Dead in the Water | An Odesta Fanfic

Chapter Two

Luna Fairweather was a tall woman, with wide blue eyes and body that was awkwardly long and thin. Annie didn't know how much of it was natural and how much had been stretched by the surgeries that were so popular in the capitol. She was the escort for District 4, present at the reaping to draw their names and then to bring them to the capitol afterwards. Annie hadn't been sure how much help she would be, for she had been jittery and nervous since they had first met, always wringing her hands and glancing down the streets and hallways as if someone were following them. She had a hard enough time keeping track of Annie and Kai, who kept stopping to stare at the towering buildings and gray concrete streets of the capitol. The sheer height of the buildings made Annie's stomach turn, staring up at them as clouds passed by.

But Luna kept them both in tow, hurrying them on towards the training center where they would be staying, endlessly chattering about their crowded schedule. "We're just going to pop upstairs to meet your mentors." She was saying as they stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor. "It's quite unorthodox to go so long without meeting your mentor. Usually they're present at the reaping, and you ought to have the whole train ride to talk about strategy and all that." She shook her head. "I do apologize. But what can you do?" she was beginning to mutter under her breath now. "He lives by his own rules. There's no controlling him."

Annie was growing more concerned by the minute. They had a mentor who couldn't be controlled, and now an escort who seemed to be going mad? She could work as hard as she wanted to keep Kai alive, but at the end of the day, tributes were as dependent on their mentors as they were on their weapons. Mentors were their source of medicine and food and any tools they had trouble finding in the arena. Without one, you were as good as dead.

Well, if she had to be the one to hold this team together, then she would do it. "It's alright, really." She smiled over at Luna, who looked back and finally stopped muttering. What did life in the capitol do to people? "We enjoyed being able to spend time alone on the train together, didn't we Kai?"

Kai was peering out the glass walls, watching the world glide by as the elevator moved upwards. Fortunately, Luna didn't seem to need his input to feel better about herself.

"Yes, well," she said. "All the same, it's not fair that you two should have this any more difficult than the other tributes, considering your situation."

It wasn't fair that innocent kids were sent to the Hunger Games at all, but did the capitol do anything about that? Annie watched as Luna wrung her hands again and seemed overcome with emotion.

"In all the years I've been doing this," she said shakily. "I've never seen two siblings chosen in the same year. Of course a thing like this had to happen in my district."

Annie could have used some comforting herself, but she patted Luna on the shoulder as the elevator doors opened. "You're doing your best, Miss Fairweather. No one could have seen this coming."

Luna smiled at the words, but quickly brushed Annie's hand off. "Oh please, call me Luna. Miss Fairweather sounds horribly stuffy."

They stepped out onto the fourth floor. The walls were painted a shimmering metallic blue and the floors were lined with sandy yellow carpets. It seemed that the room had been decorated with District 4 in mind, but Annie found that she had never seen a place that felt less like home.

Not that the apartment wasn't the height of luxury. On the contrary, as Luna led them into the main sitting room, every trim seemed to be covered in gold and every ceiling towered above her head. But it could never be called comfortable. It was missing worn pillows on the couches, cracked plates on the table that had been used too many times, and fresh wildflowers in a vase by the door. The room looked as if it had never been lived in and it was only then that Annie realized how much time it took to build a home.