Chapter 34: It Begins

Christina (Number Ten's) POV

I wake up out of the vision, feeling warm and comfortable, but that may just be from the fire. Ella and I did a good job bringing the others together, even if it was only in our minds. I was happy to see Blake and also discovering a new component of my telepathy, but again my heart sinks when I think about Ella. Being held by Ra and he seems to be poisoning her with some kind of black liquid. There are so many questions that I want to be answered, but neither Ella or anyone else had the answers. If only I could get into Ra's head.

I shudder at the thought.

Could I? I think. I could get into Ella's and Ra was able to do the same to me, John, Nine, Eight etc.

It's time someone scared him a little bit. I think to myself.

I close my eyes and concentrate. I know it will be harder to get into Ra's head than it was with Ella. I want to experiment with my telepathy, see how far it can go.

I'm in darkness. It is absolutely silent, the only thing I can hear is my heartbeat. I picture the despicable man in my mind, at least how I last saw him. I concentrate.

My heart beat intensifies as I travel through what feels like black smoke, thick and impenetrable. There is little, light to see anything, but I push on. My brain begins to hurt, badly. it feels like I'm fighting against an avalanche of snow or a stampede of elephants. I focus on my breathing as much as possible. Clearly, Ra doesn't want me in his head. I hear voices around me, dark voices, demonic in nature. I can't be afraid, not anymore.

I begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel of black smoke. I push the hardest I ever had, forcing myself into this white light. There is heat around me now, my entire body burns as if I'm on fire. I'm fighting against strong, wind with intent to tear me apart.

You will not keep me out! I growl in my head. I gasp for air and give one more intense push towards the light.

I open my eyes, I'm in a war room. Many computers blink around me, a lot of them more advanced than any others I've seen. My head is throbbing from fighting so hard, but now it is worth it. I slowly walk around, knowing that I am merely a visitor in his head, he can't see me. I go up to a 3 dimensional model of what looks like a dome with rocks, trees, rivers, and various terrains. I see eight blinking lights on the inside, all of them scattered. It takes me a moment to realize that this is us. Ra is watching us, having information about The Games and the trackers in our arms. I look down at the black thing around my upper arm. I dig my nails in a desperate attempt to remove it. These trackers are our weakness, it's to Ra's advantage that he knows where we are at all times. I look around at all the other computers, many of blinking on charts. I see the forms of what look like space ships hovering.

So this is all he thinks about? I wonder to myself. About the invasion

Certainly, a voice answers.

My heart stops and I turn around. I see a lone figure standing at a window. His black form blocks out the stars around him. I see the purple scar and I know who it is. I clench my fists and remind myself that this is a vision, he can't see, hear or feel anything, even if I want to rip his head off, but who just said that?

Ra suddenly turns as if he can see me.

"Welcome Aralia..." he says with a toothy grin. "Welcome to my humble abode."

I swallow hard. I can't show fear in front of him.

"Not so easy to get into the master's head is it?" he smiles.

"You call yourself a master..." I hiss angrily. "You're a monster."

"You flatter me."

"Let Ella go!" I yell at him. It takes all my strength not to run over and punch him "She may be your granddaughter but she'll never join you."

"A little persuasion may be in order."

"If you hurt her..."

"Why would I? We're family and I love her."

"You have a pretty twisted way of showing it!" I snap at him. "You're poisoning and torturing her."

"I'm making her better. Making improvements and giving her things that Lorien could not."

"Why would she need you? She's pretty powerful on her own."

"Not right now is she? Able to be trapped in a nightmare..."

"You ambushed her!" I yell. "You got her when she was vulnerable."

"Like I will with all of you..." he hisses with a smile.

The scenery suddenly changes. Everything clouds over with dark and threatening clouds. They become a dark arena, much like a hockey arena, with seats, all which are empty. The floor is platinum tiles and the clouds loom above the opening of the arena. Ra stands on a podium, high above me, showing his superiority. He raises his one hand and a section of the platinum floor opens to reveal a wall with a figure on it. I see Blake chained to the wall. He's bleeding badly and limp. I can feel tears in my eyes and my throat closing up. This is all too familiar, he's done this before and he will do it again to torture me, to break me. I can't fall for it again.

I know this isn't real, but Ra has taken control. I want to pull out, I need to escape or I'll be trapped like Ella was.

"You can't do that now," Ra chuckles. "You wanted to see the inside of Pandora's box, now you cannot escape."

My heart races. I can feel tears in my eyes. I'm trapped. I'll be left for some tribute to come and gut me.

Ra raises his jeweled cane and it morphs into a long golden whip, the same one he had back when we were all reunited, the one that almost killed Sarah and Ella and could turn bodies to black rock like he did with Six.

He thrusts it forward, I try to dodge it, but my movements are slow here. My power is not enough now that Ra's taken over. The hot end of the whip grazes my left arm, causing it to be cut. The pain is excruciating, I feel my arm become heavy as the black rock begins to come out of the cut, spreading across my arm like cancer.

Ra throws the whip forward again, I manage to dodge is completely this time, but it's hard with the black rock on my arm weighing me down. I know my legacies are gone, just like before. I'm on my own.

Ra laughs manically at me, lashing at me again and again. It's as if I'm a monkey he's trying to train. His laughter is so demonic and so evil, that I want to try and strangle him.

"You can't dodge me forever," he laughs.

"Just watch me!" I shout bravely.

I know I can't keep this up. I'm going to be weakened. I can't fight him alone... My fear is his strength. He has great power, he's a lot stronger than me and many legacies. He has everything he needs to dominate and win. He can do whatever he wants to me

Think Christina, what would Ra's weakness be? What do you have that he doesn't

The one thing that Ra doesn't have and never will have... Love!

The arena shakes slightly and the vision becomes fuzzy, like on a TV set. The whip suddenly hits my left ankle...only nothing happens.

The arena shakes again, a lot stronger than before. Ra's grin fades slightly. I notice I'm beginning to fade out. The black rock begins to crumble slightly from His attacks on me aren't working. He can't cause me physical harm anymore.

"That can't be...!" he hisses

"You can't hurt me!" I yell. I picture all of the Garde with me. Those I love, those who have passed on and those here and now. My baby sister, my parents, my grandparents. John, Sarah, Sam, Nine, Eight, Marina, Ella, One, Two, Adam, Three, Six, Mark... my brother...Blake...

"Lorien is more powerful than you will ever be! You may take our planet, but you will not take its soul" I shout. "Because we have the one thing you don't..."

The arena is now crumbling, the weak figure of Blake is gone and the tiles beneath our feet is cracking, revealing the earth under it. I can see all the Garde with me now, all our eyes and pendants glowing strongly. We raise our hands and lift Ra like he's a rag doll into the air. His shape twists and his scar glows the brightest it ever has.

"United as one!" I yell. "You will never conquer us!"

I feel very powerful, the vision fades further and I can feel myself floating up into the sky, away from Ra's limp form on the floor of the crumbling arena.

"I may not be able to conquer you, but there is another planet that is available," his voice echoes as I vanish.

There's a sonic boom before I open my eyes.

...

John, where are you? I ask him telepathically. I'm awake now, slightly weakened by the vision, but okay enough. I've packed my things. I can't keep hiding behind here, I need to find the others and maybe a few allies. I want John to signal with his Lumen to bring everyone together, but he's not answering. Maybe my telepathy is a little weak since my battle with Ra.

I climb above the waterfall and begin following the river, hoping that I might find someone nearby.

I enjoy the sunshine as it peeks through the trees. It's such a beautiful sight, it's too bad that all of this in a Death Arena.

I'm walking along when I see what seems to be a trail of blood. I start to worry if it's one of the others...

I follow the droplets along the river bank until they stop completely.

I suddenly hear noises behind me. I turn around but I don't see anything. My heart is pounding in my ears. I know someone is there

I hear someone's thoughts. Someone close by... a boy... It's weak and rather helpless. It's wounded... He's scared and alone, very close to death. I need a name, to identify him. That's when I hear...

Katniss

Peeta Mellark, the baker's boy from District 12, the one who loves Katniss. We had a moment after the parade where I tried to connect to him. He can be a good ally, that is until I find out how badly he's injured. He got into a fight with Cato shortly after the fire and some kind of wasp attack... Tracker Jackers I think. Peeta was caught trying to help Katniss escape and Cato wounded him badly, high up on the leg. He needs Marina and John's help if he's going to survive.

"Peeta?" I ask, calling into the area. "Peeta Mellark?"

Silence.

"Peeta it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you, I want to help you..." I know I don't sound very reassuring, this is the Hunger Games after all and allies turn on each other very quickly.

I continue walking by the river, I kick some of the dirt away.

"Peeta, I know you're hurt and you're looking for Katniss... I know you love her..."

Blue eyes appear from the dirt beneath my feet. I take a step back in shock and then I realize the camouflage lessons offered really do work. He's virtually invisible to the naked eye. I kneel down to him.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"I'm Christina..." I say gently. "Christina Walton."

"How did you know I was here?"

"I don't have time to explain. You're hurt aren't you?"

"How did you...?"

It's really weird to be basically talking to the ground. He's covered in mud and leaves, twigs, all sculpted perfectly to be disguised in the ground.

I quickly think up an excuse. "I saw the trail of blood you left, plus camouflage is usually the last defense of the dying."

I kneel down.

"Need a hand?" I ask.

"Yes please..." Peeta says.

"You were hurt that badly huh?"

Peeta gives me a small smile. "I don't have a lot of strength left."

"Well, I have tons," I say with confidence. Even with the lack of food in my system, I am pretty strong.

Peeta's mucky hand slowly rises out of the mud. I grab it and without much effort, I'm able to free him from the plants, roots, rocks, clay and dirt that enclosed him in the spot.

I can tell Peeta is impressed with my strength.

"Can you move to the water?" I ask, figuring he should be cleaned off.

Peeta shakes his head no.

"I can't, I'm really sorry," he says.

I ignore his apology and put my arm under his legs and lift his back. He gasps in pain and I try to be as slow and as careful as possible. He is a well-built boy, making him heavy, but I've lifted slabs of concrete that were much heavier. I place him in the shallows of the water. He gasps at the sudden coldness.

"Sorry..." I apologize. "But time is of the essence."

"How did you..."

I begin scrubbing his jacket and washing his pants off. I can see the tear in the fabric where he was hit by Cato. I read his thoughts to find out how. When they were attacked by tracker jacker wasps, they were all fleeing to the lake, all being stung in the process. At the last minute, Peeta went back to get something, fortunately, the wasps were following the others. He saw Katniss back at the tree, trying to get the bow and arrows from Glimmer, who was stung very badly and was close to death. Despite his state, Peeta forced her to run, but the consequence of that was that Cato saw him, who also went back for his sword. Cato realized what Peeta was doing and attacked him. the two boys fought, but Cato was obviously stronger and got the upper hand. He slashed Peeta in the leg before Peeta managed to take off in a delusional state. Cato didn't pursue. Peeta forced himself as far as he could possibly go in such a horrific and wounded situation. He ended up passing out and having horrible visions due to the venom of the tracker jackers. His hallucinations ended early due to the pain he was in. He woke up, bleeding badly, his wound did not clot as easily. He pushed towards the river for food. He tried to cover his tracks so he couldn't be followed, which explained the blood smears I found as if someone was trying to wipe them away. When he reached the river, he tried cleaning his cut, but to no avail. By then, he had more or less accepted his fate and decided to die in private. He camouflaged himself and was like that for days.

"How did you do that...?" Peeta asks, really shocked. "I must weigh like...I don't know..."

"I have enhanced strength..." I explain. I begin washing the layers of mud off his face. His hair has taken on a gray look being in the ground for so long.

I tell Peeta our entire story as I clean him off. His eyes become wider and wider as every detail of our fight against the Mogadorians is explained. I can tell he's confused and a little scared. To realize that the world is not what you thought it was and the fact that there is an intergalactic war occurring around you, it's a lot to take in. I let him interrupt me whenever he wants to, I'm very patient about it.

"So there are others like you?" Peeta asks as I drag him out of the water onto the muddy bank.

"Ten others, to be exact," I say. I use a knife and cut open his pant leg to examine his wound.

I nearly lose my lunch when I see it. It's disgusting and definitely infected.

"How bad is it?" Peeta asks.

"I won't sugar coat it, but Marina and John can fix it, they have healing abilities," I explain. "The only problem is, how I'm going to get you to them. We're all scattered around the arena."

I try my telepathy again.

John! Marina! I need you here, I've got a wounded ally. I'm down by the river bank

Nothing.

Suddenly, there is snapping of twigs and rustling of leaves. I'm praying its one of the others, that they heard my message until I hear heavy footsteps, a lot heavier than any I know of.

Oh, gawd it's Cato! I think to myself. I know I have to protect Peeta at all costs and I can surely hold my own, but I don't want to fight, let alone kill.

A tall figure emerges from behind some tall brush and comes toward us.

It's Thresh.

I stand up to protect Peeta. I am scared...very scared. I've taken on Mogs before, a lot bigger and more armed than me, but they're monsters. Unthinking machines. This is a human being, a tough human being, someone who doesn't deserve it.

"Thresh..." I say in a calm voice. I feel like I'm talking to a caged animal that is about to be unleashed. My mind is racing to think about how to calm him and maybe get him to help us. "Please, I don't want to hurt you and I know you don't want to hurt me. My friend, one of my friends saved Rue from certain death. There are others like me, who can help you. Help you get out of the arena and back to your family. To your grandma and sister..."

Thresh steps back in surprise, he grunts in confusion. I can tell he's hesitant to trust anyone, which is understandable.

"My friend Marina can help him, she's the one who saved Rue, but I can't move him alone."

Thresh glares at me.

"She helps boy?" Thresh asks.

"Yes, and when she does, we can all escape," I say nervously. "We don't need to fight each other..."

Just Mogs...

Thresh frowns again, I can see him flush a shade of red.

"Please..." I say to him. "You can see your sister and grandmother again."

I squint really hard and I think I can see tears in his eyes. He has a large rock that he must use as a weapon. I take another step back to give him space.

I read Thresh's thoughts. He looks at us with sympathy, but he is confused. He assumes we might be tricking him to lower his guard, but he sees that neither of us are armed or want to engage with him.

He sets the rock down and takes a step towards me.

"See my sister again?" Thresh whispers.

I nod and smile. I see him smile too.

I suddenly grimace. I see flashes of things. Hovercrafts and spaceships descending from the sky. Fire and chaos...death

I kneel down to rest from being overwhelmed.

"What is it?" Peeta asks.

"The war...the Peacekeepers..."

John! I tell him. We need your Lumen in the sky, we need to meet, now!

I hear nothing at first. My heart is pounding loudly, but slowly there's a humming coming from below us. The ground begins to vibrate.

There are a loud boom and the entire ground shakes. Thresh is nearly thrown off balance and I cling to Peeta and make sure he's okay.

I hear in my head.

It's beginning...