━━･❪ 🌸 ❫ ･━━

It took around an hour and a half of tense traveling, though Daphne could've sworn it had taken longer to get from the cornucopia to wherever she'd collapsed last night. But to be fair, she'd been madly disoriented. For all she knew, she could've been going in circles for hours before Caelum found her.

The sky was showing the pink hints of sunset by the time the paths began to look familiar. Daphne caught a glimpse of the cornucopia plaza between the alleyways.

Before the attack, the plaza had been calm with Careers lounging around, not a whisper of concern that they were about to be ambushed.

Right now, the plaza was also calm. From what Daphne could see, it was completely empty, meaning the remaining Careers had been either driven away or were currently lurking around in ambush. There was a table in front of the gaping horn in the center. The cobblestones were still red from the night before.

She could still hear the screams in the air, the horrible sounds of metal tearing flesh. The adrenaline flooding her veins as she'd battled a Career with Azalea. Her knife sinking deep into his collar, then the wild haze in which she'd aimed her knife at Glory and hit Makani instead.

The screams. The storm of battle. The bodies falling limp to the ground. The stench of blood.

A deep sense of primal fear wormed itself way into Daphne's mind, causing her feet to freeze. She squeezed her eyes shut as images of the previous night flashed by.

"Daphne?" Caelum's footsteps halted in front of her.

Daphne clenched and unclenched her fists. For some reason, it was getting harder and harder to breathe. She fought to stomp down the reel of memories that threatened to overwhelm her, to buckle her knees and send her sprawling on the ground. To make sure she never got back up again.

"I didn't think coming back here would be so..." She trailed off with a whimper.

"Hey," Caelum's voice was gentle, and so was his hand as he softly tilted her chin upwards. "Look at me."

Daphne allowed her eyelids to flutter open. Caelum's jade eyes were warm and steady as the rest of her vision began to swim.

"Look at me, Daphne." Caelum repeated, this time firmer. "Take some deep breaths. You're going to be okay."

Daphne did, staring into his eyes as if they were an anchor in her tide of despair. There were flecks of lighter green in them, ringing his pupils like the world's most beautiful agate. He was close enough that Daphne could feel his body heat, and could see every tiny invisible freckle on his nose. She inhaled deeply, her breath hitching as his hand fell away from her chin. Something dimmed in his eyes as he took a step back, as if realizing their proximity.

Part of Daphne instinctively yearned to reach for him, to pull him back. But she knew she shouldn't, not when they were this close to the cornucopia. They had to stay on high alert. Besides, Caelum probably wouldn't appreciate it anyways.

"Feel better?" He asked, his voice strangely hoarse. He cleared his throat as Daphne nodded, feeling as if she were still in a lucid trance.

Don't think about it.

Just don't think about it.

Daphne took one last deep breath to clear her head, violently shoving aside any images of the attack. In her mind, she imagined the memories as tangible things, being packed away inside a box. She stuffed any distracting, irrelevant thoughts about Caelum in the box as well, mentally closing it and shoving it away into the dark abyss.

To her surprise, the imagery helped.

"So what's the approach?" She asked, willing her mind to sharpen.

"You stay here," Caelum said. "I'll quickly run out and grab the supply bag for District Ten-"

"And risk your neck?" Daphne sputtered. "Hell no. I'm going out there, you stay here and cover me if someone else runs out."

"No," Caelum's eyes gleamed. "I'm faster, if anyone does run out, they're less likely to catch me."

"Okay, but I can't exactly throw a knife that far out." Daphne crossed her arms in defiance. "If you end up needing help, I'm going to have to run out into the open anyways. However, if I'm the one who goes in the first place, you can shoot them from the alley much faster."

"You are not risking yourself, Daphne." Caelum insisted. "Not when you're in this state."

"Well I don't want you to risk yourself either!" Daphne shot back, fighting the urge to stomp her foot like a petulant child. "You may be Mr. Track-Star, but I can't have another ally die on my watch."

"Who says I'm going to die?"

Daphne huffed in frustration. "Caelum, you are staying here. Where you will be safe."

"I'm the one who insisted on coming here in the first place." Caelum's hands tightened into fists. "If something happened to you, it would be- hey, DAPHNE!"

Daphne hadn't stopped to hear the rest of Caelum's argument. She charged forward, pouring all her remaining energy into her legs as she burst from the alley and tore across the plaza. She could faintly hear Caelum's string of curses behind her, and she smirked to herself. Until rapid footsteps joined hers on the cobblestones.

Daphne whipped a glare over her shoulder at Caelum dashing along behind her.

"I told you to stay put!" She spat.

"I also told you to stay put, and look at what happened." Caelum shot back, bypassing Daphne and sprinting ahead. Now it was Daphne's turn to curse, stretching out her bounds in an attempt to match his pace.

The setting sun seared across her vision as she ran, feeling the light breeze on her face. She was utterly exposed, completely out of the shelter of the buildings now. Her veins sang with frantic adrenaline. There was nobody around, nobody lunging out from the shadows. The remaining Careers must've been driven away somehow.

Caelum reached the mouth of the cornucopia, nearly ramming straight into the table set up in front of it. There, three brown bags sat waiting, each labeled with a district number.

Three bags, but aren't there six districts still in the Game?

That means three have already stopped by.

More could be coming.

Caelum quickly snatched up the bag labeled for Ten. He gave a nod to Daphne, who had palmed a knife just in case, and she moved to pivot around for the bolt back to the alley.

Caelum cried out suddenly as she began to sprint. There was a bang that sounded awfully like someone's head being knocked against the table, then the scatter of arrows tumbling from a quiver. Daphne skidded to a halt, whipping back around, knife brandished.

Caelum was on the ground, the bag thrown from his grasp. His arrows were strewn in a wide arc before him, having slid free of the quiver. Daphne sucked in a sharp gasp. There was a familiar hand clamped around his ankle. The owner of the hand shot out from the mouth of the cornucopia faster than Daphne thought was possible in his current state.

Theron exploded forward, a crossbow wielded in his uninjured arm. He fired a bolt at Caelum's head, but missed by just inches as Caelum narrowly rolled to the side. The bolt sparked off the cobblestones.

Caelum flipped onto his back, his ankle free. He struck out with his foot, connecting with Theron's lower leg. It didn't seem to faze Theron whatsoever, even as it brought him down to a knee. His kneecap cracked hard against the cobblestone, but he didn't so much as flinch. He tossed the crossbow aside and drew a wickedly sharp stick from his belt instead.

He swiped at Caelum with it, and Caelum winced and bit down on his yell of pain. A long streak of dark crimson blossomed across the bottom of his left rib.

It all happened within two seconds, maximum. Daphne sprang forward, grabbing Theron by the back of his vest and yanking him off of Caelum. She slammed him against the cornucopia, pressing a knife against his throat and using her other hand to squeeze a pressure point along his wrist that forced the stick to loosen from his grasp.

A smirk carved itself into Theron's face, dripping with the same derangement from before. He lifted his hands in surrender, but Daphne had her hand anchoring his injured bicep to the cornucopia before he could say a word. Agony briefly flashed across his face as she pressed down hard on his wound.

"How are you so mobile? Caelum shot you right here," She gave his arm a tight squeeze, feeling fresh blood warm the bandages. "Aren't you supposed to be broken on the ground somewhere, dying of pain?"

Theron just laughed. It was a manic laugh, his eyes harboring a wild flame as if his sanity was teetering on the edge. He was like a circus act gone horribly wrong.

"Morphling pills," He crooned, tilting his head slightly to the side. His grin grew crooked and uncanny. "I had four left. I took them all at once when I arrived here, hiding in the cornucopia because I knew you would show up. And I knew I would need my strength when you did. Found a pretty sick crossbow inside too."

"You took four?" Daphne sputtered in disbelief. "Isn't that, you know, a little bit lethal?"

Theron laughed again, that unhinged chuckle. It sent chills down Daphne's spine. She realized her hand holding the knife to his throat was trembling, and it took all her willpower to steady it.

That hollow feeling was beginning to open up in her chest, and flashbacks were bubbling up like bile in her throat. Daphne couldn't afford to close her eyes, not for one second, so she focused on putting more pressure on Theron's wound, pressing it against the cornucopia with so much force she could've sworn she felt his bone creak.

This time, Theron cried out and screwed his eyes shut, sweat rolling down his temple. Daphne could hear Caelum's ragged breathing behind her as he gathered his arrows and notched one in his bow, pointed straight for Theron.

"Kill me," Theron spat with a ferocity that caught Daphne off guard. He grabbed Daphne's hand and pressed the edge of her knife deeper into his skin, drawing blood in a red line across his throat. "Go on. Do it."

Daphne's hand began to shake again. She gritted her teeth, but made no move to slash. Theron's smirk widened.

"I knew you didn't have it in you," He rasped. His eyes suddenly darkened. "Too broken after killing my dear Azalea, aren't you?"

Daphne lurched backwards as if she'd been struck. She didn't have time to react further, to calm the cascade that his words had unleashed inside. Theron took that opportunity, that flash of vulnerability to shove Daphne violently. Daphne barely kept her footing, forcing her mind to sharpen as Theron swooped down and snatched his stick from the ground.

He didn't attack Daphne, however. He lunged straight past her, for Caelum.

Caelum fired his arrow, but Theron dodged with uncanny speed. Alarm lighting in his eyes, Caelum pivoted away, but not quite fast enough. The sharp end of Theron's stick whipped across the shallow cut he'd left earlier, and any hopes of it remaining just a shallow cut vanished. Caelum let out a rough bellow, doubling over in pain, clutching at his left rib as blood streamed between his fingers.

Theron lifted his stick to strike again, aiming for another blow. Daphne summoned all the pain, all the grief and guilt shredding at her inside and unleashed a shriek of rage. Her vision sharpened, honing in on the back of Theron's neck. She almost hesitated. Almost.

Because if she did, it could be fatal for Caelum. She didn't let herself think about that possibility.

The knife was flying from her hand. It struck home with a messy splatter, Theron's scream abruptly cut off. He dropped like a puppet cut from its strings, sprawling awkwardly on the ground.

A stream of red trickled from his mouth. His eyes, once lit with a charming glint, now stared blankly forward, already beginning to gloss over. Caelum, hunched over as he gripped at his injured side, gave a strangled noise of surprise.

Daphne simply walked over and pulled her knife from Theron's flesh, not bothering to wipe off the blood before sheathing it. Her hands began to shake, but she clamped them into fists. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

Yet she didn't flinch as a cannon shot cracked in the distance.

━━･❪ 🌸 ❫ ･━━