The 25th Hunger Games

The Final Day

Waking up later that afternoon felt different than I expected. On really important days, you expect to know what's going to happen. To be able to feel the future. But I couldn't. It was just an ordinary day in my messed up new life.

I didn't feel like I was going to die today. I didn't feel like I was about to win the Games. I just felt...uneasy.

I was also still in pain. My ribs ached with each of my shallow breaths. The wrappings were slowly unwinding around me, and I had to redo them a lot neater if they were to last through anything, especially a fight.

I wished there was some way to avoid this whole thing, at least for a few more days. I wanted time to think. I needed to heal. Still, the Gamemakers weren't about to let me have that time.

I had no idea where Ciruss was now. If I sat around for long enough, I was sure he would come here, or a convenient tornado would force me to him. I didn't want that. If I had a chance to have the upper hand, I needed to take it. Still, how much of an upper hand was there at all?

I had to review the facts. I knew about Ciruss, at least a little from Emmit. I didn't think he knew much of anything about me, expect I killed both of his girlfriends.

Ciruss had killed people early, big stupid people who would charge right at him. I couldn't be one of those people.

I killed later. Sneaky people, peaceful people. I killed whoever necessary, it seemed.

Ciruss had killed Ginger, too. She was not big or stupid. She did, however, attack without a plan. I couldn't be like that either.

I had killed Emmit with a plan. One on the spot, but a plan no less. I could make another, and another and another if need be.

So what would it take? I'd have to be smart yet vicious. Like Sariel would want me to be. He could be proud of that, even if it wasn't enough to keep me alive.

As I got ready to leave, in more than one way I expected, I thought about all the advice I had been given since the day of the Reapings.

Be brave in there. Although it wasn't exactly the key to killing Ciruss, Ty had put enough conviction behind the words that day to make me want to agree with them. I would do it, be as brave as I could in these last few hours. Either of my life or of this arena.

These Games aren't easy. One of the first things Sariel ever told me. At the time, it seemed like a basic thing to say. Few things in this life were easy, after all. But these Games seemed to redefine everything, and I was still glad to know someone understood that.

The biggest thing to remember is not to make any rash decisions. This rule I was pretty sure I had broken more than my share of times. Maybe it wasn't something to live by, but again, Sariel was right.

Keep in mind your strengths. I looked around, taking in what I had. The pouring out afternoon light to hide me, my own quiet feet. I was quick, the arena was big. And in the end, I had the ability to think around everyone else, so why not Ciruss too?

We're supposed to use everything given to us to kill. Midnight's touch, although in that case, she meant the rain. It didn't matter. It always held true, whether it was my backpack or Ciruss's big feet.

You had better know how to use that. Diana to me about the knife in my hand. Just the thought of that day made me grin, and then immediately frown. I did know how to throw a knife then, but I didn't get the chance to use it. Now all I had was a trident and one last knife. I was ready to use both, though.

You're all killers! This one was less advice and more of a fact. Ryker had screamed it moments before he was killed, and he had never been more right. We were all killers, even if some of us were late bloomers. Everyone was capable of murder, and everyone wanted to live. Essentially, I needed to watch my back.

Good luck to you. Ginger's final words, at least to me, before the Careers got to her. It was a nice gesture, but at this point I knew that luck was shit and I was all on my own. But then again, so was Ciruss.

You were the only one I was worried about. When Emmit had told me this, he didn't mean it in a kind way. He was saying I was the one to be feared. I hoped the same could be said for Ciruss, because I was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

If you're ever gonna attack him, you'll have to be smart about it. Basically the only information I had on Ciruss, from his former ally. I had to take that and run with it.

This is me giving you my approval to kill. The last note I had gotten from Sariel. The only advice that truly mattered anymore. The moment it changed me from someone who killed when necessary to someone who was about to kill everyone left in the arena. Saira, Emmit, Laurel, Sai, and hopefully Ciruss. All with Sariel's blessing, in hopes that I could see him again.

If there was ever any denying it, there was no way now. He was my guide through all of this, my light at the end of the tunnel. The thing I had always been fighting for, the one and only thing in comparison to everything else. It was what Sariel had hoped for. Someone who was willing to fight with nothing but him in view. Someone who was willing to make his name their dying breath.

This was some love we had.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

I had heard this so many times since my arrival to the Capitol I had become completely numb to it. So many people had said, and so many people would keep repeating it after me. Why would it be any good to me, or any other tribute? It was told to all the others, and look where they were now.

So after all that, it all came down to me. Not the dead. Not the living, however close or far they may be. Me. I was the one here, here still and here for God knows how much longer.

This would end with either me or Ciruss. A knife point and bare hands. A cry of pain and a hovercraft. A victor and an escape. This was where the 25th Hunger Games both began and ended. With me. Noah Albedo of District Two.