The Angel (Finnick Odair x OC x Johanna Mason)

7

"Well, well, look who finally decided to show up?" Blaze jeers when Annie and I crest the last hill before the Cornucopia comes into our sight. Amethyst and Blaze are already waiting there, on their guard and brimming with overconfidence. I hear Annie's breath getting shallower when she hears his voice, no doubt remembering the events that only just happened this morning, and I give her a reassuring look, hoping to ease her mind just a little before the final battle begins.

I glare at Blaze with a scowl on my face and sneer, "Sorry, you didn't exactly leave a map."

Blaze laughs manically and says, "We'll be sure to leave one for you next time. Not that you'll be alive long enough for it to matter."

I grit my teeth and clear my mind, not letting him get under my skin that quickly. If I lose my cool before the battle has even started, then I might as well have lost the battle itself already.

Gripping my spear in a tight grasp, I charge down the valley with Annie following closely behind me, Ripley's old knife in her hand. We use our momentum to propel us forward, while the two careers are ready for our attack at the Cornucopia at the bottom.

My spear meets Blaze's sword as the clang reverberates through the arena. Amethyst rushes forward to attack Annie, with her bow discarded at the side, since it won't be much help in close combat. I want to help Annie out, but I'm too occupied in battle with Blaze. Luckily, she seems to be able to hold her own so far, although she's had a few close calls.

Dragging this out won't end in our favour; we need to finish this off fast.

"Annie!" I yell in alarm when I hear her shout in pain. Her leg is bleeding and Amethyst is standing over her, a smile on her face and a knife raised in her hand, a split second away from making the final killing blow.

"No!" I exclaim as I abandon my own fight and rush in front of Annie, my spear raised to counter Amethyst's unforgiving knives. She grunts, annoyed that I've come between them, but doesn't draw back regardless.

Blaze moves towards us, and the two are now circling Annie and me like hawks waiting to feast on their prey. Annie's whimpering in pain; her wound must be really deep. That means I'd have to rely on myself and my own skills to get out of this one unscathed.

Amethyst lunges and I parry, thrusting out an attack of my own. Blaze comes at me from the other side with his sword, which I dodge then block with my spear. I pull out a knife, using it to slash and slice to weaken their defences while trying to keep their attention off of Annie.

Strike after strike. Blow after blow. The battle seems never-ending. Long, tiresome, and brutal.

I've already begun to lose track of time. We're too well-matched; there's no end in sight. All the while, I'm conscious of Annie slowly bleeding out. I've gained a few scratches and cuts myself, but not deep enough to be fatal. Amethyst and Blaze, on the other hand, also have some wounds inflicted by my spear and knives, but it doesn't seem to faze them too much.

Out of the blue, I hear thunder crashing overhead. Droplets are dripping down gradually in small splatters, which slowly builds up to a massive downpour. In the span of just under a minute, a flood is rushing in between the valleys, heading straight for the Cornucopia.

Amethyst and Blaze seem to have seen it as well, and their eyes quickly widen in alarm, the fight coming to an abrupt halt in the face of a greater danger.

"It's flooding!" Amethyst exclaims, panicking nonstop. "At this rate, we're all gonna drown!"

Surely, it's the gamemakers who are doing this to us. We've lost our entertainment value, and they're getting bored of watching us fight it out. I scoff as I imagine the outrageous things that must be brewing in their minds. I should've known they are capable of something like this.

I rush over to Annie, who's slowly losing consciousness.

"Annie, Annie!" I keep on shaking her. "We gotta go, we gotta swim. Can you do that?"

I know Annie is a great swimmer, coming from district 4 and all, but in her current sluggish state, I doubt she could garner the energy to even move her limbs.

Amethyst and Blaze sprint past us as they attempt to outrun the water. But I know there's no escape unless you swim through it.

The wave is beginning to close in on the Cornucopia, growing ever closer like the shadow of a monster towering over us, waiting for the precise moment to strike and come crashing down.

"Come on, Annie," I urge, desperation creeping into my voice as the reality of our situation sinks in.

Annie slowly opens her eyes, but she's too weak to do much except squeeze my hand affectionately.

"I'm not gonna make it, Harmony," she says quietly, her voice raspy and weak. She looks as if she's already made peace with her fate. "Go without me, I know you can win this."

"But I can't leave you," I say through tears threatening to spill. "You're one of my only true friends, either in the arena or back in my district."

"Yes, you can," she insists, grasping my hand tightly in hers. "Please. You have to survive. For the both of us." She squeezes my hand one last time as a farewell then lets go. "Don't forget me, Harmony."

"As if I could if I tried," I tell her, and she laughs, a bittersweet sound. "Never, Annie."

With that final farewell, I leave Annie's side with a heavy feeling in my heart as the unspeakable wave reaches its climax and finally tumbles down. Taking one last big gulp of air, I hold my breath and swim like my life depends on it as I become submerged in the murky waters, being carried along with the powerful current.

Water is all around me. It feels like I'm being surrounded and trapped with no way out and no end in sight. Only the water in front of me and behind me and my limbs thrashing frantically to keep afloat and avoid being pulled down.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see another tribute, either Blaze or Amethyst, being pulled deep into the waters. I keep on thrashing, and I break through the surface of water, just for a millisecond — enough to replenish my oxygen — before being dragged back down again.

An eternity passes. At least that's what it seems like to me as I battle against the water. I don't know how long it's been, but the gamemakers would have to put a stop to this eventually, right? They need a victor after all. With that being my only thought and hope, I keep on persevering, even when my lungs feel like they're about to burst right through my chest from the lack of air.

Keeping my consciousness is getting harder and harder as time goes on, and I have just about lost all hope when I sense the waters beginning to drain. When I reach the surface again, I gulp in several deep breaths of air, realising that the water is now only up to my waist, and the rest is gradually draining away as well.

A deafening voice booms across the arena, and I know that the games have ended.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the victor of the 70th Hunger Games, Harmony Skylar!"

A\N:  And there it is, the end of part 1!!  Harmony won the Hunger Games, but at what cost?  

Part 2 will be coming soon, so please stick around if you're enjoying this story.  Hopefully, the next part will be more fast-paced and with more excitement.  As always, please consider voting or commenting cause it means a lot to me and encourages me to keep writing!  

PS: I'm also currently working on an original story that's GxG on a separate account, so if you like my writing and are interested in reading it, you're welcome to comment below or just message me!