Episode 8

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Gethen's POV

I ran out of the office in a daze. I had almost kissed Gisela! I was so absorbed in my rushing thoughts that I almost ran into the coffee cart. Why did Fintan always park it in the middle of the hallway? I looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. I decided to yell at him for that later.

I made my way to the makeup room to prepare for the game night. But just as I got settled in, the door creaked open. Very eerily.

"AHHHH—oh, Fintan. It's only you."

Fintan scowled. "Only me?" Then he seemed to reconsider. "I'll let that slide for now. Currently, we have more pressing matters to deal with."

That got my attention. "Pressing matters? Fintan, what's going on?"

Fintan sighed. He looked tired. "I'm sorry, Gethen. I know how much these game portions mean to you. But, upon the orders of our parent company, they must come to an end."

My constantly-smiling face fell. I may or may not have shed a few tears. "What—why?" I asked.

"They take too much time away from what we need to tell: the news. They claimed games were a waste of time. I tried to argue with them, Gethen. But there was no use."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" I begged. "Petitions? Bribes?"

Fintan shook his head solemnly. "There's nothing we can do, I'm afraid. Replacing the game portion will be another news block. Let the guests know the games will not be happening. Then get ready for the news block." With that, Fintan left, leaving me behind with tear-filled eyes.

+++

I sat in my anchor chair, trying to regain my dazzling smile. It was difficult to get my mind off the heartbreaking news Fintan had told me, though. The game portion was my favorite portion! How could it get taken away, just like that?

As an attempt to get my mind off it, I glanced at Gisela, who was behind the glass filming area. But she noticed me looking at her. She blushed furiously and looked away.

+++

"Hello, and welcome to News with the Neverseen. I am your host, Gethen Ondsinn."

"And I'm Alvar Vacker." Alvar inturupted. So rude.

"We have an epic top story for you today, so stay tuned!" I smiled at the camera.

"First, we have some breaking-heart news. Our beloved game sections have been sadly discontinued," Alvar sobbed, obvious tears forming in his eyes. A quick glance at Trix from behind the camera was all I needed to know that I had to get Alvar off the subject.

"W-we hope it will be back soon," I blubbered, having trouble controlling my own emotions. "But until then, we will discontinue our games."

Alvar dried his eyes with his sleeve. "Up next is an update on the Black Swan's latest suspicious activities. Ruy Ignis can tell you more."

I glanced backstage. Ruy was standing there, staring into who-knows-what. And he was definitelynot moving into the shot of the camera.

Alvar cleared his throat. "Ruy?"

Thankfully, Ruy came back to reality and rushed to the desk, taking his seat. I saw Trix shoot him a warning look. Someone was feeling bossy today. I made a mental note to discuss Trix's new attitude with him later. This was my show, not Trix's.

"Thank you for having me." He nodded to me and Alvar. "After following the Black Swan for many days—I-I mean weeks, of course—I noticed some very sus behavior." He ignored my throat-clear at his use of slang. So unprofessional! I needed to add him to the list of people I needed to confront later.

"What kind of behavior, Ruy?" Alvar butted in.

"Well, they seemed to be smuggling someone into their hideout. Someone under the name of... Cassius Sencen."

"What?!" I heard Gisela yelp from behind the glass. She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, and I hoped our watchers wouldn't notice her outburst.

As expected, Alvar recovered the fastest.

"And what do we know about this Cassius Sencen?" he asked Ruy.

"Unfortunately, not much." Ruy replied. "We're researching him now. We have found no evidence to why the Black Swan would sneak him into their hideout."

"How do we know they were sneaking him in?" I asked.

To my horror, Ruy looked stumped. I needed to change the subject before anyone else called him on being an incompetent researcher. Ugh, why was my job so hard?

"We will continue after the break." I told the camera. Then I reeled on Ruy. He looked scared. Good.

"You must prepare for of all possible questions I might ask before going live." I informed him. "Think,Ruy."

Ruy lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Gethen. I'll try to do better."

"Better?" I scoffed. I was about to say more when I was interrupted by Trix.

"15 seconds until we go back on," he said.

I nodded. I flashed Ruy a we aren't done with this glare and got ready to go back on the air.

+++

"Nice show," Gisela complimented as I left my anchor desk.

I drew a hand down my face in exhaustion. "Thank you. It is so tiring having guests on the show."

She pursed her lips, and I forced my attention away from them. "I'm sorry about the loss of the game show. I know how much you liked those."

"It's fine. It's not like I'm losing my job or anything." I forced a joyful laugh.

Gisela didn't look convinced by my fake happiness. "Uh huh."

I gestured to the dressing room. "I gotta change. Uh... see you later?" With an awkward wave, I walked off, cringing at myself.

[A/N: :)]

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