10:22 am, Second Floor of The West Wing.
Something felt different about today.
Thay couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, though. This was the kind of day that made him feel overwhelmingly uneasy, putting him even more on edge as they wandered the halls of the Arena.
Perhaps it was the sense that there was so much he had yet to discover. Thay hated the unknown, hated the growing sense that he would inevitably be caught off guard here. The closed feeling of the Arena had at first been a relief - he disliked open spaces for the vulnerability they made him feel - but now he couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something. He wasn't used to overlooking things that were right in front of his eyes. Whatever lay in this Arena had to be right under his nose, and yet…
"Thay?" Eleanor asked, breaking into his thoughts as they wandered down yet another hallway on the second floor.
"Sorry," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Lost in my thoughts again."
"You seem to be doing that a lot lately," Eleanor said with a quiet laugh. "What do you have on your mind?"
Well, quite simply, he had a lot on his mind. Thay's entire existence had unraveled as soon as he volunteered, and here he was, a few days into the Games, still trying to pick up the pieces. It didn't give him much of a chance to interact with his allies besides the nightly sparring to clear his mind. He wished he had the energy to care, but he was constantly thinking back to Alila and how she'd saved him without a second thought.
Sometimes his allies asked him why he watched the nightly death recap with such intensity, but he didn't have an answer for them. How was he supposed to explain any of it?
"There's something about the Arena that unnerves me," he said instead, going back to their conversation on the first day. "I think there's more to it."
"More how?" Jack asked, finally moving close enough to be included in the conversation.
Thay let out an irritated huff. "Like it's… bigger. These endless hallways with empty rooms feel like some sort of maze, and I don't think the Cornucopia is the center."
"So you think there's some other location?" Eleanor asked, brow furrowed. "I mean, this is already a pretty big Arena."
"The voice was coming from somewhere," Jack muttered, shuffling her feet. "I think it was leading us to the Careers, but…"
She trailed off, biting her lip. Thay raised an eyebrow and asked, "But?"
"I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It felt like it surrounded me, but when I got closer to where it was leading me, it sounded like it was coming from the walls."
"Do you think there's something behind the walls?" Eleanor asked, her eyes brightening. "I bet we could find a way to explore."
"We'd have to do it carefully," Thay muttered, twisting the ring on his finger. "It's early in the day, so if we manage to attract any attention, the Careers might run across us. I don't want them to get a leg up."
"Dying would also be a downside," Jack said, rolling her eyes.
Thay smiled grimly. "Don't worry. I don't plan on any of us dying to a Career of all things."
Jack shot him an odd look before strolling off down the hallway again, shoving a door open and disappearing inside. Thay frowned after her, wondering what was going on. Hopefully it was just lingering shock from yesterday.
"I don't think you're just worried about the Arena," came Eleanor's voice from beside him, as mild and pleasant as ever. "You don't have to tell me what it is. I understand you have your secrets. But… maybe if you learned to trust us a bit more, she'd be more welcoming."
Thay's jaw tightened as he looked past Eleanor to where Jack had gone, nodding his head quietly. "I'm afraid I wouldn't even know where to begin."
"That's okay too." Eleanor gave him a light smile. "I've heard the beginning is the best place for any story to start."
For once, Thay wasn't sure what to say. He cleared his throat, hoping something would come to mind, but all that came out was, "I have a twin. I want to go home and find him again."
Eleanor looked almost bemused, glancing over at Jack, who was hovering in the doorway. "And I want to help the girls back home in the factory."
Crossing her arms, Jack stared down at the ground. "I want to make up with my father."
"See?" Eleanor said lightly. "We all have something waiting for us, so we're working together so one of us can achieve our dreams."
Thay couldn't help the frown that was creeping across his face. "It's not that easy."
"Are you sure?" Eleanor reached over to grab his hand, giving it a light squeeze. "Or are you just too scared to go after what you want?"
He startled, taking a step back. "I'm not scared," he insisted. "I volunteered, I've killed, I've done everything I'm supposed to-"
Eleanor laughed quietly. "It's okay to be scared. I'm terrified. There's no telling what we'll stumble upon in here, and maybe soon my dreams will die with me."
Though he was still silently insisting to himself that he wasn't scared - Thay was never scared - he pursed his lips and nodded anyway. Hands clenched at his sides, he let out a soft sigh. "One of the Careers has had her eyes on me throughout training and she saved my life during the bloodbath. I never said anything because-"
"What could you say?" Jack muttered, peeling away from the door frame to wander closer. "She'd have no reason for it unless there was some kind of connection, and how would you explain that?"
His mouth felt suddenly dry, but he forced himself to nod. "I… exactly. It wasn't the Four girl, though. I don't know why she spared us yesterday."
"Maybe it's no deeper than the fact that they're human too," Eleanor said softly. "Sometimes they have to get tired of the killing too, right?"
Thay wasn't so sure about that, but he didn't want to voice his disagreement now, not when this was the closest his alliance had come to trusting each other. A weight was finally starting to lift off of his chest. Thay was so buried in secrets that he thought for sure he'd drown in them someday, but perhaps all it took was someone willing to listen.
"Thanks, Norrie," he mumbled quietly.
As if sensing that he wasn't up for much of a conversation anymore, Eleanor started off down the hallway once more. "I think I spotted a more open area down here by the staircase. There was something off about it, so I want to get a closer look."
Before Thay could follow her down the hallway, Jack had gripped his arm tightly, keeping him stuck in place. "Swear to me you won't drag us into any kind of mess with One," she said, grip tightening on his arm.
"What-"
"You said it wasn't Four and Two is too wrapped up in her destiny or whatever for it to be her, meaning it has to be One. I don't want any issues, not when we all have something to get back to."
While Jack had always had a guarded look to her, Thay thought that her appearance had softened somehow. She was in no way weakened by what had happened yesterday, but something about her had changed. There was a hint of desperation that clung to her now, the hope of a home that she finally admitted she wanted to get back to. Thay could admire that drive, because he could see it in himself too. Though they got along well enough now, Thay was certain that he wouldn't have allied with Jack if not for Eleanor. They were too similar in all the wrong ways, leaving two stubborn personalities that risked clashing at every opportunity. He more than respected her though, which was why he figured she deserved to know the truth as much as he did.
"I haven't seen her since the bloodbath," he said. "Even if I ran into her again… it doesn't matter. This is my alliance and I'm not turning my back on you."
Jack sized him up before letting out a weary sigh. "You'd better not. I'd find a way to make you pay."
"Guys?" Eleanor's voice came from down the hall. "I think I found something."
Jack gave him one final look before letting go of him. "What is it?"
"Some kind of… statue?" Thay could sense the confusion in Eleanor's voice as she spoke. "Or maybe part of a statue. I'm not really sure; we don't have anything like this back in Five."
"A statue?" Thay echoed, starting to walk down the hall. "What does it look like?"
There was a quiet shuffle before Eleanor replied, "I think it's Makani? She's the pretty one from Four who spared us yesterday."
"Why the hell would the gamemakers leave a statue of one of the tributes lying around?" Jack muttered to herself.
Something clicked in Thay's mind then, just in time for him to round the corner and see Eleanor crouching in front of an unfamiliar object, her hand outstretched as if she was about to touch it. There was no reason for the gamemakers to make something like that, but another tribute?
This was a trap.
"Norrie, don't touch it!" he yelled, watching as her curious hand brushed against the stone carving's cheek.
Something - no, someone - was on Eleanor in an instant, too fast for Thay to discern where they'd come from. He heard Jack's shriek beside him, saw her poised to run towards Eleanor, but the only thing he could do was latch onto her arm and keep her rooted at his side.
They were too far away to do anything that could stop the spray of blood that came from Eleanor's head, too far to do anything but listen as a cannon immediately sounded as her body crumpled to the floor. Thay felt Jack shove at his hand on her arm and tightened his grip, dragging her back as the tribute - no, Twelve, it was Twelve - lifted her arm to bash something into Eleanor's limp body again and again and again.
It was all he could do to drag Jack away, averting his gaze from Eleanor's body even as Jack struggled against him. He wasn't sure of what she was saying, the blood pounding in his ears making it impossible for him to listen to anything outside of the uncomfortable sound of his own heart.
She'd tried to help him and he immediately failed to do the same.
It wasn't until they were in another hallway that Jack managed to rip her arm out of his grasp, immediately trying to shove past him to get back to where they'd left Eleanor. Thay positioned himself in her way, bracing himself as her frustration rose.
"Why did you leave her? Why didn't you let me help?" Her eyes were glistening from tears that refused to fall. "She needed us-"
"She was dead after the first hit," Thay muttered. "There was nothing we could do. I warned her too late."
Jack made a noise that sounded close to a whimper. "I kept you back with me while she went ahead. If I hadn't, then-"
"We could've gotten too close and Crush would've taken us out too," Thay said, holding his ground between her and the hallway. "It doesn't look like she followed us, so I think she only wanted Norrie because of that statue."
Squeezing her eyes shut, Jack appeared to be forcing herself to stay calm. "We should go," she muttered. "Before Crush changes her mind."
He frowned and reached a hand towards her. "Jack, are you-"
"I said we should go," she said more firmly, adjusting her backpack and turning away from him. "Now."
She didn't wait for him to follow, instead moving down the hallway as if trying to outrun something. Thay wasn't sure if there was anything he could say that would help, not now.
All he knew was that their alliance had been shattered in one fell swoop, and he wasn't sure if he could pick up the pieces in time to fix things.
The rock fell from her hand as Crush stood up, panting. She ran a hand through her hair, barely aware of the fact that she was smearing blood through it, and instead stared down at her carving, frowning at the smear of blood now across its face.
She dropped to the floor in an instant, wiping at Makani's delicate features with the pad of her bloodstained hand, only succeeding in smearing more blood on the stone. With a huff, Crush wiped her hands on her pants and tried again, using her jacket to try and scrub away the blood staining her creation.
It still wasn't perfect enough.
Letting her hands fall back with a sigh, Crush finally glanced to the side and saw a limp body next to her, dark curls covering the girl's face. She brushed the hair to the side, part of it matted with blood, and hummed as she noticed that it was the Five girl. Her face still displayed an expression of shock and horror, making Crush frown. It was unfortunate that a lovely face was ruined by a final expression like that.
It wasn't until she found the collapsed part of Five's head that she remembered what had happened. And, for a moment, it wasn't Five's body in front of her. "Don't fucking touch my scultures," she murmured, recalling what she'd said to her father the day he'd dared to break her rule.
Now that she thought about it, Crush was almost certain that a cannon had sounded. At least Clamor had managed to stop her from doing anything beyond ruining her father's legs and his ability to work, but Clamor wasn't here now. Her father was lucky that she hadn't managed to break free long enough to drive a nail through his thick skull so he'd never be able to make that mistake again.
A quiet laugh slipped out as Crush got to her feet, leaving the bloody mess on the floor. She'd heard every word of what Five had said about her muse, daring to call Makani pretty when that word simply wasn't good enough. And to think that Makani had spared them just yesterday… how could she spare anyone else who wasn't Crush?
It wasn't possible. Makani would never do that for anyone else. Crush refused to believe it. She was the only one in the Arena that could possibly hope to… she was the only one that…
With a scream, Crush picked up her sculpture and threw it on the ground with all her might, reveling in the way the stone splintered on the floor, pieces breaking off and scattering down the hallway. Her brief moment of unadulterated glee was soon broken when she realized what she'd done.
Her teeth clenched as she set off down the hallway, kicking a shard of stone across the floor and barely flinching when it dug into her foot. She would just have to start anew. The passageways within the Arena were easy enough to navigate as soon as she found the opening in the library so she could just return to the basement and begin again.
But Five's words lingered with her as she slipped back through the mirror that she'd been waiting near, hoping for Makani to come by. It was all wrong; there were too many people that stood between her and her muse. There was One that got to see Makani all night, there was Two that kept trying to patrol with Makani… it was all wrong because it wasn't Crush that got to be close enough to scrutinize her face, got to know her.
She stopped dead in the middle of the spiral staircase leading to the basement. That was it. Crush just had to get her away from the rest of the Careers. That was the only way for her work to go undisturbed, for the rest of the tributes to stay away from her muse.
Though she didn't know how, Crush did know that soon enough Makani would be all hers. She just had to find a way.
But for now, she had an unfinished project to return to.
12:47 pm, Bottom Floor of The North Wing.
"Whoa," Merix breathed, spinning in circles as he tried to take in all of the grandeur surrounding him. "This place is amazing."
Nash seemed to be in a similar state beside him, though Merix was far too small to see the look on his face, but Lilith just tightened her grip on her crossbow. "I don't like it."
"Don't be ridiculous," Nash said with a laugh, his already loud voice echoing in the open space and making Lilith cringe. "This is great! Definitely a step up from where we've been."
"Don't you think it's like that for a reason?" Lilith seemed more on edge than normal, which wasn't saying much, but Merix trusted her judgement more often than not. "It feels…"
"Like a trap of some kind?" Merix tried as she trailed off. He looked worriedly to Nash when she nodded her agreement.
"As in, you think they're luring us down here?" Nash asked to clarify, humming when Lilith nodded again. "Then that means there's gotta be something down here worth looking for! Right?"
Merix glanced around at the grand hallway, his attention immediately drawn to a rather plain looking door that looked out of place among the grander french doors. "Like that?"
Nash followed where he was pointing and nodded. "Of course! It'll be just like exploring any other floor."
With that, he strode towards the door, leaving Merix and Lilith to exchange a look behind his back before following. Merix wasn't quite used to the level of "do first, think later" mindset that Nash possessed, but he supposed it hadn't gotten them into any real issues yet. Maybe he'd have to make a note later that sometimes being strong meant actions were more important than the consequences - or something like that, anyway. His notebook was starting to get full, so he had to be careful what he wrote down so he didn't lose anything important.
But when Nash tried the doorknob, it made a useless clicking noise. He turned back with a puzzled expression. "That's strange. We haven't found any locked doors yet."
"There's probably something really important back there," Merix mused, crossing his arms.
"Or dangerous," Lilith added, looking particularly unamused.
"That wouldn't make any sense," Nash replied with a laugh. "Don't they want us to run into danger?"
"If it's locked, can we even get in?" Merix asked, looking between his allies.
"It's okay, I'm really good at getting into places," Lilith said, stepping between Nash and the door. "Stand back."
Nash hovered behind her, watching intently. "Do you know how to pick locks?"
"Something like that," she muttered before lifting her leg up and smashing her heel into the doorknob, which clattered to the floor.
"Whoa," Merix whispered, looking up at her like she'd hung the stars in the sky. "Can you teach me how to do that?"
"Maybe let's not," Nash cut in before Lilith could say anything in response. "But, uh… do you wanna go first?"
Lilith rolled her eyes before shoving the door open, hefting her crossbow up to aim at whatever was waiting for them in the room. Merix let out a surprised screech and moved behind Nash as she shot at something in the room, hearing a distant clang as if the arrow had hit something hard. Nash held his arm up as if to ward Merix off for the moment, though Merix was more than happy to stay back.
"What is it?" Nash asked, taking a step closer to Lilith. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," she muttered before nudging the door open wider. "And… I'm not sure."
"You don't know what it is?" Merix asked, ducking below Nash's arm to try and see inside. "Does it look dangerous?"
"It, uh… looks like us?"
"What the hell?" Nash whispered, moving past Lilith into the room.
Now that Merix could finally see into the room more, he realized what had caused her to pull the trigger. He immediately felt his anxiety shoot up, his palms sweating as he wiped them on his pants. Directly across the room was a figure behind what appeared to be a panel of glass, Lilith's arrow sitting [word] on the floor in front of it . Merix was certain he recognized the figure as the girl from Five, her pale skin nearly translucent in the odd lighting and her eyes closed as if she was asleep.
"That's not really her, is it?" Merix asked, sticking close to Lilith now that Nash had gone on ahead.
Lilith looked uncharacteristically nervous as she responded. "I'm, well, not sure? I wouldn't think so."
"It's not her," Nash said from where he was in the middle of the room. "You guys are in here too. I don't know what's going on, but they're not… real."
Merix wandered over to where Nash gestured, feeling suddenly self conscious as he stared at the version of himself behind glass, identical in most ways. He couldn't help but notice that this version of himself had appeared to fill out a little, fitting his tracksuit better than Merix himself did. His features were more defined, making him look more like what a real man should.
He shook his head quickly. He had to stop thinking about things like that if he was ever going to truly become strong.
There was a groove in the wall beside the glass panel, and Merix turned his attention to that, hurriedly looking away from the trapped version of himself. When he pressed on it, a piece of the wall popped out, containing a small booklet that Merix immediately picked up.
"Oh my god," he muttered to himself as he skimmed the first two pages. "I think I know exactly what these are."
"Clones?" Nash asked, peering over his shoulder at the booklet Merix was holding. "Whatever they are, this is fucking weird."
Merix coughed a bit before turning around. "I think it's probably like some robot with an AI system. This booklet is a list of… attributes. I'm not even sure how they found out some of these things. They look to be programmed in, but the ones here look like they're waiting for something. Like they're on standby."
"Impressive," Nash remarked. "How do you know all that?"
"My dad created the VirtuAssist, and then I took some of his ideas and implemented them to recreate my sister, though neither of our creations were anything as lifelike as this." Merix frowned to himself, wondering what he could've done if he only had access to the same kind of technology that the Capitol did.
"That's amazing," Nash breathed. "I've never heard of anyone that could do something like that!"
Merix flushed and ducked his head, noticing a small plaque at the bottom of the glass panel with his own name, age, and District noted on it. "Thanks," he said softly. "I guess it was kinda cool."
Before Nash could say anything in response, Lilith was beside them, a frown on her face. "Some of them are gone, though. Nash's is empty, and so are the Sixes, the Twos, and Thay's."
"Mine also, um, doesn't quite look like me," Merix said, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. "I'm not quite sure why, because everything it says about me in my booklet appears to be accurate."
"Not all of us are meant to be direct copies," came Nash's voice from across the room, causing all three of them to startle. "Some are, of course, but others are more… self aware. Some are just better."
The Nash striding across the room towards them appeared identical to the one standing beside Merix, so he wasn't quite sure what the clone was getting at. Even his outfit was identical, down to the missing jacket. Merix hoped that the similarities wouldn't get them into trouble later on in the Arena.
"So then, you're Nash?" Lilith asked, leveling the crossbow at his chest.
"Actually, I prefer Arcturus," he answered easily, shooting Nash a look that Merix couldn't read. He stayed where he was, lifting two hands in the air as a sign of surrender to Lilith's crossbow, but a light smirk stayed on his face, leading Merix to believe that Arcturus was more in control than it seemed. "But to answer your question, I guess so."
"What do you want?" Nash asked, but there was something off about his voice that made Merix look up and realize that his friend was shaken by something. While he was a little unsettled by this, Merix could understand Nash's changed demeanor. It had to be disconcerting for Nash to see another version of himself, much less one that was directly interacting with him.
"Oh, just to compliment your little alliance," Arcturus said, his inflection startlingly similar to Nash's even though there was a menacing undertone that Merix wasn't sure how to dissect. "You did a good job putting them together, Nash. Though, I suppose you had a good idea of what you were looking for."
"What does that mean?" Merix asked, glancing up nervously at Nash, who appeared fully caught off guard for the first time since Merix had known him.
"Nothing bad," Nash said quickly, eyes darting between his allies and himself. "You just- you reminded me of someone back home. Seeking comfort in the known and all." His uncomfortable laugh rang throughout the room, and Merix saw the corners of Arcturus's mouth twitch up.
Lilith sighed and stared at Arcturus. "So? I allied with him because I was worried he would continue bothering me if I didn't."
"Technically I came up to them first," Merix chimed in before taking a step behind Lilith, which she didn't seem to mind.
"Aw, and here I thought they reminded you of your little friend back in Five," Arcturus cooed. "Seiren, was it?"
Nash didn't respond to whatever baiting Arcturus was trying to do, but Merix looked up to see that his friend's face was white, almost as if he was… anxious? Merix felt completely in the dark about what was happening, but he also wasn't sure if there was anything he could do to help. His hands twitched by his sides uselessly, unsure of what to do.
"I'd suggest you get the fuck out of here before I test the limits of what your manufactured body can handle," Lilith said, lifting her chin and tensing her finger around the trigger. "Got it, Arcturus?"
"Your file didn't quite rave about your loyalty, but I'm glad some people do change," Arcturus replied easily, finally beginning to take a few steps back. "Unless, of course, you're just waiting for the right moment to strike out on your own and get the revenge you so desperately cr-"
A shot directly to the chest cut him off, causing Arcturus to stumble back into the wall as an arrow stuck out of his chest. Merix was glad that Lilith had shut Arcturus up before he could turn his attention once more.
"A killer aim, fitting for your previous line of work," Arcturus said with a harsh laugh, gripping the end of the arrow and pulling it out of his chest. Merix cringed even though he knew no blood would follow. "That'll come in handy when you finally get the chance to hunt him down."
"Get out," Lilith said again, loading another arrow. Her face was impassive, her hands frighteningly steady compared to Nash's trembling form.
"Don't worry, Merix, I haven't forgotten about you," Arcturus said, lingering by the opening he must've come out of, Nash's name on the plaque below. "But then again, why bother with someone as weak as you?"
The whimper left Merix's mouth as soon as Lilith's second arrow left her crossbow, nailing Arcturus directly in the throat as he moved back into the shadows he'd come from. Lilith reloaded in time to send off another arrow, this one bouncing harmlessly off of the glass as it slid down.
Merix tried not to be bothered by the words he'd heard all his life, but there was something about hearing them in the voice of a friend that made his eyes well up. He tried to discreetly wipe the tears away, but his allies were focused enough on themselves that he felt certain they didn't see.
"We should go," Lilith muttered, stalking out of the room before either of her allies could respond.
Nash stared wearily - almost longingly - at the spot where Arcturus now rested before following, leaving Merix in the room alone. He let out a quiet sniffle and wondered how their day had gone downhill so quickly. They were so used to wandering aimlessly through the Arena having fun that Merix should've known something would go wrong soon.
But even then… Merix wasn't sure what to make of the oddly cryptic information Arcturus had dropped about his other allies. It had clearly shaken them, even if the mere mention of Nash's friend back home seemed innocent enough to Merix. The thought of Lilith wanting revenge on someone was more concerning, but she didn't seem to want to talk about it. Maybe his allies weren't as invincible as he thought.
Merix wasn't sure what to do with that idea.
3:35 pm, Bottom Floor of The West Wing
"I've always wanted to defile a church," Shai said as soon as they stepped into the large, open sanctuary.
He had to jump out of the way to dodge Kano's arm, snickering to himself as Kano settled for shooting him a dirty look. "Do you always need to do that?"
"Do what?" Shai asked innocently. "I'm just speaking my truth. This place has gotta be here for a reason, and I want to find out why."
Kano heaved a despairing sigh before shutting the door behind him, the sound echoing throughout the sanctuary they'd come to find themselves in. When Shai had suggested they look around the bottom floor, he hadn't expected anything quite this interesting to pop up.
But, he thought, it proved his theory yesterday was right. Though it was him and Kano that had discovered this room, it was clearly meant for Phaedra. Her visage was scattered all across the room, from a pair of statues flanking the doors to a large book sitting on top of an altar. The whole scene was rather unsettling, but Shai's attention kept going back to the ornate stained glass windows that appeared to be depicting her entire life. One near the door showed her birth, and the one directly across the room from it displayed her being presented to what Shai assumed was a priestess, a golden light surrounding both of them. That was probably supposed to symbolize whatever bullshit prophecy made everyone in the Capitol beyond obsessed with her.
But, curiously enough, the story being told by the windows was unfinished. The section placed at the back of the sanctuary facing the doors was the largest section of them all. Though it was unfinished, it was fitted with enough pieces for Shai to understand that it was meant to portray her victory, but there were too many gaping holes for him to see the full picture. Even the windows that advanced along the walls stopped at a point, the last discernable one portraying Phaedra at the bloodbath, making the first kill of the Games. Shai recognized that it wasn't a perfectly faithful recreation, however; her face was oddly sorrowful, and there was an unfamiliar redhead standing just behind her.
Whatever. It wasn't like Shai was interested enough to ask about whoever that was.
That was the thing about Phaedra, after all. Frustratingly enough, he couldn't get a good read on her. The only member of his alliance that he actively had to cut down from the possibility of greatness was Alila. The others, barring Phaedra, were all marked by that familiar stench of failure, from Makani's disbelief in herself to Kano's overall volatile nature to Justus's great insecurities. Makani was easy enough - if she wasn't willing to try, he wasn't either. Let her take herself out for all he cared. Then there was Kano, who was destined to ruin himself as much as Phaedra was destined for greatness. Shai just hoped he was the one that would bring it about. Meanwhile, Justus had been headed for self destruction from the moment he'd volunteered, but his sudden show of confidence following whatever happened to Phaedra in the bloodbath proved to Shai that he needed to knock him down a peg.
It was even better that the two were entwined so completely; Shai could chip away at Justus and affect Phaedra too.
But the funny thing about Phaedra was that Shai couldn't sense anything. Her oh-so-important destiny had piled tons of pressure on her, she'd been bogged down by the events of the bloodbath, and yet she still hadn't fallen.
It was frustrating, really.
A familiar headache was beginning to press in, dulling the edges of his focus even as he rubbed his temples in an attempt to make it go away. All that resulted in was his headache coming on stronger, making him groan silently to himself.
"You okay?" Kano asked, seeming nearly worried as he watched Shai, still annoyingly keeping his distance after yesterday.
"I'm just wondering what the hell made Phaedra special enough to get this whole room to herself," Shai replied, shoving his hands in his pockets as he strolled down the center aisle. "Sure, she's got that destiny or whatever, but who decided that? Some old hag that thinks she can see the future? It's all bullshit to me."
He heard a soft laugh behind him and then footfalls as Kano followed after him. "What, are you not much into religion?"
"Not exactly, but I'm also not sure that I'm buying into whatever narrative they're playing into this year. The first twelve in the history of the Games, an all-too-easy predicted Victor, the first kill of the Games… for a great warrior, I was hoping for something a little more flashy."
Shai turned on his heel, nearly running into Kano, who must've been following entirely too closely behind him. Kano took a surprised step back before glancing away. "You're not much into predictability, huh?"
With a smirk, Shai laughed and said, "Nope. Which is why you caught my eye from the beginning."
He didn't wait to see Kano's reaction, instead turning and walking down the aisle again, watching the stained glass as he went by. There was one notable similarity that he saw in all except one: The only image she was smiling in was also the only one that contained Justus, their hands linked together. Shai had to wonder if Justus realized that he was Phaedra's undoing, the only thing that stood a chance at breaking the so-called invincible warrior. Every moment he stayed in the Arena, he was singlehandedly tearing her destiny away from her.
Shai stored that information away for later. For someone soaring as high as Phaedra, Shai wanted to see how far she'd fall.
"Hm?" Shai glanced over at Kano, finally recognizing that Kano had said something.
"I was asking what that even means," Kano said, a frown on his face as if he was trying to unravel something in his head. "You've been attached to my hip since parades."
"I suppose I found you fascinating," Shai said, tilting his head to the side as if pondering. "Your cute little hero complex with your inclination to fly off the rails at any given moment were just so intriguing."
Maybe he was beginning to say too much, but after days of nudging Kano towards the edge, Shai was itching to give him that one last push. It was funny, really. If things played out exactly as Shai saw it in his head, he could bring the entire pack to its knees, cut it off at the head.
"What the fuck are you going on about?" Kano's face was flickering between hurt and anger, as if he was wrestling to keep his emotions down. It was an unsuccessful venture, and Shai knew that Kano was finally close to coming undone entirely.
"Didn't you ever wonder why, even though we got the same score, I was one placement higher than you?" Shai began his slow walk down to the front once more, trailing a hand along the pews as he went.
"I mean, I guess I don't use weapons that much, which could be seen as a detriment," Kano said carefully. "But I beat Alila-"
"Only because I gave you a weapon she can't fight well against," Shai said, cutting him off. "She would've antagonized you until you destroyed yourself - you know that, right? It's so easy to set you off, it's almost funny. See, you're doing it right now."
Kano's fists were clenching and unclenching, but he shoved them in his pockets as soon as Shai gestured to them. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked again.
"I've always been able to sense when failure is around," Shai said instead, humming to himself. "Justus and Makani both reek of it, with their hearts too soft for killing. Alila was clean until I got you to attack Thay in the bloodbath, and now she's so deep in her own despair that I'd be impressed if she managed to claw her way out. But you?"
One more push.
Shai grinned at Kano, leaning in close. "God, you're so overwhelmed by failure that I'm impressed you can't see it yourself."
Kano shoved Shai away, trying to wrap his head around what was happening. "Why are you telling me this?"
Shai watched him with all the intrigue of someone performing an experiment where Kano was being scrutinized under a microscope, making his skin crawl. "A few reasons, one being that I think it's important that you're aware of it if you're going to keep up that silly little hero plot you've got going in your mind."
"And the other reasons?"
Looking all too pleased with himself, Shai replied, "You'll have to figure that out yourself."
A flash of irritation shot through Kano and, without thinking, he lashed out, his arm hitting nothing but empty air as Shai dodged him completely. Instead of looking surprised, though, Shai just appeared smug for some reason.
"Ooh, nasty punch there." Shai grinned up at him. "No wonder Alila got a little nosebleed."
"Knock it off," Kano growled, forcing himself to take a step back so he wouldn't lash out again.
"Or what?" Shai asked innocently, matching Kano's step so the distance between them didn't increase. "Phaedra isn't here to step in like last time."
His next swing missed as well, but when Kano drew his arm back it was stinging, and upon further inspection he realized Shai had nicked the back of his hand with a knife. Blood was beginning to well up from the cut, but Kano just wiped it off on his jacket.
"I didn't need Phaedra to step in," Kano hissed. "And I didn't need your help either!"
Before he could react, Shai had gotten in close, his knife digging into Kano's side where his cut from Alila had finally started healing over. "You didn't exactly get out of that fight unscathed," Shai reminded him, dragging the tip of the knife down.
Kano gripped his jacket and threw him to the floor, pausing to put some pressure on his side as blood quickly saturated his jacket. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his vision, spotting Shai standing already.
"Is that all you've got?" Shai taunted.
It suddenly clicked for Kano that this was the outcome Shai desired. But at this point, Kano was itching for a fight. Who was he to deny the one right in front of him?
"You think too rashly when you get all worked up," Shai pointed out, continuously dancing just out of Kano's reach. "And god, are you easy to rile up. You really had me going in that fight with Alila. Even now, you can't get yourself to think straight even though you know it's for the best."
Maybe one of the things that frustrated Kano the most about Shai was how he always managed to be right. It irritated him that Shai was able to see through him so easily, like he was barely even trying. Kano wished he could protest any of Shai's points, but he couldn't. Shai had confused the hell out of him for days on end, and right now, all he wanted was to see him finally get what was coming to him.
Kano feinted to the right before hitting Shai from the left, a hard hit to the jaw that sent him stumbling back a few steps. Shai barely looked bothered, instead seeming thrilled that Kano had finally managed to get a hit in.
"Did you know that your most glaring flaw isn't even that you have that ridiculous temper?" Shai flicked one of his knives at Kano, forcing him to move to the side so it would embed itself into one of the pews instead of his stomach. "It's that you get attached so easily. I mean, come on - you're weirdly protective over Makani even though she hangs around Alila all the time, and you seemed almost personally offended when Alila stepped in for that Nine kid. God even knows what you feel for me."
"Nothing! I feel nothing," Kano insisted, swinging his arm at Shai. He realized a moment too late that Shai was trying to bait him again.
Shai gripped his arm in midair and tugged him closer, catching Kano off guard with his surprising show of strength. "Aw, Kano, don't you know? Lies are unbecoming," he cooed before driving a knife fully into his side.
Kano hissed in pain, reacting too late to hit Shai while he was still close. Gritting his teeth, he took the knife out of his side, the handle slick with his own blood. Knives weren't something he was used to wielding, but he had to find a way to make it work. Dimly, he remembered that you weren't supposed to take weapons out of an open wound, but it was too late for him to care.
"You know, I'm not really seeing why Alila had a hard time with you," Shai taunted, standing up by the altar. "Are you even trying right now?"
His chest was heaving from exertion now, body aching from the two blows he'd been dealt thus far. Kano refused to back down though, advancing up the few stairs to the next level where Shai seemed to be waiting for him, looking as nonchalant as ever.
Instead of using his fists, Kano threw himself at Shai with his shoulder leading, connecting harshly with Shai's stomach and knocking the breath out of him. He twisted as he fell, going to catch himself with his arm, but Kano heard a distinct snapping noise that made him grin.
There wouldn't be any way to come back from a broken bone.
Shai heard the snap before he felt the pain wash over his body as his left arm was rebroken, forcing him to clench his teeth before he could let out a scream. Panting quietly, he hauled himself up and out of the way, trying not to move his arm too much to avoid agitating it.
He let out a low laugh, shaking his head. Not again. Last time his arm was broken, it had nearly knocked him out of the competition entirely. It was honestly a miracle he'd been as successful as he was coming back into the game, but now…
It had been beyond thrilling to watch the ones in front of him fail, so close to claiming the volunteer slot but falling just short of their goal. Shai had reveled in it, letting their failure spur him on to his own success. But nothing could compare to this. God, Shai had never felt more alive.
The simple fact that Kano was coming completely undone because of him made everything worth it.
He pulled himself to his feet with his right arm, angling his body so that his left arm was behind him and therefore harder to reach. His knife was still clenched tightly in his right hand, a light smirk adorning his face even as the gravity of his circumstances began to sink in. And yet, he'd sensed that his conflict with Kano would lead to this ever since the other boy had pushed him away the day before.
Four days in and he'd already found his own destiny.
But Shai couldn't bring himself to care about his end, only what his end would cause. The pack couldn't have held together for much longer regardless, but they were sure to scatter now, leaving Kano all alone… god, Shai wanted to know how exactly it would all play out. But if he bided his time, there was no guarantee that his plan would work the way he intended.
He might as well make the most of it while he still could.
"You made it all so fucking easy," he said, laughing under his breath.
"Just tell me what that means!" Kano lunged towards him again, his movements slowed by his injuries, the white of his jacket stained red with blood. The sight made Shai smile as he casually lifted a foot to trip up Kano. Though he didn't fall, he stumbled over to the side, forced to pause and regain his balance.
"If you hadn't gone after Thay in the bloodbath, the pack could've stayed together for days on end, but cracking Alila at the start was my best idea yet. Phaedra was an added bonus, but unfortunately I can't say I had anything to do with that. So I have to thank you, Kano, for being entirely too easy to mess with."
Kano glared at him, not verbally responding to his taunts anymore, but Shai didn't mind. He'd gotten all he wanted out of Kano anyway. Now, it was all up to him.
Shai barely got the chance to react before Kano was on him, forcing him to dodge a continuous flurry of hits and driving him back towards the wall. He brought his knife up, but Kano used the one he'd stolen to block it. The knife went clattering to the ground just in time for a flash of real panic to go through Shai.
In an instant, Kano grabbed Shai's broken arm and pinned it to the wall, wrenching a cry out of him. He couldn't struggle against Kano's hold without risking agonizing pain overwhelming him. Before he could think of anything else to try, the cool tip of a blade was digging into his throat.
"Give me a reason not to," Kano said, even though his eyes were still flashing dangerously.
Shai already knew that Kano himself didn't want to stop, that he was barely restraining himself. He also knew that all it would take was one final push and Kano would tumble off the edge for good.
There were some things you couldn't come back from.
"What's stopping you?" Shai asked instead, flashing him a dangerous smile. "Scared?"
His words were rewarded with the blade pressing harder into his neck, a slow trickle of blood beginning to stream out. "You wish."
"Then why the hesitation?" Shai raised an eyebrow, feeling oddly in control of the situation despite the circumstances. "Are you scared to admit you do care? Are you scared of what will happen after? Are you too much of a fucking coward to do what you came here to do?"
Kano's grip on his arm tightened, forcing a pained hiss out of his mouth. "I'm not a coward," he insisted.
But Shai refused to back down, even now. He knew what it took to bring Kano to the edge and back, and he was tired of playing around, playing it safe.
He'd bring everyone down with him, no matter the cost.
"Kill me, then," Shai hissed, seemingly unafraid of the knife digging into his throat. "I'll tear the rest of the pack down with me and it'll be all your fault."
Kano's breaths were coming in short gasps by now, the pain making it hard for him to think. Shai had been speaking in riddles all day, muddling his head and confusing him. Kano wasn't sure what he was supposed to do anymore. Killing Shai seemed to be exactly what he wanted, but did that mean Kano would finally lose whatever game they were playing? If he let Shai go, would he end up as the one dead?
"You're still hesitating," Shai whispered, his voice quiet almost as if he was about to back off, but Kano didn't believe that was the case. "It's almost like you're too weak to fully go through with it."
That was all it took for blinding rage to take over, and Kano plunged the knife into Shai's throat, watching with an almost sick delight as the light left his eyes. Shai's body spasmed once, twice, blood flowing from his neck as Kano yanked the knife out.
All of his adrenaline left him in an instant, leaving him drained and nearly delirious as he stared down at the knife, wondering what had happened. He swallowed down bile as he watched the blood gleam dimly in the light.
He'd finally gotten blood on his hands.
Kano let out a soft noise as he dropped the knife, watching it clatter to the ground. He took a hurried step back from Shai's body, trembling as it slid to the floor. Kano opened his mouth and then closed it, wondering if there was still a way for him to save Shai, wondering if that was even something he wanted to do, but a cannon sounded before he could ever come to a decision.
"Oh my god," he whispered even though no one could hear him. "What have I done?"
His first kill of the Games, and it was the person Kano had considered himself closest to. What would the rest of his allies say when he returned? What could he tell them? Kano had always believed that the pack should stick together as long as it could, but when it was his mistake, he wasn't sure what to do.
Maybe Shai was right. Maybe he had ruined everything.
The word weak was still resounding in his head as he stumbled back, running into a pew with his hip and hissing as it sent pain lancing up his side. Kano touched his side, bringing back a hand soaked in blood. He was sure that some of Shai's had gotten on him as well, but he didn't have the energy to try and clean himself off right now. He didn't have the energy for anything, but he dragged himself over to where he'd dropped his backpack, rooting through it for the gauze he had been using for his old wounds. Kano was able to stay awake long enough to loosely wrap gauze around his stomach, securing his balled up jacket as best he could to staunch the bleeding. His eyes barely stayed open as he stumbled over to one of the pews, collapsing on it and quickly falling unconscious.
Whatever had been lingering under the waves had surfaced, and it wasn't going to leave anytime soon.
6:12 pm, Second Floor of The West Wing.
Imperia Bachmann was not used to the loneliness that followed Jude's death. She found herself aching to comment on her surroundings just to turn and see that no one was there, her only company being the cool whisper of what once was.
In a peculiar turn of events, Imperia wished that the double of Jude that she'd met last night had stuck around, though she now felt foolish for ever believing the charade he'd put on last night. If she had to make the bold choice to analyze herself, she'd say she was only deluded because she couldn't fathom the possibility of Jude dying in their time apart.
She knew it was lonely to be an outsider, but she'd never experienced such loneliness herself before. Only now was Imperia beginning to truly feel it.
Her inspection of the second floor hadn't turned much up, though she felt certain that she'd at least crossed into a new wing of the Arena. Her movements today had felt aimless, just the wandering feet of someone not knowing what they were searching for. Imperia wasn't used to feeling so stuck in place, and it was beginning to get to her more than she was willing to admit.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Imperia thought back to when the false Jude had handed her the ice pick. She'd wondered if there was part of the Arena that she was overlooking, as there was no evidence so far that there was a good spot for someone to be lobotomized. Imperia couldn't imagine one of these open rooms could muffle the cries one would surely make, so there had to be something she was missing. She just had to find it.
The answer came in the form of rocks scattered about the floor, a large bloody chunk sitting against the wall. Imperia wrinkled her nose in disgust at the sight, figuring this was the cause of one of the cannons she'd heard earlier. She began to analyze the scene in front of her, thoughts racing through her mind.
If she squinted, she could see that there was the remains of a pool of blood, dried up and crusted as if it had been out all day, meaning it was the result of an altercation this morning. But the lack of a body made Imperia curious as to where the bodies went, since hovercrafts couldn't reach them in this Arena. All that was left was the imprint of a human, and a rather small one, and she wondered if Eleanor or Merix had finally bitten it. Imperia weighed the two options for a moment. If it were Merix, there likely would have been another imprint, considering that his much stronger allies would certainly never let him perish without a fight. By that logic, impeccable as always, the body had to have been Eleanor's.
Maybe it was a good thing she'd been stolen from their alliance. After all, Eleanor didn't last much longer than Imperia's other allies anyway.
Something else caught her eye as she moved around the perimeter of the scene: larger footprints headed towards a mirror leaned against the wall. Imperia suddenly remembered the mirror that she and Jude had seen the day before everything started going wrong. She wondered if perhaps his strange behavior afterward had been in part due to whatever had been behind the mirror. Perhaps he'd been able to sense something, even if Imperia couldn't.
Ridiculous. She'd be terribly frustrated if he managed to show her up even in death.
When she toed at one of the footprints with her shoe, some of the blood flaked off, making her frown. She hoped that meant it was old enough that she wouldn't run into whoever had caused this scene.
Imperia could figure this one out. Unless something had gone drastically wrong, she figured it wasn't the result of an altercation between Eleanor and her two allies. Thay was irritating enough that she wouldn't blame the girl for trying to kill him, but Imperia would've expected to see Jack's body laying around as well. It wouldn't make sense for him to turn on only one ally.
Then there were Merix and his allies, but there was no use contemplating that. Even if it was him that had perished, Imperia had seen enough of their darling little alliance to know that they all believed in the power of friendship and loyalty and all that nonsense, so there was no way they'd turn on each other.
Turning to the Careers next, Imperia found one glaring hole in the theory that one of them could be the culprit: she highly doubted any of them were clever enough to discover that the mirrors held secret passages of some kind. Shai would perhaps be the only exception, but somehow she still doubted that.
With a huff, Imperia turned back to the largest chunk of rock, not wanting to get close enough to the bloody mess to get dirty. She was disappointed to find that it had been ruined beyond recognition. Irritated, Imperia rolled her eyes; how was she supposed to determine what it had originally been?
Now that she thought about it, there was one other possible tribute that could've been the cause of this. Imperia hadn't caught sight of her since the bloodbath, but when she thought about it… there was only one set of footprints leading into the mirror, whoever had broken the rock had done so with great strength, and the amount of blood here was evidence enough that whoever had died had been well brutalized. In Imperia's mind, that left only one possible culprit.
Crush.
A stone smashed into the wall beside Imperia's head, and she let out an undignified yelp as she spun around. Crush's eyes were dark, one of her hands holding another chunk of rock and her other hand holding what looked to be a chisel. Imperia briefly thought of the ice pick she'd shoved in her backpack last night.
She refused to go down in a similar fashion to Jude.
"Don't touch her," Crush growled before lunging at Imperia, causing her to leap out of the way. Her foot landed on a rock and nearly gave out under her, but Imperia managed to keep her balance. As she tried to keep out of the way of Crush's desperate moves, Imperia sensed her mind whirling, desperate to make sense of Crush's words.
Who was "her"?
There was no body left, so unless Crush had fully gone off the deep end, she couldn't possibly be talking about whoever died. Even that left a lot of options, however, and as Imperia didn't know to whom the day's second cannon belonged, she couldn't rule anybody out. But as she thought back to her previous interaction with Crush, at the trapping station during training, an idea came to Imperia. Crush had only been halfway paying attention to her because she was so desperately trying not to dedicate her whole attention to someone else, one of the Careers, and she'd seemed irritated when Imperia called her out on it.
"Makani?" Imperia tried, watching Crush's expressions intently.
She'd forgotten how expressive Crush could be, the other girl's eyes widening at the sound of Makani's name. Her grip on the rock tightened, and her movements became even faster as she advanced, a hit to Imperia's arm causing her to tumble off balance. As she tried to regain her footing, Imperia found herself stumbling on another shard of stone, sending her crashing to the floor, rocks digging into her spine.
Death seemed to be coming for Imperia as well, and she didn't want to answer it.
"I can help you get closer to her!" Imperia tried in a near desperate attempt to keep her life, her hands lifted above her head in the hope that they could absorb some of the blow that Crush was about to deal.
But as her offer hung in the air, Imperia was able to take a few steady breaths, slowly moving her hands so she could see Crush's face. Crush was frowning at her, slowly lowering the rock she was holding.
"Help how?" Crush asked, wary eyes watching Imperia for any sudden movements.
"I want to split the pack up," Imperia said honestly, "but I need help to do it. If they're split up, you can get Makani on her own. Otherwise, they'll be too tight-knit for you to ever get close."
Crush seemed to be hearing her out, though her frown remained on her face. "How do you expect to do that?"
In truth, Imperia had no idea. But she knew enough about how to put up a facade of confidence that she offered Crush a smile and asked, "Did you ever look into what I suggested?"
Understanding dawned in Crush's eyes, and she nodded. "I know enough."
"Then let me help you," Imperia said, lifting her hand for Crush to shake. "I'll get you everything you want."
Ever so slowly, Crush grabbed her hand and pulled her up, but she didn't let go. Imperia tried not to wince as her hand was trapped in Crush's vice-like grip. "We're not allies," Crush insisted. "If you try anything, I'll kill you faster than you can think of a way out."
"I can't imagine why I'd doublecross you," Imperia replied easily. "After all, we both have something to gain here. Do you have any supplies?"
Crush shot her a look that very clearly told Imperia that they were not going back to wherever Crush had been hiding out. Imperia tried to smile innocently, though she knew by now that Crush could see past her facade. It didn't matter either way. Not only did she still have her life, but she had a new plan forming and a new weapon to wield, as long as she could figure out how to make Crush do what she wanted.
Maybe she could still bring hell into the Arena herself.
14. Eleanor Holmia, d5f. Bludgeoned by a rock.
Even if it was too late for Eleanor, she refused to let it be too late for the people depending on her.
13. Shai Kingston, d1m. Knife to the throat.
He'd bring everyone down with him, no matter the cost.
Kills:
Thay Yukimura: II
Shai Kingston: II
Crush Xing: II
Phaedra Nikostratos: I
Alila Perwane: I
Lilith Beherit: I
Justus Arculeo: I
Kano Arledge: I
Arena: I