"District 1, Maximilian West, report to individual assessment."
Annie can hear Percy sigh as Max is called for his private session. She's still debating in her head what she wants to show the gamemakers. If she hadn't joined the careers perhaps she would have messed up on purpose and acted weak only to excel in the arena. The problem with that plan is that 1) she's already a career and 2) Little to no sponsors, despite her looks. Instead she decides to impress them with a spear or trident. Something she can use to pierce through a dummy, and in the arena a fish or… a child. She shutters at the thought.
Yesterday's training had gone much like the first. The group of careers went to the weaponry first, but Percy managed to get them to try the survival stations. Annie was fond of the fishing station, while Percy favored the knot tying station, he said it felt like home. Annie understood.
"District 1, Megara Morris, report to individual assessment."
"Wait, they aren't siblings?" Annie asks her district partner.
"No. Didn't you ever notice him flirting with her?" Percy asks, incredulously.
"...No. I guess I was distracted. Why would he even flirt with someone he knew would have to die for him to live?" Percy contemplates Annie's question. It takes him a few minutes before he responds.
"Maybe… maybe he knows that he could die, too. Maybe Max just wants someone to have his back, someone to care for him in that hell hole they call entertainment." Percy looks at his hands, eyes not meeting her own. "You know, he had two brothers that both entered the games before him. Both of them died. They didn't have anyone that cared about them in the arena. Sure they had allies, but… when it comes down to the finals… it's every man for themselves, right?"
"Too bad we're friends and not allies." Annie tells him, "Now, when we get to the finals, I'll be looking out for you more than myself." Percy gives her a sad smile.
"That's dangerous."
"What is? Caring?"
"Yeah."
"...I suppose it is." Annie sighs, then looks at Percy. "But it's hard to stop once you start, isn't it, Percy?" She says with a weak laugh.
"Cresta, do yourself a favor and shut up before you start to cry." Percy says. Annie snickers at his comment. She can tell that he cares for her just as much as she cares for him.
"District 2, Artemis Yvet, report to individual assessment."
Annie must have missed Wyn get called while she was talking with Percy.
"What are you going to show them?" He asks her.
"Oh, uh, I was thinking about showing them my throwing skills, especially with a trident and maybe with the throwing knives if I have time." Annie tells him.
"Good, you should probably make a net, like Finnick told you to." Percy says. "It should help boost your score."
"Yeah, especially since I need at least an 8 to keep up the careers approval."
"You have my approval, and if they don't like your score, it'll be me and you against them." He says.
"Two against twenty-two? I don't like those odds." Annie sighs.
"Well then, may the odds be ever in our favor." Percy jokes.
"May they indeed." She agrees just as the boy from 3 is called.
Annie fiddles with her hair for a while, braiding and un-braiding it, then switches to twirling it, then, much to the annoyance of the girl from 5, cracks her fingers.
"District 4, Percival Clarich, report to individual assessment."
"Good luck." Percy gives his district partner a smile as he enters the double doors to the training area. His session lasts for a full twenty minutes and Annie is bouncing her leg waiting anxiously for her name to be called.
"District 4, Anais Cresta, report for individual assessment."
She gets up off the silver bench and makes her way to the double doors Percy walked through a mere twenty-five minutes ago and she forces herself to calm down.
The bright lights blind her for a moment before her eyes adjust and she wipes her palms on her pants to get rid of the perspiration. She walks to the center of the room, straight in front of the gamemakers balcony. One woman steps up to the front and looks down at her.
"State your name and your district." The woman announces. Annie knows that by district 6, this woman will stop speaking to the tributes, maybe even earlier if the tributes are especially boring to them.
"Anais Cresta. District 4." The woman nods then sits back down on the plush velvet chair behind her. All of the gamemakers are watching her, examining her, and Annie knows that it's only because she is from a career district, but she couldn't be more grateful. At least they'll pay attention.
Walking over to the projectiles station, Annie notices a few sizeable spears and tridents. As she picks up one of the heavier spears, she hears a gamemaker guffaw at her in disbelief. She sets it back down, picking up instead a smaller one. The brunette twirls it around a bit before aiming and sending it barreling toward the furthest dummy. It lands dead center of the dummy's chest.
Fatal.
She let's out a breath she didn't know she was holding before picking up larger spears and throwing them. After three spears Annie switches the setting to moving targets, picks up a belt of throwing knives, steps back up to the platform and throws them at the dummies, badly wounding most and even fatally wounding others. Annie looks up at the gamemaker's balcony to see most of them watching her. Her time doesn't seem to be up yet, so she walks over to the rack of tridents. She takes the most lethal looking one she sees, not the biggest or the most ornate, then rushes to the knot tying station. As she makes intricate knot after intricate knot, she can hear gamemakers getting up from their seats to mingle and grab something to drink or snack on. Finishing her net, Annie bolts for the large mat in the center of the room. Fiddling with the settings again, she changes it so that these dummies moves as well. The orange lights flicker before forming humanoid holograms that respond to physical contact. As the timer counts down Annie hears the gamemakers start to settle down, attention on the girl from 4.
3, 2, 1.
At first, there is only one enemy, whom Annie easily cuts down with the trident, then there are two more. Then three, then four, and the numbers keep increasing as Annie continues to fling knives from her belt and uses her net to capture targets so she can stab them with her trident. Deep down Annie feels terrible, the guilt already burrowing in her stomach before she even steps foot in the arena. She pushes it asides though, instead focussing on the last hologram. It comes dashing toward her, axe aimed over it's head. As the hologram comes closer, Annie notices that she has run out of knives, and decides to wait for the thing to come closer. The hologram is three feet away as it brings down the large axe, right before the holographic weapon can touch her though, Annie rolls to the side, jumps up and buries the trident in the holograms back, making it dissolve back to nothing.
"That will be enough. You are excused Miss Cresta." The woman, head gamemaker says.
Annie nods before exiting the large room. She is still out of breath and there is sweat running down her back, and the artificial air gives her a chill, but Annie is so relieved to be out of the room that she nearly misses Finnick waiting for her, as she steps out of the elevator and into District 4's suite. She feels a little self-conscious as Finnick walks up to her, looking as handsome as always.
"How did it go?"
"Good. I think."
"You think?" Finnick asks, "What did you do?"
"Could we talk about this after I take a shower? I'm sweaty and I feel really gross."
"Yeah, sure. If you're hungry, lunch is being served, otherwise, dinner is at 6:30 and the score announcements are at 8 o'clock." Finnick takes in her fatigued state. "Go take a shower and a nap. You look like hell."
"Gee, thanks." Annie deadpans.
"Don't get that way, it doesn't suit you." Her mentor says, "You're more of a smiley and sweet type." The wink he gives her causes a shade of pink to spread across her cheeks.
"I'm going to go shower now." Annie says, walking toward her room. Finnick watches as she goes, then turns back to go to the dining table where Mags sits eating lunch. He takes a seat across from his ex-mentor and plays with the food the Avox serves him.
"Stop that." Mags tells him. Really it comes out like more of a 'Sop thah", but due to the amount of time Finnick has spent with Mags, he understands what the old woman is telling him.
"Anything you say, Magdalen, my dear." The bronze-haired victor grins cheekily at his older counterpart, which earns him a cherry tomato to the face à la Mags' salad.
"Who's the one playing with their food now?" All that comment gets is a crouton to his forehead. He sticks out his tongue as Percy sits down next to Mags. An Avox places a platter of food before him and Percy begins to eat.
"How did your session go, Percy?" Finnick asks.
"Good. I almost certain that I got above an 8." The blonde tells his mentors. Mags gives him a smile and Finnick clasps his own hands.
"That's good! Let's hope it's on the higher end of the spectrum." Finnick says.
The two move to the sitting room to talk some more about strategy in the arena and with only a year between them, they find other things to talk about as well. Mags occasionally joins in and the three discuss survival tactics, fighting techniques, and how to avoid gamemaker made challenges in the arena. Mags makes a point of writing a list for Annie about what the three are talking about. By the time Annie joins them, it's time for dinner so they all join Elmas at the dining table.
"How was your nap, darling?" Elmas asks Annie.
"Actually I couldn't sleep, so I read a book I found in my room."
"Oh, books! I forgot they offered them for the tributes!" Elmas says, "Which book was it?"
"A Fisherman's Tale." Annie smiles.
"No way! That was my favorite as a kid!" Finnick exclaims.
"Oh, whatever was it about?" Elmas inquires.
"It's about a fisherman who gets lost at sea during an expedition. He spends days out at sea all alone before pirates spot him and bring him up on their ship. Soon he joins the crew and falls in love with a mermaid queen who possesses mystical powers. There's a pearl that the captain is after, and the only way to get it is to kill the queen, which the Fisherman doesn't want because he is in love with her." Finnick explains. "It's much better than it sounds."
"It sounds lovely!" Elmas smiles at him.
"It is." Finnick says.
The Avoxes first serve a blue soup with a fishy taste that Annie likes, then the main platter which consists of a green tinted rice with a few slices of lamb and a dressing of a rich brown gravy. It all looks so pretty that Annie almost doesn't touch it, almost. The florescent green drink they serve tastes citrusy and fizzes as it makes it way down her throat. Mags doesn't finish her plate, saying that she won't have room for dessert otherwise, while Percy and Finnick both easily eat everything they are given. Annie herself has to stop as the sauce becomes too rich for her to finish. Elmas takes a swig of something purple before excusing herself for a moment. Finnick makes a face as she leaves.
"What was that about?" Percy asks.
"Did you see that stuff she drank?" Finnick asks in return.
"Yeah…"
"It causes whoever drinks it to vomit." Finnick explains.
"She drank something to make her vomit?" Annie asks, not fully understanding why someone would do that.
"So that she could eat more. Most citizens of the capitol do it, it's not just Elmas. It's not her fault for being brought up in a place where that's acceptable, but it still repulses me."
"It should!" Percy exclaims, "How could they do that when there are children starving in the districts!?"
"They don't know any better, Percy. It's the way they were brought up." Finnick sighs. He is clearly still angry but calms down before Elmas comes back out. The Avoxes serve a platter of cookies which includes Annie's favorite, seaweed cookies. The district 4 team makes their way to the living room, where Elmas turns on the television to watch Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith announce the training scores.
"Started without us, I see." Tallulah says as she walks into the room with Opin.
"Tallulah!" Annie gives her stylist a hug and they sit down together on the plush white couch.
"That man needs to do something with those bushes he calls eyebrows!" Opin exclaims. "I mean, I love Claudius, don't get me wrong but, something must be done!" The entire room laughs at his comment.
"Hello and welcome to tonight's broadcast, where we will announce the training scores for the tributes and discuss their odds of winning the games. Shall we get started, Claudius?" Caesar asks.
"We shall, Caesar!" The blonde man with the booming voice answers. The conversation is all trivial since they are contractually obligated to announce the scores anyway.
"Then let's begin! As you know, tributes are rated on a scale of one to twelve after three days of careful evaluation, the gamemakers would like to announce these scores. From district 1: Maximilian West. Score of 9. District 1: Megara Morris. Score of 9." Annie is glad that both of them have gotten good scores.
"From District 2: Wyn Keaton. Score of 10. District 2: Artemis Yvet. Score of… 12." Annie can practically hear the whoops of joy coming from the district 2 suite. Getting a twelve is almost impossible which means Artemis is even more dangerous than anyone thought, which is quite the feat.
"District 4: Percival Clarich. Score of 10."
"Oh! Percy that's great!" Elmas exclaims. Everyone congratulates him before turning back to the screen. Annie is holding her breath, her palms sweaty and she's biting her lip. Caesar looks at the paper then back to the camera.
"District 4: Anais Cresta. Score of… 10." Annie stares at the screen for a moment before she is being hugged by Tallulah.
"Annie! You did it!" Her stylist cheers. "You both did wonderfully!"
"Thank you." Percy says.
Mags and Finnick give both tributes a big hug before they all go back to watching the scores. Most of the scores are ordinary but there are a few that are lower and higher than expected. Specifically, the boy from 6 and the pair from 10, all with scores of 9.
"Well tomorrow the two of you will get to spend time with your mentors prepping for the interviews! Ooooh! Just imagine how stunning you'll both look!" Elmas squeals.
"It's going to be a long day, you two should get some rest." Finnick says.
"Okay then, goodnight everyone!" Percy bids them all goodnight as he walks to his room. Annie says goodnight as well before heading to her room.
Annie steps out of her clothing and has the wardrobe produce a pajama set. This time, it's a pair of printed, loose-fitting lavender short with a lace trim and a matching button up. She climbs into bed and doesn't get a wink of sleep.
A/N: I'm back! Sorry for leaving this un-updated, but I had midterms and writers block and no creative juices were flowing at all. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, the next one or two will be about the prep and interviews, then straight off to the games!
The first person to correctly guess who Max, Meg, Wyn, and Artemis are based off of, and which show they come from, will get an Odesta oneshot! Please PM me your answer instead of leaving it in the reviews!