𝐒𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 || Narnia x The Hunger Games Crossover

Chapter Nine

Lucy spun half a strawberry on her fork, tracing the pink juice across her empty plate as the mentors' voices buzzed in the background.

Polly gave last minute tips and instructions, and Digory interjected whenever he could get a word in edgewise, but at this point they were just repeating themselves.

At least it was better than silence.

Caspian had barely spoken a word since last night, attempting a bit of casual levity at first before falling right back into himself, right back into that cavernous abyss where no light or sound escaped, his silence building in Lucy's chest, grating against her nerves like static. Not that she said much either, but she wished he would. Something. Anything.

Instead he glared at the tablecloth, black poison boiling just below the surface.

"Remember you'll want to find a water source as soon as possible," said Polly for what must have been the third time.

"But don't stick too close," added Digory, "Clean water is where you'll be most likely to meet other tributes."

Lucy nodded, hoping at least to give the impression she was listening. But no matter how positive a tone the mentors kept up, she couldn't help but feel the agonizing crawl of time as their last minutes in the Capitol ticked by, regretting more and more the three waffles she'd forced into her churning stomach.

How had one week as the Capitol's prisoner lulled her into such a false sense of security? As if she had any control over her own life? She'd only ever been trapped, just like she had been in the justice building, waiting for the peacekeepers to drag her away from the only home she'd ever known.

She tried to capture this image in her mind, Digory's scruffy white hair and the way his collar stuck up where it had come untucked, puffing on his pipe, peering over his spectacles at Polly's notebook as she swept pale yellow hair behind one ear and circled something, then erased, then pushed Digory's pipe away with a soft laugh before addressing another piece of advice to Caspian and Lucy.

Was this what it felt like to have parents?

She almost shook the thought away. Ridiculous. But even if it had only been their job to look out for her, they'd been kind, kinder than any adults had ever been. Smiles and warm words outweighed a hand-me-down orange kerchief any day, and it certainly wasn't what she'd expected from people who had won the Hunger Games, but if they could do it, maybe she could, too.

No sooner had the thought entered her head than Zardeenah strode into the room and announced, "They're waiting for you on the roof."

Lucy swallowed hard to keep her breakfast in place.

The mentors stood from the table, Polly gently closing her notebook with the pencil tucked inside. "You've got what you need?"

Lucy clutched the page folded inside her pocket and nodded sharply, pushing back her chair to follow.

Caspian stood and grabbed a wine bottle from the middle of the table, poured a splash into his glass and took the shot without so much as grimacing.

He slammed the glass back down and turned toward the elevator.

Lucy stared, mouth half open.

Even Polly and Digory never drank the Capitol's heavy-smelling wine without watering it down, and his blank expression made her insides squirm as she followed Zardeenah to the elevator.

She barely caught her last glimpse of the apartment, smooth marble and sparkling crystal, before the elevator shot up and they emerged a few moments later into the clear sunlight above the city. Two small hovercrafts waited for them in the middle of the flat grey roof, shining city sprawling out in every direction, but her stomach sank in spite of the breathtaking view.