(006) we are beautiful, but dangerous
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
SHALL WE RISE?
act one.
(chapter six, we are beautiful, but dangerous)
remake centre / city circle, 2304.
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
VALENCIA WAS SAT ON a long metal slab as she looked up at the pale trio, who were examining her as they murmured on what to do first. They all soon nodded and got to work.
The first thing they did was scrub Valencia's body with a gritty foam that didn't just remove the dirt, but at least two or three layers of skin, causing her to gasp as she bit her lip. Next, Bette sat down next to her and got a filer out and began to turn her nails into uniform shapes whilst Aria began to brush through her hair, spraying something that made her head sting. She rubbed something into her hands and ran it through Valencia's hair, massaging the areas where it stung, soothing her head.
After Mateo was done with applying a sort of cream all over her face (which nearly made her scream as it felt like it was pulling her skin straight off of her face as they removed it), he began to apply thick wax on her legs before harshly stripping it off. Mateo waxed nearly every part of her body that had hair on it and soon, her body tingled so violently it felt like she was going to throw up.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Barlowe," said Mateo as he got rid of the strips of wax that had hair all over them. "The worst part is over."
He then began to rub her down with a lotion that stung at first but then became soothing as it calmed down her raw skin, the redness going down.
The pale trio then began to gather up papers that had some sort of design on it. They all murmured amongst each other once more, pointing at the design before all nodding again.
Aria came forward first with a brush in her hand and began to run it down through Valencia's hair softly, working her hands through it as she gathered up some lotion in her hand and ran it through her strands.
Bette distracted her as she took Valencia's hands in her own and brought a stand of different nail polishes over, picking out a simple clear polish. Bette began to paint Valencia's freshly filed nails with it, being gentle as Mateo leaned over.
He had a tray of all different makeup tools on his lap as he sat down on a chair beside Valencia. She tried to look down at the colours that he was applying to her eyes, cheeks, and lips. Valencia caught the sight of gold, white, and silver with a brush that had a nude colour on it. Soon, Valencia was finished and was sat in a thin robe with a full-face of makeup and styled hair. She felt silly as she sat there, the pale trio smiling at her.
They soon signalled for her to follow them and so she got up and hesitantly followed Bette. They walked through long, twisting halls before reaching the stylist's offices. Aria opened one of the doors and Valencia walked in. The prep team closed the door behind her and left her alone. Her stylist was not there.
She ventured through the office and found a sitting room in the corner. There was two couches that faced a low table. Valencia wondered over to a wall that was entirely glass, providing a view of the city. It had to be at least noon.
"Hello."
Valencia jumped at the sudden voice, turning around quickly to find a rather odd looking mad examining her.
In-front of her, a man who wore all white stared at her, his appearance causing Valencia to be intrigued. His skin was a ghastly pale as if it looked like he was going to faint at any time. Trimmed and cut by a professional, his platinum white hair stayed perfectly in place, being adorned by silver glitter here and there. Nearly all his hair was white, even his eyelashes (though they had hints of glitter on them as well). But he wore numerous amounts of jewellery however, a small nose ring dangling from his nose with hints of gems encrusted in it. The man also had dangling diamond earrings attached to his ears.
He wore a pure white suit, his sleeves rolled up to expose his pale forearms. He had no hair on his arms, wearing silver bracelets on his wrists that adorned little gems and numerous diamond rings on his fingers. His nails were painted in a clear coat of polish. But what made Valencia even more intrigued was the jet black tattoo that ran down his neck. It had an intricate design and stood out amongst the whiteness.
"I am Ezra, your stylist," he said as he took a step forward, his jewellery swishing about, but staying immensely silent.
"I-I'm Valencia."
"I know."
Ezra circled around her as he studied her, his eyes dancing around her. When he looked atop her head, he smiled widely, showing off his white teeth. Ezra looked happy as he walked over to the table and sat down, signalling for Valencia to do the same. And she did.
He pressed a button on the side of the table and a steamy plate of food presented itself in the centre. Ezra smiled at Valencia as he picked up a plate and began to load a portion of what looked like tomato salad on it. Valencia's stomach grumbled despite eating four plates of breakfast only a few hours ago and she quickly followed suit.
Their lunch was dealt in silence, Ezra looking down at his plate the entire time whilst Valencia continued to stare at him. She concluded that he did not speak a lot, just like Silas. But unlike her fellow tribute, Ezra actually smiled and it was very genuine.
Valencia finished her plate and pushed it aside, waiting for Ezra to finish. When he did, he looked up and dabbed his mouth with a small, folded napkin.
"People are going to be looking at you, Valencia," the man said, his voice deep and somewhat calming as she looked him in the eye. "And so, we need to have an outfit that will keep people looking at you."
"Isn't bad to gain traction though?"
"Well, for the other tributes, they have a choice on whether they gain traction or not. You don't have that choice," Ezra told her. "You are the sister of a very famous Victor and you need to live up to that expectation that people are going to place on you... and also, if you gain traction, you gain sponsors."
"So what's the outfit?"
"District Nine is wheat and grain, yes?" Ezra questioned and Valencia nodded. "The other stylist and I want to resemble that, but you won't be hearing some silly straw costume like last year. No, you will be wearing something extravagant."
Ezra walked over to a closet that was in the corner of the room, picking up a white bag.
"The farms and factories back on District Nine, what are they like to you?"
Valencia fumbled around for a bit as she tried to focus on an answer, soon saying, "The farms are... beautiful. I can't really describe it, but they are just magical in the way that you can be free in them. It's just beautiful... a-and gorgeous. The sun sparkles in a way on the water that had been poured along the soil, like little gems."
"And the factories?"
"They're dangerous," she said. "Most deaths in District Nine are caused because of factory accidents... my father died in a factory accident. They're deadly and nearly all the men in Nine hate working in them, that's why they retire so early on. They don't want to die."
"And all those factors," Ezra said softly, his eyes sympathetic. "We're gonna put together... you are going to be beautiful, but deadly. You are going represent District Nine."
Soon, Valencia was nearly unrecognisable. She wondered if Billie saw her live, she would know it was her because Valencia herself did not recognise herself. In-front of the mirror, Valencia wore the most beautiful gown she had ever seen.
It was a sparkly, nude coloured dress that had two layers of fabric. The top half was the clear, sparkly, glitter fabric and the bottom was the nude colour that went transparent near the bottom where she wore a pair of golden heels that was entrusted with silver gems (which could be seen because of the thigh-high slit). The dress itself was very loose and free, the sleeves hanging loose as it barely encased her arms. It had a v-neck outline that showed a bit of her chest, but the edges of the neck and a bit of her shoulder was adorned with different flowers of silver, gold, and pink.
Her face was not as coated as she originally thought. Her cheeks were painted with a very soft shade of pink whilst her eyes were dusted with a sparkly gold colour, eyeliner flicking out to accent her eyes. Her lips were also painted nude, making them seem bigger than they actually were.
And Mateo did a marvellous job on her hair, for Valencia... liked it. He had slicked her hair back. The top half of her head looked like she had been dunked whilst the bottom half looked like her natural hair, all shimmery and soft from a hair brush continuously being ran through.
"I look..."
"Beautiful, but deadly," Ezra finished for her as he completed the small adjustments on the dress, tying a flowery belt that looked like the flowers on the neck around her waist. "Now, remember when Flint told you to act emotionless back at the station?"
Valencia nodded.
"Do the exact same thing during the Parade," he told her. "This outfit and you acting the way you will, it will capture the Capitol's attention. They love a mystery."
"So I just stare straight ahead?"
"Yes," Ezra murmured. "And you can glare at the camera as well if you want, make a headline for yourself. Stare at the people as well, they will go nuts for that."
"Okay, I can do that."
Soon, Ezra made his finishing touches and led Valencia down to the basement floor of the Remake Centre, which was just a large stable. Valencia walked amongst the chariots, staring at the white horses who swished their tail and nickered as she made her way to District Nine's carriage, which was between Eight and Ten. Beside the chariot was Delphine, Silas, Antares, and Commie.
Silas was dressed in a suit that had the exact same colour as Valencia's dress, though the suit jacket was unbuttoned a bit at the top and showed his bare chest. The neckline of the jacket was adorned in the exact same flowers as Valencia's dress. Silas's hair was slicked back just like hers as well, looking as if he just went for a swim. They had got ridden of the bowl cut that he had prior.
"Ah!" Commie exclaimed. "There she is!"
They all turned around to look at her, Delphine nearly sobbing about how beautiful she looked whilst Silas just stared at one of the horses. Antares blinked as he looked at his sister, smiling lightly.
"Oh, Ezra you are making me cry," Delphine cried as she took a step forward and examined Valencia. She too was wearing a nude dress that was adorned in flowers. Valencia realises that they all were wearing nude and gold, pink flowers on their neckline. Even Antares was. "We all wore this in support of you and Silas, dear."
"Oh." Valencia's eyes went wide as she cleared her throat. "Thank you, Delphine."
"I assume you've been told how to act, Barlowe?" Commie asked.
"Yes, I have been," Valencia replied as she looked towards Ezra.
Commie nodded before whisking Antares away to go and converse with the District Twelve mentor. Delphine left Silas and Valencia alone as she went to go and talk to the other escorts... and then Silas suddenly growled and stalked off to the Careers', which had Valencia's eyebrows raised.
She looked around the stables uncomfortably. Her heart was racing as she looked at the different tributes, some who were in their chariots already and some who weren't. Everyone seemed to have at least glanced at Valencia, for she and Silas were the only ones who wore the most extravagant gowns in the Centre. Even District One was glancing and they wore the most gorgeous attires usually.
As Valencia went to go turn around to see where her brother and mentor was, someone small suddenly clashed into her. Elbows bashed into ribs as Valencia quickly looked down to find someone sitting on the floor with their head in their hands.
"Oh, I am so sorry," the little girl said as she quickly got up, brushing the dirt off of her costume as she straightened what looked to be a straw hat. "I am really sorry."
"It's okay," said Valencia as she straightened her dress and fixed it up. "No harm done."
"I am so sorry—" the little girl stopped herself as she looked up to who she had bumped into. "Oh, I am incredibly sorry, Miss Barlowe."
"You don't have to call me Miss," said Valencia. "And stop apologising, it's fine."
Valencia got a good look at the small girl. She sighed when she realised it was the twelve-year-old girl from Eleven. The girl wore something that resembled that of a farmer, which suited her district. She had tanned skin and had very dark, curly hair that got into her eyes despite the straw hat atop her head. In her hand, she had a small piece of wheat which Valencia smiled at.
"You're from Eleven, aren't you?"
"Yes," the girl said. "My name's Donna and I know who you are... my mentor said to call you Miss Barlowe... to earn your respect."
"You don't have to earn my respect," said Valencia. "Not in a place like this."
"I'm sorry," said Donna. "I'm sorry for calling you Miss and I'm sorry for bumping into you... I should go to my brother... I'm sorry."
"Brother?" Valencia murmured. "Oh. Oh."
She was going to call the girl back, but she had already raced away. Valencia sighed as she shook her head and when Commie and Antares came back with Silas and Delphine, she told them all about it.
"Twins?" Commie exclaimed with his eyebrows furrowed. "No, no, no, they aren't twins, they don't even have the same last name."
"Then why did she just tell me that she had to get back to her brother?"
"I don't know!" Commie said. "Maybe her mentor is or something."
"Well, I doubt Chaff is her brother," said Antares as he looked to the said man.
"Okay, Barlowe, I do not care about your theory with twins right now," said Commie. "Just get in the damn chariot."
And so she did, Ezra positioning her and carefully arranging her body. He fluffed about with her dress and made its train spread out about the chariot. Valencia gripped the metal bare in front of her and desperately clung to it.
The opening music began to blare around, being heard easily in the stables. The massive doors in-front slid open and revealed the crowd-lined streets, Valencia swallowing the lump in her throat.
The ride would last about twenty minutes before ending up at the City Circle where they would welcome the tributes, play the anthem, and escort them into the Training centre, where they would stay until the Games began.
District One rode out first in their glittering attire, the jewels sparkling against the light. The crowd roared and screamed as they trotted out. One by one, the chariots steered out of the stables and into the light where the screaming crowds would applaud for them. Soon, District Nine came rolling out and the entirety of the Capitol cheered for them.
Valencia was blinded momentarily by the sudden bursts of light, but then she straightened her back and lifted her chin high in the air. She saw herself on the big screen and chuckled when they had to lift the camera up to see Silas as well, his height proving to be a difficulty. But he was all smiles. He was waving at everyone and flashing his teeth at them. He looked rather joyful.
The crowd and cameras had completely forgotten about the other tributes and had made it their job to hone their focus on Valencia. The crowd were cheering her name, flowers were thrown towards her and they all landed into the chariot, which surrounded her dress's tail.
It was hard for Valencia to not smile as she heard the cheers of her name overpower that of the music. Valencia looked around at the crowd and tried to spot Delphine, Commie, her brother, and the two stylists in the crowd. She couldn't find them and therefore gave up, turning to the crowd once more.
Valencia caught a glimpse of one of the cameras and gave it the best glare she could muster before looking back at the crowd and chuckling to herself.
Soon, their chariot reached the City Circle and the twelve horses all came to a stop. Valencia swallowed a lump in her throat as she looked up to the balcony where President Snow stood, a small, thin man who's head was balding.
"It is my pleasure to welcome this year's tributes," he said, the crowd going silent. "Welcome to the Sixty-Sixth Hunger Games. May the best win and the odds be ever in your favour."
The cameras flickered over every tribute's face like it usually did, but the camera lingered more than it should had on Valencia's face. When the national anthem played, they quickly went through the other tributes before finally lingering on Nine as their chariot paraded around the circle one more time before disappearing into the Training Centre.
The minute they entered, they were surrounded by their prep teams. The highlighter coloured trio swarmed Silas as he exited the chariot, but he pushed them away and stalked towards Antares. The pastel coloured trio, however, took turns in hugging Valencia and making sure she was okay before letting Ezra and Commie come over.
"You were remarkable, Valencia," said Ezra as he hugged her carefully.
"Good job, Barlowe!" Commie bellowed as he slapped her on the back, causing her to chuckle.
"District Nine would be proud of you," Delphine sobbed, tears bursting from her eyes as she clapped her hand over her mouth. "You — did — so — good."
At the mention of District Nine, she wondered how Billie and her mother were. Her mother would probably be resigned to silence as she sat in her chair by the window in the kitchen whilst Billie sat down on her couch and watched the Parade. Surely she would be proud of Valencia. Surely she would be watching the entire thing for her.
"C'mon, Barlowe," said Commie as he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her. "Time to get some food in you."
⇢ ˗ˏˋ matz 🎧 !
— here is what i imagine valencia's dress to look like
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top