"Capitol citizens, I'm afraid I must interrupt our Games to announce a tragic loss, one that affects us all. Felix Ravinstill, son of our beloved president, has, this morning, succumbed to his injuries sustained in the rebel bombing."

As soon as those words were spoken by Dr. Gaul, gasps could be heard. Specifically as Felix' picture flashed up on the screen. He looked horrid. Cuts all over his face, bruises... he didn't look the way he used to, looking as if he was just sleeping. But it was a sleep that'd last forever.

Dead. He's dead, Livia thought. Felix Ravinstill. The boy who'd always had a teasing remark for his classmates, who could be a right pain... and who could also be a friend. He was more than the president's son. He was the boy who'd always been dressed up in the most posh uniforms even for playdates, the boy who'd shrieked when Festus or Arachne had shoved him into the mud when they were kids. The boy who, during the war, had said that once he was president he'd made sure everyone in the Captiol felt safe and protected under his regency. His words at eight years old. Felix was the boy who'd brought food to school when none of his classmates couldn't affors it yet. Who'd voluntary gave his lunch to Persephone just so the girl wouldn't collapse from malnutrition. They all had been terribly malnourished but Persephone had it worst. When most parents went back to work upon getting back their jobs after the war, Persephone's father Nero was too much of a wreck after what he did to ensure his family's survival. Her mother had to juggle work and raising four young, malnourished kids. 

Felix had been a lot and had often been unbearable but he also had been a friend. And friends didn't get along all the time but they were there to support each other when needed. 

And now he was gone, joining Androcles and Gaius on the list of fallen mentors.

Livia had barely realised her shaking hands and the tears; and none of her classmates looked better. Vipsania looked up at the screen with a trembling lip, Persephone was crying and squeezed Festus' hands and even Arachne looked horrified. 

"This can't be true" she whispered in disbelief. "Not him. Not Felix."

But Dr. Gaul continued relentlessly. "Out there in the districts, they will be celebrating this young boy's death as a triumph. I will not allow my games to give our enemy such a victory. I swear to you, here and now, before the sun goes down tonight, a rainbow of destruction will engulf our arena. Even if it means there's to be no victor in these games."

The screen first went black then changed back to showing the arena, showing Reaper who now knelt on the floor near to the cornucopia in front of the flag that covered the tributes. It was as if he'd given up. Not that any of the mentors was paying attention at all anyways. Persephone was crying to Festus' shoulder, Vipsania looked as if she'd zoned out and Arachne gave a laugh of shock and disbelief. "This can't be true" she repeated. "Felix is... he can't be dead. He can't."

"He must be pranking us" Hilarious muttered, as if to reassure himself. "He always pulled ridiculous jokes."

It was as if each of them dealt with these news differently because out of nowhere Coriolanus jumped from his seat and ran out of the hall. I never knew they were this close, Livia thought. Was Felix' passing affecting him so badly or was something else going on in his mind? Whatever it was, he seemed to be away with his thoughts and even rushed past his cousin - whereas Tigris looked clearly touched, welling up at the news they'd just been given. Although slightly older than Livia and her classmates, Tigris saw all of them growing up too due to her cousin's (more or less) existing friendship with them.

The only one who seemed to find enjoyment in situations as horrible as those was Lucky. He turned around to the camera crew, calling them over. "Get me a drink" he whispered with excitement. "Get me a drink right now."

How could he? He wasn't close with Felix or any of the mentors for that matter - and realistically the only reason he might knew Felix better than any of the others was because of Felix being the president's son- the president. What was President Ravinstill feeling in that very moment, having lost his son? His only child. He must've been devasted in a way that could never be described well enough to summarise what grieving people felt.

"And here we go" Lucky was in full swing, "Back to the arena where things are starting to get rough. Here we have our loyal pack hunting for Lucy Gray."

And Coriolanus isn't even here to witness his songbird's fate.

Livia felt pity for Lucy Gray but not for Coriolanus. She just wished he'd be here right now to realise that Snow doesn't land on top every time.

"Hey" Coral's voice was heard. She nodded at Mizzen who, after everything that'd happened in less than two days, looked terrified and lost. He looked even younger than 13 now. "Go get a spear. Go up there. Push her back as much as possible. Trust me."

Trust me. That was what Facet said too. Livia begged that there'd been some truth to his words and she could trust him now too - trust in him making it out of the arena, get back to District 1 and live the goodlivfe he deserved. A good soul.

"She's up here somewhere!" Facet said, pointing to the duct where Lucy Gray had hidden. A rumbling came from somewhere above them. "There! Listen!"

Mizzen meanwhile had climbed close to the duct, a spear tightly in his small hands. "Here, birdy, birdy, birdy." he whispered, almost singing. Persephone got up from her chair, nervously rubbing her hands. Festus took her hands into his, urging her to sit down again. They could be seen whispering as Mizzen moved closer to the duct. "Don't be scared" Mizzen said in a sing-song voice, "Don't run away. Lucy... Lucy Gray..."

He rammed his spear into the duct but likely Lucy Gray had already moved back as there was no scream or buzzer. There was a rumbling sound however, right above the rest of the pack. They all looked up in confusion as the noise continued.

"Shh. Quiet" Treech whispered, pointing above him. "Quiet. Listen."

Even the mentors were quiet, almost as if they'd been scared the pack would find them instead of their actual target. The only thing being heard in that moment was Brandy's voice as she moved forward and held her knife up to the duct. "Coral." she whispered, hinting at where Lucy Gray likely was right now. They just needed to stand behind each other; that way they could hunt her across the hunt until she reached its end and had to give in. No matter what, now the songbird was trapped.

The door swung open with such force that Lucky almost spilled his drink. All mentors turned around to see Coriolanus coming in, looking like he'd just completed a marathon. Where on earth had he been? Leaving in the middle of what could be the finale... "Lucy Gray, is she okay?" he panted, sitting down and being all out of breath. If Livia hadn't been so focused on the screen, she'd given a remark.

"She won't be for long." Lucky observed, pointing at the scene. For once Livia was thankful for Lucky's words. Indeed in a few minutes, Coriolanus' songbird would be history and so would be his chance to win the Plinth Prize. 

The pack was now standing behind each other - Treech at the front and right behind him was Coral, followed by Brandy and then Facet who stood closest to the arena's middle.

The rumbling was heard again and Treech looked up in satisfaction, slamming his axe into the duct. "I've got you now, songbird." he smirked as his axe hit the duct another time. The sound of metal slamming against metal was heard repeatedly until, suddenly, he dropped the axe. Livia was expecting Lucy Gray to fall out of the duct, or at least a buzzer to go off, but instead Treech began to rub his eyes, cursing. What then happened was disturbing. He began coughing and gasping, taking off his jacket and even ripping off his t-shirt, all while he groaned and coughed.

"What's wrong with Treech?" Vipsania could be heard. She got up from her seat and stepped closer to the screen. The crowd gasped as Treech sunk to his knees, coughing equally miserably as Dill did just hours ago. The pack didn't even notice him anymore, all of them were hitting their weapons into the duct like some sort of mad game. "Did Coral do something to Treech?" Vipsania shouted at Festus. She was close to hyperventilating and both Festus and Persephone had to hold Vipsania back from completely lashing out. Now laying on his side, Treech was shaken by convulsions as he wailed for help. "What did she do to him?" Vipsania screamed, her voice creacking. "What's wrong with him?"

The moment she said those words, Treech's buzzer went off. All eyes immediately were on Vipsania who'd gone paper pale. She gasped just like Treech did, bursting into a fit of hysteric cries. "No!" she screams. "No... no please no, what did... what happened... he- he promised he'd win! He promised he'd come back to me!" 

With each word her voice got more raspy yet literally hysteric. She brought her hands to her ears, shaking so much that she barely managed it. Both Festus and Persephone hugged Vipsania, muffling her sobs and throwing helpless looks at the students around them.

"Dissension in the ranks!" Lucky cheered into the chaos. "Treech is down! Good afternoon, Miss Sickle!"

For a brief moment Vipsania looked like she was about to be sick or faint; then she turned around on the spot and ran out of the hall. Seconds later her hysteric screams could be heard from outside, even through the chaos. Most of her classmates, including those in the audience, exchanged a look, all of them knowing that Vipsania was just experiencing the worst heartbreak anyone could feel. It was a rushed, unlucky relationship but Livia knew that Treech and Vipsania had a special connection. Maybe not everyone could understand it and Livia had no right to judge - she'd never been in love and was certain no one would ever love her either - but she'd seen what Treech and Vipsania had. Something special, something many people were longing for. But their relationship was destined to have an unhappy end. Even if Treech had won, he would've been send back to the districts. But that would've been better, for everyone involved; Treech getting to live and Vipsania knowing Treech could continue the life in his home back in 7.

Something moved in the audience as Diana got up and walked out of the hall, looking out for Vipsania. 

"Oh!" Lucky cheerfully whistled. He pointed at the screen like an excited child as a giant drone lowered a huge glass tank onto the cornucopia's top. The tank consisted of dozen of...

"Snakes?" Arachne shrieked.

"That is not gonna be good." Persephone whispered, moving closer to Festus. And Livia... Livia felt more helpless than ever. All the colours that the snakes had, it literally looked like a rainbow.

A rainbow of destruction.

"No please..." Livia gasped. 

All mentors had gotten up from their seats by now - even Arachne looked less calm than before - and Coriolanus' face had the same colour as his almost white hair. "Work, please."

Work? What exactly did he want to work? The horror that was about to flood the entire arena?

"Wouldn't it be fun if it was candy?" Lucky laughed.

Wouldn't it be funny if someone threw him into this tank?

"Look!" Hilarious shouted. He'd been the only mentor that still had been sitting but now he got up so fast that his chair fell backwards. Hilarious' tribute, little 12-year-old Wovey came from her spot that she'd hidden at just this morning. She looked smaller than ever as she slowly approached the container. "Stay away!" Hilarious shouted. He knew it was useless but how could anyone watch this 12-year-old child approaching this army of snakes? "Don't do that, run!"

"Is it over?" Wovey sobbed. "Can we go home now?"

"Wovey" Reaper's voice came from somewhere. The camera moved further away from Wovey, showing that Reaper had moved away from the flag and sat at the back of the arena. "Wovey." he repeated as she continued to walk forward.

"Wovey, what are you doing?" Hilarious shouted at the screen despite knowing it was useless. Whether Wovey was too malnourished to realise the danger of the snakes or if it was childish innocence was impossible to tell. But she kept walking forward despite Hilarious shouting at the screen and Reaper's pleads in the arena.

"Please!" she cried.

"WOVEY!" Reaper shouted. Just in that moment, a loud cracking sound was heard. Wovey looked up, giving her a brief second to see hundreds of snakes flooding out of the container like a tidal wave breaking through a dam. Her terrifying scream was buried the same way she got buried by the snakes within seconds, causing her buzzer to go off.

"Not candy! Down goes Wovey!" Lucky announced.

"No!" Hilarious gasped. By now everything was happening so fast that no one seemed to care about whether the mentors left or not. Hilarious stood still on his place and watched in horror as hundreds - thousands - of snakes slid into even the tiniest spot of the arena.

All tributes ran around frantically; almost as if they didn't even care about killing each other off anymore, having realised that the snakes were, right now, the real enemy. Whilst Lucy Gray tried to climb onto the concucopia, Coral still hunted after her, trying to grab her ankle. Facet ran in an impressive speed, having dropped his knife in the process.

Run, please, Livia thought. Don't stop. Run.

But the sight of Reaper was even worse. He made no attempt to move as dozens of snakes came up his legs, chest, his entire body. He sat still, having closed his eyes and making no movement or sound. He's given up, Livia thought. Because he knows he can't win, no matter what.
Soon enough Reaper was entirely covered by snakes, making it impossible to tell what was Reaper and what was snake. He dropped to the side, leaving the snakes to do whatever they were doing to him now. Livia never had been so relieved to hear a buzzer going off - it signaled Reaper's death but also meant he didn't need to suffer.

Clemensia stormed out, not without knocking her chair over in anger and cursing 'Those damn snakes!' on her way out. The scene didn't get any better by Lucky cheering 'It was a pleasure, Miss Dovevote' after her. If this man would only shut up for once it'd be a major help.

Now it was down to the top 5: Brandy, Coral, Facet, Lucy Gray and Mizzen. All of them were running around in terror, out of breath, and it felt as if the entire thing had been going on for hours already despite it couldn't have been more than five minutes at the most.

"How long can this continue?" Persephone whispered. "Do they want the tributes to run themselves to death?"

"I thought we're given a spectacular final battle." Festus complained. As much as he seemed to dote on Persephone, Livia rarely felt more anger towards him. Watching this was hard enough without a so-called final battle. It was a sickening thought to watch the tributes slaughtering each other on national television.

"What are you doing to us?!" a shriek came from the screen. Brandy stood in a pool of hundreds of snakes and, similarly to Reaper, she knew that any attempt to move was senseless. The snakes climbed up her body way too fast until her knees gave in from what seemed to be a mixture of poison and bites and she fell face first into the dirt; the snakes sliding over her without mercy. Another buzzer.

"No!" Arachne cursed. Despite her anger likely was more down to the fact she now stood no chance to winning the Plinth Prize, Livia could see a flicker of desperation in her friend's face; she even had a few tears running down her cheeks. Strange, she thought. Arachne normally isn't overly emotional. Arachne's typical emotions showed however as she knocked her chair over and stormed out of the hall, muttering swearwords under her breath. As she walked past Livia, she briefly touched her shoulder and whispered 'Good luck, Cardew' before she kept on walking.

Livia had no time to give her a grateful look even, the scene was unfolding way too quick.

"No, no, no..." Persephone gasped. "Please, not Mizzen..."

Mizzen's small body couldn't hold up with the pace of the others and especially the pace of the snakes any longer. He dropped to the floor as snakes slid up his ankles all the way to his hips and onto his back. Coral turned around with a look of horror as she watched her 13-year-old district partner being covered by snakes. "Coral!" Mizzen screamed, convulsing like madness. "No, help, CORAL!"

The snakes now entirely covered him, he wasn't visible anymore and despite Coral briefly made an attempt to reach out for her district partner, she knew it was useless. Mizzen's screams died down in mere seconds, his buzzer going off which caused Persephone to cry out in terror. 

"Mizzen, say goodbye!" Lucky announced.

"Yes!" Coriolanus cheered, giving a fist pump. Please, someone throw him into that arena, Livia begged to some higher power.

But the higher power didn't grant her wish. In fact Livia began to realise that there wasn't such a thing a higher power to grant her wishes. She realised it the moment Facet slipped as he tried to get onto the cornucopia to hide. The first snake had gotten a grip around his ankle, sliding up his knee. Within seconds, it were dozens. Hundreds. His lower body wasn't visible anymore, entirely engulfed by snakes. Then his upper body, arms, his face. His entire body. He was a snake human now. Not the boy from the zoo who'd kept her safe in the bombing. Whatever that was now, it wasn't Facet anymore - but it still had his voice. "No!" he cried out before he fell back, too cliche as it looked like slow motion. "Please, help m-"

Then is body fell into the pool of snakes like a swimmer taking a dive from a cliff. Only that this one didn't end well. For a brief second, Facet's hand reached up before snakes rammed their fangs into it and it disappeared in between the rainbow of destruction.

The buzzer echoed in Livia's ears far too loud.

"Facet's out too, now it's the final two!" Lucky rhymed happily.

Livia's world felt shattered. He was dead. Poor Facet was gone. Buried by a pool of snakes that wouldn't let go ofd him even way after he was gone. He was dead, dead, dead and there was no denying, no pretending, only the harsh reality. He was gone.

"Quick, Miss Cardew" Lucky said, holding the microphone in her face. "Your tribute made it to the top 3, how do you feel?"

How did she feel? She felt how she never did before. But now she had to pretend, keep up that little pride she still could have to avoid her parents being disappointed in more than one way. "Facet was brave til the end" she said through gritted teeth. "He fought his way through the games in the best way possible and brought pride to his district" she briefly stopped before her expression changed. What was