Gamemaker Nausicaa

"The God of War is impartial: he hands out death to the man who hands out death." Homer's Iliad

[littleredcareer]

Just Another Hurdle || GM Nausicaa + Delilah || Obstacle Course

[littleredcareer]

I wanted to give her a witty retort because that’s what I’d trained myself to do for years but instead I held my tongue. She was essentially the ticket to mine and Rory’s salvation and I’d do well to remember that. “Yes ma’am.” I don’t know if I’d ever used the word ma’am in my life and it felt foreign on my tongue. I was sincere in using it though and I hoped she didn’t take it as me sucking up.

She looked about ready to wrap this conversation up but I wasn’t quite finished. “Please, before you go would you humour be for one last request?” With a matter of words she’d stripped away every piece of armour I’d spent the majority of my life building up and I was nothing but a girl who loved her brother in front of her. “If you could give me one last piece of advice. What should I do to avoid ending up like all the others? I don’t want to be just another statistic.”

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

She was biting her tongue, swallowing back a retort to show me the respect I deserved. I could tell it hurt her to make that concession and I liked her all the more for it. She was a girl completely used to marching to the beat of her own drum and here she was trying to censor herself to show me that she was capable of more than being a hothead. 

I lifted an eyebrow at her request, it was much like Sutter's in it's originality. It wasn't about a weapon or training it was all about what she could do to break the mould. She didn't want to be another Career failure, she wanted me to show her what straw to grasp for success. I could see the best qualities in her that our previous victor's upheld. Shamus had been a rebel, a loner who had fought for everything he had ever got. Tallulah was a girl fighting to return to not only her family but Nox's as well and Jasmine had the fighting spirit that burned within all Career's. If Delilah was smart she wouldn't lose sight of her light at the end of the tunnel. She could do all manner of acts that she would regret later as long as she did them with the knowledge that each death would change her. No one remained unaffected by the Games, least of all the tributes who survived them. 

"Don't lose sight of who you're fighting for Delilah, don't go for an easy kill show us that all of that training you fought your way through has come in handy. But most importantly? Don't sacrifice your dream for anyone else's. Rory needs you in one piece, if you concentrate on getting a pack in the Bloodbath and equipping yourself with a weapon you'll have the tools to become more than just another statistic." I paused, looking Delilah over as I frowned down at her. "I don't think you have to worry about failure, I have a feeling District Four might have themselves a winner."

[littleredcareer]

Just Another Hurdle || GM Nausicaa + Delilah || Obstacle Course

[littleredcareer]

"Come now Nausicaa. If we can agree on one thing it’s that nothing about the games is set in stone. Shoe in victors die in the bloodbath, sponsors turn a cold shoulder, the strongest alliances are riddled with infighting and crumble. Even Carly-Beth herself didn’t flat out agree to the alliance. I suppose you could say I’m strongly considering it is all." I couldn’t help but feel like she was giving me some insight into what the sponsors would be looking for in me even if that’s not what she was doing directly. 

"I remember where I came from. I wasn’t born and bred to do this like some of the others might have been but I pushed and I worked and I clawed tooth and nail to get here. As much as it may not seem like it humility is a big part of who I am. This whole bravado only gets me so far but it serves me well when the others take note of how ‘cocky’ I am and think it a weakness."

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

Delilah was one of the tributes who had fought hard to get where she was. She wasn't like Clif whose family had more money than sense, or Sabine who had been forced to volunteer by a family who loved fame more than their own daughter. Delilah had worked to get to this point to save her brother and for that she needed to be admired. 

"That cockiness has gotten you into trouble before, there's only a few more hours for training today and then tomorrow is a whole different ball game. I would hate for something to happen to ruin your chances in the arena..." I knew if she got in trouble this time Xanthus wouldn't stop at simply fish hooks. He would break every bone in her body and make sure she was awake enough to feel every snap. "Just remember, arrogance isn't something most sponsors want. Those that have their eyes on you want spunk, not snark."

[littleredcareer]

Just Another Hurdle || GM Nausicaa + Delilah || Obstacle Course

[littleredcareer]

As quickly as I flashed Nausicaa who I really was it was gone. The girl who had been bullied and teased all her life until she couldn’t take it only to have the same happen to her brother still lived underneath that shell but not everyone needed to know that. I suppose I really wasn’t all that hard to figure out but that wasn’t my problem now, the only ones who could use my weakness against me weren’t following me into the arena so I’d have no distractions.

"Trust is a concept I don’t take too lightly of. People have their uses but there isn’t a soul here I’d trust to not stab me when I turn my eyes. Carly-Beth might seem unpredictable and at times mentally unstable but the girl isn’t stupid. She knows how to fight and she knows there’s strength in numbers as do I. When she outwears her usefulness to me I’ll get rid of her, simple as that."

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

I nodded slowly as Delilah talked about Carly-Beth's value. That was a Career talking; the knowledge that you couldn't go out into the arena alone. Her competition would drag friends and people they wanted to live into the fray but Delilah was smart enough to ally herself with someone who was just as brutal as she was. She could see that the other Career could help her pick off the weaker tributes until their alliance no longer served a purpose. It was smart, strategic and it would work I just hoped Carly-Beth's favourite past time wouldn't come into play. 

"It sounds like your plans are set in stone, you'll do well to remember them Delilah. Don't lose sight of what you are fighting for though, your vulnerability is what sets you apart from your little Career friends. Just remember that those who get cocky in the arena ultimately meet a grisly end." 

[littleredcareer]

Just Another Hurdle || GM Nausicaa + Delilah || Obstacle Course

[littleredcareer]

Now I was a little confused. It seemed I’d finally got Nausicaa on my side, though that was a relative term as I knew game makers never took sides. Still she seemed at least a little more impressed with me and a little less under the influence I was simply going to fizzle out as a disappointment. I was a firecracker and if I was going out, it was going to be with a bang.

My eyes turn cold at the mention of her brother but I don’t dare run my mouth. I consider every word she says very carefully before I respond. “Look, I’m here to participate in your games and aside from my little hiccup with the hillbilly I’ll follow you every command. I’ll be as bloody and as brutal as you want me to be in there. I’ll give the nation the show it deserves so long as he stays safe. Promise me that Nausicaa, please. I know you have people you care for too and you’d be doing the same as me in my position. I’m just trying to protect those I love. Promise me and I’ll be your career.”

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

I could tell Delilah was worried about my complete turn around. In one moment I was telling her that I liked her fire and in another I was threatening to squash the very thing she was fighting for. I could tell in the way she reacted she was fearful of what we would do to her brother and her words made me think of what I would do in her position now that Stella was a firm fixture in my life once more. "That's the spirit, Miss Lalonde and I respect that decision. You have the training that can help you win but you have more to lose than some of your companions. I have no doubt you'll be on your best behaviour from now on because you and I both know what you have to lose if you aren't."

Any mention of Rory had broken her, it had stripped her bare of all of her bravado until she was just a frightened little girl trying to save her brother from humiliation. "My only advice is to find people you trust to enter the arena with, that gap-toothed wonder you've been talking to? I doubt you can trust her to watch your back unless of course you want to return to your family in a pine box?"

[littleredcareer]

Just Another Hurdle || GM Nausicaa + Delilah || Obstacle Course

[littleredcareer]

For once what she was thinking read plainly across her face. “I know what you’re thinking. Anton, Remy and his little girlfriend. All trained careers as good as me or better, all faltered in the final moments. As I know you know I have something that sets me apart. I have something worth fighting for besides a title and honour because mummy or daddy pushed me to do it. If I fail it’ll be worse than if I’d never come here and I can’t let that happen. Call me arrogant, call me stupid for making enemies, call me whatever you want. I’m tired of these outliers thinking that the careers were just a fad and I’m here to prove it.” I wasn’t speaking to impress her or convince her of anything. She knew exactly what she was doing.

"You’ve gotten all you need from me then? If that’s true and you’ve really found what makes me tick then by all means be my guest. I was just under the impression that you were trying to figure me out and we both know I’ve done nothing but run my mouth about backing up the, how did you phrase it? Shit I talk?" 

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

I couldn't help the smirk that broke across my face as I lifted my hands to applaud her little speech."That's more like it."

That was a glimpse of the fighting spirit, her arrogance was torn apart and this what the Delilah that she needed to show to the sponsors during interviews. They weren't going to root for her because she was a Career, they would root for her because she was human underneath all of this bravado she shoved out at the world. It was the vulnerability of her situation that would earn her the top spot, she just had to latch onto it if she wanted to win. 

"Oh Miss Lalonde, we already know what makes you tick. You said it yourself, if I wanted to motivate you to do something I would simply bring your little brother here and show him some of our infamous Capitol hospitality. Of course, he could already be here...that's the perfect part about having a weakness wrenched from you so easily, we can exploit it so readily that your loved ones are in danger before you even realise it."

[littleredcareer]

Just Another Hurdle || GM Nausicaa + Delilah || Obstacle Course

[littleredcareer]

Nausicaa didn’t look impressed as I make my way back to where she was standing. As she shouldn’t I was merely dodging through fake obstacles that had no consequences should I fail. It all felt much too, safe. Huffing and puffing, I lift my arms above my head as I try my best to regain my breath. “If you really think.” Pause for breath. “I’m going to rely on running. And jumping. Then you haven’t been paying me enough attention.”

I knew what she was doing trying to rile me up. If she wants to get a reaction from me though she was going to need to try a lot harder. “From what I’ve gathered there are very few here who can match my skill. That’s not arrogance talking that’s just simple facts. But I’ll be saving the demonstrations for later. I heard private training is a good time to surprise the game makers. So I hope you’re not too disappointed that I won’t grant you a training session with weapons today.” My voice returns to the sweet tone that seems to piss everyone who hears it off.

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

I didn't think she was going to rely on this skill but considering all she had shown me was her ability to run and jump like a gazelle it was any wonder I was already making judgements about her capability as a killer.However, before I could say anything she continued her spiel talking about her abilities in comparison to those around her.

I'd been a Gamemaker for three years and for two of those I'd watched Career's falter at the final hurdle. They had the training but they didn't have the drive that the tributes from the outlying districts possessed. They fought with an innate ability, the survival instinct pumping them fulll of adrenalin so that they could pull off rather remarkable feats of grandeur to climb to the top.  I didn't doubt that Delilah had that same drive pushing her through training but with the way she ran her mouth she might never get the chance to show us what she was made of. She could very well end up with an arrow through her eye socket in the first moments of the Bloodbath, one of her enemies finally getting one up on her. 

"Well if you are going to leave all of your talents hidden until private training there's nothing more for us to discuss is there Miss Lalonde? Or do you need something from me? Some boon you want me to grant before I leave you to your little training session."

[littleredcareer]

Just Another Hurdle || GM Nausicaa + Delilah || Obstacle Course

[littleredcareer]

"Delight may be a tad strong. Just because I won’t hesitate to do so doesn’t mean I’ll find some sick pleasure in it. Right now there’s only a few tributes who I think I’ll actually take some pleasure in hunting down and I’m sure you can manage a guess to at least one of them." Everyone seemed to think I was some sort of monster who was itching to kill. Who was I kidding, for all I knew I could be. All it would take to find out would be a little blood..

I laugh lightly at her comment. “Arrogance is stupidity. I’ve studied enough games to know that when the careers get cocky they die. The boy managed to fall and break his own nose while training on the track. He’s built like a truck but if he can’t make it more than twenty feet without gravity taking him down then I doubt he’ll be the threat he believes he is.” I gave a thumbs up to the instructor asking him to raise the difficulty of the gauntlet. “Besides,” I call back to Nausicaa as I begin my next run. “He made an enemy out of me through his own pigheaded arrogance.” 

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

It was any wonder Delilah had made herself some enemies. She wasn't exactly all rainbows and unicorns, she saw the world as it was. There were no shades of grey in her world, everything was black and white which made it easier to understand why she had volunteered. I knew all about her brother, her desire to save him from the hell he was in and while I admired her I wondered if she was aware of the consequences of her actions. She wanted to protect Rory but in the end if she died he was going to be all alone in the world. 

I remained silent as she worked through the gauntlet once more, the difficulty level cranked as she finally came to stand before me again her chest heaving with the effort as I lifted an eyebrow at her display. "Running and jumping might get you away from your enemies but do you have the weaponry skills to back up all of the shit you talk? I doubt you can run from a knife in your back."

[littleredcareer]

Just Another Hurdle || GM Nausicaa + Delilah || Obstacle Course

[littleredcareer]

My body shivers involuntarily at her answer. There wasn’t much I was afraid of but after what Xanthus had shown me I had a very real fear of what these people were capable of. “Suresh? I’m afraid I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting with her yet. She’s the hippy from Nine? Unless she gets lucky I doubt she’ll live long past the blood bath.” Some would say I was being cocky but I’d studied the games enough to know what happened to pacifist tributes. Just ask Fox’s brother.

"You know, Nausicaa, I wasn’t always the confident person I am today. Once upon a time I was the ugly duckling of Four, competing with their impossible beauty standards. When I couldn’t keep up I turned to training. I know what I’m good at and where I stand, there’s no sense trying to trick myself otherwise." I nod to the trainer operating the gauntlet and take off with a start.

The setting was low and I manage to twist and leap my way through the course with relative ease, not breaking a sweat as I come back around to Nausicaa. “What, like that sad excuse for a career Zeke? I heard he was strung up and put on display. I can’t believe trash like him took up a valuable career spot.” I want to spit when I talk about him but I refrain, after all it’s not lady like.

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

"You and I see eye to eye on that fact. She is far too passive for these games, I'm sure you'll delight in putting her out of her misery hmm?" I suggested, quirking an eyebrow in Delilah's direction. She was one of the Careers who would be gunning for first  blood. The Cornucopia was a baptism of fire, Careers fought and killed for what they wanted and each wanted the first kill to be on their hands. 

I watched as Delilah moved through the obstacle course with relative ease. She was surprisingly swift but I could see the skill and training she utilised in every move. She was definitely one to watch. "Is that arrogance I hear, Miss Lalonde? Zeke might not be a Career but the boy  knows how to fight, he doesn't know how to pick his battles but I wouldn't underestimate him."

[littleredcareer]

Just Another Hurdle || GM Nausicaa + Delilah || Obstacle Course

[littleredcareer]

"Excuse me for seeing a Game Maker single me out and assuming the worst." I say calmly with my eyes locked to hers. "If you aren’t here to enact some sort of retribution on me, may I ask what I owe the pleasure of your company?" Her beauty hid a deadly interior and try as I may I still couldn’t figure out what was going on in her head. 

Scoffing involuntarily at her comments I give her a smirk. “If the sponsors are really going to base who they sponsor solely on looks then I was probably screwed from the start.” I climb to the starting line of the gauntlet, sizing up the obstacles in front of me. Being small and not incredibly strong had made me compensate with speed. “And Xanthus can eat his heart of for all I care. He wants to make me his art piece so be it.”

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

"Let's call it morbid curiosity. I want to see what makes my tributes tick, I met with Miss Suresh earlier and some of what she had to say gave me ideas for the arena." I'd been toying with her about the drugs we could infect the arena with but the more I thought about it the more it seemed like a brilliant idea. Between Daphne and our little vegan activist, I had a feeling the two of them were going to mount some peace rally in the middle of the arena so pumping the two of them full of drugs designed explicitly to illicit a homicidal rage could be great viewing for our Capitol fans. 

"Don't belittle yourself Miss Lalonde, you and I both know that you aren't exactly ugly." I watch as she moves to the starting line of the gauntlet, ready to take on the obstacles that spread out in front of her. "Count yourself lucky that you weren't hung from the chandelier like an ornament." 

[littleredcareer]

Just Another Hurdle || GM Nausicaa + Delilah || Obstacle Course

[littleredcareer]

Xanthus read like an open book. He wore his emotions on his sleeve and it wasn’t hard to tell what he was thinking. Nausicaa on the other hand is proving to be a bit more challenging to understand. Sure she was still cruel like Xanthus but her’s was less pronounced, less obvious. I’d heard whispers of what she could do and hoped that I never had to learn first hand of her capabilities. 

"I’ve been playing nice with the others haven’t I?" I ask, noticing one of my laces was untied I bend down to retie it. "So, correct me if I’m wrong. I haven’t done anything to warrant a personal visit from a head game maker herself. Because I’m sure you have much better things to be doing with your time than visiting with me, despite how my odds are shaping up." 

I finish with my laces and turn to face her. My lips curl into a slight smile. “Oh these?” I say while my fingers trace the thin red scars adorning my body. “They weren’t so bad. I was prepared to wear them for the games but Raina had other ideas.” After I say that I hope I don’t get her in hot water.

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

"I'm not here to punish you, you're awfully defensive for someone who has been 'playing nice with others' aren't you?" She might think I had some ulterior motive behind coming down here to talk with her but Delilah needed to stop looking for a snake in the grass. I could be nice, sometimes. Besides I wasn't going to punish Delilah unless she stepped out of line and right now she was behaving like the Career I knew she was. 

She used tying her shoelaces as an excuse not to face me, finally standing to display the faint lines of her scars proudly. If I was Xanthus I would have left some of those fish hooks dangling from her lips. It was surprising that she hadn't been smacked in the face by another tribute with the crappy attitude she put forward. "I suppose the sponsors don't want a tribute that's horribly disfigured, I'm sure Xanthus is disappointed that he can't parade you around as one of his finest pieces of art." 

[littleredcareer]

Just Another Hurdle || GM Nausicaa + Delilah || Obstacle Course

Of all the things present in the training room there was only one thing that I actually feared just the slightest. The gauntlet. It stood in all its massive glory in it a secluded corner of the training centre, just waiting to be conquered. I wasn’t scared of it in the sense that I didn’t want to use it, quite the opposite actually. The thing was just so impressive that I felt it deserved that little bit of fear and respect.

For now the gauntlet was deserted which suits me just fine. Frankly I was growing tired of all the petty bullshit between all the tributes and the less I had to deal with it the better. Bending down to touch my toes as I limbered up I see someone making their way towards me. Thinking it was just the instructor I turn around ready to wave him away but stop dead when I saw who was joining me.

"Miss Nausicaa. What a surprise." I say through clenched teeth. Why do I have the feeling this was going to be anything but pleasant?

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

Delilah's reputation was already pretty legendary in the training center. She had warranted a bloody punishment that up until today had been evident across her skin. Now she was primped and polished without even a scratch on her tiny little body. I felt like I was probably going to regret this meeting but there was something infinitely intriguing about the little girl from District Four. She seemed less than impressed by my appearance at the station. She had met my partner and if she had an ounce of self-preservation she would be on her best  behaviour this time around. 

"Don't act coy, Miss Lalonde. We both know you have been the one to watch already. I see you've been to the infirmary... embarrassed that you were permanently disfigured?" If she wanted to pout and snark she had come to the wrong place. I wasn't here to take her bad attitude especially considering the weakness she had so easily put forward. 

[daphne-suresh]

'We all have to die sometime' ✿ Daphne + GM Nausicaa ✿ Hunger Games history

[daphne-suresh]

I had claimed I wouldn’t fight and as a result of this claim I will not fight, it was beyond me how Nausicaa failed to understand this and grasp the concept that she could not control me. As she was speaking I decided to ignore her words but when she mentioned taking over my body my mouth dropped open, “You wouldn’t…” I breathed out but as soon as the words lefts my mouth I knew that she definitely would. I could only think about the horrid things they’d make me do.

The feeling of hands in my hair snapped me back into reality and I instinctively tried to pull her hand out of my hair. It brought me back to the horrid times in the orphanage when kids used to pull and tug at my dreadlocks and threaten to burn them off. “GET OFF ME!” I yelled out and tried to drone out her words of hatred by pressing my hands to my ears and singing a hymn so I wouldn’t have to hear what she had to say.

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

I let go as Daphne started singing to calm herself down. The girl had issues and as I dropped the data pad onto the table I looked her over once more. She was practically cannon fodder and I waited for a few moments for her to silence herself but when nothing came I simply rolled my eyes.

"I'd watch yourself, Miss Suresh. You might think you can't hear what I'm saying but we have ways of making you fight, of making you kill and I can't wait to see you become a mindless killer that you'd hate." With that final piece of wisdom I turned, leaving the girl cowering against the table with her hands firmly pressed to her ears and her eyes squeezed shut. She was going to be a statistic and in twenty years no one would even be able to remember her name. 

[daphne-suresh]

'We all have to die sometime' ✿ Daphne + GM Nausicaa ✿ Hunger Games history

[daphne-suresh]

Her words were like hot knives being stabbed into my hands repeatedly. “I know there isn’t Miss Nausicaa, and I know I can’t stop the suffering but I can refuse to cause any.” I looked at the pretty girl again and watched her fight the smaller, blonder girl. It was only the two of them left. “But at least they will have comfort in knowing I died on my own terms, not yours.” I had decided that I wasn’t going to kill anyone a long time ago, and that wasn’t going to ever change.

Despite the fact that Nausicaa was the Game Maker, a very important person in the short remainder of our lives, I would have thought she would have understood - or at least know something - anything about our lives. “I like your use of the term survive Miss Nausicaa because what I see back in District Nine isn’t living, some people have nothing more than clothes on their back in the place I call home yet here you sit in this palace.” I gesture towards the large balcony where the sponsors and other important people sit and marvel at us like we are toys “Where you have dinners so glorious that it could feed a large family for days. Most of this food is thrown away and people are killing themselves for the betterment of the Capitol.” I have seen so many men and women fall to the ground in the fields and he whipped until they stand, and only for their work to be thrown away “And you don’t care. Instead you take our children and you make them fight and you make them kill one another and you make us watch.”

I felt myself wanting to cry, but not because I was sad, but because I was angry. It had been years and years since I had felt like this and it consumed me. “You don’t care how we survive, and I don’t want your money.” I spat at her and turned back to the screen to see Jasmine shoot the blonde girl with the flare gun and burn her insides. It was disgusting.

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

She might refuse to kill but it would be a different case in the arena. Some tributes wanted to pretend they were above all of this but when it came down to it their survival instinct always kicked in until they committed unimaginable atrocities that haunted their every waking moment. "You might claim that you won't fight Miss Suresh but we have ways and means of ensuring that you do what we want. We could pump drugs into the water that would warp your personality until you wouldn't even know the girl in the mirror. No one wants to watch you die like a bug under someone's shoe, they want the fight or what's the point in bringing camera's into the arena. We could drag twenty four of your best and brightest into the town square and execute them like the dogs we are but we give you the choice." 

I was silence by Daphne's speech about conditions in Nine. I'd seen the poverty for myself, I'd seen children cowering in the streets begging for money. But that wasn't our fault. The Districts had fought against the might of Panem, they deserved their ill treatment. If they hadn't rebelled they would enjoy peace and prosperity under our control. 

She turned to the screens, dismissing my presence as anger brewed beneath the surface. I reached out, grabbing a fistful of hair and yanking her backwards. "Listen here Daphne, you might find this disgusting...you might even find this barbaric but I can assure you that no one in this place gives a shit about your theories. You deserve to be put down like the filth you are, maybe I'll even wipe out your family after all one less mouth to feed in a District that is starving themselves out."

[daphne-suresh]

'We all have to die sometime' ✿ Daphne + GM Nausicaa ✿ Hunger Games history

[daphne-suresh]

"It’s astounding isn’t it?" I said in reference to the thing right in front of me. "We don’t have anything like this back home, well, apart from a television of course but that’s because we have to have one in our home." I didn’t even think the rich family’s had things like this in District Nine, but what was I supposed to know? All I knew were my family, the little community we had and the people that would visit my store. I didn’t know anything outside of that.

I looked on at the finale on the screen, the three of them left was a big and strong boy from District Three, a Career girl from District One and another girl from District Eleven. At first there was a fight between the girl from Eleven and the strong boy and she had managed to defeat him. His death was horrible and I felt my face turn up with disgust as she repeatedly smashed the paddle into his face. It was almost as if she didn’t care about killing him, this boy had family, there was probably somebody back home that he loved so much he would die for them. And now they would never see him again. “You never would have thought she could have done it, you know killed him.” he said in a small voice wondering what this girl was like before all of this. “I don’t want to win. I just want to be happy Miss Nausicaa, I don’t want to cause anyone pain or suffering. My family doesn’t need money, it wouldn’t help them much but I wouldn’t want to take your money. It is dirty money Miss Nausicaa.” I didn’t want anything from the Capitol. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

I watched as her awe changed to disgust, her nose scrunched as she watched Jasmine beat Leo's face in. He was practically unrecognizable by the time she had been done with him and surprisingly it was one of her finest moments. She was a fighter and against all of the odds she had pulled the victory from the jaws of defeat. But as Daphne won she twisted the beauty of the games in on itself and told me exactly what she thought of the one thing I had been born to do. "There's no happy ending for you here Miss Suresh, you either win or you die. You need to choose which option you are going to undertake because unfortunately you have lost the ability to stop people from suffering. Those around you will suffer in the most painful ways imaginable and your family back home? They will mourn your loss and carry around the pain of your death for years to come."

It was what she said about the sizable amount of money we awarded each Victor that caused the first frown to crease my features. "Dirty money? Don't you ever wonder how the Districts survive? If they didn't produce something for the betterment of the Capitol they would have crumbled long ago." 

[daphne-suresh]

'We all have to die sometime' ✿ Daphne + GM Nausicaa ✿ Hunger Games history

[daphne-suresh]

I looked at the machine and brushed my finger against the cool glass and pulled away when something seemed to move, I wasn’t sure if I’d broken it or something but when the Games carried on - the one that Miss Nausicaa was originally watching continued I guess I’d just pressed the play button.

I listened to her explanation intently and smiled I guess I’d already pressed another clip which was one that was two games ago. I remember the arena being a large ship and thinking how scared I would be on it. I saw glimpses of that game, the ship being on fire, them going to an island to fight for the finale. “No… we don’t get things like this in Nine, especially with the life I have.”

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

It was like watching a small child be presented with a shiny new toy. She was tentative as she reached out to the screen, snatching her hand back when something moved and the screens came to life around her. She marveled at the beauty of the technology in my palm and I wondered exactly what type of life the girl from Nine had. Surely her family wasn't that sheltered that she had never come into contact with television or the technology that helped run her District?

She had tapped along the screen to bring up the Games on board the ship. The finale was progressing and I urged Daphne to watch as Jasmine fought her way to the crown. "See that, she was an outlier. If you put your head down you could win and return home, wouldn't you like that? You could take riches back to your family, would that help them?"

[daphne-suresh]

'We all have to die sometime' ✿ Daphne + GM Nausicaa ✿ Hunger Games history

[daphne-suresh]

As I looked at the screen, I saw that the Games was in full swing already. There were two Tributes trying to get out of a car which I found bizarre because why would there even be a car in the Arena? They looked scared and almost as if they thought they were going to die which was sad. And even though no one had died yet, I had decided that I really didn’t want to watch it.

"Whatever you think is best Miss Nausicaa, whichever you think we benefit me the most." I said with a little enthusiasm wondering what she was doing on the device. I stood up and walked beside her too look over her shoulder and pointed at it. "What does that do?" it was another thing I’d never seen before.

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

None of this would really benefit her but the shock of watching tributes die might actually motivate Daphne to take training seriously. This wasn't a game of pretend, they weren't going to be sitting around in the arena making smores and braiding each other's hair. It would be bloody and violent. Two things that Daphne knew very little about. 

I handed the data pad to Daphne, swiping my finger across the screen to show her the options she could touch to bring up information and clips about every Game that had gone before us. "You touch a picture and it will give you a glimpse into whatever part of the games you want. Have you never seen things like this Miss Suresh?"

[daphne-suresh]

'We all have to die sometime' ✿ Daphne + GM Nausicaa ✿ Hunger Games history

[daphne-suresh]

I could practically see her remembering some sort of evil thing she did to a rather handsome and awesome Tribute one time when they obviously didn’t deserve to put through so much pain and suffering. Poor kid. No one had referred to me by my surname here, or well, I didn’t think anyone had ever referred to me by my surname and it surprised me.

"Okay… Miss Nausicaa" I sat down immediately and crossed my legs. "I’ve never actually watched a Games before. So I don’t really know much it would be lovely if you could help me learn from their mistakes."

[gamemaker-nausicaa]

Daphne folded herself into a seated position, still apprehensive in my presence but at least she wasn't ready to run off and cower in a corner again. I quirked an eyebrow at the knowledge that she had never seen a televised Games but considering her pacifistic stance towards training it shouldn't have been a surprise. She was at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Careers, she wanted to shield herself from the blood and guts that dictated our lives here. I didn't have high hopes for her in the arena if she couldn't get over her apprehension though. Olivia might have won with no kills but she had a powerful ally by her side and right now Daphne had no such protector. 

"What year would you like to watch, Miss Suresh? Would you like to continue to watch Tallulah's games or would you rather something with a Career Victor?" I asked as I picked up the datapad, pausing the screens as two tributes fought to break their way out of a car covered in snow. "The choice is yours of course."