ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ
"Are you drunk?" asked Mary. She looked at the man in front of her, who already had another glass of alcohol in his hand.
"Me? Drunk? Never... Maybe." Mary laughed and continued eating her fruit salad. Fruit salads were a daily breakfast for Mary at the farm and just because the Capitol gave her food now, like bread with meat/cheese/... or cereal, she would not change her eating habits.
The train was now about two, or three hours away from the Capitol and would soon reach District 1.
Last night, Mary almost hadn't slept. Maybe two or three hours, but no more than that, which was noticeable. The circles under her eyes, which were usually tiny, were dark, and her behavior also showed that she was tired.
"Didn't sleep well?" a voice snapped her out of her head. She looked up to face Finnick Odair. He looked... well. She knew he had only slept as much as she had because she kept hearing voices coming from his room. For having slept so little, though, he didn't look tired.
She shook her head and replied, "It's more because I haven't had any sleep at all."
Finnick did not look happy about this. He sat down and poured some juice into his glass. "Didn't I tell you yesterday to go to sleep?"
"Aren't you supposed to get sleep as our mentor too to teach us stuff," Mary snapped back unconsciously and immediately regretted it. Meanwhile, he blushed and sat up straighter than before.
"Touché." He put the glass to his lips with a slight smile and took a sip. "But still, Maya, right?"
Mary shook her head. "Mary. It's Mary."
Finnick just winked at her and kept talking. "Now, Marie, you need to sleep, okay? You want to win, don't you?" Finnick ignored her real name, which annoyed Mary.
"Why would I want to win?" Mary became suspicious. Why did he think she wanted to win? What positive things would there be besides being a 'winner' and being back with their family?
"You'll have to tell me. Maybe for fame, money, or recognition. Maybe also for love?" Mary blushed in response. Love? She was only 13 and didn't really understand what there was to love. It was just two people who felt a little more for each other than others, right?
As she thought about it, she shook her head. "What love should I have there? For one thing, I'm far too young for that, and for another, what would love to do for me if one of us were to die? And how is it supposed to be real love at all when I've only known the person for a week or even less? And let's say I fall in love, which I doubt, what should I do if it ends up being just him and me? Should I kill myself and let him win, or should I kill him so that I can live but have to live with a broken heart and guilt?"
"Do you remember the 53rd Hunger Games? In the end, it was just Raven Flynn and Jordan Evans. Both were from District 4 and both had been in a relationship for years. They loved each other until the end of the games. But only one could win. Jordan didn't want to live without Raven, and Raven didn't want to live without Jordan. Jordan, who always wanted to be a hero, killed himself in his sleep for Raven. When she woke up, she found Jordan dead. Raven won the games and nowadays, she is in a happy state of mind. She has managed to go on living even without the love of her life."
"Do you really think she's okay? Probably not. People are good at hiding things. You only see it unintentionally and even then, you don't see it. Raven is one of those people who are good at hiding things, which could be seen in her games. She lies without blinking, but if you know her, you know that when she lies, her ears turn red and her lip gets a little paler. Raven lives for Jordan, not without Jordan. I rather think she blames herself for the fact that he killed himself. Without a goodbye, too."
Finnick looked surprised by my statement. "The little girl is good," Ares laughed with his glass of alcohol. "And she's right, Finn. You only look at the superficial things, she, the where underneath." Mary blinked, not realizing that Ares had just given her praise. "Where is Elle, anyway? I haven't seen her in... 30 years..." And there was that drunken state again.
"Thirty minutes. The last time you saw her was 30 minutes ago. She had some stuff to sort out. She said that she will be here in like 10 or 15 minutes, so she can meet the tributes."
Ares face changed in that his eyebrows contracted and wrinkles were now by his forehead. "Getting to know each other? We've already met those two, haven't we?"
Finnick just shook his head. "Like, really get to know them. Their strength, abilities, etc."
Ares just made a disinterested noise and then leaned back again. Mary looked Mikael in the eye and saw that he found the whole thing amusing. Before anyone could say anything else, Elle Trinket burst in. She nodded once to Finnick and Ares and then looked at Mikael and Mary. She let out a little squeal and rushed up to Mary and squished her. "Look at you. So adorable." Elle pecked Mary on the cheek, who sat there awkwardly. "Look at her, Finnick, isn't she cute?"
Finnick chuckled. " Very much, Elle, very much." Mary blushed and smiled slightly to make it not too awkward. "But I think you're about to squash her, Elle, we still need her." Elle looked surprised and then looked down at Mary, only now noticing that her face was very red. She mumbled a little apology and sat down on a chair. "Well, now that everyone is here, let's start with the little things first. Today is the parade. Or was it tomorrow?" He thought for a moment. "Today is the parade. When we arrive, you'll immediately be sent to a styling team, and you'll be dressed up for the parade. Then, when the parade is, you have to smile. Whether you are in pain, sad, or anything else, you must smile and wave. That way, you're already on the positive side of the Capitol."
"Are we going to be put in fishnets, too?" asked Mikael amusingly, thinking about the games of the last few years. Mostly it was fishnets, and Mary didn't want to think at all about what she would look like in a fishnet.
"If you want to." He let out a soft chuckle. "After the parade, we'll continue with training the next day. For that, you have a week and on the last day, you have to show the makers what you can do. You must do everything you can! The next day you will have the interview with Caesar and then on the next day are the games." Finnick let out the air he had gathered and sat down, exhausted. "Any questions? No? Good." Ares patted him on the shoulder and held out his glass, which Finnick gladly accepted, gulping it down in one gulp and handing it back to Ares.
"Do you have any other siblings?" asked Elle's voice in surprise to Mary. Mary looked up from her food in surprise and looked at Elle. "Well, besides Regina, I mean." She swallowed the food she had in her mouth and nodded.
"I have two more brothers. One is Lorenzo, he's 18, so this was his last year, and then Mikael, my twin brother." Elle gave her a small smile and nodded happily.
"I wish I had brothers. I have a sister, Effie. She's District 12's escort, and I love her to death, but haven't seen her in a year." She grew sadder for the last part, and Mary gave her a sympathetic smile.
"She told me that her tributes are both 12 this year and that they will both probably be dead within the first hour." Before Elle could say anything more about it, Mikael jumped up and looked out the window.
"Is that the Capitol?" he admired the view. Mary put down her spoon and looked out, too. They were really there. They were really at the Capitol.
It looked modern, too modern. While the other districts were struggling to survive, the Capitol was magnificent. District 4 was not poor, but it was not rich either. People had enough money to survive. Nevertheless, many people there also lived in poverty.
Mary saw many people who must have been waiting for her and Mikael to get off. She saw how people looked at her with... admiration?
"Well, smile and wave." Elle reminded them both, while Finnick added a "Let the games begin" afterward.
Mary had to admit one thing. The Capitol looked beautiful, but not any more beautiful than home.