A/N: Yes, this is a summary. I have a more detailed a/n below.

Training was only the beginning.

Career Pack: Lucifer, Royal, Noble, Saffron, Diella and Riona

Alliance #2: Nimelle and Grey

Alliance #3: Ash and Everest

Alliance #4: Jaeleigh and Mordant

Alliance #5: Adrian, Tanis, Ari, and Valour

Alliance #6: Finch, Bailey, Nolle, Leviathan, and Lincoln

Loner #1: Theia

Loner #2: Solis

Loner #3: Caden

The days to the Games passed quickly and at last, it was time.

Day One

The platforms brought the tributes up to an incredibly dark setting. The sky was a stark black. The only sliver of light was offered by the shining crescent moon, illuminating the gold Cornucopia. For those who tried to take in more of the arena, they would realise the surrounding was reminiscent of a castle. There were multiple doorways, each opened, but what lay beyond was utter darkness. Each tribute watched the countdown, tension biting away at them. And at last, it hit zero.

"Let the 25th Hunger Games begin!"

They ran.

24th – Mordant Fassett of District Eight

Caught in the chaos and rampant fear, Mordant remembered Jaeleigh's words to him – get supplies. He could not see Jaeleigh, the lack of proper lighting not helping. Still, he managed to swallow his fear and charged forward, and straight into Lucifer. He was hapless before Lucifer's sword mercilessly running through him.

23rd – Nimelle Miller of District Nine

Nimelle knew that either she or Grey would die in the bloodbath. It would make sense to aim for people who have won before which was why they devised a plan that would hopefully get the two of them out alive. Eyes searching out Grey, hands on an orange bag, she failed to notice Diella aiming her spear at her. Something in Nimelle urged her to run before it was too late but she wanted to find Grey first. That slight hesitation was what Diella needed.

The spear sliced through the air and into the once Victor.

22nd – Everest Tucker of District Nine

Royal, first and foremost, was a career. So when she saw she had an opportunity to cut Everest down, she wasted no time in grabbing it. But she was also no torturer. Everest put up a fight but she overpowered him quickly and drove her sword into his chest. Sickened by the blood spreading across his attire, she hurriedly stepped back and looked away.

21st – Caden Kober of District Three

Riona wanted to prove herself. She wanted to prove to the Careers that they did not make a mistake in letting her join them. Which is why when she saw Caden, alone and running away, she chased after him. Her hands gripped her knives and she easily caught up to him. His eyes were wide with fear and she almost faltered. Almost.

In the darkness of the hallway, she slit his throat.

20th – Bailey Morgan of District Eleven

Bailey was an easy target for her. His back was left wide open as he grabbed supplies. Swiftly, Saffron raised the throwing knives she had gotten earlier and hurled them into his back. She walked over to him and finished him off. Sure, her boots might have been stained with his blood but she could care less.

The dead had to stay dead.

19th – Ash Reichel of District Twelve

Ash dashed towards the Cornucopia the moment the gong went off, intent on getting at least a weapon. Amid the chaos and distracted Careers, she managed to find throwing knives. By the time she had managed to run away from the Cornucopia, she realised Everest was nowhere to be found. Unbeknownst to her, Noble had seen her and he was charging after her.

She spun around just as he brought his blade down, and it cut into her right arm. The sudden pain made her drop the throwing knives. Using her momentary dazedness, Noble swung his saber again and slashed across her waist. She stumbled back, and the sword found home again in her body.

18th – Theia Panteon of District Three

Theia had unwittingly chosen the hallway Riona chased Caden into. She had hidden while the kills happened, and when she thought it safe, decided to run. The girl from Seven caught Theia and dragged her kicking and screaming to the now cleared out Cornucopia. Only the Careers remained and they watched dispassionately as Riona brought Theia over to them.

Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be said.

Coldly, Riona ended Theia's life.

It only took cutting so deep into the back of her neck that her head barely held on.

Day Two

17th – Solis Aisling of District Eight

The room Solis was in unnerved her. Cold drafts of wind kept blowing through the room, and the faint moonlight showed broken display cases in the corner of the room. There were a few dolls in the display case but she stayed away from it. Or would have if not for the footsteps and heavy panting she heard round the corner.

Terrified, she ran to the display case and managed to squeeze herself into the gap behind it. The person from before entered the room and Solis kept herself very still. But just as she thought things were going well, she looked to her left, saw a doll staring up at her. And it poked her on her arm.

Solis screamed and pushed the display case away. When she looked again, the doll was gone but the tribute was not.

She locked eyes with Jaeleigh as the latter approached her steadily. Solis scrambled up and tried to run but biting pain at her ankle made her fall. Jaeleigh threw herself onto Solis and yanked out the knife she had managed to grab. Sitting up, Jaeleigh straddled Solis' back and stabbed her over and over again.

Pleas for Jaeleigh to stop fell on deaf ears.

I don't deserve this.

At last, the young girl stilled. Jaeleigh laughed to herself.

16th – Nolle Wheaton of District Four

Nolle stood alone in front of a room. He had come to realise that this arena was very much shaped like a castle but the inside resembled something closer to an asylum. Not like he knew what an asylum was like, but the notes and files he had found held such notes. And the doors leading to the rooms had names written on them too.

It disturbed him that some of the names were names of tributes.

Pushing the unnamed door opened, Nolle peered in.

"Hello?" he cautiously called.

He had been separated from his alliance during the earlier havoc and had not been able to find them ever since. What he did know was that Bailey had died in said havoc and he failed to help him.

Silence greeted Nolle but regardless, he still stepped in.

Grey stepped out from a darker part of the room. Wordlessly, he charged at Nolle.

They grappled with each other, each trying to trip the other up but the other always managing to respond. Grey's actions were reckless and without any care for preserving energy whereas Nolle's was more controlled and calculated. Alas, Grey managed to topple Nolle onto the floor wherein he punched him hard in the face.

Nolle flipped them over despite the dizziness he felt. He swiftly delivered five punches to Grey's face. Gritting his teeth, Grey summoned up strength to punch Nolle in the eye. The District Four boy, dazed, halted his movements for a brief moment. That brief moment was enough to let Grey flip them over again and this time, with one hand on Nolle's face, bashed his head into the concrete.

Though his focus was fading, Grey raised Nolle's head again and slammed it into the concrete. Once, twice, thrice. Nolle tried to stop him, fingers wrapping around Grey's wrist to get his hand off but to no avail. Breathing heavily, Grey stood and stumbled away from Nolle's corpse. A few seconds later, blood pooling around Nolle's head, the cannon went off.

Day Three

There were no deaths. The Careers had waited a day to see who died. Saffron was getting impatient. Tomorrow, she would take things into her hands.

Day Four

15th – Valour Pavel of District Five

Time was hard to tell in an arena as dark as this. The sun never rose, and the moon never set. Trudging through the arena with his allies, they had decided to settle down in a room for the night. It had two bunk beds which were just right for their number. A while ago, a clock had chimed twelve times. Valour vaguely remembered seeing the figure of a clock tower earlier.

None of them talked as they settled down for rest, the tension and pressure wearing down on them. Valour, first to keep 'night' watch, headed over to the mirror. It seemed to be drawing him in. At first, nothing out of the ordinary happened. It was just his image. But then it flickered and changed, and his mother was looking straight at him. Except her eye sockets were hollow and where her mouth should be, there was a gaping hole instead.

Valour jerked back and the image was gone. It now only showed him and the room. A hallucination? Something else flickered then solidified in the mirror's reflection and he saw a head with white squares for eyes and a red curve as its mouth peeking over his shoulder. The blonde stilled.

Something tapped his shoulder from behind.

Heart in his mouth, Valour turned around to see said humanoid figure looking at him. The red smile widened.

Muttation.

"Mutt!" he screamed.

His allies' reactions were instantaneous. Tumbling out of bed, horror and realisation dawned on them that many more of the humanoid figure were poking their heads out of the shadows on the walls. Some were starting to climb out of the shadows. They seemed oddly disjointed, their heads and shoulders bending at angles that were humanly impossible.

"Run!" Ari shouted and they broke out of their trance.

Valour darted past the mutt and it surprised him that it did not grab or hold him back. Against his better judgement, he looked back and saw that those mutts emerging from the walls had vanished. But when he looked again, they were there again.

Clustered together in the hallway that suddenly seemed to be growing smaller and smaller, they ended up in a single file.

Whomp, whomp, whomp, they faintly heard.

The distance between Valour and the other three seemed to be getting wider and wider. But that was odd, he should have been right behind Ari.

He came to a standstill once it was clear he was alone. The pounding sound from behind him became louder and louder, and Valour turned around. Staring at him, the mutt which seemed to have grown bigger, bared its fangs and its mouth widened.

The entire experience shrieked surreal.

It devoured Valour whole.

14th – Noble Belaire of District Two

The District Two pair were alone with each other. Lucifer had announced they were going hunting but somehow, they had gotten lost. It still felt strange to Noble. He was certain that the rest were walking straight ahead but he turned left instead with Saffron. Only because he had to turn left. What had lied ahead was a wall, not a walkway.

Duuung! Duuung! Duuung! And it repeated till the twelfth time.

The chimes unsettled him, caused a knot in his stomach. The arena most likely could change its appearance but something about this made him feel hallucinatory.

He was absolutely certain that he was nothing of that sort.

"Noble," Saffron softly called from behind him.

Till now, he had been walking ahead of her.

He turned around and before he could react, she was upon him with her knife flying down into his left eye. It embedded itself into it and he shouted.

Something bit into the left side of his waist and he hurled her down onto the ground. Pain electrifying him, Noble refused to sink to his knees.

His partner laughed.

He blindly swung at her, and she easily dodged the punch. Another dagger hit Noble's gut. Drawing out his sword, he swung once more and was satisfied to hear her hiss of pain. But he was fading fast and he could no longer see her. Agony exploded in him from behind. Saffron kicked him to the ground. She plunged her last knife into Noble's exposed neck and yanked it out.

His cannon sounded.

Rolling his body over, she extracted her remaining knives from him and kept them back in her belt.

She smiled.

"I said I would kill you."

13th – Grey Darkwood of District Twelve

When the dolls descended upon Grey, he welcomed them with open arms.

Nimelle was gone.

He had failed to protect her. He had told himself that he would die for her so that she would be able to live through this Hunger Games. But now that she had died, there was nothing left for him anymore.

Really, what was he expecting? Escaping death did not come twice.

But escaping death never prepared him for the torment he was about go through.

Finger by finger, toe by toe, limb by limb, the dolls tore him apart. And he was utterly trapped under them.

He died with his body in pieces.

Day Five

12th – Jaeleigh Aurelius of District Ten

Jaeleigh should have known better. Her plan to use Mordant as fodder failed terribly. For the past five days, she had survived purely by hiding and avoiding the other tributes. An attempt at asking to ally with Adrian and his alliance had failed. The supply pack she had stolen from the Cornucopia served her well.

Her luck would run out today.

She heard the voices before they saw her. Her first thought was to hide, second to run, but before she could act on either, two people rounded the corner.

Leviathan and Finch.

Two against one.

She cursed.

Backing up, she saw the duo share a look before charging at her. Unarmed and vulnerable, Jaeleigh never had a chance to begin with. She was caught in between the two allies and decided to make a mad dash for it. But Finch caught her right wrist and yanked her back. Forcing her onto the ground, one foot on her back, Leviathan delivered the killing blow. A hatchet buried in Jaeleigh's neck, the two shared a grim look.

The Gamemakers wanted a show.

They remembered the note their mentor had given them along with a sponsor gift.

"Do it," Finch replied to the unspoken question.

Leviathan would have done it without his assurance, but it felt good to know that her ally backed her up. They both wanted to live after all.

Yanking out the hatchet, Leviathan swung it down again. Once, twice, thrice, until Jaeleigh's head was detached.

Finch kicked it and it rolled away.

"We're turning into monsters," Leviathan laughed bitterly.

11th – Leviathan Ula of District Eleven

Rest is for the dead.

Mere moments after Jaeleigh's cannon had sounded, footsteps resounded and two figures rounded the corner. The District One pair faced the other two. Tension tauter than a stretched rubber band, the former closed the distance quickly. They each took on one; Royal to Leviathan and Lucifer to Finch.

Royal's blows were merciless and unforgiving. There was a glimmer of silver and the sabre cut into Leviathan's right wrist. The wrist that held the hatchet. She dropped the hatchet onto the ground and hissed in pain. Taking this window of opportunity, Royal swung one leg out and tripped Leviathan onto the ground, driving her sword down into her thigh at the same time. Leviathan cried out in pain.

Sword poised over Leviathan, Royal's lips twisted into a grimace as she plunged her sword down into Leviathan's chest.

Quick and easy – that always had been how Royal did it.

10th – Finch Bouef of District Ten

Against a trained career, Finch still managed to hold his own. He was not so quick to avoid Lucifer's well-aimed thrusts though, and the growing number of cuts on his body started to slow him down. Finch tried to parry Lucifer's hard blows with little success. There was the vague sensation that Lucifer was merely playing with him. Unbeknownst to Finch, he was being backed into a corner and he only realised it when his back hit something solid. There was a cry from his right. His eyes darted to the source to find Leviathan on the ground, Royal's sword poised over her.

"You should focus on what's in front of you," Lucifer snarled.

The blade slid into Finch gut. Agony exploded in him, and he screamed as Lucifer slid his sword up. Yanking his sword out, Finch dropped to the floor into a pool of his own blood.

9th – Royal Costayne of District One

It took only a moment for the tables to turn.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Royal was utterly unprepared for the sudden blow against her back. A strangled scream wormed its way out of her throat at a second blow and she stumbled forward, twisting her body around at the same time, and bringing her sword up to defend herself.

She lost her footing and hit the ground. Fighting through the pain, she rolled away from Lucifer's plummeting sword and jumped back up. Swinging her blade at him, her lips set in a grim line as they traded blows. There was no time to ask questions. Bit by bit, Royal could feel herself weakening.

She was surprised she was even still standing.

And at long last, Lucifer broke through her defense. The blade came barreling towards her gut and buried itself in her. He pulled out the sword. Kicking her down onto the floor, Lucifer slashed her throat.

Day Six

8th – Adrian Holt of District Six

Adrian thought he had this arena figured out. At every twelfth chime, the arena would shift and the next one hour would prove more dangerous than ever. He had gotten separated from the rest of his alliance and now wandered the halls alone, staying in one well-hidden corner whenever he heard the clock tower sound.

"Hi."

He froze at the sudden voice.

"Hello?"

The girl from Four – Diella was it? – stepped into the room with a spear in her hands. Adrian dully realised his end had come. Drawing out his short sword, a weapon he was barely adept with, he held it front of him.

The fight, if it could even be called one, ended quickly. Diella easily knocked the short sword out of Adrian's hands and after more rounds of piercing, slashing, throwing, and dodging, all of which only drew out the inevitable, Adrian had finally been cornered. Diella's left hand clutched his short sword.

He died with a bitter taste of irony in his mouth. His own weapon had ended him.

Day Seven

7th – Lucifer Vallone of District One

Lucifer knew his betrayal would only bring him hate from the district. If he even emerged victorious, anyway. But he had thought it necessary. Majority of the careers were still alive. He needed to eliminate them from the equation, starting with Royal. Not to say he enjoyed it though. It was out of necessity.

He smiled wryly when he saw the pathway had led to Riona.

A wordless understanding passed between them. The Capitol wanted a show. What better way than to pit another two members of the Career Pack against each other? Lucifer thought he had the upper-hand. He had trained after all.

But Riona was quicker and swifter than he assumed. She undermined him where did he not see, her cuts quick yet devastating. The injuries he had sustained from his earlier fights were starting to catch up to him too. He did manage to wound her enough to slow her down. Her shoulder bled heavily. They circled each other, adrenaline pushing the pain of the wounds to the back of his mind. But the fatigue was like lead.

Riona darted in for the kill, knives at the ready. He swung his sword, slicing her left wrist off. She shrieked. Whether a war cry or out of pain, he would never know. Not giving up, Riona plunged her other hand down and buried the knife into his back. She yanked it out and stabbed it into him again, this time cutting his neck.

Then, Riona suddenly put distance between them. Lucifer's vision flickered. But he pushed through it, determined to cut her down once and for all. But he ended up crashing onto the ground, his wounds far too much for his body to hold out any longer.

Without hesitating, Riona strode over to him and slashed his neck. Her lips had curled into an almost vicious grin, but still with a tinge of grimness to them.

6th – Lincoln Fleetwood of District Six

From the get-go, Lincoln knew she was painfully outnumbered. Running away from the mutts had only led her to a room with two other tributes in it. When she tried to flee from them, she realised the door behind her had swung shut and was locked.

Ari tossed his sickle at her and she threw herself out of the way. Simultaneously, Tanis attacked Lincoln from behind, slashing her neck.

The pair backed away. Ari made no move to end Lincoln so Tanis did it instead, driving her sword into Lincoln's chest.

Day Eight

5th – Diella Artino of District Four

Diella clung to the shadows though they scared her. But nothing seemed to have happened so far so she took small comfort in that. She avoided looking at the mirrors and display cases, afraid of what she would see; the dead tributes and her mother. Whether they were hallucinations or dolls, she had not the courage to check.

And now, she was face to face with Saffron.

Diella managed to fend off some of Saffron's blows but the other throwing knives still embedded itself in her body. The former's lack of training showed and Saffron managed to trick her with feints and after painfully twisting Diella's wrist, Diella dropped her spear. Diella was vaguely aware of the savage grin Saffron wore. A knee from the latter to the former's stomach crumpled her to the floor. Diella rolled away to avoid what could have been Saffron's finishing blow and whipped out the short sword she had taken from Adrian.

Slashing at Saffron's legs, she pulled out Saffron's left from under her and threw herself onto the girl, stabbing wildly. It hit Saffron's shoulder and she let out a feral growl.

Flipping them over, Saffron straddled Diella's waist, snapped two of Diella's fingers, and placed her hands around the bottom girl's throat. Diella tried to pry Saffron's fingers off her neck but failed. Breaths failing to come to her, her vision waned.

Saffron strangled Diella and refused to let go until her cannon had sounded.

Day Nine

4th – Riona Vinati of District Seven

Riona and Saffron had stumbled upon each other at the Cornucopia. The former avoided the throwing knives flying her way and threw her bloodied knives at Saffron. Picking up fresh ones from the Cornucopia, Riona rapidly closed the gap between her and Saffron. Her assaults on Saffron were unyielding but Saffron's attacks were just the same.

It was a battle of tenacity.

And Riona slipped when Saffron grabbed the stump of her left hand. Pain left Riona dizzy and Saffron used this chance to bring her knife down into Riona's chest.

3rd – Saffron Ausburn of District Two

Riona, blindly in her torment, swung her right arm upwards and buried her knife into Saffron. When the girl dropped her onto the ground, Saffron looked down at her chest to find the knife sticking out of it.

She laughed just before collapsing onto the ground.

Day Ten

It was just Ari and Tanis left.

As agreed, the two of them made their way to the Cornucopia. They both wanted to live. With that most basic of motivations, they fought.

Ari had always been more ruthless, more unforgiving, than Tanis. His attacks showed that. But Tanis, too, did not want to die.

Parrying a blow from Tanis, Ari swung his sickle in an upward arc and managed to cut her chin. He threw himself at her, knocking her to the ground. Her head hit the ground and she whimpered. But her arm still came up to slash against Ari's side. He wavered for a moment, and she used it throw him off her.

They scrambled to their feet and Ari tossed his sickle at her, using the chain attached to its hilt to pull it back. It had cut her torso. For a moment, the two stood apart, breathing heavily, trying to catch their breath. Then they launched back into action. The blows were swift. And at last, Ari managed to hook his sickle around Tanis' sword wielding hand and he cut it. Not hard enough to detach her hand, but hard enough to make her lose the sword. Distracted by the pain, Ari took advantage of it. With his other hand balled into a fist, he punched her. She hit the ground.

Her eyes were wide and pleading. He grimaced. There was no reason for him to draw this out any longer. Muttering an apology, he ended her quickly and mercifully.

With his sickle buried in her chest, the final cannon sounded.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Victor of the 25th Hunger Games! Ari Everly!"

2nd – Tanis Leland of District Five

1st – Ari Everly of District Seven

A/N: And thus, Anathema comes to an end after god knows how long.

I did say I will complete Anathema but a summary was the best I could muster. I had quite a few things planned for this, including a better portrayal of the arena, but school got in the way and among several other issues, I didn't have time for Anathema. And I also lost my motivation for it. I really did love the tributes I received though, and wish I could have done them justice. But I didn't want to just leave you guys hanging with no conclusion or just a simple placing list so I wrote this summary.

As for the very, very short alliance summary, I lost my notes for the reasons bringing them together which is why it's just a literal list.

This probably won't be the last you'll see of me with writing though.

Congrats to bobothebear for getting a Victor!

See you guys around.