Nico opened his eyes. He had no idea how long he had been sleeping for, but it was probably too long. He looked over at Will, who was also asleep. Neither of them had thought to be a guard.

Will had spent the previous night patching up his shoulder. Right now, it was wrapped tightly in part of Will's own tribute outfit, a bright yellow jumpsuit. It stood out against the red tiled walls. One of Will's sleeves was gone because of it, but really, did that matter? Will was safe, for the moment. He would wake up soon and realize that his ally had left him, but he would be safe.

Nico knew what he had to do. If he was smart, he would have killed Will, but he couldn't stomach that. He just had to leave. Will would hinder him. He couldn't afford any attachments in the Games. Nico stood up, made sure that his sword still hung at his belt, and walked away. Nothing called him back. Will didn't wake up. Nico turned a corner, and was gone.

He kept walking for a little while, until he heard a skittering noise. Nico quickly turned around, checking to see if Will or someone else had followed him. There was no one there.

Still, Nico paused. He didn't want to take any chances. The Arena really was safer with an ally, wasn't it? Bianca had never gotten to meet up with her ally. She had died on the first day.

Remember that, you idiot, Nico reminded himself. He couldn't afford to forget why he was here. Not to make friends. Not even to win. Just to kill Zoe, Bianca's killer.

A growl from down the hallway.

Nico stayed still. Whatever that was could probably smell him, but if he started running, the thing would too. He took a few small steps backwards. The growls became louder.

A wolf came around the corner, growling.

Nico couldn't lead this back to Will!

Nico and the wolf stood still for a few moments, and Nico believed that he might have actually been able to get away without attacking!

But then, suddenly, the wolf was in the air and almost to his face—how far could that thing jump?!—and Nico only barely moved out of the way, slamming into the tile, drawing his sword. He went on the offensive, swinging at the wolf's head, but the wolf was too fast and launched himself up again, raking its claws down Nico's arm. Nico screamed, but smacked the wolf with the flat of his sword. He stabbed the wolf in the stomach, again and again, until he was absolutely sure that it was dead. His arm hurt too much…it was bleeding too much…Will could fix this, right? That was his talent! He had to get back to Will…

Nico stumbled down the hallway, back the way he had come. For a few dizzying moments, he couldn't remember the way. But then he took the turn and fell…

Will was there, suddenly, standing above him. "Idiot!"

Nico didn't have the energy to deny it.

Will was already at work, ripping off one of Nico's sleeves and binding the wound. There was no way for him to sterilize it, but he had to stop the bleeding. Red still seeped through the fabric. Will tightened the bandage. Nico groaned. "That hurts!"

"Shut up! What were you thinking, wandering off like that?"

Nico didn't answer. Will realized that he had passed out. This wasn't good. Nico had lost a lot of blood. He had to stay awake. Will slapped his ally.

Nico didn't awaken.

"Nico!" Will shook him. "Nico!"

XXXXX

Calypso stared down the hallway, wondering if she was dreaming. The rest of the Arena, at least the parts that she and Grover had visited, seemed manufactured. They were made of metal and stone. But then she and Grover had gotten to a weird point where the stones didn't fit together and were overrun with vines, and then they had gotten to this hallway.

The walls were a mass of vines, some that reminded Calypso of ivy, some that were unfamiliar. The ground was grassy, with some stones under it. There were trees and the lighting seemed soft and green—a bit off, yes, but nothing that Calypso couldn't handle, not when she and Grover had made it to this heaven.

"Whoa," Grover said.

"This is amazing!" Calypso could spot at least three different herbs that she could use in remedies, and with this much plant growth, there had to be water! Not to mention the food opportunities. "Let's go!"

"Are you sure?" Grover asked. "It couldn't be dangerous."

"This entire Arena is dangerous."

"Fair enough. But still…there's something wrong."

"Yeah," Calypso agreed. "The light's weird. But still…this entire Arena is filled with traps. There were the axes, and then that weird wolf…at least we have some idea of how to use this place to our advantage."

Grover nodded. "I guess you're right."

Suddenly, Calypso heard something shift. Grover's eyes widened. Calypso saw something moving in the vines. A figure charged out of it, sprinting around Grover and Calypso and down the next hallway. He had knives in his hands. Calypso's heart raced, but she didn't think that the boy—it was Ethan, right?—was a threat. He had ignored them.

"So…that was weird," Grover pointed out.

"Yeah. Do you think that something in here made him go crazy?"

"He seemed kind of crazy throughout the whole thing."

"True."

Grover took a tentative step. His foot found stone ground, seeming solid. "I think it's safe."

Calypso followed Grover into the grove. The pair stood silently for a few moments, marveling at the nature hidden inside of such an artificial Arena. Calypso couldn't see the sky, but she imagined that it was there, hidden just above the trees. Then she focused on the task at hand and headed over to the vines, yanking two off of the walls. "These could be useful."

"Yeah." Grover weighed two sticks in his hand, then chose one to be his club. "Do you recognize any of this?"

"Aloe, cranberries…there's a lot of helpful stuff around here, but it doesn't make any sense! None of this stuff has the same environment!"

"How do you know about it, then?"

"I've seen it in other apothecaries, shipped in from 10 and 11. But this whole foresty place doesn't seemed to exist according to nature."

"We're in the Arena, after all."

For the first time, Calypso laughed. "You're right. I need to get that through my head."

Yes.

The voice wasn't hers or Grover's, it didn't seem human, it rather sounded like it was the wind or something else like that. Calypso froze. "Grover—"

"I heard it. We need to go."

Running away? The voice purred. No, no. I've had three visitors today and still haven't had anything to eat.

"Come on!" Calypso and Grover began sprinting away, but suddenly, the vines were alive and moving. The ones in Calypso's hands came alive, too, wrapping around her, strangling her. Calypso pulled one of them off and wrestled with the next.

"Calypso!" Grover was turning back, coming to help her.

"No, Grover! Run! You have to run!"

Yes, run away, little boy, the voice cackled. Let me have my prey.

"No!" Grover screamed. "Calypso!"

You test my patience! The voice warned. Leave, or be killed!

"Grover, run! Win this for Juniper! You have to win!"

The vines began dragging her back into the room, deeper and deeper.

Grover ran.

XXXXX

Percy and Annabeth had been moving along quickly, but the tunnel seemed to go on forever. The rust was everywhere, too. Percy was a bit worried. He wasn't scared of the water, drowning wasn't a possible form of death for him. He knew the water through and through, and while it was dangerous, he knew how to live in it.

He was worried for Annabeth. He knew that she would have to die sooner or later, but that didn't mean that he wanted her to. She was actually pretty nice. A little serious, but nice. She could easily die if the tunnel did flood.

"Do you think it'll end soon?" Annabeth asked him.

"I don't know. This tunnel could go on forever. Do you think that we're looping?"

"I don't really see how it's possible. We came into this tunnel when it connected to the high gray maze, so we should get back to that point if we're in a loop."

"Unless the maze is changing."

"Oh, god. Don't even joke about that."

There was a sound from somewhere behind them. Rushing water, almost, like when the dams broke back in District 4 three summers ago. That wasn't a happy memory, but it still made Percy smile.

Then Percy realized what it meant.

"Run!" Annabeth shouted, starting to sprint. Percy ran after her. She was pretty fast, but he had more endurance. None of it mattered. The water was much faster than either of them. It roared down the corner, slamming into them. Percy angled his body forward. He couldn't let himself be smashed into a wall. He took a deep breath and pushed himself under the water, near the bottom, where the pull wasn't as strong. Where was Annabeth?

Annabeth slammed into a wall, hurting her ankle, but managed to push off and back into the middle of the tunnel. Her head was dangerously close to the ceiling. Where was Percy?

She was pushed down two more tunnels, traveling at an incredibly fast pace. She knew that Percy wasn't with her anymore. Annabeth was on her own.

Tributes:

D1: Nancy Bobofit

D2: Octavian Hill; Reyna Ramirez-Arellano

D3: Leo Valdez; Annabeth Chase

D4: Percy Jackson; Clarisse La Rue

D5: Jason Grace

D7: Grover Underwood

D8: Ethan Nakamura

D9: Will Solace

D10: Frank Zhang; Hazel Levesque

D11: Katie Gardner

D12: Nico di Angelo; Zoe Nightshade

I have an important question. Should I play this all the way to the end, with all but one dying? Or should this have more of a Catching Fire ending?