Trigger Warning: Eidolon's in a really dark place. Poor guy.

Honeydew "Honey" Wrack, 17, District 1 Tribute POV

The moment the elevator doors open on the training floor, I find my brother and throw myself into his arms.

"Eidolon!" I cry. "I missed you so much! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have volunteered. I made a mistake, I..."

My voice dies in my throat. I'm expecting Eidolon to come up with some comforting response or gently tell me off for volunteering, like he did when we were little and I hurt myself training. All I want is some sign that the brother I'd mourned for a year is back.

But Eidolon doesn't say a word. He opens his mouth to speak and no sound comes out.

"You okay?" I ask.

Eidolon shakes his head, tears brimming in his eyes. I'm not used to seeing him like this. My big, powerful brother looking so helpless.

"What's wrong?" I ask. "Can you tell me?"

He staggers over to the camouflage station, grabs a pot of dye and dips his finger in it. Then he writes onto the floor.

"I CAN'T SPEAK."

"What? Did they do something to you?" I ask.

Eidolon nods and begins to cry.

I realise what's happening to him. I remember my death very vividly but it was nothing compared to what Eidolon went through. All I remember is a knife in my chest and Gloss holding my hand, telling me that I was a worthy opponent. I can go about my life pretending it was just a nightmare.

But Eidolon never woke up from his nightmare.

I realise that I need to be the strong one now. My big brother needs me to look after him.

"It's okay," I say. "It's over. I'm not going to let Enobaria do anything to you again."

Eidolon flinches when he hears her name. I wrap my arms around him and let him cry on my shoulder.

"I'll tell Gloss how awful she is." I whisper. "I'll get him to take you away from her. It's all going to be okay. The nightmare is over. I'm going to protect you."

But I know there's no way the nightmare is over. Eidolon and I are both going into the arena and only one tribute is going to leave alive.

I can't protect him from the Quell.

Eidolon Wrack, 19, District 2 Tribute POV

I'm trying to light a fire on the second day of training but I'm a little distracted by the sight of two boys kissing.

Moss Hawkins and that guy from Three with the glasses and the dark hair are kissing over at the camouflage station. It would be rather sweet if Silver Oberst weren't yelling at Three to get away from his boyfriend.

That was exactly why I was never interested in relationships at the academy. So much drama for such little pleasure. I went one one date with one girl and decided it wasn't really worth it.

I kind of wonder what it would be like kissing a boy. I never tried it at the academy but that was because boys don't kiss other boys at the academy. And if I didn't enjoy it, it'd be double the drama for the same amount of enjoyment as kissing a girl. I thought it was better to keep my head down and train. I thought I could wait until I won before I thought about relationships.

But I didn't win. And now I'm all broken inside, there's no point in thinking about victory or relationships anymore. I don't even know why I'm interested in whatever going on between the three boys at the camouflage station.

"Hey," Honey says. "What are you looking at?"

I can't answer her but she can probably tell.

"Ah, those guys over there..." Honey says. "Eidolon, I've been wondering this for a while... Are you gay?"

I frown.

"Sorry," she says. "I'm probably jumping to conclusions. It's just... when you died, I realised that there were a lot of things I never learned about you. I never figured out why you weren't interested in dating girls. A lot of my friends were into you. I was pestered about it a lot."

I smile. Honey has a way of making this terrifying situation more normal. It's almost like we're back in Four. I can imagine what her friends might've thought of me, Honey's hot older brother. It's so mundane and trivial, it's comforting.

"So have you figured it out yet?" Honey asks.

I shake my head.

"That's okay," Honey says, kindly. "You can figure it out when you win."

I sigh. I want to tell my sister that there's no way I'm winning the Quell. I'm broken and she's fine. If we reach the final two and I don't sacrifice myself for her, it'll be a waste.

No matter how kind she is to me, no matter how safe she makes me feel in training, away from Enobaria's cruel words, that won't change. Nothing will fix me. I have to die. My sister has to live.

"I almost forgot!" Honey cries, slowly raising a piece of burning kindling in front of my face. "Happy birthday! Make a wish!"

I'm briefly frozen by confusion.

"When you died, it was four days before your nineteenth birthday," she explains. "Now it's been four days since you were brought back. It's your birthday, Eidolon!"

I smile, grateful for the small things that'll make the remainder of my life a little brighter. There's no party, no cake, no presents, just my sister offering me a birthday wish.

And it feels like my birthday.

So I blow out the piece of kindling and wish that Honey will be able to spread her kindness to the rest of the world for a longer time than the Quell gives her. I wish that my sister wins the Quell.

And that nothing happens in the arena that'll leave her as broken as I am.

Liberty "Libby" Stringer, 12, District 4 Tribute POV

Everyone involved in the rebellion has a major job. They're either protecting tributes or escaping from the arena or protecting tributes who are trying to escape from the arena.

Then there's me. My job is to stay out of trouble.

Luckily, there's someone else whose job is also to stay out of trouble. Lacquera Wake doesn't know fully about the rebellion but her mentor managed to bribe her into playing along. Annie and I came up with a plan to keep her out from doing anything too damaging. That'll be my contribution to the rebellion.

"Hi," I say to Lacquera. "I'm Libby. Can we be allies?"

"Oh. My. Gee!" Lacquera cries, "You're the one from District 4, aren't you?"

"Yeah..." I say. Really, I'm from Eight but she seems so pleased to be meeting a Four that I don't want to disappoint her.

"Have you met Finnick Odair?" Lacquera asks. "Is he dreamy?"

"He's pretty dreamy, for someone twice my age." I say.

Lacquera laughs, bitterly. "I kind of want to grow up now."

"Same," I agree.

"Let's say one of us wins the games," Lacquera says. "I did the maths. The youngest single male victor is twenty. We'll have to wait for a new one."

"Okay..." I say. I guess Lacquera isn't aware of the whole 'overthrow the government and end the games forever' part of the plan.

I consider myself lucky that I'm not the poor soul who has to tell her.

Lacquera Wake, 14, District 6 Tribute POV

Libby and I head to the axe-throwing station right after the Careers leave. It meant we got to watch Eros flirt with Rusalka, which was fun because he's hot but also a little scary because he's probably going to kill me.

It seems like all of the guys going into this games are hot. I guess there's a correlation between coming second and being hot. Unfortunately, most of them are much older than me. Unless I can get Houghton into my alliance, I don't think there's anyone worth making out with.

There are a few positives to all the hot guys being four years older than me. Firstly, I won't get distracted by crushes in the arena. Secondly, I can focus all of my attention on being allies with Libby.

Also, I didn't have an ally last time. I'm already better off!

I pick up an axe and swing it around a few times to get a feel for it. Then I aim at the nearest target. I consider aiming right for the centre and then decide against it.

If there's one advantage to not being able to use my weapon of choice last games, it's that my opponents don't know how strong I really am. They all think I'm this cheerful little girl who's good at swimming and not much else.

I can hold onto my advantage and take them all by surprise.

Even though the axe doesn't hit the target dead-centre, Libby seems amazed.

"Wow!" She cries. "Where did you learn to throw an axe like that?"

"District 7's lumber yards," I say. "You should see what happens when I aim for the centre of the target."

"Huh," Libby says. "You don't learn much in Eight. I can make you a dress, I guess."

I gasp. I love dresses. I never thought about making them, though.

"You can make dresses! That's so awesome!"

"Not if you're in an area full of trained killers," Libby says, quietly. I guess she's a little scared. I'd be scared if I didn't know how to throw an axe.

I have to stay positive. That's the only way we'll both get far in the Quell

"It's okay," I say. "I'll do all the fighting for you if you want me to. Maybe I can teach you a few tricks."

"Okay," Libby says, walking over to the rack to pick up an axe. It's a little too heavy for her.

"How do you even lift this?" She asks.

"I've got pretty big arms," I say. "Maybe try something a little smaller."

All the POVs turned out pretty short. I guess it's because none of the tributes are caught up in any elaborate plans. The Wracks' POVs get hit by the extra penalty of having no dialogue, since Eidolon can't speak. I got so sad writing their POVs because things seem so hopeless for them. Eidolon is really suffering and Honey's desperately trying to comfort him, even though they both believe that only one of them can survive. There's some hope for the Wracks, though. If they're both still alive when the rebels end the games, they'll both Enobaria their way to a victory of sorts.

Also, cutting from sibling angst to Libby and Lacquera is probably the biggest mood change I've pulled since chapter 43 of All I Do Is Lose. Libby and Lacquera are kind of the odd ones out in the rebellion because they don't really have a major role. They're just trying to survive.

Next chapter will cover the loners. Then we'll get onto the private sessions!