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It was to the shaking movement of the train leaving the station that Pearl came to.
The soft silk sheet under her hands, the gentle rumble of the wheels on the track, light coming in through her window dimmed by the dark glass and hiding the true insistence of the sun. Pearl took several minutes to take in everything around her, every fiber and tiny sound, then she began piecing together what had happened in her head, putting every bit back moment by moment.
The morning had been hard, Pearl had almost forgotten what day it was, until two Capitol Peacekeepers came knocking at her door to escort her to the Justice Building, where her former prep team had come over to ready her for the Reaping, they had told her it was not standard procedure, but the president had insisted that she could have used the extra help. She had not been happy about it, but the familiar faces of her team were almost comforting, if they hadn’t attacked her matted hair and unkempt eyebrows so violently. By the end she almost looked like she hadn’t been rotting in her bed for days straight.
Then they had left, saying that they would see her soon, back in the Capitol, but they had to be back there earlier by hovercraft. After Pearl had been alone for several hours, waiting in an empty room until the Peacekeepers came back to drag her out to the empty Victors stands, where she had waited for the crowd to flood the square and the Reaping began.
They called Grian’s name. It was her fault, Pearl knew it, she had not convinced the Capitol that she didn’t care about him and now he was going to die. Like TFC was dead. Her fault, and now that she had attacked their new Capitol Escort it would only get worse, how she regretted it now. The small part of her that was amused at the scared face Ren had made was devoured again by anxiety.
She stared at her freshly manicured fingers, press-on nails covering her own which were bitten bloody, and slowly she got up. The train car wasn’t any different from the one that she had been in the year before, so she went into the en-suite to wash her face, her arm still aching where she had been stabbed with the narcotic drugs.
Pearl washed off her makeup, changed into some of the more comfortable clothes that waited in her size inside the closet and finally she felt awake and real enough to make her way out of her cabin.
When the door opened to the restaurant car Pearl was staring at the floor, and she jumped up in surprise when she heard Grian speak.
“They have running water. It’s a moving train and they have running water. We don't have running water in our unmoving homes.”
The way he said it, so matter of factly, no anger or resentment, made her lip quiver, so long Pearl had wondered what to say if she ever could apologize to her brother, and now when the worst consequences had already happened and they could be close, she froze up.
“Gri- I’m sorry.”
Was all she managed before she felt the tears well up in her eyes.
“I thought I could protect you, I really thought that-”
“Well, did it work? Who did you save, hiding away from everyone? ‘Cause it’s not me, and it’s not you.”
Now there was anger in Grian’s voice, the build up of the ten months she had pushed him away, to protect him, whether he wanted to be protected or not. Pearl knew it deep down that if she had told him what the stakes were, he would have stayed beside her, risks be damned. But she hadn’t given him the choice.
“I missed you.”
The rattling breath she took was enough to give Pearl the strength to look her brother in the eyes, those same eyes looked back at her, identical in all but the color, both red and puffy from the tears. They had been hurting, but looking at each other for the first time in so long knowing the threat was no longer hung above their heads the sole feeling that rose through the twins chests was relief.
When the hug came, it was so tight that they barely could breathe, sobbing in unison, mourning the time lost and the time they wouldn’t have together.
“You could have running water in the Victor’s Village.”
Ren barely felt the train moving with how tightly he was gripping the sink. White knuckles holding the cold ceramic like the stillness of it could stop the world spinning. Maintaining his composure until he made it to the train had taken all he had, and as soon as he had stepped foot in his cabin he had thrown up his last three meals. His vision was swimming, his hand shaking, cold sweats and his heart beating faster and faster, Ren wondered if he was going to die.
Could they have poisoned him already, had the Capitol already found out he knew the Reaping was rigged. Was he going to disappear and no one would ever know what had happened to him? That couldn’t happen, the Capitol didn’t do that, but then the Capitol also swore the Reapings were fair. Ren's breath grew quicker as he struggled to fill his lungs, black spots clouding his vision.
He felt his legs give out from under him, and he fell hard, hitting his knees on the floor with his hands still clinging to the sink. Hot stinging tears started falling, from the sharp pain and from the fear, Ren bit his lip to keep from crying out.
He waited for the end, shaking on the floor, thinking of his poor sister who would never know what happened to him, mourning all he never got to do. He was so close to reaching his goals, to making it but he’d lose it all because he couldn’t have minded his business.
In the end it was the deep breaths Ren had sucked in trying to choke down the pain that helped him out most. Slowly getting air back into his lungs, clearing his mind until he realised that he was not in fact dying, just having a panic attack. It sure had felt like death and it had forced him to realise that whatever he was getting roped into would be dangerous.
No longer just a job, now he had duty towards those kids. As he changed his clothes and fixed his makeup, Ren started formulating a plan to get the twins through the Games in one piece.
Walking into the lounge car after his steak dinner, the scene Ren found was unexpected: the twins, arms around each other, napping on the couch in front of the screen, still showing pictures from the day's events. He was about to turn back and just let them sleep when Pearl startled awake, her eyes staring at him expectantly- quiet rage barely contained.
He had been looking for them, wondering how to best approach the situation.
“Look I’m really sorry about this-”
“Don’t care.”
“Right, well I was thinking about what you can do-”
“I know what I need to do. I want to know what you are going to do.”
“I- uh… I wanna help.”
“M’kay, start by knowing that he isn’t gonna make it out. He got Reaped because of me, whether you believe it or not. It’s my punishment for winning, watching him die when I can’t do anything about it. So all we can do to help him is to not make it any more painful than it already is.”
The confidence in Pearl's voice was scary, and the only thing that betrayed how terrified she actually was was the slight tremble of her lip. But she regained her composure soon enough.
“And we need to make them pay. I will make the Gamemakers regret picking him.”
Grian’s eyes shot open as Pearl settled back on the couch cushions, momentary panic seizing him as he remembered where he was. He stared at the scene in front of him, taking in the palpable tension between Ren and his sister.
“Uh- uh, so what doing?”
Grian had decided to dissuade the situation best he could, it was no use for everyone to be freaking out at the same time, they could take turns, still he noticed the dry swallow Ren did before speaking up.
“I was thinking, before we discuss any plans, that we should eat some dinner. I don’t know you but I’m starving!”
His cheerful disposition barely had time to show itself before Pearl’s bitter remark.
“We have starved every day of our lives, but sure dinner sounds nice.”
So they silently headed to the dining car, where an Avox was quietly waiting for them, so that he could start serving up the lavish dinner that had been prepared for them. Grian wanted to discuss his plans but as soon as the food came out he realised he hadn’t eaten since that morning and it was now after dark, so he flung himself onto the appetizers forgetting all strategy talk.
Pearl stared at her plate, playing with her food without any real intent to eat it, but looked fondly at her brother until another pang of guilt hit her when she wondered how many real meals he had eaten in the past year.
On the other end of the table Ren did his best to mind his business, so he cut his steak with the precision of a surgeon, all to not look up and have to meet Pearls eyes, or risk making a face at Grian’s terrible table manners and lose the little respect he might have from either of them.
Finally, as dessert was about to be served, Pearl spoke up.
“Should watch the reapings, get to know the competition. It helped me…”
Overly eager to break the awkward silence and even more anxious to make himself useful, Ren immediately chimed in.
“That’s a great idea! I should have a way to get all the information on Tributes, Mentors and Escorts, just so we are prepared and we know what’s up!”
He quickly rooted around his pockets, not really expecting to find anything he needed, before addressing the Avox that had been attending them all evening.
“Could you get me the tablet thing? Please?”
Quickly he added in response to Pearl's death glare. And so they moved back to the lounge car. The twins sat together on the small couch, holding each other's hands as if letting go would make them disappear, and Ren comfortably lounging on an armchair. They all watched the hologram screen with the recap of the day’s event, Ren occasionally rattling off information or comments about mentors and escorts from his tablet.
And so the players for the 149th Life Games would be:
District 1
Tribute: Scar (17)
Mentor: Joel (Winner of the 130th Games)
Escort: Lizzie
“Oh, Lizzie, she organizes the most wonderful parties!”
District 2
Tribute: Etho (18)
Mentor: Gem (Winner of the 139th Games)
Escort: Katherine Elizabeth
“How brave, to volunteer, it’s such an hon- oh, sorry…”
District 3
Tribute: Mumbo (15)
Mentor: Doc (Winner of the 117th Games)
Escort: Oli
“Doc is absolutely terrifying, like mad genius terrifying, if you never talk to him it’ll be too often…”
District 4
Tribute: Jimmy (14)
Mentor: Martyn (Winner of the 146th Games)
Escort: XB
“I am so glad the Mentor for District 4 is Martyn this year, I really would like to meet him.”
District 5
Tribute: Bdubs (12)
Mentor: Impulse (Winner of the 114th Games)
Escort: Skizz
“Wow, he’s young…”
District 6
Tribute: Tango (14)
Mentor: Zed (Winner of the 141st Games)
Escort: Alina
“Alina is always so kind to me, I can't wait to work with her!”
District 7
Tribute: Sausage (13)
Mentor: Keralis (Winner of the 122nd Games)
Escort: Jevin
“Jevin, now that’s an important name, better not piss him off, I hear he is super close with the president.”
District 8
Tribute: Cleo (18)
Mentor: Scott (Winner of the 144th Games)
Escort: Joe
“Joe is a weird guy.”
District 9
Tribute: Cub (13)
Mentor: Shubble (Winner of the 132nd Games)
Escort: Wels
“Shubble seems so lovely, but she has one of the highest kill counts in recent years.”
District 10
Tribute: False (15)
Mentor: Beef (Winner of the 127th Games)
Escort: Joey
“Heh, Beef, what a funny name…”
District 11
Tribute: Big B (17)
Mentor: Xisuma (Winner of the 119th Games)
Escort: FWhip
“Xisuma is never around at any event, the guy is so shy.”
District 12
Tribute: Grian (18)
Mentor: Pearl (Winner of the 148th Games)
Escort: Ren