Thank you guys for those awesome feedbacks on the last chapter! I was really excited on writing this chapter, so I hope you love it. You'll not only know what Amethine and Evan will wear for the chariot ride, but I will give descriptions on some, not all, of the other tributes as well.
Enjoy!
We step through the doors and the first word that pops into my head is test lab. There are metal counters where we are going to lay on while our prep team beautifies us. The metal counters make me feel as if I were a test monkey, and these Capitol people look like those mad scientists that conduct bizarre experiments.
A lady wearing a formal black and white suit approaches us. She's wearing a headpiece with a mic attached, she cradles the blue touch screen clipboard in her hands. Her hair, is like a soft tone of orange and is tucked into a professional bun.
"Both tributes from 3, 5, 9, and 11 are currently in remake session. Hold on, we have another pair of tributes who have just entered." she says into the mic, then she looks at the both of us.
"What district are you guys from?" she asks.
"1" Evan says.
"Both from district 1 have just arrived, I will lead them to their prep team." she says into the mic. She must be in charge of tracking all the tributes who have arrived.
"Please follow me." she tells us. We walk behind her and pass by a lot of dividers, seeing the shadows of a body laying down, and three other figures gathered around. I wince when I hear some sort of rip followed by a scream from a female.
We're escorted to a divider in the corner of the room. The lady knocks on the divider and says "We have one of your tributes!" The divider opens up and a woman with a purple wig dressed in a white cloak, similar to a doctor's smiles at us.
"Sir, this is where you will be remade." our escort says. Evan nods and walks in.
"This is where you will be remade." she tells me, leading me to the divider not too far away from Evan's. She knocks and says "We have your tribute!" again. The door slides open and I see a woman with a wavy, shoulder-length, yellow wig. The color of her wig matches the color of a ripened corn. She is wearing a white, long cloak too and her lips are an evergreen color.
She smiles at the lady who brought me here. "Well, have fun! May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor." the woman escort says and walks away. I turn to the lady who will be a part of my prep team and see the big smile on her lips.
"You are a beautiful girl! My name is Demeter and I will be apart of your prep team!" she says enthusiastically. I smile back.
"Hello, my name is Amethine." I say. Her eyes light up as if what I said was the most joyful thing in the world.
"My, what a lovely name." Demeter says.
"Demeter, are you going to bring her in?" a male voice calls from inside.
"Yes, I am such an idiot. Come on in, we're going to make you beautiful!" she says.
"Demeter, she is already beautiful we're just going to perfect her flaws." a man with a silver, curly wig and black eye shadow, and lipstick says.
"You guys are making things sound wrong! When you say 'we're just going to perfect her flaws' it sounds like you're saying there's something wrong with her. Just say 'we're going to make a few adjustments." I turn my head and see a young woman with long, straight sky blue hair that stops at her waist. Unlike the others, her hair isn't a wig, it looks natural except for the color. She has peach colored make-up on.
She smiles at me and I smile back. She extends her hand and says "Hi, I'm Inepta." I grab her hand and give her a soft, gentle shake.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Amethine." I say.
"We need you to undress." Demeter says. I'm quite uncomfortable with this. Here I am about to strip down butt naked for three people I don't even know. Inepta must have seen the expression on my face because she looks at me with concern.
"Are you nervous? Honey, please don't be! We've seen naked people for fifteen years, so it's okay. We need you to do this so we'll know what to work on." she says.
"If it makes you feel better, we'll step out for a moment." the man with the silver wig says. "By the way, I'm Laris." he adds. I nod and smile at him. His offer doesn't make the situation comfortable, but it seems like a good idea.
"That will be nice." I say. They nod and walk out. Demeter sticks her head back in and says "We'll be right outside." I nod and close the divider.
I want to get this over with, so I get out of my clothes and throw them on the floor, I slip the boots off and leave them next to my clothes. I tell my prep team I'm ready and they walk in. They circle me like sharks, the same thing my mentors did on the train.
"Waxing, body gloss, skin softener, eye color shiner, hair treatment, and some other light touch ups." Demeter says. Inepta and Laris nod their agreement and have me put on something similar to a hospital gown. They tell me to lie down on the metal counter. I feel the cold metal under my skin and lay flat on my back.
Laris takes the ponytail out of my hair, and Inepta hoses down my legs and arms. Demeter spreads some white moisturizer on my face while Inepta applies some type of gooey, clear substance on my legs and arms. Laris disappears into the back and comes back with some eye drops, when he adds a few drops into my eyes, I feel a little stinging sensation for a short period of time.
"What is that stuff for?" I ask.
"It's to make your eyes shiny, it really brings out the color in them." Laris says.
Inepta leaves after she applies the goo on every inch of my legs and arms and returns with some wax strips in her hands. I gulp, 'Oh no' I think to myself. I've tried seeing my mother get her legs waxed, and from what I've seen her do when that wax strip is yanked, I'm scared to get waxed myself. Well, not like horror movie terrified, but the anxious terrified. I want this to be over as soon as possible.
"Now, this might hurt just a little." Inepta says soothingly.
"A little? I've seen my mother get her legs waxed, and from her reaction, I doubt that it'll hurt just a little." I say harshly. I suddenly remembered what Cashmere told me about being kind to my prep team, so I smile at Inepta and say "But, I'll be alright." and she smiles back and places the wax strips on my legs. She runs her hands over the strips, making sure they stick to my skin firmly.
She pulls the strip off quickly, and I manage to suppress a yelp. She gives me a nod, appreciating my obedience and places another was strip on the other side of the same leg, she pulls and I just wince. This goes on for about ten minutes and when it ends, she hoses my legs down again. Laris coats my hair in some type of orange liquid and massages my scalp. He then brushes my hair and runs his finger through it.
"Your hair is now silky soft, my dear. Not that it never was silky soft, it's just that-" he tries to explain. I'm guessing he thinks he said something offensive, and fears I'm going to rip his throat out, so I calm him down.
"It's okay Laris, I understand what you mean. Thank you for making my hair lovely." I tell him. He lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank god, I thought for a moment there that you were going to bark at me." he says, I laugh at this.
"No worries, I don't really care that much about my hair or my looks." I say.
"Really? Darling, you look like a girly girl." he tells me.
"I'm not. I only care about skills." I say.
"Well, I'm positive that you'll win. We all are, in fact."
"It's true." Demeter adds.
"Yes, we have no doubts what so ever." Inepta says.
"Thank you all. I'm sure you will be famous for being the prep team of a victor." I say, causing them to giggle.
"Oh, we have been the prep team of a victor." Laris says.
"Who?" I ask, it must be one of my mentors, possibly Axin. Since he won his games seven years ago.
"What's his name again? Hmm, I got it! Axinite. Yes, Axinite, otherwise known as Axin. Is he your mentor?" Demeter asks.
"Yeah, he is. Did you guys watch his games?" I ask, I don't remember Axin's games clearly.
"Yes, we did. Poor guy. He shared a great friendship with his allies, and when he watched them die, one by one, he took it pretty hard." Inepta says in a sympathetic voice. This explains the drinking. Due to years of drinking all the time, the hangovers fade away. But I think he has toned the drinking down a little. Suddenly, Shine's voice plays in my head.
Now, remember you can't develop any friendships with your allies, so distance yourself as possible. Alright?
Hearing about Axin's games, proves that I should take Shine's advice seriously.
Shine, Reina, Amethyst, Geode, Garnet, my parents. I miss them. I wonder what they're doing right now. The time zone here in the Capitol and back in district 1 might be different, so they'll either be sleeping or waking up right this minute.
Demeter wipes the moisturizer away with a lilac scented wipe. Laris combs my hair one last time and Inepta sprays something on my legs and arms.
"All done! You look marvelous, sweetie!" Laris squeals. I look at my legs and hands, and they look shiny. I feel like I'm glowing. I feel radiant.
"It's time to meet your stylist!" Demeter say excitedly.
"You are going to love her. Her name is Priney Young." Inepta says.
Still in my hospital gown, the three of them lead me out to the other side of the room. At first, I question why we're standing in front of a plain wall, but my curiosity vanishes when the wall suddenly slides open. They bring me inside what looks like a lobby. We stand in front of the receptionist.
"District 1 female." Inepta tells him.
"Room 317." he tells us, we thank him and go to our assigned room. In front of the door, next to the knob is a scanner. They all place their thumbs on it and a green check appears, followed by a beep. I hear the door unlock, Laris opens the door and we all walk in.
"Priney! We have your lovely tribute!" Demeter calls.
The place is luxurious. There are three doors to the left and a lot of comfy-looking couches in the living room. Next to the couches are square tables with buttons on the legs.
One of the doors open and I see a young woman with yellow corkscrew curls tinted with gold glitters. She has perfect almond shaped, crystal blue enhanced eyes, which you always find yourself staring into, just like what I'm doing right now. On the right side of her face, starting from above her eyebrows down the side of her lips is covered in a gold- tattooed pattern. Covering her tan skin is a yellow lacey dress that matches her wig, along with gold heels.
"Hello there! My name is Priney Young." she says as she embraces me. Even though I didn't expect it, I hug her back.
"I'm Amethine." I say.
"You are a beautiful girl!" she says looking me up and down.
"Thank you." I say with a warm smile.
"Demeter, Inepta, and Laris thank you for your help. You may go now, I'm just going to talk to Amethine for a while. I'll call you if I need your assistance." she says to the trio.
They nod and walk out of the room, leaving me and Priney alone.
"Come, let's sit." she tells me.
We make our way over to couches and sit on the couch. She takes the red plush chair, and I sit on the green recliner across from her.
"Okay, so obviously we don't need to get a lot of work done since your prep team took care of everything, and your natural beauty will be a great advantage. We might just apply some light touches of make-up for the tribute parade, but not too much to make you unrecognizable." Priney says.
"Are you hungry?" Before I answer, she leans down and presses one of the buttons on the leg of the table. A plate with strawberries rises up. So that's what the buttons are for. She picks the plate up and puts it in front me, I smile at her and take a few strawberries and she puts the plate back on the table.
"Do you like it here in the Capitol?" she asks.
I nod my head. "I like it here very much, I'm not sure I want to go back home when I win." I say. She laughs.
"I love your confidence! So how long have you trained for the games?"
"Twelve years."
Her jaw drops. "Wow, that's more than a decade. I bet you will be the biggest threat in the arena."
"I think so, too." I agree.
"I watched your reaping. You had me surprised there, when that other girl was about to volunteer and you just yelled 'I volunteer!' I laughed at the girl's expression. Did you see it?" she asks, then she imitates the girl's glare and wrinkles her nose, I can't help but laugh.
"Yeah, her reaction was funny." I say when I stop laughing.
"Yes it was, now before we get carried away and waste time, let's discuss you chariot outfit. You know, I already know what your costume is going to based on." she says, I send her a puzzled look. She is really prepared.
"Your name!" she says cheerily. At first, I question this, but then I remember what my father told me one time.
I named all of you after the gemstones I sold at the jewelry shop. Your name however, isn't a gemstone, it came from the gemstone Ametrine, but your mother and I thought that it wasn't right for a girl, so we altered it a little and named you Amethine. The Ametrine stone comes in a band of yellow and purple, a combination of the colors of Amethyst and Citrine.
My father is an expert at identifying different stones. Whenever a costumer asked what the name of the stone was, my father would tell them and give them a brief explanation about it.
"So is it going to be yellow and purple?" I ask.
"Not yellow, but gold and purple. Trust me, you'll love it. You will look stunning, along with your partner ofcourse. I'm going to call your prep team so they'll get your hair and make-up done, and I will help you into your dress."
"Okay." I say.
She uses the touch screen pad that's on one of the tables to call my prep team over. They tell to me to take off the gown and give me some undergarments to put on. I'm not allowed to look in the mirror, while they do my hair and make-up. Priney told me I can see how I look, when everything is done. Staying true to her word, Priney has Demeter do a light touch-up of make-up, which consists of some light blush and a little cream. The orange stuff Laris put in my hair has added some volume to it, and I admire the nice curls at the end.
"You're all ready! All we need to do, is get you into your dress." says Priney. I'm told to close my eyes as they help me slip into the dress, which feels comfortable, I'm grateful it's not itchy, because I don't think I will be able to make throughout the night.
"She looks beautiful." Inepta says.
"A princess." says Laris.
"She will definitely catch everyone's attention." Demeter says.
All their comments make me want to open my eyes immediately, to see if what they're saying is true. Instead I ask calmly "Can I open my eyes, now?"
"Yes, you may, but hold on." Priney says. I feel them hold my arm gently, guiding me somewhere, probably to a mirror.
"You can open your eyes now."
I gasp at what I see in the mirror. The girl on the other side is beautiful. Instead of a regular t-shirt and sweatpants or gym shorts, she is wearing a lovely dress.
The dress Priney has made is a golden, strapless, floor length, ball gown. The end of the dress is slightly ruffled, giving it a good amount of volume. The neckline is covered in purple Ametrine gemstones, making it shine. My hair is amazing as well. Laris has left my hair down, he sweeps everything to my right, draping it over my right breast, behind my left hair, a braid starts right on the edge of my hairline down to where all of my hair is gathered. He has also sprayed some golden glitters in my hair, they're similar to the glitters in Priney's wig.
"Thank you, guys." I tell them.
"Honey, it's all you. We just did the make-up and dress, you worked the rest." Priney says, Demeter, Inepta, and Laris nod their agreement.
We exit the room and meet up with Evan and his prep team. Evan looks good too. He is wearing a golden suit encrusted with gold glitters everywhere, along with black accents. I didn't know our costumes would be matching colors, but we both look fantastic.
"You look great." Evan says. I decide to just be nice to him, I mean he is my friend. I should just be nice to him now, and not worry about what will happen in the future.
"Thank you, you look nice." I say, offering a friendly smile. He returns it and both of our prep team and stylist take us outside where all the chariots and horses are. We're kept behind a gigantic gate, which will open when our chariots are coming out. Most of the tributes are here already, but I know not everyone has arrived yet. We're led to our chariot, and our prep team add a few finishing touches.
"You both look amazing." Morraina says walking up to us. My mentors are here as well.
"Look at you guys, all golden and dolled up." says Axin, I'm surprised he doesn't have a glass of alcohol in his hands.
"You too will definitely win over the most sponsors!" Cashmere says.
"Win them over, got it?" Gloss asks the both of us, we nod.
"Your prep teams sure know what to do." Beryl says.
"Okay, time to get on the chariots!" Priney tells us. I look around at the other tributes. The tributes from 2 are wearing something similar to Peacekeeper uniforms. The girl- Vinera, is wearing the dress version of the uniform, but instead of white, it's silver. Her dress stops at her knees and has a three inch strap, her hair is pulled into a bun on top of her head. The boy Caiden is wearing is wearing something that looks like a Peacekeeper uniform mixed with a knight's armor.
They look at Evan and I and start whispering something to each other. I look over at the district 7 chariot, in most of the games I've watched, the district 7 tributes are dressed as trees every year, but it seems like this year, they have a new stylist. Sequoia's hair is tied into a perfect ponytail, a crown made out of vines sits on her head, her dress is green like the leaves on a tree. The end of her dress is cut into triangles, making her look like a tree fairy, Tanner is also wearing a crown made out of vines, and he looks like an elf. He's wearing a green vest over a green t-shirt and at the end of his vest, it's cut into triangles like his district partner. He wears a black belt at the waist and some green pants.
The tributes from four are dressed as mermaids. Marina is wearing big shells as a bra and her skirt is color turquoise and ends at her toes, it splits in the middle halfway between her knees and feet, resembling a mermaid's tail. Sebastian looks like a merman, he's shirtless, obviously his prep team wants to show off his muscles for the ladies. He is wearing a skirt, similar to Marina's. Mina and Calvin from 12, are wearing coal miner outfits and parts of their faces are covered in black dirt, to represent coal dust.
Evan gets on the chariot and offers me his hand. I grab it and he pulls me on. Our prep teams, stylists, and mentors tell us to smile for the crowd. Our horse, which has caramel colored fur and a black mane starts to move forward. The chariots all line up, starting with district 1 and ending with district 12.
The gates open and our horse moves forward in a steady pace. There our two sides, containing over 18,000 seats filled with screaming Capitol citizens. Some people scream our names, some blow kisses, and others throw money and roses at us. I wave a little and smirk, not bothering to play the girly girl act. Evan waves and leans over.
"Wave a little more. Trust me, they'll go crazy." he tells me. I consider this and wave again, and the scream increases. I continue to wave more, but stop as we come to a halt at the city circle. We look up at the balcony overlooking everything below and listen to President Snow's speech. He says the same thing every year, so I don't bother listening, and tune him out. When he finishes, our horse does a loop around the city circle, with the other district chariots behind. Halfway back I keep my hands at my sides and smirk.
We go back into the gigantic gates and once the district 12 chariot rolls in, the gate closes. Evan helps me off as our prep teams and stylists along with our mentors approach us.
"That was splendid, darling!" says Laris.
"You both did wonderful." Evan's stylist says.
"Great job!" Morraina says.
"Well done." Cashmere says. We thank all of them and they take us back to our living quarters. The elevator ride was full of praise for our actions during the ride, I'm actually surprised Morraina doesn't scold me for smirking.
Once we get on our floor, I say goodnight to everyone, including Evan, thank my prep team for making me look wonderful, and walk into my room. I take Priney's beautiful ball gown off, and change into a silky nightgown. I jump into my bed, drifting off into a peaceful sleep.
Did you like it! Don't keep your opinion to yourself, tell me. I hope you love Evan and Amethine's chariot costume, because I sure did. Okay, so about the district 7 tributes' outfit, it's cut into triangles at the end, looking like this: /\/\/\/\/\/\ in case you didn't get it. Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a review! (: