Happy early Halloween! c; I've decided to make a sequel to this story, thanks to your reviews. Thank you!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Annabeth's POV
When Thalia and Percy finally got back, I raised my hand to wave at them. "Hey, did you-?" I stopped midsentence when I saw the look on their faces. Thalia was looking at anything but me and Percy was looking almost guilty. "What happened?"
"I-," Percy began, but Thalia interrupted him.
"I killed Luke," Thalia said quickly, her words tripping over each other. She still wasn't looking at me. Dried tears stained her cheeks and her eyes were red from crying. Her hand and clothes were bloody. But none of it mattered. Luke… she… Thalia killed Luke?
"What?" I asked, looking for an explanation. When did she find Luke? Was he following us and we hadn't noticed..?
Percy answered for Thalia, ignoring her protests. "While we were looking for ingredients, Luke caught Thalia and threatened to kill her. Katniss somehow caught up to us and told Luke to release Thalia or she would kill him. Instead of being a good little boy and listening, he tried to throw a knife at Katniss. I managed to push Katniss out of the way before the knife struck her. Luke continued to threaten Thalia's life, until Thalia grabbed a throwing knife and stabbed him. After that, we got out of there as fast as we could. We still got the ingredients, though." Percy lifted up the bag, an attempt to lighten the mood. Didn't work.
"Oh." I sat back, thinking about what happened. Thalia did what she had to, so did the others. I would've done the same thing had I been in the same situation. Who cares if he was a former friend? That friend is gone now. I can't let my emotions best me. "You did what was right. Dwelling on it is pointless."
"Why aren't you mad?" Thalia said, finally looking at me. "You're supposed to be mad." Percy looked at Thalia, confused, like she had done something he hadn't expected her to.
"I've no reason to be mad. You did what you had to to survive. We all came into the arena knowing one of us would have to kill Luke. I would do the same if that's what had to happen." I wasn't lying, either. Luke did this to himself. I can't think that what happened in the past could still be true. It would kill me.
"While Katniss and Peeta are out, we should start making the potion. It'll be bad if they catch us." Nico said, speaking for the first time. I think that was his attempt at lightening the mood, or at least changing the subject.
"You're right," Thalia said, wiping her cheek. She sat down next to me. "What's first?"
Around thirty minutes later, we had four potions and plans for our "deaths." Yeah, that's a weird thought.
"Is everyone ready? Peeta and Katniss are coming back soon," Percy said, looking at his potion wide-eyed. He looked like he was staring at an alien. "I'm ready to get this over with."
"Yeah, me, too." Thalia said, looking at Nico. Nico was holding the potion above his head and staring at it, like it might explode. He nodded. Boys.
"Okay, you guys know the plan. The mist will do the work for us, pretty much. All we have to do is drink up and play dead. Literally." The potion was cold in my hand, and I wondered what it would taste like. What do leaves taste like? Guess I'll find out now. I tilted my head back and drank, hoping the potion actually worked.
I could tell that it did. I could hear a small ticking in the back of my ear, telling me how much time I had left. The others got up, probably hearing the ticking, too. I took out my dagger, swinging it at Percy. Obviously, I didn't actually hit him. But the mist made it look like I did. Percy staggered, clutching at his chest. A few seconds later, he fell to the ground. Someone should give him an acting award.
Thalia pretended to hit me, and I dodged. I swung my dagger at her, getting my imaginary target, and she fell, too. The same thing with Nico. The plan was that I would supposedly betray my group and kill them, and then eat poison berries. Everything was going to plan. Now it was my turn.
And so, for my own "death", I grabbed a handful of not-so-poisonous poison berries and stuffed them into my mouth, choking a second later, and finally falling as the ticking in the back of my head stopped. I heard four cannons in the background. Despite the noise, there was an eerie silence as my heart stopped and my eyes shut.