Lost in the labyrinth of my mind [Artemis v Jupiter v Lucia]

l u c i a valentine .

Not everyone makes it out of the maze.

Some people find swords lined with ivy, others find crowns sparkling with golden stars. It doesn't matter how lucky a person is, how much tenacity they have in their fight for survival. Only a day ago, Lucia would have told you that nothing could stand between her and the desire to go home. Now, all she can see is glass walls, a fracture of reflections peering at her with pity in their eyes. Her eyes. None of them show anything other than herself.

The feeling of defeat runs deep.

Sylvia never comes back, and eventually, Lucia loses track of Nori and Vera, too. Blame it on the lights, the weather, the sounds, or maybe she still has reason for being here. The first few hours are the worst. Even if her wounds have started to scab over, even if the adrenaline has reduced the ache of her broken bones to a dull throb, it's hard not to feel like everything is falling apart. Like an arm cleaved from the socket, fingers twitching in the dirt. No, she's not losing her mind, but her conviction starts to fray.

Her honest mistake leads her alliance into chaos, and her first attack starts a chain event of reactions that results in an innocent girl's death. This is the way of the Games, she knows, but this feels differently than standing in place and watching people blow up in front of you. This time, she had her finger around the trigger, and she squeezed more than once. She's culpable, on all fronts, and she hates that she can't seem to get it together.

Part of her wonders if Nori and Vera wanted to be free of her, if they made a separate pact and agreed to go their own way. She knows this isn't true, she knows the labyrinth is meant to confuse them and lead them astray, but she keeps looking for reason where there is none. The truth is: she is alone, and the only person she can truly save is herself. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise, forcing her into the position to act. She inhales, gathering her resources and her dignity and arming herself, and she exhales.

She finds clarity as she travels alone, no longer stressing over the lives of three people, and now focusing only on herself. The goal is to escape, to make it out and find her friends, and she holds on to that more than the despair. As the arena cools, she makes her way through the twisting pathways, certain that she's already traveled this way before. She doesn't allow herself to panic, grip tight around the hilt of her weapon.

Like a memory, she comes face-to-face with another tribute. This time, she holds her strike, giving the stranger time to speak. But she watches as his own hand tightens around his blade, chain wrapped around his forearm menacingly. His eyes have made his decision before Lucia can even process what's happening. She goes to lift her glaive, to use the shaft to defend herself, but in the span of a single breath all Hell breaks loose.

From the shadows, another tribute makes her ambush, slashing at both Lucia and the boy as they both attempt to scramble away. Her heart races, drumming inside her mind, and she catches her footing before she can fall to her knees. "Two of us are dying here," Jupiter states, and she hates that she knows this is the most likely option. Two careers and a lost girl. The odds never seem fair. "I'm going to make sure it's both of you."

No time to counter, Lucia takes the brunt of the boy's attack, gasping in pain as she recoils backwards. She clutches the wound, one hand still holding onto her weapon like a lifeline. "You'll need to hit harder than that," she spits blood, teeth gritted and eyes hard like diamonds. This time, she's not the one firing the first shot, so her heart doesn't ache quite as much as she positions herself to attack. "Both of you."

If bulldozing through them is the only way to freedom, then her choice is made.

l u c i a valentine .

Maybe it's fitting that her end will find her in the maze.

After all, this is where it's all started to fall apart. Seeing things, losing track of her allies, stumbling into a dog fight she can't keep up with. It feels as if she's being torn into two parts, trapped in the jaws of both her attackers, biting away at her until little remains. Just a glimmer of resistance, the light of terror in her eyes, all her bravery reduced to a thin line across her lips.

She will not beg them for her life, and she has no more smack talk to offer. Just because she's a loser does not mean she's a fool. The odds are stacked impossibly high, and even just stepping forward makes her heart feel like it's being constricted inside her rib cage. Her broken bones remind her that she is already ruined, hot blood rushing across her skin as the last of her adrenaline reserves work to keep her alive.

Let it be known: she does not want to go.

She does not regret running after the mirage of her twin, and she tries to forgive herself for getting lost. As hard as she could, she stayed true to her alliance, and she's done everything in her power to keep going. But what is a girl to do when she runs face first into a glass wall? There's no more running. It reminds her of watching the livestream of the 10th Annual Games, the fear on the faces of those tributes when the sewer doors closed in front of them.

In the process of being left behind, Lucia uses both of her arms to secure her weapon in place, knowing that there is little else to do than make her own final stand. "I have a new request," she says almost too quietly, a weak and tired voice cutting through the theatrics of the careers that have her surrounded. "If you're going to kill me, just shut up and finish it."

Shrugging her damaged, dented crown off her head, Lucia charges forward with the edge of her blade glinting in the neon light.

If she must go, she will make sure a piece of them follows.