SIX

FOR THE CAPITOL

The Opening Ceremony was a mere hour away, and as Talia sat in front of the mirror, Zetta and Fava working hard to perfect her silver and torquoise makeup, her dark blonde hair had been braided, silver streams entwined throughout it and a silver tiara was resting atop her head, decorated with pearls. Her skin had be sprayed with glitter, so she shon under the lights of the dressing room, and Zetta assured her that she would shine under the stadium lights tonight. Her neck was left bare apart from her father's pearl necklace and finally, Aldar returned with the outfit for the ceremony. A pearl coloured skin tight suit and a pair of knee high boots of the same colour with a wedge heel. Talia's lips fall apart at the sight of it and she glances from Aldar to Zetta and Fava who are grinning at the sight of the outfit.

"That looks...Tight..." Talia comments and Aldar nods.

"Its perfect, streamlined, like the fish of the ocean," Aldar smiles and Talia nods, kind of getting it.

Aldar helps her dress, the suit is strapless, but fits tight to her figure, and her small chest makes that easier, the boots make her taller, so she'll only be about an inch shorter than Ethan rather than 4. Her arms are decorated with stick on pearls, all of them real. Her nails are painted blue, the same shade as her stylists and pieces of coral are placed on the ring fingers of each hand. She looks at herself in the mirror and lets out a deep sigh.

"I'm really not sure about this," Talia says and Aldar places a hand on her lower back.

"You look like the most beautiful woman in the world," He says and Talia's lips tug into a small smile.

"I can't believe that," She laughs and Aldar shakes his head.

"You will when you hear the cheers," He says, "We have to go,"

Talia nods, stepping away from the mirror and following Aldar, Zetta and Fava out of the dressing room and along the corridors to reach the large hall where all the chariots were awaiting. The other tributes are all there, dressed in their costumes.

Ethan stands in an outfit that matches Talia's but his chest is exposed to the world and decorated as her arms are- in pearls, but he also has fishing net across his trousers and seaweed around his arms too. Talia smirks at the sight, they were the things Aldar had wanted to avoid with her costume, and he had done as he promised- she was completely unique.

Behind her, she hears a whistle and she looks over her shoulder to see the District 6 male smirking at her. She glares towards him, but his smirk remains.

"Talia,"

The girl jumps, head whipping round to see Finnick, she nearly falls over, but his hands grab her elbows to steady her.

"Sorry...That guy he was-"

"I saw, just ignore him," Finnick says, hands falling back to his sides, "You look beautiful,"

Talia feels her cheeks flush as her hands fumble behind her back, "Thank you, Finnick,"

"Climb aboard your chariots!" Calls one of the staff working the event.

Talia dows as instructed and climbs onto the chariot alongside Ethan, who sends her a small smile.

"You look nice, Riverthorn," He says and she nods.

"You too, Bomer," She breathes, placing one hand upon the railing, the white horses in front of them were a perfect match for their costumes.

Slowly, the charriots begin to pull out of the large hall, and Talia holds herself steady as the horses begin to trot, pulling her out into the world beyond. As Zetta had promised, her tanned skin shimmers under the light, and the sound of cheers from the people make a smile form on her lips, she felt it, her heart was thudding against her chest as the horses pulled their chariot towards the President's building where he was stood waiting to see this years tributes.

Eventually, the chariots pull up at the base of the building and the cheering calms as President Snow stands tall at his stand, his usual white rose sitting on his chest.

"Welcome, tributes, to the 71st Annual Hunger Games! We salute your courage, and your sacrifice!" He calls, the crowds cheer again, "And we wish you a Happy Hunger Games! And May the odds be ever in your Favour!"

The crowds errupt again, and slowly the chariots turn and take the tributes back to the hall. Once they arrive, Ethan helps Talia off the chariot, his chest puffed up with pride as he grins to Coral.

"Amazing!" She grins, and she turns to Ethan's stylist who was named Scarletta, "He looked wonderful!"

Talia watches them surround Ethan for a moment, before Finnick turns to look at Talia, "Now you don't look so delicate,"

"Delicacy is not in my nature," She says, head held high and behind her she feels eyes staring towards her, she glances back and sees the District 6 and District 7 tributes staring towards her, she sends them a smile, false as ever, before turning back to Finnick, "Whats their problem?"

"Jealousy, perhaps, or maybe they want you as an ally...District 6 look strong this year, perhaps they're already plotting your death, tomorrow, training begins for 3 days, that'll be the best time to figure out their motives," Finnick says and he leads her and the others towards the elevator, Aldar gushing over Talia as they step inside and head for their floor.

Once they reach it and step inside their living quarters for the next 6 days, Talia is glad to have Aldar finally shut up about her costume. She looks round the blue and green decorated apartment and her nose twitches when she realises its decorated in what the Capitol think District 4 is- a paradise.

"This place is beautiful," Ethan mutters as he walks past Talia towards the bedrooms, he chooses his first, so Talia gets the other one, though they are pretty much identical.

The mentors and stylists sit around the dining table while the tributes go and change, though Talia requests Fava to help her. Fava spends about 20 minutes removing the makeup and decorations from Talia's skin, the outfit is returned to Aldar and her hair is freed from the braid before Fava leaves her to shower and change into something more comfortable. Talia finds the shower has loads of settings, including one that dries her off. Once dry, she changes into a simple pair of grey leggings and a jumper of the same colour.

Talia returns to the dining room and sits down beside Finnick, who was sitting with a glass of whiskey in his hand, his eyes glancing round the table as the others laughed. Ethan had already joined them and as soon as Talia had settled into her seat, food was brought in. Talia breathes in the scents of the meal before her. Its beef with all the trimmings and Talia can't wait to tuck into it, ignoring the conversation of the people around her, they were all discussing the other tributes costumes and Talia was fed up with it.

It takes around an hour for the whole meal to be finished including desserts, and then the stylists leave and the mentors and tributes are left. Talia watches as Coral and Ethan walk towards Ethan's bedroom, talking about what will happen tomorrow in the training centre and how Ethan should act towards other tributes.

Talia and Finnick remain sat at the dining table in a comfortable silence until Finnick turns to Talia, "I saw you, you and your father, the day before the Reaping down at the lake, he was trident fishing...Do you know how to trident fish?"

"Sort of," She replies, not meeting his eyes.

"What else can you do?" He asks and Talia shrugs her shoulders.

"I can make nets and hooks," She replies, "I'm a strong swimmer,"

"Good...Tomorrow I want you to focus on survival skills before you even consider weapons, okay?" He asks, "Every year there are so many tributes you die in the arena simply because they can't make a shelter or they can't place traps to catch animals or they can't identify poisonous plants or fruits...I want you to focus on surviving in different environments, we have no idea what the arena might be, some years we can predict what might come up, but this year, we have no idea, Talia,"

"Okay," She says, nodding her head as she finally looks at him, "I think I'm going to sleep,"

"Of course," He nods and Talia gets up from her seat and walks towards the bedroom that belonged to her for a few days.

"Goodnight Finnick," She says over her shoulder.

"Goodnight Talia," He says and she opens the door and steps into her bedoom, closing herself in for the night.

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Thank you so much for reading & i hope you enjoyed!

really getting into this now & as always, comments are appreciated

~lachys-loch
❤️