once upon a time • finnick odair

x. the mutts

The three of them had landed on the beach, and all of them took a heavy breath as they sat down in the sand.

They were safe.

Safe.

"Hey! Come here!" Finnick called out, motioning to the water. "It's relieving the pain a little."

"The pain?"

Katniss and Devon exchanged looks before shrugging and walking into the water, and they both let out a sigh of relief as soon as they came into the water.

The water cooled down the boils all over their bodies almost immediately, and for a moment, Devon was almost sure he was safe, and he was glad for that.

But the gladness of being safe didn't last very long.

It wasn't very long before they noticed that Mags and Lucian were nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Mags?" Katniss asked.

"She said that she'd go with Lucian," said Finnick, breathing hardly from the run and fog. "I don't see them anywhere, though."

Devon knew that Lucian wouldn't have done something wrong to Mags, at least. He was a kind soul, and even if he was a Career, he still loved her.

"We should look for them," said Devon. "They can't be too far away from here."

Finnick and Katniss agreed, and the three of them set off to find Mags and Lucian. The three of them went back to the forest and started to walk around.

Then, a cannon sounded, and the three of them heard a human cry from the forest.

"Who ..."

Devon couldn't finish his words, because he felt a shiver up his spine.

There wasn't anyone near them, the last time they checked.

So this could either mean that it was Mags or Lucian, or a different victor who had gone inside the forest in conveniently a similar area at a similar time, which didn't seem so likely. Which meant ...

"We have to get there. Quick," said Katniss.

She seemed to reach the same conclusion he did, and Devon glanced at Finnick to see his face pale white and hands trembling.

"Finnick ..." said Devon softly.

"I'm fine," said Finnick through clenched teeth.

They ran through the forest, and it wasn't long before they noticed a certain black-haired man with a small, but heavy-looking backpack on his back. He was crouching down, covering something, no, someone, with his body.

Devon had a terrible feeling about this.

"Lucian?" Devon asked.

The man turned, and they could see Lucian with dark blood splattered on his face and his hands, and a dead Mags in front of him.

No.

No.

This was not happening.

This could not be happening right now.

Mags was lying there with her eyes closed and her chest still flowing with blood. It seemed that she was the owner of the cannon that rang only a few minutes ago, and Devon could easily identify what had happened.

Lucian had murdered Mags, and she was dead because of him.

Because Devon had trusted the man.

Devon covered his mouth to try and prevent himself from throwing up.