Chapter 15:

Seraphim Lukianas, Gamemaker Intern

Awe fills Seraphim as he follows Lisia out onto the Presidential Balcony for the chariot rides, still in disbelief that this is actually his life right now. He even pinches his arm discretely as Lisia directs him to a seat next to her, only two seats away from where the President of Panem sits.

Seriously, how is this real life?

"Hello again, Seraphim," President Xavier calls to him over the muffled conversations of the gathered crowd below, all of them waiting to get their first glimpses of the tributes in person. "I assume Lisia is keeping you busy?"

Seraphim nods his head diligently as he leans past Lisia to smile at the President. "Absolutely, sir, but I don't mind the workload."

Lisia laughs at this as the lights start to dim in the Capitol, a select few lighting up the path the tributes are about to take. "Seraphim keeps asking for extra projects. He'll shape up to be a fine Gamemaker someday."

"Perhaps even Head Gamemaker?" President Xavier asks before leaning back in his chair to watch as the doors open, letting the chariots out to the crowd waiting. Which Seraphim is glad for, because he doesn't know what to tell the President in response to that question. Maybe he will someday…but Seraphim is really just trying to survive the stress of just this first year as an intern.

Seraphim tries to pay attention to the quiet conversation going on between Lisia and the President, but he's too starstruck by sitting up with the Head Gamemaker and President for the chariot rides. His brain simply can't keep up with anything but the extravagant costumes Lisia has directed the stylists to make for her grand finale.

The District One chariot appears first, but the cheers aren't as loud as Seraphim expected, no doubt due to Rodrick's criminal status. But even with the subdued cheers – still way louder than cheers for the outer Districts – the pair is dazzling under the colored lights of the Capitol, quite literally. The pair has been placed in matching white jumpsuits covered in crystals, but that's not the standout part of their costumes. That belongs to the huge wings the pair wears made entirely of long pieces of crystals that Seraphim knows makes an excessive amount of noise when moving. The final piece of their costume is a staff with a large ice blue crystal on top, tying together the crystalline outfit. Nativity stands tall and proud, waving at the crowd cheerfully and even making a few dramatic poses with her staff, all to pump up the crowd, while Rodrick stands there, giving waves at the crowd but keeping a cold and emotionless expression.

The District Two chariot appears soon and the cheers of the crowd increase at the sight of them. For a moment, the pair stands completely still, letting the illusion of their long gowns tied at the waist truly look as if made out of stone, the only thing giving it away being the stone feathers of their wings jostling with the movement of the chariot. But Marian soon breaks the spell of their stone angel costume, waving at the crowd while keeping a hard look on her face, making sure they're not going to underestimate her. Kaz is a lot more subdued, no doubt doing his best to not be overstimulated by the loud crowd around them, but thankfully he asked for discrete earplugs before the chariot, letting him give some small waves as he gets comfortable. But from the way he grips his staff topped with a large marble ball, Seraphim can tell he's still stressed by the crowd.

The cheers aren't quite as loud as the District Three chariot comes into view, but people are starting to pick up on the theme Lisia has this year. The pair wears simple black jumpsuits to allow the small jumps of lights in the path of lightning to be visible. Their wings have feathers made of clear plastic, and have pathways of electricity darting down to the tips of the wings. Sasha clings to the staff with a clear ball on top, a swirl of electricity moving inside it, obviously using it to steady herself while the other hand grips the side of the chariot. She's too focused on staying steady to do more than have a bit of a scowl of annoyance on her face. Her District partner, Samis, isn't doing much better, standing there mostly stoic and facing ahead, but he does crack a little bit of a smile at the infectious cheers from the crowd.

The crowd's volume increases once more for District Four. So far, their costume is the least different from normal years, but the crowd doesn't care. Seraphim is pretty sure the stylists just took the typical mermaid and made it an angel… The pair wears gowns of seaweed, paired with wings made of glittery blue and green mermaid scales, and unlike a staff topped with something, they just have a trident. Yep…mermaids, but make it angels. Orin doesn't seem to thrilled about the outfit or the crowd, keeping a sullen face as ze face forward, not interacting with the Capitol at all. But Aberforth is doing more than enough to make up for his District partner, grinning and waving at the crowd, looking as charming as can be as he even blows them a few kisses. In contrast to Orin, Aberforth is clearly excited to be in the Capitol and completing the dream that was nearly taken from him by his training accident.

District Five appears next and has gone for representing the coal aspect of their power output, giving them a strong contrast to District Three. The pair looks like they're going a bit for edgy goth vibes, dressed in all black with chains crossing over them – and giving Seraphim a terrible flashback to the vibe he tried to have for a whole week back when he was thirteen. The real standout part of the costume is their wings made of white feathers that fade to singed black, with the tips on fire, paired with a staff on fire at the end. Margaery is a cheery happy girl as she waves at the crowd, weirdly conflicting with the dark edgy outfit she has on, but the crowd rolls with it. Artem, meanwhile, fits the edgy look, sitting back on the discrete stool they provided him and harnessed to the chariot under his outfit to protect him, looking on the verge of tears and like he would rather be anywhere but there. He starts looking around in surprise at the audience cheers and for a moment, his face picks up a little, before quickly going back into a frown as he shakes his head.

Seraphim is tense as District Six comes out, not sure how the crowd is going to react to Iroha, but they don't outwardly express any outrage, instead continuing to cheer at their costumes. The pair is dressed in a jumpsuit of bronze metal pieces, with lots of gears and moving pieces on it. Their wings are made of shined bronze cut into the shape of feathers and they hold a staff topped with twisting gears. The cheers for the pair start to die down when they don't do much to appeal to the crowd. Iroha keeps her head down as the chariot moves past the crowd, looking a bit awkward as she deals with the crowd's attention. Meanwhile, Dresden just looks ahead, which works a little bit with his tall frame, but not like it does for the careers.

The crowd's reaction stays low as the pair from Seven appears, no doubt due to the pair being the two youngest tributes of the entire group. Yet the stylists have done a great job creating stunning outfits for the pair, regardless of their age. The two look like they could have just come out of a fairytale movie, dressed in woodsy jumpsuits with vines wrapped around them and gossamer pink fairy wings that complements the wood staff topped with a pink crystal wrapped in vines. However, the pair doesn't look too happy with the outfits. Betula just stands there, staring around with wide eyes and looking a bit helpless and overwhelmed. Pascal is scowling a little about the outfit but when he notices Betula's expression, he leans over to say something to them and they focus on talking to him instead of the crowd.

It takes Seraphim a moment to understand the logic behind District Eight's outfit, but he supposes the stylists have a bit of a challenge when the industry is just textiles. And so the tributes have been put in quite the interesting leather jumpsuit with bat wings, along with a staff topped with a bat in flight. Gwenith struggles for a bit with the attention on her, but with some encouragement from Grey, she slowly starts to embrace it and begin waving. Grey is charismatic as can be despite being put in what must be an uncomfortably hot leather outfit, grinning and waving at the crowd to win them over. The crowd is quite excited to see the pair of outer District volunteers, and it doesn't seem like they are disappointing.

The District Nine pair takes everyone aback for a moment at the unique take on their industry of grain, spinning the use of scythes into a grim reaper-esque outfit. The pair wears dark brown burlap gowns, tied with a rope around their waists, and wearing a pair of wings made out of scythes that surely must be quite heavy, paired with a staff with a skull on top. Asha looks unsure of what to do at first, looking around nervously at the crowd with a feeble smile, but she soon puts her shoulders back and tries to be a bit more confident as she waves at the crowd. Laine on the other hand has a look of awe on his face as he looks around at the Capitol crowd, waving and smiling at them.

The cheers of the crowd spike when the District Ten chariot comes out and Seraphim doesn't blame them with the enthusiastic show one of the tributes is putting on. Instead of a pair of wings on their backs, the tributes have wings over their arms with an outfit covered in feathers and a headpiece of a beak, turning them into a bird of prey. Ally is doing her best to look presentable and wave politely to the crowd, but it's a little challenging with the wings on her arm. But Sissel is in his glory, striking a variety of poses including looking like he's a bird about to take flight, along with some silly ones to show off the wings in their full glory, all with a winning smile on his face.

And then the final chariot appears with the District Eleven chariots, trailing flowers behind them coming from the pair of tributes. They wear jumpsuits covered in flowers with a flower crown, and giant wings of flowers. There's so many flowers, you can barely see the tributes underneath them. And of course, their staff has a big blossoming flower on the end of it. Jendaya is confident underneath all the flowers, waving at the crowd and dazzling them with a charming smile, looking at ease under all of their attention. Grant seems unsure what to do at first before giving some hesitant waves at the crowd, but that soon stops when he realizes he's not standing out nearly as much as Jendaya with her confidence.

The chariots all soon come to a stop in the City Circle below them and with them up close…Seraphim finds himself leaning forward to get a better look of them as the President goes to make a speech to officially start this year's Hunger Games. He's always like watching the chariots at home with his mother, but this? This is truly spectacular…

Yeah, he can see himself doing this for a career.


Marian Lilley, 18, District Two

Marian has never had this much praise being sent her way ever in her life. She's always been criticized and knocked down, told she wasn't going to be as good as the boys, she would die if she went into the Games, and she should just sit back and be a good wife. But being out there in front of the Capitol crowd cheering her name… God, Marian could relive that moment over and over, get drunk on their cheers and the praise she's been fighting to receive all her life.

If only Jazmyn could have been here with her to experience it.

Marian quickly clears that thought, knowing she cannot let herself start feeling sad now about not getting to see her sister in months… So she quickly redirects her focus on how she will make sure that she gets home to her sister. Once Jory had finally been done sucking face with Zephyr – and who knows what other things Marian really does not want to picture about the two mentors – they finally had a plan in place for her. A plan to make sure she has everyone in the career pack in line while letting Kaz lead and take the possible blame for things. Sure, she would try to keep him safe to some extent, but only until the threats are gone. Then it's fair game.

And now…it's showtime.

The chariot comes to a stop and Marian turns to her District partner. "You good?" Marian asks Kaz, watching as he looks over at her in confusion, not able to hear what she said. She taps at her ear, reminding him about the earplugs and he quickly reaches up and takes one out, testing that the noise is subdued now that they're inside, before pulling out the other. "Are you okay?"

Kaz slowly nods his head, not quite looking okay, but he soon gives her an answer, clearly starting to grow a bit more comfortable with her. Good. "I think so… I have to be okay, we need to establish the career pack."

"Right-o, after you, my friend," Marian says with a grin, gesturing out of the chariot for Kaz to go first. Part of her deep down protests letting Kaz take the lead, knowing it should be her…but she quickly silences that part, knowing she should sit back and let him lead the pack. It's unusual for the career leaders to win anyways, except in certain years that get more focus than others for some reason. Hmm…maybe she should try to lead the pack, there could be a trend.

Marian ignores this thought as she jumps down from the chariot and puts a hand on Kaz's shoulder, holding him in place before he goes marching off to the others. "Let them come to us," Marian says quietly, keeping up the friendly smile on her face as she looks around and sees Aberforth starting to lead Orin in their direction.

"But we're establishing the pack," Kaz responds with a bit of confusion tugging the corners of his lips down. "Shouldn't we go to them?"

"No, we need to make sure they know they are beneath us this year," Marian whispers before stepping away from Kaz as Aberforth gets closer, making her expression hard as she gives him a look over and puts her hands on her hips. "So, you're Aberforth, the rogue volunteer."

"Yes, I am. And it's just Abel," the boy from Four answers without letting it show too much that her statement bothers him. "But I would have been chosen if it hadn't been for the injury."

"And I was chosen," Rodrick says from behind her and Marian glances back over her shoulder, an eyebrow raised in questioning as the pair from One joins them.

"Ah, is this going to become a pissing contest?" Marian asks them, letting out an amused laugh as she makes eye contact with Nativity, who discretely rolls her eyes at the two boys clearly trying to impress. At least she knows one person that will be on her side.

"Why would we have a pissing contest?" Kaz asks Marian in confusion. "What would that even accomplish aside from getting us in trouble for having our dicks out?"

Nativity coughs and mutters under her breath, "Bet I'd have the largest dick."

Marian raises an eyebrow at Nativity's comment and the girl just winks at her, letting her know she heard correctly. Marian quickly looks away, feeling her cheeks heat up a little at the girl's flirting. "Anyways," Marian says loudly, getting the boys to stop puffing up their chests and making a stupid display of trying to show off. "I'm Marian, and this here is Kaz."

Kaz stands up at the sound of his name and put on his bravest face, making Marian a bit proud of him before she quickly reminds herself that she cannot get attached to him. "I would like to be the leader of the career pack."

Marian glares down the two pairs, daring them to challenge Kaz. Rodrick looks like he wants to challenge this, while Nativity nods her head, but shares a look with Marian that makes her think the girl from One knows who is really in charge. Orin just looks plain bored and like ze would rather be somewhere else, but Abel nods his head respectfully, "I have no place to be questioning who will be the leader of the pack or to make any claims for leadership. I would just like to ask that you consider having me as an ally."

"Of cou -"

"We will consider it," Marian says quickly over Kaz, giving him a look about him about to agree to them as allies without even seeing what they can do. She knows they'll take them, but why not let them prove themselves a bit? "It's smart to take things day by day. We'll train tomorrow, see how we all mesh together. Make sure the pack will be solid."

"I'm not here to be friends, but I'm not here to cause trouble in the pack," Rodrick crosses his arms at this statement, bringing Marian's focus over to him. She studies him closely, knowing she will always be keeping an eye on him in the arena. Anyone that is willing to murder before all of this begins is not someone she wants to have her back turned to.

"None of us are here to be friends," Marian answers with a shrug, getting a nod of agreement from Kaz. "We all came here to do the same thing."

The group falls quiet at this statement, all of them knowing what that thing is: winning the Hunger Games. And their biggest opponents are all standing right next to each other. Marian stands up taller, puffing out her chest a little and crossing her arms to show off her muscles, noticing the way the others are all looking over each other and assessing who is the biggest threat. Marian has her answer, but she isn't going to overlook any of them just because they seem weaker. That's exactly what people have done to her for years and she's here to prove them all wrong.

No fucking way is Marian letting this group win over her. She'll keep her enemies right in her sights.


Grey Pendleton, 17, District Eight

Grey studies all of the tributes around him from the top of his chariot, even though he has his sights set on specific tributes. In the back, the pair from Eleven is quiet as Grant goes off on his own, while Jenny looks around at the other tributes for a minute, before following Grant towards the elevator. Sissel has jumped off of the District Ten chariot to keep striking poses in his bird costume, clearly in his element and getting a few questionable looks from nearby tributes. Meanwhile, Ally is on her way towards the District Seven chariot, where the pair is talking quietly and seemingly cracking jokes with each other. The District Nine pair is also quietly chatting with themselves, Asha looking around at some of the other tributes, but she nervously glances away when she sees Grey looking her way.

Grey turns his focus to the chariots ahead of them, knowing that's where his future allies are. Not the careers, obviously he's not wasting his time with those meatheads. And not District Six either, where Iroha is carefully getting down from her chariot and Dresden is looking around at the others as he makes his way to the elevator.

Two tributes stood out to Grey from when he first saw the Reapings, two tributes who reminded him in different ways of Quill. Artem for the obvious similarities to Quill in terms of their physical disabilities, and Sasha, who seems stubborn and in need of guidance, just like Quill. And as Grey assesses his options, he knows who he wants to go to first – but he'll certainly try to talk to both of them now.

By the time they enter the arena, Grey will have both of them as his allies.

Gwenith stumbles out of the chariot next to him and cries out as she catches herself on the chariot, but her feet stumble. Grey shakes his head for a moment before he turns back to her, giving her a concerned look. "Are you okay? You could have asked for me to help you down."

"I'll be fine," Gwenith mumbles to herself as she shakes out her ankle, making her wings flap a little behind her from her movement.

"Good, but next time please ask me for help," Grey tells her, shaking his head a little as he still continues to look at her in concern. "I can't have my ally injuring herself before we even get into the arena. Now, let's go get some more allies. You really shouldn't walk on your ankle right now in case it's sprained so how about you sit on the chariot while I go talk to people?"

"Okay," Gwenith mutters in response, surprising Grey by not protesting him, so he grins at her and gives her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before heading off to find his first ally.

As Grey gets close to the District Five chariot, he finds his future ally struggling to get out of it and his partner already gone. "Would you like a hand?" Grey calls out to Artem, who freezes in his squirming around of trying to undo the buckles holding him in.

Artem's shoulders sag in defeat and he barely turns his head to look over at Grey, but it's enough for him to see that the boy didn't want to have to ask for help, even if he needs it. "I suppose…" Artem says quietly which is enough for Grey to jump up into the chariot to help him. Artem holds up his arm, trying to crack a smile as he makes a joke, but his heart clearly isn't into it, "I do only have one hand, after all, so a second hand would be nice."

Grey makes quick work of the buckles and Artem stands up, picking up his cane to steady himself. "Why didn't you ask for help?"

Artem frowns at this as he looks down at the drop down from the chariot, letting out a sigh as he lowers himself to get down on his own. "My fathers raised me to be independent and do things on my own. And I guess I figured no one would want to help out their competition here, even though I'm obviously just cannon fodder…"

"Don't say that, you seem capable!" Grey reassures Artem as he jumps down easily from the chariot, landing next to Artem and giving him his confident smile. "There's nothing wrong with needing a hand, especially when we're going into the Hunger Games. No one wants to be alone in that arena."

Artem begins to scowl at this and Grey keeps his smile on, knowing that he can win over Artem. "Why are you bothering with me then? You volunteered…go be allies with one of the capable tributes."

"You know, my cousin is like you. She's strong and capable, despite what happened, but she still needs my help," Grey tells Artem, letting himself frown sadly as he thinks about Quill, hoping it will get Artem to relate to him. "I always do my best to help her out after the accident that took her arm but…she needs more than I can give her now. That's why I volunteered, to help her live her best life. And so when I saw you, I was reminded of her and wanted to help. But if you don't want to be allies, that's okay…" Grey lets out a loud, sad sigh as he turns to walk away from Artem, taking a couple slow steps as he waits for him to stop him…

"Wait!"

Grey lets a smug smile form on his face for a second before he fixes his frown once more as he turns to look over his shoulder at Artem. "Yes?"

Artem hesitates for a moment, biting his lip as he mulls over his thoughts and glances around at the tributes nearby. "I didn't expect anyone to actually want an ally like me… Sorry for being brash. I…yeah, I'd like to be allies."

Grey turns around fully at this, flashing Artem with his smile that always charms all the parents of the kids he babysits. "Oh that's great, Artem. Really, I'm excited you see how I can help you out in the arena. You'll fit in great in our alliance and-"

A shriek cuts him off and has everyone turning over to the elevators to find the careers standing near the door, Rodrick holding a hand to his chest in fear as he glares at Sissel standing nearby, continuing to act like a bird. "Mother fucker, I hate birds of prey," Rodrick grumbles loudly, glaring around the room to make sure the other tributes know it's because of the costume, not the scrawny kid from Ten. The two girls are trying to hold back their laughter as Rodrick pushes past them into the elevator, turning to point back at Sissel. "Stay away from me, asshole. You'll regret it in the arena."

The rest of the careers pile in with him and Sissel relaxes his arms as the doors shut, tilting his head slightly as he studies them, and when he turns to glance around at the tributes, there's a cunning look in his eyes that has Grey moving to stand defensively in front of Artem.

Grey looks around more carefully at the other tributes still around, realizing he has to be more careful with studying this group of tributes here. Who else is hiding secrets of their capabilities like Grey is? All he knows is he won't let them get near his allies.

Unless, of course, he needs to make an example.


We love a good theme for the chariots! Lisia truly is That Bitch when it comes to being Head Gamemaker, I love how dramatic she is. The chariot outfits are always a fun time for me to design them so I enjoyed this a bunch! But what could this theme mean, hmm? *thinking emoji*

And of course we had to have some tribute interactions! How much do you think the careers will get along? And how awful will Grey be? Stay tuned to find out what happens next in Legacy XD

RQ #15: What costume was your favorite?

That's all I have to say for this chapter, so time for an updated alliance list!

- Pissing Contest Time (Rodrick, Tiv, Marian, Kaz, Abel, Orin)

- The Sassy Pre-Teens (TM) and Mom (Pascal, Betula, Ally)

- The Babysitter Club (Grey, Gwenith, Artem)

- Good to have backup, am I right? (Asha, Laine)

Alrighty, see you all next week with Training Day One where we check in with Asha and Iroha!