Mentors

22

"This is a lot to process." Peeta tells me, as we sit down to watch the television.
The games will soon begin.
I would much rather watch it here. Not in the mentor's lounge, nor with Caesar and an overwhelming audience.
We will report to the lounge when we are ready to send a sponsor gift, since that's where it all happens.
The television roars with cheers as Caesar talks.
I pay little attention.
There is a knock at the door, which we were expecting.
I rise from the sofa to answer it.

"Morning, Finnick."

I pat his back after he high fives me, and brushes past to give Peeta a weird ass special handshake.

"Top of the morning to ya, love birds."

he greets us, taking a seat on the sofa and placing his feet on the coffee table.

I watch him reach into his pants and shuffle his hand a bit, before he pulls out a box of sugar cubes.
"They told me to lay off the sweets, but who am I to listen?" he hollers, popping a few into his mouth.

As much as I find it funny, only a small chuckle escapes my lips.
I can't help feeling nervous.

Caesar Flickerman soon counts down with the audience. They count down from 10, and then the screen flashes to the games. The real countdown starts from 60. I remember vividly rising from the tubes, my eyes involuntarily closing from the sunlight. The slight head shake from Peeta, telling me not to enter the bloodbath.
An all too familiar sight.
The cornucopia is golden, and much smaller than usual. The camera then flips to another angle, possibly far from the cornucopia. I squint my eyes and realize, there is more than one. The tv flips to three different cornucopias. They are all in different parts of what looks like a maze.
I get a closer look at what the maze is made out of. After it comprehends, I nearly have a stroke.
"Holy shit!"
I stand up intensely, causing the coffee table to flip over with a loud thud.
The maze is made up of white roses. They surround green vines with razor sharp thorns. Who knows if they're poisonous?
I can almost smell the disgusting aroma of President Snow's bloody breath, along with the unbearable roses.
If a tribute were pushed into the walls of the maze, it wouldn't be pretty.
I realize I'm close to the television, my feet stumbled over the coffee table. I feel Peeta take my arm, move me back to the couch and effortlessly pick me up and place me in his lap.

"Do not move child." he playfully warns me.

I know what he is doing. He's trying to ease my nervousness. I can't tell if it's working or not.
My head starts to spin, and I bury my face into my hands, peeking out between my fingers and staring at the screen. Far to the left of the arena, the maze is completely dark, you won't be able to see without night glasses or flashlights. The right side of the arena is beyond bright, you must need powerful sunglasses. The area surrounding the metal plates are clear as day, but no one would choose to stay in the bloodbath for very long. I take a look at the tributes as they look around for somewhere to run off to.
There's no running from the bloodbath, unless you can take a risk in the darkness or the brightness. I spot Talisa first, her one hand on her stomach, the other saluted over her forehead, trying to find her allies. She spots Raina and sighs in relief. Raina's the toughest I've seen her. No one in the Capitol or back home will see her as weak. Not my tribute.
Kolton has his jaw clenched as he's searching for Raina. They telepathically exchange conversation once they catch glances.

"Looks like their intelligence is showing already," Finnick comments.

Finnick's tribute then joins the unspoken plan between the allies. He then nods toward the dark side of the maze.
"Are you crazy?" Talisa says, just audible enough over the numbers counting down.
How long really is sixty seconds? With only fifteen seconds left, Caesar pops up in the corner of the television and states what things can be found in the three cornucopias. Types of flashlights, sunglasses and night vision glasses. He doesn't go into detail on much more, but he states that there are only a limited amount of each hidden in special packs.
As the countdown from ten hits, all I think is;
The odds better stay in your favor.