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KILL FOR YOUR LOVE.

act one.

(chapter fourteen, you are a monster)

the arena, 72 ADD.

(tw: mentions and attempts of suicide)

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WHEN JUNIPER SPOTTED WING and Hermes, she was about to spread her rage towards them when suddenly, she realised they were talking and so, she silently camouflaged into the bushes, eavesdropping.

"It has to be the girl from Ten, at least," Wing said. Her voice was husky and rough, seeming like she had a sore throat. "And then probably the boy. And then I'm guessing it's the chick from Seven."

"Cedar?" Hermes asked. Unlike his counterpart, his voice was soft and silky, flowing without any mishaps. "Perhaps... so it's the guy from Seven, the three Careers', and the emo from Eight."

"Mhm..." Juniper saw Wing nod, the girl running a hand through her faint black hair. It was out of its braid and the curls cascaded down her back. There were dark patches underneath her grey eyes. "Hermes... what if it's not?"

"Not what?"

"Not those three that died?" Wing suggested. "I mean — it has to be the boy from Ten because I saw the girl from Two stab him, but his twin got him out of there... you don't reckon... you know..."

"What? She killed him?" Hermes asked. "That's stupid, Wing. A sister wouldn't kill her brother... it has to be her, the boy, and Cedar."

"But what if it's not?" Wing questioned, stuffing her face full with potatoes. "Because I'm sure the Careers' ran away once Cedar and Ash did. And then a cannon went off, and then Ash ran away to where they went to, the two twins, and then a cannon went off. And then Cedar went to them and a cannon went off."

"So you're saying Juniper Hale killed her brother and her two allies?" Hermes said. "I mean — it could be, but I highly doubt it."

Juniper watched as Wing rolled her eyes before focusing on her roast meal. But the girl kept looking over her shoulder, at the bush that Juniper was hiding in. She kept peering and the teenager from Ten held her breath, clutching the sword in her grasp. 

"Something's moving..." Wing whispered as she set her meal down. She reached over and picked up her shiny, gleaming daggers. "In the bushes... over there."

"It's probably just another one of those stupid birds..." Hermes shrugged as he watched his counterpart slowly get up, walking towards the bush. 

"No... it's—"

Before Wing could even finish her sentence, she had stalked close enough to the bush and so, Juniper leaped up and swung her sword across. And there was no mercy, no remorse as the girl watched the head of the one from Six fly off, blood squirting everywhere. Juniper heard the cannon echo around and smirked slightly as she watched Wing's head fly in the air before settling onto the muddy ground. Her grey eyes were duller than ever, stuck in that shocked look.

"What?" Hermes yelled as he immediately tossed his food aside, picking up his sword and swinging it around. His eyes seemed latched on Wing's decapitated head. 

"Turns out I'm not dead," was all Juniper had to say before she charged at Hermes. 

But the boy was much better at fighting than Cedar and was skilled in the way of sword-fighting because whilst Juniper's fit of rage made her swings clumsy and inaccurate, Hermes were calculated and strategic, so much so that when Juniper was faced with them, she barely had a chance to duck. 

But what she liked about the fight with Hermes was that no punching or physical contact was needed. It was sword against sword. Rage against calmness. And the way the sounds of the blades clinked whenever they struck each other was music to Juniper's ears as was Hermes's groans whenever she managed to get a good swing in.

"Is it true?" Hermes mumbled. Juniper tried to swing at him, but Hermes blocked her, making it so both of their blades were battling each other. Their faces were so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek. "Did you kill your brother and allies?"

Juniper hissed as she kicked at Hermes's knees, causing him to grunt as he bent down to hold it, giving the girl enough time to start bringing her sword down upon him. But the boy from Six managed to recover from the kick, rolling away.

"Well, is it?"

The girl from Ten begged for the teenager to shut up and so, her swings became more vigorous. With every tease and every mockery that came from Hermes about Justice, Ash, and Cedar, Juniper became more harsh, but more messy with how she fought. So much so, she was becoming breathless and exhausted. Hermes noticed this. 

"If you're so tired, then just give up! It's easy."

But Juniper Hale was never one to back down from a fight. Or from a tease. Or from a mockery. And so, with Hermes taunting her with every fibre in his being, Juniper just remembered that this boy and his female counterpart saw Leona stab Justice. They should've killed her and Justice, but instead, they ran right past. Hermes needed to pay like Wing did. 

And so, whilst Hermes was slowing down, obviously noticing the flaws in Juniper's technique, the girl was still going at it hard. So hard that even Hermes was starting to back away, starting to raise a brow, starting to become scared. 

Juniper, however, didn't know this and was still swinging, still trying to hit the boy, still panting as she fought hard. But suddenly, Juniper stopped when she realised Hermes had ceased trying, the boy only doing defence. 

"Already giving up?" Juniper huffed. 

"There is no point." Hermes shrugged. He had kicked Wing's head to the side. "You are sloppy and messy."

"I really don't care."

Hermes merely nodded as he eyed the girl, going to speak, but before he could, Juniper charged at him, sword raised high. But Hermes side-stepped her and the little charade continued for what seemed like an eternity until the tribute from Six had stopped trying overall. And from there, it was simple. It was easy. It was laughable.

Juniper admitted defeat. She dropped the sword from her grasp and massaged her palms, panting and sighing as she tried to get her breath back. Hermes raised a brow, but seemed to relax at the removal of her weapon and so, he merely watched as she took a couple steps forward. 

"I am sorry about your—"

But before Hermes could even finish his sentence, Juniper quickly grabbed ahold of the hand that was holding the sword, moving it towards him so that the blade was turned from her to him, making it was that the sword dug deep into Hermes's abdomen, the blade coming out of the other side. Rage filled Juniper's eyes as she pushed onto the hilt of the sword harder, twisting it so the steel destroyed everything in its way. Hermes dropped his hand and his knees buckled. 

"You—"

When Hermes collapsed to the floor, grunting as blood bubbled at his lips, a cannon echoed around the arena. And Juniper merely kicked the boy in the head before stalking to her sword that she had dropped and with a slight sigh and smirk, she began to stalk away from the two bodies she had left behind with Rayon, Jagger, Dallas, and Leona on her mind. 

Hermes and Wing were gone, Cedar and Ash were gone, now it was only the Careers'. Rayon. Jagger. Dallas. Leona. But where were they? Juniper had no clue where they had run off to and didn't even know where their camp was. But surely they had heard the two cannons go off that belonged to Wing and Hermes. With the realisation that there was only one more tribute until their own fight-to-the-death, they would be waiting somewhere. 

So, Juniper wandered around aimlessly, still swinging her sword around, blood splattering off of it, crimson liquids that belonged to Cedar and Wing. But she did not care. She already felt dirty with half her being covered in mud. A few splotches of blood didn't matter. 

Juniper, however, did manage to find herself back at the Cornucopia. No-one was there and it seemed ever so silent with the egrets stood on the top of the silver horn, toads resting on the lily pads, butterflies chasing each other. The afternoon sun was slowly dwindling and Juniper was sure it would turn to dark at any moment. But she, for some reason, started to walk towards the podiums again and headed for the moat. But instead of trudging through it, she merely sat within it. 

She let the warm water soak into her clothes, feeling it lap at her skin. She didn't mind the algae or tadpoles this time and so, she even had the courage to reach up behind her and remove her hair from the ponytail it had been stuck in for the four days she had been in the arena. Once her locks fell down, she realised it was completely thick with mud, but she didn't have the boldness to dip her head underneath. Instead, she looked up at the sky.

And that was all she did. She just sat in the moat, staring at the sky. She let the sun beam down on her, let the water soak her and it was oddly... peaceful. It surprised Juniper how a location could be so deadly, so traumatising, but a few hours later, it could be the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen. 

That was until she heard a scream from not so far away, causing her to bolt up. 

Water was dripping off of her, but Juniper didn't care. She scanned the swamps for any sign of where the scream was located and when she saw a flock of birds fly away from in-front of her, the girl immediately went sprinting with her sword in hand. 

She swatted away any foliage that threatened to attack her, splashing her way through the waters, and leaping from land bits to land bits, the only thing on her mind being the scream. It was a girl's and it had to be Leona's. And at the sudden realisation that Leona could be already on the brink of death, Juniper ran faster. She wanted to be the one that made Leona pay. She wanted to be the one that killed her. 

But what Juniper didn't expect to see was an alligator mutt snapping away harshly at something on a muddy piece of land. When she ceased her running and went on her tippy-toes to see what it was, she saw a bloody mess of a human that could only be Leona. 

The girl was whimpering and crying as the alligator mutt growled, sounds of human flesh ripping echoing around and it was only when Juniper saw her grey face that she started to run towards the scene. 

"Oi!" Juniper yelled, causing the alligator mutt to turn around. And Juniper, momentarily, was quite terrified as she stared into its red eyes, the crimson liquid running down from its teeth, but she tried to gather herself.

The mutt forgot about the bloody body on the ground and started to go charging towards Juniper and its speed was quite remarkable, being as fast as the speed of light, but the girl from Ten had raised her sword and with a single motion, launched it down onto the mutt's head. She laughed at the simplicity of it all and kicked the carcass into the murky river. She watched it float, making sure it was dead, before running over to the tribute. 

And it was Leona, her blonde hair coated in blood and all tangled. She was heaving and panting as she winced in pain and Juniper saw that her entire being was covered in the crimson blood. She soon saw why, for one of Leona's legs had been completely ripped off whilst the other one was holding one just by a little piece of muscle. Her entire torso was shredded and Juniper raised a brow. 

"Oh, poor Leona..." Juniper cooed as she kneeled down beside her. The girl's face was ashen and weak. "The mighty Career, what happened to you?"

"Shut up, you—!"

"Ah, ah, ah." Juniper cocked her head as she saw Leona's bag tossed to the side. She reached over and grabbed it, finding a little dagger in the side pocket. The dagger she stabbed Justice with. "I just killed that alligator for you and you're telling me to shut up? That's not very nice..."

Leona furrowed her brows, but sighed as she said, "I was wandering through the swamp... I didn't know they had stupid alligator mutts... and I thought it was a log and I stepped on it—"

"That's not very smart," Juniper said absentmindedly as she admired the dagger. It was coated in blood. Justice's blood. "Where's your Career friends?"

"I'm not telling you!"

"It'd be wise if you did," Juniper murmured. "This whole thing would be easier."

"How?"

"Because I can kill you if you want. I'm sure the mighty Career from District Two doesn't want to be known as dead by an alligator, an animal that fears humans." Juniper smirked. "And by the looks of it, you're gonna have a slow, painful death."

"So what?" Leona coughed up some blood, her voice strangled. "I tell you where the others are and then you mercy kill me?"

"Sure." Juniper nodded. 

Leona narrowed her eyes, but started to have a coughing fit. Blood bubbled at her lips and trickled down, joining the collection of crimson liquid that was already all over her body. She seemed to be looking over Juniper's request and so, knowing if the girl left, it would be a long, tedious death, she nodded her head. 

"Where are the Careers'?" Juniper asked. "Surely you know unless they kicked you out."

"They... yes, I got kicked out. They thought I was weak," Leona snapped. "But... look, they're on this side of the arena. You're nine o'clock."

"Is that where their camp is?"

"Yeah..." Leona gulped as if it was hard to spew out her words. "But you won't win against them... they're too strong... they'll kill you easily."

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that," Juniper murmured before readying the dagger. "Thank you for your cooperation... and fuck you."

Before Leona could protest, Juniper harshly slit a deep, thick gash into the girl's neck, causing her to cough and spit up blood as the crimson liquid squirted everywhere. The girl heaved and huffed until finally, the cannon went off and her weak body finally went limp. 

As Juniper got up, kicking the girl's body into the murky river with the dead alligator mutt, pocketing the dagger, the sky suddenly went dark as stars started to faintly pop up. Nighttime. And so, as the arena always skipped out evening, the Capitol seal was projected as the trumpets of the anthem began. 

The first person to show up was Satin from District One, whose obnoxious smirk was very much highlighted. And then, of course, it was Leona, whose portrait looked much different than the body that was currently bobbing up and down with the tides of the river. Then the boy from Three. Then it was Wing and Hermes, which had Juniper smirking. And then Cedar and Ash, but Juniper dropped her smirk as she stared nonchalantly at them. But when Ash was replaced with Justice, his childish, naive grin being projected high in the sky, Juniper felt more immense rage and it was what fuelled her to stalk away from where she currently stood, towards her nine o'clock. 

And as she did, she thought back to Justice. She thought back to his giddy personality. His warmness. His brightness. But all of that was gone. Leona stabbed it out of him. Juniper slit it out of him. Wing and Hermes made it inevitable for him to die. Cedar and Ash just watched. And the Capitol drained it out of him. The Capitol. The Hunger Games. Snow. They were all the reasons why Justice was dead. 

Justice.

Justice. 

Justice.

Justice was dead. He was gone. The hovercraft would have picked his body up now, his cold, motionless body. He'd be cleaned up by now, being sent back to their father in a wooden box. He'd be buried six-feet-under. He would be gone forever. He is gone forever... and District Ten tributes always died together. 

District Ten tributes always died together. District Ten civilians always helped each other and Juniper had broken that very rule. She had to die with Justice and as she kept walking towards her nine o'clock filled with immense rage, every little memory of her brother flashed through her eyes. 

(Justice Hale rolled his eyes at his older sister's antics, clutching onto the satchel that hung by his left hip)

("Shit!" Justice laughed as he looked over to see the farmer groaning on the floor, surrounded by wooden barrels. "That's epic!")

(As her father went to go say something to her, the door from the bedroom creaked open and revealed Justice, who mumbled, "Family hug without me?")

("I love you, Just."

"I love you, June.")

(And, despite the severity of the situation with kids dropping dead everywhere, the Hale girl couldn't help but laugh at the mud that was smeared all over her brother's face.)

All the memories of her brother flew past her eyes, so much so that Juniper let out a strangled sob as she realised she had absentmindedly picked up the dagger that she had pocketed. She was holding it so the blade was facing her, the hilt away... 

District Ten tributes always died together. Twins always stuck together. 

"Come on, June..." Juniper mumbled as her hands began shaking, the knife's blade ever so close to her heart. "Come on, June... it's just one move... one motion, come on."

But Juniper could not do it because the entire time that she had spent in the arena, the confidence that she had felt on dying slipped. It was gone. Perhaps it disappeared when she saw Justice die, or Leona, or Wing, or Hermes, or Ash, or Cedar. It looked so painful and Juniper did not want that. She did not want to die in pain, but she was so filled with it because her twin brother was dead. 

Justice Hale was dead. 

"Come on. What's wrong with you?" Juniper started to lean her head against the bark of a tree, tears rolling down her cheeks as she felt vomit rise. The dagger was slipping from her grasp. "Just do it... just do it, June... please."

Juniper moved the blade close to her chest, making it so it was digging into her muddy tank top, but not with enough pressure to pierce her skin because she didn't want to kill herself. She had said that. She didn't want to kill herself, she needed Wing and Hermes to end it for her. But they were dead. And she couldn't die from the Careers'. But they were the only ones left... but Juniper Hale couldn't kill herself. 

"Damn you, Just." Juniper sobbed and sobbed as she dropped the dagger, toppling onto the muddy ground as she placed a hand over her mouth. "You idiot... you goddamn idiot... why?"

Tears ran down Juniper's cheeks as she cried, feeling an excruciating pain in her heart. She had promised Justice that they would die together, that District Ten tributes always died together. But Juniper Hale had lied, had broken that promise. She was a liar, a manipulator, and a murderer. Justice. Ash. Cedar. Wing. Hermes. Leona. Their blood was all over her hands.

But whatever feelings she was experiencing in that moment, it all disappeared when she heard rustling behind her. And whatever emotions she was portraying, she hid them into a little box as she gathered up the dagger and sword, running off to hide in a collection of shrubs. She heard faint voices. 

"How is it the girl from Ten?" Juniper felt cold rage as she heard Rayon's voice, the male tribute for One. "Just how?"

"Beats me." Jagger, District Two, huffed. "She's probably hiding somewhere. I'm surprised she's lasted this long."

Jagger was flipping around his knives, Rayon spinning his spear as the two emerged from the swamp land. They were both covered in mud and water was dripping off of them, but Juniper could tell it was them from their burliness. They had both taken off their jackets and now, their muscles were more on display due to the sleeveless top. But what Juniper was more concerned about was Dallas. Where was Dallas?

"She's smarter than she looks." And then, there he was. Juniper could tell it was him from his grey-streaked hair and deathly eyes. His whole demeanour, despite being shorter than the Careers', screamed leader. The boy, however, seemed constantly on edge as his eyes darted around as if Juniper could jump at any minute. 

"Okay, sure, but my question is, who killed the two from Six?" Rayon asked. "Because there is no way Juniper Hale managed to kill five-six tributes."

"I dunno." Jagger shrugged. "All I know is that it's us and her. I mean — fourth day and there's already been eight tributes dead—"

"Ah, it's the fifth day now," Rayon told him, pointing up to the sky, which was dark and littered with stars. "Remember? This stupid arena forgot about evening."

"Lord." Jagger dragged his hand down his face, smudging the mud on his skin. "We'll never find that little brat in this condition."

"Well, then make camp here." Rayon groaned. "Wait 'till light... what do you say, Eight?"

Dallas narrowed his eyes, glancing around, especially at the collection of shrubs that Juniper was hiding in. He didn't want to make camp, but he knew that the two Careers' were too idiotic to try and find the girl and so, he reluctantly nodded. 

Juniper watched, still camouflaged in the darkness and shrubs, as Rayon and Jagger sat down on a land piece, resting in the mud. Dallas carefully set himself down as well, facing the river that went winding through the swamp area. He especially watched the egrets and toads that were resting on the fallen branches. 

"Can we make a fire or something?" Rayon asked as he rubbed his hands together. "Getting chilly."

"Firstly, it's hot as," Jagger said as he rolled his eyes. "And you can't make fire on mud, stupid."

"If you really want a fire," Dallas started to say without even looking at the two boys. "Go and collect the wood... doubt you can find any in this place."

"Sure thing, Your Highness." Rayon rolled his eyes and started to get up. He retrieved his spear and went to walk off. "I'll be back soon."

Juniper watched as Rayon left the little island patch he was on, jumping to the one she was hiding on in the shrubs. She observed him as he wandered out of sight, rubbing his nose and coughing into his free hand. She figured this was the perfect time. 

So, using the darkness to her advantage, Juniper silently snuck out of the shrubs she was camouflaged in, crouched as she slowly followed Rayon without Jagger or Dallas noticing. When the two boys were slight figures in the distance, Juniper broke out into a full run to catch up to Rayon. 

When she saw him bent down over a tree root, she smirked as she stopped sprinting. She merely walked up to him, readying her sword. Taking a deep breath, listening to the infuriating whistling the boy was doing, Juniper swung her weapon around before quickly impaling Rayon with it. His groans were hidden against the exploding sound of a cannon. 

But as Juniper pushed the body away from her, satisfied with her kill, a yell echoed around, followed by another cannon booming. This caused Juniper to stay still as she began to wonder who the other cannon belonged to. It had to be Jagger. Maybe Dallas killed him after hearing Rayon's death, figuring Juniper had gotten to him. 

But whoever had died, the girl from Ten kept a tighter grip on her sword, breathing heavily as she glanced around at her surroundings. She couldn't see anyone because of the dark and the only thing she could spot was the dark, hunched figure of Rayon's dead body. 

Juniper stayed still for a few minutes before looking up at the night sky. It provided little light, but the girl would have to make do as she slowly started to creep back to the Careers' camp, being extra careful and on edge. She didn't know if it was Jagger or Dallas that were still alive.

Once she saw a dark figure standing up on a land piece, a weapon in hand, Juniper hissed internally as she quickly hid behind a tree. It had to be Dallas. The stature was too skinny and short to be Jagger and the boy seemed to be holding a spear. Yes... yes it was Dallas because Juniper could see the corpse of Jagger against the tree he was sitting at. She could barely see the stab wound in his chest because of the darkness, but it was there. Cold rage filled Juniper as she watched Dallas silently. 

"I know you're somewhere here, Juniper," Dallas called out as he started to walk around the land piece he was on. "Come on out..."

Juniper stayed where she was, crouched behind the tree. 

"You know, I know how it feels to lose a sibling," Dallas told her. "I was ten... my sister was nine. She died of tuberculosis... do you know what that is, Juniper?"

Of course Juniper knew what tuberculosis was. Many people in Ten had died from it. It had been awful. There was an outbreak a couple years ago where nearly half of the population would hack up blood, their coughs so violent it could rattle their ribcages. Some of the children had caught it and had to be carried to even walk down the road. They all died. Tuberculosis in the districts meant death and no-one could be saved from it. 

"She would cough all night... they were so violent... so horrific." Juniper saw Dallas shake his head. "She would go on, and on, and on. And she wouldn't stop. Until one night she did... I walked into her room and blood was all over her nightgown. She was dead."

Juniper tightened the grasp on her sword. 

"But I don't know what it's like killing your allies..." Dallas murmured. "How did it feel to kill Ash? To kill Cedar? Did it destroy you inside? Or did it make you want to kill more? That's probably why you killed Wing and Hermes. Because you're bloodthirsty. I don't blame you... or maybe because you were so filled with grief, you wanted to punish them for the murder of your brother. But in reality, Juniper, you killed your brother—"

The second that sentence left Dallas's mouth, Juniper screamed and charged at him, sword raised high as she planned to bring it down onto his head. But the boy had predicted it and simply side-stepped her before grabbing her shoulders, slinging her down to the floor. 

"Oh, look at you." Dallas cooed. "So filled with anger... so filled with rage."

Juniper whimpered as she felt Dallas pin her to the ground, towering over her. The hold on her wrists were so harsh that it made her drop the sword. Dallas shook his head. 

"I've watched you since the Parade and you've always intrigued me," he told her. Juniper looked him straight in the eye, but her fingers were clawing around on the floor for the hilt of her sword. "Because I could tell you wanted to die. I could see it in your eyes, your resistance... but you don't anymore, do you? Why is that?"

"Maybe because I wanted to kill you first!" Juniper spat into his face, but Dallas was unfazed. 

"Well, then that just makes my theories true..." he murmured. "You killed Ash and Cedar because what? You were angry and upset about your brother and they were at the wrong place at the wrong time? And then you killed Wing and Hermes because they could've killed you and Justice, but they didn't. And then you killed Leona because she stabbed your brother, making you slit his throat. And now you've killed Rayon because you want revenge. Is that it?"

"Cedar and Ash could've stopped Leona," Juniper said. Her fingers were so close to the sword.

"Oh, be real, Juniper." Dallas shook his head. "Cedar and Ash were too busy trying to save you two by holding the Careers' off... you killed Justice... you killed the other lot in some fit of rage, trying to make it like you're the victim... well, you're not."

The minute Juniper's hands wrapped around the hilt of the sword, she brought her feet up and kicked Dallas off of her, making him stumble back as she had the chance to jump back up. Towering over him, Juniper held her sword up high before making it plummet down. But Dallas had moved. He moved too quickly so instead of hitting his head, the blade went down onto his right arm, causing it to easily cut off from his body.

Juniper took a deep breath as Dallas screamed and cried. Blood was squirting everywhere as the boy rolled around, his amputated arm laying grey on the mud. Any normal person would have thrown up, looked away, but Juniper kept her eyes on the boy that was thrashing on the ground. 

"I've always wanted to kill you, deep down," Juniper mumbled as she stalked around the boy, kicking his lone leg to the side. "You've always been in the back of my mind."

"And I'll forever be in the back of your mind." Dallas entered a coughing fit. He tried to stand up, but with the loss of his right arm, his face was ashen and eyes droopy and so, he fell back down. "And so will Justice... and Cedar... and Ash... and Wing... and Hermes... and Leona... and Rayon."

"They deserved it... except for Just..."

"But did they?" Dallas asked. "Did they really? Or is that something you're just telling yourself? Something your rage is telling you?"

"You've killed!" Juniper cried. She felt a lone tear drop from her eye, but it camouflaged within the mud and blood that was smeared across her face. "You let that boy from Three rot!"

"I'll admit... I've had my fair share... but I didn't kill seven children!" Dallas yelled. "Seven! That's more than Johanna Mason!"

That should have made Juniper freeze, reminding her of her encounter with the said girl, but it didn't because this was not about the District Seven Victor. This was about the last District Ten and District Eight tributes. But Juniper did not know what to say and so, instead, she wandered over to Dallas and kneeled down beside him. She toyed with the tip of her blade. 

"You won't live with this..." Dallas muttered. "It'll eat you inside out... and you will be alone forever..."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because you're a monster... people will be terrified of you..." Dallas coughed. 

Juniper furrowed her brows lightly, but looking at Dallas's weak state, she decided to end it there and then, quickly standing up before plummeting her sword down onto the boy's head. 

A cannon boomed.