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"Delphine- "I VOLUNTEER!" A muscular blonde-haired girl in a poofy black dress pushes her way from the eighteen year old section to the stage. She launches herself up the steps and comes to a stop near the bowl, towering over Leona in the process. "I am Khepri Urchin, District 4's next victor," she tells the crowd. "Well, isn't she modest?" I say sarcastically. Marlin snorts.

I know I look awful enough to not have to stand on the stage, not that Marlin would tell me. I'm exhausted, but of course Snow insisted that I mentor this year. "I call the boy," I shout quickly, saying the words that were on tip of Marlin's tongue. He groans and puts his head down on the table. "Good luck getting her to be more modest, though," I say, smiling sympathetically at him. "Wouldn't call the shots now, ViVi," he says, glancing at the screen and grinning. "Seen your boy lately?" On stage is the skinny little boy they called last year, the one River volunteered for. Oh god, no. And nobody volunteers, so I'm stuck with the boy who River saved.

By the time they get on the train, Marlin and I are sitting in comfy chairs at a table for four. Well, it was for five, but no need for Leona to heckle that poor boy. "Khepri and Ray, these are your mentors, Marlin and Victoria," Leona twirps. "Yeah, I know that already," Khepri sneers, rolling her eyes. Up close, she looks freaky. Her long blonde hair has strips that are dyed black and crimson. Her eyes are heavily outlined with kohl, and her lipstick is the exact color of blood. Her dress has tiny red skulls and crossbones on it that I didn't notice before, and her necklace is a chainlink made to look like bones. I kick Marlin lightly under the table and make what I hope is subtle look of digust to him. He glances at me and kicks back.

Ray is short and skinny, with a thin face. His clothes look like they're two sizes too big for him. "Okay, I want him as my mentor, because you'll probably present me as some lovestruck ninny. Also, HE better not hold me back," Khepri says, glancing towards Ray and wrinkling her nose, the look on her face somehwere between pity and disgust. Well excuse me, Miss Rudeness, but Marlin was the reason I had a lovestruck angle during my games.

"Oh, and I don't want you to have the chance to screw it up with all the sponsors I'll have." 'That's fine with me. I really don't feel like getting sponsors for a bitch like you." She glares at me. Ray smiles and starts laughing, and even Marlin grins sheepishly, but I just smile coldly. "So, what weapons do you guys use?" Marlin asks. Khepri answers instantly, of course.

"I'm good with just about every weapon, and I'm really strong." "Are you hunger-prone?" I ask, leaning forward. "What kind of question is that? She's not my mentor anyway, so does she even have the right to question me like that?" Khepri growls, glancing at Marlin with an expectant look on her face. His eyes flash with anger. "Yeah, she DOES have the right to question you. And don't back talk to her like that, because as your mentor, I can easily ignore sponsors and get you nothing for the arena," Marlin growls right back. "Now, hunger-prone means that you know what it's like to starve."

"Of course not. I'm a career, I have the cornucopia. Duh." I roll my eyes. How arrogant can she be? "Duh, they didn't have food in the cornucopia last year, dur- "The gamemakers won't do that twice. It makes for a bad show." "You know, Khepri, if your survival depended on how much I like you as of now, you'd die first," I say sweetly. She slams her palms down on the table before storming out.

"You know, she reminds me of somebody I know," Marlin says. Her door slams shut from down the hallway. He snaps his fingers. "I know. It's you!" "Marlin Hudson Shores, you better take that back right now." "I take it back." "Okay, Ray, what are you good at?" "Uh, I'm butcher's son, so I know how to use knives and short swords, and I'm top of my class at school." I nod.

"Good. I like smart people, they remind me of myself," Khepri calls from down the hallway. She must have been listening to us. " Really? I tagged you as the ditzy blonde of the career pack right when you walked through that door," I call down the hallway. Her door slams again.

~About a week later~

Training comes and goes. Khepri gets a ten, and Ray manges to pull an eight. The girl from District Two, Enobaria Napolitano, gets an eleven. Cecelia gives me the bibs I asked her to make. Beetee gives me two mobiles with little sea creatures.

Marlin gives me a tour of the mentoring hub (the floor below the training center in the basement of the tribute apartment building), on the morning of the beginning of the games, taking advantage of my speechlessness at the sight of it to get a few words in edgewise. He shows me our little cubby, where we will stay until the end of the games. It's filled with different screens for statistics, sponsor money, and vitals and locations of your tributes.

It also has a trash can and a drawer full of little white pills that Marlin says are like drinking eight cups of coffee at 9 o'clock at night. Whatever they are, I really don't want to find out. We take a seat as the tribute rise on their plates. A wave of nausea rolls over me, like an ocean wave. Looking around the desert arena, Khepri licks her lips and smirks with anticipation. I think I'm about to find out why they have a trash can in here. When the gong rings, Khepri leaps off her plate gleefully and runs straight towards the biggest sword I have ever seen.

I grab the trash can and lose my lunch. Marlin grimaces and covers my eyes so I can't see the screen with one hand, wrapping his other arm around me protectively. By the end of the bloodbath, I've lost breakfast too. "It's normal, don't worry," Marlin whispers in my ear before kissing my forehead. I lay my head on his shoulder, sighing. This is going to be a long month.

~Some time later~

On the ninth day, Ray is killed by Khepri because he didn't agree with one of her ideas. I feel like slitting her throat. Marlin immediately stops her steady flow of sponsor gifts. On the fifteenth day, Khepri gets her throat ripped open by Enobaria's teeth. I lose my lunch again. Lyme looks like she's going to use the trash can too. Even Brutus looks disgusted.

I go to grab Marlin's hand when a blinding pain hits me. I clench down on his hand so hard I can almost hear the bones break. He turns back to look at me, concern- no, fear- evident in his eyes. "Marlin, take me to the hospital!" I whisper-yell. His eyes go so wide, he looks ridiculous and adorable at the same time. "I- I'll drive you there."

~Two hours later~

Marlin hands me a little blue blanket. Then he looks at her as though he's never seen a baby in his entire life. I stare down, trying to get myself to believe it. Sea-green eyes stare back out at me, and I reach down and touch his light brown hair. A form slips under the door, and Marlin fills it out. Names, hair/eye color, gender. I look down to find River staring at me.

"See, I told you that they'd think you're beautiful," Marlin says. "He just can't stop staring."