Private Sessions
The next few days of training were a blur. Aphroditon felt as though they all blended together, turning into one continuous day in his mind. The games were rapidly approaching, and he was doing his best to ensure that he was in perfect shape before they started. The other careers followed his lead as they rotated through the stations, working on their skills and making sure that their alliance wouldn't fall apart before the games began.
He was used to strenuous days of training, so this wasn't any different from his career academy training back in district one. In fact, without someone there to directly push him into training harder, he was even going a little lighter on himself than he normally would have. His mentor was still tough, but since she didn't oversee training in the room itself, he had a little more freedom with what he could do. Guiding the other careers was taxing enough.
Dealing with Teuthis hadn't gotten any easier. The district four tribute seemed determined to make life difficult for Aphroditon and the other careers. He was still constantly vying for more power in the group, trying to disrupt the carefully laid out plans that had been put in place. Not to mention the fact that he still hadn't stopped talking to the district five girl, making Pyre extremely angry.
Aphroditon had told his mentor about the problems with Teuthis, and her response had been that he should basically just let him do what he wanted. According to Porcelain, there was no controlling someone like that, and if he was enough of a problem, the games would manage to sort him out. This wasn't the advice that he'd been looking for.
Porcelain had also told him not to make enemies with the outer district tributes, given that the career alliance didn't need a target on their heads. There had been past games where large alliances of other districts had been able to take down the career alliance, and they were hoping to avoid an outcome like that. Thankfully, there wasn't a large enough group of other districts that had allied yet, and all the other alliances were only three or four people.
His individual training with Porcelain had been short, as they mainly had been preparing for the interviews on the night after the private sessions. Aphroditon didn't think that he needed much help with the interview, but it was always important to listen to his mentor. He'd had a hard time sitting still during his work with his mentor, which annoyed her to no end. It was hard to sit for that long without moving around at least a little bit.
Verd had continued to train with Releve, and she had opened up more to him over the remaining days of training. He still didn't know too much about her. However, she was willing to talk now, and that was an improvement on what their dynamic had been like before. They both agreed that they needed to cement their alliance with the district two tributes and Cyana.
Now, Aphroditon sat in a long hallway, the rest of the tributes sitting in a line beside him, waiting to go in front of the gamemakers for their private sessions. Because he was going first, he felt the immense pressure of having to do well. This didn't worry him as much as it should. He was used to this sort of pressure from the career academy, and had passed through the volunteer trials with ease. The private session couldn't be any worse than that.
"Aphroditon Rockefeller? The gamemakers are ready for you now," said an assistant with a tablet, checking over the details as she looked up at him. The order this year was starting with district one, as it normally did, and then the boys would be going before the girls. He could tell that all the other tributes were staring at him as he stood up.
Led into a smaller room before being taken through another set of doors, he was given instructions on what to do. There would be a barrier between him and the gamemakers, and he wasn't allowed to touch that barrier or mess with it in any way. He'd be given a short time to show his skills, at which point he'd be dismissed. His score would be revealed later on the nightly program with the scores of the rest of the tributes.
"Welcome, Aphroditon. You may begin," said an older man with graying blue hair and violet eyes from behind the barrier. The gamemakers all sat attentively, watching him as he made his way over to the bow and arrow that was set up.
Taking a deep breath, he immediately sprung into action, notching an arrow and firing several off at the moving targets on the other wall. Without missing a beat, he spun into a lower position, getting the rest of the targets as he methodically reloaded the arrows with lightning speed.
Once all the arrows were out of his quiver, he pivoted to the swords and training dummies, where he began to slash at them carefully, making sure to demonstrate his fundamentals and complicated moves as he went along. Whirling around, he went from dummy to dummy, cutting their heads off and skewering them through the heart in swift motions.
There was an obstacle course on one side of the room, and he ran through it, pausing only to grab the ropes that hang from the ceiling to hoist himself over the tall mats that had been set up. At the end of the course, he picked up the bow again, having collected a few arrows while near the targets, and shot them into the remaining training dummies, aiming for the points that would have been fatal on a real human.
Surveying his work, he turned to the gamemakers, who had all stood up and begun to applaud. With a short bow, he smiled, happy with how it had turned out. Sure, some of his sword skills had been a little messy, and he'd almost lost his footing on the obstacle course once, but it had been so miniscule that no one noticed. Overall, he'd done quite well, and the gamemakers seemed to think the same. The head gamemaker returned to the microphone.
"Thank you, Mr. Rockefeller. You may leave now," said the man, at which Aphroditon clasped his hands together in thanks and did another short bow to show his respect for them. He then turned to leave, where an assistant was waiting just beyond the doors.
He was walked past the rest of the tributes, including Verd, who was now preparing to go into the room. They still had to clean up the damages that Aphroditon had done, but that wouldn't take them very long. He gave Verd a nod, and she nodded back. It was clear that he'd done well, and the others could definitely tell that he was proud of himself.
Out in the hallway, he met with Porcelain, who was waiting for him. Without speaking, they went back to another room, waiting for Verd to be done. He wanted to tell his mentor about how he'd done, but didn't think that now was the time to talk about it. She'd see just how well he'd done when they got their scores.
Several hours later, the district one tributes, their escort, and their mentors were all waiting up on their floor of the building. It was time for the nightly broadcast, which meant that the scores would soon be revealed.
The gamemakers tabulated the scores fairly quickly, meaning that they were mostly done once the final tribute had finished. Typically, the careers scored much higher than the non-careers, and it was expected for them to get eights and above. As they waited, Joyous had already poured himself a drink, and they all sat on couches around the television screen.
"And now, what you've all been waiting for! The tributes' training scores! Take it away, Pristina!" said an announcer on the television. The image flipped to a woman that they all had seen many times before. Pristina Numera conducted the interviews, was the announcer during the games, and generally did everything on television that related to the games in general.
Smiling, the woman flipped her hair, the streaks of pastel colors mixing together as she turned towards the camera. Pristina wore complicated makeup, not that different from what Joyous wore, but only around her eyes.
"Let's get started! With district one coming in first, we have Aphroditon Rockefeller and Verd Lucan!" she said, the faces of the district one tributes popping up on the screen. An animated number slowly zoomed in, showing their scores beneath their names.
A flashing eleven was visible under Aphroditon's name, and he collapsed into the couch. An eleven? That was even higher than he had expected! Regaining his composure, Joyous patted him on the back, and even Porcelain managed a tight-lipped smile. Verd had scored a nine, which wasn't bad at all. She looked pleased, though a little bit disappointed.
The rest of the tributes' scores came in quick succession, their names being announced and their scores popping up underneath them. Lanista had scored a nine, and Basalt an eight. The district three tributes were considerably worse, as the boy got a four and Pyre got a six.
Then came the district four tributes. To his annoyance, Teuthis had scored a ten, and Cyana had scored an eight. He wondered what Teuthis had done to get such a high score. Over the last few days, he'd noticed that Teuthis was extremely good at agility based things, and could do flips and other such skills. Perhaps he'd demonstrated those for the gamemakers to get him his score.
Of the non-career districts, only a few scores stood out. Bridge had gotten an eight, and so had Doyle, the boy from district twelve. The worst score was Serge from district eight, who'd managed to get a two. That was almost laughable, but Aphroditon felt as though the boy wasn't going into the games with any expectations. He'd die quickly, and that would be the best possible fate for him.
The program ended shortly after that, and Joyous turned the television off. He had a bright smile on his face, and the drink in his hand was almost empty. Porcelain and Releve had their notebooks in their arms, having been taking notes during the scores.
"Exciting! Congratulations, Aphroditon, Verd! You both did well," exclaimed Joyous, with Aphroditon smiling back at him. Verd was still staring at the television, and had an odd look on her face. Aprhoditon wasn't sure why she was displeased with her score. She'd done well, and better than most of the other tributes.
Wanting to go take a shower, as it was getting late, Aphroditon started to head back to his room. Verd did the same, entering her room and disappearing. As he was about to close his door, he heard whispering from the mentors. Leaving it open a crack, he waited to hear what they had to say.
"They're just setting him up for failure. There's no way he can win, they're just trying to punish us by building him up so they can tear him down," said Porcelain, her voice low enough that he had to focus on listening. He frowned, concerned by this information. Was that really all Porcelain thought about him? That he wouldn't be able to go all the way?
"I know, Porcelain. I'm not sure what they're planning, but he's done well enough this far that it only makes me worried for the games. If Verd gets caught up with him, he'll only drag her down. Not that there's any chance for her, either. It's worse this year, knowing that they're both doomed," Releve replied.
Not wanting to hear any more, Aphroditon closed his door, and then flopped onto his bed. His thoughts were racing. They were both doomed? Surely that had to be an exaggeration. There was no reason for the gamemakers to hate them enough to make it impossible for them to win. District one had won twice in the last seven years, but that didn't mean his chances were that much lower. He knew that he still had a chance.
As he went to shower, his mind buzzing, Aphroditon tried to put off all the thoughts of potential death. If he lost his confidence now, he'd only perform worse in the games. Tomorrow was the interview, after all, and he needed to be fully ready to go on stage. Looking in the bathroom mirror, he made himself smile. So much depended on tomorrow, and he needed to be ready. He only got one chance to make all of Panem truly believe in him.
Interviews
Backstage, Aphroditon sat in front of a dressing room mirror, activity going on all around him. Today was the day of the interviews, and they'd been starting in less than an hour. He'd prepared all that he could, and now it was time for him to get his stage makeup put on. Several other tributes all sat with him, mostly the careers, getting their makeup caked onto their face as they patiently waited for their interview to come.
While the makeup that the prep teams were putting on them was natural, it still was extremely uncomfortable, almost as uncomfortable as the crystals they'd put on him for the parade. He didn't think he'd ever get used to wearing all of this on his face. Powders and liquids were smeared and blended into his skin, and it was taking long enough that he was getting bored.
His leg moving up and down, one of the members of the prep team gave him a look, causing him to stop moving it and instead hold his hands together in his lap. Verd was at a mirror beside him, looking much more comfortable with the whole process. She didn't normally wear makeup, but at least wasn't completely miserable.
The only person in the room who seemed to be enjoying the process was Lanista, and maybe her stylists were enjoying it too. She was talking all about the different products they were using, and had instructed her stylists on how to do her heavy eyeliner that she did in her everyday makeup look. Instead of the district fours, for some reason, the district fives were in here. The district four tributes were probably in the other prep room with the threes and sixes.
Wynd and Antimony also looked absolutely miserable. Aphroditon could see Antimony in the mirror behind him, and his stylist was forcibly putting on makeup as he had a sad expression on his face. From what he knew of Antimony, the young adult was fairly talkative and good at getting along with others, but this makeup process seemed to be defeating him.
There was a large clock above the door in the room that counted down the amount of time before the show started. There was a little less than an hour left on the clock, meaning that the tributes currently in the prep rooms would soon be rotated out so that the rest of them could have a turn. All of them wore protective capes over their outfits, mainly so that no makeup would get on their fancy dresses and suits.
With a flourish, the prep team working on Aphroditon's makeup declared him finished. He looked at himself in the mirror, his skin unnaturally smooth and his eyebrows slightly darker than normal. This was all necessary for television, he supposed, but it wasn't like they'd be up there for very long. They got a short amount of time for their interviews. Still, the crowd needed to see the best possible version of them, and makeup was an important step in appearing perfect for the Capitolites.
All of the tributes in the room were instructed to leave their chairs and they all were marched to another room for a final check on their outfits. Aphroditon looked down at his own outfit as he stood in front of a full-length mirror.
He wore a dark grayish purple suit crossed over his body, with four black buttons holding it together. Underneath, he wore a black vest over a dress shirt, and a burgundy tie. His loafers were shined to perfection, and his hair had been styled so that it wouldn't be moved by anything less than a strong wind. On his wrist, he wore his locket bracelet with the picture of his family inside it. His tie also had a tie pin with a sideways one on it, almost looking like a straight line.
To his left, Verd wore a dark burgundy dress with pink undertones. Her hair was styled up in a bun, and she wore lipstick and eyeliner. She was obviously uncomfortable in the heels she wore, but was walking in them well enough that it wasn't super noticeable. Around her neck, she wore several layered necklaces, and her bangs were styled to the side. Her dress matched his tie, which had been done intentionally by Rhodes and her stylist.
The other tributes all wore their own fancy outfits, and the tributes from the other prep room had joined them. The district five tributes had already left the room, but Teuthis wasn't focused on looking for Wynd. After the last day of training, where Pyre had threatened him for the fourth time, he'd started leaving her alone. Instead, Teuthis came over to him, a fake grin on his face.
"Hey, Aphroditon! You look nice. Congrats on your training score," he said, as this was the first time they'd seen each other since the training scores had been announced. Aphroditon was a little skeptical of Teuthis' motives, but tried his best to be polite, keeping a look of neutrality on his face instead of one of disgust.
"Thanks, same to you," Aphroditon responded. Verd was next to him, and she moved over to his side, crossing her arms as she glanced at Teuthis. Cyana came over as well, which was a relief, since she always managed to calm down her district partner. Seeing all the careers gathered, Lanista and Basalt joined them, making a small circle of career tributes in the corner of the room.
"Is everyone ready for their interviews?" asked one of the backstage workers, coming in through the door before any of the careers could say another word. The tributes in the room nodded, and the worker left, leaving them to their own devices once again. They could see a screen with the stage on it, where Pristina Numera was currently going through a rehearsal for the pre-show.
Since they'd been left to wait here, Aphroditon guessed that they'd slowly be brought backstage when it became time for their interviews, and would go somewhere else once their interviews had finished. It was odd, seeing everything from behind the scenes for the first time after years of watching the interviews on TV.
More tributes filed in over the next ten minutes, probably having their makeup finished and being instructed to come into this room. The room was big enough for all of them, but the careers stayed in their corner while the other alliances all grouped together. It was clear that lines had already been drawn between the different groups of allies.
The male tributes had their makeup finished faster than the female tributes, so they came into the room sooner than their counterparts. Aphroditon could hear Bridge talking to Doyle and Caballus, saying the oddest things that somehow meshed with their conversation. On the other side of the room, the younger tributes were gathered, all looking relatively terrified about the prospect of interviews. He supposed that their mentors hadn't done a great job of preparing them for this.
"You're going first, right? Good luck out there," said Lanista, both to Aphroditon and Verd. She seemed the most comfortable, with her heavy platform boots and all-black outfit. For her, it was probably just another day, putting on heavy makeup and getting all dressed up. It was nice that she was making an attempt to talk, since it distracted them all from any potential nerves. Even career tributes got nervous sometimes, no matter how hard they tried to hide it or seemed like they were invincible.
"Aphroditon, you're up in five! Come with me, please," said the same worker, coming back into the room with her eyes landing on Aphroditon. Following her, he waved goodbye to the other careers, who were now moving away from each other. This concerned him, as it seemed like he was the only thing holding the whole group together.
Taken down a dark yet busy hallway, Aphroditon walked after the backstage manager, and came to a stop in view of the stage itself. The preshow had already started. Pristina Numera was talking to the cameras, her enthusiasm evident from her excited gestures, and the live audience was eating up her every word. He could hear her doing an intro for the interviews, talking about how fun it would be to get to talk to the tributes. Whether it was fun or not eluded him.
"You're going to go on the stage, sit down, answer some questions, and then go off on the other side of the stage. Just go straight through after you're done, got it? Pristina will make sure that the interview doesn't go too long," whispered the backstage manager, leading him to a spot where he could see the stage but the audience couldn't see him.
On the other side of the stage, more of the backstage crew was visible, and he saw them waving to him. There was a clearly marked chair on stage that was for the tributes to sit in, right across from Pristina.
"And now, everyone, it's time for the interviews! First up, from district one, we have Aphroditon Rockefeller!" exclaimed Pristina. Aphroditon was moved out onto the stage, his feet carrying him as he made his way towards the chair with a smile plastered onto his face. He was relaxed, acting natural but with a bit of pep in his step.
"Welcome, Aphroditon! You're one of our career volunteers this year. How does your family feel about you volunteering? Are they proud of you?" Pristina inquired, eyes going between the many cameras and the tribute in front of her. Nodding, he let himself look at Pristina, trying to focus on her instead of the barrage of cameras.
"My family is very proud of me. I've been working towards this for years, after all, and they've supported me every step of the way. My father in particular has always motivated me so I can achieve my goals," he answered, thinking back to his family. They were probably watching back at home, all gathered around the television and being excited to see him in front of the entire nation.
He knew that other districts didn't get to have families that were proud of them for entering the games, given that they weren't volunteers, but his focus wasn't on winning over the outer districts. His focus was more on winning over the Capitol, and continuing to make his family proud.
"That's wonderful. You've been training for so long, I can only imagine how great it feels to finally be going to the games," said Pristina. In a way, she felt more human and less human than the rest of the Capitolites. She seemed genuine, and that she really wanted the best for the tributes. However, he knew that it was all an act, and that she was just putting on a show. Anything she said wasn't necessarily her real opinion. It was impossible to know what she really thought.
"It's certainly something that I've been looking forward to for a long time. I worked hard to get here," he responded. Taking a glance at the audience, he was pleased to see that they were eating up every word. Aphroditon wanted to present himself as someone strong yet personable, with that additional edge that made him dangerous in the arena.
"Your training score was an impressive eleven. That's the highest score this year! It's a rare sight. What's your best weapon? How'd you get such a good score?" she asked, leaning in as if she was fascinated by what his response would be. Her pastel multi-colored hair shined in the lights of the stage.
"My best weapon would be a bow. I'm pretty decent at most weapons, too, so getting the chance to show off is always fun," replied Aphroditon. Not wanting to seem too eager, he leaned back a little, almost seeming disinterested. Still, he played off of Pristina's mood, letting her charisma reflect in himself.
"Of course, of course. Now, who would you say is the next strongest tribute? Minus yourself, of course. Is it Teuthis? Lanista? Your time in training has given you the edge on seeing everyone else's skills, too," Pristina questioned. This was an inquiry he hadn't been expecting, but it only took him a second to come up with an acceptable answer. He already knew who he thought the next strongest tribute was, and it might have been the easiest answer to respond to.
"Definitely Verd. She's good with a variety of weapons, she's dedicated, and she doesn't let herself get caught up in day to day worries. It's an obvious answer, what with district loyalty and everything, but I truly believe that she's one of the strongest," Aphroditon smiled, knowing that Verd was probably watching backstage. Hopefully she wouldn't be too mad at being complimented.
"That's nice to hear. One final question, then I'll let you go. If you could say anything to district one, to the people back home, what would you say?" said the interviewer. She turned toward the camera, almost as if she was inviting the people of district one to listen in. Taking a moment to think about, Aphroditon prepared an answer, and then looked back up at the cameras.
"I'll make you proud. All that training won't go to waste. You've all made me who I am today, and I'll do everything I can to triumph over everyone else," he replied, wanting to keep his answer short but effective.
The crowd began to clap, and his smile widened, though not enough to give away how proud he was inside. Prisitna nodded to him, and then shook his hand. He saw the backstage managers on the other side of the stage gesturing towards him, causing him to stand up and give the crowd one final wave. As he made his way off stage, he could hear Pristina getting ready to introduce the next tribute, which would be Verd.
Once backstage, he was taken to a separate room, with a large screen in it and a row of chairs lined up in front of the screen. He took one of the chairs and sat down, feeling slightly lonely, but proud of how he'd handled himself in the interview. Since Verd was up next, and he'd be stuck back here for a while to watch the rest of the interviews, he paid close attention to what was being said.
The beginning of the interview was mostly similar, and the questions that were asked to Verd were all the same sort of generic interview questions that had been slightly personalized for the tribute. Verd didn't have as easy a stage presence as he did, but she did her best, appearing very serious and dedicated. Her personality was able to shine through in her answers. As he sat, he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, which had come untucked after the interview.
"How have you been getting along with your district partner? He had some good things to say about you," Pristina asked Verd, who nodded and paused for a moment. She remained composed, sitting up very straight. Aphroditon guessed that she was thinking about her grandmother in addition to the rest of Panem when formulating her answers.
"I appreciate him being so complimentary. Aphroditon is very easy to get along with, he's leading the careers well but isn't being too stuck-up. He makes the alliance work together much better than it would have otherwise," she responded, making Aphroditon beam with pride. He hadn't expected her to be so nice about it, though she was on television, and that was surely part of it.
The interview continued from there, with Verd being asked more questions about herself and her favorite training methods. Soon enough, her turn on stage was over, and she came into the room to sit down next to him.
"You did well," said Aphroditon approvingly, and she gave him a courteous nod. Next up on stage would be Basalt, and the interviews slowly started to go past. Basalt was loud and energetic on stage, and was the tiniest bit brash in his words. There wasn't much that stood out in the interview that Aphroditon didn't already know after being with him for the past few days of training.
When it came to be Lanista's turn for the interview, and Basalt came to join them backstage, Verd seemed extremely focused on the screen, her eyes never parting from looking at the girl with the heavy makeup. Prisitna asked Lanista about her fashion and sense of style, which the Capitolites in the audience seemed to love. Her interview was less about training and the games, being more about the way she expressed herself through her outfits and makeup.
While the district three boy wasn't very memorable, and his interview didn't elicit very many reactions from the crowd, Pyre's interview was the complete opposite. Her electric energy infected the room, and her personality was actually not that different from Basalt's. One question stood out to Aphroditon. Pristina asked her about her allies, and her response was interesting.
"I'm mainly allied with Wynd, Via, and Antimony. There have been people that have tried to get in the way of our alliance, and I'm determined not to let them. They don't want the best for us, in fact, they want to drag us down. We're not going to fall into their trap," said Pyre, giving a pointed look at the camera.
It was obvious that she was referring to Teuthis, but the audience didn't know that, and they all murmured amongst themselves about what she could be talking about. He hoped that Pyre and Teuthis' rivalry wouldn't cause any trouble in the games, but if it did, he was certain that the careers could easily take out Pyre and the rest of her alliance. She was only dangerous on her own, and with a group to slow her down, she wouldn't be much of a threat.
Teuthis himself was next up, and he commanded the stage from the instant he stepped out onto it. His demeanor reminded Aphroditon of a large mountain lion, poised and ready to strike. The crowd was also very intrigued by him, all of the whispers ceasing the moment he got on stage.
"So, Teuthis, you're from the career academy back in four. From my sources, you apparently were gone for a time from the academy, and then went back. What caused this change?" asked Pristina, starting to dig deeper from her pool of questions into those that were more tribute-specific. Curious to hear more about why Teuthis was the way he was, Aphroditon listened intently, the rest of the tributes in the small room also falling silent.
"Back then, I was weak. Pathetic, even. I couldn't hold a candle to the other academy students. My life was derailing, and I needed to do something that brought it back to normal. When I came back to the academy, I trained harder than ever, and I wouldn't let anyone get in my way," he replied with a grin. It was noticeable that he hadn't really answered the question, but not enough for the Capitolites to think anything was odd.
"There's been some tension between the tributes. Care to comment on it?" Pristina continued after letting him speak. Teuthis let out a bark of a laugh, and his posture changed, leaning forward and speaking directly to the camera instead of Pristina.
"Just usual Games things. People not taking it seriously, other people trying to undermine the rest of the tributes, stuff like that. It's the typical drama that you get from putting a bunch of us together. Everything will resolve itself in the games, and I'm looking forward to seeing it all play out," responded Teuthis. The back of Aphroditon's neck got goosebumps, and he looked at Verd with concern. She seemed to agree with him, but was currently more focused on trying to keep Pyre from yelling at the screen.
Teuthis' interview was soon over, and then it came time for Cyana's interview. Aphroditon had noticed that Pristina was asking more questions about dynamics between the tributes this year, which didn't change when she asked Cyana about how long she'd known Teuthis. Maybe Pristina had intel from the staff in the training facility about who'd been interacting with who.
"I've known him for years, since we were little. He wasn't always like this, as you know, and we've been friends for so long. I trust him, regardless of whether anyone else does. Until it comes down to it, we're allies," she replied, also darting around the question. This made Aphroditon think that there was something else about Teuthis that neither of them wanted to talk about.
By the time Cyana came back to the room, Teuthis and Pyre were arguing again, and Cyana had to calm them both down. Antimony's interview was interesting, as Aphroditon didn't know much about him, but he was charismatic and had an eye for talking to the crowd. He seemed to smooth everything out, making it look like everything was going better than it actually was, sort of in the style of a politician. Antimony would have made a good Justice Building official back in five if he hadn't been selected for the games.
Wynd was next, which caused Teuthis and Pyre to finally be quiet and made Cyana breathe a sigh of relief after they'd stopped arguing. At this point, the tributes in the room had all started talking to each other and commenting on the other interviews, though the career tributes all sat together while the others sat slightly apart.
There wasn't much special about Wynd's interview, and she passed mostly under the radar. Apparently Prisitna hadn't gotten wind of her being the cause of the feud between the district three and four tributes. In a way, Aphroditon was glad about that, since he wasn't sure of how Wynd would have handled it.
Bridge was his usual confusing self, but the crowd enjoyed his interview, with all his jokes and witty retorts. Via was fairly forgettable, and almost tripped as she was walking off the stage. Kadmiel was sullen the entire time, and Pristina had difficulties in trying to get him to talk. The next interesting interview was Olsie, the district seven girl.
Olsie had received a high training score of eight, which was almost on par with the careers. None of them were sure how she'd managed to get such a high score, though she'd picked up other weapons remarkably fast in training. After being asked how her friends back home felt about her being reaped, she merely shook her head before answering.
"I don't have many friends back home. The ones I did have will be sad I'm gone, but they'll get over it eventually," she replied, making the crowd sniffle with sadness. Her expression was almost blank, and she spoke so quietly that the mic had to be amplified for the broadcast to hear her.
Both of the interviews for the district eight tributes were pretty much the same, with both of them almost shaking as they sat on stage and barely being able to answer Pristina's questions. If they were in a different circumstance, Aphroditon would have felt bad for them, but since this was the games, he expected them to die early. District nine was forgettable, and then Caballus from district ten was a little more interesting.
Caballus' southern accent captivated the crowd, and his tough exterior but kinder heart was on display when he spoke to Pristina. The crowd liked him enough for him to get more applause than his district partner and the district nine tributes. Florence from district eleven seemed nice enough, while Arrow looked bored through the entire interview. The district twelve boy, Doyle, did a good job, while his district partner smiled widely the entire time and was a little too enthusiastic.
After the interviews were over, Aphroditon was extremely tired of sitting in a chair, and was more than ready to head back to their floor of the building. As he walked with Verd, he realized that tomorrow was the last day before the games actually started. They'd have their last day of training with their mentors, and then they'd be thrown into the arena. It was almost enough to make his stomach flip. Whether that was with excitement or apprehension remained to be seen.
The Night Before
Fourteen hours before they left for the games, and most of that would be spent trying to sleep. Aphroditon had spent most of the last day before the games doing private training with Porcelain and occasionally with Verd, and now the day was almost over. It was time for dinner, and the district one team sat around the large table, food piled high in front of them,
Normally, Aphroditon would have a hard time eating with that much anticipation in his mind, but he was exhausted from his day of training, and was hungry enough to dig into the food. Verd hardly touched her plate at first. After being reminded by Releve that this might be the last good meal she ate before the arena, though, she started eating reluctantly. Joyous tried to entertain them with jokes, but the mood was off enough that his jokes weren't landing well.
Earlier in the day, the results of a Capitol magazine poll had come out debating the potential victors. The careers had all been at the top of the list, mostly tied, but he and Teuthis had managed to pull ahead slightly. He hadn't seen Teuthis to hear about, nor had he seen any of the other tributes, but he guessed that it wouldn't change very much.
"Are you two both ready? I'll be watching throughout the entire games, hoping that you'll do well! I'm sure you'll do well, actually. Your mentors will be securing sponsors for you, too. Just think of us back here, and remember your training. They must have taught you all about this kind of thing back at the career academy," said Joyous, too busy talking to eat. At least he didn't have to worry about his next meal.
This reminded Aphroditon of his final dinner with his family, which made him miss them even more. He wondered how they'd reacted to the interview, and how they'd react to the games. Of course, he knew that he had the abilities to go all the way and come home to them, so he wasn't super worried, but there was always that chance that something did go wrong and he didn't go home.
Chandelier was probably pacing around the house, while Symphony was trying to wrangle his siblings and calm her husband down. Their dinners since he left were probably quieter, and they would have been taking any chance they got to hear about him. Aphroditon missed them so much, and sincerely hoped that they were doing well.
He wondered how Verd's family was doing. It was just her grandmother, apparently, and she was always very strict. Surely she had to miss her granddaughter. Verd was definitely nervous, though she was trying not to show it. As she ate her mashed potatoes with the fancy Capitol gravy, her hand was shaking with her fork.
Aphroditon looked down at his own plate, which he had mostly cleared after several more minutes of silence. Dinner had gone by remarkably fast, and he didn't feel like eating any more. Once everyone else was done, they all got up from their seats, and the Capitol staff that had been assigned to them cleaned up after them.
Porcelain and Releve retreated into the designated mentor planning room, while Joyous disappeared to somewhere else. This left Verd and Aphroditon alone in the living room, where they both sat down on the couch and stared at various items of furniture. The mood was almost somber. Aphroditon was the first one to break the silence, trying not to let it go for so long that it made them both uncomfortable. He tried to muster a smile, but failed.
"You mentioned something about investigations the other day, where you said my mom worked with your grandmother. What was that about?" he asked, unable to keep it inside any longer. He'd been wanting to ask about this for days, and hadn't because he didn't want to ruin the mood. Now, with the air around them being so tense, he figured that it was ask now or wait until the games, which didn't seem like the best idea.
"Symphony worked with my grandmother to take down the Children of Victory. They were a cult for a couple decades, one that grew in popularity in district one and took over the career academy for a time. They killed my parents, and Symphony was a member before she left," responded Verd.
Aphroditon's eyes widened. He vaguely knew about the Children of Victory, but his father had always kept him away from any mention of them. Instead of his question being something to talk about, he'd somehow made the tension even worse, but he couldn't stop himself from wanting to talk about it more.
"A few years ago, the remainder of the cult, which had long since grown weaker and had lost their hold on the career academy, were all executed for treason and crimes against Panem. Symphony helped my grandmother find the remaining members. After my parents died, Nana made it her mission to take them down, and when she found out that Symphony used to be a part of them, she used it as leverage over her to find the rest of them," Verd continued.
Shocked, Aphroditon glanced down at his shoes. He kind of wanted to stop the conversation. Verd was obviously uncomfortable too, but she was trying to not let it get to her. He didn't want this to ruin their alliance before the games started. This was all completely new information, and he didn't need anything to distract him from the games.
He wondered how long his mother had been involved, and whether it was hard for her to betray her former friends. If the cult had killed Verd's parents, for reasons unknown to him, they had to all be awful people. Symphony wasn't awful. Maybe that was why she'd left, because she'd wanted a better life. Did his father know about all of this? He must have.
After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, Aphroditon couldn't take it anymore, and went back to his room. As he walked through his door, he could hear Porcelain talking, and this made him pause just inside his room. Porcelain must have heard him, as she came out of her room and motioned for him to follow her.
Porcelain brought him up to the roof on top of the building that the tributes stayed in. After going up in the elevator, they sat down at the table, the large fence around the roof keeping them from falling but not obstructing their view of the Capitol. A few other people were up there, but no other tributes or mentors. Seeing Porcelain and Aphroditon, most of them got up and left.
"Aphroditon. I need to talk to you," said Porcelain, meeting his eyes with a stony expression. HIs stomach had already been doing backflips, and now he felt as though he could throw up. What could Porcelain possibly want to talk about that she'd brought him all the way up here? Had something happened to his family back in district one? No news could be as bad as that.
Taking a deep breath, Porcelain looked up at the evening sky, where the sun was almost done setting in the distance. The tall buildings of the Capitol mostly obstructed the sun's rays, but a few snuck through and bounced off of the glass fence that enclosed the roof. It was beautiful up here, but he wouldn't get to enjoy it for very long.
"I tried to keep you from being selected as the volunteer for district one. I did everything I could to keep you from being here now," she continued, her expression unchanging.
Aphroditon looked confused. He didn't know that Porcelain had ever thought of him before he'd been selected as the volunteer from the career trials. Even though there had been other candidates, he'd won the career trials fairly. There was no reason for her to try and keep him from heading to the games.
"You might think it's your destiny to win. In a way, it's your destiny to enter the games. You have to know, though, that you're not going to win. Everything is against you. We've had too many career victors recently, and the Capitol will be doing everything in their power to keep more careers from winning. That's not even all of it," sighed Porcelain, not meeting his eyes.
This made Aphroditon slightly annoyed. He knew that there had been two district one victors in the last five years, and that it surely would be hard, but he still had a chance. It wasn't like he was guaranteed to die. The other tributes were strong. So was Aphroditon. He'd gotten the highest score in training, and now Porcelain was trying to make him think that he was doomed? She'd mentioned this before, but he hadn't thought that she'd meant it.
She must just be a bad mentor, then. A mentor should try to encourage their tribute, maybe prepare them for the worst, but not tell them that they had no chance at all. He was pissed off at this point, and moved to get up. He only sat back down when Porcelain glared at him, causing him to squirm around in his seat.
"Just listen for a second. Work with Verd in the games. She's still got a chance, as slim as it is, and maybe you can help her make it through," Porcelain said.
This made Aphroditon fully lose his cool. He didn't lose his temper a lot, but after being told that his district partner was the end goal for his mentor and not him, he had every right to be angry. Without looking back at Porcelain, he stomped back down to the elevator, not caring if this impacted whether or not Porcelain would help him get sponsors. She probably wouldn't have even talked to sponsors for him in the first place, only for Verd.
He stewed in the elevator, and when it went back down to his floor, he marched through the door and almost made it back to his room before Verd stopped him. She looked concerned, and he somehow couldn't find it in his heart to be mad at her. This wasn't her fault, after all. Aphroditon wanted to be mad at her, but he couldn't be.
"My mentor just told me that I have no chance and that I should help you win," remarked Aphroditon, causing Verd to shake her head. She was surprised, though she had the grace to look offended.
"Aphroditon, you know that's not what she means. Why would she tell you that? She's just going to make you distracted in the games. You have just enough of a chance as I do," replied Verd, reaching out a hand to him. Exhausted, he moved over to flop on the couch, Verd still standing above him.
"She was being completely honest to what she thought. Verd, I don't know what she's trying to do, but I can't deal with this right now," Aphroditon responded.
"Then don't deal with it right now. The games start tomorrow, so we don't have time to worry about her. Get some sleep, Aphroditon. We have to be up early, you might as well think about it while trying to sleep instead of worrying about it out here," Verd said with a soft yet forced smile.
Nodding, Aprhoditon sighed, and then got up off the couch. He was glad that Verd saw some semblance of reason, and that she was keeping him from stressing out about it. They might eventually be enemies in the games, but for now, they were allies. She really could have been horrible about this, especially after their earlier conversation, but she wasn't.
Making his way back to his room, he shut the door behind him, his mind racing. Tomorrow, he'd be able to blow off some steam in the bloodbath, but nothing would be easy. Staying alive was a full-time job, and in the games, he would have to be on alert.
Crashing on his bed, he stared up at the ceiling. Twelve hours, and he'd be going to the games. Aphroditon thought about his father, his step mother, and his siblings. They were all counting on him. He had to make them proud. The games were what he was meant to do, he'd volunteered after all, and he wouldn't let his stupid mentor stop him.
As time went by, Aphroditon slowly got up, changing into his pajamas, and crawled into bed. He didn't want to lose any sleep before the games. Tomorrow morning, he'd say goodbye to Joyous and the mentors, and it would finally begin.
The 90th games were so close to beginning. Aphroditon drifted off into sleep, a sleep without dreams, and let himself relax. He didn't hear when Verd went to sleep, nor when Porcelain came back from the roof. The hours flew by, and almost as quickly as his head had hit his pillow, he was waking up again.
Launch Day
When the first rays of dawn came through the window of his room, Aphroditon sat upright, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and looking at the clock. There was no point in going back to sleep, as there wasn't much time before they had to leave. Getting up, he quickly changed into another basic set of clothes, and then took one final look around his room. He had his token, and there was nothing else he'd be bringing with him to the games.
The clothes he wore now wouldn't be what he wore in the games. According to a message from his stylist, they'd be put in their arena outfits as soon as they made it to the launch room, and not before. This was odd to him. He would have thought that they'd get everyone ready before they left for the arena.
As he walked out into the main area of the floor, he was surprised to see Verd already there, having a small breakfast of a protein bar. She gave him a wave, and subtly glanced over to where Porcelain was standing. Aphroditon didn't want to think about their conversation the night before. Instead, he grabbed a breakfast bar of his own, and then sat on a stool next to Verd. Joyous soon emerged from his room, looking like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all.
"Good morning! Today's the day! Finish up your breakfast, and then it's time to go. They want you on the hovercraft in less than an hour," said Joyous, somehow remaining peppy even with his apparent lack of sleep. The two tributes nodded. There wasn't much to say to each other, as both were dealing with the emotions that came before the games started.
Porcelain and Releve held notebooks filled to the brim with excess papers, and were sitting at another small table to flip through them. Aphroditon guessed that these were the notes for the sponsors, holding everything the mentors needed to help guarantee them support in the arena.
While he wasn't exceedingly nervous, there was still a feeling of dread in his stomach. He needed to keep himself moving, and keep his mind sharp. Standing up, he began to do his stretches, doing lunges and stretching his arms above his head. The bloodbath could make or break the rest of the games for him. If something bad happened during that time, everything could be derailed. It was important that he didn't psych himself out before the games even began.
After finishing his stretches, and once the mentors had finished going through their notebooks, Joyous clapped his hands together and surveyed the room. A forced smile lit up his face.
"Are you ready? Have you got your tokens? We should probably head to the hovercraft soon. We're scheduled to take the first one, so it's time to get moving. It'll be on the roof of the training center," Joyous explained as he looked the tributes up and down. Aprhoditon held up his token, and Verd did the same.
From Joyous' words, he guessed that each districts' tributes would take a different hovercraft. This was different, as had always assumed that all of the tributes were placed in the same hovercraft. He wasn't looking forward to being knocked unconscious, but it was something that had to happen. The career academy had warned him about that step of the process many times.
Joyous led the way out of the room and to the elevators. The tributes followed closely behind him, and after them came their mentors. The procession all shuffled into the elevator, which was large enough to make sure that it wasn't cramped inside. After a short few seconds of silence, they arrived on the floor that would let them cross the sky bridge to the training center building, and then subsequently head up to the roof.
They passed no other tributes on their way, most of which were probably either sleeping in a few more minutes or preparing themselves for the beginning of the games. While the hovercrafts were staggered, it was only by about five minutes, so the district two tributes would probably show up soon.
When they made it to the roof, there were several peacekeepers and Capitol staff waiting there, all nodding to their mentors when they saw them. Aphroditon stood up tall and straight, rolling his shoulders back. Before it was time to get on the hovercraft, Releve took Verd aside, and Porcelain awkwardly stood next to him.
"Good luck out there. Remember your training, and make our district proud," she said, not even sparing a second glance at him. Curling his hands into fists, he nodded, but gritted his teeth together. Releve had a lot to say to Verd, but Porcelain just seemed to be ready for him to leave. Once Releve was done talking to Verd, they both came over, and Joyous took a deep breath.
"Well, this is it. I hope to see one of you again in the future. I'm bad at goodbyes, so I won't make this very long, but just know that we're all rooting for you," said Joyous, tears forming in his eyes. Aphroditon gave him a small smile, and Verd nodded.
Turning to the guards on the roof, they walked over to the side of the hovercraft, where someone in a white coat held out a small device. Aphroditon prepared himself, trying to relax instead of tensing up, getting ready to be put unconscious by the device. He gave one final look to Verd, and held out his hand to shake hers.
The capitolite in the white coat pressed the device up against his neck, and several guards rushed forward to hold him up as he found himself quickly drifting off. It only took a few seconds for him to black out completely. His last thoughts were wondering about what the arena would be, and how that would affect the rest of the games. Mind blank, he slipped away, giving in to the darkness.
Aphroditon had no idea how long it had been when he woke up in a small, brightly lit room. His whole body felt odd, and he could feel a lump in his arm. Looking down, he saw a small raised bump, where the tracker must have been inserted. Looking around the room, vision still blurry, he found a familiar face standing in front of him.
Rhodes Alpine, his stylist, had their hair tied back and was wearing a simpler outfit than normal. After seeing that he was awake, they smiled, and waited another second before helping him stand up out of the chair that he'd been placed in. The room was tiny, with one locked door on the other wall, and the most interesting thing in the room was the launch tube waiting on the side. It was currently open, and the launch platform was empty and waiting for him.
"It's time to get you dressed. While you do that, I've got a few important instructions for you from the Capitol," explained Rhodes, holding up several items of clothing for him to change into. They were all odd, and not what he'd been expecting at all. Taking them, he slowly began to get changed, exceedingly confused on what he was putting on.
The base layer was a frilly, collared shirt with a high collar. There was a black vest with embroidery that went on over it, and a pair of pants with an intricate pattern that were held up with a belt. His shoes had a slight heel, being tall boots that went on above the pants, while a gray overcoat was given to him to wear over the rest of the outfit.
Overall, it looked more like what someone would wear to a Capitol costume party, definitely not to the games. A gold brooch at his neck finished the look, and he glanced at himself in the mirror on the wall. In his opinion, he looked ridiculous, and was very concerned about why he was dressed like this. What sort of arena required this type of outfit? Shouldn't he be wearing something that was easier to move around in?
Doing a few stretches, he tested the mobility of the outfit, and was pleased to see that it wasn't too bad. Rhodes stood in the corner, surveying their work, and once he was done getting dressed, they came over and adjusted his collar before stepping back to give him a little more space.
"There's a few things you need to know before the games start. You'll only have twenty minutes at the Cornucopia. It's important that you get out before the twenty minutes are up, and that you gather everything you need, as you can't go back once that time is done," Rhodes said with a neutral expression. Nodding Aphroditon's mind began to turn again.
Twenty minutes wasn't a lot of time. Most cornucopias in the past had been the main base for the career alliance, and without that, they'd need to figure out what to do. He assumed that all of the other tributes were also given this information , and that they'd be aware of the time limit as well. As long as he was able to meet up with the other careers, he should be fine. Gathering supplies wouldn't be hard when there were six of them, but they also needed to prioritize getting rid of some of the weaker tributes.
"There will be supplies around the arena, so don't worry about trying to get everything at the cornucopia," finished Rhodes, checking a piece of paper on a clipboard next to them to make sure that there wasn't anything else they needed to say. Aphroditon took a deep breath, and then followed Rhodes over to the launch tube.
"You should already know how the beginning of the games work, but I'll repeat it for you, just in case. You'll rise into the arena, and there will be a countdown. Do not step off of your podium during this time. Once the countdown is done, you can go, but you can't leave your podium until the countdown is over. Cannons will fire when a tribute has died, and every night there will be a time where the dead tributes are honored and shown above the arena," Rhodes gave him those final instructions, which he already knew, and then looked at their watch.
Aphroditon stepped into the launch tube, with Rhodes adjusting his vest one last time, and then closed his eyes for a second. This was it. In less than five minutes, he'd be in the games, and everything he'd worked for his entire life would be here. It was almost time for him to make his family proud.
"I'll be cheering you on, and so will your mentors and escort, along with your district. You know what to do from here," said Rhodes, giving him a small yet genuine smile. Aphroditon returned the smile, and then made sure that he was fully on the platform inside the launch tube. His outfit was weird, but he was ready to go.
The tube closed around him, and Rhodes stepped back, watching as all the mechanisms locked in place. Aphroditon fiddled with his token, keeping it tightly around his wrist, and looked upwards. The machinery slowly revealed an opening, and the platform made a quiet noise as it began to rise up.
Seeing Rhodes' face disappear, he steeled himself for the arena, and held his hands together, not wanting to interfere with the launch tube. The platform kept rising until his head was out of the room, and he got his first glimpse of the arena, making him take a second to clear his eyes.
It was time. He didn't know how many days this would last, or what the outcome would be, but he knew one thing. Aphroditon Rockefeller was determined to win the 90th Hunger Games, and he would do whatever it took to get there.