Disclaimer: All rights to Suzanne Collins

Finnick's Point Of View

"Do you really think that either of them have a chance?" I asked Mags, my voice curious and low so that the other mentors wouldn't overhear us. If they knew that I was even doubting my tributes than they wouldn't hesitate to exploit that angle, using it as a weakness against my tributes.

Because these games were just as much mental as they were physical; you needed to have strength and stamina in both to make it out alive. And although many tributes who entered the arena had the physicality for the games, they were not nearly as prepared for the mental strain. The way that the gamemakers design the hunger games is to break you - the tributes, the districts and the mentors.

And the mental games begun on the trainings, nothing was done here by accident or coincidence. It was these kinds of things that make or break you in terms of alliances and sponsors, just because you aren't the strongest doesn't mean that you can't put on a show and fool everyone, doesn't mean that you can't make the capitol think you are. If you aren't mentally prepared then it shows and if I wanted my tributes to have a fighting chance they needed to be prepared for that.

"I think they both do." She told me, her eyes still stuck on the chariots that carried the later districts. "Do you?"

She looked genuinely curious at what I thought about the pair we had this year, especially since I predicted the outcome of our tributes early on the last few years. So I stayed silent for a moment, really thinking the question over. Did I think that either of these two had a chance of winning? I mean I knew what I first thought at the reaping, that way they both presented as career. But now I knew that neither of them had the capability of killing someone and you could only rely on others to do the murdering for so long before you're forced to.

"Reid has a shot." I told her honestly, still keeping my voice low and my eyes trained on the chariots. "He could kill, he has all the skills to be a career and he can present, he just needs to convince himself he can get his hands dirty."

"And Annie?" Mags asked, wanting to know my opinion on the girl from our district. My eyes instinctively went to their chariot, studying her as I tried to decide whether this girl even had a hope of winning.

"She could never kill." Is all I tell Mags, letting her come up with the conclusion. It was rare that a tribute made it though the games without killing, so rare in face that I think there were only a handful in the history of the games. It usually only happens when the climate in the arena is impossible to withstand or the gamemakers decide to play a twist on the events.

Mags just nodded and stayed silent, not asking anymore questions about our tributes as the opening ceremony proceeded.

We watched as all the district tributes were paraded around, letting the capitol cheer and pick their favourites from the start. It was a time honoured tradition that the mentors all remembered and rarely spoke about, it was the beginning of the end for these kids and we all knew it.

The stylists had done a decent job this year, no one looked overly hideous or outrageous, my tributes in particular looked sleek and presentable. The stylists were getting better with every passing year, deciding to go for a "ocean siren theme" this year which meant dressing them up to look like mythical mermaids. They were dressed in long, shimmering green bottoms that were made to look like scales like a tail; Reid was bare chested and Annie wore the same shimmery material around her chest while they left her hair long and flowing.

It was going over well with Caesar and the rest of the capitol, which is exactly what we needed right now. We were still had a window of opportunity to pass them off as careers and show the sponsors that district four had victors.

President Snow gave his speech, the same one that happened every year that the ignorant hundreds still cheered for, while the mentors just lightly clapped their hands. We were still playing our part, even years after the games were over we still plastered smiles and clapped on cue, giving the answers everyone wanted to hear and staying silent the rest of the time.

The ceremonies were ending and I felt myself rising, wanting to get back to our floor in the training centre and relax. I didn't want to be on show anymore, it always brought back bad memories and was beginning to weigh on me. I just wanted to focus on getting my tributes through these next few hurdles and prepare them for the games, then I wanted to get back home to the ocean.

But just as I was extending my hand to Mags and getting ready to leave, wanting to eat some fresh fruit and lay on the couch for a whole, as a capitol advisor stepped into the mentor area. He wasn't hard to spot, looking out of place with his flaming red hair and black suit that was out of place amongst the normal looking victors. We all seemed to notice him at once, our eyes turning towards him and our expressions blank, we all knew what he was doing here.

Snow had sent him to grab whatever victor had been requested by the wealthy people of the capitol, he was here to send us to charm some man or woman and jump into bed with them.

We all knew because many of us had been there - were still there.

I looked around at my other mentors, saw the strain on their faces and knew that it could be any one of us being summoned. It was nearly impossible to predict, it was just whoever had caught the eye of the wealthy, whoever they dreamed of falling into bed with. There was no rhyme or rhythm, but if I had to guess I knew who it would be for.

Although we were all desire by the capitol, there were victors that were more popular than the others.

Cashmere was very popular amongst the capitol, people adoring her classically beautiful looks and cool exterior; looking at her now and the way she wouldn't even look over at the advisor, I knew it was a possibility. And judging from the way Gloss held her hand tightly, I knew that it was a possibility that it could be him, people desiring him for the same reasons as his sister.

Enobaria was another popular victor amongst the capitol, people admiring her strength and sleek body, always remembering how cunning she was in the games. She was always one of the better actors among the mentors, being able to pretend like she actually enjoyed the games every year.

Then of course, there was me.

And as he made his way down the stairs, passing by the other victors and drew closer to where I stood, I knew that it was for me. All I could feel was dread when he handed me an envelope, one that would be filled with the location and name of the person I was meant to seduce. I didn't even notice as he quickly made his way up the stairs, not evening saying a word but just disappearing.

I wished that I could disappear in that moment, but I didn't have that luxury. I had more jewels that I could ever carry, more money than I could ever need and could buy anything I could ever want; but I could never buy freedom. Poetic, isn't it?

I stuffed the envelope in my pocket, looking around as all the other victors turned their gazes away. They knew what this felt like and they weren't going to offer their sympathy or pity, they were going to ignore it and pretend like they hadn't just witnessed someone being sold. They were going to leave the mentor's seating and go back to their training floor, because that was the kindest thing they could do for me in that moment.

"Come on, Finnick." Mags squeezed my hand, pulling me towards the exit. "It will be alright."