CHAPTER XXI. THE PARADE

"Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn"

-Orson Welles

CAMBER YAW (15) - DISTRICT 6 AGENDER TRIBUTE

Remarkably enough, the Capitol was able to exceed Camber's wildest expectations of it. He'd spent the majority of his time on the train daydreaming, since his Partner Sperry was freaking out like a car without a steering wheel and his Mentor Festus was more concerned with the fact she did not look well at all, as well as the reasoning behind her volunteering, so he didn't bother to talk to Camber much. He didn't mind though, he had grown quite accustomed to being ignored.

"Isn't it absolutely phenomenal?" Annette, their Escort who was wearing a bright yellow wig and an equally obnoxious matching dress of the same color exclaimed as they walked off the train and into the station which had large marble pillars and ginormous ceilings.

It was much nicer than anything Camber had ever seen in District 6, though most things were. Despite the fact 6 was responsible for manufacturing a lot of trains, somehow he'd never seen anything as fancy as the train he took to the Capitol. It was stunning with its red velvet interior laced with gold lining. Camber was nervous the entire time that he would somehow break something, but luckily he didn't.

Sperry on the other hand really didn't seem to care about the interior, or even the fancy train station they had now arrived at. She was wandering around, staring at the sky, randomly blinking and viciously rubbing her nose and going to the bathroom. Camber was concerned. Either she had serious mental issues or she was like the homeless morphlings he occasionally saw on the street while walking to the factory after school. He couldn't help but feel awful for her, since she'd clearly gone through more than he could even imagine, and he knew this just from speaking to her for a few minutes.

"I love it, Annette!" Camber's voice unintentionally raised, probably due to the sheer excitement that was in his lungs, "This is by far the nicest place I've ever been."

"I like it too," Sperry muttered, looking around quickly, "I really like it."

"Well I'm glad," When Annette spoke, her whole body tended to move, "Don't get too comfortable though, since you'll only be here less than a week. Unless of course you win, then you can come back as often as you desire."

Ah yes, winning. It was the thing Camber felt he was completely incapable of, but as they walked through the streets in a single file line, he couldn't help but imagine what his life would be like if he won the Games. He'd never have to think about going to school and listening to those silly lectures ever again. He would finally be able to stop working at the factory and instead he'd probably be able to go to University. Camber could be a doctor, or more importantly, Camber could be anything he wanted to be.

"So, first things first we're going to need to get you two all prepared for the Parade tonight," Annette stopped at the door to a huge stadium, "You'll meet your stylists in here, and they'll get you all ready for the big event!"

The stadium was ginormous, and had those fancy glass doors that Camber only saw in photographs. There were people walking in and out, each one more eccentric than the last. There were people without eyebrows, people who were bald but had massively large beards, people who's clothing made it look like they were naked, and all of these people had one thing in common. All the people looked stunningly androgynous, and Camber couldn't help but get goosebumps staring at them in all their extravagance.

"I'm really curious what we'll get to wear," Camber had been somewhat looking forward to this part ever since he got reaped, an attempt to be somewhat positive, "I hope it's not what the kids from 6 wore last year."

It was absolutely horrendous, what the kids from 6 wore last year. They were wearing mechanic's outfits with rips and tears in them, somewhat of an attempt to make them look "sexy," though it really didn't work much. Camber would have fired those stylists in an instant.

"I'd sure hope so," Festus was relatively quiet and had been ever since they arrived at the Capitol, "I don't know much about fashion but even I was bored."

Camber had noticed that Festus was one of the only people dressed in a simple fashion. He was simply wearing blue jeans, one leg cuffed and the other not, a white t-shirt, and a grey cardigan. He looked polished enough, he was just nothing compared to the blinding colors Camber had just seen.

"I'm interested too!" Sperry appeared to be regaining consciousness after her incident of sorts, "I really don't watch the Games so this whole thing should be really exciting."

Wait, if she didn't watch the Games then why did she Volunteer what? Camber didn't know if he was supposed to ask that, since he was sure the reasoning was somewhat vile.

"Why did you Volunteer, if I may ask," Camber attempted to speak to Sperry once Festus and Annette had gone inside to file paperwork of sorts, "I've been curious and I've been meaning to ask you so I picked now when you weren't in front of the adults in case that was the sort of thing that made you nervous."

"Without saying too much, my situation in 6 was worse than the Hunger Games," Sperry had a naturally sad sounding voice, "I had to get out and this was my only way."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Camber whispered his reply to match her tone.

He couldn't imagine what it was like to be Sperry. He was correct in his theory that she'd had it rough at home, but still he doubted anything could possibly be worse than a death match. He didn't even know if he wanted to know what Sperry was hiding, but he knew one thing, which is that his somewhat boring family was one that he was lucky as hell to have.

PIPER SANDERSON (16) - DISTRICT 10 FEMALE

Piper waited in a room with twenty four chairs for what seemed like a decade. Two by two, Tributes from the other Districts walked in the room, and one by one, they were called out of the room by eccentrically dressed stylists who presumably were there to prepare them for the Parades. Piper hadn't put much thought into the Parade and what she'd possibly be dressed in, but she assumed it would be something that had to do with farming, since that seemed to be the typical District 10 outfit. Even her Partner Alabastor, a tragically sad young boy was called in before her, and once she was the last one in the room, she had the feeling that she'd never be called in.

"Piper Sanderson, District 10," Finally, a tall man with purple hair and a yellow suit read her name off a sheet of paper, prompting her to get up, "Right this way, ma'am."

Piper followed the man down a long hallway with gold tile floors and shiny, mirrored walls. As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she began to miss what she looked like, since she knew it would be very different once she was changed into an outfit. Finally, the man opened the door to a room labeled, "10F," which Piper assumed referred to the fact that she was the female from District 10, and walked into the room where there was a singular chair in the middle and three girls, equally as eccentric as the man, all holding clipboards.

"Hi, Piper?" The girl in the middle who had dark skin and a magenta afro spoke to her, "I'm Margarita, and I'll be your stylist while you're here in the Capitol. These are my assistants Evaline and Uniqua."

The two girls besides Piper waved at her, so she waved back before turning around and realizing that the purple-haired man who had led her to the room was gone.

"It's good to meet you," Piper curtsied in the way her mother always expected her to before extending her hand out to the girls for handshakes, which they all accepted, "I'm excited to see what you have in store for me."

"We need to make you over first," Margarita spoke somewhat robotically, "Please disrobe!"

"Excuse me?" Piper had never heard that word before.

"She wants you to take off your clothes," Uniqua spoke as if this was completely normal, "She needs to so she can fix you up before we put on your outfit."

"Am I not fine the way I am?" Piper was oddly offended, "And when you say naked, what exactly do you mean?"

"You can keep on your underwear and brasserie if you're more comfortable that way," Evaline was reassuring, "And of course you're beautiful sweetie, we just know that we can help you so that the Capitol thinks you're even more beautiful!"

"Okay then, give me a second," Piper tried to look away from the girls while she undressed, but they were surrounding her on three sides and she eventually realized that hiding was pointless, since they were going to see her naked anyways.

Piper sighed as she unbuttoned the white flowy shirt she was wearing and slipped it over her head, letting it fall to the ground.

"Oh my lord!" Uniqua screamed, looking like she was about to faint, "What is going on inside your armpits?"

Piper's armpits? She didn't think they were anything out of the ordinary. They just had hair, but that was a common thing for armpits to have, right?

"It's just hair?" Piper verbally expressed her confusion.

"Get the wax!" Evaline demanded through gritted teeth, "We need to fix this."

Fix what? Piper didn't have time to wonder what needed fixing since Margarita was seemingly charging at her with a bowl of a liquidy blue substance and a tongue compressor.

"Hands up!" Piper did as Margarita demanded since she was too afraid to do anything against her wishes, and tried her best to to flinch as she dipped the tongue compressor into the thick solution then applied it under her arms.

"Ouch!" Whatever it was that was now on Piper's armpits, it sure as hell hurt, "Can I ask what this is?"

"It's hot wax," Uniqua sighed as if hot wax was supposed to be a common thing, "It'll remove your hair off of you quite nicely?"

"Will it hurt?" Piper asked that question even though she didn't think anything could possibly be worse than the pain she was experiencing from the heat.

"Yeah, just a bit." Evaline tapped the wax under Piper's armpits which had now formed into a solid material, "Yikes," she began to pull on the wax.

"SHIT!" Piper screamed as she felt each individual strand of hair be ripped from its follicle making a sound like velcro straps unfastening quickly.

"I said it would hurt, you know," Evaline laughed before showing Piper the wax, which was now coated in a large amount of curly brown hairs and was honestly pretty disgusting.

"FUCK!" When Piper wasn't looking, Uniqua had pulled the other chunk of wax from Piper's other armpit, "I'm sorry for cussing by the way."

"It's cute," Uniqua rolled her eyes, "I remember when I was twelve and my mother waxed my armpits for the same time, I had the exact same reaction."

"Well that's reassuring," Piper was a tad offended regarding the fact she was being compared to a twelve-year old.

"Can you pull down your pants?" Margarita seemed to be tired of the small talk

Piper pulled down her black jeans, taking care in not accidentally pulling down her underwear as well. When the pants hit the ground, she crouched a bit so she could properly remove them from her feet before throwing them aside.

"AGAIN?" Uniqua yelled again pointing at Piper's legs, "We need more wax!"

"Ugh," Piper sighed to herself, "Here we go again, I guess."

Piper couldn't help but wonder if she was even going to get into a costume at all.

EROS FORTUNA (18) - DISTRICT 1 MALE

Much to Eros' surprise, the getting ready process before the getting ready process, which was basically him being forced to stand naked in a room while people examined his body and determined what was wrong with him wasn't as awkward as he thought it would be. As motifying as it could be at times, Eros had become quite used to being naked, though being drunk often made it less uncomfortable. Now that he was sober though, sure it was a bit weirder, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

"Thank you for being so cooperative," His stylist Tigris threw in one of her compliments, as she had been doing quite regularly, as she shampooed Eros' somewhat overgrown black hair, "How do you feel about a haircut?"

"What do you mean?" Eros didn't really put much thought into his hair as long as it wasn't too long, "Please don't tell me you're shaving it all off."

"Not at all!" Tigris laughed, causing some of the bubbly water to hit Eros' eyes, "I was just thinking we could clean things up a bit."

"Well then, sure." Eros stood up from the shampoo bowl and tightened his bathrobe before sitting at a spinny chair while Tigris stood behind him with scissors.

He watched as his black locks hit the ground like they were snowflakes on the concrete and tried to not overreact to the loud noise the clippers made as Tigris applied them to Eros' head. After fifteen minutes, she held a mirror in front of Eros, then spun him around so he was able to see the back of his head. Tigris had done something absolutely beautiful! Somehow she had managed to draw golden coins in the back of his head with the clipper!

"How did you do that?" Eros beamed, running his fingers through the top part of his hair, which was only a bit shorter now, "I love it!"

"A magician never reveals her secrets," Tigris smiled before putting down the clippers and spraying something in Eros hair that caused him to cover his nose and cough a bit, "I think it's time for you to get on your outfit."

Although he had previously thought about it with dread, Eros was getting to the point where he was actually excited to see what they had for him to wear. Tigris was known as the best stylist in Panem, even though she was so humble, and her apprentice Jaxon was equally reputable so it meant that Fila was in good hands as well. Eros had seen little bits of fabric lying around with a somewhat regal print, but he still had no idea what he was in store for.

"Are you ready to see your pants?" Tigris was covering Eros' eyes so he couldn't see, "I think you'll love them!"

Tigris removed her hand from Eros' eyes so he could see the pants. They appeared to be of a high waisted cut, yet still baggy, and they fastened with a ribbon as opposed to buttons or a zipper. If the rest of the outfit was similar to the pants, he would be completely overjoyed.

"I love them!" Eros took off the robe and put on the pants, particularly impressed with how they managed to just barely cover his bellybutton.

"You look amazing in them so I'm glad you like them too!" Tigris moved to the closet and came back with a large, thin cloak, with diamond-shaped designs, "This is also yours!"

The cloak was even better than the pants. When Eros put it on, he looked and felt like a king, with its droopy sleeves and the long trail it left behind. Even though it was definitely revealing, it was hard for Eros to not feel magical. The exuberance continued when Tigris came back with another glorious piece of clothing, silver lace up boots that made him look like a knight almost.

"We're not done just yet!" Eros was just about to leave when Tigris stopped him.

"Really?" He was caught off guard, "What is it?"

"Close your eyes," Eros did as Tigris told him, and felt something heavy being placed upon his head,
"Every king needs his crown!"

Eros looked in the mirror and nearly started to cry. Sitting on top of his head was the most beautiful shiny silver crown that looked obscenely expensive and like something he didn't deserve to wear.

"I love it Tigris," He gave her a hug, since it just felt right.

"I know you do," She handed him a tear so he could wipe away your tears, "Good luck out there."

As Eros stepped out the door, he could practically feel his Mentor Sapphira's screams, that's how loud they were.

"No way!" She started clapping which led to her dog Razzie beginning to make yelping noises, "You look absolutely ravishing, darling!"

"Thank you, m'lady," Eros bowed, playing into Sapphira's whole old-school aesthetic that seemed to have entirely taken over her life.

"You look so stunning," Eros turned around to see Fila with her hand over her mouth, "I love your hair."

Fila was equally captivating, wearing a unitard made out of fishnets with a red and gold overlay that perfectly complimented her hair. She was wearing boots that went up to her thighs, one long white glove, and a tiara.

"I love," Eros stammered, searching for the right words to say, "I love everything about your outfit."

"You both look like shining stars," Sapphira was acting strangely emotional over all of this, "I remember when my Parade was what initially launched me into stardom, and I hope it does the same for you tonight."

"I hope so too," Eros laughed, tightening his boots before they began to walk to the chariots, "I really do."

And just like that, the gang was off. Eros held Fila's hand, platonically of course, as they marched on over to the platform, prepared to mount their chariot and hopefully become one of the stars in Sapphira's constellation.

CHALLIS LAM (15) - DISTRICT 8 MALE

Challis hated his outfit. It was a disgusting suit with a checkerboard print, and a white bow tie that looked embarrassing. How the hell did it even represent District 8? That's right, it didn't.

"I can't believe you get to wear something cool and I'm stuck with this," Challis spoke to his District Partner Teresa as they walked over to the pitch to prepare to mount their chariots.

"I don't know what to say boo," Teresa did a twirl in her multi-pattern pantsuit, holding the tails of the jacket she was given, "Sometimes horrible things happen to not-so-horrible people!"

"Yeah, well I fucking hate it here," Challis scoffed, disappointed that the Capitol he had heard all these nice things about thought it was a good idea to put him in a checkerboard suit.

"You don't say," She laughed as they arrived at the pitch.

All the other tributes had outfits that were way nicer than Challis'. Even the kids from 11, who were fully wearing suits to make them look like celery looked better than the mess he had on. At least they grew celery in 11 so that actually made sense. The kids from 4 were draped in fancy patterns and the kids from 5 in rainbow jumpers. It all made sense but the stupid checkerboard simply did not.

"Challis," Teresa tapped him, pointing at a chariot which was marked by a large '8' as well as two black horses, "That's our c'mon!"

"Give me a sec, T," There was no way he was going to ally with her high pitched fancy accent ass so he probably needed to find somebody else.

He walked down the line, looking at the other kids. Most seemed pretty miserable, which sort of made sense given the circumstances, but others just looked straight cruel. He definitely understood why they weren't enjoying themselves though.

"Hey, you," Somebody with a deep male voice tapped Challis on the shoulder, "Can you help me find my chariot?"

"They're all numbered for a reason," Challis turned around to see somebody with tan skin wearing plain pants and polo shirt with sunflowers. While his outfit wasn't special, it was still better than his, "What District are you from?"

"I'm from 9," The boy grabbed Challis' hand, enthusiastically shaking it, "I'm Alarico, and you are?"

"Challis from District 8," He sighed, starting to walk, "Come with me since your chariot is right next to mine."

The two didn't walk very far since the chariots were literally right there. Challis had no idea how this Alarico kid couldn't find him but he was shredded so he didn't want to question it.

"Here you are!" Challis stood in front of the chariot with a giant '9' and pointed it out to Alarico, "Good luck or something like that?"

Alarico waved back before getting ushered onto the chariot by a girl with a long flowery dress.

"Hey Challis!" He turned his head to see Teresa in front of their chariot, "Get over here."

He walked over to Teresa who had a somewhat foul look on her face.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Oh I'm fine!" She extended her arms arms onto the chariot, "I just need a nice kind gentleman to help me get up onto the chariot!"

Could she not just, do it herself?

"I guess that's me," Challis sighed before grabbing her hand and helping her step onto the chariot, "You're welcome."

"I know I am!" Teresa giggled, playing with the sleeves of the fancy jacket which was once again, loads nicer than Challis' shit.

"Let the Grand Parade for The 26th Annual Hunger Games, COMMENCE," The two both covered their ears as the loud voice of Lucretius Flickerman played through the speakers inside the pitch, promptly causing all the horses to start moving.

Challis and Teresa remained stationary for a while, as District 8 was towards the end, but eventually they were off, moving through the pitch and eventually they were in the eye of the Capitol. It was a bit overwhelming for sure, all the flashing lights and the applause, but Teresa was simply eating it up. She was batting her eyelashes and placing her hand on her hips, occasionally blowing kisses at the male reporters. Challis had no idea what he was supposed to do so he just sort of stood there, occasionally waving at the people.

"Challis, you should really do something," Teresa whispered through gritted teeth, "I'm tired of being the only entertainment for District 8."

Ah yes, Challis should just "do something." How descriptive. Challis decided though, he should try to have a bit of fun as he often did. The petals of white roses were raining from the stands and he decided that maybe it would be fun for him to make a little game out of trying to catch them. Soon he was flailing his arms about, having the time of his life as he nearly caught a few of them. All things must come to an end though, and before Challis knew it, he was back in the pitch, once again staring straight at Teresa.

"What the hell were you doing?" Teresa appeared to be frustrated even though Challis did exactly what he was told to do, something.

"I don't know but I did something," He was way too pleased with himself even though he had kind of been a bit of a douche.

Teresa scowled and walked away and Challis was left alone. He wondered what was happening back in 8. He knew his parents were watching and were probably screaming and cheering for him, but he really couldn't even hypothesize as to what his sister could be up to. He hoped she saw him, but he knew she was either asleep or with friends, cause it wasn't like he mattered to her anyways.

LUCRETIUS "LUCKY" FLICKERMAN (48) - ANNOUNCER

Jubilee 2, Lucky's second ever blue parrot was restless. Why? Well obviously Jubilee 2 was excited for the Exact same reason Lucky was, it was finally time for the Grand Parade! Lucky was also restless, and he couldn't wait to say the fateful words that pretty much began the excitement.

"I'd like to say a few words before we can begin the event," Lucky turned around to see President Coriolanus Snow in the press box.

He had no idea Coriolanus was going to make an appearance like that. Lucky just wanted the Parade to begin already!

"Panem, you are my pride and joy, and I am so lucky that I have the privilege to be your ruler," The audience cheered at the sound of Coriolanus' voice while Lucky rolled his eyes, "While this year I won't be your Head Gamemaker, I know its sad, I am still honored to watch these Games just like all you lovely people!"

The crowd roared even louder.

"Lucky? Do you have anything to say?" He passed him the mic.

"Let the Grand Parade for The 26th Annual Hunger Games, COMMENCE!"

Finally! It was time. First out of the gate was Fila Ollaris and Eros Fortuna of District 1 who were both dressed in an elegant, regal ensemble. Fila was dressed like a burlesque version of a queen with fishnet tights and a dainty tiara, and Eros was fitted in a long cape with his top off. Fila appeared to be rather serious, making a few waves now and then, but Eros was enjoying himself and even managed to catch a rose between his teeth.

Next was District 2, Moira Mikkel wearing a button up blouse, and armor as though she was a knight and carrying a ginormous prop sword. She was posing beside it, occasionally waving at the audience, but she paled in comparison to her Partner Bellerophon Campos who was fully in his element. Hell, he even ripped off his top and now had his bare chest to accompany the armor he too was wearing.

District 3 was literally electrifying! Edison Montparnasse and Liana Taylor were both wearing outfits that featured light up components. Liana, even though she wasn't doing much except stand there, had the most beautiful light up blue dress. Edison had a glowing trench coat and a very ordinary tophat on. Very dapper, sir!

After that came District 4, which meant Lana Lotus and Kingston Havlock. They were all doing pretty normal career things, just blowing kisses and waving, but their outfits were PHENOMENAL! Lana had a long blue dress with an exotic print and pearls in her hair and Kingston was wearing a pearl mask, a blue scarf, and a long patterned skirt! Three cheers for the abolition of toxic masculinity even though now looking back on it, he seemed disturbed.

The boy from District 5, Clancy Dietrich looked like he was very well on his way to shitting himself. Everywhere he looked his jaw dropped and he kept pointing at things. He was wearing a long shirt with a rainbow print, and pants. Much better than Bariq Fossil's infamous panic attack from last year. Meanwhile his District Partner Ares Krishnan was very shy, even though she was wearing an impeccable rainbow jumper. Maybe she could borrow some energy from that Clancy over there.

Dazed and confused were two words that could be used to describe Sperry Holster of District 6, who despite wearing the most beautiful leather pilot outfit, had her eyes rolling in the back of her head. Was this really the girl who had volunteered? She seemed to be going absolutely bonkers. Camber Yaw, her Partner, was totally working it on the other hand. He had his hands on his hips and was totally feeling it, even dancing along to the music. His brown jumpsuit was a wonder too, and the gold trim really made his eyes pop even though it didn't resemble District 6 in the slightest.

The Parade was shaping up to be a total snoozefest, or at least that's what Palmer Adams from District 7 appeared to think since he was quite literally asleep in his camouflage hunter outfit. Oh wait! He's not asleep, he just looks extremely bored. Marcel Hemlock on the other hand, that girl is anything BUT bored. She was serving sexy, slutty realness, batting her eyes and blowing kisses. What? She's sixteen. Okay well then in that case she looked very pretty in her giant green dress that looked like a cacoon.

Teresa McClean of District 8 was also feeling her fantasy! She was blowing kisses at the male performers and she looked absolutely FIERCE in her multipattern ensemble. Challis Lam on the other hand was looking bland as hell in his checkerboard suit but at least he made up for it by just sort of standing there. Oh? What's this? Well now he is maniacally flailing his arms but at least he's doing something so good for him.

District 9's stylists must have been asleep this year because Alarico de Oro and Saffron Aldeniz were looking straight up like they just got home from school. They didn't necessarily look awful, but they were just wearing plain outfits with sunflowers on them. At least they were trying to look excited, waving their arms all about, but it really was helpless for the pair.

Piper Sanderson from District 10 was having a fun time. She was flexing as though she was a bodybuilder, and trying to look like the fearless legend she appeared to be with her amazing dress with horses on it. Alabastor Contreras' outfit was the typical cowboy look, but at least he looked cute when he smiled and waved all over the place.

What the hell was up with District 11? They were both dressed like stalks of fucking celery! Yes, celery! Both Pith Plastid and Dephra Kirk looked embarrassed, rightfully so, but somehow the audience was digging it so they started chanting "CELERY, CELERY," which caused the two kids to clap about.

Ending the evening was Etta Wiseman and Morgan Barrow, wearing the traditional District 12 coal miner outfits. Disappointing but not at all surprising.

"Well," Lucky approached Coriolanus after the event, "What did you think."

"I could've done better if I had the time to," He scoffed.

Coriolanus said this every year, and being President sure didn't change his bitch of an attitude.

Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this look at the Parade as well as the getting ready process before it. The next chapter will be the 1st day of training and I'm excited to see the alliances start form.

Disclaimer: Despite the fact that Camber identifies as Agender, his submitter has told me that he still uses he/him/his pronouns so I changed that in his introductory chapter, and am using those pronouns in this chapter, so no, I am not misgendering him because that would be rude of me.

I said this last chapter, so you can't be surprised, but I am starting another contest where the winner will receive a free sponsor gift. This contest will be a random drawing of the people who have left somewhat thoughtful reviews on each chapter of the story after Reapings and I'll announce the winner at the end of chapter 25 so you all still have time to review.

See you soon,

Lindsay