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There was no telling whenever or not Tayla could trust Ace. She refused to see him as trustworthy just because he had put the knife down earlier. That must be how Cree and Ibaraki see me. How can I expect them to trust me simply by striking up once honest conversation? It was yet another reminder that she would need to talk to them. Get them to open up to her a bit more. Only to crush their hearts if and when you eventually leave the capitol? a dark voice asks her. Tayla shakes this thought away. She couldn't allow herself to feel guilty. She had a job to do, staying behind or taking them with her would be too risky.

It was only when they were called into the cafeteria when Tayla moves away from her spot. She was relieved to see that she could walk without being in too much pain, indicating that she wasn't seriously injured. It would still take a few days for her to be back to her old self though.

Tayla eats in silence, having been deep in her thoughts. She didn't even notice the dispute until Akane slammed her hand down on the table, startling her out of her thoughts. She gazes disapprovingly at the blonde from the corner of her eye, but other than that, she does nothing. She tenses up when she realizes that Ace had joined in, but relaxes when she realizes that he wasn't posing at a threat to them. It seemed like Akane and Ace both seemed to have the situation under control. For now, it was a verbal shouting match. Unless it got physical, Tayla didn't care about getting involved. She glaces away from the girl and continues silently eating her food.

Her eyes widen when she hears the sudden sound of a tribute being hit. She turns around only to find Charlie clutching her face. She slowly stands up, glaring at the blonde girl before turning her attention to Charlie. She races over to Charlie, barely even noticing the pain in her side as the runs the short few steps over to Charlie. "What happened?" She practically growls the words as she gazes at Akane with a furious look. "Who did this to her?" She asks with terrifying calmness.

The Peacekeeper approached Tiffani from behind and a second came to help. They literally had to pry her hands off of Jeremy, and the result was instant. Tiffani was screaming and cursing and throwing a royal fit about how it was "all Akane's fault!" (even though Akane had done little next to nothing) as she was escourted out. They gave her a shot of a sedative to calm her, which made it easier to escort her out.

Before Akane could speak, a second pair of Peacekeepers pulled Akane roughly to her feet, and despite Akane not resisting, they gave her a shot of a sedative as well. Akane's body relaxed as she too was escorted out. Charlie started silently sobbing, a hand reaching out for Akane, who had done nothing wrong.

A few days went by and it was now the private sessions with the Game makers. Akane and Tiffany were both back by this point, but on opposite sides of the room.

The voice on the intercom spoke, "Ace"

---

To be honest……Natalia didn’t find any of this interesting. She was rather numb, and couldn’t actually HAVE feelings. She couldn’t feel happy, sad or angry. She was just…numb. Surprisingly, she still managed to stay best friends with Faith, but she simply couldn’t react to situations like she used to. Killing someone didn’t make her feel guilt. Having fun didn’t make her happy. Being betrayed didn’t make her sad. That was just the way it was. A empty, hollow husk of a person, unable to feel.

Faith, however, was severely angered by the situation, and thankfully there were people there to step in. She said and did nothing, but secretly wanted to question Tiffani. She could spare no sympathy, no forgiveness for Tiffani, but it wouldn’t do to hurt without reason. She sent a bolt of pinkish magic that only Akane could see. The magic twisted into words, revealing a sentence: “Keep on your guard. You must learn to fear the power of obsessive love”
All the while, she maintained that neutral expression, her wand nowhere to be seen

---

The sound of Ace's name caused the mimic to perk up, soon standing and starting towards the doors. As he stepped in, the room seemed to expand around him, every little detail whispering through the wind to warn Ace of the crack in the flooring, or the camera in the far corner. As he looked around with his many eyes, the creature spotted the Gamemakers. They sat behind an unseen barrier, the air whispering everything about the shield to the Beholder. "Impress us." The two words rang like a shot through the chamber, causing Ace to take a very deep breath, soon opening every eye he had in the brilliant and violent contrast of lime and crimson. An odd image hovered around the Tribute, his true form shown in a Beholder, as red lightning started to crackle once more. A movement quickly brought several large pieces of training equipment before the Mimic, a single word echoing through the demonstration room: "Implode." Each piece slammed into one large pile, compacting in on itself before violently throwing large pieces of shrapnel into the walls, some pieces being deflected away from the Tribute by the image around him. With that, Ace fell to his knees, panting, silently cursing the human body once more. Standing rather shakily, Ace bowed to the Gamemakers and stepped towards the doors.

"Jeremy."

Jeremy stood up and after somewhat fixing his shirt he stepped inside. Now his abilities were mediocre at impressing people at best, it wasn't very interesting to see someone flash a forcefield or force bolt was boring, to say the least. But now science was where Jeremy's strong suit lied, like Akane, though his area was chemical reactions while hers was biology.

Jeremy admittedly didn't have much to work with, but he saw a bunch of ice and some bottled Thermite. Thermite and ice as not many people would know, cause a spectacular explosion when mixed together. And this is exactly what Jeremy did, After piling the ice in a questionable fashion, he tossed a handful of the powder on the ice, and a good-sized explosion followed. With a nod he's dismissed.

The intercom spoke from the wall again, "Faith."

---

Faith straightened her witch robes, and walked off towards the supposedly “testing chamber”. She saw the Gamemakers, who cowered behind a shield. “You may begin. Impress us.” Faith stood there, and silently thought of a non verbal spell, the disillusionment charm. She immediately disappeared from sight. The Gamemakers panicked, and lowered the shield a little, blasting red hot balls everywhere. One landed directly on her arm. She hissed in pain, as memories of her father and mother, the Hogwarts Battle and more, started to flash by her eyes. She raised her wand in retaliation. Her voice rang out, high, cold and clear. “Crucio!” She then smirked as the Gamemakers writhed in pain, before turning her back and walking out. She went back to the waiting room, where she collapsed. Overwhelmed by feelings of anger, sadness, and guilt at the realization of what she had just done. Natalia immediately began comforting her friend, despite not quite knowing how to

---

"Charlie."

Charlie hopped down from her chair and looked up at the Gamemakers. "Impress us." Charlie fidgeted for a moment before finally opening up her inventory and set out some obsidian, her netherrite pickaxe, and some flint and steel. Set up a portal with the obsidian and lit the inside. It sparked up and at least two pigmen came tumbling out. After ushering them back in she took down the portal and gave a polite bow. Teh child was then dismissed.

The voice on teh wall spoke again. "Tyler."

Moona looked at Faith and Natalia, she watched in concern. "Is she okay?"

---

Tyler sighed, hefting himself to his feet and removing what left of a shirt he had. Stepping through the doors, Tyler flexed his claws, soon slamming his purple fist into the floor, a series of massive spikes leaping from the concrete, each one purple as the flesh of Tyler's arm. As they drew closer to the Gamemaker's seats, they started getting shorter, the nearest one crashing into the shield and crumbling a little beneath it. As Tyler stood up straight, the spikes started to recede back into the concrete, all traces of the Astral Infection vanishing with them. After a moment of simply watching the Gamemakers, Tyler ripped a piece of shrapnel out of the wall, a remnant of Ace, and flung it with all his might, like a javelin. The large piece of metal rippled, slowly becoming corrupted as it flew, impaling itself in the shield before falling to the ground. With that, Tyler turned on his heel and strutted towards the door.

"Tayla Mckee" a voice calls from the loudspeaker above. Tayla takes a deep breath, then slowly stands up. Over the past few days, she had been doing nothing but holding back on true strength. It was really starting to impact how people viewed her. She noticed some (NPC) tributes talking poorly about her. At first it was whispers, but then they started confronting her and boasting about how they were going to target her first in the arena. It also reflected poorly on how Ashley saw her. Those bullies had a habit of targeting her whenever Ashley was near. But holding back would be worth it now. These Gamemakers would be in for a shock.

"It's not Tayla now, it's Nemesis" she mutters under her breath as she steps into the room. She was fed up with the Capitol. Fed up with how they treated its citizens, what they've done to countless families, to Ashley. She wanted nothing more than to make them fear her. Because she was somebody to fear.

She steps into the room and immediately walks over to the weapons stand. She wasn't expecting much. At the very best, a bow with a few arrows. But to her astonishment, she finds a pistol on the weapons stands with a few boxes of ammo next to it. She gingerly picks it up and inspects it. The pistol was a simple thing, nothing too special, it was exactly what Tayla was hoping for. She can feel eyes fall on her, mostly from the Peacemakers.

She takes a few steps back and aims it at some targets. She doesn't even need to look into the scope. Her vision suddenly changes. It's almost like a video game. She knows exactly where to point her gun and when to fire. She only needs a few seconds to aim and fire. Trusting that her shot was a bulls-eye, she points to the next target, then a new one that was further away. Each time she pauses for only a heartbeat, just long enough for the Gamemakers to see that she had landed each shot at the bullseye with little effort.

She glances at the Gamemakers in the corner of her eye. She had imagined that they'd be impressed, instead, they look bored. A mischievous smile appears on her face. Not impressed huh? She points her gun up to the ceiling, this time, she barely even glances at her target. She fires at all the lights. The shots were loud, echoing around the room as metal clashes with steel, glass, and heat. Sparks and glass fall from the ceiling, it would almost be beautiful if it weren't for how startlingly loud it was whenever a bullet made contact with one of the bulbs.

She continues until there are only a few lightbulbs hanging above her. She loads the chamber a final time and aims at the Gamemakers. She watches as their surprised looks quickly turn to terror as she fires the rest of the bullets at the Gamemakers. Of course, none of them pass through the barrier. But they still flinch away as if they've been hit.

She throws the gun aside, never once breaking her gaze away from the Gamemakers. "Now, imagine someone firing at you with that kind of accuracy, except now you aren't aware of their presence..." she starts to walk away but pauses when her whole body is concealed by the darkness in the room. "-... I'll remember your faces." She promises before finally leaving.

Natalia looks Moona. “I don’t know how to help her. I can’t feel any emotion. Can you try and help…uhhh…please?”

---

"Ibaraki Douji" the voice chimes, though there seems to be a bit of fear in it. Ibaraki blinked, hopping up as Tayla passed the child. "Good work, ma'am." Ibaraki said dutifully, one point added in the child's book for making the gamemakers sound frightened. Maybe teaming up with her wasn't that bad of an idea. Before that thought could get too out of hand though, Ibaraki slipped into the room.

It was dimly lit, only one light bulb replaced on such a short notice. Ibaraki didn't mind, the child felt more at home in the dark anyway. There were other things to mind, such as the game makers. They didn't even have to say anything, their indifference towards the small tribute as clear as day, not even bothering to ask Ibaraki to impress them as they had with everyone else. They just ordered servants to find more lights as quickly as possible so that they could watch the tributes better. "U-um, would it be okay if I started now, sir's?" Ibaraki asked, raising a hand. No mind was paid as servants exited the gamemaker's area in search of more bulbs to replace the broken ones, the only sign that someone heard was an offhand wave.

Taking that as sign enough, Ibaraki tottered over to the weights, finding the heaviest one and hefting it high up effortlessly. Ibaraki's arms weren't even trembling as the weight that very few tributes could even move cleared the child's head, showcasing the child's immense strength by walking around the arena all without seemingly breaking a sweat. And to Ibaraki it really was not sweat. The child had always been careful to be in control of the monsterous strength the resided within a cursed body, only ever being scolded for it. Here though. Here the things that were bad could be praised! But no praise ever came. In fact, noone paid any mind, all too preoccupied with regaining their vision. One could see exactly when the child's heart broke, small arms wavering for the first time since the private training started. But rather than sad, Ibaraki was livid.

A loud bang caught the gamemaker's attention though as Ibaraki threw the weight across the room and put a sizable dent on the floor, glaring at the people who had ignored the child up till this point. "It is quite rude to not pay attention to people when they wish to show you something." Came the ragged snarl from within the dark, a heavy pressure weighing down even from beyond the force field. From the shadows a heavy footstep that couldn't have ever belonged to a child resounded and then the creature stepped into the light. Ibaraki looked... different. Pale flames licked up one arm and the nub like growths had grown into a full fledged horn. Golden eyes that usually held innocence and positivity was narrowed and threatening, a silent rage that burned as hot as the azure flames that wreathed Ibaraki's body. The fan of white hair was highlighted in blue, swaying under the nonexistent winds as soft skin was rendered sallow by the low light. Perhaps most striking of all was that Ibaraki no longer looked like a child. Instead the small child-like body had grown even beyond human proportions and Ibaraki could now stand on eye level to the game makers. It was a jarring change, something completely unexpected as the gamemaker's room shuddered at the force of one demonic clawed hand slamming against the barrier, the remaining lights shaking. "Remember you manners, sirs." Came the deep throated rumble before Ibaraki retreated back into the shadows.

Emerging from the doors, Ibaraki was as the child always appeared, small and weak. Though there was an undeniable tiredness surrounding Ibaraki, each stumbling step broadcasting that loud and clear. Of course this didn't escape the eyes of more predatory tributes, some sneering and marking the child for the kill. But Ibaraki didn't pay any mind, whole body aflame as the curse ravaged the child's small body. Such a change wasn't without backlash and Ibaraki was suffering for it. But for now, the child would seek safety with Cree and sleep the pain away.

---

"I can try." Moona knelt down and put her hand on Faith's back, very softly the child recited a chant as her small angel wings suddenly protruded from her back, her hair fluttered softly behind her.

Power of the sun, gift me with your light.
Shine into the dark, restore our fading sight.
Rise into the dawn, blazing star so bright.
Burn away the strife, let my hope ignite.
Let hope ignite.

The chant had a small ball of golden light on the hand that was on Faith's back. It gently coaxed Faith away from the troubles plaguing her.

"Akane."

Akane straightened up her back and headed in, she instantly knew she was in trouble from the way the game makers were staring at her. "Impress us."

Impress them, hmm? Okay. Akane thought somberly. She noted the crumbling shield and pointed her hands at it, her palms outstretched, two teal-colored butterfly wings popped out from her back. "Elemental Vengeance!" A strong beam of multicolored energy formed in her hands and after gathering, launched at the shield, shattering it like glass. The Gamemakers stared at the broken shield then at Akane in shock. "Thank you for considering me for your stupid death games." Akane then flipped off the Gamemakers and left without being dismissed.

"Molly."

---

Once again, Tayla had found herself to be sudden surprised by Ibaraki. Like before, she hadn't expected him to say something to her first. This time however, she wasn't going to ignore him and do her own thing.

She waits by the doors and manages to catch horrified looks on the Gamemakers faces when Ibaraki exits the room. She glances over at Ibaraki, and notices that he seemed to drag his feet a bit while he walked, as if he had exhausted himself. She shoulders past the nearest tribute and walks side by side with Ibaraki. After seeing the look on the Gamemakers faces, it was obvious that he didn't need her protection. Still, she didn't like the idea of him being alone in this state, especially with the way other tributes seemed to react to his temporary weakness. "It looks like you did pretty good in there. It looked like you scared those Gamemakers half to death, I'm impressed, good job" she praises.

Ah, the nickname, huh. It was amusing to Molly that the announcer hadn't used his legal name though he understood why. It really was a mouthful after all. Stepping past the tributes, he shot concerned looks at the most ragged looking ones, namely Faith and Ibaraki. Though the two seemed to be in good hands, with the former being surrounded by a few people and the other being comforted by someone else. So all would be well. Walking in, Molly squared his shoulders and the game makers nodded. "Impress us." Someone uttered and Molly grinned. Oh he would impress them all right. But not in the way that they expected.

By the time Molly walked out, he had a satisfied grin on his face though his throat was sore. Giving a half hour lecture on the various ways to both kill and heal someone through one plant alone was something he had never tried before but it was quite cathartic to simply speak to his hearts content. The game makers also tried to stop him multiple times but Molly just barreled along, giving them a nice long lecture. They even had time to fix all the lights during his lecture! Splendid.

---

Everything was like floating underwater, sounds coming half garbled and unintelligible. A quick shake of the head did little to clear the air but Ibaraki did realize that someone's foot steps matched up with the child's own shaky stumble. It felt like moving the world, the simple action of raising a heavy head and focusing tired eyes on whoever it was, a warning snarl building up despite the exhaustion. That was quickly forgone, however, when familiar straw blonde hair was registered. Tayla. And she was speaking too. Pointed ears twitched slightly, straining to catch what was being said. "-red those Game-" "-half to de-" "-ssed, good job." That was all that the child could really catch but a dopey smile spread over a tired face none the less. Ibaraki was praised for doing a good job! No one ever had said that after Ibaraki let the curse run wild! O-of course Ibaraki still had to be wary around Tayla, she hadn't proved herself but maybe Ibaraki could start being less suspicious.

Unconsciously, Ibaraki let out a tiny and soft giggle at the praise. "Y-you think so, ma'am? You helped me though. You turned off the lights, right? Thank you ma'am." Came the tired mumble, one hand coming up to rub against a tired shoulder. To Tayla this would only be another mark of bashfulness but moving around was starting to become painful, each step feeling like glass shards stuck in the soles of Ibaraki's feet. The child was also very visibly tired, heavy eyelids drooping and exhaustion slurring well meaning words slightly.

---

Faith sat up, gasping slightly. “Thank you.” She says, smiling. She looks down at her hands, and for a moment she thinks she sees slender, long cold and white hands. She gasps, but she blinks, and it’s gone. “How did you guys perform?” She asks, trying to clear her memories of her performance



Natalia walks into the room, not waiting for the Gamemakers to respond, and casting a energy dome over the Gamemakers, only one of them, though. The shield stings and fizzles and zaps, electrocuting the Gamemaker inside. The rest try to free him, but everything simply ricochets off and hits everything, scattering debris, and injuring the Gamemakers. They panic and try to attack her, but she smiles. “Only the caster can remove it, so think wisely. Now, shut up” She uses her beguiling talent for the last bit, and they immediately do as they’re told, in a trance

---

"I'm very pleased to hear that my foolishness had been able to aid in your success" Tayla replies. Now that she had some time to clear her head, she realized that she made a mistake. Why did she have to shoot the lights and threaten the Gamemakers? She had allowed her anger to fuel her and expose her true strength. Would they, by chance, recognize who she was? Even in this world, there weren't a lot of people who could do what Tayla just did.

Still, she shouldn't beat herself too much. At least something good came out of it. "There's no need to thank me. I'm certain that you would've still been able to impress the Gamemakers, even if I didn't take out most of the lights." Her smile falters slightly as she watches Ibaraki more closely. She had yet to realize that he was in a lot of pain, but she could tell that he was exhausted. "Are you okay? If you need to, you can lean on me for support" she offers.

"I haven't yet," Moona admits. "I'm not sure what I'll show them. They didn't give me a good score last year. . ."

Charlie followed behind Tayla, rather skipping behind her than just walking, she seemed to have a bit of extra energy today, maybe because she didn't have to worry about having to perform anymore?

---

Ibraki frowned, trying quite hard to stay aware and focused on the conversation while walking. "You... helped me so I must thank you. If not... rude." Came the very adamant reply, the action of putting one foot in front of the other starting to become taxing. But still, Ibaraki refused to lean on Tayla just yet. She was nice, yes, but Ibaraki wasn't sure if she was nice because that was the type of person she was or if she was nice because she had something to gain from it. Speaking about trust though, perhaps Ibaraki had some blame to shoulder, constantly vigilant for any behavior that Tayla exhibited that could be framed as bad. She had only done things to help people around her while Ibaraki constantly suspected her. A pink tongue darted out to lick dry lips and suddenly Ibaraki was very thankful the the bone deep exhaustion made it hard for the child to look anywhere but down. "Um, few day ago... was mean to you. Even when you were nice, was still mean. I'm sorry, ma'am." Ibaraki meekly apologized.

---

Tayla is silent for a bit, as if she were choosing her words ever so carefully. "There is nothing wrong with staying vigilant. There is a lot of danger in this world. Being easily trusting can be dangerous because some people can and will use that against you." She pauses for a moment, giving him time to process her words. "I gave you no reason to trust me, I still really haven't. So there is nothing to be sorry for. You had good intentions when being hostile towards me, you were just trying to be a good friend... But if hearing it makes you feel better, then I forgive you" she replies.

She was glad that Ibaraki wasn't looking up at her. All she could think about was that, pretty soon, she was going to break out of this place, plan or no plan. She was doing exactly what she claimed she wasn't doing, using their trust against them. Sure, she had good intentions for it. She wanted to leave Charlie in good hands. Still, she wasn't ignorant of the fact that what she was doing was incredibly wrong.

Faith, once again, was staring inquisitively at Tayla. She would cast the Legilimens spell, but she still respected Tayla’s privacy.Something was wrong, she knew it. But what was wrong she couldn’t exactly tell. What could go wrong in the Games? A death? Injury? Betrayal? To her, the last one would be the worst— worse than unforgivable curses. She stared endlessly at Tayla, eyes never leaving her, not intrusive, not hateful, just there

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