Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus. They belong to their respective owners: Suzanne Collins and Rick Riordan.
Chapter Nine
Dahlia flops down on the couch in the room the Peacekeepers shoved her into. It smells musty. The windows are curtained, with only a few vestiges of light filtering through them.
The first person to come through the door is...her father. He just closes the door behind him and stares at her. Dahlia is surprised for a moment- she was expecting her friends to come first. Then she jumps to her feet.
"Daddy!" She rushes into his arms, hugging him as tight as she can. So what if this is a dream? She gets to see her dad again. There's no way she's giving that up.
Her dad is shocked for a moment, then he hugs her back. "Oh, Dahlia." His voice cracks. "I thought you were...were dead."
Dahlia pulls away. "Well, I'm not," she says.
"Yet," he mutters under his breath. Then he forces a smile, his eyes watery with tears. "I can see that. Where were you?"
"I went to camp," Dahlia murmurs. Her father's eyes widened.
"You..."
"Daddy, I had to," Dahlia whispers. "The monsters were coming more and more often. Eventually, they would've killed me. Or...or you. I couldn't risk that."
Dad sighs. He draws her into a hug again. "I know you couldn't, sweetheart. I just wish you'd warned me."
"I'm sorry."
He pulls away again and meets her eyes. "Rotten time for a reunion," he comments, and Dahlia can tell he's trying desperately to keep his voice steady. She frowns. What is he talking about? Oh... Right.
She wants to tell him that it's all just a dream, but he'll never believe her. He'll think she's gone insane, and she can't afford him being more worried than necessary (of course, it's not necessary to worry at all). She manages a dry laugh. "Yeah."
He doesn't smile. His eyes harden, and he blinks tears out of them. "Oh, gods, Dahlia. How could this...how did you...?"
"It's a long story," Dahlia whispers. She hates seeing him in this much pain. He just got his daughter back and now, in all likelihood, he'll lose her again, in the most brutal way possible these days.
Good thing it's just a dream.
Dahlia has to constantly remind herself of that. Everything feels so real... Her doubts keep getting stronger, but she forces them down. She doesn't exist, according to the Capitol. She can't be reaped.
Her father blinks more tears out of his eyes. He touches her cheek. "Ok... Do me proud, sweetheart. Do your mother proud. Just...just..." He can't finish the sentence.
Dahlia hugs him again. "I love you, Daddy," she whispers. "It'll... It'll be ok."
Her dad doesn't answer. A few minutes later, the door opens, and two Peacekeepers step in. "Time's up, sir. You need to go."
Reluctantly, Dad pulls away. "I love you, Dahli," he whispers. Then the Peacekeepers drag him away.
A few minutes later, Diamond and Mica come in. There are tears in Diamond's eyes, and even Mica's. This comes as a shock to her. She's never seen them cry. Ever. Diamond blinks away her tears and hugs Dahlia.
She pulls away quickly, her gray eyes angry and sad. "How did this happen?" she cries. "You're not even supposed to exist to them!"
"I don't know," Dahlia murmurs. "But it'll be ok."
"Ok?" Diamond and Mica burst out in unison. "This is not ok, Dahli," Diamond continues. "You...you could die." Her voice quivers.
Dahlia sighs. "It's really fine," she says. "I promise. Soon this'll all be over."
Diamond and Mica stare at her. "How are you so calm?" Mica blurts.
Dahlia shrugs. She sits down on the couch and stares at the floor. "It's... This is just one of my crazy dreams. I have them a lot now. Every night..." She shivers, then looks up and meets Diamond's worried gray eyes. "It has to be. I can't... I don't... I don't...exist." Her own doubts leak into her voice at the end, and she feels tears spring into her eyes, panic starting to overwhelm her. Then she squeezes her eyes shut, clenches her fists and teeth. No, she tells herself. Don't think like that. This has to be a dream... Right?
She opens her eyes in time to see Diamond and Mica exchange a worried glance. They sit down on either side of her, and Diamond puts her arm around her. "Dahlia..."
"I know you think I'm crazy. But...it's all I can come up with. This can't... It can't be real." Her voice cracks a thousand times. She's still too afraid to try the pinching trick.
"But it is," Diamond whispers. Dahlia shakes her head furiously. Diamond sighs shakily. "Look, Dahlia, I'd give anything for this to be a dream. But it's not. You're just in shock. Now you need to listen to me."
Dahlia shakes her head again. She gets to her feet. "No, no, no, no..." Finally, she gets up all her courage, closes her eyes, sucks in a huge breath, and pinches her arm, hard. It hurts, and when she opens her eyes again...nothing has changed. She crumples to her knees, tears springing to her eyes again. "No," she whispers.
Back at camp, everyone was always halfway expecting a Capitol hovercraft to come zooming in and destroy the place, but Dahlia never imagined she would die like this. This wasn't supposed to be possible. Demigods couldn't be reaped. They didn't exist to the Capitol.
But that didn't keep Dahlia from being reaped.
She feels hands patting her back, Mica and Diamond's voices trying to calm her down.
"I'm gonna die," she mutters. "I am going to die."
"No, you're not," Diamond says firmly, tightening her arm around her. "You're going to listen to me, ok? And you won't die."
Dahlia looks at her tearfully, then at Mica, who gives her a wan smile. "She's got a plan," he says.
Dahlia manages a smile in return, nods, then looks at Diamond again.
"Be careful," Diamond says. "You'll be faster than most of the other tributes, I'd bet. Grab whatever you can, as quick as you can, then book it. Got that?"
Dahlia nods.
Diamond continues: "You'll be good with the survival aspect of it, obviously. Don't be afraid to use your powers if you have to. The Mist will hide it, most likely. But just in case, try to make it as subtle as you can."
Dahlia already knew all this. She's calming down, though, listening to the advice, so she doesn't mind. "Ok."
"As for fighting, well...you can hold your own, I'll admit. But it'll be better if you just try to avoid all contact with the other tributes. Stay hidden, and keep moving. Try to avoid Gamemaker tricks."
"Or you could take your tracker out," Mica suggests under his breath. "That way they can't find you to trick you."
Both Diamond and Dahlia shiver.
"Sounds painful," Dahlia murmurs.
"Yeah, but it's probably a lot less painful than anything the Gamemakers could do to you."
Dahlia carefully files that information. She'll have to do some serious debating on this.
"Anyway," Diamond says, "if you do that, you'll be fine. You might even win."
Dahlia refuses to get her hopes up. "I don't-"
The door opens, and the two Peacekeepers step in. "Out," one of them commands.
All three of them get up. Diamond hugs her, then Mica does. Both of them press something into her hand. Her bracelet is her district item...but maybe she can figure out a way to smuggle these two things with her, too, once she actually knows what they are. She can't check now. She watches the Peacekeepers lead Diamond and Mica away and tries not to feel like this is the last time she'll ever see them. Suddenly she's trying not to cry.
She can't look weak. She's in the Hunger Games now, and it's not a dream. She's already messed up too much to look like she had a breakdown during her good-byes, even though she did. She wipes her eyes quickly, as the Peacekeepers come back into the room.
They lead her out into the car, where she gets jammed in with Toni and the boy tribute from Eleven. She'll have to learn his name eventually... But now's not the time.
When they get to the train station, Dahlia keeps her face clear of all emotion. She has tear streaks on her cheeks, she knows, but she doesn't care. Not much, anyway.
She boards with her tribute partner and escort, and they set out for the Capitol. Dahlia can't help but feel like she's racing toward her doom.
A/N: So you know the drill. Please review. Tell me any mistakes I made, from typos to grammar errors to inconsistencies with the books. Tell me any thoughts you might have. And anxiously await the next chapter. Bye for now.
