Author's Note: Excuse this as a poor excuse for writing the history of Panem as a fairy tale but I wanted a quick one to refer to for I Volunteer and I didn't really have time to write lots for it, which is the reason why I won't be updating that story as often as I promised for I didn't have time!
This is just going to be a one shot I think but I may write the first Hunger Games as an actual fanfiction if people would like that... Anyway, read and review to let me know what you think.
The Fairy Tale of Panem
Once upon a time, there was a planet called Earth which was covered by oceans and many land masses, separated into seven continents: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and Antarctica. Six of these seven continents were inhabited by the human race, slowly filling up to reach the Earth's full capacity.
As the space on Earth was filled, some leaders of the larger places tried to figure out a way to 'rid' them of the humans that took the space up.
Different ideas were thought of but the leaders could not reach an agreement using normal means. War broke out and divided the human race into the different sides that fought for a separate way to lessen the size of their people.
When the war finished, there was nothing left of the old world in which the humans had lived in and what was left of the humans themselves was not recognised as the old race. The war fought to decide how to get rid of the humans got rid of humans.
For a while, the remaining humans lived in harmony so that they could rebuild their world and their lives. The earth began to resemble what it was like before but the humans could never be the same; they'd destroyed many of their own in a pointless battle. Then there came blame for the fight that everyone hated.
One side of the humans would blame another and they'd blame them back. A third would blame the fourth and they'd return the feelings. The humans continued like this until their whole race was split once again so that they're only option was war but this time it was a war for power.
This war lasted much longer than the first, one party seeming to gain power, only to lose it soon after due to their prior ally turning against them. These actions were repeated until the only remaining humans were those too weak and feeble to fight or stand up for what they believed in. These humans were appointed leaders of the place in which they lived in and each place got a new name so to try and rid memories of the past.
One of the new areas was Panem, formerly North America. The leader, the wife of a broken army general, killed in the last war, had a past with her husband leading and had an idea of what to do with Panem: she divided it into thirteen Districts and a home for herself and all her advisors. She gave each of the Districts a job to do and set them to work, rebuilding their own and the other Districts, as well as the Capitol, the leader's home.
The people in Panem worked peacefully until their homes were rebuilt and the kind leader mysteriously died. She was replaced by a cruel and power-hungry man who named himself just 'the President', the man who everyone knew had wanted to take control from their old leader. He imposed his own laws to keep the Districts in line and these included rules like how the Districts were meant to live, who they sold their produce to and what food they were allowed to eat.
The Districts did not agree with these new laws and they devised a plan to remove the President in secret.
When they began their plan, it was soon stopped by the Capitol and the Districts were almost literally squashed under the giant Capitol's boot. District Thirteen, the District which came up with most of the plan, was completely destroyed and nothing was left of the people that lived there and the area they'd lived in. The other Districts were as well punished, the amount of punishment they received depending on their part in the plan.
Out of the ashes of the rebellion, the President allowed the Districts to grow to the limits he'd put in place. Then, once that was done, he told them to aid the Capitol in their attempts to grow even better and stronger, though it did not take much to be better than the Districts. After the completion of the Capitol, it looked like a castle for the king or the President with the Districts like mud huts for the peasants or the people of the Districts.
Then the President announced his idea for making the Districts pay for the third war that they'd brought about. His idea was the Hunger Games, a show which would be televised to every member of Panem. It would offer up a male and female tribute between the ages of twelve and eighteen from each of the twelve remaining Districts to fight to death in an arena with only one coming out alive.
The Districts hated this idea but there was nothing they could do against it, they couldn't even prepare for it because training was disallowed. Also, the first Reaping was due to happen the next month and they were meant to be spending that month helping to build the Arena which they were meant to know nothing about.
The day of the Reaping came and all the children aged between twelve and eighteen went down to the Square, in front of their District's Justice Building. Onto the stage walked three people: their District's mayor and two Capitol representatives.
The mayor said his long and apparently necessary speech, telling the history of Panem and what had led them to this day. Then he introduced the Capitol people, one as a mentor for the tribute, the other as an escort.
The escort walked out, backing up what the mayor said and explaining their parts further: the escort would help take the tributes back to the Capitol and would be there for support during training, the mentor would be giving the tributes advice and would decide what gifts they got during the Games.
Then they walked over to one of the fish bowls that had been placed on the stage, hovering their hand over the slips of paper until they picked one out and announced the name of the first female tribute. The girl left the others around her to walk onto the stage. Then the process was repeated, this time for the male tribute. When they were both on stage, they shock hands before going into the Justice Building.
In the Justice Building, they had a few minutes alone to say their goodbyes to their family before they were taken away to their Capitol; they made their way there on a high-speed train with all the luxuries from their race's past.
When the tributes arrived in the Capitol, they saw huge buildings, covered by foreign objects and the people there were weirdly coloured with a strange fashion sense. To the tributes, this place was like a whole new world to them; they felt like they were dirty slaves in the magical castle of the Capitol.
That night, there was the Tribute Parade, the time when the tributes would be shown to the Capitol so they knew who to support. They were dressed in robes that showed off the speciality of their District and these were designed by each tribute's stylist. Little did the tributes know that their stylist, escort and mentor would seem like their three fairy godparents that aided their efforts to survive, providing them with all necessaries in the Arena and also advice before they began.
For the following few days, all tributes had to attend compulsory training sessions, spending time at the weapons and survival stations. The last day of training was spent with their mentor and escort, to help them at their interviews which would further increase their support. They spoke to the interviewer who asked them questions that, when they answered correctly, would make them seem more desirable. Then the interviewer summed up all the tributes to make them seem better than some of them really were.
The tributes for the first Hunger Games were an interesting mix of characters. The girl from One was thirteen but with a tall and strong build to match her power. Her District partner was eighteen and muscular, also large and powerful. They were brother and sister.
The girl from Two was seventeen and, despite her size, she was the most powerful of her alliance. Her District partner was also seventeen and nearly as strong but much bigger. The two from Two were in a relationship.
The girl from Three was fourteen and weak, feeling she had no chance at survival. Her District partner was sixteen and he looked strong as his build was big but this was a false image.
The girl from Four was fifteen and was slightly stronger than she looked but she didn't have the confidence to back it up. Her District partner was eighteen and quick enough to escape but with power to back him up if necessary.
The girl from Five was twelve and small, looking weak; this image was true. Her District partner was of a similar build to her but slighter taller and of average size for his age of sixteen. The two were cousins.
The girl from Six was fourteen and she was of a tiny height, her power not helped by her size. Her District partner was sixteen with quick speed but a small build to help.
The girl from Seven was eighteen with strong arms from her work at home. Her District partner, seventeen, was equally muscular from work with an even larger build.
The girl from Eight was thirteen but tall for her age and not able to really look after herself. Her District partner was seventeen and only slightly bigger than the girl but more able to look after himself despite his feeble nature. The girl was the boy's best friend's sister; the boy felt that the girl was just like a sister to him but the girl felt a little more even though she knew she couldn't have it.
The girl from Nine was fifteen and sure that, although she was small and weak, she could win. Her District partner was the same age but quite large, looking powerful enough to go against any others.
The girl from Ten was twelve and, despite her larger build, the thought of the Games destroyed any of the power she may have had. Her District partner was twelve as well, his thoughts also that the Games were awful.
The girl from Eleven was fourteen and average sized but her over-confidence from someone with no power was too great. Her District partner was fifteen and the same height as the girl, his lack of power obvious to everyone.
The girl from Twelve was sixteen and decided that because she wouldn't survive herself for very long, she would help others try to. Her District partner, who was thirteen, had similar beliefs to her, being helpful to others and not confident in himself.
The day after the interviews, the twenty four tributes were sent into the Arena. They saw their fairy godparents for what they expected to be the last time before they were sent to their inevitable death.
The gong sounded, announcing the end of the countdown and the start of the first Hunger Games, and signalled that the tributes should run. This time was the first battle of the Games, when the first blood was shed. The tributes that had trained best with the weapons and were fast could run to the horn filled of treasures like weapons, food and medicine: the Cornucopia. They took a weapon and killed the tributes who had not managed to escape before they returned. After an hour, a cannon boomed to signal the death of each tribute.
The strongest tributes that joined forces as allies came from District One and Two, the two Districts that were allowed to train prior to the Games due to the fact that there was only a small chance that they'd rebel. This alliance of tributes became known as the Careers and they were the force to be reckoned with in the Games. The Careers killed most of the tributes, some of the other deaths from animal attacks or from the lack of knowledge for survival.
The tributes that survived longer than the Bloodbath received gifts that were sponsored by people of the Capitol and occasionally the Districts. These gifts could have been water, food, weapons or medicine and they arrived in silver parachutes to where the tribute it was for was staying or hiding.
The final four tributes left were the girl and boy from Two, the boy from Four and the boy from Eight.
The boy from Eight was still recovering from his District partner's death so he hadn't left the tree he'd been in for a few days. He was one of the weakest tributes that had been in the Games and he had suffered most under the President's reign. He had been overlooked by most, getting no sponsor gifts and only receiving a small amount of pity for his District partner's death. The tributes from Two knew how close he was to his partner and they assumed that he must have been dead if he hadn't stopped her death or avenged her at least.
District Two went to where they knew the boy from Four was staying, under the false impression that he was their only competition. This boy knew that the boy from Eight really wasn't dead so he hoped and assumed that they would have been going to the other first as he was weaker and so easier to kill. He thought wrong and the couple killed him in a matter of seconds without a second thought.
The tributes from Two sighed as they looked at each other, a look of sadness and loss in the eyes of the killers. They reached out a hand for the other's face to stroke it before they leant in for a final kiss, whispering apologies to each other for they knew that the ruler of these Games wouldn't allow two Victors just because of love. As the girl went to pull back, she felt a sharp pain in her side as she realised the fight had begun. She pulled a weapon from her pocket and aimed at the boy. He avoided it but missed her in his next shot, the fight continuing in a similar way.
The battle was long and ferocious as neither wanted to kill the other but both wanted to come out victorious.
After a few moments, they both fell to the floor, blood pouring from their sides. Neither could fight further so now was just a waiting game to see who would die from the wounds quicker. The boy struggled to move around and put his hand in his girlfriend's but, when he did, her face lightened a little. One would die in the other's arms.
The boy from Eight had heard a fight so climbed down from his safety. He silently made his way to the edge of the clearing and leant against a trunk to steady himself as he watched the couple killing each other. When they both fell to the ground, he took a deep breath and walked forward, picking both weapons off the ground and throwing them into the hearts of the dying tributes.
What he had done instantly hit him but he didn't regret it. For some reason, he didn't mind what he did because he told himself that they were happy together when they died and they'd always be happy together after then.
He was lifted out of the Arena after the final two cannons and the announcement of his victory and he was brought back to the Capitol where they fixed his wounds and gave him perfect health once again. They even made him look better than he was before so the Capitol could make more money from him. The boy was interviewed for another time before he was crowned as a figure like the prince of Capitol.
Now, this story should end with 'and they all lived happily ever after' but they didn't. Maybe you imagined the Victor to live well afterwards but he didn't either. He had been damaged by the deaths around him, especially of his District partner and also of the two he killed. The boy was affected by the President before the Games and even more after.
So this is the story of Panem, the disaster state. The place full of deaths and murderers. Where people lived together then killed the other. The good queen was killed and replaced by her evil, childhood enemy who took the place as king. He invented a game show were children fought to the death. One boy came out alive and he was called the prince. He was broken and he still is.
Written by Mason Parker, Victor of the first Hunger Games
Please note that since publishing this piece of work nearly a year after his success, Mr Parker was examined by professional doctors from the Capitol and they found him to be mentally unstable (this was nothing to do with the Games in which he took part in, instead probably from his past before). The Capitol took him under their wing, placing him in a home where he could recover and relax however any traces of him after this time have been lost and the Capitol are unable to comment on what happened to him.