Uncharted Waters [1]

Chapter 8

Mira heeded Thalassa's suggestion and spent most of her day with Mags. Destan hadn't left the room since his quarrel with Finnick, their other mentors were in the lounge placing bets on who would die first based on the reapings, and the capitol's darling. Still MIA.

The sixteen-year-old and her mentor were on a sofa making bracelets out of things Mags found on their floor. Mira really enjoyed Mags' company. Since she misses her Nana, she is thankful enough that Mags treats her kindly, as a grandmother would usually do to her grandchild. She knew that Adrian and Eldoris only saw them as tributes, and she didn't understand what being a career is like but it's clear that they were not betting on her to win despite them being her mentors. Mags on the other hand was like a breath of fresh air in this dark and cruel world, a sweet old lady that has probably faced and seen a lot of horrors in this time. But seeing Mags' smiling face and assuring words, she wouldn't even think that she had once taken the life of an innocent child.

Mira was taken out of her thoughts when she heard Mags mumble something and she immediately directed her attention to her with a smile.

"Pardon? I wasn't able to catch that." She asks and notices that her mentor's eyes are trained on her ankle. "She was always the crafty one." Mira was sitting cross-legged on the sofa facing Mags, who was sitting upright. The big smile on her face softened a little when Mags lightly touched a pearl with a finger. "A beautiful pearl, ruined so soon- Marilla." Mira sucked in a breath at her mother's name. It was clear that Mags also had a soft spot for her mother. Considering that she was the oldest among her mentors, she obviously saw a lot of deaths in her lifetime.  

"What was she like?" She whispers, fidgeting with her anklet as Mags looks up to meet her blue eyes with a smile. 

"She was quite the fighter. A volunteer. She didn't care about her appearance, but she was still beautiful nonetheless. That's not uncommon in your family. She won her games in the most unusual but effective way possible, only she could pull off that time."

"Nobody hardly mentions her." With that statement from the young girl, Mags widens her eyes and looks around the room as if looking for hidden cameras. "I have said too much. Everything will be revealed to you in time, my dear girl." Mags says in a small whisper. 

Mira smiled in understanding. 

The people wearing the same uniforms caught Mira's attention. They were silently serving food on the long glass table. Her eyebrows scrunched up in thought, getting Mags' attention as she looked back to see what the young girl was looking at.

"Avox," Her mentor says, "They could not speak." 

"Wha- why?" 

"Punished by the Capitol by cutting their tongues out." Mira covers her mouth in shock her eyes turning misty with tears at the poor people who, according to Mags, didn't have their tongues. Mags wiped a lone tear from her cheek and gave her a sympathetic smile. Mira looked past Mags again to look at the working people who most likely, lost their voices forever. It was unfair. She didn't know the reason why they were punished, but it was still a cruel thing to do. She went from person to person until her eyes landed on a particular girl who also had her eyes fixated on her in curiosity. As if realizing her mistake, she quickly broke eye contact and scurried out of the room.

Mags ushered Mira to stand and led her to the table. Mags pointed for her to sit down, and so she did, but not before hesitantly looking at the hallway leading to Destan Calder. She was having a mental debate about calling Destan to eat but got distracted when Mags piled her plate with every dish on the table.

"You need to eat-"

"Great! Lunch is served. I'm starving." Adrian announces, his booming voice echoing throughout the room.