An Especially Twisted Hunger Games

The Finale

*Author's Note

Hi so I know I said I'd include the last list of the fallen in this chapter but it didn't really fit the vibe of the chapter so I'm just gonna post it as a separate chapter. You still get the faces I just don't want it here lol. I'm also posting this early since I'm excited and have zero self control :))

Sebek

There's only three of us left now. Only three lonely people tramping around a vast arena with one thought on their minds: victory. At least, that's what Ruggie and I want. I've not had many run-ins with Spade throughout this ordeal but I have heard from various others that he seems to have given up. They say he refuses to fight even when he's being attacked, and he even threw away a monstrous gift from President Forester! That's a death sentence waiting to happen. I've come to the conclusion that he will not be a threat to me whatsoever, deciding instead to devote my energy towards coming up with a plan to take out Ruggie. That bastard may have gotten the better of me at the feast, but I'm not gonna let that happen again. Reading the letter I obtained earlier had filled me with a fresh rush of determination and refueled the will to live I had lost days before. There were segments from all my family members in it, each containing an inspiring message and words of love, but what struck me the most was the very last paragraph. It was short, shorter than all the others anyway, and contained no terms of endearment whatsoever. This segment was written by someone I'd never met before, never even seen before, but somehow it filled me with the all too familiar feelings that I had come to know and love. 

Sebek,

I would like to thank you for everything you did for my beloved grandson. I know how difficult he could be to work with and for, but you always treated him with the utmost care and respect. Never once did anyone doubt your love for him; my only regret is that I could not have shown him the same. You have truly proven yourself to be one of his most worthy and loyal knights. As your last act of service to him, I ask but one thing of you: win. 

~Millicent Draconia 

I could hardly believe my eyes when I read the name. Millicent Draconia. The Millicent Draconia, Queen of the Valley of Thorns and grandmother to my Young Master. To think, she took time out of her busy day as queen to write something to someone as insignificant as me. I know what I have to do now. I have to stop mourning my lost master and win for his sake. I welcome my next run-in with Ruggie. It will be the last thing he ever does. 

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Deuce swiftly makes his way through the woods, looking out for his remaining rivals. He reaches a small, quiet grove of trees surrounding a patch of flowers. Perfect. The boy removes his bag from his shoulder and takes out the letters belonging to the fallen tributes. He gently opens each letter and places them at the root of each tree, hanging the named envelopes above them respectively. When he's finished his work, he returns to the flower patch to pick twenty-one flowers, one for each person. He walks to the first tree and gently places a flower on top of the letter.

✿

"Hey, Jack. Your parents say they love you and are so proud of the person you've become. Rest in peace, buddy." 

Deuce moves to the next letter, continuing his ritual with each remaining person. 

💐