Hyperion Corvinus,18, District 2 male
My eyes slowly flutter for a moment and I open them to see the ceiling of this arcade I'm hiding out in. I've tried to stay on the move for the most part, not staying in one place for too long and the plan was to relocate after I woke up, I just need a moment to get my bearings together as my entire body begins aching again. My body is literally covered in wounds right now and even with some medical supplies I'm still in an unimaginable amount of pain, but I'm going to fight through this...all for you mom.
It's quiet right now so I have a moment to think and I remember what happened the other day. Me stabbing Caspian right through his back and I have no guilt whatsoever. Didn't have anything against him but I need to live and return back to my mother and I won't allow anyone to get in my way. I imagine he's still holding on somehow but he won't last much longer. There's no rules in these games and those with morals, with compassion, those people are bound to fall at some point! It's no secret Caspian was one of the biggest threats in this arena and with him out of the way, things will be quite a bit easier. The only other people I need to watch out for is Hunter and Emmerane but I'm positive I can beat both of them with a good plan, no one else in this arena concerns me!
Right as I think that though I hear something clatter against the floor outside of the arcade I'm in and I jump slightly grabbing my sword. What was that? I grasp my sword tighter as I begin hearing light footsteps, so quiet that I start imagining I'm hearing things. The sounds of the footsteps vanish but I start feeling a sinister breeze and I feel my heart rate increase. I wait for a moment but the breeze disappears and I let out a small sigh, I'm seriously losing my mind right now, I need to get it together! This does remind me however that I've been in this arcade for way too long, it's time for me to relocate. I grunt in pain as I stand up from the corner I was resting in and walk towards the door turning the knob.
When I open the door however that's when I gasp aloud when I see Amos is standing right outside of it grinning at me!
"Hello Hyperion, missed me?" He grins and I gasp wildly swinging my sword at him in a panic and he easily deflects my attack with his own sword and I let out a panicked gasp a as I stumble back into the arcade and he walks forward as I continue stumbling away from him.
"I got you all to myself now Hyperion, you won't be escaping from me anymore…" he says in a more serious tone.
"Just leave me the fuck alone!" I panic and swing my sword at him again but he simply moves his head back to evade my attack and I try slashing him across his body but he parries my attack and I lose my balance being sent to the floor, falling on my wound and groaning loud in pain.
"Stand up! You will face me like a man and die like one!" he says through gritted teeth and I look up at him I'm literally about to wet my pants, it really is like I'm looking death in it's face, I can't beat this fucking guy…I can't.
I hesitantly make my way back to my feet and he immediately tries to slice me through my neck but I manage to raise my sword up in time to block it but the force still knocks me back against the wall and I grunt in pain again as I hit another wound against it. He tries to follow up with another strike to my abdomen but I stagger out of the way and quickly try countering but he counters my counter by slamming his blade against mines and spins it through my guard jabbing forward trying to stab me in the eye but I manage to move my head away and he slices my cheek instead as I gasp in pain stumbling back.
I recklessly swing my sword at his chest again but he blocks it with his sword and kicks me hard in the torso sending me flying back into a casino machine as I gasp again, dammit, think Hyperion, think!
He has a slight grin on his face as he edges closer to me and I kick a trash can next to me towards him but he strikes the trash can away, this is my opportunity! I quickly rush at him trying to jab him with my sword but he quickly parries my attack and slashes me across the shoulder causing me to sprawl onto the floor cursing in pain
"What did I tell you before Hyperion? your tricks don't work on me!" he reminds me and I'm panting heavily in fear as I get back up to my feet and hold out my sword in front of me in a defensive stance beginning to circle backwards around the casino machines to put distance between the two of us but he continues stalking me, dammit, I'm so fucking powerless right now…maybe I should've kept Caspian around…no I can't think like this, I can win this, I know I can! No matter how strong, how skilled someone is, everyone has a weakness, i…I just have to find it!
"We can do this all day if you'd like Hyperion, but you're not escaping from me anymore, I'll hunt you down to the end of the earth if I have to, man up and face your death!" he taunts me as he continues stalking me while I continue circling around the casino machines.
"Just what do you want!? Why can't you just leave me alone!?" I hopelessly try to reason with him.
"You won't be able to talk yourself out of this Hyperion, now raise your sword!" he rushes at me and I gasp again managing to block his attack but he slams his sword against nine again and does that technique again where he twists his sword breaking through my guard lightly slashing me across the chest causing me to grunt out in pain but I muster through the pain and relentlessly try striking him with my sword but he casually blocks all seven of my strikes and parries my 8th one sending me to the floor as I'm now gasping for air but I jump up to my feet and let out an angry roar and swing my sword at his neck but he weaves it and I re-angle my strike trying to hit his chest but he spins out of the way and strikes my sword knocking it out of my hand. I then rush in for a desperate takedown but he pivots out of the way and i crash onto the floor, moaning in pain.
"Truly and absolutely pathetic Hyperion Corvinus. Always knew you were a weakling but is this really the best you can do? You haven't met my expectations, which were already pretty low to begin with…" he circles around me in disappointment as I only remain on the floor moaning.
I'm just, I'm powerless, there's nothing I can do against him, he's reading all of my attacks before I even think of them, I knew Amos was considered the best swordsman in our district , but for the gap to be this wide…what's the point of even fighting anymore…
"I almost feel a little bad Hyperion, having to finish you off like this, but you were never a pleasant person, no one will miss you when you're gone." He continues and I think of her, my mother, no…I can't die here and I slowly reach for my sword grasping it tightly.
"What exactly do you plan on doing with that?" he taunts me again as I sit on my knees still clutching my sword with him standing over me.
"Your little tricks won't work on me." His voice plays back in my head, he's right…my tricks won't work on him and that's why…
"Just finish me off…it's over." I gaze down at the floor in defeat sitting my sword on the floor.
"Well, it's not like you have much of a choice in that matter, goodbye Hyperion." He brings his sword down towards me but at the last possible moment I raise my sword slamming it against his, quickly twisting it, breaking through his guard and pierce him clean through his chest as he gasps, more in shock than pain.
"I got you, I fucking got you!!" I hiss at him standing up to my feet and shoving my sword deeper into his chest as blood begins spurting from his mouth and he drops his sword.
"You were right, none of my 'tricks' worked on you, but you were so busy reading my moves that you weren't even prepared to counter me if I tried using one of your own moves instead!" I add and blood continues coming down his mouth but he still manages a faint smirk and light chuckle.
"Heh heh…I see, you got me Hyperion, congrats…" he manages to mumble before his eyes slowly close and he falls backwards lifelessly dropping to the floor. I then let out a loud battle cry to celebrate my victory, I beat him, I beat the strongest swordsman in my district…I, I beat Amos! I drop to my knees in exhaustion and pain as fresh blood is seeping out of my new wounds dripping onto the floor and I remain on my knees gasping for air, I don't know how much more of this I can take I think of her though my mother, I have to keep fighting for her, I can't give up here…just need to stay strong! I make it back to my feet and stumble against the wall losing my balance. I lean against the wall still panting, just a little bit more to go…just…a little bit more and before I know it I collapse against the floor as my mind goes blank.
Genevieve Altruzara,16, District 8 female
"Got my needle sword, what about you?" I look over at Elsie as we prepare to make our move.
"A knife and this slingshot I just made..." she shows me and I nod.
"That's good enough, you can probably use that slingshot to shoot the knife with additional force…" I realize and she puts the knife into her slingshot before pulling it back and firing the knife causing it to slam against the wall.
"Wow…that was actually a really good idea, this'll probably bring any tribute down, thanks Genny!" she gives me a thumbs up, she has trouble pronouncing my actual name so she just calls me that instead which I don't really mind much…
"Hopefully it doesn't have to come to that just yet, but yeah, we have to be ready regardless, you ready to go?" I ask and she nods. She's literally covered in dirt and grime, while her hair is messy and wild, I haven't looked myself in the mirror lately but I imagine I look about the same as her if not worse, a bath would be so nice, but surviving has to come first obviously…
We've been laying low ever since we found each other but we figured the bar would provide us some extra protection, if we're lucky, we might even find some supplies in there. Elsie was sponsored a sandwich yesterday that she was nice enough to share with me but I'm starving, I kind of got used to not eating large meals ever since me and Mandel has been on the run but it is starting to take a toll on me now. I help Elsie up to her feet and we look back at the map as we map out our route, it's not a long walk from here, we'll have to make our way down the hall, go down a flight of stairs and the bar should practically be right there.
"Just stay close to me ok, be ready to fire that knife if you have to…" I inform her.
"Yeah and you be ready to use that sword if you have to." She counters and I nod.
"Of course, let's go now." I press on and she follows me. Other than me and Elsie, there's 6 other tributes here, Paisley died, so that leaves Hyperion, Emmerane, Caspian, Reyena, Verbena and Hunter. Me and Elsie literally are the weakest tributes here right now, everyone else is either a career, a giant or has some kind of obvious background training, the odds are definitely stacked against us, but that's why it's even more fitting that we're sticking together for now. We reach the staircase and begin making our way downstairs. I then take a quick look at Elsie who's checking behind us to make sure no one is sneaking up on us and once we arrive on the floor, I can see the bar up ahead. My speed picks up as we get closer and closer to the bar, with the few tributes that are left in this arena, I guess it's not too surprising we didn't run into anyone but I make a small sprint to the door of the bar and quickly open it allowing Elsie to walk inside before i walk inside as well. My nostrils begin filling with a musky smell…like dried blood, and I see the bar is a wreck, there's several broken tables and chairs and most of the bottles of booze are shattered over the floor, there's also some dried bloodstains on the floor, they look relatively old but still, I don't have a good feeling about this…
"The hell happened in here…" I mumble looking around the bar, there doesn't seem to be anyone in here but I notice there's another room behind the counter.
"Genevieve, we should probably- Ah!!" she squeaks in pain and I quickly turn to her to see her groaning in pain as she lifts up her foot where there's a large shard of glass sticking out of it, dammit, it went right through her shoe too…
"Here let me get it out." I tug the shard of glass out of her shoes and she winces again but I see there's some blood dripping out of her shoe.
"You ok?" I ask with some worry, we don't have any medical supplies so I hope it wasn't too deep…
"Yeah…it's not as bad as it looks." She puts her foot back on the floor and she has a small limp but is otherwise fine.
"Well…what do we have here!?" I hear ominous chuckling behind me and both me and Elsie seemingly freeze in fear for a moment before I spin around and I see it's Hunter, he's covered in bruises, wounds and his torso area is patched up but is stained with blood. He's grinning at us holding a sword but I can see he's in pain as walks around the counter and I still can't move, oh no, we really walked right into his fucking lair, we need to get out of here!
"Genevieve we need to run!" Elsie panics but Hunter quickly kicks a table and sends it flying against the door barricading the both of us in here with him, he was able to kick an entire table with just his foot, this guy is a fucking monster…
"Why run though, isn't this such a nice little reunion between us three!" he cackles as he slowly walks towards us.
"Stay back!" I warn him sticking my sword out at him in an offensive stance.
"Oh come on, do you really want to hurt my feelings and make me cry? This is how you welcome me back, it is so nice to see the both of you, especially you, you little shit!" he glares Elsie.
"Y-you killed her…you killed Annabeth!" Elsie cries.
"Well ofcourse I did, what the hell did you think was going to happen, and it looks like your other buddy kicked the bucket too so after getting rid of this blue haired slut over here next to you, I'll have you all to myself!" He suddenly rushes at us and I gasp aloud swinging my sword at his but he shoulder tackles me knocking me down to the floor as I groan in pain, and I try slicing him with my sword but he kicks me hard in the torso sending me sliding back first into the wall and I groan out loud before he begins chasing after Elsie who lets out a screech and tries circling around a table to create distance.
He only has to use one hand to throw the table out of the way and swings his sword towards her but she squeals and manages to stagger away and takes cover behind another table but he also tosses it out of the way, I hear him grunt in pain however as he clutches his torso for a moment with gritted teeth, he's hurt, that much is clear but that's the scary part how he still has this much strength left, he's so fucking strong…
I make my way back up to my feet as Hunter tries to slash at Elsie again but she ducks under it and manages to slice Hunter's fore arm with her knife and he lets out a small grunt before kicking her in the torso sending her crashing against the wall stunned, he then begins bringing his sword down towards her but I rush at him.
"No!" I shout and he spins around, knocking my sword out of my hand with his and grabs my neck with his free hand beginning to squeeze my neck lifting me up off the floor as I struggle to breathe. He starts raising his sword but I kick him hard in his wound and he grunts in pain dropping his sword but keeps a grip on my neck, I kick him hard in the same area and he lets out a roar of pain releasing me from his grasp as he falls to his knee and I quickly use this opportunity to knee him square in the face but it only seems to stun him for a moment as he makes his way back up to his feet, Elsie quickly stabs him in the leg however and he lets out a roar of pain falling back to his knee.
I then grab a chair shattering it across his face causing him to grunt in pain and he staggers face first into the counter leaning against it stunned as I grab my sword and charge at him but he quickly spins around and grabs my hand that's holding the sword and twists my wrist causing me to yell in pain, dropping my sword. He grabs my neck again, effortlessly throwing me over the counter where I crash backfirst against the wall and groan in pain again stunned and I can hear Elsie screeching.
"You sneaky little shit, I got you now!" I hear Hunter roar.
"Leave me alone! Genevieve!!" I hear Elsie cry and I start coming back to my senses as I begin slowly making my way back to my feet having to use the counter to pull myself up. I see Hunter lifting Elsie in the air with one arm as she's still squealing in fear but he notices me and literally throws Elsie across the bar at me. I try to catch her but she's heavier than she looks and we both crash into the wall and groan in pain together and I try recovering but I hear Hunter's thunderous footsteps and he suddenly leans his head over the counter grinning at us as part of his face is swollen from the chair shot and blood is seeping from his mouth and nose.
"I'm going to have fun with you little cunts!" Hunter curses and grabs a fistful of my hair with his bare hand and I cry out in pain as he pulls my hair dragging me over the counter and I rake his face with my nails. I can already see streaks of blood coming down his face but he only lets out an irritated growl and punch me on the side of my face knocking me to the floor, and I slowly try standing up but he kicks me hard in the torso and I cry out in pain rolling several feet across the floor, coughing profusely as he grabs a fistful of my hair again pulling me off the floor. I manage to land a weak punch in his jaw that he completely ignores and punches me in the jaw knocking me down to the floor again and I feel cuts all in my mouth as I start tasting blood and I feel dizzy unable to focus, my body is in autopilot survival mode as I try crawling away from him but he kicks me in the side of my torso again causing me to cry out again and he proceeds to break a chair over my back causing me to cry out loud.
"Haha yeah! Go ahead keep screaming, keep crying you little whore!" Hunter taunts me, and I try standing up but he kicks me hard in the nose and pain literally shoots through my entire body and I go deaf for a moment as everything begins spinning around me as blood pours from my nose like a fountain and I can't even hear my cries or screams for a moment but he manages to grab the back of my neck and pulls me up gripping my neck tightly while holding a sword in his other hand getting ready to Impale me as I pant and moan in pain.
"So you little whore, any last words before I shove this up inside of you?" He grins, as he lowers the sword to my lower pelvic area and I only pant and cry in pain.
"Go to hell!" I manage to shout at him but he only chuckles.
"Oh I'll be going there someday but in the mean time you can keep a nice seat warm for me down there. Now town slut, bet you had a whole bunch of things shoved up in there already, but nothing quite this long! You kmow what they say though right? First time for everything!" he cackles and prepares to the shove the sword in me but a knife suddenly lands into his eye and he immediately drops me, his sword and continues hollering in pain as the knife sticks out of his eye, Elsie…good job, now to finish this!
I grab the sword he dropped and whiles he's still hollering in pain stunned I quickly ram the sword through his torso and he lets out a shocked groan of pain as everything becomes silent around us.
"This is for Cortez and everyone else you hurt! Oh and you can burn down there alone, piece of shit!" I curse at him shoving the sword deeper in him and his groans become louder.
"No…no…it can't…be." He utters before collapsing on the floor and I take several deep breathes to compose myself.
"Genevieve…" Elsie limps towards me.
"Elsie...you did good, thank you, you ok?" I pant.
"Y-yeah, your face and your nose, there's blood everywhere on you…" She panics.
"Its ok…I'm ok, just, just help me move this table so we can get out of here…" I pick up my needle sword and use it as a walking stick to limp towards the table that's barricading us in. I look back at Hunter who's still lifelessly slumped on the floor, his cannon should be firing off soon but I just want to get out of here.
My wrist is sprained from Hunter twisting it but it takes practically all of our remaining strength to move this table out of the way and it's even more incredible that Hunter was literally able to kick this table several feet away using only his foot, it's over though…
"Alright lets get out of here…" i pant and Elsie quickly nods and she reaches for the door knob to open it for me but a sword suddenly lands into the back of her neck and exits out of her throat as I scream aloud with the shock causing me to fall against the wall as Elsie slumps to the floor.
"A…Esie, Esse, se!" I can't even make out what I'm saying as I'm in so much shock and I turn around beginning to Hyperventilate as I see Hunter now hunched over clutching his torso with one hand and a knife in the other in the other as he cackles with blood running down his mouth and stabbed eye socket!
"You thought you can, kill me huh? You thought you can fucking kill me!?" he pants beginning to slowly limp towards me and I'm still in so much shock, how did he survive that!? how is he still standing and I look at Elsie who's body is laying on the floor with a pool of blood forming around her and a cannon fires off, Dammit Elsie…dammit!!!
I continue hyperventilating as I grab the door knob but fall back to the floor as I'm disoriented and Hunter begins edging closer to me, but I pop back up to my feet and turn the knob before stumbling out of the bar and begin racing down the hall as tears fall down my eyes.
"I'm going to find you…and I'm going to rip you apart!!!" I hear Hunter's menacing voice but continue racing down the hall crying, Elsie, Elsie I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you!
Reyena Shore,16, District 4 female
A loud cannon fires off that causes me to jump as I'm dragging myself across the hall, another tribute is dead and that puts us at the final 7, who could that have been though? I just hope it wasn't Caspian… I can hear my stomach grumbling and I feel so fatigued as I start thinking of various different meals that makes my practically dry mouth salivate a little, I'm not even sure where I am, I stopped caring a long time ago, but just anything, anything to eat would do, I see a billboard a little further down the hall detailing all of the various areas in this floor and I see there's a cafeteria here further down the hall, I know it's a long shot, but maybe, there might something in there to eat…
Without much hesitation I start making my way over there holding onto my sword tightly. Hyperion and Caspian are most likely still alive, but it's starting to seem like I'm not going to see either of them again, I don't really care about Hyperion but Caspian on the other hand, gosh just what is he up to? I miss him…
I reach the cafeteria and I take a deep breath, slowly opening the door so I don't alert anyone who may be hiding out in here and slip in through the crack as I enter the dark cafeteria, the cafeteria is very dimly lit and a metallic smell begins filling my nose, like blood and it doesn't take me long to find the source of it as there's blood writing on the walls and I imagine I have a puzzled look on my face right now as I'm curious to see what it reads. I look around the cafeteria a little more but I don't see any other signs that someone's been here. I walk over to the blood writing and when I see what it reads, I'm even more confused.
"Kade why did you leave me?" one of the writings read and I look at the other readings.
"I am nothing without you."
"I just want to hold you."
"Come back, I need you."
What the hell? Who wrote this, and where did this blood even come from? Someone is clearly sick and there's a loud thunder clap outside of the window that's causes to room to light up more momentarily from the lightning and that's when I see another shadow besides mines reflecting on the wall and I quickly spin around to see its Verbena who quickly tries caving in my skull with her mace but I manage to duck under it and shove her with my shoulder but she doesn't budge much and I quickly swing my sword at her but she knocks it put of my hand with her mace causing me to gasp aloud and I try punching her but she weaves it and slams her mace on my arm causing me to hiss in pain. She then swings her mace at me again but I pivot out of the way and wrap my arm around her neck beginning to squeeze it. She struggles out of the choke as she begins trying to swing me off of her, she then wildly swings her mace towards my head but I manage to knock the mace out of her hand and try to secure my other arm around her neck but she yanks my head and manages to flip me off of her as I slam hard back first onto the cafeteria table groaning in pain. She quickly pulls out a knife and tries to etch it into my throat but I lift up my leg and manage to kick her in the head sending her stumbling back and I roll off the table trying to compose myself and she lets out angry growl as she marches towards me but I use the cafeteria table to create space between us. That's when I notice the deranged look in her eyes aswell as various slash marks on her arms, what the hell has happened to this girl? She's clearly insane now!
I try to circle around the table as I feel my breathing getting faster.
"Maybe killing you would bring him back, just maybe right!?" She suddenly grins at me trying to cut me off from the table.
"What's wrong with you!?" I counter, trying to feint her to run in the opposite direction of me but she continues tracing my movements with her deranged eyes, I'm prepared to make a run for it but she suddenly leaps across the table and kicks me square in the chest sending me crashing against the wall as I groan in pain trying to come back to my senses and she slides off the table fluidly landing on her feet as I stand back up and try throwing a punch at her again but she blocks it with her arm and kicks me in the torso sending me stumbling against the wall again. She tries slashing my face with the knife but I manage to duck under it again and try tackling her but she grabs me and swings me off of her causing me to crash face first into a table groaning in pain and I can already feel my lip is busted, dammit, she's so strong and I'm too fucking small! I hear her footsteps marching towards me and I grab one of the cafeteria chairs and swing it at her but but she weaves put of the way and kicks the chair out of my hand but I use my foot to sweep her other foot while her leg is still in midair and she slips falling onto her back grunting and I try stomping on her face but she rolls out of the way and quickly spins across the floor sweeping my legs under causing me to crash to the floor as well, while we're both on the ground she tries to stab me with her knife again but I manage to grab her arm and clasp both my legs around them beginning to do an arm bar. I reach for the knife but manages to smack It away and she lets out a small grunt as she transitions into a full guard and while my legs are still wrapped around her arm, she uses her sheer strength and manages to pick me up off the floor and power bombs me through the cafeteria table causing the table to break as I cry out in pain. She grabs the knife and quickly tries stabbing me again but I roll out of the way and manage to kick the knife out of her hand and kick her hard in the side of her face causing her to grunt and she appears to be stunned so I grab a chair and quickly break it over her head as she lets out a pained yell collapsing back down to the floor and I ignore the pain in my back as I do a sloppy sprint back towards my sword but she grabs my foot and I lose my balance as I fall forward and my face smashes against another table and I let out a loud moan of pain as I cup my hands over my face and I can feel blood seeping from my nose as Verbena stumbles over me.
"You're coming back Kade, you're coming back to me!" She hisses as she bends down and picks up my sword before she begins marching towards me again but I pick up a broken chair leg and throw it into her face causing her to grunt and cover her face and while she's stunned I get back up to my feet push a table towards her that hits her and slams her against the wall, trapping her as she curses in pain and I quickly sprint out of the cafeteria before she can recover. I don't have any weapons now but that's still better than spending another second with that monster, I really need to try to find Caspian…
Caspian Delamar,18, District 4 male
"Caspian…Hey Caspian." I hear a soothing voice and can hear myself groan as I can feel myself gently rocking as well as the gentle tides of water passing by.
"Caspian…: I hear the voice again and my eyes slowly open to realize I'm on a canal seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The sky and clouds are grey like rain is about to pour down any second and I see no signs of land anywhere in sight.
"So you're finally awake Caspian…" I hear a familiar voice and I quickly look in front of me letting out a small gasp.
"Dewton…it's you…" I say in a shocked tone He gives me a warm smile and I slowly lean off of the canal and reach for his face and it's warm, he then leans his hand against mines that's still on his face, and I feel his warmth radiate through my entire body. I'm suddenly overcome with emotion however and quickly throw my arms around him hugging him tightly and he hugs me back.
"I've missed you…I've missed you so much Dewton, you have no idea, no idea how hard every day has been without you…" my voice cracks.
"I'm sorry Caspian…I know it hasn't been easy for you, but this is no longer about me…" he responds and I look up at him, he's just glowing with radiance, it's almost like he's an angel…
"Wait…am I, am I dead?" I suddenly question.
"No Caspian…but what you decide to do next will ultimately decide your fate." He explains rather vaguely and I'm a little confused.
"Who do you want to be Caspian…" Dewton asks me as he turns his head looking outside of the canal and my eyes follow his gaze as I see different shaped clouds to my left and right. The left of me has different clouds shaped like humans no, they look like me, my friends and my family, to my right however is a lone cloud shaped like me holding something that resembles an eel spear.
"Are you Caspian Delamar, the boy who is loved by many, is surrounded by love or are you the smiling ghost, a monster who is feared by many, a lonely tool of destruction that's only interested in laying out a path of destruction for his own selfish reasons, whoever you want to be Caspian, row in that direction, but only one path will give you the strength to win, the other will lead to your downfall…" Dewton explains to me and I hesitantly look at the clouds.
"Which one is the right choice though?" i mutter.
"That's for you to decide, but regardless what path you choose Caspian…I will always be with you." He tells me as he begins fading away.
"No, wait Dewton!" I desperately reach out for him but he disappears and that's when the tidal waves become more aggressive as the rain starts pouring.
"The smiling ghost…" I mumble and I look at it's cloud, just a senseless machine of destruction, all of its common sense just tainted by anger and guilt but most of all not having anyone, I don't want to lose myself, I don't want to lose my loved ones, I will always be Caspian Delamar and I begin rowing my boat into that area.
The smiling ghost doesn't exist, it never did, it was a phase in my life where guilt consumed me, but I'm stronger now, I see the world better now and I can't let that guilt consume me. There's nothing worse than being alone, knowing everyone fears you, knowing that you're just a monster. You can get far alone, but having people to fight for, having people to live for, nothing will get you further than that!
I continue rowing my canal though the aggressive waves and everything is getting darker as a sinister chuckle begins filling my ears and my eyes shoot open as the chuckling seems to have gotten louder. I realize I'm back on the ship coming back to my senses after falling asleep in a corner I was resting in, but my eyes reflexively follow the chuckles and I see Emmerane sitting in the corner on the other side of the room, her legs crossed with her hands folded over them, but she has two scythes resting beside her.
"What the-" I begin.
"Shhhhh, it's ok sweetie, I was just here watching you sleep, and you just looked so adorable, snoring away, I was even thinking about kissing those little dried lips!" she giggles, she was…here watching me sleep?
I start reaching for my trident but this only seems to amuse her more.
"Oh come on handsome one! You see now Spectra wanted to kill you, but I was able to convince her that we should sit here and watch you sleep for two hours instead!" she continues laughing, 2 hours…she was here watching me for two hours!? I knew this girl was nuts but geez…
"What do you want?" I analyze her incase she tries making a sudden movement.
"Well I was actually thinking about inviting you to my tea party but you careers have a pretty bad rep sheet, like your other two friends I invited were soooo mean and they put Spectra in a really bad mood, but you seem a little nicer!" she licks her lips and my eyes widen slightly.
"What did you just say? You said my friends, you mean my allies?" I sternly ask her.
"Oh so you didn't consider them friends? Well can't blame you, I wouldn't either, those are some mean girls!" she does a repulsed face.
"Where are they? What did you do to them? did you kill Nyx!?" I begin raising my voice louder as I quickly stand up but I let out a pained groan clutching my torso and stumbling against the wall as I lean against it trying to recover, dammit, how did I forget about this wound…
"Wow solider, you don't seem to be in very good shape, are you ok there?" she asks seeming to show some legitimate concern oddly but I muster through the pain for now and glare her.
"Answer my questions, did you kill Nyx and where is Reyena!?" I repeat with more impatience but she's eating all of this up as she can't even contain her laughter, this really is all a game to her.
"Ok handsome, which one do you want to know first, I'll only answer one of your questions and I'll answer the other ones if you come to my tea party and behave yourself!" she offers smirking.
"That's not how this works, now answer my questions!" I lean off of the wall and hold my trident in a neutral stance and she seems to take note of it.
"Or else what exactly cutie?" she rests both of her hands on the floor and she stretches her legs out.
"I'm not going to ask you again…" I warn her.
"Caspian Delamar, or do you prefer to be called the smiling ghost? Word spread around quickly about this powerful fighter you were, how he couldn't he touched, how he took down five of the strongest careers in his district effortlessly, even crippling two of them for life, but have times fell!" she begins narrating rising up to her feet, stomps on the edge of one of her scythes sending it into the air and expertly catches it in her hand as I give her a weary look. I'm nowhere near my top form right now and she knows this…
"So are you going accept my offer, or do you really want to start something you know you can't finish Mr.bootylicious?" She grins but I see nothing but death in her eyes, looks like she already answered that for me…
I feint her for a moment making it look like I'm about to stab her with my trident and she raises her guard as I pull back my trident and I use this moment to quickly try kicking her in her torso but she reads my movement and quickly swings the handle of her scythe under my legs causing me to slam hard on my back as I groan in pain. She quickly brings her scythe down towards me but I manage to block it with my trident and kick her hard in her torso causing her to grunt and stumble back as I make back it to my feet groaning in pain and keep my trident in a neutral stance as she grins.
She rushes at me again swinging her scythe and I raise up my trident blocking two of her strikes and I barley manage to parry her third strike and try countering her by stabbing her in the throat with my trident but she quickly moves her head to the side and I re-direct my trident trying to stab her in the side of her neck but she manages to lean her head back by bending her body back in an almost unnatural angle. I re-direct my trident once again to try to Impale her through the chest as she begins rising back up but she kicks me hard in the wound on my torso and I let out a pained groan falling back against the wall to my knees and Emmerane only giggles as she spins her scythe in her hand. I can already feel myself getting out of breath, keep it together…
"Come on Caspian, I know you got more than that in you!" she laughs as I make it back to my feet trying to ignore the pain but she immediately goes on the offensive swinging her scythe at me and I block two of her attacks taking several steps back to create distance as I try to analyze her data and she continues stalking me with a grin on her face as she's practically gliding against the floor trying to cut me off and she swings at my face again but I manage to weave it and counter her by trying to stab her in the neck but she pivots to the side evading it and I quickly try striking her arm as she's pivoting and she blocks it with her scythe and manages to wedge the tip of my scythe in between her scythe as she twists it forcing me to lower my guard as she brings my trident to the floor. She then tries kicking me in the face but I manage to catch her leg and try pulling her leg to sweep her to the floor but she giggles more and manages to do a split as I'm pulling her leg and quickly manages to slice my arm with her scythe causing me to grunt in pain and stumble back as she flips back to her feet.
I switch my trident to a high stance as I begin taking several steps away from her but she continues gliding towards me cutting me off and does a ballerina like spin trying to slice me with her scythe but I manage to weave it and she quickly strikes at me twice more that I narrowly manage to block. She's a head hunter, she's mainly targeting my upper area hence why I switched to a high stance, but she's also intentionally attacking me at awkward angles making it difficult to parry her attacks, she's skilled, but even someone as skilled as her has something that can be exploited...
She does a ballerina like spin again and I quickly jab my trident at her mid spin but she quickly ducks under it and once again tries sweeping me with her scythe but I slam my trident on top of it and manage to push the scythe away from her but she tries to punch me and I block it with my elbow, she then tried punching me with her other hand and I weave it but also start bringing my trident towards the side of her torso and she notices this but that's fine, I wanted her to do that. She begins leaning back again but I quickly stomp on her foot causing her to grunt in pain, her movement to restricted and she desperately tries to reach for my trident but I pull it back just as she's about to grab it and stab her in the thigh as hard as I can causing her to let out a pained screech that makes my ears buzz for a moment and she manages to punch me hard in my wound causing me to yell in pain aswell as I fall against the wall and she drops to the floor clutching her thigh as she crawls away limping towards her scythe but I try to recuperate as I pursue her with my trident. She manages to grab ahold of her scythe again again as I bring my trident down towards her but she rolls out of the way and lays on her back trying to slice me with her scythe and I block her attack with my trident but that's what she wanted cause she quickly tangles her feet with mine and I lose my balance falling hard on my back beside her as I grunt in pain and I see her trying to recover so she can crawl away but I reach my arm out to her head grabbing her hair but she lets out a pained groan and turns around slamming her scythe deep into my shoulder and I yell in pain as she begins crawling away.
I try to fight through the pain and dive at her but while I'm in midair and kicks me hard in the face sending me sprawling on my back stunned and I see her limp in agony to her other scythe and I try coming to my senses to pursue her but I hear her mumble some intelligible words as she clutches her thigh and limps out of the room fleeing with her other scythe, and I curse under my breath sitting up from the floor and resting against the wall. I analyze the new wound in my shoulder, it is pretty deep and I know it's going to hurt whenever I try moving this arm...
She definitely got the worst of it as her movement is greatly affected by that wound however and she's tracking blood everywhere. I should be able to track her down fairly easily but I need to rest first, rest then I track this girl down and beat it out of her to tell me where Reyena is!
8th place- D9F Elsie Pengrove, Sword thrown into back of neck by D12M Hunter Skype:
Elsie my little fighter! I've grown so attached to your character the moment I wrote out your first pov and I always knew you had the potential to make it very far. You've shown immense growth from hating Harlan, to forgiving him, to even caring about him and you've shown that you were more than capable of handling yourself even if you were outmatched in alot of the sequences, you never gave up though and your sheer determination really had me consider you for victor at one point but unfortunately Hunter had other plans. R.I.P. my little fighter
Here we are with day 10 guys and we are quickly reaching the climax which i am so excited for! Alot has happened in this chapter and the action is only going to continue picking up from here until a victor is inevitably crowned, and i hope you guys are enjoying the ride! Thank you so much for your amazing reviews as always everyone and ill see you soon with the next chapter till next time!
FINALISTS
D2M- Hyperion Corvinus(0)
D4F- Reyena Shore(1)
D4M- Caspian Delamar(1)
D3F- Emmerane Vestrat(3)
D9F- Genevieve Altruzara(0)
D11F- Verbena Grayzer(1)
D12M- Hunter Skype(6)