"And I'm just getting color back
Into my face"
- So Long, London by T. Swift
In which,
Anemone Crane develops a crush on her classmate, not knowing he'll fall back during waterfalls of blood and death.
💌
Festus Creed x Fem!Oc
#1 in Arachne Crane
#2...
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AS THE LUNCHEON was finishing up, Satyria gathered the twenty-two active mentors and informed them that not only were the Hunger Games still on, but they were also supposed to be the most visible yet.
The mentors were about to escort their tributes on a tour of the arena that very afternoon. It was going to be aired live to the entire Panem, somehow driving home the resolution Dr. Gaul had made at the funeral.
The Head Gamemaker declared that separating the Capitol kids from the district ones suggested weakness as if they were too afraid of their enemies to be in their presence or so.
The tributes would be handcuffed but not fully shackled. The Peacekeepers's top sharpshooters would be among their guards, but the mentors were to be seen side by side with their charges.
Some of Anemone's classmates's parents had lodged complaints about shoddy security after Arachne's death (including the Cranes), but no one spoke up, none of them wanted to be seen as cowardly.
The mentors piled into a few Academy vans and headed for the Capitol Arena, which had been built across the river to prevent crowds from swamping the downtown.
Professor Sickle, their chaperone for the outing, ordered the mentors to leave their belongings in the vans when they arrived.
"I wish I had a chance to get Mizzen something to eat," said Anemone as she left the van together with Persephone. "I haven't brought food for Tanner either." The Price girl shrugged.
The tributes were standing in a line in handcuffs, heavily guarded by Peacekeepers. The mentors were directed to take their places beside their respective tributes, who'd been lined up numerically, so Anemone found herself and Mizzen standing somewhere in between.
Anemone turned around to scan the tributes and their mentors, and that's when she realized Clemensia wasn't with them.
The immediate feeling of guilt washed over Anemone as she started to feel bad. She hadn't noticed that Clemmie was gone - not even mention about searching for her at the funeral.
Then it was the desperate feeling of wanting to know where was Clemmie. Anemone turned around to face Festus, "Where's Clemensia?" She asked.
"She's not with us?" Festus raised his eyebrows and turned to where Reaper stood. Once he realized Clemensia wasn't placed next to him, he faced Anemone and shrugged his shoulders.
The Peacekeepers removed the heavy bars from the entrance. The massive doors swung open, revealing a huge lobby lined with boarded-up booths and fly-specked posters advertising events from before the war. Holding their formation, the kids followed the soldiers deep within to the far side of the lobby.
A bank of full-height turnstiles, each with three curved metal arms, stood covered in a thick layer of dust. They required a Capitol token for admittance, the same one still used for the price of a trolley fare.
