Chapter Nineteen: Countdown
Cana's interview with Caesar went wonderfully as well. His 'angle' was to be boyishly charming and humble, which wasn't too far from the younger teen's actual personality, only emphasized for the Capitol. Her District partner did end up disclosing that he saw Maize as an older sister and was grateful for her presence, it earned more than a few "Aww's" from the audience. It was brilliant. The only downside she could really think of was that now the other tributes knew for a fact that they were each other's weakness (which, if hadn't been made obvious by their lack of communicating with other tributes or making alliances, was now more than evident).
It didn't really matter anymore.
What was done, was done... besides Maize was rather proud of herself and Cana.
(Even if she had cringed when she saw herself walk across the stage in her provocative outfit, she didn't even want to know what her baba's reaction was to that).
Tomorrow she and Cana would be woken and dressed for the arena. The Hunger Games would truly start in the morning. Cana was quiet at dinner, even if he did follow her instructions food-wise. Maize listened to any advice she was able to pry from her mentors and, surprisingly, Goldie. She ate the lamb and seasoned potatoes with gusto, gingerly ate slices of caramelized mango and orange slices (her absolute new favorite dessert) and drank her vanilla flavored shake. This would be the last time she'd see Seeder and Chaff. Avox's would wake Maize up at dawn to get ready to travel, while Seeder and Chaff would be brought to the Games Headquarters where they would schmooze Sponsors to their side.
Maize took a long hot shower, scrubbing the paint and makeup from her skin. She undid the beads from her hair and rubbed shampoo into the strands. Letting herself completely relax. The rest of her evening followed the same pattern, she dried off, brushed her hair, rubbed lotion onto her skin and got rid of the nail polish from her nails. She changed into the softest nightgown in the closet before turning in for the night. She was asleep for maybe only an hour when the bedroom door creaked open.
"Maize?" Cana whispered, "Are you awake?"
She sat up, "Yeah."
The teen moved to her side and sat on the edge of the bed, "I'm sorry for... well this. I-I just can't sleep." Humming softly, Maize moved over and patted the now empty spot. Cana awkwardly laid down beside her, his back facing her, "Thank you."
"It's fine." she murmured, "It was strange when we first came here, I'm so used to sleeping by Brier or Amla that it was hard to sleep. So, this is nice."
"Me too." Cana piped up, "I usually sleep between Ollie and Terra." it was silent for a moment, just a symphony of relaxed breaths, "I miss mama's songs. Even Terra's and Uba's lullabies."
Her eyes shut without her accord, her heart constricting in her chest, "Which lullaby do you miss the most?"
"Catch a falling star." he shared shyly.
It took a moment for Maize to remember the lyrics but once she did she began humming the tune under her breath, "Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket/ Never let it fade away/ Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket/ Save it for a rainy day..." she ignored the shaking shoulders and muffled sobs from her District partner, "For love may come and tap you on the shoulder/ Some starless night/ Just in case you feel you wanna hold her/ You'll have a pocketful of starlight.../ Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket..." Maize sang until the sobs and tears stopped, until Cana finally fell into a fitful sleep before joining him. Dawn came faster than Maize would have liked. Cana was still half asleep when Maize requested two shakes, a mango and chocolate-flavored shake, from an Avox. The moment that she had the shakes in hand she chugged hers down after prompting the sleepy teen next to her to do the same.
Just before he was led out of the room by his stylist, Maize hugged him and whispered in his ear, "Remember the plan?"
Cana looked at her seriously, "Yes."
She only nodded seriously before allowing Orion to manhandle her into a simple shift to wear until they arrived at the arena and up onto the roof where a hovercraft would appear to bring them. The moment that Maize is pulled into the futuristic plane a man in a white lab coat (a doctor perhaps) approaches her with a large looking syringe. Maize doesn't allow any distaste to show on her face as the man injects a tracker into her left forearm. Apparently, it would be used by the Game Makers to keep track of the tributes in the arena.
After Orion makes his way to her side once more, an Avox boy comes in and directs them to a room where breakfast has been laid out. She eats leisurely, enjoying the taste of fresh fruits, smoked hams and cheese. Maize is even fortunate enough to spy more of the mango nutrition shakes she'd become obsessed with. She downs two more before the windows in the room darken as they approach the arena. When the hovercraft lands they are directed to a tube that would lead to the catacombs underneath the arena and lead into her Launch Room, as it was called in the Capitol. She rather preferred the name it was given in the Districts. The Stockyard. A place animals are herded into before they are slaughtered.
She tries not to think about what happens in the arenas after the Games end. Instead of destroying the arenas or abandoning them, they are turned into glorified 'historic sites' where Capitolites can vacation leisurely to. They could visit the catacombs and even reenact the deaths of tributes. It was disgusting. Then again, most things that the esteemed residents of the Capitol liked or celebrated disgusted Maize. She forced herself to focus on other things as she showered and brushed her teeth. It would do her no good to linger on things she couldn't change.
Orion untangles her hair gently before separating her hair into four tight braids and tying it up in a ponytail. When the clothes arrived, they both opened the package curiously before the man helped her into them. Every tribute would be wearing the same thing, and the clothes often reflected what kind of arena it would be. Maize already knew that there would be a dam from her distant memories, so she was assuming that the rest of the arena had to be some sort of forest... maybe even mountain-like.
The brown pants are made of the same stretchy breathing material that the tracksuits she had worn for training were, and she'd been given a black cotton tank top to wear over her sports bra, thick calf-length brown socks to be worn under brown combat boots (the boots themselves while chunky looking were easy to move in and didn't weigh as much as she thought they would, they also had a fair amount of traction on their soles making her whole mountain/woodland theory more plausible), to complete the look she'd been given Orion handed her a cameo jacket that fell down her thighs (it was light and reminded her of a rain jacket but the inside was lined with warmer material, the nights would probably be colder than the day).
It was the moment that she was finally finished dressing that Orion handed her a small wooden ring that Maize had thought she would never see again. Her Nyanya's death, though years had passed, was still a sore subject for Maize. She had loved the old woman dearly, and despite all the woman's time on earth, they did not have a single picture of her. The only thing that they had left of her was the varnished maple ring that had served as her Nyanya's wedding ring. Baba had given it to her soon after she had come out of her healing coma (the whipping she had endured had left her unconscious for two days). She had worn it on her right ring finger every single day... when she'd been forced to undress for the Tribute Parade, Maize had thought that it'd been lost to her forever.
That the ring would just be another causality to the Hunger Games.
A wide smile tugged on the corners of her lips, "Nyanya's ring!" she gasped out, "I thought it had been lost! Thank you, Orion!"
The stylist smiled softly at her, "I thought that you could have it as your District token. Nyanya? Who is that my dear?"
Maize marveled at the small ring in her hand as she slipped it onto her right ring finger, "Nyanya means grandmother in my District. It was all I had left of her, she died during the pox outbreak when my family couldn't afford medication. Thank you so much Orion! I thought I'd lost it, it was her wedding ring!"
Orion looked perturbed. There was a mixture of pity and concern on his face as well as a good dash of surprise, this was probably the most the man had ever heard her say in one go, "You are welcome my dear."
The P.A. system above announces that the tributes should stand on the circular metal plate located in the center of the room. The Games were about to start. As the glass cylinder began lowering around her, Maize shot the man another soft smile. "Thank you for everything."
A countdown started around her as the cylinder started to rise.
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