The Bender Games

Chapter Five

The Bender Games

Chapter 5: The Capital

It is about noon when we pull over the waters dividing the provinces with the Capital Island. About an hour later, Monica gestures us to go to the windows. All four of us do as we are told. I pull down my window and hang my head outside. My braid blows behind me as the train rushes forward. I look in front of me, and I can see the glistening lights of the capital. It is almost too much to handle. The buildings here are so tall and intimidating. Large machines fly around the buildings, and I can hear strange vehicle noises all the way over here. Bridges tower over some of the buildings, providing our train to move over the blue water. In the water, boats of all sizes zoom around and create waves behind them. So this is the grand city where we go to live before we die...

The train pulls out right in front of the contestant building, the place where we shall be staying for four nights. I can’t help it when my heart clenches from seeing the building. Monica tells us to get to the train doors to disembark. We all stand scattered in the corridor, and automatically Monica goes berserk.

“No, no, no! Split into twos and walk out together like that.” She bosses us. I was so tempted to say: “Yes Mom,” to her, but I didn’t. As soon as she gave us the orders to move in twos, Jo and Dean stood together in the front, leaving me to pair up with Axel. The train doors open, and Monica leads us out to the crowd. There are people swarming the train, all shooting pictures of us and screaming our names. I was almost blinded by the lights of the cameras, and nearly fell forward. Axel saw me trip, and grabbed my wrist before I face planted. When he pulled my back up, he leaned in as we walked.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah, fine.” I blush. I try to hide my face from him, and instead smile and wave to the cameras to distract myself from what just happened. According to Monica, the first thing you want to do when you see the people of the Capital is play the part of a superstar. I am about as opposite of a superstar as possible, but I can sure as hell act like one. I flash a smile to a cameraman, thinking to myself how easy this all is.

When we finally get out of the crowd, Monica ushers us to the elevators and presses the “5” button. All the provinces get their own floor to relax in after the day’s work. Since we are Providence Five, ours is on the fifth floor.

“I think you all will like this floor, it a lot nicer than some of the others. And I hope you all will like your rooms, they are customized specifically to your element by some of the finest designers in the Capital.” Monica beamed.

The elevator ascended into the air, and finally stopped on floor five. When the doors opened, I was surprised to see that Monica was right: this floor is nice. If I thought the Capital building in Providence Five was fancy, then I would have never imagined this place. Everything appears to be made of silk, chandeliers hang from the ceiling. The room looks like it could belong in the Emperor’s palace. Words cannot describe the whole outlook for the space.

All the contestants gape as they enter the room. Jo immediately begins to run her hands along the chairs and tables. Dean lays down on one of the couches. I just stand there, taking it all in. Once the space around me is absorbed, I decide to join Dean, and sit on a couch.

Monica decides to take the liberty of interrupting our awe and silence. “So, what do you all think? It is nice, isn’t it?” she asks. We all simply nod.

The rest of the day was quite boring.

Since we had no plans for the rest of the day, all we really did was sit around and did nothing. Jo colored, Dean slept, and I read. None of the books were even interesting. They were all corrupted pieces of bullsh*t that described how amazing the Capital is. And the books that weren’t about the capital, were about the bender games, figures. But I figured that if I was going to see Cam again, then I could maybe read about the games, and maybe find some tips. I didn’t. None of the books helped me what-so-ever, which was a huge disappointment and waste of time on my part.

We all ate together for dinner. Our meal was something that did not look the least bit appetizing; it was some sort of weird Capital food. When we tried to get something else, Monica protested us. Our choices were to either eat what was put in front of us, or to starve. Now I was really feeling like Monica was our mother, but she wasn’t, which made it even creepier.

Once I took a bite of the meal, I realized it wasn’t all that bad. It had a sugary-sweet flavor to it, and it made my mouth water. I was full after dinner, so I wasn’t all too eager to have dessert. Even though I was not having dessert like everyone else, I had to wait until everyone was finished.

When everybody finished, we retired to our bedrooms for a well-deserved sleep. Tomorrow is training day, so we have to look our best and well-rested in front of the other competitors.

Beyond the kitchen, is a hallway with four doors, each painted a different color. I know that since my element is water, I shall be sleeping in the room behind the blue door. I clasp my hand around the knob and twist it open.  When I hear the click of the door open, I push it out in front of me.

I scan my eyes across my new room. I can tell the color scheme is only water colors. Everything in here is blue, purple, or white. The walls are painted a dark blue, and so is most of the furniture. The curtains are white, along with the rug, and the pillows on my bed. A fur blanket hangs on the edge of the bed. The bed covers themselves are purple, and so is a lamp on the nightstand. Some light blue pots in the room contain purple flowers in them, and sit next to light blue couches.

With sleep overcoming me, I make my way to the bed, and curl up in the purple blankets.

I wake up the next day with a full night’s sleep. I raise my arms over my head and stretch. My eyes open in a flutter to take in the bright sunlight that enters my room. Now that I am up and fully stretched, I think I need to get dressed. I am about to flip the covers over my legs, when I notice something at the end of my bed. A small pile of black clothes is folded at the foot of my bed. Oh, that’s right. Today is the first day of training. I take off my pajamas and begin to dress myself in my training clothes. The pendent that Cam gave me still hangs around my neck; I refuse to take it off. If something should ever happen to it, I would never forgive myself. I take the necklace’s cord and hide it under my shirt. Once I am fully dressed and ready for the day ahead of me, I exit my room for breakfast.