LOVELY

~ 1.6 ~

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'Surely they will fall to their doom
Another inch closer, closer to the railin'
And nobody here is ever fooled.'
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Hours later, after some deep cleaning, painful waxing and serious plucking, Indiana was deemed worthy of being paraded around in front of the Capitol. Red and raw, Indiana felt sympathetic towards the tributes from the lesser Districts due to the fact that the preparing process would be more arduous and painful for them because they didn't have access to the same luxuries that District One was privileged enough to have.

Indiana's stylist, Phoenix, was an eccentric man with kind eyes and soft hands, introducing himself with a dazzling smile. Hovering around the teenaged girl, inspecting her hair and makeup, he decided that everything was perfect and instructed her to close her eyes. A silky fabric was pulled over her head and the material brushed against her now hairless body.

"Open." Phoenix demanded, smiling at his masterpiece.

Cracking open her eyes, Indiana let out an involuntary gasp upon seeing her reflection in the elaborate mirror. Indiana Summers had been replaced with a beautiful, silver goddess.

Phoenix had dressed her in a silver dress covered in glitter and jagged, encrusted with silver diamonds and caused her appear as if she was shimmering when the light hit her. The sides were cut out and it has a slit on one side, showing enough skin to be teasing but keeping Indiana modest; a matching jagged diamond choker was clasped around her neck and a dark silver tiara sat atop her head. Blonde beach curls with silver glitter sprayed throughout fell over her left shoulder, and the silver stilettos made the 5'2 girl look far taller than she truly was. Phoenix had created a vision.

"We wanted to stick to the luxury theme whilst also making you look fierce. Also, we don't want the niece of two Victors to look ridiculous." Phoenix explained, smiling fondly at the girl.

"It's beautiful. I love it." Indiana smiled back at him. "You're extremely talented."

"Thank you, Indiana."

"Come along." Paloma singed, sticking her head around the door. "Wow, Indie, you look stunning. You're going to attract a lot of male sponsors."

Red painted Indiana's cheeks as she awkwardly laughed along before shimmying out the door and towards the chariots.

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Spotting her best friend, Indiana hurries over to his tall form, ignoring the eyes of fellow tributes that followed her. Marvel was covered in a silver toga made of a similar material to Indiana's dress and the wreath on his head was made from jagged, dark silver metal. He looked like a god.

Upon seeing his best friend, Marvel's eyes widened in shock and he had to remind himself on how to breathe evenly. "Y-you look-wow. Have you seen yourself?"

Blushing, Indiana rolled her eyes at her friend. "Whatever, dork. Have you made any allies yet?"

"I was just talking to the pair from Two as we're obviously going to be allies and they seem like good contenders. Surprisingly, the female is smaller than you but she is only 17."

"Shut up." Indiana glared, punching him lightly on his bare arm.

"Alright, you two. Up on the chariot. Remember, smile and wave."

Climbing on to the chariot, with the assistance of Marvel's arm, Indiana took the moment to quickly survey the other tributes. After the count of three, Marvel and Indiana were the first Tributes to be met with the screams of the Capitol when their chariot rolled down the walkway.

Wrapping an arm around his partner's waist, Marvel smiled down at her as she blew kisses to the crowd, a fake smile plastered on her beautiful face. Exactly as she had been trained to do.

A couple minutes later, gasps joined in with the delighted screams and tilting her head to glance up at the large screens, Indiana noticed flames were coming from the back of the chariots.

District 12 - the coal miners. How droll, she thought to herself.

Reciting the annual Tribute Parade speech, President Snow dismisses the chariots and watched as his latest chess pieces rolled away.

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"Did you see District 12?" Marvel asked once his feet were back on solid ground.

"Yes."

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know and I don't particularly care. It's not as if they're going to last very long. They're from Twelve."

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Marvel, stop. Look at them; the boy is petrified and the girl's hands are shaking. They're not going to make it past the Bloodbath so stop worrying about then." Indiana pointed out, noting the little quirks and mannerisms that allowed her to make the assumption that the tributes were faking their calmness.

Turning to face the blond boy from Twelve, Marvel smirked when he visibly gulped and looked away.

"See?"

Indiana's attention was taken away from Marvel's response when a splash of gold flashed in her eye. Turning towards the source, her eyes connected with a pair of piercing blue ones. Taking in the entirely of his face, she noticed it was the beautiful brute from District Two. He had the build of a warrior; his blond hair styled perfectly, his body could be likened to that of a god, and his arms were possibly bigger than Indiana's body.

Catching her obvious staring, Cato winked at the stunning woman, his perfectly pink lips twisting into a smirk.

"Are we ready to go back? These heels are killing me." Indie pouted, fluttering her eyelashes at Phoenix, who then led them to the elevators.

Because Indiana had the most unfortunate luck, District Two and their stylists joined them in the confined space. Squashed next to the male tribute from Two, she let out a (masked) deep breath when she realised how close they were - their bodies pressed against each other.

Luckily, the elevator ride didn't last long as District One was the first stop but Indiana stupidly turned her head to look at the pair of eyes gazing after her, causing the two pairs of blue eyes to connect once more.

Shaking her head so as to rid herself of tempting thoughts, Indiana hurried over to the room labelled 'District One: Female Tribute', desperate to be rid of the glitz and glam.

"Don't take too long. Your mentors want you to sit down and watch the Reaping with them in half an hour." Paloma, who had recently been enjoying a glass of wine, called after the tributes.

Stripping out of her dress, the young girl grabbed a towel and decided to treat herself to a hot shower. Letting the steaming water wash over her, she wished she was able to stay in there forever, dreading the moment she would have to face her aunt and uncle.

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'They spend everything that they've ever harnessed
Now tell me, how is your happy home?
I smile and wave.'
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