the tomb won't close // gc vs duo, day 3

My body felt heavy in the heat, unable to lift my arm without exhaustion. The air burning as I inhaled into my lungs, suffocating me under neath the burning sun. The shade of my skin darkening with each day, leaving a little red taint as the tan slowly turned into a burn. Tender to touch, it had made sleeping painful and when the nights lacked rest…the days only became worse. There was no point in continuing through the heat, my mouth growing dryer in desperate need for a drink.

All the years of career training, learning how to balance a weapon perfectly in your hand as it became an extension of who you are. The years spent in the air-conditioned training center with water readily available at any time. Not a second of it able to prepare my body for this arena, spoiled beyond compare for luxuries I was slowly growing more in need of.

When the sun had began to set, that is when we finally pushed ourselves up from the sand, scarf covering our faces to protect us from the heat. There was not all too much to say in the groggy state of mind, both of us knowing we needed to keep on moving. Flynn Garner had said the very thing our call the pervious day…a fact we all came to agree on.

As we marched on, sand began to sink into my heavy boots, shifting underneath my feet in a way that mimicked the way we sunk into the sand with every step. If we had to run, then I was not all to sure if Sera could keep up. I had years of practice running on the beaches of four, used to the instability around my ankles and grains blowing into my face as my body forced itself in the opposite direction of the wind.

The dunes never seemed to end.

Around every corner there would just be a new bunch, almost no way of telling if we had been walking in circles. Slowly the sun sets in a colorful show of orange and pink, ironically illuminating the sky against the monotone of the dunes. I had almost half-heartedly expected to see the various statues coming around the horizon, blending into the painting in the sky. Art in itself purest of forms, screaming in vibrant colors in the face of exhaustion and rage. Anger mixing with annoyance for it felt almost hopeless for a moment.

Until the sand offered up a promising new sight. Fingers crossed behind the gamemakers back as what I had hope for was a sign of water was in fact another palace of glass. No different than the one back home, whoever else would roam the halls would not have my best interest at heart. A lesson best learned quickly before someone else stabbed you in the back in a moment of weakness.

Sera stopped abruptly in front of me, my finger trailing along the glass walls as my hands remembered haunted memories. Déjà vu replaying the starry nights in four when I could not sleep, my voice bouncing off the walls announcing my presence. This time I was silent in the face of danger.

It was hard to see over Sera’s shoulder, I had stuck me head out from the side quickly straightening my spine after I caught a glimpse of Jupiter and the other girl from six. Sera automatically asking to avoid the fight when it was clear that it was unavoidable. My words from day one coming back to haunt me, it would not be the sand we would paint red. The walls were an empty canvas waiting to tell a story of pain and betrayal.

Betrayal on Sera’s part that is.

There was little backtalk after I had identified Carmen as our target. Just another snarky comment. “What, is he your boyfriend or something? Don’t want to hurt him?”. A stupid question that did not warrant an answer. Jupiter was everything Adam was not; it was almost as if I was looking into a mirror when I looked into his eyes. An understanding of who we were as we had talked in codes and played silly games whenever our paths had crossed. It was all harmless…until it would turn lethal.

“We’re wasting time. We need the upper hand.” I spoke just in time for the sand to blind us as it filled the paths of the glass labyrinth. Sera ha lit her weapon on fire, a beacon of light in a dark and dusty night. My hand stayed on the surface of the wall, slowly letting go until it was my weapon scratching along as I walked towards the flame…towards our target. An unbearable high-pitched tone joining the blinding light from the torch. Not leaving much between attacks, I swung right into the light just as the dust began to settle. The two of us left standing there in the dark, close enough to the other two.

My attention turned towards Jupiter with a sly smile on my face, finally making good on my promise. “I told you we’d paint the town red”.

[circe attacks carmen; glaive]
3KdqO03JCrglaive

[3.5]

The sun dips below the horizon, casting long, eerie shadows across the treacherous landscape. It is impossible to not be acutely aware that nightfall brings a different kind of terror; this theatre of disaster is now cloaked in darkness, making it become even more sinister. Every sound is an omen that something lurks in the distance, unafraid and unbothered by the breaths I threaten to breathe.

I look out and wonder if anybody really cares that I'm here. Stuck in this time trap, a name caught in a paradigm that pinballs its way around until it gets swallowed by the bottomless pit at the bottom. Six never made incredible people, it just made people; I'm a testament to that. Everything incredible that I've ever done has been false. I'm a savior in the sickest way and my prayers leak from my fingertips into the sky, filling in the blanks between the stars. There's no hope for a girl like me.

Who was I to dream?

Come morning, the world shifts. There's a reckless chaos that comes with stirring winds and a bite to the chill in it; Jupiter instructs my movements and I'd be a fool to do anything different. He's more prepared for this than I'll ever be, and whilst I'm fully aware that I'm not really a friend, not really a foe, just some kind of sentient meat shield to take the arrows for him, there's a security that comes with his brain leading the way. Everything is so well-paced and thought out: there's meaning to the madness, I mean, provided I don't mess it all up.

We ride through the storm until there's a thud. The swirling sands are replaced by shattered skyscrapers that hang in the air like diamonds that have lost their home. There's a fractured beauty to this place, but it is as dauntless as all the people that dare to step foot in it: illusion can never be trusted. Then two figures emerge murky and disfigure themselves into something more human: it's Circe and Seraphina, and for a moment, I think that things will be okay.

Illusion cannot be trusted, and perhaps that's all friendship is too. Familiarity does not seem to go very far in the context of the Hunger Games. When I look into Seraphina's eyes, I don't see any kind of resentment or violence. There's just this sort of emptiness, like she's been told she needs to get the job done. And I'm sorry for standing in her way, I suppose, because it's my skin that starts to plume with bruises when they both cast their weapons down on me. 

"I told you we'd paint the town red," Circe says.

"Fine. Red it is. First canvas." Jupiter combats her words with his own. I look between them and to Seraphina and wonder if this is all my mistake. If I'm the fool, I'm the fighting fool because I can't just let my life go.

"They won't forgive you for this. Trying to kill one of your own. Who raised you?" I ask her, fingers dancing at the handle of my knife. I don't like this situation at all and whilst I have killed before, that was peaceful, serene and this is anything but. "I'm silly for thinking there are unwritten rules to this game. Kindness. What is that anyway? What is kindness when there's a crown?"

I bite my lip and draw blood. My heart races around my body and its course is impossible to stop, but I catch it in my teeth and spit it out on the floor. This was supposed to be the best year of my life; I'd allowed myself a second chance and this is the hand I am dealt.

I so desperately want to be safe.

“First canvas”

With the flick of his wrist, the knife leaves his hand and becomes an extension, chain keeping him forever attached to the flying weapon. With elegance it buries itself in Sera’s body. It was not long until the blood had begun to pour from both girl from six. Dripping against the floor, smudging as one of us left our footprint behind.


“Not your canvas to paint”


Jupiter and I striking down at the girl’s unfortunate enough to get wrapped up in our game. It was not their fight, but there they stood striking at each other at our command. A proxy war between the two of us as tension began to rise. For a split second it broke as Jupiter jumped to Carmen’s side. Something that had shocked me for a split second, demonstrating he had feelings to spare for the girl. A mistake. He should know better. She had to die anyway, there was no point of getting wrapped up in sentiments.


I would be lying if I could not care less about Sera, but that was not for anyone to know…especially not Sera. Her wounds were not an easy sight to see, she was dying for someone who not take a single scratch for…but it was not personal. I wouldn’t take a bullet for own siblings. If it came down to it, I would not hesitate to pull the trigger on them.


The heat from Sera’s flaming torch causing for the air in the labyrinth to grow thick, shining bright in our faces. Whenever it passed, even just for a moment, there was a moment of temporarily blindness as I stared into the bright flame. I took a step back, hoping to get a better look of the situation. A fleeting moment in an ever-moving fight. Sera’s weapon, still in flames, striking again against Carmen’s skin once more. There was strength behind her attacks, the same kind she presented against the mutts.


The two of them shouting at each other over harsh winds, the flames dancing on Carmen’s clothes and her skin. Their voices not carried far for the coming and going of the sand stole their voices. They were puppets, Jupiter and I held the strings. Watching them dance to our siren songs with blood hungry eyes. I smiled, adamant he would understand the joke. Carmen could blame Sera all she wanted, curse her out for her actions. In the end, she was no better, even when she obviously did not want to acknowledge it.


I had stepped up to Sera’s side, I would not die for her, but I would not let her go out without a fighting chance. No one ever deserved anything in life, but a few deserved a dignified death. A gloating expression grew on my face as Sera spoke words as fiery as her weapon. A moment of impression. The night before I had accused her of not understanding how it all worked, but today she proved me otherwise. There was an ugly stab of reality cloaking her words. The truth may hurt but if you were not afraid of it, it could become a powerful weapon.


One even I was not sure how to wield, for truthful people were a scarce find. A rare treasure, for even when found it was hard to see them for what they were.


Truth only ever got you so far.


“Don’t bother with her” I sneered in Carmen’s direction. “Righteousness is for sore losers.”


My voice echoed off the walls, ringing for seconds after I spoke. The sound of my footstep followed as I lunged at Carmen again.

[circe attacks carmen; glaive]
g2qiVLnonbglaive

[Miss ]


Accuracy

glaive

[9.0 +1 blades]

k bye for now.