My first attempt at a one shot that I want to enter for the Starvation December challenge 'The Second Annual Hunger Games'. I've titled this fic 'Passing down the sword' for reasons that would become apparent once the fic has been read. I hope it's good. :)
The Second Hunger Games were one to remember; the Career Districts had always celebrated it. The citizens of the lower Districts had always feared it. The people of the Capitol, when asked whether the second Hunger Games were good or not, would act shocked- they'd use an array of positive adjectives to describe them- iconic, phenomenal, and fantastic. And why was that?
The first Game made history- it was meant to be a small one off thing that was designed to punish the Districts, but not only were the Games historic, they were a huge success. The people of the Capitol had their taste of blood and they all craved more. Who was the President to complain? He immediately started another Game.
The children of the Districts were devastated, as were their families. They thought they'd escaped such a horrific slaughtering and they were being dragged back to it. Twenty three tributes felt torn- but one boy from District Two was excited. The intriguing boy who was sixteen years of age wanted to be in the Games. He had been fascinated since the first Hunger Games- like the Capitol people he wanted more, but the difference between him and the Capitol was that he didn't want to view the Games- he wanted to experience them.
Alexandros Birch had always been a strange child. When he was young he had went out and tortured birds with a jagged rock. His parents were oblivious to their child's thirst for blood- they simply dismissed his psychotic nature as a curious one. The problem only worsened; soon Alexandros had discovered that he had a natural talent for blades, and he began to kill birds or animals by throwing them and dragging them home to dissect them.
Even then, Alexandros' father applauded his child- he had a son with a 'talent for throwing knives and a knowledge of an animal's anatomy!' Alexandros simply basked in his father's compliments, because his father always told him that he'd be a vet or a Peacekeeper.
But once a rebellion had been fuelled and extinguished, Alexandros knew what he wanted to be the moment he saw tributes kill each other in the very first Hunger Games arena- he wanted to be Alexandros Birch, Hunger Games victor.
So it was only logical that once the second Hunger Games had started Alexandros simply strolled onto the stage and declared himself as a contender. The people of the District had been shocked- the thought of anybody putting themselves into the Games where they would most likely die was absurd. The concept was alien, but the Capitol had bent the rules to allow it- thus 'volunteering' was made.
Once he had entered the training centre he knew he had a distinct advantage compared to the tributes around him- whilst they were getting used to holding a knife, he was plummeting them right into the centre of whatever target he could. He was a Hunger Games prodigy, and the Gamemakers had noticed it too- Alexandros had scored a ten, which was the highest score a Hunger Games tribute had received.
;;;
The Games had been easy pickings for Alexandros. He had befriended a small girl from District Four who could use spears efficiently, and both of them killed a fair number of children in the bloodbath. Alexandros had finally felt the sensation of taking somebody's life- and it was insatiable.
"What did you think of that?" Alexandros had asked the Four girl as he nudged an unfortunate District Twelve boy with his foot to make sure he was dead. "I thought it was brilliant."
"Brilliant?" The girl looked up and her dull grey eyes looked somewhat scared. "It was awful."
"Why did you do it then?" Alexandros scoffed.
"Well... because I have to I guess," the girl shrugged. "I want to go home. I want to see my family again."
"Family?" A poisonous laugh filled the air, making the girl flinch. "What use do you have in family? My family treat me awfully. I don't want to go home to my family- I spend every day on my life being ignored by them. My father is too happy working, and the only thing my mother worries about it whether she is wearing a nice dress or not."
The girl didn't answer. She was intimidated of Alexandros, and Alexandros liked that. They hadn't spent much time conversing- the conversation they had right after the bloodbath was the most intricate one they had. They spent the next couple of days going into the forest and finding tributes to kill- Alexandros liked to call it 'hunting.' The tributes were his prey, and he was the predator.
On the tenth day Alexandros was more excited than ever. He and his ally- Cora- had made it to the final five. Alexandros thought that called for celebration, and once he had found a District Seven girl lurking in the bushes he decided that it was time to look at her- to tear her apart and experiment with her the way he did with animals. He grabbed a clump of the girls blond hair and dragged her out of the bushes, ignoring her cries.
"This is my kill," he said to Cora once he had found a suitable blade. Cora didn't protest- she was glad that she didn't have to kill another innocent. Alexandros had started his kill off by swiping his blade across the girl's throat so that he could shut her up. Ignoring the girls sickening gurgles as she died, he continued to rag his blade through her stomach as if he was cutting paper with scissors. The blood revolted Cora, but Alexandros found it fascinating- he didn't seem to notice how repulsive killing was.
The 'dissection' had lasted for hours. By the end of it the girl was perfectly mutilated, with her intestines sprawled around the floor. Alexandros didn't look recognisable- his eyes were alight with psychotic fulfilment and he was covered in a layer of blood everywhere- every bit of fabric, every inch of skin and every hair on his head was coated in crimson. Cora felt differently, though, she was curled up in the corner, trying not to throw up with tears streaming down her face.
"You could have joined in," he muttered to Cora once he had stood up and admired his artwork.
"You're sick." Cora replied with a strangled whisper.
"It was only a girl," Alexandros spat. "She's no different than the birds in the trees or the plants on the ground. She functions to live, but she wasn't good enough to live- not strong enough. Natural selection played its part! This girl was pathetic- not strong enough to live. But me and you, Cora- we're different. We're strong. We can win these Games because we're stronger than the other pathetic children than inhabit this arena."
"Only one can win, though," Cora trembled and stood up; her tears glistening like rain drops in the moonlight that illuminated her face perfectly.
Realisation crossed Alexandros' face, and he turned to face Cora. There was a wide smile on his face, making all of his sharp teeth apparent- his innocent blue eyes suddenly seemed to mould into pure black tunnels that nothing could escape from- Cora screamed, because she knew that this the kind of look Alexandros had when he was ready to kill.
She tried to throw a spear, but Alexandros somehow seemed to snatch it from the air and fling it right back at her- Cora screamed as she was impaled through the stomach, and she truly knew how horrific the Games were. She was nothing now- she was only one of the animals that Alexandros played with. But she didn't want to be seen as that- she had a family at home who loved her! She liked jazz music and the colour pink; she had friends who wanted her back. Surely she was more than a pathetic animal?
But as she felt Alexandros' blade probe her stomach whilst she glanced at the cracks of moonlight through the branches, she felt like nothing more than a bird or a fox that had been hunted.
"I'm sorry, District Four." Alexandros laughed as he positioned Cora's face so that he could look into her dying eyes. "You were strong, but I'm the strongest. Only the strongest win the Hunger Games."
"You're not strong," Cora replied in a raspy voice. "You're doing exactly what the Capitol wants you to do. You're letting bloodlust take over you- you're weak. The weakest boy I've ever met."
A spark of anger hit Alexandros' eyes, and he gave out a cry of fury- he screamed in rage as he plummeted his blade into the girl's forehead. She immediately stiffened, and her cannon had gone off. How dare she call him weak! Alexandros snarled and spat on her body- she was the corpse. She wasn't the victor.
;;;
As he had presumed Alexandros had won the Games. He had killed one last tribute in the epic finale and then declared as the winner. The Capitol loved him, because he came in and killed just as he was asked too. Alexandros had now killed and been showered in wealth and glory- he had never felt more complete in his life. Though Cora's words had haunted him, the Capitol had convinced Alexandros that he was strong, mighty and perfect.
When he got home his District cheered for him- they finally had one of their children coming home! Last year the victor had been a District Six girl, and now District Two had their own winner to look up to. Even his parents were proud- they had been oblivious to Alexandros' true nature once again, and they considered his evil acts in the arena as acts of patriotism and loyalty.
Alexandros had a gang of admirers- he eventually trained them up for the Hunger Games. He trained them up and called them his 'Careers.' Many of them won, and their wealth had managed to allow Alexandros to build his own training centre for Careers- it was illegal, but the Capitol turned a blind eye because they loved savage victors- they loved Alexandros' little clones.
District Four had also trained their children because they didn't want Cora's memory destroyed by Alexandros' savage nature. Soon District One had got their band of Careers out of envy- before District Two had its set of victors they were the most desired District, and they wanted that title back.
At first the Careers were only training to survive- in case they were reaped. But Alexandros' strong words had indoctrinated them, and soon they had volunteered. They went into the arena and killed tributes in a similar way to Alexandros, and they thought they were doing something good- they thought they were doing something right.
Alexandros was one of the most famous men in Panem. He was a Hunger Games victor, one of the richest men in the country (because he taxed his victors) and he had started the vicious Careers. In years to come the Careers were a feared name- though Alexandros killed ten people, many felt he was responsible for the lives of hundreds.
His grandson volunteered for the fiftieth Hunger Games. Though he didn't win, he had made an iconic speech when he was interviewed by Caesar Flickerman. He stood on the stage proudly, with blue eyes that were alight with psychopathic need just like his grandfather.
"So this is Titus Birch!" Caesar announced as he glanced to the boy. "Are you related to the famous Alexandros Birch?"
"Yes," Titus declared proudly.
"Some people say that your grandfather was famous for passing on the torch of Career culture- would you agree with this?"
"Of course," Titus scoffed. "That isn't a bad thing. It's a great thing- he didn't pass on the torch though. He passed on the sword. He made people like me realise how great winning was."
When Titus was dying a week later, he realised how wrong he was. Alexandros had never lost, so he presumed that winning was great. His grandfather was as weak as Cora declared- and his arrogance had led many children to their deaths.
Nothing was weaker than arrogance.
I hope you enjoyed it!
~Toxic