Quick spoiler warning for the victor of Wayward being mentioned in this chapter so if you haven't read that yet, read at your own risk of spoilers.
Chapter 23:
Seraphim Lukianas, Head Gamemaker
Seraphim is a nervous wreck as he waits in a side room of the President's mansion for the party to start. Not because of all the responsibilities weighing on his shoulders as the start of the Quell looms over him. Not because there's still the threat of rebels attacking him again. No, Seraphim isn't nervous for those reasons.
He's nervous about seeing a certain victor.
He's seen the guest list of the victors attending and their guests, having made sure that each District has at least three victors in attendance. And given District Two's spot as the winner of the previous Quell, it should be no surprise that they're sending almost all of their victors to this party, including the one Seraphim is anxious about seeing again for the first time in months.
"Stop pacing, Serry, things are going to be fine with the Quell."
Seraphim sighs but stops pacing as he faces his mother, still weirded out at the sight of her holding the newborn baby Cain. But he knew she wouldn't say no to watching the baby and she hasn't stopped gushing about him. "It's not the Quell I'm nervous about," Seraphim tells her, looking down to pick at his fingernails as he says in a rushed whisper, "It's seeing Zephyr again."
Tara starts laughing at him and he looks up to find her giving him an amused look. "Oh Serry, that boy is head over heels for you, just like you are for him." Seraphim face heats up at this and he looks around to see who overhead her, finding Laelia and Kora snickering together, only making his cheeks flush even more in embarrassment. "Just get your courage to talk to him tonight and discuss how you feel."
"It's not that simple, Mom," Seraphim sighs as he goes to run a hand through his hair, only for his mother to smack his hand away to not mess up the perfectly styled look. "His ex is going to be here…"
"The ex who abandoned him and didn't treat him right," Tara answers, sounding quite angry at Jory. "Good, Zephyr can see how different you are from him."
Seraphim shakes his head at her, not really believing that will be the case. The baby in her arms starts fussing and Tara quickly turns her attention to him, providing Seraphim a way to change the topic. "You sure you're going to be okay babysitting him and the other victor kids tonight?"
"Absolutely," Tara says, smiling down at the baby as she bounces him in her arms. "I love children. And I won't be alone, Iris is helping out and bringing some friends with her."
"I know," Seraphim answers, smiling at his mother. She's only told him too many times that she can't wait for him to have kids so she can watch her grandbabies. He glances at his watch before looking around at the others present in the room. "It's just about time. Kora, are you ready to go out on the stage to announce each District arriving?"
"Yes sir," Kora answers with a bit of a forced smile. She grabs onto her best friend's hand before continuing, "Laelia is going to help me out."
"Good," Seraphim tells her, happy to see Kora have support. And once this Quell is done, the first thing he's going to do is find someone to work with Kora. "Well, let's head on out then."
Seraphim leads the way out for the small group of people, watching his mother head in a different direction to the room set aside for all the kids of victors that need a babysitter. They quickly reach the large ballroom and Seraphim, Kora, and Laelia head up onto the stage to applause from the gathered Capitolites. So many people have gathered here for this party: members of the elite and in the President's circle; former escorts and their families; press to report on the party; and a limited amount of everyday Capitol citizens who were lucky enough to be chosen from the lottery they created for tickets to the party.
Seraphim motions for them to quiet down, starting to grin at the energy of the room. "Welcome, everyone, to the first party to celebrate the start of the Hunger Games! I'll pass it over to Kora because she is much better at making these announcements than me, but thank you all for being here and here's to a great night, and an even greater Quarter Quell!"
Seraphim steps aside, gesturing for Kora to take the spot in front of the microphone instead of him and he heads down the steps on the side of the stage, finding a place near the front of the crowd to have a good view of the Districts entering the ballroom.
"First up is District One with Anastacia Astoria and Major Emerson-Ness, their mentors Thetis Oneroi and Emilio Signe, and some surprise victor guests!"
The crowd applauds as District One enters, the tributes and their mentors leading the way into the room. Major grins as he waves around at the crowd while Anastacia gives much smaller waves. They're followed by a group of victors: Aura and her husband, Rhodon; Tanya, the first career victor of the past 75 years; Gwen, their youngest victor, looking nervous about the crowd; Eirene and Dracana, two of the women helping to run the training academy.
"Next up is District Two with Bellona Silvanus and Odyssey Gunderson, their mentors Glacia and Darach Westmann and Kat Liero, and some surprise victor guests!"
Odyssey and Bell walk out to loud applause, waving and playing up the crowd like they've done every time they have had a public appearance. The group of victors following behind them is quite large, and it seems as if Two has sent a majority of their victors: Jory Foran, who winks over at Emilio, Bronn Vangler, Lysander Morrow, Maylene Henderson – who stands a fair distance back from Glacia, Roxanne Nells and her girlfriend, Clemont Rodge, and Misha Harrington with a younger person, protectively keeping a hand on their shoulder as he leads them, but keeps staring over at the tributes. Seraphim stands on his toes to see into the crowd of victors, starting to get worried that he backed out, before finally catching a glimpse of Zephyr in the back, trying to stay hidden and far away from Jory. Seraphim can't help the grin on his face as he sees Zephyr walk by, but the man doesn't see him.
"Next up is District Three with Amelia Fensa and Calvin Tailor, their mentors Isidore Tecne and Matla Jarend, and some surprise victor guests!"
This group is much more subdued and smaller compared to Two, with Amelia giving hesitant waves and Calvin staying cool as he walks in. Only two victors accompany them: Electro with his wife and Moro walking with one of his grandchildren.
"Next up is District Four with Delta Zale and Demarcus Pollock, their mentors Okeanas Var and Iona Lamonte, and some surprise victor guests!"
These two seem a lot more awkward about entering in front of the crowd. Delta doesn't wave at them while Demarcus does his best to acknowledge them. Behind them is a small but respectable group of victors: Delmar and his close friend and fellow victor Nerissa, and Muir Asturias and her husband Stelios.
"Next up is District Five with Eva Orville-Wright and Davy Emmerich, their mentors Letha Calder and Galen Maksim, and some surprise victor guests!"
Eva has an expressionless look on her face as she walks in, while Davy tries to wave at the crowd, his face blushing at the attention as he stays close to his mentor, who's entire family follows close behind her. They only have one extra victor with them: Aion Machai, Letha's former mentor.
"Next up is District Six with Courtney Cassini and Elias Pilkvist, their mentors Jarle Eurydia and Dampero Ramin, and some surprise victor guests!"
Courtney waves happily at the crowd while Elias stares around with large nervous eyes before focusing on where he's walking instead of the many people staring. Dampero walks with his best friend Bee Morvay-Maxwell – who's family is surely in the crowd – and Jarle walks with his wife. Only one victor follows them in, Embla Rinyes, former mentor for Dampero.
"Next up is District Seven with Carameuse Juniper and Adam Vignola, their mentors Glenwood Salix and Stefan Tsuga, and some surprise victor guests!"
Seraphim watches this pair carefully as well as the crowd response. Carameuse – or Holly – keeps her head down as she walks in, while Adam has exhaustion all over his face as he slowly walks in, holding his healing stomach carefully. Their mentors get more of a reaction than the tributes, with Glen having Caladium as his date and Stefan making a very rare appearance with his partner, Winona Samson. And they are joined by Stefan's close friend and fellow victor, Laurel Trenton.
"Next up is District Eight with Atropa Seigal and Fete Bayard, their mentors Hession Dion, and Astrid Vadim and Clark Botwright, and some surprise victor guests!"
The crowd cheers loudly for this group, but again, Seraphim is pretty sure the reaction is to their victors. After all, why wouldn't they cheer for their youngest victor Clark with his boyfriend Stig, his sassy mentor Astrid, and the fourth Quell victor Hessian Dion? But Atropa and Fete do their best to appeal to the crowd, waving and giving grins that Seraphim is starting to realize are very fake from watching them in training. They have a good sized group of victors with them: Rami Grant, Barathea Pallas, and Velour Thurston.
"Next up is District Nine with Sky Odum and Eliot Eidner, their mentors Fonio Donnan and Mazie Kiernan, and some surprise victor guests!"
Seraphim keeps a close eye on Sky as she walks out with Fonio keeping a hand on her shoulder, scowling at the crowd but staying silent, while Eliot grins and waves at the cheering crowd. Again, a small group of victors is with them: Sativa sticks close to Mazie's side, looking like she would rather be anywhere but here, and Lelantos Rycroft with their husband Conway and their kids – who are really more of adults than kids – who at least tries to look happy at the crowd greeting them, unlike how Sativa is reacting.
"Next up is District Ten with Genesis Barrett and Fox Durham, their mentors Pigmy Dima and Johan Bonavento, and some surprise victor guests!"
Genesis glances around the crowd nervously as they enter, but Fox does much better and is friendly with them. The group with them is small, just their mentors, Pigmy's younger twin brothers, and Amara Harvelle, the victor who helped bring Pigmy home.
"And lastly, District Eleven with Jessamine Briggs and Arthur Bramble, their mentors Kanzi Yesenia and Pinova Braeburn, and, well, you can guess who the surprise victor guest is!"
The crowd applauds the last District and Jessamine gives a naïve smile and waves at the people gathered, something Arthur tries to imitate. Only one other guest has joined them: Garia Solanum, the oldest victor in District Eleven, hobbling along with a cane to support her.
"And now let's bring out our escorts!" Each escort enters as Kora and Laelia call out their names.
"Jeweladia Sparkington!" The young girl looks thrilled to be representing District One and she waves with both hands as she takes her spot with her team.
"Flannery Escouvier!" Flannery waves at the crowd, getting a very warm response from her role in bringing home many victors to Two.
"Rosalina Silver!" The girl carefully heads out, doing her very best and succeeding at not knocking anything over with her large wings.
"Bobby Bobbins!" The man has an infectious grin on his face as he heads out, met surprisingly well by the crowd, thanks to him escorting for Clark last year.
"Bergundility Venetiality Muatamphere!" The woman does her best to not look disappointed at her spot in line, but still, Seraphim knows he has to watch her to see if she's suitable to keep escorting.
"Thorichelle Asia Shamon!" The youngest escort is very anxious as she heads out, walking as quickly as possible over to the District Six team to get the attention off of her.
"Bella Lavish!" The woman keeps her head high, doing her best with the pair of tributes she has this year, and Seraphim has to give her credit for handling them well.
"Devrek Pecivo!" The young man walks out playing his recorder, a bit of an improvement from the Reaping, but still not very good. Seraphim glances over at the stage, finding Laelia blushing at the escort's entrance.
"Agapios Wheatley Hallorian!" The eldest escort this year walks out slowly, a pleasant smile on his face, trying to hide the tired look in his eyes. He very much deserves to retire after this year.
"Icarus Clo!" The man who has stuck around in Ten for years despite being given opportunities for promotion looks a bit happy about the attention being shown to him.
"And finally, Aineon Ashminov!" The last escort heads out into the crowd playing his flute, sounding way better than Devrek did on his recorder. He finishes with a flourish before bowing in his spot with the District Eleven team, his girlfriend Pinova cheering him on loudly.
The crowd turns their attention back to the stage now that all of the tributes, victors, and escorts have arrived. "And now, to officially start this party, please welcome President Mendalius Xavier!"
The President of Panem takes the stage and waits for the crowd to quiet down before addressing them. "Welcome, everyone, to our inaugural party to begin the Sixth Quarter Quell! I am thrilled to have you all here tonight. Tributes, enjoy this last celebration before the Hunger Games begin tomorrow. This party is for you. Feast, dance, and celebrate being part of history!"
Delta Zale, 17, District Four
Delta stands awkwardly near the drink table, hovering near Okeanas, and not quite knowing what she should be doing right now. Socializing with others her age has never been a strong point of hers. Really, any socializing, for that matter. She's not good at talking to the sponsors like Bell is, out there chatting away with her two mentors and another one of the Two victors. She's not good at being the life of the party and dancing up a storm in the middle of the room, also with sponsors, like Odyssey is doing. So she's fine to sit back and let Okeanas handle the talking to the sponsors. After all, she's the one that has been dealing with them for years. They'll all see soon enough how willing she is to fight. That will matter more by this time tomorrow than if she was able to talk to someone at this party tonight.
"Look, you have never seen anyone like Delta before," Okeanas animatedly tells the crowd of Capitolites surrounding them, and they all look over and study Delta like she's an animal on display in the zoo. "She's jumped more ranks in training than anyone ever before. Do you really think we would pick a seventeen year old for this Quell if she wasn't better than the rest? Do you really think I personally would mentor anyone I didn't think was going to win?"
Delta takes a sip of her drink before picking at some of the food she's gathered, anything to keep her mouth busy to avoid having to talk to these people. She didn't come here to party in frilly dresses and flatter Capitolites. She came for revenge and to show the rebels they messed with the wrong family.
Soon. Soon she will get her chance to show them all. In less than 24 hours, they'll be in the arena. She'll know by this time tomorrow which sense has been taken away from her for the Quell. She'll have made kills.
Her eyes wander around the ballroom, wondering which tributes will be dead by her hand tomorrow. It's morbid, yes, but it's the reality of the Hunger Games. People don't win the Games by being unwilling to kill. Some of the others don't seem like they'll be hard to defeat in a fight. Like that boy from Nine and his ally, the deaf girl, who dance around in the middle of the floor, laughing as they move around with each other. Delta looks around, not seeing their third ally with them, and eventually finds him hovering near his mentor Letha around a small table with her family. Well, at least with her husband and youngest son, with the older boys nowhere to be seen. Davy stands nervously with them, chatting with Letha and seemingly blushing whenever he looks over at her youngest son, who seems oblivious to the boy's crush. But who is Delta to judge? She knows nothing about romance and crushes. She'd probably be just as oblivious.
Not too far away from them, Delta finds Major leaning against the wall and talking to her very anxious looking District partner. She's tried with him, but hasn't been too much help with his social anxiety. Just look at her, standing here and letting her mentor do all the talking for her. But she's glad that Major has reached out to Demarcus and seems to have bonded with him. She can tell it's already helped him out immensely having someone in the alliance to count on.
"You should watch out for Demarcus talking to Major."
"What?" Delta asks as she turns to face her ally who also seems to be avoiding the majority of the party by hiding by the drinks. It doesn't come as that much of a surprise considering Anastacia had stayed back from a lot of the socializing with their alliance, just like Delta did, during training. But why is she coming to talk to her? Can't she talk to one of the others?
Well…none of the others are avoiding socializing.
Anastacia stares over at Demarcus and Major, her face unreadable as she watches their District partners. "I said to watch out for him."
"Yes, but why?" Delta asks, confused by what Anastacia is telling her. She hasn't seen any reason in training to suggest that there's any reason specifically for her to watch Major. Yes, he got the same high score as her, but she's more concerned about the one score higher than all of theirs. "Major is being a friend to Demarcus," Delta tells her, staring over at the pair. "He's been friendly with him since the chariot rides. Are you saying I should watch him for being friendly?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," Anastacia responds, bringing Delta's gaze back to the girl from One with an eyebrow raised in questioning. "I don't…know exactly what it is, but Major has been giving me a bad feeling for years."
Delta narrows her eyes at this, thoughts immediately running wild and assuming the worst about Major: that he is a rebel. And if there's a small chance that there's a rebel in these Games, Delta is going to make absolutely certain they never make it out of the arena alive. "Then we destroy him."
Anastacia lets out a surprised huff of laughter at Delta's jump to immediately destroying Major and she shakes her head. "Not sure if we need to be that extreme…yet." Anastacia continues to watch Major, her arms crossing as he glances over and gives them a wave with that grin he always has. "You know those people you want to trust but just make you have this terrible pit in your stomach? That's Major to me…"
"Okay, so he's just a cutthroat career, so are we," Delta says, not quite understanding what's Anastacia's deal with her District partner. Anastacia shakes her head at Delta, surprising her a bit. "You're saying you haven't done something cutthroat to make it to this spot?"
"Not like he has," Anastacia says quietly, hesitating for a moment. "I think."
Delta takes a long sip of her drink, confused by what Anastacia is telling her. "Then tell me, what has he done?"
"Well…" Anastacia hesitates, and Delta stares at her for a few long seconds of silence. "I think…he might have started dating his boyfriend, Shard, just to take his spot. Shard was number one and Major number two for years in training…and when it's finally time for our age group to be chosen, Shard just backs out?"
"Sounds like he was just in love and didn't want to die," Delta shrugs at this, not understanding the whole love thing and letting that get in the way of training.
Anastacia shakes her head at Delta. "No. I've known Shard for years. He has changed ever since dating Major and I…I can recognize a victim of abuse…"
"Oh." Delta says to her, processing that information and staring at Major in a new light, studying him and trying to figure out if he really could have done that. He looks so sweet and innocent and yet…his training score was an eleven…
"He finds those that are vulnerable…" Anastacia continues, both of them staring over at Major and Demarcus, the boy in their alliance that clearly suffers from social anxiety and has low self-esteem… "He gains their trust and once they're no longer useful to him, well…" Delta looks over at Anastacia to see her draw her finger across her neck.
"Let's destroy the bastard," Delta says immediately, clenching her fists in anger. How dare he do this to Demarcus? They're not friends by any means, but he's also from Four and on the small chance Delta doesn't win, he's the one she's rooting for.
"I'd love to," Anastacia says with a small smile. "But we have to wait… If we attack him with just us two against him, the others won't let that fly without repercussions."
Delta scowls at this, never being one to be patient and wait. "So we have to get District Two with us?"
"Yes," Anastacia nods at her. "I think Odyssey has already fallen for Major's tricks, but maybe we can get Bellona to-"
"Excuse me."
The two both look over at the person approaching them, giving the two a pleasant smile as they approach. "Pardon me interrupting you. I'm Luciano Samson, one of the Council members. Delta, the President would like to speak to you."
Anastacia gives Delta a surprised look at this, but Delta is only a tiny bit surprised. "Lead the way."
Luciano pauses for a moment, looking over at Delta's mentor standing nearby. "Okeanas, I need you to come with us too."
Okeanas turns around, looking for a moment like she's going to yell at whoever has interrupted her talking to sponsors, but quickly stops herself when she realizes who it is. "Alright…"
Delta looks back at Anastacia, giving her a shrug at having to leave her ally. Anastacia just gives her a smile in return, "We'll talk more later."
Delta nods before turning to watch where Luciano is leading them. They take them through the main room of the party and out into a side hallway. They pass one open door where she sees Fox and Adam inside, along with a bunch of children that Delta recognizes as children of victors. Fox is playing on the floor, pretending to be a horse and letting a young girl ride on his back with an older woman holding her steading, while Adam holds a small baby, looking so happy as he coos at the tiny child.
But Luciano keeps leading them past that room until they reach a door with two guards on either side, wearing the traditional uniform of the President's guard. They quickly open the door for Luciano and the three file in, but it seems like they're the last ones to arrive. The President sits behind his desk with the other two members of the council, smiling at Delta as she approaches the chairs across from him, one already occupied by Iona and with the three other victors from District Four here hovering behind her. Delmar and Nerissa look uncomfortable at this meeting, but Muir is much more relaxed in the presence of the President of Panem. Delta takes the seat in the middle and Okeanas sits in the other as she looks around in confusion. "Shouldn't Demarcus be here if we have the entire District Four team here?"
"Demarcus isn't involved in things related to the rebels," President Xavier says coolly and Delta immediately tenses up as she watches him carefully. "I had wanted to simply talk to you alone, Delta, to inform you of…something I need you to do in the arena. But, there has also been something in District Four that needs to be addressed by the victors. Which would you like to hear first?"
"The victor information, obviously," Okeanas speaks up before Delta even has the chance to think about it.
"Very well," President Xavier says as he pulls out a folder and opens it, revealing a picture that he slides across the desk towards them. They all lean closer to look at the image, finding the side of a building that they all recognized defaced by a message. "The rebels have left a message on the training center…"
"Death to the Games."
Okeanas curses immediately and goes to stand up, a fire in her eyes that's surprising for someone of her age. "Let me go back and deal with this. No one messes with my training center."
Iona clears her throat and Okeanas looks down at her. "Actually, Okeanas…I believe it's technically my training center…"
Okeanas scowls at this, "Technicalities. Regardless, let me go back."
President Xavier holds up his hand, stopping the two from bickering. "If one of you must go back…I have to interfere and have it be Iona. We don't know if the rebels are getting ready to attack and Okeanas…you may…provoke them."
Okeanas crosses her arms as she sits back down, her scowl deepening, but she stays quiet. Iona is the one to speak up once more. "Of course, sir… Except who will take over mentoring Demarcus?" She turns around to look at the three victors with them. "Delmar?"
The young man quickly shakes his head at her. "No, I…" He glances over at Okeanas scowling and shakes his head once more. "Nope."
"Nerissa?"
The youngest of their victors laughs at the suggestion. "You really want me to mentor? I only came to this party because Delmar wanted me to go."
Muir sighs loudly as they all turn their attention to her. "I guess that means I have to mentor, huh?"
"I suppose we could ask one of the others back home if they could get here before tomorrow-"
"No," Muir says, interrupting Iona. She shakes her head at them, not looking too pleased at this change. "I don't really like mentoring…or rather, the volunteers don't want to be mentored by someone who did a 'shitty betrayal' like I did and didn't fight my final opponent…"
Okeanas laughs at this, "I still think that was a great move."
"Of course you ignore the fact that they were my friend," Muir mutters before looking at the President and clearing her throat. "I'll mentor Demarcus so Iona can head back to Four." She turns to look at Okeanas, a bit of annoyance on her face at her former mentor but there's also a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Looks like we're working together again, just like old times."
"Indeed," Okeanas answers with a laugh.
The President clears his throat to get their attention once more. "If that's settled, there's something I need to discuss with Delta, and I would prefer alone."
"Of course, sir," Iona speaks up first and stands, motioning for Okeanas to follow her lead. She waits until the older woman begrudgingly stands and leads the others out. "Come on, people might be wondering why almost the entire Four team has disappeared. And we have to go find Demarcus."
Muir's response is cut off by the door shutting behind their group, leaving Delta alone with some of the most important people in Panem. If someone would have told Delta three years ago that she would be sitting across from the President of Panem and be having a civil conversation, she would have laughed in their faces.
"Well, Miss Zale," President Xavier starts before motioning to the side. "Would you like some tea?"
"I'm good," Delta responds.
"Very well," President Xavier answers as he takes a sip of his own tea. "Now, first and foremost, I would like to say thank you for your recent service towards Panem and congratulations on making it to the Games."
"It's been my pleasure," Delta says, sitting up straighter from the praise from the President. "And I'm going to win these Games in the name of the Capitol."
"Yes, I have heard," he answers softly, keeping his face neutral. "Now speaking of the Games…there is an important matter that we need you to handle…"
"Anything you need," Delta answers immediately, ready to prove her loyalty to the Capitol.
President Xavier glances over at Luciano and they step forward, turning on a small desk projector that brings up an image of one of the tributes. "The Games have been compromised by rebels. The girl from Seven is not actually Carameuse Juniper, but a rebel by the name of Holly Alder that has claimed her identity."
Delta's hands clench into fists as her heart starts racing. Slowly, anger builds up in her, all at the mention of rebels. How dare they come into the Games and threaten them? "So that's why she got the twelve," Delta mutters angrily, glaring at the picture of the girl being shown to her.
"Yes, we needed to make sure she would be targeted," President Xavier speaks up and Delta takes a deep breath, trying to control her rage as she turns back to him. He's not the one to be angry at. Holly is the person. "Given your recent role as an informant for the Capitol, we decided we should tell you about this. It is…of utmost importance that Holly Alder is eliminated in that arena."
"You don't need to tell me twice," Delta says through her teeth, doing her best to control her anger. "Anything else, sir?"
"That will be all, thank you, Delta," President Xavier stands up and Delta does the same, and he offers her his hand to shake. She takes it right away and he holds onto her hand as he continues, staring at her intensely. "You haven't let us down yet. Please don't start now."
Delta lets out a laugh at this as the President lets go of her hand. "Oh you have nothing to worry about. That girl is dead meat."
President Xavier nods his head before motioning to Council Member Venezia. "Rosabella will lead you out and please bring Amelia and Calvin back here."
"Yes sir," the woman answers him before smiling at Delta and motioning towards the door. "After you, dear."
Delta nods, still holding in her rage, and lets Rosabella lead her back to the party. She keeps her fists clenched at her sides and takes slow deep breaths to control herself. Rosabella tries to make small talk, but Delta barely hears what she's saying. When they reach the ballroom, her eyes immediately start searching around the room, searching for the source of her rage. She just catches a glimpse of Cara- no, Holly, as she heads into the bathroom, and she takes off quickly across the room to follow her in.
She enters the fancy restroom, finding a couple Capitolites in there fixing their appearance. But Delta looks towards the stalls, waiting for Holly to step out of them.
Finally, the girl steps out, looking down to adjust her shirt tucked into her pants and completely unaware of Delta being there until she slams Holly into the wall. The girl cries out as Delta puts her arm against her throat with just enough pressure to make it start being hard to breath, but not enough to hurt her. Yet. "Listen to me, you piece of trash," Delta whispers to the terrified girl, leaning closer to her face. Holly tries to flinch away from her, but she has nowhere to go. "I know who you are." She watches in satisfaction as Holly's eyes widen in fear and she lets out a rage filled laugh. "You better enjoy tonight because you are never leaving that arena alive."
With that, Delta releases the girl and steps back, watching as she starts coughing and grabbing her throat. Delta quickly turns to leave, not sure if she can control herself and not hurt Holly right now, and she pushes through the gawking Capitolites. "You didn't see anything," she spits out at them and they all quickly turn back to the mirrors, terror on their faces as Delta leaves them behind.
Delta pauses when she steps into the ballroom, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down and focus on the overwhelming amount of things happening in the room. She has no idea what to even do right now, but she needs something to distract herself before she turns back around and attacks the girl – even if she deserves it. While looking around, she finds Anastacia standing on her own, looking lost about what to do, and Delta starts storming over to her. Anastacia looks up as Delta approaches and brief concern appears on her face before Delta grabs her arm and starts pulling her to the side of the room. "What's going on?"
"You're going to tell me everything about Major and we're going to make a plan to take down that sneaky bastard."
Amelia Fensa, 18, District Three
Amelia is trying her best. Really, she truly is. She thought she was starting to do better, starting to find that old part of herself before last year's Games broke her. But she isn't doing better. Everyone was saying the party would be great. But in this crowded room, Amelia feels more alone than she has in the past year.
She just can't shake the feeling that she's holding back her allies. Neither of them have lingering trauma like she does. None of them lost their brother last year in the Games and now must face the same death match, but worse with the Quell twist. Neither of them are barely keeping it together every day, waking up each morning and telling themselves to just get through this day, take life one day at a time. Well, maybe Courtney does that, but in a much more optimistic way.
Neither of them are broken like her.
And it shows in how differently they are handling the party. Courtney is having the time of her life, dancing right in front of the stage and singing along with that boyband that she loves so much. She even went up on stage once with them and sang a song with them, and Amelia thought for a second Courtney might die of happiness before the Games even start. She's not moping around, fearful that tonight could be her last night alive on this earth. And Eva is making sure to get every opportunity to survive in the arena, talking up as many sponsors as she possibly can with her mentor Galen.
Amelia knows she should be out there too, talking to people in the hopes that they'll give her a gift when she desperately needs help. But she can't make herself lie to these people and tell them what a great future she has and why they should sponsor her over the 21 other tributes here. Tributes with higher odds than her or grander reasons for winning the Games. Or even both. What does Amelia have going for her that makes her more likely to win than the careers with their training? What reasons does she have to win that are better than providing a safe space for abuse victims or getting better mental health care in her District? She doesn't even know what District to call her home anymore… All she has going for her is a family history in the Games and her university acceptance. Nothing about her actual skills or capabilities with the Games.
Which is why she's just been wandering aimlessly around the party, trying not to hinder her allies and find something that she can do that will actually help her out in the arena tomorrow. But it seems the only thing she can do is impress the Capitolites here and she really doesn't feel like she has the energy to pretend to them.
Somehow, Amelia finds her way outside to the vast garden, and the cool summer air and quiet compared to inside is an immediate relief for her. She starts down the steps and towards the perfectly manicured flowers and fountains, searching for a place to just sit for a bit alone.
"Amelia?"
She stops at the hesitant and small voice calling out her name, recognizing the person immediately. After all, how could she not recognize the voice of the boy who got her to get back on track with her education and do something with her life after Aero's death? "Hey Clark," Amelia says quietly as she turns to face the youngest victor, trying not to let the overwhelming feeling of despair show in her voice. "What are you doing out here?"
"Making sure Bjark here doesn't leave an unpleasant stain on the President's rugs," Clark gestures to the now very large dog next to him, and Amelia has to do a double take after seeing how much the puppy has grown in the last six months. "Yeah, they didn't tell me how big he would get," Clark laughs at this, but Amelia can see on his face the pain he's trying to cover up.
"How are your tributes doing?" Amelia sits down on a nearby fountain and pats the spot next to him, and Clark sits next to her. Bjark immediately tries to climb up onto Clark's lap, but he instructs the dog to sit and after a few seconds of not looking like he wants to listen, he finally sits in front of Clark and rests his head on his owner's lap.
Clark shakes his head as he looks back to the door leading into the mansion. "Last I checked, Astrid and Fete were sassing everyone, and Atropa was along for the ride."
"Is that really going to work to get sponsors?" Amelia asks him, a little in disbelief that sassing sponsors could actually help.
"It's worked for Astrid before," Clark says with a chuckle, before trailing off and quieting down. "It worked for me…"
Amelia stares over at him, really looking at the young boy – because really, he might have the title of victor, but he's still only fourteen. His eyes are lined with bags and it looks like he hasn't slept well in days, if not weeks. Deep concern is in his eyes as he stares back at her, before scrunching his face in a very Clark-esque manner. "What are you staring at? Do I have food on my face?"
"How are you doing?" Amelia asks him gently, concerned for this boy that has helped her out so much.
Clark looks surprised by the question for a moment, as if he should be the one asking it, not her, before letting out a loud sigh. "Barely holding it together."
"Same," Amelia jokes, letting out a laugh that is far from humorous, but at least she gets a small hint of a smile from the victor. "I can't even imagine what it's like being back here for you."
"It's…" Clark sighs once more and shakes his head, sitting in silence for a minute as he pets his dog. "I don't even know how to describe it, there's so many different feelings… It's…terrible. Being back on that floor and without Viradie there…I hate it. And everyone expects me to mentor someone five years older than me and it's just weird. I feel like I don't deserve to be here with the other victors…"
"You do deserve to be here…" Amelia tells him quietly, really believing it, even if part of her deep down still wishes that it was Aero sitting with her instead. But how can she blame Clark for that? He never even talked to Aero in the arena.
Clark suddenly looks up at her, his eyes watering with tears he's doing his best to keep back. "Did you really mean what you said in your interview?"
"Yes," Amelia answers immediately. "Everything I said was honest."
"I feel like it's my fault you're here," Clark whispers to her, his gaze focused on the big dog head resting in his lap and avoiding Amelia. "If I hadn't told you to apply, you wouldn't-"
"I would have had a chance of being reaped back in Six," Amelia interrupts him, hating already the blame Clark is trying to put on himself.
"But you should have been safe!" Clark says loudly, stunning them both into silence as they stare at each other in surprise: Clark, from revealing that information, and Amelia, from not knowing that Clark knew.
"How did you know?" Amelia whispers to him.
"How did you know?" Clark asks in return, sounding incredulous about it.
"President Xavier told us…"
"Well I told President Xavier to do that…" Clark shuts his eyes, trying to hide the pain from Amelia, but he's not quick enough. "The people at the program were supposed to be safe…the last thing we wanted was for people to be reaped in a different District, away from their families, when they're there to learn…"
"Clark…" Amelia says slowly, hesitantly putting a hand on his shoulder and making him jump and tense up. "It wasn't your fault…"
"Yes it is…" Clark tells her, shaking his head at her. "I…I know I'm supposed to be mentoring Fete with Astrid but…if something happens to him, I'm going to focus on you, okay? I want you getting out of that arena alive. I want you to be able to keep going back to school in Three and get your degree and live life and just be happy."
Amelia is stunned into silence at this, feeling tears welling up in her eyes right away from how much he cares about her, even though he has no real reason to care. She's done nothing for him before to earn his care.
"Well say something," Clark says, nervously looking at her before turning back to staring at Bjark.
"I don't know what to say," Amelia answers him honestly. "Except thank you…"
"I – can I help you?" Clark says suddenly, the sass he became well known for in his Games finding its way into his voice as he turns to face the two tributes standing in front of them.
Elias is standing there awkwardly, staring at Clark with wide, unblinking eyes and seemingly ignoring Clark's sass. Standing partially behind him is Genesis, looking a bit more uncomfortable about approaching Amelia and Clark, but like she's been doing all evening, she has refused to leave his side after what he said in his interview. "May I pet your dog, please?"
"That's it?" Clark asks and Elias nods his head, looking very hopeful at the idea of petting Bjark. "Knock yourself out," Clark says and Elias looks confused by this for a moment before Clark gestures down to Bjark, "Go ahead." Elias immediately sits down on the ground next to the large dog and he's immediately sat on, much to his delight. He hugs Bjark and the big dog's tongue lolls out, and even Amelia finds herself smiling a bit at the sight of this boy who can earn an eight in training completely melt from petting a dog.
"I have never pet a dog before," Elias says quietly, looking like he might tear up at the dog in his lap.
Amelia and Clark share a look at this, reminded of his interview and the mention of abuse by his parents. What kind of terrible childhood did Elias have? Clark looks at the door inside for a moment, before turning back to Elias and trying his best to smile at him. "Astrid can handle talking to sponsors for a bit… Go ahead and pet him as much as you want."
Elias looks up at Clark with a smile more like a grimace on his face as tears start to fall down his cheeks. "Thank you," he says, becoming a blubbering mess as he hugs Bjark.
Genesis looks at Clark, trying to smile at him. "Thanks for this…"
Someone clears their throat and they look over to find someone familiar to Amelia. "Excuse me…Amelia? Can you come with me? And hi Clark."
Amelia nods at Rosabella and stands up to follow the Capitolite, but pauses to look back at Clark. "Clark…thank you."
Clark nods at her, blinking a few times before turning away from her. "You're welcome," Clark mumbles, voice shaking as he avoids her gaze.
Amelia turns back to Rosabella, finding the Council Member smiling sadly at the two of them. "This way," she says softly before leading the way back into the mansion. She starts heading into the crowd of people and Rosabella looks back over her shoulder to address Amelia. "We need to get Cal as well."
"Okay," Amelia answers, knowing she doesn't have a say in this if she's being brought somewhere by someone on the President's Council. And if Cal is joining them, well…there's only one thing they could be talking about.
As they make their way through the crowd, they pass Sky and her old mentor, with Fonio keeping a hand gripped on her shoulder to prevent her from running off. She looks very angry – well, angrier than usual – at getting forced to talk to sponsors.
Somewhere in the midst of the crowd, Rosabella slows near Cal and Arthur as they talk to some sponsors, Cal leading the conversation with Arthur occasionally giving some input. Rosabella waits a moment for Cal to notice them standing there. He nods politely at Rosabella in greeting while Arthur gives a hesitant look at the Capitolite. "Hello, sorry for the interruption, but can you come with us?"
"Sure," Cal tells hers and Arthur clears his throat, making all of them look at him.
"Both of us?" Arthur asks, looking a little distrustful of following some random Capitolite somewhere, even if Rosabella isn't random to Amelia and Cal.
"Just Cal, sorry," Rosabella tells him, giving him an apologetic smile that he doesn't return.
Cal shrugs at Arthur, "This shouldn't be long. Just keep talking to sponsors. Tell them about your survival stuff."
Arthur looks very unhappy about this, but doesn't have time to argue this as Rosabella starts leading Amelia and Cal away from him. "We won't keep you long," Rosabella tells them over her shoulder as she leads them out of the main ballroom and into a much quieter hallway.
"Who is we?" Cal asks her curiously, not sounding quite happy about being taken away from his attempt to win over sponsors.
But they get their answer before Rosabella can say anything, bringing them to a stop in front of a door with members of the Presidential Guard on either side. "Of course," Amelia says quietly to herself as the guards open the doors and Rosabella leads them into the office of the President, with the other members of the Council standing behind him.
President Xavier smiles pleasantly at the two of them as he stands up, gesturing to the seats across from him. "Welcome, Amelia and Cal. Please, take a seat."
"Hello Mr. President," Amelia says politely as she takes one of the spots and Cal nods his head cordially in greeting. She tries to return his pleasant smile, but it's hard after everything that is happening with these Games and her conversation with Clark. She just feels so overwhelmed by it all and knows she will probably get back to her room later and just cry from everything.
"Would you like some tea?" President Xavier offers them and they both nod their heads at this, much to his delight. He glances over at Theodosius as someone comes over to serve Amelia and Cal tea. "See? There are people that agree to have tea."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Theodosius grumbles, looking disappointed as if he just lost a bet or something. Amelia takes a sip of her tea and cringes for a moment before dumping a ton of sugar in it and gently stirring the tiny silver spoon. "Can we talk to them already? We still have others to talk to and I'm really looking forward to hearing more about Elias' family," Theodosius cracks his knuckles at this and Amelia leans back in her chair, staring up at him with wide eyes of terror. He notices her reaction and starts laughing, relaxing his hands right away. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. Only people that abuse their children are in trouble."
Amelia nods her head at this, but she isn't quite sure she believes the intimidating man. But she turns back to the President as he nods his head in agreement. "Yes, indeed. But that does not affect you two. You're here right now because, well…you're not supposed to be here right now."
A tense silence falls on the group as they all look around at each other. This information was something they were told on the orientation. Yet something went wrong and they have ended up here, in the worst place for Amelia.
"We meant our promise," Rosabella speaks up, not surprising Amelia given how heavily involved she was with the universities. "We did not do this to you. And we have heavily questioned Rosalina and she did not rig your names in."
"Then who did it?" Cal asks them, the question Amelia has been waiting to ask since the Reaping. She didn't want to believe that the Capitol did this, after they offered this program. But she didn't know who else to blame.
The President and the Council members share a look at this before President Xavier turns back to them and folds his hands on his desk in front of him. "There are…certain people who wish to see the Games end… And they don't go about it in a civil way."
Amelia's eyes widen in fear at this knowledge. "We're caught in the middle of a rebellion?" She whispers to them, afraid of even speaking the words allowed.
"Now, now, you're not in the middle of it," President Xavier says quickly, but his response doesn't make her feel too reassured. "Just…bystanders that got involved in their plans. We think they targeted you two specifically out of the university students given your family histories. Up until now they have mostly focused on us in the Capitol and the Gamemakers, trying to sabotage the Games from there…"
"But we're stopping those bastards," Theodosius speaks up when President Xavier falls quiet and Amelia just turns her bewildered gaze towards the intimidating man. "You're not going to be caught up in their plans anymore."
"He's right," President Xavier agrees with him. "We're doing our very best to make sure there is no rebel influence in these Games, especially with you two. But…unfortunately I must be fair and I cannot give you two any advantage aside from making sure you have no disadvantages…"
"Thank you, sir," Cal speaks up for the first time in a while and Amelia glances over to look at his face, finding him sitting there with a similar look of bewilderment.
"Yes, thank you," Amelia adds, turning back to the President, feeling as if she must give some acknowledgement. Part of her is a little disappointed because a small part of her had been hoping that there would be some favoritism towards her, something to give her a slight edge over the others. But of course the President can't do that. The other Districts would be enraged if they knew the President himself was hand picking who to give special treatment to in the Games. Amelia would have felt that way if someone had a Capitol advantage last year over Aero…
No, she's going to have to do this all on her own. Screw those rebels for rigging her in when she was finally starting to pick herself back up. She is not going to let them take away her life. Maybe it's a selfish reason to fight, just to prove to them that they shouldn't have picked her. But it's not completely selfish. She has Clark rooting for her too…and she doesn't want to upset him.
"I understand, sir," Amelia tells the President, getting a happy smile from him. "I understand completely."
Here we go, the first part of the party! Also known as the chapter where everyone talks to the President lol. I knew this chapter was going to end up being long lol, and I added the Seraphim section at the beginning to not use up part of the tribute POVs to introduce everyone. Also, of course, because I love my son and wanted to throw in some stuff with him XD
So thoughts on part one? Anything in the victor section surprise you? Will Delta and Anastacia be successful at convincing Bell that Major is a cold hearted snake or will she side with Odyssey? Will Delta destroy Holly? Will Amelia be able to get herself together for the start of the Games? And who wouldn't want to give some pets to a very good doggo?
Next up we'll check in with Sky and Odyssey for the next part of the party! And I am very excited because I have planned out what happens in this part of the party a long time ago lol. We'll still continue to see hints of all of the tributes throughout each chapter.
Also keep an eye out on my random story blog! I'll probably be posting a few party related things on there, including some deleted scenes from non-tributes.
See you all soo- wait have I mentioned Legacy yet on this story? Idk if I have lol XD Well anyways, also check out Legacy, my new partial SYOT that I have started up! We'll see a lot of familiar faces and also a few new ones so I hope you check it out! :)