Zane and I are still holding hands at the window when the tunnel ends and I reluctantly pull my hand away from his.
"That was brilliant, my dears! Oh, they will absolutely love that! You two, a team, holding hands, oh they'll be talking about this all throughout the Games!" Courtney babbles on while I try to get rid of the burn on my face. Zane stands absolutely still at the window looking into the poorly lit station. The train has definitely stopped, but the lights have yet to turn on in the large room, and no one seems to be in any hurry to leave the train.
"The stylists should be here soon to whisk you two away, so get comfortable for now." Wiress looks over and motions for me to sit next to her. I look up at Zane who is still staring into the darkness, and hesitate before curling up next to her. She takes my hand and squeezes it once in an encouraging way. "You'll be ok," she whispers. "Everything will be." I swallow loudly, suddenly nervous about what exactly was to come. I had no idea what my stylists will look like, or be like for that matter. You never saw them, barely ever heard their names. We only knew what they created.
"Oh Ebony, Zane, come meet your teams!" Courtney practically sings as she hobbles towards us. "Let's go, let's go, we can't keep them waiting, now can we?"
Zane mutters something under his breath as she practically drags us off of the train into the now bright station. Everything about it is clean, and the extremely large room is practically empty, save for the few trains parked at the end of the tunnel. Each had a number on it, that I could only assume was for each of the districts.
"Ebony, you follow Crystal down that hall, and Zane, you follow Bright down the other. Now hurry, there is much work to be done!"
I turn to who Courtney motions to and see a small woman who couldn't be much older than me, dressed in an almost completely see through, shiny dress that glints when the light hit it. I turn away politely, and she grabs my wrist and pulls me after her down a narrow hall with a three on the door. "Don't be shy, dear. I'm not ashamed!" Crystal laughs and I can hear the twinkling sound of her voice echoing back towards Courtney. Her clear wedges make a clunking sound as I'm dragged towards a large room set up much like a hospital. There's a bed with a robe sitting on top of it, and a large bath in the center. A large cabinet rests against one wall and there are two doors other than the one Crystal led me through.
"Alright, love. Strip down and let us see what we have to work with."
"We?" As soon as it comes out of my mouth, two more Capitol stylists come through the door directly ahead. The male is dressed in all royal blue and is carrying a large bag that seems to be bulging in every direction. The girl is his exact opposite, in all orange, and seems to radiate light, much like Courtney did.
"Ebony, this is Ray and Roy. We are your stylist, Sionn's, assistants. You'll see him after we deem you ready. Now strip."
The three watch me stand there, unsure of whether or not I should listen to them. As if she read my mind, Crystal bluntly states, "You can either take your own hideous clothes off, or we will."
Instead of having to endure the humiliation of having three strangers undress me, I quickly started taking my clothes off while they prepared themselves.
"When you're done undressing, get in the bathtub, sweetie." I do as Crystal says and sit in the empty tub, wrapping my arms around my knees. The three assistants bustle around the room, setting up various objects, half of which I didn't even recognize. Roy turns his head and sees me sitting in the bath, and comes over to press a button on some complicated looking remote. The second he turns his back on me, scalding water descends from the ceiling onto me. I jump up and yelp as the hot water hit my skin and Crystal shuffles over in her see through dress and turns the temperature down. In seconds I was soaked, head to toe in hot water, and my skin was a bright red.
"Sit." Crystal motions for me to sit in the now full tub of water. I do as I'm told and Ray runs over and starts rubbing my head with shampoo as Crystal scrubs my body. Roy prepares something over on the bed that I can't see.
My skin is rubbed raw with soap and warm water, and when I'm finally rinsed off, my hair smells of roses and is shining. I'm wrapped in a towel and led over to the bed where Roy pushes me back to lie down and grabs one of my legs. He lathers something warm on my leg and lays down a piece of paper. Before I can ask what it is, he rips it off, taking all of the hair off of my leg. I yell loudly and bite my lip, pulling my legs up towards my chest.
Crystal comes running over. "Worse things are going to happen to you in the Games, Ebony. This needs to be done for the parade and before the interview so give us your legs back and we'll get this done quickly, once and for all."
"There's no way in hell you're getting my leg back. It's practically torture!" I hug my knees tightly and stare the three overly made up stylists down, determined to get my way with this.
"Ebony your legs, upper lip, and eyebrows desperately need a waxing. You are going to die in those Games if you do not cooperate with us." Crystal watches me calmly and my gaze for the three softens. I think back to what we talked about on the train and know that Crystal is right, I won't make it two days in the Games if I'm not Capitol-beautiful.
I sigh and lie back down on the bed, letting Roy tear the hair off of my legs with minimal screeching. When all the hair was gone, he lathered a cooling lotion on my legs that took the sting away in an instant. My lip and eyebrows were also done, and I was thrown into the bath one last time to be rinsed off. Ray cleaned the grime off of my nails, Crystal dried my hair, and when they showed me my appearance in a full-length mirror, I was shocked at what I saw. My entire body seemed to shine under the lamps, and my long hair flowed delicately straight down my back. Everything about me seemed new.
Crystal comes up behind me and rests her hands on my shoulders. "Come on, it's time for you to see Sionn." She takes my hand gently and leads me through the door Roy and Ray came in hours earlier. The next room is smaller than the first, with only one door, a table and two couches, and a large closet space with only one thing hanging inside it. "He'll be back in a moment. Make yourself comfortable." I nod my thanks and Crystal disappears in the way we came.
I wrap my towel tighter around my body, nervous as to what Sionn would think of me. A large mirror takes up almost an entire wall, and I stare at myself from the couch. I'm still not used to my now flawless skin and smooth legs. Everything about my body seems as though it belongs to a stranger. I feel my legs and rub my hands together, surprised that Ray was able to get all of the calluses off of my fingers.
"It's remarkable, isn't it?" I whip my head towards the door and see a tall, dark haired man walk into the room. He shuts the door behind him and introduces himself. "Hello, Ebony. I'm Sionn. I was talking about the transformation. Remarkable, right? How much about a person can change in a few short hours."
"Hello, y-yes, it is…" I stare at him, trying to grasp why he doesn't look like everyone else in the Capitol. His hair is black and short, and his skin has no colorful tint to it. His clothes are simple and fit his form well, and the only makeup on his face is lightly around his eyes. His nose has a small stud, and he is wearing at least six rings between his hands. Everything about him seems much more normal than everything I've seen.
"I don't like the hype of the Capitol fashion. I'd rather be comfortable than keep up with the fads. Would you like some lunch? You must be hungry."
As if she heard him, the redheaded avox appears in the doorway with two plates and leaves them on the table in the middle of the room before disappearing once more. He grabs two champagne glasses and fills them with water from a bottle in a fridge hidden next to one of the couches.
"Relax, we have some time. Crystal was done with you so quickly, I was surprised when I was told you were waiting for me already. Zane is still in the preparation room, they won't let him anywhere near Adrianne." Without thinking, I smile into my lap. "No need to hide your smile, it's very lovely. And I found it somewhat comical as well, he made them switch shampoos after they washed his hair with the rose scented one."
I blush when he compliments me and smile again. Sionn digs into his lunch of sushi and watches me carefully as I eat. I have never had anything like sushi before, but then again, I hadn't eaten much of what the Capitol has been feeding me.
"Do you have any questions about anything about the Games?"
I put down my sushi and mull over the question for a few seconds. "What exactly are you here to do?"
Sionn looks at me and states plain and simple, "I'm here to help you make an impression. I am here to help you look your best for those in the Capitol so they feel sympathy towards you when you are suffering. While they might not look like they do, the people of the Capitol are able to feel compassion. But they only do so for their favorites. I am here to make you a favorite."
I think about what he said, and my new appearance. "Do you think I'll be able to do that now?"
He smiles and nods. "Well, with a little help from your mentors and myself, yes. I believe you and Zane will make a wondrous impression. Especially after you two were holding hands on the train."
My cheeks instantly burn as I sputter out, "How did you know about that?"
Sionn chuckles, "You blush quite easily, you may be able to use that. During the Games, there are cameras following you everywhere." My face must have looked frightened, because he quickly amends his previous statement with, "But, they are not allowed are your own personal suites, the training room, and when you're with me. Those sessions stay private from publics eyes." Instantly I relax and continue eating feeling suddenly famished. "Now, let's discuss your outfit for this evening."