the great war • hunger games fanfic

welcome to new york - taylor swift

Lacy wakes up in a cold sweat, her sheets twisted around her body tightly. Her heart beats loudlly in her chests as she tries to regain control of her breathing. In her dream, she saw her family getting murdered by President Snow. She shuddered as she remembered the cries of her baby sisters as they were led away by Peacekeepers.

"It's not real. It's not real." Lacy repeats the mantra quietly to herself as she gets out of bed. She changes into the crème dress with a square neckline that Pearl had laid out for her to wear today, as they arrived into the Capitol. It was pretty enough to show the simplicity of the Districts to the Capitol without really showing how impoverished the citizens were. In District 10, *maybe* Lacy would have seen this dress on the mayor's daughter. Lacy slipped on the brown flats with a little bow on them and walked out the train compartment she had spent most of yesterday in.

Pearl and Pimento were already sitting at the fancy table. Lacy blinked as she approached it. The whole sight was so unfamiliar to her. The wooden table would have reminded Lacy of home, if only it wasn't all polished with fancy carvings. A deep red table runner laid across the table, sort of reminding Lacy of a pool of blood spreading.

The teen cringed as she walked closer, seeing Pimento drink syrup out of a cup. From what she had heard from both Pearl and Pimento, Pimento lived for syrup.

"Ooh!" Pearl exclaimed as she Lacy approaching. "Good morning, Lacy! You look wonderful, dear." Pearl smiled at the girl. Standing up, the older woman enveloped the girl into a warm hug. It would have been more enjoyable without the pearls on Pearl's dress poking her stomach.

"Sit, sit." Pearl urged as she pulled away and sat down again. She looked up at the Lacy with a wide smile as she patted the plate next to hers. "It's important for you to stock up on calories, dear."

"Thanks, Pearl." Lacy mirrored the smile, feeling her mouth water at the display of food. On good days, she usually got buttered toast and berries back home. She wasn't used to having a huge amount of food at arm's length like this. Lacy pulled her chair out and sat down slowly.

The Capitol woman took this as an opportunity to stuff Lacy's plate with scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes, and a side bowl of fruit salad. She hummed a familiar tune as she did so. Meanwhile, Lacy turned back to Pimento who was counting his fingers.

"Good." He sighed. "I have all ten."

Lacy's confused look was ignored.

Pimento turned to look at Lacy. The action reminded her of when an owl turns its head to look at you with its creepy eyes.

"Do you want hot chocolate?" Pimento asks, holding a crystal pitcher of brown liquid. Lacy tilted her head.

"What's that?" She asked as Pimento poured himself some on his fruit salad.

"Pimento. We've talked about your food habits." Pearl scolds before turning to the tribute next to her, "It's like warm milk and chocolate. It's really good."

Pearl stole the pitcher from Pimento and poured some into a delicate blue teacup. Then, she added what looked like round sugar cubes. "It's still hot, so eat up a little and then try it." Pearl directs as she takes what Lacy's mother would call a Capitol-mannered sip from her teacup.

Lacy digs into her plate. She tries the eggs first. They're warm, salty, and gooey enough to be perfect. Her face lights up as she devours the eggs on her plate. Her mother would call this District-mannered, or as the Capitol folk would say, uncivilized. Then, Lacy turned her attention the three blueberry pancakes on her plate. She wolfed those down, too.

While Lacy had her head buried in her plate, her District partner emerged from his room. He was in brown slacks and a creme button up that seemed like it was ironed so much, Billy couldn't move. He grumbled a good morning as he took a seat next to Pimento.

Lacy noticed that Billy didn't eat much. He had half of a pancake and some fruit. Pimento also offered him some hot chocolate, but Billy didn't even acknowledge him. That reminded Lacy to take a sip of hers. It was still pretty warm, but God, it was amazing. Never had she ever had something that sweet or good.

"Wow. The hot chocolate is really good. Thanks, Pimento and Pearl." She commented, trying to seem more sophisticated. She didn't want Pearl to see her as District scum or as a pig.

Pearl beamed at Lacy, patting her hand. Meanwhile, Pimento just blinked at her and Billy seemed to be staring daggers at Lacy. Whatever. It wasn't Lacy's fault that Billy didn't seem to understand the Games already started. Billy was about to spout out an unwanted remark, when his face froze as he stared out the window.

Lacy turned to look at the window, too. She was 100% sure her face mimicked Billy's as she stared in awe at the Capitol.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Pearl chuckled, dabbing at the corrners of her mouth with a napkin, watching the children's amazement at the Capitol. From Pearl's brief experiences at the Districts, she guessed this was a *huge* culture shock.

"It's amazing." Billy said breathlessly. And for the first time on the train, Olivia saw Billy for what he was. A child.

-

"Remember to be polite, and to have your chin up. But not your nose, that makes you seem snooty, which would be a bad impression. The Games are all about impressions, you know?" Pearl rambled as she braided Lacy's hair. Lacy listened to Pearl's words, her hands fidgeting with her silver ribbons. Pearl said she couldn't wear them because 'silver doesn't match crème dresses.'

Billy was sitting across the girls, listening to Pearl. Pimento was.....being Pimento. He was currently balancing different fruits on his pointer fingers to see which pointer finger was stronger. Lacy had come to the conclusion that either Pimento's Games were *really* bad or that the Capitol messed up the winners to keep them puppets. Of course, she kept her mouth shut about the topic.

"Don't forget to put on the little cardigan I left for you, dear. The Capitol can get quite chilly." Pearl said, tapping the top of Lacy's head as she finished tying the two braids. "Go on and get it quick, I can see the crowds."

Lacy hopped up from her seat and ran to her room. She found the brown cardigan hanging on the corner of the mirror in which Lacy had gotten ready at in the morning. The usually attentive girl found it strange that she couldn't remember seeing it. Shaking off her moment of confusion, Lacy quickly shoved the rose compact into her pocket. She had been foolish and left it out in the open. Luckily, no one had been in her room.

"Lacy!" Pearl's voice called her. Lacy slipped out of her room, rushing to get to Pearl.

The escort stood looking at her tributes. She looked them up and down.

"You two look more than decent." She complimented, "Now, we're approaching the station. There are going to be a ton of people here, so just be polite and well mannered. Do everything we talked about, got it?" Pearl instructed, placing a hand on each kid's shoulder as she stared at them with pride in her eyes.

"You guys got this." Pimento said, waving off the severity of their first public appearance since the reaping. For the first time, Pimento sounded normal. Well, as normal as someone could soun during something as horrible as the Hunger Games.

Lacy and Billy lean towards the window, the sight on the station shocking them. A ton of Capitol citizens had gathered on the station, cheering and waving as they saw the train approach and caught sight of the tributes' faces. The teens glance at each other and then wave back, a little unsure. The Capitol people were weird with their big hair and vivid clothes. It was unlike anything they'd ever seen before.

"Showtime, darlings." Pearl says, ushering them towards the door. Lacy and Billy stand side by side, Pearl and Pimento behind them. The train doors open, letting the bright sunlight and loud cheering sounds in.

"Welcome to the Capitol."

Word count: 1415
Written: 1/17 and 1/21
Published: 1/21
Edited: N/A