▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

KILL FOR YOUR LOVE.

act one.

(chapter thirteen, and now, it was justified)

the arena, 72 ADD.

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

THE WISH PERPLEXED JUNIPER. 

Kill him? Was that what Justice was asking of her? No, no he couldn't be. That was something Juniper had heard, something her mind made up so she had a valid reason to feel rage at Justice because as she thought this over in her head, as she would multiple times in the future, she really had no reason to hate him. He had tried to save her. 

But District Ten tributes always died together and there was no possible world where Juniper Hale lived without—

"What?" Juniper spat, convinced she heard wrong. She begged that she heard wrong. 

"I need you to kill me..." Justice croaked out. No, Juniper had not heard wrong and that thought alone was enough to send her into a homicidal rage. "You've always said you didn't want the Careers' to kill you... well, I don't want them to kill me either."

Kill Justice. Justice wanted Juniper to kill him. He was asking his sister to kill him. Justice had betrayed her, lied to her, broke their agreement, and now he was asking her to kill him?

"No!" Juniper immediately yelled back. "No, absolutely not! How can you ask me that?"

"Because I would do it for you—"

"Would you really?" Juniper snapped. "If our roles were reversed, would you really do that?"

"Yes."

That answer alone was enough to have Juniper jolting backwards, but Justice had somehow grasped her arm, holding her close to him. With his other hand, shaking, he reached into one of the numerous pockets in his blood-stained jacket, pulling out the dagger he had taken from the Cornucopia during the raid the day before. The dagger he must have intended to give her. 

"Kill me, June." Justice coughed as he took ahold of her hand, opening it and placing the knife on her palm, wrapping her fingers over the handle. "I don't want to die from the Careers'. They don't deserve another notch on their belt, like you said."

"How can you expect this of me?" Juniper sobbed as she stared right into Justice's eyes. The handle was cold against her flesh. "How can you? How could you?"

"I ask because I know you can get through it." Justice sighed when Juniper let out a strangled sob. Tears were running wildly down her cheeks. "You'll live on because you just will, June. You're strong. You were the strongest out of the two of us. You always led the way, I just followed—"

"Just—"

"Shh," Justice tried to assure her. "It'll be okay, June. It'll be okay... you're gonna be okay, I know you're gonna be okay."

"I can't... I won't—"

"Please..." Justice begged. Oh, he begged and begged, even as he felt life slip away from him. "Please, June... if there was anyone I wanted to kill me, it would be you." 

At this, Juniper let out a heartbreaking cry as she buried her head in Justice's chest, feeling his weak hand cupping the nape of her neck as she did. And in that moment, Juniper felt weak. She felt pathetic. She felt little. How could Justice ever think of her to do this? How could she ever feel okay? His death would traumatise her if she even won, even more so if she were the one to kill him. But no, she couldn't. She wouldn't. 

"June..." Justice whispered as he pulled her head back slightly. Her eyes were filled with tears and bloodshot, nose red, and snot running down into her mouth. She was a complete mess and even on the brink of death, Justice was the more calm one. "If you're not going to do it willingly... then let me guide you..."

Justice placed a hand on her wrist, the wrist that was connected to the hand that was holding the dagger, and ever so slightly, moved it up. He was soft and gentle, looking into Juniper's eyes and only Juniper's eyes. 

"You're going to be okay... you're going to be all right... you'll live on, June... just win..."

Juniper was too dazed by her sobs to even comprehend what was about to happen, but she had the right enough mindset to start trying to tug away, to start denying his words, to start brushing off his hand. But his grip was tight, oh so tight and now, even Justice was crying as he held onto her. She was sure multiple bruises would be born onto her flesh. 

"Just!" Juniper sobbed once more when she realised she couldn't escape his grasp, she couldn't drop the knife because whilst he held onto her wrist, his thumb was holding down on her fingers, forbidding her to let go. 

But there was something in this moment that future Juniper Hale would think about. Why didn't she try harder? Why didn't she just thrash around, bite his fingers, do anything? It was merely because she was so dazed, so sorrowful, so confused that she did not have enough brain cells or the heart to even refuse Justice's offer because she had never refused Justice. She had never said no to him. She had never denied him. 

When the blade was right up to his neck, Justice let out a sob as he reached up with his other hand, caressing Juniper's cheek. And then, suddenly, with a quick movement of his other hand, he moved Juniper's wrist so quickly that the blade sliced deeply into his throat horizontally. 

Blood gushed out ever so quickly and it was only then, when he started coughing up blood, a deep, thick gash in his throat, tears running from his eyes, that Juniper had realised what he had done. What she had done because even though he guided her to do so, she was holding the blade. And she still was until Justice's eyes met hers, filled with pain, but not a single flash of regret. 

And she still was until the cannon went off. Until he slouched further down. Until Justice Hale was dead.

"No!" Juniper immediately screamed as she launched herself at her dead brother's body, dropping the knife into the mud. "No! Fuck, no! What did you do? Just, what did you do? You fucking moron, what did you do?"

Juniper took his warm, motionless body and embraced it, cradling his head as she attempted to persuade herself that Justice was still alive, that this was all a dream. But no, because Justice Hale was dead. And Juniper Hale had killed him. She held the knife.

 And with that revelation, she could only mutter one thing, a saying in District Ten:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

And as Juniper repeated the prayer over and over, she kept thinking one thing. She could have tried harder. She could have done something, anything. But she didn't because Juniper Hale was a weak, scrawny girl from District Ten. She couldn't win and neither could Justice Hale. She— 

There was a rustling sound coming from the bushes behind her. Someone was coming. And maybe, some people would say once they rewatched this clip, that this was the moment Juniper Hale lost her innocence, when her weak, useless persona turned into one of immense, cold rage. Future historians, future people would always have their guesses, but present Juniper, only knew that her brother was dead. That someone was coming. That there was a knife next to her in the mud. 

"Juniper! How's Justice—?"

The moment she heard the foreign voice, Juniper immediately picked up the knife next to her and turned around, slinging it at whoever decided to rush through to the area. But what made Juniper blink slightly was when she saw that the knife she had thrown, the dagger she had killed Justice with, was lodged right into the heart of Ash, District Seven. 

"What...?"

And Juniper should have screamed, poured apologises all over Ash's body, should have held him until he died, but she didn't. She just kneeled beside her brother's dead body, who had fallen face-first into the mud, watching silently as Ash's corpse fell down into the dirt, a look of pain and betrayal all over his face. 

She didn't even wince when the cannon went off and she figured, in that moment, that Ash was not Clairvoyant because if he was, he would have seen his own death. 

Juniper took a deep breath. Tears were still running down her cheeks. Blood was on her hand. Justice's blood. She was surrounded by two bodies. Ash. Justice. Ally. Twin. She had just killed two people. She had just killed her ally and her twin. 

She was a murderer.

But whatever she was feeling, whatever sadness, it was replaced with cold rage as she stared at Ash's dead body. He could have saved Justice. If he weren't so distracted, so selfish, he could've stopped Leona from even going near Justice. He could have prevented this. Ash could have stopped this. 

"Juniper?" A voice echoed around the area, followed by frantic footsteps. "Juniper? June...!"

Juniper slowly stood up, shaking as she walked over to Ash's body, seeing a silver sword resting beside him. She bent down slightly as she rubbed the tears off her face, picking it up as she began to admire it in the afternoon sun. It was so beautiful.

"Ash?" The voice yelled. "Ash, where are you? Ash, please!"

The voice was close and suddenly, a girl with brown hair, a freckled face with a large gash down her cheek, and honey eyes came bolting into the area. She seemed so angelic, so innocent and any other person would have been mesmerised by her. But not Juniper. Maybe the old one, the naive one. But not this one. This one only looked at her with hatred. 

"June?" The girl's voice wavered. Her eyes flashed down at Ash's dead body, holding in a sob before looking at Justice. She stared back at Juniper. "June... what did you do?"

"You could have stopped it..." Juniper mumbled as she held the sword down by her side. "You saw... I know you saw her."

"Saw who?" The girl whimpered as she looked down at the blade before looking straight into Juniper's eyes. She looked terrified. "Saw who, June?"

"The girl... Leona... you saw her rushing to Justice..." Juniper muttered. Her face was expressionless, so empty that it scared the girl with the honey eyes. But inside, Juniper was filled with rage. "You saw her stab Justice... you could have stopped it... you both could have stopped it."

Realisation flashed across the girl's eyes as she looked at Ash's body once more and then at the blood that was leaking from Justice's neck and abdomen. She put the pieces together as she said, "June... it's me... it's Cedar... I didn't kill Justice, and neither did Ash, and neither did you—"

"Cedar... Cedar... Cedar," Juniper mumbled as she mimicked her slowly. A lone tear rolled down her cheek. She was breathing heavily, her face still expressionless, still numb. She looked dead inside. "Cedar... Cedar... Cedar."

"Are you going to kill me, June?" Cedar was crying now, fiddling with the axe in her hand. "Is this what it's led to?"

"You killed Justice, you need to pay."

"The Capitol killed Justice, June!" Cedar yelled. "I didn't do anything and neither did Ash! Okay, so maybe Leona stabbed your brother, maybe you slit his throat, but don't blame me! Snap out of it, June!"

The minute Cedar yelled, the minute she ended her little monologue, Juniper decided she had enough and charged at Cedar, commencing the fight between them. But the girl from Ten, whilst dedicated, was not precise in the attempts of slashing Cedar with her sword, missing every chance, but the Seven tribute, whilst skilled, was also not accurate with her swings of the axe. It was a game of misses. 

But as Cedar attempted to back away, Juniper quickly took ahold of her shoulder, swinging her around and kicking her in the back of the leg, causing her to go tumbling down. Juniper pointed her sword at her. 

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but you need to stop this!" Cedar snapped as she panted, crawling backwards on the mud. 

"Only one wins..." Juniper mumbled. She was too hollow, too numb to even consider making her sentences make sense.

Cedar, however, bit her tongue before sticking out her leg, swiping it across and knocking Juniper's ankle, causing her to fall down into the mud with her. Half her face was covered in it as she groaned.

"Stop this, June..." Cedar rushed over to her, taking ahold of her shoulders. "You need to snap out of this... what's gotten into you?"

Instead of answering, Juniper turned to look at her in the face, spitting at her as she shrugged her hands off her shoulders, grabbing ahold of her and slamming her down into the mud. Cedar yelled and yelled as she tried to get Juniper off her. 

Juniper, however, ignored these yells as she straddled Cedar's abdomen, pinning her arms down with her knees, reaching her hand back into a fist. But the minute she planned to bring it plummeting down into the girl's freckled face, Cedar caught it and immediately head-butted Juniper, causing her to go crashing backwards, hissing in pain.

Cedar quickly got up, stalking Juniper as she held her head. The immense annoyance was getting to her, causing her to kick Juniper in the side of her ribs, yelling, "June! Calm yourself down!"

Juniper continued to lay in the mud, groaning slightly as she heard the sludge squelch against her with every move she did. She tried to block out all of Cedar's yells, focusing on her heart-beat, which was going so fast, it was like it would burst out of her ribcage any moment. 

"Shut up..." Juniper groaned as she attempted to get up, kneeling down. Her entire front of her jacket, tank top, and trousers were covered in mud and the view out of her right eye was clouded with the dirt, which painted a good majority of her flesh. 

"What?" Cedar asked.

"I said, shut up!" 

Juniper got up from where she kneeled and tackled Cedar to the floor once more, but this time, she didn't hesitate to bring her fist backwards before slamming it down right into Cedar's freckled face again and again. 

And again. 

And again. 

And again. 

Again. Again. 

She didn't stop until her fist was covered in Cedar's blood, splatters of it on her cheeks, until the sound of some of the bones of her face cracked and snapped. Until Cedar's perfect, freckled, beautiful face was a fractured, broken, bloody mess. 

But to Juniper, that was not enough. She had never felt this immense rage before and killing Ash didn't justify that. Breaking Cedar's face didn't justify that. It was only when Juniper reached over for the silver sword and slammed its blade into Cedar multiple times, even after the cannon fired, that it was justified. 

Cedar was dead. Ash was dead. Justice was dead. And Juniper had killed all of them. Her allies. Her twin. 

The old Juniper, the one that was long gone now, would have been clawing at Cedar, crying, sobbing, begging for her to wake up. Begging for her forgiveness. Planted kisses all over her. Tried to bring her back. The old Juniper would have been horrified at herself for killing Cedar. For killing Ash, the great Clairvoyant. For killing her brother. 

But this Juniper didn't care for Cedar or Ash because instead, she simply got up and looked at their bodies before stalking over to Justice. She gently took the dead corpse into her arms and hugged it before planting a soft kiss on the grey forehead. She then, hesitantly, let the body drop back into the mud before picking up her backpack, not caring to even loot Cedar's or Ash's, and the sword. She then left the three of them and the old Juniper behind as she began to stalk out of the area, heading towards the Cornucopia. 

Whatever conflict that had happened there earlier, it had ceased. There were no tributes in sight and everything seemed still as Juniper swung the sword that was soaked in blood and brain matter around. She headed for the pedestals and absentmindedly trudged through the moat, not caring about the tadpoles that swam past, or the toads that leaped in-front of her, or the slimy algae at the bottom.

It was easier to get onto the muddy island than before, simply heaving herself up and standing on her two feet, letting the swamp water drip off of her. Everything looked the same like it did at the fight, but there were multiple footprints in the mud and the white table had gone, no split in the ground. Juniper huffed as she wiped a lone tear away from her cheek, smudging the blood and dirt. 

Juniper circled around the Cornucopia for a while, swinging around the sword and everyone watching at the Capitol thought she had gone insane. 

"Snapped, she's just snapped," one would whisper to their friend. 

"Good, it'll increase my odds on the bet I placed on her."

But Juniper would not hear these conversations and even if she did, she wouldn't care. She was thinking of what to do next. She needed to find Wing and Hermes because if they had just killed her and Justice like she had originally planned, then this wouldn't have happened. Juniper wouldn't have to have killed Justice. Or Ash. Or Cedar. So, really, this was all Wing and Hermes fault. But where were they?

Juniper tried to think back to the Feast, closing her eyes as she felt the afternoon sun bake her mud-infected skin. They had run past her and Justice. They grabbed their bags. They were heading through the moat at the mouth of the Cornucopia. They were heading to the other side of the swamp where they might have been this entire time. But Juniper had never been on that side. What if it was more deadly than the other side she had been exploring with...? 

No, she had to find Wing and Hermes. They needed to pay. 

And so, with her mind set, Juniper tightened the straps on her bag and held the sword down by her side as she began to wander to the mouth of the horn, jumping down into the murky water. She let a ripple of waves run through the liquid, splashing her way along, but she didn't care. She just needed to find Wing and Hermes. 

And perhaps Juniper was lucky because the fight at the second bloodbath had happened not even ten-twenty-minutes ago and so, the footprints that Wing and Hermes had left behind were sure to be fresh. And oh, yes they were because the minute Juniper entered that side of the swamp, she saw the light prints that belonged to the girl and the heavy, deeper ones that were the boy's. They were going straight and stopped every now and then, treading through water, but since their footprints were so fresh, so new, they were easier to follow. 

As Juniper followed the footsteps of Wing and Hermes, she thought back to the Careers'. When she made the two from Six pay, her next targets would be the Careers'. Rayon. Jagger. Dallas. Leona. And at the thought of Leona, Juniper immediately frothed at the mouth. She would make her death slow and painful. She would torture Leona. Make her pay for what she did. Juniper was going to make everyone pay, but for now, she was set on Wing and Hermes.

And she would get exactly what she wanted once she stumbled onto a bushy clearing where she found the two tributes sitting down in-front of a large pile of supplies, making their way through their roasted dinner. 

⇢ ˗ˏˋ matz 🎧 !

— the prayer june mutters is from John 14:27: in the bible. it will make sense in later on in the book and plays an important part