etcircenses: (Default)
Panem Events ([personal profile] etcircenses) wrote in [community profile] thecapitol2013-12-15 06:36 am

The Crowning of Enjolras

WHO| All Tributes and Victor, plus a few Capitol guests
WHAT| The Crowning of Enjolras
WHERE| The Tribute Center
WHEN| A few weeks after the end of the Arena
WARNINGS| Forced medical experimentation, needles.

The atmosphere surrounding the Crowning is both tense and secretive. The style teams flutter around listlessly, having received no information from which to draft their designs. Newspapers take bets on when it will be announced where the Crowning is being held, descending into grousing when no press release is given. Peacekeepers pour in and out of the Tribute Center, accompanied by scientists who occasionally pull Tributes aside and look at the veins in their elbows. Even the Avoxes seem jumpier than usual.

Aside from the Tribute Center's new giant marble statute of a nude Enjolras, posed like the famed David, one could almost forget the party is supposed to be celebratory.

When the day arrives, the Escorts and their assistants don't lead the Tributes to their style teams to be gussied instead. Instead, they hush the Tributes and bring them to their bedrooms, where a Peacekeeper, a white-coated citizen and several Avoxes await them. The Escorts instruct the Tributes to lay down in their bed and close their eyes, and a needle is inserted into their arms that the Escorts insist will 'take them to the party'. It's soon followed by a series of sensors taped to the forehead.

Just relax, the Escorts say, and they do their very best to make sure their Tributes feel minimal anxiety. If the Tributes resist too much, more Peacekeepers are called in, and the Tributes are forced into submission.

The first effect is a sort of paralysis - not the terrifying inability to move, but a signal to the brain that says why move? Moving is so much effort. It's quickly followed by drowsiness, and then a chill that radiates from the needle into the body, and finally, unconsciousness.

And that is when the party begins. The Tributes, now dressed in luxurious 1830's French clothing of a quality beyond even what their Stylists could manage, wake up in the front row of a large stone theater setting reminiscent of, simultaneously, Greek and French architecture. The floor of the theater is filled with buffets of every imaginable sort of food. Rose petals fall from the sky, which displays a sunset worthy of award-winning photography.

For his part, Enjolras sits in a throne made of books on the ring of the amphitheater, flanked by Marius, Cosette, Eponine, and bizarrely enough Venus Dee Milo and Ellie, seated on lush pillows and carpets made of dinosaur skin (with the heads comically attached and eyes lolling).

"Welcome, welcome, our Tributes and Mentors, to the first ever somnofestival, sponsored by Hypnogogia!" Caesar Flickerman, noted talkshow host and Games presenter, appears in a fabulous sequined toga in the center of the amphitheater. He doesn't need a microphone; the acoustics here are flawless. "And congratulations to our Victor! Let us hear it for Enjolras!"

He awaits applause.

"As you may have noticed, you're inside a shared dream, due to the just fantastic technology from the Capitol and certain, ah, biological contributions from our dear favorite Aunamee." He holds a hand out and gestures to Aunamee, anticipating wild applause. "We thought that for our most philosophical Victor yet, we should celebrate in a way that's a little bit…cerebral."

Caesar laughs and gestures at all the food, then puts a cheeky finger to his lips. "By all means, enjoy yourselves. Even the most indulgent desserts here won't show up on your hips tomorrow. The party only last three hours, so you might as well get started!"

He vanishes into thin air, leaving the Tributes to celebrate. Occasionally, the Tributes will hear voices in their heads - chatter from the Peacekeeper and scientist and Escort still in their room, in the waking world. Otherwise, this is a party like any other, if somewhat surreal in nature.

-/-

The party begins the same way for all the Tributes. For an unlucky few, however, it soon diverges as they come under an unfortunate glitch in the system.

They'll look around and find only a handful of their fellow Tributes around them. The sky, rather than being a magnificent splay of color, is now blank white, and yet the lighting in the theater seems dim. A sense of panic, detached from any conscious thoughts, surges forth in them like the tide.

For them, this isn't a shared dream. This is a shared nightmare.
alldeduction: (dangerous look)

[personal profile] alldeduction 2014-01-02 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
Sherlock made a frustrated sound, shutting his eyes tightly as he rubbed his palms over his face.

"No, of course not, I'm too inhuman for you to understand," He said, a glimpse of a mirrored hurt before he composed himself. "Why should the context matter when it's easier to blame me for my actions? For exaggerating feelings that you didn't even pretend to reciprocate--"
orestes: (pic#7217197)

[personal profile] orestes 2014-01-02 02:24 am (UTC)(link)
"Indeed," Enjolras agrees, sparking with something that isn't quite enthusiasm. "For myself, I see no sense in it, even were I to ignore the human element, which I cannot and would not. A powerful state like Panem is more than capable of providing for its people, and yet it does not. Moreover, as the Districts supply the Capitol with its wealth, it would seem in their best interests to keep the people there happy and well attended."

His speech is quick and entirely, tellingly sincere. He's more than willing to believe in Zelos' seemingly scandalized reaction because to him, it's the only possible sane reaction. "They cripple themselves as a nation and it will be their undoing."
orestes: (pic#7217276)

[personal profile] orestes 2014-01-02 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
To his credit, Enjolras at least attempts to look back at his friend with some kind of reassurance. In truth, he suspected it might be better for them both if Cosette did forget the entire idea of a marriage. The more he considers it, however, the more a visible affair with someone one actually cares for seems like a strategic disadvantage, particularly in Panem. Still, it isn't his place to posit such things. He and Marius are not that close despite their forced bond here and at the barricade, and he has never understood the man that well. Marius throws himself entirely and dangerously into things in which Enjolras has absolutely no interest or appreciation.

"I am certain she will. The Capitol has many faults, but their technology is hardly ever one of them." He's never been a particularly good liar, but he covers it by averting his gaze away from Marius for the moment, seeming to dismiss the man's concern. "And if they could allow us to forget things from today, their efforts would be better spent on people other than your intended."
celebrityskinned: (Default)

[personal profile] celebrityskinned 2014-01-02 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
"Sure did." She almost goes on to say she's a televised superheroine, but she suspects that that might be as useful as just speaking gibberish at Kain. "And I was real good at it, too."
orestes: (pic#7217131)

[personal profile] orestes 2014-01-02 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
He didn't miss the surreptitious glance in Shepherd's general direction. If what Azula was saying had any truth to it whatsoever, the woman would probably prove to be a problem for Enjolras as well. Everyone was, for the most part, civil within District 5, but that was the best that could be said for many of their relationships, and he got the distinct impression that she didn't like him.

"I have never paid attention to the sponsors either." That was a lie, at least in part, but he said it quickly as if simply spitting it out would make it seem more convincing. In truth, Enjolras was fascinated by the people who were so fascinated by the Games. He could hardly hope to understand them, they were so very foreign to him in every way. Sadly, he'd probably ruined his one relationship with one of them. Being a competent mentor was starting to seem a daunting task.
orestes: (pic#7217250)

[personal profile] orestes 2014-01-02 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
At that, Enjolras frowned, pulling himself back from the spectacle with scorn. "To your feet, monsieur!"

He hadn't expected the creature to bow before him. It was logical, perhaps, when removed from the concept of the Games, but the reaction filled him with a purely egalitarian horror. "I am no despot. If anything, I am a puppet, the same as you."
orestes: (pic#7221554)

[personal profile] orestes 2014-01-02 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
For his part, Enjolras is doing his best not to consider the logistics of just what the Capitol was doing to them. It's easier if he simply avoids thinking of it all too deeply. After all, if he did, the horrors of the Capitol would start to outshine the horrors of the Arena and then there truly would be no escape for them ever.

"I had a... Friend in Paris who insisted that every bottle and every glass produced a different pitch." He stumbles over what to actually call Grantaire. It's awkward, but doesn't last long before he settles on a word. It still seems inadequate and slightly disingenuous, and despite the benign quality of the story, he feels bad for misrepresenting himself to his acquaintance. "I never believed him. Perhaps I should have."
drpsychosomatic: (looking up)

[personal profile] drpsychosomatic 2014-01-02 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
"Don't you dare--"

He cut off abruptly despite having interrupted, eyes narrowed and his head tilted slightly to the side, as if he was listening to a distant sound, trying to catch it. His fury, for the moment, was forgotten- very suddenly, he had found himself on duty.

"I can hear them," he whispered. "Sherlock. I can hear them, back... they're talking, in my room. My escort and someone else..."
orestes: (pic#7221549)

[personal profile] orestes 2014-01-02 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
The boy looks the way he feels, but Enjolras is better (or would like to believe that he's better) at concealing it. The noises for him began slowly, distantly, almost imperceptibly. It was the paranoia that eventually got to him, the feeling of things moving around him, just out of reach, purposefully concealing themselves from him for some doubtlessly nefarious purpose. It was first unsettling, then crushing, then paralyzing. Still, he drew into himself stubbornly, holding his chin aloft with a haughtiness that was in no way genuine.

"Be easy, my friend." He claps Justin softly on the back, but his voice isn't quite right, it doesn't sound as it should. There's a harshness to it beyond even his usual abrasiveness and he's dismayed that he's seemingly incapable of being reassuring right now.
deafscythe: (so are you ready to go?)

[personal profile] deafscythe 2014-01-02 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
Justin can usually control his reactions, shove fear aside and bury it underneath sarcastic comments and a mocking smirk. He's good at that, very good. But this is just too much. This is fear like he's felt only once before, overwhelming paranoia and chaos that he knows leads eventually into madness. He has walked this road before, snapped under the weight of terror then covered the break over with faked sanity.

He flinches at the touch, even though he is a Death Scythe, even though he has trained for years to never flinch from anyone. His breath is coming too quickly, his head hurts from the pressure of his hands against his ears. He has seen this man before, somewhere, but it takes a few long moments for recognition to sink in. And then it takes even longer for Justin to force himself into something resembling bravery.

"... You are the Victor, correct?"

He ignores the fear, shoves it away enough to try for conversation. Honestly, he's almost proud of how his voice barely shakes.
alldeduction: (dark rim light)

[personal profile] alldeduction 2014-01-02 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
Sherlock wanted to curse. He hated being interrupted and he hated being left out of the loop even more - but he actually did snap his jaw shut and decided to focus on what was important for half a moment.

"What are they saying? What are they saying? I don't know how much time we have left--"
orestes: (pic#7217142)

[personal profile] orestes 2014-01-02 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
"... I am," Enjolras confesses, and it is a confession. It's flat and hurried, and shows all too clearly just how ashamed he is of the fact. "I would rather not discuss it, if it is all the same to you, sir."

There's a noise behind them, to the left, perhaps, and he glances at it distractedly. It's just a noise, though, and he can't even be sure there was anything there to begin with. That's happening too frequently, for his liking, and it only intensifies the paranoia permeating his thoughts. Just why can't he ever catch the things circling around them? It's as if they, the mysterious they are mocking him from afar and altogether too expertly at that. "I do not believe we have met. My name is Enjolras and I represent District 5."

It's benign chatter, but it's normal, and solid, something to level out the world that seems to be shifting around them. Perhaps there is a place for smalltalk after all.
deafscythe: (Crack in the vision)

[personal profile] deafscythe 2014-01-02 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
Noise. Noise and the shadows twist, glowing red slitted eyes watching in the darkness at the edges of Justin's perepheral vision. Waiting to strike, to rip a soul apart, to peel skin from muscle and rip out viscera as easily as butchering a pig. With just about the same level of remorse. Red glowing eyes watching and judging and finding everyone untrustworthy. Unworthy.

"Justin." He says, sounds clipped shortly off. "Justin Law. District 7."

The shadows are moving, rising up around him to strike at him. He's sure they are. But he's equally sure that when he turns to look, everything will be normal.

"I arrived at the beginning of the last arena."

He can't stand the feeling of something creeping up on him, so he glances back behind him. Nothing unusual, except the way his shadow on the floor is the shape of a guillotine.

"This cannot be the sort of victory celebration you envisioned."

Maybe it is.
orestes: (06;)

[personal profile] orestes 2014-01-02 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
"Not at all," It isn't a lie exactly. In truth, his ideal celebration would have been the Capitol completely ignoring the Games' existence, if only for a day. But such was, of course, too much to ask for such a society, and Enjolras can only be grateful it isn't somehow worse. Apart from the strange noises that vacillate unsteadily between being too close behind him, or too distant to make distinct, there isn't even anything that unusual about the gathering.

That is, of course, until the shadow behind his new acquaintance springs to vivid life, looming darkly over them. It's an ornate recreation, but lacks the scaffolds of '93, and even the scarlet that stains the blade seems too vivid, too perfect to exist in any semblance of reality. It's terrifying and false, but now the noises he half-hears are those metal falling heavily through the grooves of the déclic. He swallows hard and tries to ignore everything around him. It's all an illusion and if he can stay grounded by the conversation, perhaps it will remain such. "I am sorry you have found yourself in Panem, Monsieur Law. I suppose you have realized by now that the people here are barbarians."

There's a split second in which Enjolras thinks he can see the shadow of a limp body falling, soft and lifeless from the bascule, but it, too, is gone when he tries to find it.

"I do not like it here," he breathes.
drpsychosomatic: (on phone)

[personal profile] drpsychosomatic 2014-01-02 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
"It's about the Tributes with superpowers," he said, trying not to talk over the conversation as much as possible. "Nano-robots that suppress the powers, not trusting that they always work. Someone in 3 is working on an upgrade, rewiring-- it's gone. They've stopped. She didn't sound happy about it, said there would be glitches, but I can't say I like the idea of rewiring brains..."
alldeduction: (look at me)

[personal profile] alldeduction 2014-01-02 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Nano-robots--" Sherlock mouthed, "Nano-robots! The powers aren't something the capitol grants them in the arena or for a fight here in the capitol, they are inhibited when they are brought in with nano-robots--"

He feels like smacking himself in the face. "What do you mean, rewiring brains? What else did they say? 3 as in district 3?"

He snaps his head around. "Punchy. We need to find Punchy. If they are robots, that means they are programmed, and if they are programmed then--"

He flickered. He didn't noticed he flickered but for half a second he was gone before he came back again, his voice cutting in and out like static on a video tape.

"-- anything else? Can you hear anything else at all?"
Edited 2014-01-02 04:56 (UTC)
drpsychosomatic: (oh shit what is he doing now)

[personal profile] drpsychosomatic 2014-01-02 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
"Sherlock-- Sherlock, you're cutting out," he warned, eyes wide, clearly worried. "You disappeared, like you're on a faulty telephone line-- District three, yes, a kid in district three, and they didn't know. Called it technojargon, spinning, wiring- Sherlock, you're disappearing--!"
deafscythe: (I plan on burning through)

[personal profile] deafscythe 2014-01-02 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
The Victor's attention fixes on something behind Justin, and he turns slightly to examine the structure that has suddenly risen behind them. Some of the tension fades from Justin's shoulders. If they mean to frighten him, they could do far better than an illusion of his weapon form. A living guillotine is not afraid of a lifeless one. It is almost comforting.

"If they must have the games," he says, turning back toward the older man. "It is better that we fight and come back than their children fight and die."

His voice has far more confidence than he feels right now, but the faked calm will disintegrate eventually. And then there will be nothing but overwhelming, awful terror. For now, though, he can pretend.

"... Something must have gone wrong. They said this will end in three hours. We must wait until it is over."
alldeduction: (hand clasp)

[personal profile] alldeduction 2014-01-02 05:01 am (UTC)(link)
"What? I'm not--" But he flickered again before he could finish the sentence, and that time he seemed to notice. "I don't think I'm waking up, something dark--"

Flicker, then back, but dimmer than before - as if shadows were creeping up over his skin.

"Find Punchy. Tell him what you've told me, before we run out of--"

But then he was gone.
drpsychosomatic: (nightmare)

[personal profile] drpsychosomatic 2014-01-02 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
"--Sherlock! Don't you dare be dead!" he shouted, his heart pounding- but it was too late, Sherlock was gone, he was gone- and all he'd done was make an idiot of himself. He glanced about him, chest heaving with quick, sharp breaths, and tried to get himself back under control. Punchy. Alright. He could do that. He'd just have to be very quick, very focused, and deal with everything else later.
hit_girl_mindy: (Black and white (Mindy))

[personal profile] hit_girl_mindy 2014-01-02 06:10 am (UTC)(link)
It could all be a load for all she knew. The only person she thought she could trust with that information would probably be Katniss anyway.

"If I hadn't died that way, it might be another. I was too green for this one anyway. I'll know what to do next time...that way I might not be starving in that one either."
hit_girl_mindy: (Amused (Mindy))

[personal profile] hit_girl_mindy 2014-01-02 07:02 am (UTC)(link)
A little later, Mindy walked by, though if Pruna was looking at her, she could see that there was something on her mind. Mindy looked as classy as Pruna (classier, not that she liked it), but obviously Mindy was not a fan of looking this way.

"Pruna, come here a sec. I got something to tell you."
undercoverprincess: (Isn't it lovely up here?)

No one minds lateness, right?

[personal profile] undercoverprincess 2014-01-02 07:17 am (UTC)(link)
Frankly, he looks terrible. Cindy had been very pleased to see that he had won, because if there was ever someone who could do better outside of an arena then in, it would have to be him. Still, while you could find this whole thing funny, as always with the Capitol, there was the dark underside that could put anything in a bad light.

She takes her time in getting to where he's seated. She didn't want to appear too eager to see him, even though she had wanted to see him. It was hard to get anything published when one person just got thrust center stage.

"Congratulations. I'm really impressed, and I don't mean that in a sarcastic way." Cindy gets closer, a look of annoyance on her face as she maneuvers in the clothing styles of this century. Not her favorite.
undercoverprincess: (Ready to swim)

Re: Doc Holiday

[personal profile] undercoverprincess 2014-01-02 07:34 am (UTC)(link)
Her first instinct had been to fight. Fight with all you have, go into that whole hair pulling, nail scratching kind of things. Like the fights she had with Dorothy, where cat fight was only a small word used to describe those kind of fights.

She didn't do that, though. She struggled, gave in, went all full temptress on a few of them while she did it; but she did give in. And here she was. And here she was, slowly walking in this dress, which was nice enough, but reminded her of the time that she had to wear it, and that wasn't as much fun as it seemed like it would be.

"Holiday!" When she saw her, Cindy immediately came over, rustling in a dress the same color green as her eyes.
hit_girl_mindy: (Wtf? (Mindy))

[personal profile] hit_girl_mindy 2014-01-02 07:43 am (UTC)(link)
Speaking of that...

"Hey." Mindy was there, right next to Ellie, and regarded Venus a moment. What the hell. If she knew Ellie, she couldn't be trouble.

"Got a message for you."