The Fifth Annual Writer Games: The Fall

The Fall of the Empire - Females

District 1 Female – Venus Iridium

It's brilliant, the spectacle.

Venus Iridium is a lover of all things light, of all things radiant, and she is one of those things. She sits in front of the vanity, examining her face, free of all blemishes—not that she had many to begin with. Her styling team has cleared the little imperfections around her face—from a small cut above her eyebrow that she gained while training, to the scratch marks left behind after she kept itching away at an inflamed mosquito bite—and she looks like a blank canvas, ready to be decorated whichever way the team sees fit.

In her chair, she is spun around so she now faces the door instead of her reflection. She sits practically naked, nothing but a very thin robe covering her from her collarbones to the middle of her thighs. Venus, however, doesn't mind: the amount of times she's been caught in mere underwear while changing backstage at the theater...well, it's hard to recall all those times.

Desdemona, the woman in charge of her hair, bends the chair back so that she has easier access to Venus's hair. Behind her, a tap is opened and water spills out, lukewarm against her scalp. Desdemona squirts some shampoo on Venus's hair and begins to gently massage it in, creating bubbles and foam that tickle Venus's ears and neck.

Smells like strawberry, Venus thinks, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of someone playing with her hair.

"You excited?" asks Desdemona. She removes the shampoo and applies conditioner to Venus's already silky smooth hair.

"Very," replies Venus, smiling at the prospect of the interview. She's a girl made for the spotlight, for the applause—she's accustomed to being looked at, at having cameras trained at her every movement. There's nothing to be afraid of or be nervous about.

Desdemona chuckles, letting the conditioner sit there and beginning to mix liquids in a bowl. "I'm sure you are."

"Where are Algernon and Giovanna?" Venus asks, eyes still closed. It's not that she needs to know where they are, she's just curious about their absence. She's used to the trio of them handling her at the same time, and it's odd that only Desdemona is present.

"Oh, you know. Just around. I asked them to leave us alone for a while because your hair is going to need more care this time around," Desdemona says, "Plus, I figured if you had any questions about...before—in case it comes up in your interview, which I doubt—it would be good if it was just the two of us."

Venus nods, "Thank you, that's very considerate of you."

They sit in silence for a while, Desdemona mixing the liquids and then brushing through Venus's still wet and conditioner-ridden hair, Venus just sitting there and wondering. When she met the styling team, she took an immediate liking to them all. It was nice to finally encounter people just as dramatic as herself, unafraid of being the loudest people in the room, loving the attention. She liked the way they have accents, slightly high at the end, and she liked that they encouraged her to mimic their accents. You're going to be a Capitol star one day soon, they told her, better start learning our accent now.

Despite her love for the three, she took a greater liking to Desdemona, who confided in Venus that she moved to the Capitol only nine years ago, being a native of District One and living there one year after the end of the rebellion. Since then, Desdemona has always thrown in little anecdotes about their home whenever she could, giving impromptu history lessons too. Whenever time allowed—whether it was after the tribute parade or after a training sessions—Desdemona made her way to Venus's quarters and yapped her ear off with valuable information about District One and the Capitol, coming from a person who lived in the glory days of each location. Venus swallowed the information whole, memorizing factoids and implementing them into her personal "history". Because of Desdemona's help, Venus has slightly changed her dynamic, perfecting herself and the way she'll carry herself in the interview and in the arena to ensure support from every audience member. She was already planning to be a star, but with this new information she knows she'll blow everyone away; the other tributes will have to fight for sponsorship scraps.