Arrival to the Capitol

MAGS FLANNAGAN

PART II

Just wait, be strong til I return, please. Mags pleads alone to herself and pray to whatever or whoever is listening that her family will be okay while she's gone. Throat raw, she swallows what little moisture is left in her mouth trying to keep from vomiting. It was inhumane, the way they just shove them right into an old truck and cart them off to a train station. Shouldn't she at least get to say goodbye? Some last words to her father? Her Pa is back there, weeping to Marina, wondering how the hell he's going to tell the little ones. Mags should get to say something. Mags sees some of the townspeople near the trains, hugging their children thanking whatever god they believe in that it wasn't their child. They were safe this time. Wondering how her Pa is going to explain to the little ones that Mags isn't coming home. How she might not come back home, at all.

Mags wipes the remnants of tears off her cheeks and looks at the boy being shoved into the back of the truck beside her, she's seen him around before, can't remember his name but his eyes burn with fury. He's broad, must work the docks, tanned skin and hair with salt glinting off the tops of his curls.

Mags can see the sea, an unending horizon of blue fliting in short gasps between rough wood shops and homes. She presses her fingers to the glass and soaks up every flash of the sea she gets, she might never get to see it again.

They reach the station before she realizes it. Mags tries to remember if she ever heard about how they transport the tributes, they probably transported them on the disgusting railway cars she sees heading in and out of District 4 twice a week with exports. Mags knows last year they dumped Coral into a zoo covered in God knows what. Will she end up in a zoo too? Stuffed in a train car with filthy pigs and soiled straw?

A peacekeeper pulls her roughly out of the car and pushes her towards the train car, she looks at the boy, his stalking figure almost the same height as the peace keepers urging him forward.

He turns then, looks her up and down and bids her a greeting "Osiris Carrick."

Mags inclines her head, "Mags Flanagan."

Osiris repeats it to himself, "shame we had to meet this way. "

Mags grimaces at the implication. She fixes her eyes to his, "they're going to put is in with the pigs?" Her gaze shifts back the train cars, some with a stench that is only now beginning to seep into her nostrils.

"No idea." Osiris nose crinkles at the wind wafting the scent to them. "We'll find out soon enough." Peacekeepers tug them forward and swing open a train door. Mags holds her breath, hoping for whatever's left of fresh air to tide her over while the smell of the train car envelops her.

Osiris goes in first and Mags follows, surprised to find that they're in an empty train car, with the exception of the two peace keepers stationed at each end of the car. A row of wooden seats flanking them on each side.

Osiris glances around and plops into a row towards the middle beneath a large window. "Well this ain't so bad. Can still smell the pigs, but at least we're not sitting with them."

Mags slides into a seat opposite Osiris, and the door clangs shut behind her. She looks out one last time upon the train station of district 4, the beautiful sea so much father from her than she ever imagined. If she looks from the right angle, she can still see a sliver of the ocean. Mags has spent her life in the water, learning its unforgiving beauty, its strength, its been her solace and peace. She will come back to it. She must.

Mags heart beats for her family, for her Pa, for her brother and sisters. Every decision she makes is for them. And there's only one outcome of these games, she decides, Mags wins. Aegis will be watching, she has to set a good example. To make sure he knows she will be coming home.

Osiris lets out a low whistle, "so tell me Mags Flanagan," the train wheels begin to grind loudly and they jolt forward. "Are you going to be the one to kill me?"

Mags stared blankly at him, mouth opening a few times before she snaps it shut. "Are you?"

"Hm, that is the question isn't it." Osiris turns from her, lays across the seat and tucks his arm under his head.

Mags shivers and turns her head back to the window to see that they've already lost sight of the ocean.

The peace keepers bring them stale bread and water, which she scarfs down. Despite a lack of appetite, she'd be stupid to reject food. No one knows how they treat people like them in the capitol, and if last year being stuck in the zoo was any indication, she should eat everything she can.

When she opens her eyes, it's to a peacekeeper hauling her up, "we're here."

She turns to see Osiris also blinking away sleep. Mags looks out the window to see tall buildings, with ladders and building materials strewn about. Mags had tried to stay awake to see if they picked up other tributes, but if they did she never heard them and they got off the train before she woke up. Mags mouth is dry, her lips cracked from sleep and she stumbled off the train surrounded by people, a peacekeepers hands firmly on each of her shoulders.

A woman approaches her, lips stained pink, a dress the color of the sky wrapped delicately around her. "I am Vessina Duskgrove, and I am to be your mentor."

Mags stares at her, if she remembers correctly, they had some last year. She didn't remember quite what they did. But it was supposed to help. Mags nods her head, "I'm Mags Flanagan." She looks around and sees others like her, skinny, scrawny and dirty, especially compared to the Capitol people, speaking to them.

Mags looks at Osiris and a man in a formal suit talking. Did they each get one? Vessina peels her lips back into a smile, it doesn't seem hostile, nor does it seem genuine. "I'm sure you're confused. I'll explain what I can. If you promise to be good, I'll wave the peacekeeper off you. And if you try to pull anything, he will cuff you. I've already seen two tributes get restrained. I'm trying to help you, but only if you're willing to work with me."

Mags nods again and peers at the man holding her into place. Vessina waves at the peacekeeper holding Mags shoulders. "You may step back." Vessina offers that smile again, "as your mentor, my job is to help you win. The Games has lots of new and exciting opportunities that you'll be able to take advantage of! We'll have sponsors this year and more interviews. We're even giving you a shower and a room to sleep in. Consider it a taste of what the capitol has to offer."

Mags keeps nodding her head trying to catalogue everything that's being said. It's more confusing than anything, but Vessina keeps searching Mags face like she's supposed to do more. Mags tries to smile, "thank…you?"

Vessina grins wider, "there we go. Talk, please. I can't market you if you're just a brick wall. Let's get you a bath and some food, and we can talk privately. There's too many ears and eyes here for me to work."

Mags is glad that the water is warm, she bathes alone, in a simple tub with a simple bar of soap. They give her fifteen minutes so it's a rush to clean herself and her hair with enough time to also try and wash her mother's dress in the remaining bath water. She tries and fails to braid her hair, and she's given some basic clothing to change into. Setting her mother's dress on a chair in the corner, Mags sits on the edge of the thin mattress as the door swings open and Vessina strides in, a parcel in her hand.

"I got you something to eat. They're feeding all of you the same thing. But you're my first tribute and I think we should celebrate."

Mags tears open the paper and feels the softest bread she could possibly imagine. She tears into it immediately, sweet cream and berries bursting on her tongue. Vessina scowls at the display but Mags could care less. She's never had something so delicious in her life. Something so sweet and soft and rich. Mags scarfs down the dessert before she could even really enjoy what it was. Is this what they eat in the Capitol? Fancy desserts in pretty dresses?

Vessina taps her polished shoe against a shimmering floor. "You clean up well, and it's just us. So let's talk. What do you know about this years games, mags?"

Mags wipes some cream from the corner of her mouth and quickly darts her tongue out to slurp it up before it's gone. "I know that the Capitol is offering a reward? Food for our district, I think?"

"You're correct, Mags. If you win, your entire district will get food parcels for the year. You will also get a home, big enough for you and your family to live well. And since the Capitol is so generous, you'll also receive money every year from the Capitol. So much money you cant even fathom, Mags. Is that something you'd like?"

"I…" Mags frowns, those things would change her and her family's life but…it didn't really matter if she died. "I'd like to go home."

"Well that's not an option...But winning is. And it's my job to make sure you win. I've heard people from the districts could use that kind of money and food, is that true?"

"Yes, it is." Mags thinks of all the fish she has to catch, preserve and sell. All the lures she has to make to use to barter for oil or flour to help her Pa feed the children. To try and get Ma a decent healer to help her with the births of the little ones. "How…how would you help me win?"

Vessina smiles, what looks to be at least cordially this time. "We have something new, we tried it last games and we're doing it again this year. Called sponsors, they're people from the Capitol who like you, and will send you gifts in the arena to help you. Do you remember how Lucy Gray got water?"

Mags nods, "yes."

"Well, we can get you other things you need, but people have to like you. Unfortunately, you're so quiet. You need to be more…entertaining. Don't worry about that, I have plenty of ideas."

Mags frowns, "why are you helping me?" All this sounds strange, don't they usually dump them in a zoo and then toss them into a cement cell and let them tear each other apart? Why is Vessina smiling at her and bringing her food?

"You know I've heard another thing about people from the districts." Vessina taps a blue nail along her elbow. "That you people, you don't trust very easily and you don't like to owe anyone anything. Is that true too?"

"I think so." Mags starts to fidget with her fingers.

"Listen, the other mentors? They're trying all sorts of things. Bribing their tributes, punishing them, threatening them. I'm going to be totally honest and explain it this way then. Think of us more as partners." Vessina sneers at the statement but recomposes herself quickly. "You help me, and I help you. You see, I'm working at becoming head game maker. That's the job I want, that I'm meant for. I want to create stories, and worlds, and the Hunger Games is the perfect way for me to do it and for everyone to see my creations. You're going to help me get there. And in return, I'll help you get home. Plus, all those other things I mentioned earlier."

Mags isn't stupid, she's being given a chance and she's lucky enough to have a Capitol woman who wants her to succeed and isn't afraid of being blunt and honest to do it. She can work with this. "How do I be more entertaining?"

Venissa gives mags the most genuine smile she's seen yet. "Mags, you're smart. I like that. Let's start at the beginning. Tell me about yourself, the stuff that will make people care about you or think you're interesting. We've got one week to make you a spectacle that everyone is rooting for. And we're going to win these Games."