Chapter 35: The Final Eight Interviews.

To Interview The Familes

"Interview time," Delaney said as she watched as Virus's body was removed from the arena. He had been so close to making it to final eight, but alas, he did not.

"They're really playing dirty tricks this year," Sofie commented as she sat down on the couch next to Colt. "Ghosts and robots and more ghosts."

"You'd think they would get more creative," Delaney said, sinking down on the other side of Colt.

"I think they're being very creative," Sofie replied, "and I'm glad I'm not in the arena anymore." She shuddered just thinking about what she had gone through the past few weeks.

"I'm glad you're not in the arena anymore either," Colt said, wrapping an arm around both of the girls in his life.

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for," Erneast Templesmith said from the screen, his son Claudius was sitting on the couch next to his father.

District 1 was first. Ivexonna Maurice's family was sitting in a room; her mother, her brother, and her best friend.

Caesar Flickerman was sitting next to Ivexonna's mother. Ivexonna was the spitting image of her mother. Same straight black hair, and cold, unforgiving eyes. The same nose and ears.

"May I introduce Ivexonna's family to you: her mother, Belle Maurice, her brother Kimmling, and her best friend Jaelen."

"Hello Caesar," they chimed in unison.

"Final eight, that's a huge deal," Caesar said. Delaney remembered when she had her interview with him that she had felt super bad about speaking ill to him. He was so nice, but it had all been part of the plan. The Peacekeepers swept her away and stuffed her in a room, Delaney wasn't sure what was going on. She didn't know where she was. All that she knew was that Colt had asked her to make a scene, so she had. She sat there in the room unaware of what was going to happen to her for hours. She thought was going to die of boredom, when out of the shadows, came a girl who looked exactly like she did. It had been Tilly, and Tilly stayed in the room while Delaney was snuck away to get her appearance altered.

"Ivexonna has a good head on her shoulders," Mrs. Maurice said, "she's always been stubborn and hard headed. She wants to win, so she'll win."

"I feel sorry for whoever gets in her way," Kimmling put in.

"Were you close with your sister?" Caesar asked.

"Sometimes," Kimmling said cryptically. Mrs. Maurice grinned.

"The two of them can fight like nobody's business. I actually miss it; it's too quiet in the house without her."

"It got scary at times," Jaelen added, "they would wrestle each other just to make their point. Ivexonna usually won."

"She did not," Kimmling shot at Jaelen.

"She's a good fighter," Jaelen said, taking a walk down memory lane, "I remember this one time at school, Ivexonna and this one kid got into it, and Ivexonna beat him to a pulp in just seconds."

"So Ivexonna is violent?" Caesar asked.

"She's just someone you don't want to mess with," Jaelen responded.

"She stands up for what she believes in," Kimmling put in.

"She used to be such a sweet child, but then her father died, my husband. Oh she worshiped him. She was such a daddy's little girl, and she was devastated when he died."

"He would be so proud of her Mom, of all of us," Kimmling said, putting an arm around his mother. Mrs. Maurice nodded, a faint sign of a tear in the back of her eyes.

"Well, I wish Ivexonna all the best."

"Thanks Caesar, we're rooting for her."

They showed a shot of Ivexonna, she was currently prowling through the woods with Louka. For once they were silent, there was no Trax or Emily to argue with.

After District 1 it jumped to District 3. Meleana Renn was the sole remaining tribute from her district.

Flamiken was interviewing her family.

"She doesn't look good," Colt whispered to Delaney. Delaney agreed. There was something off about Flamiken. Delaney wondered what was wrong. Nothing good. Flamiken looked pale and her eyes were all glazed over.

Flamiken was her usual terse self as she asked the usual questions. If one didn't know Flamiken all that well, they would think that everything was just dandy. But Delaney knew Flamiken enough to know that something was wrong.

"Betta and I are extremely surprised that Meleana has gotten this far," her father said.

"She's a great girl, and we love her to bits and pieces, but Meleana…she always has her head in the clouds and barely pays attention," Betta, her mother, said.

"She's a klutz mom," Meleana's sister said, "it's that simple."

"Karla," Mrs. Renn scolded. "They're always fighting," she explained to Caesar, a bit apologetic. Why was it that mothers always had to apologize for their child's bad behavior. It wasn't always the mom's fault. Sometimes, it really was the fault of the child. But parents had this unnecessary need to apologize for every little thing.

"Not like Clem and Mel though, those two argue about the best way to hold a pencil," Karla shot back.

Clem was Meleana's friend, he glared at Karla. "We do not argue, she has admitted that the best way to hold a pencil is with your hands, not your feet."

After the interview with Meleana's family they showed a short clip of her. Meleana was currently with Myrrah, they hadn't broken their alliance yet, but they would soon. Almost all alliances broke at the final eight.

"I liked them both, I hope one of them will win," Sofie said quietly as Louka's family was shown on screen. "They were so nice to me."

"And to me," Delaney chimed in.

"You weren't even there," Sofie shot at her, "we all thought it was you, but in actuality, it was Tilly. Meleana and Myrrah avenged Tilly's death, not yours."

"I know," Delaney said, her eyes saddened. "I feel bad, we both do," she looked over at Colt, he was trying to hold himself together. Tilly's death was still gnawing on their insides. "But it was her choice, Colt didn't make her do it, she wanted to do it. She knew what was at stake."

"She said it had always been her dream to go into the games," Colt whispered, "it was actually her idea, I told her that I wanted to save Delaney, that the only thing I could come up with was to switch her out, but I didn't know who to switch her with. Tilly was the one who suggested herself."

"So there you go, stop beating yourself up."

"We're missing Louka's interview," Sofie pointed out.

"Well, it's not really Louka's interview, just about him," Delaney said, earning herself some glares. She shut up and turned back to the television screen.

"You're glowing," Wendetta chirped as she put a hand on Lindi's stomach. "How far along are you?"

"Not even three months," Lindi replied, jerking away. "I'm not showing yet."

"Well, you're going to be a great mother. This is going to be a lucky baby."

"She'll be even luckier if her father is around to see her be born," Lindi said, her voice dripping with poison.

"You know it's a girl?"

"I'm hoping, I already have a name picked out for her, that is, if Louka approves of it."

"Aw, that's so cute! What is it?"

"I don't want to jinx it, you'll have to wait for me to pop her out."

"That really sucks," Delaney said as Louka was shown on screen. Him and Ivy were still on the prowl, they hadn't run into any tributes yet. "His girlfriend is pregnant, they're madly in love, and he might die and not even know if his baby is a girl or boy."

"Shh, it's District Seven's turn," Sofie shushed her.

"You'll get used to her," Colt told Sofie, "she doesn't know how to shut up."

Delaney did what any sister would do, she stuck her tongue out at him, he made a not so attractive face back at her.

"It's good you already have someone," Delaney smirked, "because no one would want you after seeing that face."

"Welcome Leo, this is your second year in a row of being interviewed."

"Myrrah and Autumn both had a load of rotten luck. I was rooting for Autumn to come home alive, and now I am rooting for Myrrah to come home."

"She's the spitting image of her late sister," Caesar said.

"Yes, she is, but total opposite in personality."

"I noticed."

Myrrah was shown on screen, she and Meleana were pigging out on food that their sponsors had sent to them.

Thorn's family consisted of his parents. And a little red headed girl.

His mother had tears running down her face. She had never made it this far last year. Her oldest son Hunter hadn't made it past the blood bath. Now she was holding on to a bit of hope that her youngest son might just come home to her.

"He is such a joy to have around, both him and Hunter. They didn't always get along, but they were best friends," Mrs. Trappe said.

"He'll come home sweetie," Mr. Trappe tried to assure his wife. "We just have to have faith." But they knew that even if he did come home, he would come home broken. Mrs. Trappe was all ready to fix it though. He just needed to come home, they could deal with the aftermath of the games once he was home safe and sound.

"He's my best friend," the red headed girl said, she had been introduced as Eris. "We put on a play together one time, we both had lead roles." Her eyes went cloudy as she remembered the past.

The screen cut to Thorn. He was currently in a scuffle with Tessy, and she had the upper hand.

They didn't focus on him for that long. It was time for Tessy's family to get interviewed.

Her aunt and uncle, the real Rosie and her two friends were there.

"Rosily is fine," her aunt said, "when we saw that Rosily look alike on the screen, we were so terrified, I went into a panic until I found that Rosily was still napping in her bed."

"It must have been heartbreaking for Tessy," her uncle added. "She's a tough cookie, she's been through so much."

"She's a favorite to win," the interviewer said, "she's won the hearts of many sponsors."

"That's because she has a big heart, that's why she volunteered in my place," Tessy's friend said.

"Oh yes, Jezebel, your name was pulled, and Tessy pushed her way up to stage, people are still talking about that act of kindness."

"She has to come home," Jezebel said, "she just has to."

Tessy was shown, she was still fighting with Thorn, but he was beginning to give her a run for her money. He was pretty quick and darting back and forth.

Louka and Ivexonna came into view, Thorn took off as Ivexonna's knife went whizzing through the air. It missed him by inches. It feel with a clank to the ground, Thorn darted back.

"Thanks," he chirped to Ivexonna as he grabbed it and went running off.

Her eyes widened, "Why you little..." she broke off as Tessy tried to run. Ivy wasn't going to let two tributes get away.

Ivy's legs soared through the air as she flew over to Tessy and tackled her to the ground.

Only the families of the District Ten tributes were left. But the fight that was going on was really captivating, the interviews would have to wait until the fight was over.

Tessy kicked Ivexonna in the shin and then ran.

"That was a sad fight," Sofie observed, "the Capitol is going to want bloodshed soon."

"Well that just means we can finish watching the interviews."

"Andromeda is your daughter right Mr. Furrow," the interviewer said.

"Yes, Romy is my only family. Her mother died giving birth to Romy. Romy is the spitting image of her mother, it's difficult to look at her sometimes."

Mr. Furrow stopped talking after that. He was a man of few words. So the interviewer switched over to Romy's two friends.

"Ally, Elousia, you've been Romy's best friends for how long?"

"Since we were five," Elousia said, "Ally was being picked on by some jerk, and Romy and I stood up for her."

"We have been by each other's sides ever since," Ally said.

"Except when you're snogging Ryan, we leave you alone then," Elousia pointed out, red crept up on Ally's cheeks.

Ally stayed in the room for Ryan's interview.

Ryan's sisters and an older woman filed into the room.

His sisters were both younger and very adorable.

"Can two people win?" Ally asked, "because I want both Romy and Ryan to come home. I love them both so much. Romy like a sister, and Ryan, well, if he comes home, I'm whisking him off to the Justice Building and forcing him to marry me."

"You're going to be our sister!" Ryan's sisters exclaimed.

"She practically already is," Ryan's grandma pointed out.

Ryan and Romy were shown on screen. For once, they weren't being pursued by anything. For once they were safe from harm. Although, Ryan was still getting over his previous injuries, but he would be okay.

They were the last District to be shown. None of the tributes from eleven and twelve were still alive.

The door flew open and Flamiken rushed in, "I don't know how, but they know about what happened, they know Rose and Delaney are still alive, you have to run."

To interview the families, one had to have a list of questions.

Trivia question: What is the name of Tilly's best friend?

Previous Trivia Answer: Before Death, how many years was it since the snowspiders had been in the arena? 5 years

We're going to hear from the Girl Power Alliance next, or at least, what's left of it.

If the tribute you are sponsoring dies, you are allowed to PM me your sponsor change.

New poll is up, go vote on who you want to win.

And I have decided that this is going to be 40 chapters. So only 5 more until it's over. But don't despair, I'm writing one more part to the 'Just' series, it's called "Freedom is Just a Dream," and will be the story of the 54th games. I am opening up tribute submissions now.

Please PM the form to me, please be detailed

Name:

Age:

District:

Gender:

Appearance:

Personality:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Weapon of choice:

Family:

Friends:

Volunteered/chosen:

Skills/hobbies:

Token:

Character flaw:

Additional information:

Any strange/nervous habits:

Do you want him/her to be a focus tribute or bloodbath tribute:

Please Review.

~*Misty*~