𝐔𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐎𝐝𝐝𝐬¹

II. Train to the Capitol

°•°•[Train to the Capitol]•°•°

JULIA AND MIKE were escorted to their train rooms by Mestala, who left them with one hour before dinner. Size of the room surprised Julia. She has been in the Victor's village, in Xavier's house, but she certainly didn't expect this. The walls were beige, the bed was beige, there was a table in one corner, a bathroom door on one wall, a big beige carpet and a window. Landscapes were changing on the other side of it, and Julia now saw a grassland. 

As soon as Julia finally entered her room, she sat on the soft bed. She was fighting tears in her eyes, but not for long. She didn't cry long either. Julia was used to not cry a lot so younger orphans would not think something is wrong, even when it was. Her stomach was tied into a knot, her eyes stung from tears, and the harsh reality was finally reaching her so a wave of sadness and fear settled on her chest.

About ten minutes after, Xavier entered and sat down next to her. "How are you?" he asked softly. 

"I'm as fine as I could be," Julia answered, not looking at him. "Who's mentor will you be?" she changed the subject from her well being.

Xavier hesitated few seconds before answering. "I will be Mike's mentor, and Beetee's yours," he stopped. "It would maybe be good for you two to be allies in the arena for a while."

"And than what? I don't want to watch my friend die in front of me," Julia snapped. She did want to be allies with Mike for a time, but she knew one would die before the other

"Look, there is only one tribute of 24 of you that is getting out of the arena alive. And that will be either you or Mike, because me and Beetee will do our best to get one of you alive, I promise," Xavier said gently. "And I know that will be fucking hard, but we'll help you with it."

"Can we just talk about it later? I just want to drink something right now," Julia sighed. She'll have enough of the Games when she arrived in the Capitol. For now, she just wanted to enjoy some last moments with her friend.

Xavier nodded, "Sure," and got up. He walked up to a little microphone in the wall. "Two hot chocolates," he said into it. Two cups emerged from the hole, smoke appearing out of them, and Xavier takes them. "Here you go," he gave a cup to Julia. "Just so you would know, you can order anything, food, drinks, clothes."

Julia smiled weakly and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I got that. I'm not stupid." 

They slowly drank they hot chocolates in comfortable silence. Julia's mind was wondering, but she was mainly thinking about the Games and her fear. 

Xavier drank last few sips of her beverage. "I almost forgot," he took a locket from his pocket. It was shaking in his hand. "Here. Your tribute token. If you want it, of course." 

Julia smiled faintly. "Of course I do. Thank you," she took out a ring from out of her pocket and put in next to the locket. "It's my mum's wedding ring. If I die, can you ask for the ring so Amber could have it along with dad's?" 

"You won't die," Xavier argued. 

"Swear." 

"I swear on my brother and my memories of him," Xavier was quiet for a while. "I'll gotta go now. I have to talk to Beetee. You should probably get changed. You have around half an hour left until dinner." 

"Stay," redhead whispered. It was a thing they created when they were little kids, saying stay when they needed each other to just be there, but since Xaver left for his Victory Tour six months after winning, they did it rarely, almost never. But she needed someone with her right now, at least for a couple more minutes; otherwise, she'd go spiralling.