Firecracker: The 99th Games Book One

Arena, Day 8 Part 1

It had been a long night. Aoi and her teammates had been stranded on the plateau in the wake of the earthquake, stuck in their open spot until things calmed down enough for them to try to sleep. Now that it was morning, with dragging steps they tried to find a way down the mountain.

Aoi's fingers clutched her memorial necklace, eyes dead. After their series of failures, she was starting to doubt her ability to actually protect anyone.

But at least now they had a chance, right...? A chance to protect Madoka from any other tributes who wished him harm. All of this, and they hadn't even faced the Careers.

The stairs were mostly intact, miraculously. There were cracks in the earth on some steps, and others had fallen to the ground far below, but there was enough remaining that Aoi felt relatively confident they could get to the bottom safely.

Only four of them were left. She let out a shuddering sigh, covering her face briefly.

"...I'm sorry," Naoki said quietly, gently laying a hand on her shoulder. "I...I only stopped you because I knew intervening would make it worse."

"...I know," Aoi admitted softly. Sniffling, she wiped her eyes before pulling her hands away. "...I...think I get it now. ...When you tried to explain to me why you let Balthazar make his sacrifice, I didn't understand. I couldn't fathom why you would allow a little kid to make that kind of decision. ...But now that we lost Oni for the same reasons..." She paused, sighing. "...I think I understand. When they love you so much, how...how can you get yourself killed for them...? Is it really better for us to make them watch us die...?"

"...Perhaps not when they have made the choice to spare us," Cerys murmured, hugging Madoka with one arm. "...But...we still have Madoka. We can still protect him. Surely with all three of us...?"

"Surely," Aoi agreed, though she was trying to convince herself as much as Cerys. Only Otoshi had fulfilled their initial objective thus far.

A beeping noise caught her attention. Jumping, Aoi glanced up and spotted a large metal package floating down from the sky. Curious, Naoki stood beneath it and caught it as it fell, checking the label.

"...Cerys," he murmured, passing the package to Cerys.

Cerys's eyes lit up. He sat on the floor, opening the package to find a hatchet and a note inside. He took both out, passing the hatchet to Naoki. "Why would Mercy send me a weapon...?"

"Maybe she meant for you to give it to one of us?" Naoki asked, experimentally swinging the hatchet at nothing. "I think I'll keep this one, if neither of you mind."

"Go ahead," Aoi muttered, an itch in the back of her mind. Why was she strangely angry about this gift...?

Cerys read over the attached note, eyes slowly growing more and more clouded. As he finished, hands trembling, he sighed shakily, folding the note and tucking it into his boot. He hid his eyes from the others, expression unreadable. Aoi frowned, stepping closer.

"What?" she prompted. Cerys didn't respond. "...Cerys, what did she say?"

Cerys was quiet for a moment longer. Taking a deep breath, he drew his hand away from his eyes, face blank. "...Mercy assured us she can cater to our needs in the arena, and chastised me for not realizing she would have replenished our necessities had we lost our supplies in the earthquake. Apparently, sponsors have been funneling money into another tribute, but she promised to work harder for us from now on."

Something snapped.

Furious, Aoi tensed forwards, fists clenched. "You mean Oni died for nothing?! Why didn't she tell us that SOONER?!"

Madoka, who had been silent all morning, trembling and crying quietly, jumped, throwing his arms around Naoki on instinct. Naoki patted his head, frowning concernedly.

"I'm sure she wanted to," Cerys insisted, his forced calmness only making Aoi angrier. "But there was no time, Aoi. She...she can only get us anything after discussing the matter at length."

Aoi started towards him, Naoki quickly grabbing her under the arms again. Madoka scurried back towards Cerys, nervous. "All this time! ALL THIS F*CKING TIME she's sent us NOTHING! If we had even an inkling of an idea that they gave a f*ck about us, maybe we would have thought of that! But she's mad at you for not considering that she might actually care?!"

Cerys stood abruptly, eyes conflicted as he turned on Aoi. "Aoi, please, she said the sponsors have been dedicating all of their funds to another tribute. I know she has been doing everything she can to assist us."

Aoi gestured largely in the direction of Naoki's dropped hatchet. "A weapon?! She finally decides to contribute to our wellbeing and she sends you a weapon?!"

"Don't be so hard on her," Cerys begged. "She sent that so we could be better prepared to defend ourselves against the Careers. She is trying."

"Where are your Mentors?!" Aoi demanded, glaring back at Naoki. "All any of them have given us is a f*cking necklace! Nin?! Kaiden?! Why didn't you show us we could trust you?! Why did you let Oni die for nothing?!"

"Aoi, p-please," Naoki whispered, face contorting.

Madoka suddenly tugged on Cerys's jacket, pointing into the distance. "C-C-Cerys..."

Cerys followed his finger to the horizon. Paling, he backed towards the others, readying his bow. "Naoki, Aoi. Careers."

Aoi looked up with a start, finally ceasing her flailing in Naoki's arms. Naoki released her, picking up his hatchet again and going to hide Madoka with Cerys. Heart racing, Aoi pulled out two knives, hissing viciously at the approaching Careers.

Adel Beck took the lead, the tip of her bloody sword scraping along the stone as she dragged it by her side. Laurel Faust skipped beside her with a spear, followed by Evan Jimenez, and Levi DeWitt took up the rear of the pack with his bow already drawn.

"...You're gonna be okay, Mado," Aoi whispered. "It's okay. It's okay..."

Madoka whimpered, hiding himself behind Cerys and Naoki as much as possible.

As mad as Aoi was about Mercy's last-minute gift, she couldn't deny her intuition was impressive. If this hatchet helped them protect Madoka, she would consider things even.

If not...she was sure she would find a use for it anyways.