The Hunger Games: A Night of Interviews was broadcast throughout Panem. A huge screen was placed in the back, showing the (remaining) tributes' names and the amount of bets and sponsors they had. Livia knew Facet needed them. She'd told him at their first meeting and she stayed true to her words: his skills would be no use if he was close to starvation. Due to the events of the previous days, not all tributes and their mentors were present. 

Velvereen, Sabyn, Ginnee, Otto, Sheaf and Panlo all were dead and in the cases of Sheaf and Panlo, the mentors were dead too. Palmyra and Florus fortunately seemed lively and fine but they stayed in the background, never being too much in need for the spotlight. As for the Ring twins, despite Diana had been allowed home she wasn't in the state yet of being able to attend the interviews. Not that she had to, with her tribute being dead she couldn't win anymore and therefore wasn't needed. 

Of the mentor-tribute pairs who were able of participating, only a few actually showed up. Facet and Livia, Io and her science-mad tribute, and both from 4. Festus, Persephone and their tributes sat together like a family almost, making Livia recall Arachne's words about how devasted they'd be when their tributes won't make it.

Treech and Vipsania were there too, smiling at each other too warmly. Treech brushed a strand of Vipsania's hair behind her ear and she giggled like a loved-up school girl; that's what she was but this love wasn't destined to have a future.

Tiny Bobbin from 8 and his mentor were there too. Snooty Juno Phibbs. Tanner from 10 showed up, unlike his district partner Brandy that apparently had zero interest, much to the delight of Arachne. And obviously Coriolanus and his songbird were there too, stealing everyone's spotlight.

The only good thing coming from these interviews was the fact Livia saw how most of her classmates were truly fine or on the mend. She herself was glad her arm didn't need to be in a sling anymore although it still ached. Everything ached - her head, her arm, her knee and most of all her soul. And seeing how Lucy Gray had sponsors even before the interviews, unlike many other tributes, nearly made her jump from her seat. "Facet I want you to forget what I've told you about not giving away too much. You need people's attention and you need sponsors. Tell them about your skills. Those people should know what kind of person they're gonna face." she demanded.

Facet looked almost hurt at her words but before he could reply, they were called to the stage. With her head held high Livia walked next to Facet, daring a look to the audience. Rounds of applause. Of course - District 1, the boy, a ticket for the win. Perfect for the heiress to the Capitol's largest bank. That's all people ever saw in Livia, the same way all people could ever see in Facet was him being the 'District 1 boy'.

"Up first we have Facet from District 1 and his mentor Livia Cardew!"

Applause and cheers from her classmates. Festus even whistled. If there was anything to give her classmates credit for, then it was their support. Even if some of them just pretended to care. Facet pulled the chair back for Livia and then sat down himself, nodding at Lucky. He was going for the distanced role; getting sympathy on his side, presenting a strong character but not making himself vulnerable. 

Facet followed Livia's advice. If he did it because of trusting her or because she told him to do so - she didn't get to ask. But he did well. Speaking about how he's known as the best knife thrower at his school, saying how he could hit his target from metres away. Precisely. He told Lucky about all the different ways to throw the knife, depending on what he wanted to hit - and that was when Livia tried to not listen too much. The thought that his boy next to her possibly had to kill someone in the upcoming days made her feel awful. She felt pity for him, so much pity.

The thing that stuck with her the most was something else though. As Lucky asked Facet if there was anything else he wanted to say, he smirked, "Anything can become a weapon if you know how to use it wisely."

The audience whispered and like on demand, Facet's sponsors kept going up. Livia smiled satisfied. Facet truly was a golden boy.

"But obviously we want to hear some words from the mentors too" Lucky said, "Livia Cardew - we know her. Heiress to the largest bank in the Captiol who helps so many of us through a  financial crisis" he winked at the audience, "Livia, how was it to work with Facet?"

"He never fails to amaze me." Livia said. She knew her father was watching so she turned directly to the camera. "I underestimated him but he convinced me of what he's capable of. We won't give away too much because all of you should see yourself what District 1's golden boy can do." she almost cringed at her own words. 

"Hear, hear - the golden boy's going for gold! Give a round of applause for Facet and Livia Cardew! District 1 everybody!"

They quickly were told to go backstage to give the space to Io and Circ but the applause hadn't died down yet. "Is it always like this in the Capitol?" Facet asked. "I guess you get used to it after a while."

"I suppose" Livia said. "It's what I grew up with."

That wasn't entirely true. By the time the first games were around, Livia was already eight years old; she didn't grow up with the games and hate for the districts but it was what was teached to her after the war. 'The district people are animals' her father once said, not long after the first games had been over, 'Just look at them, fighting like dogs in the arena.' and Livia remembered how she spoke back, saying the tributes had no choice and just fought because they wanted to go home. She heard herself saying 'Maybe they're good people too, father' - and it was that sentence that had caused her father to slap her across the face. 'I don't want to her that ever again' he'd shouted, 'I've never been so disappointed in you.'

From that day on, Livia learned to play her role well. And maybe the mixture of pretending and getting manipulated by the Captiol, her father and everything she saw in the games made her believe that the districts were animals. Who knows what Facet would do if they'd be on their own in the streets. 

Livia was demanded to go back to her place in the audience where she sat down, feeling lonely as her classmates were yet due to give their interviews and therefore not in the audience yet.

She listened politely as Circ, the boy from 3, spoke about how he could start a fire with just his glasses to what Io gave him advice about how to facilitate these skills. They were a perfect match as tribute and mentor - clever, skilled Circ and science-mad Io Jaspar. But Circ too had to loose in the arena in order to get Facet home. Imagining this didn't hurt as much because Circ was tall and looked older than 18.

What hurt was seeing 13-year-old Mizzen who, despite he gave himself confident and skilled with the trident, still was only a kid at heart who just wanted to go home. Persephone's voice trembled as she spoke confidently about not underestimating Mizzen. 

Mizzen's district partner, 16-year-old Coral, almost copied Facet's speech with the difference that her preferred weapon was the trident, something almost every kid was skilled with in District 4 - the fishing district. Livia knew that Coral could be a real enermy for Facet. 

The seats next to her began to fill as the mentors took a seat and Livia looked over as Persephone wiped away her tears, mumbling something to Festus' ear. He nodded and they began holding hands, unaware of being watched. It made Livia feel utterly alone. Persephone and Festus had each other, Arachne was as good as married, so many of her classmates were popular and respected - Clemensia with her kindness that even made teachers forgive her mishaps or interrupting class, or Lysistrata who was even popular with her tribute Jessup. Livia was the outcast. The heiress to the largest bank in the Capitol on paper but in reality all she was to people was the girl with the shrill voice, the arrogant one, the one who only got assigned a tribute from District 1 because of her family's status. The ugly little duckling. 

A sniffle brought her back to reality. Vipsania sat down next to Livia, her over-the-top make-up not being on point anymore as tears ran down her cheeks. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed quietly, mumbling inaudible words. Hesitant of what to do, Livia placed a hand on Vipsania's shoulder which caused her to shrug. "They were right" Vipsania said, "I shouldn't have gotten so close to him."

It was true, it'd been a major mistake. But as Livia watched those of her classmates who were present, she felt as if Vipsania hadn't been the only one having made this mistake. Maybe among the only one who had developed feelings for her tribute but watching Lysistrata and Jessup's interactions on stage, Livia wasn't so sure of that anymore.

"Treech will be fine" Livia assured her. She knew that comforting Vipsania with speaking about Treech's good chances was harmful to both of them - Treech and Facet could go home together. In order for one of them to win, the other one had to-

"Look at Coryo's songbird" Vipsania cursed through teary eyes, "He's been asking me for a guitar! Now I know why... he's stealing everyone's spotlight. How's Treech supposed to get good odds when this is what this songbird can give the audience!"

Oh so that's what that guitar was for. For once Livia was grateful for her family not being musically. But even if she had a guitar, she'd rather get up there and sing herself before helping out Coriolanus Snow.

"Her odds won't be much of an use" Livia said dryly. Saying basically the opposite of what she told Facet, she continued, "She can get as much gifts as she wants but she stands no chances against most of the tributes. She couldn't ever kill someone."

But the truth was, Livia didn't knew if Facet could kill someone either. And maybe Vipsania thought the same about Treech, not that she'd ever admit it. 

As the interviews had finished, the mentors were demanded to go home. No more official interactions with the tributes. The only thing they could do from now on was hoping for enough sponsors to be able to send their tributes gifts and show them that they were there. 

When Livia returned home, her parents were at the dinner table. They looked up as she walked in and her father even went as far as smiling at her. "Livia dear, that was wonderful." he said. "You made that district boy look good."

"You looked lovely darling." her mother approved. "Sit down and have some dinner. You deserve it after tonight."

Livia sat down wearily but she felt far from hungry. All she could think about was the games. All those innocent kids she'd gotten to know even better after tonight's interviews; Mizzen speaking about working on his father's ship, Treech speaking about the woods in District 7 that teached him his legendary skills in climbing, Jessup showing his strength by lifting up Lysistrata in her chair... and even Coriolanus' songbird and her silly little performance that unfortunately had been the perfect way to show off her impressive singing voice. And obviously Facet... poor Facet. Livia didn't feel ready to have him sent into the arena so soon.

"Don't you worry too much about the Snow's runt girl" her father continued, "She won't last long in the arena. Soon enough she'll probably have Facet's knife in her-"

Livia couldn't take it anymore. She ran to her room, to the bathroom and locked herself in. She couldn't fight off the nauseous feeling that had captured her thanks to her concussion and the lack of food since the arena bombing. So there she was, shaking like a leaf as she was throwing up. She had a massive headache, felt horribly nauseous from it and the image of what would happen in the arena tomorrow - to tributes she'd almost gotten to know personally - wasn't helping. She knew her father meant it well, she knew he wanted to encourage her by saying what a good chance Facet stood. But the of Facet killing someone sent a shiver through her body. She shakily leant back, tears running down her cheeks as she shivered. 

"Livia!" her father said as he unlocked the door, obviously having the spare keys close by. "Livia darling, is everything okay? Do we need to call a doctor?" 

"No I-" she croaked, "It's the concussion, father. I didn't give myself enough rest."

"That's not good, my dear. Your mother and I didn't raise you that way" her father said, "You need to be well when you'll claim that prize for you."

He tapped her nose and all Livia wanted to do was scream and cry that she didn't care about that prize anymore. Felix Ravinstill was right - she had a bright future ahead, with or without that prize. Technically her parents were rich enough to send her to any possible university and the same applied to her classmates. But forbid her father finding out about these thoughts, let alone him finding out she'd gotten attached to Facet. "I'll be fresh as anything by tomorrow." Livia lied with a shaky voice.

Her father nodded and instead of comforting her he called for their maid to tuck Livia into bed, assuring her that things would be better by tomorrow. Livia smiled, saying 'Of course father' as he kissed her goodnight. But in reality, things wouldn't be better tomorrow. With the games starting, that would be where the real hell would start.

_

Livia barely slept. She'd tossed and turned for hours and had woken up screaming in terror, having dreamt about the arena tour. At some point her maid offered her a glass of water and although Livia was certain that it'd been mixed with something to make her calm - because Livia Cardew could not afford being tired and beside herself when the games started - she just drank it. And then finally fell into a calm slumber.

Still she felt drained the next morning. Not that anyone would notice with how beaten up she still looked with her injuries from the bombing. But clearly she didn't look well because even Arachne held back her usual comments and Lysistrata gave Livia a reassuring pat on the shoulder. And much to Livia's surprise, even the ever-teasing Coriolanus kept quiet.

Dean Highbottom and Dr. Gaul gave their review on the previous night's performances and, in the background on Capitol TV, Lucky Flickerman spoke about the tribute's current odds. Right now the top 5 were Tanner, Jessup, Reaper, Facet and Lucy Gray. Livia couldn't believe it. Not that a female tribute wouldn't be capable of winning, technically, but Lucy Gray wasn't like Coral or Velvereen even. She wasn't malnourished and sickly like Dill or young and small like Wovey but... she was a runt girl from 12 and that summarised it well.

"Look at these people. Sending bread to a slip of a girl with a broken heart, even though they don't believe she can win. What's the lesson there?" Dr. Gaul asked the students. Coriolanus looked as if he wanted to jump and leave.

The lesson? The lesson was that Coriolanus Snow was the master of manipulation. Livia almost said it out loud, just like she'd voiced her thoughts about him in the past, but too many of her classmates already raised their hands 

"At the dogfights, I've seen people back mutts that can barely stand" Festus spoke up, "People love a long shot."

"People love a good love song, more like." Persephone grimaced, having seen Mizzen's devasting odds.

Yes people loved Lucy Gray. She connected with the audience and she was the little songbird, a hopeless romantic. Not that it would be of an use for her in the arena but right now, she was the star among all tributes. Just because of a few silly little songs and Coriolanus selling her well. No one ever paid attention to people's real flaws, always just the negatives; no one ever saw behind the mask. Which was why no one could truly see what Coriolanus' actual intentions with his songbird were. Did he love her? Maybe but what he clearly loved was the attention she gave him and especially the attention she made him receive. He wanted nothing more than winning the prize and getting all its advantages and the power it could bring. Livia knew Coriolanus for so long, she'd understood long ago what his true intentions were and always had been. But others either didn't understand, or didn't care, or didn't want to understand. 

"People are fools" Livia said with a raspy voice as if to finish her own little dialogue. "She doesn't stand a chance."

"But there are a lot of romantics." Pup said, making kissing sounds. Livia wished she'd sit close enough to push him off his chair.

Fortunately Dr. Gaul interrupted the students, demanding them to read their essays out loud; a nice little task before their final assignment would start in form of getting their tribute out of the arena. Her classmates' essays were good, as far as that could be said with such a topic, Livia's was less so. At least that's what she felt after hearing several different essays.

"What I loved about the war" she said through gritted teeth, "was the way the Capitol stood together as one. The support that was shown between us Capitol citizens. It'd shown me that I can always count on the Captiol and how strong we are as a whole."

Livia knew her essay was awful. She'd written 'Capitol' in every damn sentence and it was way too short. Luckily Dr. Gaul only nodded. "Lovely, Miss Cardew" she said. "Short but acknowledging the power of our beloved Capitol."

Yes... exactly. 

Livia decided to let Dr. Gaul think whatever the woman felt up too and was glad that she called out the next student to read their essay. She barely understood what Diana said because the girl's voice was so raspy and silent. Dr. Gaul spared her of any further questions as Diana looked ready to faint at the next possible occassion. So instead of questioning Diana, Dr. Gaul demanded Coriolanus to read his essay. Livia barely paid attention - why should she waste her time with someone who was self-absorbed as him and somehow could cheat his way through the school days? Today was no difference - he earned compliments and Domitia told him how touching the essay had been. Livia rolled her eyes. Didn't he get enough attention with his songbird already? 

"Mr. Plinth?" Dr. Gaul asked. Everyone looked up.

Sejanus stood up and read out loud, "The only thing I loved about the war was the fact that I still lived at home. If you're asking me if it had any value beyond that, I would say that it was an opportunity to right some wrongs."

"And did it?" Dr. Gaul asked him, raising her eyebrows. Livia was surprised how calm she was.

"Not at all. Things in the districts are worse than ever."

"Whoa." Arachne commented. 

"He did not just say that." Festus said.

Hilarious even stood up to shout at Sejanus, "Go back to 2 then! Who'd miss you?"

Livia didn't hear what else was said - only that Dr. Gaul spoke about how the war proved her right - but all she felt was anger. Sejanus spoke about the districts and how bad things were when rebels from those poor districts caused the arena to almost blow up? Those rebels caused the deaths of their classmates, poor Gaius and Androcles, they caused Apollo and Felix to still be unresponsive and yes they even caused the deaths of their own people. Sabyn. Sheaf and Panlo. Ginnee and Otto. Velvereen. 

Hilarious was right, Sejanus could go back