𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒕𝒖𝒔; 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝑨 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒅

Lilith has adjusted to her new life well. She turned sixteen mid-September, and she celebrated with the only person that mattered, Silas. The blonde spends most of her time at Silas' house, her own being empty and lonely. The man has plenty of room, and he likes the company.

The duo have formed a small routine, but all of that is going out the window soon. Lilith's Victory Tour starts soon, and she is prepared.

After months of not making an appearance on Capitol television, it has given her time to relax and process her experience in the Games. She still has nightmares, the same ones of William. The way his body went limp haunts her. Silas hears her screaming in the middle of the night, the same way he used to. He always rushes to help her, soothing her numerous times. She always apologizes for waking him, and he always tells her it's okay.

"Have you packed?" Silas asks as they finish eating dinner together.

"Yep, all done." Lilith says, looking up from her plate, setting her fork down.

"Good. A camera crew is coming the night before we leave, to kick start the viewings." He says, picking up their plates. Lilith grabs their cups and starts rinsing everything off in the sink.

Lilith sighs. "Okay."

A week later, Lilith's face is dusted with small amounts of makeup, covering imperfections on her skin. Her outfit, a white blouse and black dress-pants with boots and a white fur coat, was picked out by Julia. The stylist had sent it with the camera crew since she couldn't be there herself.

"Okay, positions everyone! Ms. Monroe, stand here." The director says, pointing to a spot on the ground. Lilith obeys and stands in her spot. "On my count, three, two, one." The director points his finger out, signalling they're live.  The blonde plasters her Capitol grin on her face, looking in the camera, careful not to squint because of the bright, artificial lighting.

"And here is our victor, Lilith Monroe, live from District two! How's the weather in District two, Lilith?" Caesar Flickerman's voice comes through the projector.

Lilith chuckles. "Pretty breezy out here, but other than that it's fantastic." She answers, still smiling.

"I just wanted to tell you how excited we all are to see you again." The host says.

"Well thank you. I'm very excited to be shown again." The blonde says, putting her hands behind her back.

Caesar laughs, throwing his head back. "I see you're adjusting well then?"

"Oh my, yes! Everything is amazing. I've been anticipating this tour." Lilith radiates her enthusiasm.

"One more thing before you go, I hear you had a birthday doing your downtime. How old?" Caesar questions, furrowing his brows.

Lilith nods her head in confirmation. "I turned sixteen."

"That's wonderful!" He turns to the audience. "Well folks, that's our beauty Lilith Monroe!" Then, the camera goes off, and the lights dim. Lilith drops her smile and sighs.

Silas walks over to her, putting his arm around her like he usually does. "You did great." Lilith mumbles a thanks, and they walk inside their shared home.

Lilith had tried to get a good nights sleep, but her mind kept her awake. So when she wakes up, she is especially grumpy. Giving Silas constant attitude, and the bickering between them was relentless. Luckily, Ember was there to diffuse some of the tension.

After the very long train ride to District twelve, Lilith is brought inside the Justice Building. Ember hands the blonde a stack of index cards. "I prepared a couple of words for you to say, to pay respect to the tributes."

"Okay." Lilith says, gladly taking the cards. "Thank you." The blonde is grateful for Ember, she wouldn't have been able to come up with anything to say on her own. She's not good with things like this. "Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 66th Annual Hunger Games, Lilith Monroe!" That's her cue. She struts out to the stage where all of the Reapings take place.

This is the routine of every single district she visits. Reading words from her cards, trying to seem as happy as possible being a Victor. Smiling, thanking the mayor, reading the cards, then exiting the stage. Nothing special.

More of the outlying districts did not cheer when she entered the stage, for them it was another year of not gaining a victor, another year of the Careers taking over. District Four is awkward to be in, everyone saw Nancy's brutal end, her final moments where she chose to be brave. A certain mentor wasn't exactly making it easy either, sending glares and eye rolling when they were in the Justice Building. Although Lilith doesn't blame him for feeling like that towards her, it still infuriates her. She gets the same burning hatred for him, just like she did when they first met.

After giving her condolences for Nancy and Jay, she reenters the building, running her hands through her hair when the doors close. Lilith was enjoying the silence, when an agitating voice had to ruin it. "So, is it everything you hoped for?" Finnick mocks. "The life of a Victor."

"It is, thank you very much." The blonde snaps her head in his direction.

Finnick rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, it won't be for long." He then disappears around the corner, leaving Lilith alone. She huffs in irritation. Why she let's a boy get under her skin so much? She doesn't know.

Silas, Ember, and Lilith visit the rest of the Districts, then she's finally on her way back to the Capitol. She missed its beauty.

She realizes she also missed the fashion as Julia helps her into her dress for the evening. It's a long, tight-fitting, white dress. The dress is strapless with a tight corset holding it up. The corset is lace, with a deep v-neck, white flowers decorating the whole dress. It has a large slit on one side. "I'm going to be freezing." Lilith comments while Julia sets a small patch of flowers on her shoulder.

"You'll get used to it." Julia says, sliding flower cuffs onto Lilith's wrists. The blonde holds onto her stylist as she slips into her tall, white heels. "Besides, that's why I left your hair down."

Lilith looks at her straight hair, with the front pieces slicked back. "Like that'll do me any good." She remarks.

"Listen, you look amazing. I promise, everything will work out." Julia rests her hands on the Victor's shoulders.

Lilith nods. "Okay." She trusts her stylist. Sometimes too much.

Ember, Silas, Julia, and Lilith walk up the path to the celebration, the latter already covered in goosebumps from the chilled air. Right before they get to the door, Julia stops Lilith. "Okay, final checks." She says, beginning to fuss around with the blonde's appearance.

"She looks lovely, Jule." Ember says from beside Lilith. This gets Julia to stop nitpicking, and they enter the party thrown for the new Victor.

~~~~~~