The Mentor. (Cato Hadley)

Chapter Seven.

The 'meeting' of Plutarch Heavensbee and I ends, with me shoving the compact disc into my dress the stylists have placed me in. I must say, the new stylists sure do know what they are doing. I don't even look like myself, with heavy makeup ensuing a striking appearance that I cannot even comprehend.

This chariot ride is to be social, that much is clear as we await the opening ceremonies on the ground floor of the Remake Center. All the Victors are speaking to one another, talking in small groups with censored words. With Brutus spending his time speaking to Cashmere and Gloss of District One, I make my way over to the tributes that actually matter to me.

The welcoming arms of Finnick Odair pull me in tightly, a huge smile on his face. I know that despite his facial expression, Finnick is anything but happy to be in our current predicament. The only good thing about this Quarter Quell, is that it's a source for me to be able to see those that I have come to know as family. The bad thing? I'm going to have to kill them if I want to make it out alive, back to Cato.

"I see we're both ready to get this over with," he whispers in my ear, in a tone of voice I don't recognize. He's not speaking about the Chariot ride, or the opening ceremonies, or even the Quarter Quell. He is whole heartedly speaking of the Hunger Games as a whole - he's in on the Rebellion.

"Who else?" My voice is so quiet, I can barely hear myself. We definitely don't want anybody hearing our talk of Rebellion, it can't whistle in the wind.

"Everyone," the goosebumps raise on my arms, the hair standing up. This is real, the Rebellion is happening. He pulls away, intertwining his fingers in mine. With his free hand, he reaches into the stack of sugar cubes meant for the horses before leading me over to Katniss Everdeen. "Katniss."

"Hello, Finnick."

"Sugar cube?" He says with a charming smirk, holding out the treat meant for the horses to the Girl on Fire. She glances at him for a second, before her eyes gloss over to me. It isn't fear that's on her face, it's almost - pity? "I mean, it's supposed to be for the horses but who cares about them, right? They got years to enjoy sugar whereas you and I, if we see something sweet we better grab it."

"No thanks," she says quickly, returning her stare to Finnick Odair. "I'd love to borrow your outfit sometime though," Finnick is clad in just a fishing net, knitted in such a way that it only covers his groin. Snow doesn't want anybody seeing anything they have to pay for, I see.

"You look pretty terrifying in that getup," Finnick is right. Katniss is clad in a black dress, eyes covered in black makeup to the point that it almost looks as if she's ready for a funeral. "What happened to the pretty little girl dresses?"

"I outgrew them," she spits the words out almost like venom, as if done with this conversation.

"You certainly did," I speak my first words directly at Katniss Everdeen, my eyes meeting hers. "It's a shame about this Quell thing, you could've made out like a bandit in the Capitol."

"Money, jewels, anything you've wanted." Finnick adds, the two of us beginning to try and make an attempt of telling the Victor what goes on behind the scenes. "Well, I haven't dealt with anything as common as money in years."

"I don't like jewels and I have more money than I need, how do people pay you for the pleasure of your company?" Her attitude increases steadily, as she continues to show her disdain for this conversation with Finnick and I. She isn't very likeable, Haymitch was right. She's extremely lucky to have Peeta, he's gotten her out of more than she'll know.

"With secrets," Finnick whispers, his body so close to hers they're almost touching. "What about you, girl on fire? Do you have any secrets worth my time?"

"I'm an open book," Katniss responds, her eyes flickering from Finnick to me. "Everybody seems to know my secrets before I know them myself."

"Unfortunately, I think that's true. Sorry you have to cancel your wedding." Finnick pops the sugar cube in his mouth with a smile, just as Peeta begins walking up.

"Yes," I comment, my eyes fixated on the girl before me. It's hard to believe we're the same age. If we had been from the same District, we may have been friends. "I'm sure that canceling the wedding was, devastating."

"Peeta," Finnick greets the District Twelve counterpart, giving him a curt nod.

"Finnick, Marblyn," I'm shocked that he has said my name, solely because Katniss didn't. Katniss could barely look at me. Is it because of her mercy kill of Cato? I have little to no faith that I would actually make it out of this arena, and I have little to no faith in Plutarch.

The two of us walk away, Finnick leading me back over to my chariot. "I'm with you," I say with a nod, biting my lip. "I know what you're going to do, you're going with them," I don't dare to say that I know Finnick will be helping with the Rebellion. "I'm aligning myself with you, against Brutus."

Finnick hugs me tightly, his lips almost touching my ear. "We're gonna make it out, Marblyn." With that, he heads over to his own chariot to get ready for the lineup.

I stare ahead blankly during the Chariot ride, acting as though I am better than the Capitol. I know for a fact that I am better than the Capitol, and I think it's finally time for them to see that. As the chariots park, I make my way over to Johanna, who is so originally dressed as a tree with her district partner Blight.

"Let the Games begin," she spits, scowling.

"And what an interesting Game it's going to be," I roll my eyes at the sight of Brutus and the huge smile on his face. He is so incredibly and completely brainwashed. If only he had to suffer my fate. "I'm going to Finnick's, to avoid that at all costs."

"I don't know if I would make it to the arena if I had a district partner like that, I'd kill him and end up an Avox." The one thing I absolutely appreciate about Johanna is her brutal honesty.

We fall in line with Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch, Johanna pulling off her leafy headdress and tossing it behind her. "District Seven," she scoffs, shaking her head. "Always dressing up as trees."

"Last year they were dressed as origami," I steadily laugh, ignoring the pang in my chest as I think of last years tributes. We step into the elevator, everything kind of awkward and silent.

"You guys look amazing," Johanna says to Katniss and Peeta. Katniss hesitantly thanks her, the tone of Johanna's voice not letting any of us know whether it's a compliment or not. "My stylist is an idiot. I'd love to put my axe through her face. So what do you think, now that the whole world wants to sleep with you?"

Katniss let's out a sarcastic chuckle. "I don't think that the whole world-,".

"I wasn't talking to you," Johanna interrupts, turning around to face Katniss for the first time. She turns her back to Peeta. "Can you unzip?"

"Yeah," Peeta unzips Johanna's tree suit for her, nobody expecting Johanna to strip naked right there in the elevator.

"This is my stop," The elevator stops at the fourth floor as I laugh at the annoyed look on Katniss' face, the shocked look on Peeta's, and the pleased look on Haymitch's as Johanna winks at him. "Bye, Katniss."

A/N: I don't really like this chapter but I wanted to give you guys something 😭☠️