Chapter Thirty-Six: Victory Tour (pt.2)

The next five days follow the same pattern. Wake up, be fussed at by the prep team before being dolled up and dressed, step off the train, be greeted by falsely cheering crowds, give pretty much the same speech before being hauled off by her team to change her outfit once more and attend the fancy dinners being hosted by the 'elite' members of each District. When the train slowed to a stop on the sixth day Maize was nauseous and more than a little anxious about this particular stop. She'd had an active role in the death of the male tribute of this District. Her nightmares were plagued by his face and the canon that'd gone off after she kicked him off her. Maize was terrified to see the boy's family today. To see their accusing glares and hatred because she had lived where their son had been murdered.

She'd barely slept the night before, maybe only an hour or two in total. Maize had only relaxed when Seeder had come in to check on her and the woman had joined her on the bed. Promising to keep watch and wake her if it looked like a nightmare was plaguing her. Even now Seeder stood by her side. Still, Maize felt anxiety thrumming through her veins as she waited behind the heavy looking doors of District 6's Justice Building.

With -fakefakefake- confidence Maize approached the mike on the stage as the mayor finished introducing her to the unenthusiastic crowd. A fake smile pulled on the corners of her lips as she began her speech, though her eyes never seemed to stray too far from the podium where Gear Lowdust's small family was sobbing. An unbelievable amount of guilt was choking her from the inside, though Maize refused to let it show on her face. It was a relief when Maize was escorted back inside and the doors were closed since she practically collapsed onto the ground.

Silent sobs shook her frame as her eyes burned with unshed tears. Maize allowed the weakness to take her for another moment as Goldie flitted around nervously while Seeder pulled her into a comforting hug. "I'm fine..." Maize croaked out as she excused herself, "I guess the stress is finally hitting me."

Goldie bobbed her head as if she understood, "No worries my dear! We're at the halfway point now!"

That didn't really help.

At all.

At least Goldie attempted to comfort her in the only way the woman knew how. Maize sent the escort a strained smile as she carefully rubbed the tears from her cheeks.

"Come, let's freshen up your face!" Circo chirruped as Seeder helped her up. Maize sent Seeder a look as she allowed herself to be dragged by the prep team into another room. Orion quietly commenting that Maize would simply love her dress for the party in the evening in his attempt to alleviate the mood.

Her trip to District 5 wasn't nearly as difficult. From what she'd been able to see of District 4 had been beautiful. She'd missed the ocean with a ferocity that'd initially surprised her for a moment when Maize -finally- caught a whiff of the intoxicating smell of the sea. Though she'd had to swallow any guilt when she saw that there was only an ancient-looking grandmother standing under the banner with Annie's name. The old woman had a wrinkled old hand clutched to the front of her dress and an infinitely sad expression on her aged face. Annie should have lived but Maize's family would forever be grateful that she had come out of the arena, Cana's family was grateful that she'd come out alive. Maize had carefully avoided looking at Waverly's family after catching a glimpse of an identical boy to that of the deceased District 4 tribute. District 3 had been... different, she hadn't seen that much technology out of the Capitol, though she spent the majority of the evening silently dreading the next day.

District 2 was beautiful in a very unique way. There was very little green in the form of plant life since it was located in a mountain range, the mountains themselves were very eyecatching as opposed to the bleak colored stone buildings of the District. The people were so very different from those of her own District, none of them looked as if they'd ever gone hungry a day in their lives, they were all clean and well dressed as some of them stared up at her admiringly or with clear distaste.

Tiberius Shimmer's family stared at her with thinly veiled contempt and hatred from their spots. Maize refused to flinch or falter under their glares as she recited the speech Goldie had prepared for her. Tiberius had gotten his strong and intimidating build from his father and the more delicate features of his face from his mother. The only member of the family whose grief was evident on their face was the teenage girl standing in between her parents. Maize didn't even bother looking at the other podium where the deceased female tribute's family was watching her with piercing eyes.

The amount of Peacekeepers in the District rivaled with the number in her own, though for vastly different reasons. District 2 was known for having the training facility for Peacekeepers in its borders, some of the Peacekeepers were even volunteers from the District. Meanwhile, the large amount of Peacekeepers in her own District had been strategically placed there to oppress and better control her people.

That didn't absolve the guilt or self-hatred in her heart.

Tiberius had killed Cana.

And Maize had killed him in return.

She'd committed the grave sin of taking another's life. A child's, no matter how misguided he'd been. She was a murderer. The one thing that Maize would never be able to forgive herself for... even if it had been in self-defense and in an attempt to protect Cana... because in the end her hands were stained red -in a way that would never wash off- and she'd utterly failed her District partner as well.

Seeder and Chaff had practically guarded her away from the merry party-goers that evening. Something that Maize would be eternally grateful for since she wouldn't have been able to keep her mask up if the elite of District 2 had bombarded her with questions on her time -and how it felt to take the life of one of District 2's strongest cadets- in the arena.

When she finally finished her tour in District 1 the next day Maize allowed herself to relax for a moment. At least that part of her nightmare was over and done with. Of course, her relief was quickly chased away by Goldie's and the stylists' glee at finally getting back to the Capitol.

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(I meant to post this chapter a while ago! Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, favorites, and follows! It makes me so happy to know that there are other people who still love this aging fandom!)