F3: MIKHAIL FREY
The first yellow orb shatters. I snap from a fretful sleep, plagued by dreams of my four ghosts- Wyndle's face blends with a spider's pincers, Shaka closes his eyes again, Ira runs at me with a knife, and Vulkin drinks the poison before I can stop him again. The snap echoes in my dreams and I jerk bolt upright. It's not like waking up is slow and hard anymore- I jump from sleep as easily as I breathe. Another egg breaks into shards even as I stand. My pack is already prepared- all I have to do is turn and run. Soon two more eggs break simultaneously and I flinch. My feet are rooted where they stand. I'm held fast by curiosity. The seven eggs are all opened now and their creatures lay shivering on the ground. They look almost human.
The first rises on spindly legs and clacks a strange bone that protrudes from the back of its head onto its knobbly spine. It tilts its head back when it makes the noise and reveals a slimy, pale throat that's ridged in spikes. It's armored, that much is obvious. I gulp and twitch my feet, but my eyes are irrevocably glued to the scene. Soon all seven of the muttations are clacking their crests and I squeak. One of the awful things turns towards me and takes a single step forward, bringing it into the light. The thing is terrifying. Its entire body is plated with pale armored hide, protecting it against my blades. It drips with the slimy residue that collects on the inside of eggshells. With its pincered arms, it looks like a crab. It hisses with a strange mouth that seems to be human, but almost beak like in its stiffness. A crimson forked tongue snakes out of its mouth for a split second and a drop of liquid rolls from the corner of its mouth to the ground. The ground boils where the ooze strikes. Acid.
The mutt screams as I take a step backwards. Thin spines on its neck and back stand up- a few of them fall onto the ground and impale the dirt. Its withered front arms click their pincers together and then all seven of the things turn towards me and scuttle forwards. The movement is immediately reminiscent of a spider and I scream uncontrollably. Spiders give me shivers and creeps more than anything else in this world. I fear all arachnids. When the things scuttle towards me in their little pack, I stumble on my feet and run, flinging my pack at them as I go. They screech and follow me, leaping over roots and braches as I clamber over the obstacles; the mutts break through bushes that I spend precious seconds fighting around. They're chasing me downhill, making it much harder for me to keep my balance and making it very easy to take a tumble- a fall that could mean the end for me. Would snapping my own neck in a suicidal jump be easier than letting them herd me to the battle? It would trump the Games, I know that for sure. Marius would win and I wouldn't have to suffer. I've heard neck breaking is a relatively easy way to go. Judging by the screams yesterday- I feel so calloused to the pain of others now that I've broken my own heart multiple times- breaking my neck seems like a tame options even if it is suicide.
The mutt nearest me snarls horrendously as it advances. I pull a classic move on it when I let a tree branch that I held aside whip back into its ugly, crabbish face. The mutts would be more pitiful than scary if they didn't walk so much like spiders. They're chasing me towards the Cornucopia. My legs burn with the strain of running downhill; I breathe raggedly. Soon they'll overtake me and… they won't kill me. That would be a terrible last battle. They'll just terrorize me until I run again. The thought of those spidery legs standing over me, those weird albino plates rubbing against my skin… I shudder and run. I can't run faster, but I keep going. Leaping over knobby roots and boulders, I evade the spider-walking muttations. The whole pack is still on my trail- I've run across boulders, through thickets, and even tried to double back and they're still on my trail. When I try to turn around, they cut me off. The Capitol isn't wasting any time getting me down to the Cornucopia valley. It's not beating around the bush in its haste to deliver me to Marius. I scream as one of the spider mutts snaps at me and tears away a chunk of my tunic. I leap ahead one giant stride and stumble in my erratic landing. They're almost upon me.
The golden metal gleams, one speck of fire in the mid-morning, through the dense trees. I desperately don't want to go down there. I never want to see Marius. He's a Career- I've got almost zero chance! But I do have a chance. I got here, didn't I? I can make it home. I'll get better weapons when I get down there.
I burst through the trees and everything is completely still. I whirl around, expecting the mutts to come out of the forest as well. Nothing. The leaves are still, no clacking cries echo in the underbrush and the trees are undisturbed. There is no wind at all. It is still.
Slowly I turn around. The valley is empty- Marius isn't in my sight at all and I can't see any trace of him besides some shattered blades at the base of the Cornucopia. He has to be here somewhere, or they would have driven me somewhere else. I'm not going to try to find him, though. There isn't any cause for me to bring the fight even faster. I drop my pack on the ground and pull out my three remaining knives. I have to be ready.
M4: MARIUS DYLAN
The noise in the trees on the outer edge of the valley stops. This is it. Mikhail's here. I can hear her footsteps, like a whisper, crunching the grass. I take the stone in my hand and draw it along my harpoon's blade. I've discarded the atlatl. They wouldn't let me use it- oh no, this has to be a battle, a duel. No quick final deaths are allowed in a Quarter Quell. I bring the grindstone to my blade again, the noise ringing inside my hiding place and barely escaping into the outside air. I don't want her to suffer. I run a finger along the tip of the spear. Sharp as necessary- my finger is pricked and a single drop of blood rolls out onto the ground. I can't hear Mikhail's footsteps anymore. I wonder if she heard my noise? I shift my harpoon to my right hand- I'm not using my wounded left shoulder until I have to- and step from the mouth of the Cornucopia. I've been waiting since last night. I stayed awake all through the dark times, waiting for the Gamemakers to bring my opponent to me. This will be the last time I'll ever have to kill. I hate the idea, but I'll take advantage of it. No more will Marius Dylan kill. No more Mallows, Alices, Rosis… no more Linleys. I won't ever kill again.
I stride around the golden horn to face the scrawny girl from District 3 in the way only a trained Career can pull off. I don't want this battle to be a long one, and she'll be easier to defeat if she's scared by me. She's got three knives- one in each hand and one between her teeth. She jumps when I step out from the Cornucopia's shadow and spits the knife onto the ground. "Marius. I guess this is the last time we'll be meeting?" I nod grimly. I've got two curved broadswords in their sheaths on my back in addition to my harpoon. Mikhail Frey won't suffer if I can help it.
"Let's get this over with." I swing my harpoon into a fighting stance and Mikhail raises her knives. I'm not throwing my harpoon unless I have to. My swords are a second choice. The girl blocks my first swing, surprisingly enough. It's two silver blurs in the air- her knives are swift. I shuffle backwards until I can reposition my harpoon. My foot kicks something dark in the grass and as Mikhail runs haphazardly at me I carelessly knock her aside. I could have finished her then if I wanted to swing my spear tip upwards into her heart. Instead I knock the knives out of her hands so I can pick up the thing on the ground. A small horse charm. Somebody's token from before? Gabriel Grow's. It has to be- he died right here and he had something about horses in his interview. I pick up the small charm. Mikhail comes towards me, trying to catch me off guard. It won't work, Three.
"Why are you fighting?" I spit at her. She's taken off guard.
"To get home! Do you not get it?"
"No, why are you fighting? Why, Mikhail? TWENTY-TWO KIDS HAVE DIED HERE AND WE WANT TO KILL ONE MORE! WHY ARE WE FIGHTING?" I rage, storming up to her in my desperation. It makes sense to me- we only fight for the Capitol. No fight, no show. No fight, no Games, no fear. I hold up the horse token. "I SAW HIM DIE, GIRL! HE WAS TORTURED TO DEATH BY A GIRL WHO THOUGHT HE WAS ME! I DESERVE TO TAKE HIS PLACE, DID YOU KNOW THAT?" Mikhail shakes her head in sheer terror. "He didn't deserve to die…" I whisper now. She should mourn him. Gabriel will end up another forgotten face, but he doesn't deserve it. They all deserve a place in history… they are the ones who know how sweet life it- they deserve statues and memoirs and documentaries, not the victors! I brandish the tiny horse in Mikhail's face. "GABRIEL WANTED TO GET HOME TOO! LINLEY DIED BY MY HAND AND I COULD NOT SAVE HER! Don't you realize you aren't the only one, girl? That's what everyone says. We're both fighting for home. I'm fighting to get home and apologize; I'm fighting to get home to the ones I love. What are YOU fighting for, huh? This is going to be a fast battle if you're not fighting for anything!" Mikhail's eyes widen.
"I didn't know… I… I guess I'm sorry." My heart clenches.
"You're sorry? Just sorry? Well, I'm 'sorry', too, girl." Her eyes narrow.
"I'VE KILLED, OKAY, MARIUS? SHAKA AND IRA DIED- VULKIN AND WYNDLE DIED- ALL AT MY HANDS! I'VE HAD DREAMS, MARIUS! THEY NEVER ARE GOING TO SEE THEIR HOMES AGAIN, BECAUSE OF ME!" She's screaming now. This heartbreak- we've both felt it. "I want to show them… my district, my family… that I'm worth something. That I'm more than just another kid working for the Capitol. I need to show them that I'm more than another kid out there." She's crying.
I set my harpoon down and hold out my hand in a fist with my pinky extended. "Promise… whoever gets home- they have to give some sort of remembrance to every tribute who died in this Quarter Quell." We're children, fighting as grown gladiators. We're pinky promising things to each other before one of us dies a terrible death. Mikhail wraps her finger around mine. And then she does the most surprising thing. As I slide the horse charm into my pocket, Mikhail Frey hugs me and whispers into my ear. She has to stand on her tiptoes.
"I'm sorry, Marius. I need to get home." Something slides metal against metal close to my back. Mikhail steps away from me. She has my swords.
F3: MIKHAIL FREY
Before I can attack, Marius has leaned down and snatched up his harpoon again. At least I have a fighting chance now. He disarmed me too easily earlier. The swords are much easier to fight with, even against the deadly harpoon. So as I charge forward, he swings his weapon up to face me. His seeming hesitation to fight earlier has totally dissipated into the Career intensity he shows now. I cross my swords and the harpoon is deflected away from my ribs- instead it scores a shallow cut along my cheekbone. I wince, but the adrenaline has kicked it. I don't feel the pain, just the blood starting to drip down my face. If it's not on my limbs I won't stiffen up as fast and I can continue. I slash again and Marius blocks the curved blades.
I see Kanzy in my mind's eye and narrow my eyes. She's waiting for me and I can't let her down. I have to get home. Marius advances on me now, whirling his harpoon in a steel-tipped circle. It's too dangerous to move in on him, but I stick the swords out like a twig going through a bicycle's spokes. The metal clangs and Marius stops spinning his harpoon. A sharp jab and there's a deep cut on my right hand. At least I'm a lefty. I dash forward as he readies his weapon for another blow. He swings the shaft of the harpoon up to defend himself, but I'm shorter than him and he swings it up too high. A crimson line appears on his torso as I swing the sword again. Then, as he reels backwards, I punch him in the jaw. It stings my fingers more than it hurts him. He glares at me and rubs his jaw, but his grip on the spear doesn't loosen at all. A fighter until the end, that's Marius.
He slashes diagonally and the resulting ring from my parry jars my entire arm. Marius is deadly no matter his emotions, and I can't afford to forget that. We had a unit on combat once in school. What did the instructor say? Move your feet. I jump to one side instead of trying to block the next stroke and Marius's harpoon misses me entirely. I allow a small grin to creep across my face. We circle like sharks, or maybe wolves, for a few seconds. Then something growls and we both totally drop our guards.
Two giant muttations are watching us fight. A giant mottled crocodile has lumbered from the direction of the black lake and a lemur that's as tall as I am has emerged from the trees. Marius seems a little confused, but he sneers as I watch him. He's realized what has happened and so have I. The mutts have come to watch the battle. That means I've found my muttation at long last- the crocodile has to be the boy from Four's. I dash around in a semicircle, keeping the lemur out of Marius's sight. Maybe I can circle around to the crocodile and kill it before Marius wears me down. He has to have had ample food throughout the Games whereas I've hardly had any. The crocodile keeps up a rolling growl from the back of its scaly throat. At least it looks normal, unlike those spidery things from earlier. I shudder.
Marius attacks as I shiver, very nearly impaling me. I'm faster than him, though, and I dodge the blow. Back and forth now, we fight. I'm sweating and panting, but Marius has had extensive training and he doesn't seem to be breaking a sweat at all yet.
"So who have you got waiting for you, girl?" he asks. His voice is hoarser than I expected, and his harpoon jabs at me as I whirl with my blades.
"A family and a best friend." I feel almost obliged to answer, seeing as Marius could have easily killed me earlier and didn't. "You?"
"A family, close friends, and my girlfriend. And a district." He wasn't prepared to be asked the same question.
We haven't drawn much blood, and the Capitol must think we're uninteresting. Out of nowhere a tree root pops out from the ground and Marius falls, hitting his lower back on the concrete base of the Cornucopia. He keeps his harpoon in his hands, but I can get much closer as her groans in pain. His knuckles have gone white and he shifts his weapon from one hand to the other as he tries to regain his footing. I stab at him and gash his right forearm. His fingers go limp and one end of the harpoon dips low. I must have hit some nerve in his arm, because his hand isn't moving.
He bites his lip to try and hide his pain and then struggles to his feet again. I scream as he forces the harpoon forward and pierces my leg just above the knee. I have to watch out for every part of myself the same as Marius does. I'm forced to favor that leg and I limp away from Marius for a moment. It has to work now. I parry another one of his powerful blows.
M4: MARIUS DYLAN
The girl has a plan- I can see it in her dark blue eyes. And now I can't use my right arm at all. I force the left hand to position the harpoon in my least favorite place- sword stances. I can throw it now that Mikhail has my swords, but I can still see her knives resting at the mouth of the Cornucopia. If need be I can defeat her with those. I take a swing at her and cut on her shoulder, the blood flowing from both of us profusely. Our mutts are looking weaker and weaker. I charge towards Mikhail again. She's not there.
I hear a scream from behind me and turn to see the girl from Three bring my swords down across my crocodile's neck. I holler, but death never comes- just a new throbbing in my limp wrist. The crocodile hisses as its armor stops the blade and I nervously, raucously laugh. Its soft parts are all underneath, just like a real crocodile. Unless Mikhail gets it through the eye or it rolls over, I'm safe form death-by-mutt. I swing at Mikhail from behind and catch her back, tearing a bloody gash from her shoulder blades to her collarbone. She screams. It's definitely cut up some muscle. She is forced to drop one sword, but the stupid lemur hops out and snatches the weapon away from me. Soon the girl is crying out as she attacks me. My right arm is laced with bleeding scarlet lines. It's useless and even the Capitol will find it hard to fix if I get back. When I get back. I lunge at Mikhail again. She turns to avoid me and flails out at me with the blade, hitting me with the hilt right where Ebony's crossbow bolt entered my shoulder a week or so ago. I actually scream this time and my harpoon swerves off course and its tip drops to the ground. I'm totally disabled, aren't I? I raise my eyes to look at Mikhail in fury… and shame. I was supposed to live.
The girl cradles her mangled arm. She's screaming, her weapons forgotten. Something lays on the ground in a pool of blood- a hand. There's no right arm below the elbow, and the bone protrudes jaggedly from the gaping hole that used to be a joint. My harpoon cut off her arm when she hit my bad shoulder. Mikhail can't stop her bleeding with a hand, so she fumbles with her jacket and presses it to the severed stump of an arm. I could finish her here and now. My left arm barely obeys when I try to move it, but the shoulder hurts like I'm breaking it over and over again. It's probably dislocated and, judging by its blood, the wound has reopened. I'm feeling a little dizzy from blood loss. The pool around out feet is disturbing already. But I force my arm to lift the harpoon that's now coated with fresh blood. It hurts, but I force myself through the hazy world of pain. But something about her stops me. She's sobbing, fat tears raining to the ground and trailing down her grimy face. Mikhail's forgotten all about me in her pain.
I can't kill her; it would be Linley all over again and I'd rather die than see another helpless girl lying dead by my hand. I toss down my harpoon and Mikhail seems to come back to reality. She's a year younger than me, but her eyes are full of more hate than I could have imagined. I look at our mutts. The lemur sits still, not watching the battle with bright eyes but looking near to fainting with a faraway stare. My crocodile opens and closes its great mouth, lifting its jaw and flashing its great pale throat in a display of pain. Mikhail drops the jacket from her gory open wound and lifts the sword with her other hand. She's thirsty for my blood now; she's desperate for my death. We haven't got much longer with our life source flowing freely onto the ground. My vision is partially obscured by a cut on my forehead. Mikhail jumps forward to attack, using what little life and energy she has left, but I tuck and roll out of her path. I cannot afford pointless injuries now. We're too close to death and dodging is easier than fighting. We're so close to home, but losing now puts one the furthest away from home they'll ever go. My arm is almost dead now- if I don't finish Mikhail now it'll soon be followed by the rest of me.
I run towards the muttations, blocking my opponent's vicious blows. They're so vulnerable- like the humans, so close to death. They had created a gladiatorial mini-arena for the final battle, the mutts did. I run and watch my back at the same time, trying to use my weapon to push the blond hair from my eyes. I can't afford to miss this shot.
With one motion, as the tribute behind me lunges for my back with their weapon aimed at my neck, I shove my sharp blade through the muttation's exposed neck. The rage and adrenaline doesn't fade and I feel my foe's- maybe we'd have gotten along in another life- steel scrape down my back. They lay gasping on the blood-soaked ground and I can't even register the truth. My muttation stands alive, although I'm swaying, and the other mutt and its match- my last competitor- collapse to the earth and the crushed grass. They're dead and I'm free. The distant whirring of the hovercraft is all I hear, although I don't pay attention. I only feel the horror. My mutt doesn't do anything and all I notice is how much my arm hurts and that I killed another tribute.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you the victor of the One Hundredth Hunger Games and the Fourth Quarter Quell, M-"
IN DISTRICT FOUR: ARALI FREY
No matter what happens on the television screen tonight- because everyone knows it's going to be today- we won't forget Mikhail. People have been coming up to me at the stores, in the streets, and wishing me the best of luck and the kindest fortune and peace and all that jazz. I don't really notice anymore. It's the sort of thing that's been going on in our home since Mikhail was born- the rest of us have overshadowed her and gotten all the attention. I want to tell them to stop well-wishing me and go sponsor my baby sister. I want to tell them I was supposed to volunteer, that I was supposed to save Mikkie and be there instead of my poor sister who has just been noticed by everyone, but I can never find the words.
Why can't they look at Mikhail and see her as someone besides 'that youngest Frey kid' or 'our best tribute in two decades!'? She's better than that. I never bothered getting to know my on sister, and it might be too late now. Can't we all try and see her for who she is, even if it has to be in memoriam? I set up a picture of my sister on the mantle.
"Arali!" my mom calls in a panic. The static on the TV disappears and the Capitol emblem appears. The entire family assembles at the screen. Aurelia Flickerman, with her overdone Capitol make-up and neon mini-dress, simply annoys me when she appears. I want to see my baby sister! I don't even hear Aurelia's words as the screen flashes to shots of the final battle. Then I scream.
IN DISTRICT FOUR: SHOALLE NIXY
"And... there you go, young lady!" The doctor peels away the last of the cast and I'm finally free. I don't care, though. I'd give anything to have Marius back with me right now. He's stuck in that awful mountain arena with a killer girl as his last competition. He could have died today and I won't know until the video starts at the huge screen in the city square. I got to visit Marius's home for the Top Eight interviews, but I've been in the hospital before and after. The doctor pats me on the head and I smooth my chocolate curls back into place as he leaves the room. Suddenly, he pops his head back inside. "When your boyfriend comes back, tell him good job, all right, Shoalle?" He's seen me wake up in cold sweats; he's heard me cry. "Because Marius will be on his way home soon enough, alive and handsome. Tell him that all of us supported him all the way." I smile and nod, but my eyes are already filling with tears. Marius HAS to be alive. He couldn't have died, could he? I banish the thought.
I'm forced to wait for some paperwork to be filed before I can leave the hospital. When I'm officially released, I hobble as fast as I can with my stiff, sore leg to the town square. Tomorrow I'll be back home, but we have to come back here again when Marius comes home. I've heard the old skeptics say stuff like 'Yeah, the boy'll be back… in a pine box." I can't allow myself to believe it.
A whole bunch of people come up to me as I arrive in the square. Girls, boys, children, adults. All of them want to say that they have faith in Marius. I smile at each of them and thank them, but I'm almost glad when the screen lights up. I don't want to wait any longer, whether I have to see death or life. I need to see what has happened to my Marius.
Aurelia Flickerman fades into the background and the Cornucopia appears onscreen. Then I scream.
Then I scream! Because of this cliffhanger that I created eight years ago!
Lol good thing you don't have to wait!