AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed and voted. I think you'll be able to figure out who is the character focus for this chapter based on the title :) I wrote this chapter pretty quickly and got inspired. Please read the ending authors note and enjoy.
Chapter 4
The Witch
It had been a long and tiring day for Griffin but she still remained at her post, poised before her screens, only taking the odd break for coffee or a sandwich. Like Faragonda she had seen one mentor after another escorted away to arrange the bodies and she was determined not to be one of them. She had been a mentor for the last three years, working hand in hand with other tributes, helping to train them, provide them with intelligence and tell them the best way to win, and it usually involved strength.
Being a witch she obviously had powerful capabilities, she could charm her way to freedom, use spells or potions, mix ingredients together in the middle of the night or cast magic at her opponents. It had helped her tremendously when she won the games herself. But now she was almost powerless to stop what played before her eyes. All she could do was organise gifts, and hope that her tributes had followed her advice.
Faragonda released a yawn from the other side of the table. "Not getting tired are you?" Griffin asked. "The games aren't finished yet."
"I know," Faragonda replied, sitting back in her seat. "But they are for one of your little prodigy's."
"Darcy was a liability anyway, an unstable character."
"No she wasn't." Griffin looked directly into her eyes, narrowing her own as Faragonda smiled ever so slightly.
"Darcy knew what she was doing; it was why she made it so far in the games. It was her decisions that were her downfall and your little battle strategy."
"Which is what exactly?" The witch's arms folded as an inquisitive eyebrow lifted slightly into the air, demanding to know the fairies little theory. "Enlighten me."
"The problem with your plan Griffin is you believe in the 'every man for himself' mentality; that when a tribute gets into the arena they should stay alone and fight to survive by themselves. But that doesn't work in all arenas and for all tributes."
"It did when I was in the arena," she explained simply. "You might have felt the need to befriend a few weaklings but debt is not something paid lightly inside the games and besides, I'm sure that stepping over others and hiding behind them was an easier way to win for you." Faragonda stood to her feet and Griffin followed, guards were poised to stop them. "At least I won on my own merit, without using others as human shields or hiding away at the edge of the arena and winning by shire luck."
"I did not use anyone for my personal gain."
"Yeah you did," Griffin smiled. "And, because your little theory worked for you, you have been trying to push it onto others. After all, it was your partner in the arena that ended up sacrificing himself to save you." Faragonda looked away and it made the witch push further. "Hagen."
"Don't even say his name."
"Why not?"
"Because you have no right, you didn't know him."
"But you did," Griffin smirked, enjoying the way her nemesis's hands shook as she reached to adjust her glasses, the fear and opening of wounds buried inside her eyes. She couldn't help but enjoy it. "You knew him very well if I remember. The two of you were thick as thieves-"
"Stop it!"
"Always holding hands…" Griffin continued. "And smiling to the cameras and talking about sacrificing yourselves for each other," she gushed. "If I didn't know better, and others didn't as well, you'd think that the two of you had fallen in love or something." Faragonda moved from her chair but the guards restrained her immediately, holding her arms and shoulders to stop her advance.
"I think you need to cool off," one guard decided, moving her towards the door as Zarathustra followed with a sympathetic gaze. There were just three of them left now. Zarathustra, frequently referred to as Zara for short, who was Mirta and Riven's mentor, Griffin and Faragonda; three mentors and four tributes.
The moment she was escorted out of the room Griffin walked to the back table where an arrangement of refreshments was always ready and stocked. Picking up an apple she bit into the crisp skin, enjoying the juice against her tongue with a satisfying smile. She did love the District games, but even more so when she knew she would win.
When Faragonda returned to the room she didn't make eye contact with the witch but instead focused on her table monitors, only adding to the witches' happiness. Everything she had said was true though. She had been picked by the reaping's in District 8 when she was 18, just one year after Faragonda had won at the same age and had watched the few previous years and analysed and learnt. So when she was called up she wasn't as worried as her fellow tribute, a young man by the name of Jethro, who had shoulder length black hair, amazing green eyes and a thin but muscular frame.
There was no mentor when they were sent, no one to guide them, tell them what to do. They had an escort certainly who told them the rules but they worked for Magix until they decided to employ servants and make the whole ordeal more suited to entertainment. It was another form of punishment. Those that had managed to win their way out of the Ancestral Witches clutches ended up as mentor. Ended up having to work closely with and watch their tributes die. Radius, the man who had been sitting inside the room just before, had won the very first year of the games through brute force and it wasn't until a few years later that they were blessed with another victor. He had been mentor for more years than any of them and the entire experience had weighed heavily on his shoulders. Every year that Griffin had seen him he had lost a little more of his life. His eyes grew a little heavier; his focus grew a little lighter.
Griffin was the first to win from her own district before another young man did just a few short years after her at the age of fourteen. But, like other victors of the games, he decided to take his life and escape from the horrors of the world. Griffin supposed that her being a born and bred witch from a dark district like Whisperia had made her ready for the bloodshed of the games. Though, in her naivety at starting inside the arena, had attempted to team up with Jethro in order to work hard and win together as a team, or at least to knock out their competition. Though, his attempt to slit her throat in her sleep certainly was a swift way to end their arrangement.
And, since that one bad experience nearly cost her her life, she hadn't teamed up with anyone since and told her tributes to do the same. 'Win by yourself, fight by yourself and survive by yourself.' Obviously, Darcy's little idea to team up with Stella in order to kill Amentia had worked because she knocked out a strong target, but it had backfired the moment that she went into that cave.
Suddenly Griffin heard the tributes heart monitors beeping rapidly and she looked down to see that Bishops respiratory rate was increasing. Her eyes looked to the darkened screen to see the tributes running. He was coming in fast from the back corner towards the Tree of Life. She noticed Zara's reaction as well, her eyes glued to the screen. Then both young men stopped.
They stared each other down before readying their weapons and fighting. Griffin watched the two, willing Bishop to keep on going though he stopped and spoke the truth. No matter who won, Flora and Helia would kill the survivor. With the arena deleted there was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. And that was the precise moment that Faragonda took to turn and face Griffin with a knowing and almost victorious gaze.
Bishop managed to impale him but Flora's interruption cost him his life. The canon fired and guards filled the room. She didn't move. "No wait!" She ordered, looking back to see Riven die, the canon fired to signify his death as well. Flora and Helia had won but no one moved. For twenty minutes Faragonda waited for the announcement while the other two also waited to see who had won.
Then the announcer came on, their voice echoing around the room. "Attention tributes, attention tributes. The rule change regarding their being two victors allowed has been revoked. Only one of you may now win. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour." Faragonda's face fell while Griffins rose. The guards took a forceful hold of her arms, moving her towards the door while Faragonda watched her two tributes breaking apart. Zara was lead out first; and down the corridor while Griffin spoke. "I hate to say I told you so…but I told you so."
She walked out of the main doors and into the corridor, following Zara as they were lead down two flights of stairs and into the basement. She was given the papers to sign, and Zara did the same. "When will they arrive home?" Zara asked.
"By tomorrow," a male answered. "We're having the fleets bring out the bodies for burial; they'll already be inside the caskets ready to go. The various district graves have already been prepared." Griffin signed and dated the last piece of paper before receiving a bar-coded stamp on her wrist. "You are both free to return home. A shuttle will take you there in ten minutes. Gather your belongings."
After walking down to her room Griffin turned on the television, expecting to see Flora or Helia standing victorious but instead she saw the opposite. The two held Nightlock in their hands. They threw the berries into their mouths and were declared victorious. She took a moment to sit on the couch, watching the two hug before walking to their platforms and being transported back out. She could hear the crowds cheering from outside already inside her ears and wondered how much of a mess they had created.
"Mentor Griffin, it's time to go." A man spoke at the door and she nodded, turning the television screen off and gathering her belongings. She arrived inside the quad and had the barcode scanned before she boarded the ship with a few other officials and Zara, ready to transport them home. The ship took off and she peered outside the glass at the world below, the thousands of people crowding the streets, their cheers and shrieks and screams still breaking through the confined space. Then she saw them, two beds, being escorted outside with Faragonda between the two. They were loaded into separate ambulances to be taken to Magix hospital for treatment. She remembered her own trip there all too well.
The screens around the arena continued to show action replays and one particular slow motion shot of the two holding hands made the witch cringe. She could already hear Faragonda's voice inside her head. 'Because that's how they are going to win'. And you know what hurt the most? The damn fairy was right.
AN: Thanks for reading and please review! I love hearing your thoughts.
Question: Which of the following characters should be next chapters focus? (Feel free to vote for more than one. If you did not vote for Griffin in the last chapter than your previous votes still count towards this question but it's an opportunity for you to vote for them again or for another option)
1. Musa
2. Stella
3. Saladin
4. Bloom and Daphne
5. Rose
