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SHE AWOKE, DESPITE THE LATE HOUR IN WHICH SHE WENT TO BED, WELL RESTED. An unusually good mood filled in the gaps in her mind caused by lack of sleep.
It had been the arrival of some mentors which woke her, catching up with their tributes if they had not done so the day before. Mizzen's mentor ( Pers...Persephone, maybe) chatted with Mizzen in their usual spot. She gave a small smile to Hestia as Mizzen waved his District partner over, eyes running over her unusually clear skin and silky hair without comment.
"Bread?" Mizzen offered through a full mouth, holding out a piece.
The siren shook her head with a quiet 'thanks', "I'd prefer to wash my hands and brush my teeth first." The boy gave a shrug as if to say 'suit yourself', returning to picking at the roll.
"You'll have to forgive Festus," the boy's mentor started, "He has a habit of over sleeping."
It was a clear lie, but Hestia let it be. She wouldn't blame him if indeed he had been sleeping. She couldn't be sure just how far he lived, but no doubt he returned home even later than she had. Besides, while she did wish to see him, there was part of her— a very small part— that didn't. Perhaps in the light of day, he would regret all he had done for her, the time they spent together. With his other classmates present, he might recognize that his time was better fit around those like Persephone, or any of the other mentors.
The gate to the enclosure opened, a peacekeeper barking out, "Three and Four, bathrooms!"
The boy next to her gave no sign of moving, only staring at her as she frowned, "Why are they skipping One and Two?"
Both Mizzen and his mentor exchanged glances, one amused and the other dumbfounded. "Uh, they're dead, Hestia?"
What? But, yes, she supposed that was correct. She had slept in one of the girls' spots the night before, hadn't she? Had she really been so bothered by Festus' absence after the bombing that she ignored the absence of more than four people?
"Right...I'll just..." she walked away abruptly, allowing the peacekeeper to escort her and the boy from Three to the restroom, where she admired her unusually clean appearance.
Her hand wandered to the pearls of her necklace. One pearl was buried as close to six feet under as she could get, for Brandy. I have a few more to pay my respects to, she mused, reaching behind her hair to unclasp the necklace, sliding off four pearls—Festus had mentioned someone had gotten out, and she had counted five gone—and placing them in her pocket.
When she returned to the zoo, she sought out Tanner. The boy talked away with their newest recruit. What was his name? Something with trees...
