Through A Mentor's View

Chapter 9 - The Games

And then the day of the games came. None of the mentors got to see their tributes again; they'd been brought to the arena early in the morning, around the same time the remaining mentors had been sent to the Academy where they'd been assigned a place with a small screen, always ready to see their tributes' odds, sponsors and what gifts they could send. Each mentor was handed a badge that said 'Mentor' as well as a communicuff to control their tributes' sponsor gifts.

Being responsible for the District 1 tribute, Livia sat on the far left. She felt herself shaking and nervous, almost as if she had to go in the arena herself - and if she was feeling like this, how must the tributes feel?

"Here we go, everyone!" Lucky's voice echoed through the hall. "Come on. Come on, let's go. Sit down, Festus, come on." he demanded. Festus hastily sat down next to Persephone - who looked on the verge of a breakdown. Most mentors didn't look better. Vipsania was pale even under tons of makeup, Hilarious nervously chewed his nails and Lysistrata barely was able to sit still. Even Coriolanus barely managed to sit down. The only ones looking less bothered were Arachne - who chatted her way through Lucky's instructions with Domitia - and Clemensia, who suddenly was back and showed no signs of her apparent flu. Or actually, she did look different. She looked like a snake almost, colourful schemes appearing on her skin despite she tried to hide it with her uniform and makeup. Livia didn't dare to ask what happened; it wasn't just that Clemensia's looks had changed, no, her behaviour was odd too. Earlier she'd nearly gotten into a fight with Coriolanus and when Festus had tried to step in, she almost lost it.

"No yawning" Lucky reminds them as the cameras are adjusted, ready to start filming the mentors once the games had started, "no gum chewing" he pointed at Festus, "Keep your chins down, heads up, shoulders back. And smile" he said, directed at Arachne, "It's why we have teeth."

Arachne gave Lucky her best smile.

But he was already busy with rushing through the rows, "Okay. Ready? We're gonna start guys. We're starting everyone, We're starting. Happy Hunger Games, happy Hunger..." he briefly stopped as he saw Diana walking in, or rather limping in, taking a seat in the back. Although her tribute was already dead, she was allowed to have a seat in the back rows and watch, just like all Academy students. "Remember" Lucky spoke to the remaining mentors, "When your tribute dies, get out of here."

The mentors watched as the tributes were brought inside of the arena; some just walked politely and some had to be dragged. A peacekeeper dragged Teslee by her arm and the poor girl couldn't even stand up; all she could do was laying on the ground as she sobbed. Her mentor, Urban Canville, groaned and muttered something under his breath. Livia tried to spot Facet - he stood close to Teslee as the tributes likely had been sorted by their district and District 1 and 2 didn't have anyone else left.

"Enjoy the show!" a voice blasted through the speakers. It was the same voice that they'd heard during the arena tour, the same voice that had gone off after the bombing. "Enjoy the show!" 

Enjoy the show... only a sick mind could enjoy watching this.

Livia tensed in her seat, biting her lip til it hurt just so she wouldn't scream. From somewhere in the crowd she could hear a whimper though - it was the same sort of whimper she'd previously heard in the arena too. Diana had covered her ears and was weeping silently as the robotic voice was on nonstop repeat. It was true, Diana wasn't the same anymore; she wasn't the cheerful girl anymore that sometimes seemed to have her head in the clouds. Apollo still hadn't woken up and as a result, Diana had retreated to her own little world. Lucky gestured to her to keep quiet, only to focus back on the screen. But even his smile briefly vanished as he saw what now everyone else saw; a sight likely none of them could ever forget again.