La Mort Vient {Sage's End}

[kap]

No time for goodbye, he said,
As he faded away.
Don't put your life in someone's hands.
They're bound to steal it away.

'Sage, it’s okay. You can let go now,' came a voice in the boy’s head. It was a voice he’d never truly heard past his infancy, but he knew who it emanated from. The voice was that of his long since deceased mother, welcoming him to join her in death. He didn’t want to let go yet, even as the pain of the projectiles that had pounded his body surged through him. In the moment, though, he also did want to let himself fade. Being killed by Tamron meant that he wouldn’t have to become a killer himself. He’d survived nearly seven days in the unforgiving arena, and hadn’t taken a life. Surely this would make Parsley, Rosemary and Thyme proud of him. They’d never condoned violence. Although, surely, they hadn’t wanted him to die, and knew that he would have to kill if he was going to make it home.

District Twelve’s only tribute that had made it past the bloodbath was fighting hard, in honor of Affron. At first, he had fought for revenge, but it didn’t take long before he was fighting to show how much people had underestimated his strength. Of course, his fight in Affron’s memory never truly stopped until he had fallen to the ground, about to die. If there truly was an afterlife, Sage thought, perhaps it was something he could now look forward to. He’d be back with the loved ones he’d lost; his parents and Affron. He would never be away from them again.

A burning feeling was felt in Sage’s heart as it began to fight to keep beating, but it couldn’t. He was slowly dying, and nothing could stop it. If there really was life after death, Sage thought, who else would he meet there? He would see Chloriphina and Pollux; two innocent girls that he had assisted in killing. Once again, he would meet Anarchy, whom he’d only known for a short amount of time, but felt terrible when her life was taken from her. He would see Seth; a former ally whom he’d never even fought alongside, due to their separation at the beginning of the Games, but had trusted, and used trying to find him as the reason for Marcus not to murder him. Had Sage abused Seth’s existence to keep himself alive longer? He didn’t want to think about that in his final moments.

What other individuals would he meet in death? Chaos O’Hana, the girl that had helped him in the training center with his punches, and even showed him where to find alcohol, which in the end, sparked something even more intimate between he and Affron. Sage hated to think that she was gone, with such a kind soul, even though he barely knew her. Riven was gone, too. They’d communicated in the training center, but his most recent memory was when she was relatively peaceful at the tea party, and didn’t try to attack him like he had expected would happen with any other tribute he may have ended up encountering. Sage felt sympathy for the girl in death.

Sage had fought Diorite Fray early on in the Games, but she was gone now. She had been strong, and the boy from Twelve was almost certain she would have made it further. Would he see her again, too? What about Ivar Hammerfell? He had been so strong, especially with his physical disability, and kept going strong for quite a few days. Sage hated to think that, one of the tributes who wasn’t even his ally, yet had helped he and Marcus survive, was gone now. Curse Jinx had helped Sage and Marcus in that fight, too. He was one of the fallen, now, though, and Sage couldn’t even recall if he’d ever exchanged words with the Career boy from Four. Perhaps those conversational exchanges weren’t meant to happen until after death.

Another name of someone he would meet shot into Sage’s mind, but this time with guilt. Marcus Fletcher. They’d separated as allies, and Sage then proceeded to join up with Anarchy, Cassiopeia and Riordan, while Marcus fought on his own and died trying to survive. Sage realized that he could have saved Marcus, had he stayed with him. It was too late, now, though. The boy from Twelve was now just hoping that his remaining allies were still alive; Riordan and Cassiopeia. Though, for some reason, Sage feared that one of them would fall the same day as he, no matter how much he didn’t want that to be true.

Life was truly starting to pull away from him now, and Sage knew it was close to over. He struggled to get out a few more words before his eyes began to droop, unable to hold themselves open any longer.

“I’m coming, Affron.”

BOOM!

Sage Scarborough - District Twelve

Acknowledgements

bailee Thank you for letting Sage and Affron have such a beautiful relationship, and for being such an amazing ally, even though Affron was gone so early on.

uwu Thank you for helping me truly develop Sage’s character. It was a pleasure writing with you, and you were a fantastic ally.

* Thank you for being such an overall fantastic individual and ally, even though we were never together on the same side of the arena. Every single post you made with Seth was a pleasure to read.

Tom Thank you for being so willing to take me in as an ally and fighting alongside me. You have no idea how much I appreciate it, and your writing is absolutely stunning!

ali Thank you for allowing me to join you, Tom and Flyss as an ally. I truly appreciate it, and you’ve fought hard so far. Cassiopeia was a pleasure to thread with, and I’m sure you can keep going strong!

flyss Thank you as well for letting me team up with you in an alliance, even though we weren’t in it together for very long. I loved Anarchy as a character, and I hope you keep up the great writing!

marguerite harvard d2a (zori) Thank you for being such a great friend and being so supportive of me throughout the Games. You’ve really shown what a good person you are, and I really appreciate how consoling you were when Sage died. I hope Salome can keep going!

solo Thank you for making Riven such a pleasure to read and to write alongside! I loved threading with you in the Training Center and at the Tea Party, even if it wasn’t for long! Keep up the great work!

♛ scandal Thank you for being such a great friend. I really enjoyed our fight threads, and you were a great sport with all of it. I hope you can go further the next time around!

Unitato15 Thank you for being one of my closest site friends, and being an overall amazing person. I’ve loved the humor you used with Lori, even in her DP, and I really hope to see more great characters like her from you in the future! Keep writing!

mat Thank you for being so supportive of me and so confident in my abilites throughout these Games! I’m sad that we’ve lost another Shim, but it was all a pleasure to read!

Sleepy Fluttershy Thank you for writing such an amazing character, and even allowing me to take up the roll of her mother! Leticia was a beautiful character, and I’m sure that the next tribute you have will be as well!

Cameo {RIP Charlie} Thank you for being the amazing person that you are and for being so willing to have Sage and Chaos interact in the Training Center! Keep up your amazing writing!

Arrows Thank you for being you! Even though we never got to really do much writing between Sage and Lightning, it was amazing to see him in the Games, and it gave me a whole ton of feels!

Knuckles Thank you for writing Ivar so beautifully! He was a blessing to write, and I appreciate every last word that was said by him.

@dreamerkid Thank you for representing the Jinx family so well! You came far, and not only are my Jinxes proud, but I am, too! I can’t wait to see another Jorg tribute!

Gryphon Thank you for making Diorite Fray such a beautiful character! She was fun to write alongside in our fights, and I’m sorry she’s gone. Regardless, I’m sure you’ll keep up the amazing characters!

thompson harvard - d2b - arc Thank you for being so chill about our day 1.5 fight and for making such an awesome character out of Saummerand! Keep going strong! (Heck, I like Saummerand so much that I named one of my Pokémon after him! whoops)

ᕙʕ•ᴥ•ʔᕗ Thank you for being so awesome in Sage’s final moments. I really appreciate how kind you’ve been towards me through it all, and I absolutely love Tamron. I hope he goes far!

Baby Wessex d9b [earthling] Thank you for making our JB thread such a beautiful experience! I truly appreciate it, and I’m sad to see Lorenzo go.

d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel Thank you for being so willing to write with me in the JB! I really enjoyed our thread, and I assure you, Ronnie will be missed.

aya and L△LIA Thank you for being an amazing pair of GMs and being able to manage all of our craziness!

Everyone else, thank you for making these Games so amazing for me. I never expected to get as far as I did or to enjoy these Games so much, but you all made it great! I’m sorry that I don’t have individual messages for all of you, but please know that I love all of you and you’re all great people!