Alexandria Tarsus, District 1, 15

"Lexie..." Lia's eyes met with mine for a second. I felt her exhale on me as her pupils grew with shock "Y-You're bleeding..."

A million worried thoughts went through my mind as I looked down at the new splatters that covered the white of my dress. But before I realised it wasn't me who had been shot it was too late. Lia swayed, blood trickling out of her mouth, and then began to collapse to the floor. I screamed, shocked, and holding onto her head gently I guided her down onto the floor. A cannon fired distantly.

"L-Lia..." I paused, shaking her. No... No... She had a family to protect... And we'd just reunited. What the hell had happened? I felt my lip tremble as I slapped her face gently, hoping her eyes would open. She looked oddly peaceful, but that didn't matter. My sobs grew fiercer and I continued to shake her. "Lia, listen to me... Wake up... Lia!" I didn't know why I was so upset, considering I barely knew the girl, but I couldn't just let her die. After everything we had been through together, I couldn't just lose her now. Blood continued leaking from her stomach and her shattered spine, forming a puddle that ran under my knees and across the whole floor.

A familiar voice spoke, and it still made my blood run cold. "If it's any consolation, I was aiming for you."

I turned around, fury in my eyes as I saw Honora. She was standing on the corridor above, she must have aimed down at us and shot Lia from there. She looked battered and bruised, but that had obviously not stopped her from doing what she loved most: killing.

"They weren't going to stop this twister until a tribute died," Honora began to unload her shotgun casually. I know she didn't see me as a threat, not when I was seemingly weaponless and so far away. I couldn't wait to prove her wrong. "So I decided to take initiative," her eyes flickered over to Lia indifferently. "It wouldn't have hurt. She didn't even have time to realise that she was shot." A pause. "And it's not going to hurt when I kill you," after loading the gun I saw her twist the barrel of it towards me. "Sorry, Lexie. You know how it goes. Congrats on making the final eight, by the way-"

"Fuck you," I screamed.

Honora was about to fire when I threw my hands forwards, almost feeling my rage pulse out of me. A massive wave of energy projected out of my hands, up to the floor above where Honora stood. Her eyes barely had time to widen with shock before the sheer power of the pulse crashed into her and forced her backwards as the floor beneath her collapsed. The rubble crashed down, damaging the room even more than it was already damaged. I couldn't see Honora as dust rose and formed a smoke screen around the whole room.

Forgetting Honora, deciding she was insignificant, I moved my gaze back down to Lia's sleeping form. A part of me deep inside knew she was dead and that there was no changing that, but I still tried everything to revive her. I wished I spent more time in the CPR section during training, because whatever I tried to do was certainly a mockery of CPR. No matter how much I begged, pleaded or cried she wasn't coming back. I think even if I did know CPR there was no changing anything. She was gone. Gone forever.

"No... No..." My sobs had descended into sniffles. I felt physically sick on every level. "Please Lia... Please..." I leaned up and it hit me that there was nothing I could do. Even the powers the Gamemakers had given me couldn't help. I virtually lay down next to her, sobbing into her unmoving chest. There was so much blood covering my dress and hands it looked like I were wearing a red dress and gloves. I was covered in blood. Innocent blood. Undeserving blood.

I felt so broken inside. These eleven days had been emotionally draining enough, but this was a new level of sadness. It felt as if fate had purposely reunited me with Delilah when the time was right, and then taken her away forever right after. It was like fate was being entertained by making me feel powerless and worthless in every way possible. But I realised fate didn't have to do that; the Gamemakers and the Capitol did that plenty. When my resentment for Lia had disappeared, they made sure Lia disappeared with it. Because Lia was never going to be a victor... She was little more than a prop.

Feeling numb, as if I had felt as I could feel and was no longer capable of feeling anymore, I slowly stood up. I was shaking and my eyes were sore. I knew that after today I would never feel the same way again... I would never be the same person again.

I turned around, desperately searching for a camera but being unable to find them.

"I'm tired of your Games," I screamed, knowing everyone was watching me. I bet they couldn't edit this out considering it was live. "I'm tired of the Games. I quit," I know there was technically no quitting in the Hunger Games, but I realised I had power. "The only game I'm playing is called 'Bring down the Capitol.'"

And bring it down I would. If I found a way to destroy the forcefield, I would take myself and the other innocents of the Games. I didn't know if there were many left by this point. Anyone who had killed, who had complied with the Capitol, would be left to rot. I would personally track down the remaining Careers and make sure they suffered more than they could ever imagine.

Wiping the lingering tears from my eyes, I felt blood smudge across my face like a tribal marking.

I would bring down the Capitol myself if I had to. I knew I had the power. But sometimes you had to start small, and I would start on the smallest leech of them all...

Honora.

Iopian Endovnier, District 11 Victor

I felt incredibly deflated. I knew that, ever since Willow died, I wasn't going to bring home any Victors. And I had fulfilled Lia's final wishes and managed to save her family. But seeing her body there, so still and dead, brought out bad feelings inside of me. Sighing and standing up, I began to pack up everything I had set up in the mentor's station the past couple of days, whilst turning off whatever screens I had been using. Magellan was on a coffee break and she was going to be so pissed when she got back and would be told that there was little chance she'd be promoted to District Seven or the like.

"I'm sorry Lia," I said, looking at her body which was lying there alone since Lexie had left. I turned off the screen and exhaled. "I did all I could."

As I turned and began to walk out the door I glanced at all the remaining people who were left. Robinetro was intently watching his tributes, Luster - the only Victor left in the room - was talking quietly with Leena, Marukilla was taking caffeine pills and Markoz was desperately counting whatever credits he had in the hope he could send a sponsor gift to Seb. As I walked out of the room, I passed Portia who gave me a guilty look.

Good. I hoped she was guilty. Her tribute killed mine with no remorse. I was tempted to give her evil eyes, but decided that she had no ill intent and it wasn't worth being petty. But I was agitated. I wanted either Willow or Lia to survive; I liked them, and both of them deserved to live.

I realised there was some kind of commotion going on within one of the Gamemaker laboraties. I heard feminine screaming and a tall woman with blonde hair was forced out of the office. She continued fighting against the two Peacekeepers, but I knew she had no chance against them. They clipped electronic handcuffs on her wrists, disabling her. Other Avoxes and people hovered in the corridor to look at the commotion. I myself paused, noting that Leena peered out into the corridor in my peripheral vision.

"You are under arrest!"

"What the hell?" The woman snarled. "This is some misunderstanding..."

"Trust me, Ms. Pierce," the woman looked up at the shocked Peacekeeper when he said her name. Pierce? As in Ruth Pierce? I scratched the stubble on my chin as the woman was forcefully shoved into the wall. I'd heard whispers about a rebel being in the Gamemakers Headquarters, but this was a little shocking. "You're under arrest for treason, for deceit, for murder and for crossing District boundaries without Capitol permission." He shoved her away from the wall and the woman was about to be dragged away before Tobias rushed out into the hallway.

"What the hell?" I'd never seen Tobias look angry before, but he was red in the face. His messy hair seemed even messier as he rushed over to the Peacekeepers, almost trying to snag the Gamemaker away from them. "This must be some kind of misunderstanding-"

Jynx seemed to appear next to me out of nowhere, clinging onto a coffee cup. She took a sip from it and leaned back, amused.

"You're never away from the drama, are you?" I chided.

"I had a date with a doctor but decided against it," she said, watching as Tobias seemed to grow angry and angrier. The woman who was being arrested burst into tears. I understood why; she'd probably be given the death penalty. "What's happened?"

"Looks like the environmental Gamemaker was a rebel," I said, still observing them.

"Juicy."

"Hmm."

Whatever argument Tobias tried to make, he obviously lost and was defeated. I thought he was going to attack them or something, but Tobias had always been a rather pacifistic man for someone with such a brutal job. He huffed and stormed down the corridor while the Peacekeepers began to drag the spy away. As they passed us, one of them turned to us.

"What a coincidence you're together," I immediately sized the man up as he glanced between Jynx and I. "The President is in the building for very specific purposes."

"Because of the spy?" Jynx asked.

"That's none of your business," the Peacekeeper snarled at her. She flinched slightly, even though I was pretty sure she could take him in a fight easily. "But he requested that he sees the both of you."

I paused. That made sense, considering the whole Lia scandal. I was probably not a favourite of our dear President's right now.

"What would he want with little old me?" I asked. When the Peacekeeper said nothing, I continued: "Am I in trouble?"

"You're not being arrested," was all the Peacekeeper said cryptically. I glanced at Jynx, who looked neutral. "Both of you, follow me. Now."

Day Eleven, Afternoon

Honora Cashmere Flloyd, District 4, 18

I ran down a corridor which was strangely intact. I hadn't seen any sign of a storm since Lia died, so I hoped the cyclone - or whatever the Gamemakers had conjured - had died down. I couldn't feel it, but when I looked out into the distance I knew that it was there. The rain beat down on all it could furiously, soaking it harshly as wind and lightning powerfully filled the horizon. The grounds outside looked in a state of massive disarray, with trees uprooted. In the distance I could see the shattered skeleton of what used to be large greenhouses.

I'd never ran from a tribute before. Even the stronger tributes like Jericho had fled from my might when it was a case of me vs them... But this was different. I know the Gamemakers enjoyed fucked up magic tricks, but I didn't expect them to go that extreme this year, and I wasn't expecting Lexie of all people to have them. Not to mention I shot the District Six boy and he seemed to not be affected by it whatsoever.

... This was really fucked up, and despite being one of a handful of people to ever attain a perfect score for the Games I suddenly felt pretty fucking vulnerable.

Wanting to create as much distance as possible between myself and the Super-rats, I decided to quit looking for a stairway and used my elbow to smash open the nearest window. Slinging my shotgun across my back and holding its weight with my shit tonne of supplies, I slipped outside and balanced myself on the windowsill. Gripping onto the windowsill above, I shifted myself up one floor. I was pretty worried I was going to die, especially because there was probably a small albeit deadly cyclone somewhere in the arena and the wind and rain made climbing a lot harder, but I smashed the window above and slipped through it with ease.

I was soaked from just two seconds outdoors, and the thick rain outside began to seep into the room - aided by the wind - and soak the carpet beneath. I needed to find somewhere safe, but had no idea where the hell to go. Lightning flashed in the distance as I surveyed the area.

I then stormed down the corridor, slipping my shotgun from my back and clinging tightly to it as much as I could. Today had certainly been eventful, for lack of better word. Deadly cyclones, Darth Lexie and the fact that I killed the District Eleven boy... girl... whatever it was.

I halted, checking around the corridors before leaning against the wall and re-loading my shotgun. It wasn't going to get any less eventful now we were in the final seven tributes. I kind of wanted a break, but I definitely wasn't going to be given one. I'd be facing my toughest competition, I'd face more difficult challenges and I'd probably kill a lot more people. But after that when I inevitably won I could be granted some rest and prosperity for the rest of my life, minus a few weeks a year. Struggling for motivation, I exhaled and leaned up slightly.

I could do this.

I needed to find somewhere I could expect to be sheltered from any potential cyclones for the rest of the day, then I could search through my supplies and make myself some well deserved food. Then it would be the next day and I'd go back to killing and running, though when it came to Lexie or anybody else who could make ceilings collapse with the wave of a hand I needed to be more smart and resourceful. But I could do it. I'd trained for this my whole life, which gave me an advantage over everyone else - even Pullox, who had only trained the past couple of years. This year was my year.

Sebastian Keating, District 6, 17

As Trojan and I wandered around the sewers my vision grew blurry. I was once strong - stronger than anybody in the arena, possibly even the world. But I felt myself grow gradually weaker. The murky floor beneath me and the grey of the tunnels almost blurred into one as the world suddenly began spinning around me. I mumbled for Trojan to stop in his tracks, but he didn't. I stumbled, trying to find the tunnel wall to stabilise myself, but before I could reach it sickness consumed me and I fell into a disgusting puddle of Panem knows what.

The smell would've made me sick, but I was already sick to begin with. I opened my mouth, choking and gagging but in my hunger only managing to summon acidic tasting bile which dripped down my chin. My head was burning with the intensity of a hundred suns. I don't think I had the strength to keep going. Unless I had some of that Victor's Vial, I was no-one. I was either strong, or I was weak and frail like this.

I looked up at Trojan who kept walking.

"Trojan," I said weakly. He continued walking. "Trojan!"

"A cannon has gone off," Trojan said turning to me. "Now we've reached the final eight I personally don't want to see what creepy crawlies the Capitol has in store for us, so we're going to find some way out."

"I can't get up," I grabbed onto the wall, holding onto what I thought was a ridge. As I weakly stood, it crumbled into dust in my hands and I slipped back into water. At least I was sitting and not lying in a putrid cesspool. I didn't even want to know what I looked like. I wasn't exactly Caecilius Norton level good looking before I came into the arena, but I wasn't ugly. I knew that I looked like I'd been dragged through hell and back. Trojan continued walking, indifferent. "P-Please man, I think I'm dying."

"If you can't even walk, it's not worth having you weigh me down."

I couldn't help but feel hurt. I liked Trojan. He wasn't going to win the Presidential Medal for Services to Kindness anytime soon, but we'd looked out for each other the past few days. And I'd liked to think I'd helped him. I'd liked to think I helped as many people as practically possible, although being totally kind wasn't an option for many people in the Games. I'd saved Trojan's life, I'd nursed him to health when he most needed me, I'd jumped in front of a bullet to keep him alive. I wasn't perfect. I knew I was far from that... I'd lied to him, I'd hurt others to keep him safe.

But I tried, goddammit. I really tried.

"Please Trojan," I said, feeling stupid when tears slipped down my cheeks and washed away splatters of dirt and blood in their wake. I tried to stand up and humiliated myself once again. The sounds of Trojan's footsteps stopped. "After all I did for you you really can't just turn your back on me. I-I know I'm being stupid but..." My voice cracked, and I managed to hold the tears in. "I think I'm dying... I-I need more Victor's Vial..."

Trojan seemed to be in front of me in seconds. I forgot he had the last drops of the Victor's Vial; he was strong, much stronger than I was. His warm hands clasped onto my cold ones and he forced me to my feet with ease. Before I thanked him, he pushed my back against the wall and I felt the sharpness of his blade against my throat. I felt too weak to even consider protesting. If Trojan wanted me dead right now, so be it.

"First of all, what you did for me?"

"I saved you from Four girl," I didn't even know if it was worth presenting an argument. "A-And the Eight girl... And I nursed you back to health and..." A sharp pain filled my head. It wasn't Trojan hitting me, it was a natural pain. "Fuck," I hissed, rubbing my temples. "I don't know. I had your back, okay? I-I had your back."

"If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead right now," Trojan snarled, almost offended. "I saved you from Carlie, remember? And even if you did good things, you lied to me about that fucking vial."

"I'm sorry," I sniffled pathetically.

"You need water," Trojan forced a bottle into my hands. It felt so cold... And fresh... And my mouth felt so dry. I desperately uncapped it, gulping drops down thirstily. I must have drank about half of it before Trojan prised it from my hands, and I still felt thirsty. But I think my head hurt a little less and my vision was a little less blurred. I could see Trojan's features. His eyes flickered and met mine, but snapped away again almost shyly. "I hope you feel better because there's not much else we can do. There's none of that Vial left and even though I feel kind of good right now because of it, I think it's for the best we don't have it in future."

"For the best? We'd be dead like three times over without it."

Trojan shook his head. "Don't be a smartass. It's made you a mess... And I think I'm a mess right now."

"But we'll be a mess together, right?" I asked, almost slurred. It was almost like I was drunk, except I wasn't drunk. As I began to slump, Trojan slipped his arm around my shoulder and began to lead me down the corridor. I think I saw him smile a little, but I was miffed he ignored my question. "Right, Trojan?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess," he said unsurely. "We'll be a mess together. Now come on, walk faster. I have a Games to survive."

Darius Cortez, District 8, 16

I'd never been in so cramped a space before. I think the servants of the past used to use this for storage, because we were surrounded by soaps, cleaning utensils and other cleaning products. I could see through the camera lens, which was thankfully in night vision. I was on the cold ground, hugging my knees to my chest and looking up at the locked trap door above as if I expected it to be crushed into oblivion by the tornado that had swept through the arena. Mirane, despite being so enclosed and barely able to move, was looking through the cleaning products before us and was pocketing any she had seen fit. I didn't know how any of it could help, but Mirane had always been pretty resourceful.

It was so cold in here, maybe it was because of the climate above. I could hear the wind howling, though when I probed the outside corridors there was no sign of a storm despite the fact it was immensely windy.

"Okay, I'm packed," Mirane finally said, zipping up our slightly heavier backpack and plopping down next to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I did feel oddly okay. Being so squeezed in sucked, as did barely escaping a cyclone and it kind of sucked that Mirane had thrown the l-bomb back into my face. But I was okay. I'd been in worse situations. I felt weird, like I should've been upset or mad. But I wasn't. "I never imagined I would have gotten this far," I admitted. "I never would've imagined I'd kill, though. And I have. If the Hunger Games are good at one thing, it's bringing out the side in you you'd never really seen before."

"Maybe it is," Mirane smiled. "Because I'm pretty fucking scared." I'd never heard Mirane say that before, even in the most tense of situations. "And I've never really been scared before. It's just all caught up on me just how much danger I'm in," she paused. "And I guess it's a lot, right?"

I nudged her. "You better not be turning into a wuss on me," I teased.

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes. "As if you're in a position to comment, Mr. I love you."

I blushed and she laughed, slapping my knee slightly.

"So, who do you think is out there?" Mirane said. "Eleven boy, the Ones, Four girl and the terrible twosome. One of those is dead." I paused. I'd never really stopped to ask myself who had died.

"I actually don't really know," I said. "I mean, this is the stage where anyone can die. The One boy and the Four girl both have way higher scores than anyone else in the arena, and the One girl had a decent score too," I paused. "So in theory I wouldn't guess they had died, but people with way higher scores than me have died earlier than I have," I said. "I dunno. It could be anyone. But I'm hoping it's the Three or Six boys, for obvious reasons," I tried to keep my resentment under the surface. "But yeah, anyone will do, one step closer to victory."

"We'll fight to make sure one of us gets out of here."

"It could be you, you know," I said.

Mirane nodded. "I know."

I squeezed her hand. "So don't be scared."

She nodded again.

"So, is that cyclone still be around?" Mirane asked. "I mean, chances are the Gamemakers just killed someone and they did what they wanted to do," I closed my eyes and attempted to shift my vision along the different cameras. It was obvious the tornado had hit this part of the arena, because the structures of the Palace were almost stripped to the bone. The once magnificent place was now just a place of wood, rubble, smashed furniture and broken glass. But there was no sign of whatever had destroyed it. "Any sign, Buster?"

"Coast is clear," I said. At least I thought so.

"Okay," Mirane slipped her gun out of her belt. "Lets roll."

As I began to stand, Leein Maplin made an announcement. I remembered him telling us that he'd made an announcement around the Final Seven, and I had been betting on a feast or something. As I slid the lock across the trap door, now able to open it, I listened intently for what Leein had to say:

"Final seven! Isn't this exciting?"

Not really. I felt positive, that was for sure, but I knew that what I'd experienced earlier was potentially child's play for what was to come. More natural disasters, feasts that led all the tributes directly to each other and more face-offs with the strongest tributes and stronger mutts. Mirane seemed to have the same thoughts, because I saw her put her hands on her hips nervously.

"For the Final Seven we'll all be giving you... ahem... a gift!" Leein sniggered. "But this gift comes with a price, as all gifts do. And this gift is invisible." I didn't like the thought of any invisible gifts in the arena... "The Gamemakers have noticed all of your flaws, all of your mistakes within the Games. All humans are flawed, especially those from the Districts. To survive the Games to must survive your flaws. You've been assigned one of seven sins each: pride, envy, greed, gluttony, sloth, lust and..." A pause as the last sin was said with particular glee. "Wrath."

"I don't get it," I mumbled.

"Do you feel different?" Mirane asked me. I thought about it, and concluded there was no difference at all. I shook my head. "Me neither. Do you think it's symbolic or they're sending something down to us?"

I opened the hatch above and light washed through. "I have no idea," I stepped into the outdoors, holding my hand down to Mirane and helping her clamber up into the corridor. She seemed almost shocked at the destruction surrounding us, even though I had expected it. What was once a grand Palace was now a grand ruin. There was no sign that this place ever had furniture, all windows and doors had been torn away with a few exceptions. I saw Mirane survey the area, noting the cracked ceiling above, the smashed floor beneath and the chunks of stone or rotten beams of wood where walls used to be.

"I think they've sent us enough," I said mournfully. Water drizzled around us due to the heavy rainstorm outside and my face was illuminated by a flash of lightning. It was grey outside, but was showing blackness as night approached.

"Yeah..." Mirane stepped over a puddle of water that soaked the flawed marble beneath. "I hope to god you're right."

Things are going pretty fast o_o Get prepared for dark turns, especially now we have the seven deadly sins in the mix.

Anyway, announcement, YOU CAN NOW SUBMIT TO MY NEXT STORY! It is called Hunt or be Hunted. It is going to be good, hopefully. PM me for the form, it won't be in my profile and you can only submit characters via PM.

And remember:

1. If your tribute is in another story, still send me them if you think I can do a good job. I'm not really fussed about that.

2. Don't be scared to send average Joes, because they do exist. But also send me eccentric, crazy tributes to spice it up. The best tributes tend to be somewhere in between those two extremes though.

3. Remember: FLAWS. They need flaws.

Chances are I'll accept most of your tributes because I know a load of you are capable of making great characters. If you're a regular reviewer, you've got a way higher chance of being accepted, and having 1 of 10 tributes in the preview chapter of this story. Cool, no?

Also, just some bonus questions, to see who a big fan is. If you answer these (or some of them) correctly, your tribute (if accepted) has a higher chance of being in the preview chapter:

1. Who in the 203rd Games was a vegetarian? Who in the 204th Games was/is a vegetarian?

2. What did Ava hide in when she tried to hide from Cardinal?

3. Why did Falrey volunteer?

Good luck! :)