━━･❪ 🌸 ❫ ･━━

The next three days passed in a blur. They went on training as usual, Daphne and Azalea drifting from station to station. The Gamemakers appeared on the second day, taking notes and observing as if the tributes were just creatures in a zoo.

Theia continued training Daphne at night, and Daphne had to admit she was rather helpful. She realized that Theia was right, Daphne had thought she'd known how to fight before, but she only knew how to if her opponent moved a certain methodical way. In reality, her opponent could attack and swerve in any way they wanted. Daphne needed to be ready for anything.

On top of that, she realized that throughout these three days, she'd begun to feel less and less irritation towards Azalea. They managed to piss each other off less, and the sight of Azalea's face no longer made Daphne want to break something as badly.

It pretty much became a given that they would go through the stations of the day together, despite the fact that Azalea was the reason Daphne was even here in the first place. They did separate sometimes, however. In case some of the tributes began to notice.

Daphne found that she didn't quite fail at hand-to-hand combat, though she was convinced that knives were the only weapons she could actually wield properly. Shelter-making was easy enough, thanks to the tents she and Aedon used to construct out of whatever they could find. From mostly observing Rye, Daphne even made a couple decent traps of her own.

She noticed Theron getting a hang of throwing knives as well. He even talked to Glory once or twice, somehow making her crack a smile that wasn't entirely promising of death. Something about that made Daphne's skin crawl. Theron clearly knew what he was doing, and she wondered when that would become a threat to her own game.

Caelum, like Daphne, also had a rough time experimenting with other weapons. He got his ass kicked in hand-to-hand combat at first, but he progressed rapidly. Soon, he was able to dodge every blow with ease, figuring out how to use his natural speed to his advantage. He seemed to have an innate sense of survival as well, having aced the edible plants and hunting tests.

Azalea... well, she was kind of bad at everything. She wasn't able to make functioning, discreet traps. She fumbled with every weapon she held. She was whalloped in hand-to-hand combat. Her memory was dull and she couldn't seem to recall a single survival tip. Once again, Daphne secretly hoped that this meant someone would get to Azalea first, since now, she wasn't sure if she could bring herself to do it. Or perhaps this was somehow a strategy of Azalea's.

Currently, Daphne found herself sitting at a lunch table with Azalea, Theron and Caelum. The Gamemakers were pulling them one by one into a private examination room for the final assessments. Daphne had a feeling it didn't usually take this long, since there were now double the amount of tributes to assess.

Hours ticked by. Everyone was growing restless. Caelum drummed his fingers together, probably aching for a book to read. Daphne wouldn't have minded a book herself. Anything to pass the time and drown out Theron's insufferable small-talk.

Daphne was munching halfheartedly on some seaweed-tinted bread when Caelum was summoned. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he set his barely-eaten cheese sandwich back onto his plate before hastily standing up. Theron gave him a firm pat on the back and offered some words of encouragement. Those forest green eyes met Daphne's for a fraction of a second before he hurried out of the lunch room.

Caelum didn't return. He must've gone straight back to the Tribute Tower, up to his room to decompress as most did after the examination. Theron was called in next. Then Azalea. Then it was Daphne's turn.

The gymnasium was hauntingly empty, her footsteps echoing. The Gamemakers' table was behind a glass wall, allowing nothing but sound and light to pass through. Apparently, they implemented the protective glass after a tribute about seventy-five years ago sent an arrow at the table.

At this point, pretty much none of the Gamemakers were paying much attention. They'd been assessing tribute after tribute for hours, they were all tipsy from wine and wanting to leave. They couldn't care less about the outlier districts. Most tributes from those districts weren't that impressive anyways.

Daphne intended to change that.

The knife throwing station beckoned like a favorite dessert after a long day. She strapped a belt of ten around her waist, feeling like she knew what she was doing for the first time in three days. She drew a blade, feeling the balance and weight in her hand. They were lightweight and agile, different from the heavier makeshift blades she practiced with back home.

Daphne took a couple practice shots, since she knew the Gamemakers weren't watching anyways. Her first shot, the knife bounced harmlessly off the dummy. She made a mental note, then adjusted the angle in which she cocked the second one.

That one ended up not sticking either. She glanced back at the Gamemakers, who were still ogling over a freshly served roast ostrich. She shifted her stance, palming the knife in her hand. On the third try, the knife struck home. Right in the dummy's throat.

Daphne took a few more shots to make sure she really got the hang of it. She'd been thinking all day of what she could do to make an impact on the Gamemakers. Then, she debated whether or not it even mattered. Theia had told them this morning to give the Gamemakers something that they would never expect, which wasn't hard coming from an outlier district. The expectations were already low.

The examination room was lit by a series of hanging lights. Daphne's eyes traced the lights' cables, noticing that they connected to an electrical box nearly invisible in the corner of the ceiling.

She pushed three dummies next to each other in a row, angled away from the Gamemakers' line of sight, then unsheathed a blade and began carving words into their chests.

"Hey," She barked at the Gamemakers. Most of them turned to her, almost in annoyance. Before they could resume their jolly feast, Daphne cleared her throat and forced a confident smirk to her face.

"I would pay attention to this, if I were you."

With that, she began a series of twists and maneuvers she'd practiced at night using pencils with Theia. Jumping to the side, spinning low to the ground, dodging a hypothetical attack, launching blades one after the other. By the time she was finished, a thin coat of sweat clung to her skin and three knives were embedded in each of the dummies; one in the heart, one in the cranium, one in the throat.

Without giving the Gamemakers even a second to process, Daphne snatched her last remaining dagger and flung it at the electrical box. It hit home with an explosion of sparks, and the lights went out as suddenly as someone's life.

The gymnasium was plunged into darkness, the Gamemakers were exclaiming in surprise and confusion, but Daphne was already moving. She turned each of the dummies towards the glass wall so that the words on their chests were stark and visible.

The regenerators had the lights back on in a couple seconds, but by then Daphne was already out of the room, having slammed the door behind her.

One thing she regretted was not having seen the reactions on the Gamemakers' elaborate faces as they read her message.

I HOPE YOU ALL BURN IN HELL. YOU MAY HAVE TAKEN MY BROTHER, BUT XĪWÀNG IS THE ONE THING YOU WILL NEVER STEAL FROM ME.

***

Daphne paced in circles around her room, clutching her plum blossom pendant tightly in her fist. She'd never taken it off in these past three days.

Damn it, she'd hoped to leave a lasting impression on the Gamemakers. A lasting impression she made for sure. But what if they just killed her off immediately in the arena just to spite her? That was a highly likely possibility.

Somehow, it felt rather disrespectful to Aedon if she died from the get-go. He gave his life in the Games, and with Daphne, it almost felt like she had her duty of avenging him. It wouldn't do him any justice if she was killed so quickly nobody remembered her.

An angry noise broke from her throat and she slammed her foot against the wall, doing more damage to her toe instead. She spent the next thirty seconds swallowing screams of pain.

She stalked downstairs around dinnertime, finding that once again she was the last to the table. She took her usual seat across from Caelum. Everyone was strangely quiet as they each took their helpings of beef soup. Even Theron looked deep in contemplation.

"So," Theia broke the silence. "How do you think you all did?"

"Pretty good," Theron responded. Some of his usual charm returned as he said, "they even had a standing ovation for me at the end." How the hell he managed to make the Gamemakers applaud, Daphne had no idea.

Azalea just shrugged when Theia turned her attention. Caelum apparently just did some trick shots with a bow and arrows. Daphne remained silent, knowing all too well that the attention of the room had just been placed on her shoulders.

"Daphne?" Marv prompted, her spectacles magnifying her violet eyes. "Are you alright, dear?"

"I threw a couple knives, carved 'I hope you burn in hell' into the dummies and caused a temporary power outage." Daphne muttered in one breath. There was a heartbeat of silence, in which she lifted her chin.

"That's right. I told the Gamemakers to burn in hell." She announced, her voice steady now. "Oh, and also left without getting dismissed. Did I mention the power outage? Yeah, I threw a knife at that little electrical box in the corner. Kinda strange that all the lights in the room would connect to only one box. Stupid, really."

It was hilarious, seeing the reactions of everyone at the table. Theia, Marv and the other stylists exchanged expressions of shock. Iskra narrowed her eyes. Azalea stared at Daphne, and when Daphne met her gaze she hastily turned away. An incredulous laugh broke from Theron. Caelum was also staring at Daphne, but when she looked at him, he didn't turn away. Instead, dare she say something like pride glimmered in his eyes.

Suddenly feeling confident, Daphne picked up her spoon and loudly slurped some soup from her bowl.

After dinner, they all gathered in the sitting room to watch the announcement of the scores. The couch was absolutely enormous, fitting all four tributes, Theia, Iskra and all the stylists as well. And with room to spare.

Daphne jumped down beside Caelum, perhaps a bit closer than necessary. She was still on a rather confident streak, why end it now? At least he didn't move away, even as he was jostled by the force Daphne had plopped down with.

Most of the Careers received scores of nine or above. Glory received a score of ten. Daphne's foot tapped nervously against the floor.

The scores generally decreased as they progressed through the districts. Daphne remembered that Aedon had gotten an eight. It had taken everyone by a shock, but she'd felt nothing but pure pride for her brother at that moment.

Rye got a six. The scrawny girl from District Eight, Mellie Alta was her name, got a meager two, the lowest so far. Then, District Ten rolled around. Caelum got a seven. Theron as well. Azalea, a three. Daphne fought the urge to cringe as a large projection of her own face popped up on screen next. Did they really have to use the most unflattering picture ever? She looked pale as a sheet and like she hadn't slept in days.

Her attention was torn from the unfortunate picture of herself when she saw the number. Six. She'd gotten a six.

"That's it?" She burst, springing to her feet. "A six? I worked my ass off to perfect those maneuvers! At least a seven would've been nice, damn it."

"Well," Caelum cut in thoughtfully. "You did tell them to burn in hell."

"Shut up, Caelum."

A laugh escaped from Theron's lips. To Daphne's surprise, Theia giggled as well. So did Marv. Azalea smiled in a way that was obvious she was trying to withhold her own laughter. It wasn't until Daphne caught Caelum's amused smirk did she too begin to chuckle.

Why vie so heavily for a good score when you only have a one-in-forty-eight shot of returning home anyways? Why did she even bother trying in the first place? The prospect was rather silly. The scores didn't mean much in the long run anyways.

The four of them, well, they were all good as dead.

━━･❪ 🌸 ❫ ･━━