Fear. That was what was consuming Percy. Annabeth was getting worse, fast. Her skin had turned greenish, and she was shivering despite the…actually, there was no heat or cold in the Arena. Was that really the first time Percy had realized it? He bet that Annabeth had figured it out a long time ago.
"Are you okay?" Percy asked for the eight time.
Annabeth just glared at him, but her face crumpled within moments of it, turning agonized. "Y-Yes," she stuttered.
Percy glared at the sky. Why wasn't anyone sending help?
"We'll find something," Percy said, knowing how empty it sounded. What chance did they have of finding anything? All that there was was the monotony of the maze. There was no escape. No escape, and nine other tributes somewhere around them.
XXXXX
It was one of those days.
Merely five days into the Games, and Reyna was incapacitated enough that she and Clarisse had to rest at the Cornucopia. They were supposed to be the hunters of the Games, Reyna knew. The terrors. The two of them were the second and third highest scorers (the Nightshade girl's score itched at the back of Reyna's mind, annoying her). Even with just the two of them, they could most likely take out any competitors that they happened on. But with her stomach wound…Reyna refused to think about it.
First things first, Reyna told herself. The other Tributes weren't truly threats, not now. The first thing that should have been on her radar was Clarisse. Reyna was reluctant to break down the alliance with her. The alliance of 1, 2, and 4 was sacred, despite Percy Jackson's betrayal. And if the alliance broke down…Clarisse could probably kill her. She could die.
No. That was not an option. Reyna had not come this far to—
"Don't kill me in my sleep," Clarisse said.
It couldn't have been more than thirteen hours since the last anthem. Why was Clarisse going to sleep? And while Reyna respected the fact that Clarisse was able to be blunt, she resented the implication that she would betray an ally like that. Still, it probably meant that Clarisse wouldn't betray her. Right?
Then again, maybe the fact that Clarisse was wearing armor right now meant that she was actually worried about…well, surviving.
Soon enough, snores were coming from Clarisse, and then a panel opened in the gray walls of the Cornucopia room. A few things fell out of it. Reyna's heart quickly fell. It wasn't medicine. Instead…
There was a piece of cloth. Two lumps of coal. A small animal pelt, not anything that Reyna could wear. It was cut almost in half, but when Reyna tugged on the opposite edges (her stomach screamed) it stayed together.
There was a block of salt. Two blocks of salt.
Reyna's mentor, Circe, was trying to tell her something. But Reyna wasn't sure that it wasn't the other mentor, Dakota, a notorious drunk. What did this mean? The things could have been representative…but of what? Coal was what District 12 produced. Two of them…that could have been the two tributes from 12. Cloth. 8. The boy from 8 was still in the game. Salt…what district made salt? There were none! Salt. Salt.
Sea salt. District 4. Percy and Clarisse.
So they were tributes. But there were more of them, that hadn't been mentioned here. Disrict 3. 9. 11. And why was the pelt connected? It was 10, but—
Oh.
The tributes who were threats.
It came to her in an instant. The mentioned objects were threats. District 10. They were only a threat when they were together. Reyna had her plan of action.
Except…Clarisse. Circe was obviously trying to say that Clarisse was a threat. But was Reyna supposed to kill her? What was she supposed to do? What would Hylla do? Her father would hate her. Hylla would hate her for her indecision. But what was she, Reyna, supposed to do with the time she had left?
"No," Reyna said out loud
The panel reopened. A bottle fell out. Medicine.
That wasn't very much of an answer, but it was enough for Reyna.
XXXXX
Will's stomach was feeling better, but he was getting more and more scared of Nico. Will didn't know what the boy wanted, but it was obvious that he was trying to get somewhere. Will just didn't know where. And Will didn't want to admit it, but he was genuinely afraid that Nico might..try to kill him.
Then they stumbled into the other alliance.
It was 3 and 4. Will wasn't sure what Percy was doing with Annabeth, but Annabeth was obviously very sick. Her skin was greenish, pale. She looked like she was in pain. Will immediately assessed the wound. It was on her shoulder. Gross-looking. Poisoned. Who had gotten poison, and where?
"You." Percy was looking at him. Will's heart almost stopped. Well, not literally, but…
"What do you mean?" Nico asked for Will.
"You were at the medicine station. You can heal her."
"No." Will didn't need to hear Nico say his reasons. He knew that his ally didn't want to help another Tribute. His 'win' mentality had gotten almost overpowering. Will knew that he was right, and a terrible part of him was happy that he was allies with a person who could actually make sure he didn't make horrible decisions.
Still, he couldn't let someone else die! He had let Jason go and now Jason was dead. He didn't want to let anyone else die. He couldn't. Everyone was watching him. Kayla. Austin. His parents. What would they think of him if he became a terrible person? If he killed someone by refusing to let them live?
"Nico," he said.
"No."
"Yes," Percy said.
Annabeth didn't say a word.
Will slowly exhaled. He didn't see a way out. He felt sick. Slowly, he started talking. "I can't."
"What?" Percy demanded. "You have to—"
"Percy," Annabeth said.
"The poison's spread too far. If it was just in the arm—I could amputate. I don't know. But it's in your bloodstream completely. I don't think that there's any way…" Will had to stop. He hated himself. Embarrassingly, his eyes started to sting. He sniffed.
"It's okay," Annabeth said, and goddammit if Will didn't hate her too for being so normal about this. She was dying!
Percy felt frantic. Annabeth was dying. She was dying! He wasn't ready for her to die. Slowly, Annabeth sat down. Percy tried to help her. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," she said.
Percy wished that the other two boys would leave and he didn't at the same time because it felt almost good to have other people with him. Even if they could kill him. Which didn't matter anymore, almost, because Will had just confirmed that Annabeth was going to die.
"Please—" Percy choked on a sob. Please what? No sponsor was going to help them now.
Annabeth felt calm. Too calm. The pain was there but it had almost faded once Will said that the poison was in her. It was a part of her now. Annabeth knew how to get over things that were a part of her. Her dyslexia. Her hyperactivity. Her family.
But she was scared. So scared. Because she had a life that no one would envy and she wasn't ready to take all of her secrets to the grave. "I ran away," Annabeth spat out. "I ran away."
Percy gripped her hand tightly. "Yeah." He didn't ask her for more, which Annabeth was grateful for.
"Bobby and Matthew were born and my dad and stepmother didn't care about me anymore. At least it felt like that. And I just couldn't take it. So I ran."
"It's not your f-fault."
"It is. They loved me. Even if he called me the wrong name sometimes and it felt like he didn't…"
And now Annabeth was crying. She couldn't remember the last time that she had cried like this. Not for years. She had to be stronger than that on the streets.
"I took a hammer. And I ran. And I didn't stop running. I went to my mom. She was a big shot in one of the factories. She let me live with her. I hated her, though. I hated her! Why did I hate her?"
"It's not your fault," Percy repeated. His grip was strong. Reassuring.
"She saved me," Annabeth said. "But she didn't care. No one did! I would g-go away for days and come back and no one would realize."
"They care about you," Percy promised.
"I don't hate them," Annabeth said, and fell silent.
Will didn't care that Percy might kill them. He bent down next to Annabeth and took her other hand. "At home in District 9…I don't think that I could have ever imagined living like you did." He didn't know where he was going, but he felt the strange urge to confess as if it was his fault that his life had been happier than Nico and Annabeth's. "We were poor. But happy. And things there are so spread out. We work in the fields for such a long time but we get to be on our own and have parties every Harvest with our Precinct. You can look in any direction and you won't see anything but wheat for miles. And in the winter…it snows, and the world is white and it's so beautiful."
"I didn't like school," Annabeth said. "I couldn't ever read anything but I understood but the teachers didn't like me anyway."
"I didn't get a lot of schooling," Will said. "Everyone has to work so hard throughout the year, and what is there to learn?"
"So many things!" Annabeth replied and she seemed almost revitalized. "Math and science and how to read and how to talk to everyone else. I wanted to learn more and more, but there wasn't anything."
Will heard footfalls. Nico was walking away. A flash of annoyance went through him, but then as he saw Nico's shoulders shaking slightly, he realized that the boy was crying. He looked back at Percy and Annabeth. And then got up. And followed Nico.
XXXXX
Everything that Annabeth could remember was coming out. "I've never drawn a perfect circle. I hate spiders so, so much. There was a spider infestation in my dad's building, though, and there was no way away from them. They'd bite sometimes. I got so afraid."
"I hate spiders too."
"On the streets, I took things from garbage bins and sometimes I'd steal. I'd always hate myself afterwards, you know? But what was the point of feeling guilty? I had to live.
"I've always wanted to make building and design them. Everything in 3 is so smashed together, but I think that it could be so much better if it wasn't. Really beautiful, yeah? And then people could be happy. Parks. Statues. Houses."
"I bet you'd be the best at it."
"I'd like to think so."
They lapsed into a period of silence. Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut, trying to picture deep grass green and the white of marble buildings. She couldn't remember the last time that she'd seen it.
Percy didn't object as Annabeth pushed herself into a sitting position. Something in him flared up with hope, like she was getting better. He reminded himself that there was no way a miracle like that could happen.
"I've never really had friends. Or really connected with my brothers. I've never kissed a boy. I've never—" Tears suddenly came to Annabeth's eyes. All of the nevers were adding up and she didn't want to die, not really! She wanted to go back home and complete her life. It wasn't fair!
Percy looked at her quietly. "What?" Annabeth snapped.
"Nothing."
"Obviously something, Seaweed Brain."
"I think you'd beat me up."
It came to Annabeth how close they were sitting. "You know I'd beat you up."
Percy cracked a smile. "Sure." Since he was an (ex) Career and she was about to die.
"Yeah. You should be afraid."
"I have no doubts, Wise Girl."
Annabeth kissed him.
(It honestly felt like the best thing she had ever done and she could sense his surprise and then he started kissing her back and it kind of hurt but she wanted this before dying—)
Annabeth brought herself under control. "Well."
"I think that you're beautiful, Annabeth," Percy told her.
"You're not so bad yourself."
Her stomach pained her again, and she latched onto Percy's hand as she slid back down the wall. She was feeling woozy, tired. But she wasn't ready to go. Not yet! Never yet.
Percy held her hand as Annabeth drifted off to sleep. As the anthem played (No deaths on Day 5). As he drifted off himself. Holding onto Annabeth, who was still alive.
Tributes:
D2: Reyna Ramirez-Arellano
D3: Annabeth Chase
D4: Percy Jackson; Clarisse La Rue
D8: Ethan Nakamura
D9: Will Solace
D10: Frank Zhang; Hazel Levesque
D11: Katie Gardner
D12: Nico di Angelo; Zoe Nightshade
CLOVIS: Clovis was another character who was interesting to work with. I think that one of the biggest problems with the Heroes of Olympus series is that characters were no longer defined by themselves, but by their godly parents and powers. Clovis definitely keeps with this theme. As a minor character, the only thing we learn about him is his ha-ha sleeping skills. So I gave him narcolepsy and a need for numbers to stay awake and tried to humanize him. I would have loved to keep him alive and keep on developing him, but again, there was just no way that he could have logically survived the Bloodbath. RIP.
LOU ELLEN: She was one of the most heartbreaking to kill off, and that's because I really loved her as a character. I loved giving her her magic skills and I loved her friendship with Will. I think that she could have gone far and would have been a truly dynamic Tribute, but…this sounds awful, but I kind of needed more people to kill off in the Bloodbath and she was one that I didn't need for the story and Will and Octavian could really have developed from it. RIP, my beautiful magician.
CONNOR: Yet another name to add to the list of minor characters who we no nothing about. Connor was never given more than five paragraphs of screentime in canon, which again was something interesting to work with. I have many headcanons as to his relationship with his brother, and I tried to work in some of those for this story. Connor could have gone far in a natural Arena, but in such an artificial one, his skills wouldn't have come in handy. Not to mention, I kind of needed Zoe to kill someone, and…he just fit the mold? Honestly, there's no excuse for killing someone as amazing as he is. RIP.
PIPER: The first main character that I killed! Piper is probably my least favorite canon character, but as to this story, I honestly didn't hate her so much. I feel like I did an okay job changing her backstory to fit in with the Hunger Games canon, and I feel like her character was realistic for her world and her experiences. I really wanted to keep her alive after the first few chapters of writing her. She and her backstory could really have been brought to life, and she could really have developed as a character. I thought about having Ethan kill her, but then, I really needed the Careers to prove that they were actually a dangerous group. I think that her death was as dignified as these deaths go, and I regret killing her, but I don't regret the writing of her. RIP.
RACHEL: Rachel is the other non-Career rich-girl backstory in these Games, and I feel as though she pulled it off well. Again, I never really got to develop her, because…she died. But I think that her mortal background and her love of art really transferred well to this universe, and made her interesting to read about. I think that she could have blossomed. I think that she had the potential to be this year's crazy due to the Arena, but I couldn't stand to do that, I needed the Careers to prove that they were dangerous before I started killing them, and she wasn't the most essential to the plot at that point. I regret it. RIP.
CALYPSO: I regret killing Calypso in the same way that I regret killing any character that I have grown to love. However…how can I say this…Calypso was not the most interesting character. A lot of that had to do with my own interpretation of her for this canon. She is a Titaness on an island and there is so much to work with there, but I went overboard with her Hunger Games backstory, and it ruined her as a character. She was built totally for backstory, if I'm being honest. It kept her as a strictly pre-Games character. I knew that Grover would be trying to protect her from the start, and I knew that she would be killed leading to Nancy taunting him and her death from the earliest writing stages. Wow. This was a terrible eulogy. RIP to an amazing PJO character who I will write a lot of stuff about in her own canon in the near future. RIP.
OCTAVIAN: Octavian is one of the most underdeveloped villains, so I got to try and make him a better character in this story. Again, I don't think that I did the best job, but I hope that no one threw anything at the screen when he was on. He was interesting to write from, but he was always just…there. Again, he was overshadowed by the more dynamic characters and it was his time to go. RIP.
LEO: WHY DID I DO THIS? I hated myself as I killed Leo off because he is always a character that has shone in this story, from the very beginning. I loved writing him. He could have made it much farther. Sadly, he wasn't Victor material, someone needed to die, and he happened to be there. RIP, Leo. I love you. Team Leo for the win.
NANCY: Nancy was honestly the character I loved most in this story. We know nothing about her in canon, and I…just went wild with making her character and having her take the spotlight in quite a few scenes. I like to think that I made her that villain you love to hate…actually, that you just hate but grudgingly accept because they fill the role of villain so well. I don't regret killing her, but it was fun while it lasted. RIP.
GROVER: I gave Grover a few serious reasons to come home, and in an earlier draft I actually put him as Victor. From the moment this story idea was conceived, I always had a vision of him being 'bullied' by Nancy in whatever ways that the Arena allowed. I loved working with his character, and I will say that I think he really was able to come into the spotlight during his moments. However, something about him just didn't click and it became his time to go. RIP, Grover.