enjoyable. The walls separating each quarter were quite thin, I could hear both district twenty-five tributes' snores, it was like they were snoring through megaphones. Being unable to sleep, I decided to go through Tiffany's conveniently placed journal. Once I read her whole journal, her newest entry was in a dulled red, the color of blood. At this moment, I realize her journal is written, not ink, but blood. Dark thoughts clouded my mind, her entries discussed different strategies for the games, accumulated over years of watching tributes in the games, but written in the blood of a human, 'Why?' I wonder, 'how could she get the blood?' The answer hit me, so simple, yet horrifying. She had collected her blood from her countless wounds and written with a quill, using the blood as ink. Holding this has already disgusted me without knowing it was written in slowly rotting blood, I hear a familiar voice, " I see you have a certain degree of interest in my journal, or maybe that's repulsiveness? Don't go through it, Lewis." Of course, Tiffany just had put on one of her creepy smiles while telling me to not read it. "I...I read it..." I barely managed to utter the words, "You know what it's written in?" "Yeah, I do..." She doesn't look the least bit concerned, " Go do something productive, we can talk...later" I don't know why, but I went out and saw we were already entering the Olympia, the white and gold buildings made up the entire city. I decided to find Rylie, I couldn't see him anywhere in the common room, so I knocked on the other Quarters door. Unfortunately, Jarrod was the one to answer, "Have you come to confess your wrongdoings, Lewis?" "What do you mean?" I'm confused, I've done practically nothing since boarding awkwardly, then I remembered Jarrod accusing me of harassing Tiffany, which I didn't. "You know what I mean. Stop pretending to be innocent." I snapped "Jarrod, why don't you ask your so-called 'girlfriend', she might tell you..." "Anastasia, how do I know you didn't threaten her to say what you want? But very well, I will ask her." He pushed me aside and stormed into our quarters. I went inside, and saw Rylie on the bed before I could say anything, he said " Haven't seen you since the reaping, how are you, Ana? Why are you exclusively finding me?" " Look, I..." before I finished my sentence, an ear-piercing scream cut me off, "Jarrod, get off me! What are you doing!?" That voice sounds familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time, I just realized there could only be one person who screamed. Tiffany. A grunt followed and all was quiet once more. Rylie and I stood there, stunned, though we couldn't see it, the sounds already branded an image in our minds. We stood there, dumbfounded, and watched as Octavarius burst open the door and stormed inside, I could feel the gods taking interest and watching our every move and the cameras focused on the two. We hear the crack of a whip, I subconsciously hold Rylie's hand tighter and whisper, " What do you think is happening in there?" " I don't know, some horror, for sure." The train slows to a halt and a tinny speaker announces " Welcome to the Olympia, the mortal equivalent of Olympus and Asgard, enjoy your stay and enjoy the Games!" The doors open and I see the other tributes for the first time, they are all huge compared to us, we are led to a secluded room near the station, behind a blinding white building