thearena | Be Careful Who You Trust

Entry tags:

Be Careful Who You Trust

Who| Nasir and Open
What| Nasir's "boyfriend" is here. He is super protective.
Where| Near the Orchards
When| Week 4
Warnings/Notes| Warnings for attempted murder by strangulation and death. As a note, Nasir is the violent sort and has been eating the food from the orchards so he's very territorial and fiercely protective of Agron. However, since he doesn't want to risk a fight when his boyfriend is in such a state, as long as your character keeps their distance he won't attack and this is your best chance at talking to him.

Nasir patrolled the arena more out of habit than anything else. His hope that he would find Agron had faded, no matter how hard he had clung to it at first. After this long, he had to accept that he wasn't here. He'd been taken in handcuffs, sedated and dragged away from him and Nasir did not know if he would ever see him again. That was the truth, no matter what else he told himself.

So when he heard someone coming closer, he expected a fight or else Gannicus. But the person he saw made him do the most inadvisable thing in the arena. He dropped his crowbar.

"Agron!"

The man was pale. His eyes were vacant even as he took Nasir in. There was no flicker of recognition in his gaze. His lips didn't twitch into a smile and he showed no signs of relief or anything at seeing Nasir.

Nasir was quite the opposite, even as his heart sank at seeing Agron like this. At least when they had reunited after Agron's crucifixion he had showed emotion, heartbreaking as it had been. Now there was nothing.

But, despite the fact that he was still bleeding from his fight with the dwarf, Nasir got his arm around Agron to hold him.

"By the gods, I feared I would never lay eyes on you."

There was still no reaction.

Nasir laid his hand on Agron's cheek. "What has happened? Agron..."

No response.

Nasir kept from showing his emotions, the fear that came over him, the sorrow and anger.

"Sit, I have food we may share." But even then, Agron showed no interest.

By Jupiter, he would destroy all of Panem for this.

Nasir grabbed his crowbar but with his other hand he found Agron's. If he would not speak then Nasir would remain beside him in silence for as long as he was able.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This was...well. This was new.

That was really the only word for it.

One moment, Helena had been in her room, comforting Kara about the loss of her boyfriend, worried about Wonder Woman and her murderous daughter, and thinking about the death of her own mother.

The next, she was on a hard metal cot and...

Of all the weird things that could possibly happen to me.

The first thing Helena had done was try to grab something that she could use to protect herself with. She'd had to make do with whatever she could find...which was only a few marbles in an old sock.

Not the greatest weapon, but Helena was certain she could make do. At least until she could find something better.

The second thing she'd done was try to find a safe place. The abandoned homes here, they would be no good. After surveying as much of the place as she could, she'd decided on the orchards.

There'd be food there, right? Maybe a place to hide amongst the vegetation until she could figure something out.

And see if anyone else from home had arrived. Her father. Kara. Hell, even Fury. But so far, nothing.

That was how she'd found herself crouched in a tree in the orchards, surveying the scene beneath her. Two men.

One of whom had dropped a crowbar. Helena started. A weapon! Before she could lunge for it, though, he'd retrieved it again.

Damnit.

Cautiously, Helena inched closer to the two men. Maybe she could knock them out. Take their food and their weapons.

Seriously, whoever thought this up? They were clearly inspired by the violence around Crime Alley.

Nasir turned as he heard a sound. Letting go of Agron's hand, resting his own briefly on Agron's shoulder to encourage him to remain seated, he stood.

"Move more softly if you expect to catch me unaware." He faced the direction the sound had come from, obscured by fog. "Show self."

He had taken a defensive stance. This time he had no interest in pursuing a fight-- not with Agron here and vulnerable. But if it came to it, he would protect him.

Damn. As good as she was at what she did, she still wasn't up to her parents' level. Then again, Dad had this preternatural way of knowing everything around him. Most people tended to find that weird, but Helena had grown up under his roof. For her, it was normal.

Helena sucked in a deep breath, held the sock of marbles at the ready, and then dropped down from the orchard into a defensive position.

"I'm new to this, so I have to know - is this the part where we try to kill each other?"

What even was that she was holding? Was that supposed to be a weapon?

"Were I alone I would not hesitate to cut you down where you stand. Take chance to leave while heart still beats. I seek no fight with you if feet remain planted on ground you stand upon and carry you no further toward me."

Protect. Defend. This woman should not be here. This place was his. He couldn't place his thoughts, could barely recognize them. They felt foreign in his mind but perhaps it was the need to protect his lover. That was it. Agron was weak and for the first time he needed Nasir's help on field of battle.

Hey, you made do with what you had, alright? One of the first things she'd learned from her parents, that. Use your surroundings to your advantage.

No matter how ridiculous and disadvantageous it might seem.

"Wow," she said, quirking up an eyebrow. "What, are you from Amazonia or something?" Men weren't allowed on Amazonia, though. Manazonia? "I mean, the formal English alone..." Okay, so she was quipping. It was Helena's default. Her father used to set his lips in a grim line and say nothing out in the field. Her mother, well, she hissed or said something sexy.

Helena just quipped. Badly.

"Look, I'm not exactly looking for a fight either. But, you know, when in Rome..." Truth be told, she just wanted to find a safe place, win without killing anyone, and then get home.

She'd already lost with finding a safe place, though.

Where the hell's a Batcave or a Catacomb when you need one?

"I am from Syria. I speak Latin. When I was in Rome my hands were stained with the blood of Romans." Nasir was really not in the mood for this and if his blunt response could get her to back off so much the better. His body was still tensed for a fight.

"If you are new to the arena, you waste time asking questions that hold no meaning."

"Freshly clothed and delivered," Helena replied, taking his response in. Syria. Okay. But that Rome line...

Definitely not from my present.

"I get it. Like I said, I'm not looking for a fight either." Yet. Maybe some shelter and a few weapons to defend herself with. She was new here. Helena was all too aware that it made her something of a target than most. She paused, then, and looked between Nasir and Agron.

Something seemed off here.

"Are you guys okay?"

"We need no aid." That was a lie. Nasir badly needed help in caring for Agron, learning what was wrong with him, and how he could bring him back to reason. But the only one he would accept help from was Gannicus, perhaps Felicity.

But while Nasir spoke, Agron stood and glared at Helena. Nasir took a step back and held out his arm to stop him, wincing as the movement caused him pain from his wound.

"I have this in hand, Agron." Not that he knew if Agron understood his words.

"Fair enough," Helena replied. "I wouldn't necessarily take aid from someone I didn't know either." Especially someone who had been spying on them from the deepest shade that the orchard could offer. "But you're hurt. That can't be helpful, all things considered." Not that she had anything on her that she could help heal them with. She took a step back when Agron rose, though. Nasir, up until this point, was at least chatty. Agron had been entirely quiet.

And it was always the quiet ones you watched out for.

Unless, you know, it's the Joker.

"I have suffered worse and lived. I hold enough strength to defend self against that." He gestured to Helena's... sock. "Search for better weapon from the dead or weak. That is poor match for metal." It was pathetic that she thought it would help her. Nasir would rather rely on fists.

"Hey, I just got here, mister. Give a girl a chance." She paused, and then nodded ."But I appreciate the advice. Thank you." It would've been easier had they allowed Helena to keep her throwing talons. She could easily do some damage with those. She tilted her head and took another two steps back. There was something going on here, and her instincts were telling her that maybe it was better that she not get involved.

"I'm Helena, by the way." He would recognize the name, of course, it being a Latin one. "It was, well, awkward meeting you, Mr...?" She wasn't about to call him Manazon or Gladiator Guy to his face.

"You are no girl." Nasir did not see why she should attempt to make herself appear less threatening when anyone could see she was a woman.

Things were a little different in his time.

"My name is Nasir." She would learn it eventually either way. She might as well hear it from his lips now.

Evidently. There were women in their mid-twenties in Helena's time who still considered themselves girls.

Which is why I didn't go by Batgirl or Catgirl. I'd be stuck with that name at twenty-six and...no.

"It's...well. Hello, Nasir. And Nasir's strangely silent, somewhat intimidating friend." She attempted a smile. "Look, I'm going to do this fading into the shadows thing. Get off your backs. No harm, no foul. If you ever need anything..." she shrugged. "Well. I'm sure we'll run into each other again."

And she still hadn't managed to get that crowbar either. It was okay, though. There were others she could steal from. And stealing, well, that came easily to Helena Wayne.

Friend. Right.

"I advise you to stay far from me," Nasir said, still watching Helena intently even though she'd stated her intention to leave. He would remain staring at her until she disappeared.

A few days had passed since Agron had appeared from out of the fog and still he remained silent, pale, and entirely disinterested in food and water. And yet his eyes would flicker with an emotion that Nasir recognized, one that came to him more and more frequently as time passed. Anger. Rage. Nasir knew it well but he had never been more shocked when he began to see it directed at himself.

Nasir talked to him with calming words and soothing voice but it did nothing to abate Agron's growing hostility. He was... off. Strange. He began to pace around Nasir. Nasir was afraid to sleep. But he was not asleep when Agron made his move.

Agron was pacing close to the orchard. Nasir thought he heard something and turned aside. When he looked back Agron was gone.

"Agron!" Nasir quickly rose to his feet and ran into the orchard, past the trees in search for him. "Do not wander-- Agron!"

He did not see it coming. Agron sprang from around a tree and in a moment his hands were around Nasir's throat.

Nasir felt a surge of fear but stronger than that was the sense of disbelief. Agron had attacked him. Agron, who had always been full of anger but never, never held it toward Nasir, was attempting to strangle him. Nasir clawed at Agron's hands, grasping at his wrists in an attempt to pull him away. Agron had always been stronger but adrenaline gave Nasir added power and he had enough room between Agron's fingers and his neck to breathe.

"Agron, stop. You-- hold my heart-- STOP!"

But Agron overpowered him. His hands seized his throat again, fingers tightening around his neck and no matter how hard Nasir gasped he could not suck air into his lungs. Hands that not long ago had run down his body and brought him nothing but pleasure now gripped him painfully. If Agron did not come to reason, Nasir was going to die.

He was going to die staring up into the eyes of his lover-- eyes that held nothing but hate but Nasir could not return the feeling. He could not hurt him.

My heart will never beat for another. Agron's words to him, before they had parted for what Nasir thought would be the last time, came back to Nasir. And yet he realized that soon his own heart would cease beating.

Gannicus hadn't been looking for Nasir, not at first. When Melitta had arrived out of the mist - pale as death, listless and mute - Gannicus had known that there was something terribly wrong happening. He had known better than anyone in the world that the pale woman before him was dead, beyond any reason of doubt. It was Gannicus that Melitta had spluttered bright with red as she died in his arms, fitting and drowning on thick arterial blood. A sight - a sound, a smell - he would never forget.

Breathe, he had implored her. Now she breathed again, but today Gannicus would have given anything for it not to be so. Not here, not in this arena. Not now that he knew what cruelty the people of Panem were capable of.

He had purposefully kept her away from Nasir, preferring instead to keep this pain to himself. But the longer she lingered with Gannicus the more certain he grew - this was all wrong. Melitta was dead, and this gross shadow of her form was nothing like the woman he had known and loved. None of this was right. And maybe Nasir would have a visitor of his own...

As Gannicus approached the orchard he realised he was entirely unsurprised to know that it was a shadow of Agron that had joined Nasir. What he was surprised about was the fact that the shadow seemed hell-bent on killing Nasir with his bare hands.

It didn't take much thought to push Gannicus in to action. Hefting the heavy lead pipe in both arms he closed the distance at a run, twisting and turning at the last pace to spin and bring the pipe slamming around in a wide circle to impact Agron's from the side. The impact came with a sickening crunch and a spray of blood, sending the large man staggering sharply to one side.

Over Gannicus's shoulder Melitta - bare-footed in her pale white tunic and body slave torque - stood mutely and watched the proceedings with dull, disinterested eyes.

Nasir didn't know what was happening at first. At some point, his vision had cut out-- Agron's face fading into darkness. But then the hands and Agron's weight bearing down on him were gone. Nasir gasped, sucking in breath after breath. He rubbed at his throat as he turned, coughing in between his gasps.

He blinked and his vision slowly came back into focus. Agron had fallen to the side but he stood, bleeding from the head, and turned on--

Gannicus?

Agron lunged for Gannicus. Nasir's blood froze but he pushed himself up onto his feet though they could not carry him forward.

"No." His voice was nothing more than a rasping whisper. He tried to speak louder but failed. "Gannicus--"

It was Agron's form and face that was bearing down on him but Gannicus already knew that he couldn't waste time thinking this shadow was actually the man himself. He knew it couldn't be - he had proof now that the Games makers could give a man or woman any face they so desired. Melitta was ash beneath the earth, interred there by her husband, and there was no way even these people of Panem with all their skills and powers could bring her back to them now.

Which in itself was terrible, heart-wrenching thought. They taunted Gannicus with Melitta's sweet face, turned pale in the hour of death, and now this beast in Agron's form threatened to kill Nasir and Gannicus both. Flooded with rage and hurt Gannicus dodged backwards as Agron lunged, eyes intent on the larger man's shoulders - every twitch of a muscle betrayed an intent to move, and Gannicus ducked and dodged accordingly. Twice, three times Agron lunged - but on the fourth Gannicus was ready.

He smacked aside a fist that came hurtling towards his temple and sank to one knee, driving the heavy lead pipe upwards with all his might to spear at the zombie's torso as it lunged forwards with all its weight and heft. The lead pipe was blunt, but the force was considerable - the end sank through flesh and muscle, impaling up through the zombie's stomach, where the lead pipe lodged itself firmly. Gannicus let go, rolling away from the shadow of Agron's form and the lead pipe stuck firmly in its stomach, and scrambled breathlessly to his feet.

Nasir struggled toward them, not caring if he got between the fight but his legs never carried him that far. He tried to speak but the noise he made couldn't be heard over the sound of a fist striking a skull and a lead pipe burying itself in Agron's flesh.

Nasir didn't know how he remained standing. He thought Agron had died before, been convinced of it, and that had been terrible to bear. Watching him die in front of him-- at the hands of Gannicus-- was beyond what he could handle.

The scream that left him then was strangled, hoarse, and inhuman but it still carried.

"Agron." His mouth formed the name but all that emerged from his lips was a faint hiss of air.

He wrapped his arms around Agron as he fell to his knees and spread him back onto his lap. His hands cradled Agron's face as his gaze ran from the pipe embedded in Agron's stomach to his face, eyes still burning. That look was not the last memory he wanted to carry of Agron but neither had him being dragged off unconscious in chains. He couldn't choose how his life would unfold. He could only live with it even if that was the last thing he wanted.

Nasir's throat choked. Again, he could barely breathe, and when Agron's eyes returned to the vacancy they had when he emerged from the fog, Nasir knew that he was gone.

But just as despair threatened to take him a greater emotion flooded his body, pumped through his veins and took the place of the boiled blood inside of him.

"Gannicus."

By chance, Nasir's abandoned crowbar was not far away. He seized it, letting go of Agron's body and not paying it any more attention as it sank back onto the ground.

Nasir didn't mask his movement although the attack could be seen coming in the look of rage in his eyes alone. He threw himself at Gannicus, heedless of the fact that he was terribly outmatched. He swung his crowbar at the man's head, seeking to strike his temple just as he had hit Agron's. It was an unfocused attack but no less skilled-- and Gannicus was without his weapon. If Nasir could keep him that way perhaps he had a chance.

Probably not.

Gannicus had a dark suspicion that this shadow of Agron's form might have needed more than would kill the man himself to put him down - the fact that the zombie had keeled over had been a merciful surprise. With the creature dead Gannicus glanced away over one shoulder to check his own visitor's whereabouts - there was Melitta, numbly silent and forlorn as when he had left her side.

Luckily, Nasir had the decency to say his name out loud. Gannicus turned at the hoarse threat - just in time to realise the man was about to attack him in turn.

And just after he had fucking saved him?

Gannicus's expression twisted in to a sneer of disbelief as he quickly backed up, readying himself to meet whatever move Nasir threw his way. The curving path of the crowbar was easy to follow but Gannicus moved a fraction late; the claw of the weapon caught him across one cheek, gouging a path over his face and drawing a thick line of blood and a hiss of pain from Gannicus himself.

Gannicus reeled away, one hand moving to press against his cheek and gage the flow of blood as the other unlooped the heavy chain he had tied about his wrist.

"Nasir!" He roared despite how his head rang at the glancing impact of the claw. With a grim expression Gannicus backed away, putting a few paces of distance between them as he readied his chain in his hand and bellowed his only - and final - warning. "Find fucking sense!"

So he had a chain. That would, inevitably, hurt. Gannicus might even succeed where Agron had failed and choke the life out of Nasir. He didn't care though.

Find sense? He had it. He had all his fucking senses collected and charted. It was a map that pointed directly to Gannicus and said "this is the man who murdered your lover. This is the friend who betrayed you both."

"You killed him!" If Nasir could yell he would have but Agron's fingers had left a literal impression on his flesh and had closed off his windpipe for too long. Speaking at anything above a whisper was too much of a struggle.

Charging at Gannicus was not. Taking another swing at him, intent on cracking his skull, was not.

"I'll watch the life fade from your mangled body!"

"I killed but cruel phantom!" Gannicus returned between gritted teeth. With his chain wound once about both wrists and pulled tight he could crudely deflect Nasir's swings, but the tactic wasn't ideal. Closing the gap had been what worked before, but with the memory of the crowbar's bite still etched in blood across his face Gannicus knew better. Instead he dodged to the left and began to edge towards Agron's corpse, giving ground to Nasir at every step as he backed away from his swings.

How could Nasir be so ignorant? Gannicus's own rage began to bubble over and he unwound one hand from his chain for long enough to send it out at Nasir with a whipping flick.

"As he would have killed you, you simple fuck!"

Nasir attempted to dodge but the chain caught him around the shoulder, bruising his already hurt arm. He staggered but continued attacking.

"He was not phantom but flesh and blood!"

How could Gannicus say that? Nasir knew that Agron had been here, he knew that the Capitol could throw him into the arena at any time, and he knew they had the power to leave him in such a state. That had been Agron, no matter what anyone claimed.

And here Gannicus was justifying the fact that he'd murdered him by claiming he wasn't real?

Nasir should have paused to consider a strategy he could use that could possibly put him on equal footing with Gannicus but he was too caught up in his own emotions and each step he took toward Agron's dead body only inflamed him.

First he would try to strike Gannicus's face, then his stomach to force out his intestines as Gannicus had Agron's. He tried to land his crowbar on every piece of Gannicus's flesh and tear it apart.

Nasir's movements were irrational and emotional, but that in itself was dangerous enough. Grief often gave a man strength beyond his usual measure and Gannicus dimly knew - in that dark, instinctive part of my mind that knew everything there was to know about killing a man in every way possible, the same bundled knots of instinct and experience that had driven him onwards to be crowned champion in the arena - that he must keep his distance. Normally closing the gap between them would have been the superior tactic, but not now. Not with his lead pipe lost to him...

But was it really lost? From the corner of his eye Gannicus could see that the heavy stretch of metal still stood stiffly embedded Agron's stomach. Edging closer and backing ever away from Nasir's mad swings, Gannicus gritted his teeth and threw himself in to a roll that took him over Agron's corpse and on to the other side. Mid-roll he wrenched the pipe from the zombie's stomach and pulled it free with an awful sucking noise that threw black blood in to the air as he tore it away with all his might.

Now properly equipped with the pipe in one hand and his chain in the other, Gannicus readied himself for another frenzied assault. But this time he had his own anger and rage to fuel him onwards.

"Test me again and see own blood join his!"

If Gannicus had a chance at Nasir lowering his weapon and backing away, he blew it the moment he unceremoniously ripped the lead pipe from Agron's stomach. It was still covered in Agron's blood, bits of intestines fell from it.

Agron was dead. Nasir had no reason to hold to his promise and live, which meant that he had no reason to keep Gannicus as an ally. Whatever bonds had tied them together had been severed by Gannicus's own hand.

Nasir looked from the pipe, which was probably going to usher him into the afterlife, to Gannicus himself. If he had to die, he would take Gannicus's life as well.

"It will not be my blood!" His voice cut through the air just before he charged, swinging his crowbar with a fury he had never felt until this day.

Dulled reactions trump the aggressive frenzy brewing inside of him; Gannicus blocked the worst of the crowbar's swing with the lead pipe, but a slick sheen of gore caused the crowbar to slide dangerously along its length. It was a lazy block, badly executed, and as Nasir's crowbar slides along the bloodied pipe it catches the curve of Gannicus's fist in a painful crunch of metal upon knuckle. It hurt like hell but Gannicus refused to let his grip on the pipe weaken; despite the blood and the sure knowledge that at least a few of his knuckles must be dangerously fractured it had been too much work to win back this weapon to let it go again so quickly.

Biting back the agony in his smashed knuckles with a snarl Gannicus pushed back forcefully with the lead pipe in an attempt to knock Nasir on to the back foot and somehow stem the frenzied attack. He has no more time - and no more patience - for warnings and second chances. Gannicus is done with it all. Instead he brought his chain about in another whipping motion and followed it up with another sweep - albeit all the weaker for his smashed knuckles - of the lead pipe.

Nasir was knocked back by the push. Disoriented by rage, he didn't have time to dodge the chain and it landed across his face. It split open his cheek, which would give him a scar to match the other. When he fell back, it did save him from being struck by the chain again but presented another problem: he was flat on the ground with an angry gladiator above him.

He rolled away so he could get on his feet again. He wiped blood away from his face and, when he bared his teeth, he felt it drip down between his lips and spill into his mouth.

"I'll have your life for this." Spitting out the blood, he paced in a circle around Gannicus, just out of reach of the chain.

It's a good thing that Nasir rolled away so quickly, for a fraction of a moment after he had moved Gannicus brought his lead pipe down in the place where his head had been. The pipe caught in the damp earth and it took Gannicus another moment to work it free again as he battled with the pain that gripping it tightly brought him.

"Step forward and take it."

He didn't care about Nasir's threats - they're noises, lost in the humid and electric air between them, meaning little. Putting more stock in the man's actions than his words, Gannicus knew that now he had his lead pipe back again he could afford to close the distance between them. He set forwards again, swinging both weapons, and tried to get in close once more.

Nasir had to duck low to avoid the two weapons coming towards him. Instead he did as Gannicus told him only instead of stepping forward he rolled, bowling into Gannicus's legs. Hopefully that would knock him over, and if not then Nasir planned on jamming the hook of his crowbar into a kneecap.

He planned on that anyway. He didn't want this to be quick.

"He called you friend but you care for none but yourself!"

It didn't matter to him that Gannicus had saved his life. The thought was far removed from his mind when all he could see was the same lead pipe that had swung towards him being thrust through Agron's stomach.

You care for none but yourself.

It was an accusation that was painfully familiar; the words stung enough to make Gannicus falter. How often had he carried the weight of that guilt, of those words that he had heard so often from Oenomaus and Spartacus, words that he himself had believed true? Nasir's accusation hit him like a punch to the stomach and Gannicus hesitated a fraction too long. Nasir rolled toward him and Gannicus took the impact, shedding both of his weapons in fury as he seized the man in both hands. As Gannicus tumbled backwards he dragged Nasir with him, wanting to keep him close enough now to be able to wrestle him to the ground and try to work his forearm around the smaller man's neck.

If it was true that Gannicus only cared for himself, then perhaps it would make strangling the life out of Nasir that much easier.

Nasir's words were spoken in haste and anger. He didn't know how it had settled in a deep wound but if he had he would have found only a sweet satisfaction.

His grip on his crowbar had slackened so that it fell from his hand as Gannicus pulled him back. He just barely got his fingers around it before he was pulled out of reach.

Gannicus had saved Nasir from having the life choked out of him. Now, with his cutting off Nasir's air, he was going to correct what had turned out to be a mistake. Only Nasir wouldn't let him. He did what he could not do against Agron. He fought back. He kicked. He scratched with his free hand. He brought his crowbar back to strike whatever flesh and twist the hook if it landed.

Flailing scratches and furious kicks were the kind of attack that Gannicus didn't really care about - with his forearm looped around Nasir's neck and pulled ever tighter by his other hand Gannicus had determinedly fixed all his attentions on taking whatever Nasir threw at him for the next minute and a half. That was all it took. Ninety seconds, and it would all be over.

Except when the crowbar finds its mark across the side of Gannicus's head he grunts in pain; it splits his concentration as the world inside his head bursts in to a flash of colour and pain. The arm around Nasir's neck slackens fractionally as, dazed at the sudden impact and with streaming blood from his hairline, Gannicus clumsily struggles to catch the crowbar and wrench it from his hand.

Gannicus seized the crowbar from him and Nasir knew that he'd lost any hope of keeping his life. He sucked in one last breath before the arm tightened around him again. He tried to claw at Gannicus's face but couldn't reach him. In the end, he gave into instinct and grabbed Gannicus's arm. He pulled. He scratched and tried to wrench his head from side to side to get in some position to breathe. It was all in vain. No matter how hard he gasped, no air passed his throat.

His sight blackened. He was going to die soon and Agron's death would go unavenged. That was all he cared about but he couldn't act on the sudden surge of anger that went through him at the thought. He was too weak and his hands lost his grasp on Gannicus as his arms fell to his side. His vision cut out completely shortly before he lost consciousness.

Felicity knew what it was to love a zombie. Half of her relationship with Pippa existed after Pippa had died. They'd been together in the Realms, Pippa rotting and falling apart while Felicity worshipped and adored her regardless. She hadn't been able to see the corruption spreading through her lover, turning her into a walking, talking corpse. But her eyes were open to the true nature of such creatures. They were not to be trusted, not to be loved. They were wicked.

That did not stop her heart from racing when Pippa's ghostly figure appeared to her in the mists, however. Violet eyes, flashing a dangerous black, skin the color of a fleshless bone, teeth pointed, lips purple, Pippa looked just as Fee remembered. Beautiful, so beautiful. And so very dead.

She was determined to ignore her.

She could not lose her, however. Pippa followed her, shuffling along behind Felicity at a slow and steady pace. It was unnerving and Fee hated it, but it still terrified her that Pippa might betray her again. She wanted the zombie gone, but no matter how she tried, she could not get the girl off of her trail.

Finally, she came to a fog-free clearing near the orchard and thought perhaps she might lose Pippa in the thick patches of trees. She was trotting toward the groves when she spotted two figures up ahead. Slowly, she made her approach, peering around the tree trunks as she inched closer until she made out Nasir quite plainly.

"Nasir!" She called out, voice a sharp whisper. "Nasir, it is Felicity! May I come to you?"

She glanced back over her shoulder. She did not see Pippa, but she was certain the girl was there, somewhere, waiting.

Nasir's first instinct was to say no, she could not come. She shouldn't because her presence had Nasir even more on edge, skin prickling and eyes darting in her direction as he grasped his crowbar tighter. But then he relaxed by a fraction. This was Felicity and perhaps it was her turn to give him some words of comfort and perhaps advice because Agron...

This was not Agron. This was not how he should be acting.

"Yes." He lowered his crowbar and walked toward Felicity though he was careful to keep within range of Agron, who he glanced back towards. It seemed that Agron was following and there was a glint of anger in his eyes.

"I call Felicity friend," he said to him.

He was hardly surprised when he received no response.

Ignoring the zombie which followed behind her slowly, Felicity trotted toward Nasir, vaguely concerned that Gannicus might pop out of the woods to punch her in the throat again. She only wasted a glance or two around her to be sure, though, instead focusing on the hulking figure who loomed behind Nasir.

"You look well, Nasir. I am glad." She tried to smile despite their unpleasant circumstances. Gesturing to Agron, she lowered her voice a little. "Who is that with you? I do not recall seeing him before."

He resembled Pippa in someways and it made her nervous. Nervous enough that she looked back over her shoulder and spotted the dark haired girl stumbling toward the clearing.

"Stay back, Pippa! Go away!"

Pippa? Then he was not alone in having a loved one here. Perhaps the Capitol had decided to make use of all the visitors-- in which case Nasir's brother was out there and perhaps dead already.

Nasir glanced from Felicity to Pippa and had to fight back the urge to threaten or else harm the woman. This was his place. He had to defend it with Agron here.

"This is Agron," Nasir said, replying to Felicity but still watching Pippa carefully.

Agron, for his part, had his gaze locked on Felicity and with some more menacing than wariness in his eyes.

"Agron?" Felicity's heart sank a little. Agron's presence here only confirmed that something terrible was happening. She knew the nature of the corrupted, knew that no good could come from protecting and shielding the creatures. But explaining that the creature that looked like Agron wasn't really Agron would likely prove itself challenging.

Fee opened her mouth to speak but was stopped by Pippa's sudden arrival at her side. Pippa's eyes were fixed on Nasir. Nothing human seemed to remain in those dead, violet eyes. She turned to look at Pippa briefly, halting the girl's advance with her arm.

"Something terrible is happening, Nasir. We must be cautious."

When Pippa came close, Nasir brought up his crowbar and readied himself to spring forward before reminding himself that he could not do that. He lowered his weapon and took his eyes off of Pippa so he could look at Felicity.

"Something terrible is constantly happening in the arena. Yet I have already heeded the advice you give. I can no longer risk life seeking out others." Not with Agron here.

He missed the message entirely.

She approached the men again, leaving Pippa to stand dumbly behind. Even knowing that Nasir was on edge, she felt compelled to speak to him more closely, to close the gap between them.

"Nasir, you must listen to me. Pippa and Agron are not well. Look at them. Surely that man is not as you remember him. Pippa is not at all as I remember her."

Agron took a step forward and this time Nasir was the one to stretch his arm out-- wincing-- to bring him to a halt. He ran his hand over Agron's arm to comfort him.

"The Gamemakers have done something to them. I was warned of their power." He couldn't let himself feel tormented or whether or not he had done this to Agron. After, when they were out of danger, he could let himself worry. Not now.

Given Felicity's reaction to Pippa, he sensed that she was about to say something different about the people who trailed behind them. He wouldn't accept it.

"Either they've been replaced or they've been changed. This is similar to how Pippa was in the Realms, after she ate the cursed berries." She turned back to look at Pippa, who in turn stared at her with an eery, unnerving gaze. A chill centered down Felicity's spine just then. "Or perhaps this is all an illusion and the Gamemakers mean to drive us mad. Either way, do not be deceived by him, Nasir. That creature is not your Agron. I refuse to believe it."

Creature?!

Nasir tensed. His fingers twitched around his crowbar. Whatever Felicity was saying, he knew she was wrong.

"You admit it possible they have changed. If that holds true then they are still those we have loved. I will not turn from Agron. I gave promise to him and even if I had not I would never turn from him. As you refuse to believe it is him, I refuse to believe it is not him." Agron felt real. He was real, even if he acted strange that was still his face and he had been searching for too long to believe otherwise.

"They were here before, taken from us in chains, what else might have been done to them?"

There would be no swaying Nasir, that much was obvious. Disappointed, and honestly a little afraid for him, Felicity started to mentally brace for the impact of losing her friend to a monster. That the monster wore Agron's skin did not especially matter. That thing was a monster nonetheless.

"They are corrupted, Nasir. Look at his eyes. Look at him and tell me that he is your Agron."

Fee's voice was a plea, interrupted then by Pippa's seemingly sudden reappearance at her side. She jerked away from the girl, thoroughly unnerved by the strangeness of Pippa's skin on hers.

"This isn't my Pippa."

Nasir looked at Agron, allowing himself to see him as he was-- the ghost of the man Nasir loved. Even the anger in his eyes was beyond what he had seen before during battle. This was different. There was no hint of reason in his gaze.

"He has been changed," he said. He turned back to Felicity. "Even if he is not the man I knew, I could never be parted from him. I will always hold him to heart." He would be forever by his side, as he had once promised him. "He may yet regain sense.

"Regard Pippa as you will but I cannot treat Agron as any less than what he is. I cannot risk losing him. I will not let it come to pass again."

Could Felicity blame him for this? No, not really. He had the sort of love and devotion to Agron that she lacked for Pippa. It hurt to see that sort of love on display before her eyes. She was jealous of it, of him, of Agron, in a way. And quite suddenly she felt overcome by guilt as well.

"I pray that he will, Nasir. I will pray. But I will not hold my breath." She looked mournful, grabbing Pippa by the wrist as she turned away from the men. "Come, Pippa. Leave them be."

Felicity had given up on both of them, then. But Nasir knew he had no reason to fear Agron. He would never hurt him.

"I pray to the gods that we will not meet again until this is over." He did not wish to kill Felicity and would not unless he had no other choice.

Nasir turned to tend to Agron again, pulling his arm to guide him back down to the ground.

Felicity was wrong. He would prove that to her when they were all in the Capitol.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Be Careful Who You Trust

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Nasir, Gannicus, a homicidal zombie, and a dead woman

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So yeah apparently I should not eat while writing these tags

oh nasir WHY DID YOU SAY THAT

HE IS ENRAGED! Sorry, bro

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