Final 6.

Katie couldn't believe that she had made it this far. For the first time, home seemed almost within reach.

No, Katie told herself. I can't be thinking like that.

Hope was dangerous.

Still, what could it hurt?

Miranda, Miranda, Miranda…Katie focused on her sister, letting her sister's face drown out the images of all of the ghosts. Her heart was still racing. The ghost thing was probably a test or something. Katie didn't want to know if she had passed or failed.

A booming sound came behind her, and Katie started running again.

XXXXX

A few moments after the two cannons had rung out, a piece of the wooden ceiling caved in. Fuck, Reyna thought. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

She moved quickly towards the next fork. The left hallway collapsed. The hallway behind her was collapsing. Reyna started sprinting for all she was worth. She shed her backpack, only keeping her weapons on her. She could barely keep ahead of the crush, and she had a feeling that the Games would be over soon.

She just had to stay alive.

XXXXX

Frank…Hazel thought. Frank, Frank, Frank.

No! It wasn't possible for him to be dead! He couldn't just leave her! Hazel curled up in a ball, sobbing. The two bodies were too close to her, and there was a rumbling noise. Hazel ignored it.

Frank had been everything to her. They had been friends since they were five and he defended her from a bully. They had come together out of necessity, yes, but that didn't change the fact that he grew into a best friend who Hazel loved spending time with, the one dependable person in her life, the person that she would have done anything for.

She loved him.

The a chunk of rock left the ceiling and fell not five yards away from Hazel.

You want me to run, Hazel drowsily thought. You want to control me.

No. Never again. Hazel stayed where she was.

More rock kept falling. It covered the two bodies and Hazel wondered if they would be recovered.

I would have been happy to be buried next to him, Hazel thought to herself.

"We're friends forever!" an 12-year-old Frank hugged Hazel tightly as they separated for their first Reaping.

"Forever and ever and ever!" Hazel agreed.

"If you get Reaped, I'll Volunteer," Frank told her.

Hazel was surprised by the show of devotion, but with Frank, it seemed natural. After all, she'd do the same thing for him. "Me too!"

"Friends forever."

"Even after we die."

"Really?" Frank asked her.

"Yeah," Hazel said. "Even after we die. We'll be best friends in the Soonafter."

Frank squeezed her hand one last time, and they moved in opposite directions.

Hazel was not going to move from where she was. The Capitol could just kill her. She wouldn't care.

The rock stopped.

Hazel almost smiled. It appeared that they still wanted to keep her around. Hazel vowed not to give them the show that they wanted.

Frank…I'm coming.

XXXXX

Nico's body ached from not getting enough sleep, hunger, and wounds that he couldn't even remember getting. He reminded himself that however bad he felt, Will must be feeling worse, what with his stomach wound.

The sounds of collapsing metal and stone from behind them became even louder, and Nico, looking back, saw something fall. The roof was caving in. Fear shot through Nico, but adrenaline, too. Nico grabbed his ally's hand, dragging Will forward. Will complied, holding on to Nico as well, and running. Together, the two boys outdistanced the collapsing halls of the Arena.

Blood pumped through Nico. His breaths got short. His cheeks got red, and he felt sweaty and became more keenly aware of how unclean he was.

Also, Will was holding his hand.

It doesn't feel nice, Nico growled at himself. Gah! I'm an idiot.

And together, the boys entered a large room. Just in time, too, as the entrance they had come through was filled with rubble. Heart racing, Nico checked to see if the room they were in would collapse.

It seemed stable, but then, so did the Arena. Still, the Gamemakers wouldn't just kill them like that…would they?

"Too boring of a death, right?" Will asked.

Had Will read his mind or something? But no, he was just looking for reassurance. "Doubtful," Nico said.

"Final Six." Will hesitated. "Do you think that we can make it home?"

"There's no we," Nico reminded him.

"Oh, yeah." Will swallowed.

"I'm not going to betray you," Nico said.

"Me neither."

This time, Nico was the one to swallow. His face burned, and he avoided Will's eyes. "Well, good."

Will laughed. It was a brittle noise, but still the best thing that Nico had ever heard.

XXXXX

Not again, Zoe thought to herself as she sprinted to escape the falling rocks. Not again!

She ran and ran, down the only clear path she could find. She had to live. She was going to live. She was going to win.

She entered a large room, like the one she had fought Ethan, Katie, and Annabeth in.

Not again.

XXXXX

Zoe entered the room with them.

Will knew that they had to kill anyone that they came across, but he still wasn't ready to do that. Bile rose in his throat.

And then Nico sprung.

"No!" Will screamed, but it was too late. Nico had crossed the room, tackling his district partner to the ground.

Zoe. Zoe. Zoe. Blood pumped in Nico's ears, carrying the hateful word with every beat of his heart. It was as if his entire being was consumed with finally getting his revenge. He punched Zoe in the face, feeling a burst of elation as blood flowed from her noise. "You killed her! You killed her!"

He was aware of Will screaming something in the background, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was Zoe.

"I know," Zoe groaned.

The words surprised Nico enough to keep him from hitting her again, but Nico drew his sword. Zoe had to have some sort of weapon. "You admit it! You're a fucking murderer! You killed them all!"

"I know!" Zoe said again, and this time it was a desperate shout.

"Why?!" Nico screamed, and tears were coming down his face. "Why did you do it?!"
"I thought I was doing the right thing."

She sounded so…defeated.

"No! You weren't! You killed her! Bianca never should have volunteered! She was twelve!" Nico's throat felt raw, and he wished that he could slowly kill Zoe, torturing her as she had tortured him. And there was no reason that he couldn't! They were in the Games! He could do whatever he wanted! "You poisoned her mind! You told her to volunteer, so she did! She wasn't prepared! None of them were!"

"I know."

Why wasn't she fighting back?! Nico needed her to fight back!

"How could you?!" It was the last of Nico's energy. "How could you?" He whispered it again. "How could you? How?"

"I don't know."

"I hate you."

"I know."

"I'm going to kill you."

"I know."

Nico raised his sword.

"I'm sorry."

Nico brought the blade down.

It cut through Zoe's flesh and the cannon fired, but there was no satisfaction. Nico had never felt so…empty.

He was a murderer.

No. She was a murderer. He had gotten his revenge, his justice!

Where was the satisfaction?

"Bianca…" tears rolled down Nico's face.

Will was there. He enfolded Nico in his arms, and the two boys sat down. Nico sobbed into Will's shoulder, hating himself, hating Zoe, hating Bianca for leaving him. There was no hate for Will. He couldn't even muster up that to save his own life.

"I'm sorry," Nico said.

"It's going to be okay," Will promised.

"No, it's not."

Will didn't object.

"Kill me," Nico told him.

"No, Nico."

"Hurt me. Make me feel something."

Will responded by kissing him.

It was surprising.

That's an emotion, I guess, Nico thought.

"One of us is going home," Will told him.

"Yeah."

Will held out his hand, and Nico took it. They shook.

But didn't drop hands afterwards.

"I'm sorry," Nico said one final time.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Tributes:

D2: Reyna Ramirez-Arellano
D9: Will Solace
D10: Hazel Levesque
D11: Katie Gardner
D12: Nico di Angelo

ZOE: She was kind of the surprise character in these Games. I knew that I wanted to have minor characters, and then super minor ones for cannon fodder, but I didn't even consider Zoe until I got to the empty D12F spot. Fun fact: I considered having Clarisse, Reyna, Katie, and even Ella being in Zoe's spot. Instead, I thought about Nico's past. And then the whole Zoe story came in. Zoe fit the plot of this story perfectly, and I think that she also worked well as a sort of Katniss stand-in. I think that Zoe has experienced a lot of development over the course of this story, possibly due to the large amount of screentime that she got. I won't deny that I had a bit of a soft spot for her, perhaps giving her too much attention. Still, she was so interesting to write! I hope that everyone enjoyed hearing from her, and I'm super sad that she's gone now. Still, Zoe was never going to be a Victor. She served her purpose, and she served it well. RIP, Huntress.