Accepting a False Fate • Finnick Odair

Small Fish, Big Pond

05 July 70PD

"Okay Luna, we are going to be arriving in about 30 minutes. I have set an outfit out for you, before you ask yes I know the yellow will clash with your hair but the Capitol Citizens will eat it up. Trust me." Ophelia smiles at the girl as she leads the young tribute into her room. On the bed is a pale yellow dress which looks like it will reach her knees. There is also some simple silver jewellery, and a pair of flat white shoes.

"I'll leave you to change, then if you come to me I have a few ideas for your hair." The escort beams then leaves the girl so she has privacy to change. Luna strips her pyjamas off, and changes into the outfit set out for her. There are a few rings, a dainty necklace, and a pair of small plain silver hoops with the outfit, so Luna takes her time putting these on too. She quickly slides on her shoes then walks out to Ophelia. She sits in front of the woman, and Ophelia begins to brush her hair gently.

"Look at you, Red, already getting the star treatment." Finnick smirks as he enters the room and sees the two women sitting near the table.

"Oh shut up, Finnick," Luna giggles and jokingly narrows her eyes at her mentor, "Ophelia is trying to make me appeal to the Capitol, I need all the help I can get."

Finnick notices the uneasiness in the girl's voice; he can tell she's scared. His heart aches for the girl; she wouldn't hurt a fly, and now she's being sent into the arena where she'll need to kill other children in an attempt to survive. He knows that she won't have the heart to kill anyone; she's too nice to hurt anyone. It's likely that she is going to die in there.

Ophelia finally finishes pulling all of Luna's hair into a tight, slicked back, high ponytail and smiles. "There we go, all done. My dear, you look beautiful."

"Thank you for your help, Ophelia. I feel like I got a free facelift with that hairstyle." The redhead jokes, standing up and looking at Finnick. "How do I look? Good enough to impress the Capitol men?"

Finnick laughs, despite the idea of anyone lusting after his Luna repulsing him, and nods. "And the women. They're going to be all over you."

"Perfect." She winks.

As the train pulls into the station, Ophelia exits first, followed by Luna and Mags who are standing next to each other, then Finnick and Jonah walk out together. The crowd around them goes wild the second they step on the platform, cheering and pushing to get closer to the tributes from 4. Knowing she needs to impress, Luna forces an over exaggerated smile and waves to the crowd, being sure to blow kisses to people as she makes her way past everyone. To anyone else, Luna seems confident and happy to be there, but Finnick knows the girl well enough to see it's all fake. She's outside her comfort zone; she's terrified.

As the group exits the station, both Luna and Jonah are whisked away to meet their respective Prep Teams for the first time. The redhead is instructed to change into a surgical gown and lay on a metal table by someone. She has no idea who this individual was as they did not introduce themself, but Luna follows the order regardless. Roughly 3 minutes after she settles herself onto the table, two people, one man and one woman, enter the room. Luna is taken aback by their appearance. The man has lime green hair, which is slicked back against his head with matching eyebrows, snow-white skin, and sky blue eyelashes which are far too long, and Luna can only imagine how heavy they must be making his eyelids. The woman, on the other hand, has long, purple hair, which reaches down to the small of her back. It is currently tied into a half up, half down style, which prevents it from falling into her face. Her skin is a beautiful olive shade, and overall, her beauty is unlike anything Luna has ever seen.

"Luna, it is lovely to meet you. I'm Mink, and this is Venus. We are your designated prep team. Most people would congratulate you, however, we understand that only the tributes from 1 and 2 actually want to be here, so we are sorry that you're in this situation." The male begins to speak as they both organise various items and bring them to the work station beside the table. "I won't lie to you, a lot of this is going to hurt, as we have to make you be the best version of yourself ready for your debut in the Tribute Parade. It will be hard, but if you can try to be as still as possible, it'll be over a lot quicker." Luna nods at the man's explanation, and they begin applying a slightly thick liquid, which Luna assumes is wax, against her legs.