A/N: Okay, so, I know it's been 8 years . When I started this story, I was a thirteen year old who knew next to nothing about writing, but just genuinely enjoyed reading, and all of the characters from these stories. A decade later, I happened to come across old emails of reviews from this story, of which, some of you have even still read this story (or at least reviewed) as recent as 2021, which blew my mind. I reread this story, and all of the reviews from it, but most importantly, I read my own author's note saying I'd finish this story no matter how long it takes…. And I maintain that. So, for all of you who read this from the year it started, or those who popped in over the years (even when I was inactive in updating), this chapter is for you.

PERCY

I heard the cannon go off, and my mind immediately raced to Annabeth and Nico. No, it isn't them. It can't be. There are no other alliances left with Clove being the remaining career. No one else could out-power the two of them together, right? Most especially not Annabeth, her combat skills are beyond anyone else left in the games. Who was even left? Clove… oddly enough I think both from district 8… and maybe the girl from district 10? I start racing back to our meeting spot, trying to calm myself in the process, rather unsuccessfully. Running through the trees, I get closer and closer, my heart feels as though it's going to beat out of my chest. Until I saw either of them, my worries didn't seem to want to subside. I turned a corner and felt like I hit a wall, only the wall in question was Nico, and both of us fell to the ground.

"OW?!" Nico Exclaimed from the ground across from me. I get up off of my back and hug him.

"Thank god you're okay, where's-", I stop my sentence as I look up and see Annabeth, her face filled with both relief and what is likely suppressed laughter from watching Nico and I collide. I grab her hand and yank her to the ground to join Nico and I in the grass, "I'm glad you're okay Wise Girl."

"I'm happy to see you too Seaweed Brains", Annabeth says while curling into the embrace.

"I am so glad we are all reunited, believe me, but um, if we are all okay, who was the cannon for?" Nico asks and I'm suddenly worried again. He had a point though, who was the cannon for? Was it Clove? I guess she could easily sneak around, she was a rather petite tribute, and could attack from quite a distance with her knife throwing. It could be any of the other three tributes left too, maybe the tributes from 8 teamed up, it would make sense being so close to the end, they have a better shot trying to team up against the rest of us. In their minds, Annabeth and I would be the only same-district team left, especially if they didn't know we had Nico with us. I started to feel the anxiety rising in my chest, I felt badly that I hadn't paid more attention to the tributes from 8, knowing nothing about their combat style worried me. How can I protect Annabeth and Nico without even knowing what is coming for me? I mean, I guess we still aren't at a disadvantage, we have three bodies, I have my spear, Nico has Thalia's sword, Annabeth has her bow. I calmed down a bit, but the anxiety was still festering. I realized neither Annabeth nor I had responded to Nico's question, as I opened my mouth to speak, the anthem began to play.

I looked up, I guess the gamemakers decided they wanted to answer that question for us, as the girl from district 10's face painted the sky. So it's just us, the two from 8, and Clove.

"Well, that answers our question," I say, still looking at the sky as the picture fades away.

"I wonder what happened, do you think it was one of the other tributes, or a natural cause of some sort?" Annabeth asks.

"I feel like it must be one of the tributes, she couldn't have lasted this long in the games for it to be an infection or anything. Besides, I'm sure Clove is trying to expedite the process, killing off individuals will be easier for her than taking on groups like us, or the pair from 8, I imagine they have to be working together." I responded. We all stood up, it was best not to linger in places too long, afterall, we were getting close to the end, and I have to imagine the other tributes have grown as tired as being in here as we have. "Let's get going, did you guys end up getting dinner out of the snares?"

"Yes, we did," Annabeth says, holding up a couple of rabbits. That'll do.

X X X

We had walked east for a while, Annabeth had remembered a pond where we could set up for dinner. Once we arrived at the pond, I started making a fire while Annabeth prepped the rabbits and Nico collected water from the pond. Once I had the fire going, Annabeth put the rabbits on, they wouldn't take too long to cook, which is good because the fire is going to be a beacon to all of the other tributes to come after us. Even though it was only about 5 or 6pm, and light out, the smoke was something that everyone knew you shouldn't stick around long after. Nico had come to sit with us while we waited for the rabbit to cook.

After the rabbit had successfully cooked, we knew we needed to get out of there asap, so we picked up our packs and began a trudge south. I readied my spear and took the lead, Nico in the middle and Annabeth at the back with her bow ready. Until we got a safe distance away from the fire, we wanted to be prepared for an attack. Luckily after about 20 minutes of walking, we hadn't run into any other tributes.

"I think we are okay to eat now," I say, and Nico hands me some rabbit. He turns behind and hands some to Annabeth too.

"What do you guys think we should do now? I mean, I don't want to perpetuate any fights, but we can't with the games waiting for everyone else to die," Nico says. It feels crazy to listen to a 12 year old have to speak like this, he should never have had to worry about the ways to survive, but unfortunately he was right.

"Well, we could try to scope out where the other tributes are, you did a nift job of keeping watch over us at the beginning of the games, once we know where they are and how they are equipped, we will better be able to plan how to move from there," I responded.

"Percy, I don't want to send Nico by himself, not without knowing what the other tributes have, we already know what Clove is capable of, what if he gets caught? Or the tributes from 8 find him and team up on him?" Annabeth says. She has a point, but how else would we know?

"Thank you Annabeth, but neither of you knew I was watching you, besides, I don't have to recon both groups at once. Maybe we start with one, and then I come straight back to you guys, and we all plan what to do from there," Nico suggests.

"I think that is a better idea," I say and look at Annabeth, who seems unsure, but ultimately agrees.

"Okay Nico, you find one group, and you come immediately back to us, but not until morning. If it comes down to needing to fight I'd rather have daylight on our side," She asserts.

"Deal." Nico says in return, and we all climb up the tree to sleep for the night. Tomorrow will be a big day for us in the games, it will be the beginning of the end.

X X X

Morning comes and I blink my eyes a bunch until the scenery settles. In the sleeping bag next to me Annabeth is still asleep, but when I look at the branch above I see Nico's head popped over staring at me.

"Finally, you're up." He quips, as if he's been waiting forever.

"Yeah, I'm up," I respond, and then nudge Annabeth awake. "Come on, let's get this show on the road."

Annabeth and I pack up the sleeping gear while Nico preps himself for his scouting journey. I turn to him and say, "How you feeling buddy? You still sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, of course, I'm excellent at being sneaky, besides, I want to help our team, so at least one of us can go home."

"Okay, be safe though. The minute you have anything, you come back to us, okay? We will be by Annabeth's snares," I tell him, and pull him into a hug.

"Relax Percy, I got this," Nico says as he pulls away from the hug. He gives me a reassuring wink and turns to Annabeth to give her a hug.

"Please be safe Nico, we will be waiting for you," she says into his head. They pull apart, and he climbs back up the tree, and disappears in the branches.

"Well, it's reassuring to me that I've already lost him in the treeline," I joke, and turn to Annabeth. "We better get back to those snares if we have any dreams of eating lunch today."

She smiles, and we begin our walk.

X X X

We arrived at the snares an hour or so later, we snacked on some berries we found in the pack, but my growling stomach was glad to see that the snares had caught another rabbit and a squirrel. Lunch would be upon us afterall, good thing too, we could discuss our plan over a meal. I watched Annabeth as she carefully removed the specimens from the traps. We had spoken throughout the walk but I could tell she was still worried about Nico. I walked up to her and planted a kiss on her cheek, once she stood up from the snares.

"He's going to be okay, I'm sure he will be back soon," I reassured her.

"I know, I'm just… still worried."

"Don't stress too much about it, he will come back, we will make a plan, and then we will be set."

Annabeth opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a very ungraceful Nico jumping out of the trees. He looked frantic, like he'd been on the run, which immediately made me raise my spear, and had Annabeth pull an arrow from her quiver.

"Guys. We need to get out of here, as soon as possible," Nico says panting.

"Why what's going on?" I say with urgency.

"The two, from district 8, they're just up there, and they saw me, I got back as quickly as I could to warn you, but we need to leave-" He started to say, but was cut off. I was confused at first, but then noticed the spear head coming through his stomach. Nico started to drop to the ground, and I caught him and let him down gently. I looked up to see where the spear had come from, and saw the boy from 8 standing there, a knife in his left hand, which he switched to his right hand once we locked eyes. Rage boiled in me, when I saw another figure move, the girl from 8, holding a sword began running at Annabeth. Annabeth reacted quickly and shot an arrow at the girl, and pierced her right arm. I turned back to the boy, who had already begun his charge at me. I ready myself for his first attack, which I block with my spear hilt.

He comes at me again, and I deflect. I poke out at him, he dodges. He lunged at me again, although this time, I didn't block, I tried to jump out of the way. This allowed him to hook the hilt of my spear and disarm me. I stumbled back, and he stood over me.

"Nice try 12, at least you won't have long until you join your friend in death," he says smirking. I glanced over at Nico, who was lying on his side, his breaths clearly getting slower. When I looked back up at the boy from 8, his expression had changed. His smirk had been replaced by a look of confusion, he glanced down at his chest to find an arrow, through his heart. His confusion turns into panic as he falls to the ground. I stumble backwards to avoid his fall. I look up to find Annabeth, who had taken down the girl from 8, and now saved me from the boy from 8. We caught each others eyes, but the relief I felt went as quickly as it came. We both look at Nico and run to his side. I pick his head up off of the ground, and place it in my lap.

"Percy?" he asks, looking up, trying to find my face.

"Yeah buddy, I'm here," I say, and I realize I've started crying.

"I'm sorry I didn't… warn you faster.." He says in between breaths. Annabeth sits down and holds his hand.

"You were amazing Nico," she assures him, "you are going to be okay."

I can see the tears in her eyes, and we both know he's not going to be okay. I ask, "hey Nico, what was your favourite thing from home?", trying to distract him from what was happening.

"I always loved the trees," he says, his voice getting lower. "Percy?"

"Yeah Nico?"

"I'm going to climb up to Thalia now…. Thank you… brother." He says as quietly as a whisper, and then his stare goes blank.