XVII

AN: Welcome back! After 10 years this fic is done! It's a Christmas1 miracle! Sorry about the naming inconsistencies, we only noticed that once we started writing this chapter. *sheepish smile*

Are we going to fix it now that we found out? No! It adds charm, and authenticity.

Btw dimetri2 is gender neutral… Don't ask us how that works with the reaping, it's just how it goes I guess.

We wrote this in one sitting and by working on bits simultaneously in the same word document, so naturally we don't feel the need to proof read :)

Disclaimer: The rights to the fictional characters and settings belong to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins.

1 - we wrote this on the 17-18th3 of December, hence the reference to Christmas.

2 Also referred to as Dimetry.

3 Yes, it was written in one sitting, and also over two days. We continued after midnight on a Tuesday-Wednesday… Kinda chaotic, but still fun.

Chapter XVII: Killer pigeons and forest salads

Percy's P.O.V.

We ran as best as we could, clambering over fallen trees and through thick brushes. Somehow we managed to stay ahead of the rising wall of trees, which had not stopped shooting out of the floor of the arena, spitting sand and branches everywhere as they did so. The ground shook beneath us as if my dad had been served a disappointingly bad batch of pancakes for brunch. The angry vegetation did not care about any previously existing trees and uprooted those wherever it found one. I was fortunate to have only a bag to carry, as riptide sat comfortably in my pocket, but Finnick was having a harder time keeping his trident by his side.

"Just leave it!" Tracey shouted over her shoulder. She had already followed her own advice and ditched her spear, opting to use her hunting knives to help us through the thicket.

Finnick ignored her. He let out a grunt as he struggled to untangle his big fork from the crouton he had struck in his forest salad.

I went to move towards him to help but a fresh shot of pain reminded me to only make necessary movements. Just keep going forward. Even adrenaline can only last for so long, and the past few days have been more or less one big adrenaline fueled ride. I hoped it was just the adrenaline wearing off, and not the pain in my side getting worse. The Myrmekes had certainly left their mark on us, and I could feel the burning sting of their acid in my wounds. I don't remember them well from my ancient history classes, but from what I've seen in the forest this could only be bad news. How bad? That's something Annabeth might have been able to tell me. Either way, I tried to ignore the pain, even while struggling through thorns.

Finnick was close behind me, his fumbling noises only just distinguishable over the rumbling of the arena completely redecorating itself.

As the forest around us became denser and denser, light from a clearing made our path forward visible. The road however was still littered with twigs and stumps which made it difficult to run. Finnick tripped over the tree roots which were slithering beneath our feet. As he stumbled forward, he put an arm around my waist in an attempt to steady himself. Pain shot through my nerves and I gave a sharp inhale that went lost in the noise.

"Guys, just follow me! We're almost out." Tracey didn't bother turning around to check, but we did as she said. She carved out a path for us to travel through the dense trees. The speed at which they had been popping up seemed to have slowed down, now that the arena was apparently sufficiently difficult to navigate.

The light was momentarily blinding, but as my eyes adjusted, I could see what the Gamemakers were going for. A large structure loomed up before us as we made our way into the open space. This one however was made of metal instead of wood. The Cornucopia stood right in the middle, where it had always been, but somehow it stood taller than before. The already tight circle of trees closed fully behind us. Leaving no space for us to run away from the clearing. The clearing that formed a perfect circle around the big metal monstrosity that was the Cornucopia.

An eerie silence hung in the air. This clearly signalled the start of the finale.

As if summoned by that thought, a lone figure stumbled their way out of the treeline, not too far to our right. I locked eyes with District 9's Dimetri, who didn't have even a moment to recover from their wild tree adventure before being faced with a group of three of their enemies.

One thing they did not prep us for before the Hunger Games was the awkwardness of meeting someone who you thought might have died, that you don't really have any animosity towards but also someone you are supposed to kill in order to win. I waved at them. They did not wave back.

"We should find shelter in the Cornucopia," Finnick decided. He stood upright despite his visible injuries, trident tightly gripped in his left hand. He sounded more severe than I have ever heard him before. "Everyone who is still alive will soon be here and they will be out for blood. We'll have a better chance at winning if we fortify ourselves."

"Let's get there before Dimetri does," Tracey agreed, and we broke into yet another mad sprint towards the middle.

Before we got far though, a loud screeching noise filled our ears and stopped us in our tracks. I spun around, hand inching towards Riptide immediately. I swore at the unfortunately all too familiar sight.

A flock of goat-sized birds appeared like a dark and angry cloud above our heads, emerging from the newly-grown trees around us. The moment they caught sight of us, they started swooping down. Their beaks shone with bloodlust and what I knew to be Celestial Bronze.

"Don't underestimate these birds, their beaks and claws are made of metal," I yelled over the screeching noises. I readied my sword. "Also, they might shoot."

"Shoot?!" Finnick exclaimed. He gutted the first bird cleanly with his trident. "With guns?"

"Feathers." I hacked at one bird and then rapidly ducked before another one. "Stymphalian birds, I think. Though they have grown since the last time."

Tracey yelped as one of the birds demonstrated their feather shooting ability. "There's too many, we should keep running!"

There were indeed a lot of them. At any one time, there were at least two of them to attack any one of us, and they kept replacing themselves with more. In the past, we had managed to fend off smaller Stymphalian birds by loudly blasting Chiron's bad taste in music. But here and now? I couldn't see any way to use the same trick again.

A big shadow past overhead. I looked up to see one of the killer pigeons flying away with Dimitri in its claws. Their body was limp. Bird and prey disappeared beyond the horizon together.

A loud banging noise rang out across the clearing. Dimetri's cannon shot.

I seized upon the opportunity. "Go, go, go! Quick!" I physically pushed Finnick into motion, gesturing at Tracey to do the same. This was our chance to make a run for the Cornucopia while the birds were stupefied.

It was only when we reached the Cornucopia that I realised why it looked taller. It had lifted itself further out of the ground to reveal another layer of metal. A quick glance behind me told me that the birds had recovered and were scouring through the air for signs of life. "We just need to get out of sight, is there a door somewhere?"

I went round one side with Finnick leading the way while Tracey went round the other side.

"There's an opening here," Finnick called. My Percy senses prickled. Something wasn't right here. A hollow metallic hum gave it away. Followed by a woosh.

Things moved, not in slow motion, but in very rapid motion. I pushed Finnick away from the door but things in motion stay in motion. The arrow pierced just underneath my right shoulder blade.

I collapsed to the floor. I could faintly hear Finnick shout my name, and then the sounds of metal against metal.

I lay on the cold steel of the Cornucopia, unable to help Finnick right at the very end. Unable to tell him how I would miss him.

Tracey's face appeared blurry before me, up close. "Fi- Finnick," I tried to stutter out. She should be helping him, not me. Judging by the noise, the fighting was still going on which must mean that at least Finnick is still holding himself up. He is still alive.

Tracey shook her head. Grimly, calmly. "We're too far into this now."

She drew her knife from its usual hiding place in her boot. "I'm sorry, friend."

Finnick's P.O.V.

"Are you still in there?"

I forced myself back to reality, my shining leather shoes coming back into focus before me. I must have been staring at them for a while. My eyes felt watery. I blinked the feeling away. Couldn't ruin the make-up artists' hard work, now could I?

I planted a smile on my face before lifting my head to greet Mags. "In the green room? In my head? Or in the arena?"

I stood up and reached for her hand. I gave it a gentle squeeze. "The answer would be yes to all of them, I suppose."

Weeks had passed since I had been crowned the victor. I barely remember the flurry of events between me standing over a bunch of bloodied bodies, to me being dressed like a clown and back in the Capitol, behind the stage of yet another media appearance. A lot had happened in quick succession. A lot had changed.

Something in me must have snapped after Percy pushed me out of the way of that crossbow. Snapped and broken in half. The two remaining careers had been waiting for us. They hadn't made it from the growing forest unscathed, but they had arrived at the Cornucopia before we did. And with more murderous intentions. The whole memory was stained red in my head. Red with blood and red with anger. I only killed one of them in the end. Glammor died on my trident. And there I stood: the glorious victor.

"You will be okay," Mags said. She spoke it like a prophecy, but my faith in any

gods had been shaken. "There will be a light at the end of the tunnel. And it will be brighter than you can imagine."

A thundering of cheers and applause echoed through the corridors into the room. The show was about to start, with me as the main character. I grinned. "Best make the most of it then, shall we?" With a deep inhale, I swept past my trusted mentor and made for the door.

Mags tutted to let me know I hadn't fooled her with my false bravado, but she didn't comment. Instead, she turned to follow behind. She was to make an appearance tonight as well, we'd been instructed.

The Capitol had instructed us to do many things, following my triumphant success. From smiling and shaking hands, to lying about the existence of a loved one. "Don't mention anything about gods," had surprisingly been the easiest instruction to follow. Mostly because no one was allowed to ask. It was like Percy had never been here. There wasn't even a cannon shot or a funeral for him. As if we had never met, and as if he had never died for me.

For a moment I stood frozen with my hand on the door handle. I knew what was going to be on the other side this time. A fate worse than death, one might say. But Percy had given his life for me to live out mine, no matter how bad it might be under the thumb of the Capitol.

With Mags' warm hand on my shoulder, I greeted the applause.

X years later

The Capitol's sewers

I shoved Katniss to the ladder and ordered her to climb up. One of the mutts pulled me away from Katniss and back down into the icy water. Luckily my secret talent for underwater breathing came in clutch here. Being fully submerged gave me the extra bit of power to push my trident into the lizard and shove its dead body off of me.

When I reemerged I was immediately jumped by another mutt. I avoided its first attack only to be sliced from another one behind. It kept its claws in my right arm, to make me incapable of wielding my trident. The mutt at my front had free reign now to do whatever it wanted. I prepared myself for the claws to impale me, but instead it limped to the ground. Revealing Gale standing right behind it. I nodded my head at him in thanks. It had become a rare feeling to trust someone to have my back, but he sure proved himself worthy of it.

This moment's peace gave me the opportunity to inspect the situation around us. Katniss was still making her way up and the beasts were still outnumbering us easily. I caught a glimpse of blonde hair disappearing below the twisted bodies of two monsters. Peeta was struggling to keep the monsters at bay a few metres away from the rest. With a curse, I pushed my cramping legs to leap towards him, bodily slamming one mutt and stabbing at the other one. Peeta scrambled for a foothold and I pushed him towards the relative safety of the ladder as soon as he found one.

"Climb! Climb!"

I fended off two more mutts trying to prevent their prey from escaping, not caring in the least for their agonising cries. Gale and I ended up back to back keeping the monsters as far from the ladder as possible. If even I with my affinity for water was struggling in the sewage, then it must be even worse for the others. I had to get them all to safety first. "Your turn!" I ordered Gale, once Katniss had disappeared from sight.

With no time to protest, he started climbing the ladder after the others.

Another couple mutts emerged from the water. One of them got a hold of my leg, forcing me to stumble on one knee. Another pull.

Before I knew it, I was on my back and fully restrained. The round pothole exit was a far-off circle in my vision, the only thing bright enough to make out. Shadows danced across it.

They always say that in your last moments you see your life flashing before you. That didn't exactly happen. Time did slow down to grant me a moment to think about everything I would leave behind. I saw Annie in her wedding dress. Gods, Annie. At least I got my friends out. I got Katniss and Peeta away from these mutts.

The pain that I felt from the claws tearing into me was unbearable. Despite all the water around me, I felt weak. Was this what Percy and Mags felt before they died? Did they have to feel this excruciating pain before their last breath? I held onto the hope that maybe I would get to see them again in the underworld.

That death bite to my throat never came. Instead, my head was released and I was pushed to the ground. Not by claws this time, but human hands.

"Stay down!" a familiar voice shouted at me.

The ice cold water once again surrounded me, before a sudden wave of intense heat scorched away at the surface of the water. A bright light was visible even through my closed eyelids.

Once the heat dissipated, I once again reemerged from the mucky water. The large number of mutts which were previously clawing at me and my friends had been turned into ash. I was swiveled around by two firm hands on my shoulders.

Percy's face beamed up at me.

I blinked away the afterglow of the explosion. Through ringing ears, I could hear myself utter the question: "Am I … dead?"

Percy's expression changed to one of confusion. "No?"

THE END.