• Athena Spring has spent her entire life carefully curating the perfect image. Perfect grades, a proud family, and the Plinth Prize nearly within her grasp, Athena has it all. However, when her plans are derailed by an unexpected twist of events, s...
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Athena watches the Reaping of the 10th Hunger Games with a bored expression. She knows that her fate is in the hands of Dean Highbottom, a man whom she knows isn't her biggest fan. After many years of being sent to his office with glowing recommendations from her teachers, Dean Highbottom had begun to view Athena as a liability rather than someone promising, especially since her appearance usually delayed him from getting another hit of that addictive morphling until she left. Athena prays now that Dean Highbottom isn't too incensed with her and hasn't sabotaged her with a weakling for a tribute. She hopes to get a strong, smart and obedient one, someone who can survive the brutal arena and bring her glory and, of course, that tantalizing Plinth Prize. Winning is all that matters now.
She listens as Highbottom announces the names of the mentors and their tributes, one by one. Livia Cardew gets the boy from District One, an indirect slap in the face to Athena. Whilst Athena's hatred of Coriolanus is absolute, Livia Cardew is a close second. Being granted the privilege of mentoring the District One boy, who's name on the screen reads 'Facet', causes Livia to obnoxiously gasp and shout, "Yes!" in celebration. Athena only hopes that she has similar luck.
She misses out on the girl from District One who goes to Palmyra Monty before looking up at the screen from District Two's Reaping. There's a ripple of murmuring from the crowd when the boy, Marcus, is shown on screen. He's extremely impressive with vast, strong muscles and a grimly determined expression. That's exactly the kind of tribute Athena wants, deserves.
"Two, boy, goes to Sejanus Plinth," Dean Highbottom reads out.
A second slap in the face. SejanusPlinth? How could Athena have lost out to a District boy? That nauseous feeling begins to creep back in once more. She can't help but shoot a withering glare in Sejanus' general direction before turning her attention back to the screen. There's still a chance, the District Two girl could be just as promising. If not her, then the tributes of Districts Four and Eleven always showed promise in previous games.
Florus Friend gets Sabyn, the girl from Two, which hurts Athena less since she knows Florus will be practically incapable of persuading Sabyn to do anything. The tributes from Three luckily don't go to Athena, she'd have been dismayed if they had. Yes, they may be smart, but Athena needs a little more to work with than just a few clever tricks.
Up next is the boy from District Four. A thirteen-year-old boy takes the stage, his face tear-stained and pale. Athena nearly feels guilty, this boy is so young, so... gentle-looking. Nothing at all like the District savages in the stories her mother and father had told her.
"The District Four boy goes to... Persephone Price," Dean Highbottom announces and Athena quickly whips her head around to look at her friend. Persephone looks pleased, but Athena can see the twitch of concern on her features.
"Four, girl. Festus Creed".
Athena quickly looks back up at the screen and is once again disappointed to see she's lost out on another strong tribute. This girl with her cropped red hair, feisty expression and piercings would surely be a contender. She glances at Festus who raises his eyebrows in contentment, clearly pleased with his tribute. However, now Athena is relying on District 11's tributes to bring her the victory.
