Sage Greenberg, District 11 Male: Testing day

"Attention tributes!" A voice fills the room from the loudspeaker on the ceiling. "As you know today is the test, to see who is the smartest and who is the strongest. It will start in half an hour, so please make your way to the testing building."

Nerves flickered through my body as Celosia and I got up from the table, bid goodbye to our mentor, Matilda, walked into the elevator and pressed the button marked 'T'. I can't believe today was the test. The one that, if won, would make me stand out to sponsors. I didn't see a problem with that considering my main trait was my intelligence.

"Sage Greenberg," I say confidently, approaching the peacekeeper that stood in a check-in table. It reminded me of the set up of the town square when the Reaping rolled around.

"District?" the woman harshly replied writing my name on the piece of paper she held, next to Onyx Forti, Sasha Snowbell, Ciara Teal, Kinnik Verdugo and Anella Finch.

"Eleven,"

"Next!" She shouts after scribbling the number next to my name.

I moved out of the way so Celosia could sign-in, looking for a place to sit. I remember all the names of the people around me and none of them were in my alliance. Ciara and Anella were talking in hushed voices, probably some sort of plan for the bloodbath. Kinnik stared off into space and didn't really look like the approachable type. Sasha stared at me with a death glare, as if I murdered her cat. Quickly I looked away from the scary, goth girl and took a seat next to Onyx.

His sandy blonde hair was what struck me first. It almost looked bleached, but with streaks of darker hair throughout. He gives me a look of uncertainty, and I look down at my outfit. It was a dark blue with turquoise stripes that ran up the joggers and matching tight-fitting shirt. It was the same as everyone's, so I didn't see any reason I'd look weird.

"You're from Eleven, right?"

"Yeah," I sigh, tiwiling one of my braids around my finger.

"You ready for the test?"

"Of course. I love tests."

"That's nice." He replies. "I don't,"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? Because I'm not very smart. Because I was voted into these stupid games 'cause I'm different!" He shouts, getting to his feet and storming out of the building. I cast a glance at Celosia before following the mysterious boy.

"You were voted in out of spite?" I ask, running to catch up to the boy.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't care," he murmurs pushing me away with his arm.

"Just because I'm young doesn't mean I don't care. Try me."

"You won't, alright. You just won't!"

"Yes, I will." I reply as he tries to walk away from me. I rush to catch up with him and look him in the eyes.

"Why don't you just leave me alone!" He shouts as tears start to fall from his pale face.

"Because, no one deserves to be left out in the cold with no one there for them."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" he asks, turning away from me.

"Because."

"That's not an answer." He replies, turning back around to face me. "You could be in there talking with your little alliance but instead you're out in the snow with me."

"Well, no one needs to be sad." I croak.

"You're sweet, but you won't understand."

"Why? Because I'm young and look like a girl? Because I'm non-binary?"

"What-t?"

"You heard me. Why wouldn't I understand?"

"You're non-binary?"

"Yeah, you have a problem with that?"

"Heck, I'm sorry kid."

"What?" I ask, what did he mean by that?

"Welcome to the place where people hate you,"

"I'm so confused…"

"Kid, I'm non-binary. That's why I was voted in." They say wrapping their arms around me. I genuinely feel surprised. No one had ever had that reaction before…

"I'm sorry," I croak.

"No I am. You're way too young for this."

"The capital doesn't think so." I mumble.

"They're wrong. Come on, the test will start soon." They reply letting go of me and slipping their hand into mine.

Sasha Snowbell, District 5 Female: Testing day

"Sasha Snowbell." The man replies, checking something off on his clipboard.

"What?"

"Follow me," he says, just like he's said to the last eight tributes.

"What is this test even for?" I mumble under my breath. I knew the answer, it was to find who was the smartest and the strongest of the tributes.

"Actually-" the man starts to say.

"It was a rhetorical question." I interrupt.

"Alright. In here." He replies, rolling his eyes and pointing to a small glass box.

"Why?"

"It's a simulator. Just wait."

"Sure," I sigh, following his orders.

"Now put these on." He says, handing me a pair of earmuffs.

"What the hell are these for?"

"Just put them on. I don't have time to deal with your drama."

"I don't have any drama."

"Just put them on!"

"Fine," I sigh, putting the earmuffs on.

"Now close your eyes."

"Alright…" I say obliging to his instructions.

As soon as my eyelids fall my vision gets foggy and then suddenly clear. All I can see is a rectangle made almost entirely of light. It has words written red but I can't make them out. Slowly I take a step forward and try to read the words.

I gather my courage and make my way over to the rectangle. A gasp leaves my mouth as I realize what the words are made of. Blood. They're made of blood.

That's when I feel a sharp prick on my wrist. I turn it over and look at the lines that criss-crossed over my wrist. Just like the ones on Callum's dead body. Dead. Dead. Dead. The words pound in my head and I fall to my knees. Dead. Dead.

"Why me?" I cry trying to drown out the words that fill my head. Dead. Dead. Dead. "I know he's dead!"

"Is he?" A creepy voice says that silences the screaming in my head.

"Yes." I cry, standing back up. I look back to the bloodied light thing, wondering what it actually said. "Strengths." I read, "good memory, fearless and calm in a crisis."

"Yeah, always so fearless." I hear a voice that sounds almost familiar. Too familiar.

"Callum?" I croak, turning around to see a cloaked figure.

"You did this." He says, pulling off his hood and pointing to the red line across his neck.

"No, it wasn't me." I cry, reaching for my brother.

"Yes, it was!" He shouts, reaching me in only a few strides.

"Callum…"

"How does it feel?" he asks, pulling a rope out of his back pocket.

"Stop! Callum. No!" I cry grabbing his hand, "It's Sasha."

"What goes around, comes around." He laughs, grabbing my waist and wrapping the rope around my neck. I gasp, trying to move the rope away. I scratch at my neck with my nails, trying to ignore the pain of the rope.

"Callum." I croak.

"What's wrong?" Callum asks with a sickening look in his eyes. I scratched at the rope and attempted to kick my brother. None of it mattered because quickly my vision started to get black.

"Sasha…" Callum's words echoed in my head as my eyes opened again. I was back in the claustrophobic glass box.

"The blame of brother's death, interesting choice." The man says as I trace the lines on my neck. They were gone. Gone.

"What was that?" I ask, as a tear starts to fall down my face.

"It's a test of how you'll respond to your greatest fear."

"What?" I cry.

"Just go." The man sighs.

"That was the test?" I cry.

"Yep."

"Callum…"

"Come on, I'll bring you out to the waiting room."

"Callum. Test. Death."

"Honey, this is just the aftermath." The man comforts.

"No this is reality." I cry and he grabs my arm.

"Let's go."

"But…"

"It's Keir's turn."

"Keir…"

"Yeah," he nods, "your district partner."

"I know." I sigh and let him drag me out of the room. We walk back to the main room where the rest of the tributes sit.

"Keir, I'm sorry." I croak, trying not to burst out crying.

"What?" he asks as he looks up from the paper he was sketching on, blood rushes to his face.

"I'm sorry." I repeat.

"For what?"

"For being absolutely terrible to you." I sigh.

"You weren't that terrible…"

"How many times did I make you cry?"

"Oh,"

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry before I die."

"Oh,"

"I wish I could say that to Callum," I croak.

"Who?" he asks.

"My brother."

"Oh," I quickly wipe my eyes and exit the building, not caring that I have everyone's eyes on my back.

Zayn Daxton, Head Game-maker: Testing day

"Why did you call for me?" I asked, stepping into President Silver's office. I had already shown her the plans for the arena along with the test scores so there was no particular reason she'd call me here…

"Have a seat."

"So, um, why did you call me here?" I ask, sitting down in the hard wooden chair that faced the President

"I think you know." She replies calmly, lacing her fingers together.

"Can you elaborate?"

"You're so ignorant!" she shouts and I look down at the floor, "has anything weird happened? Anything suspicious."

"There have been riots in Nine," I say. Why didn't I remember that earlier? That would have saved me so much time.

"Why?" she asks, calmly turning over the paper that had laid face-down on the table.

"The girl… haven't you watched the reapings?"

"Of course I have."

"Well, the girl. She, um."

"Spit it out." President Silver replies, turning the paper back over.

"The reaping was rigged and the girl… the boy too."

"Why were they chosen to come here?"

I sigh, she knows darn well why they were voted in, the girl for the performance at the reaping and the boy for his father selling illegal maps. They needed to die to show the rebels that they can't win this.

"To scare the rebels."

She shakes her head before getting to her feet. "Why are you just scaring the rebels? They need to be eliminated." She says, taking a step toward the door, holding her hand to her pocket.

"I'll try better."

"No I've had enough of your weak attempts!" She says whipping around, pulling a knife out of her pocket, and quickly twisting it into my stomach. Pain tore through my body as I clenched my wound. Blood poured out as I stumbled forward, fire fuling my soul.

"Thea," I gasp before I fall to the ground and everything fades to dark.

Anella 'Anne' Finch, District 10 Female: Welcome party

After the exhausting test it felt good to sit down on the comfy couch. My mother and father had found out about wrestling and locked me in a cage for the rest of my life. I got out of it though, I showed them. I had done well but the careers would probably steal the show. They always seem to.

"Anne!" Abram calls entering the room after a while.

"Yeah?" I ask, "did you finish your test?"

"No, I just came up here in the middle of it." He sarcastically says. "But seriously, everyone's looking for you."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Why didn't they check here first? They had us all go to our rooms after our test."

"They, um, because, um."

"Man, I can see right through you." I reply, "you have too much of a reputation at home for pranks,"

"Fine, at least I'm trying to have a little fun,"

"Sure, at least I'm trying to plan out what will happen in the games,"

"Ugh, you're so boring." He replies heading back to his room.

"At least I'm trying to stay alive."

"Like I'm not."

"Do you have any allies yet?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"No, but I want to ask the boy from seven."

"Awesome. Tonight?"

"I was planning too. What about you, any allies?"

"Yeah, yesterday I asked the pair from Eight and the girl from Nine if I could join their group."

"Did you make it?"

"Yeah, they thought it was cool I was a wrestler."

"You're a wrestler?" he asks.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

"Nah, I've just never seen you."

"You're missing out," I sigh.

"Sure," he replies and I get to my feet.

"If at least one of us is going to die, might as well show you."

"Your wrestling?"

"Yeah." I say taking my starting position.

"I'm good," he replies, shaking his head.

"Fine. Come on, buzz kill."

"I'd prefer not to be tackled to the ground," he sighs, "I'd like that."

"Fine," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Thanks, our stylists should be here soon," he says stepping back into his room and shutting the door.

He was right, our stylists did get here soon. Forty-three minutes to be exact. They came in wearing what we could only guess were the Capital's latest trends. Lot's of leather and lace, and an overpowering amount of color.

"Ready?" Heti, my stylish, asks as she leads me into the bathroom.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Nope, let's get started."

"Ugh," I sigh, "this is going to take a while, isn't it?"

"Not that long. We just have to do your hair and make-up, since your body has been manicured already.

"Good."

"Your dress." She says holding up a soft yellow dress consisted that of ruffled tiers of beautiful lilac satin that ended in a ragged hem just above the knee. Sparkles clung to even inch of it's strapless, almost seamless self.

"I love it,"

"I thought you would." Heti smiles, holding me the dress and walking out of the room, so I could change.

I quickly take off my blue training gear I had worn to the test and step into the pretty, shiny dress. I push away a strand of my curly dirty-blonde hair and smile at the mirror. The scar just right of my left eye stares back at me.

"You alright in there?" Heti asks, shaking me back to reality.

"Yeah," I replied, opening the door to let her in.

"Ooh, that dress makes your eyes pop."

"Thanks…" I say, not exactly sure how to respond.

"Time for your hair and make-up."

"Knock yourself out," I say, turning so she could face the back of my head.

"Wow, thanks. You're better than the last few tributes I've had."

"I mean you deserve it." I say blushing at her compliment.

"You're sweet, I hope you make it back. Then we can hang out like friends." She replies. I mean, she was only a few years older than me so I don't see a problem there The real problem was winning.

"I'd love that," I say as she grabs my hair.

"Back to this. I think I just want to leave it curly. Give your beautiful hair a plain but wonderful look."

"Whatever you think is best," I say, closing my eyes and letting my mind take me back home. Back to a place where I could be myself, a place where I had people that cared about me, a place where I could stay with my brother.

"Done, what do you think?" Heti asks, bringing me back to the spacious bathroom.

"It's beautiful." I gasp. She had tied my hair up behind my head in a sort of wrap-around ponytail with a braid in the front. She left my curls the way they came and added a clip made almost entirely of flowers to the back.

"Thank you, did you see your make-up?" She asks and I notice my own face. She had hidden my angry red scar and replaced it with drawings of butterflies. She gave me blue eyeshadow and pink, sparky lips.

"Awesome, I love it so much." I say turning around wrapping my arms around the girl. She drops her make-up brush and hugs me back.

Silence fills the room for a few minutes before Heti lets go and looks into my eyes, "I'm here for you." She says.

"Thank you," I whisper, scrunching up my eyes so I won't cry and ruin the make-up.

"I know this is a bad time but we've got to head to the party." Sun, District Ten's escort, says stepping into the room.

"I'm coming," I sigh, giving Heti one last squeeze before following the vibrant girl out of the room.

"You alright?" She asks, stopping in front of the second bathroom.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I reply, shallowing my feelings.

"Abram! Time to head to the party!" She calls, turning to face me. I can tell she knows something's up but doesn't push deeper.

"I'm coming." He says as he stubbles out into the hallway.

"Ready to take on the Capital?" I ask.

"Of course." He replies as we head into the giant elevator. The girl from twelve was already in there, all dressed up and ready for the party too.

"How are you doing?" Abram asks, trying to make a conversation to erase the awkwardness that filled the elevator.

"Good," she says nodding her head.

"What's up with you and your district partner?" I blurt out.

"Oh, James. He, um, doesn't like me, and I don't like him."

"Why?" Abram asks and I see her eyes shift down to the ground.

"He's the town bully and I have the courage to stand up to him."

"Ooh, that's terrible, but I admire your courage." Abram says, "do you want to be allies?"

"I guess," she smiles, "sure."

"Awesome-" he starts but is interrupted by the elevator dinging.

"Come on Misty, your hair is fine." I hear a boy say as he steps into the elevator, holding the side so it won't shut.

"But it's not perfect." The girl whines.

"It is! Come on we'll be late, I can't hold this thing for long."

"Are their other people in there?" she asks, coming out of the bathroom and into view. She was blonde like me, but way more pretty. She had on a dark blue dress that shone with sapperiers that hemed the edges.

"Oh, um, yeah." The boy says exchanging a look at the four of us. "Misty. I'm going to leave you here."

"Fine," the girl sighs before joining us in the elevator. Now the once huge elevator seemed crowded and almost clastiphopic.

"So, what are your guy's names?" the boy asks.

"Who cares Kai, they will die soon anyway."

"Actually, I don't plan on dying." Abram interjects.

"Sure, petty boy," she smirks.

"I'm not petty!" He shouts.

"Sounds like it,"

"Misty, stop." The boy, Kai, says stepping in between Abram and the girl.

"Kai, move please I want to teach this boy a lesson."

"This won't help anything but your pride," Kai reasons.

"I said move!" She shouts, pushing Kai out of the way before stalking over to Abram. "Petty boy," she laughs.

"Don't call him that," I shouted, tackling the girl to the ground.

"Anne!" Abram says obviously shocked. Kai quickly moves over and half-heartedly attempts to pull me off of her and is unsuccessful.

"Misty, you got yourself into that one." Kai laughs turning to the small girl from District 12. "I'm sorry that she's acting crazy."

"No, it's funny," the quiet girl remarks.

"I know," he chuckles.

"Kai, help!" Misty shouts as I put her in a choke hold. She struggles, kicking and clawing me.

"Girls, girls, calm down." Sun shouts.

"Fine," I sigh letting go of the prideful girl.

"Now, where is your escort?" she scolds.

"She went down early to get us sponsors." Kai replies, helping Misty up.

"Good, well we're here." Sun says and the doors open wide. The blinding lights flash above us as we step out into the huge room.

Elizabeth Oakseed, District 7 Female: Welcome Party

I grab a drink off the back counter and quickly dump the whole thing in my mouth. A funny feeling fills my stomach as I swallow the fruity tasting liquid. Why not get myself a little tipsy if I'm going to die soon anyway? Best to make the most of the night.

"Where's Celosia?" Sydney asks, tugging on my pink sleeve.

"I don't know." I reply, grabbing another drink.

"She's… I guess still up in her room. I haven't seen her since I left." Sage replies, "come on let's go get her, she's missing the party of a lifetime."

"True," I say, "there are drinks."

"Elizabeth, you're drunk."

"No." I counter setting down the drink. "Let's go,"

"Whatever." Sage sighs as we walk over to the giant elevator. It was pretty slow but would be the best way to make it up to the eleventh floor. Quickly I push the button marked eleven and the elevator starts to make it's way up.

"Alright, her room is the one on the left." Sage replies, after like ten minutes, when the doors open.

"Let's go." Sydney says as we walk to the cream-colored door and push it open.

"What the hell?" I ask. Celosia was here but so was the boy from twelve, and he had her pinned to the wall.

"Celosia." Sage gasps running forward, trying to pull the brute off.

"So your weak friends are here to save you," the boy scoffs.

"We may be young but we're strong together." Sydney says as him and I rush forward to help Sage. Celosia squirms and tries to get the boy to drop her.

"James." Sage sighs, "you can't win this." As if on cue all three of us push and the boy let's go of Celosia's wrists, dropping her to the ground.

"I thought you couldn't hurt other tributes while in the Capital." I shur. My head's spinning and I feel like I'm going to throw up my dinner.

"Is she drunk?" Celosia asks.

"You bet." Sydney says as the ground underneath me starts to shake.

"How much did you drink any-" Sydney starts to ask before he's tackled to the ground by James.

"Get off!" Sydney shierks, trying to get the boy off but fails because he's so small.

"Where's the button?" Sage shouts frantically tracing the wall.

"What button?" I ask.

"The one that alerts the Peacekeepers."

"Oh, go ahead, call the Peacekeepers." James taunts.

"Found it!"

"Help me." Sydney calls and I take a step toward him. I trip on my own feet and fall to the ground. My vision starts to darken as I grasp for Sydney. My hands find only air and my feet slip into the unknown darkness.

Suddenly I'm standing on a grassy surface looking at a giant orange spiral. I can't quite tell what it's made off but I can tell that there are three other people looking at it. One with fiery, long, red hair, one with short, light blonde hair and one with dark medium length hair.

"Final four, huh. Never thought we'd make it this far…" The red-haired girl says, as I turn my palms over.

"Where am I?" I ask, turning to face each one in turn.

"The arena…" Sydney replies looking at me like I'm crazy. "You've been in here for eight days. Killed Lily from District Twelve and Gage from District Three.

"What? Last I remember I was in Celosia's room… now I'm in the arena from last year."

"What? This is the Three-hundredth Hunger Games." Sage says calmly.

"Yeah, but…"

"But what?" Celosia asks.

"I'm in the Hunger Games…"

"Yeah, the final four."

"What happens now?" Sage asks, a painful look on his face.

"I guess we fight…" I answer.

"I can't kill any of you guys." Sage replies, setting down their knife.

"Then why did you come." I cry charging at them, wielding my sword.

"Elizabeth!" Celosia shouts but I ignore her. They don't even have time to pick up their weapon before I drive my sword into their stomach. They fall to the ground, grasping for something. Their hands still as they clenth a green choker that used to be in their pocket.

"Behind you," I hear someone gasp but it was too late. Blood starts to pour from my chest as pain tears through my body. I crumple to the ground, catching a glimpse of Sydney's dagger before my vision goes dark.

When I lift my eyelids again I'm in a pale room surrounded by empty hospital beds. Equipment beeps from somewhere behind me but I paid no attention to it. I got to my feet and took a few steps forward, my dizziness had worn off and I didn't feel like I was going to throw up.

"Where am I?" I ask, the closest person. It was a man dressed in all white with the Capital's logo printed on his shirt.

"The nurses office sweetie."

"Why am I here?"

"You got a little too much to drink last night and passed out."

"Oh,"

"Come on, I'll escort you to your room. Your friends have been eagerly waiting for you."

"Alright," I say, letting the man guide me back to the giant elevator.

A/N: Sorry about how long this chapter took but I think that it's worth it because the blog is finally done! You can find it here: marie3081 -ashesofsn owandice (remove spaces). I hope you like it, it took forever. Tell me what you think in the reviews :) Don't forget to vote on who should die in the bloodbath, the poll is on my profile.

Also don't question why the PoVs are way different lengths, I wrote them in very different moods but I think they're fine. This chapter was fun to write expenionaly when President Silver killed Zayn… what will his daughter think?

I see future alliances brewing and can't wait for the arena. I know I've said tha like a thousand times but still… I have the best idea. Also make sure to go over to my profile and vote for who should die in the bloodbath (it will end after the interviews have been posted).

Goodbye for now,

Marie464