AUTHOR'S NOTES: A few chapters ago I deliberately left out the name of the District 1 girl as I was telling the story. Her name gets revealed here, and we get to learn what those props the stylists gave Lucia and Cadence are all about. There's a slight bit of a continuity nod here, since Romula Snow is a character that got mainly introduced in my previous installment (93rd), and she becomes a prominent villain far later into the series, but nothing too big at this point or in this volume.
Whatever the case, Happy Reading!

CHAPTER 6: Friends of Serendipity

Cadence was admittedly a little taken back when he laid eyes on Lucia again. Their outfits matched, (although plenty of Lucia's right leg was visible from a slit in the dress), and she even had one of the same props that he did. He looked at the flat, metallic object and wondered what it was. It looked like the cross between a paddle and a plank, only laced with electrical wires of some sort.

A few moments later the District 1 pair emerged from their studios, dressed in flambouyant shades of pink and lavender. The girl was practically in just a glittery pair of underwear and matching heels, while the boy looked about as fabulous as a male Capitol escort. They were soon joined by two tributes cloaked in black and red, with intricate symbols across their costumes—District 2. He perked his ears up to listen for the District 1 girl's name, but couldn't hear anything that sounded like it. They seemed pretty confident about an alliance, and Cadence heard Nazir and Gabriela's names again, but nothing of the girl. Faren, her partner, kept mentioning something about serendipity, which Cadence originally attributed to the luck of them making friends with District 2 so easily.

"What are you doing?" Lucia asked as more tributes began to emerge from the various studios. The richer districts were usually done first because there was a lot less cleaning up and making over to do for them, while a lot of the kids from the rural, poorer districts took much more time.

"That district 1 girl," Cadence mumbled, "I'm trying to figure out her name, but they're not saying it. Did you catch it during the reruns on the train?"
"I didn't," Lucia's ears perked, "but it can't be that hard in a four-way conversation to pick it up."
"What's up with all this 'serendipity' nonsense?" Cadence tilted his head, "I mean sure it's great for them that they're hitting it off together, as shitty as it might be for—"

"No…" Lucia interrupted him, "that's the girl's name."

Cadence squinted. There had been a part of him that had thought that, but what kind of a stupid name was 'Serendipity' for a child anyways? Then again, his name was Cadence, so perhaps he had no room to talk. Besides, this was District 1. Almost all of them, male or female, had weird names except for the girl last year, whose name was Vivian.

"Serendipity!" Lucia suddenly called out, and sure enough to Cadence's surprise, the exotically dressed girl pivoted rather elegantly on her heel, her wild hair bouncing with her movements.

"Oh, my… you are a sweet little thing…" despite the stoic appearance her costume exuded, even the careers noticed a certain level of innocence about Lucia, which was a trick on Kuro's part. "What can darling Serendipity do for you, love?"

Lucia wasn't sure if this girl was flirting with her or if she was just as sweet as she acted. Cadence immediately suggested that it was an act.

"We were just curious if that was your name," Lucia admitted, "we meant no harm by it."

Serendipity shrugged, before catching the silvery grey of Lucia's blank eyes, where she put a hand to her mouth in somewhat surprise.

"So it's true then…" she whispered. "You really are…"
"Blind?" Lucia shrugged a shoulder, "mm-hmm."

"And here I was hoping you'd appreciate these 'gams," Serendipity joked, striking a somewhat suggestive pose that even Cadence noticed. "Either way… nice seeing you, Lucia. You too, Cadence. I like your name too…" she winked at him, and even blew him a kiss as she stepped back towards her partner and their chariot.

Cadence wasn't sure what to make of her, but knew that she meant trouble. His mind was taken off of this, however, when he saw the other tributes emerge. District 9's tributes seemed to almost match a pattern that the tributes from District 11 and District 12 had. The two were clothed in robes of shimmering gold, possibly to reference the amber waves of grain or something poetic like that. The pair from District 11 were clad in exotic orange outfits, and maybe it was just to match or go well with the colors of their skin and hair, but Cadence didn't know what the meaning of the orange was.
Similarly, he did not understand the primitive-looking dark red outfits that the District 12 pair were wearing either. They looked a lot fiercer, almost like tribal chiefs or something like that. But how that connected with the mining district was something Cadence couldn't piece together, and so maybe it was just a mystery he was not meant to solve.

Whatever the case, the tributes began to board the chariots, and Lucia got to talking with Cadence about their props. She was just as curious as he was as to what it would do—probably a little more so, considering that she was blind.
"It probably lights up or something, based on the circuitry," Cadence explained to her, "Although I couldn't tell you what it's going to form. Kurai told me to watch for his and Kuro's cue before raising it and pushing the button."
"Ah," Lucia nodded slowly. "Will you help me then?""
"Are you fine with holding hands?" Cadence offered. While he undoubtedly had teenage hormones and an obvious draw towards attractive women (as he had witnessed with Lucia on the train, Kuro in the apartment, and Serendipity just recently), he was also mature enough to know his boundaries. "I can squeeze your hand at the cue if you are."
"That will work," Lucia smiled. "Do let me know what it says too when you can."

"Will do," Cadence nodded as he led her towards the chariot. Sometimes tributes needed glasses to see properly (and were often given contacts in the arena, as some small level of Capitol lenience), but Lucia was literally blind to the point that her world was one of blackness.

They boarded the chariots not more than a few moments after this, and even Lucia was able to hear the sounds of the District 1 chariots beginning to move. Nazir and Gabriela's chariot went next, followed by the ones from the next two districts. Only then did the horses in front of Lucia and Cadence's chariots start to move, and it was here that Cadence kept his eyes peeled for any sign of Kurai and Kuro to give him his cue. He held the prop in one of his hands and took Lucia's in his other hand. The moment he saw the two stylists among the crowds, it only took a split-second of eye contact for Cadence to flip his switch, and Lucia did the same a moment later after Cadence squeezed her hand. He liked how it felt: soft, warm, and very inviting.

There were gasps of amusement as the lights on District 5's props shone brightly. Cadence held the signs forward, and so only saw what was on them when he saw himself on one of the large screens behind the throngs of cheering Capitol citizens. It was a surprisingly colorful display of lights that formed a simple phrase: SUPPORT DISTRICT 5.

Cadence might have hated people, but he knew that any support that might increase the chances of him surviving to keep Lucia safe would be appreciated. Maybe he'd have to swallow that pride of his after all—if not for his sake, then for Lucia's.

The chariots continued to make their way down the square towards the President's balcony. While he was by all means very old, Coriolanus Snow was still hale and had a bit of life left in him. Most people, district or Capitol, figured that this was associated with the powerful technology that the Capitol kept for themselves in this regard. Perhaps they had even extended Snow's life. Not that they were afraid of a weak successor. Sometime between the last year and this one, word of one of Coriolanus' granddaughters, a woman named Romula Snow, had gotten out, and apparently she was just like him in terms of personality. That was all most people, including Cadence, needed to know.

His mind shifted back to the man currently pulling the strings, however, as his chariot and all eleven of the others formed a semicircle around the President's balcony. A moment later, out came the man himself to deliver his annual traditional speech. To Cadence's surprise, it wasn't exactly as long or as elaborate as he had thought, and instead was simple and rang true as they always did.

"Welcome to the 94th Annual Hunger Games." His tone was commanding, but otherwise surprisingly gentle, "And may the odds be ever in your favor."

The fanfares that had played as the tributes went from the Tribute Tower to the President's balcony began again as the chariots made their way back to the tower to return the tributes to their apartments for the evening. A lot of things were on Cadence's mind, and even Lucia had a few thoughts of her own, especially after Cadence described the visuals of the whole scenario to her. It was a reminder of a grim truth though—the games were very real, and he as well as Lucia were now a part of them.