SWAN UPON LEDA; hunger games

chapter 3

[act one; chapter three     -     token of goodluck]

    The world has gone silent, Leda realizes. Silent in the cocoon that her temporary bedroom has offered her, crafted around her in what could easily be the last hug she ever receives. But while it is silent, she is also alone. So painfully alone.

    She stares at the ceiling of her bedroom, the white paint staring back down at her. She is waiting for that knock on the door, the one that tells her it is time to leave, to sign away all that she is forever. To lock the girl she was in a coffin, and trade her in for clipped wings and a gilded cage.

    Tonight is the last night that Leda has before she is tossed into an arena to murder children like her. They may be killers, trained or not, but underneath they are just children. Kids, fighting to survive.

    She has sat up before the knock on her door, before Finnick peaks his head inside her room. He forces a small smile (though, he wouldn't tell her it's forced. She doesn't need him to, either. She knows). Runs a hand across his clenched jaw and shakes out his fists before she can see.

    He says, "It's time."

    Leda nods absentmindedly, silently. She pushes herself from the bed and walks past him, shutting the door behind her. She ignores Saylor's eyes and Maxime's awaiting hands. She ignores the world, craving the silence of something that never was.

    She is a girl fighting against God, and there is no way she can win the battle with her hands tied behind her back.

    She is stuck in her head the entire ride to the place where she signs her death certificate. She is stuck in her head the entire time that she is stuffed into a dress that feels two sizes too small. She is stuck in her head the entire time her hair is tugged and gelled back. She is stuck in her head, and she can't find a way out.

    Her eyes flicker to the screen as her fellow tributes begin to put their shows on. As Athena Andelit and Malachi Dumas parade around in their gold attire and flash their pearly teeth. As Birdie O'Sullivan bites her tongue and gives the crowd a reluctant, yet beautiful smile, or as her partner, Cassius Baros says all that is required from District 2. Before she knows it, Pearl Moreau and Xander Martin of District 3 are exiting the stage and she is entering with Saylor at her side.

    The two of them are dressed in pearls and white silk, soft like butter against their skin. Saylor in his white trousers and matching suit vest, lined with pearls, hair braided back to reveal the diamonds dangling from his ears. Leda in her too short dress, white as snow, pearls embroidered in rows upon rows, hiding all of the seams that no one wants to see. Her hair is gelled and falling down her back in curls.