'I forced myself to picture the last moments. The penultimate breath. A final sigh. And yet. It was always followed by another.'
~Nicole Krauss
Diana Grey, 17, District Two
There's a moment of calm so early in the morning in comparison to the day yesterday, less exciting. She's resting for the moment, replacing the bandage on the large cut she received from the Six boy. She had not expected such an elaborate trap from the boy, and she did not think that it would have dealt a lot of damage to her.
She had an inclination that the Games would ramp up, but she didn't expect it to ramp up this fast. Yesterday's events resulted in four casualties one of which is her ex-ally, Lily. Diana had thought she would have made it to the finale, but it looks like the arena had other plans. Or maybe it was Carnelian and Velvet that had done the deed, that's something they would do.
Diana finishes patching the wound standing up. She feels grubby, the lack of places to wash herself makes her feel gross, but she can't complain, she is still alive after all. With seven tributes left in front of her, she can wash all she likes when she gets home.
She takes her pack and daggers, descending down the stairs of the manor. Her plan from here on is simple now; finish the Games in the next one or two days. Although her minor wound is sore she can still manoeuvre well, brushing off the pain and using it to spur her onwards.
She holds onto her daggers tightly every time she turns a corner. She's not ready to fight the Ones just yet, she knows that both of them are still alive and it's not going to be a fair fight. Although that didn't stop her from doing such practices back in Two, the Peacekeeper training facility would often pit trainees in situations like this. However, it's a lot different now that she's fighting to survive.
Her training back home has served her well so far. She knows that this will make her family proud, one of the only driving force of her victory. She hasn't really thought about them much but faced with certain death it gives the mind time to think. She means to win the Games to restore her family name, show them that the Grey family name is not to be trifled with again. She repeats that in her head over and over.
She brushed off the memories of home. She's alive and that's what matters currently. She's closing a week in the arena, although it feels like years have passed and she's feels fed up with it all. Diana stops, her mind might be playing tricks with her making her hear sounds.
She continues to wander the ground floor of the manor, sometimes catching herself be at awe at everything the mansion had to offer. The decorations so ornate, the finest the Capitol can offer. It looks almost close to the real deal, or she likes to think so as she passes another painting, her feet taking her towards two giant doors, polished to perfection.
For some reason, her gut is telling her to go inside. Diana has always been the one to trust that feeling. It served well with her once literally giving her a fighting chance. She touches the doors and pushes it open. Why shouldn't she trust it once again? The door creaks open when she pushes, heavy against her hands feeling like it's pushing back against her.
The first thing she sees are the dusty books scattered everywhere along with bookshelves. The morning sunlight illuminating the library through long windows. She takes a step inside and immediately she feels two sets of eyes looking back at her.
Carnelian looks at her with shock standing up from his seat, lifting up the golden mace that was on the desk. Velvet, already standing up, narrows her eyes tightening her grip on the same gilded sword from the Cornucopia. Diana gives them a curt smile; looks like her gut is wrong this time.
"Nice seeing you." Velvet says, the golden sword glints against the sunlight and Diana smirks in return.
"Shame it has to come to this." She says brandishing her silver daggers. "Have I shown you these?"
"You found weapons?" Carnelian says looking at her pair of silver daggers.
"I'm nothing if not resourceful." She says, smugly before moving forward, taking a few small steps. "I've tried them a couple of times already."
Diana can see Velvet stiffen watching as the girl grips onto the sword tighter. They stand behind desks arranged in a way to protect themselves from whatever enters the grand doors. The library looks like a good place for run and attack tactics, hiding behind the tall bookshelves and attacking whenever you're not in view.
It's a clever idea for the Ones to be hiding out here. She should never underestimate the Ones, for as incompetent they have been. They stare each other down, her and Velvet, before Diana releases a sigh. Velvet raises an eyebrow at that.
"Shame about Lily." Diana starts looking at the both of them. "So which one of you dealt the final blow? Velvet? Or is it you Carnelian?"
"It was neither of us." Carnelian says moving around the desk. "We don't hurt our allies, not until the very end, that was the deal."
"What does she know about alliances?" Velvet says, trying to taunt her into attacking first. "She'll probably run again when the going gets tough, like a coward."
Diana shoots her a glare not saying anything else. Her eyes sending daggers towards Velvet now with such contempt that makes Carnelian look between the two of them, all too familiar with the situation. That doesn't stop him from inching forward as Diana stops, a few meters between them.
"Do you even know the word alliance? You already tried your hands at ditching us, I just made it easier for you." Diana says stepping forward once more.
Velvet does the same now. She rounds the desk not tearing her eyes away from Diana, keeping the glare on her face as she keeps quiet. Dark eyes staring through chocolate ones. Diana takes a deep breath preparing for what's coming next as Velvet speaks.
"Enough talk." The girl from One says grabbing a book on the desk and throwing it at Diana with speed.
Velvet Eclatant, 18, District One
The book distract the Two girl for a few seconds enough to bring her guard down as she rushes towards her, sword aimed directly for her heart. Her gold sword collides with silver daggers, the girl from Two blocking the attack with such poise using the momentum to push it away from her body and then ducking under the sword.
She rises up with a punch to Velvet's stomach and she backs away feeling the pain. She gives the girl another glare, hoping that it would kill her instead of actually fighting. She returns the stare with a smug grin of her own and that just infuriates her more.
Velvet shouts a rallying cry rushing towards her again both hands on the sword slashing it downwards towards Diana's legs, but she stops it again with her daggers sparks fly and fall on the carpet. She gives an annoyed grunt retreating briefly looking at her opponent.
"That all you got?" She says rushing towards her a lot faster than her. Her daggers aim for her arms in retaliation. Velvet had little to react feeling pain radiate from her left arm, one of the daggers giving her a clean cut as blood begins to seep out from the fresh wound. Velvet winces at the pain.
"Vel!" Carnelian shouts her name and this time it's his turn to rush towards their opponent lifting the mace with all his might.
The golden mace rises into the air before slamming down towards Diana, the girl using one of the daggers to block.
She saves herself from being crushed but the dagger she used to block flies from her hand, the golden mace clanging with the silver dagger. Carnelian follows his attack with a kick of his foot straight for her other arm succeeding in disarming that hand too. The dagger flies and clatters a few feet behind her.
Diana curses at the boy as she stumbles back. She looks at the one closer to her and rushes for that narrowly avoiding another mace to the face. Velvet stops watching in this moment reacting to Diana's plan racing her to the dagger kicking it away just as Diana dives towards it.
"So that's how it's going to be." Diana says sweeping her legs, Velvet gasps as she falls on the floor with a thud the grip on her sword loosening as it clatters beside her.
Diana flees behind the bookshelves of the library and Carnelian gives chase. She recovers from her fall standing up and collecting the sword from the ground. She stays still. The noise they have been making silent now, quietness filling the room. She begins to move hearing the sound of Carnelian's mace a few seconds later.
She follows the sound witnessing broken bookshelves and splintered flooring as well as broken books; papers scattered everywhere. Carnelian's back is turned the mace raised to the sky, Diana nowhere to be seen.
He turns quickly when she approached him, face looking panicked and relaxes at the sight of Velvet. He puts the mace down, she watches his shoulder, blood seeping out again from the already bloodstained shirt. He's not doing too good, and Diana may be using this to her advantage.
"Where did she go?" Velvet asks focusing on Carnelian, she can see the boy looking through the bookshelves at the other side, through the scattering of papers and splinters.
"She just vanished when I turned the corner." He says, he wipes away the light sheen of sweat on his forehead.
Velvet wracks her mind; she couldn't just disappear like that like that. She joins Carnelian in looking walking a few steps ahead of the boy and looking through the next lane of the bookshelves, still no one. She tries her hardest to listen to footsteps and nothing until she hears a small sound, not on the ground but above her.
She looks up and see Diana sitting on one of the bookshelves, that same smug face accompanying her, a smile on her face to boot. The girl doesn't waste any time and jumps straight for her. They both fall on the floor. Diana on top of her as she snakes her arms around her neck. Velvet begins to suffocate trying her best to break free. She starts to feel faint, closing her eyes briefly before air begins to fill her lungs again. She sits up fast as she gasps for air.
Carnelian had leaped into action using the mace to volley her off of her. She looks just in time for Diana to fly in the other direction, the mace connected with her stomach with such a force that she swears she heard bones crack.
He kneels beside her, hand on the small of her back helping her sit up, his eyes flickering between her and Diana who's standing up already. Velvet begins to cough as she continues to gasp for air. She brushes Carnelian's arms away as she sits up on her own.
"Don't worry about me." Her voice is hoarse. "Go after her."
Carnelian nods following the already retreating Diana. Velvet tries to regain her composure, using the walls to try and stand up. She's annoyed at herself, but at the situation too. She can't let some nobody from Two show up Beacon Academy. She comes from the best of the best and losing when it's two versus one is not a good look. She begins to think of a way to defeat Diana, using all what she's learned from this fight.
They need to trap her in a corner somehow and then finish her off quickly with her sword. She feels that the more they fight her the less energy they have to fight other tributes that could be resting for the day. She grabs the sword from the floor, her hand briefly touches her neck still feeling how tight Diana had squeezed it. She didn't expect her to be so ferocious when it came down to actually killing.
She walks the corner down the lane back to where all the desks lay. The first thing she notices is Carnelian laying still on the floor. She rushes by his side eyes wide kneeling beside him, her hands immediately wet with his blood. His white shirt already a crimson red.
Velvet looks forwards seeing Diana standing a few feet away from them clutching her side. That's broken, she can tell by the way she winces and how difficult she finds it breathing. However, the girl still manages to smile, even doing a small bow.
Her job is done, playing a long game with Velvet as she backs away towards the large double doors of the library. She's about to pursue her when Carnelian's groans distract her and she focuses all his attention on him again, she can hear the great doors creak open and then shut. The district partners are alone once more.
She begins to help him, her hand shaking as she applies pressure on the wound. The large gash on his stomach doesn't look good. From the back of her mind she knows the end result but at this moment she's acting on instinct, memories of Tony's death too fresh in her head. The more she presses, however, the more blood seems to seep out and the more pain Carnelian seems to feel.
"It's too late…for me." He groans between his words, and even in this moment he can find a way to smile.
"Carnelian, look at me, you can still make it." She says, lying through her teeth, but she's panicking, her mind not processing what she should be saying. She's trying to calm herself but to no avail.
"I think we both know that's a lie." He says the smile staying on his face even between the painful groans. "You should leave now, so I can die and not be embarrassed."
"I'm not leaving you."
"Suit…yourself."
She doesn't want to leave him, for as annoying as Carnelian was, he kept her calm and level-headed. He kept her peaceful, he was there when she cried her eyes out at Lily's dead body when they made it back to the library last night, and for that she is thankful.
Now he's dying in her arms. Her bloody hands hold onto his, her attempts at stopping the blood futile as she tries to comfort him in his last few seconds alive. Velvet's eyes water as she can see his body pale, and soon after his cannon fires with a heavy sound.
Kenna St. Clair, 18, District Five
'Now is your chance, kill her now!'
That same voice pesters her mind like the plague and she's getting sick of it all. His former district partner likes to come and drop his thoughts on the situation which never helps her in the slightest. Not-Shade is what she's started calling him as he wracks her brain annoying her more than ever.
Ashley already thinks she's crazy and after yesterday's fight and how blood thirsty she appeared in front of the Eleven girl she's surprised that she's still with her. She's also surprised that an arrow hasn't found themselves into her body too. There was a cannon just over an hour or so ago thinning down the number of tributes to seven. It's getting down to the wire with every minute they spend in the arena.
They're currently inside the pantry of the kitchen, a large room big enough to fit a small family back home in Five. She rifles through cans of soup trying to find food for today. She didn't think it would be fully stocked but she's not complaining.
After yesterday's events Kenna and Ashley have avoided much conflict and had time to rest and relax for the moment. 'And speak with me?' The voice in her head again bothers her and she sighs inwardly trying not to react, she wants control of her body back.
She's fed up with Not-Shade. He's like an illusion that won't go away, she half expects Shade's full body to appear anytime now to surprise her. 'Yeah you'd like that wouldn't you?' She ignores that suggesting tone in her head continuing to look through silver cans. He's stopped for now, at least, hearing her own thoughts, and as she picks up a can of tomato soup she voices towards Ashley.
"Tomato good?" She says still looking through cabinet.
"Sounds good to me."
She drops the can hearing it clang on the hardwood floors. She can feel a chill in the air at hearing another voice other than Ashley and Not-Shade. She feels herself getting into a defensive stance as she turns to meet Rye. He stares at her, half afraid and half confident, Ashley around his arm with the other holding the golden dagger against her neck.
"I'm sorry I had to come up with such underhanded tactics." He says, and she can see him grip the dagger tighter. "Not really much of a choice. Have to get out of here somehow, right? You understand that, right?"
"I do, any one of us here wants to go home." She says agreeing with him still a few feet away from the two, she flicks her eyes to Ashley's, panic settling within the dark brown eyes.
"It's either me or you guys, and I would like to go home." He says looking at her intently, she can see him begin to panic too, his dagger hand trembling slightly against Ashley's neck.
She can see the outcome and she needs to act fast. Rye's trembling hand begin to move attempting to slice at Ashley's neck but the girl form Eleven snaps from her fear. She bites the boy's had and at that moment Kenna leaps into action. Ashley kicks at Rye first before Kenna rushes towards him, attempting to grab the dagger.
Rye recovers pushing her away with such strength, Kenna stumbling back. She watches as Rye begins to run away from the two of them only for an arrow to fly past the Five girl's head and striking the Nine boy on the leg. He collapses just before the exit.
Kenna makes her way to the boy who is trying to pull the arrow out from his leg. He can hear him groan in pain and the arrow not budging. She winces as she stops beside him. Ashley follows suit standing beside Kenna, another arrow knocked and ready to fire at the boy.
"You got me." He sighs, wincing from the pain. "Guess this is it for me, right?"
"Sure is…" Kenna sadly says.
Ashley prepares the arrow, pulling the string back. Kenna looks wistfully at Rye, but her eyes widen when the boy springs into action. Ashley misfires the arrow as she collapses on the ground in pain. Kenna is beside her in an instant watching her hold onto her thigh, the golden dagger sticking out of her.
She looks to where Rye is but he's not there. The boy is quick, attempting to run away from them, seeing him limp out of the pantry and into the kitchen, already nearing the doors. She leaves Ashely and chases after the boy. She regrets not taking the weapon stuck to Ashley, but she didn't want to cause anymore pain to the girl. She's weaponless but so is Rye.
He is about to open the door when Kenna reaches him and tackles him to the ground. They tumble to the ground both spinning a few times on the hard flooring. Rye struggling to get Kenna's small frame off of him. She delivers a few good punches to the boy's head, his nose bursting, blood splattering on the floorboards.
He fights back shaking her off as he tries to roll over to his side. She falls beside him, and he stands up quickly. Kenna could feel the pain to her stomach as he kicks him with his good leg, knocking the air out of her. She reels in pain her eyes blurring at another kick to the same area before making his leave.
Through her blurry eyes he can see him limp slowly towards Ashley who is now trying to pry the blood-soaked golden dagger from her leg. Kenna's vision shakes before refocusing, the pain subsiding from her stomach as she attempts to stand up. She's about to run after him but she realises she's too late. The last thing she hears is the large gasp from her ally as her cannon booms across the arena.
'He's killed your friend; you know what that means?'
The voice in her head spurs her on as she begins to run the short distance to Rye tackling him once more. They fall on the hardwood flooring, Rye's head slamming against it. She grabs onto his collar and continues to bash his head against it, she can see Rye's eye close, but his arms shoot out fighting back.
He pushes against her with his one arm, his other one searching for the dagger he had dropped when Kenna tackled him moments ago. Kenna fights against his one hand and she shouts in pain, Rye slashing at her leg. She bites her tongue fighting through several slashes grabbing at his arm trying to take the dagger away from him.
She grabs with both hands, his own hand pushing at her face. She gives a primal growl squeezing as tight as she can with both hands at the arm holding the dagger. He eventually let's go as he winces from the pain, she's about to grab it when he delivers a punch to her nose with the other hand as he pushes the dagger away from the both of them.
She stumbles backwards on the floor, the dagger in her sights but far away from her reach. She's panting hard her leg bleeding from the dagger. She touches her nose, feeling a sting from it. She looks at her hand to find more blood. She growls as she moves towards Rye.
Rye takes the opportunity to try and grab the dagger once more, but Kenna is already on top of him both crawling towards the dagger. Kenna just manages to take it gripping it tightly as she backs away from Rye. She can see the desperation in his eyes as he attempts to tackle her.
She counters it with the dagger pushing it deep into his stomach. In an instant, copious volumes of blood floods from the wound, his clothes a deep red in a matter of seconds. She can hear his flesh squelch under her as he collapses on top of her.
Kenna's lower half is covered in his blood as she backs away from him leaving the knife in his stomach. She's panting heavily thinking adrenaline coursing through her entire body making her shake slightly, he's not dead yet, the cannon not firing. She scoots back closer turning him on his back and holding him up.
"I'm sorry." He says, coughing up blood, his breathing raspy. "I had to do it."
"It's okay." She says, surprised at the apology from the Nine boy.
He smiles at her, the blood seeping down the side of his mouth. He lies down on her lap, Kenna unsure what to do other than be there for him in his final seconds. The golden dagger glints at her against the lights of the pantry. All Kenna can do is wait.
The cannon eventually booms across the arena a few minutes later and she lays him down on the floor respectfully. She stands up, her blouse covered in blood as she looks at the two bodies. Rye, she didn't blame, it's as he said, she would do anything she can to get home too.
Ashley's body lay just a few feet from Rye. She walks slowly towards her. She doesn't look peaceful, and she feels tears threatening to fall from the corner of her eyes. Ashley never left her, even though Kenna betrayed Five with Ashley being so opposed to it. She stayed because she believes she saw something good in her.
"Thank you, Ashley." She says, tears falling fully now as she kneels beside her holding onto her hand. "I'm sorry for what I put you through."
Gharial Rivers, 18, District Ten
The sun is setting, the faces will soon populate the night sky. Three cannons have echoed the arena today and Gharial doesn't know which tributes are left. The arena feels quieter now. Somehow before everything went wrong it didn't feel as quiet. He misses the talking the most.
He makes it outside of the manor finally after avoiding many noises he could hear inside. It didn't feel safe in there, so he had to go out and rest out in the grounds. He looks around the arena outside as he makes it to the Cornucopia. It feels empty now. No birds or anything like that, the sounds just desolate and silent, feeling like there's no air to turn the world around.
The clouds are darker, heavier looking as if waiting to deposit all of that rain onto the arena. He likes the rain, calming yet sorrowful at the same time which is what he's feeling at this moment. He moves closer to the fountain taking a seat at the edge. He dips his hand on the water, cool between his fingers.
Gharial knows he can't stay here too long. He needs to keep moving, his feet taking him to the place where he felt the most comfortable in the arena. The greenhouse, despite that one fated day, holds many good memories for Gharial. Learning about his then allies and sometimes forgetting about the Games in general. He opens the door to the greenhouse when he gets there, the glass door masking the large fauna within.
The warmth envelops him quickly, familiar, as he wanders the dirt path back to the massive apple tree. He smiles, it has not changed one bit as he walks feeling the freshness of the plants and trees. The humidity reminds him of home, and he thinks about going home again, if he gets to go home.
He shakes his head looking at the ceiling of the greenhouse. That's no way to think, what would his father say to him if he is thinking those thoughts? Gharial straightens himself; he needs to set an example to his siblings.
Although betraying your allies isn't really good behaviour either. Ander reminds him of how guilty he truly feels every day. He's been a bad friend to the boy who looked up to him. Still, if he wants to be pedantic, he stands by the decision. He could feel the rage forming around the boy, and the fact that he had killed Bailey sealed that decision for him, despite him denying his involvement.
He makes it into the clearing with the massive tree, very few apples hang on the very top branches. It looks different, the apples tranquil with no wind helping them sway. Its creepy in a way and the disturbing feeling continues as he hears rustling from the bushes behind him.
He faces the bushes, gripping the golden spear tightly. He's ready to fight this time, he's not going to run away now after yesterday's events. He doesn't care who it is, be it Carnelian and his friends or someone else. He didn't anticipate it to be someone so familiar.
"Nice to finally see you again." Ander's voice resounds in his head, he tightens the grip on his spear as he sees the boy emerge from the bushes, his eyes sunken in, blood splattered over his sweater vest.
"What…what happened to you?" He asks him, hesitating a little bit before backing away seeing the golden axe he is carrying. "Where did you get that?"
"I killed the girl from Four for it." He says, no smile just a sullen look on his face, he looks at Gharial angrily. "Now it's my turn to ask questions."
He continues to back away from the boy as he stands there. He's almost unrecognisable. The boy looks worse for wear, Gharial couldn't help but feel concern for him. He wants to say something, but the boy continues to speak at him, anger rising in his voice.
"Why did you leave me!?" He shouts in frustration and all Gharial can do is bite his cheek as the boy continues to speak, despair in his voice. "Why is Maggie dead?"
He's going through every emotion. He sounds sad one second and resolute the next. Gharial can feel tears begin to form in the corner of his eyes. He cannot begin to think about what he's going through. Gharial feels sorry for him, the little boy from Seven unable to handle all the emotions. He's failed him and like he failed everyone else.
When he couldn't answer him the boy from Seven begins to charge towards him. The heavy axe dragging on the ground as he shouts trying his best to swing the axe. He dodges him moving backwards looking sadly at Ander. He doesn't want to hurt him; he knows he's hurt him enough. Ander doesn't stop as he picks the axe off the ground charging back at him, swinging the axe with such force.
"Ander, I don't want to hurt you!" He says to him backing away again from the axe.
Ander doesn't care continuing to charge at him, tears in his eyes, ignoring Gharial's plea to stop. The anger takes over the little boy as he swings his axe closer to his leg this time and this is when Gharial acts. He takes the spear using the blunt end to jab back at him.
Ander stumbles backwards a few metres. Gharial thinks about running away so as to not hurt the boy any more than what he had already done. However, he knows how persistent he can be as he locks eyes with the boy, glaring at him.
He runs for him again, this time he launches the axe with his momentum. Gharial's eyes grow large as he narrowly dodges the golden weapon, brushing past him as it embeds itself on the tree behind him. The apples shake at the force, some falling to the ground.
He looks back at the weapon briefly before going back to face Ander only to find that he had shortened the gap between them. The boy tackles him, Gharial losing his footing as the two collapse to the ground, the spear flying from his grasp. He doesn't have time to reach for it as Ander begins to claw at his face and then goes to punching as hard as he can.
Gharial, being stronger than the boy, pushes him off, but he's fast climbing back on top of Gharial. He continues with his punching and scratching, Gharial shielding himself from the onslaught. He can feel something fall on his face; he can't see his face, but he knows that the boy has tears falling.
"You left me! You left me to die! You left me and Maggie came with you! She was my district partner and now she's dead!" He's shouting all his grievances, the emotion unloading onto Gharial making it harder to fight him even more.
"Ander you left me with no choice! You killed my district partner!" He tries to explain in between the punches, he can feel them getting weaker as the boy starts to sob. "Maggie was getting scared too, you just didn't see it."
"But you left me! You didn't give me another chance! You leave just like everyone else in my life!" His punches are slowing down as he starts to sob, and Gharial is reminded of the time he shared about his life back in Seven.
"I'm really sorry." He says and Ander stops his punches to glare at him now, his tears stopping.
"If you were really sorry, you wouldn't have left me!" He screams as he delivers a heavy punch to his face, going straight for the nose. Gharial feels the hit on his nose, and he can feel blood begin to seep out.
Gharial uses his strength now grabbing onto the boy's skinny arms with his own hands. He can feel him struggling in his grasp. Gharial stands up and with one quick swoop lifts the boy into the air before slamming him on the ground with as much force he could muster. Ander gasps out the air in his lungs as he lay still on the ground, eyes wide in shock.
There's no reasoning with him.
The regret already in his mind before he thinks about killing the boy. He walks towards the golden spear and then picks it up somehow feeling heavy in his hands. The only choice is to kill him because if he doesn't then he'll end up getting killed by him, and he doesn't want to die, despite the guilt and regret he's feeling now. He wants to go home just as much as everyone in the arena.
He turns back towards Ander, who is still recovering from being slammed on the ground. He moves closer at the boy holding the spear ready to strike. He nears the boy but from the corner of his eyes there's a glint of silver. He tries to move back but he's too late. A small dagger inserts itself in his left thigh and Gharial cries out in pain.
Ander gets up and pushes him over, Gharial stumbling back, spear still in his hands. The pain in his thigh intensifies as blood starts to pour out of it. The pain intensifying as it spreads from his thigh to his foot in just a matter of seconds.
Poison.
Gharial thought something like this would happen. He reaches for the knife pulling it out faster to prevent anymore of the poison spreading. It only makes the wound worse as blood comes out faster than it did before he pulled it. He drops the knife on the ground, he feels himself get dizzy all of a sudden his movement slowing as he watches an annoyed looking Ander walk past him.
Gharial can see him take the axe from the tree. He can feel the poison's second effects, the numbing part as he stumbles forward towards Ander. He can't feel the pain for now, but it makes it harder to stand.
Ander closes the distance between them, Gharial can hear a distant thunder as it rolls into the arena. He can feel his leg getting worse, feeling it spread to his lower torso now. He can't think of anything else other than the spear in his hand. Ander closes his eyes, lifting the axe over his head to try and deal the final blow.
Gharial, too, close his eyes as the grip on his spear tightens, he takes a deep breath as he thrusts the spear as hard as he can, feeling the tip pierce skin. He hears the axe fall on the ground first before the boom of the cannon.
Then thunder cracks within the dark skies. He releases the breath he is holding in. The silence lasts a few minutes after the thunder as rain begins to hit the roof of the greenhouse. The soft patter of rain somewhat calm but betraying the scene in front of him.
The gilded tip pierced straight through Ander's heart, the life in his eyes gone in an instant. He could barely stand as he falls, Ander falling with him. The pain returns but he still can't feel his leg. He groans from the pain as he drags his body towards the small boy.
"I'm sorry." He says, repeating it in his head and out loud, the guilt rising up, the tears beginning to fall. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for what happened."
He closes his eyes, the rain becoming severe as the dark clouds continue to cry along with Gharial. He reaches out for Ander's hand holding it tightly. The anthem begins along with his sobs. Gharial feels exhausted, physically, and mentally, as he blacks out not able to see who the other tributes have died today, the only person that he cares about that has died now in front of him.
A/N - Oh boy. This one was hard to write. When I tell you I had trouble finalising my final 8 I had trouble. The top 12 last chapter could have all easily won the Games and narrowing it down to 8 and then to 4? That was hard.
However, here we are! The finale is literally next chapter and our finalist: Velvet, Diana, Kenna and Gharial! Who will come out on top? I can tell you that I had trouble trying to come up with one.
Onto the eulogies:
8th - Carnelian Wolfe, District One Male - stomach sliced by Diana Grey
Carnelian, my poor boy. He hated his way of life so he became someone else, someone more cheerful and one that led a different life than an heir to a company he never wanted. Despite this I think Velvet puts it right, you were the referee to the group. You went along with everything Velvet says because you believed that she was destined for good things. I think if it had come down to the two of you, that you would have sacrificed yourself for her. Thank you, Santiago, for Carnelian! I miss you man!
7th - Ashley Allspicer, District Eleven Female - killed by Rye Durum
You never left her side, despite giving you so many opportunities. You were loyal to the end. You wanted so badly to escape and I think it's true that you do think that Kenna is great despite your massive difference. In the same way, Kenna didn't betray you either, she encouraged you to fight for your life and I can see that. You were hesitant from the start and by the end you fired an arrow without Kenna telling you to, in order to protect her. You have grown and it's sad that you leave us now. Thank you, AlexFalTon, for Ash, she was a pleasure to write.
6th - Rye Durum, District Nine Male- dagger to stomach by Kenna St. Clair
Rye. You had grown too, from the spiteful boy that resented his father to an ally that cared about everyone. You were right to run without mourning Francesca, to which you have settled your differences. In a way you two helped each other finding a common ground. I liked to think that you're settled now and no longer angry. You fought well against Kenna and I commend that. Thank you to Zacksteel for submitting Rye.
5th - Ander Bayleaf, District Seven Male - heart punctured by Gharial Rivers
I'm sorry. That's all I can say just now. I made you into a monster but we all know how young you are and despite how mature you acted emotions are very powerful and it can consume a person. With two kills (Career kills too may I add) and the assist with Carnelian, the guilt became too much coupled with Gharial and Maggie leaving it made you worse. You let out all your frustrations on Gharial too and in another universe you would be in the final 4 for sure. However, Gharial just thrusted that spear a little too on point despite the poison. Thank you so much, my-mental-mind, for Ander. He was truly a joy to write and one of the only smols I really liked.
That's that. Our finale is just around the corner and then we end Delusions of Grandeur. That's crazy that it's finally coming to an end. Only two chapters left and that's my first ever SYOT finished without summarising it.
I would also like to dedicate (even though you said I shouldn't but I will) this double bill of chapters to Ben on his 25th birthday. In honour of you turning halfway to 50 I will make your next tribute 25th! ty ty
Cheers!
~Alec