Hi again! Time to once again see how some of our protagonists are doing. What will be in store for us this time? Let us read and see…

So Much About Our World

If there was one thing Effie had learned from their journey to District 1, it was that the handcar they'd taken there was too slow in urgent circumstances like these. For all she knew, the large amount of time it had taken them to get to a district that was right next to the Capitol (whether Bongo's uncivil behaviour had contributed to it or not) could have been the reason why the District 1 hospital had apparently been unable to save Wish-Trish. That was why, once she and Golias were in a secluded area of District 1, she decided they needed to create a much faster way of transportation.

Golias eyed her with sudden fear. "Uh…um…" he tooted his trunk, "are you sure you don't wanna learn more about how our powers work first, Effie?"

"Now, I'll admit, that is necessary too, but…" Effie paused when she noticed the fear in the elephant's eyes, and after glancing around and seeing nothing and no one that could possibly be considered nerve-wracking to them, she stared at him in confusion. "Are you afraid something awful will happen once we arrive in the Capitol?"

"Actually, uh…I'm scared because um…I don't like really really fast rides. Yuri likes them, but they're not so much fun for me."

"It's not like we're about to mount a roller coaster or a car race! We're simply travelling from one city to another, but more quickly this time. We don't know how long we have to rescue Nessa, and getting to the Capitol isn't even the only thing we need to do!"

"What else is there?" Golias inquired.

Effie sighed. "All arenas have very tight security, so we'll need help from someone with a lot of knowledge if we want to send her to us. And since the Game Makers, the people in charge of this year's arena, will refuse to help us no matter what we say…it may take longer to find someone who will help us than to go to the Capitol."

"Really? But you know so much about the Games, I thought you might know how to get Nessa out of the arena she's stuck in."

"Golias, escorts don't know everything about the Hunger Games! We may each be in charge of choosing two of their tributes, bringing them to the Capitol, assisting them in their training and interviews, and encouraging others to sponsor them, but that doesn't mean we know how the Game Makers program each year's arenas! It just isn't important for our jobs."

"Oh…" Golias frowned, clearly struggling to process all that information. "Effie, uh…I know you don't have much time to tell me but…what are tributes and sponsoring again?"

Seeing his increasing confusion, Effie suddenly felt silly. They had spent all that time together, trying to find Nessa before she did anything foolish (which they were unfortunately too late to prevent now), and she hadn't explained the meanings of all the terms she'd used. Then again, was that a blessing in disguise considering how much like Lili, Yuri, and Matt the Big Big Friends were on the inside? Or did they simply have to know the full story despite themselves because knowing it would place the odds in Nessa's favour? This was such an unpleasant situation that, caught up in her thoughts as the terrible truth returned to her at a new level, Effie said something she didn't realize came out out loud: "Why did we both have to make that wish?"

Golias comfortingly stepped closer to her so that he could affectionately lean her against his body. "It's okay, Effie. You didn't know any of this would happen if you wished for a break from whatever you have to do every day. Neither did Nessa!"

"I still shouldn't have done it!" Effie insisted, backing away from him. "I could never blame Nessa for wanting to swap bodies with someone, and I can only assume why she did, but…myself wanting the same…it's forbidden! Even if our wishes hadn't been granted, escorts like me are never allowed to care what happens to our tributes…I mean, game players. And I never did care, until this year. Perhaps it's a good thing that I do…since that increases my determination to help at least one of my tributes win the Games…but if President Snow hears word that I do care, and that I am half to blame for the body swap…" Tears fell from her cheeks before she could finish her sentence and she looked away from her companion, wishing she had fingers to dry her eyes.

Golias approached her again, now worried but still determined to comfort her. "It's not a big deal when someone loses a game. You just…lose! You might feel sad for a while, but you can always play again."

"Not in the Hunger Games. Every year, twenty-three people lose in the arena. And when they lose, it means…it always means that what happened to Starpoint and Wish-Trish…happened to them. And usually, they have each other to blame for it. I'm not the only one who is tasked with finding sponsors—people outside the arena who can provide gifts that may help specific tributes win—for my tributes, but…you can never predict what will happen."

Golias, who had gasped in horror upon hearing what losing the Hunger Games really meant, asked, "Why are they called games then?"

"That is how everyone in the Capitol sees them! Myself included…well, not exactly now, but…I mean, provided nothing bad happens to…but then again, only one of them can…" Effie shook her head. "My point is, Nessa could not be more lucky that she is still alive now. And if we don't get her out of the arena as soon as possible, well…you won't like the outcome of it."

"Uh, Effie? Maybe we also need to talk to the Game Makers or whoever President Snow is so nobody gets too many booboos again."

It was the escort's turn to gasp in horror. "That's forbidden too! Do you have any idea what will happen to us if we do such a thing? The very thought!"

"But giving people booboos is no fun!" said Golias. "And it's definitely not a game! If you can understand that, I'm sure the other people in your city will if we tell them."

"If we tell them all that, it will be considered rebellion, the most serious offence my city could receive. We could get locked up in a zoo for doing it, or turned into Avoxes—those are servants to the Capitol who um…who cannot speak and are not allowed to do anything other than work—or worse!"

Golias's eyes widened, and in a more strained voice, he asked, "Never being able to talk or have fun again? Forever and ever? And ever?"

"Yes," said Effie, "and believe me. With the outstanding technology they have, that is a disaster that even your magical abilities cannot protect you from. So, promise me that, once we get to the Capitol, we'll only focus on saving Nessa and undoing the body swap."

"But what about the tributes? Can't we let all of them win? Together?"

"Please," begged Effie. "There cannot be any sort of rebellion, especially not in my hometown! Promise me that you will not allow such a thing. Not just for your sake, but Nessa's as well! And for Yuri's…because if you are imprisoned by the Peacekeepers or anyone else in the Capitol, you will never get to see him again. Ever."

Never seeing Yuri again? That thought scared Golias more than mean people and fast rides alone or put together ever could. Never seeing your best friend again was a fear that he, Bongo, and Nessa didn't have to tell each other they shared to know that they shared it. They'd each formed very strong bonds with Yuri, Matt, and Lili over the time they had spent together, and none of them could imagine what they would do if they couldn't be with them ever again. Nessa had been devastated when she'd been separated from Lili the day they thought her family was moving away—the poor giraffe had never thought she'd see the girl again. Golias didn't want to find out just how sad she'd felt that day; based on the time he'd gotten so droopy and depressed just from Yuri not wanting to cry again, he knew he wouldn't be able to handle the situation any better than Nessa had. No—definitely not. When it came to that, Nessa had no idea that she stayed strong the best.

Sighing reluctantly, Golias said, "Okay…I promise. For Yuri. And Nessa."

"Good," replied Effie. "Now, how do you suppose we return to the Capitol?"

"Hmm…we can't go too fast, but we can't go slow either…what could we—" Suddenly Golias smiled, and he did a gesture with his left ear, kind of like when a human pointed their index finger upward. "I know! Let's play bees!"

"Play bees?" Effie asked in confusion. "How would that—AAAH!" Before the escort could blink, a pair of white, transparent bee wings that seemed too small for her current body sprouted from her back, and she was sent levitating into the air. An identical pair of wings appeared on Golias's back, and soon he was lifted off the ground as well. They were flying—just like the Freaky Friday Fairies could!

"What's wrong?" Golias asked, not at all frightened by what was happening; in fact he was actually enjoying it. "Flying's fun! It's an awesome way to go to, um…wherever you wanna go, like the Capitol."

Effie stared at him in disbelief. "A vehicle with no roof or seatbelts was dangerous enough, but…if someone tries to capture us while we're flying this way, it would be much scarier than if we were on the ground! We'd be fair game…especially since I've never had wings before. At least not literally…"

"But flying is easy! You just have to flap both of your wings at the same time. Kind of like the fairies!"

Very very nervously, Effie focused on her wings, until she was in full control of their movements three seconds later. "There, that's it," Golias delightfully encouraged. "Now come on, let's go find the Capitol and save Nessa."

"Wait," Effie said, as he headed up into the sky, "hold on…" She slowly and slightly awkwardly positioned herself so that she was facing upward, and then took off. However, she hadn't practiced that part yet, and she ended up going much faster than she expected—right past Golias and all the way into a golden cloud (which she was almost certain hadn't been there before), where her wings and everything above them got stuck inside a peculiar space. SPLAT!

What the…? Clouds weren't supposed to be so sticky, were they? Where had this unusual one come from? Oh no; were the Big Big Friends' scenery-altering powers taking effect on their own again?! She frantically kicked her legs and strained as best as she could, but no matter what she tried, she simply couldn't free herself. Even worse, her wings had gotten covered in whatever sticky gold substance the cloud was made of, rendering her unable to fly.

"Hold on, Effie!" came Golias's voice, which sounded muffled from outside the cloud. A few seconds passed, and she felt his trunk wrap around one of her hind legs. Next, she was yanked out of the cloud, and almost just as quickly placed on top of it.

Effie shuddered in disgust when she looked down and saw that her neck was now covered with splotches of the sticky golden substance. Ew! It was every escort's worst nightmare—looking the exact opposite of presentable. What even was this sticky substance? She felt like she was going to vomit, until Golias sat next to her on the cloud, aimed his trunk at one of the splotches, and smelled it. Instantly he smiled and said, "Don't worry. You can eat it if you want. It's only honey."

"I'm not eating this," the escort grimaced. "Not like that. That couldn't be more unciv—wait. Wait! What just happened to District 1?!"

Golias peered below them and gasped. The district had indeed undergone quite a metamorphosis at some point while he was rescuing his companion from the honey cloud. Now, the buildings were made entirely of flowers and other kinds of plants, the pavement had turned into a humongous area of grass, and all the District 1 citizens were panicking upon discovering that they now had bee wings just like Effie's and Golias's. Even the outskirts of the town had changed—instead of prairies, train tracks, and a large tunnel, there was a majestic sea, and in the distance, you could just make out a gigantic sand castle that floated on the sea's water.

"Oh, it looks so amazing down there," said Golias, smiling with excitement. "Do you think there could be some seahorses in the water, Effie?"

"Maybe, but we don't have time to check," she stated.

"It might be good to check. Then you can know more about our powers, and learn how to use them better! There's still some stuff Bongo and I didn't tell you about yet…"

"Still?" Effie asked, shocked. "You've told me so many things already!"

"Hey…it might not look like it, but we've got a lot of time to get to the Capitol. If you just forget about the honey all over you and forget about all those manners—okay, don't forget about saying please and thank you, just the other ones—if you stop thinking about the bad stuff and the perfect stuff and let yourself have a little fun, then the search for Nessa might not feel so hard!"

"I can't just forget about those things, Golias!"

"It doesn't have to be for the whole way," assured the elephant. "It can be until we get to the Capitol if you want. Rescuing Nessa will go better if you're used to everything we do, and uh…getting used to it goes better if you're having fun."

Effie groaned a little and locked eyes with Golias. He meant it; he really did think doing what no perfectionist should ever do would actually be useful. No. Absolutely not. She wasn't like him, not one bit! Having fun was alright when there was nothing to worry about, but there was no room for it in serious situations such as this! They were serious, and they required attention, perfection, and politeness at every step of the way! Although, at the same time…he did have a point. They would have an easier time helping Nessa if she was more experienced in her body, and Golias was the one who knew most about its functions. The escort was going to have to do things his way instead of hers if she wanted to reverse the body swap. Even if it meant painfully shoving aside most of the things she'd always known about politeness, along with her worries about what might happen to Nessa if they didn't speed up their journey, and somehow finding enlightenment in the most horrific of dilemmas.

"Alright," Effie finally decided, "but don't expect me to smile right away."

Golias chuckled. "You don't have to do that either. Sometimes it's better to wait and see what happens."

They allowed the cloud to drift further ahead for a bit, before Golias stretched out his ears, positioning them like airplane wings. This gave him the ability to steer the cloud down toward the sea, until they were hovering just above its water. Once they were there, a sea turtle emerged onto the surface and began swimming next to them, carrying a small harp on its shell and using one of its flippers to strum it. Effie was a bit perplexed by the marine animal's presence at first, but her confusion immediately made way for surprise when Golias began describing the Big Big Friends' powers in a rather unexpected way: through song.

"You already know that the scenery can change," he sang, "whenever our magic is in range…"

Effie tried to ignore the thought as it went through her head, but she felt it loud and clear: if Haymitch found out about the circumstances she was in right now, he would never let her live it down in a million years. Then again, it wasn't as if he had any way of knowing about this part of her journey. And even if he did, perhaps he would actually be glad that she was in this position—he did sometimes become frustrated with her for encouraging proper etiquette so many times. Last year they'd even gotten into a heated (and in Haymitch's unsurprising case, drunken) argument after their tributes had left for their private training sessions, during which he had said, "Well, maybe the real reason I threw up in the hallway was because you were being so perfect, it would make anyone sick! Not because of the booze."

Golias continued singing, "But there's still some stuff I have to share, and they'll come once we're in there." Then suddenly the cloud began to go a little faster, and before the duo could blink, they were approaching the giant sand castle. Its doors opened on their own, and they flew inside, with the sea turtle following and increasing the tempo of its harp music. A seahorse and two crabs then appeared beside it, the former two playing flutes and the latter shaking some maracas.

As Golias used his trunk to make music of his own and play along to the sea creatures' tune, Effie saw how much pleasure he was having and couldn't help smiling a little. Then she quickly hid her smile, and then felt strange for doing so. After a second, she admitted it to herself—it was tempting to give in when it came to a scenario like this. But she wasn't like Golias, at least not anymore. And she'd devoted so much of her life to punctuality, beauty, and manners…could she really afford to lose herself in a magical musical?

The escort winced. Saying it like that, she suddenly realized that while her life had been pretty pleasant, the only fun things she'd really done were practising proper etiquette, encouraging others to do the same, and trying out new outfits, makeup styles, and wigs. Singing, dancing, and making music…she had never done those things before, mainly out of belief that she'd look ridiculous and unprofessional if she did them. Escorts were supposed to cheery and optimistic, but not in that fashion…right?

Yet the more she glanced at Golias and felt the happy energy within him, the more Effie found herself thinking about how many people she hadn't often been able to relate to because of the differences between her personality and theirs. Haymitch, Katniss, half of the now-deceased tributes she'd helped nurture over her years as District 12's escort…one male 13-year-old tribute named Dusty Tribble had even called her a "shallow, soulless Peacekeeper replica who wouldn't put herself in other people's shoes if Panem's life depended on it!"

The honey cloud drifted into a hallway with potted seaweed plants on both of its walls, and Golias resumed his singing. "Plants and flowers make us amazed! They can look and smell all kinds of ways, but there's one thing they only do when we're around."

Suddenly a mouth and a pair of eyes appeared on every single seaweed plant at once, and as Effie jumped back, startled, they all sang in unison, "We make sooooouuuuunds!"

Golias laughed, and all the talking seaweed plants began singing about how they were, well, themselves, and how fun it was to be in a beautiful sand castle hallway. Yet Effie didn't pay much attention to that part, being too lost in her thoughts now that Golias had finished one of his own lines. I've never wanted to come off as shallow or soulless, she was now thinking. Not really, but…I suppose I did. And what good is being unique if you've only ever done it through your dresses and wigs? Without even realizing how much of a difference you aren't making? Effie couldn't help but sigh woefully. Was she a bit too much of a perfectionist nowadays? It was true that she didn't stand out much amongst the other tribute escorts—was that because she only stuck to the same hobbies and standards, and never tried anything new? New things that might seem humiliating at first, but that she might end up coming to enjoy?

The seaweed plants finished singing their part of the song, and Effie watched as she and Golias drifted out of the hallway and into a room with several toy boxes on the floor and different paintings on the walls. Seeing the elephant was about to introduce her to another important factor, she took a deep breath and told herself, Well…perhaps taking his advice could improve my reputation a little…and who knows? Maybe it won't be so awful, trying something new. There are a few Capitol residents that see benefits with participating in musicals. And if the most matured of the Big Big Friends sees them too, then…why not?

Golias jumped off the cloud and onto the floor, where he used his trunk to grab a squeaky toy in the form of a caterpillar that had been in one of the boxes. He then began playing with it, all the while singing, "Any kind of toy is fun to play with. You can make it do, whatever you want it to, but play too long and—"

Then the caterpillar came to life, jumped out of Golias's trunk, expanded to half his size, and said, "Did you know I'm a goldsmith?"

"Goldsmith?" Golias asked in surprise. "What's a goldsmith?"

"Someone who creates jewellery and other beautiful items," replied Effie. She then stepped back, a little nervously. Her (well, Nessa's) powers were mingling with his. There was no turning back now—she was officially a part of the journey's musical phase.

The caterpillar began doing a groovy dance, and he sang, "Yes there's so-o-o-o much about our world you just have to see! There's games to play, adventures to have, magic to share, and all kinds of things to be! Now come on over and I'll show you to my homeward."

"You mean your home?" Effie asked. "But isn't it here? You were discovered in this box…"

"Well, yes and no," explained the caterpillar. "Follow me, and I'll show you!" He then stepped back, ran to one of the paintings on the left wall (which looked a lot like the tunnel leading into the Capitol, with the artist having apparently painted it in the countryside side of the tunnel), and jumped toward it. All of sudden he disappeared into thin air, and a large portion of blue water splashed out of the painting and onto the floor.

Effie stared at the scene in disbelief. The painting looked exactly as it had before the strange thing happened…no wait, if she looked really closely, she could see the caterpillar was inside of it. He looked much smaller and as if he'd been painted into the canvas with the scenery, but unlike the rest of the painting, she could faintly see him hopping around inside of it. The caterpillar had literally gone inside the painting, although from here, it looked like he'd become as still as a picture, not being able to move his face and body but being able to travel around in the canvas. Now that was new information. Could Big Big Friends really go into paintings and drawings with their powers as well?

"Come on, Effie," said Golias, now taking a few steps back himself. "I did this with Yuri and the others once right before show-and-tell. It was so much fun!"

"But…but what if we can't get out?" Effie hesitated.

"We got out last time," he reassured her. "Come on, you'll love it in there! Some of the things we'll see might be all your favourite things put together, like flowers that are your favourite colour and smell like your favourite food!" Golias seemed to have a really easy time savouring that possibility, and when he did, Effie wondered if the last painting he'd gone inside had been filled with his favourite things.

"Oh, alright," the escort finally agreed. She slowly and carefully dismounted the honey cloud (after which her and Golias's bee wings suddenly disappeared), backed up a little, and then speedwalked toward the painting with Golias right behind her. Before she knew it, they were jumping in together, and she could feel herself shrinking in size as more portions of blue water splashed out of the painting.

Almost immediately, the duo landed on their feet, on the same ground the painting had displayed. Only now that they were inside of it, the whole thing looked so much more…real. Sure, the scenery in the painting still looked, well, painted-on, but there was now more detail than Effie remembered seeing back in the sand castle. Another difference she noticed was the absence of the honey splotches that had been on her, which she guessed must have been washed off by the water after they went into the painting.

The caterpillar, who was now as vivid and capable of moving as he'd been before entering the painting, danced toward them, now dressed in a black rubber raincoat that, despite itself, looked a lot like half of a tuxedo. "Now get out your umbrellas," he sang, "and put on your raincoats!"

Golias caught on to what he was referring to and giggled, before singing, "'Cause as long as we're here, it could be raining strange stuff like tomatoes!"

As he said those last two words, a bunch of grey clouds rolled in. Within seconds, not just tomatoes, but also cupcakes and sticks of asparagus were falling from the sky, and while the caterpillar stayed behind to eat as much of the asparagus as he could, Effie and Golias made a run for it and hid inside the tunnel for protection. They then stayed in there, downright silent, and both covered in tomato juice, cupcake icing, and fragments of asparagus. That is, until Golias broke the silence by looking at himself and his companion and then bursting into giggles.

"Oh, this brings back a lot of memories…" he gasped. Then he noticed Effie was just staring at him in silence, and he quieted down. "Sorry…that was probably too much, huh Effie?"

And then he gasped, this time in surprise, as Effie burst out laughing as well. "Are you kidding?" she exclaimed. "I haven't gone through so much excitement, not in this way anyway, since I was a toddler! I forgot how it felt to be so carefree, not having to worry about doing things the right w…" She then realized what she just said and shook her head, reassuming a direct tone. "However, not that there's anything wrong with proper etiquette."

"Oh come on," said Golias. "A second ago you were laughing!"

"Yes, I'll admit it," Effie confessed, giving him a small smile. "But promise me that you will not tell anyone I briefly thought getting covered in food was funny."

"I promise. Hey uh…do you want me to clean all the food off?"

"Now it is getting to be too much."

"Oh. Okay..."

They waited in the tunnel for a minute longer until the food storm died down. After that, the duo continued through it until they reached the other side, where Effie expected to find a painted-on version of the Capitol. What she didn't expect, however, was to find a more fairytale-themed version of exactly that once they made it past the train station. A giant castle where the President's quarters were supposed to be, a golden temple in the Training Centre's place, more colourful and luxurious versions of the rest of the buildings she would have recognized, beach sand on the ground instead of pavement, and a large trail of bright turquoise water where the roads were supposed to be. Inside the water, you could see fish of all colours and sizes swimming around, along with seahorses that, for some reason, were all wearing cowboy hats.

Effie gasped in fascination as she peered into the water. "Oh my…these are the prettiest fish I've ever…GOLIAS! I SEE A MERMAID TOO!"

"A mermaid?" Golias exclaimed, hurrying over. He gasped at the sight of her as she swam by, with only her back, light blue tail, purple and apparently waterproof shirt, and long ginger hair visible to anyone above the water's surface. She was absolutely stunning—yet for a moment, Effie couldn't help but wonder if she had seen the mermaid's long ginger hair before. It looked strangely familiar somehow…

Not seeming to find the mermaid familiar, Golias sang a recognizable line of the song that, at this point, Effie decided had to be the chorus. "Yes there's so-o-o-o much about our world you just have to see! There's games to play, adventures to have, magic to share, and all kinds of things to be! Now come on over 'cause it's time to explore."

Before Effie could ask what he meant exactly, the elephant leapt into the water and drank it all up with his trunk, sending the mermaid and fish slowly floating into the waterless air. At first the escort gasped, thinking they were going to suffocate, but to her astonishment, they didn't. Instead, they resumed their horizontal positions and continued swimming and breathing normally, as though they were still in the water—even though they were levitating many feet off the ground like astronauts in outer space!

"Even fishies and their friends can see what we do!" Golias sang, now with his cheeks puffed up so much that they were an inch under half the size of himself. "'Cause maybe we can't go underwater, but we'll still find a way to help them play too."

The mermaid turned to them and tried to tell them something, but Golias was now spitting out all the water he'd consumed, spinning around in the process. That caused the water to travel all around himself and Effie in a beautiful curvy arc, until it cleared away and the duo were startled to discover that they'd mysteriously shrunk to fish size during the spectacle. Still, Golias chuckled, and said in a normal tone, "And that's another thing that can happen…we can get smaller."

"Can you become a bigger size too?" asked Effie.

"Um…actually, I don't know. The only time that ever happened was when all of us went inside Yuri's bad dream to make it better. I grew a lot, but I think everyone else stayed the same size."

"Wait, what? You can travel into other people's dreams too?!"

"Yeah, but only if it's really really really important."

The mermaid tried again. "Uh, speaking of important—"

"Hey Effie," said Golias, completely unaware that the mermaid was trying to get their attention. "Wanna sing the last part of the song?"

"Wha…me?! But—"

"Come on, give it a try! It'll be fun, you'll love it!"

Sighing but smiling, Effie nodded and thought hard, then sang all the lyrics that came to mind: "Um…w-well um…it is true that your world can be quite luxurious…sorry if I seemed so furious. But I believe there's still one thing to mention, one thing that if put off…may give me tension."

"Uh, I think you already had a little tension," Golias put in.

"Well that is a good point," said Effie. Then, resuming the singing part, she closed her eyes and continued, "I wonder what would happen if I just think. Think of particular things from my wardrobe that I simply miss…starting with something, let's say pink…!"

All at once, the escort heard a series of magical dust surrounding her body, and a big wide smile spread across her face. The sound faded away after a few seconds, and she opened her eyes, looking at her reflection through a puddle of water on the ground. She gasped in delight when she saw herself. There was now a neon pink curly wig on her head that looked almost exactly like her favourite pink wig from back at home, along with very fancy deep pink boots with the tallest heels she'd ever seen!

"Amazing!" Golias remarked, smiling in excitement.

"You haven't seen everything yet," Effie playfully retorted. All the while warming up her (well, Nessa's, which actually sounded extremely beautiful) singing voice with random syllables that didn't necessarily form any words, she groovily marched toward Golias in a dancey way. She shook herself from side to side as she did, and each time she pulled off that move, her wig and footwear would change into different versions. A light pink and much longer wig with sparkly lavender leggings, a light blue wig with straighter hair strands and lime green high heels, and a platinum blonde curly wig with a few longer and straight strands and reddish-pink boots…then she twirled until her wig was now neon pink with golden glitter streaks, and her footwear had become rubber reddish-pink boots with pale pink highlights, tied on by silk ribbons.

Unfortunately, not used to twirling—especially on four legs—Effie wobbled and fell backwards as soon as she finished her pirouette. Thankfully Golias rushed over and caught her before she could hit the ground that time, and once she was back on her feet, he said, "Wow…you're really good at dressing up!"

Effie could only smile her thanks, taken aback in a positive way by the one compliment every escort loved to receive. Then she looked at Golias, he looked at her, and exchanging knowing smiles, they stood together, both facing the area where the turquoise water trail had once been. Simultaneously, they sang the final line in the song: "Yes there's so-o-o-o much about this world you just have to see! There's games to play, adventures to have, magic to share, and all kinds of things to be! Now come on over and we'll stop for a bit…because our friend needs us to make a run fooooorrrrr iiiiiiiit."

"Um, excuse me? Animals? I don't want to be rude, but…do you two know anything about how the painting in the District 4 dorm suddenly got me stuck in here?"

Startled, the duo turned to find the ginger-haired mermaid levitating in front of them, looking confused and a little nervous. And as she finally saw her face, Effie froze, now realizing two things at once:

1. If this person had come from one of the Training Centre dormitories, then there had to be a shortcut of some kind around here somewhere. One that led directly to the real Capitol, through a painting.

2. The person who had apparently been transformed into a mermaid by mistake was someone Effie had seen before. In fact, she was none other than District 4 tribute mentor Annie Cresta.

OMG. Will these three find a way out of the painting realm? And what will become of Nessa and her team? Find out in the next chapter, coming soon…:)