THE FINALE

PART TWO

DEMETER JARVINEN, DISTRICT 9 FEMALE (16)

She was in the final three.

Demeter could hardly believe it: three cannons and she was three deaths closer to home. Home, where she could see Teff and the rest of her family again- something she'd thought would never happen after being reaped. No matter how confident Demeter played it, she wasn't the type to completely ignore that there were threats out there. Threats that could easily kill her.

Well, it wasn't hard to imagine the worst as the three remaining tributes circled each other.

They were all unwilling to make the first move.

The last two obstacles in Demeter's way were the girl from Three and the boy from Four. Demeter found it ironic that Three was still alive; she'd wanted to die, hadn't she? Had Demeter changed that by killing her ally? From the barely controlled, violent stare the girl was giving her, hands clenched in fists at her sides which only the observant eye could catch, Demeter would say she had.

A shiver of nausea hit the District Nine girl. She shrugged it off.

Currently Demeter was on the second floor, the boy from Four on the third, and the girl from Three on the fourth. Demeter felt more than comfortable in her location- while Four could be cornered by Demeter and Three, the latter was too high and would have no means of escape once she reached the fifth floor.

Now it was a game of who would fall first, of analyzing and watching, of who would make the mistake of blinking and be the first to lose.

Twenty one had fallen, and two more would fall soon.

Of course, as it always had been, the only question was who.

The girl from Three was the first to break the silence. Her voice was cold, but not so that it was snappy and cold, rather cool but with a slight warmth to it. "They're making us fight, so I'd like to know your names first. I'm Arden."

For some reason, the girl didn't seem completely angry at Demeter. Maybe she forgave her, then? Demeter didn't know why she cared. It was the Hunger Games, which simply meant one of them would make it out and the others wouldn't. There was no shame in killing, that was the whole point.

Or maybe the Capitol wanted them to feel guilt so that they were only the more such toys.

So she cooperated.

"I'm Demeter," the District 9 girl said regally. It wasn't for show- no, it was. They wanted her as their victor, so she was going to win. For the Capitol, and second for her family.

Wait, aren't you missing the whole point?

"Angelo," District Four said in a much more relaxed tone than Demeter's own.

It only made her feel more displaced and afraid.

District Three- Arden- gave a sort of awkward nod. "Well, even if one of us is the only one making it out, I guess two of us should fight first."

Demeter was injured- the mutt of Reyena had made a deep cut in her right arm, so she was probably the weakest one in here. Arden had been limping too though, which gave Demeter hope she could outfight Arden. Angelo was uninjured it seemed, though blood was crusted over his face- but given he was a Career, it was possible he'd killed the girl from 1 and that the blood wasn't even his.

Demeter adjusted her grip on her spear, shifting so her arm could be comfortable and so she could still have a good fighting stance. Angelo noticed this, and slowly started making his way down the floors toward her.

Shoot.

She'd revealed a weakness, which meant this Career was smarter than she'd thought. Much smarter.

Turned out not all Careers were muscleheads, Demeter thought wryly, even in the face of extreme danger.

They were similar then, because he'd only been predicted 5th, one of the lowest with the Careers, and now was the only one still going out of them. They were long shots who had made their way to the finale by using their wits. Demeter had to give him credit, even if he was about to kill her.

She slowly moved backwards, down the pyramid's levels.

And he followed.

Then, when they were maybe six feet apart, Demeter's resolution broke, and the fight began.

Their blades clashed as Demeter backed up, blocking the boy's consistent attempts to kill her. She was almost at the door leading outside from the first floor, she'd been forced to retreat so much. Soon, it would be either burn in the fire, or keep dueling with a Career.

Three- no, Arden- watched with a sort of disinterested interest, but was biting her nails, showing she did care about the fight going on right below her. She wanted Demeter to lose, no doubt, but the boy from Four- Angelo- was the main opponent in here.

So Demeter bit back with another swipe of her spear, forcing the boy back a little. She could do this, she really could!

They didn't talk at all, because it was simply analyzing, watching, taking the other's moves into account… They were so evenly matched that Demeter could win. Just with a stroke of luck.

Angelo caught the wound on her arm, and it reopened, blood splattering Demeter's face. She swore, giving a particularly sharp jab into the boy's shoulder. He winced, but kept going.

Demeter had to keep going too.

And then she faltered.

Demeter screamed, louder than she thought was possible as the boy from Four's spear pierced her abdomen, and she stumbled back.

He'd analyzed her quicker than she could analyze him, and as a result was the winner.

I don't lose. Demeter Jarvinen never loses.

She couldn't comprehend this, would have to stand up and keep going. She really thought she would have beaten Angelo in a fight.

But he was a Career, and the Career always won.

But so did Demeter, so why was she dying now?

BOOM!

ANGELO MARRIS, DISTRICT 4 MALE (18)

Now it was just Angelo and the girl from Three, who had said her name was Arden. The girl who had wanted to lose was in the final two, a fourteen year old. Against a Career, an eighteen year old who still had so much to do in the world.

Why did it make him nervous, then?

It should have been a clean sweep in his favor, so getting nervous at the very end wasn't productive nor helpful.

Then again, the girl from Nine, in the struggle, had stabbed him in the shoulder which would be a weak point in his defenses against Arden. However, she had been limping, possibly from an injury she sustained running from the fire. His face ached dully from the fall where Lux had helped him and then died herself.

He was going to do this for not only her, but also his dad. Rio. Coco. Otto.

His mom too.

The girl from Three slid off her floor with her spear, holding a blowtorch in the other hand. Angelo almost laughed, considering the blowtorch was what Nero's preferred weapon had been, what he couldn't get his hands on in the arena.

Angelo focused more on the fact that it was Arden who started the fires.

The fires that killed Lux.

Although Angelo knew that the Gamemakers had probably only fanned the flames, if not even going as far as to deliver the blowtorch posing as a sponsor gift for the sake of gathering suspense, he still felt resentment. This girl was the reason his friend was dead, even if she would have to die in the end for Angelo to make it out.

The pair stared at each other for a moment, unmoving. At that point, it was anyone's game, even though Angelo was a Career- because he was an injured Career, and Arden was a strong outer district tribute.

Their weapons crashed together as if magnetic. Angelo had an advantage, being older and stronger, but Arden fought well for a fourteen-year old. She was smart with her attacks, and well coordinated at that too, yet Angelo still managed to knock the blowtorch out of her hands as it dropped from the ground to the pit.

Arden gave him a panicked look, and then immediately tried to cover it up. It didn't matter- Angelo had already seen it.

Then, before Angelo knew it, they were fighting on the fifth and final floor. With each step came the possibility of falling and dying given how narrow the small bridge of floor they were on was.

Both Angelo and Arden came close to falling. In one moment, Arden was clumsy, which got the better of her as it caused her to trip and fall, and she barely latched onto the ledge. It would've been a good moment for Angelo to kill her then, but he hesitated and she was up in a second. He did have an advantage in their next exchange though, and his spear cut into her shoulder.

When this happened, Arden retaliated fiercely, stabbing down at the shoulder wound Demeter had caused in her struggle for life. This was Angelo's moment to teeter over the edge, to wobble between uncertain life and certain death, but he kept his balance. With Angelo's hesitation, Arden had the upper hand, and she sliced at his chest, leaving a shallow but shocking wound as the blood soaked through Angelo's shirt.

Both Angelo and Arden dealt serious blows to each other, but Angelo's determination pushed him on. So did Arden's, it seemed, because she obviously wasn't giving up anytime soon.

I can do this.

The intensity increased if that was even possible, but both parties could tell who was getting the upper hand. It had been predicted by both of them as well, whether subconsciously or not, Angelo was doing better than Arden who was slowly losing speed, her stamina faltering. She was slowly losing track of how much longer she'd have to go- a mistake.

Arden gasped in pain as Angelo's spear pierced her side. Angelo's body had gone numb from the wounds he sustained in his fight with her, but he doubted they'd do him in. His spear had cut deep into Arden, or at least he hoped. Angelo did feel a bit of pity- this girl hadn't done anything, and was simply desperate to escape, like him.

Arden stumbled up, and regained her strength but still staggered unevenly, and the spear clattered from her hands. Like the blowtorch, it was lost to the depths of the pit Angelo feared falling to.

Arden was on the point of life that transitioned to a quick death.

Angelo had to make sure that it was he who won, so he prepared his spear.

And then he felt incredible pain in his side, and stumbled back to see Arden holding a knife sharp pen she'd concealed for their fight, and outwitted him in that respect.

Angelo didn't want the fight to be over, not yet, anyways, but the pen had pierced a lung and then he was gasping vainly for air, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

He couldn't.

It was impossible to comprehend.

This isn't shock, right?

Arden was sobbing too, someone who had just been "Three" to Angelo up until this point's body curled around the spear wound Angelo had caused. It was only a case of who'd live longer at that point.

Angelo had a guess of who.

Because Arden gathered all the strength she could and gave Angelo a push off the level. He resisted, his fist colliding with her face and she let out a pained gasp, but he was falling, and lost to the sea of black, just as Nero had been, maybe as the others had been at their deaths too.

In the end, Angelo saw his mom's face.

He didn't want to join her; not yet, when he hadn't even done her justice. He still had to find her killer, even when he had his own to worry about. It continued in a loop, in a never ending circle, didn't it?

Even though he didn't want it to, pleaded with whatever forces that had power in his future that he didn't want it to, breathing became difficult anyway, and before he knew it, he was slipping away and the world began to fade.

The last cannon sounded for the tribute that barely lost, but in the end was just another name in the endless cycle.

BOOM!

It sounded for Angelo.

And the hovercraft broke through to collect the winner.

KILL COUNT:

Arena: IIII

Merlot Montague (DECEASED): III

Hestia Mclearson (DECEASED): III

Arden Goldenrod: III

Nero Blastaries (DECEASED): II

Lux Leblanc (DECEASED): II

Tempest Trinidad (DECEASED): I

Angelo Marris (DECEASED): II

Demeter Jarvine (DECEASED): I

3rd Place: Demeter Jarvinen, stabbed by Angelo Marris

Towards the end, the choice for me was always between Arden and Demeter, sometimes with Angelo thrown in too. They were all amazing characters, and the only reason Demeter didn't win was because she was a rebel kid, and someone told me it would be unlikely for the Capitol to let her win, no matter how popular she was. Despite this, it didn't stop me from falling in love with her. I enjoyed every second I had with Demmie, especially if Reyena or Ayla were involved, but to be honest, Demeter was best off by herself. She was smart and not just a pretty face for the Capitol to use. She was an audience favorite as well, and writing every new POV with Demeter in it made it always the first POV to get finished in that chapter. She was a huge treat, and super unique, and I will treasure her memory forever. A huge thank you to averyrandomauthor for submitting her.

2nd Place: Angelo Marris, pushed off level five by Arden Goldenrod

Of all the tributes in this story, I've got to say Angelo is one of my favorites. First off, he represents my growth as a writer the most. As such, I struggled with him in the beginning to say the least, and was debating killing him off early so I could dedicate more time to characters I was much better at writing. Then I reread his form and poured everything into a single POV, my favorite of the chapter, and suddenly writing him was easy. I broke the mold, which made it so, so, so much more fun to write him and not stress about portraying him accurately because as I went on it felt like a second nature. Everything he brought to the table was so wonderfully unique and dynamic. After I eased into writing him, I was glad I kept him along for the ride, because he was eternally a character that portrayed my growth throughout the whole story. Thank you so, so much to My-mental-mind for submitting him.

1st Place: Arden Goldenrod, Victor of the 49th Hunger Games

Wow. She did it. She really did. The one person in the arena who didn't want to come out alive slowly changed and decided she wanted to. To be honest, I loved this character arc we got. At first, she was maybe fourteenth place or even a bloodbath for me, but before Dei's death, at around Day Three, I realized that the obvious choice for a victor was Arden. This didn't come easily at all, and I questioned my victor at least hundreds of times when Arden was occupying the spot. Yet at the end, her desire to survive outmatched the others, and she finally changed from a broken, depressed teenager into a powerhouse who waited for the next day as a fresh start. I loved her friendship with Deiondra, which was one of my favorite things in the whole entire story. She made it to this spot because she proved she could, not only to the Capitol and to the other tributes and to her district, but to me as a writer and hopefully to you as readers. Arden will always stay strong after her victory, and even though I have to part with twenty-three other wonderful characters, Arden staying alive and making it out is honestly both heart wrenching and uplifting at the same time. Even though she died before the Games, she's coming back to life now at the pace she desires. Thank you so much to SlytherinDauntless for giving me this absolutely amazing tribute who finally found light at the end of the tunnel.

A/N

Wow. That happened. Seventy seven days, twenty-four tributes, twenty-one submitters, and one Victor later, we're here with Arden. Our winner. This has been such an amazing journey for me, but it's not over yet. I'll be releasing the finale soon, maybe even on New Year's, with proper shoutouts. For the last time, I'll see you next chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one, and I'm so glad to have started this story even if on a whim.
Signing off for the second to last time,
Tia.