Day Nine of the Arena
July 11th, 2427
Brizio Nardolillo, 18
Torrential winds and bitterly cold rain batter against the sides of Brizio's face.
He clings tightly to the mast of a small, wooden boat that he and Tancred tossed together on the beach that Brizio used to train on.
The storm threatens to rip Brizio away from the mast and into the swirling ocean where he will be swallowed up by the waves.
But none of that matters because he's not alone. Tancred sits beside him on the raft, and Brizio finds himself smiling down at his brother. Tancred smiles back.
They are smiling because they are free at last.
They are free to go wherever they choose; not even restricted by the borders of Panem. So the torrent of wind and rain, and the flashing lightning ahead don't matter.
The wetness of the rain on Brizio's skin suddenly transforms into an inferno of heat.
His eyes shoot open, and he pushes himself off the floor, violently coughing as the smoke swarms his lungs.
The memories come flooding back - they were chasing Ozias into the Cornucopia. Then that lunatic accidentally triggered some kind of trap, and suddenly there was fire everywhere.
He must have passed out for a few seconds by inhaling too much smoke.
His dream seemed to last for a lifetime…
(If only it could have lasted longer.)
He glances around at the sight of flames consuming the entire factory.
He sees fire. Everywhere.
Brizio staggers away from the flames and through the corridor, barely able to see or breathe due to the thick, black smoke.
He's not exactly sure if the corridor is taking him further in or out; he hopes further out. But as long as it's in the opposite direction of the fire that's all that matters.
Keep going. For Tancred. So we can be free.
It's not over while his heart is still beating.
One of the supporting beams collapses from the heat, forcing him to cover his head as part of the corridor crumbles over him. Yet, somehow, he stays on his feet.
At this point, he's only breathing smoke, and covering his nose and mouth is doing little to help.
Keep going.
But just as it seems he's about to pass out again; probably for the last time, that he crashes through a door, before tripping onto the rubble just outside of the factory.
He's breathing air again. It's not the pleasant, refreshing sea air he's used to back in Four, but it's air nonetheless.
Gosh, what he'd give to take one last lungful of that beautiful ocean air on a bright sunny day on the beach.
Brizio hauls himself back to his feet, still coughing. He's alive.
He limps onward into the night, leaving the dazing blaze of the burning factory behind him.
The smoke pursues Brizio through the empty town like a dark show trying to snatch him back into the fire, but he ignores it and faces forward. Only forward.
Another cannon fires overhead - one less contract to have to fulfill.
As Brizio soldiers on, the familiar sensation of being alone begins to spread through his veins. He's not sure if the cannon back there was for Geneve or Ozias or someone else. All he knows is he's alone now, and he will be until the end of the Games.
The Careers are gone. Emery is gone. They're all gone. But Tancred is still out there, and he's all that matters now. He's all that ever mattered. Brizio won't fail him.
Suddenly, there are faint footsteps on the rubble. Maybe he's not as alone as he thought, but whoever is there is no ally of his - he knows that immediately.
He reaches for one of his knives. If he can't see them in the dark then they can't see him either.
He must be quick.
Ozias Califera, 18
BOOM
Ozias breathes a sigh of relief at the One Girl's cannon.
She thought she could get in the way of his destiny; she was just another hurdle, just like the many thousands Ozias has already overcome.
Now, the most important question of all - where did he drop the last cylinder of medicine? He has to get to it before the boy from Four does - if he's still around.
Ozias rushes to the first staircase that he comes across and descends two flights. He then traces his path back to the corridor where he got into that skirmish with the One Girl and she knocked the medicine out of his hand.
Once he has his hands on it, nothing will get in his way; he will be unstoppable.
The Gamemakers must be pulling their hair out right now; if they want him dead, they'll have to do it themselves.
At last, as he turns the final corridor, he spots it lying on the floor just where the One Girl kicked it away.
Exactly where I left it.
But then, his heart sinks like a ship through the ocean - there is someone else there. It's not the Four Boy either. It's the boy from Nine, Chaney, if Ozias remembers correctly.
Chaney - the boy who melted half his face off.
Ozias traces the burnt flesh on the left side of his face. He promised to kill the boy's allies in front of him. He hasn't forgotten that promise.
Both boys freeze in the corridor as their gaze locks on each other. They both know that destiny has been decided at this very moment.
Then, Chaney's eyes drift down to the cylinder of medicine which is caught roughly a meter in between both of them.
Chaney's eyes meet Ozias again, and Ozias knows at that moment that the Nine Boy has figured it out - that the cylinder of medicine is Ozias's last hope.
Everything comes down to this.
Simultaneously, both tributes leap at the cylinder, but Chaney is slightly faster, and he snatches it up with a thief's hands.
Ozias immediately tackles Nine to the floor and swipes the boy's jaw with his fist, snapping his head to the side. Chaney spits out blood and responds equally by smashing his right knuckles across Ozias's jaw.
Chaney then places his foot against Ozias's chest and kicks him away.
The boys clamber to their feet, facing each other again.
Chaney holds a pocket knife up to his opponent, gritting his teeth, his eyes seething. "You threatened her…you threatened them!"
"I'll do worse unless you hand over that cylinder," Ozias snarls.
Chaney inspects the object in his hand. "What's in it?" He teases with a smirk. "It's gotta be important."
He knows exactly what's in it - Ozias thinks. He's taunting me!
The unmelted part of Ozias's face turns red with rage.
Chaney tosses the precious medicine behind him. He drops his smirk and narrows his eyes at Ozias. "You threatened them!" He repeats.
The Nine Boy fancies his chances and charges at Ozias.
Ozias may be unarmed but he's overcome worse odds. It's all or nothing now - if he doesn't get that medicine then he's dead.
Chaney thrusts his knife at his rival's chest.
But Ozias is ready; he's got into many scraps in the back alleys of Ten before, often against worse odds than this. They usually go for the chest, it's a large target, after all.
Ozias pivots his feet around, catching Chaney's knife hand as he does it.
The two young men then get into a struggle, both landing punches, elbows, and knees and desperately wrestling for control of the knife. Eventually, Ozias begins to twist Nine's wrist until it turns red. He seizes the opportunity and smashes Chaney's hand against the wall, knocking the knife from his hand.
Chaney immediately scrambles for the cylinder of medicine. He scoops it up in his hands and makes a beeline for the end of the corridor to the platforms that overlook the burning Cornucopia.
"No!" Ozias screams, charging after the thief.
He tackles Chaney to the floor again, but the impact causes the medicine to bounce off the edge of the platform.
Ozias agonizingly sticks his hand out to his only chance of living, but luckily it lands on a platform a few meters down and not in the consuming inferno.
Chaney plants another kick on the bridge of Ozias's nose, which forces him off once again.
Ozias holds his bleeding nose, cursing the boy.
But then, his day gets even worse. He didn't think that was possible, but apparently, it is.
Chaney's allies are standing just ahead. The girl, Briar, stares at Ozias fiercely. She grips a katana tightly in her hand, which Ozias is sure she won't hesitate to use if he lays a finger on her district partner.
Her eyes give it away - Chaney is precious to her.
Ozias grins. Maybe this isn't so bad. This is the perfect opportunity for him to fulfill his promise and get his revenge.
Destiny is falling into place.
Briar Bacardi, 17
Briar is shaken out of her dream state by a panicked Reese. "Briar! Wake up!"
She instantly knows something is wrong. Something is missing… no - someone. She felt something was horribly wrong as she slept.
When she checks where Chaney was lying only hours before her worst fears are confirmed.
"How long has he been gone?" She blurts.
"Not long! I-I was still half asleep when I saw him at the end of the street. If we're fast we can catch him!"
Briar and Reese scramble to pick up the first weapons they can find - in Briar's case it's her trusty katana. However, Reese only has time to grab his bag and a shield that he got from the feast.
The Eleven Boy directs them to where he saw Chaney going.
As they trace their way through the darkness of night, a hurricane of thoughts spins in Briar's mind. The thoughts come and go so fast that she can't pinpoint them, but the most common one is Why?
Chaney is impulsive at the best of times, sure. But he wouldn't leave them unless he had a good reason, not after the day they had together; the most important day of their lives.
(It was so blissful.)
(So perfect.)
Then she remembers what Chaney was saying earlier about "making everything right." Something was troubling him deep down. Why didn't he just talk to Briar? They could have figured it out together like they always do.
As she runs across the gravel street, Briar takes a quick glimpse of the black, ornate wedding ring on her finger - the one that Chaney stole for her what seems like a lifetime ago.
Chaney's silly face and voice from that day flash in her mind - "I snagged this from the safe of the mayor's house yesterday," he said with his goofy, infectious smile that lit up her heart. Then he turned his eyes back to her and he flipped the ring into her hands.
You come back to me, now.
Briar's heart starts careening in her chest when she spots Chaney's outline amongst the silhouettes of houses.
"There!" She points.
She sprints at full speed in the direction of her husband, leaving Reese in the dust.
But she's just not fast enough to catch up to him before he enters the backdoor of the factory that surrounds the Cornucopia.
Briar reaches the same door in a heartbeat, not even checking behind her to see if Reese is still there. He has to be.
The entire complex seems to be locked in a void of silence as she searches for her lover.
"Why am I always having to rescue him from creepy, dark buildings," She murmurs to herself. She will rescue him. It's just another rescue.
She'll rescue him from whatever confused state of mind led him into this place, just like how they both rescued each other when they first met on that fateful afternoon in District Nine.
As she makes her way through the dark, damp corridors and staircases, the device in her pocket begins to click louder and more aggressively.
Then, she's sure she sees something even more worrying - smoke spreading through the complex, and obscuring her vision of the corridor.
It doesn't matter. She'd fight through an army of Peacekeepers to get to Chaney. Nothing will stop her.
"Briar!"
The Nine Girl practically leaps out of her skin. She spins around, raising her katana, but she immediately relaxes - It's only Reese.
"Sorry," The Eleven Boy whispers. He lets out a cough. "Do you smell smoke?"
Briar doesn't answer and continues marching on. Where is that idiot?
The duo arrives at the end of the corridor where they are dazzled by a blinding glow of light.
When the corridor ends, they step out onto the metal gratings that overlook the Cornucopia, and get their answer to what's causing the glow and the smoke - a fire has begun to spread at the bottom level around the Cornucopia.
More importantly, Briar gets her answer to where Chaney is. She spots him fighting with another boy on a platform opposite them. The boy he's fighting looks to be that tall… Murderer from Fourteen with the long black hair - the one missing half of his face.
"I see him!" Briar yells, not even waiting for Reese to answer before she races in their direction, holding her katana firmly.
She circles around the growing pit of fire and swings down to the platform that Chaney and Ozias are fighting on.
She arrives at the scene of the battle in the nick of time, just after Chaney lands a kick from the floor on Ozias's nose.
"Chaney!" She gasps.
When Chaney sees her, his bruised face drops. "Briar… no!" He gasps back.
She narrows her eyes at Ozias, giving him a death stare, and he narrows his remaining eye back at her.
Chaney de Kuyper, 17
His worst fears are coming true before his very eyes. He tried so desperately to stop it.
It's because of him. He led them down into this pit of hell.
The self-fulfilling prophecy is coming true.
"No!" Chaney yells.
He's going to stop it. He's going to stop Ozias.
Upon seeing Briar, the Fourteen Boy backs away, realizing that he's at a disadvantage without a weapon. He turns his attention to the last cylinder of medicine which lies on the platform below them.
Briar kneels down beside Chaney and holds his face. "You idiot! What are you doing?" She questions as they share a quick kiss.
"He was gonna hurt you. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. We're together now. That's all that matters. Together or not at all," Briar affirms.
The couple have been dragged from their blissful marriage and thrown back into the reality of the Games. They will have had to fight and kill again eventually, it was only a matter of time.
(What happens if they are the last two?)
(Chaney cannot even think about that.)
"We need to get outta here," Briar says, looking out at the growing fire around them.
"The medicine… we have to get it." Chaney points at the cylinder. "He's gonna kill you."
It's not too late to fix this.
After Chaney says this, Reese charges at Ozias and slams him with his shield - a fire seems to have been awoken in their ally.
Reese strikes Ozias five more times with his shield before the larger boy is able to overpower the smaller boy and knock him away with a vicious elbow to the temple.
The blow splits the cut on Reese's forehead open again and he falls to the ground. Blood streams down his face.
Briar leaps to Reese's defence and swings at the Fourteen Boy with her katana forcing him to retreat down to the level below them - where the last medicine still lies.
From there, a snowball effect of horror continues to transpire faster than Chaney can think.
The fire spreads overhead, and the smoke starts to smother Chaney's vision.
Then, Ozias finds his falcata sword on the platform below. Suddenly the killer is rearmed and facing Briar and Reese with bloodthirsty eyes.
The tables are turning in Ozias's favour.
Chaney knows he's hellbent on avenging his face. He's hellbent on making Chaney suffer; so much so that he appears to have momentarily forgotten about the medicine lying freely behind him.
That has to be the key.
As Briar's and Ozias's blades clash, Chaney throws himself at the medicine and clasps it securely.
As long as he has the medicine, he has leverage.
Ozias soon catches wind of what is happening and hastily breaks away from his fight with Briar and turns his attention back to Chaney.
Fourteen slashes down at Chaney's throat, attempting to put an end to the threat once and for all.
Chaney steps back, avoiding the blade. But Ozias doesn't stop. He keeps the pressure on like an unstoppable tide and closes the distance between them again.
"I'm coming babe! Just hold on!" Briar's voice echoes from behind Ozias.
She is moving as fast as she possibly can, but still, it seems like she is frozen in time.
(Chaney is out of time.)
He tussles with Ozias for control of the medicine, even landing a headbutt on the other boy.
But then he feels the unmistakable stone-cold metal of Ozias's blade across his torso.
He gasps, holding his body and inhaling for air, but finding almost none before falling down onto one knee.
He removes his hand from the wound to find blood already staining it.
(He's out of time.)
His eyes meet Briar's. When she catches sight of his blood she cries his name at the top of her lungs. "Chaney!"
She launches a frenzied attack on Ozias, uncontrollably swinging at the boy with her katana. Chaney has never seen that unbridled fury from her; it's so fierce that it even strikes fear into his own heart.
Ozias attempts to shield himself by raising his blade, but the endless strikes from Briar's weapon knock his sword out of his hand and into the pit of fire below.
But, at the moment, the snowball keeps growing.
The gratings above finally give into the fire and come tumbling down on the fighting tributes.
Chaney and Ozias manage to roll out of the way, however, Briar and Reese aren't so lucky and soon find themselves trapped under several layers of metal.
"I can't breathe!" Reese yelps from underneath the rubble.
Chaney remains stuck on his knees, holding his injury. His head is sunken in defeat.
Meanwhile, Ozias gets back to his feet with a victorious grin etched on his face. He retrieves Briar's katana from the floor, which she dropped during the chaos, and then picks up the last medicine before he turns his gaze to Chaney's trapped allies. "I told you I would kill them in front of you," he says. Then, Ozias looks between his vanquished foes. "None of you have what it takes to be the Victor because none of you have what it takes to change the world. That's why I was chosen. This is my destiny, and you can't stop destiny."
It's all come true.
But then, a glimmer of hope sparks in Chaney's mind and it becomes clear for the first time in the fight. One last plan begins to take shape.
You can't stop destiny.
"Unless…" Chaney groans.
That's exactly what he's going to do.
There is one way. He can put an end to Ozias for good. They are on the bottom platform so the fall might not destroy the medicine but the fire sure as hell will.
It's the only way.
"Briar…" he gargles, blood dripping from his mouth.
His wife is still fighting her way through the rubble.
"I love you," he manages.
"No! We can still get outta here. Just hold on!" She exclaims.
"I love you."
Chaney squeezes his eyes shut and summons up the last of his strength. He throws himself at Ozias, catching the boy off guard as they enter into their final tussle.
Chaney faints a grab for the katana to make Ozias think that it's his target, and while they fight for control of the sword, Chaney deploys his thieving skills and slips the cylinder of medicine into his hand.
Ozias throws Chaney aside, smiling as he keeps the katana firmly in his hands. "You can't stop it. You can only watch," he tells him, turning back to his trapped allies.
Chaney wastes no time. He unscrews the top of the cylinder and empires the vial of anti-rads into his palm.
Then, he holds it out over the depths of the burning pit. "H-hey melty-face," he groans. "F-forgetting something?"
Ozias spins around, and dread descends over his face.
He steps closer to Chaney and holds his katana out to his chest.
In response, Chaney loosens his grip on the vial of medicine.
"Don't!" Ozias pleads, his voice going from triumphant to desperate in a heartbeat. "Please."
Chaney's vision is blurry by this point, but he focuses on Briar's face because that's all that matters.
He knows there's only one way that Ozias will stop. He knows there's only one way to save them.
"I love you," he mouths to Briar again.
"Chaney!" She howls.
He releases the vial from his hand and it tumbles to the flames below.
"No!" Ozias screams. Pure fear and terror engulf his face.
Ozias immediately but pointlessly thrusts the katana into Chaney's heart, but it is too late. He has lost.
Chaney grabs onto his foe and locks him in a place like a vice. He then closes his eyes and lets himself fall backward into the heat, taking Ozias with him.
Both of them know that it is over.
Chaney won.
He stopped fate.
Chaney opens his eyes and finds himself back in District Nine, behind the wheel of his car. He's singing his merry tune after a successful day's work.
It's a bright sunny day. The rays of the sun shine against the tarmac, buildings, and windows of the town, giving them a gentle, warm orange hue.
Chaney turns into a main street where the source of the light seems to be coming from.
On his right, he spots a girl leaning against an apartment block with a cigarette in her hands. She has dirty blond hair, is of average height, and is the same age as Chaney.
She is the most beautiful person he has ever seen.
Chaney hops out of the car and waves his hand. "Hey miss."
The girl glances over to him.
"I gotta a bit of a problem over here. Could you please take a look at my car? I think there's something wrong with the engine."
Briar examines the car, then steps closer to Chaney and faces him. Tears glisten on her cheeks.
Chaney furrows his brow. "What's the matter?"
"Are you going somewhere?" Briar asks.
Chaney looks down the street towards the light. "I-I think so." He turns back to the sobbing girl. "But I'm scared now… I-I don't know what's on the other side."
"Whatever's on the other side… it's not scary… not if we're together," Briar says.
"But you're safe now… I stopped him."
"But there's no future, not without you… there's nothing without you."
Chaney takes his wife by the hands and gives her a smile. "It's like you said on the train. That future was already gone. All we ever had was now."
Briar nods solemnly and squeezes her husband's hands. "I'll come find you. Don't you go anywhere."
Chaney pulls her into a hug that could last forever. "I love you."
They will be together again.
Reese Haricot, 15
It took them a while to crawl their way out of the rubble.
Briar races down to the bottom level through the smoke and fire. She collapses to her knees at Chaney's motionless body, holding his face. "Chaney! Don't you dare. Don't you dare! She begs.
It is already too late. Chaney is gone.
It takes a lot of effort for Reese to drag Briar away from Chaney and out of the burning building, but somehow, he does it. He's not about to give up on her.
(And if Briar dies too then Reese is alone.)
(He can't be alone.)
Eventually, they collapse down on a pile of tar-black soot. Reese only just avoids passing out from pure exhaustion.
The fire cackles and whispers behind them.
Briar's tear-filled eyes are replaced by a void.
The once lovestruck girl stares at the knife in her hand, flipping it up and down. Not once does she blink.
The blood and tears on Reese's face have become mixed together so that he can no longer tell the difference; a concoction of pain and despair - that's all this place is. He wipes the confused, red mixture from his face, which takes longer than he would have expected.
Then, the boy reaches into his pocket to find Briar's, black wedding ring, which he found under the rubble after Chaney fell.
He places the ring next to where Briar is sitting and simply mutters "I'm sorry."
Briar's hand finds the ring. She stares at it in agony for a few seconds before throwing it down, tearing at her hair, and screaming a deafening scream.
More hours of painful silence pass. The only thing that breaks the silence is the music of The Capitol national anthem.
The death of the One Girl is announced, followed by Chaney - his goofy smile lights up the night sky.
Briar doesn't look up; Reese knows she can't.
In the past, Reese always held out a hope that his dad would return; there was always that hope.
But this is different. Chaney is never coming back. There are no words of hope that he can offer Briar.
So instead, he just sits with her, because that's all he can do.
Eventually, Reese breaks the silence. "Ozias… his face wasn't in the sky… he must have survived."
"Not for much longer," Briar states. She virulently eyes up her knife. "I don't care about winning anymore… I'm gonna hunt that monster down if it's the last thing I do. It's up to you if you wanna join me."
Briar's fury spreads into her ally. He closes his fists as he remembers Chaney; his constant one-liners and quips would breathe life into the most hopeless day. He remembers the time they hung out together on the Free Day, and Chaney gave him his token to spend.
"Yeah… I'm in," Reese agrees.
Sorry if I broke anyone's heart with this chapter. 3 games chapters left :00
Deaths
8th: Chaney de Kuyper: Killed by Ozias Califera - Stabbed through the heart. Omg I can't even believe I'm writing that name out on the eulogy. Anyone that's read any of my previous stories will know I find it hard to kill rb tributes. Words can't describe how much I loved this guy. He was practically hand-made for me with his goofiness, confidence, and charm. I tried to have him make it further but I couldn't find a way for the narrative to let me. I'm gonna miss him so much, my life's not gonna be the same without him. I'm also sad cos like this is the last rb kid I'm writing after all these years (I still have Conrad but I mean last in terms of hunger games). Thank you for Chaney and all your other subs. I love them all.
Kill counter:
Geneve: 2
Romulus: 2
Aida: 1
Ren: 4
Chaney: 1
Auren: 1
Jokull: 4
Ozias: 4
Emery: 1
Zora: 1
Alizka: 1
Brizio: 1