Forum Thread

Akiro was almost limp, tired of the nightmares. He had been so happy before, but now he felt like all of that had been drained away by the memory of that song. Akiro had tried so hard to forget it and only now was it brought up from the deepest part of his mind. It just made him feel all the more alone. But when he saw Chelsea, he was reminded that he wasn't alone anymore. That she was here with him. All that he wanted to do now was sleep, but he was also afraid of another nightmare. Eventually, the prospect of sleep ruled over, and he lay down again, closing his eyes. Before he drifted off to sleep, he mumbled, "I'm sorry I woke you up."

---

There was no apology needed. As Akiro laid back down, Chelsea brushed a bit of hair out of his eyes, sweeping it into the rest of the hair on his head. As he fell asleep, her humming went quiet. She wasn't asleep, but she could have been. Her mind ran through everything that had happened recently. After a few minutes of reflecting, she dozed off as well, joining her partner in the void of sleep.

Lesia continued walking around, her attention bounced between her surroundings and her arms, which she slowly moved around. The movement in her fingers were ridged and sometimes unresponsive, and her arms were nearly the same way. She gave a sigh and she looked back up ahead of her, very confused on where she was and what she was doing. She just continued to roam, hoping there was something worth looking into.

Of course, with sleep came with nightmares. This one, however, was different. For some reason, she was staring into a black abyss, with herself right in front of her. Something was different with her though, she had a wide, unnatural smile and her hands were clasped in front of her stomach. “Look at you, miserable and sad...” she said, coming up to her and wiping a tear off her face. “You know, none of this would’ve happened if you weren’t so weak and trusting.” She was right in her face, the unnerving smile burning onto her. “You could’ve had your wish if you didn’t listen to them, you trust them too much... What makes you think they won’t leave you once you get out? You’ll be heartbroken because you’re left to your normal life, all because you didn’t do anything. Is that really what you wanted? You could’ve finally been put to rest back there, but you didn’t take it. You’re weak, Rui. You haven’t done anything for yourself, you let yourself go through this.” The other her stepped back, taking a small hit of hair and twirling her fingers around it, the smile faded and her eyes rested on it. “You know, that whole experiment wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t so trusting either... You trusted others to defend you, make sure you wouldn’t be accused... Look where that led you, on the brink of death, scared to live, mountains of guilt weighing on you like the sky on Atlas...” She smiled and yanked her finger out of her hair, but the real Rui felt no pain. “Do I need to remind you of everything you regretted? Everything you wished you could’ve prevented to prove you could? I doubt you’d like that, would you...” A knife appeared out fo thin air and rested itself in the other Rui’s hands, allowing her to examine it and run her finger down the blade. “Burning in hell sounds nice, doesn’t it? You’re free from your old life and left to burn endlessly... It looks like you’ve already been there, so I’ll spare you the details...” Rui’s body began to get restless, tossing and turning and mumbles leaving her mouth. “I’m sure you’d like to visit once again, WOULDN’T YOU!” The unnerving smile returned, more psychotic than it was before, only to be followed by her jabbing a knife into the real Rui’s stomach, waking her instantly. She woke with a gasp, heaving for air and clutching her stomach like she really had been stabbed, alarming her.

---

Echo simply climbed aboard quietly, gazing at everything, taking in the happy reunions, and the well.....characters with nightmares or whatever. Mentally unstable. She honestly couldn’t care less, whether she was out or not. She created a shadow wave, preparing to leave. She knew Charlie was happy now, and that hopefully Milo and Lucky would keep everyone safe. But she didn’t belong, didn’t fit in with the crowd. So she prepared to leave. Back to her old assassin life again. She let out a deep sigh.

---

"There you are!" Charlie calls out to Echo. She races up to her and crosses her arms, fixing Echo with a curious look. "Leaving so soon? Not even without saying goodbye?" She asks with a smirk. "And to think that I thought we became friends."

---

Suvansh drifted off to sleep just after seeing Mare excuse herself and exit the tent. He thought she'd be back soon. But when he woke up, she wasn't back. Suvansh starts getting worried, and decides to pack up everything and go out to search for her. First, he sends of Flare to fly over the nearby biomes to see if he can spot her, by the time he packs up the tent. He saw Lesia had already left the spot she slept in. By the time he was done, Flare returned, and nudged Suvansh to get on him. He does, and Flare flies him towards the Forest area, where he finds Mare, all alone. He thinks, if she ran away from him, there must be a reason, and he shouldn't just go and shock her now, and just observe her.

---

She looked down at her stomach only to see no blood or anything, but it strangely still hurt... She looked around for a bit, noticing Echo and Charlie were here too, but she didn’t see Katana... Strange. She slowly got up, one hand still over her stomach, and started to walk around. She didn’t really pay attention as much as Lesia did, since she didn’t know what it all meant, but she still looked closely at where everything was. She eventually met up with her, who gave Rui a smile before gesturing her to come closer.

“I thought you were going to rest, guessing it didn’t work so well...” Lesia said gently, putting one arm over Rui’s shoulders. After a few seconds without a response, she let out a sigh and stopped, causing Rui to stop as well. “Are you afraid of talking?” She asked casually, her gaze surprisingly not resting upon Rui while speaking to her. She hesitatingly shook her head and gave no further reply. “Well... you don’t need to be... Nothing you say will hurt you, we won’t do anything. Hell, we’ve got a few people here that belong in a mental asylum because of how insane they act, we don’t care. At least... try to open up, ‘k?” Her tone was filled with sadness, like she couldn’t believe she was saying this to someone her age. She shouldn’t have to, no one her age should be put in a situation like this. “Look, we all know now. None of us looked at you any different. Try and remember that... ok?” She said, before slowly moving forwards once again

---

“Friends....are we? I don’t belong, Charlie. I don’t fit in, and I never will. I’ve got red in my ledger, and my kill count grows higher and higher per day.” The word seemed so unfamiliar, so.....wrong on her tongue. However, she does remove the shadows, with a wave of her hand, and turns to face Charlie with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. “So....your boss? Hmmm? Your....lover?”

---

Charlie rolls her eyes, glancing to the side with a soft flush on her face. "Lover? I suppose we'll have to wait and see what happens." She shuts her eyes and sighs, both maintaining her calm composure and to decide how to phrase what she wants to say. "I want you to join our gang Echo. Trust me, you belong in The Liberated, far more than being by yourself." She faces Echo now, her expression soft, almost pleading. "I think... We are more similar than what you would think. If I can find a place here, then you can too. We need strong willed people like you. You have a knack for helping others, you proved that here. So why don't you turn that energy into good use? Join us... Please."

---

After a few moments, Jacovin swallowed hard. A dull pain was rising in his chest for maybe the fifth time throughout the games. He tried to keep from showing that he was experiencing this, although a cough was scratching the back of his throat, and holding it back only made him look worse. Placing his hand over his mouth, he allowed the fit of coughs to erupt, causing him to lean forwards. A warm liquid, which he assumed was saliva, spattered his hand, though the coughing did not stop.

Rui didn’t move when Lesia did, she instead stayed put while she thought about what was being said to her. “But I-“ “Shut up.” Lesia spoke sternly, cutting off Rui before she could say anything else. “You don’t think any of us have either? You may have it worse than us but that doesn’t mean you can just carry that guilt on your own. I for one...” Lesia let out a sigh, lowering her head. “I killed my own brother, and that pain is something you can’t just lock away and suppress... Stop thinking of yourself like that, it’s what got you into this mess in the first place.” Her tone didn’t change, she didn’t falter or anything, which surprised her a bit. The two then began to slowly walk in silence for a bit until Rui spoke up. “I-I’m sor-“ “For what, huh? You have nothing to be sorry about.” She was cut off once again, only this time she was met with Lesia staring right at her instead of looking ahead. Lesia let out a sigh and continued, pressing her fingers in the bridge of her nose. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but something needs to be done. I’m not gonna let you live like this anymore, and to do that, you yourself need to change, you got that?” Rui didn’t move, respond, or react in any way that showed she was listening, but she was.

---

“I think you’ll be a good couple.” Echo stated, drawing shadow hearts. “You say we’re similar, you say I can change. You ask me to join your gang. You think I’ll fit in. Do you have the same terrible kill count I have? Do you slaughter without mercy, without emotion? I’m more than happy to join your gang, but I can tell you I won’t be accepted, once they know my full past. You’re...getting soft.” Echo mumbled.

---

She smiles at the first part, but it falls away as she listens to Echo. "You think that matters?" Charlie asks. "Before Milo became our leader we were all forced to claw our way to the top. Kill eachother so that we'd reach a spot where we wouldn't have to fight as hard anymore. We aren't unfamiliar with death, unfamiliar with having blood on our hands... blood that'll never go away." She shakes her head. "That may not matter to you, but it does to us. We are all familiar with hardships, that's what makes our gang so strong. We are all close, like family, because we understand eachother's suffering. We are no better than our miserable excuse of an old leader to judge the sins committed by others." She shrugs at the final part. "Soft? I wouldn't say that, I'm just tired of fighting. I want to live Echo, I no longer want to survive." She steps forward to hug her. "It's no pressure, join our gang if you want, but if you still don't want to... Well, you are always welcome." She releases her and gives her a kind smile. "I do hope this isn't goodbye."

---

“What’s the difference, then, between living and surviving? You killed because you were forced to. I killed, because I wanted to, Charlie. Do you think your gang would ever accept a monster like me? You just have no idea, how many innocent families I’ve put in danger, or killed. How many have died by my hands. How I laughed and revelled in their pain. I’m a monster, Charlie. What’s done is done. I can’t change that fact, as much as I want too. Even if I tried to spend the rest of my life clearing it out, I’ll never be able to fully right my wrongs. It’s not that I don’t want to join, Charlie” Echo sighed, as she watched her shadows dance around her

---

Jacovin could feel more saliva splattering his hand, and he was losing breath quickly. It was difficult to breathe, with constant coughing and no break to take a breath. Eventually, he crawled to the floor of the ship, gasping for air and letting ever more saliva drip from his mouth. Each hack and cough drew more energy from him, until his arm was shuddering with the effort of keeping him away from the bloody floor beneath him. Of course, Jacovin did not know it was bloody. He still believed the liquid to be saliva, forced up from the coughs.

“So... who do you think is behind all this...?” Lesia asked quietly. She continued to walk around, looking for any sign of a special room. Rui shook her head, then stopped moving. “Maybe we should go back...” she said carefully, like she was scared of an answer. Lesia stopped as well, giving a sigh before placing her hand behind her neck. “Yeah... this isn’t getting us anywhere...” She turned around and went back the way they came, Rui following behind her. Once they got back, they noticed something was going on with Jacovin. Lesia got down beside him, trying to see what was going on. “Hey! Are you ok?!”

---

"Fine," Jacovin managed to squeeze out between coughs. The blood covering his face, hand, and the floor beneath him very much begged to differ. "Just.." He coughed between each word. "Need water." Water clearly would not fix what was happening, nor would it fix whatever had made it happen.

Lesia hurried to her bag to try and find a bottle of water, but she couldn’t find any. Rui was already doing the same thing, but this time she had one. She handed it to Jacovin before backing up to let Lesia do something. “No, you’re not fine... You’re coughing up blood and it’s everywhere, you’re not even supposed to cough this much anyways!” She nearly yelled. She knew nothing about first aid, so even if she had supplies, she wouldn’t be able to do anything. “You need help, now.”

---

Charlie sighs and bows her head. "In my opinion? Surviving is forcing yourself to stay on a trail set for you by what's bringing you down, or who. It's fighting to live. It's not allowing yourself to grow and change, not allowing yourself to forgive. While living is allowing yourself to let go, to forgive, to ask for forgiveness, and finally start to do what you want to do most. I think that's what you need to start doing, you need to start living." Seeing that it was getting difficult to notice her, Charlie walks away from her with a heavy heart and to the Captains headquarters.
...
Milo had finally returned, he had just did a final headcount, there was nobody left in the arena.... alive. Let's get out of here." Milo tells his group. "The Capitol will regain their power over the arena soon, I'd like to be far away from here by then." He doesn't even have to look at Charlie to realize that she had taken his side. He grabs her hand without looking at eachother, and the two stare out the window and watch as they slowly take to the sky and move further away from the arena. He doesn't have to say it, nor does she. The two were finally free.

---

As the hovercraft flew away the group watched as the arena sparked to life at first, but then it started to crumble away to nothing. The Capital was overthrown. The war was won. After this, there would be no more MineGames. Ever. Everyone could look forward to a new life with out the fear of the Capital hanging over them. . .

THIS IS THE FINAL POST, PLEASE DO NOT POST ANYMORE. THANK YOU!

(Since this RP has been successfully completed, I'd like to thank everyone for participating and to be on the lookout for my next HG RP.)

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