Secrets of the Sea | Finnick Odair

- chapter 25 -

CORDELIA

"Elora, where are you taking her?" Finnick asked.

"Mr. Odair, as I told you, there will be fittings today," Elora explained.

"And that means she had to go now?" It almost sounded like Finnick was whining.

"I've been informed that Alphinea has created something unlike anyone has seen before. That will take time to make sure it is fitting properly." Elora explained again. "So yes, Mr. Odair, we have to go now."

Quickly grabbing his hand, Cordelia brought it to her chest and squeezed.

"I'll be back as soon as Alphniea doesn't need me anymore, hopefully, it shouldn't be too long."

"Cordelia!"

"Coming Elora!" Sending one last small smile to Finnick, Cordelia hurried to catch up to Elora. Having to take two to three steps for each one of Elora's. They walked to the elevator, taking it down to the ground floor, Elora directed her back toward where she had originally been taken right before the tribute parade. Teams of stylists fluttered around. Mounds of fabric shifted from location to location. Voices came in every direction.

"Alphinea has just created something beautiful for you sweetie, I can't wait to see you in it! Now, once everything is fitted, I'll be back to help you work on the walk, I think Alphinea has some heels for you, then manners and facial expressions. But you won't need much help with those." Elora laughed. "Just in here, Alphinea should already be inside. I'll see you a bit later. Now I just have to deal with Elliot, that boy is going to be the death of me." Elora grumbled, and with that, she was gone.

The room was large. It was bigger than the one she'd gotten ready for the parade in. Cordelia could see blue fabric offcuts everywhere, sparkles, and was that foam?

"Cordelia, my muse!" Alphinea greeted. "Do I have a treat for you! Come, come." Cordelia walked towards Alphinea, who directed her to a pedestal. "I have worked on something spectacular! Unheard of, never seen before!"

"Anything you've made will be beautiful, Alphie."

"Oh, you flatter me."

Cordelia took off her clothes and faced away from the mirrors as Alphinea helped her into the dress. It was cold and tight. Fitted perfectly to her. The fabric was painted to look like ocean waves and that same painted look melted with her skin, the top part so tight to her skin it felt like a second skin. Glancing in the mirror it looked like it was painted onto her body. The dress was a beautiful trumpet shape with a faded blue on her bust that transitioned into a deep ocean blue as it went down. At the ends of the dress, the deep blue blended into lighter blues and ended in a white foam colour. It looked like the ocean, and the end was a breathtaking rendition of breaking waves.

"Alphie, this- it's too much... I couldn't."

"Nonsense, this is perfect! And I haven't even shown you the best part!" Looking up from the dress to her stylist Cordelia waited. The dress was like nothing she had ever seen before, an exact copy of a wave, just in dress form. How could anything top this? It already represented her and her district so well. "I won't lie, this wasn't really my idea." Cordelia looked confused, but Alphinea ignored that and continued. "I've taken on an apprentice. He's young and hasn't got too much experience overall, but I see potential in him. He's actually around here somewhere." Alphinea looked around. "I'll find him. As much as I would love to take the credit for this, it's all him. One moment."

Left alone, Cordelia stared at herself in the mirror again. Truely she had no words. It was perfect and slightly shocking that it fit perfectly. Yes, she had gotten all her measurements taken at the tribute parade, but she'd been eating as much as she could over the past few days. Maybe it had been made slightly bigger and she just happened to fit into it. That did make sense, this was the day for fitting after all. Drawn out of her thoughts when she heard the door open, Cordelia turned. Alphinea had returned and beside her was a young man. Besides her personal stylist, the man almost disappeared. Alphinea was dressed in a rich purple with contrasting yellow stitching, the man was dressed in plain black, he had darker skin and his hair was cropped short.