Disclaimer: I do not own the majority of the characters nor the world and part of the plot. These belong to either Shannon Messenger or Susanne Colins.

Fitz was coming over today from district 4. Sophie's heart rushed with excitement; Fitz had been the one who found her when she was 12. Ever since she'd had a mega-crush on him; her heart fluttered like a butterfly stuck inside her whenever she saw him. It was stupid really. He would almost definitely reject her. But there was a boy downtown, Keefe he was called. He was an empath; imported from district 4 to get away from his dad, at least according to him. He attended Foxfire like Sophie, and was guaranteed to get into the elite levels, as he had a special ability even if he wasn't the president's son. And by president, that was President Gisela, or Lady Gisela as she was called before.

'I should be going too," she thought darkly. 'I have more than enough abilities.' She prevented herself from picturing them all - despite her mind being supposedly impenetrable, it was quite possible that one of the Neverseen's goons might pick up on her thoughts. And that wouldn't be pretty. At best, she'd be sent into the games. At worst... She dreaded to think.

The games were a tradition that has been going on for nearly 75 years now, and by a tradition, more like a punishment. Years before the council got overthrown, the Neverseen would select two children at random from each district, a boy and a girl, and make all 22 tributes fight to the death. This was excluding the humans, who hadn't yet learned about the Elvin world. The winner would then have their memories wiped before they were sent home.

There was a knock at the door, dragging Sophie out of her daze. She quickly jumped out of her seat, and opened the door to find the whole family was there. Alden and Della were as immaculate as ever, and Biana gave Sophie a friendly smile. But the gap where Alvar should've been was painful. He was a part of the Neverseen; the terrible group that were in control of all the districts. Even the human district.

"Welcome to district 11's reaping day. May the odds be ever in your favour." Sophie said, mimicking the voice of Effie, district 11's monitor

"You're coming along nicely," said Fitz's accented voice. Sophie blushed. "We can't stay for long - we have to get back to our reaping soon, but we'll watch the replay. Well... Assuming we're not..." His voice trailed off. Della gave him a reassuring squeeze, and then told him,

"You'll both be fine. Neither of you have that many names in," she said, trying to convince herself more than anything. "Now, splotching time!" everyone cheered, as Alden pulled out several multicolored balls and placed them on the tables.

"What's this? A splotching match without me!?" A voice said from behind them. Sophie spun round to find a smirking boy with gelled hair and an infamous ability to make Sophie blush.

"Keefe," she muttered, partially embarrassed, and replied "Join in then Keefe, let's see whether I beat you this time."

"Foster, Foster, can't wait for Fitzipoo to get splattered." He replied with a smirk, his eyes burning intently, staring into her brown eyes. She looked away.

"Don't call me Fitzipoo!" Fitz protested.

"Whatever Fitzipoo."

Sophie sighed. Keefe and Fitz lined up to face each other, but Grady directed them out into the garden.

"We're not having a splotching match in here!" He scolded Alden. "Everyone, outside."

***

Sophie lined up to face off Edaline. She was good, but Sophie was much better. At the blow of the whistle Sophie threw her arms out and orange goo covered Edaline's face. She smiled at Sophie, just as Keefe beat Biana, Alden beat Della and Fitz beat Grady. Sophie faced Keefe, and again beat him. Next was Fitz.

Sophie's palms sweated, but she forced a plethora of energy from her core, even a bit of mental energy, out onto the splotcher, and Keefe cheered when pink goo covered Fitz top to bottom. With a flick of his finger it all disappeared from his clothes, onto an unsuspecting Biana. She shrieked, and then grabbed a splotcher and threw it at Fitz. That was all the invitation Keefe needed to get stuck in, and Sophie swore a glimpse of his eyes were shadowed. His mum was leader of the Neverseen, so his dad left her. He and his dad didn't get along, so Keefe moved from district 4 into 11. After a second he returned to normal, and Sophie shrieked as a splotcher missed her by inches. She threw one back at a laughing Biana. It could've gone on forever, except Alden whistled loudly. Sophie swore her eardrums burst.

***

After everyone had cleaned up, the 8 of them sat down to mallowmelt and custard bursts. They were a rare treat ever since the council had fallen, but of course the career districts had them all the time. The umber leaves weren't mushy for once, and they tasted like chicken Sophie ate in district 12. The Vackers waved a hasty goodbye before running to catch their train back. Grady and Edaline led Sophie and Keefe to the town square for the reaping. Grady went to spectators, Edaline to adult talentless, leaving Sophie and Keefe alone in the square.

The Neverseen were the group that had overthrown the council a few days after Sophie arrived, tuning District 6 into the Neverseen's stock supplier, and the Humans were compressed into District 12. That was all in a few days, mind. That December, the first public reaping happened. The talentless and all children between the ages of 12 and 18 were eligible. And the humans were included this time too.

Effie Trinket walked onto the stage in her ridiculously high heels and flowing violet dress, with a grace that made Sophie want her to slip and fall. Sophie unconsciously reached for Keefe's hand. He flinched before curling his hand into hers.

"Today we are very lucky," she began in her nasal voice. "This year, we have our very own President Sencen to open our reaping. How exciting! May the odds be ever in your favour." Keefe paled - it was the first time he'd seen his mum in person for years. The words struck a blow as his mum sauntered onto the stage, smiling creepily at the crowd before saying,

"Welcome all, to the 74th annual games! This year we have 1094 names in the hat, so may the odds be ever in your favour.

Someone pressed a cold lump of metal into Sophie's hand, that on closer inspection looked like a pin off the market. She turned it over, gasping at the intricate metalwork. It looked like a Moonlark, an extremely rare bird. Sophie's head snapped up when she heard President Gisela's voice.

"Ladies go first, as always." Keefe tightened his grip on her hand, while his mum groped around in the women's reaping globe. Sophie's name was in there. Finally, her pale, manicured hand gripped a piece of paper from near the bottom of the bowl. Sophie had a bad feeling at the pit of her stomach, like shadowflux had worked his way into her stomach. It couldn't be her, could it? But the name she called was even worse, though she didn't know that at the time. "The representative for district 11 in the 74th Hunger Games will be..." she unfolded the piece of paper. "Lady Edaline Ruewen."