Day Five: Goodbye

Part Two:

District Three:

Valhalla's POV:

"There has to be something else you can do," I whispered sharply to Asita.

"I'm sorry, Valhalla, I don't know what else to do."

I stared at Thomas' unconscious form. I knew it was too late. He had lost so much blood. Still, I couldn't help but continue to hope that something miraculous would happen. Some deep part of me hoped that someone would send him medicine. I hoped he would magically be okay from some high tech Capitol medicine. But, to the Capitol, he was disposable. He was just a typical District Three tribute. They thought that he was lucky to make it past the bloodbath. They had complete and utter control over whether he lived or died.

And they made their decision before any of us even set foot in the arena.

A sudden surge of anger sprouted within me and I glared at Asita.

"Why don't you ask one of your sponsors to send something, hmm? Why don't you do something!"

"You know my mentors wouldn't send something to help another tribute," Asita replied.

"That's right because it's all about getting you out of here. You and your pretty little face," I spat.

"Valhalla, I know you're upset, bu-"

"Oh just shut up. We all know the only reason you have any sponsors is because you're pretty to look at. No one would want to see your body lying on the cold, hard ground dying."

Asita let out a sigh as she began to change Thomas' bandages again. When we got away from the dragon muttation, Thomas's wounds broke open again. The healing that was beginning to take place was fragile at best and being dragged through a room full of danger made things quite worse.

"I know you're ups-," Asita began to repeat.

"No," I interrupted, "I'm furious! This isn't fair! This all happened because you're boyfriend decided he couldn't aim straight and sent a knife straight into Thomas!"

"It was an accident, Valhalla. You know how sorry I am that it happened. Apollo wa-"

"I find it amusing," I began as I stood up, "that you haven't called Apollo your boyfriend once, yet other people do. Maybe I should start calling him what he really is. Just another person who can easily get you on your knees."

Asita froze and dropped the bandages she was wrapping. She slowly stood up and glared at me with her dark eyes.

"I have spent my time ever since the accident taking care of Thomas. I've been doing every single thing I learned at the first aid station to save his life. I don't care if you're pissed at Apollo, or Cami, or the world. You have no right to take it out on me. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," I spat. She began to turn back to Thomas when I murmured, "slut."

She quickly spun back and shouted, "Fine, Valhalla. You change the bandages! You restitch the wound! You apply a cold rag to his head to try and make his temperature go down! Since you're so brilliant, you fix him! I'm absolutely done being the butt of every joke around here and I'm through being this alliance's punching bag!"

Before I could reply I heard a voice chirp, "Calm down, ladies. Unwanted guests might here you."

I turned around and saw Cami and Leith sauntering into the room.

"Where the hell have you been?" Asita snapped, obviously fuming.

"Searching for the entrance to the next floor," Cami replied coolly.

"You shouldn't have left us like that," Asita barked, "We needed you back there."

"It's called self-preservation. Perhaps you should try it sometime," Cami quipped.

"No, it's called cowardice," I interjected.

Cami whipped her head towards me and frowned. "Did you say something?"

"Yes, I called you and Leith cowards."

"Listen, you little bi-"

"No, you listen!" I interrupted for, what felt like, the hundredth time today, "Thomas is dying! Asita and I almost died trying to save him! Jordana and Apollo could be near death by now, and Lucian and Stark are nowhere to be seen! You're supposed to be the leader! You left your alliance behind to die!"

"First off," Cami responded calmly as she picked dirt from under her nails, "Lucian can handle himself. If anything, we should be relieved that he is out there attempting to slaughter some tribute. Second, Stark will be coming back any minute now. He needs us. Third, I have no clue what happened to Jordana and Apollo, nor do I care. Fourth, if you almost died trying to save Thomas, it's your own fault. You should have just left him. He's useless."

The blood in my body began to boil. I glared at Cami and felt my muscles begin to tense. I wrapped my grip around one of the knives the Careers gave me, prepared to pounce.

Then the cannon went off.

My body went from tense to frigid. I couldn't move a single muscle in my body, too afraid to even look at Thomas.

"It wasn't him, Valhalla," Asita whispered to me.

I glanced over at him, relieved to see his chest rising and falling. It was soon replaced with fear as I saw how labored and difficult his breaths were.

"Apollo," I heard Asita whisper again.

At first, I thought she said it because she was worried that cannon was for him. Then, I could feel her moving and glanced behind me. Asita ran into Apollo's arms as he and Jordana entered the room.

"Thank God," Asita said as she clung to him.

Apollo and Jordana had bruises and scrapes across their faces. I could tell from how Jordana walked that she hurt her ankle and Apollo appeared to have hurt his left arm as it lay uselessly at his side.

"Who do you think that was for?" Jordana asked as she sat on the ground.

"Could be anyone," Leith shrugged.

"Yeah, it's most likely no one," Cami said nervously.

For a second, I let all my emotions calm down to make a quick observation. Two cannons had fired since she sent Jordana, Lucian, and Stark after that little child. One cannon for Stark and one cannon for Lucian.

Cami showing concern for another human being? Who knew.

"Valhalla," I heard someone say softly.

I looked down at Thomas and kneeled down by him.

"Do you… have any water?"

"Of course," I replied as I motioned for someone to bring me some of our water. I placed my hands around his face and moved his head so that it was in my lap.

"Don't you dare. He's almost dead anyways," Cami growled.

I turned around and saw Cami glaring at a frozen Asita who had her hand around a bottle of water.

"Cami," Asita started.

"It's a waste of our supplies. You've seen how much more blood he's lost. He could die any second," Cami said coldly as she took a seat on a crate.

I looked down at Thomas' face and let out a shaky breath. His eyelids were fluttering and his skin was extremely pale. Sweat ran down his face and closed my eyes. I knew Cami was right.

It was time to say goodbye.

I knew I had very little evidence to put with the fact that Thomas might be my half-brother. Most likely, it was just a coincidence and we have no connection to each other besides what district we live in. Still, I couldn't help but think of him as family. And family was the most important thing to me in the world. I rarely thought about it and most times I denied it, but family was even more important to me than me.

I'm not saying I would have given my life up for him. I'm not saying that if it came down to us in the Final Two that I wouldn't kill him. But I'm also saying that I might have. Who knows how much I could have changed in the next week or so. I could have become a selfless person. I could have done something that helped someone else even at the cost of my own life.

But, the hope of that ever happening died as soon as Thomas let out a gasp and a cannon shot fired through the arena.

When I heard that sound and opened my eyes, I felt like the world stopped for a minute. I looked down at Thomas. Pale skin, closed eyes, dark hair. It was odd to think that he almost didn't look any different. If I didn't know any better, I could assume he was in a deep sleep. I expected to feel some sort of despair. To feel a pang in my chest or to weep like my mother did when she and father divorced. I expected to feel something, but I only felt empty. However, it wasn't the cold, logical emptiness I had before I was thrown in the Hunger Games. It was a lonely, almost painful, cold, and logical emptiness.

I moved Thomas' head off of my lap and stood up. You could cut the silence with a knife. Perhaps they expected me to yell and scream, or break down and sob. Maybe they thought I was going to pull out some invention or trap and attempt to kill them all. Instead, I simply began to walk towards the exit of the room.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Cami asked.

"I'm going for a walk," I responded as I grabbed all of my supplies.

"Not with those you aren't!" Cami snarled as she ripped my alchemy kit out of my hand. "You are still part of this alliance. You aren't ditching us just because your wimpy district partner died."

"You don't control me," I replied calmly.

"No, but I could kill your right now."

"If anyone is going to kill her, it's going to be me," Leith growled. A few minutes ago, I would have actually felt some small feeling about the fact Leith still despised me because my trap killed Oceana. Now, I could care less.

"I'll be back in an hour," I said as I dropped all of my supplies, save for one backpack with food, water, and a knife in it.

I began walking and I could hear Cami begin to follow me.

"Just let her go. She'll be back," Jordana responded.

I heard someone mention going to find the entrance to the sixth floor, but I tuned the rest out. As soon as I was out of sight, I began to run. I had to put as much distance between Thomas' corpse and myself. After several minutes, I dove into a small room full of empty vials and stood with my back against the door.

I breathed deeply in and out.

This was all Apollo's fault! I was going to kill him! I was going to slowly rip his heart out!

But first, I had to think of a way to get away from the Career's alliance. I couldn't work with them any longer. I had to be on my own again.

I looked up at the ceiling and whispered, "Please… Help me. I need to escape…."

I waited for something, anything. Nothing came.

I grabbed the knife out of my backpack and smashed it into a shelf of vials.

The glass shattered and I let out a small, frustrated shriek. I continued to break empty vials, until I heard a soft rumbling. It got slowly louder until the room was filled with a brilliant, white light.

A small case was on the ground and I quickly opened the sponsor's gift. Inside, there were two vials with a greenish liquid in them. There were also two vials with a pure white liquid. Next to the vials, I found two syringes.

An idea immediately came to mind and I smiled to myself. It was time to kill two birds with one stone. Not only was I going to get away from the Careers, but I was going to rip dear Apollo's heart out. It was time to take back control…

Head Gamemaker:

Lavender's POV:

"She's definitely going to shake things up, isn't she?" I muttered to myself.

I watched as Valhalla stuffed her sponsor's gift in her backpack and began to pick through different vials trying to find the highest quality ones.

I decided it was that time of the day where I should check up on every tribute still in the arena individually.

With a few simple strokes of the keyboard, every single tribute was up on my screen. Stark, the poor dear, was still covered in goop. The intricate floor system simply couldn't free his body from the hardened black substance. Oh well, I guess we'd have to wait until the end of the games until we could extract him. Hopefully he didn't decompose too much…

Camilla was simply pacing back and forth, obviously worried about Lucian. Camilla was a smart girl, but she was starting to let her emotions get the better of her. Of course, her plan was working perfectly. When the Careers broke up, which would hopefully be soon, she wouldn't even be a blip on any of their radars.

Jordana was searching for the entrance to the next floor with Leith. The entrance to the sixth floor was actually quite obvious. It was actually just a staircase in the middle of the floor. It was so painfully obvious that most tributes hadn't found it yet. Almost all of them were looking in every nook and cranny for hidden buttons or levers. In fact, the entrances to most of the floors were fairly simple. They had to be for what we had in store.

Apollo and Asita were walking hand in hand, looking for the entrance as well. In fact, the way they were headed, they would probably stumble across it. I had to admit; even my nonexistent heart twitched seeing them so happy. I was disgusted, yet intrigued at the same time. Their 'love', if you could call it that, was strong and flimsy at the same time. It was strong because they were very compatible as a couple. If they had met under any different circumstances, they would have had that kind of love you read about and think doesn't exist at all. Its flimsy because with they were both waiting to find some reason or evidence that the other was using them. A 'love' built without trust is practically nonexistent, but they somehow made it work. For now, anyways…

Even though I didn't need to check in with Leith since he was with Jordana, I couldn't help but think of him quickly as I scanned over his screen. He was so closed off since the death of Oceana that he appeared to be dead on the inside. Yet, I could tell he wasn't. He was just biding his time until he could gut Valhalla alive. It was almost amusing how similar Valhalla and Leith were, in that sense. They would make the perfect alliance. A similar outlook on the games, mixed with her brains and his brawns, and you had a force to be reckoned with. Too bad they hated each other.

Winnifred and Admyer managed to find the entrance and were currently sitting in a room on the sixth floor. Winnifred was preparing a small dinner, while Admyer went through their supplies, taking inventory. Those two found the entrance to the sixth floor before most people woke up today. That meant that they avoided the mob of muttations that flooded the floor a couple hours later. They were also quite the alliance. Winnifred was amazing when it came to figuring things out, such as puzzles or mazes. Adymer, on the other hand, was very 'street smart' and seemed to have a great intuition. I had high hopes for them, personally.

Lucy was on the sixth floor, mindlessly wandering. We hadn't given her any orders in a while, which gave her nothing to do. I was, in fact, bored with her. However, President Raven still wanted me to keep her around. So I did just that.

I heard a small shriek and turned my attention straight to Asita's monitor. Apollo and her found the entrance and were currently kissing. Yep, I mostly just felt disgust.

When I turned my attention to Lucian's screen, I found that he had found Jordana and Leith. They were currently walking around, talking. Well, at least Camilla would be happy once they came back.

Jacqie was fighting a muttation on the fifth floor. It was just one of the people muttations from the 225th Hunger Games. It was a fairly large man, so I could see why she was having some issues. Oh well, she'd survive.

Hopefully.

I smiled when I saw Lyric, the survivor. He should be dead. He should have been dead a long time ago, yet he just seems to come back for more. He was currently tending to his plethora of injuries on the sixth floor with an assortment of medical supplies he found. Again, I had high hopes for Lyric. If he could survive near starvation, dehydration, fighting and losing against four tributes, I was certain he could handle almost anything I threw at him.

Ace was currently stalking Ruth on the sixth floor. Although her stalking and stealing technique was boring to watch, it was quite effective. She hadn't gone a day without eating or drinking something. I was still surprised she left Hawk high and dry. I didn't realize just how callous she was. I, frankly, admired her for it.

Speaking of Hawk, he was not doing so well mentally. He had enough supplies to last for several days and around twenty throwing knives. Hawk was totally set, in my opinion. Yet, he still seemed pretty shaken up about Scarlett. He saw this kid without legs, pleading for help, and he shoved him down an elevator shaft. That would have scarred me if I was a sixteen year old boy who grew up in District Nine. At least, I think it would…

Charlotte and Adam were currently just wandering about the fifth floor. I had no idea what they were looking for, but they were certainly getting ready to stumble upon something. Maybe they would turn back or something.

I reminded myself to check back on them once I finished the remaining two tributes and I turned towards Ruth's screen. Ruth was looking for a place to set up camp for the night. However, she was taking a pattern like route, going through corridors I knew she had already passed through. My first thought was that she was just forgetful, but it had happened enough times that I suspected something was up. Maybe she knew Ace was following her, or maybe she was just an idiot.

But we all knew Ruth was a lot of things, but idiotic wasn't one of them.

Alexei, the first male tribute from District Thirteen. I was happy when I saw he had enough sponsors for them to send him something for his arm. He cauterized it before he got the gift, which was very smart of him, and then used the gift to wrap it and try to prevent infection. He also was sent a good portion of pain medication, which meant he was doing pretty well. His new strategy, now that he had the map, seemed to be getting to the surface as soon as possible. He was currently on the ninth floor and was getting ready to go to sleep. He knew the other tributes were far below and seemed to be relaxed, despite the fact we could still send some muttations after him.

Speaking of sending muttations…

I turned towards Charlotte and Adam and saw they were still headed towards it. I sighed and pressed a few buttons. The mutts would be upon them in any minute. Have fun fighting those off, my sweet little tributes…

District Ten:

Charlotte's POV:

"This is such a pain," Adam sighed.

"We need to find our way up to the next floor, Adam. That requires searching for it, because it's not just going to appear before us," I reasoned.

"I'm just saying we should at least take a break of some sort. We're not going to be able to find anything if we're so focused for long periods of time. In fact, we're more likely to miss it," Adam argued.

"While that is true, we both know the real reason you want a break is because you're lazy. I know for a fact your brain is working just fine."

"You're no fun…" Adam muttered to himself.

"Stop acting like a child."

"Stop acting like an adult!"

"Stop being an idiot!"

"I know you are but what am I," Adam chanted.

"An idiot!"

"I know you ar-"

I quickly slapped so hard across the face that he stumbled over his feet. We glared at each other for a few seconds before we broke into laughter. Our alliance sometimes seems like a bad idea for this very reason. We tend to argue a lot, and we treat everything like it is one big joke. The upside is that we work really well together and we are never really down in the dumps.

"Come on, we need to keep pushing forward," I said once we were done laughing.

Before Adam could respond, an arrow went whizzing by my head. I let out a startled yelp and dove behind a large tank full of a strange blue liquid. Adam shuffled over to where I was and hid behind it as well.

I peered out from behind our hiding place and saw a woman standing on the upper level of this room. She had her bow drawn, ready to fire again. In a quick glance, I could see that she was wearing very fine clothes and had on several expensive looking pieces of jewelry. I heard the twang of the bow and ducked back behind our hiding place.

"Which tribute is it?" Adam asked.

"It isn't a tribute. It's the Queen from the 225th Hunger Games," I replied.

The Queen of the arena in the 225th Hunger Games was beautiful. She ruled the land and everyone adored her. However, we really never got to see any of her skills since one of the tributes ended up coming up with a scheme to take her place. Apparently, the Queen was a master at archery.

"Okay… Well how are we going to get to her?"

I quickly tried to think of the layout of the room. The stairs to the small overhang she was on were on the other side of the room.

"I guess we're going to need to split up. We both try to distract her and one of us will have to get to the stairs. Once she loses the advantage of higher ground and distance, she should be easy to take out," I explained.

"Okay, sounds like a plan!"

Then, without another word, Adam leaped out from behind the tank and started running.

He just always had to rush off into battle.

I heard the twang of the bow and stealthily crawled around the edge. I stayed as close to the wall and tried to stay somewhat hidden in the shadows. The Queen was fairly focused on Adam. Every time she fired an arrow, he'd hit the deck. He would then pop his head up somewhere else and she would shoot again. This continued to happen as I slid against the wall.

I was almost three quarters of the way there when she noticed me. We made eye contact and I pushed off the wall. I sprinted towards some cover of crates. Right when I was about to make it to the cover, a burst of pain shot through my body.

I ducked under a crate and glanced at the arrow that was lying on the ground only a few feet away. A small sliver of muscle, most likely fat, was sticking out on the end of the arrow. The arrow nicked my left calf and I simply bit my lip. This was nothing compared to some of the other injuries I've seen arrows inflict in other Hunger Games.

I heard the sound of something banging against metal and I knew Adam must have made it to the stairs. I peeked my head over the crates and saw the Queen backing up slowly, arrow poised to fire. Adam peered his head above the small opening and she fired. He quickly ducked and then finished his climb up the stairs. The Queen began to pull an arrow out and I knew she would fire before Adam could make it to her with his steel claw gloves. I launched myself over the crates and sprinted towards the overhang.

I spun my lasso several times before I sent it towards her. I managed to wrap it around the top part of the bow and I pulled. She, caught off guard, let go and the bow came flying towards me. I dodged it as it fell and untied my lasso.

Within the time it took me to detach the rope from the bow, the Queen had pulled out a long, slender sword. She and Adam were fighting. She had an elegant grace in her fighting style, while Adam was almost barbaric in his. She dodged his heavy attacks with ease and had no problem counterstriking. She managed to create a deep gash on his left arm and he let out a howl of pain.

She went in for another jab, but by then I had my lasso flying at her. I used the same trick I tried last time and had it wrap around the sword. This time she wasn't caught by surprise and she just tugged back. I saw Adam lung at her and she fell to the ground. The momentum made the sword cut through my rope and I quickly sprinted up the steps. By the time I got up to the overhang, Adam had sunk his claws deep in her chest.

He stepped up and the first thing he said was, "My arm hurts."

I rolled my eyes and replied, "Yes, that tends to happen when someone cuts you with a sword."

"Speaking of a sword," Adam smiled, "Two new weapons!"

I rolled my eyes again. "Adam, neither one of us knows how to use a sword or a bow."

"We can learn," he beamed.

"Fine, I'll go grab the bow and you can gather her sword and sheathe of arrows. But I am not going to waste my valuable time learning how to use these weapons. In training, I couldn't use either of those weapons to save my life."

He didn't respond because he was now engrossed at the long, slender sword. As I walked down the stairs, I yelled back up, "Oh, and please don't try to feel up the corpse."

"No promises. I haven't been with a woman in quite some time."

"It's only been two or so weeks," I spat back.

"Exactly."

I rolled my eyes. For someone who acted like such a child, he was certainly used to having sex. Sure, almost every girl was turned off by his personality, arrogance, and self-righteousness. However, that didn't mean that they wouldn't sleep with him. He did have an amazing body, an amazing face, and a butt that was just asking to be squeezed…

I stopped what I was doing, shocked at my own thoughts. Obviously, I haven't gotten enough sleep lately.

Right when I picked up the bow, I glanced at one of the crates. It was partially opened and I walked over to it. Almost every crate either empty or impossible to open. It was rare when one had something in it that was useful and accessible.

I shoved the lid aside and looked into the crate.

What the hell?

"What are you looking at?" Adam asked as he came up behind me.

"Look at this…"

Adam looked into the crate and looked just as confused as I did. He reached down and lifted it out of the crate. It was a simple black, metal ball that was about the size of my head.

"What is it?" Adam asked.

"I don't know, but look at this."

I grabbed a piece of paper.

If you hide hot ember, the smoke will betray you. Congratulations, you found the special item hidden on the fifth floor! I hope it serves you well! - Lavender.

"How would this help us?" Adam asked as he read it over my shoulder.

"I don't know, but we should keep it. It's obviously important," I reasoned.

"But… it's heavy…" he complained.

"Which is why," I chirped, "You'll be carrying it."

"But Charlotte!"

"No buts!"

"It's not fair!"

"Stop acting like a child!"

District Twelve:

Ruth's POV:

I knew I was being followed.

The tribute was definitely stealthy, but I grew up in a place where people were constantly sneaking around. Sometimes they were sneaking into the forest, sometimes they were sneaking home after a long night of partying, and sometimes they were sneaking up on you to try to pickpocket or mug you. So, I started to pay attention to small noises back in District Twelve. I would occasionally hear the slight tap of a footstep or something getting bumped.

After going around in some shape several times, I had noticed both of those noises. Except, these were so quiet that you wouldn't notice them unless you were straining your hearing or were specifically listening for them.

Now, I was just trying to decide what to do. I could turn around and try to chase them down. I could try to run away. I could just stop and wait. There were so many options, but the best options really depended on who the tribute was.

I already knew it wasn't any of the Careers. They were about as quiet as a hoard of muttations. Frankly, I narrowed down my list to only three people. There was the frail boy from five, the quiet girl from six, or the tall boy from nine. The tall boy knew how to throw knives, so running was a bad idea. The boy from five could probably manage to get the better of me if I just waited. As for the girl from six, if I tried to chase her she could outrun me easily.

So there was only one option in my mind.

"I know you're there," I yelled as I spun around.

I heard something scuffing across the ground and then it was silent.

"If you don't come out, I'll just have to find you. And believe me; it won't be pretty when I do."

After a few seconds, I began to walk back the way I came. I assumed that the tribute was weaving in and out of rooms. So, I guess I would just have to use a very methodical way of thinking.

I walked to the nearest door, and kicked it so hard that I could feel it shake. I did this to every door until I heard a small noise. It was almost like a squeak.

I opened the door and stepped into the room. It seemed to be some kind of laboratory where you would create medicine.

"Don't be shy. I just want to talk," I said as happily as I could muster.

The only place where I thought someone could hide was in a large, metal cabinet against one of the opposite walls. I quietly walked up to the cabinet and wrapped my hands around the steel handles. Before I could even begin to pull it, the doors flew open. I let out a scream as I went plunging to the floor. The girl was now on top of me and was about to wrap her hands around my throat. I took in a deep breath before she closed off my air passage with a strong grip. I bucked and thrashed under her, but to no avail.

I took a closer look at her and realized it wasn't the girl from six, but the girl from nine. I recalled her name was Ace and I remembered how loud and obnoxious she was in training. So, we had another actress in the Hunger Games.

Fantastic.

I spotted a knife hanging loosely by her side. I clawed at her rib cage, faking an attempt at escaping. She simply held on tighter and I slipped the knife out of its sheath. I swiftly brought down into her thigh and I heard her let out a shriek.

Her grip completely disappeared and I shoved her off of me. I took in a gulp of air and shuffled away from her. I grabbed the doubled sided sword that was strapped to my back and stood up. I dropped into a fighting stance, pulling the weapon in front of me.

Ace scrambled up and yanked the knife out of her thigh. She let out another shriek and I saw tears begin to trickle down her face.

"I just wanted to talk," I purred.

"We both know that's a lie," she panted.

"Yeah, but at least I put some effort into being friendly," I smiled.

I leapt towards her but she dodged my lung easily. She slashed her knife through the air but I dropped into a squat.

"You obviously want to win," Ace huffed, "Most tributes aren't so willing to attack and kill."

"I could say the same about you," I smirked as I rammed the shaft of my sword into her knee. She let out a gasp but grabbed my hair as she fell. Caught off guard, I fell to the ground with her.

She sent a startling fast kick into my shoulder and I groaned in pain. I quickly grabbed her foot before she could pull it back and twisted it as hard as I could. I didn't hear a crack but she made a noise of discomfort.

Before I could twist her foot any farther, she pulled my hair again and managed to wrap her other leg around my head.

And now we were in a bit of a standby. If I twisted her foot and broke it, she would attempt to snap my neck. If she attempted to snap my neck, I'd break her foot. Without her foot, she wouldn't be able to get anywhere in the arena. Without my neck… well, I'd be dead.

"May I make a suggestion," Ace began after a few minutes of silence.

"Be my guest," I huffed.

"Let's be allies. At least until we make it to the surface."

I began to ponder her suggestion. I could tell she had enough supplies to last until we got the surface, plus she could carry all the extra supplies I got in the bloodbath for my alliance. However, I vaguely remembered her being allied with Lyric, who I knew was still alive as of yesterday. Therefore, I'm assuming by the amount of supplies, she left him with nothing. No way was that an even fifty-fifty split.

"Fine," I smiled coyly.

I dropped her foot and she let go of my neck. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my supplies. I put my sword behind my back as she gathered her supplies that were cleverly hidden in one of the tiny cabinets.

"Here are the rules," I began before she could say anything, "my supplies are mine and yours are yours. We don't share and we don't talk. We are only using each other in case we get into a fight and to solve any puzzles we might come across. Once we get to the surface, we're done and we part ways. Sound good?"

"Perfect," Ace smiled cheekily.

I began to walk towards the door and stopped.

"Oh, and Ace?"

She looked at me expectantly.

"I'm an extremely light sleeper. Just remember that if you ever even think of trying something."

Her smile completely disappeared and her face appeared to lose a shade or two of its color. I let out a small giggle as I strutted out of the room.

It was so nice to be in control.

District Eight:

Lyric's POV:

This pulsing headache was killing me.

I silently lay on the ground and stared at the ceiling. I didn't think I would make it this far. In fact, I was the tribute most likely to die in the bloodbath. Even below the District Three boy, who is still alive too. But, I don't think I can make it any farther. My entire body aches, I have next to no supplies, and I can't think straight.

This entire thing was a disaster.

"Let's face it, you're going to die," I said to no one in particular.

I looked back to what I had done so far in the arena. I had attempted to kill Ace and Winnifred. I had been in constant pain. I thought harder and realized that was about it.

I deserved to die, in all honesty. Not only had I tried to kill someone, but I wasn't even playing the Hunger Games. I mean, I knew other tributes were making game changing moves. They had to be, otherwise A) people wouldn't be dying and B) the Capitol would be bored.

And when the Capitol was bored, things didn't end very well.

I attempted to recall what life had been life before the games. I didn't do what most kids did. I spent a great deal of time at home, either doing homework or playing the piano. My father actually taught me how to play. My father loved music and spent his childhood learning how to make it. Of course, he grew up extremely poor which left him to his own devices. He got a job as a housekeeper and, when the family was out, would plunk keys out on the piano.

Of course, then he married my mother. Once he married into wealth, my mother simply paid for someone to come teach him. Then, when I was old enough, he taught me what he knew. I loved my father and mother. Part of me wondered if they were slightly proud of me.

I quickly threw that thought out of my head because I knew they weren't. My father would be appalled that I would resort to such tactics and my mother probably couldn't even watch. For the first time, my mother couldn't just hire someone to fix a problem for her. She just had to watch and hope it ended well.

My grandfather, on the other hand, was probably extremely proud of me. He was the one who managed to weasel and lie his way into money. He managed to slowly, but surely, gain factory by factory. Now he owned almost all of the factories in District Eight. He would be happy that I was willing to do anything to succeed. He would see me as a little him. Perhaps he would even feel some sort of feeling of sadness when I died. Maybe he would have thought I would have made a good successor to his business.

I suddenly heard the Capitol's anthem ring out and I propped myself up with my elbows. I spotted the projection and watched as the first face appeared.

Wow, the District One male. I wasn't extremely surprised when I saw Oceana go first, but this one surprised me. He got a ten as a training score. I definitely expected his district partner or Apollo to go before he did.

The next face to appear was the District Three male. No shock, just a simple nod. He was lucky to get this far, just like me. I small part of me was sad to see him go. He made me feel like I wasn't the only weak one in the arena.

When Scarlett appeared on the screen, I was in awe. The one and only thing I knew about him was that he was smart. I'm talking genius, always-keeps-you-on-your-toes smart.

The anthem faded and I simply lay back down.

I could already feel sleep taking me. I was just about to drift when I heard someone clear their throat. I thought I imagined it at first, but when I heard it again my eyes shot open.

"You look like you've been through hell," she laughed.

I stared, terrified, as I watched Lucy walk towards me.

"It looks like the end has come," I sighed.

"That's one way to look at it," she smirked as she pulled out a black knife. I closed my eyes, feeling a small twinge of relief. I knew she would end it quickly. She wasn't a Career or Lucian. A simple stab to the heart. Maybe even a slash to the throat.

I heard the knife slice through something and I opened my eyes. I watched as she held out an apple slice on the edge of her knife

"Wha-"

"Just eat before you die," Lucy interrupted.

She moved the knife closer to my mouth and I eyed her suspiciously. As I took the apple slice in between my teeth, I expected her to plunge the knife through the back of my throat.

Instead, she pulled the knife back and cut herself a slice. She sat down next to me and popped it into her mouth.

"Wh-"

"Shut up and keep eating and drinking. You're valuable and I'm going to keep you alive for a little bit longer."

With that, I watched as she cut another slice and ate that one too. Lucy looked completely emotionless and bored. It was as if someone else, not her, wanted me to live…

I sighed and let her lower a bottle of water to my lips. I took several gulps and smiled.

"Don't smile. It annoys me," she barked.

I quickly lost the smile and lay back down.

An hour or so passed and Lucy continued to feed me. She also treated my wounds saying what I did was 'atrocious at best'. I listened, to hear if any cannon fire went off, but nothing happened. I guess everyone made it to the sixth floor.

"Than-"

"Just go to sleep," she ordered.

She didn't have to tell me twice.

I lay back and closed my eyes. This was the last thing the Capitol wanted. They probably wanted me dead simply because I was boring them. I even bet the Gamemakers were trying to discreetly kill me off. As I let the fact that I wasn't dying anytime soon go to my head, I had one last thought before I fell to sleep.

It seemed that the Capitol wasn't in as much control as they thought…

So… it's kind of been three months…

I'm SO SORRY! Seriously, things have just been beyond hectic. My computer broke for about two months of me being gone, which meant no writing. Then, when I did get a 'new' computer (it's a handy me down) it is a complete piece of crap. So I didn't write on it because it would randomly shut off and I'd lose all the work I didn't constantly save. Then I finally convinced my mom to let me use her laptop (no easy feat) so I'm now using this until we find enough money to get a new computer. Now, let's add on school, friend drama, and family catastrophe, and that leaves no time for Europa to write D:

So, I wish I could promise to not disappear again, but I can't. I will tell you I'm NEVER giving up on this story, and that I will update with a new chapter within this month! Probably after thanksgiving because for thanksgiving I'm going on a trip.

Anyways, I hope you will all continue to read, review, and support me. Because, without you guys, this story wouldn't exist! So please drop a review, telling me about the story and how you've been!

And for those of you whose stories I read, I'm sorry I disappeared from those as well. My iPod broke and no computer so no reading. I'll probably never catch up with what I missed so I'm just going to try to read starting NOW with new updates!

Anyways, I've missed you. I know a good chunk of you probably don't remember a lot of what's going on (I know I forgot and had to reread chapters) so I put Lavender's POV in to remind you who is still alive and how they're doing. If you have any other questions, just ask in the review and if they're something I haven't mentioned ever or if I forgot something that is pretty crucial to the story, I'll add it back in next chapter or edit this chapter.

one more thing, I'm doing another SYOT starting sometime near the end of november/early december. I know you're thinking "you can barely keep up with this one". Well, A) circumstances are different now, and B) its a collab with another popular Fanfiction author :D so ill only be doing half the writing, which will make it quite easier to handle :D So, i hope all of you look forwards to that and submit!