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5. arena tour

The ride to the Capitol Arena is eerily quiet. Livia and Persephone had been assigned to a different mentor bus, leaving her stuck with Coriolanus, Clemmie, and thankfully Festus. Coriolanus and Clemensia were chatting softly, heads down almost in a way that made it seem secretive, excluding her from joining their conversation.

Etta doesn't really know what to say to Festus; he made her nervous, something almost nobody could do. Was it the tension in the mentor bus, or were her feelings for the boy fading? She hoped not. She'd had her heart set on him since primary school.

The Capitol Arena was a familiar place. A lot of sporting events were regularly held in the building, even a holiday event occasionally. Those memories were always happy; cheering for her favorite sport team, getting dressed up and the excitement of wearing makeup for the first time, her mother teaching her how to dance. Those memories are something that makes it even worse what the arena has been being used for in the recent years.

The van stops, allowing the four mentors to get out. Etta hasn't been to the arena in years, and it seems to still hold it's grandeur. When she was a little girl, she always had wondered how could anyone build such a gorgeous place. It has always been and still is one of the most beautiful and impressive buildings in the Capitol, but now it's atmosphere has shifted to something that feels unsettling. The Hunger Games started to take place in the arena, and it changed the presence of happiness she had always felt as a child to something much more grim.

Etta immediately spots Livia standing with Persephone once she goes inside, and the two girls go running to each other, pulling each other into a tight hug. "I was so scared for you and Persephone once I had heard what happened!" Livia exclaims, still holding Etta close.

Etta smiles weakly. "I could be worse. I'm just glad nobody else was hurt." she sighs. Livia nods. "I never really liked Arachne, but I'll miss her."

Persephone seems like she's about to say something, but she's interrupted as the doors open, peacekeepers coming in to take the mentors to their tables.

As soon as Etta lays her eyes on Treech, she feels a pang of sadness. He's chained. He's chained to a table. I guess the Capitol really didn't want a repeat of yesterday. The boy's head was down, his hat covering his face.

She warily walks over to the table, sitting down quietly as she watches Treech with an anxious look on her face. "Despite yesterday's... tragic events," Dean Highbottom began, his voice laced with something she couldn't quite guess. "Our president has decided that the games must go on, to show everyone that the Capitol is unafraid of such acts of terror. To which end, Dr. Gaul wishes you to preview the arena this afternoon with your tributes. And on Sunday, presentation interviews will be held to, you know, get to know them. You have fifteen minutes to discuss strategy; you may begin." he explains, and leaves the room.

Etta looked back over at Treech who had not changed his position one bit. "What's the matter?" she asked, curiosity piqued. The boy didn't reply, just huffed out a breath. "If you are going to be difficult, we can sit here in silence for one hour. We won't have a strategy, you'll most likely die, and that will all be on you." she said, staring at him expectantly.

"Impatient much?" Treech muttered, looking up at her. She gasped at the large red mark on his cheek. "Holy shit, what happened?" she breathed, taking in the damage on his face. "Peacekeeper..." he whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear. "Oh, those bitches. Does it hurt still?" she began to reach out to get a better look at the mark, but pulled her hand away quickly as she realized what she was doing. "No, I'm fine." he said through gritted teeth. Etta shook her head. "I'll get you some ice later somehow."

Treech gave her somewhat of a smile, but it left his face as soon as it appeared. "Thanks, I guess. Uh, what's that?" he asked, tilting his head towards the sheet of paper in front of the girl. "It's a questionnaire that I have to fill out with you." she explained, picking up the black pen on top of the paper. Treech nodded. "Okay, let's start."

"Starting off... what's your full name?" she read from the paper, looking back up at him. "Treech Catalpa. It's spelled like C, A, T..." he began. "Treech, I know how to spell." she rolled her eyes. "You added an extra 'L', though!" he protested. Etta looked back down and realized he was right, scribbling the extra 'L' out immediately. "Whatever." she huffed.

Treech smirked. "I'm guessing you didn't make it through language and literature class." he teased. Etta scoffed. "Shut up, I actually did just fine. Anyway, next question, how old are you?"

"18. If only I had lasted one more year, then I wouldn't be here." he frowned. Etta paused her writing for a second. "That's bad luck." she replied simply, her eyebrows furrowing as she read the next question.

"Ugh, who made this questionnaire?" she mumbled. "Um... are you in a relationship?" she asked, her cheeks tinted a light shade of pink.

Treech's smirk reappeared on his face. "Is that really on the paper, or are you just trying to flirt with me?" he teased. Etta furrowed her brows. "No, it's on the paper! I'll prove it, it's right there!" she retorted, facing the paper the opposite way and pointing to the question with her pen. Treech snickers at her flushed, annoyed expression. "Calm down, Capitol, I was just messing around." he grinned. "I wonder if its too late to switch tributes..." she said in a weary tone, though the corners of her mouth turned up into a small smile.

"I know you don't mean that, you're smiling." Treech pointed out. Etta's gaze snapped back up to him. "I'm not! she protested. "You are so annoying. Next question, who do you live with?"

The topic of Treech's family seems to make him upset. "Just my mother and siblings. My father passed away a while ago." he mutters, going back to his quiet, reserved personality. "I'm really sorry to hear that.." she says, giving him a sympathetic glance. "How many siblings do you have?"

"Three. An older brother, an older sister, and a younger sister." he says. Etta's eyes widen. "Wow. I'm an only child, so that must be exhausting." Treech nods. "My older siblings don't live with my family anymore, but Lilah, she's the youngest, has so much energy it still feels like they're still around."

Treech goes into depth about his siblings, and she can't help but smile as he shares the memories he's had with them. She'd always get lonely from time to time, being an only child and all. The way Treech speaks about his family makes her heart ache, making her really wonder about life in the districts. It seems so free, but trapped at the same time.

Etta knows she'll go home tonight and be welcomed by her family, her father will make her her favorite dinner, and her mother will brush her hair and shower her with affection. And now Treech is so, so far away from his own family, who are probably clinging onto any hope that he is alive.

Treech studies the girl's features, which has went from her annoyed resting face to looking like she is almost about to cry. He hasn't seen that expression on her yet, and he doesn't like it. He likes it better when she's smiling, even if he's only seen it happen a couple times. "Hey, if this is making you too emotional, we can move on to a different topic." he suggests. Etta looks down. "Sorry, I just don't talk much about this stuff."

Treech smiles mischievously. "Too busy talking about makeup and clothes?" he asks. "I just assume that's what all girls talk about."

Etta giggles a bit. "Spot on. Anyway, we should discuss what you should do for your interview tomorrow. Being from the lumber district and all, you've definitely had experience with an axe, right?"

Treech nods. "Since I was young. Why do we need an interview anyways?" he asks, his head tilted to the side in confusion.

"For sponsors." Etta replies, writing down his answer. Treech furrows his brows. "Sponsors? What's that?" Etta looks back up at him. "People who watch the games will usually send in money; I can then use that money to get you things in the arena. Things that'll keep you going. To get that money though, you need to make the people like you."

"I'm good at that. We'll have plenty of sponsors." he says, a proud smirk on his face. "Are you really though, because I don't like you one bit." she said, her lips pursed to hide a smile. Treech covered his face with his hat, looking down. Etta furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What, are you offended?" she rolled her eyes. Treech didn't look up. Etta reached forward and took the hat off his head, pulling it out of his reach.

Treech's head shot up in shock, a genuine smile playing on his lips. "Hey!" he exclaimed, moving to grab the hat back, forgetting his hands were in chains. The chains rattled loudly, causing multiple peacekeepers to jerk their heads towards their direction. "That's enough!" one of them snapped. "I'll give you another mark, you filth!"

Etta glared at the peacekeeper, then looked back at Treech who looked half embarrassed, half terrified. "Was it that one who hit you?" she asked. Treech nodded shortly. "I'll tell my father. He'll be fired in no time."

Treech gave her a thankful smile, the corners of his mouth turning up in a way that made Etta try to convince herself wasn't cute. She fought back a grin, though the blush on her face was unmistakable. "Here." she whispered, placing the hat back on his dark curls. "You look better with it anyway."

Treech's cheeks tinted a slight shade of red and the usual smirk fell into a shy smile. He looked like he was going to say something back, but Dean Highbottom returned to the room, ordering the peacekeepers over to take the tributes to the arena. The peacekeeper who Treech had said hit him gripped Treech's arm roughly and Etta glared at him. "Be more gentle, or I'll make sure your tongue gets cut out." she ordered. The peacekeeper looked over at her in a mix of shock and even a hint of fear, staying silent but loosening the grip on the boy's arm a bit.

Etta waved to Treech. "I'll see you at the arena for the tour!" she called after him. Treech fought to look back at her, the smirk unsurprisingly back on his face. "I'm looking forward to it." he grinned. Etta stared after him with an astonished look on her face as the butterflies erupted in her stomach.

"Tributes, to the truck." the Dean instructed. "Mentors, the cars on the right."

Etta watched Treech's retreating figure with the same dazed expression until Livia practically knocked her over with a running leap towards her best friend. "What are you looking at? Let's go! I'm so excited to see the arena, I haven't been inside in years!" Livia gushed, tugging Etta along to catch up with Persephone and the other mentors. Etta blinked, startled. "Um, nothing... just looking at the... windows." she murmured. Livia gave her a weird look. "You're acting off today! Everything okay?" Etta nodded and smiled, forcing Treech out of her mind. "Yep, let's go!" she said, the two girls racing off to the mentor cars.

She ended up in a car with Livia, Persephone, Lyssie, and Juno. Etta sat chatting with her two best friends, occasionally locking eyes with Juno who was staring at her with a puzzled look on her face. She ignored it until the girl tapped on her, gesturing for her to come over. Etta frowned and moved to sit next to Juno who leaned close to her, her voice in a hushed whisper. "I heard you and your tribute talking. I saw the way he looked at you, the way you looked at him. Do you like him?" Juno hissed, emphasizing the words 'like him'. Etta's eyes grew wide with shock. "What? Juno, are you out of your mind? Obviously not, he's district!"

The curious look in Juno's dark eyes faded and she seemed to calm. "I guess. That doesn't mean he doesn't like you though!" she smirked. Etta blushed furiously and shoved Juno with just enough force to make it hurt. "Ow!" Juno cried, but it turned into a laugh. "You're blushing!"

Etta rolled her eyes and moved back next to Livia and Persephone, staring Juno down who had a smug grin on her face. The ride thankfully ended and Etta rushed out of the car, escaping Juno's knowing looks. Everyone went to line up outside the arena, waiting for Coriolanus and Clemmie to get back. They all stood around for awhile, but Felix spotted a figure dressed in the red academy uniform. "Coriolanus is here!" Felix called out, causing everyone to turn and stare. A few 'where's Clemensia?'s filled the silence. Etta recalled hearing the Dean call for Coriolanus and Clemmie during the questionnaire, but it seemed only the boy had returned.

Etta tapped on Coriolanus as he hurried by, and the blonde boy stopped abruptly, staring down at her. "Where's Clemmie?" she asked. Coriolanus seemed to go pale and he hesitated before answering. "Uh... went home. She claimed she felt ill." he replied with a hint of uncertainty in his voice. Etta narrowed her eyes, suspecting that he was lying. "She seemed just fine earlier... okay, I guess." she frowned, turning back to her friends.

Coriolanus hurried away, and the mentors continued to wait for their tributes to arrive. After what felt like forever, the tribute truck pulled up and a peacekeeper slid the door open, grabbing the tributes by their arms and hoisting them out of the truck.

A peacekeeper gripped both Treech and Lamina and pulled the two terrified looking tributes to their mentors, Pup coming to stand next to Etta. Pup greeted Lamina with a nod, and she started to cry all over again, earning a groan from the boy.

Treech's anxious expression seemed to fade into something calmer once he spotted his mentor. "Capitol." he greeted quietly. "What, scared?" Etta smirked. Treech raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "What? No! Just... thinking."

"Let's go!" a peacekeeper ordered, causing everyone to start walking. She fell into line next to Treech and the two walked in silence, Treech's eyes glued ahead. "Okay, maybe I'm a bit nervous." he admitted. Etta stared up at him, her eyes narrow. "Why?" she tilted her head to the side. Treech bit his lip. "I'm walking into the place I'm almost guaranteed to die in." he whispered, his eyes round with fear. Etta shook her head. "You won't die in there. I know you won't." she reassured him, her hand brushing against his. Treech snapped his head down to their hands, then back up at her, blushing slightly. She pulled her hand away and looked straight in front of her, ignoring how flustered she felt.

They entered the arena, and she surveyed her surroundings. It had gates all around, leading to a tunnel lined with turnstiles. As each person pushed through the turnstiles, a robotic female voice sounded around them. "Enjoy the show!" it said, it's tone cheerful.

Etta flinched at the loud voice, and Treech seemed to have the same reaction, his hand moving to take hers firmly. His hand is significantly bigger than hers, and his skin is rough from years of work, but it fits in the palm of hers perfectly. She looked at him in shock, but to her own surprise allowed it. She seemed to realize she really needed someone's hand to hold in this moment, no matter who it was.

The two stuck close to Pup and his tribute, following them to the center of the arena, examining everything around them. It was small, too small. Absolutely nowhere to hide, except for the stands on every side of the arena, but even those wouldn't give much protection. The floor was decorated with the Capitol logo, twenty-four red dots evenly spaced apart around the center. She wondered what one Treech would be assigned to.

Multiple cameramen followed the tributes and their mentors around, trying to get anything to televise. Festus demands for one of them to bring the camera over to Coral, who slightly annoyed, sent a wink to the camera. She looked up at her tribute, who seemed to be lost in some sort of trance as he looked around the arena. "Do you think you could do anything for the cameras?" she asked. Treech shook his head, staring down at the ground. "Maybe later." he muttered. Etta nodded and tried not to focus on their intertwined fingers, as it made her blush. Not a good look for the cameras.

"Hey, Lumberjack!" a girl's voice called. Etta and Treech turned around to see Coral, the girl from 4 along with her district partner Mizzen and Tanner from 10, huddled close together. Treech immediately spun around to call for Lamina, who already had her eyes glued to him with anticipation. "Lamina." he said, gesturing for her to come over.

"No, just you." Coral interjects, Treech turning back around to look at her, his eyes wide. "Just you."

Treech's expression hardens, a mix of sadness and guilt. He looks back at Lamina, then up to Etta, looking for approval. Etta bites her lip, exchanging a look with Pup before nodding. It's for the best, if she wants him to survive.

Treech takes a breath and lets Etta's hand go after a gentle squeeze, hesitantly walking over to Coral and the two other boys. Lamina gasps softly, but almost as she knew it was coming. As tears begin to fill her eyes, Pup places a hand on her back, trying his best to provide some comfort.

She pulls her gaze away from Lamina and finds Festus, Persephone, and Domitia standing a distance away from their tributes, eyes locked on her. Etta meets their gaze and walks over, putting a fake smile on her face. She knows she shouldn't be following Treech around anymore; the rest of Coral's alliance's mentors aren't following their tributes.

Persephone greets her with a soft smile, and comes closer to her, leading her away from the two other mentors. "You look upset." Persephone observes, her head tilted slightly. Etta scoffs, glancing Treech's way before replying. "I'm not."

Persephone shakes her head. "Etta, I've known you since primary school, I know when you're upset." she says, her voice gentle. Etta sighs. "Fine. It's just... I feel bad; I think Lamina was certain he would stay with her, but... he didn't. She's alone."

"If he denied Coral's offer, it'd be putting an immediate target on both his and Lamina's backs. You know it's for the better. Plus, we'll be working together!" Persephone smiles, wrapping an arm around Etta's shoulder. "That's true." Etta grins, leaning in to Persephone's touch.

The two girls watch their tributes converse, but Etta notices how Persephone's tribute, Mizzen, seems to get distracted by something, slightly walking off in the opposite direction, blinking up at something on the ceiling. "What's he looking at?" Etta whispers, only loud enough for Persephone to hear. "What?-" Persephone is cut off by a deafening noise.

In a split second, everything is turned into chaos. To the left, a bomb goes off, completely demolishing that part of the arena. With a loud crashing noise, debris goes flying everywhere she can see, rubble hitting someone near her she can't make out. The smoke enters her lungs and she gasps for air. Then it hits her; Treech. Where is he?

"Treech!" she shrieks, the dust and smoke in her lungs making her voice raspy and hardly audible. Etta flings herself in the direction of where the boy was last, desperately trying to spot him. She calls out his name a few more times, gasping when she recognizes the curly dark hair and the grey hat, standing in shock a few feet away. She staggers towards him, looking up as she notices, to her horror, a beam crashing down right above him. "Treech!" she screams, doing her best to alert him. Not thinking twice, she crashes into him with a flying leap, wrapping her arms around him as she knocks him out of the way, the beam crashing down where he was not even a second ago.

As their bodies hit the ground, her breath is knocked out of her, leaving her gasping for air as she does her best to shield him with her smaller body. Treech groans and blinks open his eyes, widening immediately as he recognizes his mentor above him, protecting him from the falling rubble. "Etta, get out of here!" he wheezes, his body convulsing as he struggles to breathe. She shakes her head, refusing to leave him.

Etta shrieks as a piece of rubble crashes down onto her leg, wildly turning around just in time to see Marcus and the tributes from District 1 making a mad dash towards the blown-open gate. Marcus leaps over the turnstiles, but Facet and Velvereen are immediately shot down by peacekeepers, who then turn around to focus on those still in the arena.

She feels the grip of someone's gloved hands on her, being pulled off of Treech. Etta screams and thrashes in the peacekeeper's arms, desperately fighting to get back to Treech. "Get your hands off of me! Help him! Help him!" she demands, her eyes filled with tears.

The last thing she sees before she is knocked unconscious is Treech's terrified expression, and the sounds of screaming and explosions all around her as she is carried away.

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AYYYY!! 1:58 AM, and i am finally finished with this chapter! i am so sorry it took so long, help. i was so busy with other things, i forgot about this book... well, i didn't forget, i just didn't have motivation...! ( who's surprised, i never do ).

anyways, i'm actually happy with this chapter! very proud of myself. i feel like my writing is getting better lately, i'm not even sure why. it's like 2:00 AM on a school night, and that is not very good, but like, i'll go to sleep straight after i finish this!

thank you SO much for reading if you're still here, ( and any new readers, of course! ), you are sososososososososososo loved! have an amazing day/night, and i'll try and write the next chapter soon.

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- julia!! (ettarivers), november 8th 2024 - december 2nd 2024

- published; december 2nd 2024