Through A Mentor's View

Chapter 6 - Preparations

When Livia woke up the next morning her injuries weren't hurting as bad as before. She slowly got up, wincing, as she limped to the nearest mirror. Looking at the reflection, she was horrified to see her normally styled self looking like one of those district people. But that wasn't what shocked her - it was the way she looked so vulnerable. 

Someone removed the bandage around her head and she was glad that her fringe would cover the bruise on her forehead. She had dark circles under her eyes which partly where from the horror of the bombing and partly from crying. This wasn't how she wanted to be seen. This wasn't the person she got used to. The Livia Cardew she knew was always perfectly styled, in her posh Academy uniform, always ready to function and show off her lavish, rich lifestyle. But the Livia Cardew looking at her now resembled a fragile porcelain doll, ready to shatter at the slightest touch.

A doctor came in and informed her of what she'd missed whilst being knocked out with morphling: the interviews were about to take place the next day and Livia's parents were already at work and wouldn't pick her up. Ah, so their worry stopped already. Of course it did. She was fine - more or less - and now their main worry would be whether she made a good impression, whether she brought pride to her family... all while she better had to function. 

By now most mentors whose injuries could heal at home too had been released from hospital. The only mentors having to stay in were Felix, who still wasn't responsive, and the Ring twins. 

Arachne came to pick Livia up. She looked fine aside from the massive bruise in her face but Livia didn't bring it up, knowing Arachne would only get mad. That didn't hold Arachne back to comment on Livia however. "Looking rough, Cardew" she said. "Don't worry, most of us look equally rough. I've visited the Rings earlier - well, only Didi actually. Pollo is still not responsive."

"How's Didi doing?" Livia asked. The thought of the Ring twins being so separated was awful. Ever since they all could remember, the Ring twins had been by each other's side. If one felt poorly, the other one did too. If one was upset, so was the other. If one got a good grade, the other one was just as happy. It was always the two of them, even in the arena when Apollo tried to protect his sister. But now Apollo was unresponsive, broken like glass, while Diana was in a haze and would probably never be the same again.

Arachne sighed. "They have to keep Didi on morphling so she stays calm" she said, wanting to brush her hand across her cheek as it glistened with tears but she shrugged back upon touching her bruise. "I can't believe Gaius and Androcles are dead. And Felix is barely hanging onto life" The normally distanced, rather rude Arachne Crane suddenly looked on the verge to tears herself. "I never was friends with any of them but we all grew up together, we went through the war as a big family almost and supported each other. No matter if we liked them or not but they always were there."

She coughed awkwardly, likely to hide how close to crying she was. Livia knew that Arachne never had been the one to show much emotion and if she was close to getting emotional she hid it behind remarks. "How's the rest doing?" she asked.

"Most of us are doing just fine. You should've seen Festus. He sat by Persephone's bedside all night, refusing to sleep. I almost expeced him to propose on the spot. And aside from them" Arachne shrugged, "Vipsania's still in hospital and on bedrest, Sejanus is a mess because his tribute ran off and... Palmyra and Florus are devasted because their tributes got shot."

Suddenly Livia stopped in her tracks. "Arachne, do you know how Facet is?"

"Doing fine" she shrugged, "He wasn't among the ones getting shot, only his district partner died."

He was okay. Livia allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief before the harsh reality hit her. Facet was okay for roughly two more days; from then onward his safety couldn't be guaranteed anymore.