Day 10: What we've become
Salacia Myer 17 District 4
The peace of our morning is disturbed by a voice booming through the corridors.
"Attention tributes, a feast will be held in an hour at the cornucopia."
Me and Lenita stand up in sync, this could be the opportunity to end this quickly! I look to Lenita who replies with a simple shrug.
"What you thinking partner?" I ask inquisitively.
"Hmm… it could be a good opportunity for us to ambush Kirin… take out our biggest threat and all," she answers.
She's right, it could be one of our best shots at victory.
"Sounds like a plan," I agree.
We begin preparing our food and weapons. I grasp my trusty golden trident in my hands as it shines in the darkness.
"After I'm done with Kirin… I won't be taking any more lives although I won't stop you killing the other innocents that are left," I say, still examining my trident.
My eyes drift to Lenita, she looks slightly ticked off but she knows she's got to work with me.
"Fair enough," she agrees.
With our weapons at the ready, we head out into the corridors.
"Our main problem is finding our way back to the cornucopia… this place is a literal maze," Lenita points out.
"You can say that again," I reply.
"This place is a literal maze," she says again.
I turn to her.
"No it's a… never mind."
All of a sudden the maze begins shifting again, a corridor appears to our left, suddenly illuminating with bright lights. It is a direct path which goes on so far that I can't even make out the end.
"Looks like they want us to go there," my blond friend suggests.
Though that's probably not a good thing with these gamemakers but I still think it's our best chance.
I take a deep breath, my chest, lungs and ribs are tight with anxiety. I don't have a great feeling about this but we can't turn back now.
We begin making our way through the corridor together, Lenita's eyes are fixed ahead, single minded of purpose only. I need to talk to her about something…
"Hey Lenita, just one thing before we go in there…"
"What is it?" She asks.
"Well it's just, I've seen how you get sometimes…"
She frowns at me.
"You have a really bad temper sometimes when things set you off and I need you to be focused and cool headed ok? Especially going up against Kirin," I explain.
We stop, at first she seems slightly offended that I'm questioning her but then it appears to sink in that she knows I'm right.
"Alright I'll try but I can't make any promises, " she says.
She continues on ahead to the cornucopia.
"Well that's good enough for me," I mutter, following her behind.
Finally, the corridor comes to an end and the room where this nightmare began appears closer and closer to us. The large pyramid in the centre looms over us, I'm getting flashbacks now of that fateful day where I killed that girl from 3… I shake the memory from my, I need to focus.
On the top of the pyramid is where the feast is, except it's not a regular feast like it normally would be. At the top there is a shining, golden chest. It has to be a really important chest otherwise they wouldn't have made us come all the way here…
Lenita shoots her finger up, there are footsteps coming from one of the entrances. Someone is coming… maybe Kirin. Lenita nods at me, I return one and we hide in preparation.
Emmanuela Ruby Chai 15 District 5
The brightly lit tunnel appears to narrow in my vision ahead. We're almost there…
"What if it's a trap?" I ask, turning to Kirin.
"I would be disappointed if there isn't one," he smirks.
"Ok…"
Our steps take us closer and closer to the cornucopia.
"Listen, when we get there I predict that your friends will also be there," he says to me.
I feel a deep sigh inside, thinking back to all the time I spent with them in this arena and in the training days and how betrayed they must feel when they find out I've teamed up with a career. They will understand right? That I have to do what I have to do to win.
"Probably," I murmur.
"You need to follow them back and kill the girl from 10," he says.
"Wrenna!?" I gasp, my voice raising significantly.
"From what you've told me she knows too much which means she's probably been through a similar time loop we did. If she has this knowledge she's too much of an advantage for your friends," he explains.
He has got a point. Wrenna appeared to have these psychic abilities which I believed but Kirin's explanation makes so much more sense!
Before I can think about it anymore we come to the end of the corridor and straight into the cornucopia, there it is. The large step pyramid, the last time I saw that I was running away from it with Alek and Ryker.
I gasp as a blade swipes at my face out of nowhere! While ducking underneath it I roll back to my feet! The District 2 girl ambushed me from behind the entrance! The District 4 girl did the same to Kirin, she swung her trident at his face but it was blocked by his katana.
I grasp a knife firmly in my hand. The district 2 career girl is staring down at me with a sword in each hand, her eyes poised with determination and her attention seems to turn to something going on behind me.
I glance back, Ryker has reached the top of the pyramid and has the golden chest in his hands!
The 2 girl speeds past me after him as he begins making his escape.
"Lenita wait!" her ally yells.
However, it falls on deaf ears because the girl is already on the other side of the cornucopia.
I lock eyes with Kirin briefly as he is locking weapons with the 4 girl, he gives me a nod and I follow the district 2 girl and Ryker.
Ryker Shenal 19 District 11
"I'll go to the feast," I announce as I sling a bag on my back.
"What? Ryker no…" Jia tries to protest.
"I'm by far the oldest after all," I say, pulling the door open.
"Ryker…"
I turn back to Jia.
"Please come back… we need you…" she says with desperate eyes with Wrenna at her side who's biting her nails.
I nod my head.
"I will."
I turn to leave the room but am suddenly met with two tributes standing at the door! I jump back, raising up my scythe in defence.
"Who are you?" I question.
Jia joins me at my side. They are both relatively small and on the younger side, in fact I could probably take them both out now if I wanted and they know that too, their eyes tell the whole story. The boy is armed with some simple knives and the girl appears to have some kind of blow-dart.
"I'm Moira and this is Evangelo," the girl answers.
"We were thinking it would be a good idea to team up, at least for the moment while the careers are still out there," Evangelo says sheepishly.
I turn to Jia to see her opinion.
"There is safety in numbers," she shrugs.
I turn back to the pair.
"Alright, but if you double cross me you'll regret it," I warn them.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Evangelo chuckles.
"You're a pretty intimating dude," Moira agrees.
"Only on the outside… deep down he's just a teddy bear" Jia laughs.
This seems to lighten the mood enough for me to get going with the sixes while Jia stayed behind with Wrenna.
A well-lit corridor seems to have appeared by us, they must want us to go through it where I'm guessing it leads to the feast. Honestly if everyone's gonna be there then I'm glad I have the sixes by my side because it means I won't be the only target.
After some walking the end of the corridor is nearing and through it lies the cornucopia with the pyramid in the centre.
"Ok when we get there, we're not gonna mess around just in and out ok?" I say to the sixes.
"Ok."
"And stick close to me ok?"
"Ok."
Wait what am I doing? I'm already being protective of these two and I only met them today…
I ready my feet to spring forward, in the two years I spent in the future I'm not quite as athletic as I used to be, I just hope that won't come to bite me.
"Now!" I whisper.
We dash forward together to the centre and I am straight to the pyramid, clambering up and the first to the top. There I only find a golden chest.
"This better be damn important," I mutter to myself.
Below me the girl from 4 seems to fighting the boy from 1. The girl from 2 is also there with… Emmy?
The girl from 2 notices me and begins coming my way!
I turn and race back down the pyramid with the sixes.
"Go!" I shout!
We run back through to the corridor but the district 2 girl is gaining on us fast! I toss the chest to Evangelo just in time to block her first swing with my scythe however her sword takes the blade of my weapon off, leaving me with just a pole.
All I can do is hold it up to defend myself as she slashes at me with her two swords, one after the other! After blocking about five of her slashes I jab her in the eye with the pole! She stumbles back in shock but this only seems to anger her!
With a battle cry she charges at me again and swings down hard! I block her sword with both my hands on the pole however the slash splits it straight in half!
I glance in surprise at the two sticks I am now left with and then back at her. She gives me a victorious smirk, in response I quickly lunge at her and smack her over the head with one of the sticks. This seems to knock the smile off her face. She cries in anger again and lands a spinning back kick to my chest sending me flying back!
She readies her swords again and leaps through the air at me however, all of a sudden, from behind, a dart flies into her neck! She freezes in surprise and peels the dart off her skin, examining it. Her eyes begin to become dazed as the girl stumbles back and collapses on the ground. I look behind me in shock to see Moira standing there with the blow-dart to her mouth.
"Next time maybe start with that," Evangelo comments.
She gives us a cheeky smile and just shrugs her shoulders.
"We need to get outta here before the others find us," I say.
Together, the three of us take off back down the corridor we came from to Jia and Wrenna.
Kirin Ignatius 16 District 1
I circle Salacia, my katana raised in front of my face while she prowls around me, searching for an opening where she can strike. Her eyes quickly glance towards my abdomen, that's where she's going to strike first. She jabs but I easily parry her thrust with my sword, you can always rely on their eyes to give their intentions away… always. Next she swings at my head however I duck underneath, she keeps thrusting at me with her trident, time after time, exerting all her energy while I put minimal effort in to parry her attacks, then after she's exhausted I will attack.
She pauses for a brief moment for a breath. I think she has realised that she's going to have to change her tactics a little. She quickly jumps through the air and lands a flying kick straight into my body! This takes me off guard and I am knocked to the ground, my body colliding with the hard floor! She attempts to stab down at me twice but I manage to roll out the way. There are some weapons still lying around the cornucopia and amongst them is a shield so I quickly crawl across the ground towards it, just in time to use the shield to block her third strike! The sound the three razor sharp tips stabbing against the metal shield rings through the air!
I feel myself sweating as I grit my teeth, forcing myself back up I am able to stand and recover while she pushes me back with her trident embedded into my shield. I notice her breathing increasing; she is getting visibly exhausted… finally… time to make my move.
I twist my shield arm to the side, allowing her to disarm it then I see her eyes quickly glance at my chest, it's enough to let me know she's going for there. As she lances her trident at my chest, I neatly step to the side and take hold of it. Then I spin around and place my blade straight into her gut! Her eyes gasp in shock as she notices it is all over just like that. I slide the blade out of her body and finish her off with a side kick, sending her crashing into the wall. Her body slumps down in a heap… dead. A cannon fires.
The feeling of guilt and sorrow at the site of my fallen career ally fills my heart, if only for a brief second.
Lenita Young 18 District 2
I slowly regain consciousness, my eyes slide open to the sight of the inside of the cornucopia room. I shake my head and quickly push myself back up as the memories of the day flood back to me!
"Salacia?" I say, rubbing my head.
I begin frantically searching around the room only to find her slumped against the wall, blood pouring out from her belly.
"Salacia!"
I rush over to her to try to feel for a pulse or something, she is limp and cold…it's pretty evident she's gone…
My body curls with emotion all over, regret, sorrow but mostly anger. Anger at myself, anger at Kirin, anger at the girl from 6 and the boy from 11. They are all to blame…
I stand back up, taking one last look at her lifeless body. It reminds me that I won't have to be the one to kill her.
Jia Yang 15 District 8
I glance over to Wrenna, she is sat on her bed twiddling her thumbs nervously. Her eyes appear very anxious, I can tell, like a frightened animal hiding from a wild beast. She knows something is going to happen I can tell but she won't tell me. She refuses to.
A cannon went off earlier, I hope it wasn't for Ryker or one of our new allies. We need as much help as we can get.
Suddenly somebody appears in the doorway! I almost jump out of my skin until I see that it's Ryker. He is breathing heavily and sweating.
"Miss me?" He smiles.
"Where's the sixes?" I ask.
With a breath, he gestures down the corridor.
"They took the chest into their room," he answers, moving inside and quickly taking a big gulp of water.
"Chest?" I exclaim.
Before he has a chance to answer I notice that someone else has creeped in behind him, I jump up in surprise! It's Emmy!
"Emmy!" I exclaim, both shocked and excited to see my friend!
She deosnt answer, her eyes slither to me briefly and then straight to Wrenna. She has a cold blank expression on her face that I haven't seen on her before. Suddenly, my heart almost skips a beat when I see the knife gripped firmly in her hand. She cracks her neck to the side making me cringe a little. She is just staring at Wrenna, she never liked Wrenna but she would never do what I'm thinking of would she?
"Emmy it's us!" I say, trying to reason with her.
She looks back at me, I feel Ryker stand up next to me.
"What the hell are you doing?" He shouts!
She clears her throat.
"Me and the boy from 1 have this theory you see," she begins, her voice sounding slightly demented.
"Oh I get it… you are best friends with a career now are you? That's what you've been doing all this time!" Ryker hisses.
"Let her speak," I tell him.
She moves closer to Wrenna, my mind is instinctively telling me to protect my ally but my body does not move, it must be the knife in her hand.
"You see, every time that girl says something bad is gonna happen it comes true," she continues, pointing at Wrenna.
"Just leave her alone! She doesn't understand!" I shout.
Wrenna is un phased, she has no fear in her eyes anymore but is glaring at our former ally.
"Tell me then… what did she say about Pat? Remind me where is Pat now?" Emmy says with conviction.
How dare she mention him! I feel my fists tighten, I could punch this girl so hard right now!
"Emmy, if you do this then it will be a war," Ryker tries to reason.
Emmy's eyes turn to him.
"It was always a war, the moment the gong first rang," she replies coldly.
"Emmy please don't do this!" I beg.
I can see a glimmer of remorse in her eyes briefly as they turn down, the old Emmy I used to know is still in there somewhere I can feel it. She hesitates slightly before turning the knife towards Wrenna.
"I'm sorry Jia," she mutters under her breath.
Then she drives the knife quickly into my poor Wrenna's stomach! Emmy pulls the knife out, looking at me briefly one last time, I don't see the girl that was my ally anymore… my friend. She turns and shoots off through the door, Ryker charging out after her!
Wrenna collapses down into my arms, blood pouring out of her stomach! I feel the tears begin flowing down my face.
"Big sis," she murmurs, her eyes going faint.
"The key…"
I quickly pull the key out of my pocket, she glances at it for a split second before taking it.
"Tell me what to do to save you," I plead.
She observes the key in her hand but hesitantly she shakes her head. With the last of her strength she lifts the key up and smashes it against the concrete floor, Splitting it in half. The yellow colour on it turns grey.
"What are you doing!?"
"Every single time you give me the key, there is a door outside in the corridor and I open it and it takes me back… back before we met on that first day of training," she croaks.
My mind casts back to the first day of training, she recognised me! She already knew me! It all makes sense now!
"I don't know how many times I've done this now but this is the furthest I ever make it… no matter what I do," she says, a tear forms in her dying eyes but then it turns to a faint smile.
"Now for the first time, this can finally end… I'm free," she realises.
I try to wipe the tears away from my eyes but they just keep flooding.
"But I promised I would protect you," I stutter.
She doesn't answer, taking a deep breath.
"Please don't be mad at me," she mumbles.
"What? No! Never!" I exclaim.
"I lied… there was another way to save you without Pat dying but…but it meant I died sooner..."
"I just wanted to see your smile on day 9 again… I'm sorry…" she explains mournfully.
I feel my heart tense, is it anger? The feeling doesn't last long though, as more blood fills up around me, Wrenna takes her final breath and goes still. I hear a cannon fire in the distance.
Ryker re-enters the room beside me.
"She got away," he says solemnly.
Well we are getting towards the end of the games now so favourite characters will be dropping fast sorry. I have placed a poll on my profile to see who your predicted victors are. Thanks for reading!
Deaths
Day 1
24th: Jameson Wright (District 10 male) Killed by Olana Peronia – Neck Snapped.
23rd: Ryland Fields (District 9 male) Killed by Dante Orchard – Stabbed in the eyes.
22nd: Alistair Birch (District 7 male) Killed by Kirin Ignatius – Stabbed through the heart.
21st: Tomlin Beckett (District 3 male) Killed by Achilles Castille – Spine snapped.
20th: Kaia Telm (District 3 female) Killed by Salacia Myer – Impaled by trident.
19th: Cherry Ennedes (District 11 female) Killed by Lenita Young – Shot by arrow.
Day 2
18th: Clara Labeau (District 9 female) Killed by Achilles Castille – Stabbed through the torso.
Day 3
17th: Dante Orchard (District 12 male) Killed by Moira Halloran – Hung by the neck.
Day 4
16th: Maverick "Rick" Colver (District 4 male) Killed by Achilles Castille – Throat slashed.
15th: Emerson Ingles (District 7 female) Killed by Salacia Myer – Impaled by trident.
Day 5
14th: Aleksandar 'Alek' Boltzmann (District 5 male) Killed by statue mutts – Stabbed.
Day 6
Emmy, Pat, Jia, Ryker, Wrenna, Lenita, Achilles, Kirin (multiple times and all reversed)
Day 7
13th: Alma Kaur (District 12 female) Killed by Emmanuela Chai – Throat slashed.
Day 8
12th: Achilles Castille (District 2 male) Killed by Salacia Myer – Impaled by trident.
11th: Olana Peronia (District 1 female) Killed by Kirin Ignatius – Impaled by katana.
10th: Pattern Fredericks (District 8 male) Killed by mutt – Slashed by pincers.
Day 9
No deaths
Day 10
9th: Salacia Myer (District 4 female) Killed by Kirin Ignatius – Stabbed in the torso. I really didn't want to kill off Salacia, I really wanted her to go further but it only made the most sense for the story that she died here. She was an excellent character and really great to write and definitely one of the most popular and again I really wanted her to go further. Thanks for the submission Chcolate.
8th: Wrenna Chimes (District 10 female) Killed by Emmanuela Chai – Stabbed. Wrenna was such a big part of this stories plot and it's going to feel strange without her. She was already troubled before the whole time travel thing and that just added a whole of layer to it. I hoped you all enjoyed her story all the way through. Thanks for the submission TheRaichuinRavenclaw.
Remaining tributes
District 1
Kirin Ignatius (3 kills)
District 2
Lenita Young (1 kill)
District 5
Emmanuela Ruby Chai (2 kills)
District 6
Evangelo Goku Katsaros
Moira Alice Halloran (1 kill)
District 8
Jia Yang
District 11
Ryker Shenal