This is why.

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It was on a rare occasion that the event actually ran through Mercury's mind. It was of small importance to her; simply an event that had long since passed and meant nothing to her. It had never meant anything to her. The kid was a selfish brat, stealing all of their parents' attention since the moment she had entered the world. The imp didn't deserve to live in the first place, nor did she deserve the title of Mercury's little sister. So so fragile and childish.

And I deserve the spotlight...[/i]

Not her. Not the wimpy little child who died so easily. Whose squeals still sometimes echoed inside of Mercury's mind, causing her pulse to race through her veins a million miles a second just as it had that day. The cacophony of helpless shrieks that might sting the ears of any other kept a special seat inside of Mercury's mind, coming back clear and crisp and real at moments like these.

Moments when she craved the helpless sounds of murder.

The Capitol was boring. Too many bright colors, too many people walking around looking like idiots, too many people who lacked excitement. What did they do, anyways? Shop? Work a little? Nap? Socialize? The crime rate was surely substantially lower; people just didn't squabble as much when they had a warm plate of food whenever they wanted and they could go out and buy anything they pleased.

They're all so superficial.. she thought to herself as she extended her right hand towards the mirror to touch her reflection. Her room was nice enough, but it was nothing compared to her own back home. The mirror was too small, and she had to crane her head around to see herself rather than looking straight ahead at any moment and instantaneously having her reflection stare back at her with those dreamy hazel-colored eyes.

Her stylist was crap, to say the least. More than once Mercury had slapped her straight across the face because she had done a horrible job with her makeup. And the clothes! They were all so plain. How the hell was she supposed to walk out in front of all the future tributes dressed in a tee-shirt and dark jeans? With sneakers, no less! The idea was preposterous, and after several bruises to the face and a black eye, her stylist threw her hands in the air and gave up on her. She was then allowed to pick her own wardrobe choices and do her own hair and makeup. They knew what would happen if they argued otherwise.

She particularly liked the outfit which she had picked especially for this day, the day when she was to present her "skills" in front of the Gamemakers. If she was to prove her point, she had to look the part. Let alone the fact that she had to be fabulous.

Lost in her thoughts, Mercury's glance had settled somewhere along the wall in front of her amidst her dazed thoughts. For what was probably the thousandth time, she turned her face towards the mirror and observed herself. Within a half a second a smile emerged from where her usual angry scowl rested. Large hazel eyes circled with eye-liner and a sparkling silvery eyeshadow beamed proudly back at her, highlighting a face that she could only describe as perfect.

I'm so amazing.. she told herself, at the same time tugging on the hem of her left leg to pull it up away from the bottom of her foot. Everyone had advised her against it, but Mercury was wearing heels to her private session. They told her that it would be inconvenient, but she didn't care. First impressions went a long way, and heels enhanced her image.

She wore the same black jeans that she had worn in and around the training center and the temporary living quarters, because they actually did look good and they were the only thing that she was wearing at the present moment that didn't make it difficult to move. Her shirt was also dark and made of flimsy material, covering none of her shoulders or her exposed belly-button. The most peculiar feature was the necklace that she wore around her neck. It was not gold or silver, but rather a necklace braided and tied and made of her very own hair.

Mercury instinctively jumped back a few steps away from the door when someone suddenly started slamming their fists against it and screaming at her. "It's time to GO. NOW!" Someone yelled. Mercury's smile faded instantly as she stared with an emotionless, blank gaze towards the door.

It was time. She had planned this moment a billion times inside of her head, even before she stepped upon that stage to volunteer. It was often the topic of her daydreams, among other horrifying scenes. Kicking ass at her private session. Being sent into the Hunger Games to murder as many as possible. Enjoying every single minute of it..

The idea brought the maniacal smile back to her face as she opened the door quickly. Her expression changed for a moment when she saw an escort in front of her, fully prepared to bring her to her destination. Her excited grin was erased from her face in a millisecond, and she didn't wait for him to introduce himself or say hello or something silly like that before she shoved past him and strutted towards where she would be designated to wait her turn.

Waiting. Waiting was complete and utter agony. Not because she was afraid, of course not. Mercury, afraid of something? The thought widened her silly grin for a moment, sitting there amongst all of the future tributes who were waiting as well. She wasn't afraid. She wanted to be there, in that room, through those doors. She had a point to make and goddammit she wanted to make her point right then.

It felt like hours, waiting there in that room. She was surrounded by 23 tributes, 23 others who would all eventually be dead. It took all of her strength just to keep from attacking all of them at that very moment. When her name was finally called, Mercury let out a sigh of relief and leaped out of her chair, shooting a look of scorn towards the woman with the clipboard who had called out her name.

She wasn't hesitant. She didn't wait to be told otherwise. With her deepest expression of anger flaming in her eyes and resting on her scowl, she stormed into the room and pointed towards the Gamemakers that were sitting there.

"You know, this system is crap. I should have been the exception and you should have let me perform my session first. I've been waiting so godawful long. I don't like to wait, darlings."

She stood there for a moment, heavily breathing because her heart was racing at breakneck speed while she could hear the blood pounding through her ears. It was time to make her point.

"So, what have they all come in and shown you so far? Did the wimpy little tributes stand there and throw around some weapons? Did they distinguish some crap edible plants or something? Tied some knots? What?"

Instead of walking over to one of the stations, she spotted an extra chair and pulled it across from where the Gamemakers all stood. This was going to take a while.

Of course they couldn't answer her previous question without violating the rules, so she continued without caring much about what they thought of this demonstration. "But what will it get them, really? They have an average aim for hunting, they know what plants are helpful, they can set up some traps.. What does it all add up to? Maybe they think they can survive solely on the fact that they can feed themselves and partially handle a weapon?"

"Excuse my language and all- oh hell, I don't care- but that's a bunch of fucking bull shit."

It was at this point that Mercury stood up from her chair and sauntered over to one of the weapons stations. It didn't matter which weapon she chose. Glancing down at the assortment, she quickly picked up a sword and a regular hunting knife and proceeded over to one of the dummies. Thankfully the majority of them could be transported easily, so she wheeled one over back to her chair where she sat down again. She set the sword down next to her for another moment and twirled the knife around in her hand as she glared icily at the deciders of her fate.

"So what if you can feed yourself for a while? How many of them don't mind the idea of killing? How many of them would hesitate to kill another, and in doing so could cause their own death because of that moment's wait? Do you honestly think that any of them want to kill? They don't. They just want to survive. It will not matter, in the end, if they're only there because they waited it out and were able to feed themselves. You think that someone who skates along and avoids fighting of any kind will be able to survive at that last battle? You know the answer just as well as I do. They don't want to kill, they don't know how to kill, they feel guilty for even thinking of it. And you know it, too. You know that the Games have to be successful, and would you honestly let a tribute live if they sat around and didn't kill because it was against their morals or because they were afraid to die?"

She stood up and tightened her grip on the knife in her right hand. "You have to be.." She stabbed at the dummy fiercely. "Violent." She kicked the dummy in the gut. "Bloodthirsty." She swiftly swung her knife at the dummy once again, this time stabbing it in the head with brute force. "Selfish." She pulled the knife out of the dummy's head, spun around so that she was facing the back of the fake tribute. This time she flung it, and the knife landed squarely between where a normal person's shoulder blades would sit. "And for goodness' sake, you have to enjoy the kill." For a last attack to the dummy, she turned and picked up the sword that she hadn't yet used and fluidly decapitated the already-dead-several-times-over dummy. Just for good measure, she put both hands on the hilt of the sword and thrust it into the dead object and left it there before she turned her eyes towards the Gamemakers.

"I am all of those things. I don't care who I kill, I don't care whose lives I ruin. There is no one out there more than I who enjoys blood being spilled, and you know I won't hesitate to kill someone. I'll even be anticipating the moment." Setting her right hand on her hip, she ran the other through her hair and raised her eyebrows at them questioningly.

They said nothing once more, they only sat there staring. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at that, and in a last-minute decision, she strutted over to the nearest Gamemaker, took his pen out of his hand ("Kay thanks so much."), stole one of their papers, and fluidly wrote one word down.

M-E-R-C-U-R-Y

"I'd keep that if I were you," She said with an almost seductive voice as she handed the paper and pen back. "It's going to be worth a lot more when I win."

Smirking, she rolled her eyes at them once more and strutted back out the same way she had come.


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