CHAPTER FIVE

FARM GIRL LEVERAGE.

An alarm sounded, everybody took off. Celia sputtered as she watched the tributes reach the weapons in the middle of the arena and immediately start attacking eachother. The ringing in her ears grew louder as she attempted to take a step forward, vision swimming.

"-lia! Celia!"

The sound of her name quickly snapped her out of the brief moment of panic. Lucy Gray, on the other side of the pile of weapons, spun desperately in circles, trying to catch sight of either Celia or Jessup.

Oh how she knew Coriolanus was fuming at her from his spot in front of the screen.

Celia found herself blindly stumbling through the chaos. She shyly approached the middle of the arena, completely out of it as she searched for Lucy Gray.

The girl from District Ten narrowly avoided a few jabs in her direction. One particularly harsh thrust was almost delivered by Reaper as she had stumbled by his District partner.

Wiping the stray hairs from her sweaty forehead and cheeks, Celia looked up. A camera.

She blinked.

Sejanus, he would want her to snap out of it. To make a move toward safety. To hide.

But she couldn't, not without Lucy Gray.

"Lucy-" a harsh and sudden pain bloomed from her shoulder. Whoever wielded the knife that had just sliced through her skin was not prepared for Tanner.

The boy from District Ten wasted no time in stabbing the assailant through the stomach with his blade. The girl, now dead, fell at his feet. "Celia," He placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to look her in the eye.

"Tanner!" Coral, the female tribute from Four impatiently called her ally, motioning toward the figures of Lucy Gray and Jessup.

"Celia!" Lucy Gray cried, struggling to support Jessup and survey the area at the same time. Her face was soaked in both tears and sweat as she frantically looked for the girl she promised to protect.

Jessup groaned, his sunken eyes closing a bit as his fatigued body caught up to him. "Shh, I know." Lucy Gray attempted to comfort her friend. She was stuck.

She could save herself and Jessup, but that would mean potentially leaving Celia to the wolves. "Dammit, Celia!" Her voice cracked. Lucy Gray looked up at the pile of rubble, watching as Coral quickly gained on the duo.

Past the redhead, Lucy Gray finally caught sight of Celia. She stood shakily beside Tanner, holding her hand to the opposite shoulder. When the two took notice of each other, Celia assessed the situation and quickly opted for a word of advice:

"Run!"

The two District Twelve tributes took off, running toward an opening in the ground for cover. "Shit," Tanner jumped into action, quickly following behind Coral, Treech, and Mizzen.

In a panic, Celia followed suit. They were going to kill her Lucy.

Celia huffed as she ran after the group, she watched as the tributes followed the pair from Twelve underground.

"Tanner, stop!" Celia screeched, voice breaking as she grabbed at his arm, successfully halting his movements.

He turned with a grunt, "Let go."

Celia simply shook her head, tears building on her waterline. His jaw ticked as he glanced between Coral's retreating figure and Celia. "You're going to get yourself killed." He spoke harshly.

A pit formed in her stomach at that. Celia took a cautious step away from her district partner. He laughed.

"There is only one winner, Celia." He spoke quietly, shrugging and taking off after Coral.

She could feel her eyes unfocusing as the pit grew. Celia knew it wouldn't be long until Coral targeted her, and she suspected Tanner wouldn't be opposed to it.

As Celia watched the four figures retreat, she stole a look back at the center of the arena. No more weapons decorated the dusty concrete pile and all of the surviving tributes seemed to have run off to a temporary safety.

The silence frightened Celia. She watched as flies landed on the dead and how the blood ran from the bodies. A sob hiccuped it's way from her chest.

So, she ran. The girl quickly jumped into the familiar hole in the ground and found herself limping down a hallway.

"Lucy Gray!" Her voice cracked. She followed the sounds of voices. Celia did not care that she was assumedly approaching a certain death, as long as she can see Lucy once more. Her brain was scattered, the shock sinking in as she advanced toward the door surrounded by tributes.

"Lucy-" Celia reeled back as Coral's spearhead came to her neck.

"Stupid decision, really." Coral chuckled. "Just because Tanner is here doesn't mean he's going to protect you, little girl."

Celia swallowed, careful not to prick herself on the blade.

"Come on, Coral." Tanner stepped forward, coming to Celia's defense as Coral's spear moved from Celia to the boy.

"You giving up on this pact?" She quirked an eyebrow, challenging him to speak up. A slow smile crept up her face as she seemed to come up with an idea. "The cowgirl could be useful," Coral chuckled.

The spear was once again placed against Celia's neck, pinning her to the wall of the narrow hallway. A pained gasp slipped from her chapped lips as she was nicked with the weapon, a drop of blood dancing down her neck.

"You hear that, Songbird?" Coral raised her voice, aiming it in the direction of the door beside them. "You come on out and maybe I'll spare your darling farm girl!"

"Don't do it Luc-" The weapon pressed harder to the column of her neck. A stray tear slipped from her eye, trailing it's way through the dirt decorating her face.

Mizzen laughed, giddily jumping up and down. He was filled with excitement as a giant grin stretched on Treech's face at the sight. Tanner bit his tongue, deciding not to anger Coral with his take on the situation. The boy clenched his fists, sweating as he clocked the fear in Celia's eyes.

On the other side of the door, Lucy Gray silenced her wails with the sleeve of her mother's dress. Jessup was dead weight against her side as the two sat against a pillar in the damp room.

She came to a slow stance, making sure Jessup was steady against the column before she made her way to the door.

"Hey, it's the little girl from Eight!" Lucy could hear Mizzen declare from the other side of the door.

"Well, don't just stand there. Go get her!" Coral barked.

As Tanner and Mizzen ran after the young girl, Treech and Coral turned their attention back to Celia.

"Just kill me," She whimpered. Treech's smile fell at the sound of her voice. "She's not stupid enough to come out here. You're wasting your time."

Coral snickered at that. "Oh, please." She scoffed, grabbing Celia by the shoulder that was previously cut. The girl winced, crying out as the half-healed cut opened back up.

"Lucy, don't come out." Her voice cracked as Coral applied pressure to her wound. The pain turned into anger as Celia looked down at Coral. Her arm came up, knocking the spear from its place against her neck. Coral gasped as Celia's boot came up to kick her in the stomach, sending her into the wall with a thud.

Treech jumped into action, quickly running over to check on Coral as Celia started aimlessly running through the hallways. "Go get her, you idiot!"

The sound of boots gaining on her only spurred her to pick up her pace. Finally, an opening leading to the open arena came into sight. Celia crawled, desperately clawing at the pavement as she was basked in the setting sun.

Celia limped to a stance, pumping her legs as she ran for higher ground. The girl was able to slide herself between two big slabs of cement as temporary means of safety.

She watched through a crack in the rock as Treech crawled from the hole, followed by Coral who hit him upside the head. "Great! We lost our only leverage."

••

Celia didn't know how long she sat folded in an uncomfortable position between the two slabs of concrete before she had started hallucinating.

She was so thirsty, her mind coping by sending her images of things that weren't really there. The delusions had her head lolling from side to side, in and out of consciousness.

"Celia," A playful voice spoke from behind the rock hiding her from the rest of the arena. "Come out! It's over, we won."

The sweet voice was all too familiar.

"Lucy Gray?" Celia croaked, trying to wake up her tired legs. She could feel the cameras on her, could feel Sejanus' heavy gaze at her half lidded eyes and weary stance. A watery smile strung upon her dirtied face. "It's all over?"

A painful sob escaped her mouth, a chuckle now bubbling up her throat. Peaking her head around the giant piece of cement, her face visibly relaxed at the sight of Lucy Gray. Her mother's dress as pristine as the first time she saw her, her hair freshly washed, she was confident on her feet.

"Oh, honey." Celia watched as Lucy Gray knelt down in front of her, dragging a soft thumb up her cheekbone. "We need to get you some water."

Celia quickly nodded, "Water." She croaked. "I need water."

Within a matter of minutes, a drone crashed into the wall beside her, delivering a bottle of fresh water to the severely dehydrated girl.

Celia downed the drink, not letting a single drop go to waste. She immediately felt her mind waking from it's slump as she gained back some strength. Looking back up to Lucy Gray, she frowned when she found the spot to be empty.

Her gaze now turned toward the camera. "Thank you." She mouthed, hoping Sejanus was watching.

••

NOTES
Guys why was this the
hardest thing to write??
tbh I'm kinda winging this
part of the fic, BUT AFTER
THE CRAZY ARENA SCENES I
HAVE PLANS DONT U WORRY!!

so sorry for the lack of updates,
college sucks.
1.6k, unedited.