The Daughter of the Sea

▬▬ 𝟎𝟖 ∙ 𝝩𝗵𝗲 ❙𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽

˚✩ ⋆｡ ✩┊ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚 ┊✦ ˚ · .

▬▬ 08 ∙ 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I was in the arena, though I wasn't really there. I watched through the eyes of my dream self as I examined the arena. The sky has been painted bright orange, almost red. The tributes are spread far, far apart, with the Cornucopia sitting in the center of the grassy plain. It's not what's in the Cornucopia that poses the greatest threat.

It's the maze behind me, twice as high as me and so deep that I can only see rich green. I found myself running away from the Cornucopia, each boom of the cannon giving me more motivation to keep going. With each boom of the cannon, I am grateful that it's not me who would be shipped back to the Districts. But with each boom, I fret that Mila's met her downfall. Danger followed me, and I felt a foreboding hazard approaching. My heart raced with each step I took into the world of green. Footsteps pounding behind me caused me to pause and quickly scale the first tree I saw.

I wasn't fast enough, however, feeling a searing pain in my left leg. With a cry, my hands lost their grip on the branch and I fell to the floor, face to face with the dangerous smile of a Career. This was the end, I was sure of it. My eyes flickered closed as I prayed for a quick painless death.

"Cory! Cory!" Someone was calling for me in a loud whisper. I was shaken out of my sleep to find Finnick trying to wake me, Mags standing at the doorway with a concerned look.

"Finn?" I asked. "What are you doing in my room? Again?"

"You were having a nightmare. You were tossing and turning so much I was worried that you would hurt yourself. Took a solid ten minutes to wake you up." It didn't surprise me, I had been having them for the past week. Mags, content I was alright, retreated into the kitchen.

"You ok, Cory?" Finn asked, looking worriedly.

"I'm fine, Finn. Just a nightmare, I always get them these days." He gives me a sympathetic look.

"We all do."

"What time is it?" I sat up, trying to catch a glimpse at the clock.

"5. Mags said she was going to make you some tea." Sure enough, Mags reappeared with a mug of steaming hot tea.

"Thanks," I said, taking the cup with careful hands. She smiled, patting my lap.

"So what are we doing today?"

"Interview preparation. You gonna go back to sleep or...?"

"No, there's no point. I'm sure Moxie would love to make dozens of comments on the way I sit or my manners."

Seeing as I had loads of time this morning, I decided to take a long shower and take advantage of the abundant resources the Capitol had access to. Learning from my previous catastrophe, I carefully read the buttons before making a selection. After I was content with the temperature, I turned the water lavender scented, a wisteria button, inhaling the aroma of the flowers that I got the chance to grow outside my home. A stream of warm air quickly dried my hair, and I pulled on something comfortable for the day.

I was the second one at breakfast, after Moxie, but we pretty much ignored each other. After all, I had enough of the Capitol people to last me a lifetime.