The Feast
We are led into a room where the Players are to wait on their chariots until they are to be paraded outside. The purpose of this is to show off to everyone in the Capital and to be broadcasted to the rest of the Districts. I get a few glimpses of the other Players. It's not difficult to spot the Players from Wall Sina. The girl from Two, with the pronounced nose, looks like her dress is made out of some sort of blue crystal material that shimmers whenever she moves. It's a truly beautiful dress and she looks stunning in it. And I notice Eren has been staring at her too. The boy from Two, that looks the most threatening out of all the Players, is wearing the same type of material but his looks like to be some sort of armor. I remember that their District is the jewel and fabric District where the Capitol gets all their jewelry and clothing from.
I spot the Players from District Four, only because the boy is staring at me and he quickly turns away when our eyes meet. District Four is the electronic and power District. So the boy and young girl are wearing skin-tight, black body suits that light up with lime green and electric blue lights on the sides of their legs and arms. I can't remember what the girls name is but if I remember correctly the boy's name is Jean.
Ida had me tailored into a tight fitting white sleeveless dress with a long train made of feathers. It reminded me almost of a wedding dress. Eren, on the other hand, is in a black suit with what sort of looks like a cape also made of feathers.
Eren and I are standing up on the chariot when he looks at me and a strange look passes over his face. "You look different," he tells me.
I look down and I slightly blush. "It's the makeup." After I got into my dress they coated my face with makeup and I hardly even recognized myself when I looked in the mirror. "You look different too."
"You- you look nice," Eren mutters and I blush even more.
Hanji, Levi, and Ida walk up to our chariot and Ida looks over my dress again. "When the chariot reaches a certain speed your wings will unfold," she explains to us.
"Won't they hit each other?" questions Eren.
"Nope. I designed them so they unfold straight back behind you! It will be gorgeous!" she chirps enthusiastically.
"Remember to smile!" Hanji encourages us.
"Okay brats, listen up now," Levi says stepping forward. "There will be a hundred Sponsors outside of those doors and they'll all be looking to see who they like best. So look likable."
"But you won without any Sponsors, Levi." Eren pipes in.
Levi rolls his eyes. "Look, the more Sponsors you get the most gifts you will receive in the Games. And those gifts may just save your life. So I want you two to ride out there and act like you love that crowd. Even if you want to slice each of their necks," he hisses under his breath. "So in order for you to win them over there will be no scowling," he says looking directly at Eren, "and no glaring," he says looking at me. I just roll my eyes at him and face forward. He then grabs my arm and I turn to stare at him. "And no throwing knives at them either," he tells me. "Got it?"
"Roger," Eren salutes.
He holds my arm tighter. "Got it?"
"Okay," I remark.
He doesn't let go on my arm though and I look at him uncertainly but he still says nothing more. It's not until our chariot starts moving when he finally let's go. And I hear him call out from behind us, "Knock 'em dead, brats. At least, not literally… yet."
We move forward and the giant doors open up and I'm momentarily blinded by the afternoon sunlight that comes pouring in. We leave by District order so Eren and I are the last ones out. When we pass through the doors the roaring of the crowd is deafening. I look out at all of them and there are far more than a hundred people in the crowd in the Palaces courtyard. But over the cheering of the crowd I can hear the announcer for the Games pointing out each of the Districts.
"And here we have District Two, Reiner and Annie; so far they seem to be the Capitols favorites! Just look at that dress, wow!" I hear him announce. "And would you look at District Five. They look like complete savages in their outfits. They are known for their hunting." I remember seeing District Five's outfits, since they were only one ahead of us. They were wearing nothing but animal pelts. "And what do we have here? District Six? I'm not sure I quite get what their outfit is. What do they provide again? Lumber?"
Suddenly, our chariot picks up speed and I feel my train billowing out behind me and I feel it catch in the wind and I hear the crowd gasp. I look over and I see that Eren's black wings are spread out behind him and I look back to see my white ones doing the same. "AH YES! Maria's Wings! Who Wall Maria is named after! Brilliant! Wonderful! I love it! It's the Wings of Freedom!"
I remember what Levi said and I look out at the crowd and I smile and wave at them and Eren does the same. But as we're waving I see Eren almost lose his balance so I grab his hand and he smiles at me and lifts our entwined hands up to the crowd and they cheer even louder.
We finally come to a stop in front of a large podium and the noise dies down as President Darius Zackly walks up to his microphone. He is an aging man, most likely in his fifties, with glasses and a white beard and hair. His eyes are cold as he looks out over the crowd and at the Players. He is known for his ruthlessness but also his fair-mindedness. He is in control over everything. His face immediately softens as he shouts, "Thank you, thank you! For joining me here today in celebrating the 74th annual Games! And I would just like to say one thing. Let the Games begin!" And the crowd erupts into cheers once more.
After the parade all the Players are invited to the Games opening feast. We are unable to change out of our outfits though in order for Sponsors to recognize us and get a good look at us during the social hour before we eat.
Eren and I are joined by Hanji and Levi as we make our way to the Palace's grand hall. Both Levi and Hanji had changed into something a little more formal for the occasion. Hanji is in a plain but beautiful deep purple dress and my escort's brown hair falls loosely around the shoulders instead of being pulled up in its usual messy ponytail. Hanji has also switched the big goggle-like glasses for a more sophisticated smaller pair. Levi is in a dark blue suit with cream colored pants. His dark bangs that always hang in front of his face are now pushed back out of the way. I hate to admit but Levi can clean up nicely. Being District Six we are the last ones to show up. We enter the grand hall and are greeted by a number of Sponsors.
"Remember, you want these people to like you," Levi whispers in my ear and I nod and smile at them. Eren even shakes a couple of their hands.
Once the Sponsors are all done talking to us the petite blonde girl from One comes up to welcome us. "I loved your guys' outfits," she compliments, "your wings were really amazing. My name is Christa, by the way."
"Thank you," Eren responds, "I'm Eren and this is Mikasa."
"It's nice to meet you," Christa says and goes to greet the other Players; I notice she spends most of her time with the girl from Three.
"She was nice," Hanji acknowledges. "You two should take a few lessons from her. She'll have no problem gaining Sponsors by playing the sweet and helpless girl."
"I don't think she's playing, Hanji," Eren remarks.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Levi adds, "she may be sweet but I doubt she's helpless. District One is known for their weapon making and I'm sure they all go through some sort of weapon training. I bet that girl will surprise you."
Later, the Sponsors are asked to leave as the feast is about to begin. All the Players, Mentors, and escorts take their seats at the long table that has enough chairs for everyone. We are all assigned to our seats by District. Eren and I are at the end of the table and are sitting across the team from District Five and to our right is District Four. I am placed between Levi and Eren, with Hanji sitting to Eren's left at the very end of the table. Sitting directly across from me is the brown haired girl from Five. On the other side of Levi is the boy from Four. Out of the corner of my eye I keep noticing his glances in my direction.
For the feast they had every kind of meat you could imagine, ham, turkey, chicken, duck, pheasant, beef, foods that I've never tried in my life. It was all delicious and I didn't want to let any of it go to waste. Eren was also enjoying his food next to me. He tried everything that was on the table at least once and then later complained of a stomach ache. I look around the table at all the Players who are chatting with one another and laughing and I realize that after this week they will all be dead and I lose my appetite. Levi pours some wine into his glass and sets it back down on the table. I am about to grab it when he smacks my hand away.
"No drinking for minors," he scorns.
I glare at him, "How old are you?"
"Twenty."
"Doesn't that make you a minor, too?"
Levi smirks, "I'm a Mentor."
"And I'm about to be thrown into an arena where there's a high probability that I'll end up dead. At least let me try some before I die," I protest.
Levi snorts, "I suppose you're right," and hands me his glass.
I take a sip of the dark liquid and it's bitter and sweet all at once. It's actually not that bad and I get a wicked idea and chug the rest of Levi's drink. I then hand back his now empty cup that he frowns into.
"You are a true terror," he comments.
Dinner starts to wind down and Eren had picked up a conversation with the boy from Five. They laugh together and you would think that they could have been old friends. I don't see the point in making any friends here. When we get put in the Games we're all going to be trying to kill each other anyways.
I nibble on the last of my bread roll; it's the only thing I could stomach. The girl from Five, I remember during dinner that her name's Sasha, was watching me closely and I decide to take a small break from eating my roll.
"Hey, are you finished with that?" she asks gesturing to my roll. I lift up the bread again and I can see the hope in her eyes as she reaches towards me and I take a giant bite out of the roll and her smile fades.
"That was cruel," Levi murmurs.
I only shrug and finish the rest of the bread on my own.