Rose gave me what felt like three hours to mourn. After that, there was movement in the sky above me. I peered up from my position lying on the ground at a speck in the air. I thought it was a parachute, so I didn't move as it fluttered down.

It wasn't a parachute, but it wasn't a horrible disaster either. It was a red balloon. It descended lazily toward my head. I stood up and it slowed to a stop right above me. I started walking and it followed after me, hovering a foot over me. I grabbed the string and pulled it down.

"Uh, thanks?" I said. "But if you don't mind, it kind of gives me away. Eleanor's going to notice a red balloon wandering around." I stretched the rubber balloon thin and punctured it with my teeth. The air hissed out and it sagged to the ground. Another one appeared in the sky immediately and took the old one's place.

"Oh, okay. Never mind then," I said. It seemed I had a companion whether I wanted it or not. Then more balloons followed. They were all white, and they stretched out in a line before me.

"What? Oh..." I said. "I get it." Rose wasn't about to let me "rest" or "get over losing my only friend". She had two competitors left and she wanted to see them duke it out. So she marked my position and presumably Eleanor's, then marked out the trail between us. I was supposed to follow the bouncing balloons.

I was happy to have a distraction from Emma. I only had one more fight to win it all. Except last time, the final fight didn't end so well for me. Screw Tillo. This time, things were going to be different. After all I'd been through, I wasn't even scared. It was the home stretch, time to go big or go home. I wasn't looking far enough ahead to be scared. I just wanted to get it started.

I let Bob walk as we followed the balloons. She'd had enough excitement lately. I pushed one of the balloons, just to see what would happen. It bobbed in the air and moved back into place, and I had the urge to apologize to it.

If it had been a normal Arena, it might have taken days to get to Eleanor. But this one was much smaller than normal. As the sun was starting to set, I saw a blue balloon in the distance. Eleanor was behind a circus tent that was filled with party craft supplies. Her balloon was getting closer, so she was following the trail just like me. The area around her was full of other buildings and amusements, which made it closed-in and constrained. I didn't want to fight on a horse in a place like that, so I stayed where I was, in a clearing, and waited for Eleanor to see my marker.

When she came into view, she was carrying the broken leg of a chair. She saw I was on a horse and stopped.

"That doesn't seem very fair," she said.

"Yeah, well it's not fair that you're way buffer than me," I said. She shrugged.

"Guess I can't change it by whining. I'll just have to do my best," she said. I'd hoped she'd run out at me, but she wasn't dumb. She stayed by the tents, where I couldn't charge at her without boxing myself in.

I'd underestimated Rose, and I'd underestimated Rapture. I wasn't going to do it again. Eleanor was formidable. Her arms were thick with muscle from a life of heavy lifting in Eight. She was stout and solid and I knew I wouldn't win a fight on foot. I wasn't even confident getting close to her on a horse. If she hit Bob with her stick, especially near her face, she would shy and I might get thrown. If she hit me, she could easily knock me off. She was as strong as a bull.

"I thought it would be Emma," Eleanor said. "I'm glad it's not. Not after what she did to Aimee." Her eyes suddenly gained a dangerous glint. "That was her, right?"

Strong as a bull. I'd been about to say yes, but I stopped myself. I'd seen the destructive power of a bull, but I'd also seen what people could do to them. It was hardly ever done anymore, but my people had a tradition. It was traditionally done on foot, but there was a variant practiced on horseback. It was difficult, barbaric, and extremely dangerous. It also required that the bull be angry.

"No, that was me," I said. Eleanor's eyes burned into me and she clenched her weapon tighter.

"What?" she asked.

"I killed Aimee," I said. What I was about to do turned my stomach. Most people didn't even approve of it being done to bulls, and it hardly ever was. And it wasn't only that. I didn't even feel right saying what I was about to say.

"I killed her. I snuck up behind her while she was picking a flower," I said, and I forced myself to smile mockingly. "It sure took you a long time to find her. She must have been lying there for hours. I bet it hurt."

"Shut up!" Eleanor yelled. "You monster!" She stepped forward, but didn't charge.

"I could have finished it quick," I said, and I paused. "But I liked to see her squirm."

That did it.