87th Games: The Aftermath

Lumen

I got off the train and stepped onto the Central platform of the Capitol. It was nearly dark.

I looked around for some kind of sign or something familiar and was almost bombarded with a tonne of so called ‘fans’.

“Oh my gosh, could you please sign this for me?” It was a leather cow hide jacket, the kind of cow hide that could only come from district 10. Since winning the games business has been booming for our district, especially in regards to our clothing production and quarterly sales.

I sighed and complied, knowing it was partly the Capitol’s support that got me through the games.

“You know, these are pretty expensive. Are you sure your parents won’t mind?” I asked the young girl. She looked in her teens, possibly 16 years old. She had a sweet face, had long white hair and big blue eyes. I noticed some bright blue streaks running down her hair and realised she definitely looked like she belonged in the Capitol.

“Naw, I have about ten of these” she said casually.

 “Wow” I exclaimed. “You Capitol people sure have a lot of money, I can’t even afford one”.

“Well yeah…” She trailed, hesitating a little.

I raised an eyebrow at her as I wrote my initials on the collar.

“My grandpa is President Snow” she blurted.

“Woah, really?” I asked her, backing off a little. I didn’t especially feel like fraternising with the enemy’s relations, even if she was a teenage girl.

“Relax” She smiled brightly. She must have sensed the hesitation in my voice. “He is as ignorant and arrogant as they come. He’s deluded and believes the only way to gain authority is to use an outdated handbook about instilling fear and using scare tactics”.

Huh, this girl was going somewhere.

“You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” I smirked a little, feeling a little triumphant. Guess it wasn’t just me who hated Snow, even his own relations did.

“You know what? I don’t really even need this. I have a tonne” and she handed me the leather jacket.

“No way, I couldn’t” I told her, shaking my head.

“Just take it, the jacket is last season anyway.” She smiled at me and turned to walk away. Before she took a step she tossed her head back and added “and besides it might come in handy later on in life”. And with a wink the random mystery girl was gone.

A smiled a little, wondering if all Capitol people were this nice. There were a few more fans lining up to get my autograph but my attention was elsewhere.

“Ah my beautiful girl!” Magnus chimed from behind me.

“I see you’ve been talking to Lumen. She’s bad news, a district supporter” he warned, sending me a wink. Immediately I knew I liked this Lumen girl. I looked at Magnus only to notice he had put on quite a bit of weight since I last saw him.

My sudden anxiety came back to me. Without warning I leaped into his arms and hugged him. It was nice to see someone in the midst of madness.

“Where the hell is Arrow?” I whispered into his ear.

“Shh darling, not here” he hushed.

He pulled away, holding tightly onto my shoulders and looked around to our growing audience.

“How lovely to see you Scarlett! You are to start your victory tour very soon but tonight we shall dine in luxury. Snow has arrange an extravagant Victory Ball to welcome you”