ROSETTA THERN, 108th Hunger Games Victor
Summer. Magical. Majestic.
Rosetta Thern stood on the tall podium, addressing the citizens of a collapsed and distraught district. A beautiful day; birds whistled and sang their melancholy song and the faint buzz of insects was incessantly potent over the deafening silence of the crowd standing motionless and hollow-eyed below the most recent Hunger Games victor.
Although she wore her usual smile – a smile she had perfected for so many years - the young girl found it hard to perform her strict recital with such a cheery countenance. It was like nothing had happened at all; although talking about what happened to the deceased tributes to their district made everything seem surreal, like a dream. The worst thing about it all was that she couldn't even remember their names and, most probably, she was the one who killed them.
Hearing about your child's death was one thing; hearing it from your child's murderer was another.
Two families stood on Rosetta's left and right. One side beheld the image of a small family who stood far apart from each other. Each – the mother, father and grandparent – stood with stony expressions and tired eyes. Obviously none of them had slept for days, no doubt having nightmares similar to Rosetta's own. Reliving their precious child's death over and over. Their clothes signified a poor background and the ancient grandmother already looked close to death. Their appearance at least gave the impression of helplessness, and yet… and yet…
Their eyes were locked in the direction of the raised figure speaking to them; eyes full of concept; eyes full of pity.
The other family was considerably larger, with the mother hunched over her four youngest children; the eldest stood next to the faded father, one holding a small bundle in their arms. Their faces were visibly wet from tears and now and then Rosetta heard the broken wailing of the mother: her baby, her poor baby. The eldest child stood staring blankly at the picture of the fallen tribute beyond Rosetta, raising his hand to wipe the uncontrollable tears from his eyes.
Rosetta could feel it though. There was no way she couldn't. She could feel the deep-rooted hatred and disgust district ten felt for her. Unless you were a citizen from the Capitol, Rosetta supposed people had every reason to feel that way. She couldn't help the way she was. Hell, even the career districts would turn their faces away from her after her performance this year. She gave a good show and for that she couldn't help but feel slightly satisfied, somehow.
Words flowed out of her mouth automatically. Her eyes were focused on the air in front of her, for she did not dare look at the masses below. The world as she knew it now was so primal, hunt or be hunted. She had to survive, so she did. What turned into a thrill turned into a gross need, and uncontrollable hunger that frightened Rosetta. It terrified her but it wasn't her fault. What she couldn't control was not her fault. At least, that was what she kept telling herself.
The district eight escort stood by her side, grinning as widely as she could and standing out grotesquely against the uniform peacekeepers and the dark-clothed citizens. Rosetta noted that they looked like a group of flies; flies that were very still; flies that were very quiet. They even looked like they had dressed for a funeral. Suitable, Rosetta thought, for her arrival indeed signified the confirmation of the two tributes' deaths as well as twenty-one others.
Rosetta closed her eyes for one second and almost immediately death after death after death plagued her memory. Bloodshed, bloodlust, bloodthirstiness; no wonder Capitolites called the 108th Hunger Games the most monumental in history. The mask came off; Rosetta shed her fur; Rosetta became the idol; the epitome of a victor; the hero of the Capitol, but the villain, the tyrant, the monster to everyone else in the world.
Yes, although Rosetta had the Capitol's support, she was truly alone.
Rosetta supposed that this was the sacrifice that needed to be made to ensure fame and wealth.
Obviously the speech was going on for too long. The escort lent over and whispered into her ear: "Hurry up darling. A speech this long is positively dull and you do not want to disappoint, do you?"
Of course Rosetta complied. It wasn't as though she was the Capitol's slave or anything, nothing like that, but she knew that in order to keep her celebrity status a reality she had to be obedient now and then. But she was not being controlled, despite what her family had told her before they had vowed to cast her out of their lives.
So, as she raised her arm to wave cheerfully to the crowd, she caught on to a low humming sound coming from, seemingly, nowhere. The humming, she discovered, stopping mid-air to listen to the strange anomaly, was in fact singing and Rosetta was taken aback to soon discover the entire crowd gradually join in to create a collective and unified symbol of solidarity and defiance.
They were singing. District ten was singing.
As peacekeepers escorted Rosetta away from the raising hum of music and more rushed into the crowd, firing bullets into small figures, even children who sang the loudest of them all, and tried in vain to shout and threaten over the chant of peace, Rosetta could not stop a small smile creeping onto her face.
For this would become to be known as the Beginning of the End.
Hello everyone! This is BittersweetSymphony here, or you can call me Symphony – I don't mind.
I have been such a huge fan of SYOTs for a long time and decided to make my own, so here I am! I hope that you all enjoyed this prologue; please review and let me know what you think. Rosetta is definitely a character that will come up more frequently in this story. I'm sorry it was so short; I promise updates will be longer.
If you would like to submit a tribute, please have a look on my profile. It is a bit of a long form and I hope that doesn't put anybody off, but I promise I will put a lot of effect in to make your tributes come to life. The deadline for submissions is the 1st June.
I look forward to starting this adventure with you all. Thank you for reading – until next time!