Oksana Devlin, 14
District Seven
No matter how hard she tried, Oksana could not stop looking at the medallion that hung around her neck. It was hard to forget that it was there, honestly; it was shiny, it had the strangest design of all fourteen medals, and it was really, really heavy. But Oksana didn't really care about any of that at that point. For her, the medallion was simply a wake-up call.
From the moment that she had been selected as a competitor, Oksana had been laser-focused on the fact that she was going to be forced into the same position that her brother was. Every single thing she did, every step she took, she was reminded about how Avery had done that too, just a few years before, and how those were the last things that Avery did before he died. And the hovercraft was just the icing on that cake; the knowledge that those metal beasts had transported tributes to arena after arena was too much for Oksana to bear.
But they didn't go to an arena. They went to Thirteen. They landed in a district that, while clearly not the warmest place in Panem, especially compared to Seven's warm autumn glows and vast forests, was probably the safest. They were not paraded around as cannon fodder but as champions of their districts. And they were presented again with the medallions that they'd first received at the send-off ceremony, that reminded them of why they were chosen in the first place: because their district believed in them and in what they represented.
Oksana's eye floated to the word written in raised gold letters on the bottom of her medallion: Karma. When she received the letter a month ago with the news that she'd be a competitor, her brother had said, "This is the best thing to happen to any Devlin in a very long time." And it was true! This was exactly the good karma that the Devlins needed after so much bad luck. She could win the Events in Avery's honor and make her brother proud, wherever he was. If Oksana continued moping around as she'd done for the past four days – had it really only been four days? – she would undoubtedly blow this chance that she'd been gifted. After all, she knew that Avery would be proud of her whether she won or lost, but he wouldn't be proud of her if she put in no effort at all.
And all she really wanted to do was make Avery proud.
On top of that, anyone in Seven would tell you that bad karma was a direct result of a bad attitude, but that a good attitude gave one much better luck. With all the bad energy she'd been generating since she'd been chosen, she must have royally messed up her karma. But Oksana knew that wasn't too late to turn things around. The Events hadn't started yet. She had an alliance, thanks to Darcy, she had a support system back home, and she finally felt her old determination coming back. (Admittedly, this wasn't the first time she'd had one of these extreme bouts of mopiness, but every time she did, she was shocked when her mojo and determination came back.) If she doubled down now, Oksana would have enough time to build herself a support system to hopefully get her through a few eliminations. And hopefully, each good day would just build her confidence that much more so that she could push through to the next and the next and the next. Before she knew it, she would be standing there, next to Harli and Dorian, being crowned the winner of the Events.
Armed with her newfound resolve, Oksana left her little room on the hovercraft and went next door to Darcy's room. A quick rap on the door alerted Darcy to her presence. "Can I come in?"
"Sure."
Oksana cracked open the door. "Hi. I wanted to talk strategy for the Events."
"Are you sure you're up for it?" asked Darcy, carefully placing her bookmark into the book and placing it onto her nightstand.
"Yeah. I… I've spent too long stalling. I feel bad. We're four days behind on preparing for this thing. And I'm really not usually so emotional."
"Don't be too hard on yourself," Darcy consoled Oksana. "You haven't had the chance to grieve for your brother because of all the craziness in your home life. Only now that you're out of the storm, so to speak, have you had a chance to process. And we all process a bit differently, and that's OK. I'm just glad you're feeling ready to go now."
"Me too. And I have to thank you for taking control and getting us into an alliance. I think that's probably the biggest thing we have going for us at this point."
"You're welcome. Now, what do you want to strategize about?"
"Well, I guess, like, how do you think we should be preparing for this kind of thing? I just like don't know where to start."
Darcy sighed. "The unfortunate nature of the Events is that there's no real way to prepare. They tell us so little that we just… we don't know what will come. But we can make sure that we know each other's strengths. That way, when we're faced with a challenge, we'll know how to divide up responsibilities to optimize our skills." She paused. "So what are your strengths?"
Oksana debated for a moment just how much to share. "Well, I have some training."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I've been training in the centers in Seven since I was twelve."
"Why didn't you mention that in your interview?"
"I was kind of trying to keep a low profile. Like, I didn't want to draw the attention of the Careers, especially considering that Pax spilled the beans about the Career alliance like two people before me. Do you think I should have?"
"I mean, it might set us apart from some of the other competitors. Because you train in Seven, your training is more well-rounded than that of the Careers. Academies in the Outer Districts tend to offer instruction in a wide variety of areas, while Careers train in academies that have built curriculums solely focused on weaponry. So knowing that we have someone with two years of training in an Academy system built for the Events more than for the Games might have given more people a reason to support us, especially given that popularity is a factor in who stays and who goes in the Events."
"Oh."
"Don't worry about it, though. If we can make it through a couple of days and show how strong we can be and how well we can do, we'll be sure to gain sponsors. Especially if we can knock out some Careers in the process."
"Which is what we have the alliance for."
"Precisely."
Suddenly, a metallic voice announced, "Attention competitors. We are about to land in the Arena. When we arrive, please go right to your houses and to sleep. We will wake you up tomorrow for the first competition."
"Before you go," Darcy interjected. "If you have more rough days, where you feel like you're going to cry for hours on end and like nothing in the world matters, don't feel bad about it. Your body is purging such intense emotions right now that you've never had to handle. It's OK to cry and feel upset and all those things. What's important is that you let other people help you when you feel upset. Other people can build you up far better than you can build yourself up. Promise me?"
"But… how am I supposed to let other people help me if I don't trust them?"
"Learning to trust other people is really hard, and I understand that. But can you at least promise me you'll try?"
Oksana looked up, making eye contact with Darcy for the first time. She saw the concerned look in her partner's observant eyes and said, "I don't know if I can promise. I don't know if I'll ever trust anyone to help me. But I… I'll try to try."
What's this? Less than a month between updates? What a concept!
OK so I know it's weird to have a short chapter like this but I wrote this back in like April and then in June I planned out Events POVs, and then two weeks ago I overhauled everything. And I didn't really want to scrap this POV because I kinda liked it, so here you go!
While I'm here, I might as well mention that I've got participation stuff figured out. Basically, over the course of the Events, three teams are going to get a certain advantage based on their participation scores. I'm going to choose the first of those three teams, and maybe also the second, from the Chapter 35 check-in, so if you want to make sure your vote is heard, make sure to send it in within the next week or two! I'm going to be going through my check-in tracker and DMing everyone from whom I'm missing check-ins, so please keep an eye on your Discord and/or PMs.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this section as we approach the start of the Events! Expect the next chapter very soon... ;)
Yours,
goldie031
