Children of the Universe by Molly

We're shining like diamonds
With fire in our bones.

Leina Rallis, 16, District Nine

An assistant with a metal piece taped to her ear shuffles me over to a seat near one side of the stage. I cross my feet at my ankles, trying to remember everything that Petra told me about etiquette. I straighten my back, automatically feeling uncomfortable but urging myself to ignore it.

A million questions and answers run through my mind all at once as I watch the others being led to their respective seats. Verden, the boy who came here also from District Nine, is brought over to sit next to me less than a minute later. I smile shyly at him, but even though our eyes are locked he doesn't seem to notice me.

I drop my gaze to my hands, doing my best to appear to be calm even as the nerves run through me like wild cattle. I can't bring myself to look up at the heavy curtain that acts as a wall several feet in front of me. I can already hear the impatient shuffling and low voices of the thousands that Petra said would be gathering to watch the event. Just the thought of so many people's eyes staring up at me makes me feel sick all over again.

A man with wide eyes and a tie that looks like a bunch of colourful, mismatched puzzle pieces is escorted out to the stage and placed in the wide aisle between one half of the tributes and the other half. He rolls his eyes as a short woman in bright makeup dusts his face over with powder, pushing her away a few seconds later.

"Alright it's show time," he says, his face suddenly changing from a distasteful scowl to a brilliant smile. "We're live in three, two-"

I don't hear the last number and I'm not even sure if he says it. The curtain rises in one swift movement, revealing a bunch of light flashes that stand out against a dark background. I squint my eyes, but I am unable to see even one of the thousands of people that Petra said would be here. Perhaps she was mistaken?

Then all at once all doubts vanish as the roar of sound erupts in my ears. The noise is so loud that I can feel it in every part of my body. The shouts and yells explode in my chest, the stomping of feet overruns my heartbeat, and the rhythm of clapping lines up with my breaths. For a second I am unable to think of anything except the cloud of sound, even breathing escapes me.

I take in a big breath of air a few seconds later as the sound dies down to a low growl. I notice more than one of the tributes pry their hands away from their ears, eyes wide and bodies trembling. My heart goes out to the little boy on the end, the one from District Twelve I assume, who still has his eyes closed tight.

"Welcome to the first ever Hunger Games Conference night hosted by yours truly, Leon Deroche." The cheer in his voice is almost infectious, but does absolutely nothing to calm my growing nerves. The crowd responds almost as loudly as before, but this time I anticipate the volume and hopefully I don't outwardly react.

"We will be taking questions from the audience all night, as well as streaming questions from our online sources," Leon cheers, his face still stuck on the same overbearing grin. "We'll also be updating our tribute ratings as the night goes on, and remember the polls close tonight so be sure to get your votes in for your favourites! Live results can be seen on either of the screens to the sides as well as on any connected relay devices."

"To start off the night, we already have questions ready from a few of our wonderful attendees! Over to you guys!"

Suddenly all but two of the screens are taken over by the image of a younger looking Capitol woman with bright purple paint spread across her eyelids. She beams into the camera, her eyes wide and eager for her cue to speak. When she does her voice is high-pitched and child-like. "Verden, I've been wanting to ask since the moment I saw you, are you single?"

I jump slightly when I look over to my district partner and see a smiling Leon already standing in front of Verden with a microphone all but in his mouth. "Well-uh. Yeah."

Leon pulls the microphone up to his own lips, a knowing smirk replacing his brilliant grin. "You hear that ladies?"

Another round of loud cheering follows and I try to give a congratulatory look to Verden, but his eyes don't waver from the crowd. I am able to see the discomfort clearly from my angle, but I don't see any reason for it. I focus instead on one of the other two screens that displays a numbered list with all of the tribute names on it. Verden's name jumps up from ninth on the list to seventh in just the few seconds I am looking at it.

The girl disappears off the screen and a man with a black hat and a curly moustache takes her place. His smile is more downplayed, but it's easy to see his excitement just by taking one look at his eyes. "Jalissa, what would you say has been your favourite part of staying in the Capitol so far?"

The blonde girl's slight smile fades at the mention of her name, reappearing seconds later and looking even more forced than before. "I'm not sure. I mean it's all been so nice."

I feel like I would never have been able to come up with such a nice sounding reply off the top of my head. I tap my fingers against the edge on my seat, wondering if I will be able to just recreate one of Petra's responses or if I'll be caught off guard by something we never practiced. Knowing I could be pointed out at any time is unnerving to say the least.

Leon smiles, more than happy to take the microphone back. "Alright, who's next?"

Vera Hemley, 18, District One

"Vera, would you say you've enjoyed your time in the Capitol?"

My smile falters for a second when I hear my name, but I hope that the camera doesn't have time to catch it. I swallow hard before answering, sure that the truth might start to leak out before I can cover it. "It's been amazing. This place is like no where I have ever seen before."

I make sure not to go into detail. Merlin said that would make it easier on me, and he is right once again. I breathe a sigh of relief as my face disappears from the screen. It's only been about half an hour or so, but already I have been singled out for three questions. I'm thankful, as it has given me the opportunity to rise three ratings already.

I half pity the few tributes that have yet to have a question directed at them, and half envy them. I look a few spaces down from me and see the two girls sitting on the edge of my aisle. If they went by district order, which so far has proved true, they're from Five and Six. The blonde girl from Five looks bored, but I can see the nerves on the other girl's face. I wish I knew her name so I could see if the nerves were a result in rating drops, but unfortunately I haven't learned many names yet.

Verden and Radimir have done pretty well question wise. Verden's gotten at least as many as I have, and Radimir has gotten one that rose his rating from close to last up to fourteenth. On the whole I think we're doing well as an alliance in terms of ratings, with Verden sitting pretty at twelfth and myself at fifth.

I focus myself back into the conference, afraid that I might make a fool of myself if I'm called on and I'm stuck running around my mind instead of paying attention. I glance up at the screen and see an older woman with hair too tall for the camera to contain. As soon as she speaks I have to hold back a laugh. I've never in my life heard anything funnier than a Capitol accent.

"Sampson, darling, what do you think your greatest strength will be going into the Hunger Games tomorrow?"

The curly haired boy seated a ways away from me jumps at the sound of his name. On the big screen it's easy to see his nerves, even behind his ridiculous looking bowtie. "I-I, um, I learned some plants that, like, I can eat."

"Pleasant," Leon says, pulling the microphone back up to his lips. "I'm certain that will come in handy, somehow. Moving onto some more questions from our online servers."

"Ah here's a good one, from Miss Hula," Leon says, saying the name in a singsong voice. "Santana, after winning the Hunger Games, what is your greatest ambition you hope to achieve."

The screen captures a brief moment of what I can only describe as severe discomfort before the girl's face becomes the picture of calm. "Someday I would like to be a Peacekeeper back in my home district. After I become Victor."

The last part sounds like a second thought, but it's a good one. I watch the ratings board expecting to see some movement for Santana, and sure enough her name leaps four places up in the minutes that follow. Note to self, the Capitol likes confidence.

"And now a question from Miss Geneva," Leon moves on, no snide comments to make about Santana's answer. "Harlan, how do you think your young age will affect your chances at winning?"

The little boy seems unsurprised by the question, though in one way or another he has been asked the same thing in at least two different ways tonight. He is the youngest of all of us, which should be a disadvantage for him but seems to be helping him out in the likeability sector.

"I don't know if it will," his soft voice is picked up by the microphone and a chorus of awe's follow it around the stadium. I have to admit that it's difficult not to like him, and it's a shame that he's in this situation.

I shake the pity out of my head. Verden said that it'll do nothing for either him or us to feel bad for him. Things are going to play out the way they are meant to play out, and it's unfortunate that it's unlikely they'll be in his favour but that isn't our problem.

"I'm not that much younger, and no one knows what to expect tomorrow. I would say I have as good a chance as anyone else at least."

Another good answer, probably one that was rehearsed with him before today. It was going to obviously be something that would come up, so I wouldn't really be surprised. Never the less, the effect on the audience is evident. I watch his name shift up a slot, putting him in the eleventh spot.

"How sweet," Leon says, the patronizing tone in his voice even making me shift in my seat. "Final server question for a little while, from a young man by the name of Tio. Ariella, what do you think your greatest challenge will be in the arena tomorrow?"

The girl's face is enough to tell me that whatever she is about to say is going to be quite interesting. "Don't know. It'll be nice to finally go outside. Might be a challenge if I catch a cold or something, I don't know."

August Overture, 17, District Ten

"Only twenty minutes left of the first ever Hunger Games Conference! Where has the time gone, am I right everyone?" A collective groan can be easily heard throughout the stadium at the mention of the short time left. I didn't realize how famous we'd become in such a short period of time. Like there aren't many people I'd want to watch sit on a stage in fancy clothing for hour after hour. They must like us a real lot.

I glance up at the board with all our names on it. I wish I knew more of the others by name, it would make it easier to understand just what exactly I am looking at. I guess I'll have to settle for only knowing a couple. Maybe I'll try to learn them tonight, if the television stays on again. It's sort of awkward not knowing, especially considering the circumstance.

I feel the familiar rush of pride when I see my name so close to the top of the list. I started about around where I am now, at sixth out of twenty-four, and I'm happy that none of my answers made anyone change their mind. Well it could have, but equally for the good and bad then I guess?

"Let's try to sneak in as many questions as we can before we run out of time," Leon smiles, his bright green eyes glancing over me for a second as he looks back at us. I like Leon, he's a really happy-looking guy. I'd say that his family is probably mighty happy to have him, with that big grin of his. It's always nice to have people around that always have a smile on their face.

Bright colors draw my eyes back up to the screen where a woman beams back at the camera, her blue-silver hair reflecting off the flash. "I'll be quick! August, sweetheart, you are just the cutest thing I have ever seen. Do you have any brothers, maybe a sister? Good gracious there better be more of you."

I chuckle at the lady, her voice sounding like sugar to my ears. "I do, ma'am. Three brothers and three sisters. There's many more of me, don't you worry."

The last statement feels sort of sad but I'm not sure why. After all, talking about my family has always made me the happiest. I guess the sound of me saying that there's more of me makes it seem like I'm not going to be around much longer. Even if I know it could be true, it still sounds pretty sad to say aloud.

I must have missed Leon's response because the next voice I hear is one that I can't tell if it came from a man or a woman. Even once I look up at the screen I still can't be sure which it is. "Eileen, what do you think of the other tributes? Do you think they'll be much competition for you?"

I look over at Eileen, catching her eye with a sideways glance. She brings up her hand to hide her smile and I bite my lip. She told me she was going to play it tough for the Capitol, but she looks pretty funny trying not to smile at me. I won't be the one to criticize her behaviour, after all she's ahead of me by three slots on the board. I might think it's strange what she's doing, but obviously it's working.

"I haven't had much of a chance to see what they're capable of," she begins. "To answer your question though, yes I do think there'll be competition for me. I'm just not sure from who yet."

I'm pretty confused by her answer, but she's been playing that type of backwards, mysterious type of talking for all her questions. The clapping and cheering from the crowd confirm that she knows what she's doing. I'm glad one of us does, though I'm doing pretty well I guess for a guy that's just being himself. Well himself in a lot fancier clothes.

The next girl that comes up on the screen doesn't look any older than most of the tributes on stage. When she realizes she is up on the screen, she wipes away few stray strands of her red hair and speaks quickly. "Connor, if you win do you think you'll stay in the Capitol. For a while at least?"

One of the boys that is sitting far away from me answers the question, his face wavering between discomfort and a smile that's as dry as a stack of hay. "Of course, if the Capitol would have me."

A wave of high-pitched yelling comes over the audience, the women in the crowd obviously pretty happy with Connor's response. The smile on his face looks like a sigh of relief. I guess it's getting down the last little while. I assume he wouldn't want to leave them with a sour taste in their mouths, especially after he seems to have become so popular.

"Alright, we have time for just one more question." Leon puts his hands up defensively against the groans that erupt from the stadium. "I know, I know. It's been an amazing night, but tomorrow is a big day for our lovely tributes and we have to let them get some sleep."

The face of the final question-asker appears on the screen, an older man with dark hair and a devilish grin. His words are slow and low, despite being thrown around the stadium by the speakers. "Caprice, what do you have to say to the people of the Capitol regarding your district's betrayal during the war."

As the screen switches to show Caprice, the trembling girl from District Four, her face pales. She opens her mouth to say something, but after a few moments she just shakes her head and squeezes her eyes shut. A murmur of confusion runs over the crowd, but thankfully for her the curtain begins to close right then and pretty soon we are all once again hidden from view. We can still all clearly hear Leon giving a swift goodbye to the crowd, even over Caprice who has broken out in sobs. Poor girl, I feel terrible that she's so nervous, but it was just a question?

Song: Children of the Universe by Molly

A/N: Alright, finally had a chance to finish this chapter up. I think it went alright, though I wish I would have been able to incorporate more questions so we could have heard from more of the tributes. I apologize if your tribute didn't get a mention, but I just ran out of words.

I've updated the blog with viewer ratings, note that they were changing throughout this chapter so for example even if in Leina's POV someone was mentioned at a twelve, they might have gone up or down by the end.

The poll is also still up on my profile, so if you haven't voted yet make sure you do that!

I really appreciate all of the people who are continuously reviewing, and those that are working on getting caught up. I love reading all of your comments and it makes me feel a lot better about this. Keep them coming please!

Did your opinions on Leina, Vera, or August change after this chapter?

What do you think of how the conference was set up? Any advice on things I could tweak?

Only one more chapter and then the arena chapters will begin, very exciting and very nerve wracking. Hopefully it won't be too long for the next one. Until next time!