AN: Thank you everyone for the reviews. This chapter is in Helia's point of view. The next one will return to Flora's. Please read the ending authors note.

Warning: This chapter contains violence, blood and adult themes.

Chapter 9

Windows of the Soul

Helia's eyes opened the following morning to the sun slowly covering the woods. He took a moment to enjoy the sun rising into the sky but remembered why he was here. The people who had died so far, all of their last moments imprinted in the forefront of his mind. He didn't dream last night, a blessing considering all of the images that would probably haunt him for the rest of his life, especially after yesterday.

Carefully he placed the notched arrow into its sheath and slung the bow over his shoulders before beginning to climb back down to the Earth below. Carefully he lowered himself from the branch he was sitting on and hung down, finding a foothold for his toe to grip onto. Then he lowered himself again. Suddenly his footing gave way and he was left hanging onto the limb with his hands. His right shoulder began to burn and his hands lost their grip, sending him onto the unforgiving floor.

He lay there for a moment, carefully rolling off his side and inspecting a large burn over his shoulder blade. "How did I miss that?" He questioned, removing his bow and bag of supplies. Quietly he unzipped the bag and found his water supply, the bottle still three thirds full, a handful of berries he had collected and three pieces of fruit, some crackers from the Tree of Life that he hadn't eaten yet and one spike of Aloe Vera.

Taking the top of an arrow he cut along the side, splitting the spike into two and placing the entire plant on his shoulder, sucking in a harsh breath at the sensation. He popped a few berries into his mouth and chewed them softly before swallowing the pieces with a mouthful of water and using some on his eyes to help him awaken properly.

With the burn momentarily treated to he set off in his search for Flora once more, he didn't care if only one of them was able to win, he would rather it be her. At least, if it came down to the two of them in the end, he could let her kill him or…if need be…kill himself.

He had never been forced to think about his mortality more than he had now, these games had certainly changed a number of the other tributes, some had become lethal killing machines, others the innocent victims who never asked for this. None of them asked for this. Not he, or Flora, or Mirta, Galatea, Derrick, any of the tributes who had died…none of them deserved to be here, treated like pawns in a game of chance.

Listening to the quiet whistle of the birds awakening from their slumber reminded Helia of just how beautiful nature could be, he had worked in the woods his entire life but never truly acknowledged just how majestic and yet deadly it could be at the same time. The silence that had followed from the previous day made him wonder whether it was all a dream, that none of it actually happened. But it did, the black trees he could see in the far distance testament to the fact. Nothing inside the arena was a dream.

Helia rounded another corner when something strong smashed into him, sending him flying down the steep hill. When he finally stopped rolling he scrambled out of the way just in time to see a long and heavy double edged sword land where he had been lying, crushing a log instantly. Once back on his feet he reached for an arrow from his sheath but instead felt the hilt of the sword smash against his face, making him fall once more.

Helia rolled again, narrowly missing the sword before he kicked his foot forwards, right into the kneecap of whoever was his adversary. They fell, swinging their sword once more but Helia was too agile. This time he took two arrows and notched them both, holding them between his knuckles and drawing. Looking at the hunched form of who was before him as his heart raced at a thousand miles an hour.

They looked up and Helia recognised his brown eyes and hair cut immediately, it was Brandon, the boy from District 1. "You sure are fast," he joked, getting back to his feet gingerly and bringing his sword with him. "Too bad, that you weren't fast enough to save her."

"Who?"

"You know who I'm talking about," he laughed. "Flora."

"She's not dead," Helia replied, gritting his teeth and shaking his head. "There haven't been any canons."

"Sure…she's not dead," Brandon explained, his smile disappearing instantly. "But she might be wishing that she was."

"What are you talking about?" Helia questioned, his arrows aimed to perfection; one to his heart the other to his neck, his fingers twitching, just begging him to let the string go.

"I ran into her," he smirked. "And let's just say things weren't pretty…" he smiled again at the mixture of fear and hatred growing in Helia's eyes. "Go on! Shoot me!" Helia didn't move an inch. "What are you waiting for? I'm right here! Shoot me!" Brandon stepped back, releasing a breath before lifting his sword and inspecting its blade. "You want to know more, don't you? You want to know exactly what I did."

Helia didn't know what to believe. Flora wasn't dead, which meant that she was alive, but to what extent? Had Brandon been the one who killed Mirta? And then he went after Flora? Brandon's lips curled into a smile as one of his hands disappeared behind his back. "I hit her on the back of the head with this beauty of a blade here…just like you…but she wasn't as fast," he paused. "I took out my knife and chased her through the forest until she slipped and fell." He removed his hidden hand, the blade firmly gripped. "You know what was worse though? As I slowly cut into her flesh, using superficial wounds that stung but didn't give her any comfort? She kept on saying your name…Helia," he whimpered. "Helia…HELIA!"

Brandon threw the knife forwards and cut a gash along Helia's thigh making him fall to the ground before he took his Claymore blade and raced to finish him off. Helia lifted his bow and arrow and fired, one arrow landed in Brandon's neck, stopping his advance, and the other landed in his chest. The district one tribute fell to his knees first, his blade landing next to him as he looked to Helia with weakening eyes, blood slowly pouring from the wound in his neck.

Helia couldn't explain what he saw. Almost an apologetic look buried inside his gaze as his soul slowly disappeared and his body fell forwards. The canon fired making Helia jump and he looked to the sky for a moment, knowing that his family had just witnessed his first kill. His hands shook as he reached forwards and rolled Brandon's body over, retrieving the arrows from his flesh and returning them to his sheath. He looked to the blade and considered taking it for a moment, but its weight and shire size would have slowed him down so he didn't and instead moved it, opening Brandon's hand and clasping his fingers over the hilt so it would be taken from the arena with him.

Helia was about to leave but something stopped him, an odd feeling of guilt. He reached forwards with his right hand and placed his thumb and middle fingers over his eyes, closing them shut. The cold flesh against his fingertips made Helia swallow the saliva in his throat before he left, picking up the knife on his way, hoping that what he had said about Flora was wrong.

Derrick carefully cut the orange fruit they managed to find in half before handing one part to his sister. Galatea smiled before taking a hold of it. "Be careful," she whispered, looking at the knife in his hand. "I don't want you cutting your finger off."

"Somehow I think cutting my finger is the least of our worries," Derrick replied though he smiled and Galatea had to in reply.

"I guess you're right." The canon sounded, almost deafening Galatea who placed her hands to her ears.

"Do you know who it was?" He asked but she shook her head to signal a no. "I can't hear anything around us, so I suppose that everything is ok."

"Let's hope so," Derrick replied, cutting a smaller piece and taking a bite, Galatea doing the same. "Galatea…I have to thank you."

"For what?" She asked.

"For always being such a wonderful sister," he smiled. "I know that we used to fight a lot when we were growing up but…I…"

"I know," Galatea replied. "I love you too. No matter what happens, I'm here with you until the end." She held her hand forwards and Derrick placed his own in it. "I promise."

Before he knew what was happening Galatea had pushed him to the ground. He landed with a hard thud, dropping the knife from his hand as he looked up to see Galatea grimace at the blood slowly trickling from her shoulder and down her arm. "What the?" He asked when they heard a single clap, then another, and another, each getting closer together.

Derrick got back onto his feet as Galatea did the same. "I knew it would be hard to kill you, with your heightened hearing and all that," Darcy said as she exited the shadows. "But I thought that if I made the blade invisible I could have killed the little twerp."

"Then you underestimated my hearing abilities," Galatea replied, standing in front of her brother like a human shield. "Don't you know that invisible objects still make a sound when travelling through the air?" Darcy laughed as she noticed the fairy beginning to lose her balance.

Derrick placed a hand on her hip to try and stop her sudden swaying. "Galatea?" his concerned voice whispered.

"Oh what, does the fairy need a time out?" Darcy asked sarcasm in every word.

"You!" Galatea explained, glaring at the witch. "What did you do to me?"

"Oh not much," the witch's calm and casual tone dismissed the weight of her question immediately as she took another of her knives from her belt. "Being able to turn invisible has its advantages you know, especially when it comes to Tracker Jacker venom." The very mention of the small wasps that could cause death made Galatea's eyes shoot open as sweat shone on her forehead. She turned to look for Derrick but couldn't see him anywhere. "Derrick! Where are you?"

"Galatea, over here."

"I can't see you," she replied, the world around her a blur of mixed colours, nothing in focus.

"Over here!"

Galatea turned and saw the tall and menacing figure of Darcy, holding Derrick by the neck where he squirmed and whimpered. "H-help m-me."

"I'm coming!" She yelled, bending down to pick up the knife her brother had been previous holding and rushing forwards. Then she made contact, forced the knives point into Darcy's body and held it there. Her eyes closed for a moment and when she opened them she couldn't breathe.

Derrick stood before her, looking into her eyes with tears in his own. "No," she gasped, looking down to the knife still held firmly in her hand and the blade through her brother's abdomen. Tears welled in her eyes as his legs failed and he fell to the forest floor, Galatea reacting just in time to catch his body in her arms. "No… Derrick, I-"

"It's amazing really," Darcy smirked, standing behind the music fairy, whose entire body felt like it was breaking into pieces. "The kind of hallucinations their poison can bring."

"Derrick," she cried, lifting his head against her chest and holding it there with all of her strength. Suddenly Galatea heard footsteps rushing through the forest and then Helia jumped out from a nearby tree and fired, a single shot grazing the witches arm before she turned invisible and disappeared.

Helia didn't speak, he couldn't breathe as he looked down to Galatea, holding Derricks body in her arms. But he wasn't dead yet, the canon hadn't fired. Hot tears stung in his eyes before they rolled slowly down his cheeks.

"G-Galatea," he sighed weakly as she lowered his head to the ground and stared into his eyes. "I…l-love y-y-you." His chest deflated ad his head grew heavy in her hands, his head lolling to the side and eyes still open.

"No!" She screamed, lying next to his body and cradling him in her arms. "No!"

"Galatea we have to go," Helia sighed. "They have to take his body."

"No!" She wailed, pushing his head into her shoulder and running her fingers through his blonde hair. Tears of grief silently falling from her eyes and onto his innocent face. Helia took a few deep breaths, trying to hold it together, but it was impossible. He wiped the tear tracks from his cheeks and stepped forwards. "Galatea, we have to go…we have to move!"

"I'm not leaving him," she whispered, kissing his forehead softly before closing her eyes. "I can't leave him."

"You have to," Helia explained. "They need to take the body from the arena."

"I did this to him." Her voice quaked and shook. "I…c-came here, to protect him! I v-volunteered to protect him!" She cried. "And I was the one who killed him."

"Galatea we have to go; come on!" He pulled at her arm, tried to get her back onto her feet, but no matter what he tried she wouldn't budge. She just stared forwards, absently. Helia knelt before her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You didn't do this," he spoke, trying to pry her blood covered hands away from the child's back but failing, her grip only tightened.

They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul and Helia knew it was true as he looked to Galatea's. She was broken, her face held no expression; it almost looked like she was the dead one. At least she was on the inside. "Darcy did this, not you."

"How can you say that?" She asked, finally blinking and focusing on his eyes. Helia didn't reply as Galatea's hand moved and lifted a new knife from Derrick's belt. "I took one of these knives and killed him with my own hands."

"But Darcy used the Tracker Jacker venom on you, it made you hallucinate, you weren't yourself." Helia lay down on his sore shoulder and grimaced a little but stayed there. When Galatea's sobs started again he wrapped the two of them into his arms and placed his head near hers. "I know it's hard," he whispered. "But you need to let go."

Galatea nodded her head before loosening her grip. Helia moved away slightly before carefully lifting him from her arms and moving him a few feet away. He knelt down and gingerly placed his head on the earth below before crossing his arms over his body and looking at his eyes one last time. The green eyes that once held so much hope and spirit. Helia used his right hand and wiped it over his eyelids, closing them, he looked so peaceful.

Galatea stood to her feet with the knife she had taken from Derricks belt still firmly in hand. She dropped to her knees and looked to Helia's eyes. She held the blade forwards, the handle pointing to him and Helia shook his head. "Helia…please…kill me," she pleaded but he shook his head again.

"I can't."

"Please! I don't want to continue living without my brother!"

"No!" He refused. "You need to keep on living for him; that is what he would want. He wouldn't want you to die."

"But I can't live…I can't win this thing, you know that. I'd rather have someone I know do it than some psycho like Darcy."

"I won't do it," he shook his head, blinking back a tear. "I can't."

"Then if you won't," she replied, tears flowing freely from her eyes as she turned the blade in her hands, and held it before her chest. "I will."

"No!" Helia lunged but it was too late. The blade pierced through her chest and into her heart, blood poured from the wound as she slumped to her side and Helia caught her just before she hit the ground. "Galatea."

"Win this."

"I will," he promised, another single tear falling from his eye. "If you see Derrick, in heaven," he paused, his bottom lip quivering. "You give him a hug for me?"

"Of course," Galatea smiled. "Thank you, Helia." Her eyes closed and her heart stopped beating, the canon fired and Helia looked to the sky and screamed. He didn't care who heard him as he stared at the mocking blue above. Tears ran down his cheeks, down his chin, his neck and stained the ground below. Two innocent lives taken too soon. Two innocent friends killed because of the games.

He took deep breaths into his lungs before carrying her body bridal style over to her brother. Once there he knelt down and lay her by his side, turning her to face Derrick and folding her arms across his body. He lifted two knives from the forest floor and decided that they might come in handy when he heard something.

The anthem began to play, but the day wasn't done. "Attention tributes…attention tributes." Helia stood quietly, secretly hoping that they had decided to cancel the games and let everyone go home before more needless killing occurred. It was a child's dream but if there was even the smallest chance he wanted to believe it.

"Congratulations go to the eleven of you who are left." Helia wondered if he was asking them to a feast. Not a feast in the literal sense though it did sometimes contain food, other times it had nothing.

In previous years the game makers decided to lure tributes together by promising them something, medicine for their wounds, food for their stomachs, even water. All of the supplies would be put together with their district labelled on the containers before them. But sometimes they were empty. But then the voice continued and it wasn't talking about a feast but a sudden change in the rules.

"The previous rule about only one victor being allowed has been revoked. Two victors may now win if they are both from the same District." Helia couldn't believe what he was hearing but he looked back to Galatea and Derrick and sighed. Just a few minutes longer and the two of them could have both gone home.

"I repeat," it continued. "Two victors may now win if they are both from the same District. That is all." The sounds of the forest returned to Helia's ears as the announcement hit him full force. He and Flora could both win; they could both go home to District 12. See their families again and never come back to the arena. He smiled slightly before remembering what Brandon said and setting off much faster than he had done before. He ignored the pain in his leg, the burn on his shoulder and the hovercraft flying to collect his friend's bodies. All he could think about now was Flora and the chance of going home and doing it together.

AN: Thanks for reading and please review! The next chapter probably won't be up for at least a week, possibly two but I will try and update when I can.

I wanted to ask you all whether you would be interested in reading a section of the next chapter from Faragonda's point of view.

A) Yes

B) No

The most voted response will be used in the next chapter.

Response to Anonymous Reviews:

Amy47101 – Thanks again for reviewing, I'm glad that you enjoyed the movie, I cried when Rue died as well, just such a touching scene and Jennifer Lawrence was amazing as Katniss. Flora and Helia forever and may the odds be ever in your favour too :)

Emma – The original story 'The Hunger Games' is similar to Battle Royale in a few ways but I think it's more refined. I'm glad that you like the story and thanks for reviewing.

Florafan – Thanks for the review and yes the Hunger Games is amazing :)

WEAPONS USED THIS CHAPTER (In order of appearance):

Claymore (Brandon): A claymore blade weighs between 2.2-2.8 kg and is 120-140 cm in total length. The blade is double edged and is 100-115 cm in length.

Weapons seen in several chapters will only be described inside the one they first appear in.