"The fallen angel" and "the devil in disguise"
Two names Ares Aristo was known for, a boy who had more to him than originally met the eye. Charming the capital with his kind facade, it was only in the games did they realized just how far an angel ca...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧.
(backstabber )
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
Ares watched with detached, cold eyes as Osiris gasped for breath while Neo's arm barred tight across his throat. The fight between the two was long-lasting, but evidently, Osiris had the overarching disadvantage after having leapt from a cliff and struggled through the water currents just before. His energy was depleted after fighting through the tides, dragging both Ares and Pandora to shore, and now having to fight without taking any time to recover. Numbness from the icy submersion made his movements shaky and erratic, showing signs of exhaustion that Neo was able to pinpoint and extort.
Boom!
It wasn't a betrayal when Neo finally slit Osiris' throat. Ares wasn't responsible for him, which was something they both made clear to each other atop the cliff, and he had Blaze to worry about which took his time and attention away. But that didn't mean that his death didn't send a spike of emotion through Ares still, who couldn't help but remember Osiris' touch against his back and his calm demeanour during his coughing fit.
Osiris was kind, and Ares would remember him.
He really would.
So, it wasn't a betrayal. They would both agree on that fact even if the situation was reversed with Ares on his knees choking on his own blood. But just because he knew it wasn't a betrayal didn't mean Ares felt like it wasn't. In fact, it sure felt like it was as Osiris locked eyes with him and stared piercingly through his darkening soul until his final breath, collapsing to the ground and lying still.
Meanwhile, the clock must have finally struck midnight because the death recap for Day Four began to play with Blaze, Madeva, Voltina, and finally Osiris' face caste overhead.
Ares' eyes only lingered for a second on his former ally's dead face in the sky before it fell to the dead face staring up at him from the ground, then finally flicked over to Neo. His grip on his sword grew tighter as he assessed the man from the short distance between them, looking for any obvious weaknesses to exploit.
He couldn't linger on those who were dead. He could only move forward.
"What are you doing?" Neo asked, his own eyes narrowed on the minuscule movements Ares was making to prepare himself. He was confused. He thought that they had an understanding, an unspoken agreement with one another for survival based on all of the side eyes during training and the small nods of acknowledgment. He knew what that meant and he was relying on the fact that he would be able to make it to the end if he found Ares quickly.
Neo came from District Three, he prided himself on his intelligence and resourcefulness, and his plans were foolproof. Ares Aristo had been a plan in the making ever since he saw the boy's forced calm demeanour and constant need to prove to himself and everyone else that he had the upper hand.
