Hey kids!
I wanted to ask you guys something... I know I'd said that I would do two or three post-Games chapters featuring our Victor (who I know, by the way) but I've been thinking that I might only do one, or one really long last arena chapter including post-Games events so that I can put up my new SYOT, as I want the Victor to be a central character in it. Is that a problem? Tell me what you think!
Mela hadn't really been keeping track of it, but the sun had made a gradual descent through the sky until it finally dipped below the horizon, bathing the arena in darkness. Mela shivered, teeth chattering. Her jacket was tied around her slim waist, but she didn't trust herself to move her arms and place it over her shoulders. Her stomach wound, courtesy of Seren Alyona, was still throbbing, and if she moved too much it would start to pump out blood and she'd be forced to stop whatever it had been she was trying to do.
A sheen of sweat covered her forehead. She was going to die here, alone in a forest, with her family watching on television. Mela imagined that they'd be crying, even her mother, who hated her. Hated was a bit of an overstatement, actually. They'd never gotten along with each other, but hated? The word was a bit strong. In fact, Mela now wished that she'd said that when she'd gotten the chance instead of sort of nodding at her mother during the goodbyes. Maybe now she could say something, but that would be like she was admitting that she was going to die, and she didn't want to admit it, even though it was obvious.
She gritted her teeth and fluttered a hand towards the hole in her stomach. Her fingertips came in contact with dried, crusty blood. When she pressed slightly, a pang of pain so severe shot up her stomach that she gasped aloud, clenching her hands into fists and slamming herself against the tree trunk. Dying was agony; every breath burned with a fiery clarity. Mela watched her breath turn into vapor in front of her nose and shivered again, eyelids drooping. She didn't want to surrender to the chilly night, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to even remember what she was doing here, let alone to stay awake. Maybe it would be easier to just close her eyes and let whatever was waiting for her have her, but Mela was going to put on a good show. If she had to die, she'd die as the fifth person in the Hunger Games and as a hero, not as some pansy who couldn't keep their stupid eyes open.
A smile flicked across her face. Mental bravado, how clichéd of me. But I think I have an excuse for being a little clichéd, seeing as I'm about to die.
Even if she was having trouble breathing and staying awake, her hearing was fine, and she could hear the crunch of twigs under something's feet as it stumbled its way towards her. She heard gasping and a few sniffles, and suddenly Seren Alyona (that was his name) was standing in front of her, looking apologetic. He had a knife in his hand, and a longer knife in the other, and looked horrific. His eyes were puffy and red and his cheeks were shiny, although he'd been crying recently. Perhaps his ally had died? Even as she looked at him, Mela heard the anthem beginning to play with a flourish, and couldn't help herself; she looked away from the boy to see. The girl from District Two came first, glaring down at Mela like she wanted to rip her throat out. Then came the boy from District Four, bright red hair shining in the darkness. The nut from Six came next, her smile decidedly unhinged as she grinned down at the remaining tributes of the 54th Hunger Games. Mela felt her heart twist at the girl from District Nine's confident smile. That had been Seren's ally, she was sure of it. And then there was the cocky smirk of the boy from Eleven, looking altogether pleased with himself as he faded out of the world forever.
All dead.
She looked back at Seren to see tears running down his face. He'd fallen to his knees and had dropped his knives, rubbing at his eyes with mud-stained hands. "What did I do?" he asked, coughing through his tears. He was wheezing slightly, and Mela realized that he was coming down with something. Poor kid, not the best time for it. "How could I do this?"
She realized that he was talking to her, indirectly. Something told her that the Capitol would want a fight; well, that sucked for them, didn't it? When you were dying, she realized idly, it was easy to think such things.
"It's okay, kid," she said, coughing up a little blood from the exertion of it. He looked up, eyes huge and swimming with tears, and she felt the urge to protect him, to stoke his soft white-ish hair and tell him that everything would be okay. It was ironic that he was the one that had done this to her, but she knew now that it wasn't his fault. None of this stuff was. It all came down to the Capitol, in the end.
"It's okay," she repeated. He stared at her, unblinking, and she forced herself to smile. "There," she said, tossing her head at one of his discarded knives. "Finish me."
He looked as though he were about to bolt. "But… I don't think I can." His voice was tiny.
She narrowed her eyes. "Are you going to leave me like this? Huh? Are you?" Every word brought a few more drops of blood up, and at the last one she leaned forward and retched blood and vomit onto the grass. She looked up at him, ignoring the ropy stuff dripping from her chin. "Go ahead," she said, voice hanging.
He picked up the knife with a trembling hand.
The world began to blur.
There was a very icy feeling around her throat, like a necklace getting tighter and tighter until it broke her flesh completely. She realized idly that there was a warm wet substance dripping down to her collarbone. He'd slit her throat. How unoriginal. Her mouth twitched in spite of herself.
Gravity took her limp torso, but Seren didn't let her hit the ground. She felt his weak, frail arms encircling her, and then he was clutching her bleeding, ruined body to his chest, his ribs stabbing her in the stomach. Her eyes widened, and then dimmed. She realized that a grin had forced its way onto her face. She was smiling. Smiling as though she'd never been happier. It was even true, a little bit.
The last of her blood splattered onto the grass. It was time to go.
Her consciousness faded away, leaving one last thought to follow her to wherever it was that she was going. You're going to win, Seren. On my death.
You'll win.
And then she was dead, and her thoughts ceased to exist.
Rylla found it hard to believe, but Garnet was still working away on the trident embedded in the tree. The girl was incredibly fast; she'd managed to dodge Rylla's initial attack with the poisoned spear, which now lay in useless pieces on the ground. And then she'd grabbed the trident in her hands and heaved, trying to get it out of the tree. Unfortunately, it was stuck a little harder than either of them had expected, and now, hours later, Garnet was still trying.
"Just give up, Garnet," Rylla said; her voice was dry from hours of silence. "Just kill me. You're never going to get it out."
"Shut up," Garnet said, avoiding Rylla's gaze. She heaved, but the trident remained stubbornly impaled in the tree. Rylla winced as her blood began to flow again, the trident's sharp edges scraping against her crusted-over wounds. She bit her lip, but she doubted that Garnet would be sympathetic to her plight. After all, she had killed Garnet's only friends.
"Stop, Garnet," Rylla said quietly. "I don't know what you're trying to prove, but it's stupid. Just end me."
Garnet stopped, panting and leaning on the shaft of the trident. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead, and when she looked at Rylla her eye was blazing. "Stop?" she said, dangerously. She took a step closer to Rylla, slamming her fist into Rylla's cheek. "You bitch! How dare you? I'm not going to stop until I get this goddamn trident out of this goddamn tree and we can fight!"
Rylla looked away, cheek burning. "Fine," she said shortly. "But if we fight, you might not win." She hadn't meant it as a threat and Garnet didn't seem to take it as such. In fact, the corner of her lips turned up in a smile that Rylla knew meant that she was going to lose.
"I'll win," Garnet said, and ripped the trident out of the tree.
The movement was so unexpected that Rylla gasped and moaned, falling to the ground. Blood was pumping out of her ruined arm, and she realized that it wouldn't be so hard for Garnet to kill her. Anyone could probably kill her right now, even Rosie. Rylla had to smile a little at the thought of her ally. Killing Rosie had been for the best. Garnet would never admit it, but Rosie was wasting away in a fever that was never going to heal. Clearly, Rylla had done the right thing.
Garnet was staring down at her, trembling slightly. The bloody trident was held loosely in one hand, and her one remaining eye glowed in its socket. "Get up," she commanded, and her voice was that of an avenger, not of the girl that Rylla had once befriended.
Rylla got to her feet unwillingly, pausing only to pick up her poisoned spear. Garnet looked at it for a moment, and then looked at Rylla. "You ready?" she asked. Rylla paused for a moment, and then nodded.
Garnet shot forward like lightning, slashing the trident at Rylla's face. Rylla danced back, holding the shaft of her poisoned spear in front of her. With a bat of Garnet's trident, the spear broke in half and tumbled to the grass, Rylla following close behind. Garnet snarled. "Are you giving up that easily?" She prodded Rylla's collarbone with the prongs of her trident. "Get up!"
Rylla, trembling now, picked up the half of the broken spear. Garnet didn't lunge at her this time; she simply stood there, waiting for Rylla to make the first move. Rylla lunged forward experimentally, and gasped as Garnet's arm shot out, catching her in the solar plexus. She wheezed, jabbing the poison spear at Garnet's stomach. Garnet easily caught it in between the prongs of her trident and whirled, sending it flying across the clearing. Rylla didn't pause for breath; she lunged past Garnet, pounding towards her only weapon. Her bloodied arm hung limply at her side, and she screamed as Garnet's trident embedded in her shoulder. She fell to her hands and knees, crawling towards the spear. She snagged the shaft of the spear at the same time Garnet's foot slammed into her back, pressing her into the ground. There was a wet, sickening slurp as the trident was pulled from her skin. She clenched her eyes shut and waited for death, but realized that it wasn't coming yet. Garnet was breathing heavily, and suddenly Rylla felt herself being pulled up.
Garnet hurled her into a tree, which she slammed into and thudded to the ground, staining everything red. She felt as though a rib was broken, maybe two. Her heart sank. Garnet was coming forward and her one eye was red. It was over.
She hurled the spear in a last-ditch effort to save herself, but Garnet batted it out of the air so easily it was pathetic. She felt a tiny humming scream burst out of her mouth, and let the tears that had been gathering in the corners of her eyes leak down her cheeks. "Garnet," she whispered. Garnet just looked at her, arm with the trident hanging by her side. "Garnet!" Rylla shrieked, surprising both of them. "Don't just stand there, you bitch! Come on and finish me off. What are you, a Career? Are you gonna torture me to death, Garnet? At least I made their deaths quick!"
Garnet still only looked down at her, eyes red-rimmed. "You don't deserve a quick death," she said, in a voice so low it was almost impossible to hear. She extended a hand, suddenly. "But I'll give it to you anyway. Come on. Stand up."
Rylla eyed the extended hand. "I'm fine where I am," she whispered.
Garnet's eyes narrowed. "I don't want to kill you like this," she snarled. "Sitting down. I want to fight you."
Rylla's eyes were moist. She got to her knees, and then stopped, looking up at Garnet's face. "Oh Garnet," she said, looking into the eyes of someone that she knew now was her friend, deep down inside. "Sometimes we don't get what we want." Her blood felt cool on her warm skin, slipping down her useless arm and pattering on the spongy leaves of a plant tickling her thigh.
Garnet raised the trident, features inscrutable, but paused, staring at Rylla's face as though she were looking for something. I have to end this, Rylla thought. Garnet… I don't think she wants to kill me. But I can't… I can't live with myself anymore. I have to make her hate me, for real this time.
And it was with no regrets that she let a malicious smile curl onto her face. "Look at you," she whispered. "Looking down on me." Her eyes widened. "Don't look down on me! Don't you ever look down on me! Don't-!"
There was a sickening thud, and she looked down to see the trident embedded in her stomach.
There was no time to say anything. Blood was already clogging her throat, coming out of her nose, strangely enough. She slumped forward on the trident, eyes flickering. Her vision was already gone, and then she felt her ability to move spiral away.
Only her consciousness was left. And it wasn't long before that, too, disappeared down a hall of darkness, to places that Rylla could only guess.
It had started to rain.
Seren didn't know who the rain was targeting, or why, but it was raining, and it was cold. He snuggled deeper into his jacket and let another cough rack his body. He was getting sick again. Whenever he had gotten sick in the past, he'd spend weeks in bed, but now he was in the arena. There weren't even beds here. It was the worst possible time to be sick, and he was regretting the awful timing with every fiber of his being.
He was thirsty now, and opened his mouth, letting rainwater patter on his tongue. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. He was curled up on a tree branch now, taking shelter under his jacket. It smelled somewhat musty and he knew sleep would be hard to come by, but no matter. Sleeping at this stage in the Games would just be stupid. He'd been dozing off when he heard the cannon blast. It had come only a few minutes after he'd watched Mela's body being pulled into the sky from the safety of a tree. His stomach knotted in anticipation. This was it; the final three. There were only two other people in this arena. Only one of them could live.
The idea, to say the least, was startling.
He coughed again, and immediately covered his mouth with his hand. For all he knew, he was being hunted right now. He closed his eyes; going through who it could possibly be that was left. He was fairly sure that everyone from District One was dead, and District Two. He'd just killed Mela, and her district partner had died in the Bloodbath, so District Three was out. He didn't know about District Four; the boy had died today, but the girl could still be alive. Okay, the girl from District Four is a potential competitor. The boy from District Five was out, he knew, and he couldn't exactly remember the girl. Maybe she's still alive? He felt like he'd seen her in the sky at some point, though. He gasped in realization. Oh, right, she's one of the ones Merryn attacked in the underground caves. Probably dead, then. He shuddered. Oh, Merryn. I wish you and Regah were here. The hovercraft that had collected the bodies hadn't collected Regah's, to Seren's horror, so he'd buried the bird mutt in the field. He could have eaten Regah, but that bird was Merryn and Merryn was that bird. Eating Regah would be like eating his best friend. He couldn't do it.
Lysemet was dead. He'd seen her when he'd been killing Mela. He couldn't help but feel slightly happy about it. That girl had hated him from the start, and now she was gone. He was safe from her forever, unless he died in the final three and went to the same afterlife as she did. He shuddered; an eternity of Lysemet would be too much to bear.
The girl and boy from Seven were dead. The girl had died in the Bloodbath; he remembered it. As for the boy, he'd seen him in the sky at some point. The boy from Eight had also died in the Bloodbath, but the girl, Arista Something… She was still alive. He was sure of it, unless that cannon earlier had been hers. Okay, Arista might be killing me at some point too.
He didn't want to think about District Nine. Especially not the girl from District Nine.
It was in District Ten that he found his last potential opponent. "Garnet Painite," he muttered to himself. "That's it, then. Either the girl from Four, Arista, or Garnet just died, which mean the other two are still out there." He shivered, although this time it had nothing to do with the cold.
Seren glanced up at the crackle of lightening. He winced. Suddenly being in a tree seemed like a really bad idea. He slid off the branch, at the same time the tree next to his exploded in a shower of splinters and wood chips, a lightning bolt just feet away from him.
He turned tail and ran.
There was no doubt in his mind that the Gamemakers were up to something. It was possible that they wanted to kill him so the final showdown would be between two people instead of three, although being exploded by lightning seemed like a boring, bloodless death for the final three. Zigzagging around a fallen log, he paused for a second to catch his breath and immediately started running again as the lightning hit the ground directly behind him. It's obvious where I have to go, he thought. They know that I know what I have to do.
The underground cave is the only way.
As soon as he turned his boots in the direction of the caves, the lightning stopped getting so ridiculously close, although it continued to occasionally explode a bush or an unlucky animal. At one point, some sort of bird mutt fluttered down from a tree, claws outstretched, and a lightning bolt hit it in the middle, obliterating it. Seren felt a pang of hurt; the mutt had been the same type of mutt as Regah.
He passed the Cornucopia and Regah's grave in a flash of gold. Leaping over a bush, he pounded towards the mountain, stopping once more to breathe deeply through his mouth. Apparently the lightening didn't want to wait; it hit the very tip of the tree he was leaning against, setting the whole thing on fire in a matter of seconds. Gasping for air, Seren continued to run before tripping over his own feet and falling to the muddy, soggy ground, sides aching. He just couldn't do it. Last time it had taken him over an hour to walk to the stupid mountain. He couldn't run that far.
He could hear something exploding directly behind him. Was this it, then? Was he going to die by lightning? He felt a tiny note of resolve creep into his heart. Of course not.
He shot to his feet, fingers digging into the mud and pulling him forward. The lightning had obliterated the spot in which he'd been laying. The thought of death so imminent made him cringe, but he continued forward, jogging at a steady pace. As he'd thought, the lightning didn't get too close. They wanted him alive.
It took another torturous half hour before Seren spotted the base of the mountain. His sides were burning and he wanted nothing more than to lay in the mud and let the rain cover him completely, but he kept on going, at least until he saw Garnet Painite sprinting out of the trees like a gazelle, lightning stabbing directly behind her and on practically all sides, herding her towards the mountain. She scrambled onto the white rocks and almost immediately fell into the hole that would lead to the cavern. Crap, Seren thought. I can't go in there now. He took a step back and felt lightning scorching his back, so close that it had almost touched him. But apparently I'm supposed to.
He shot out of the woods, running for the white rocks. It was still raining; in fact the rocks were wet and slippery. It was difficult to get a firm grip on them, but Seren scrabbled his way towards the hole in between the perfectly cut stones. He took a deep breath and glanced down to see nothing but darkness. He clutched his long knife in one hand, leaving the other in his belt, and strengthened his resolve before sliding into the unknown.
James was dead.
The thought buzzed around in Arista's head like a thousand angry tracker jackers, keeping her mind occupied on something other than the lightening that was following her around. James. He'd died for her, the idiot. She hadn't wanted him to go, but he had, and look what had happened to him.
She loved James. She'd probably admitted it to him when she was still alive, but not enough. Wherever he was now, he was probably lonely, and maybe he was wondering if she really had loved him, or if she'd been playing with his feelings. Well, Arista knew. She couldn't play with anybody's feelings for her life, especially not his.
Stupid love.
She'd spent all day crying, after the screaming was over. They'd taken her James when she was still writhing in agony on a tree limb. She hadn't gotten the chance to truly say goodbye, to stroke his cheek and whisper in his ear. He must have won, because he'd gotten her the drapeweed, but Arista still wished she could find the one who had wounded him and rip their throat out. No matter. She was fighting for James now, not herself, and because of that, she would win. She had to win. He'd died for her, and his sacrifice couldn't be in vain.
The lightning couldn't keep up with her. Arista was running fast, so fast that her troubles were falling behind her. Only one managed to cling to her heart, and that was the one that was the most troubling to her. James.
She shot past mutts and Cornucopias and lightning bolts and killer plants with no discretion. The lightning seemed to be herding her somewhere, but she couldn't honestly bring herself to care. Her axe was held loosely in her hand; there'd been nothing else to bring, as someone had stolen all of their packs while she'd still been paralyzed and James had been out hunting. The axe was comforting to her; she hadn't ever gotten much of a chance to use it, as she'd been paralyzed for most of the Games, but now that the final fight was coming up, the axe was going to help her win.
She burst out of the woods easily, sprinting in the direction the lightning was telling her to go. She had to pause, though, at the sight of a white-haired boy standing on the rocks piled up on the base of the mountain. He seemed to be steeling himself for something big, and abruptly he stepped forward and vanished. Arista clenched her teeth; the Capitol was up to something, no doubt about it.
She looked to the right coolly as a lightning bolt big enough to split the mountain in two slammed into the forest. She realized idly that multiple bolts were coming down now, destroying the arena. They were massive and predatory, exploding the forest into complete and utter ruin. Trees flew through the air, scorched beyond recognition. Somewhere in all that chaos, the Cornucopia would be melting into a blob of molten golden metal. All of the animals and mutts would be roasting alive, giving their last screams. The place where James took his final breaths would be bursting into a pile of bloody dirt scattered across a ruined landscape.
She screamed once, turning around to see the biggest lightning bolt of all hitting the peak of the mountain. There was a distant roar, and the snow-tipped peak began to crack, an avalanche of epic proportions tumbling down the slope, directly at her. Her personal lightning bolts were back, and once again they were herding her towards the now-broken mountain, where the boy had vanished.
I'm going to die, she thought numbly, shooting towards the mountain and the roaring snow. I'm sorry, James. I couldn't do it.
The avalanche was getting closer. The white rocks that she pulled herself on were covered in rainwater and ash, and extremely slippery. She slid down to the bottom of one of the rocks she'd been trying to climb and screamed in frustration and fear, seeing the avalanche and lightning growing ever closer. Her personal lightning was also drawing near.
"Augh!" she screamed, taking a step forward. Her personal lightning immediately winked out of existence, and looking down she could see why. There was a hole in between the rocks, a hole that could lead anywhere but probably just led to the place of the final fight.
The avalanche was now so close that she could feel flecks of snow and little bits or rock and dirt on her forearms.
"Goodbye, James," she said, taking a deep breath and stepping forward into the blackness that was the whole. Milliseconds later, the avalanche would hit the place she'd just been standing, but she had made it.
Now the only thing left to do… was win.
I am honestly sorry, Lavinia Abernathy and thelosthungergames. Mela and Rylla were, in short, amazing. On a lighter note, weren't their deaths awesome? Come on, you know they were. I had a lot of fun writing them!
TRIBUTE WATCH, FOR THE LAST TIME IN THIS SYOT!
Seren Alyona
The cavern under the mountain; three gashes in arm, stabbed palm
Kills: Mela Servitore
Arista Ryans
The cavern under the mountain; uninjured
Kills: Absalmo Kween (BB character); Lura Falon
Garnet Painite
The cavern under the mountain; gash over right eyebrow, painful eye socket
Kills: Rylla Stevens
Holy crap. All of our remaining characters have finally killed someone (even Seren, yay!) and they're all in the cavern under the mountain. This is it, guys! WHO. WILL. WIN?