The next day, all four of us get ready for the Tribute Parade. This will be the first time the Capitol gets a good look at the tributes. It will also be the first time Blair and Charles will get to see their competition face-to-face. We all get into the elevator and go down to the ground floor of the Remake Center to get Blair and Charles onto their chariot. Charles is wearing a golden suit embedded with crystals that catch sunlight and shoot it back out in rainbows of color. He looks spectacular. We walk in and find the tributes from 4 in their ready positions. The boy is wearing a dark blue suit with matching pants. Normal. The girl is wearing a see-through blue gown that flows like an ocean of waves when she fidgets on her chariot. Whoever designed her outfit forgot to take in account that she's only fourteen. The dress would look better on a sixteen or seventeen-year-old. On her, it just looks trashy. She turns to look at Blair, and I can see the jealousy in her eyes. She wants to tear Blair's dress right off her back. I whisper to Blair, "The girl from 4…the girl wants…your dress…jealousy…is good…let them be jealous…of you." Blair nods. Then she turns towards the girl and spins her dress a bit to make it glow. The girl turns her head away quickly, but too late to hide the envy on her face. Blair smiles triumphantly and mounts the chariot. The other tributes file in and I note which look good and which look bad. Most look bad, especially District 10 in their white and black-spotted outfits. Are they supposed to be cows? All the tributes are in their chariots, so it's time for Kog and me to leave. Kog tells Blair and Charles to wave and look like they have nothing to do but stand there for the crowd. Then we go back into the elevator and go to the basement where there is a shuttle to take us straight to the Training Center, to our suites. My car has me, Kog, the mentors from 5, and the mentors from 9. I recognize the girl from 9. "You killed Shayla," I say to her almost nonchalantly. She gives me a blank look. "I'm sorry?" "She lives…she lived next door to me…5 years ago…your games…she was crying when…and you had that knife…" The mentors from 5 are staring now, and the girl from 9's expression has turned a bit sour. "I did what I had to," she says with venom in her voice. Kog puts his hand on my shoulder and pulls me a few steps away from her. "We all did," he says. The rest of the trip is silent.

The shuttle reaches the Training Center and we all file off and go to the elevators. We get into an elevator with the same mentor group. Our floor is the first stop. Kog and I get off. The doors close behind us. Kog walks in and goes to where he knows his room is. I stand in the hall. The memories are assaulting me so much that I can't move.

Memories of Shayla, the kind-hearted girl who I called my friend. The girl who would catch the flies and spiders in her house and release them outside instead of stomping on them and squishing them like I did. The girl who couldn't kill, and died screaming for her mother.

Memories of Girph. How he had been an acquaintance to me long before we entered the arena together. How he remained positive right up until the moment he tackled Myrrh off of me and saved my life. How he had died there in the sand, just one year ago.
The room is spinning. I'm dizzy from shivers that seem to start in my brain and rocket their way down to my toes. I'm crying, crying hard.

Then Kog is grabbing me. "Snap out of it Wiress! The past is the past; you need to focus on Blair now! Forget Shayla, forget Girph, forget everyone who died here!" The memories all fade away quickly. All that's left in my head now is a headache. From the shaking, not the memories. Kog pulls me into the living room and turns the TV on just in time to catch Blair and Charles going around the curve of the Town Square. They look amazing together.

The procession continues, and the crowd's screams die down a bit due to the lack of creativity in the other district's outfits. The outfits from 5, whose district is in charge of power, have little strobe lights sewn on. They would have made a stunning showing had they not burned out immediately after they started flashing. Clearly the lights were too much for the small battery, which must have drained out. It's their stylist's fault, but the tributes from 5 will be the ones who suffer. With poor showings from most of the districts, Blair and Charles have a huge advantage now. Sponsors will start noticing which tributes have the most visual appeal, and sponsors have money, which can be used to help Blair and Charles in the arena. As the procession ends, I can't help but think that Blair might just win this whole thing. A few minutes later, Blair and Charles come in through the front door of our suite. I run to Blair and hug her. Then I release her and tell her how amazing she looked and how good of a job she did. She blushes and thanks me. Then she runs off to her room to change into normal clothes. Tomorrow is the first day of training for the tributes. I need to talk with Blair about what to do and what not to do. Blair comes out of her room a few minutes later wearing a simple outfit. I motion for her to come and sit with me, and she walks over with a little bounce in her step. I explain to her what will happen tomorrow in the Training Center. "There will be…many stations to…to choose from…tomorrow…focus only on survival stations…no weapons…not yet…there's no point in knowing how to…fight…if you can't find…food." Blair asks about making allies. "Don't…don't approach anyone…if they…if they come to you…then go for it…but be…be careful." Blair nods. I decide that while we're talking, I might as well start making her into a proper lady. Which shouldn't be that hard. We practice sitting up with backs straight, walking gracefully, and being overall appropriate. It takes about thirty minutes. Then I decide to figure out what her tone should be for her interview with Caesar. Hmm…innocent? No…snobby perhaps? No, not snobby. Sassy? Maybe. We decide a charming personality with a hidden motive underneath it would look good. Blair needs to be the girl that smiles at you, then slits your throat before you even realize the smile has left her face. I tell her to practice being charismatic and likeable, and send her off to bed.

I get up from the couch I'm sitting on and go to turn off all the lights. "Wiress," I hear. I jump a mile in the air and turn quickly. It's Kog. "I need to speak with you," he says. I go sit back down on the couch silently and he joins me. "Wiress…you and I both know that only one tribute can win the Games. That fact often slips by new mentors. Either one or both of our tributes will die. So we need to decide to either work together to help one, or work separately to help both." I sit soundlessly for a moment, thinking. Then I ask him, "Do you…think Charles or Blair…could win?" Kog nods. "Blair has a decent chance. She's fast, she learns quickly, and she's likeable. Charles…" Kog shakes his head and sighs a. "Charles is likeable, but he's a pacifist at heart. He won't fight. He's afraid of shedding blood and he isn't fast at all. He has no chance of winning." My mind jumps to Shayla, but I block it out and stare hard at Kog, realizing he's already counting Charles as dead. "Kog…Charles needs you…he needs you to teach him how to survive…just like Blair needs me." Kog frowns. "I'll help him until we get to the arena. But I won't be sending him any sponsor gifts if he refuses to fight. My guess is he won't even make it past the first day." I get angry now. "If my mentor had given up like you are now, then I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you! I was everything Charles is now! Slow, pacifistic, and uneducated on all types of fighting. But I won. I'm here. Charles can win too. For all I know, Blair might die in the first two minutes of the Games. But you don't see me giving up on her! You—" I am racked with a powerful headache and I let out a tiny scream as I clutch my head. My vision clouds and I am bombarded by visions of my Games that I have so tried to avoid. My dead companions. Girph. Hyctor. Jasper. Uladaya. Even the Careers, who would have butchered me if he had gotten the chance. I see all their deaths, the blood, and the horror. Different images of the Games I wish I hadn't seen I hear Kog's voice in the back of my head, but it sounds so far away and it is distorted and low. I can't focus. I can't breathe. I don't know if I am even breathing. Then I see Myrrh throwing a knife towards me, and as it hits, everything goes black.