𝐌𝐀𝐃 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍, finnick odair

― 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

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chapter eleven: ladies and gentlemen, let the sixty-eighth hunger games begin

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒, 𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐔𝐏 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄. As Lucretia enters her bedroom the fetch her, she gives her a simple bathroom robe to wear. Visha doesn't see Blake or Gideon or Delia. The escort had left the night before, weeping and crying about how she had the best Victors. No one dared to mention that neither Visha nor Blake were Victors yet. 

Only Aife and Hunter are there to say goodbye to her. Visha lets the petite redhead wrap her in a hug, before turning to Hunter. "Gideon wanted me to give this to you," he tells her, before wrapping something around her wrist. 

It's not a bracelet, but an armband. More specifically, it's one of Mayan's armbands. 

"Your token," Hunter tells her. "Because I know you don't have anything from home. Anything to remind you of why you're doing this." 

"Thank you," Visha whispers, touched. She can't help but let out a small sob, before launching herself at her mentor. She wraps Hunter in a tight hug, before Lucretia says that it's time to go. 

Visha bids them both goodbye, before following Lucretia onto the rooftop. Her final dressing and preparations will be alone in the catacombs under the arena itself. Visha shivers slightly in the cool, dawn breeze. Just above the horizon, she can see a sliver of light appear. It is officially nearing daybreak. 

Nearing day one of the 68th Hunger Games. 

"You're going to do just fine," Lucretia breaks the silence, as if sensing Visha's sudden burst of nerves. "I know you are. You're quick-witted, resourceful, and skilled." 

Visha nods slowly, not trusting herself to speak. Somehow, Lucretia's words had made her feel better. 

A hovercraft appears out of thin air. A ladder drops down. 

Suddenly, Visha freezes. She knows she has to reach out, grab the ladder, and climb up, but she can't. Something is stopping her from moving― gluing her feet to the rooftop. 

And then Lucretia is urging her forwards. "Come on!" She encourages, taking Visha's hand in hers and pulling her towards the ladder. 

Automatically, Visha's hands grasp the rungs of the ladder. Some sort of current whooshes against her as the ladder lifts her safely inside the hovercraft. She is helped inside and into one of the seats by a peacekeeper. Moments later, Lucretia joins her in the hovercraft, and takes a seat beside her. 

A woman in a white lab coat approaches Visha, carrying a syringe. Visha cringes at the sight of it. Swords and knives and maces, she could handle. But needles? Absolutely not. "This is your tracker, Visha," the lady was saying. "It'll help the Gamemakers keep a tab on you. The stiller you are, the more efficiently I can place it."