the lion, the devil, the wardrobe | isaac, day 7.

Ellis left and now Isaac is alone again. The silence is a lot, but he can at the very least, feel some sort of way. After all, he was still here, alive, and Ellis made sure of that. Sure, another boy had to die for that to happen, but Isaac was no stranger to death. It just came with the territory. The pink sand was nothing interesting anymore, and soon enough, the color had dissipated and the whole wall came down.

It was now night time, and cannons had been going off throughout the day. Seven were counted, a bloody day, but not as bloody as the 79th, or even the 75th. He spent a good time just trying to keep himself out of view from other tributes. However, he had a feeling that if he was trying to lay low, so were others. Seven cannons was nothing to bat an eye at. That meant that people were hurt, almost killed, just like he almost was for the second day in a row.

Time passed and before he knew it, all he saw was black.

---

The anthem playing in the distance was enough to wake him up. His eyes darted around as he found himself in an awkward position. He sat up and decided to look up and see what the whole day did entail? Were his allies still here? Who was still left. The faces flashed in the sky, and as the girl from twelve appeared in the sky, Isaac wondered what Ellis was thinking in this moment.

Then Sven, whose scent still lingered in Isaac's nose even though he was nowhere near the charred body. The boy from eight was next, then the career from two...

Then Bowie's face appeared in the sky.

Isaac sighed to himself, wondering what exactly happened to the boy with a sharp tongue and an ability to captivate someone with a rope. Isaac was certain that he would have seen him again at some point in the games, even if they werent revolving in the same areas. After all, Bowie had strong will. He reminded Isaac of a Le Roux. He would have fit right in.

And then Izzy's portrait appeared next. Isaac had to look away.

He was now alone, outliving both of his allies. He knew that Izzy probably felt freed from all of this. That didnt mean the taste was any less sour.

He didnt even get to say goodbye.

Parker appearing in the sky next meant that was seven, and for once, he could at least feel some sort of revenge exacted. Whoever killed her, they mustve been a cut above the rest. Isaac had a feeling that would definitely skew the perception of the tributes in the arena.

---

He couldnt sleep, so that meant it was time to move around. Isaac was still in pain, but he could at least move enough to climb into his mech and move some controls. The sound of the computers whirling around him had put him at ease, though he still didnt feel as confident as he wanted to. Isaac had come close to dying twice after all, but each time, he had found a way to overcome and conquer.

He was a lot stronger than he thought of himself.

He walked through the tunnels that led to the oasis and thought about just how peaceful it was. It would be a good place to hide anyway, Isaac knew that much. Being separated from everyone else would give him enough time to at least heal up. He knew he was going to need as much energy as he could muster in order to make it out of here. Now he was closer than ever, and he was determined now to make it out, even if that meant he was going to have to live with the fact that his father was right. That his training really was enough to get him through the games.

Bile spewed from his throat for a moment at the thought, but he choked it back down. This was not the time for dramatics anyway.

The moment he heard the calming waters of the oasis, Isaac removed himself from his mech and took a couple steps forward. He still couldnt stop thinking about Kareem and just how much he did miss him. He wouldnt admit that to anyone if they asked of course, but that did not mean that Isaac didnt have feelings. He just knew showing them would be weakness. Showing weakness was never accepted in the house Le Roux, but funny enough, it was exactly how Ridley won her games. Being vulnerable.

Maybe that was the key.

He walked forward a little more until his body decided it was time to give out.

---

When he woke up, he found a pile of dreamspores in front of him. Isaac knew that they could cause hallucinations, but that they also had medicinal properties. He decided to consume one, trying to gauge if he felt any better after. However, a couple minutes passed and his vision had went black again.

When he woke up again, his body felt lighter. He sat up quickly, his cuts and bruises all disappeared from his skin. When he opened his eyes, his vision was distorted for a moment, clearly knowing that the dream spores were affecting him in some sort of way. However, even more surprises were in store for Isaac as he realized that one Hades Lochlan was standing in front of him. Isaac still had his knife in his hand, but Isaac could tell that this was not the real thing. There would be no way any Gamemaker would risk something like this.

Isaac sat at attention as he listened to Hades talk a mile a minute. He told Isaac that he had always known he would make it far in the arena, and that they want to push him into the finale.

Isaac wasnt sure if he really trusted that statement, seeing as it didnt sound that easy. He didnt want anything handed to him anyway. It would have been insulting to the integrity of the games after all. However, isaac could respect the fact that they probably wanted a show, and maybe they thought that Isaac could do exactly that. Give the capitol something to really root for.

Hades quickly moves on, telling him that the last tribute they gassed up got a little too cocky, and now, Isaac apparently had a solid following behind him in the capitol. Isaac continued to sit there and listen, not really sure of what to make of any of this, but Hades kept going. There was a bag hidden somewhere for him to fine, and then someone for him to kill easily.

None of it made sense to him. However, this could have been all in his head. It felt so real though that he was not sure what to believe. He paused for a moment before trying to open his mouth. Hades though did not let him have a chance to rebuttle, simply turning around and telling him that he would of course, have to survive whatever battle was ahead of him.

Isaac was determined to do so.

The hologram disappeared, but into scenery that was not reminiscent of the oasis that Isaac had once enjoyed. The area had seemed a lot more grey and dark. Mud and dirt encompassing most of the field. This was not the paradise he had enjoyed a couple days ago.

This was completely different.

He started to follow in the direction of the hologram, a couple steps in, the ground started to twist and turn in his eyes. Isaac kept going though, not even batting an eye at the clear transformation of the earth in front of him. Before he could go any further, he bumped into a large brown object. He looked up for a moment, realizing that this thing had eyes. It pushed Isaac back, which in turn caused Isaac to pull out his knife and get ready for anything. It opened its mouth, and murmured his name, and Isaac was confused, but also tripped out at the same time.

This wasnt a good sign and he knew it.

The creature swiped at him, its claws hitting his stomach, a new and fresh wound now there. "Fuck." Isaac said before retreating back to where he had left his mech. He hopped into the suit and engaged it to get ready for a fight. However, the being followed, and once enough light had hit it, Isaac realized that it kind of looked like it was morphing in front of him. The sound coming from it sort of sounded like a mix of both Isabella and Parker. Once it was fully in the light, Isaac saw the face of Izzy, and he couldnt help the shock as it set in.

"Izzy? What are you doing here?" Isaac realized that this could have been a trap, "Why are you doing this?" Isaac was not sure what the gamemakers were planning here, but if they really did want him to be their champion, then he was going to have to figure something out. The dreamspores were powerful, and now Isaac knew that more than ever.

Because now he had to fire on someone that he cared about.

Maybe it was all just a little too much. Seeing Izzy even in this moment, was horrifying. She had died the day before, and Isaac had seen her face in the sky. However it looked so real, so much so that Isaac did a double take. Isaiah did not prepare him for a mutt like this. In fact, he wasnt sure how to continue. "I dont understand Izzy. Whatever you were afraid of by those things did not get you." Isaac was soft in his expression, but also completely distracted. He heard the impact of the knife, and within a blink of an eye, he saw Izzy completely cut in half. However, she was still talking.

She ended up piecing herself back together. "Im sorry I couldnt have been there to help you through it Izzy..." Isaac stood back for a moment, his mind rushing as fast as he could run. None of this made sense, not one bit, but he was here, and he had a feeling that the GM's were watching him. They told him that he could clearly win this whole thing, they just needed him to keep living up to their expectations.

But killing Izzy again?

That was not something that he was sure he could do. "Thats the thing though Izzy. We are human, and these were just extensions of ourselves." Isaac thought about the words as they left his mouth. He was confused. "Maybe I just think differently, after all, you always had your head in the clouds." Isaac had known all too well that Izzy thought about everything differently. "Its why you were so special."

It hurt for that to leave his mouth, but it was true. After Kareem died, Izzy was someone that Isaac was a little more attached too. Days passed and he was able to hang on because of her. He is still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he is the only one out of his alliance to last this long. He knew that only one fo them could win, but he always thought they had just a little more fight in them.

Turns out he was wrong.

"I hate to admit it, but I miss you Izzy." he is honest because that is all he knows how to be. He blinks his eyes a couple times trying to focus on her face one more time, but after moments passed, he was shocked to see the face of Parker now.

"Parker Lachlan?" Isaac is stern in his words, and honestly, quite distraught at the thought of seeing her. However this would be the chance for him to get exactly what he wanted. "The snake lives one more day." He is even more certain the gamemakers are toying with him.

Of course they would.

because they knew exactly how resilient a Le Roux really was.