Some Final Thoughts

If you had asked her on the way to the chariots, Marcelina would have said without a doubt that could not wait to get this blasted costume off. After it was all said and done though, a few deeper thoughts passed into her mind. While she was not the sort of deep thinker that she knew some people to be, it was often where she turned during crucial times like this, especially because she was not really a social person, nor was she very good at expressing herself.

Upon reaching the apartments where 23 of the 24 people here would be spending the last days of their lives, Marcelina had far more important things on her mind than getting out of her costume. she flopped down on one of the lavish beds, and it gave her some time to think of what she knew about the districts. There were the careers of course... 1, 2, often times 4, and sometimes even 3 got in on it... the rich districts. it was pretty easy to tell the poverty status of each district if you were willing to listen to the old stuff The Capitol put out about how much tessarae was claimed by each district. the rich districts had very few; the poorer districts would often have a thousandfold those numbers.

her own district was on the upper end of the middle. Marci had noticed a semi-regular trend that generally 1 was richer than 2, 2 was richer than 3, all the way to 12 as the poorest. That meant that 5 was just above the average. then again... she expected that there was a significant jump in wealth between the wealth in districts 3 & 4 versus the wealth of districts 1 & 2. if a district could specialize in luxury goods, they were obviously well off. District 2, the Capitol's Pet, was certainly not too far behind.
she wondered if that could come in handy. one of the only edges the malnourished kids from the other districts got was that they were much more capable of going several days without a proper meal. Marcelina knew that she wasn't equipped to handle that sort of cruel fate, but she had gone without meals on occasion, even going without food for a day or two at a time. She knew that even the most minimalistic kid from '11 or '12 couldn't survive that much longer without water, and so that would be one of her concerns once in the arena. perhaps the phrase "Starve a Career" had more meaning than she had originally thought however many years ago that saying had first passed through her ears.

she lay on the bed, spread-eagled, gazing blankly at the ceiling above her, her exposed midriff moving up and down in rhythm with her breaths, which were calm, but deep. She needed to make sure that she exuded confidence as opposed to bravado and arrogance. during the time when the tribute chariots had parked in their semicircle, Marcelina had gotten a good look at many of them, squinting to see some of the ones farther off. some looked confident, others looked afraid; some were big, some were small--it was the usual batch of variety that she had seen in every other games that she remembered watching. She knew better than to underestimate anyone. Even Henry, her own district partner, who had shown some personal interest in her, particularly before the Reapings, was to be viewed as a threat. It wasn't to say that she wouldn't trust people, bit if or when she made any alliances, she would be watching her own back consistently, and would insist that she could never be too careful. She was familiar with the career packs, and how they would wipe everyone else first before turning on each other. others would turn on their allies earlier when it was unexpected, and then take off with a few free kills.

she dimmed the lamp that was next to the bed, and out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the electric blue LEDs that were still in her hair. they as well as her top were still shining their soft blue in the dim light... it reminded her of electricity... of power.
Power... such a fun word with numerous meanings. it made Marcelina actually crack a smile. power was what some tributes would boast having; power was what allowed some to overpower others. power was The Capitol. For Marci, power was a combination of self-control, keeping a level head, and destroying the rest of those foolish tributes that thought they would get the best of her. she just needed to hope that fate was on her side. these next few days would tell a lot.

She wasn't sure how long she laid there, unmoving, her eyes no longer focusing on anything; with how motionless she was and how soft her breaths had gotten, one might have thought she had died on the spot. luckily no one came in during that moment, because Marcelina wasn't even blinking. it might only be a slight bit awkward if someone panicked and thought she was dead--that, and it would have broken her trance.
after what may have been a couple hours though, she got up, got changed into some breezier (and more covering) clothing, though she left the lights in her hair for the time being. frankly, if she got out of this thing alive, she would totally want to have that style become a more regular part of her life. if not... well, she preferred not to think of what would happen if she didn't come out of this alive. She was in it to win it, by any means necessary. this was her mantra.

Time would tell, and would reveal what fate had in store for her--as well as the 23 others dragged into this mess.