AUTHOR's NOTE: Here's an update because I have new readers. Haha. Thank you! Please, enjoy! I am really a weird writer. I always love plot twists.

The Representative Tributes/Tributes of District 1-12: UPDATED according to the last chapter's declared deaths!

District 1: Percy Jackson & the Olympians – Percy; Annabeth

District 2: Lorien Legacies – Maren (Six)

District 3: Mortal Instruments – Clary

District 4: Inheritance – Arya

District 5: Lord of the Rings – Legolas

District 6: Divergent – Four

District 7: Twilight

District 8: Unfortunate Events – Violet

District 9: Harry Potter – Harry; Hermione

District 10: Maze Runner – Thomas

District 11: Narnia

District 12: Hunger Games – Peeta; Katniss

CHAPTER 25: Grief

Thomas from The Maze Runner

'Face her!' The only solution Thomas could think of just to save his sanity was to face Teresa and get rid of her even though he knew she was just the result of his too much thoughts and his undying guilt.

And, so he did.

At the intersection of four passageways, Thomas had faced Teresa and had lifted his hands with his blade against her. In that mere second, he was greatly satisfied, with spiders behind him being cleared out and the female Glader in front getting rid of. And finally, there she was standing before him, bleeding from the cut on her shoulder and down diagonally.

But realization came in, it wasn't Teresa. It wasn't Teresa bleeding in front of him, wasn't Teresa dying by the wound he had executed. Thug.

The girl fell from her knees bearing a surprise expression on her face – the same expression Thomas had as well. She landed helplessly on the course ground, eyes wide open in shock. The blood from the wound spurt out, staining the violet clothes she had. And Thomas, by his surprise, stumbled backward and numbly unhanded his weapon, completely horrified from what he had done to the kid.

And then, all of a sudden, he heard a loud cry from one of the three passageways of the intersection. It roared the name of the girl in front of him, "VIOLET!" The voice was full of horror and at the same time, full of anger – that rage, Thomas heartbeats went wild and loud. And he was scared – so scared, he quickly rose up from the ground and sprinted away from the body.

'How did this all happen?'

Arya Dröttningu from Inheritance Cycle

She had seen her weak frame running helplessly through a random passage. And then, in a split unpredictable second, she had seen her fall. A random participant had just slashed Violet on her turn in the crossing.

Arya's eyes got widen in shock. Informal it might be, but the scene had just made her scream to the top of her lungs. Horrified. The happening was way too cruel to the elf's sight. Promptly, Arya ran with her best speed and reached the bleeding girl on her spot in a second. Though her hands were shaking, she observed her and inspected the wound, muttering, "Oh, Violet…" repeatedly, pleading and almost crying.

Though Violet was still breathing, the wound was deep, really deep. She won't survive it. No one would survive it, even the strongest elf she knew. "This can't be…" Arya's breathings became heavy, looking at the girl's shock face. Violet's eyes were still open, looking at nothing and head resting on the rough surface.

Without hesitation, Arya took her Container and gripped on it tightly. She only had two lights left. Nonetheless, she was willing to use it for the girl. "Hold on tight, Violet…" With her one hand on the wound, the Container glowed intensively. Arya's eyes went thin, begging for her remaining lights. Violet had deeper wound than Legolas. The male elf had already consumed three lights from her. It was obvious that her lights weren't enough for the girl but she went on still. The ointment was of no use. The wound was seriously open to apply. And then, with just a snap, Arya's Container went shut. Her lights were all off. Again, Arya went hysterical, "Oh, no. No, Violet…" Her hands were wildly trembling, caressing the girl's head.

It wasn't only obvious but Violet had happened to look at the grieving Arya just before she took her last breath. And with that, she died.

The clever Baudelaire was dead.

Arya went helplessly frozen on the spot – too surprised and unrecovered – up until she felt the male elf's presence beside her. She sensed him positioned, stood firmly and set his bow and arrow perfectly. Arya knew that Legolas was still seeing the fleeing murderer.

From that point, she turned her head to see the murderer as well. Even though he was already yards away from them, she could still recognize him from his back. Thomas.

Arya felt nothing but disgust and hatred, however, "P-Please, s-sa-save Thomas. He doesn't deserve this place." Arya recalled the girl, Teresa, and her pleading and the promise that Legolas had left on her departure. For that reason, Arya nervously wondered, 'Would Legolas kill Thomas?'

Pause.

Without any hesitation, the arrow from the male elf's bow was released. It travelled through the passage in a straight path and straight through the running murderer's head. Afterwards, Thomas was down on the ground with an arrow through his skull. Dead.

Another silence. After that, Arya heard Legolas say, "There's no need for any hesitation. He killed Violet." Arya was somehow glad that he chose to kill the man.

One heavy breath. Arya returned her focus on the dead girl on the ground. Ivies were starting to take the body. She was about to cut the greens when Legolas talked in once again, "Let them take her. She's already dead." His voice was cold and emotionless, as if he had no care for the girl at all.

Arya gritted her teeth and rose up to face the male elf. She was about to say something when Legolas started to walk away from the scene. On that point, she also noticed that his hands were already balled up tightly. He was mad.

The wood elf added, "Spiders are coming, Arya. We better go." He continued off from the intersection.

Realizing that he was also grieving, maybe deeper than her, Arya remained silent and took a final glance at the poor kid, instead. Ivies were already pulling the girl towards the big roots of a tree, as if the maze was already eating the body. Afterwards, she halfheartedly followed the other elf run to who-knows-where.

It had pained her greatly. Violet's death had pained her greatly. Violet didn't deserve such death. Violet didn't deserve to die. By some means, Arya was blaming herself for the girl's tragedy, and, if she was blaming herself that way and that deep, 'What of Legolas…?'

Tobias 'Four' Eaton from Divergent

Damn. Of all competitors, not her.

They had crossed path with the Loric. And she had seen them as a threat – a threat that was needed to be eliminated immediately, especially him. He could tell, for she was glaring at him while pointing her twin swords and stretching her limbs in a position.

Bad timing. They had a kid to rescue. And, it had been more alarming than ever for lately they had heard a horrifying scream calling the kid's name. It sounded bad. With this, they knew that Violet was in trouble, in the worse way they could think of.

Well, Tobias had no choice. Even though he wasn't still fit to fight, he withdrew his blade, stepping before Katniss, protecting her from the dangerous player.

"Four…" he heard Katniss call worriedly.

"I have to try…" Four reasoned. At once, the Loric's swords slashed the air. She was clearly ready as she advanced a step towards them and then, in a second, she disappeared. "Here we go…" the Dauntless uttered as he felt through the air and then expertly blocked the Loric's blade from its disappearance.

It was obvious on her face; the Loric was surprised, revealing herself again.

Tobias smirked shortly, putting gravity on his blade against the Loric's. "It appears I'm not easy to fight with…"

The Loric just glared at him harder and hopped backwards to withdraw an attack once again. This time, she smirked wickedly. Terrifying. The Loric wasn't one to be teased upon. "I was just firing up…" she said.

Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson & the Olympians

She woke up seeing things inverted. She was hanging upside down from a tree's branch. Her body was covered with web, leaving just half of her face. Around her were woods with white mesh. At least, she was near to the ground. But, to land and escape, she couldn't think of a way. She was still disorientated and her hands and limbs were tightly bound off. There were no spiders around. She couldn't feel one. Thank the gods! But, they would come back any second from then on, she was certain. She only needed something sharp to escape, but her tools and her bag were not with her in the moment. It was almost impossible. She was panicking. Until…

Annabeth heard footsteps. It could be anyone else. It could be an enemy. It was just high hopes, but she called out nonetheless, "PERCY!"

The footsteps grew louder. And there, from the forest's shadows, a man was revealed. Just like her, his shirt was stained with blood. Dirt was all over him. And, on his right hand was the sword she was so frightened to see, to remember: Rhindon, the great blade of Peter the Magnificent.

"Annabeth…" he called. His eyes were full of hatred, gripping the hilt of his friend's sword tightly.

Of all people, "Peeta…"

"You killed Peter. How could you…?" the baker continued, muttering inaudibly as if he was eating his every word, trapping the words between his teeth. He was so mad at her, she could see. He was obviously there to kill her, and she wasn't ready to die. She still needed to save Percy, to help him. There were so many things to do, to fix.

Annabeth had nothing to explain, nothing to excuse. She had no plan of excusing herself anyway. She couldn't take breaking the already broken man as well. So, she said wholeheartedly, regrettably in a way, "Sorry. I've done what should've been done…" She didn't reason. It was the whole truth.

As expected, Peeta didn't take it. He continued, telling the words in the same manner, "Peter saved your life and you took his life!" He was getting hysterical, with his grip on the hilt trembling with hate, "He didn't have to die but you still did it… I-I can't understand…" He completely pointed the sword towards her, "YOU MONSTER!"

The last words had been said louder than it should be. Annabeth's eyes widened up as she heard the clicking joints of the eight-legged creatures coming back from the forest's treetops. They were back for her. Peeta was alarmed as well while Annabeth was scared as hell in her position – that scared, she begged, "Peeta…!"

And, the baker was indecisive, "I-I don't know…" It appeared like he wasn't that willing and desperate to kill her after all. But, if he was going to help her, Annabeth wasn't so sure. So she forced him harder, "Peeta, please…!" The spiders went visible from above, descending quickly towards them.

In her relief, Peeta advanced towards her, acting like he would lose her bindings nevertheless. And, Annabeth was so grateful. Her face lightened up.

But, Peeta stopped midway.

'He can't stop now!' she was panicking. "Peeta…?"

Peeta's shoulders went low. To Annabeth's fear, he withdrew an apologetic expression and said, "I think… you deserve this, Annabeth." Along with his statement, her hopes rapidly drained out and disappeared. As if her whole world went down. Horror came to her as Peeta continued to tell her lastly, "I'm sorry…"

Annabeth went helplessly stunned, watching the baker turn around and pace away from her and back into the shadows he had come from. She remained frozen on the spot, up until she heard the loud snaps from the inch-distant giant arachnids, and up until she felt the first deep bite of the creature.

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games

"It's no good…" Tobias muttered lowly as he settled beside her, right after leaping a distant from his opponent.

Though remaining unwounded, Four was extremely tired. He was perspiring too much, wearying too much. "Okay…" Katniss stretched her bow. "We only need – "

Incredulous it might be but the spiders' presence had just saved their lives. Three spiders landed between them and the Loric, blocking the representative tribute's view from them.

They both knew – she and Tobias – that it was the right time to escape. And then, they said unintentionally in chorus, "Let's go…"

Harry James Potter from Harry Potter

Dark fluid burst out as Harry withdrew his sword out from the last giant spider in the area. The liquid squirted out up to his frame, making his shirt dirtier than ever. He didn't care. Right after the last, he went on to help Hermione out from the cocoon the creatures had made around her.

Hermione was conscious though obviously weak. Promptly after completely taking her out of the collected mesh, Harry squared her with a hug. Hermione wept in response. "I thought I'd lost you…" Harry said.

They'd stayed there for a while until Hermione finally recovered. Realizing the absence of the demigod, she asked, releasing the wizard from the embrace, "Where's Annabeth?"

Harry shook his head, eyes on the ground, "I can't help it. I have to rescue you…"

"Oh, Harry…" Hermione was seeing how depressing it was for him. He had lost Annabeth under his guard, under his responsibility. His hands balled up tightly, hating himself in the process. Hermione squeezed his shoulder, "You did your best, Harry…"

"I don't know. It appears it wasn't enough," Harry shook his head once again, "Now, Percy… How can I…?"

Hermione clicked her tongue, "Then, we'll say the truth…"

'He'll get mad,' Harry thought. It would clearly make a war between them and the demigod. Percy was a very powerful competitor, he knew, and obviously more powerful than him. It would take him an amount of lights to defeat him and, definitely, four remaining lights won't be enough. And besides, he didn't want to fight the guy – the same guy who healed up his wound. "It's not that easy…" he muttered, almost under his breathe. Hermione just released a heavy sigh. They both knew the awaiting costs.

Meggie 'Meg' Folchart from Inkheart

Finally, the gamemakers had decided to dismiss the presence of the hideous creatures out from the arena. Five hours had passed and it seemed like eternity. The light of the day went off and the night fell.

At last, she had been allowed to take a break and to get out from the suffocating game room. Currently, she was in her room.

"District 8 was so affected, they got wild…" Meggie recalled the words she had overheard from the guards the moment she went through the hallway to return to her room. District 8 went wild. She might not get the whole idea of it but she could take out the picture. The district must have gone mad about their last representative's sudden death. But, how far they had taken it deeply? Meggie had no idea.

Another heavy sigh.

As far as she could comprehend, the Capitol went wild as well. She had seen them lose their composure and screamed out by their excitement like mad people from the monitors in the game room earlier. They were crazy. They were unexplainably crazy.

Meggie was afraid, so afraid. 'It feels like I'm in the middle of ravenous wolves...' Silence. She hugged her knees up, settling on her bed. "I miss you, Mo…"

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games

She really didn't want to stop and rest. She wanted to seek further and look for the kid. The Baudelaire was surely in trouble and she couldn't make her mind at peace without her being convinced that the kid was fine and alive. But, Tobias was all drained and he needed rest. The Loric was very difficult to fight with, and also, very difficult to escape from. It took their whole energy to get themselves out from her predatory eyes. Thus, she had decided to settle first and let the Dauntless rest for a while.

Tobias was back on his position, resting his head on her lap, eyes shut close, although, she could bet he was somehow half awake; while, she remained leaning and resting on a fine tree.

The passage was in complete silence, up until the same orchestra echoed through the ways of the arena. The Fallen.

All of a sudden, Katniss's heartbeats rose. She really had a bad feeling. Tobias, on the other hand, woke up but remained on his position. They stayed still as they looked upon the sky. The hologram wounded the night sky and the very moment the first picture appeared, Katniss's eyes widened, "…this can't be…" Right after, her tears fell as her hands tightened into fists, preventing herself to give in deeply. Then, she felt Tobias's hand over hers. He sat up and gave her a tight embrace. No words. And then, she surrendered completely, sobbing uncontrollably on his shoulder.

In her mind, Katniss was blaming the elves for the girl's death – that, somehow, they let it happen to her.

Harry James Potter from Harry Potter

Annbeth was dead. The report had already made it clear.

"It's my fault…" Harry muttered more to himself. He was sitting on a moss-covered boulder, with his eyes down on the ground, thinking and blaming himself repeatedly.

Hermione, who was sitting beside a tree, stood up. "It's not your fault, Harry! You did your best, we both know it. You know it…" Harry looked at her. She was feeling guilty as well. It was obvious on her unsteady emotion. Yet, he couldn't see why. He was about to say something when an echoing and loud cry disturbed the stillness of the night. It said, "HARRY!" From the end of the short passage they were settling, there was Percy with his drawn Riptide.

Extreme hate and grief. The Son of Poseidon was obviously mad.

It was just a second and Percy was suddenly in front of Harry to rapidly slam him to the coarse ground. And so, the impact came. Harry's face was smashed to the ground. Blood once again escaped from his mouth and nose. Worse, his leg collided against a boulder. It wasn't broken but was dislocated from his knee.

'Percy is mad and I deserve this,' the wizard was thinking, not planning to fight the demigod or even defend himself.

"ANNABETH IS DEAD!" Percy shouted out madly. Though Harry couldn't turn to see the grieving demigod, he could clearly determine that Percy was crying. Then, he felt him lift his collar up strongly. "I TRUSTED HER TO YOU! SHE'S DEAD, HARRY! SHE'S DEAD!" Harry couldn't lift his eyelids open and somehow it was better that way. He couldn't take seeing the broken man – broken, because of his own doing. The demigod was yelling continuously, "YOU LET HER DIE! HOW COULD YOU?!" Right after, a strong blow came and landed right on the wizard's face, and another. And, Harry would receive another blow once again until, in some ways, he was separated from the raging demigod. He fell back to the floor. It was Hermione – she shoved in between.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM! WE'RE SORRY! I'M SORRY! I know it's not enough but it's all I can say. It's my fault. It's not Harry's. Please, don't kill him. Kill me, instead. Just not him, Percy. I'm begging you…" She was crying. It was obvious on her shaky voice. But, Harry won't let her sacrifice herself. Not Hermione. Not Hermione.

"What the hell, Hermione. NO!" Harry shouted. He wanted to rise and stop the witch but he couldn't. "Damn!" He couldn't stand up.

"Move aside, Hermione!" Percy yelled out.

Hermione continued, "NO! PLEASE! It was my fault. I screwed everything up. I was dragged by the spiders and so was Annabeth. He would've gone to save her but, he chose me over her…" she paused to take a deep breath, "…please… please… I'm so sorry…"

"HERMIONE!" Percy was mad.

"…please…"

Harry's tears fell. What a pitiful situation! He'd never imagined that they would be in that demeaning situation. He'd never imagined that Hermione would beg out for him, beg out for his life. In the end, they'd turned out just like three pathetic book characters crying for their loss and failures.

Then, suddenly, he heard the demigod's loud cry, accompanied by a loud crash on a solid wall. In the first set of seconds, he thought that Percy had hit the witch but because she was still crying, saying, "…sorry, I'm so sorry…", it appeared that Percy had just gathered all his strength and deep anguish to punch the wall on their side near them.

Harry was relieved.

"Please, get out from my sight before I change my mind…" Percy muttered, with all those solid stresses between every word. From then, Harry heard Hermione sobbed greatly. Right after, he felt her arms lift him from the ground. Damn, his legs won't work properly! All the same, Hermione hysterically supported him to stand and walk. And then, they quickly turned and ran out of the passage, leaving the grieving demigod behind.

What a pitiful situation! They all looked badly pathetic, and Harry was so ashamed for that reason. He was so sorry for Annabeth, so sorry for Percy, and so sorry for himself and Hermione, as well. What a pitiful situation!

Clarissa 'Clary' Fray from The Mortal Instruments

The light of the night was high. The passages were still and quiet. The air contained a remorseful feeling, as if the arena, itself, was mourning for its unnecessary losses. Three deaths in a row. Three representatives died in the challenge. It was enough to end the night quietly.

Walking through the passage with the glamour over her, she saw him sitting and crying like a lost man in the middle of a passage. His one fist was bleeding. The wall before him was crashed, as if he, himself, hit it on purpose.

Annabeth was dead, she knew. She had seen the report. It was obviously the reason why. There, alone in the mid-passage, was Percy sobbing endlessly with his head low facing nothing but the cursed ground.

Something inside Clary shattered, as if the sight of Percy was enough for her to feel broken. Promptly, she turned off the rune and revealed herself meters away from the demigod. She called, "Percy?" Right after, the demigod looked at her. Just as then, he sobbed louder than the first. And Clary couldn't help it. She dashed towards to hug him. Percy accepted the embrace and held her tightly. He was muttering between his sobs, "She's dead, Clary. She's dead and I can't do anything about it…" And then, he buried his head on her shoulder. She just stayed still and patted his back.

Clary had never seen the water demigod that weak, that fragile, before. Again, in some ways, Annabeth broke him apart.

NOTES:

Comments/reviews 'may' save the character.

The pairings aren't official. It doesn't mean that I wrote them together, I ship them forever. No. It can be yes or no or something in between. Just like what I've said, you can oppose or approve. It depends on my mood and on your suggestions/reviews.