The doors of the lift opened, revealing to Effie and Haymitch the bottom level of the Remake Centre, where the Capitol kept the chariots. They intended to give Adara and Nicholas some last-minute advice, get a good look at their costumes, and possible calm their nerves. Instead, they stared, open-mouthed, at the room they'd just walked into, which contained only the District mentors, and a spare chariot in case of emergency.
"Haymitch!" The two mentors turned to find Chaff, a victor and now mentor, running towards them. "Snow sent the victors out early. Something about the Capitol citizens getting restless."
"So Adara and Nicholas are gone?" Haymitch groaned. He'd wanted to okay their costumes before they left - he hadn't liked the look of their new stylists.
"They're gone," confirmed Chaff, "but you're going to want to see this." Without answering their questioning expressions, Chaff led Effie and Haymitch to a plush sofa, facing a large screen on the adjacent wall, where the mentors were expected to watch their tributes. The screen was focused on the tributes from One, meaning they had a while to go before seeing Adara and Nicholas. Despite Effie's occasional "ooh"s and "ah"s, none of the costumes were particularly impressive. Haymitch could see how the jumpsuits of wire (Three) and the robes of leaves (Seven) could have seemed appealing in theory, but the end results seemed to be falling apart, much to the distress of the tributes they belonged to.
"Keep watching, Abernathy," Chaff muttered as the tributes from Eleven left the screen. And Haymitch did watch, as Adara and Nicholas were pulled into view. In no more than a layer of make-up, a layer of black powder, and some very small underwear. He heard Effie gasp next to him, and avert her eyes. On screen, some of the Capitol citizens appeared to be doing the same, obviously unprepared, while others, the older, leerier men of the Capitol, sat forward in their seats. Haymitch made himself keep watching, as Adara and Nicholas smiled and waved to the audience. Nicholas's smile looked unmistakably forced, and even from behind the camera, his eyes looked red. Haymitch couldn't determine whether or not that was from the make-up.
As the two tributes from Twelve rode off, and President Snow began his speech, Haymitch was distinctly aware of the males among the tributes not so subtly staring at Adara and Nicholas, though he guessed Nicholas had nothing to do with it. He rolled his eyes as he noticed the brute from One actually craning his neck to get a better look. The stares continued as Snow finished his speech, and the chariots wheeled off to make another round before they returned to the remake centre.
"Unbelievable!" Effie ranted, getting up to pace around the room. "It's completely inappropriate! What was that Chaucer thinking?"
"He was probably thinking what every Capitol man in that audience was thinking," Chaff replied, gruffly, "That Adara is attractive."
"Chaff!" Effie exclaimed. "She's a tribute!"
"Relax, Blondie." Chaff laughed at Effie's expression, as she went from appalled at his statement to aggravated at her nickname. "You know the Capitol falls for the good-looking tributes first. Besides, what if she is a tribute? It's not like she's one of the fifteen year olds - she's only a few years younger than us."
"It's still inappropriate for you to be thinking of her in such a way!" Effie's eyes looked ready to pop out her head at any moment. As she spoke, the doors opened, and the chariots began to flood in.
"I'm only joking, you know." Chaff grinned at Effie, before getting up to find his tributes. He shouted back over his shoulder, "I wouldn't bother if you weren't so sensitive!"
Haymitch tried to hold back his laughter as Effie, red in the face, murmured something about finding the tributes, and shuffled off around the now crowded room.
"Haymitch!" Adara hurried towards her mentor, who was relieved to see she'd found a robe somewhere. She looked distressed, which wasn't helped by the majority of male tributes still staring at her.
"Adara, what happened?" he asked, looking around the room for either Nicholas or Chaucer.
"I just did what you told me to!" Adara replied defensively, tying the belt tighter on her robe, "Do what your stylists tell you and behave, remember? So I did what my stylist told me!" She gestured down to her robe, and sighed. "What is wrong with Chaucer? Not to mention whoever Nicholas had to answer to - he's twelve! The poor kid could barely raise his head!"
"I know, I know," replied Haymitch, thinking of Chaff's reaction to the tribute's attire, not to mention the majority of the Capitol's. He had a feeling the stylists hadn't had Nicholas in mind while designing. Desperate to change the subject, the mentor spotted Nicholas across the room with Effie, who was herding him out the room. "Lets just get back to the Training Centre and have dinner. I'll talk to Chaucer."
"She's only a few years younger than us."
Looking around, Haymitch tried to figure out where he was. The first thing to catch his eye was a huge golden horn standing a few feet from him. Rushing over, he found it empty, completely cleared of any weapons or food it once held. Turning to take in his surroundings, Haymitch noticed for the first time the mountain. The rocky terrain made it look easy to climb, but as Haymitch reached the foot of the mountain, his thoughts were interrupted.
"Haymitch!" The voice came from somewhere above his. Stepping back to get a better view, Haymitch's eyes fell on the figure about twenty metres above him, covered in coal dust. She laughed out loud as he stood paralysed with shock. Just as he regained movement, and launched himself towards the mountain to reach her, she climbed further up the mountain. The higher Haymitch climbed, the further away she seemed to be, her laughter floating down to him.
After hours of climbing, Haymitch saw a ledge running around the mountain. Pulling himself up the last few metres, he grabbed hold of the ledge and hoisted himself up, collapsing on to the rocky surface. He lay there, breathing heavily, letting his skin sink into the boiling hot rock. Boiling hot rock. He must have been thousands of metres into the air. Why was it hot? Raising his head just slightly, Haymitch could feel the heat rising from the lava before he could see it. He jumped to his feet, nearly losing his balance as he took in the mouth of the volcano, looking full enough to erupt at any moment.
"Haymitch! Over here!" Haymitch's head snapped towards the voice. The figure stood directly opposite him on the other side of the volcano, waving. When he set eyes on her, she laughed manically, throwing her head back. Her laughter echoed around the mouth of the volcano. Calming down slightly, she turned away from him, and raised her arms above her head, still giggling. And Haymitch watched, powerless, as Adara fell backwards into the volcano. As she hit the lava, Haymitch heard the blast of a cannon somewhere far away.