To Reach for Victory
Chapter 6
Disclaimer: This work of fan-fiction is not intended for personal profit. All characters utilized herein which are not creations of myself belong to Suzanne Collins.
I've stripped my clothes off and am now inside the bathroom.
The bathroom, on a second inspection, is even fancier than I had originally gathered. The towels are luxuriantly fluffy, and I notice that the plethora of buttons in the shower are labeled. The shower can give you shampoo for "split ends", "sensitive skin", "full body", and a half dozen other terms I have no understanding of. And that's just for the shampoo, never mind the soap. There's a grey rectangular mat that's just outside the shower stall. I crouch down and touch it with my fingers; the surface is a bit rough, which makes sense since I wouldn't want to slip when stepping out of the stall.
There's a square black pad inset into the countertop near the sink. There's a warning engraved into a plate riveted near it, which reads: "Do not touch unless styling hair."
They've even thrown in a fancy toothbrush with a switch that says ON/OFF on it.
For the first time, I really take in what the Capitol has to offer. If they can afford to give us this in a train, what incomparable wealth must there be in the Capitol itself?
I'm humbled and awed by what they've chosen to give us, the tributes and mentors, because we have proven our worthiness in serving the Capitol. For the first time, I appreciate why the Victors are given large houses with every possible convenience; they've proven they deserve to be rewarded so handsomely.
My resolve increases: District Two can produce a tribute and Victor who's not unstable. Though, to be fair, Lyme is quite level-headed. But Brutus – well, I've already been on his wrong side and the anger he can show when that happens is very genuine and very overwhelming.
As for the shower, at least the taps are familiar. Hot water gushes out of the showerhead, and experimentally I press the button that gives me shampoo for "full body", though why I need a body that's full I have no idea.
Abruptly, foam rushes out of the showerhead, covering my head in this stuff that smells like apples. Surprised, I jerk back, my shoulder blades hitting the wall opposite the showerhead. The showerhead's gone back to spraying water, and the foam's now dripping off my head and it's going to get into my eyes.
After closing my eyes, I work the shampoo into my hair just like I've always done with the cheap stuff at home, then step under the water to get it washed off so I can open my eyes again.
Right. Now the soap.
Making sure my head is clear of the showerhead, I push the button for the least strangely named soap, and sure enough, more foam rushes out of the showerhead, covering my chest and shoulders in this stuff that smells a bit like the generic soap bars I've always used.
After that, the shower goes pretty quickly since now I know how to work it.
Another surprise happens when I step out of the shower and onto the grey rectangular mat. All of a sudden, hot air billows down onto me from a ventilation duct above; something in the grey mat must be able to detect water! Soon, I'm fairly dry and the hot air stops blowing.
My awe of what the Capitol offers only increases with each step of the drying process. My hair's still damp and messy and I can't find a comb, so I put my left hand on the black pad with the warning. All I feel is a slight tingle through my head, but seeing my hair go completely straight with a part down the middle as though I'd combed it myself makes my jaw drop in disbelief.
I lift my hand and stare at it incredulously.
I puzzle out the electrically-powered toothbrush in a few seconds, and a minute later my teeth glisten in the light.
The only thing I can't do is shave, but I can ask Brutus later. He must have used these things before. I grab a towel and quickly dry off the remaining drops of water on me.
After putting the towel in a box labelled "Used towels", I head back into my room and find some clean underwear. It's all I've ever needed to sleep in, though in winter I sometimes wear a T-shirt as well.
Before long, I'm asleep in the luxurious bed.
/\/\/\
I'm woken from a dream in which I'm racing through a forest of palm trees, chasing something – or perhaps being chased by it. I'm a bit groggy and disoriented, but the knock on the door sends me wide awake. It's the same peremptory knock I've gotten from Mom when I've slept a bit too long. I realize I'm in the train on my way to the Capitol for the Hunger Games.
I rush to the door and open it; Brutus is there. He barks, "Good to see you're awake. You've got half an hour to get yourself ready. Dress in some new clothes; forget your reaping outfit. You won't need it."
The Capitol can even afford to waste clothes?
Before Brutus can leave, I say, "What about shaving?"
He dismisses that with a wave. "You won't need to worry. The stylists do a considerable amount of their own work on you. We'll discuss that more tomorrow at breakfast. Now get ready."
I nod and go through another shower, which is even quicker now that I know what to do. Once finished, I decide on a shiny light blue collared shirt which is made of even better material than my reaping shirt, which now lies in a heap with my old pants in a corner of the bedroom.
For pants, I pick a dark blue color and put that on. I remember my father would wear a belt when he had his Peacekeeping outfit, and sure enough, there's belts in the closet too. I grab a black one, and after fumbling with it for a bit, I've got it done up properly. New socks, brand-new shoes – I'm done.
I check my face in the mirror and I can see that my right eye's still purplish where Adria struck me, and my right temple has a reddish bruise.
I should be wearing those injuries as proof that I've taken damage and can keep coming back for more, not hiding them to entice a Capitol audience to go into a frenzy over me.
Brutus is knocking at my door again, and I can feel the train beginning to slow down. We move down the corridor to the exit, and I look out the window. Rhea's further down the hallway, clearly excited to be returning to the Capitol.
Adria's also out of her Reaping outfit, which was a collared shirt and good-quality denims. Now, she's in an outfit the Mayor's wife would be jealous of; it's a grey suit and skirt. Her shirt, which is made of a shiny material that I think is silk, is black. Her hair's absolutely straight, and she hasn't tied her hair back this time. It falls over her shoulders and makes her look good.
I've never seen so many lights and colors and just – everything. Too many cars to count stream down the roads near the train station, and I can see the lights of hovercars flitting through the air. I look to my left, and Adria's grinning as she looks at the Capitol. Her smile transforms her expression; instead of the somber, focussed Career tribute I've seen until now, I see … a girl. A girl who, under other circumstances, I might have gotten to know in District Two.
She blurts, "I've never seen so many colors! Ever!"
I marvel, "And the buildings! How tall are they?"
Adria's grin slowly leaves her face as she looks at me and says, "I wish I knew. To think we've been brought here – it's an incredible honor."
Even though it must be the middle of the night, I see people lining the sidewalks near the train tracks, excitedly pointing and waving. We hesitantly wave back, causing them to go into an even greater frenzy as we hear car horns honking. Lyme, out of view of the audience, nods encouragingly, so we keep waving at the people who can see us.
The train's approaching a platform lit so brightly it might as well be daytime. When it comes to a stop, the exit door slowly opens. A man rushes up to the train and says, "Rhea? Are you there?"
She steps out and quickly talks with him as we, tributes and mentors, cluster around the doorway. After a moment, she beams at us and says, "Come on out! Just watch the ramp, there."
Brutus steps out first, followed by Adria, me, and finally, Lyme.
My first step into the Capitol is onto a clean shining floor of a train station so brightly lit it's making me think it's noon and not midnight.
Just outside the platform I can see people milling about and I hear an occasional shout. Rhea catches my expression and twitters, "Give them a good show, would you? They've waited hours for us to come in, you know, even though we're arriving so late. They ought to be in bed for the big day tomorrow!"
Oh, right. The chariot rides.
Brutus eyes both me and Adria, silently reminding us to play up the injuries a bit.
Lyme walks ahead, side by side with Brutus, while Adria's limp gets a little more noticeable. It's only a few more steps, and then we're outside the station platform, plunged into a night of glitzy lights and yelling people. I try to keep my expression as blank as possible.
A bright light shines on me for a moment, and I reflexively lift my hand up, causing me to cover my right temple. I keep my hand there, peeking left and right as I wonder who in Panem would want to be out here to catch a fleeting glimpse of us tributes.
There's a couple of people with cameras trying to get some footage of us, and a person's babbling questions at us, but I can't make out what they're saying, and it looks like Adria can't either. So we just shake our heads and press onwards, which prompts them to zoom up to Brutus and Lyme to pepper them with questions.
Before I quite realize it, we're at the sleek expensive-looking car, a model I think not even the Mayor owns. Rhea sits up at the front with the driver, while us four sit in the back. A man with a camera points it at us as we clamber in; I look out and wave at the camera before Lyme yanks the car door shut. She and Brutus are seated with their backs facing forward, while Adria and I are in the true back seat of the car.
The silence in the car is a blessing after the roaring crowd, and Brutus nods approvingly. "I don't know if you noticed, but the reporter with the cameraman asked us if there were problems between you two. We said nothing, but that should be enough to keep everybody guessing. Expect questions from the other Careers at some point."
Lyme chimes in, saying, "Excellent outfit choices, both of you. You want to look a bit like the Capitol people do, but not outrageously so. Keep those ones and we can try to see if the stylists can work them into your interview outfits. We'll figure out your exact interview angles later, but in that, Aurelius, you look like a smart killer. Adria, in that, you look like the kind of person who lets nothing get in her way."
Watch out, Panem. District Two has arrived.
/\/\/\
The ride to the Training Center has me and Adria gawking out the windows like a couple of kids. We can't help it. District Two's villages are decently lit at night, but the streetlights are all the same cold white color, and you might see someone's light through a window or in one of the buildings, but they're pretty rare. Some people, like Tarsus sometimes, try to save electricity and use candles at night instead. And District Two's tallest human-made structure is probably the Justice Building, or maybe the Community Homes they have in each village.
The Capitol is immense. It really is. No wonder there's so many cars.
We're approaching what I think is the City Circle. I've seen it several times when we've watched old Hunger Games on television. If that's the case, then we'll be in the Training Center soon, and I can get some more sleep.
Sure enough, we pass by the large, recognizable President's mansion, brilliantly lit and perpetually guarded by Peacekeepers. We swing around the wide Circle, past more buildings, and finally end up at the cylindrical spire of the Training Center. The large bay doors, which I've seen chariots go into, dwarf us as the car comes to a halt in the large circular parking area, which is currently empty of anything or anyone except us and the car.
Lyme and Brutus help get the car doors open, and we all step out and rejoin Rhea. We walk to a set of doors which remind me of elevator doors I've seen in the CEC and at the Justice Building. Sure enough, when she presses the button to open them, we're in a clear glass elevator. There are several buttons, among them the numbers 1 to 12. Rhea pushes the button marked "2", and any comparison between elevators I have been in before – which are fairly slow, though well-maintained – and this one is completely gone.
We practically swoop into the air as the elevator takes us about a third of the way up the tower. I can see the cars below us and some distant mountains on the horizon. I tear my eyes away from the view and follow the others down a corridor. There's only two doors, facing each other, at the end of the hallway.
Rhea says, "Here's your rooms! Just be awake in time for breakfast and then we'll get you off to the Remake Center as quickly as possible. I've got to start lining up some sponsors, now that they've seen your Reaping and that news snippet about you two."
Brutus, Lyme and Rhea all say their goodnights to us. I guess they're off to talk strategy, or go to sleep themselves, or who knows what.
Adria says, "So. Which room do you want?"
I shrug. "Does it matter?"
"Not really. I'll take this one behind me."
"Okay. They're bound to be the same, anyway, aren't they?"
Adria snaps her fingers. "Check the clothes. If they're wrong, we'll swap."
However, when I go to the clothes closet, I see a video panel where I can pick any kind of clothing I want. Guess that solves the clothes issue, then.
I step back into the hallway. Adria's stepping out as well. I say, "There's no clothes problem, that's for sure. Adria, I have never seen anything like this."
She nods. "I'll say. Anyway, I'm a little more interested in my bed. See you in a few hours."
The bed in my room is even better than the train's. As I snuggle under the covers, I think that I wouldn't mind sleeping in this room forever if I ever had the chance.
Author Notes: Thanks go to SkyWriter9 for the excellent beta work. :)