lasciate ogni speranza; feast . day four

The winds screeched at his ears. The whispers pushing him forward with Daniel near him. Natalie and Hypatia were out there somewhere. Feet felt raw after walking for so long. The silence was killing him. All of the silence was killing him. The winds providing the only comfort to him. Silence was something that killed him inside out. A lonely life on his own caused that, lost alone in his thoughts. Things came up, regrets, dreams, but mainly regrets. Regretting leaving home, regretting killing Talos Vallanso, his twin. There was so much regret in his life and he carried those sins upon his back and pushed forward.

Natalie was alone when they found her. A sorrow in the air as they approached the blonde girl who kept him stable in a place of instability. Minos pushed forward. His words lost, the only thing he could get out is a question, ”Hypatia? Where is she?” He knew what the truth was just by the look on her face. His heart dropped. Hypatia Anning was dead. He couldn’t protect anyone. No one was safe. Death loomed over them all. Natalie’s voice broke the air, the tension Minos was feeling. ”Hypatia’s dead. I couldn’t saver her.” His arms were quick. His body was sore, but he still managed to reach her. A simple hug. Tears flowing freely down both of their faces. Natalie explained the fight that they had. A fight of death where only two escaped her grasp.

After letting go of Natalie, he dropped to the ground. Slamming his fist against the ground, just soft enough to not hurt himself. Words flow out of his mouth quickly, ”Bailey Truus, is dead to me. I will rip her fucking hair out. Make her beg for mercy and stab her in the fucking throat. Fuck this. Fuck everything!” With his freak out over, they sat around, mourning upon their faces. Death’s boney fingers had plans for them all, but Minos sure as hell wished they’d take him already. The suffering was getting to be too much. The sins on his back only getting heavier and heavier. Their names still upon his tongue. Renee. Percy. Stevie. Weaver. Iona. Natalie. Six tributes who all had a family or friends waiting for their bodies to arrive at home.

Night falls upon them all. Faces of the tributes whose deaths had been claimed. Ross Wolfe. A man who was rather quiet. Not much of a big deal to him. Another face with a name to haunt them all. Hypatia was next, her gorgeous looks taking over the arena. The girl who had poured water on his head when they first met. His heart sunk. Hypatia Anning was gone and he failed to protect her. He failed to protect anyone. Broken bodies of his failure in the sky. A face that he had no name to appeared and vanished just as quickly as Hypatia did. Weaver and Iona took form next. Weaver’s dark eyes tearing into his chest. The scream still fresh upon his head. A death that was painful to watch. Heathcliff would pay for his words.

Minos’ face paled at the realization of the next face. The one and only, Petra Vipointe. Her calm voice still in his ear. The memories of their first meeting flashing before him. His voice quiet as words fall from his lips, ”No. No this can’t be happening. Not her. Not Petra.” his hands shook in terror. No one was safe from the chaos. No one was safe. Protection was fake there. No one could be protected from the unimaginable. The hellish arena was out to kill them all, he knew that, but no one was safe. The strong fell fast. The kind breaking before them all. The weak were forced to face their sins and become stronger than before. They were all dead. Dead like the faces before them all. The anthem’s fire vanishes before everyone.

An eerie howl of the mutts hits the arena. His body shivers in response to the howls. Lights shimmer from the caves at the end of the arena. It’s glow is gorgeous, but the howls get louder and louder, until they are loud enough to cause annoyance to his ears. Hands force themselves up quick, Natalie and Daniel following his motion. The stars have appeared upon the hell they were in. A comfort for only a moment, but he knows. He knows that this is hell and they wouldn’t give them something gorgeous without something hellish. The gamemakers never did quit when it came to forcing their hell upon everything.

As soon as he had identified Orion, the only constellation he knew from Talos. The master of astronomy as he used to joke. The hunter’s bow pointed perfectly, waiting to snap and let the arrow fly. In that moment, he thinks it’s Daniel up there. His eyes fly to Daniel quick. The District Seven male’s looks wearing down from the days. A tiredness to them all. The once cheery group was smaller and broken. Sins holding onto their backs clawing and slashing at their hope, their happiness. And that’s when hell breaks loose.

The whole arena shakes like it’s in a fit of power. He can feel the dread fill the air. Hope didn’t exist in the hell they were in. Only death and the sins they created. The shaking grows more and more violent with every second. Minos is already up. Supplies in his hands as he rushes to Daniel and Natalie. His words trying to get out through the screeches and the rumbling. ”We gotta find cover! C’mon! Let’s go!” Once the arena shakes again, Minos runs. Pink bag in hand. Orange tank top being drenched in his sweat like it had been days before. Unpleasant screeches still shattering his hope and will to survive.

The small caves on the edge was the only escape. Barely wide enough to fit one at a time. His heart pounded, adrenaline rushing throughout his body. Death wasn’t done. Her greedy hands wanted more from them. For a second as they continue walking through the small cave, he swears he can see someone right there. His heart catches as he swears he saw Hypatia right next to him. Thoughts plague his mind with horrors of how the capitol brought her back. A tribute back from the dead to tear them apart, but as soon as he turns, there wasn’t anyone there, just rocks lining the walls. The memory of how Hypatia took out the last bone dragon still plaguing his mind. Her gorgeous moments and motions, her wit and skill, all gone within a day.

They had been walking all night. Tiresome steps of broken corpses just trying to make it out of the cramped caves. Natalie and Daniel behind him, just walking calmly. People always told him that before a storm there was an eerie calm. That’s what they were in. A calm for the moment. Everything was silent, except for their steps and breaths as they move through the tunnel. The calm was torturous more than anything. A fear set in Minos’ stomach, a fear of the day before them. He’s faced hell’s situations all his life, but this hell that they were trapped in had more hell waiting for him. Death’s hands had sent this hell to them, forcing her way through everything. Judgement was upon them. Their apocalypse was only just beginning to come to them.

The silence made him think. Stuck in thoughts of his last failure. His mind wandered to his home, Emmery Johnson. The girl who has been through hell just like he had. The day fresh in his mind. Her knife’s stab into Weaver. The way she looked, broken, inside and out. Words that he barely missed still in his ears, whispering away, i'm not... i'm not sure if i can, minos. Emmery was strong, stronger than him. Killing a person takes it’s toll on the human body. Minos knew this from experience. Numb. That how it felt until you crack. Then the emotions take over. Flooding your body with a pain you’ve never felt, unless you’re Daniel. Then it fills the body with a lust for death. A lust for watching the innocent die. And Minos hated seeing him like that.

The cave opened up to the pool of molten gold. The amber glow shines against his skin. A glow that he couldn’t forget from the aftermath of the bloodbath. Renee’s hollow eyes still staring from within the pool, even if her body wasn’t there. And then the pool rang with a loud voice that echoed off the walls until hitting Minos’ ear like a stabbing pain. He’s had enough with loud noises. ” I smell a traitor, a murderer-" A traitor. A murderer. Daniel, Natalie, and Minos were all murderers. He looks over to them, his hand holding his sharpened horn already. Traitors. Minos, Daniel, and Natalie weren’t those, but the other three in the area could be.

Bailey Truus. The girl from ten who killed their friend. Bailey, the girl who slayed Hypatia. The want to walk over and stab the girl in the eye rising, but he couldn’t when he saw the giant creature come from the pool of amber. The waves sloppily hitting the edge. A monster of a creature bellows out loud at them all, the voice sending a new and terrifying chill down his spine. "You can not hide your sins." Sins were on them all. The sin of murder, greed, traitorous deeds, and plenty more. They carried them upon their backs, trying to hold themselves up. The weak grew strong and the strong were no more. They were becoming better, smarter, faster, stronger, and deadly. It’s what their hell had done to them.

The staff and tail swipes at them below. Natalie’s form being hit. All Minos can do is scream her name, ”Natalie!” The scary girl from two gets hit too. Damage was done and the monster was clearly evil in all aspects. Minos gripped his horn. Anger from the deaths the day before fueling his flame. Fear had evaporated and left only bravery behind in the boy from District Five. And with his body’s adrenaline pumping his veins full of the energy to fight the giant creature that towered over him. His voice comes out in a yell, ”I smell your death, Beast!” With his fear gone, his friend behind him, and the other tributes, Minos Vallanso jumped forward. Horn in hand, sins upon his shoulders, bravery in his bones, and the secrets hidden underneath his layers, he swipes at the beast.

Made by Frankel