Chapter 36: A Requiem of the End

~The Silver Containers~

Capitol- Lorraine Carrol, 8

Location: Control Room of the 18th Hunger Games

I dangle my feet as I look towards the screen. Two different people. My two new favorites.

Jay is cute, very much so. He's really weird and quirky, kind of like myself. He hasn't killed anyone yet, even when he's brutally stab the boy from 4. I smile as I remember the expression on his face when Tobias from 10 died. He looks so utterly broken that it's so adorable!

Aster is handsome, and he's so cheery and twisted. His romance with Jinx is soooo awesome. I wish I could have more hands in it, but mom says romance is always best when left untouched. I wish Jinx could have died by my mutt and have Aster cover for her, that'd be so dramatic!

But I take a deep breath to calm myself from the excitement and look at the sponsor screen. There are many sponsors for both Jay and Aster. Not a surprise, they both are favorites. Jay's sister got killed for him and then his friend got killed in the same fashion. He's also very cool! And Aster is also awesome. He kills many tributes, but then he rampages whenever people hurt Jinx. I laugh merrily, feeling excited for tonight's finale.

Suddenly, the room opens, revealing two vastly different people. The first one is an old man who still looks handsome. Micro is the winner of the 3rd Hunger Games, way before I was born. He's calm, cool, collected, and is indifferent about everything that doesn't concern his sister or District 3. The other one is Calico, fresh from his 17th Hunger Games.

I grin as Calico looks around the room in awe while Micro just looks at me with his usual piqued interest look. "Can I have your attention?" I ask to Calico, who nods jumpily. He's always a nervous wreck ever since his district partner tried to kill him when they're in the final 2.

They were pretending to be in love, but he fell hard for the girl. She betrayed him in the end though.

"Is there something you want, Lorraine?" Micro is the first to ask and Calico nods at him.

"Yes, Micro. There's something I want." I say as I twirl some of my hair. "Sponsors. Your tributes have them. I want you to send them the one weapon that they're best at." Calico looks at me nervously. "F-for the finale?" He says. The fact that he's stammering and being so nervous doesn't really suit the image of District 11's male.

I giggle and nod. He's sooo cute!

"I'm expecting the best from both of you and your tributes... okay?" Micro nods while looking distracted, no doubt already thinking of what to send. Calico stammers a very nervous yes. And they both leaves.

I lean back at my armchair and cross my legs. A smile spreads on my face as my father wakes up on the sofa.

He scratches his head and yawn. "What did you just do, Lorraine?" He asks while stifling another yawn. I look at my unsuspecting mother and smile my best smile.

"It's nothing, Daddy!"

District 3- Jay, 17

Location: The Pale Realm

The entire place is white, but I couldn't see where I am.

My knees are weak, and I can't stand. I stare listlessly to the pale sky above me. Where's Tobias? Ah, he's dead. Where am I? Why am I not with Tobias? Ah, he's dead. How is he dead?

I gasp as the entire thing comes and stab my mind brutally.

Each and every detail was burned into my head. The way he moves, the way that girl moves, the way that boy from 11 watch, the way wind breezed when Tobias died, the way everything happens...

And it keeps on replaying and comparing itself to Sharon's death. My entire body shivers. Why? Ah, it's snowing. Or... is it the fact that I didn't do anything in both their deaths?

I blink, and I can feel liquid falling from my eyes. I'm crying. Why? Ah, because Tobias is dead.

"Jay..." I can hear Vincent whispers. I don't look at him. I look at the pale sky above me. I fell from that sky, still in the same position I was when Tobias hugs me for the first and the last time.

"Jay, you need to move."

I don't need to.

"Seriously, Jay, you do need to move." A female voice said with a giggle.

My eyes widen and I instantly look towards Vincent. But it wasn't just Vincent there. Standing next to my blond best friend is a transparent copper-haired girl that still looks as stunning and sarcastic as I remember her to be.

Sharon is standing there, looking like how she was when she entered the arena. Fresh, pretty, snarky and confident. She's wearing a white pajama and a pair of white slippers. "S-Sharon?" I stammer, clearly not believing what I'm seeing. Am I going crazy?

"First of all, you're not going crazy. Second, I don't have much time so I'll tell you," She sits next to me and pets my hair with her transparent hand. "I've seen Tobias. He's alright and he's sleeping now. But I'll wake him up after I'm finished with this visit." I suddenly feel relieved. So Tobias is alright.

"And last..." She takes a deep breath as her body starts to fade. I instantly try to take her hand, afraid that she'll leave. But she smiles at me reassuringly. "Please win, Jay. I want you to live. I want you to go back home and comfort Zero. I want you to hug mom and dad and say that I'm sorry... I love you, Jay. Please... win this for me!"

Sharon plants a kiss on my cheek before disappearing, possibly forever. Something tells me that this is the last time I'll ever see her. So then I nod and try to stand up.

When I stand up, Vincent helps me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Ready for the finale?" He asks with a smile on his face.

I nod. "Yes, I'm ready." I say as I rub away the liquid on my face.

Suddenly, I can hear a beeping noise from the sky. I see a silver parachute coming down to me. But as I catch the silver container, I can see another person with the same silver container walking down to my direction.

"Three..." The boy across me says loudly. I instantly know who it was. The boy from 11. The one who killed Tobias.

Revenge is never my thing. Because I think that it's useless, but avenging Tobias done in the same package as Sharon's wish? There's no reason not to do it.

"Eleven." I say calmly. My mind starts to calculate all the different possibilities of this encounter. Approximately 1000 thousand possibilities pops out in my head, but I picked only one.

I will win this. For Sharon. For Tobias. For Vincent.

But most of all, I'll win this to prove my own calculation.

Whereabouts:

Jay -The Pale Realm

Aster - The Pale Realm

The finale of the Games is the next chapter... look forward to it.

And to those who wants to know (though I doubt it), Micro is a character my friend submitted to SparrowCries' SYOT story titled Lost in the Darkness. His tale is pretty much the same as the one in that story, only he won the Games and it's not the 60th Hunger Games, it's the 3rd Hunger Games. A bit confusing, I know. But I love him so much so I decided to make him Jay and Sharon's mentor.

And as promised...

The Afterlife

~A Gratitude~

District 7- Kalina, 18

I sit down on the flower meadow just outside the bar. I assume that it looks like a flower meadow because I want it to be flower meadow. The girl from 9, Norra, says that it looks like a meadow made of white cloud. But I see it differently.

I sigh, still thinking about the circumstances of my death. It's my fault. If I didn't shout Scorpii's name when that Dodo bird clawed my stomach, he wouldn't have returned to the battlefield. And if he didn't return, Slate wouldn't have gone to save him. They both will still be alive...

It's all my fault. I brought doom to my alliance.

Suddenly, I can feel a tap on my shoulder. I instantly look at my behind and see a smiling gray-eyed boy.

"May I sit here?" He asks politely.

Saying no to Slate is like saying no to a very nice puppy. So I nod and he joins me with a warm smile.

"Slate, I'm sorry..." I say as I look downwards, not wanting to meet his kind-looking gray eyes. But Slate only hums and ruffles my hair. "It's not your fault, Kal." He says with a smile I couldn't see, but am sure is there. "And stop avoiding Scorpii. He's trying to tell you something..."

I haven't seen Scorpii at all. I haven't even watched him. I was too ashamed to face him.

I feel slightly comfortable with Slate, because I know that he'll definitely forgive me. But I can't bring myself to believe that Scorpii would forgive me. Maybe he'll hate me for killing him. And... I don't want to be hated by him.

Not when I love him this much.

I guess it all started at the time he saved my life from the Queen of Hearts. If it weren't for him, I might have come here much more earlier than I actually did. We spend times together. I tell him my stories, and he tells me his. I feel comfortable with him...

But I'm afraid to tell him. After all, it's the Hunger Games.

What if he's creeped out by my affection? What if he deems me unimportant? What if he doesn't feel the same for me?

I sigh, but then Slate presses his hand on my head and stand up. "Give him a chance, Kalina. Everyone deserves a chance." He smiles at me. "I'm not mad at you, you know?" He gives me a cheeky grin and I smile. "Thanks, Slate." I say with a smile as well.

He grins wider before running to the direction of the two from 6.

When I return to my silence, I can feel someone else sitting on Slate's place.

My face contorts into a smile when Scorpii sits silently next to me. We don't talk, because we both aren't Slate. We both are awkward and we both aren't talkers. But then after a few minutes of silence, Scorpii exhales deeply before taking my hand in his.

"You know that I killed Tauro, right?" He begins. I nod. Of course I know, he told me that story when we were eating some cakes in the Castle of Hearts. "I killed him just because I snapped at him, Kalina. Don't you think that I'm scary? That I might just kill you at any given time?" I instantly turn my head and shakes it.

"Of course not!" I say, a bit too loudly that Scorpii actually flinches. He then turns to look at my eyes.

My green meets with his murky dark eyes. I can feel blood rushing to my face and I shyly avert my gaze away from him. "You... never snapped at me, Scorpii..." I say breathily, like it was a mere whisper. "Do you remember when I tell you about how my father often snaps at me and my brother? That he'll hit us if we displease him?" I can feel his hand shaking in anger. But then I tighten my grasp and lay my head on his shoulder.

"That time, you snapped and killed some card soldiers, right? You... never snapped at me, Scorpii. But you snapped for me. There's a difference..." I take a deep breath and look at him in the eyes, a smile forming on my lips.

"And, there's no way that I'm afraid of you when I love you this much, Scorpii."

I can see Scorpii's eyes widen as I giggle merrily for the first time after Mom and Nalin's death. But then it's my turn to widen my eyes when he inserted his tongue to my mouth and kisses me.

"Brotheeeer! Your cookies are- Oh my...!"

I can see Percella, or Ella, as Scorpii called her, standing right behind us. But then Scorpii stopped his kiss and looks at Ella with a shocked expression.

When she bursts out into a laugh, both Scorpii and I did the same, and we're still holding hands.

Dying because a mutt clawed my stomach might have been a misfortune, but laughing while holding hands with Scorpii happily...?

I guess the odds are in my favor, after all.

Please review :)