June 4th, Third Day of the Competition, Five Minutes After Luka's Death

"Well, what are you going to do with them all now?" Otto asks his wife as they stand on the large boat, drifting in this lake that's all too large and small at the same time. They're watching the stream of water being let out of the hastily built dam above the labyrinth, travelling through a large channel that brings it into an opening that a well-placed charge of explosives has opened in the maze. It's filling the maze up to the brim, matching the water levels of the lake that they're floating in right now on the large boat.

He's pleased. Very pleased. But he's not going to let Hana see that right now. Not until this has finished.

"Well, we're going to possibly have to get our victor before everyone's dead if the dam keeps coming apart like that," Hana comments. They both look up at the dam, watching another stream of water burst through a patched section. "Your workers did a rush job on this one, didn't they?"

"They didn't expect to have to build in the middle of a drained lake," retorts Otto. They glare at each other, then switch back to neutral composures. There are reporters watching them, after all - they don't want any scandals on their hands now. After all, the finale is about to occur. They have to keep everything as calm as possible.

One boat, affixed with a television camera and a crew that's energetically capturing the fighting between the final four, tries to move forward and get a better glimpse of the fighting. But Otto signals a soldier on deck to stop the boat - it's too close for comfort to the maze right now, especially when the dam that towers over the lake is about to come apart. When the soldiers see that the dam is breaking apart soon, they'll head into the collapsing maze and take the remaining bodies, dead or alive.

"But my explosives worked out in the end!" Hana smiles at her husband, and he nods with a tinge of pride. Hana had ordered to collapse the maze when it began to flood with large sections of C-4, placed strategically to ensure that it would bring down every wall. The workers had done their job well when they had built the walls, just strong enough to withstand whatever the competitors had to throw at them, but not enough to withstand the C-4 that they had packed in layers of the walls. Every time they were ready to bring down a wall, the explosives will do their job.

And now the recovery boat begins to move forwards, navigating towards the remaining competitors. Two are fighting in the middle of the water, dunking each other while trying to get rid of each other, and the others seem to be holding onto a box that bobs up and down in the middle of the water while swiping at each other with whatever weapons they have left.

Oh, they'll not be ready for what comes next.

Otto can only hope that one of the lottery winners - no, competitors, Hana has insisted on that name for the children - comes out in one piece after the water's finished with them.

But for now, he'll wait.

After all, they're about to tear each other apart.

And this is the last chapter before the finale! Get ready, because we're going to get very chaotic soon and I promise that you guys are not ready yet.

Anyways, get hyped! This is yet another interlude to piece together the subplot and make sure that everything kinda makes sense, so I hope you're satisfied. But don't worry, we're going to have a lot of fun with the next chapter. Two left to go before Et Vici Mundum is finished at last1

Any predictions on how the tributes will do? We finally have our final four, but who do you think will become the victor? I'd love to hear your thoughts, but no pressure - I'm just glad you're here, reading, and ready to see more.

Get ready for tomorrow! I'll be hiding in a corner when I release it hoping that no one attacks me (hoping being the key-word here)

Enjoy. Until the finale, TheAmazingJAJ