Day Five/Night Five

Over the next few hours, the remaining tributes in Aphroditon's alliance backtracked to the village, wanting to try and get a better vantage point over the lake and the forest. They still hadn't seen any sign of the other remaining tributes, which only made them more on edge. Aphroditon was beginning to worry about another alliance split, but was unsure of how it would happen. They'd have to leave Lanista at some point, but the district two tribute was getting weaker and weaker as time went on.

When they made it to the village, they returned to the watchtower that they'd stayed at on the second day, back when everything had been going a lot smoother than it currently was. They could see across the lake from their vantage point, though not much of the castle, but would at least be able to tell where the other careers would end up.

Lanista had immediately sunk back against the wall once they'd settled in, not caring enough to try and look out the window. Aphroditon was confident that they'd be safe here for now, until the gamemakers got bored of them and tried to drive them back toward the other group. He estimated that they'd have an hour or two until they needed to leave.

All three of them were tired, though now wasn't the best time to sleep. His bandages had gotten stuck to his wounds, and trying to remove or change them would hurt just as much as leaving them be. Breathing hurt, but he had to keep going. He had no other choice in the matter.

They'd heard a cannon go off just as they'd gotten to the watchtower, and presumed that it meant that Caballus was dead. They couldn't be lucky enough for Teuthis to have died, nor either of his allies, so it had to be the lone remaining tribute outside of an alliance. This meant they would have even more problems soon.

The events of the morning were still visible if he closed his eyes for too long. Pyre's mutilated body, Doyle crumpled to the floor. Their deaths had been extremely different, but he supposed that neither of them had been deserved. Sure, he still felt no remorse about Doyle's death, and this was the games, but it hadn't been completely necessary to kill him,

He supposed that killing Doyle quickly was a much better fate than what had happened to Pyre. In a way, he'd saved him from a much worse death. They didn't know how Caballus had died, either, but they could only hope that it hadn't been brutal.

Glancing out of the window again, he spotted some tiny moving dots in the distance. It was Teuthis and his allies, heading in the direction of the waterfall. They'd left the forest, but hadn't come out of the area that Pyre's body had been in. He couldn't tell who was who, but moved to point them out to Verd. They wouldn't be able to tell that they were in the watchtower at this distance, but if they managed to find their tracks, there could be a problem.

He was prepared to settle down and watch them for the time being, and then an odd feeling rose from his shoes. The ground was rumbling, and the stones were starting to shake. This was all very sudden, and he thought that he'd have more time, but apparently not. Grabbing Lanista and Verd, they sprinted down the stairs and out of the watchtower, having only been there for thirty minutes.

As they dashed outside, the rumbling of the ground only got worse, and the windows on the village buildings were starting to shatter. Quickly, they ran out of the village, heading back for the forest. Teuthis' alliance had made it to the waterfalls, which was the last place Aphroditon would have wanted to be at this time. He could tell that the ground was shaking in the whole arena, not just where they were, and it didn't seem like any place was safe.

Ending up near the tree line, but far enough away from the village and the lake, they stood in one spot, unsure of what to do next. Aphroditon's mind was blank, unable to think of a solution. The ground was continuing to shake, and he could see ripples in the lake, meaning that something was about to burst out of it.

From the mountain, he could see rocks beginning to fall, and spotted Teuthis and his allies trying to leave the cavern. They were far enough away that he couldn't tell who was who, but there was one person lagging behind. Aphroditon grabbed Lanista and Verd, and the three crouched down, trying to avoid being spotted.

A sound came from the mountain as rocks continued to fall, going into a full-on avalanche. They were probably far enough away to avoid it, and going into the forest was also a bad idea, but all they could do was sit and watch as the rocks continued to fall. They heard a yell from all the way across the lake, and looked up to see only two figures emerging from the rocks.

One of the figures turned around, while the other kept sprinting, only to be stopped by the second figure catching up to them. Just as quickly as it had started, the earth stopped shaking, and a cannon went off. Someone had been lost in the rockslide, and judging from the reactions of the two figures, it hadn't been Teuthis.

Aphroditon and his allies ran into the treeline once the ground had fully stopped, hiding behind some bushes as the two figures got closer. They were close enough now to be identifiable as Wynd and Teuthis, meaning that it had been Cyana who had fallen in the avalanche. A pit grew in his stomach. Cyana had never been brutal like Teuthis, and had been the only thing that was keeping the district four tribute from being so much worse.

Before the two other tributes could notice Aphroditon, they stopped in the middle of the grassy area on the edge of the lake, and Teuthis fell to his knees. He wasn't crying, though was clearly trying to hold back some emotion. Wynd bent down next to him, patting his back very nervously, and he leaned into her.

Looking to his allies, he almost didn't notice when Teuthis and Wynd started heading in the direction of the castle. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned to Lanista, who looked like she was half asleep and extremely shaky. Verd appeared to be concerned, trying to go through her bag to try and find something to help the other tribute. She pulled out a protein bar and tried to offer it to Lanista, who batted it away.

"If they're heading toward the castle, we need to go that direction, too. The gamemakers are going to make it so we have to fight them at some point, and now we have the upper hand," said Verd, straightening up and adjusting her sword. Aphroditon looked to her, and then to Lanista. They really didn't have the upper hand, since Lanista wasn't going to be in fighting condition and he was still injured. Wynd and Teuthis probably weren't injured, either.

"I'm not sure. You're probably right, but I don't know how well we'd do in a fight if it came down to it," he replied, still watching Teuthis and Wynd leave. He tried to speak in a hushed tone, even though they were far away enough that they wouldn't be able to hear him.

"We have to try. If they get a hold of whatever is in the castle, we might be doomed. I know Wynd isn't a fighter, and the two of us can take down Teuthis together," Verd continued, frowning. Aphroditon sighed, but nodded. Something else popped into his mind, causing him to pause for a second.

If they took down Teuthis, that meant he'd have to fight Verd at some point. He'd always known it was a possibility, but had never really considered it like that. If they were the last two, she'd probably win. She wasn't injured, and while his skills were a bit better, he was already in pain from moving. His reflexes were slow. Bringing himself to fight Verd would be harder than anything he'd had to do in the games so far. Maybe they wouldn't even get to that point.

Helping to get Lanista off of the ground and to a point where she could walk, they started heading toward the castle, safely obscured in the tree line. They couldn't see Teuthis and Wynd at this point, but every so often he'd get a glimpse of one of them and would be safe enough to continue.

"Plus, I need to kill the vampire. I know that it's in the castle, I have to get to it," said Verd as they walked. Her obsession with killing the vampire was beginning to grate on him a little bit. She might have had the sword telling her she was the vampire hunter, but there wasn't any proof that she needed to slay it, whatever it actually was.

"You're going to get distracted. We have to focus," replied Aphroditon, making sure that Lanista was still with them. She hadn't spoken a word since they'd left the village, but hearing their conversation, she opened her mouth and tried to speak with a hoarse voice. Her eyes were still bloodshot, and her skin had a green tinge to it.

"If you let this blind you to the point of the games, Verd, we'll all be in trouble. Maybe we do need to kill the vampire, though. I'm not sure. Let's figure it out when we get there," she croaked, making Verd and Aphroditon both fall silent. Neither of them wanted to argue with Lanista when she was in this condition.

For the next hour, they continued in a straight line, walking through the forest and avoiding traps as they made their way toward the castle. It was only when they were close enough to see the drawbridge that Aphroditon paused. He'd completely lost track of their enemies now. For a second, he saw Wynd, but he couldn't see Teuthis anymore. He was just about to turn around to warn Lanista and Verd when a stick cracked behind him.

He spun around and notched an arrow, but he was too late. Teuthis' sword had already gone through Lanista's chest and out of the other side. Letting out an angry cry, Verd immediately swung at him, almost hitting him as he dodged away just in time. Teuthis had black veins going all the way up his arm and almost to his face, and looked almost crazed in the lighting of the forest.

Lanista's body fell to the ground, a cannon going off, and Aphroditon let his arrow fly. Teuthis managed to jump away, then locked into combat with Verd, their swords clashing. Checking for Wynd, he saw her sprint toward the castle, away from where they were currently fighting.

Verd was fighting like her life depending on it, but it was more than that. She was furious, her blows striking hard and fast as Teuthis parried each one of them. Aphroditon drew his short sword, preparing to fight as well, but a kick to the ankle from Teuthis made him fall flat on his face. Embarrassed, he picked himself up, but couldn't do much to help Verd as Teuhtis continued to fight like a man possessed.

They were an even match for each other, and as Aphroditon readied an arrow again, Teuthis disengaged, stepping several steps backward before jumping right back in and holding a dagger to Verd's neck. He'd pulled it out of nowhere, and Aphroditon paused, lowering his arrow as Verd was directly in front of his nemesis.

"We're going to do this the easy way. I'm going to go to the castle, and you're going to meet me there. There will be a final fight, the gamemakers and audience will be happy, and one of us will win. I'll get to watch you die, and then we'll have a victor. Got it? Great," said Teuthis, addressing his words to Aphroditon.

Verd started to struggle, and Teuthis dug his dagger closer to her throat. Aphroditon was powerless to watch, his own sword lying useless at his hip. If he did anything, Teuthis would kill Verd. All he could do was wait there.

"You're a monster. I hope you know that what you did to Pyre made everyone hate you," spat Aphroditon, narrowing his eyes. Teuthis merely laughed, not loosening his hold on Verd. Laughing at what happened to Pyre was awful. Even as a career, and having no qualms about killing other tributes, he at least believed that his enemies should die with some honor.

"Wynd still doesn't know it was me, and I don't intend on telling her. Now, if you'll excuse me, Verd and I have somewhere to be," Teuthis smiled as he backed away, marching Verd toward the castle. Unable to help her, Aphroditon watched them go, trying to think of something, anything, that he could do.

They quickly faded into the distance, and Aphroditon collapsed. Everything in his body hurt, his wounds having opened again from the fast movement of the fight, and seeing Teuthis so easily defeat them crushed his spirits. There was no way they could beat him. He only had one hope to hold onto, and that was Wynd.

Maybe Wynd would help him once he got there, but somehow he doubted it. She'd fallen into Teuthis' trap as well, and all of her earlier hatred for him was gone. If Verd could somehow tell Wynd about Pyre, they might have a chance. Teuthis wouldn't let that happen, however. He knew that Wynd and Pyre had been close, and that Pyre's death had to have affected her. That bastard from district four surely wouldn't make such an amateur mistake when it came to controlling Wynd.

All alone in the forest, Aphroditon was keenly aware of his surroundings. He wasn't sure if he could get to the castle in this state, but had to try. Picking himself up off of the ground, he stumbled into a tree, clutching his chest. It hurt enough to make his vision go white for a second. He still had his quiver, bow, and sword. There had to be something he could do.

Carefully, he pushed himself off of the tree, then took one step, then another. The castle was so close, but he wouldn't make it there in time. Teuthis would probably kill Verd before he arrived. His determination setting in, a grim look on his face, he kept moving in the same direction. Knowing that it would be hard to avoid traps, he stepped out of the forest and into the open area. He could only hope that nothing would attack him until he got to the castle.

His current pain was prominent as he struggled to the drawbridge, his heart pounding. He knew that the eyes of the nation were on him, and that his family was watching. He couldn't fail them now, he'd made it this far. Aphroditon couldn't fail his friends at the career academy, or his trainers, either. Even Porcelain's memory was kept alive by him surviving this horrible march.

Knowing that this could be a march toward his death, he tried to straighten up. If he was going toward his death, he might as well do so in a way that would make everyone that knew him proud. Dying wasn't a part of his plan, but he didn't have a great plan at this point to begin with. All he could do was go to the castle, fight Teuthis, and hopefully win. His chances were slim at this point. Still, he had to try. Letting himself collapse here would certainly mean his death.

Aphroditon put one foot in front of the other, again and again. The castle was blurry in the distance. There were no obstacles on the way there. This was truly a test of himself, of whether or not he could make it there. Soon enough, after a long walk of agony and suffering, he was at the drawbridge. Two gargoyles flanked the entrance to the bridge, scowling menacingly down at him. The castle was made out of a dark brick with a gray hue to it, somber and uninviting.

He began to cross the bridge, his hand still on his sword and his bow ready to be raised at the first sign of trouble. The castle was huge, and he was surprised that no one had entered it before this. Aphroditon supposed that it was so intimidating that no one had wanted to brave its depths, and that the threat of the vampire had made them wary.

At this point, he was beginning to doubt if there was a vampire. They'd seen no sign of one, and while Verd might have been instructed to kill it, that didn't mean it existed. He crossed the stone threshold, led into a marble entrance hall that had several passages branching off of it.

Taking the middle passage, since he didn't have the heart to try either of the side ones, he used the wall for support as he moved. His steps were getting heavier and heavier as he made it down the dark hallway. Aphroditon could see the light at the end of the passage, a red light that looked similar to what had been a main feature of the cornucopia. The red stained glass doors blocked his entrance to the throne room, and he pushed through them, preparing himself for whatever lay beyond.
It had taken him almost an hour and a half to get back to the castle, and he wasn't prepared at all for the sight that awaited him.

Finale

Aphroditon stopped in his tracks. Teuthis lounged on the throne, looking different from how he'd appeared mere hours ago. From his head sprouted two tall horns, twisting as they went up. His teeth were fangs, pointed and sharp. His nails extended into claws, tapping on the arm of the throne as he smiled down at Aphroditon. His most notable feature was a pair of batlike wings, extending from his back and folded behind him as he surveyed the room.

This wasn't only Teuthis, he quickly realized. This was the vampire that they'd all been warned about. Somehow, however, the vampire was Teuthis. The bane of his existence in the arena was now more powerful than he'd ever feared. He could tell that there was no way to fight this monster, as he was still in immense pain from his journey to the castle.

Teuthis had no apparent interest in immediately killing him, though. For a second, there was silence, and Aphroditon used this silence to look for Wynd and Verd. Wynd was knocked out against a wall, unconscious and not moving, on one of the side walls of the throne room. Verd was nowhere to be seen, which worried and surprised him. He'd heard a noise as he'd entered the castle that sounded similar to a cannon going off, but he hadn't been sure what it really was.

The man on the throne smirked, extending a claw to examine it. Even his hair was out of its typical bun, and seemed much longer than it had been previously. Prepared for the worst, the district one tribute readied his bow, but quickly came to the realization that he wouldn't be able to move fast enough to hit Teuthis before he was skewered by him.

There was no escape. He wouldn't be able to leave the room, and there was no way he could fight this monster. Aphroditon didn't want to die here, but was starting to think that there was only one way out of this. His last hope was that Verd was here somewhere, uninjured, and able to fight. He wasn't sure where she would have gone, though, so his hope was fairly weak.

"Don't look at me like that. See, it's still me! I feel amazing. I'm glad you finally made it here, we were waiting for what seemed like forever for you to arrive," laughed Teuthis, leaning forward in his seat to get a better look at Aphroditon. The vampire's grin didn't slip from his face for a second, almost as constant as the blood pounding in Aphroditon's ears.

"It would have been faster if you hadn't tried to kill me two days ago," spat back Aphroditon, not interested in playing along with his speech but relegating himself to the fact that he might live longer if they talked. He was still angry, and if he wasn't injured, he would have rushed at Teuthis and tried to fight him. As a career, however, he knew when he couldn't win a fight, and even his impulsive nature wasn't enough to make him charge at the vampire.

"Right. You know, you're always getting in the way of what I wanted to do. Even from the beginning, they chose you to lead the careers, when that should have been my job. Everything would have gone so much smoother. Wynd could have been in the alliance from the beginning, but no, you had to stick with the traditional career mindset," Teuthis replied, rolling his eyes.

Aphroditon couldn't stop the look that rose onto his face. It was a look of being completely fed up with what Teuthis was saying, as he knew that if Teuthis had led the alliance, they would have all died within a day. He glanced over at Wynd's unconscious body, wondering what had happened to her. She didn't seem to be bleeding or injured at all.

"My goals were always greater than whatever you wanted to do. It's so hard to keep things entertaining when all six careers are still working together in harmony. Do you know how boring that is, not just for me, but for everyone watching? I'm surprised that we weren't all killed off sooner. Maybe if you'd all died earlier, Cyana wouldn't have had to die in the way she did," Teuthis scowled at the last few words. Obviously, Cyana's death still stung.

Thinking back on it, Aphroditon knew that Cyana and Teuthis had been friends before the games, judging from what Cyana had said in the interviews. According to her, Teuthis hadn't always been like this. Maybe, long ago, he hadn't been the type to turn into a monster, both literally and figuratively. He doubted that there was anything left of him that wasn't completely corrupted by now.

"Her death was preventable. I blame you for it, you know. We were on your trail when the avalanche hit. She's gone now. She left me all alone. Well, not alone, since I've got Wynd," he continued, sighing deeply.

"Pyre's death was also preventable, and yet you still butchered her. How can you sleep at night knowing what you did?" replied Aphroditon. Teuthis raised an eyebrow, tilting his head. He didn't seem very phased by the mention of Pyre, and seemed like he held no remorse for her death.

"It's the Hunger Games. Of course I'm going to kill my competition. If I didn't, someone would have killed me. Get over your stupid morals and ideas of what's right and wrong. We're fighting to the death for entertainment. Someone has to put on a show," Teuthis spread his arms wide, as if talking to an imaginary crowd. If there had been a camera visible, he would have looked directly at it.

Aphroditon heard a noise from his left. Turning, he saw Wynd struggling to wake up, meeting his eyes as she clutched her head. She looked at Teuthis, and then started to say something, but her words were swallowed by the large room. All of the effort seemed to have exhausted her, and she flopped back down again, her eyes rolling back in her head.

"Poor Wynd. I've been keeping tabs on her the entire Games. This book that I found at the bloodbath is extremely useful. I can track anyone in the arena with it, and that's how I knew where she was at any given point. I couldn't have her dying, especially not early on," said Teuthis with a softer voice.

Seeing the book open on the floor, Aphroditon could tell that there was a small screen inside it, showing their current location and an image of the throne room. He was extremely surprised by this. That was such a powerful tool during the games, but what he wasn't surprised by was the fact that Teuthis had kept it to himself. It was just like the district four tribute to use something like that for his own personal goals.

"Unfortunately, picking up the book kind of led me to this," added Teuthis, gesturing towards himself. "I was chosen as the vampire by picking up the book, just like Verd was chosen as the vampire hunter by picking up the sword. Even Wynd had a role after she picked up the gem. It worked out wonderfully for me, but it's a pity that you didn't get anything special,"

A realization crossed Aphroditon's mind. The dark veins, the gem that Wynd had picked up at the beginning, Verd's constant quest to find the vampire. It had all been engineered by the gamemakers. It was some sort of twisted story, one that had been put in place for the entertainment of the Capitol.

"And you're fine with this? Just playing along, being a role that you didn't choose? You're the villain, do you really think that they're going to let you win?" Aphroditon responded, trying to think on his feet. He was getting more and more tired by the minute, and he knew that Teuthis' interest wouldn't be held by this conversation forever.

"Oh, poor, naive Aphroditon. That was never my goal. Winning was never on my mind, though it would be a nice consolation prize. I never intended for myself to win. I'm still not sure how I ended up like this, but I know just as well as you do that the wonderful folks back at the Capitol don't want this face to be their next victor," Teuthis's grin dropped for a second. There was one thing that stood out in his words to Aphroditon.

Somehow, even Teuthis didn't know how he'd turned into this creature. This concerned Aphroditon greatly, because it meant that they were missing something obvious. The fact that Teuthis wasn't trying to win was also surprising, but he wasn't sure what he meant by Teuthis never intending for himself to win. It wasn't as though he was going to let Aphroditon win either.

"With your mentor dead, I'm surprised that you're still functioning. I thought for sure that I'd gotten you by letting most of the note burn, but I guess Lanista managed to tell you what it really said. Also, there's no black and white hero and villain in the games. It all depends on perspective. I'm sure that there's someone out there who sees you as the villain. Whoever wins will get to rewrite the story in their own way," said Teuthis, gesturing as he spoke.

"Ugh, that sounds so cheesy. I don't care, however. This is fun, isn't it? Just the two of us, having a nice chat. We haven't really gotten to talk one on one before. Someone has always been in the way," The vampire shrugged, narrowing his eyes. Aphroditon was beginning to feel the effects of his wounds again, and clutched his side, trying to stay standing.

Just before he almost fell over, something came running out of the shadows. A blur with a sword charged at Teuthis, yelling loudly as she tried to drive the sword into his heart. Unconcerned, Teuthis merely flew upward, causing Verd to miss and fall back as she stumbled. Aphroditon fell to the floor, still watching her as he could feel his wounds opening up again.

Up in the air, with the high stained glass ceiling of the throne room towering over them, the vampire grinned down at Verd before diving down and pushing her backwards several yards. She fell into the wall, but immediately picked herself back up again, trying to reach him. He was too far up in the air, and whenever he came down, she narrowly dodged his attacks.

"Get down here, you bastard!" shouted Verd, her hair wild and unkempt and fury in her eyes. She looked like she'd been experiencing something awful, probably having been stuck somewhere in the castle this whole time. Aphroditon had never seen her lose her cool like this, she'd always been calm and composed.

"I don't think I will, no," Teuthis called back, flapping his wings to stay up. Aphroditon's mind began to turn as he saw the vampire up in the air. Something was off about this whole situation. How had Teuthis turned into a monstrous creature so quickly? It wasn't as though he could suddenly grow wings and fangs. The Capitol might not have had the technology for that, or if they did, it wouldn't have worked so quickly.

As Verd and Teuthis fought, Aphroditon scanned the room for clues. Wynd was still unconscious, and a bloody dagger sat several feet away from her. However, the blood looked fresh, and Wynd had no visible wounds. There was no pool of blood next to her. Glancing back at the throne, Aphroditon noticed that there was some blood staining the throne.

Verd wasn't bleeding yet, either. Who had the fresh blood come from? The wheels in his brain were turning, but he couldn't grasp onto anything. He tried to pick himself up from the ground, trying to drag himself over to Wynd. Both Teuthis and Verd were too distracted by their fight to notice him, so he managed to scoot over to Wynd slowly. Once he made it over there, he shook her shoulder, causing her to bolt upright.

"Wynd, what happened? Why is Teuthis like this?" he asked, trying to find an answer before she passed out again. Once she was awake, she looked groggy for a second, but then met his eyes.

"That's not Teuthis," she replied, immediately passing back out and falling into Aphroditon's lap. Gently pushing her off, he glanced back at the vampire. Suddenly, everything clicked.

The blood from the dagger. The much too quick transformation. The lack of mutts in the arena. If this wasn't Teuthis, that meant that it had to be… no. It couldn't be. Was this a mutt? How did he have all of the memories and mannerisms of Teuthis? Somehow, the Capitol must have done something, engineered this creature, in the image of Teuthis.

There was no way the Capitol could have turned Teuthis into something this quickly, so instead they'd replaced him. He wasn't sure where the real Teuthis was, but something in his heart told him that the cannon earlier had actually been a cannon. Teuthis was dead, replaced by this creature. This could all be one giant assumption, one that was wrong, but Aphroditon didn't think so. He knew that he had to tell Verd, but she was still locked in combat.

Struggling, he picked himself off of the ground, walking a few steps before collapsing again. After days of his injuries being reopened time and time again, he was really feeling the pain of them. Even his ribs felt cracked, and his legs felt like jelly. He managed to make it towards the fight, staying far away enough to not get caught up in it. He was close enough for Verd to hear him, though, which had been the goal.

"Verd! Be careful! That's a mutt!" he yelled, causing both Verd and the vampire to pause. Understanding dawned in Verd's eyes, but she only started swinging more ferociously with her sword. The vampire laughed, looking slightly confused.

"A mutt? Have you not seen me? I'm still Teuthis, despite all of this," he replied, motioning toward his face. Aphroditon was sure that his theory was correct, so the vampire must not have even known that he wasn't Teuthis. It was the only explanation for all of this. The Capitol had impressive technology, but they couldn't transform a tribute in the middle of the arena. That had never happened before. There had, however, been mutts with the memories or characteristics of tributes before.

Verd kept swinging her sword, fighting against the claws and teeth of the vampire. The vampire had picked up a broadsword somewhere, too, and was now parrying all of Verd's strikes. She wasn't able to land a hit, and was getting more and more tired by the minute. If Aphroditon could stand, he would have tried to help, but getting to his feet was a difficult task at this point.

As he continued to struggle, the vampire managed to disarm Verd, her sword flying across the room. Grabbing her sword and dropping his own, the vampire flew up behind her and pressed her own sword against her throat, locking her in place as she tried to kick herself free.

Time slowed down. The vampire's broadsword had ended up next to Aphroditon, and was close enough for him to grab it. He would only have one chance, so he had to take it. He wasn't sure what to do, however. He couldn't move fast enough to kill the vampire by stabbing him through the heart, he'd turn around and kill him instead. No, he had to use one clean motion.

Verd was still locked in a chokehold. He made eye contact with her, and she gave him a grim nod. He knew what he had to do now. Peeling himself off the ground, sword in hand, trying to ignore all of his injuries, he charged forward. There was only one way to do this. If he had more time, he could think of something else, but this was the easiest way. He'd only get one chance.

Verd was in extreme peril. They were too close to each other, and he couldn't get the vampire without also hurting Verd. Not intending to hit her, he prepared to swing, running up behind the vampire and putting all his strength into his arms as he swung the giant sword. In one clean motion, he let it fly through the air, still holding the handle with both of his hands.

However, he couldn't stop the blade. It cleaved straight through the vampire's neck, but it didn't stop there. The angle of the blade made it continue through, the momentum not stopping as he couldn't pull it away in time. Before he knew it, the blade was going through Verd's neck as well. A scream escaped him.

Not Verd. She couldn't die like this.

It was too late.

The sword went through her neck and out the other side, beheading her just as swiftly as it had the vampire. If it had been a smaller sword, it would have been fine, but the giant broadsword was just too sharp and heavy. The two heads rolled to the ground after flying through the air, the disconnected bodies falling to the ground with a thud.

Aphroditon stared. They were dead. The vampire and Verd. He'd killed Verd. Letting out an anguished cry, he fell down once more, closing his eyes and letting the tears flow.

This had never been his plan. He wasn't supposed to kill Verd. They might have ended up fighting at the end, but it was supposed to be a fair fight. Had she even known she was about to die? This wasn't fair to either of them. Verd wasn't supposed to die like this.

The cannon went off, only one cannon shot this time. That confirmed his suspicions that the mutt had been in place of Teuthis, and that Teuthis had already died. It wasn't over yet, however. He was keenly aware of Wynd behind him, her eyes finally open, a terrified look plastered to her face.

He turned around, dropping the sword. Wynd looked at him with pity for a second, the fear not disappearing despite her sadness. His hands were covered in blood, and there was blood splattered all across the floor and his clothes. The vampire's blood had been a dark blue, mixing in pools with the red blood of his district partner.

For a moment, Wynd and Aphroditon sat in silence. Neither of them wanted to fight, and it took a second for them to process what had just happened. Tears were streaming down Aphroditon's face, and he only stopped crying when Wynd's voice broke through his stream of tears.

"I killed him. I killed Teuthis," said Wynd, and tears started coming from her eyes as well. She hugged her knees, her voice cracking. The bloody dagger was still on the floor, and she looked at it, sobs echoing throughout the room.

"I learned that he killed Pyre, and I couldn't stop myself. I stabbed him, over and over again, pushing him onto the throne. I was thrown backwards, then blacked out, and when I woke up, he was gone. That monster was in his place. He never wanted to hurt me. He wanted me to win. That was his goal," she cried, rocking back and forth.

Aphroditon blinked. Teuthis had wanted Wynd to win the games? That was new information to him. It made sense, what with some of the vampire's words, but was still surprising. What was even more surprising was that Wynd had managed to kill Teuthis. She must have really taken him by surprise if he hadn't seen the attack coming.

"Aphroditon. Please. Kill me. Make it quick. I don't want to win, you're the one that should," pleaded Wynd, suddenly making eye contact again. Her words were hoarse and broken, tinged with a desperation that could only come from knowing that this was the inevitable end. Taken aback, his hands started to shake.

He'd already killed Verd. He couldn't kill Wynd. She sat there, crying, looking extremely pathetic. How could he kill her now? They'd both been through hell and back, and they were so close to the end.

"Please. Please. Just do it, let it be over. Tell my family that I love them, but I couldn't do it. They'll know, they'll respect my decision. You need to go back to your family. I can't fight you, just make it end," she begged, staring over at him with watery eyes.

If she'd had any combat skills, she could have won in a fight. However, she wasn't a career. She didn't even know how to properly hold a sword. Aphroditon was injured enough that it would be hard for him to fight, but he still would have won. This was probably the best way, but he was reluctant to go through with it.

"Are you sure? Do you really want this?" he asked, standing up and offering her a hand up, She didn't take his hand, instead drooping downward and staring at the floor. She glanced up, met his eyes, and nodded.

"I wasn't supposed to make it this far. As soon as my name was called, I was prepared for this. Just end it," Wynd responded. With a solemn nod, he prepared the sword. He used Verd's sword this time, as the vampire sword was much too big. Wynd closed her eyes, preparing for the end.

With a swing, trying to make it as painless as possible, Aphroditon ended Wynd's life. Blood splattered again, and her body fell over at his feet. Collapsing to the floor, no tears came out.

Noise erupted around him, the final cannon going off. The announcement music started, and confetti came out of nowhere. It was an odd contrast to the darkness of the room, blood coating the floor and soaking into Aphroditon's clothes. The sound of the ceiling opening up above him made him glance upward, and he saw a hovercraft coming down.

"And now, people of Panem, the victor of your 90th Hunger Games!" said the announcer's voice, much too enthusiastic for what had just taken place. A crew of trained medics picked Aphroditon up, putting him onto a stretcher.

His last view of the arena was of the throne and Wynd's body, all slumped off. He slowly started to lose consciousness as he was picked up, several tubes being attached into him as he was raised back up to the hovercraft.

He'd done it. He was the victor of the 90th Hunger Games.

This wasn't how he had wanted to win. This didn't feel like a victory. No, this felt like a defeat. He'd lost his friends, he'd killed his district partner, and his victory had come in a cheap way. There hadn't even been a final fight that he was a part of. Aphroditon had swung his sword, ending it, but there hadn't been any honorable combat in the last day on his part.

The medics were all mostly silent as they put him in the hovercraft, and he lost track of what was going on around him. He was dehydrated, starving, and his wounds were getting to him. He was still losing blood, and everything hurt so badly.

The only thing that kept him going was the thought of seeing his family. His father would be waiting for him. They'd be so proud of him, regardless of how he'd won. Aphroditon could see them again. His siblings, his mother. They'd all be there, congratulating him, telling him that it would all be alright.

There was no mentor to congratulate him, however. Verd's mentor might be there, but she'd resent him, most likely. He'd have to face Verd's grandmother. Verd was her only living family, and he'd taken that away from her. Porcelain and Verd were in the same place now, probably looking down at him with disgust.

Aphroditon could feel his consciousness leaving him. He desperately tried to hold onto it, but the tubes and IVs that they'd put into him were starting to numb him to everything. The next time he woke up, things would be different.

The 90th Hunger Games were over.