VICTOR'S LOUNGE

The number of mentors in the Victor's Lounge had decreased dramatically since the beginning of the Games. Where there had once been twenty-four, now only five remained to represent the tributes that still competed in the arena. There should have been seven, but Chaff Lerman was too drunk for company, and Sidney Wake had abandoned Grace Feller's chances of survival days before.

"It's not fair," Anna Topekh said for the seventh time in the last three minutes. "Sinking entire islands like that, how are they even supposed to compete?" There were a few mumbles of agreement, but in truth, they all understood. The victory had always been in the hands of the Gamemakers. In the end, the Capitolites were the ones who decided which tribute would come home.

Cage Mane stood, walked over to the bar, and poured himself a drink. The sharp tinkling of the decanter shaking "How much longer will it last, do you think?" He was young, and the events of the other night had visibly shaken him.

Alice Quarry, Victor and mentor from District two, was dead.

A few had seen it coming, but none of them were fast enough to stop it. Maple Davis had lunged forward like a snake, and that was it. Alice died with a knife in her throat, and Maple was dragged away from the lounge, screaming all the way. Wherever she was now, she had missed the death of her daughter by minutes. Alice had been draped right next to Cage on the plush couch, and the girl had died clutching at his hand for help. Cage was no stranger to death, he had been through the Hunger Games, but this had been different. He was supposed to be safe now, and that safety had been shattered. Ever since it happened, he had abandoned his usual arrogance and bravado, opting instead to ask quiet, nervous questions of the experienced mentors.

"It can't be more than a couple days now," Bain replied. "The island is still falling apart. This is Virgo's endgame."

"I really want her to come home." Cage's voice was hushed, and carried the vulnerability of an honest, hopeful admission.

"You want her to come home?" Anna snapped. "You think you are the only one who wants to bring your tribute home? I've failed to bring a single tribute out of thirty-nine back home during my time as a mentor, and this year it's my son. Don't stand there and tell me you want her to come home."

Cage looked to Bain for encouragement, but he was disappointed. The older man's expression was dark, and offered no sympathy.
An avox entered the room, breaking the building tension with his quiet presence. The young man walked quickly over to Anna's side and handed her an envelope with a glittering, gold seal pressed neatly into the center. Anna thanked him, and opened the letter as the avox left. The other mentors watched expectantly.

"Oh, my," Anna gasped. Her grip tightened on the note. "I'll be right back."

Bain went to ask her what it was, but she was gone before he could form the words.

"What do you suppose that was?" Bain asked, turning toward Margaret Plexigon.

"It was a sponsor," she answered.

"How do you know?" Cage asked.

"I recognize the seal." Margaret drew in a deep, rattling breath. "Kayn's not out of the race yet, gentleman. We need to get to work."

SCARLETTE

Scarlette watched Lannah closely. The girl had been crying all night, they had basically no provisions left, and it would appear that their chances for victory were slim.

Now was the time.

"Do you want to win?" Scarlette asked.

"Of course," Lannah answered. "I want to go home. I want to see my family again." Scarlette nodded her head, her face a picture perfect example of somber agreement.

"So do I, but I probably won't. But at least I've made it this far without…" Scarlette paused. Lannah looked up.

"What? You've made it this far without what?"

"Killing anyone." Lannah flinched at Scarlette's words, though the older girl pretended not to notice. "I would never be able to cope with the guilt, and the shame," Scarlette continued. "It would eat me alive. How could I go home to my family and friends? With someone else's blood on my hands?"

Lannah turned away, trying to keep her shoulders from shaking as her breath came in uneven, shallow gasps.

"I'm so sorry," Scarlette said immediately, keeping the cruel smile on her face from infecting the apologetic tone of her voice. "I forgot about Serenity."

"It's fine." Lannah tried to steady her voice, but failed.

"How does it feel?" Scarlette asked tentatively. "Knowing that you actually ended someone else's life?" Lannah's shoulders sagged in defeat, and Scarlette knew she had won. The crutch was broken.

"I think I'm going to go see if I can find something for us to eat," said Lannah. "I'll be back."

Lannah got up to leave, keeping her back turned to Scarlette, but she felt a hand on her arm.

"Wait," Scarlette said, turning Lannah around and putting the emptied medicine satchel in her arms. "Why don't you go ahead and take the bag. Bring back enough for a feast."

Lannah accepted the bag, and trudged slowly into the jungle.

ATHENE

Athene left her cave in the morning, and jogged carefully across the unsteady ground close to the base of the mountain. The first order of business was finding Bass. All bets were off, and the girl from District Four was Athene's biggest competition.

A hissing sound interrupted Athene's thoughts, and she slid to a stop just in time to see Grace Feller stab the neck of a black, coiling snake into the ground. Two things stood out to Athene as she watched the girl finish off the snake and turn toward the beach.

Grace was tired.

And she had a spear.

Athene scooped a rough edged stone off of the ground and followed her. When Athene finally broke the tree line, Grace was waiting for her, spear outstretched.

"I heard you coming," Grace said simply.

"I should hope so," Athene smirked. "I wasn't trying to sneak up on you, I was trying to catch you."

"Well then," said Grace. "Let's get to it."

Athene walked slowly toward her adversary, getting a feel for the wet sand beneath her feet. Grace always struck to her opponent's left side, and more often than not she would take a low-high strike over the high ground. She was fast. She was always ready for a counter attack, but that meant she didn't fully commit to each individual strike. She was good. Athene was better.

Athene jumped forward, dodging to the left to avoid the forward stab of Grace's spear. As soon as she realized the blow wasn't going to land, Grace shifted her weight and swung the end of the weapon at Athene's side. Athene wrapped her hand around the shaft of the spear and drove it into the ground, using it as leverage to pull herself into a swinging kick that knocked Grace onto her back. The girl jumped up, but she winced, and brought her left arm in to protect her side. Athene smiled, it was just another weakness she could exploit. Wrenching the spear out of the sand, Athene circled around her foe and forced her closer to the water.

"Just do it," Grace growled.

Athene pressed forward. She feigned a high strike, kicked the smaller girl out of her weak attempt at evasion, and stabbed forward in earnest. A fountain of red burst onto the sand, and the eighteenth cannon sounded in the arena.

LANNAH

Lannah didn't hear the cannon, and the berries she rolled around in the palm of her hand were forgotten. Scarlette was right. Lannah had ended a life, and now she didn't deserve her own.

Lannah opened the satchel and spilled the berries inside, stopping just as she went to close it as sunlight glinted off of the contents. There, in the bottom of the bag, was the scalpel she had held the night before. Lannah lifted it out and stared at the razor sharp blade. She had killed Serenity with a blade identical to this one, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she had killed herself as well. There had been no immediate pain, but she had killed her spirit as assuredly as she had killed the other tribute. Ever since that moment, she had been a shell. Lannah had told Scarlette that she wanted to go home, but she wouldn't go home, even if she did win. Part of her would, the part of her that was here in the arena, but the real Lannah was dead. She had been for some time.

Lannah slumped down to the ground at the base of a tree, and turned her wrist so that the large, blue vein was exposed.

Lannah would never forget the day she had been called to the Leavenworth's land for emergency medical help. Spencer Leavenworth had cut himself across the wrist with a sharpened tool, and it hadn't mattered how hard his parents had tried to stop the wound from bleeding, he had died before Lannah could reach him. She had sprinted all the way there, but she was still too late. His face had been so pale, and there were still wet tears on his cheeks. What would it feel like? To slip away so quickly, and still be so aware?

Enough.

Enough of this.

It was a thin slice, and the quick motion made tears come to Lannah's eyes. The girl pulled her wrist close to her body, and felt the blood soak through her clothes. It was coming so quickly, and she knew it would only be a matter of time. Relief flooded through her, and tension she didn't know existed melted away. She wasn't in the Games anymore. She had escaped, even if it wasn't in the way she was supposed to.

A dull scream filled the jungle, and Lannah had just enough time to wonder who it was before she blacked out.

KAYN

Kayn stared down at his leg. He had never seen anything like it. The parachute carrying the small syringe had come just before sunrise, and the message inside had been clear.

"Use. Rest. You have twenty-four hours. –Mom"

He had injected himself, and fallen asleep almost immediately. Upon waking, he had found all of his injuries completely healed. Not only was his body working perfectly, he was feeling energized, and ready for a fight. The only thing that worried him was the time limit. Whether it was the amount of time the Gamemakers were allowing for the Games, or even worse, if it was some effect of the medicine, Kayn only had a day to finish off the other tributes. There were five other tributes left in the arena, the only problem was that Kayn didn't know which five. The pair from District Eleven, Athene, Scarlette, Bass, and the girl from District Five were the possibilities, but a cannon had sounded a few minutes earlier, so one of them was gone.

It didn't matter who was left, though, Kayn was going to get rid of them before the end of the day.

Kayn stood and checked his surroundings. There wasn't anyone close by; he needed to get moving. After breaking a branch off of a nearby tree and fashioning it into a presentable stake, Kayn turned toward the beach. This was it. This would be the last day of the Games.

SCARLETTE

Scarlette watched as Lannah pulled the scalpel out of the satchel. She had left it in there on purpose, knowing that the temptation to escape would be too much for the poor girl. Scarlette hid behind the thick, rough trunk of a tree as Lannah took her last look around the arena. She heard a whimper, but forced herself to wait. One, two, three, Scarlette forced herself to count the seconds. And then she screamed.

"Lannah, no!" Scarlette rushed toward her former ally and grabbed her shoulders. "Lannah!"

It was a risky move, that much she knew, but she was going to have to take risks if she wanted the crown. She screamed the girl's name over and over, until she heard a crashing coming through the jungle. Scarlette smiled, pulled the scalpel off of the ground, and hid it in her palm.

The source of the noise burst into the clearing from the direction of the mountain, and Scarlette sagged in relief. It was Till. Just as she had expected, he hadn't gone that far away. He actually cared for his district partner.

"Help!" Scarlette croaked, backing away from Lannah. "I don't know what she was thinking, she said she was just going to find something to eat!" Scarlette stuttered, choked, and burst into tears, but Till ignored her, and ran straight to Lannah's side.

"Lannah!" he yelled, ripping his shirt and pressing it against her bleeding wrist. "Lannah, why?"

The last time he had seen her, he had yelled at her. It wasn't supposed to end like this. She was worth more than this. She was worth more than him. Till screamed at the sky, and let out a strangled moan when the nineteenth cannon finally sounded in the arena. Till sat, his arms around her, crying. He could hear the hovercraft coming, but he wouldn't let them take her. Not yet. They couldn't just make her disappear, she was a person, and she deserved better.

Scarlette stopped crying and watched the boy's heaving shoulders. She had known he cared for her, but his reaction was even more… dramatic than she had expected. There was genuine emotion in his cries, and something about his uninhibited grief made her pause for a moment. But it had to be done.

Scarlette stepped slowly toward Till, her fist gripped tightly around the weapon that still dripped with Lannah's blood.

A/N

RIP Grace. Lots of Mystery surrounded Grace's character, and I loved having a wild card around. Alas, she fell to Athene.

RIP Lannah. Oh, my feelings. Lannah was sweet, she was kind, and sadly, Naive. Those traits did not help her in the end.

We're getting close to the end, everyone! Thank you SO much for sticking with me this far. As a side note, I'm putting up a couple of polls on my profile that you should really check out, even if you don't regularly review. I want to know who you WANT to win, and you think WILL win. I can't wait for the results!

Thank you for your time,

IVV