Chapter 78 - A life for a life

The excited and curious crowd which had speculated on who would contend with Kaiser went silent. Instances like this were rare but had occurred before. It was always quite a shock to the entire family as regardless if one should win, one child would never return. In this great silence Kaiser's older sister got out of her section and one again accompanied by peacekeepers she slowly walked towards the stage. However, contrary to Kaiser who had looked around and didn't seem to be bothered a lot she was focusing on the ground, looking frail as though if she were to stumble, she could never get up anymore.

Before she had even walked halfway to the stage Kaiser bumped Asmodeus slightly with his elbow. In surprise the man had almost jumped off the stage before he could relax enough to turn towards Kaiser. Raising his eyebrow questioningly he motioned with his right hand towards the microphone in front of the representative. Curious Asmodeus stepped back, allowing Kaiser to move towards the center of the stage, in front of the microphone.

Clearing his throat Kaiser began to speak. "Before we commence with this I would like to one person in particular." The crowd who had been focused on his sister who still moved quietly now turned towards him. Martha and the two peacekeepers that escorted he stopped in their tracks to see what exactly was going on now as this situation wasn't part of the plan they had memorized. Seeing that he now had everyone's attention he continued with his speech after he had found what he had been looking for. Smiling softly as he looked at her he said: "Alyssa." At the mention of her name the girl finally looked up to him after she had only focused on the ground before to escape his view. Compared to the small girl she had been in the past she had grown quite well. "Do you remember the day I saved you? Out of all the ones I saved you were the only one that spoke to me never again. I was a bit hurt when you didn't even thank me. Today I offer you a chance. A life for a life. Just like I saved your life all these years ago it is now your turn to save my sister's."

At the mentioning of the incident and her new "chance" she just went pale and shook her head fearfully. "So you don't intend to pay back what you owe? How ungrateful. Your chances of surviving in this arena are even higher than back then." The girl still shook her head and tried to hide behind the other girls in her group. Finally another girl stepped forwards and loudly declared: "I will take her place. I haven't repaid you yet either." Surprised by the sudden turn of events he looked at Aster who had left her group and was walking towards the front, quickly overtaking Martha. Although the mayor had come to observe his training from time to time to observe his progress he hadn't really seen her since the day the boars had tried to kill her. Just like the mayor she had blond hair although it was slightly darker in color, being closer to the color of honey and was way longer, ending just below her shoulder blades. Her dark blue eyes and white skin made her easily recognizable as most people in the district had a dark skin color like him. Wearing a long dress violet in color as well as wearing a thin purple headband. She had grown up to be quite pretty, at least in his eyes.

Soon after she reached the stage and climbed up before standing next to him. When she had walked up the stairs he had noticed that she wore good shoes. No large heels that would hinder he when she was walking but the design of them was still rather elegant. By that time Kaiser had already moved away from the microphone but was still standing rather close to the middle.

"You know that your father has already done more than enough to repay me for your safe return?" Kaiser asked her while Asmodeus was once more taking his place in front of the microphone to finish his speech. "I know," she answered. "But I haven't done anything. It's already cruel that we have to kill each other in the arena, but with the possibility of having to kill your sibling there it's even worse. So you see," she smiled bitterly, "I think this is how this has to go." Raising his brow, judging what she had just said he remained silent before they focused back on the ceremony just in time to know what they were supposed to do.

Soon after both of them were escorted into the city hall just behind them, to rest in a few rooms and say their goodbyes to their family. The first ones to enter was his entire family. "We've brought something for you." Was all his father could say, getting straight to the point. "I've brought you what you will most likely miss." With that he gave Kaiser the properly folded coat, stored inside a wooden box. In the past Kaiser had always carried it with him in his inventory but after he had grown big enough to use it, although it was still to big for him, he had come to always hang it on the coat rack with the rest and wear it to school in the colder months. As it was currently summer he had almost forgotten about it. Taking the coat he decided to use it as my token. The one thing I'm allowed to take with me from my district.

"Thank you dad." Was all Kaiser said before looking down at the box. His father nodded before patting him on the shoulder. "Do your best. I know you can win." Was all he whispered before he left the room. His mother, sister and younger brother showed a lot more emotions. With tears in their eyes they hugged him tightly and wished him good luck and that he would be able to utilize his skills to the fullest. His mother also gave him a bit of leftovers from breakfast. "In case you ever get hungry," she said. As though they wouldn't try to stuff him in the train and later. Still he smiled and thanked her. The last one in the room was his uncle.

"It seems that fate hates our family," he said. "I'm not sure if you remember your female cousin but she also had to participate in the hunger games. She died early on though. She was a sweet girl and couldn't fight. Long story short, she made mistakes and that's when everything ended. Your aunt never really got over the shock and when the famine came she simply refused to eat ad left everything to us. Our older son moved out soon after." He sighed before adding: "However, you have trained for years to fight in these games. Please win. If not for your sake then for us. And Flora. She adored you, you know? Although you were little you were her oldest cousin." Loosing track of what he wanted to add he simply said goodbye and left in a hurry.

Soon after the mayor entered. "I have spoken to Sir Ice previously in case something like this were to happen. He had agreed and told me to allow you to go whenever you felt you were ready. You have already watched all records of the previous games and know almost everything you would need to know. The only thing that we could have improved would be your fighting ability with weapon training so it isn't too bad if you go now." He hesitated for a moment before swiftly adding: "Please, if you can avoid it then don't kill my daughter. I'm not asking you to protect her but please...don't kill her yourself." As swiftly as he had arrived he left, slamming the door shut.

A few minutes later Kaiser and Aster were being escorted out of the building through the tunnel in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the building towards the train station, located in Zone C1. Aster now wore a golden bracelet, covered with violet amethysts in the shape of flower petals. He meanwhile carried the locked wooden box containing his cape. After winking towards the cameras and a few people that had been let into the station they boarded the train, heading towards the capitol.