Insanity ━ Peeta Mellark

━ five: the opening ceremony

"Then nothing," says Cora, a little harshly. "Johanna, this is exactly what the Capitol wants. To try and pit us against each other. All of these things don't matter in the long run because in no time, the Capitol can easily take them all away. Just one little step out of line and—" she clicks her fingers. "Gone. We aren't safe anywhere."

Johanna deflates. "True."

Cora budges down the sofa to move closer to the other girl and rests her hand on top of Johanna's shaking one. She's surprised - she always saw Johanna as the strongest of them all. The fiery girl with an attitude and tongue of a sailor. It's strange seeing her in such a vulnerable state, so defeated and lost. It feels wrong.

"The best thing you can do for me is be the best mentor ever," she says to her, her voice as soft as silk. "And I know you will be. I've always been so grateful having you guys with me."

Johanna arches an eyebrow, a sliver of her attitude returning back. "Okay, stop before I literally cringe."

Cora tries her best to smile, but it turns out more like a grimace. Johanna appreciates the sentiment nonetheless and nestles closer to the Snow girl, closing her eyes.

"Can I be the best mentor ever once we get to the Capitol?" she quietly asks, her dark eyes looking up at her.

"Uh, after Torres then sure."

Johanna playfully punches her arm. "Shut up."

"Just kidding..."

Silence falls in the carriage again, with Johanna leaning against Cora, her black hair covering her face. Her breathing is so quiet it's almost undetectable, and Cora can't tell whether or not she's actually sleeping. As much as Cora tries to close her own eyes and give into the exhaustion that wracks her body, she feels too on guard. Her mind is wide awake, unwilling to rest with the reality of returning back to the Arena looming over her head.

Cora anxiously purses her lips, gazing solemnly out the window for the rest of the journey. It isn't long before night falls, the sky fading to orange and then to black. One of Cora's favourite things is watching the sunset, and she remembers how she would climb to the roof of the Training Centre to watch it back in her first Games. The sun would sink below the towering Capitol buildings, the glass reflecting the hues of the orange-painted sky.

Though today, when Cora finally arrives outside the newly refurbished Training Centre, she feels no compulsion to retreat to her old hideout at the roof. Instead, Cora obediently follows Amethyst into the elevator and allows it to deposit her to her new quarters. By the time Cora eventually reaches her bedroom, she finally allows the overwhelming need to sleep to take over and she's out like a light.

❆

The next day, it feels as if Cora has stepped into a time machine and arrived back to her very first Hunger Games, starting from the moment she was shaken awake by Amethyst and was promptly bundled up and taken to the Remake Centre after a hasty breakfast. Johanna and Torres had left them to go speak to the other mentors in search of potential allies, leaving Cora and Blight in the hands of their ditzy escort who is just about giggling in pure joy at the sight of Cora in her outfit for the Opening Ceremony.

It has taken hours for Cora to get ready, reuniting with her prep team who expressed genuine horror at the state of her crusted nails and unkept hair. After long and extreme sessions of waxing and being scrubbed until Cora was certain several layers of skin had been scraped off, she had been presented to her stylist, Jax.