Sorry for the wait! I'm not feeling very motivated for these epilogues so they'll likely be a bit shorter than those in Flames. Nonetheless, I will get them out and hopefully sooner than my past updates.

District 6

Axel Woodleigh

My prep team flocks around me, adjusting every little detail of my tuxedo. Camilla and Liber, my escort and mentor, watch from a corner in the room. Camilla keeps trying to throw in her opinion on my outfit, but nobody pays attention to her - I can tell she's getting anxious.

"Why are does he need to get dressed up? I thought he wasn't going to be added into any of the ceremonies," Liber inquires, scratching the back of his neck.

"He's just going to pop in for an interview," my stylist, Loras, explains (once again).

"But doesn't that count as part of the Victor's publicity? I didn't think that would be included -" Liber begins, but Loras cuts him off.

"The Capitol liked him so much, they made some exceptions," Loras shrugs. "I'm not sure why you're upset. He's lucky! He gets some of the fame."

I nervously fidget with the sleeve of my jacket (I don't get the Capitol's fashion sense - the sleeve hangs down past my hands. It's much too long, but Loras claims it's part of the style). I don't like the idea of the interview. I'm not much of a public speaker, and I was hoping I'd be immune from the publicity.

"I just want to go home," I say in a small voice.

"You will!" Camilla insists, looking at me with those pitying eyes she constantly uses. "Only a few more days - then you'll be on a train to see your Mommy again! Until then, you can enjoy the Capitol!"

I nod and hide an amused smile - I find it funny how she talks to me as if I were six years old. I was just sent to my death, I don't need a teddy bear (which she did procure for me, to Liber's delight). Although, I do sleep with the bear. While I realize I'm likely too old for it, it helps with the nightmares.

"It's too dark," Camilla says, leaning over Lorcas's shoulder. "Shouldn't it be brighter?"

"Would you like me to create another full tuxedo a shade lighter?" he asks sarcastically, which does get her to shut up.

When they're done obsessing over my outfit, Camilla and Liber lead me down to the stage. I have to restrain myself from biting my lip, because Camilla will take any opportunity to criticize my teeth.

"Stand up straighter!" she hisses as we enter backstage. My breath catches when I realize it's the same one we were in during the interviews. Only a few weeks ago, twenty-four kids lined this hallway… twenty-two are dead. Two at my own hands. Linen's dead. Tristana's dead. Hadley's dead…

Camilla steers me into position by the stage entrance, so I'm not technically visible by the crowd yet, but if I lean a bit forwards, I can see the vast number of people in the audience. I make the mistake of doing so.

I gasp as I jolt back, overwhelmed by the sheer number of people.

"You'll be fine," Liber says under his breath.

The audience breaks into a loud cheer as Cupid Bloke runs out onto the stage, waving enthusiastically as he flashes a bright white smile at the crowd.

"Welcome!" he shouts loudly. "Tonight, we'll get to interview our latest Victor - I know we're all very excited to see them. But first, we have a special treat - Axel Woodleigh!"

"Now?" I yelp, astounded, but Camilla is already nudging me out onto the stage. I'm forced to walk out onto the stage before I can comprehend anything. The noise of the crowd drowns out anything else and the bright lights shining in my eyes nearly make it impossible to see where I'm going. I manage to make it over to Cupid Bloke and clumsily sit down on the loveseat across from him.

"Hello, Axel," he smiles.

"Hi," I gulp.

"It's surprising you're a bit nervous, considering you just went through the Hunger Games," he says, and looks at me expectantly. I don't know what to say.

After an awkward moment of silence, I mumble, "that wasn't a question. How do I answer?"

"Haha! Sass!" Cupid cheers. I wasn't trying to be funny or anything. "How do you feel? How's your arm? Does it still hurt from wolf bite?"

"It doesn't hurt. It's kind of difficult to use, though. The doctor said it damaged some nerves in my hand."

"Whoa. How did it damage your hand if you injured your shoulder?"

"I-I don't remember," I say nervously.

"Oh. Okay. Now let's talk about Vincent Elm! He was your first kill, wasn't he?"

"Yeah," I say in a small voice. I really don't want to talk about this.

"Are you proud of yourself?"

"N-no. I didn't want to hurt anybody."

"Oh, well… that didn't work out too well did it?" Cupid chuckles. After a moment, I shake my head. "Well, I wish we could talk to you more, Axel, but I think everyone's anxious to chat with our latest Victor."

I immediately jump to my feet. After quickly accepting Cupid's handshake, I rush off the stage.

"Now, let's introduce our latest Victor to the stage…"

I know, I'm evil.

EULOGIES:

4th: Axel Woodleigh (D6M): Survives - To be perfectly honest, the reason I added the gems to the arena was so that Axel could survive. After that, I never doubted for a second that Axel would survive. I vividly remember finding my initial plan a month or so ago and seeing that I had planned for Axel to be killed by Glorian at 3rd place, and I was absolutely appalled at myself. I couldn't fathom ever killing this kid. He was by far one of my favorites because he was a perfect example of a complex younger tribute, which are often difficult to find in SYOTs. I've mostly seen twelve-year-olds be portrayed as terrified, useless crybabies when there are actually very mature twelve-year-olds who deserve more representation. I feel like at first, Axel may have come across as a little timid and only survived thanks to Hadley, so I was glad he broke out of his shell toward the end and became a fierce competitor without losing his lovable quality. Despite being only twelve-years-old, he successfully manipulated and seriously injured three of the strongest players in the arena (two of whom died). Axel deserves to survive completely, and I'm glad he's standing next to the Victor as one of this year's survivors. While he didn't technically win, he'll be far from forgotten. Expect to see him in my following stories because I'm excited to continue his story. Thank you for submitting him, Tyquavis!

3rd: Trajan Seth (D3M): Shot by Cecilia Hart (D1F) - As much I would have loved for him to win, it was pretty much out of the question. A lot of people understandably hated him, but a few liked him (including me). I had so much fun with him and while he could by no means be considered redeemable, he was a conflicted villain who was more than "evil". It would have been so fun for him to win, and honestly, I considered it early in the story. But his submitter stopped reviewing early on so I ended up not having the option, anyway. I even feel bad taking him this far when his submitter hasn't reviewed in so long. While he definitely wasn't very lovable, his interactions were fun and he provided a unique touch to the story. RIP Trajan… I guess? XD

- Lilah