Chapter 2: The Opening Ceremony
On the train ride to the Capitol, Finnick was led to a room that would be his quarters until they arrived in the Capitol. He was told to change his clothes and come to the kitchen for lunch. Finnick stared at the room. It was three times as big as his whole family's house. He first headed for the shower which had a million buttons to press and got scalded with rose water and chose a simple ensemble of a light blue shirt and black pants and trooped down the hall for lunch.
He could smell the aroma of the food wafting through his nose 10 metres away from the dinner table. Annette was already seated there and so were the mentors Mags and Luke. Finnick was amazed by the sight of the food there were so many dishes it would be impossible to try them all. MorelikeabuffetfitforPresidentSnowthan 'lunch'.IsthiswhatthecitizensoftheCapitolhaveeverydayforlunch?Wow. Finnick zeroed in on the barbecued fish and attacked the plate of fish, nicely browned and added a few vegetables and grabbed a pudding and zoomed back to his seat and gobbled the food down. "Easy now. Try to eat more now so you won't starve easily in the arena but don't go overboard." Said Luke. Luke was a middle-aged mentor with greying hair and a receding hairline but green eyes as sharp as a bird's. Finnick nodded politely. Who knew what sort of crazy conditions the Gamemakers might come up with? Better to be safe than sorry. Although the meal was absolutely delicious, Finnick didn't really taste it for he was too busy wondering what his fate might be. And also because Lucia was eyeing him and making flirty gestures at him Creepy.
Once they had finished, Luke addressed both of them "Now listen here, you may not like what the stylists are going to do to both of you but don't whine or complain however painful the touch-up process or ridiculous the outfits may be. On the chariots, smile and wave and try to get sponsors" Mags said, "Do you have any special skills?" Annette shook her head but Finnick said, "Well, I can wield a trident fair enough to catch fish." "Good. Maybe we can send you a trident but if there so happens to be one at the Cornucopia, get it fast. Tridents are hard to come by but are just as deadly as spears."
The train pulled into the Capitol where Finnick and Annette were greeted by thousand of cheering Capitol citizens. A lot of them had obviously gone through operations. You could tell by the perfect face and body, the blinding white teeth, so beautifully aligned. Of course there were others whose skin had been dyed blue and embedded with hundreds of silver stars, the fox tails and talons, the vampire teeth, the colour changing eyes. As disgusted as he was by this city of freaks, Finnick still waved and blew kisses which were met with shrieks of delight. Annette stood next to him and smiled.
Once they train ride was over, they were whisked into special centres to be dressed up for tonight's Opening Ceremony.
(Finnick's POV from here onwards)
I bite my tongue to keep from screaming as my idiot Preparation Team strip another piece of tape off my leg, removing some of my leg hair. They aren't gentle. "I know it hurts alright? Just this last one. Thanks for not screaming. The last tribute we pulled in here was shrieking his head off!" pipes Andromeda . RIIIIIP! Octavian strips away the last of my leg hair and the leader, Theseus smiles in satisfaction. "Ah, perfect. Now you can meet Helia. They leave the room and call for Helia, my stylist and all the while I am stark naked. And it's cold in this room. I'm shaking like a leaf by the time Helia saunters in. She has long black hair streaked with gold and rainbow coloured eyes. "Hello, Finnick. I see you Preparation Team did a good job. Come, wrap yourself in this towel and I shall put you in your costume."
Helia instructs me to shut my eyes as she slips me into this cool…thing and sprinkles something into my hair, slides a metal object into my hair, sticks a few things that feel like shells onto body then tells me I can open my eyes.
The creature standing in front of the mirror is me, but not me. I'm not wearing a top but I am wearing an electric blue tail studded with diamonds, a silver crown inlaid with emeralds and sapphires with silver glitter sprayed in my hair and small white shells dotted over my torso. "Here, take this." Says Helia as she passes me a silver trident to hold. I'm a mer-king. As much as I despise the Capitol and its citizens, I have to admit, Helia has made more handsome than I ever have been. I can't help but gaze at my reflection before Helia says "OK, time for the ceremony. Remember, you're already gorgeous, smile and you'll be a god."
(Later, Opening Ceremony)
I stand together with Annette on our silver chariot with blue wave designs etched on it. The chariot has no back. I fear I may fall and make a fool out of myself and then who might want to might sponsor me? Annette looks breathtakingly beautiful in the fading light of the sunset. She too, is wearing a tail but it is bright gold in colour and nestled in her auburn tresses, an odd colour for a District 4 girl, sits a gold tiara with rubies in it. Over her chest sits two white shells and around her wrists bangles with pearls and a pink pearl necklace adds the finishing touch. I turn to her and say "You look amazing tonight." She smiles shyly and compliments me back in return. It is the first thing I have heard her say since the reaping this morning.
The District 1 chariot rolls out of the tunnel that conceals the chariots. The crowd roars. District 1 tributes are always the favourite and they have more victors than any other district. Of course they do. District 1 is part of a group of districts that the others call "The Careers". The name came because the kids train their whole lives for the Hunger Games to win. District 4 is part of the Careers but we're not bloodthirsty like Districts 1 or 2. Still, in the past sixty-five years, we have had thirteen victors, a fifth of them all. This pales in comparison to 1 and 2 of course but District 12 only has had two and only one remains alive and is a drunk. Pathetic. It's no surprise seeing as they're the poorest district in Panem.
Soon it's our turn. The horses slowly pull us out of the tunnel. I turn on my biggest grin yet and Annette waves. We are an instant hit. The crowd waves and yells and Annette and I blow kisses towards the crowd. I hope this gets me sponsors because that's the only reason why I'm doing it at all. I pretend my kisses are knives which I fling at the audience. This makes me seem more natural. The other districts pass by in a whirl of colour and thankfully it is over in a few hours. We are sent to our Training Centre, where we will live until the games begin.
We ride the elevator up to the fourth floor to have our dinner. As I walk down the buffet, I remember Luke's advice and decide to eat some carbohydrates to last me. I see some noodles with an orange sauce and add in some cod fish before settling down with the other to watch the day's events.
First, the reapings in the districts are shown. The boy from District 1, with shaggy blonde hair and of stocky build practically jumps to volunteer for the boy originally chosen. Nobody volunteers for the girl but she looks pretty happy about being chosen. See, here's the difference between District 1 and 4: We fight hard in the arena but we are not elated to be reaped. The girl from District 3 is scrawny and looks about twelve years old but has sharp birdlike eyes. I scrutinise her for a while. She may not have the build but she seems to have the brains. I better watch her closely during the training. She could be a valuable ally. The other districts pass by me until I see the boy from District 12. He's wearing an eye patch and his working eye doesn't seem to be in good shape. I know at once he will not make it past the bloodbath. He'll be far too easy to kill. The girl seems to be very different. Her grey eyes seem to glower at the cameras. She obviously hates the Capitol and its Games but can't conceal her emotions very well. I think she can fight but there's also this look in her eyes that tells me not to ally with her. Well, she's on my "Watch out for" list already. Wow. So much fight from 12. Maybe they're not so lame as I thought.
Mags sees me frowning over the District 12 girl. "Never underestimate tributes from the poorer districts. The victor for the 2nd Quarter Quell, one of the most dangerous years in Hunger Games history, was from 12 after all." "I'm not. I see her as a contender already." Mags smiles and says "Tomorrow, during training, trying a little bit of everything but don't let anyone see your best talent. Save it for the Gamemakers. Watch the other tributes and see who you might want to ally with."
The Opening Ceremony comes on next. Compared to the other tributes, District 4 really looks stunning, the crystals in our hair reflecting light and making us shine. I once again thank Helia silently. She may have just saved my life. Lucia is practically bouncing on the sofa joyfully as she said loads of people want to sponsor us! With such circumstances, maybe District 4 will have another victor, we haven't won for quite a while, all the glory taken by District 1, the pets of the Capitol.
At the end of the Ceremony, President Snow comes on, says a speech about the Games and blah blah blah blah. The television is turned off and Luke tells us to get plenty of sleep while we can. Phew. I'm exhausted and full. I stumble into my room, and not even bothering to change, collapse into bed and enter a world of nightmares.