Phaedra Fox, 24

Head Gamemaker

I crossed my legs and straightened my back, gaze fixed on the door that would soon let my tributes in. We were only two days away from the bloodbath, where the fun would truly begin. Anything could happen. Past Games, such as the 56th, had proved that. The entire Career Pack could be wiped out. Or half the tributes could die. The possibilities were endless… as was my power.

But one odd request had been made. Scythe Dussel, the District 11 mentor, asked for an avox to be present when Freya Thatcher had her private session. She said I would be impressed by Freya's skills and that she could more accurately display them with "human assistance". I had to admit that I was intrigued. So I gave my permission. But we had to start from the top.

I nodded to Dexter, my assistant, who spoke into a small microphone.

"Aurelius Charmichael. District 1. Enter." The white door slid open and Aurelius strutted inside. His blue eyes sparkled boyishly as he gave us a friendly wave. Then he picked up a machete and began to sweep through the lines of dummies. He slashed and stabbed, artfully destroying them. Then he placed his blade back on the weapons rack before going up to the line of targets.

He spent the second half of his session throwing blade after blade into the targets. Every knife sank in deep and stuck, and Aurelius's form was perfect. He would be a contender.

After his time was up, we dismissed him and Dexter called Becky into the room. Her pink curls were tied up in pigtails, but she certainly didn't look cutesy. Her entire being radiated power.

Becky selected a sword as her weapon and went to battle a trainer. These weapons were dulled and both of them wore padded armor for protection, but I could see the strength in Becky's strikes. She battled the trainer to a standstill before tossing her sword to the ground and dismissing herself. She had an attitude, and I loved it.

Donquixote was summoned next. The hulking boy was apparently leading the Career Pack this year, and I could see why. No one would want to oppose him. So far, I saw him and Becky as my strongest competitors.

Don slipped on a pair of brass knuckles before facing off with a trainer. As expected, he threw the first punch. And his continued attacks were merciless. The trainer was barely able to deflect the blows and had a split lip by the time Donquixote's timer went off. He lovingly placed the brass knuckles back on the rack before leaving.

Artemis was the youngest Career this year and I was excited to see what she was capable of. The Academy in District 2 must have chosen her for a reason. And the reason quickly became clear.

With a large axe in hand, Artemis squared off with a trainer. She was tall and strong, especially for a 16-year-old girl, and nearly matched her opponent in height. When the fight began, Artemis demonstrated perfect footwork and incredible strength and precision in her strikes. She easily disarmed the trainer before mimicking sinking her axe into his skull.

With the rest of her time, Artemis threw axes into the dummies. Every throw was powerful and several completely took off the dummies' limbs. She had a satisfied smile on her face when we dismissed her, and I could understand why. That girl was talented.

Now that we were past the main Careers, I was expecting the action to slow down. Kairos focused mostly on survival skills during training, and was allied with the weak kids from District 6. But something in my gut told me to keep an eye on him. He seemed charming and the betting showed that he was a popular contender.

He hurried into the room and started gathering supplies from several different stations before setting them all down on one and beginning to build. His back was to us so we couldn't see what he was creating.

Finally, he turned around to proudly display a hastily-assembled container of glass and shrapnel with several wires sticking out of the top.

"What is that?" Carolina whispered.

"A nail bomb," I told her. Kairos would definitely be scoring high.

Robyn Seiwald, the silver-haired girl from 3, was up next. She was fingering her silver moon necklace as she came into the room, eyes flicking back and forth. Finally, she grabbed a knife and beckoned a trainer to her. They circled each other for a moment before he struck. Robyn dodged the attack and countered with one of her own. The fight continued like that for several minutes. Robyn's technique seemed mostly defensive, but she was clearly wearing her opponent down. When she dealt the final blow, he was panting heavily and she looked as if she'd barely broken a sweat.

Though she only had a few minutes left, Robyn demonstrated the proper way to disinfect, stitch up, and bandage a wound. When we dismissed her, she gave us a curt nod before confidently making her way to the elevator.

I checked my notes to see who was next. Crash Derosches and Lotus Amarin were both non-binary. I could dig up their birth records to find out their birth sexes, but Mignon asked me not to. She made a compelling argument for their mysterious identities adding to their appeal in the eyes of the Capitol. So we were going to randomly decide who went first for the private sessions and who went first for the interviews.

"Summon Lotus," I told Dexter. "And let the interview team know Crash will be meeting with Caesar first."

"Yes ma'am." He nodded to me before turning to the microphone. "Lotus Amarin. District 4. Enter."

Lotus wasn't as bulky or as tall as Crash, but zey had substantial muscle. And zey had shown themselves to be quite the powerful fighter during training. That, along with zeir bond with Crash would make zem quite an interesting character in the arena.

Lotus immediately asked for a trainer to spar with zem. They circled each other on the mat, exchanging several light jabs before Lotus delivered a swift, powerful kick to the trainer's torso. She grunted in pain and staggered sideways as Lotus followed up with an elbow strike and then a punch.

Muay Thai was a difficult martial art to master. As a child, I did mixed martial arts for a few years, and Muay Thai was my biggest challenge. Lotus moved with the strength and fluidity of a master. Zey would definitely receive a high score.

After zey were dismissed, Dexter summoned Crash. Xey immediately began to box, showing off xeir strength and precise jabs. After about half xeir time was up, xey moved on to the weights. But instead of lifting xey swung them around and threw the heavy metal across the room. Crash then went to pick up a sword, but xeir timer went off before they could. Xey left the room with a friendly wave.

Isaac threw knives. He wasn't bad, for an outlier, but his skills paled in comparison to Aurelius's stunning performance. When he was out of blades, he worked on a small fire. It had a solid structure but he struggled to light it with a flint. I sighed. Everyone had been impressive so far; Isaac was a bit of a let-down.

Anastasia, the girl from 5, was a firecracker. It was hard to anticipate her next move and I had no idea what skills she would show us because she bounced around a lot during training.

It turned out she was going to throw knives as well. She was slightly better than Isaac, but what stood out was her carefree tricks. Once she'd thrown a dozen knives she began to mess around with the blades. She tried to juggle them, she balanced them on her fingertip, she threw one with her eyes closed… if it was silly, she did it. I felt compelled to reward her recklessness.

The blind boy from District 6 was up next. Jay, his name was. Using his cane, he made his way over to the rack of knives. He cautiously approached a dummy and stabbed it several times, his movements choppy and awkward. I dismissed him early.

An avox delivered us a delicious caprese salad as Leona stormed into the room. I was focusing on spearing a tomato on my fork when she began to curse loudly. Startled, I looked up to see her engaged in a fistfight with a trainer. She managed to put Leona in a headlock, but the fiery girl kicked and screamed and fought the whole time. She had spirit.

When Birch was summoned, I set down my plate. This boy was rebellious and dangerous, and I knew he couldn't be allowed to live. But after his outburst in training yesterday, I was interested to see what he would do.

Surprisingly, he did nothing. He walked straight to the elevator and stood with his arms crossed and his back to us.

"Should we dismiss him early?" Lucia whispered. I shook my head. If he was going to be stubborn, he could damn well wait the allotted time. And it would give me time to finish my lunch.

Birch was dismissed just as I finished my plate. An avox came around to clear our dishes as Dexter called Aspen into the room. I liked Aspen. She could be an ideal victor; sweet, pretty, naive, and easy to manipulate. I was excited to see how she would perform.

Aspen stumbled into the room, her big brown eyes wide and scared. But she squared her shoulders and soldiered on. She picked up several hatchets and took up a throwing stance. Then she began to throw the weapons into the dummies. Her aim was decent but there wasn't much strength in her movements. Still, she could handle a weapon.

Calceus, the gentle boy from 8, came in next. He scurried over to the edible plants quiz and pressed the 'start' button. I could see that his hands were shaking. He answered the questions with incredible speed, but I could see from the flashes of red that most of them were wrong.

After his low score was displayed on the screen, he rushed off to build a shelter. He didn't do as poorly and the shelter stayed up, but Calceus was clearly out of his element. I frowned.

Taffeta came in next. She was another contender I was excited to see. She was allied with the Careers and apparently had romantic and sexual ties to Mayor Windham of District 8. She was clearly ambitious and had a manipulative side. I expected her to do quite well.

After tossing her caramel hair over her shoulder and shooting us a flirty smile, she crouched down and began building a fire. Then, using a fire drill she constructed, she got a small blaze going. Afterwards, she picked up a long stiletto knife and began to bob and weave through the dummies, attacking with surprising precision. She finished up her session by tying several complicated knots. When her timer went off, she blew me a kiss and sashayed to the elevator.

Now it was District 9's turn. The district of the married couple. After doing a bit of research into the O'Brien family name, I learned that Mackenzie's parents were part of a traveler community with ties to a distant culture. The travelers were eventually caught and avoxed, while the children were all separated and sent to different community homes. And the Prickers were wealthy landowners who had several adopted children; Mackenzie included.

But the first to come in was her husband Brady. I didn't know as much about his story because it wasn't concerning to me. Still, I was hesitant about letting either of them become victorious. They had too much rebellious potential.

But Brady did perform well. He threw spears and then fought a trainer with a wickedly sharp sickle. It was a long fight, but Brady spent most of the time on offense and ultimately won the duel. Despite his miniscule chances of victory, I would score him high.

When Mackenze, or Mac, as she preferred to be called, entered the room, she immediately flew into action. She threw several hatchets into the targets with surprising force before donning padded armor and facing off the trainer. They each held an axe and fought brutally. But Mac came out victorious. She wasn't quite as skilled and precise as Brady, but she had fight in her.

The boy from 10 was odd. He kept to himself for most of training and was often intently observing the other tributes. And his mother was a Peacekeeper back in District 10, so he could possibly have some weaponry skills.

But Andy's demonstration completely caught me off guard. He used a thin knife to cut into a dummy, outlining where the different veins and arteries were located. He showed off the most lethal places to make cuts and explained how long it would take for the person to bleed out. I was thoroughly intrigued by the time his buzzer went off.

Like Mackenzie, Brielle sprang into the room and immediately began to fly through the gauntlet. She was quick, but also quiet, demonstrating a stealth I hadn't expected of her. When she was done, she raced across the room to pick up a crossbow. And again, I was caught off guard. She loaded the weapon with lightning speed after she fired each bolt into a target. Then she zipped over to the fire station and had a blaze going seconds before her timer rang out. Nodding to herself, Brielle quickly made her way to the elevator. I smiled as the doors shut. She would be a contender.

After finishing up my notes on Brielle's performance. I nodded to Dexter. He summoned Saigon Kane, who came in with a determined expression on their face. They selected a short sword from the rack of weapons and went to stand across the mat from a trainer. Then the duel began.

For someone who'd never used a sword before this week, Saigon did well. They focused on defense but their footwork was good and they moved with confidence. The trainer did manage to disarm them, but they definitely proved themselves.

Freya Thatcher was invited in next. I set down my glass of water and leaned forward, watching the small girl carefully. She walked to the center of the room and cleared her throat.

"Were you able to grant my request?" she asked politely. Her dark eyes glittered with both excitement and malice.

I nodded to Dexter, who spoke into the microphone.

"We were," he said. A door next to the elevator opened and a Peacekeeper stepped through, pulling a skinny young man by the arm. Freya beckoned him closer with just one finger.

As he approached, she spoke to us again.

"I will create a poison to disorient this man," she announced. Then she began to mix ingredients on the table behind her. I watched impatiently until she produced a bundle of woven leaves. She handed it to the avox.

"Eat it."

He glanced up at us, his blue eyes wide with terror, before lifting the bundle to his mouth.

"All of it," Freya instructed. He put it in his mouth and gulped it down.

After about half a minute, the man began to sweat. He dropped to his knees and clutched his chest as Freya stood silently beside him. Another moment passed and he dropped to the floor. Freya leaned down and pressed two fingers to the side of his neck. Then she nodded to herself and looked up at us.

"He's dead."

I heard gasps from all around me as I leaned back in my seat. Impressive. Freya was a girl to be wary of.

I motioned for Dexter to dismiss her and for him to summon the Peacekeeper to remove the body. He did so, coming in with a team of trainers, lifting the body onto a wheeled table, and rolling it out.

Now it was only the pair from 12 left. District 12 was rarely impressive and I wasn't expecting much from Marjoram or Arawn. The boy was morose and far too thin and the girl was small and jumpy.

When Arawn came in he chose to build a fire. He had a decent blaze going within a couple of minutes and then moved over to the edible plants quiz. He went slowly, but his score was high when he finally finished.

After his buzzer rang, Dexter called Marjoram in. She stumbled as she came inside, but caught herself before she fell. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. This girl didn't stand a chance. But I forced myself to pay attention to her as she began the edible plants quiz.

She scored lower than her district partner but not badly overall. I was considering giving her a score similar to his, but then she went and picked up a small spear. It barely reached the target when she threw it using all of her force. It thudded against the fabric and then fell to the ground. She threw two more with similar results before I leaned past Dexter and pressed the button on the microphone.

"You are dismissed," I announced.

I heard several sighs of relief from around me as the elevator doors closed on Marjoram. I stretched my stiff back and then flipped my notebook shut and stood up. Tonight I would reveal the tributes' scores to the world. Tonight, bets would start piling in even faster than before. Tonight, dreams could come true or be crushed. I couldn't wait.

Hello! Happy Holidays! I hope you are all doing well. This is my last pre-Christmas update (obviously) but I'm hoping to come back around the 27th or 28th. Hopefully you all have an amazing Christmas (if you celebrate it) or a fun and cozy couple of days (if you don't). I've finally named all of the alliances, so I'll include them in this chapter. Thanks to Willuna for letting me steal their alliance name for Kairos and the 6s, and I'm sorry Brielle's and Marjoram's is dumb. It was the best I could come up with. Also, sorry for the repetitiveness of this chapter. It's kind of unavoidable.

We're only three chapters away from the bloodbath! I know I've been updating very quickly and I appreciate you all for trying to keep up with me. And just a reminder: Crash's pronouns are xey/xem. I've seen a few people use he/him in the reviews. I'm sure there's no bad intent, but I wanted to remind everyone.

I am also in the process of making a blog for this story (with the help of my wonderful friend Cassy). Ideally I'll have it up before the bloodbath, but we'll see what happens. If you have a faceclaim in mind for your character or you find one that works well, please send it to me. My discord is fiona11303 if you'd like to send me a picture there :)

Questions

1) Who will the score the highest?

2) Who will score the lowest?

3) Did your tribute(s) perform as well as you thought they would?

4) Any bloodbath predictions?

5) Any guesses about the inspiration for The Foodies's alliance name?

Alliances

The Careers: Becky, Aurelius, Artemis, Donquixote, Crash, Lotus, Taffeta

The Allied Cats: Kairos, Leona, Jay

Honoring The Lost: Isaac, Aspen, Birch

Deranged & Confused: Calceus, Freya

The Power Couple (and Saigon): Mac, Brady, Saigon

The Foodies: Brielle, Marjoram

Loners: Robyn, Anastasia, Andy, Arawn

Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!

- Fiona