Forum Thread

Smiling and wrapping Maci in his own hug, he sighed. "Ah, I wouldn't say it's been perfect, but it's not been half bad.. Between you and me.." He lowered his tone a bit, whispering to Maci. "I was searching for you through a few documents, hoping to have a guard ordered to you to keep away certain... Attention." He nodded at the nearby Peacekeepers, clearly meaning, 'I've been looking for you so I can protect you.' "But other than that," he said in a normal voice, "how've you been? I haven't seen you since..." He trailed off, glancing at the sky. "God, it must've been a few weeks after the Games.." Cherry tugged a little on Phenix's jacket, hiding behind her father figure a bit more.

"You have?" Maci asks. She couldn't help but feel guilty. Phenix must've done a lot of work to be able to protect her, and she hasn't lifted a finger for her old friends from the Games. "I appreciate the gesture, any help is necessary." She glances over at Cherry and offers her a kind smile. "Who is this?" She asks warmly, she slowly crouches down so that she can be at face level with the younger girl. "Hello" she greets.
"We got married after the Games" Jaxon explains, noticing that Maci was now too distracted to fill him in. "Even with everything against us, life has been treating us well. We are all happy and content. Maci is finally doing what she loves- nursing" he explains.
"Happy and content? Maybe you two are, I'm always the one reminding you two of the reality we're both in" Asher responds bitterly.

---

Cherry seemed hesitant at first, suddenly terrified at the idea of meeting somebody new. "Cherry Osiris," she managed to say. Behind her, three sets of wings seemed to appear from nothingness, though they stayed folded and hidden as best as they could, clearly unnoticed by Cherry. Phenix, however, allowed himself to join the conversation with Jaxon and Asher. "A job at the hospital? Oh, that's great!" After Asher's comment, he seemed to chew on his cheek. "Tell you what, you three.." He clearly meant Asher Jaxon and Maci, even if Maci was distracted. "Assuming all goes well here, which has a high chance of happening, I want to invite you to stay under my roof for a while.. I'm sure that whatever hardships are still over you can be wiped away." He glanced at the Peacekeepers again, then back to Asher and Jaxon. "If all else fails, I can start paying off the Peacekeepers to keep them off of you. Deal?" He smiled again, holding out his hand for a shake from Jaxon or Asher.

Asher and Jaxon exchange a look. Jaxon, as usual, quickly takes Maci's side. He knows that she'd want to accept, although she'd be hesitant because that would mean being a possible burden.
Asher knows this, but still, it's obvious that he wants to refuse. The last thing he wanted was to drag someone else into this mess. It can't hurt, afterall, he did try to send bodyguards after us. Asher reminds himself. It was also be nice to not have to worry about constantly moving homes. He was also desperate for a break, he had finally reunited with Maci, now he had one more life goal, to get revenge for what the Capitol did to him and his father. All he needed was some down time to plan.
"Alright" Asher agrees, shaking Phenix's hand. Maybe Phenix could help. Asher doubted it, Phenix did have a kid to protect afterall.
"We won't be a burden" Jaxon promises. "If needed, we can pay some sort of rent?" He offers.
...
Maci's eyes soften. She quickly understands that Cherry is shy. Her eyes widen slightly at the sight of her wings and she looks at them with a curious expression. "Whoa, can you fly?" She asks.

---

Scarlett sat daintily atop the roof, eyeing her target. Her wings twitched in annoyance, and she moved her hand to scratch her pointed horns atop her head. A middle-aged man in a professional business suit, holding on to a gold-topped cane. She fluttered down into a nearby alleyway, before transforming into a beautiful woman, and walking seductively towards her target. “Hey.” She mumbles huskily, resting her hand on his shoulder. “What’s a pretty lady like you doing out here all alone?” The man slurred, eyes already swirling with lust. “I got stood up...Do you wanna be my date?” She asked, licking her lips seductively and leaning forward some. Internally she was cringing, horribly disgusted, but she didn’t show it. She led the man into an alleyway, before unsheathing the knife from her thigh, taking it out and stabbing it into the man’s heart, ribs, neck. A total of thirty slashes and stab wounds. Blood gushed out from the wounds, as she collected the blood in vials. She then yanked out the heart, as proof to her temporary owner. She took out a little black notebook, crossed out the name, David Ryan Darkthorn. “Goodbye, father. You never were much use anyways” she spits out, with extreme venom in her voice. Her mother, Echo, had been the victor of the Hunger Games a few years ago. She expected that she might be picked. She swept off in her long gown, spreading her wings and taking to the sky, returning to her quaint little cafe-bookstore place, now without wings or horns, simply in a white dress with intricately woven daisies, and a sun hat with pretty pastel yellow flowers atop it. “Good day, Lifei. Has the Barkers’ flowers been delivered yet? How about the young girl-Molly, has she collected the book she wanted yet?” She closes her eyes and summons a dead body, getting it to patrol the area, accidentally bumping into Cherry.


“Yes, I have indeed. Both have come to collect what they needed.” She pulled Scarlett aside, before mumbling. “Have you done it yet? I need the dead body” Lifei uttered before wrapping up yet another bouquet of flowers, for the dead David Darkthorn , but not before slipping a bomb into the middle. With luck, they’d kill every piece of scum there at his pathetic funeral. More satisfaction for Scarlett, more bodies for Lifei.


The two headed to the reaping. “Screw this bloody crap.” Scarlett mumbles, pushing the Peacekeepers to the side. She snarls, her claws scratching them. The Peacekeepers rush forwards, however not knowing who they are, due to their hooded cloaks. Scarlett digs her nails into a Peacekeeper’s skin, tasting the metallic blood. “Hey, you thirsty?” Lifei asked, already knowing the answer. She glowered at the Peacekeepers, sweeping them to their knees with her staff, before handing Scarlett a bag of blood. “Here, take this as compensation for your pathetic wounded Peacekeeper friend” She shoves the heart of David Darkthorn into their hands, and stalks away

---

Phenix grinned, shaking his head a little. "Trust me, no rent is needed. A favor to a friend, as I do owe her- and you -more than a few." When the handshake was done, he glanced up to the stage, sighing. As of now, it was simply bodies crammed into a space to wait. "And about burdens, there's no reason to worry. If I were to ever consider a friend or a friend-of-a-friend a burden, I wouldn't be a very good friend, no?"

---

Cherry glanced over her shoulder, seemingly only now realizing the wings. "O-oh... Uh.." She spread the wings a little, revealing that they seemed abnormally large. But, if one were to consider that she was indeed a human, not a bird, and that she had solid bones instead of hollow ones, they would clearly need to be that large. Spreading the six wings a little more, Cherry blushed a little. "Yeah, but not very well yet. Dad says I should keep practicing, but Mom says it's too dangerous.." She paused as she felt somebody bump into her, her wings quickly folding close to her to take up as little space as possible. Glancing over her shoulder, she gasped a little. The person who had bumped into her didn't look too well...

Jaxon grins back. "I would never once doubt Maci's judgement, but she was right about you, you are too kind to do this for us. I-" he gestures to Maci and Asher. "We appreciate it." He turns to the stage as well. Even with Asher's reassurance he still was worried that they would be picked. What if Maci counts? Sure there were multiple victors and they didn't receive the money that victor's normally win, but still, that could be used against them. "I just want this d*mn thing to be over with so that I can relax" Jaxon admits.
....
"Practice makes perfect. But your mother is right, that sort of training can be dangerous. But that shouldn't be your reason to refuse to get better. I say you keep practicing, I'm sure there is a safe way to practice flying." She reaches a hand out towards Cherry. "I'm Maci, Maci Lam by the way. I'm a good friends with your father."

---

Lifei sighs, noticing that the body had hit Cherry. She scurried over, Scarlett on her tail. “My apologies, my dear. I didn’t mean it.” Lifei waves her hand, the man thrown directly into a Peacekeeper, causing them to fall down with a ‘oomph’ of shock. “That man’s dead. It accidentally bumped into you.” She bows slightly, before slamming her staff down, and removing the body out of sight. Meanwhile, Scarlett stares at Cherry. “You have wings too.” It was a blunt statement, and not a question, but she didn’t look mad.

---

( sorry for double posting, my internet backed out on me :p )

---

"Aye, that's more than understandable. Relaxation is the one thing a human mind truly desires, and it desires it most when under stress." Sighing again, Phenix placed his hands in his pockets, examining the crowd again. He was slightly paranoid, it seemed. Each person he found with eyes on him could be somebody who wanted his family hurt. Speaking of eyes... Glancing back over his shoulder, Phenix saw Terra marching cautiously towards him and the others.


---


"Cherry Osiris," Cherry repeated, shaking Maci's hand. Glancing at her father as Maci mentioned him, she tilted her head a little. "He was a Victor, right? He likes to tell these great stories about battling alongside you in the Arena." Turning to Scarlett and Lifei, she paused for a moment, clearly speechless.

Gabriell glanced over to Cherry and her mouth dropped open a little.

While the three girls had stopped to look over at Cherry, a Peacekeeper approached the three of them, from behind his helmet's visor, he was glaring straight at the group. Harmony turned back to keep heading to the Reaping, had she been capable of sight, she would've been able to see him in time, only she couldn't and bumped into the peacekeeper and fell into the dirt.

---

"Great stories?" Maci asks with a chuckle. "He thinks too highly of me, your father saved multiple lives in that arena, including mine, at the beginning of the Games. I hope I can share these tales with you one day. And yes, he was a victor in my Games" she explains.

She stands up when they are approached by Scarlett and Lifei. Maci recognizes Lifei, but she doesn't remember ever interacting with her. She steps in front of Cherry and gives the two a suspicious look. "What do you two think you are doing?" She asks, bewildered. She tries to block the body from Cherry's view.
...
Jaxon nods in agreement. He glances at Phenix, now noticing that he seemed to be a bit distracted. In fact, he seemed to be looking around, as if expecting trouble. Jaxon quickly does the same, although he doesn't see what Phenix is seeing.

---

Scarlett dips into a bow “If thou wench fain mark thee surroundings, thou would see thy coz discourses of my dispatched body. Haply, tis verily spectacular thine coz show no fear. Yonder, prithee, a dead body, a foe. Good morrow, for aught a counsel or foe” Lifei chuckles. “Put it simply, un-Elizabethan terms, she is impressed that Cherry isn’t overwhelmingly terrified, and wishes you look around. See, over there, she was scared of the dead body. It didn’t look well. She wishes you seek advice, and differentiate them from foes. We mean no harm” she adds, as a afterthought. Her hood is still down, as is Scarlett’s, and she watches as Scarlett sips on the blood

---

Suvansh wakes up to loud banging at his door, as every day. He stood up, stretched about, yawned, and then went over to the door. "It is the day" said a nervous sound from the other side of the door. His mother. Suvansh's expression turned grim, though he didn't reply. He didn't even open the door to greet her. He, usually, tried to...not look at anyone. "So...?" He asked, to which her mother replies rasply, "You need to be there." He hears her leave, and as her footsteps fade, he went over to freshen himself. He went through his closet, trying to get a good-looking, not to shabby outfit to wear. Even though he didn't meet much people nowadays, his parents did. And he supposed there would be many acquaintances around. And besides, in case he got selected...well...he didn't really care whether he lived or died. His existence was more or less just pain. He puts on his best clothes, a plain white shirt, beige trousers, and a purple waistcoat. It looked a bit too formal to him, but he didn't really care.
He went out of his room finally, had a quick breakfast at the dining table, without exchanging much looks with his family. He was the only child, and had no grandparents. So, it was just him, his mother, and his dad. When he was done, his mom shoved him towards the door. He asked about his dad, and he just shook his head, which meant he wasn't accompanying them. He quickly grabbed his sunshades, though it didn't make a difference to him, it made him feel...safer?

---

At the place of the reaping, he was abruptly stopped by the peacekeepers, for a sample of his blood. He did not look around at the other people, he did not want to. He kept his gaze down. His mother contradicted the peacekeeper, "Hey! Since when do you need the bloo-" "Shush" The peacekeeper poked Suvansh's mother with their rod. That. Was. A. Mistake. "Do. Not. Touch. My. Mother." His eyes went purple. When he looked up at the peacekeeper, he froze on the spot. Suvansh quickly shifted his gaze back to the ground, disgusted. "Hey! Careful with what you do!" A peacekeeper says, tasering him. He could've looked up again, he could've petrified this guard too, or have him writh in pain, but he did not. He let them take his blood, though he did not cooperate much. When they were done, he went and took a seat, not wanting to talk to anyone. He hoped no-one saw what he did there, but he knew it catched a lot of attention. His mother came following him, saying "I heard they changed the rules yet again. They-they are only selecting tributes that have the bloodline of a victor." That brightened his mood. There wasn't any..victor..that he knew of, in his family. At least, he had never heard any proud stories from either of his parents, though, his mother's look said elsewise to him. "There-there isn't any victor in our family, ri-right?" His mother curtly shook her head, no.

---

There was commotion by the entrance as Lauriam staunchly ignored them instead focused on soothing Strelitzia's coughing fits. They had become more frequent as of late, plaguing the young girl at different times of day. Once more, Lauriam was filled with vitriol for the parents that abandoned them, knowing that with winner savings, procuring actual medicine for Strelitzia would be no problem. His sister wouldn't even have the condition in the first place if his suspicious were right but for now all he could do is put lavender under her nose and feed her ginger. To anyone who dared look over at the siblings, Lauriam simply glared as he rubbed his sister's heaving back, letting her cough it out. It felt like a lifetime but in truth it was probably closer to 5 minutes of Strelitzia heaving as she fought to get her breathing under control. It was awful no matter how many times this has happened, the sallow parlor of her face never failing to send chills down his back. "We're going back home. I don't care what you say, you need to rest." He declared, scooping his sister into his arms. It was frightening how light she was, her frail body resting easily in his own scrawny arms. His heart only plummeted even further when all she could manage was a frantic shake of her head and a tight grip on his shirt, hair slipping out of the makeshift hair ties and sticking to her skin. Ignoring her adamant refusal, Lauriam marched back towards the exit, shouldering his way past other to-be tributes.

"And where do you think you're going?" One peacekeeper asked, stepping in front of Lauriam and refusing to budge. Snarling at the wall in front of him, he tried to go around but no matter what he did, his way was still no dice.

"You have eyes, don't you? Where does it look like I'm going." Lauriam sneered, holding his sister even closer. He didn't have time for any dilly dallying. The faster he got home, the faster he could start treating his sister.

Although the mask largely obscured the peacekeeper's face, Lauriam could still sense the disdain that rolled off the guardian's form as he made another attempt to side step the guard. "I don't get it. She's just another street rat. Better to end her suffering in the games than let her live on." Ignoring the red that flared over Lauriam's vision, the peacekeeper waved one had as if non-verbally pushing the seething boy back. "Regardless, the Reaping is starting soon. I'll let you out after if you're that desperate."

---

As the ruckus died down and everyone lined up into place, the mayor stepped forward and began his usual speech about the war and the dark times and how most of the earth and been swallowed up by water leaving behind little land for them to survive on. Then came the part everyone was dreading, the picking. Everyone took a collective breath as he headed over to the ball with the girl's names. He reached his hand in and read off the slips one by one, calling each name.

(Everyone does their own characters, girls first then we'll jump back and do the boys.)

"Robin." "Gabriella." "Harmony." The three girls looked at each other as they slowly approached the stage.

---

“Scarlett Darkthorn, Lifei Varn-Vent-Vanish....you know what. Lifei Olanda.” The confused mayor said. “It’s Vaknov.” Lifei hissed. “get it right, will you? Otherwise I’m gonna cut off that stupid tongue of yours and shove it up your big, fat—“ Lifei stepped onto the mayor’s feet with her pointy heels, Long slender nails gripping his shirt. “He’s not worth your time....” Scarlett announced, dragging Lifei away. Lifei rolled her eyes, shoving the mayor back onto his feet. “Fool.” She uttered. As the next two names was called, she took her heels off and flung them both at the mayor, making sure they hit their target.

---

Zoe exchanged glances with the Peacekeeper holding her. He trusted Zoe about as far as he could throw her, so he was totally preoccupied with her and didn't notice Maci whatsoever. Zoe was tired of him having an iron grip on her shoulder as if she were a dog that would bolt at the first chance. There was a reason, after all, that she was on parole. She should be trusted to not do anything that would end up with her in jail, right? After a silent conversation with the Peacekeeper, she bent down to Angie's level. "I suppose we are, aren't we?" But the actual Reaping was about to begin. She straightened up, and the Peacekeeper took her arm, despite the action earning a dirty look from her, and the other stepped to her level, and they walked forward. The mayor reached in and took out a name, holding it up so that the sunlight did not reveal the inked name on the other side. "Zoe....Ramesh!" He paused, frowning. "Zoe...Ramesh? Ramesh?" He held it up close. "Am I reading this right?" He shrugged, though there was a strong look of worry. "Zoe Ramesh has been selected!" The two Peacekeepers led her up the side of the stage and placed her there, moving away. The crowd was muttering and whispering, but one voice snapped out loud, "I hope you die in the games, freak!" All eyes were on a man whose face seemed to be half burnt. "It's your fault I look like this, I hope you suffer just as much as I did!" Zoe stared straight ahead, emotionless, but her fists clenched.

---

Maci's eyes widen as she watches the first few girls get picked. She pitied them, especially the first three. They would be going against Scarlett, Lifei, and Zoe, who all seemed to be a rough crowd. Her eyes widen at the sight of the man shouting at Zoe. Did she really do that to him?

"Maci Lam" the mayor reads, his tone was mocking and now, despite the confrontation from earlier, he was smiling.

"What!? No!" Jaxon shouts out in disbelief. He is the first to register the news. Both Asher and Maci are silent. Struck silent by shock. A hand roughly grabs Maci's wrist and tears her backwards. She almost falls on her face, but Jaxon's shouts tears her back into reality. "Come on!" He shouts to her and Asher.

But the Peacekeepers had been expecting something like this to happen. They block the exit so that they cannot escape. Both Jaxon and Asher throw themselves at the Peacekeepers. For a moment, it actually looks like the three will escape, it was obvious that the Peacekeepers were not expecting them to actually attack them.

But the moment they snap out of their shock is when the two are done for. The Peacekeeper's don't bother tazing them. They simply beat the two with batons. To Maci's shock, they still don't give up. When they fall they simply stand back up again with more strength and fury. But she can already see that escape is impossible. There were too many Peacekeepers. Already, more were swarming over to them.

"Stop!" She demands. She rushes into the fight and grabs both of their arms, hoping to tear them away from the fight. That's when a baton slams against her the back of her head. For a moment, all she sees is darkness. But then she sees light. She was no longer standing, now she was in Jaxon's arms. Nobody was fighting now, everyone seemed to be watching her. She glances at him with a confused look. Did she get knocked out? What had happened? She could've swore that she was just standing up a second ago.

"You'll regret that!" Jaxon barks out at the Peacekeepers.

"Don't" Maci manages to say. She turns over in his arms so that she can stand now. Jaxon sticks close to her, just in case she falls. "I'll be okay" she whispers to him. She rests her head on the small of his neck and wraps her arms around the back of his neck. "Just like last time, I'll be fine!" She repeats, but at the same volume. "I- I have to be. For-.." She yelps in surprise when hands tear her off of him. The Peacekeepers have grown tired of the sight, and were now dragging her away.

"Maci!" Jaxon shouts. He tries to race after her again, but is stopped by a swarm of Peacekeepers. Both him and Asher don't fight them this time, they simply watch Maci get dragged onstage with desperate looks.

---

As soon as Maci's name was called, Phenix uttered a long string of profanities, the twins next to his legs covering each other's ears as he did. He'd wanted to step in and down the Peacekeepers, shatter their minds.. But a pair of hands grabbing his jacket stopped him. Terra and Cherry stood close, soon whispering to him as he bent low. For a moment, he pondered. Then, he nodded. Stepping over to Asher and Jaxon, he quickly started muttering to them, his children having soothed his wrath. "The one thing I know is that the Capitol is addicted to money. I will do whatever I can to remove Maci from the Games and return her to you, though it may take time. Have faith in her and I, as that may be the only thing keeping her alive. I know she's strong, but the one called Zoe is a known criminal. I fear the worst..."


It had not taken even a few moments after Phenix finished his words before another name was called. "Cherry Osiris." Phenix froze, his eyes traveling slowly to the stage and locking on to the Mayor. There was clearly a bit of fear in his eyes now, as they incidentally locked on to Phenix's. The effect was nearly instant, Phenix's power having grown immensely since the last Games. A roar of fire erupted in the Mayor's mind, the fire and smoke and ash forming a face and bellowing in rage. He simply gasped, unable to cry out or speak. After a moment, Phenix felt a pair of hands cover his eyes, a blank white cloth covering them. Two Peacekeepers turned his the other direction, allowing the Mayor to regain his vanishing sanity and come to terms with reality once again. Shaking the experience off, he watched Cherry approach the stage. She seemed in some state of shock, her steps slow and deliberate, if a bit hesitant. As she was distance from her brother, a pair of black wings that had been neatly folded against her back vanished.


---


Angie had smiled kindly, satisfied with Zoe's response. As she watched Zoe walk up to the stage, she smiled again. Zoe had won the raffle! How exciting! Angie watched Lukian appear in the shadows behind the stage, looming quietly over all of the Tributes. Then, he paused. "Angelina Vlaanheren." After a moment, Angie realized that she had won too. Hurrying up to the stage, she stood next to Maci, quietly linking her hands behind her back and swaying back and forth. A large number of murmurs and gasps passed through the crowd. She's so young! Surely there's been a mistake?