I was wearing what would either be the most amazing costume there had ever been, or the biggest flop in history.

My hair was in this braided up-do thing that made one think of Medusa. The outfit was a solid black sleeved jumpsuit ensemble with black boots. Totally unmemorable, if not for the fluttering cape and headdress of red, yellow and orange fabric making them up. The plan was to light them before our chariot rolled out.

"You won't be in any danger because it's not real fire," Zatanna told us. "It looks real to me," said Kaldur'ahm. The look on his face said if he had his way, the flames, fake or not, wouldn't be anywhere near him. "That's the point."

Kaldur's stylist, a woman named Karen but for some strange preferred Bumblebee, and her team were falling over themselves with excitement. Zatanna's face said I don't like this in any way shape or form.

Too bad she's the only there who did.

They loaded us into the chariots then. My chest apparently thought it was a rock, because it felt heavy and it got harder and harder to breathe. I looked over to Kaldur'ahm. "What do you think? About the fire thing."

"I do not like fire." Funny. His parents owned and ran the only bakery in District 12. I'd thought fire would be perfectly natural to him. Of course he was also from District Four. Maybe it was a water thing.

"I promise to rip yours off if you'll rip mine."

"Deal."

The opening music started. Huge doors opened to show the streets already choked full with people. The ride would last for around twenty minutes and end at Metropolis, where we'd be welcomed, the anthem would be played, and we'd be taken into the Training Center, our new home (prison) until the Games started.

I'll admit, even if I was being tortured, I couldn't tell you what the other tributes looked like. I can tell you what I knew. District 1 tributes were all decked out. They always were. They were the favorites to win. They always were.

It seemed to be going inhumanely fast. The next thing I knew, we were at the doors and Zatanna showed up, holding a lit taper candle. She didn't speak, just touched the candle to our capes and headdresses which instantly lit up. She looked at me before she left, and gave me an encouraging kind of nod.

We rode out. The crowd went from shocked and fearful to fascinated and curious in seconds. We were barely out of the doors before they started chanting "District 12!" About halfway through the ride, Kaldur'ahm reached for my hand, which I yanked away like I thought he'd rip it off my body.

"Come on. They will love it." He had a point. So I placed my hand in his, trying to ignore how, how... right it seems.

Everyone in the crowd who could saw it and lost their minds. I lost mine when I saw us on one of those giant t.v. screens posted all around us. And yet I felt... good. A sense of confidence I had never known before rushed itself through me.

Flowers were being thrown from every direction. I picked up a rose with my free hand and held it up high. Kaldur'ahm did the same. The crowd was practically rioting then, chanting our names.

I wondered what my family felt seeing me then. Smiling and all dressed up. They must have hated me. I know I did.

The Training Center had a really tall tower on it, like someone just dropped a skyscraper on it. This is where the Tributes would live until the Games began. Each District had their own floor. Twelve was right at the top.

Same with back at City Hall, if it wasn't for the circumstances, I'd have enjoyed it more. The elevator ride, the room that was bigger than my whole house with the closet full of nice clothes that fitted me perfectly and the big soft bed I only had to share with me myself and I.

Oh, apparently Queen Bee's duties didn't end at the train station. Along with the Queens, she was going to be staying in the apartment with us and would be watching out for us when we entered the arena.

That was a good thing though because we knew she would chauffeur us around on time, because we hadn't seen the Queens since the train ride.

She was happy. It was disturbing.

She was happy about the effect we made in the Tribute parade, us being the first to have made such a "splash" as she kept putting it. She smiled all through dinner. She was complimenting us, the costumes, our behavior. From the way she talked, she knew "everyone who's anyone" in Metropolis.

When she mentioned how she talked me up, how I "managed to overcome the barbarianism of my home", I actually thought about taking the fork in my hand and stabbing her perfect face with it. I probably would have to, had Kaldur'ahm not had a firm grip on my wrist.

We were released to our rooms after dinner, with strict orders to get plenty of rest because tomorrow we started training.

One feature I forgot to mention before. The windows of my room also acted as some sort of television screen showing images of the outdoors, controlled by a remote smaller than my hand. I enjoyed it at first, flipping through scenes I recognized from my text books as deserts and jungles, until I came across a scene too close for comfort.

A great wooded area. For a minute I thought I was back home, hunting for mine, Jade and Roy's dinner, wondering if Dick would join me. It was only when I touched a tree and felt smooth cold glass where rough bark should have been that I came to my senses.

This one to? Oh god is my face red.