Chapter 40:

Day Six

Seraphim Lukianas, Head Gamemaker

If it were up to Seraphim, he would call off the rest of the Games and have a seven person finale after everything that has happened. First Adam getting kidnapped, now Anastacia? Why her? Adam's connection to the rebels was obvious, but what connection does Anastacia have to them? Did they miss something in their background checks? But more importantly…how did they do it?

Seraphim is terrified that they don't know how the rebels did it. No one in the Games Headquarters authorized that poisoned sponsor gift, yet it still got to Anastacia. He didn't call for a cannon to be fired when it did since they could all see her heartrate still on the monitors. Theodosius' security team is still trying to trace the source of those commands, but one thing is clear… Their operating system isn't secure and the rebels have gotten access somehow. Which is why Seraphim wants to end the Games before the rebels can hack anything else.

Yet he can't just call for the finale now, despite wanting to end this before anything else can go wrong. The country doesn't know what is happening with the rebels and to all of them, Anastacia and Adam are dead… The don't know about the threat that is building and if they did, widespread panic could happen, riots, accidents, deaths… The last thing they need is the country growing panicked at something that could end up being nothing – it's not the first time the President has had to squash a rebellion. So what they need right now is normalcy in the Games. And somehow, Seraphim is in charge of that normalcy…

"Seraphim…"

Seraphim sighs as he moves his hand from his face to look over at Zephyr, trying to keep all his fears and worries off of his face. He doesn't need to make anyone else as stressed as he is. "Yes?"

Zephyr sits down next to him and puts a hand on his shoulder, but the touch brings little comfort to Seraphim. Not when his Games are slowly falling apart and they have to pretend everything is fine. "I don't think you should do the Trial by Combat today."

"I can't stop it," Seraphim whispers, afraid that speaking any louder will let his fear show in his voice. "You heard the President's orders. We have to keep going on like nothing is wrong. We can't let the public know yet what is happening…"

Zephyr stares at Seraphim for a while and from his expression, Seraphim knows he sees right through him. "I understand that…but don't you think maybe the Trials by Combat are maybe… I don't know, maybe the rebels are using that as fuel."

"What do you mean?" Seraphim asks in confusion, turning to face Zephyr fully. "People are expecting a third Trial today and so we're going to do one, end of story. That's the President's order."

"Yes, but maybe the rebels see it as different," Zephyr sighs as he runs a hand through his hair, growing frustrated as he tries to find the words to say. "Look, in Two, I know aside from the whole Bell versus Odyssey thing, they'll view it as a fun twist in the Games and probably be placing bets on the next one. Most likely the same in One and Four. But the other Districts?"

"Are you an expert in the other Districts?" Seraphim asks, his tone sharper than he intended and he quickly turns away from Zephyr, but not before he sees the hurt on his face.

"More than you living in the Capitol your whole life," Zephyr answers coolly as he takes his hand off of Seraphim's shoulder and crosses his arms, still looking over at the Head Gamemaker. "I know the victors and let me tell you, I am sure they do not view the Trials by Combat as entertainment. They probably dread each time one comes up."

"What do you want me to do, Zephyr?" Seraphim asks exasperated as he turns back to Zephyr. He just doesn't get it. He doesn't understand that Seraphim doesn't have control of every decision about the Games, even if he is the Head Gamemaker. Even less so with the rebels once again interfering. "It's not all up to me here. I'm walking a fine line here and with any slight nudge in one direction, everything could fall apart. I can't go against what the President told me to do. But also I'm petrified of doing something that is going to get me hurt by rebels again. Last year could have been so different…"

Seraphim doesn't realize he's starting crying until Zephyr reaches out and wipes away a tear from his cheek. He puts both hands on Seraphim's shoulders, keeping him looking at him for a moment before pulling him into a tight hug. "This is not going to be like last year. I'm here now and no one is going to hurt you, ever. I'll destroy every last rebel before they even think about hurting you again."

This only makes Seraphim start crying even more, all the pent up emotions from five full days of the Games catching up to him. "I don't deserve you."

"Yes you do," Zephyr answers quietly before starting to chuckle a little when Seraphim presses his head into his shoulder. "You're going to get snot on my shoulder."

"Hey I'm not the snot crier, that's you," Seraphim laughs a little through his tears as he pulls back from Zephyr and tries to wipe away his tears. "I just become a blubbering mess."

"That you do," Zephyr says with an even louder laugh and Seraphim leans against him again, needing the comfort and support from him right now. It's just…so much being put on his shoulders.

But someone clears their throat nearby and their laughter soon dies down when they look over to see Rosabella standing there. Seraphim immediately stands up and approaches her, concerned by the tears she's barely holding back and the fear on her face. "Sorry to interrupt you, Seraphim, but…we have a problem."

"Is my mother safe?" Seraphim asks immediately and when Rosabella nods her head, his whole body relaxes for a moment, but soon tenses up again at her still looking distraught. "What's wrong?"

"It's more important now than ever that we don't let the public know yet what is happening… We're trying everything to keep it contained and we're afraid of the rebels starting a full scale rebellion but conflict seems inevitable at this point," Rosabella lets out a heavy sigh as she pulls out her phone and takes a moment to bring something up before showing Seraphim and the image sends a chill down his spine. "They have Luciano."

Seraphim stares at the image of the council member in a prison cell for a few long seconds. His heart races as he touches his arm, phantom pain shooting through it. "That's an act of war kidnapping a high profile person in the government…"

"We know," Rosabella says quietly, shaking her head as she removes the image from her screen and puts away her phone. "Mendalius is doing everything to keep war from happening and he just needs you to keep doing everything you've been doing so far."

Seraphim shakes his head at her as Zephyr protectively puts a hand on his back. "Rosabella, I don't think keeping the Games moving the same is going to stop the rebels."

"No, it won't," Rosabella answers him honestly. "But it might just buy us some time to stop them from getting the rest of the country on their side. We have a plan, we just…need some time. Just keep doing your job and focus on that. We're keeping things under control."

But from the look on her face, they both know that things are most definitely not under control.

Delta Zale, 17, District Four

You left her to die.

Delta shakes her head at the nagging thought she can't escape, no matter how much she paces the upper levels of the arena. She didn't leave Anastacia. She tried to pull her away from the poison, but couldn't, so she ran away. She was just making sure that both of them didn't die from the poison. She was just trying not to die. Anastacia would have needed to die eventually anyways. It's the Hunger Games. They both knew what needs to happen in the Games to be the victor when they volunteered for this. It was Anastacia or Delta, that's all.

It's your fault.

Is it Delta's fault? She shoved the canister onto Anastacia's lap in her panic to get it away from her. She could have pushed it anywhere else other than at her ally. She didn't mean to, it just happened when she was trying to get away from her. So it's not her fault.

Then why the hell is she feeling this way? Why can't she stop thinking about leaving Anastacia behind and the cannon that sounded so soon after? She doesn't even know what exactly she's feeling… She's always been so sure of her decisions before so why is she questioning everything about this one? Why is this one death consuming her thoughts so much? She's killed three tributes in this arena and none of them stuck around in her head for this long after their death.

You shouldn't have left her behind.

Delta stops her pacing as the new thought slips into her head before she can try to push it aside and focus on the Games. She turns back and looks up towards the third level where they were camped out before getting that fake sponsor gift, trying to understand the twisting in her stomach from Anastacia's death. She needs to stop thinking about her former ally and move on already.

Just admit you regret it.

Delta turns to face the ground, trying to stop any of the cameras following their every move from seeing her face as she grows angry, directed all towards herself. She doesn't regret what she did…that would be so stupid to regret leaving someone behind to die when they're now down to only seven tributes left. She's getting so much closer to winning the Games for the Capitol. But that's all she's winning for…revenge against the rebels. She doesn't even have a plan for what she's doing after she wins, just had such a narrow focus on winning in the name of the Capitol. No grand plan to help people escaped abuse…

Delta quickly resumes her pacing at this thought, trying to hide her emotions. Why does it matter if Delta doesn't have a plan right now? She'll just work for the Capitol. Yeah, that's what she's going to do. She'll ask President Xavier when all of this is done what she can keep doing to stop the rebels. Surely she can help them with the knowledge she has of them.

Delta nods her head to herself, focusing on those thoughts and trying to push aside the feelings of regret in her. She's not regretful about Anastacia's death. No, why would she be? It's kill or be killed. Fight to the death. Only one can live. So there's absolutely no way that Delta is regre-

A silver canister with a '4' on the side pops up in front of her, making her stop suddenly as she stares down at it. She narrows her eyes, knowing exactly what happened the last time there was a sponsor gift, before she kicks it away from her. No fucking way is she going to trust anything sent as a 'sponsor gift' anymore, not after they tricked them last night and killed Anastacia. Delta storms away from it, hating the bitter reminder of what she did from just seeing the gift. But she only gets a few paces until another one pops up and when she turns to walk the other way instead, another one is behind her.

"Is this some cruel joke?" Delta yells up at the sky, pissed off at the Gamemakers thinking that this is funny. "It's not! Fuck your quote-unquote gifts!"

Delta glares around for a few seconds, just daring them to try and send another one to her, and just when she thinks she has one, another pops up in front of her. Delta lets out a scream of rage as she picks it up and throws it as far as she can, watching as it falls down the stairs, making a ton of noise every time the metal hits a stone stair, before eventually landing in the sand. She takes a few deep breaths, trying to bring down the rage in her. She shouldn't be getting mad at the Capitol for this… The Capitol is good, they have been supporting her ever since she started bringing them information about…the…rebels…

Delta narrows her eyes at the silver canister she threw down the stairs, not wanting to believe her thoughts could be true. There's no way the rebels could be doing this…yet that's a lie and she knows it. She knows exactly what the rebels are capable of doing.

Delta slides down to the ground, letting out a sigh as she stares at the silver canisters surrounding her in disbelief. She just doesn't want to believe that the rebels are still ruining her life in the Games, the one thing she's been proud to do for herself. But is it really for herself? She's been doing it for the Capitol and to spite the rebels.

The rebels killed Anastacia.

Delta's hands shake in anger at this realization. It's her fault. Anastacia got caught in the crossfire of them trying to get to Delta. Oh they are going to fucking pay for this. How dare those fuckers take another person she cares about from her?

Fanfare starts in the arena, making Delta jump to her feet, spear raised and ready to fight, until she realizes that it is just the announcement for the next Trial by Combat.

"Good afternoon, tributes!" Kora greets the few remaining tributes, but she doesn't sound as cheery as last time. "We have made it to day six which means it is time for our third Trial by Combat. Which two tributes will be fighting each other this time? Let's find out!"

Delta is so fired up right now that she almost shouts to the Gamemakers to put her in another fight. She doesn't care who she fights, she just needs to do something to get this anger out of her system. She'll fight any of the tributes left, even Odyssey and Demarcus. Actually, she'd like that fight since it would actually be a fight, not a decimation like what happened when she was put with that rebel scum from Seven.

But Delta doesn't get what she wants.

"Our two participants today are…" Kora pauses for the drama and Delta rolls her eyes before glaring up at the sky. "Amelia Fensa and Fox Durham!"

Delta lets out an angry noise at not being selected. It's not even going to be a good fight! Those two don't know how to actually fight. If they wanted entertaining, they should have put another career in, or put her in again. This won't even be a good fight for her to watch.

Delta pauses at that thought, staring down at the sand pit below. By now they should have brought those two tributes below the arena and will be preparing them for their fight, giving them armor and weapons. And then they'll have free reign of the fighting area. The area that still has a bunch of supplies in the cornucopia. Now Delta can't let the winner just get any supplies they want.

And what was it they said for the first Trial? They said tributes were welcome to watch and even encouraged them to do so… They never said anything against other tributes participating. When they watched the first two Trials, no one interfered because why would they interfere with Delta fighting a pathetic girl, or the Two pair fighting each other? They never tested the rules for the Trials…or maybe lack of rules. And if they wanted tributes to come watch, surely they won't have a problem with someone else fighting.

They better not have a problem with it because that won't stop Delta from fighting. She needs a distraction and the best way to do that is to fight. So fuck all of these feelings she doesn't understand. Fuck the rebels mocking her with fake sponsor gifts. She's getting the fuck out of this arena as soon as possible.

Delta is going to get these Games finished so she can get out of this arena and make the rebels burn.

Fox Durham, 18, District Ten

This is the last thing that Fox wanted. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, especially not someone he cares about, even if she did leave him without saying goodbye to him. Amelia still was kind to him in the little bit of time they shared together in the arena. This was what she was probably trying to avoid by leaving him. She was so worried that they would put them together in a Trial by Combat and maybe she thought if they were separated, the Gamemakers would no longer by interested in seeing the pair fight.

He supposes they were wrong in thinking that.

Fox doesn't want to hurt Amelia, but he's terrified at the thought of dying. Terrified of leaving his family behind. Maddox means the whole world to him and he can't imagine his son growing up without a father… But can Fox really hurt Amelia, let alone kill her?

He doesn't have any more time to think about if he can or can't do that. Not now that they're pushing him back into another launch tube, making his breathing pick up as he's brought back to the start of the Games. But then he had nothing. Just his alliance with Adam. Now he has leather armor and a sword, but no allies. He's soon surrounded by darkness as the bit of sunlight above him becomes closer and closer, bringing him one step closer to two options that terrify him: having to kill or being killed.

Fox is brought back into the arena and he blinks a few times against the sunlight, his eyes straining against so much daylight after spending the past few days seeing by torchlight. They stand in the sand near the cornucopia – still filled with supplies – and Amelia raises a hand to block her eyes from the sun but soon stops when she remembers the large circular blades on her hands.

A gong sounds, signaling it's time for them to fight, only making tears start forming in Fox's eyes as they both stay put, neither of them wanting to start fighting each other. He stares across at her, studying her face and trying to tell himself that he has to fight her to get out of here alive and home to his son, but it's pointless. He'll never be able to convince himself to kill her…

"I don't blame you for leaving," Fox tells her, wanting her to know the truth so she doesn't feel guilty about this when it is over. Because they both know what the outcome of this is going to be. Amelia was always the one with more drive to fight and do things, even though Fox should have been that one when he has a family to get home to. "You are the one with the smart ideas. Just…good luck after this is over. If you do win, please…make sure Paloma and my kids are taken care of, okay?"

"Fox…" Amelia calls out to him, frown on her face as she sighs. "Of course I will… I hope you can forgive me…I'm really sorry for this. I truly am. But I…I have to survive. I know you have a family but-"

Amelia cuts off as she collapses to the ground, her body convulsing and Fox starts running over to her, immediately forgetting that they're supposed to be fighting each other. Because right now, his ally is getting hurt by something and he doesn't care if they are in the Hunger Games, he wants to protect her. "Amelia!"

Before he can even get close to her, her body stops moving, leaving her slumped on the ground and Fox stops running, tears beginning to fall down his cheeks at the thought that another ally of his has died in front of him before he could get to them and stop them. "No, please," Fox says quietly as a hovercraft appears above Amelia and he drops down to his knees, not wanting to believe this. She can't be gone.

Boom.

"No!" Fox yells out at the cannon as the metal claw comes down to pick up Amelia, but suddenly there's another yell in the arena, this one of surprise and suddenly Fox is knocked to the side. He picks himself up and looks around quickly at the various mutts racing towards the hovercraft picking Amelia up, some large cats jumping at it and fighting to…stop it? What is going on?

Fox turns around and finds the source of the yell as Davy pushes himself to his feet in confusion, standing not too far from Fox in front of an opening in the ground where one last wolf is running out of. When Davy sees him, he lets out a yelp of surprise and quickly grabs two knives he dropped on the ground and holds them defensively in front of him. "I-I wi-will fight back!" Davy tells him, his voice wavering and hands shaking so much as they hold onto the knives so tightly his knuckles turn white. He is trying so hard to look like he is going to fight, but Fox can tell Davy is just trying to fool him. He's about as prepared to fight as Fox is.

"I don't want to fight," Fox holds up his free hand defensively and lowers his sword as he glances over at the hovercraft finishing bringing Amelia's body up into it. What happened? Why kill her now when they were about to fight? He turns back to Davy, holding back a sob in his throat at Amelia's sudden death, but his eyes soon widen and he takes a step back in fear as he looks past the boy. "Run!"

But his scream is too late to Davy, too late to stop Delta from running towards the young boy and sending her spear through his chest. Davy gasps in pain as he coughs up blood and looks down at the spear sticking through him, before it's yanked back and he falls down to his knees, clutching a hand to his chest. Delta doesn't even pause at stabbing the young boy, just turning to face Fox with a look of fury in her eyes and he knows there will be no escape from her.

"Please, no!" Fox tries to beg her as he starts taking some steps back, but she keeps coming towards him. Until a wolf tackles her to the ground and she hits it with her spear, making it yelp in pain and giving her the chance to shove it aside. Delta scrambles to her feet and starts running to try to avoid the pack of wolves now chasing after her, fighting to bite her through her metal armor.

The mutts leave him alone, all choosing instead to chase after Delta instead, and at whimpers and gasps of pain from Davy, Fox soon stumbles over to the boy. He drops down next to him, kneeling in a pool of blood surrounding the boy as he tries in vain to put pressure on the stab wound, but blood keeps pouring out around his hand. Davy flinches away from Fox at first and looks up at him with tearstained eyes. Fox tries to smile encouragingly at him, making the young boy not as afraid of him as Fox puts his hand over Davy's, trying to stop the bleeding, but there's no coming back from that kind of injury. The least he can do is be there for Davy since he couldn't for Adam or Amelia… "Hey, I'm here," Fox tells Davy, but the boy just looks at him with a confused look as he lets out a sob of pain.

"I tried-" Davy gasps as he looks at Fox, who tries to hold back his tears at seeing the young boy dying in front of him. Screams sound from behind him, but Fox doesn't look back to see what is happening to Delta. "To…t-to be brave. I-I'm sorry I won't get home to you."

"You were," Fox tells Davy, nodding his head at the young boy. He glances down at his hand covering the wound, it already covered in the boy's blood. He turns back to Davy as the boy starts gasping, finding it hard to keep breathing. Fox's heart breaks as he watches the young boy dying in front of him and knowing there's nothing he can do to stop it. This just isn't fair. Davy wasn't supposed to be in this fight… It was supposed to be just him and Amelia. Not Davy. Certainly not Delta. If anyone was supposed to die from this fight, it was Fox... "You were very brave."

Davy starts shaking his head, staring up at the sky as his face pales. Tears pour down the sides of his face and Fox says his name, but Davy doesn't hear him, just continuing to stare up at the sky. "I…I…Le…" he lets out a breath and Fox waits to hear what the boy is trying to say, but when he glances down, Davy's chest doesn't rise again.

Boom.

Fox stumbles back from Davy, terrified at seeing such a young boy die right in front of him. In his head, he's not seeing Davy, but Maddox… "No," Fox whispers as more screams and snarls sound behind him, and he keeps pushing himself from the body. It's not his son. His son is safe at home in Ten…but this is someone's son. Someone is now mourning their son…

How can Fox ever possibly cause that to someone else?

Fox scrambles to get to his feet, needing to get out of here and away from all the blood. But his hands are now covered in Davy's blood. He won't get away from it. He forces himself to look away from his bloody hand, realizing there's now silence surrounding him and when he looks up, he gets frozen in fear at the fast cloud of…of something moving towards him, past Delta and the mutts now collapsed on the ground. He swivels around, finding it approaching him from all angles and he lets out a cry of fear as he takes a breath in and smells whatever it is, and he knows it's not good. It burns his lungs and he tries to cover up his mouth and nose with his hand, but there's not stopping the fog from surrounding him and he is soon coughing as he collapses to the ground.

Fox is surrounded by the dense fog quickly and as everything starts going black, he catches a glint of something coming towards him through the fog. But he can't even raise his hand to defend himself from whatever it is, held down by the fog as he slips into unconsciousness.

If you thought shit hit the fan last chapter, well, welcome to day six. I am going to wait with any eulogies until next chapter to keep up the suspense with that ~dramatic ending~, but I will say read closely and you may be able to figure out who died and who didn't... The fate of the four tributes involved in this chapter will all be confirmed next chapter so you will have to wait and see!

Alright at this point, sponsoring is *officially closed*. Thank you to everyone that sent any sponsor gifts over the course of this story! But now, it is time to leave the outcome of the tributes up to me *laughs evilly* I'm kidding, I like to think my plans aren't too evil, but hey, I guess we'll find out when we get there XD

That's all I have to say for now as I anticipate there will be a lot more to say next chapter. See you soon with Night Six!