The world used to be alright.
Tributes died. Victors wore crowns atop their heads. Districts bore their winnings. The citizens waited for the next Games. The people awaited for bloodshed and a chance of victory.
The world used to be alright until it brought Roma back.
She didn't want to win anymore. She didn't want to come home and face her District. She failed them last Games and didn't deserve the second chance. She didn't want to see the brothers she killed in mutt form. She didn't want another breath of life knowing Grainne and Kade took their last.
Her breath seems to stutter in her lungs before she lets it go, feeling the tension drain from her body. Her breathing returns to normal and she feels as if she can face the problem.
She feels like she's back in Ten. The greenery reminds her of spring. Spring is triumphing; vibrant flowers dancing in once somber fields. A soft, fragrant breeze lingers in the misty air, which has departed from its winter crispness. Blessed dew relieves the greenery from its icy frost and the blooming buds gaze intently at the crystal blue sky. Grass sprouts from the concealed earth, bringing new radiance.
Warmth spreads up the denuded trees, blossoms exploding, showering the frozen grounds with bursts of blinding colors. The plants unfurl their hidden brilliance and the somnolent creatures inhabit spring's territory once more. The sun rises gradually into the wispy clouds, strands of sunlight occupying the awakening land - brightening up the arrival of beauty, joy, and love: Spring...
She would never see it again.
But this is good enough for Roma- the artificial garden the Arena has provided. She wishes Kade was alive to see it with her. She wishes Kade would've died here instead...
The moss surrounds her as she sinks down onto the ground, cupping her trembling hand over the neon mush. The moss returns to the shady, damp garden just as the previous cave. It's thick and as springy to walk on as a thin mattress. She could peel it off in great clumps to reveal the dark mud beneath, but what was the point? The moss had claimed the garden for its own. Roma has no right to wreck another beautiful thing.
But before Roma can take her hand away, the moss turns black as night shadows on deep waters.
"No, no no-" Roma cries as she attempts to hold the moss, but only more blackness spreads. Once her dried blood touches the moss, it transforms into something hopeless, something ruined.
Roma looks up and swears Kade is still with her, behind her, his breath tickling her neck. She swears she hears him speak.
"In the blackness, anything seems possible. No sight gives free reign to the imagination in a way that daylight renders impossible." he speaks with a soft voice- a voice he's only used a couple of times. "You'll be driven by fear, your primal brain taking control. Every noise is going to be the same as a gunshot in the night and your mind will leap at even paranormal explanations. So, Roma, how rooted in reality do you think you are?"
She's losing her mind...again. She can feel it unraveling, the threads of every happy memory she could ever once recall, all but a disarray of strings scattered about her feet. Her sharp knees dig into the earth as she sinks farther into the ground, her hands unsteady as they silently claw at the dirt. She opens her mouth, but not a sound comes out, her head violently quivering as if there is a drill to the back of her skull. Her eyes see nothing; they have lost all sight of what is and what could have been. Her mouth is open, an eternal silenced scream, saliva dripping from behind her teeth and onto the ground, stained with the memory of those she ever loved.
Kade was gone. This was not him really speaking. His breath faded, his presence no more.
Grunts and cries ring in Roma's ears, and when she turns around and looks up, she examines the remaining tributes.
