Arena (*Hunger Games Fanfic*)

Chapter 10

Later that night, I sat in front of a long oak table covered wth meat pies, delectable strawberries, creamed cakes, and raspy wine. Oddius stared at me with an estranged look in his eye.

"Nero...that man has a peculiar sense of fashion." His voice was shallow and cold. Silius took a sip of his wine.

"Yeah, I would rather have you be our outfit designer, and that's saying something." Silius snorted. Hecatia was unusually quiet as she ate, and she occasionally glanced at me with a sorrowful look in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I said a little too forcefully, because Hecatia took in a deep breath and a tear streaked down her face.

"Tomorrow is your first training day. This is where everything gets serious." She buried her face on the table. Oddius looked concerned for her, but Silius didn't seem to have noticed her heartbreak.

"We will do fine. When do we find out which game we will be participating in?" I asked brazenly.

Oddius responded swiftly. "The day before the games you will find out, so in three days."

I nodded, my stomach turning. I considered my options: being in the same games as Silius and having us team up together to come to the final two, or be in one alone and never see him again. The chances of us being in the same one were one to four, which didn't look good for me.

After dinner was done, I looked out of the giant glass windows looming over the city in the living room of the suite. Tall glass towers were stacked around our hotel, and I could see the small golden lights of cars scurrying below us like beetles. Senatia was a beautiful city, but it would be the city that would kill me.

"Lucy." I felt a cold hand grab my shoulder. I jumped at first, but gave a faint smile when I saw Silius. He had a desperate look on his face. "It's a lot different here than Judea, right?"

I gave a forced laugh. "Yeah, in Judea it was just fields of adobe houses in a desert. I miss it there." I felt my eyes well up with tears, but I retained my gleeful facade.

"Don't worry about the games. I have faith in you." Silius's voice cracked, and I looked even further in the distance, only to have my vision blurred by a salty tear.

"Promise me you won't die." I whispered, and he leaned close into me.

"I promise."

I wished I could've stayed there forever, but a servant walked into the room and started polishing the glass table. I decided to make my leave, and I didn't even say goodbye to Silius; I didn't want him knowing I was crying.

By the time I was in my room, the drowsiness of the exhausting day put me to sleep. I didn't even have time to turn off the lights when I fell asleep.

***

"Lucerna, you're late!" Hecatia shouted. I sprung out of bed and rushed to my door. Her tan face and long braided hair stood there staring at me. "You don't have time to get dressed for training. They'll provide you with a uniform there."

We headed down the elevator and I was disappointed to see Oddius waiting for me at the bottom floor, where the training room was situated.

"Lucerna, my dear, manage your time better, or you'll never survive these games." He hissed, and I purposefully walked faster to outpace him.