IMPORTANT NOTE: I realized from the reviews I wrote Onyx's POV too ambiguously. Onyx didn't kill the baby. He refused and that's what got him blacklisted.

Onyx Soul

Most Reaped children worry about the idea of killing people. That was nothing new to me, because I was an assassin. Not some invincible, super cool ninja like in the movies. A very mortal, very imperfect assassin like in real life. Of course a place like Panem would have assassins. There was always more than one person who wanted to be in power. I wasn't surprised I was going into the Games. I was just surprised at how easy it was to rig.

There was a letter from my parents in my hand, given to me by a spooky man in a spooky hood who would have spooked anyone but me. I just thought he looked bombastic. My parents were dead. I didn't kill them. They were too strong for me to kill. They just weren't too strong for the people who made us to kill.

I was in my quarters underground, a week before the Reaping. I already knew who it was going to be, though. I wondered what it took to bribe someone who already lived in One. What did it take to pay off the designated volunteer and secure his silence? We were a scary, shady bunch, but Careers weren't easy to scare.

"A letter from traitors, sent to a traitor," the man had said. He told me not to make a scene, because it would just make it worse. He didn't have to be insulting. I knew that. He told me not to open the letter until the right time. I'd open it later, in the Capitol. Not that there would be anything compromising in there. My parents were smarter than that.

Even if I'd made a scene, nothing would come of it. The Peacekeepers wouldn't believe my wild stories about an underground cabal of spies and assassins. It was the obvious development in a government like ours, but it still seemed like something from a cheap novel. After the 28thGames and what happened to Silken, it was literally underground. We were dying out, like we should have long ago.

I wasn't scared of killing people, like most Tributes, but I was like them in other ways. I didn't like killing people, just like my parents. That's what got me into this mess. My latest hit was a baby. That wasn't a hit. That was cartoonishly evil. It surprised even me, and it was just too much. I already had too many notches on my belt, and I'd probably add more in the Arena. I might even end up a notch on someone else's belt.

Rhoda Hamilton

"Smile, darling!"

I looked just above the camera, right at the sweet spot that would make my eyes look the biggest, and smiled wide. The camera clicked and the lights flashed. Another golden frame was in the bag. Cameramen and workers buzzed around, rearranging the flag behind me and draping the jewels that cascaded artfully from my outstretched hand.

I was more than a pretty face, but I was a pretty face. Not that it mattered what I thought of myself (I thought I was pretty but no goddess). What mattered was what the Capitol thought, and they seemed to think I was all right. A talent scout took one look at my long legs and creamy skin and signed me up. It helped pay for the Academy and it got me contacts, so I went for it. One thing lead to another, and then there I was at the Faces of Panem ad campaign.

The story was that the brightest and best faces from every District were chosen to represent our country in a campaign selling everything from makeup to shoes. It was weird seeing the other representatives, since the Two boy and the Four girl were the only ones that didn't have Capitol accents. The Capitolite workers must have rubbed off on them.

Panem et Circenses. Bread and circuses. That's what made Panem great. We had so much. There was excess everywhere. I'd seen it at home and I'd seen it in the Capitol. We had riches, glamour, glitz, and plenty. Anyone, from a Career in One to a farmer from Ten, could be the face of Panem. It was the greatest country in the world, and I loved it.

Modeling was a nice gig, but it wasn't my dream. That would be the Hunger Games. What I loved more than anything else was... Panem! And what Panem loved more than anything else was the Hunger Games. I did the modeling stuff as a means to an end. I wanted to win the Games, and to do that, you had to know people. Everyone in the Capitol knew about me. They knew me and they loved me. I was going to pay back Panem for all it did for me by winning the Games, and I had all the right people behind me.

I stretched out my neck and tilted my head down, gazing at the camera through thickly painted lashes. It always tickled me how quickly I changed after the cameras were gone. While I pouted and posed, I was already thinking about swords and spears waiting for me at the Academy. The Capitol had given me everything. Soon, I'd have the chance to do the same for them.

"That's a wrap!"

Onyx's story is really complicated, so I think it will take a few POVs before he gets easy to understand. I've never had a Tribute that so encapsulates the culture of One, so I focused on that for Rhoda, but she's stronger than she seems here. That will show up more in training.