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I look across the meadow. Where is the girl from Seven? She has to be across the meadow. I bite my lip. There is no cover, but I have little choice. The river overflowed yesterday and is slowly working its way down the mountain with its monstrous fish. I know these bowls are going to turn into lakes once enough water gets down here. I frown as I hear thunder come from behind me. I turn, confused. But only for a moment. Before I can tell myself, I am running across the meadow. Damn the Gamemakers. I should have known they were going to do something like this soon. I've used the river as a weapon twice now. Now it is their turn. I hear a canon and run faster. I am halfway across the meadow when the roar lessens. I slow down and turn. The water stops at the bowls and is making them lakes. I can see the fish jumping up and down in one of them and wonder which tribute they got.

I check my weapons and then feel my ankle throbbing. I had forgotten about my ankle. There is no way that it is sprained or twisted. I broke it when I jumped across the river the other day. I take a deep breath and keep walking. Another canon rings through the air. Four of us are left. Is this the end of it? Maybe. I keep walking, drinking sparingly from my water bag. I begin to give up and start looking for a place to hide. There is nowhere to hide this far from the Cornucopia. Sure there are some bowls and dips, but no forests and no mountains. That girl from Seven has to have hidden in the now flooded forest. That means all of us are on the meadow.

I crouch and creep back towards the Cornucopia. I draw my sword. I hear someone come from behind. I turn and, swinging my sword as I do so. It's stopped by another sword. It's the girl from Seven. I push back and settle into a defensive position, not letting her see the brace on my ankle. She attacks me. I block it and attack with a blow of my own. She blocks me. We continue in this pattern for what seems like hours but I know has to only have been at least half an hour. My ankle begins to throb again and I take a deep breath to keep from grimacing.

Something in my face must have told her that I was in pain and she notices the brace on my ankle. She swings at it. I block it, but just barely. Damn her. She is good. She tosses something at me and swings her sword at me. I dodge both and now her back is to the water. I see what she threw at me. It's a hammer, the same hammer I used in my private session. So, they did put something specifically for me here. It must have been deep in the pile when the Games started. I don't know how, but all I know is that I have to get to it. I know how to use a hammer. With a hammer, I can break any weapon at any point.

Joel's POV:

He looked down at the flooded arena. "I hope Septa is safe." He heard the canon and wondered who it could possibly be that had died. It had to be, he knew, one of the Careers or the boy from Three. The girl from Seven had hidden well. No one had been able to find her. He wondered where she had hidden herself. It wasn't high in the mountains like he was. He knew she had to have been hiding somewhere in the meadow, in one of the bowls and stealing from the Careers.

He looked at the meadow and saw two tributes fighting back and forth. He couldn't make out who they were, only that they were two girls. He watches as one of them throws something at the other and swings a sword. The second dodged both attacks and faced the lake. He prayed that Septa was not one of the two girls fighting. It was a selfish thought, but if he was going to die, he wanted Septa to be the one to do it, even though she had said she didn't want to.

"So here you are hiding." A voice snarled behind him. He turned and saw the boy from Three behind him, holding a knife. Joel grabbed the sword he had found the day before. "I've been looking for you."

"Really? And why is that?" Joel taunted. He didn't fail to notice the sword on the boy's back. That meant that most of the Careers were dead if he had one of the coveted five swords.

"Why else?" The boy sneered. "I want to go home and you are standing in my way."

"We are standing in each others' ways." Joel said and attacked the boy. The boy quickly drew his own sword and blocked. "There are four of us left. Who is going to be the victor? Which tributes will be the final two?"

Katniss's POV:

She watched on her control board as both of her tributes fought two separate fights. The Gamemakers' attempt to drive all the tributes together had resulted in the two. They were separated for the time being. Her only question was if both of her tributes were going to survive. The end was near. They all knew it was. Katniss looked up from her board and looked at the mentors from Three and Seven. They were the only ones left, besides her. She watched Septa and then Joel. She couldn't decide what would be better to do. Who should she root for to win the Games? "Septa? Or Joel? They have both proven themselves. I cannot decide. Not in good conscience." She looked up as one of the Capitol attendants called her name. She reluctantly left her control board and walked to the door. "What?"

"This came for you from one of the sponsors." Katniss took the note and walked back to her control board.

The strongest survives over the weak. Remember who the enemy is.

"Who sent this?" She whispered before looking back at her control board. Both of her tributes had a various amount of wounds. All the tributes did. Joel and his opponent had both lost their swords and were fighting with fists, the boy from Three having lost his dagger.

Joel's POV:

He panted heavily as his opponent backed off for a moment. Joel knew that he would have to kill this boy if he wanted to live. He looked for something to use as a weapon. His eyes fell on a piece of rock that was pointed at the end. He lunged for it as the other boy jumped at him. The boy flew over him and landed hard at the edge of the cliff. Joel stood, the rock cutting into his hand. The boy stood and Joel could see the knife in this hand.

"So this is how it ends. Who will kill who then?"

They boy jumped at him and Joel jumped at the boy.

Septa's POV:

We hear two more canons and I know Joel is dead. So this is going to be then end. Two girls at the end of the Games. That has never happened before I am sure. I am brought back to my fight as the girl swings at my legs again. She's kept me from getting to the hammer and forced my back to the lakes again, as well as the hammer. If I try to get it, she'll jump and I'll have no way to block her and then I'll be dead and she'll be the victor. I am not going to let that happen. She has no idea that I want the hammer and she has no idea how to use it. I examine her sword. It's one of the better ones I made and is more or less even throughout, including at the hilt. I am going to have to use the hammer to break it. That or I have to disarm her and run her through.

I frown at how cold I've become. But it's kill or be killed now. We are the last ones. Today is the last day. Over her shoulder, I see the lake churn and see the fish jump out. My frown deepens. Great. So they are trying to kill me. I thought they had given up on that since I've shown that I will not be killed easily. The President knows that he will not destroy my family, my bloodline.

I am too slow to lean back and dodge her blow. The tip of her sword catches my shirt and tears it, revealing my pendant. I had almost forgotten I had tucked it beneath my shirt. If any of the tributes had seen it, they would have also seen it as a way to kill me. This goes through her mind, I can see it in her eyes. The first of the fish jump onto land and start running at us. I have to end this or I am dead. I move and the sun catches on my pendant. It blinds her and I jump for the hammer, seeing my chance. I grab it and roll to my feet, wincing at the pain on my ankle. She turns to me, her eyes watering. There is a deadly glare in her eyes. I grip the hammer in my hand. The fish get closer.

Lin's POV:

He watched as Septa jumped for the hammer and got to her feet. He could see the pain in her eyes from her ankle. "This is it. Come on, Septa. Make Cinna proud. Win, do not give up. Win!" The fish were at the two girls now, but they did not attack. Instead, they just made a ring around them, preventing either of them from running away from the fight. Not they would anyway. To do so would have exposed their backs to their opponent and the Games would be over anyway. He was not the only one with his eyes glued to the screen. The gamblers were also watching the screen, no longer making bets on who would win. There was no point. They all believed that Septa would lose.

He started when the old man from before walked up to him. "Seems you were right. I should have invested in her." The old man shrugged. Lin could smell the liquor on his breath and struggled not to step away. "Thanks for the information by the way. I may sponsor 12 in the coming years. Especially if she is the mentor. She knows what she's doing." Lin noticed the scars again.

"Were you once in the Games?" The old man laughed a barking laugh. No one looked at them.

"Once upon a time. But these scars came from a wild tribute after she won her Games." Lin didn't press further and continued watching Septa.

Septa's POV:

I try to ignore the mutts that have circled us. They are here to make sure neither one of us decide to run and kill ourselves. Of course not. These are the Games, a show. If the people want a show, I'll give them one.

I don't wait for the girl to attack me and I attack first, swinging the sword. She falls for the ruse and slashes at my exposed stomach. I block and swing my hammer her neck. But she notices and brings up her sword and blocks my blow. I quickly look for a weak spot on her sword.

"I know how you got that score." She sneers. They're the first words she has spoken since the fight started. "You're a smith."

I chuckle. "You are the only one to guess that and it so happens you guessed right. It is what I do best." I block her blow and see a weak spot near the middle of the blade. I block another blow and see another at the hilt, better than the one at the middle. I grip the hammer like I would if I were in the forge and aim for the weak spot. All three weapons collide at once and both of our swords are broken from the impact. I toss my hilt away and draw the knife from my belt. I nearly forgot about it. I'm forgetting about a lot of things lately. She draws her own knife, probably from a tribute she killed. I take a deep breath and we start again. My ankle is no longer throbbing. I have to end this now. I only have two choices: rush her or throw the dagger. I know she is considering the same options. I test the weight of my knife. I have to throw it. There is no other option. If I rushed her, she would kill me first on account of my ankle which feels about ready to give out on me.

We throw our knives at the same time. I collapse and hers sails over my head. Mine buries itself in her chest. She collapses on the ground, not yet dead. The mutts go back to the lake. I need to move. She could still survive. My eyes fall on her knife. I bite my lip. Am I ready to do this? The other times that I have killed, I had been in the middle of a fight. I look at her and see her considering taking my knife from her chest. I make up my mind and steel myself as I grab her knife and drag myself to her. I don't look her in the eye and plunge the knife into her exposed throat. I crawl away before she can pull my knife out and stab me with it. Just as I get back to my original position, a canon sounds and then:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victor of the One Hundredth Hunger Games and Fourth Quarter Quell, Septa Águila. I give you the female tribute of District Twelve!" Claudius Templesmith shouts over the trumpets. I toss the hammer away as a hovercraft materializes above me. The ladder drops down and I use the bow to stand. The moment I touch the ladder, I am frozen into place. I am glad. Otherwise I would have fallen off. I am lifted up and once the door closes, I collapse onto the floor. The last thing I am aware of is the doctors jabbing a needle into my arm before I lose consciousness.

Don't worry, I still have a few more chapters planned for this fic before I start the next one in this set.

Hope you enjoyed and please review