Chapter 37:

Seraphim Lukianas, Head Gamemaker

"I don't want to leave you."

Seraphim sighs at this, feeling the exact same way about Zephyr leaving him, even if it is just for the day. "I don't want you leaving either…but we can't send Theodosius with her."

"Shouldn't Peacekeepers be enough to protect her?" Zephyr asks him quietly as he glances over at the host for the Games being prepped for the final eight interviews. Laelia talks animatedly to her as she points at info on the tablet, providing her info on the people she'll be talking to today.

"Yes, but I feel better knowing she's with someone I trust," Seraphim tells him, taking his hand and bringing his attention back to him. "Please, Zephyr. For me. Also for Laelia."

"Oh well if it's for Laelia, of course," Zephyr answers with a grin, making Seraphim shake his head at his boyfriend. Zephyr chuckles as he leans over to give Seraphim a quick kiss. "I'll do it for you, of course. Just promise me you'll be safe."

"I think you mean you promise me you'll be safe," Seraphim says quickly and raises an eyebrow at Zephyr. "You're the one heading out into the Districts when there's a brewing rebel threat."

"I'm also the one with years of training and who knows how to defend himself, plus has grown up in the Districts," Zephyr counters, making Seraphim sigh at his logic. "But yes, I promise you, we will be safe. No one will even think about hurting her."

"Or you," Seraphim adds as Laelia and Kora start walking over to them. He gives Zephyr one last look, making sure he understands that Seraphim is being serious about him staying safe, before turning to face the young host. He clasps his hands in front of him and grins at Kora, "So, final eight interviews! I assume Laelia has told you who you'll be interviewing."

"She has," Kora answers and waves the tablet at her. "Some…interesting names on here."

"Yes, well, that's what happens when there's notable romantic interests," Seraphim shrugs at this. "Now you don't need to rush today. I've locked all the doors to keep the tributes in their rooms and also put up a barricade keeping Delta and Anastacia above ground since Demarcus isn't exactly moving anytime soon."

"Gee thanks," Kora answers sarcastically, but grows serious once more. "Anything else?"

"Yes, Zephyr is going to go with as your own sort of personal guard."

"Zephyr?" Kora asks in confusion and looks over at the victor, who nods his head in agreement, before she turns back to Seraphim. "We're going to District Two," Kora tells Seraphim, who just gives her a look of that being obvious. "Specifically the Victors Village of Two…"

"Yeah, so?" Seraphim asks, not seeing the point Kora is trying to make here. "Zephyr lives there."

"Don't you think it's a little awkward to bring Zephyr with me to Misha's house? You know, the one who has very publicly called Jory a father figure to him?"

"It will be fine," Seraphim answers her before looking over at Zephyr in concern. "Right? Everything will be fine?"

"I'll behave, no guarantees on Jory," Zephyr tells them with a shrug.

"Kora, District Two is the last place you need to be concerned about traveling to today," Seraphim reassures her. "If you were me, well, that would be a different story."

"Okay," Kora agrees slowly, clearly not believing this. She looks back down at the list on her tablet and sighs, "I'm just glad we're not going back to Seven this year."

"So am I," Seraphim answers honestly. If there was still a tribute left in Seven…he probably wouldn't have sent her there. "One and Two are as safe as can be. Four should be fine… Then you'll be in one of the nicest areas of Five. You're going to an isolated area of Ten so I would be surprised if you see many people. And then Six, well, the people that would be a concern have been apprehended. So I don't foresee there being any issues this year."

At least…he hopes there won't be.

Kora Flickerman, Host of The Hunger Games

The first stop on today's interview schedule is one Kora knows will be interesting from the recent drama that went down in the career pack: District One. She's really itching to know what Major's parents thought of his death, but she will settle for Anastacia's parents.

And at least there's no rebel threat in District One.

Deidre and Ignatius Astoria welcome Kora into their home with a bit of trepidation, catching Kora a little off guard as typically the families here are ecstatic to be interviewed and see their child reach this point. And given Anastacia's current position, she would expect more excitement.

They're soon settled in and ready to go, with only minimal confused looks at Zephyr being there, and Kora is ready to start a long day of interviews – thankfully with no fear that she has to rush to do them before another death. "Good afternoon, Panem! I'm your host Kora Flickerman and it is time already to kick off the interviews of the families and friends of our final eight tributes in the Sixth Quarter Quell! We are here in District One with the parents of Anastacia Astoria to kick things off! So to start, what do you think about Anastacia's decision to willingly participate in this Quarter Quell with that twist?"

Deidre shares a nervous look with her husband as she grabs onto the curious looking pendant and starts moving it around on the chain around her neck. Kora tilts her head at the action and Deidre clears her throat and drops her hand as she notices, "Well…she's our baby girl so obviously we're very worried for her."

"We're proud of her, of course," Ignatius adds on quickly, even if he doesn't quite sound like it. "Right dear?"

"Yes…" Deidre answers slowly, nodding her head to try and convince Kora. "Just anything but losing her sight would have been better. That's the worst sense she could have lost with her hearing damage."

"Hearing damage?" Kora prompts, getting a nod from Anastacia's father.

"Yes, someone in training tried to take her out of the running by damaging her hearing," Ignatius confirms. "But there's not much that could have stopped her."

"Anastacia seems to have a very good motivation for winning," Kora brings up. "Her friend Pad…did you know them?"

"Of course," Ignatius says with a small laugh. "Those two were inseparable growing up. Their death…nearly broke her, but she's strong and when she sets her mind to something…good luck trying to get her to stop."

"We certainly tried," Deidre mutters on her breath, making Kora raise an eyebrow at her to prompt her for more explanation, but Anastacia's mother stay quiet.

"She certainly seems driven," Kora points out. "She's made it to the final eight and she's part of the only alliance left. She has full supplies and minimal injuries, especially compared to some of her former allies. I'd say she has fairly good odds at this point."

Deidre and Ignatius share another look with each other before turning back to Kora. "She would have better odds with her sight," Deidre tells the host.

"True," Kora agrees before shifting the topic. "Now Anastacia was part of one of the most talked about events of this year's Games so far: the death of Major. What do you think about her not only killing her District partner, but the way they killed him?"

"Anastacia knows better than to kill someone like that with no reason," Deidre says, seemingly trying to convince herself that Anastacia had a reason for the brutal death. "She wouldn't have done that unless Major deserved it."

"And if he really did have some sort of involvement in Pad's death…" Ignatius shakes his head at the young host. "Pad was a good kid and Anastacia's closest friend. If Major hurt them in any way, then…I'm not really surprised at Anastacia killing him that way."

"Pad's death has been the thing fueling her all these years on this crazy mission on hers," Deidre adds, shaking her head at her daughter's actions. "I've been worried she would burn herself out before ever reaching her goals. She still might…"

Kora presses her lips together at this, not sure how to answer that since she's so used to families in One being fully supportive of their children. But luckily for her, she's getting the signal to wrap up the interview. "Well we are just about out of time here. If you could say anything to Anastacia right now, what would you tell her?"

"Hang in there, baby girl," Deidre tells the camera, her eyes even watering up a little bit. "We love you so please…don't let your anger burn you out."

Ignatius nods his head at his wife's statement. "Deidre said it perfectly."

"Excellent," Kora says as she clasps her hands together. "Thank you, Deidre and Ignatius for taking the time to let me interview you today. Next up, District Two!"

Kora knows District Two is going to prove to have one of the more interesting set of interviews, especially after everything that has happened in the last two days of the arena. And with Odyssey's recent downward spiral, Kora is curious what his family thinks.

Five women sit in front of her and Kora can only imagine what growing up was like for Odyssey as the only boy in the household and part of her is a little jealous of his large family. Some of them share a close resemblance to him – his older sister Laurentina, especially his mother Diana – while his younger sisters Calypso and Penelope share dark brown hair and only some similar features to their brother, but despite that, they are all very clearly related to Odyssey. The oldest sits nervously, a faint blush on her cheeks, while the younger two sit quietly talking together, both looking unsure about all of this. And then there's Julia, Diana's wife, who lovingly greeted Kora at the door and welcomed the host right in.

"We're back, now in District Two with the family of Odyssey Gunderson!" Kora says cheerfully to the cameras. "We have Diana Gunderson, her wife Julia, and the three sisters of Odyssey: Laurentina, Calypso, and Penelope! Now Odyssey made quite a splash in the Capitol when I met him, or rather, when I met Venus."

"That's Odyssey for you," Diana answers, smiling as she shakes her head. "I'm sure he did everything he could to be interviewed as Venus."

"That he did," Kora says with a laugh. "Quite the dream he has there. What do you think about his ambitions to be a drag queen?"

"We all support him," Diana tells the host and the others give various levels of agreement. "I have always urged my children to do what they are passionate about and doing drag is his biggest passion. It makes him happy which is all that mattered. Now as his mother…of course I wish he would have thought things through better and maybe found something that could be a more stable career."

"Well he's making it a career through this," Laurentina points out to her mother before looking at Kora and flushing a bit. "I love his drag performances, except when he steals my clothes without asking."

"It's-"

"So much fun!" Penelope cuts off Calypso, ignoring the little glare her sister gives her. "We always go to his shows hosted by Misha, but Mom always makes me leave early, even though I'm totally old enough to stay later."

"Misha, huh?" Kora asks, wiggling her eyebrows a little at the mention of the victor and Odyssey's apparent love interest. "So how long has there been a thing between them?"

"This is brand new information for us too. Odyssey has some explaining to do when he gets home," Diana says stubbornly. "I'm disappointed that he never told me before."

"Chill, Mom, he didn't even tell me," Laurentina laughs at her mother pouting. "Don't worry, Misha's a good guy and worthy of Odyssey."

"I am sure, but doesn't change the fact that he could have told us," Diana continues, shaking her head at her son's secret. "When he gets home, he's introducing Misha to us right away."

"And he will," Julia reassures her wife, speaking up for the first time, seemingly comfortable to sit back and let Diana and her daughters handle the questions.

At the mention of Odyssey coming home from the Games, Kora grows serious to change the focus of the interview. "Now the Games have been quite the tumultuous ride for Odyssey. First the Trial by Combat, then Major's death and his own injury, and now his emotional breakdown… What do you all think about what he's done?"

"He's hurting and I don't blame him… What I said before still stands," Diana says resolutely. "We all still support him. Right, girls?"

At Diana's tone and the look she gives them, Odyssey's sisters all nod their heads at various paces. Laurentina agrees right away, then Penny after a few seconds, and Calypso needs a subtle elbow from Diana to finally agree. "Of course we still support him," Laurentina speaks up, still struggling to meet Kora's gaze. "He's our brother and we love him. I just…we want to see him back home."

"And he will get back home," Diana adds on, reassure herself and her daughters. Penelope sniffles at this and Julia quickly puts an arm around the youngest to comfort her. "And we'll keep supporting him then, just as we always have and always will."

"I think that's a perfect place to end this interview," Kora tells Odyssey's family, smiling at all of them. "And now it is time for us to go interview someone else for Odyssey!"

Being in the Victor's Village is a bit of a weird feeling for Kora as she still is getting used to not seeing them as Panem's celebrities and just normal people with how new she is to being the host for the Games. But there's one victor who is definitely her favorite – her first one – and that's who's house they're walking up to.

But the person to open the door when they're halfway up the driveway is not Misha and brings Zephyr to a stop. Kora looks back at him, watching him stare over at Jory, before shaking his head and continuing to walk towards his ex. "I knew I should have placed bets on you being here."

"Of course I'm here, you know what he means to me. No way would I leave him alone right now," Jory tells them as they approach, no hint of joking in his voice. As they get closer, Kora can see the heavy bags under his eyes and he fights to hold back a yawn. "But what are you doing here? Coming to give your old District trade secrets about the rest of the Games?"

"Shut up, Jory," Zephyr answers with a roll of his eyes, but he's fighting off a smile. "Seraphim asked me to go with Kora. That's all."

"Seraphim, huh?" Jory says, wiggling his eyebrows and laughing as Zephyr shoves him out of the way so they can get in the house for the interview. "You know I'm kidding and happy to see you happy."

Kora hesitates for a moment, weirded out by the exchange between them but soon shakes her head and goes into the house, following Jory and Zephyr playfully bickering to the living room where Misha waits. Kora smiles when she sees him, trying not to let it falter when she sees how rough shape he's in. He doesn't look like he's slept at all really since the Games started and his eyes are red from recently crying. "There's my favorite victor!"

"Hey!" Zephyr and Jory both cry out, but Kora just rolls her eyes at them.

She at least got Misha to crack a smile as he stands up and she gives him a hug. "Hey Kora…"

"Hey Misha, hanging in there?" Kora asks as she steps back, watching him give a half-hearted nod. She gently pats his shoulder to comfort him before they take their seats as the crew frantically gets things ready around them. "Just a few questions, okay? And…you're going to be okay talking about him, right?"

"Yeah," Misha says, his voice shaking as he tries to sit up and straighten out his messy hair. "He needs me so I can be strong for him."

"Very well," Kora says as she gets the signal they're ready to start, and forces her best cheery smile on as concern fills her over the current state of her first victor. "We're still here in Two with a special treat, one of our victors, Misha Harrington! Now we've seen the conversations and that recent sponsor gift and we're all curious what's going on here. So Misha, how do you know Odyssey?"

"From training, of course," Misha answers her right away with a smile. "And the drag shows."

"Yes, Odyssey's family mentioned the drag shows you host," Kora comments, making Misha look a bit curious about what else Odyssey's family might have said about him. "All good things, don't worry. They were just surprised to find out about you, so when did things start between you two?"

"Do you want the answer of when feelings started or when they were finally admitted?" Misha says with a laugh, making Kora curious.

"Both, why not?"

"Well I can only speak for my own feelings, but…a while now," Misha says quietly as the smile fades from his face. "They weren't admitted until at the party so…who knows how things could have been different if I would have said something sooner…"

"The past can't be changed and Odyssey has shown he is fighting with everything he has in the Games. Now you have been through the Games before…" Kora starts slowly, cautious to be gentle when discussing the Games with him. "You know better than most of us what tributes go through in the arena. What do you think about what's been happening to Odyssey and his shot at winning?"

Misha shakes his head at her as he blinks a few times. He finally lets out a sigh before answering her, "I know he can win. I have to keep believing he will win. But what he's going through…well, I'm going to be right there for him when he gets out of the arena."

"Well said, Misha," Kora answers, wanting to reach over and give some comfort to him, but knowing she needs to stay as unbiased as possible in the interviews. "That's all we have time for here so that wraps up our interviews for Odyssey Gunderson! Next up, District Four for our only District pair remaining!"

The atmosphere in the Pollock household is a sharp change from the welcome Kora received at the Gunderson household, putting her on edge and feeling anxious to get out of there quickly. While the previous two families had been welcoming, this family feels like they resent her presence and Kora finds herself glad to have Zephyr just a few feet away from her and out of sight of the cameras. She doubts that a bunch of teenagers can do much, but just look at what a bunch of teenagers have been doing in the Games.

Gathered in front of her in the living room sits most of Demarcus' family he's discussed winning for. His mother Brilla sits in the lone armchair, hand over her face as she slouches into the chair, unable to bring herself to put on a cheery face. She's forced her remaining children to squeeze onto the couch. The oldest, Marshall, sits straight and is focused on Kora, so the host is definitely going to direct most of her questions to him. The two twin girls, Rosemary and Samara, talk quietly to each other, ignoring their two younger brothers Marvin and Mark next to them as Marvin tries to take the toy from the youngest, making him start to have a fit. Kora's already been told that their father won't be joining, too paranoid about the Capitolite crew coming into their house.

"All of you, shut it!" Marshall yells at his siblings, getting them to stop instantly and they all look over at him. "Everyone stay quiet unless she asks you a direct question and just let me handle this like I handle everything in this family."

Kora clears her throat and gives them an uneasy smile, not at all liking this sibling dynamic. Maybe she is happy being an only child. "Thank you… So, uh, we are now here in District Four with the family of Demarcus Pollock! So he's the oldest sibling of six of you? That's a big family."

"Yep, and instead of staying home and being responsible and helping us out, he's off getting himself killed," Marshall responds bitterly, crossing his arms at the thought of his older brother.

"My baby boy," Brilla says quietly, moving her hand for a moment to look at Kora. "I can't lose my baby boy."

"We don't know for sure what will happen to him," Kora tries to pick up the mood, but she can see she's failing. "He did make it to the final eight, after all!"

"Sure, but he also has a concussion," Marshall starts, holding up his hand to count on his fingers. "He's also blind, and has no allies. So yeah, I'd say he probably should have just stayed home."

"But he has training," Rosemary speaks up, instantly getting a scowl from Marshall.

Samara nods her head next to her twin, continuing for her, "So shut up, you dingus. He's going to win."

"You shut up and let me give this interview so it's not a disaster!" Marshall yells back at them, making Rosemary stick out her tongue at her brother. The youngest two start fidgeting and Kora starts getting worried that this interview is going to go completely off the rails if she doesn't get it under control soon. "Look, you can clearly see how many of us there are. Instead of being responsible and staying here in Four and finding a good paying job to help support us, he went off and risked his life on a 1 in 22 chance of getting out of there alive. He left me to work my ass off to support this family when he's the oldest and should be doing this. You don't think I'd like to have my own life? Get a job I actually like, not just whatever pays well because no one else wants to do it? He gets to do what he wants and he doesn't realize the consequences of those actions on his family!"

"I really wouldn't count him out yet," Kora tries to tell them, but she knows the interview is lost. Still, she tries her best to turn the interview around for Demarcus' sake. "Tributes have won with worse conditions before and without training. He got out safely from the career pack meltdown, which I think is quite the achievement. So I think you should have more hope for your older brother."

"Easy for you to say when you don't know him," Marshall mutters, shaking his head at the host.

"Well unfortunately, that's all the time we have," Kora says quickly when Marshall opens his mouth to keep talking. "That's a wrap on our interview with Demarcus Pollock's family!" Kora tells the cameras before they cut. She stands up, waiting for their next move across the District.

"Hey Kora, we just got word that Zale refuses to be interviewed."

Kora looks over at the head of the crew, confused for a moment. "Like Delta Zale's family or Demarcus' friend Zale?"

"The friend Zale."

"Ah…" Kora says quietly as they step outside to head towards Delta's home. "He was the one that confessed feelings in the goodbye room. Maybe he could have made a better impression for Demarcus, but I guess we won't know. Oh well…not much to do but move on then."

The next house Kora travels to is much quieter than the previous, but it's a somber silence lingering over the place. Delta Zale doesn't have a large family, just her mother, who's done her best to welcome them, but still seems so nervous and broken. Since they only have two people to interview for Delta, the other person, Delta's personal trainer, has been brought here to save them time travelling to his house. The two aren't talking, just waiting around in awkward silence as the crew prepares for their interviews.

Kora takes her place and puts on a smile, ignoring the awkwardness lingering in the house. After all, it's her job to do this. "We're still in District Four for our second set of interviews, this time for Delta Zale! First up, we have Delta's mother, Coral Zale!" Coral tries to give a small smile at this, but clearly struggles. "So it's just you and Delta?" Kora asks Coral, who nods her head a little. "Do you two have a good relationship?"

"I try to, but…" Coral shakes her head, giving her answer. "After her father's…accident…at work, well…she's blamed me for it. And I deserve the blame."

"But if it was an accident at work, surely it wasn't your fault," Kora tells her, confused on what could have happened. "Unless, of course, you worked at the same place. Even then, if it was an accident, you're not to blame."

"It just is my fault," Coral reassures Kora, growing more upset with each passing minute. "She's right to blame me and I can't be mad at her for it. I just…wish she didn't go on such a crazy mission by volunteering."

"I wouldn't call it crazy," Kora points out. "She's doing very well right now. I'd say probably the best of all the remaining tributes right now. She has both her sight and hearing, no major injuries right now, supplies, and she's the only one with an ally. Seems to me like she's on track to win."

"I hope so…" Coral answers the host and shrugs a little. "But I doubt if she wins she'll want anything to do with me, and I don't blame her… It's my fault," Coral whispers quietly, wrapping her arms around herself as she refuses to meet Kora's gaze. She shakes her head, "I know it is. All of this."

"I don't think that's true," Kora tells her. "Delta has been shown to have quite the…personality. Seems like once she sets her mind to something, there's very little that will stop her. After all, she is the only seventeen year old of the careers this year. That says a lot. In fact," Kora pauses, knowing this interview with Delta's mother isn't going anywhere and having the perfect transition, "We have Delta's personal trainer here to interview as well! Let's bring out Sebastian Janikowski!"

Kora waits patiently as the crew directs Delta's mother to the side and brings in Delta's personal trainer. The man takes his spot and seems in a much better mood than Coral was about being interviewed, which is a relief to Kora. After Coral and the Pollock family, she'd really appreciate an easy interview. "So Sebastian, how did you come about being Delta's personal trainer?"

"Great question, Kora," Sebastian answers as he crosses his legs and leans back, projecting confidence that should reflect on Delta from him being her trainer. Smart man. "Delta has such fierce determination to win the Hunger Games that she set a new record for the biggest placements jumped between assessments of anyone in District Four. When the victors saw that, they knew we needed to hone Delta's potential, and so I was assigned to work with her."

"And I would say you succeeded there."

"Yes," Sebastian says with a laugh. "I agree with you."

"Now, we are a little curious," Kora starts and he tilts his head a little in anticipation of her question. "Why have her volunteer at seventeen and not wait one more year and train with her in that time?"

"I don't make the personal recommendations and choices for volunteers," Sebastian says with a shrug, but Kora can see how he has tensed up at this. "Personally, I wanted to work with her an extra year, but fully support the victors' decision to send her in now. Clearly the decision has worked out well."

"Yes, no one can deny that," Kora agrees with him. "So would you say you know Delta well?" Kora asks and Sebastian nods his head. "What do you think of her decision to leave Demarcus to stay with Anastacia?"

"I…" Sebastian hesitates and Kora raises an eyebrow as she waits for him to answer. "I think…she understands that in the end, it can't be both of them. And by staying separate, she's reducing the possibility of something targeting the pair together and taking out both of Four's shot at victory. I mean, just look at what happened to District Two because they were so close."

"Interesting," Kora answers, noting how he didn't mention anything about Anastacia, but choosing to not bring it up. After all, they're just about out of time. "Well I think that's all we have time for so thank you, Sebastian, for your time!"

Kora turns to face the cameras, smiling over at them, "That has been the first half of our final eight interviews! We will return soon after this short break, starting off in District Five!"

There we have our first half of the final eight interviews! I decided to split them up once I realized it would split into careers vs non-careers nicely. Thoughts on this first group? Anything stick out for anyone? And yeah, I'm keeping them short but proportional to how many people there are per tribute - some just have more people to interview and I am not going to drag out a certain interview for the sake of hitting a word count.

Hopefully the second half will be up soon! I'm trying to plow through these quickly because interviews always get repetitive to write and to read XD

There's a new poll up on my profile! Still asking who you think will be victor, but final 8 version since things have changed quite a bit since the last poll at the start of the Games. Also just a reminder that the sense items are still discounted!

See you all soon!