Uncharted Waters [1]

Chapter 28

The anthem booms in her ears as Caesar Flickerman greets the audience. The crowd breaks into applause when he presents the prep team, then Thalassa. Next, Nixie gets introduced followed by Mags, Eldoris, Adrian, then Finnick. Mira notices that Finnick's appearance gets louder cheers and hoots from the audience. The next thing she knew, she felt the plate lifting her to the stage.

At first, she feels a sense of deja vu, her sight adjusting to the blinding lights just like when she was first brought into the arena. The deafening roars of the crowd rattle the metal under her feet.

Caesar helps her off the metal plate, kissing her hand in greeting as the crowd goes wild. She is led to the victor's chair, a single, ornate chair from which the winning tribute will get to watch a film of the highlights of the games.

Caesar throws in a few compliments of Mira's look, also making a few jokes for the crowd. Then, it was time for the show. The whole thing will last for three hours and is a requirement for Panem to watch. Mira realized how unprepared she was for this, throwing Finnick a nervous glance, which he returned with a reassuring smile. She plays with her fingers as the film starts, and her face is found on the screen as well, broadcasting her reaction to the whole of Panem.

The first half hour or so focuses on pre-arena events, from the time she was reaped to the interviews. Then, she had to rewatch the same events that traumatized her. Every death she had to experience was playing live, and she had to do her best not to act affected by it. But that was the problem: she was visibly shaking in her seat, clutching onto the sides of the chair like it could save her from the bad memories. The screams echoed like a broken record, haunting her from the back of her mind. It felt like every dead tribute was watching her right now, how she was sitting on the chair like some victor, when in fact, she wouldn't be there if it weren't for the people who were infatuated and distracted by her.

She hadn't realized that she was closing her eyes if the anthem didn't take her back to reality. Mira unconsciously stands from her chair, shaking a little from the sudden action, and watches as President Snow approaches her, followed by a girl carrying a cushion that holds the crown. President Snow's snake-like eyes never left hers when he placed the crown on top of her head. Cheers followed. Mira greeted the crowd with a wave when Caesar Flickerman finally bid the audience a good night, reminding them to tune in for the final interviews tomorrow.

Mira looks over to Finnick, who never left his eyes on her the whole night, as she was whisked away off the stage to the President's Mansion for the Victory Banquet.

Mira wanted to be by Finnick's side the whole night. She felt a little uncomfortable with the people who were touching her for the pictures, but she couldn't find her mentor anywhere. 

She finally saw him along the banquet table, talking to a female sponsor. She was supposed to approach him but stopped when she saw her lean up to give a kiss on Finnick's cheek, to which he returned with a flirty grin. She watched them as the female-led him away from the party to who knew where, and she was left alone to herself again. Men started to approach her, making her uncomfortable at the sudden attention and the flirting. By then, all she wanted was to go home and get her normal life back at District 4.

As one man starts to earn her attention desperately, she unknowingly meets President Snow's beading eyes. He didn't look away even if she caught him staring. It was as if he had something in mind for Mira, and she had to look away first, pretending that she did not just catch the president looking at her.

Mira didn't encounter Finnick for the whole banquet, and she was a little disappointed. Deciding to brush it off, she had to put up with drunk men (and some women) who were trying to get her attention. One man tried to grab her behind, but she was luckily saved by Nixie, who too was drunk herself. The banquet ended at 1 AM, and Lassie told her to get some rest for her interview at 2 PM.