Princess of the Sea

By: CyanideMuffins7

Chapter 27: Forswear the Faith and Beliefs

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Hunger Games, the trilogy or any of the characters Suzanne Collins has created. I only take credit for the characters I have created and the plot I have made.

The rain falls like a dozen gentle kisses on my cheeks as I walk out in the open. The Careers are most likely back at their camp. But I'm not one hundred percent sure, but it's my best bet. I stop in front of a mud puddle that was blocking my path. The mud looks thick, but it might be quite useful. I kneel down and place my finger in it to feel the cool feel of the mucky sludge. I could use this to camo my pack and my dynamite.

I take my pack off of my shoulders and slather some mud on it to cover up the black of the pack. I repeat my actions on the dynamite, making sure it's coated in dark mud.

I place the dynamite back in my pack and sling the straps over my shoulders. I run right through the mud puddle. Mud smeared all over my boots and the bottom of my pants. I use all of my power to keep running through the wet grass and through the mud.

I don't realize I'm running until a few minutes later because my legs were beginning to ache. I stop to catch my breath, leaning my hands on my knees to keep steady. I need to find the Cornucopia. I'm not going to hide or rest in caves when night comes. This is the climax of the games, and this will end.

I spend about several hours wandering the bog in the rain. My clothes are soaked to the bone and I feel like they're just weights on my body. I keep my guard for any surprises from the remaining tributes or creatures, but oddly enough I haven't seen any creatures. No Mugaku, Keiner or Truman in sight. The Gamemakers want me to get to the Careers no matter what. That might be another reason why they cut the thunder and lightning for me.

I soon make it the Misfits' old camp, where we found Canon, where I became closer to Coda and where I made great friends. It feels like years since the last time I was here, but it's only been a few days. That's still hard to believe.

My hazed memory brings me back to reality when I hear moans coming from behind me. I slowly turn my head to be greeted by a few Mugakus trudging towards me. Instead of attacking them, instinct made me run. These Mugakus seemed slimmer and faster. I could hear their constant moans behind me, coming close. I run like I'm being chased by death. I don't know where I'm going.

I must have been running for a solid half hour when I lost the Mugakus, but I keep running. I want to play it safe by keeping on running. But as I approach a mud puddle, my left leg goes stiff for a brief moment and next thing I know, I'm sliding right through a mud puddle. The contact of the mud only makes things difficult to get out of. The mud clings to my clothes like dust in a closet and it's slippery like a wet rock. It takes me a few tries to get out of the puddle with few patches of clean areas on me such as my face.

Just as I get up, my eyes meet the glint of the Cornucopia. I quickly dash behind a cluster of trees to shield myself from being seen. I slowly peek over the tree and scan the area around the Cornucopia. There was no one in sight.

I slip myself passed the trees and cautiously step onto the field. My eyes remain around the Cornucopia while still keeping quiet. But there's no one around, not even the Careers. They wouldn't abandon their own sustenance for survival. The Cornucopia was still abundant with goods. There was food in here to spare for about another two weeks. Maybe the Careers are out looking for me.

I'm not going to let this chance pass. I take out the sticks of dynamite and place it right on top of the supplies. I light one of the matches I had and quickly light the end of the dynamite. I drop the match and begin to dart right out of the Cornucopia.

Just as I make it to the mouth of the Cornucopia the explosion blasted me right out of the mouth and onto the grass. The grass didn't soften my impact, unfortunately. My ears feel like someone is playing a track of rings in my ears. I can't hear anything. But I don't anticipate standing back up because my vision is blurry and my body is wobbly. I can only make out a few things such as a bright flickering blob in front of me.

I don't think I thought this plan through. Right now I'm just standing here like an idiot as I blink until my vision becomes clear. My hearing is muffled and I swear I can hear my own heartbeat. But the rhythm of my beating heart was diluted by a rustling in the bushes.

"No!"

I turn towards the exasperated voice once my vision became crystal clear. Fitz was standing by the bushes with his hands on his head. But his eyes move to me and I can tell in his face that he is pissed. I arm my javelin and toss it at him but Fitz quickly ducks and rolls closer towards me. I run off to the side but I'm hit by something right in my neck. My whole body becomes numb, my blood begins to boil and my vision begins to distort. It's difficult to see or even move. I can hear my heartbeat beating like a fast pace dance. I stagger around until I fall on my fours.

I look over to what I think is my javelin, sticking out of the ground right behind Fitz. He seems to have a small, thin tube in his hand as he arms a dart inside.

I realize the darts have some type of poison in them, judging from my condition. It's something I don't even recognize. I probably should have hanged around the herb station longer, I would have learned a thing or two about poisons.

I yank out the dart and toss it beside me. I run in place for a moment before I dart right at Fitz and grab his wrist before he can bring the tube up to his lips. He's a rather thin boy so he doesn't put much of a fight to overpower me. I twist his arm towards his back. As he released a strong yelp in pain, I push him down on the ground. I pin him down with my knees on his upper arms while still holding onto his wrist. Fitz attempts to struggle around, but my weight overpowers his own. My javelin looks like's all the way across the arena for a second then right in front of my eyes, but I know that it's out of arms reach.

Fitz's darts and tube were on the ground only a hand reach away. I use my free hand and grab the dart. I can't really inspect it since everything feels like a hallucination. I try to aim the dart in his neck, but his face seems to be corrupted by a black tar like slug. I quickly stab the dart in the sludge in front of me. I hear a sharp cry for a moment before it slowly died down. The black sludge went away like a wave on shore. I only could see multiple visions of his blank face with the dart protruding from his forehead.

I hear a muffled canon fire. I know Fitz is gone. I feel my chest beginning to burn like a fiery inferno inside my heart. I stagger off of Fitz and stumble towards my javelin and pull it from the ground. I then stumble around like I'm inebriated as I attempt to leave north.

I'm not completely sure that Lena and Magnus know that Fitz is dead from the canon fire. If they have complete faith in him, then they would expect me to be dead. But I don't think Lena and Magnus have total faith in Fitz.

My vision is plagued for what seemed like hours of hallucinations: clouds of smoke encasing my whole body, trees moving, rain drops turning into drops of blood. I feel like there's an earthquake as I walk.

If I remember correctly there should be some water nearby, I just don't remember how long it is from the Cornucopia. I feel like a hot liquid was burning in my stomach and I vomit out a black sludge that reflected a dark red in the light. I wipe my mouth, or what I think is my mouth.

I then hear a voice in front of me and I look up. My eyes meet a blurry figure with two spears in each hand. I stumble forward to get a head start if he was going to throw one of those spears at me. He throws one but misses by a hair. I quickly slip my hand in a puddle of mud and toss it right at his face.

While Magnus distracts himself by rubbing the mud away from his eyes, I begin to aim the javelin as best as I can at Magnus. I thrust my arm and my javelin launches straight at him. He collapses like a tree and lands in a wet puddle. I trudge forward towards Magnus only to see something coming out of his right knee—I assume it's my javelin. He cringes as he sits up and as I approach behind him. I wrap my left arm around his throat and began to tighten my grip. Magnus's body twitches around as he struggles to breath. I feel the hot liquid go up my throat and I vomit on Magnus's shoulder. The black sludge went down his shoulder like a waterfall. I begin to feel faintness after that time, but I just shake my head. Magnus began to choke up and he used all of his strength to grab my arms.

I begin to have a feeling that someone was coming. I can't hear anything and I can't see anything well. But I just have the feeling and I'm not going to just dismiss it. I quickly turn around with Magnus in my arm and Magnus's arms limply fall off my arms as a knife puncture protrudes from his forehead. I look up to see Lena standing a yard away from me wearing something made out of rock with a cluster of knives inbetween all ten of her fingers.

Another muffled canon fire was shot and that can mean only one thing. Lena and I are the only Tributes left in this arena.

I immediately let go of Magnus and pull out my javelin as I stand up. For a moment Lena and I are standing face to face, motionless. Does she want me to talk or is she planning something? I can't say I'm motionless, I'm moving in place like a pendulum. My sight is just getting worse. The corners of my eyes are beginning to become black and blurry.

Lena makes the first move by throwing two knives at me. My reflexes are beginning to fade as well. I didn't react fast enough for the knives and I move at the last minute. One of the knives makes it to my thigh and the other grazes my cheek. I pull the knife out of my thigh as I clumsily dart forward towards Lena. She throws a few more and I slowly dodge them.

I lunge my javelin right at Lena. She takes a giant step back and I keep running like I still have my javelin in hand.

I'm not giving up. No matter how much pain I'm in, no matter how much venom is inserted into my body, I will not back down. Hell, I'll die killing Lena. The world does not need another blood lust nut roaming around. I need to prove that District 4 is stronger than it is, even when you're already broken.

I replace the pain with determination and I keep running. Lena tosses more of her knives at me but I just move out of the way before they can hit me. As I get closer, Lena keeps taking a few steps back. But when I'm just a few feet away from her, Lena darts away. I quickly retrieve my javelin, fumbling it in my hands for a second before I make sure my grip on it is solid.

I'm on Lena's tail, running like I'm escaping hell. I push through the pain and hallucinations I'm dealing with. I ignore everything and make Lena my priority. I will make her pay for what she has done.

I bump into a few trees on my way, which delays me a few seconds. I attempt to catch up to Lena until she abruptly stops to throw more knives at me. I quickly duck and roll out of the way. I then try again for another throw and this time my javelin hits her rock body and falls off like a missed target. I begin to realize that she's probably wearing some type of body armor and not rock just by the way my vision changes.

I stagger forward towards Lena and tackle her down. She strategically throws a few punches in my gut and face. District 1 and 2 children are trained like soldiers. The punch to my head made me remember that they have a basic knowledge of hand to hand. The punches to my gut made the hot liquid rise out of my mouth and onto Lena.

My head begins to throb and Lena's image becomes twisted and vague. Her blonde hair was twisting around like a fire while the black sludge crawled on her body. I can vaguely make out her face. I can't tell if she's cringing or furrowing her brow out of anger.

We tumble down an incline until we reach a flat surface. I quickly struggle to get to my feet as my body was beginning to decline and my wounds were becoming difficult to bear. Lena pushes me so I fall on a slowly stream of black sludge. My head doesn't have anything to cushion the fall and the back of my head hits something cool and wet.

My head feels like it's a cloud while I feel like I've lost my body a long time ago. The pain is too difficult to overcome. It's everywhere and I've never felt like this before. It's telling me that it's over, stop pushing yourself. In other words, it wants me to give up.

But I can't. I'm fighting for revenge. All this pain in my body is for everyone that died. Most importantly, pain is the only burden I must take on in order to see my family again.

I will survive, no matter what.

Before I can get up, Lena wraps her fingers around my neck and dunks my head into the black sludge. My entire head is encased in cool thin liquid that feels so familiar against my skin, but at the same time so foreign.

Now Lena was becoming desperate. She thinks she can drown a girl from District 4? Lena must be at her wits end. Everything was ruined, and now she must resort to the only thing she can use. I can survive underwater for a long time, but while I'm slowly dying and short of breath will only shorten my time. I grab onto Lena's hands to pry them from my throat but her grip is very strong.

I can feel and hear my heart beat pounding at a rapid pace. I know I'm going into shock and there's nothing I can do while Lena is trying to kill me. The world around me is fading. Lena's arms are becoming distant and it feels like my body is all the way at the bottom of the lake. Suddenly I see something to my side. I turn my head and I see Wren, Canon, Coda, Bachus and Hei standing around my head. Their skin looked blue and their lips were cracked as they smile at me. They walk closer to me as each of them rests their hands under my head like a pillow, lifting me.

I free my knee from her legs and kick Lena in the gut and toss her over my head. Her fingers release from my neck and a big splash followed as Lena was out of my sight. I lift my heavy head from the sludge and I quickly crawl to my javelin. I stumble on my feet and look in the large body of black sludge. The sludge retracts to reveal clear water like the ocean.

My eyes catch Lena struggling to get herself together to swim back up, but her armor was preventing her to rise when it wants to take her down. I don't have to imagine her to be a fish swimming in the stream. My arm positions itself over my shoulder and I throw my javelin into the water, right into Lena's skull.

I did it. Lena's dead. I…won.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I am pleased to present to you the victor of the Seventy First Hunger Games, Pandora Marshall! I give you—the tribute from District 4!" said the booming yet muffled voice of Claudius Templesmith.

My skin was the only thing I could feel as it crawled all over my body to hear his voice. I won…I killed to win. I killed for my survival, like an animal, like Lena.

I came into the Capitol with my chin held high with no desire to be like my brothers. But I've become what I despised. I became like my brothers. I came into the Games with a hate for everything the Capitol wants me to do, but in the end I betrayed that hate into hate against everyone killing.

What have I done?

I collapse onto the ground and I black out into a dream. I'm standing in a gray room with President Snow standing before me. Behind him are two white doors with red roses like doorknobs.

President Snow grins as he looks at me, "You have two choices Miss Marshall. You can choose the Virtuous Door," he informs as his hand gestures to the door to right, "or you can choose the Right Door." He continues as he gestures to his left.

I approach the Right Door, my fingers wrap around the rose and I turn it. I push the door open and the rose wilts and falls off the door. I enter in the dark room and the door closes behind me.

A voice echoes throughout the room, "You have chosen wisely, Miss Marshall." I look around for a moment until my eyes lay on Wren and Canon lying on the ground in each other's arms. I pry my eyes away from them and to my left where Ian is on the ground and his face is bashed. Beside Ian is Evan, laying face first on the ground with a dagger in his back. I look around the room again. Bachus leaning against the wall, drenched in water. I see Coda with her eyes closed as she lies on Bachus's wet lap. I see Lena sitting on the ground drawing circles and squares in front of her with a piece of black chalk. Then Hei was to my right, with a piece of paper in his hand and a stick of charcoal. He looks up at me and a soft smile curls his lips.

I look in front of me and I see a woman sitting in a chair in front of a window. I slowly begin to walk towards the window, passing by everyone as blood seeps from the bodies and towards me. I slowly approach beside the woman to see her.

Her face looked pale; her lips were tinted blue as well as her eye lids and nose. Her eyes were mint green and her hair was rust colored that draped over the chair. I look down to her hands to see metal clamps restraining her wrists.

I look back to her face as she blankly stares into the window. Her voice brings a chill down my spine, "Can you open the window for me, sunshine?"

I won the Seventy First Hunger Games, but I lost my way because I didn't choose virtue.