Chapter 41:
Night Six
Odyssey Gunderson, 18, District Two
Odyssey wakes up in a cold sweat, his body shaking as he runs his hand over his face, confirming that there isn't any metal there and it was all just a dream. No, not a dream, reality for Major…and a nightmare that won't stop haunting Odyssey. If it's not a nightmare where he's dying from that, he's suffocating under water or being stabbed in the gut. His own personalized nightmare pushing him further and further into guilt and regret.
It was just a nightmare…a nightmare based on things he's done… He's failed at following the advice Darach gave him. He just can't push aside the turmoil of feelings deep within him.
And Odyssey really just can't catch his breath, can't put himself back together yet. Everything that has happened haunts him when he shuts his eyes, forcing him to keep himself awake despite exhaustion weighing down on him. Somehow, he would rather face the nightmare of the arena than his actual nightmares. But only barely…
Odyssey pushes himself to sitting up again, having slide down the wall at one point when exhaustion overwhelmed him. He stares down at his hand, tears welling in his eyes right away at the bitter reminder of everything he has done. No matter what they might do to fix him up if he wins, he's always going to have some sort of reminder on his hand of what he did.
And he deserves that. He deserves to be haunted by the terrible decisions he made. His mind can justify killing Bell by blaming the Gamemakers. They forced the two of them to fight with only one allowed to get out of there alive. It was him or her. Which really doesn't make it that much easier.
But everything else…he just has himself to blame. He let his anger consume him and took out his pain and suffering on Major. And then he did it again with Fete. Neither of them truly deserved the death he gave them. He could have given them quick deaths and moved on, but he didn't.
Odyssey's ashamed of himself.
He goes to wipe away tears starting to fall down his cheek and flinches away from the touch of cool metal on his face. He doesn't think he'll ever get used to the new state of his dominant hand… Odyssey sighs as he puts the hand in his lap and it makes a noise when it hits a piece of his armor before reaching for the leftover pizza with his good hand. He must look so pitiful right now, sitting around moping and eating pizza. But what is he supposed to do?
Well, Odyssey knows what he's supposed to do and he's afraid of when he has to do that… Afraid that he's going to keep being the same angry person brutally killing instead of quickly ending things. He won't. He will force himself to not let his grief consume him…but later… He'll put that off as long as possible. Even though if he did go out and look for tributes, it would get him home sooner…
Everything is just moving too fast for him to keep up with right now. His brain is still trying to wrap around everything that happened to him in the last couple of days while the Games have kept moving on full steam ahead around him, leaving him in a small bubble of grief. Just look at everything from the past 24 hours. Four different cannons bringing them down to only four tributes left already.
It's too damn fast for Odyssey. He isn't ready for things to end soon… The Games ending mean he will be forced to face the people he cares about and he's afraid for that, no matter what Kat said in her note. He's afraid his family won't love him the same anymore after what he did when he'll desperately need them. He wouldn't blame them if they don't, not after he did awful things. His friends will never understand this…they don't know the true hell that happens inside the arena, just the surface level of excitement that fills their District. And Misha… Odyssey simultaneously feels like he never wants to let Misha go and also doesn't deserve the victor.
But all of this requires actually getting out of this arena. It almost feels to him like the end is so far away, but it's not. Only three other tributes stand between him and victory. If he was the tribute everyone in Two expects of him, he would be out there hunting down his remaining opponents. But he's not. He's just wallowing in self-pity as he eats pizza – which he is sure some people have quite a few comments on his questionable pizza choices.
Is it wrong for him to want a bit more time on his own to just grieve everything? He'll get himself moving tomorrow… He'll have to get himself moving since this pizza isn't lasting much longer. He feels so…so…so pitiful. He went from leader of the career pack to crippled and crying while eating pizza. From the best moments of his life in the Capitol to his lowest times that he hates himself for. He's never let his anger consume him like that before…
Odyssey can give himself one more night. Then…then he somehow has to pull himself back together just enough to get through the arena. He needs to just focus on now, one step at a time. How everyone reacts to him is a problem for the future, not a current problem.
"Okay, Odyssey, focus on right here and now," Odyssey whispers to himself, trying to get himself motivated once more. But his choice of words just brings fresh tears to his eyes as he remembers the stupid karaoke competition they had back in the Capitol and him being so dumb and blind to Bell's feelings. And then him realizing his feelings for Misha…
God, he wishes he could go back in time to then before all of this ever happened. Or better yet, before ever stupidly volunteering. If there's one thing Odyssey knows for certain he will do if he wins, that's going to be listening to his mother about any major life choices. He never would have ended up here if he just listened to her. But would he have Misha if he didn't volunteer? Does that even make all the heartbreak and regret worth it in the end?
Stop it, Odyssey. Focus on now.
Odyssey sighs before taking another big bite of pizza, chewing slowly and trying to bring his racing thoughts back to now. He just would rather be anywhere other than the arena…but he's the only one that is going to make that happen. That's the problem: figuring out how he is going to get out of this hellhole alive.
First he needs to know who is still alive. That will change how he goes about getting out of here. The four deaths present too much uncertainty for him with his useless hand. Last night at the anthem there were still three other careers left, none of which Odyssey wants to face in a fight. It's probably too much to hope the other three deaths outside the Trial by Combat were some of his former allies.
At least he has a 50% chance of knowing one of the deaths. But he could sit here and speculate all he wants, or just wait until the anthem plays, whenever that might be. Maybe his next step should be getting above ground again so he can actually know what time of day it is. Yeah, he'll do that tomorrow and see if there's any supplies at the cornucopia he can get. And then…well, he'll figure out the next step after he knows who is left.
Odyssey settles back, finishing up the slice of pizza before wiping his hand on the bed next to him, not caring at all about making a mess. His stomach doesn't feel as twisted by his grief now that he has somewhat of a plan for tomorrow – but that could also be because it's full with pizza. He stares at the wall across the room, not knowing what to do right this second aside from waiting…waiting and being miserable in his own thoughts.
How is he going to make it through these last three tributes, whoever they might be? He's broken…but it could be so much worse. Most of the damage is just emotional. He at least has one functioning hand that can use a knife almost as well as his dominant hand used to… And he has his sight, which is more than Anastacia and Demarcus. It's just Delta he's worried about…she's the best off of all the tributes left at the final eight.
Odyssey shuts his eyes tightly, trying to stop the trainwreck of thoughts about his chances of winning. He can still win…tributes have won with worse odds before… Just look at last year. If a thirteen year old with no skill could beat two careers in the finale, a broken career can still win this year.
The sound of the anthem makes Odyssey opens his eyes once more and he looks towards the wall, finding the Panem seal showing. He thought he would have more time before this…guess he fell asleep for longer than he thought. As he waits for the four faces to show, a pit of nerves begins to form in his stomach. Whoever is left…there's a good possibility that Odyssey will have to fight them. They could realistically call for the finale at any point now and Odyssey is nowhere near ready for that.
The first face has Odyssey drawing in a sharp breath of surprise. He didn't expect Anastacia to be dead…not when she was still allies with Delta. Maybe something happened to both of them… Maybe he will be lucky and the toughest opponent will be gone…even though as soon as he has that thought, he hates it, disgusted in himself for hoping certain people are dead. But what is he supposed to do? Only one of them is living through this and he has to make sure that's him…
Anastacia's face shifts to Amelia's and Odyssey presses his lips together, not sure how he feels about that. All he can think about is her poor family losing another child for the second year in the row… But he forces himself to remember that it is better her than him. He can't start feeling guilty too for tributes he didn't know. He already has more than enough guilt.
Odyssey only has a small moment to hope the next face will be Delta's so he doesn't have to face her eventually, but soon finds himself shutting his eyes, not wanting to look at the young face on the wall. He doesn't know how Davy made it this far, but…he's proud of the kid. And upset…he had seemed like a good kid when Odyssey talked to him at the party…
But now he's gone. Odyssey forces himself to look back at the wall, needing to know if the fourth death was Elias or Fox since it can't be Delta or Demarcus now. And soon enough, Davy's face is replaced by Fox, making Odyssey's stomach twist even more. Fox was a father…if people who deserved to win the Games actually won, he would have been at the top of the list. Or at least higher up than Odyssey.
Except that doesn't matter. Eighteen tributes are gone, yet Odyssey is still here. It probably won't be long until three more of them will also be gone…
Odyssey just can't let himself be one of them. He just can't. Somehow, he has to pull himself together for just a little bit longer and once he's out of this arena…then he can let himself completely fall apart.
Demarcus Pollock, 18, District Four
The chance to stop the train of anxious thoughts has long since passed for Demarcus, leaving him frozen in fear and worry as he pretends he's sleeping near Elias curled up on the floor. Demarcus gave up his blanket a while ago after hearing Elias shivering, even if it meant making it harder for himself to sleep. What else was he supposed to do when the boy's source of warmth was the lion mutts that had shared the room before but never returned after the Trial by Combat? But his brain was already keeping him up so might as well let Elias get some sleep. Even just trying to sleep is causing him anxiety, a part of him concerned that they shouldn't both be off guard right now despite the three deaths this afternoon. All of the Games he's studied has shown that there is a good chance they will let the tributes rest now…but there are some exceptions to that…
Demarcus sighs as he rolls over, putting his back to Elias. The boy next to him is the biggest source of his anxiety… What is Demarcus doing with him? Why did he ally with someone this late in the Games – someone that's not even another career?
Because he doesn't want to be alone…yet he needs to realize that's going to happen a lot sooner than he likes. They're down to four already…two of the remaining tributes are his former allies and the third is currently his ally…
This concussion has severely confused Demarcus and his decision making.
He shouldn't have allied with Elias, should have just left when he had the chance because now it's too late for him to leave him. The only way their alliance is going to end is through one of their deaths. Or both… Demarcus really doesn't want to think about the option of them both dying, but he has to. There's no more denying at this point the end of the Games quickly approaching. They're down to four tributes. They had the finale last year with five tributes remaining so who's to say it won't happen soon?
Demarcus isn't ready to die… But his brain won't stop reminding him of all the disadvantages that he has that are making him an easy target. He's the only one left without his sight… Everyone else has lost their taste or smell, putting them at an advantage over him. He has this concussion that's clearly messing with his ability to make decisions, not to mention making his head spin every time he moves and the nausea he feels. Literally the only advantage Demarcus has right now is having Elias as his ally, and in the finale when it comes down to it, only one of them is getting out of there alive… Either Elias turns on him right away or Demarcus will have to fight him…
Demarcus lets out a whimper as he bites his tongue, trying his best to hold back his tears. He's petrified of what the outcome of these Games are going to be because everything in him is screaming that it won't be him, he won't be good enough to win against the three others that are still alive. He's going to let down his family when he's so very close to the end…get their hopes up that it will be him just for them to come crashing down by someone else winning… Their mental states are already in a rough place… What would his death do to them? He's supposed to be helping them get the opportunity to better themselves by being in the Games, but what if he's just making everything worse?
Demarcus clamps a hand over his mouth as he hears rustling behind him and waits for Elias to settle back down to sleep. He doesn't want to explain to him all his fears, the crushing anxiety, the loss he might make his family experience. Not to someone he barely knows, not even to one of his former career allies…
But Elias doesn't go back to sleep, even though Demarcus is silently telling him to. Instead, he hears more movement behind him before his ally speaks up, "Demarcus?"
"Yeah?" Demarcus sighs at the wavering in Elias' voice and against his better judgement, rolls onto his back so he's not completely ignoring the boy.
"I cannot sleep," Elias says softly before sniffling a bit. "Can you?"
"No," Demarcus whispers with a shake of his head before turning his head so he's at least facing Elias, even if he can't actually see him. He lets out a sigh as he tries to figure out what to even tell Elias and how much to keep secret. "Just a lot to think about."
Elias sniffles once more, only making Demarcus feel worse about all of his thoughts. How can he even think about leaving him, let alone killing him? Why does he even care so much about someone he just formed an alliance with and hadn't talked to in the Capitol? Because Elias took care of him when he didn't have to. Kept him safe when he had the ability to kill him and Demarcus wouldn't have been able to do much to stop him. Elias is a better person than Demarcus is…Demarcus killed two people in the Games and when given the chance to kill him, Elias chose not to.
But Demarcus was just doing what he has to do for his family…
"I am afraid," Elias starts slowly as his voice shakes in fear. Demarcus is actually glad in that moment that he can't see because he knows seeing Elias' face right now would probably drive him further down the path of not doing what is necessary in the Games. "I am afraid of becoming a monster but I am also afraid of death."
Demarcus shuts his eyes, fighting to hold in tears so Elias doesn't see them. The boy might not have intended for it, but he hit almost exactly the fears going through Demarcus right now. He doesn't want to die, yet it seems so likely at this point. He doesn't want to hurt or kill anyone else, especially people he got to know – including his own District partner – yet that's the only way to prevent his death… A monster is exactly the word for what the victor of the Hunger Games becomes. "So am I…"
"I do not understand why you are afraid," Elias says with a bunch of movement and when he speaks again, he's speaking from above Demarcus, so he also pushes himself into a seated position. No point in trying to pretend he's asleep now. "You…volunteered for this."
"I did it for my family," Demarcus answers and with that, he finds himself telling Elias everything, his brain running wild and unable to put a filter on things. Not when he knows his family might be listening right now. Maybe they will understand if he explains…understand if he doesn't make it back alive. "I volunteered because if I win, I can finally afford to get all of us help that we have never been able to afford before. Not because I want to fight and kill, just…I want my family to get better."
"You have a family that actually cares about you. I do not know what that is like," Elias says through what sounds like tears. "You should be the one to get home alive. Not me."
Demarcus shakes his head at this and the tears he's been struggling to hold back all this time finally fall. "My brother screamed at me the whole time he said goodbye. My parents told me I was making a mistake. I've spent this whole time trying to undo what they told me and convince myself that I can get out of here alive, but I really don't know anymore…"
Elias is quiet for a long time and Demarcus tries to discretely wipe away his tears, but at least he can't see his ally's reaction to him crying. He never would have let any of the other careers see his tears – and there had been many times he was on the verge of crying when they were together. Demarcus starts to think that Elias won't say anything else when he speaks up, voice barely above a whisper. "My parents wanted me to volunteer someday," Elias starts slowly and Demarcus turns towards, him, surprised by this information. "They wanted to bring glory to District Six with a victor. All through my childhood they trained me to fight and that is how I lost my legs. They were injured too many times to heal properly."
"That's not…" Demarcus shakes his head in disbelief at the training methods. How could any parent do that to their child?! He thought his family life was bad at times but this…his life doesn't come close to what Elias has gone through. "That's not how training works in Four… No one has ever been injured like that before in training. That's just…that's so wrong."
"It is what my childhood was like," Elias says through sobs and he pauses talking for a while, leaving Demarcus unsure what to even do for him. Does he try to comfort him? Just let him be? He barely knows him…yet here they are sharing these details about their lives… "I do not want to be the monster they were training me to be. That is why I do not want to hurt anyone…"
"Except we have to if we want to get out of here alive," Demarcus finishes for Elias, understanding what he's feeling. "I understand, Elias. And…thank you for sharing that," Demarcus whispers to Elias as he lays back down, trying to turn away before Elias can see the expression on his face. Elias deserves the chance to have a better life after years of his family forcing him to train to the point of being physically injured. Yet Demarcus stands in the way of that happening because he's trying to get a better life for his own family.
Hearing all of that…just makes Demarcus even more afraid for when these Games will end. It seems like everyone else deserves to win more than he does…
Delta Zale, 17, District Four
Delta groans as she puts a hand to her head, trying to stop the pounding in it. Her throat is tight as she tries to swallow, her mouth completely parched. She slowly opens up her eyes and has to blink a few times to clear them before finding stars looking down at her. She lays there for a few minutes, studying the stars above her, and the tiniest smile forms as she recognizes some of the same ones that she can see at night from District Four, reminding her of nights laying on the beach with her dad pointing them out to her. But her smile soon starts to shift to a frown when she slowly starts to realize that it's night time… It was midday last thing she remembers…
Delta sits up quickly and the world spins around her and she has to shut her eyes for a moment to prevent herself from vomiting all over. How is it night time already?! Just how long has she been out for? And why was she out that long…?
Delta slowly opens her eyes once more, searching around her to find some sort of clue as to what happened to her, her memories of the day foggy… There were two cannons…the boy from Five. And wolves… She looks down at her hands, finding the flesh torn by bites from the wolves as she tried to protect her face from them. But why were they attacking her? She was fighting, doing exactly what she is supposed to be doing in this arena. She's been doing that the best, so why would the Gamemakers punish her for it?
She doesn't know the answer right now and starts reaching around her for her bag, only when her hands turn up empty does she remember dropping it before running in to the fight. Delta groans as she tries to stand up, before deciding on just crawling over to the cornucopia. There should be some supplies left there… At least, she hopes so because whatever knocked her out has drained all of her energy and left her legs heavy and weak.
Delta pauses for a moment, her brain working overtime to try and remember just what had knocked her out. Whatever it was sure kicked her in the ass. But also might have saved her life… "The fog…" Delta whispers to herself, searching for some sort of canister where the poison would have come from like when they poisoned Anastacia. But there's nothing. Just large patches of disturbed sand that look similar to the area where she lay.
Does it even matter what happened to her? What matters is she was just knocked out for hours and was unharmed. Well…maybe she wouldn't say unharmed with the nausea and dehydration she's feeling. Her brain can at least push her to keep moving towards the cornucopia and she lets out a huge sigh of relief when the supplies they left behind are still there. She greedily grabs a bottle of water and can't restrain herself from chugging it, ending up spilling a bunch onto herself. She drops it to the side and leans back against the cornucopia, groaning at her stomach still threatening to release its contents.
"Fucked me up good there," Delta mutters to herself as she shakes her head before the action makes her feel worse. She shuts her eyes and focuses on taking slow deep breaths, anything to stop her from thinking about the pounding in her head or her twisting stomach. "Fucked me up real good."
Whatever they did to her…well someone could walk right up to her now and she wouldn't be able to defend herself as much as normal. Which really should make her more concerned right now, but honestly all her brain can focus on right now is not vomiting.
Delta keeps her eyes shut for a long time, just slowly breathing and willing whatever poison they used on her to get out of her system already. Eventually her stomach starts to settle and she slowly opens her eyes again, glad to find the world no longer spins around her. But she still waits a bit longer until searching through the supplies and tearing open a small packet of nuts. One by one, she pops them in her mouth, taking minutes to chew each individual one and waiting even longer between each one, just to make sure they're not going to immediately come back up.
When the packet is finally empty, Delta sips some more water – without spilling any on herself this time – before shutting her eyes and sighing, finally starting to feel a bit closer to normal. Yet what even is normal anymore when in the arena?
She doesn't get the chance to find out before fanfare begins to play in the arena and Delta quickly sits up, eyes wide open as she reaches for any weapon nearby, searching for whatever threat is out there. But there's not a single movement out in the arena, just darkness from the slowly lightening sky.
"Good evening, tributes, or, I suppose, good morning. This is Head Gamemaker Lukianas speaking. This message is only being broadcast to you in the arena right now…" Seraphim pauses for a moment, setting Delta on edge as she waits for him to continue. It's never the Head Gamemaker making announcements…and if he's making one now, surely it's not good.
"As you surely have noticed, there are only four tributes remaining at this point. This was not my intention but there have been some…unexpected things occurring that have sped the process along faster than any of us wanted. Unfortunately, we must continue this. That being said, tomorrow will be the finale. You will be brought below the arena first to receive armor and your weapon of choice. I apologize for how fast this is going…but you deserve to have at least the notice to prepare. May the odds be ever in your favor and I look forward to crowning a victor."
Only four of them left? Was she the only one that got out of that fight earlier…? She must have been. Even in her befuddled state of mind, she can at least do that simple math. The fanfare ends, leaving her in eerie silence and without any excitement… The announcement doesn't get her itching for one last big fight. Doesn't spark the rage in her that has gotten her this far in the Games. Instead her stomach starts to roll – and not just from the remnants of whatever they used to knock her out. It builds slowly up in her stomach, rising through her and making her heart start beating faster and her throat tightens. She looks down in surprise when she finds her hands shaking and she quickly clasps them together, trying to stop everyone from seeing it. She soon turns her gaze out to the arena surrounding her, and it takes a few minutes for her to finally place the emotion coursing through her, setting her on edge for what's to come. She hasn't felt something like this in a long time…not since the moment she last saw her father alive as he left them for his final mission…
Fear.
…Why is she afraid right now? Come on, she should be ecstatic and prepping for one last fight right now. Adrenaline should be pumping through her veins, getting her ready to take down three more tributes and take the title of victor for herself. She should be happy that they are calling for the finale now and ending this. She's one step closer to winning the Games for the Capitol.
Yet she wants to just stay here for hours and not move. She doesn't want to bring herself to fight just yet…because she doesn't know for sure how this will end for her. She had thought up until earlier that day that she was the obvious pick for victor – she had won a Trial by Combat, she had both her sight and hearing, she's made plenty of kills. But then things changed…or she realized things that have been going on this whole time…
No matter everything Delta has done and will do, it's not just her making decisions about the Games. Head Gamemaker Lukianas all but confirmed her suspicions earlier…the rebels are interfering in the arena.
Why can't they just leave her alone? They already took the person that mattered the most to them. Can't they just give her this? Just let the Games play out on their own and let her do her best to win? And they killed Anastacia…probably caused her to be knocked out earlier and killed Amelia and Fox… What's even the point?
That's when Delta's brain finally starts to piece together the source of her fear. She might have done everything she possibly could to win these Games…but it might not even be enough. Not if the rebels are interfering… Just how much control do they have in the arena? Are they going to have the ability to mess with the finale? Can she even stop them from doing that?
Delta's afraid of them taking away the one thing that she's been working on and has actually made her feel like she has something worth fighting for… Taking it away when she's so close to reaching it.
Amelia Fensa, 18, District Three
Amelia slowly comes to consciousness again and the first thing she notices is that she can't see, immediately waking her up further and making her start squirming. But when she can't move her arms to reach up to what is covering her head, she starts screaming as she fights the grip on her. "Let me go!"
"Quiet!" Someone says in her ear as they pull her to a stop. They rip off the bag and Amelia squints at the sudden change in lights, but soon starts shaking in fear when she doesn't recognize where she is or the two people holding her captive. "Let's get them in the cells."
"Cells? Them?" Amelia questions as she looks around, finding someone else slumped between two people and when the bag gets pulled off his head, she cries out right away. "Fox!"
"Fox!" Another person yells out and Amelia looks around, finding herself standing in a hallway between jail cells and in one of them is Adam. He steps closer to the bars, tears forming in his eyes as he stares at Fox groaning and slowly starting to move. "No…"
"What's going on?" A girl shouts at them and Amelia looks to the other side and finds…Anastacia? Amelia cringes away from the career turning her head around as if she still can't see…and that's when Amelia realizes she can't feel the hands on her arms.
They still don't have their senses… A shiver of fear runs down Amelia's spine at this realization. What's going on?
"Get back from the doors," the man who's clearly in charge yells at Anastacia and Adam. He points to the back of the cell for Adam before glaring at Anastacia as she stands in front of the doors, her arms crossed in defiance. "If you want to stay in a jail cell until your parents get here, please, be my guest."
The door to Anastacia's cell is opened and as the career makes a move towards them, Amelia is shoved into Anastacia and they both fall to the floor. Amelia cries out and barely has time to stop her head from hitting the floor. Before she even sits up, the door is slammed shut, trapping her in there with one of the careers. Across from them, Fox is in the cell with Adam who is hugging him as he cries.
"What's going on?" Amelia asks the man in charge as he looks down at them, but he just ignores her and walks away from them. Amelia grabs onto the bars and tugs on them, shouting after them, "Don't leave us here!"
"Don't waste your breath," Anastacia says with a groan and Amelia looks back at the career and as she sits up, Amelia presses herself into the wall as far from Anastacia as possible. "They have some sort of grand plan and nothing we do is going to stop them. At least they gave me company… Also who are you? I can't put a face to the voice."
"Amelia," she answers Anastacia quietly and when the career tilts her head as if she didn't hear, she clears her throat and speaks louder. "It's Amelia…and what is going on? Where are we?"
"Welcome to beautiful District Seven," Anastacia waves her hand around the cell. "If you look to your left, we have blackness, and on your right we have some more blackness because these assholes couldn't even figure out how to turn off our trackers without damaging the controls for our senses. I would say ask Adam to tell you what Seven is really like, but he can't hear us."
"Wh-why is Anastacia here?" Fox asks from the other cell as he hugs Adam back. His own tears are forming in his eyes as he turns back to Adam, "Oh God, I thought I lost you. I…I'm so sorry for not protecting you."
"They told me all sorts of things while I was paralyzed before they realized I wasn't a rebel like my parents," Anastacia tells the two of them as she moves to the side of the cell to lean up against the wall. She pulls her hair to the side and starts undoing her braid just to rebraid it as she keeps talking. "My parents hacked into the Games operating system and gave the rebels their way in to mess with the Games in exchange for rescuing me," Anastacia drops her braid to add air quotes and her face twists in annoyance. "I didn't need rescuing, I wanted to win the damn Games. But anyways, I guess you have my parents to blame for this, sorry about that. But don't worry, I'm just as pissed off at them as I'm sure you are."
"Why…why are you in a cell then?" Amelia asks the career as she stands up to start looking around the cell to see if there might be anything to get them out of here.
"And did you say rebels?" Fox asks, turning his gaze away from Adam to finally look closely at Amelia. Amelia doesn't meet his gaze, ashamed at herself for being ready to kill him…but she thought there was no other option. She didn't know that there were rebels waiting to kidnap them and…do what with them, she doesn't know… But at least they are alive…right? The Capitol must be trying to find them… Yes, President Xavier will surely be trying to find them.
"I fought back against them so they threw me in here," Anastacia answers and Amelia turns back to the career in time to see her shrug. "Figured some time in a jail cell would get me to see their ways or something. But I think now they just figure they'll keep me here so I don't cause trouble until my parents arrive and help me see the light."
"But you can't see," Amelia points out, surprising herself that she's joking around with a career. But this whole situation is just whack and she doesn't know what to do right now, let alone what to think about her new cell mate. She's a career, after all.
"Exactly," Anastacia says with a laugh before shaking her head. She lets out a sigh and turns her head in Amelia's general direction as she starts to frown. "Look, I'm just as unhappy as you are to be kidnapped by rebels. I had a life plan that just got thrown out the window by my parents thinking they know what's best for me. So I think we need to work together here, regardless of the fact that just a day ago I was intent on killing you so I could be victor."
"Gee thanks," Amelia says quietly as she takes a step back from Anastacia, not quite trusting the career. "I'll keep that in mind when sleeping."
"Amelia…" Fox says quietly and Amelia pretends to look around anywhere but at Fox. But he soon clears his throat and Amelia makes the mistake of looking over at him. She hates the look on his face and the fact that he's not angry at her when he should be. Part of her is mad at herself. "I don't blame you at all. For leaving…for being ready to fight…"
"But you should," Amelia answers him, shaking her head as she turns away from him. Somehow, spending time with a career is more enjoyable right now than facing her former ally.
Amelia moves to sit next to Anastacia and the career turns in her direction, "What drama did I miss in the Games?"
"Trial by Combat," Amelia says with a big sigh. "After being allies for a bit."
"Hmm, bummer," Anastacia answers with a shrug. "Hey, at least you're both still alive though. Worked out better for you two than Odyssey and Bell."
"Odyssey and Bell? Did they…are there…" Amelia starts, looking around at the cells that they're in. "Are there any others that they kidnapped?"
"Tributes?" Anastacia asks before shaking her head. "No, just us. But other people…"
"She's referring to me."
Amelia jumps at the new voice and leans closer to the bars of the cell to see who is there. Across from her, Fox does the same to try and see the person moving in the cell next to him. Amelia gasps in surprise at the appearance of Council Member Luciano as they drag themself forward. They try to smile at Amelia, but their bottom lip is cracked and swollen. "Surprise."
"What happened? How did they get you?" Amelia asks and Luciano lets out a humorless laugh. "And what do they want from us?"
"They want to stop the Games, of course," Luciano shakes their head. "And we are their bargaining chips. They know they don't have enough to get their way alone without a war."
"Why us though? We're nothing special…" Amelia asks them, fear finally starting to rise in her now that the shock of all of this is wearing off and she's realizing that she is being held prisoner in District Seven and no one knows where she is or maybe even that she's still alive. "And how do you know this?"
"You haven't seen the polls, you're quite popular and liked. The university student and the father. And," Luciano pauses as they lean against the bars of their cell and let out a groan of pain. "I've spent years working with them as a double agent for the Capitol until they caught me. Their plan has always been to stop the Games but now…now I have no idea what they are doing. For all of our sakes, you better hope that President Xavier acts out his plan first or we're going to have a rebellion in our hands."
Seraphim Lukianas, Head Gamemaker
Seraphim pauses just before the doorway into the mentor's lounge, a little terrified to be facing the group of victors. Not for the silly reasons he had months ago, but because he has to break the news to them of what is happening with the Games. He has to tell them that the rebels have infiltrated the Games and have ruined things he has been working on for years but more importantly, threatening the peace that is in their country. Seraphim doesn't even care that much anymore that they're interfering with his Games. He just cares about not seeing a war happen. He has too many people he cares about now to have them in danger…his mother, Zephyr, Ophelia, Laelia and all his Gamemakers. He just wants them safe…
And that means breaking the news to a bunch of victors that the Head Gamemaker doesn't have full control of the Hunger Games. No way this will go poorly, not at all.
Seraphim lets out a sigh and Zephyr reaches out to take his hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "You can do this," Zephyr tells him quietly, but Seraphim really doesn't believe him.
"Just stop anyone from trying to punch me, please," Seraphim answers quietly before getting up whatever courage he has left and opening up the door to the room. As he steps in, silence starts to fall slowly across the group as some notice him and look over in his direction, making the others curious about what they're looking at. Seraphim tries to smile at the mentors as he walks to the front of the room, hands behind his back, and he stops in front of the screens to address all of them. "Hello everyone. I…know this is rather unexpected and unusual for me to come to this room, but there is important information that I must tell you about now."
"Are you going to explain what that bullshit was today in the Trial by Combat?" Astrid asks before giving Seraphim the chance to start explaining things and he cringes at her glare as she sits next to Clark, hand protectively gripping the youngest victor's shoulder.
"I-"
"Or what about putting Bell and Odyssey against each other?" Kat brings up next and Seraphim gives a pleading look to Zephyr, but he's standing back and avoiding Kat's sharp gaze too, clearly also afraid of the victor.
"Don't forget the fake sponsor gift to Anastacia," Thetis says bitterly as she crosses her arms at Seraphim.
The three women questioning him just opens up the flood gates to the rest of the victors questioning him about everything going on in the Games so far and Seraphim quickly understands why he avoids the mentors at all cost during the Games. He takes a step back and pleadingly looks up at Zephyr, feeling way out of his element here. Zephyr notices the look and puts a hand on Seraphim's shoulder, gently pushing him behind the victor as he steps forward to yell at the mentors, "Everybody quiet! I know you're angry and I understand – trust me, some of the things Seraphim has done I also don't agree. But this is a matter of national security so if you could stop your bickering for five fucking minutes, that would be great," Zephyr takes the time to glare at all 24 mentors individually – well, not quite a glare at his fellow District Two victors and very quickly looking at Emilio – just daring any of them to speak up now. When they all stay quiet, Zephyr turns back to Seraphim and gives him an encouraging smile as he pats his shoulder, "All yours."
"Thanks," Seraphim says quietly to Zephyr before clearing his throat and taking a step closer to all the mentors. He takes the time to look at all of them before he begins, wanting them all to take this seriously. "I will answer your questions to the best of my ability, but I just ask that you please don't yell and curse at me. To start, I want to apologize for some of the recent events that have occurred in the Games. Some of the things…were not in our control. We have reason to believe that rebels have hacked into our system and have been manipulating parts of the Games."
Seraphim waits a moment for this to sink in, watching some of the victors grow afraid at this information, as they should. But one face stands out, the man scowling with his arms crossed and feet up on the table in front of him. "You've known about their involvement since the very start," Stefan says slowly, moving his feet so he can sit up and lean closer to Seraphim. "Yet you have not done anything to stop them."
Many of the victors look at Stefan in confusion and Letha is the first one to question him. She wipes away tears from her eyes and sniffles as she looks at the victor, "What do you mean, Stefan?"
Stefan shrugs at Seraphim, who sighs at the victor. "Would you like to tell them Head Gamemaker or should I?"
"I'll tell them," Seraphim answers quietly, sighing once more at having to explain all of his failures as Head Gamemaker this year. Zephyr puts a comforting hand on his back and Seraphim gives him a brief smile, but it soon fades away when he turns back to the others. "The rebels have been interfering since the bloodbath when they faked Adam's death to take him out of the arena thinking he was still pregnant with the child of one of their own. He was not as he had an emergency delivery in the Capitol before the Games. Also while discussing District Seven, I should apologize for guaranteeing Ho- Carameuse's death as she was a known rebel."
"So why didn't they try to save her too?" Glen asks, disappointment on his face at the confirmation that the Gamemakers planned his tribute's death.
Seraphim just shrugs in response, not knowing that information. "We don't know."
"But was District Two's Trial by Combat planned?" Glacia asks him and Seraphim nods his head slowly, trying to avoid looking at the District Two victors.
"Yes, and Zephyr already gave me an earful for that so please don't yell at me for something in the past," Seraphim answers quickly, glancing up at them to see the three victors looking disappointed, but they at least stay quiet.
"Was it planned before or after Major's scheming?" Emilio speaks up and Thetis elbows him, clearly thinking this isn't that important of a question. He shrugs at his fellow mentor, "What, he said we could ask questions and I'm curious."
"Yes, but maybe it's more important to be asking questions about the security threat," Thetis answers Emilio before turning back to Seraphim. "The Head Gamemaker has his reasons for things and we don't have to know everything."
"I agree with Thetis," Okeanas adds, arms crossed as she glares past Seraphim and at the screens where both tributes from Four remain. "I want to know if there's anything that's going to put our chances of winning at risk. Or more than you already have by sending mutts to attack her after she was just doing what she's supposed to in the arena."
"Yeah about that," Seraphim says with a nervous chuckle when both Okeanas and Muir fix him with sharp looks, making him hold his hands up defensively. "Nothing I did, this is all Delta. She…is a former rebel turned loyalist who has helped turn in rebels so if they know that – which we think they do…yeah, I didn't give the command for the mutts to attack her. The fog of knock out gas was me though to get the mutts down."
Muir and Okeanas share a look at this and Muir sighs as she gets up and heads over to the bar, grabbing two drinks for them. "So what you're saying is they might try to stop her from winning?"
"We're doing our best to put in every security measure to stop them from any further interference for the finale," Seraphim tries to reassure them – and Kat and Dampero since their tributes will also be competing. "But we don't know if we can stop them for sure which is why we're ending these Games now before anyone else can get taken."
"Anyone else?" Pinova speaks up, looking around nervously and also a bit hopefully at this, only making Seraphim feel bad that he's going to crush her hopes. "Others were taken?"
"Yes," Seraphim answers, sighing once more as he looks at the District One mentors first. "Anastacia was taken when the rebels used the poison gas to fake her death. Then Amelia and Fox," Seraphim looks at Isidore and Johan respectively, before waiting for them to react to this information.
"Well what can we do to help get them back?" Johan says carefully, looking around at his fellow mentors. "If they're still alive, we should be rescuing them. Right?"
"Good luck finding them," Stefan tells them with a scoff and shake of his head.
"You seem to know quite a lot about the rebels, Stefan," Fonio speaks up for surprisingly the first time, looking exhausted as he sits at the bar. "Just a little sketchy."
This sets Stefan off and he jumps up from his seat, pointing at Fonio in accusation. "When you're dating someone who's family has been Capitol spies in Seven for years, you learn some things about the rebels. Don't you dare imply that I am with the rebels or I will cut off your dick and make you wear it on a necklace."
"Okay there, buddy, let's calm down," Zephyr says as he steps over to Stefan and puts a hand on his shoulder to push him back down into his seat. But he's left Seraphim all alone and he nervously looks around at the other victors, just a tad worried by the looks he's getting from some of them. Zephyr turns back to Seraphim, gesturing for him to continue.
"Yes," Seraphim clears his throat to continue after that…colorful threat that has actually made Clark snicker to himself, looking a bit less depressed for the first time since Seraphim has entered. His snickering makes Astrid start struggling to hold back her own laughter at Fonio being threatened and Seraphim just shakes his head at the two of them acting like children and chooses to ignore them. "We have some information on the rebels from one of our spies and we're narrowing down where the tributes are being held right now. Then we're going to get them back."
"And what happens when you find them?" Thetis asks and a few nod their heads in agreement to this question. "Do they get to come back home? Will they be considered a victor or will they be put in another fight since they never finished the Games?"
"We'll figure out what happens once we have the back alive," Seraphim answers, dodging the question since he doesn't quite know the answer to it. That's a question for the President to answer. "They're no longer tributes, but prisoners."
The victors grow serious once more at this statement, some of them realizing the severity of this situation. Zephyr returns to his side, putting a hand protectively on his shoulder as Seraphim addresses all of them. "We'll keep you all updated on the status of the kidnapped tributes. Just…please trust us that we're doing everything we can. And…I am sorry for any issues this may cause, but I have to inform you all that you will not be able to leave the Capitol immediately after the Games are over for security reasons," Seraphim tells them quickly, just waiting for the negative reaction to this news. "We're going to keep you locked down in this building to ensure your safety."
And the first person to speak up is one he least expected, which only makes him feel terrible. "I have to get home to my son," Letha says as fresh tears are forming in her eyes. "He needs me after losing Davy. My family needs me home."
"And what about the safety of the escorts?" Pinova asks in concern. "Are they going to be safe too? Can we go to them?"
"Yes, the escorts are going to be locked down here too until we know no one involved in the Games is at risk. You will be free to move about this building," Seraphim answers Pinova first, knowing she's the easier one to respond to. Then he turns to Letha and sighs at the victor's tears. "I'm really sorry, Letha, but you can't leave. We're trying to keep you all safe – and we are increasing the Peacekeeper presence in all Victor's Villages to protect your families and the other victors there."
"So we have to just sit and wait?" Glen asks and a few give their agreement to this question. "Wait and hope that things will be safe for us and not knowing if those back home are safe? What about our partners?"
"Yes, Glen. I know it's not the answer you want, but it's the truth," Seraphim tells him, making the victor pull up his legs to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "There has been talk about getting the other victors out of Seven, though…but I don't know that for sure so don't quote me."
"What about whoever ends up winning?" Dampero asks, clearly concerned and growing hopeful for Elias' odds. "Are they going to be safe too as victor?"
Seraphim nods his head at this question, even though he honestly doesn't know the answer to it. "We're doing our best to make sure the victor is safe. And then we're doing everything we can to find the other four tributes. Are there any other questions?"
"Yeah I have a question," Fonio speaks up and a few victors groan in anticipation of whatever he is going to ask. "Is District Two going to win because Zephyr's sucking your dick?"
Seraphim's face immediately starts flushing at this and he starts coughing as he tries to clear his throat, trying to avoid Zephyr's gaze. "I- that is not a relevant question. Um, no, the victor is not going to be decided based on who I am dating."
Seraphim finally gives a nervous glance over at Zephyr to find him with his arms crossed as he glares over at Fonio, "Stefan, I won't stop you if you want to make a dick necklace for him."
"Right!" Seraphim says quickly as he looks at anyone but Fonio. He grabs Zephyr's arm and tries to start pulling him out of here before anything else embarrassing can happen. Leave it to Fonio to ask inappropriate questions when there's a national security threat. "If there's no other questions, we're going to get back to preparing for the finale. I'll see you all soon with our newest victor."
Now that we have seen the outcome of last chapter, first:
Eulogies:
Davy Emmerich [5], Ranked 6th, Killed by Delta [4]:
I always knew that Davy's death was going to be one of the deaths that hurt me the most to write and I put it off for a while because I just wasn't ready to say goodbye to him. I've loved Davy from the start when Dreamer and I first started talking about him (be glad we went with this and not the original idea of one of Letha's sons lol). He's such a sweet boy doing his best to be brave and live up to the expectations of his family. He was one of those characters that just always wrote easily for me as you could probably tell from his Games POVs. He did so much in the arena and tried his best, but sometimes that isn't enough to win, especially with how many older tributes he had to face. Dreamer - thank you so much for sending me this very valid boy even when we knew it would wreck our feels to have two valid boys from you in this story! I've loved every minute of writing him, even the times when I cried. RIP Davy.
I'm not even sorry about the word count on this chapter lol. We had a lot of people to check in with because yes, next chapter is the finale! I have it written already so I can give you an exact date for when it will be up: Friday, February 14th, probably around 8-9 ish pm EST!
I really can't believe we're already reaching the finale for this story! It's felt like such a long time but also very fast at the same time. Of course, there's going to be a few chapters after the Games are done for subplot, so we still have some time before the story itself is over.
So one last time I would like to hear your predictions on who the victor will be: Odyssey, Delta, Demarcus, or Elias? I'm so incredibly excited to reach the finale next chapter and finally get to reveal who the victor is! It's just going to be a long two weeks waiting lol.
I will see you all on February 14th!