A cannon fired.

XXXXX

Will woke up from his sleep and found Nico awake, looking at him. He felt relief come over him at the fact that Nico wasn't dead.

Barely two corridors away, Katie woke up from a nightmare, marveling at the fact that she was still alive. That made 10, right? Miranda…I'm coming.

XXXXX

It shocked Percy awake. He looked over at Annabeth. Put his hand in front of her face (her hand was cold but that didn't mean anything, not really!)

Nothing.

He put his other hand on her wrist. No pulse.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and for once, he didn't force them down. She was dead! She had a family. She had dreams and hopes and wishes, just like him, just like everyone else in the Arena! And he had volunteered for this! Why? Why had he done it? How could he ever have believed that he could kill kids like the Career Tribute everyone thought that he was?

How could anyone do it? How had someone done this to Annabeth?

The boy from 8.

Annabeth had mentioned that he had stabbed her with a poison knife. He had killed her. He killed Annabeth.

Percy forced those thoughts down. He had no jacket, but leaving Annabeth like this without first doing something seemed wrong. Her eyes were already closed, and Percy hoped that her last few hours had been filled with as little pain as possible. Percy arranged her with her arms folded over her chest, like they did in District 4 before setting the boats that bodies were in on fire and sending them out to sea.

A panel in the wall opened.

Not now, thought Percy. He didn't want anything from Delphin, not now, not when it would only serve to remind him that his District expected him to become a cold-blooded killer now that his hindrance of an ally was finally out of the way. He felt a sudden wave of hate. None of them understood how brilliant she was, how she should have been able to thrive in a world that appreciated her rather than languishing under the Capitol.

But what lay on the floor now was flowers. Percy felt some surprise, though even that seemed numb. 4 wouldn't send flowers to him, not when they were useless. Though, Percy didn't recognize the flowers. They had small spotted petals. Percy moved to pick them up. The stems were rough. Hardy. Strong plants. They were tied together with twine.

3.

They must have been flowers from 3. There were two male Victors from three, Jake Mason and Malcolm Adelbert. Annabeth was their last Tribute. (Percy reminded himself that he had been present, a bystander, in the deaths of both of their Tributes.) But now they were sending him gifts.

"Sponsor gifts are some of the most important things that you'll ever get in the Arena," Poseidon Jackson told his son. "You rely on your wits and on your strength. But you will have to rely on the goodwill of the outside world if you want to live. You get me?"

Ten-year-old Percy nodded.

Poseidon ruffled his hair. "Good boy. Now, let's review. What have I taught you so far?"

"Make the sponsors love you. Get a good training score. Be charming. Be nice to the Capitol. Don't let the other Careers know how much of a threat you are, just that you're worthy of joining them."

"Good. And what else?"

Percy felt a bit of unease. "Kill them all."

Percy wondered what his father would say to him at getting this gift. Would he want him to throw it away, to reject an offer that wasn't needed? Or would he grudgingly allow his son the respect of the other district? Kill them all. Percy's father would have screamed at him, hated him, for how weak he was. Join the Careers. Hadn't that always been the first dictate? But Percy had run away and now his only reason for it was dead. He was really, truly on his own.

Percy tucked the flowers under Annabeth's hands. She could have been sleeping. "Rest in peace, Annabeth," he said. His throat felt like it was closing and his eyes stung like they did when he opened them underwater. "I'll miss you. We all will."

Percy took a deep breath. They would want to collect the body soon. He had to leave this place. But as he took steps away, he realized how terrifying things seemed without Annabeth. Now, the fear of death seemed to be closing in.

He didn't want to die.

Annabeth had seemed so brave, so bold as she went off to face the unknown! And then there was Percy. He felt himself a coward for his terror of what lay beyond this world. But it wasn't just basic fear of taking his last breaths. He wanted to see Tyson again. His mother. His stepfather Paul. His father.

I want to prove myself, Percy tried to tell himself.

No. That was a lie. The time for proving himself had come and gone when he refused to take up the mantle of killer. Proving himself was a front for the Capitol audiences.

Percy was so much more selfish then that. He wanted to live.

He just wanted to go home!

XXXXX

How was he going to find Zoe?

Nico had one goal. Kill the girl who killed his sister.

But how was he supposed to achieve that? Hours of wandering with Will had made Nico realize just how large and confusing the Arena was. He had a nasty feeling that they were going in circles, too. There was no way to track her. The Arena was a maze, after all.

Nico would never admit it, but he was grateful to Will. The blonde boy walked with him, following him on whatever random turn Nico took, not asking any questions about where they were going but trying to talk to him every once in a while. Yes…the talking was annoying. Nico didn't like talking, as a rule. He could easily do things in silence and he didn't see what people needed voice to express themselves. Sadly, Will wasn't being annoying. It would almost be easier if he was. Nico honestly couldn't imagine being without the boy now.

They weren't friends, though. Beyond the rule of there being no friends in the Arena, Nico didn't have time for that. The only thing that was worrying was whether they were boring the audience. Nico wasn't exactly being responsive. Was interaction necessary to them being interesting?

Speak of the devil.

Or rather…dog mutts. Speak of the dog mutts sent by the Gamemakers who were probably bored despite the earlier cannon.

"Alright, then," said Will.

"Could you not joke about this?" Nico asked.

"Just trying to lighten the mood."

"Why does the mood need to be lightened? When we could die, I tend to worry about that."

"Do you want to worry? Because I could give you something to worry about."

"Are you threatening me?"

The minute he said it, Nico knew he shouldn't have. He didn't want to know the answer. He didn't want Will to think that he was going to betray him.

Gah! He was an idiot.

"Let's just kill these things, please," Nico growled.

"You can take your sword and kill stuff, I guess. I'll stay out of the way."

"Do you really not have a weapon yet?"

"Healing is my thing, okay?"

"Sounds like some lazy excuse-making to me."

The dog mutts circled them. Nico avoided looking at their sharp, slavering teeth or the way that their ears were pricked up. Or their claws like razors. Instead, he charged.

Because he was done with all of this. He had one job! He didn't have time for any of this! Revenge was the only thing that he was here for. He didn't even care about winning anymore.

The head of the first dog came off and Nico realized that he didn't care anymore. He didn't want to win. He just wanted Zoe. Zoe. To scream at her and remind her of all that she had done. To kill her. To watch her life flow out of her like it had in Bianca.

One of the other dogs sprung at him. Nico batted it down, but the other stalked him on the other side. The final three dogs started coming at him. Where was Will, dammit?

Nico had to drop his sword and cover his ears as an awful noise came through the hall. It was shrill, high-pitched, and squeaky. It seemed to reverberate throughout the corridor, the bluish stone walls seeming to vibrate and make the noise echo.

"What the fuck?!" Nico demanded.

"That was me," said Will.

The dogs were on the ground. Nico took the chance to stab all of them, and started cleaning the blade of his sword, the noise still in his ears. "Dammit, Will! Fuck you! At least, I don't know, warn me next time!"

The asshole looked like he was trying not to smile. Nico glared at him. He didn't flinch.

"Sorry. You looked kind of like you were going to die. So I tried to help you. I won't next time, though."

Nico scoffed. "Let's keep going."

"No. This is ridiculous."

Chills ran up and down Nico's spine. Was this where it ended, then? Nico almost wanted to back down. Almost.

"Where are we going, Nico?"

Nico gritted his teeth. Will continued. "I'm not moving anymore until you tell me what's going on. I'm not going to judge you, Nico. But you need to tell me."

"Fine!" Nico burst out. "We're finding Zoe. Are you happy?"

The look of surprise on Will's face was almost offensive. "Your district partner? Why? Are we allying with her?"

"Don't. Even. Imply. That," Nico hissed. "We are not allies."

Understanding suddenly came over Will. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Are you…going to kill her?"

Nico glared at him. He knew that Will was silently judging him, calling him a murderer, a Career, a traitor. "That's the plan."

"Why?"

Nico glared even harder. "I don't have to answer that."

"What did she do to you, Nico? What could possibly make you want to hunt her down and kill her? That's not normal!"

"Shut up, Will!" The words tore from Nico's throat. "It was my sister, okay?"

He started to cry.

Will watched him, and hugged the younger boy. "It's going to be okay, Nico."

Nico didn't respond. Will felt the need to help Nico somehow. He didn't know in what way he could affect Nico's vendetta, but he had to try. There was something disturbing that Will could see. He was almost afraid of it.

"It's going to be okay, Nico," Will promised again. "But you can't do this. You have to let this go. A grudge is the most dangerous thing that you can have."

Nico swallowed hard. "I can't."

XXXXX

"Are you sure you're up for hunting?" Clarisse asked her ally. Not that she cared. But if Princess dropped dead right now then she wouldn't be near as powerful than if she was part of an alliance.

"Yes," Princess insisted.

"You sure?"

"I got medicine, remember?"

Clarisse tried to figure out if there was a hint of condescension in Reyna's voice, if the girl was calling her stupid. She hated it when people called her stupid. Maybe she wasn't Victor Malcolm or anything, but she wasn't an idiot!

"Yeah, I remember."

Reyna sighed. "Besides, hunting is more important."

The cannon earlier had set Princess on edge. It was like she was afraid that someone else would do their work for them. Sure, maybe they wouldn't be the big bad Careers like Sherman or Delphin had been, but it was one step closer to winning, right?

"Whatever you say, Princess."

"Don't call me that."

Clarisse didn't dignify her with a response.

"Do you think we'll find anyone?"

"Why wouldn't we? We made it back to the Cornucopia, didn't we?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"There's still 8 other people in with us. We'll come across one of them, I'm sure of it."

"Hope it's the right one."

"What do you mean by the right one?"

Clarisse shifted uncomfortably. "Well…one that we can take down."

"We should logically be able to kill any of them."

"Not without getting hurt."

"Fair enough."

Clarisse and Reyna were silent for another few minutes. Finally, Clarisse brought up the topic that she knew they were both thinking about. Sherman might have yelled at her, but better now than being killed in the night, right? "When do we break?"

"Not yet."

"Not an answer, Princess."

"Not until the other threats are dead."

"Isn't that almost everyone?"

"Is there a particular reason that you want to break, Clarisse?"

Clarisse shook her head. Silence.

Finally, Clarisse broke it. "Does this mean that you've accepted that your name is Princess?"

XXXXX

There was a noise! Ethan tensed. There was something there. It would kill him! Was it the girl from 3, still not dead yet? Was it a mutt? Was the Capitol tired of him? He should have known. Well, he would show them. They would never silence him!

A face came around the corner of the wooden hall. Boy from 4. Strong. Ethan had to run. He had to escape and live another day. The boy would kill him!

"It's you." Barely a whisper from 4, who looked almost dead himself. Was he dead? Was that even possible? Ethan turned, but the walls down the hall were moving together. Were the Gamemakers trying to kill him? Would all the walls close? Collapse?

Ethan drew his knife, fingering his eyepatch as if it would give him good luck. "Wanna fight, Career?"

"I'm not a Career."

"You volunteered, didn't you?"

4 didn't reply. His movement was slow, sluggish, and Ethan almost felt confident. But there was a certain strength, too. You didn't grow up on the streets and have the ability to ignore the confidence in someone's gait, the muscle in their arms, the callouses on their hands. Ethan felt afraid. Very afraid. He didn't know if he could win.

"You killed her," 4 finally said. His eyes were so green. Like a mutts. Was he a mutt? How was Ethan supposed to know who was real and who wasn't?

Ethan didn't know who 4 was talking about. Instead, he charged.

4 dodged easily and thrusted forward towards Ethan's stomach. Ethan parried with his knife, going on the defensive. The shadows around him were coming to life. They were going to kill him. Everything was.

4's sword thrusted again and slipped past Ethan's fragile defenses into his belly. Pain erupted. Losing his eye had hurt worse, but still. There was no…no return, was there?

As Ethan closed his eyes, the shadows stilled themselves. The darkness was almost comforting. Dying seemed easier than slipping into a dream.

Percy shuddered as the cannon fired and as Ethan dropped to the floor. He had avenged Annabeth. Hadn't he?

"Kill them all," his father said.

"I will," Percy promised. "I'll be a Victor."

One kill seemed too many. I'm sorry, Annabeth.

I'm sorry, Dad.

Percy turned, leaving the body behind him, feeling like crying but knowing that he couldn't. Only to come face to face with the two worst possible people.

Tributes:

D2: Reyna Ramirez-Arellano
D4: Percy Jackson; Clarisse La Rue
D9: Will Solace
D10: Frank Zhang; Hazel Levesque
D11: Katie Gardner
D12: Nico di Angelo; Zoe Nightshade

ANNABETH: As always, I had so many doubts about killing her. She never had any powers, so in a way she was the easiest to switch to this scenario. She could have gone far, especially in an Arena so intellectually designed. Sadly, as further drafts of the story emerged, it became clear that she wasn't the Victor we were looking for. In addition, we kind of needed her to die for the plot to move itself along. I hope that the Percabeth wasn't too forced and that you all forgive us for killing her. RIP, Annabeth. We'll miss you.

ETHAN: I wasn't sure about killing Ethan this chapter, but someone mentioned that things could be moving faster, so…yeah. It's probably obvious that Ethan was never going to win this. He played his role as an antagonist well, up there with Nancy and Octavian, though he didn't have the extra kick of being a Career as much as unadulterated desperation and bitterness. In any case, he lasted longer than either of them. It was fun to play with his paranoia until he was completely insane and I really wish that I had been able to develop his backstory and character more, but…that's just how the Game works. Ethan was interesting to write from and I hope that he was enjoyed as a character. RIP.