IF ANYONE WOULD HAVE ASKED SAGE WHAT HE THOUGHT SO FAR OF HIS TIME IN THE CAPITOL HE WOULD BE ASHAMED OF WHAT HIS ANSWER WAS. Of course he would lie through his teeth and say it was awful, that he much rather would have been in District Twelve. Which wasn't a complete lie, he missed home. He missed walking with Katniss and Prim through the district for school, he missed everything about Ella, he missed his mother's nagging for him to shave— all of it. But he didn't miss the hunger pains on nights that he took less during dinner so Kat or Prim could have a bit more. He didn't miss the lumpy bed that he slept on. He didn't even miss the smell of the mines that engulfed the district. Here in the Capitol, he didn't have any hunger pains because there were three promised meals a day and a abundance of fruits or baked goods to snack on. He had his own room that was plenty big enough, and like Deedee had told him— he could change the sounds and surroundings to whatever he wanted. His bed wasn't lumpy, and everything was made and cleaned up for him. The showers were a nice addition, even if he wasn't a fan of the soap that smelt of flowers— he knew that people back home, even Deedee would hate him if he ever admitted it; but he found himself enjoying everything the Capitol had to offer.

Even the opportunity to be in the training center; the chance to move like he could outside the fences. During his training time, he took Haymitchs' advice and kept away from the large room in the center where tributes could practice with their weapons. He stuck mainly with the climbing stations, the fire station, and other survival stations. Most of which he already knew, but it was nice to be able to learn more about each of them in there instead of in the moment like in Twelve. As much as he found himself enjoying the training and the food— at the end of the day or randomly as the thoughts made their way back into his head, he was reminded that it was all just to get him ready for the arena. Like fattening a pig before butchering it.

       This was one of those times that he found himself thinking about the arena; as he made his way out of his room, fresh and clean like Effie had asked him to do before dinner. He made his way into the living area of the penthouse where Haymitch was already seated. Before him, there was a large screen that was sporting a small image of each of the tributes, with their odds beside them. Sage wasn't far up on the list, but he wasn't at the bottom— he wasn't as much of a standout like Octavia had suggested.

"How'd day two go?" Haymitch asked Sage lowered himself into the plush couch.

Sage shrugged, "It was fine," he paused, "messed around at the climbing station." he stated, "I think tomorrow I'll do something like that during my private session."

Haymitch rose a brow, "And not show off your secret talent?" he asked, "People don't believe that you haven't got something up your sleeve." he explained simply, "The last few years, Twelve hasn't had a promising tribute," he said with a sigh as he leaned closer to Sage so their conversation between the two of them. "I know I said save it for the arena, but tomorrow, you've got to show them what you can do. All that matters is that the tributes don't know."

     Sage had followed that bit of advice, for the most part. He had a small alliance already picked, not one he had run by Haymitch first. All Haymitch knew was that Marena Marsh was one of them. Besides her, the boy from Two; Boyde. Marena and Boyde didn't particularly enjoy their district partner. The only catch was that they kept no secrets...

"You don't have any sort of skill?" Marena asked during lunch on the first day, "I find that hard to believe."

Boyde nodded in agreement from his seat next to Dedee, "If you two want this to actually work in the arena," he started, motioning to the group of four. "then we all need to be on the same page. And that means no surprises."

So Sage told them. He didn't go into much detail, for example he didn't tell them that he had a habit of going beyond the fences of Twelve to hunt. But all they had to really know was that Sage had a hunting skill that he just didn't want to broadcast to all of the other tributes— although Boyde wasn't entirely pleased with that answer, he accepted it.

     Sage and Haymitch sat in the living area for a bit longer; and Sage listened to Haymitch's strategies that he had suggested for Sage. As Haymitch spoke, Sage couldn't help but notice that none of the strategies included Deedee. He figured that normally, a second mentor would be working with her— but they just had Haymitch. And the most he spoke of Deedee was as an ally, but the majority of what he said was about how Sage would get to the end. It was clear that Haymitch had picked Sage as the tribute he thought had some promise. In a way, it made Sage feel a bit better about going into the arena but it made him feel sick too at the idea of someone as small as Deedee being on her own without a real mentor.

As his thoughts bounced back and forth in his head, his mind began to spiral at the thought of the situation he was in. In just a few days, he wouldn't be in this nice penthouse. Instead, he would be in the arena. Instead of the bed he was beginning to get used to, he would most likely not be sleeping at all. Instead of the planned meals, he'd be hoping to find something edible in the arena. As those thoughts began to bounce around his head, he began to feel warm and like the air was getting thick and suffocating. He could already picture himself in the arena, with the tributes; some of which he didn't mind, others he didn't like; like Cirus from One. But the thought of seeing any of them dead, even being the one killing them, or being killed— it made him feel like he couldn't breathe. The icing on the cake was remembering that it would all be broadcasted on live television.

"I'm going to go get some air," Sage announced as his chest began to tighten and he began to feel like he couldn't sit still.

       Haymitch, who had clearly been in the middle of saying something that Sage hadn't been listening to pressed his lips into a fine line before giving Sage a curt nod. He then sat back, slouching deeper into the couch while Sage couldn't push himself out of it fast enough. He  had to keep himself from running, he already couldn't breathe— running from the penthouse would only make things worse.

     The hall they were in had a peacekeeper on both ends, with a third leaning against the wall beside the elevators. As Sage took long strides towards the elevator, the peacekeeper turned and saw him— he stood up straight from his relaxed position against the wall. Sage didn't pay them much attention, instead he focused on trying to keep his breathing as level— even if it was shallow — as possible. Then as he got to the elevator and pressed the upwards facing arrow, he felt the suffocating feeling surround him again, it was like it had followed him from the penthouse. The wait seemed to take forever, when it reality it was only a minute or too— but to Sage it felt like it had taken hours...

"Are you alright?"

Sage nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the peacekeeper speaking to him. "Uh, y-yeah, fine." he replied, a short and quick response. The type he had gotten used to giving peacekeepers back home.

"You know, it helps to just make a list." he said lowly, catching Sage off guard.

Sage furrowed his brows, "Sorry?" he questioned, looking anxious at the elevator. Hoping it would slide open.

"My brother, he was the victor of the fourty-ninth games." he told Sage simply, "Beetee, from Three?"

Sage shifted his feet a bit, all he had seen of Beetee were the mentor interviews he had.

"He said if you can just make a list of stuff about you, it helps." the peacekeeper spoke in a way that he had never heard from a peacekeeper in Twelve, or anywhere for that matter. He kept his voice low as if to keep the other two from hearing him clearly. His helmet covered his face, so Sage couldn't see him.

      The quiet ding of the elevator as it opened seemed like a lifesaver. Both the relief of the elevator arriving, and the cool burst of air conditioning that rushed out and surrounded Sage was a welcomed change from the warm and thick air that had seemed to follow him. Sage quickly stepped into the elevator, but before he did, he placed his foot in the door to keep it from closing.

"Uh, thanks." Sage replied, but the peacekeeper only barely glanced at him. "I'll try it."

      He could have sworn that the peacekeeper gave him a small nod as Sage stepped fully into the elevator. As the doors shut, Sage's eyes glanced at the buttons— they were round and had golden numbers on them one through twelve. Then on the very bottom a button that had a G for gymnasium, and a R for rooftop. He pressed the R, and then leaned against the cool glass of the elevator, gripping the railing as it began to move. He closed his eyes, imagining he was on the cramped and loud elevator in the mines— he much rather would have been. But he still appreciated the hum of the elevator, and the cool air that filled it from the vent on the ceiling.

       When the elevator stopped, he immediately stepped out onto the roof as soon as the doors slid open. And right away he was surrounded by the sweet smell of flowers that were spread around the roof. He could hear the low rumble of music that was coming from some sort of party near by. Then as he neared the edge of the roof, there was a low buzz from the force shield around the roof that was meant to stop anyone— specifically tributes — from jumping to avoid the arena. It brought him back to the room in the Justice Hall. The fleeting thought of jumping from the window, now actually being in the Capitol and so close to the games; he understood how a tribute could get pushed that far.

He wasn't sure how long he was up there, but he knew it was a good deal of time, because even the music that he had been able to hear had begun to quiet down. He had made himself comfortable sitting on the ground with his back against the wall that went around the roof. The whole time he tried to imagine the woods around twelve, he hoped Katniss hadn't taken to being out past sunset or on her own. He hoped she had decided to listen to him for once and he hoped that Prim hadn't had too much trouble without him there. Maybe she had taken to crawling into bed with Katniss when she couldn't sleep. Hopefully his mother hadn't already fallen into a hole of despair already— she had a tendency to do that when something happened. To just shut down when something happened. When Prim was maybe four, their mother had lost a baby and it took nearly a year and a half for her to come around again. As Sage let his mind wander, and think about his family— and Ella, he missed Ella. More than he had even let himself realise. He couldn't help but picture her there with him, part of him, maybe selfishly wished she had been reaped instead of Deedee. At least then he would be with someone he knew, someone he loved when he died.

"Sage Everdeen,"

Sage jumped a bit at the sound of the woman's voice right beside him.

"Out a bit late aren't you?" she asked as Sage's eyes examined her— Kai Marsh stood before him. "You have a long day ahead of you."

Sage sighed heavily, quickly realising that he had no chance in simply getting rid of her by ignoring her. "Shouldn't be too bad," he stated, "I know what I'm doing." he told her as he pushed himself up and into his feet.

"I'm sure you do," she told him, "you've got Haymitch as your mentor after all." she added, her eyes watching him carefully— almost as if she was examining him. "You really are lucky to have Haymitch."

"Every other tribute he has mentored would probably say differently." he confessed quickly, without really thinking about what he was saying. The words just came out.

"Marena says that you and her have made an alliance with the boy from Two." Kai stated ignoring what he said about Haymitch and his past tributes, her eyes still watched him carefully.

Sage looked at her, wondering just how much he should say to her. After all, she wasn't his mentor. She wasn's Marena's mentor either, but she was her sister. Kai wanted all the information she could get probably, just to help Marena win even over her own tribute.

"Guess you'll have to find out in two days," he told her simply as he began to walk toward the elevator again since his privacy and alone time had been intruded on.

Kai was quiet for a moment, but before he could completely disappear she called to him. "Good luck tomorrow, Sage."

"Thanks," he replied half heartedly before he disappeared inside and made his way back to the penthouse.

Once there, he made himself vanish into his room where he changed the settings in his room the woods that were like the ones he went to in Twelve. He laid there in silence, listening to the sounds of rustling leaves and whatever creatures that the Capitol had programmed into the feature. He tried not to think about the fact that it was fake, instead he tried to imagine being outside of the district — not hunting, but just enjoying the freedom that came with being outside of the fences.

     The next morning came early. Sage joined the rest of the team at the dining table for breakfast before both Deedee and himself were taken to be prepared for their individual assessments by their stylists. Marcel chose to style Sage in a comfortable look, one that would allow him to move freely and be comfortable while he waited for his turn to come. Himself and Deedee sat away from the other tributes while they waited, they didn't speak to one another as they watched the other tributes disappear one by one for their assessments.

      Districts One; Cirus and Jules both seemed to move with confidence. They both made looks towards the girl from Two; Opal who Sage had seen them with at training. District Three; Cordin and Maggie seemed much less interested in the other tributes. Like Sage and Deedee they kept to themselves. Marena looked nervous as she rose from her seat, her eyes shot back to the bench where Sage and Deedee were seated. And Sage gave her a small smile as if to wish her luck before she disappeared. As the career districts vanished, Watt from Five began to fidget in his seat before it was his turn. Once he was gone, and it was only the lower six districts left, everyone had the same body language. Nobody made eye contact with one another, everyone sat, waiting for their turn.

"Good luck," Deedee whispered as Sage stood to make his way into the training center.

     As he stepped in, he could hear the talking between the gamemakers. Some laughter, and one man even shouted to another. In the seats closest to the edge, there were only three taken. One was a girl, the same one that Marena had pointed out on day one. And she seemed to be paying little attention to the other gamemakers.  Instead she watched as Sage walked towards the middle of the room. In the center was the glass room which he had decided to use to his advantage for his assessment. Despite Haymitch thinking he should save whatever he could do for the arena. He stood before it, examining the wall of weapons along it. His eyes landing on the bow and arrow that was sleek and made entirely from metal. He then looked up at the platform where the gamemakers sat, where they should have been perched to watch but instead paid little attention to him. So he stood there waiting, at first he gave them the benefit of the doubt. Hoping that they were just taking a very short break after the girl from Eleven. However, it soon was apparent that wasn't the case. They were already checked out for the day. But his eyes caught the girl, who sat and unlike the rest was waiting patiently.

Sage cleared his throat, as loud as he possibly could. "Sorry," he paused as Reynolds, the lead gamemaker shifted in his seat, "I'm not interrupting am I?" a bit of sarcasm came off a bit more clearly than he wouldn't have liked.

His words earned a small smirk from the young girl, and Reynolds arched a brow before he gave Sage his attention. Followed by the others as they began to quiet down. "Of course not," he stated, "whenever you're ready."

    When Sage turned to go towards the room, his stomach dropped. This was it, this was the moment he'd have to show them what he really had to offer. That he'd been holding back during their days on training.

*edited*