Enigma Fenn (13) D1F
The Capitol knocked me out. I wouldn't have known for sure, since they did it without telling me. I only knew because I woke up, and I sure as heck didn't faint in the Arena. I was hardly damaged at all during the fight. I was the force to be reckoned with, taking the title away from Tiger. I was the warrior, the fighter, and the hunted turned into the hunter. There was no need for the Capitol to knock me out.
Extravagance Eleanor greeted me when I woke up, nodding in acceptance of me. She was nice, nicer than Satin, but it was still exciting to see her approval. She seemed to be waiting for me to talk, but that was going to be a problem. I was waiting for her to talk. "You didn't disappoint," she finally said to me. "Even Satin would be proud of someone fighting that hard to win." I wasn't sure how much of that praise was sincere. Satin wasn't really someone to look up to. Extravagance looked sincere, though, so I decided to take it.
"It was really a fight, wasn't it? I was so scared," I said quietly, as much to myself as to my mentor. That was something the Arena certainly taught me: How to feel. I had gone from totally analytically to somewhat emotional, maybe even to the extent of a normal person. I didn't know what to do with that, but it was good to know.
"Well, now I have another mentor! I'll get two years off. Do you want to see how you look?" Extravagance asked me, and I remembered that important detail about being a Victor. Victors never looked the same as they started. That was probably why the Capitol put me under.
"Yeah, I do," I replied nervously, taking the mirror Extravagance offered me. My hands weren't shaking like I heard some people's did. My appearance didn't matter too much; I was still growing into my body. I just wanted to see what was new, and I was praying it wasn't too much. I wanted to be recognizable by my parents. That was all I hoped for.
I gasped when I saw my reflection. My blue eyes were a little bit icier, my skin a bit paler. I didn't know about my height just yet, but I knew that some people did change heights. But what scared me the most was my hair. It was long now, reaching down to my mid-back. It had been chin-length before. It wasn't just black anymore, either. It was multiple shades, mixed together, almost like more than one person's hair was in there. The Capitol had made me memorable. The Capitol had forced me to remember my biggest regret forever.
"Give me scissors," I demanded. Extravagance looked at me, obviously worried about me. I wasn't going to commit suicide. I was going to get scissors. When she hesitated, I spoke again, more sternly. "Give me scissors." She shrugged and handed them to me, and I immediately took them to my hair. Some people got bigger boobs. That wasn't an easy fix. Some people got longer legs. They were stuck. I got longer hair, but that wasn't sticking around.
I cut all the hair off into a delicate pixie cut, settling for that instead of a buzz. I wasn't going to deal with long hair. The Capitol didn't own me.
"Welcome to the stage our newest Victor, Enigma Fenn! Enigma, how are you doing today?" Marcelene asked me, sitting in sleek black jumpsuit. I was wearing a red dress, like that wasn't dripping in symbolism. I wasn't really looking forward to the interviews or the re-caps, and I didn't want to see what Ginger had to say about my short hair, but I was ready to power through it and get home.
"I'm so excited to be able to see the Capitol again! It's an honor to have won the Games," I replied politely while I sat down, waiting for Marcelene to continue. She was interested in me; she probably thought of me as a puzzle. I was a child. I was a killer. I was polite. I hid in corpses in order to win. I wasn't anywhere near normal.
"What was your favorite part of the Games?" Marcelene asked me the same question she asked everyone. Nobody had a favorite part. It was terror all the way through.
"I'd have to say my time lurking in the fancy olden days section. Everything was so pretty!" I said, smiling brightly, pretending I hadn't spent the whole time hiding under a bed. I had seen bits and pieces of it, and I appreciated them, but it was hard to get their full value when I was hoping nobody found me.
"I think that's enough of an interview for now; you're obviously itching to see the recaps!" Marcelene said, showing me mercy. The recaps turned on on the screen, showing bits and pieces of the Games. They showed me fleeing from the Bloodbath. The recaps showed all the Bloodbath deaths, Tiger ripping so many people apart. They showed the little girl's terror when she saw my spiders. They showed Tiger's rage when I killed his ally, when I ran from him, and his rage when I got away. I was glad I hadn't seen that. I would have broken right then and there. Then finally, I stabbed Tiger, and the recaps were done.
Vispasian Ginger walked onto the stage without being announced. She was holding a large, golden crown, a circle with four strings coming up from it, connecting at the top. It had diamonds and fleur-de-lis on it, and it looked just like something out of the Arena, from the Victorian section I had sat in. It was beautiful, and I didn't mind it.
The President put the crown on my head wordlessly, petting the hair and then saying the classic words she had to say. "Congratulations on winning the 22nd Hunger Games," she said curtly, then walked off the stage. It was all she needed to say to let me know that my hair had been seen as an act of rebellion. I didn't mind. It was supposed to be a rebellion.