A/N: Here it is! I would've updated sooner, but there were problems at home (yes I do have somewhat of a life! haha) and I had to take care of them.
Anyways, this is the chapter of all chapters. I hope you enjoy it. This isn't the last though, there are 2 more left!
Athea DiMae (3)
The next morning I wake up sweating in my sleeping bag. Lucian is already up, and looking very weary.
I crawl out from my heavy sleeping bag and wander out into the open light. The snow is gone, and the cold is gone, now it's a lovely seventy degrees with blue skies and white clouds.
Something is wrong.
I look over to Lucian who shrugs unknowingly. Last night I saved his life, partly because being without him right now would probably kill me, literally. I'm still trying to decide which of us deserves to live more, but I have yet to find the answer.
We are out of food, and now that the snow is gone, our water supply will be gone very soon too. The Gamemakers obviously want to end this now.
"So, what are we going to do?" I ask the other three.
For once Lucian is quiet, and Aeron looks to Noah who I have named our mediator.
"Somebody has to go home," he says.
"But how do you decide who?" Aeron replies.
"Battle to the death," I say, and Lucian looks at me stunned.
I recall our training days when there were 24 and I urged him to learn weapons. His trap was complex, and kept us alive, but he should've known it wouldn't last. Yes he is extremely intelligent, but you that's not going to help fight a mutt, and he knew that.
"Are you serious?" Aeron laughs. "I would probably say yes to that right now."
"That's what they want," and by they I mean the Capitol. How long until we lay down our arms in peace? If we fight the games will never end. "We could do nothing," I offer up the suggestion because it's the only thing I want right now.
"Until we die of thirst, or starvation?" Aeron asks.
"Sure and then you can go against Noah once we're dead," I remark.
Aeron looks over at Noah, as though pleading with him to let her go home.
"I'm pregnant," Aeron says.
"So that's why you should go home? I have a younger brother who is going to have to live in a community home forever, and he's already alive," I snap back.
Aeron shoots me a dark look, but has nothing to respond.
The four of us are quite the bunch.
Noah is probably the only one who is always looking out for the entire group, in fact I wouldn't mind if he won. Actually I wouldn't mind anyone else winning right now as long as it isn't Aeron. You can call me heartless, but I will stick by my opinions.
In fact Noah is probably the biggest candidate to go home. Not only has he kept his mind stable, he is also physically capable of taking the rest of us down.
I, on the other hand, have been told by just about everyone here that I've gone mad. Maybe I am mad, but I would've never survived this long without being a little crazy. All I can think about is Faunas, left alone to wait for me. He probably thought I had left him to die. He probably thought I had betrayed him even though I had tried so hard.
Deep breath, I tell myself. I can't break down now.
I walk back into the cornucopia and sit next to Lucian. He turns to look at me and I smile at him. In return he flops his head back and lays it against the metal wall.
"We need to end this," he says.
If we weren't under such moral standards we wouldn't be sitting here contemplating this so much. We'd have a victor by now, and perhaps if these games continue that's how it will be someday. I could picture years from now tributes will enter and tear at each other's throats out without a second thought. Maybe the children of Panem will volunteer to come here because they see this as some kind of honor. This is more of a reason to stop this, but nobody wants to listen to the crazy girl from District 3 who disobeys the Capitol.
As I look at the other remaining three, I see a lack of action to finish these games. Is it the fact that Noah would kill her that keeps Aeron glued to the floor? What about Noah? He has a sister to go home to.
"How old is your sister?" I ask Noah. I have no particularly reason, only curiosity.
"She's 15."
"She's not much younger than you then." I observe.
"No, but I care about her more than anything. My mother died in the rebellion," he sighs. "It hit hard on all of us. I know she doesn't need to lose another family member."
"My parent's died in the rebellion too. That's why Micah, my brother, has to go to a community home."
"What happened to your parents?" He asks.
"A lab explosion. The Capitol said it was an accident, but there were a lot of rebels in the lab that day. A little too suspicious in my opinion."
"That's the same explosion that took my mother," Lucian says quietly.
"They executed my mother," Noah tightens his fists instinctively.
I look over to Aeron. I'm sure she has a story too.
She pretends she can't see me, and picks nonchalantly at her nails.
"I don't want my parent's sacrifice to be worthless," and by that I mean if the games continue I will feel like a failure. I can't say that though since Lucian has forbidden me to talk evil against the Capitol anymore. Ever since that mutt attacked Ashley, well let's just say that should've been me.
Nobody answers me and I feel myself exhaling in frustration. I can't handle the tension and so I wander outside. Now that it's not a winter wonderland out here I can finally get away and have time to breathe.
Lucian follows me out a little later and takes a seat next to me. That's when I realize that I don't want to go back without him. In these past few weeks he's not only become an ally, but also an extension of myself. I feel as though I cannot properly function without him around to help keep the rest of me in check, and I'd like to think he needs me here too.
"For once in my life, I have no idea what to do." He says.
I manage something that sounds like a laugh but turns into nothing but an exhalation of air.
"If we find more poison…" he begins.
"But what happens when it's just you and me?" I ask, and that ends his idea.
"We got ourselves in a predicament. I never could've calculated the odds of this happening." He rips a handful of grass from the ground and throws it in irritation, but the wind blows the wisps right back in his face.
I gnaw on my bottom lip and try to think of something, anything.
Bullet Daniels (2)
"So what do you think?" I ask Aeron when the other two have left.
"I think you're going to go home," she says, and I'm taken aback by her words.
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do know that. I should've known from the beginning."
"You have a baby," I say trying to even the playing field. Sure I'd love to go home, but it's always seemed like a lucky chance.
"Ugh," she stands up and paces across the ground. "I can't believe I'm telling you this, but no I don't have a baby."
"You lied?" Was this her way of receiving pity from everybody? Had Aeron thought that using the baby excuse would get her out of the games?
"No!" She puts her hands up in front of her as though I'm going to suddenly lunge at her now that she has nothing to protect her. "I had the baby, but they…"
"They what?"
"I don't even know! The day before we came here they tried to abort it. I fought back and they proposed to me another solution."
"What was the other solution?"
"In the Capitol they… they don't carry their own babies."
"What?" I'm completely lost. If they don't carry their own babies, then how do they keep everything populated?
"They conceive and then place the embryo in this big test tube looking thing."
"Why?"
"They care too much about their figures. Apparently it's 'safer' for both mother and baby. Blah, blah, blah."
"And you said yes to this?"
"Yes, but I was afraid they were lying to me, so I made them call Lively and my best friend, Demi, to the Capitol, so they could stay there. I didn't want to take the chance of her not coming home. She should have a chance, even if I don't."
Because I've been so shocked the past few weeks, and have gone through enough trauma to seriously mess me up for the rest of my life I accept Aeron's explanation without another thought.
"That's nice," I say.
She wrinkles her forehead and tilts her head in confusion.
"So now what do you say?"
I shrug.
"I have nothing to say."
"Maybe we should just go outside and join them," Aeron suggests and I shrug my shoulders again.
"Sure, better than sitting in here."
I follow Aeron out into the sun, and I have to admit it's nice. I thought I would die in the cold and never see nice weather again, so this feels like a privilege. The four of us sit in a circle in the grass. First Athea looks defensive in a way that insinuates she thought we were going to attack, but when we sit down she nods her head in greeting and begins pulling grass from the ground.
Scarlett Donahall (Gamemaker)
"Scarlett if you don't do something about this now I swear I will come over there and stick you in the Hunger Games."
I scrap my nails down the length of my desk in frustration as I try to keep my cool.
"Sir, I promise this will be fixed."
"I don't want promises! I want action! District 2 and 3 getting along? I thought this was the Hunger Games! This is terrible enough to spark another war. Is that what you want Scarlett?"
"Obviously not, sir."
"I thought the mutts were supposed to be the final straw."
"They were. I was hoping that one of the ones from District 3 would have been killed, since they've been causing a problem. I didn't know they had that much fighting spirit."
"Well they did!" He snarls.
There's nothing I want more than to end this guy right now.
"I need ten minutes," I say and quickly hang up the phone. My actions may cost me, but he's wasting away precious time.
I know what I'm going to do and it's going to involve distracting the rest of the nation from the Hunger Games for a few minutes. These children are on the verge of snapping; I just need to introduce the catalyst, but right now I need to relax before I snap.
My phone rings again and I slam my fist down on my desk in anger. It isn't the president though, this is even worse. I answer.
"Hello Marcus, what can I help you with?"
"Cut the small talk Scarlett. Have you made a decision about our deal?"
"Yes I have, and my answer is still no."
"Listen Scarlett we aren't joking around here. Surrender to our demands or Riddley might 'accidentally' find out your true intentions."
"You wouldn't," I sneer. "If it weren't for me, your little civilization would have been bombed to the ground."
"Yes and we held up our end of the bargain. Now these are our new demands and we ask that you concede."
"You hold a tough bargain Marcus. What's in it for me?"
"We leave Riddley ignorant."
Marcus may have a steel will, but I'm not afraid to push his buttons a little further.
"And you promise that you will not meddle anymore. We will live as though we know nothing of one another."
Marcus sits quiet on the other end, probably weighing my stipulations and determining if they're worth it."
"Fine, we shall agree to those terms, but not until your end is held up." He finally says after a minute.
"I will be sure of that."
"Good day to you Ms. Donahall, or should I say, Ms. Snow?"
I hang up on him immediately. How dare he mention my real surname over such easily traceable communications? If Riddley knew who I actually was he'd have me executed without a second though, probably as an example to the rest.
I am the daughter of the former President Snow. Back then Panem was ruled under an iron fist, but my father was knocked from his podium and replaced with these bumbling idiots. In order to avoid his fate I changed my name and began a small job here at the Capitol, and like cat and mouse, I waited ever so patiently for my time to strick.
Now I will take back what is rightfully mine. I am not proud that I had to reach out for District 13 for help, but it was the only way to get me promoted on the President's team of advisors. In exchange for their safety and independence upon becoming president, I delivered information from their compound to the president who preceded Riddley. The data revealed the technologies of District 13, and the inner workings of their compound. Then when the president ordered the bombing I told the helpless citizens what was to happen if they stayed above ground. As far as Riddley is concerned, District 13 nothing but a few survivors who are cut off from all their resources, when in fact they still possess every piece of knowledge and technology in their underground compound.
For delivering such precious information I was promoted to a position that would allow me to take some kind of control. My idea for the Hunger Games has been forming in my head since I was a child. It all started when my father told me stories of the gladiator's who fought each other to the death in the coliseums for the entertainment of the Romans. The implementation of my games worked out much better than I had first anticipated. Not only will they keep my soon-to-be nation under control, but also they have provided a distraction for that damned president.
Speaking of which, I need to call him back.
Lucian Sparx
"Hello tributes!" The booming sound of the Arena God comes down from the sky. I glance up to see a video of the red-haired woman who I know as the Head Gamemaker.
"As you know, in the spirit of the games, we can only have one victor, and there are four of you left. I urge you to fight for your life. If you continue to break the rules, dire consequences will result."
"What kind of consequences?" Noah asks nobody in particular, but apparently the woman heard him.
"I'm so glad you asked Bullet," the video screen flashes from her face to a young girl. Her mouth is taped over and she is tied against the wall. Noah's eyes enlarge, and he gasps as though he's just lost his breath.
"Elle…"
His sister.
The video flashes back to the woman, as she continues.
"Yes, that is your dearest Spearelle, now if you wish for her to live, I suggest you play by my rules." A sick smile forms on her face. "May the odds be ever in your favor!"
The video flashes back to Elle who tries to cry out and yanks against the chains holding her down. Tears trickle wildly down her face. I look over at Noah, who is still unmoving, but something changes. I've always said I was intuitive about others, and right now my gut is telling me to get away. I'm about to pull Athea away, when Noah's eyes lower into slits, and his entire body tenses so much that it looks like he's about to explode.
"I'm sorry," he murmurs.
"What?" Aeron leans in towards him to hear, and it's the last decision she ever makes.
In the time it takes me to blink, Noah extracts his knife and stabs Aeron in the stomach. She falls over, not yet dead, but bleeding profusely. She doesn't try to retaliate; instead she looks at Noah in shock. In those moments I finally pity Aeron for the first time ever. Her look of hopelessness kills something inside of me that I thought was already dead.
Athea pulls me from the ground, but before we can run Noah grabs Athea pulling her in and dealing a blow. She grasps her side in pain, and then I'm next.
Noah bears down on me and I fall to the ground. He lifts the knife, about to strike, and I grab his wrist with both hands to try to push the blade away from me. Now it's a feat of strength and I know I'm going to lose. I may be a bit bigheaded sometimes, but I am no fool. This is a battle I cannot win.
So instead I pretend Noah is the bully. Noah is the bully I've had to run from all these years. Noah is the bully who threw stones at me because I was so frail and awkward. I must dodge it, and I will as I always have.
I push off with my hands and roll out from underneath him. Then I stand up and run. If there's one thing I can do, it's run away.
Zig-zags, I repeat in my head, and good thing because a knife comes swooping by my head. Noah catches up to me easily though because I have no means of escape. Since his only weapon is gone, he chooses the next best option.
Strangulation.
A cannon goes off as his large hands envelope my thin neck. I try to fight back, but I am not strong enough to release his hands from my windpipe. This is it, I've made it this far and now I'm going to lose.
I had taken so long to figure out my last words, but now nobody will ever hear them because I'm being silenced.
Will I see my mother and father after this life is over? Will they be proud of my diligence at least, even though I never managed to reach any goal that I had set? I wonder if that idiot of a grandfather I had will miss me at all.
Before I blacken out I witness the most peculiar scene. Athea is limping towards us; one hand over her wound, and the other clutching her dagger. I did only hear one cannon. I think I did. This is probably just my imagination from my brain being cut off from one of the most important elements.
My dream Athea stabs Noah, not just once, but again and again. The grip from my neck is loosened, and Athea keeps plunging one hit after another until a cannon booms. She stops and collapses next to me.
And that's when I black out.
A/N: I'm sorry for being horrible. :) I'll get the next chapter out soon and then you'll all know who the victor is.
Leave me a review and I'll write faster ;) aha.
And submit your form for the sequel/reserve your spot. A few people have messaged me to tell me they aren't able to send it right now and t hat's completely fine! I just want to make sure nobody has dropped out. I'm not going to need them for a while, it's just nice to have them if you have them finished.
Okay! Have a lovely weekend! :) PM me if you want to talk, and please REVIEW!
-Kayla