01: THE REAPING

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"YOU READY  to leave yet?" Euphrosyne heard her father's voice.

She rushed her way down the stairs, hand gripping on the railing to prevent herself from falling down, given how slippery their stairs could get. "Almost!" 

Putting on her shoes was the first thing she did as soon as she reached the end of the stairs. The girl hopped on one leg while trying to, both tie her shoelaces, and make her way towards the door. 

Helios looked at his daughter with a dissaproving look. "How many times do I have to tell you to not walk and tie your shoelaces at the same time?"

"Well, technically I'm not walking." Euphro grinned. "I'm hopping."

"Well, technically I don't want you to fall and break your nose again." The older man crossed his arms,  a slight hint of mockery in his voice.

"Oh, come on, dad! That was like three years ago." She walked past her father, straight for the door. "Now, let's go before we're late." The man didn't even get the chance to reply as she was already running out the door.

"Euphro, wait up!" He called after her. "No need to rush."

"Sorry." She waited until her father caught up with her before continuing walking. "I just really want to know who won the Plinth prize."

"You're one of the top students, think you'll win it?"

"I hope not." The girl scoffed. "We already have more money than we need, what could I possibly do with some prize? Besides, I'm rooting for Coryo. He's been pretty fixated on it."

Helios hummed in return, seemingly lost in thought for a second. "Which one is Coryo again?"

Euphrosyne sighed, shaking her head. Her dad wasn't too fond of people, especially Capitol people, which was ironic considering that they're both from the Capitol. Point is, he never remembered any of her friends, besides Sejanus, if she was lucky. The girl found it strange at times, it wasn't like she had many friends to remember. "Are you serious?"

"It's not my fault." He put up his hands in surrender. "The oldness must be getting to me."

"Haha, very funny." She said sarcastically, though a big smile appeared on her face. "Coriolanus Snow, the blonde guy."

"Of course!" Her father clapped his hands together. "How could I possibly forget? He's the one with all the handkerchiefs."

Euphrosyne snorted, finding it amusing how out of all things, that's the one he chose to remember Coriolanus by. "Right."

Their light-hearted conversation was soon replaced by a peaceful silence. Atleast, it was peaceful until her mind wondered to the reaping. Euphro despised Reaping day and anything to do with it, including the Hunger Games. Especially the Hunger Games.

She was brought up to despise them. Seems like she was the only one, besides Lysistrata, maybe. Everyone else either loved them or didn't care about them. It was strange. How could you let a bunch of innocent children fight eachother to the death and not feel a pang of sympathy? Euphrosyne supposed it was just another one of the Capitol's many mysteries.

Sejanus agreed, but then again, he wasn't from the Capitol to begin with. A lot of people seemed to dislike him, even hate him, because of it. Hypocrites is what they were.

The girl still remembered the day they first met. The day they became friends. He had been introduced by the teacher and was immediately ignored by every one of their classmates. Some would whisper things like "Don't touch the district boy, you might catch a disaese." Others would simply stare at him in disgust, which still had the same amount of impact.

He sat alone at lunch. No one came near him. She still remembers the sad look on his face. Sejanus' lip was trembling as if he was about to burst out in tears any moment. That was until Euphrosyne came up to him, standing across the table with a bright smile.

"Hi! You're Sejanus, right? My name is Euphrosyne." She had told him as she took a seat across from him without a care in the world. Sejanus had been too scared to answer, so he nodded instead. Though the fear was gone as soon as the girl started rambling about her interests, as if they had been friends for years.

After that they became inseparable. She sat next to him during class, kept him company during lunch and wasn't afraid to defend him against the classmates that dared to insult him. He would do the same for her. Euphro, from a young age, was considered 'strange'. Not only because she empathized the districts, but also because of her weird jewlery and having a habit of talking to random beetles passing by. Sejanus was one of the few people who saw through that. He was her best friend, her brother.

She felt a finger poke her arm, startling her out of her thoughts. "You okay, Euphro?" Her father asked.

She shrugged. "Just not too thrilled about the Reaping, I guess."

"Me neither." He sighed. 

Most people weren't required to watch the reaping, though they did so anyways. Helios, however, worked for Dr. Gaul. He didn't want to, he had to. After the war, he lost his job, along with all their money. They were almost homeless at one point until Dr. Gaul had approached him, showing great interest in his inventions and expirements, along with saying how she saw a 'great potential' in him.

That being said, he immediately accepted her offer. Helios hated Dr. Gaul and her lack of human decency, but he knew working for her was the only way to keep him and his daughter save and fed. That was all he cared about.

They arrived quicker than Euphorsyne had originally expected. Her father had left, presumably looking for Dr. Gaul. Euphrosyne's eyes scanned around the area, looking for her best friend, who she found rather quickly.

"Sejanus!" The girl waved as she walked up to him before he pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're here." Sejanus mumbled, pulling away with a small smile. 

"I'm so surprised you're here." Euphro teased. "You're never at the Reaping."

He gave her a shrug. "Had a change of heart, I guess."

"Right, totally." Euphro eyed him up and down. "You look fancy."

"I could say the same about you. You're wearing less color than usual." Sejanus chuckled. Euphrosyne glanced down at her dress. She wore a simple dress, really. A pitch black dress, with puff sleeves. Both the shoulder area and the sleeves were see through with a cute bow around the collar finishing the outfit. 

"It was my mother's dress." She stated as she looked back at her friend. "My father insisted on me wearing it."

"It's nice."

"Thank you." Euphrosyne smiled as she glanced over Sejanus' shoulder, noticing his parents coming their way. Mr. and Mrs. Plinth. They were nice people, mostly Mrs. Plinth. She seemed grateful for Euphro's kindness towards her son. A kindness not many people in the Capitol had.

"Euphrosyne, you made it to the Reaping." Sejanus' father, Strabo, gave her a tight smile. 

"Of course, I always do."

He hummed in return. "Sometimes, I wish my son here would do the same." He let out a laugh as he gave Sejanus, who looked a little uncomfortable, a few pats on the back.

"Oh, you know Sejanus." She send her friend an amusing smile. "Always hanging out the rebel." That earned her a little glare from the boy.

Mrs. Plinth cleared her throat as she gestured towards Euphro's outfit. "You look lovely." The woman send a warm smile, which Euphrosyne gladly returned.

"Thank you, Mrs. Plinth. So do you." She said geniunly. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed their classmates Festus, Felix, Arachne, Lysistrata and Coriolanus glancing at them. She nudged Sejanus, nodding her head towards the group.

"Well, if you don't mind, we're gonna go talk to our-" Sejanus paused for a second. "Friends." His words had bitterness in them.

Only two people in that group Euphro would consider friends. Coriolanus and Lysistrata. Even then, she sometimes got the impression that Coryo didn't even like her. Lysistrata, however, was a very kind girl. They weren't that close, but that was okay. Euphrosyne still considered her as a person she could trust.

Her best friend's hand pushed her forward a little as they made their way towards their classmates.

"I'll put him in the arena myse-" Festus cut himself off when he noticed Sejanus standing right next to him. "Sejanus, you made it to the Reaping for once."

Lysistrata mouthed a 'Hi' to Euphro, which she replied to by giving her a small wave.

"And you made it to the graduation, Festus. We're both shocked." Sejanus said with a sarcastic smile. Euphrosyne bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from laughing, though she noticed Coriolanus letting out something that could be considered a chuckle.

"Spill it." Arachne, who hadn't spared Euphrosyne a glance since she got here, cut in. "Who won the price?"

Probably not you. 

"Oh, no, I'm not gonna ruin my father's big day." He replied. "No one here actually likes him, but they do love his money." His eyes scanned the group before landing back on Arachne. "You know what that's like, don't you, Arachne?"

She let out a scoff. "Funny."

"And true." Euphro added before walking off to her seat as soon as she heard the Capitol's familiar song playing. That meant the Reaping was about to begin.

She sat between Arachne and Sejanus. Great.

A loud giggle echoed through the entire room. Said giggle belonged to the one and only Volumnia Gaul.

The girl got chills just by looking at her. Euphrosyne would be lying if she said she had been paying attention to anything the woman said. Whatever Dr. Gaul was saying didn't interest her enough to actually listen. That was until she introduced the creator of the Games.

"Select students," Dean Highbottom put away his bottle of morphling. "faculty," He turned around swiftly, gesturing at the stage. "and, of course, Dr. Gaul."

Dean Casca Highbottom. Someone who was often seen with a bottle of morphling. His tone was bored and unimpressed most of the time. Wether that was because of the morphling or his non-existent will to live, was as much as a mystery to Euphrosyne than it was to anyone else.

"I have summoned you all here today for the tenth annual Reaping ceremony in which we choose two children from each district to throw into the Capitol Arena to fight to the death in the Hunger Games."

Euphro scoffed. So barbaric.

"And here sit" He had made his way to the end of the room. "our own 24 top prospects all waiting to hear the results of hard study in this prestigious institution. Eager to learn who's won that Plinth Prize, no doubt. And I'm here to tell you there has been a change this year."

Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to just spit out whatever it is he wants to say.

Highbottom stated how people have grown bored of the games, naturally. But what really caught her attention was the thing he said next. "The Plinth Prize will no longer be determined by who has the best grades."

"Excuse me?" Arachne said from beside her. Murmuring was heard across the room.

"But by who is the best mentor in the Hunger Games." 

Euphrosyne looked at Coriolanus, who seemed to be tensed up and rightfully so. This entire time he had spend working for the prize was for nothing. Well, not for nothing, but it didn't matter as much. She felt bad for her friend.

"As the Reaping progresses live, I will allocate each district tribute with a Capitol mentor behind the scenes, one who must just persuade them to perform for the cameras." The Dean continued.

Euphro immediately made a promise to herself. Whoever she got, wether it was someone strong from the richer districts or someone small and weak from the poorer districts, she was going to help them. No matter what.

"Obviously, the best mentor will be the one whose tribute wins the games." Festus stated.

"What if I get a pathetic runt girl from one of the poor districts, like 8 or 12?" Arachne complained. "They're just gonna die in two minutes like they did last year and the year before."

"Oh, poor you." Euphrosyne mocked her, earning a harsh glare from the blonde.

"Your role is to turn these children into spectacles, Ms. Crane." Highbottom said, shaking his head a little. "Not survivors."

"District 1." Dean Highbottom called out as everyone watched the two screens in the room. "Boy goes to Livia Cardew." Livia gasped out in both honor and shock. The tributes were wearing matching uniforms. 

Their uniforms look way better than ours.

"District 2, boy goes to... Sejanus Plinth." The Dean turned to look at Sejanus, who sat tensed with a clenched jaw.

Euphrosyne placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a comforting squeez before pulling away. "Sejanus, I'm so sorry."

He only gave her a forced smile before looking back at the screens.

"Four, boy, Persephone Price." Highbottom announced, the sound of people clapping filling the room. "Girl, Festus Creed."

Euphro wasn't sure wether Festus was dissapointed or pleased with his tribute. Either way, he was probably somewhat grateful, considering the fact that the girl, Coral, looked fairly strong.

"Seven, boy, Vipsania Sickle. Girl, Pup Harrington." The girl from 7, Lamina was her name, had cheeks stained with tears causing a handful of students to laugh. 

Hypocrits.

"Eleven, boy, Euphrosyne Deimos." Casca called out. The girl looked at the Dean before looking back at the screen. The boy got pushed by a peacekeeper, sending him a glare in return. He was tall and had a strong build, along with dark brown skin. He was very beautiful. Euphro made a mental note to tell him she liked his shirt. 

"Eleven, girl, Felix Ravenstill." A young, coughing girl was shown on the screen. Euphro's eyebrows immediately furrowed in sympathy. She couldn't be any older than 13. Poor girl. She glanced at Felix, who seemed annoyed about getting a 'weak' tribute. 

No matter, Euphrosyne would take care of them both if she had to. 

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when the reaper gets reaped🤭🤭

i hope you guys enjoyed the first official chapter !!