Karabela Tessen-Moreno D1--FINISHED!

Doing
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thinking
talking
hearing
enjoying

There is something about Karabela that has always captivated people. Maybe it was the fact she looked just like what a career should or the fact she never let a bleach blonde hair out of place, a wrinkle cross her clothes. Perfectly styled, perfectly groomed, her appearance was what mattered most. besides fame

[/i][/b]. Even into her late 30s she still tried to retain the youthful beauty that won her admirers and enemies alike. She wasn't afraid of surgeries and creams, injections and procedures to try to fight father time. Being flawless was what was expected when you were a Tessen, and now that same philosophy was spilling over into her adulthood and her own children. There was no room for the weak, the lame, and the lazy. Work hard and be hard.

Money was never short supply in her family at any point of her life, with her luxuries practically making her live like a Capitolite. But it was expected with her name. Keeping her dressed in the latest fashions and painted up with the best make up, that's what money could do. It could keep her young, relevant, important. Her crystal blue eyes were starting to show the wear and tear though, not quite as sparkling, not quite there anymore. Almost as if every movement, every expression was masking her true feelings. Her button nose would wrinkle as she pushed a smile forward always trying to cover up the pain. And she was good at it, no one but Claymore really knew just how bad it hurt. How deep inside no matter how beautiful and fearless people thought she was that she was broken and unable to be fixed.

There was no make up that could hide the scars of her past, of the failure she was. Even as the wrinkles would form around her eyes and mouth, and the skin that was once fresh and young started to loose its elasticity, it couldn't compare to how she really was inside. Sometimes she would sit in front of the mirror before climbing into bed with her husband, brushing her golden locks just staring at what should've been. Karabela Tessen should have been a ledgend. She should've been a name that was feared in all 12 Districts, not just...this. She wasn't supposed to be a housewife. She wasn't supposed to have to be forced to live out her life through the kids. She was supposed to use the power that came with her name to win the games. How could she not, when her father Shotel Tessen, was the very first victor of The Hunger Games.

He had set the stage for years to come, he would always be immortalized and worshiped, and Karabela was to do the same. She was to carry on the family name and show Panem that bloodlines matter, and the Tessen's were the best. Named after a beautiful type of sword her father had been awarded, even as an infant she was supposed to be a winner. Never crying, never fussing, she was the ideal child for growing up in the biggest house in District One's Victor Village and in the spotlight. Starting training at a younger age than most Karabela showed she was lethal and cunning, rising quickly through the ranks and often training with kids above her age group. Because failure is not an option when you're a Tessen. She would spend hours a day training til not a weapon was unknown, though melee always seemed to be the weakest point at all. Possibly because she was terrified to take a blow to the face and risk messing it up. Beauty was stressed and bruises were looked down on. Bruises meant you had let your guard down, that you were showing weakness, and Tessen's did not have weakness.

Each year at The Reaping her father would surprise her with a wonderful new dress, shipped in from the Capitol. He would wrap it up with streamers and ribbons placing it at the foot of her four poster bed with a note saying the same thing:



She would slide into the fancy dress and each year she knew it just had to be her that was called.By her 16th birthday she still had not had a chance to enter the arena, not by choice, but because every child called accepted the honor with great pride. Never giving her a chance to go in, to be noticed. It was also about that time that a certain young man, with the most charming smile she had ever seen began to catch her attention. During training classes she caught herself throwing glances his way, Ripred did her heart flutter, and eventually he asked her on a date. A few more night on the town and it was clear, Claymore Moreno had won her heart. They would laugh and grow together, both talking about how they wanted to go to the games in back to back years. Claymore first winning and setting up their own home in Victors Village, Karabela the next year winning and showing Panem that the Tessen still had it. It would be beautiful and bloody but full of how real Careers are supposed to be. Their smiles meshed and their hearts grew closer, and deep inside Karabela knew, in the afterglow of losing her virginity on the training centers mats one night after they snuck in, that Claymore was the one for her. Two Victors in love. But that's not how it went. Each year they went to the reapings, dressed to the nines, hand in hand, waiting and wishing that it was their time to shine. It never was.

Their wedding was soon after her 18th birthday, extravagant and top end with visitors from all over the district, her father even had a few friends from the Capitol show up. It was everything a princess could dream of. She had her prince charming and life, would go on. Soon after the wedding Karabela found out she was pregnant and life changed. No longer was life about being a victor, it was about raising one. For nine months she carried and loved and nurtured the life inside of her, she had a renewed spirit for living. Their first child was a boy, Reyes, who was a gentle and beautiful little boy. Three years later she gave birth to her own little princess, Elspeth, who was loud and pugnacious. Two years after Elspeth was a little boy named Ezen. Ezen's pregnancy and birth was wrought with complications, and after she very nearly lost her life birthing him the doctors advised her that having any more children would more than likely kill her. So their family was supposed to be complete, three beautiful children graced with their families good looks and money. The kids were going to be victors, following in their grandfather's footsteps. They had to be.

Only none of them showed the drive. By the time Reyes was 6 he seemed put off by the whole training and games, and Elspeth was still too young to really be shown how to train, not to mention Ezen was still toddling about. Karabela needed hope, needed some way to cling on to the fame being a victor held. Then, one night as she was laying in bed curled up in Claymore's arms it hit her. More children. She couldn't have them naturally, but there was always the Community home, where the ragged and poor and orphaned children were dropped off like trash...only it would be like shopping. She could wade through the sad sacks and pull out the ones that showed the most potential.It wasn't as if they didn't have the room or money, the compound they lived on could easily fit 3 houses on it. They could foster their learning, teach them all that being a Moreno (and by way a Tessen) could hold. It would be brilliant, they would finally have their victor. Of course Claymore was against it at first, thinking that it was just the loss of being able to have children pulling at her heartstrings, but after weeks of begging and talking, kneeling and pleasing, he finally gave in.

They agreed it would only be a few, the ones that were most likely to want to train and work hard, the ones that would really bring pride to their family...and at first that's how it was. After a few years though Karabela just couldn't stop. It was an addiction. A yearning to find that perfect child. While the training was going great, there just seemed to be something missing, there was no fear of what could happen, no urgency to push them forward. So she came up with a game for them to play, a practice hunger games if you will, and at first it was just a few blows here and there. Tying each other up, leaving each other locked out in the in the cold, it wasn't anything dangerous til that night, something got taken too far. One of the boys, younger, maybe Ezen's age, didn't fight back, he didn't prove his worth, and when Karabela woke up that morning to check on the children he was nothing but a cold corpse. Money slicked hands, and the back plot of the Moreno's compound were the garden grew, then held the small body of a child who wasn't ready to fight for life.

Karabela couldn't let the pain show, never letting the children see that it did hurt that he was gone. Even if they couldn't understand it, she did love them. Every few months or so she'd bring another child back, who knows if it was to replace that empty feeling anymore, or just to keep herself from truly grieving over what she had become.

Finally though, a name was called, Reyes was selected. Her first born son would have his shot for glory and victory. To bring pride to the Moreno name, to show that his grandfather wasn't the only one who could be a winner. And in that day she also found she was expecting another blood Moreno to join their family. The doctor had been wrong...just like the Moreno's had been about Reyes. Reyes was not the right choice for the Games. Even though he made it to the finale in a blaze of glory, he failed. He did not win, he didn't not come back, except in a wooden box. And it killed Karabela, part of her soul was ripped out, left in that hourglass. Her first born. Her bright little baby, was a failure. He was gone and so was the last bit of humanity she could muster. There was nothing remaining of that little girl with bright eyes running through Victors Village. The sparkling youth that displayed such cunning vibrancy had died.

It must have been the pain, the suffering, the torment she stuffed inside when she saw the final blow...or maybe it was just Ripred's way of proving a point, but soon after Reyes returned home to be buried in his final resting place, the life inside of Karabela came to an end as well sending her into an almost catatonic state. For three weeks she lay there, trapped inside her mind pushing the thoughts of her loss over and over, trying to figure out just what she did to deserve this. Was she evil. One day it finally made sense, she wasn't evil, she didn't deserve this. She deserved a victor...and she would get one no matter the costs.




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lulu gave me express permission for her father to be the first victor. if there are any questions I can send you the PM. Thanks