An Ode to Her - Coriolanus Snow

Chapter 9

Coriolanus stood, his eyes wide in disbelief. Was this it? Was this how their story ended? He could feel the tears pooling as he watched Carolina struggle to get up. She called out, and Jessup came running toward her, latching his arms around her waist to hoist her onto his shoulders. But Coral is faster, catching up to them in five long strides, trident high in the air, ready to strike. Jessup tosses Carolina aside and grabs a rock by his foot. He launches it at Coral, who cries out as the rock slams into her face. Still, it hardly slows her down, and now Mizzen is also gaining on them.

Carolina leaps up, winces, and grabs the knife that had previously stabbed her. She stood her ground.

"Jessup!" She yelled, looking around frantically. The cameras were so close now that Coriolanus could see the golden hue in her eyes. "Jessup!"

As if summoned by some newfound strength, Jessup throws himself into Coral. They battle for a moment, just them, while Carolina and Mizzen size each other up. Mizzen was smaller than her, younger, too. But he looked far stronger. Quicker, as it seems, for he launches his trident at Carolina with the fastness of a lightning strike. She narrowly dodged it, rolling over to miss it by an inch. She scrambled for something, anything to grab as the boy reaches for his trident.

"We need to help them," Lysistrata said, out of her seat now. Coriolanus gave her a frantic look. What could he do?

"Well this is awkward," Festus said, sighing. He pats Coriolanus on the back. "So sorry it had to end like this-"

Suddenly Coriolanus slams his communicuff, sending about six drones flying and carrying water. They come crashing into the arena in just under a minute, which gives Carolina enough time to gain her footing as Mizzen and Coral are distracted by the oncoming threat. Jessup must notice their carelessness, too, but by the time he's going to choke Coral, Mizzen has turned and slunk his own trident into Jessup's back. Coriolanus can tell that Carolina wants to scream, to run and save her ally, but the drones have approached. Two slam into one another, the blades hitting Coral's eye. Coral is disarmed momentarily, but it doesn't completely stop her from making her way to Carolina. Her weapon is ready, about to slice through Carolina's head.

But suddenly, Mizzen yells something. He points to the other side of the arena just as two other drones hit the wall and come falling down with a horrible crash! The rest just fall to the the ground. Only one bottle remains unbroken.

There, covered in grime and blood, is Wovey, the young girl from District 8. Her odds were never too grand, but Hilarius Heavensbee, her mentor, is elated. He immediately sends her some water and cheese, which is just about the only thing she could receive. She didn't gain a ton of sponsors.

The camera pans to the young girl long enough for the audience to see her grab her belongings and run back through the tunnel she came from. As the screens face back to the fight, Carolina is nowhere to be seen. The bottle of water, too, is gone. Coriolanus felt better knowing she had some supplement to keep her going.

"Woah! It seems like I might have some competition in the magic field!" Lucky exclaimed. "Carolina, the girl from District 12, has disappeared."

Coral and Mizzen argue for a moment before heading into Wovey's direction, completely ignoring Lamina on the beam, who had been watching the entire time. Thanks for the help, Coriolanus thought. But he couldn't completely blame her. She was also in the Games, not just a viewer, unlike him.

"Goodbye, Lysistrata Vickers." Lucky waved to Lysistrata as she packed up her bag to leave. Coriolanus suddenly felt very guilty. His tribute, out of the pair, had survived. He knew that if that were him, if Carolina had died and Jessup lived, he would have been enraged. So he stepped over to his classmate and thanked her with a hug, to which she gladly reciprocated.