Chapter 19

Percy Jackson (POV)

"Hey seaweed brain… Do you wanna not do that?" Annabeth asks me, pointedly and I grin. I continue to chew noisily with my mouth open and she rolls her eyes. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about alliances. District 1 wanna pair up." She tells me, seriously and I shrug.

"Alright then." I reply, lazily. She scowls.

"Percy. We have to consider this more carefully." She tells me. "Think about what it would mean."

I only shrug. "More sponsors." I point out and she folds her arms and sits back in the dining room chair.

"We're the other tributes target. And I don't know about you, but I don't trust District 1. Alice is barely here. Cedric's arrogant." She mutters and I smirk.

"You like him."

"Do not."

"Do too."

Annabeth groans.

"We can't bicker like this." She sighs. "We've got to think about the games. Strategize." She says, trying to sound determined, but sounding more tired than ever.

"What happened to District 2? They're careers, right?" I ask, stabbing at my meal. She shrugs.

"We haven't heard. I can only assume they're breaking away from the usual pack."

"That's stupid." I mutter but Annabeth shakes her head.

"It's incredibly clever, Percy." She disagrees and I frown.

"How is that clever?" I ask, incredulous. She sighs, frustrated. I can tell I'm getting on her nerves, but I can't help it. I have to ask questions.

"Think about it, Percy. District 2, much as I hate to admit it, is the strongest career district. They start work early in life, so they're tough. They get the most 'love' from the Capitol, and they train prolifically. They're breaking free from the usual pack, which means they're different. Interesting. The Capitol will love it." She explains and I stare at her.

"How hard do you think about all this?" I ask and she sighs.

"I have to overthink it all, Percy. This is the Hunger Games. I don't know about you, but I want to win." She retorts, stonily.

I stare at her for a moment.

"Sorry." She mutters, rubbing her face tiredly. I sigh.

"S'fine. We're all stressed." I say quietly, stirring the pasta around on my plate.

"Maybe we should just agree with District 1." She murmurs and I nod.

"Would be easier." I agree, half-heartedly.

"Well come on then seaweed brain." She smiles, carefully, wiping her mouth and hands with the napkin, and setting down her cutlery.

"Where are we going?" I ask, looking up at her as she stands up.

"Down to the training room. It's where district 1 have been hanging out." She tells me and I slump.

"But I'm not done eating." I complain and she shoots me a dry look.

"What's more important? Pasta, or sponsors?" She asks and I roll my eyes, before standing up to join her.

The journey down to the training room is quick and we get down there in no time. The corridors into the room are clearly piquing Annbeth's interest and I'm glad to remember her penchant for architecture. I'm very, very tempted to hold her hand as we walk, but I can't. Besides, it' a bad idea to get too attached to your fellow tributes, because it'll only ever end messily.

Instead I just let her open the doors to the training room, where Cedric and Alice are talking. It's a surprise actually, because Cedric's voice is soft and gentle for once, and Alice actually seems to be concentrating.

"Ah!" Cedric grins when he spots us, and Alice immediately pales and distances again. "District 4!" He leaps up to say hello, but we walk over instead.

"Alliance is on." Annabeth tells him and he smiles.

"Fantastic." He laughs. "Now I guess we just have to work out a strategy. Come sit." He invites.

He and Alice are sat on the stepping stones, so we join them, each sitting down on one.

"So I guess we're going for it at the cornucopia?" Asks Cedric, cutting straight to the chase. I'm going to let Annabeth do the talking for this one; she knows her strategies.

"That depends. District 2 clearly haven't made up their minds about joining us, and at this point we can only assume they aren't going to. Which means they're a threat." Annabeth muses. "If we did, there's always the danger of them… Well. Killing us. But, if we don't it leaves room for the other tributes to grab stuff, and we can count on them being less prepped to kill, so more would walk away from it. We don't need that." She says, and I can almost hear the cogs turning in her brain. I love listening to her work things out like this. It's kind of relaxing.

"You're writing off the other districts." Alice murmurs, looking past Annabeth at a spot on the polished blue wall behind us. Annabeth purses her lips.

"Oh no I'm not. I know they're threats. Particularly 7. I don't think the boy will be much without his hook, but Clarisse is dangerous. She's from 7, and that's lumber, so if she gets her hands on an axe, we're in trouble. That can't happen."

"You've forgotten about 12." Alice chides, breezily and Annabeth glares.

"I'm not scared of the boy." She retorts.

"I mean the girl. She can run faster than any of you." Alice points out and I frown.

"We didn't see her run properly though." I point out and Annabeth nods. Alice finally looks at her, with shockingly blue eyes and an almost wild look.

"Just because you didn't see something doesn't mean it's not true." She says, her voice scarily stark of emotion. Cedric laughs nervously, sensing the tension.

"I though the girl from 11 looked dangerous. Dekka, that's the one." He points out and I nod, trying to stop Alice and Annabeth glaring at each other.

"Yeah I thought so too. And the twins from 6."

We're both nodding furiously now, trying to diffuse the mounting tension .The last thing we need is a disagreement.

"Wouldn't you agree Annabeth?" I ask her and she looks way from Alice.

"Yeah, definitely." She murmurs, but it looks as though she's planning something. I'm almost glad I don't know what it is, because if we're going into the games, and she's fought with lice, it won't be pretty.

TENSION IS RISING OOOOOHHHHHH... So what did we think of this chapter? Good? Or not so much... Please let me know in the reviews, and remember, if you have any suggestions for things to come, or any POV requests, I'm open to them too :)

Thank you so so so so much for reading; I hope something good happens to you, and you fins money on the steet, or win a coupon for something cool because you deserve it! Stay excellent!

Lucy XXX