Isabella Disney-Busattil

It certainly wasn't what I expected. I wasn't mad at all about our final three or the prospects for our finale. I just hadn't expected it. It had seemed like a sure thing that Octavia was going to win. With a certain vote from Val, the idol I'd known about for weeks and hadn't been able to mention, and all her relationships, it had been obvious. I'd suspected, and still did, that if she hadn't gotten the big news and had stuck around for another week, that Val was planning to get himself voted out so that he would be able to vote for her. And if it hadn't been Octavia, I'd known from unaired interviews and footage that Lana would had been the winner if she'd made it to the finale. I still cracked up every time I watched Cactus' interview after her exit. It had been so scorching and profane we hadn't been able to air it.

In any case, here it was- the big day. Not the biggest day, I suppose- that would be the reveal- but the second-biggest. The day of the final tribal council. The kids in Ponderosa had been pondering- I crack myself up- what probing, revealing, or just funny questions they were going to ask the lucky three. I'd heard some I was pretty excited to hear again.

"Congratulations to our final three," I said as I oversaw our very sparse final gathering in our old tribal council stomping grounds, most of the seats now empty. Val flashed a thumbs-up as Leo and Shep seemed to be skeptical of whether this was actually real.

"Anyone surprised to be here?" I asked.

"Yes," Shep and Leo said at once, then smiled self-deprecatingly at each other.

"Maybe a little," Val conceded after a moment.

"So, what did you think? How was the whole thing?" I asked.

"It was a blast!" Leo said.

"Probably the coolest thing I'll ever do in my life," Shep said.

I could see it on Val's face. I could see he was thinking of dirty puns about cool things he'd "done". Instead he went with an unexpectedly earnest "I had the time of my life."

"Now the big question: are you ready to see some old faces?"

There would have been a burst of applause if there had been more than three contestants left. Instead there was a smattering of applause, but it was very enthusiastic. There was a flourish of fanfare and then the grand entrance started.

Persi, Enzo, Cactus, Alara, Dorian, Kallik, Yarrow, and Lana streamed in one after another, each according to their temperament. Dorian was waving, for example, while Yarrow seemed unimpressed.

"You'll notice Octavia is not here," I forestalled any questions. At my words, a hologram flickered into place in one of the empty seats.

"Hey," Octavia greeted everyone from her chair at home. Having reviewed similar circumstances from seasons of the original show, we'd found that contestants eliminated through no fault after the jury began had been allowed to rejoin the games for the vote.

"Glad to be back?" I asked the assembled losers. "Or glad to have your revenge?"

"I could go for some revenge," Dorian said in such a nonchalant tone everyone smiled.

"Good, because now we're at the part of the game where you all decide who to vote for. I'm sure you have a lot of questions you'd like to ask our final three. Now's your chance."

Persi Caraway- District Eleven Female (14)

"My question is for all three of you," I started. "What are you going to do with the prize money that would make you deserve it?"

"If I win, I'm going to use the money to help my community with both financial and emotional needs," Leo started things off. We all pretended there wasn't any subterfuge going on. What Leo was saying, though he didn't say it, was that he was going to donate to outreach efforts with his church. I didn't know much about religion personally, but from all the history books in school it seemed to suck. On the other hand, Leo had always seemed sincere. I could give him the benefit of the doubt.

"I'm going to keep a lot of it, not gonna lie, but I'll be helping my community. Things live livestock, and our shared health fund, and repairing old houses. There's a lot we need." A fair, honest answer.

Val shrugged. "Y'all know, so I won't try to lie. I'll spend it on hookers and blow." At least he didn't lie.

Enzo Charmont- District Twelve male (18)

"My question is also for all three of you. Who would you vote for if you were on the jury?"

Val and Shep both pointed left at Leo, who had started to point at Shep.

"Yeah, figures."

Cactus Cleo- District Seven male (18)

"My question is for Val. Why are you so annoying?"

It was very annoying that Val laughed. "I worked very hard to hone my skills," he said.

Alara Dory Banks- District Four female (18)

"My question is for Shep. What was your most meaningful moment here?"

"Wow, hit me with the deep one." Shep pondered. "Probably when we were all looking at the lights."

I nodded without even realizing it. It had been pretty magical.

Dorian Sargasso- District Four male (18)

"My question is for Val. I already know who I'm gonna vote for, so what's a funny story about the island that you're pretty sure didn't get televised?"

"Pretty sure they didn't air the part where Leo's swim trunks got pulled off during the water ball fight," Val said.

"If it did get aired, don't get mad," Leo said. "It was totally an accident and Kallik didn't mean to."

Kallik- District Two female (18)

"First off, I indeed did not mean to declothe Leo," I started. "Secondly, my question is for Leo. Is there anyone you regret voting for?"

"Not my proudest moment voting for Lana," he said. Val and Shep gave similarly guilty looks.

Yarrow Venus- District Three female (17)

"I have three questions?" I half said, half asked as I looked at Isabella.

"More drama is better," she shrugged.

"First I'll do Val. Do you think the benefits of having close relationships outweigh the drawbacks?"

"Yeah, definitely. Breathing has drawbacks too but what is life without it?" He considered. "Really short." I wasn't sure if that meant much, but I'd give it a thought.

"Next I'll do Shep. If you had to spend all your prize money on one person, who would it be?"

"It would have been Octavia but that problem solved itself. Of the rest…" He skimmed over the seats to make sure he remembered everyone. "Probably Kallik so she could build a school or something." A much more coherent answer.

"Last up, Leo. Do you have a best friend here or do you like everyone equally?" I guess I was trying to see how long it took to make a lasting connection.

"Everyone's awesome, but Taylor had I had some good times." Taylor flashed him a thumbs-up and I walked away wondering how such an odd friendship could flourish, but weirdly encouraged that it was possible.

Lana Mason- District Six female (17)

"I have a question for all three of you. How long do you think you would have lasted with no allies?"

"At most one week past Octavia getting voted out," Val admitted right away.

"I have no idea, not gonna lie. If the challenges were physical, a good while. If they were puzzles, flip a coin," Shep said.

Leo had been making uncertain faces. "Probably not too long since I wasn't great in challenges," he concluded.

Octavia Jacobs- District Two female (18)

It felt like the first time anyone had seen me. I was a different person than the woman who got on the hovercraft to the island. In the scant few days since I'd gotten home, I'd done so much. I'd changed my hairstyle, I'd bought a sexy red dress, I'd dunked Cassius' favorite coffee mug in the toilet- I was a crazy person. And since I already knew who I was voting for, I could go ahead and try to hype up my choice.

"Leo, why should Shep win the Games?" I asked.

His face lit up. "Shep's a great guy! He was super helpful around camp. He's really hardworking and he was always talking about his family an

d helping them. He'll be super responsible with the money."

Just as I'd expected. Immediate, earnest altruism. I'm total innocence, Leo showed everyone why he was the right pick.

GET THOSE FINAL VOTES IN! I'll be posting one more interlude chapter listing all the submitters and marking off when their votes are in so you all can gauge when the finale will come. I do anticipate I won't receive every vote, and I'll be dividing bogus votes equally. If you had a question and didn't get it in before I got antsy, I'll add it to the interlude for funsies.