Chapter Nine here for you A very large thank you to all the reviewers. FallingDown98, Sarpndo, TheRoyalHippogriff, and Snowtail. You guys are all awesome! So much more than Prussia or Gillian
Austria gazed down at his reflection in the crystalline lake where he and Daniel had been staying. A long, pale face specked with dirt stared back at the composer, a haunted look in his muddy eyes. The lake in question was clearer than crystal, and Austria could see several silver fish dart about toward the bottom. Like most things in the Hunger Games, it only seemed ethereal to him, and rather eerie, as if the glassy water was really a treacherous lagoon in disguise. With a heavy sigh, the Austrian splashed a handful of water onto his face, washing away some of the grime, yet shattering the smooth surface.
Slosh, slosh.
Eyes shooting back open, Austria bolted upward, icy panic striking his heart. He could hear a pair of very heavy footsteps coming toward him from through the flower bed. It couldn't be Daniel; the male nation was still sound asleep on the other side of the lake, and Austria could even see his silent silhouette from here.
It could only be a larger and quite more hostile nation.
For a split second, the heavy feet stopped, and Austria suddenly contemplated diving into the lake in an attempt to escape his potential killer. As he stared down into the surface, the pansy could see the towering foe above him. There wasn't any denying that shock of shaggy blond hair, or the sharp emerald eyes. It had to be Sweden.
For a while, Austria merely stood there, hunched down in the flowers, mesmerized with his killer's wavy reflection. Heart racing faster than the speed of light, Austria opened his mouth to scream to the heavens for Daniel.
Sweden's hand clamped over the musician's mouth before he could even utter a syllable. Grunting with dissatisfaction, the Swede spun Austria around to look him in the eye, a stoic glaze on his face. The Austrian could feel and see himself kicking and flailing as hard as he could against Sweden's iron grip, yet it was useless. Even his hardest kick to the other nation's groin couldn't even get Sweden to flinch, let alone drop the incarcerated musician.
Lifting Austria off the ground, Sweden's knuckles cracked as he brought his other hand to Austria's soft throat, feeling the man's racing pulse against his palm. Without a second glance, Sweden squeezed his hand against Austria's neck, the fragile bones and tendons crumpling and snapping under the Nordic's iron grip.
Hungary…Austria thought as his gaze fell back against the sky, the weak morning sun washing across his face. He could feel his world start to go into one tiny tunnel, which he saw positive contained Hungary at its end. His body slackened, and he stopped resisting.
His whole colorful world went black.
…
"I'm tired," Daisy yawned, stretching her arms out and placing them on the top of her head as she frowned at Louise. "Why did you make us stay out all the way until morning?"
"I wanted to make sure we were getting the best prey we could on the first night," Louise muttered, spinning her knife around in her hands. "We wouldn't want some of the opposition who might very well give us problems later to get away, now did we?"
"Like those pathetic Nordics," Gillian laughed. "Good thing we got those brats out of the way, eh?"
Sakura bowed her head, her rich black plait glimmering in the weak morning sun. "I have never been quite partial to them either."
Together, the five females stepped out of the steamy rainforest onto the plethora of fresh flowers, as Daisy grinned at the fragrant aroma. She'd always loved flowers, plus she was relieved to finally be out of the steamy rainforest. The roses and tulips wavered still in the early morning breeze. They continued walking down the field, even passing the spot where Daisy and Gillian had fought, and killed, Iceland and Norway. Several small puddles of blood still remained, staining several of the tulips, yet blending in perfectly with the roses.
"Finally," Gillian and Daisy huffed as they clambered onto the beach, making a beeline for the Cornucopia, and their sleeping bags. The two nations curled up and instantly fell asleep, while the other three stayed behind; sorting the supplies they'd taken from Iceland and Norway. Alice lingered behind the other two, still slightly distrustful of her newfound allies. They'd committed most of their energy in hunting her down like an animal, but had switched this at once when the Brit was about to stick Daisy. Nothing was to say they weren't luring her into a trap.
"I guess I will take first watch then," Louise sighed, staring at her slumbering comrades, whom Sakura had already joined.
Alice sprang up. "No, no. I'll take it."
"Are you sure?" Louise raised an eyebrow in a rather quizzical manner.
"Quite sure," The English woman assured her, moving over to the fire they'd built. "You just go get some sleep for now, okay?"
Louise stared into Alice's emerald eyes for a good few seconds before nodding her head. "If you say so…"
At that, the German retreated into the Cornucopia, tucking herself into her sleeping back directly next to Daisy, as Alice noticed. As the fat orange sun clawed its way across the horizon, Alice turned away from her sleeping allies, staring hard into the flickering fire. The Brit was torn. Could she actually trust Louise and her minions, or were those pesky axis nations only leading her into some sort of nasty trap? At first, the answer had seemed obvious when Louise had been so hasty to propose an alliance only after Alice subdued Daisy. Yet the way Louise had accepted the English nation's proposal to take watch, and even been able to fall asleep so easily afterword, probably knowing how easily Alice could take her out now if she wanted to. One quick slash of her knife across her fragile throat, and it'd all be done.
With fumbling hands, Alice withdrew her knife from her boots, examining the sharp steel blade in the firelight, and slowly turning to the unconscious axis.
…
Thump.
The next thing Austria knew, his body slammed against the ground. He could feel his screeching lungs finally opening up again, as he took desperate rasps of air, coughing and sputtering all the while. For a moment, he regretted his choice to ignore wind instruments, figuring they may have given him a higher level of resistance to the asphyxiation Sweden just subjected him to.
"You…buffoonish…fiend," Austria gasped, bent over. Bile dripped out of his mouth, and his airway was slowly opening back up. Blood began thumping through his veins and arteries once more. He looked up, narrowing his gaze. "Well, aren't you just going to do it then? I'm an easy enough target for you as it is!"
Sweden closed his eyes, a low rumbling sound in his throat. Rubbing his temples, the Swede turned his back and Austria. "Can't."
"What do you mean, 'can't'?" The flustered musician demanded, still clutching his aching t
"Like me." Sweden shook his head, starting to shuffle away from his target. "I had Finny. You had someone too." With what was probably the most that particular Nordic would ever say, he turned and sauntered away, avoiding eye contact. "Don't tell."
…
In short, Panem could simply feel that he was the most powerful nation on this miserable Earth. The towering nation, dressed in stark white robes, sneered down at the twenty three Hetalian gravestones, even Russia's enormous granite pillar. He stood above Italy and Germany's neighboring gravestones, made from matching pieces of black and white marble.
"Love," The sadist chortled. "Look where that landed them." With a troublesome glint in his obsidian eyes, Panem turned and glided to the edge of the graveyard, toward a small grey rock that visitors often substituted for a bench, when they still used to come. Grinning, the Panemian bent down and inserted a glowing gold key into the middle of the rock, the utensil somehow slipping cleanly into the stone. He twisted it twice in a clockwise motion, and stood back as the rock began rumbling. It quickly split cleanly in half, moving aside to allow space for the entrance of a dark, cavernous tunnel that led directly underground.
Panem slid inside the tunnel in a rather furtive motion, the rock immediately snapping back into place above him.
Nothing followed him but a haunting echo.
