The 28th Hunger Games:


INTRODUCTION

After a series of wildly exhilarating games the years prior (the twenty-fourth with Dayta, the twenty-fifth with Diamond, the twenty-sixth with Thor, and the twenty-seventh with Magnet), the Capitol was caught in a full Hunger-Games frenzy. Betting was on overdrive, and the support for the games was higher than ever before in the Capitol. Even dastardly Coriolanus Snow turned away from his work poisoning whoever objected to him and instead focused on hiring the finest team of gamemakers that the Capitol had ever seen. Estella Whited returned for her third year as Head Gamemaker. Her next arena was a model of Mount Olympus. In Greek and Roman mythology, mount Olympus was the homeland of the many great gods and goddesses who controlled the universe. Estella read as many ancient myths as she could find with hopes of recreating the majestic place as marvelously as possible. She did not disappoint. The mountain itself stood tall, like a piece of rough metal jutting far beyond the clouds. Despite its altitude, there was no snow. The mountain's slopes were steep, but were surprisingly easy to navigate. Many pathways carved into the mountain existed that allowed for quick transportation from any given region of the mountain to any other. Atop Mount Olympus itself stood the hall of the gods. It was a building made out of solid white marble. It stood hundreds of feet tall, looming over everything else in the arena. Rows of white columns depicting famous events in Greek and Roman history surrounded the building. Inside was the throne room: a series of twelve massive thrones. On each throne was written, in Greek, the name of the god that it belonged to. In the very center of the hall was a roaring fire, which the Romans believed was the source of the prosperity and life of their society. Surrounding the hall of the gods was a rolling green field, with grass the color of lime. Sheep, cows, and goats roamed the area. The grassy field was strewn with lovely marble statues of the many heroes, gods, and goddesses from mythology. The largest of these statues was a model of the monster Typhon, the deadliest monster of them all. Its mouth gaped wide open and served as the cornucopia for the games. All of the weapons were things that were commonly used by the Greeks and Romans during battle. This included daggers, javelins, crossbows, darts, knives, swords, and bows. The careers this year were some of the strongest that the academy had ever seen; after the bitter humiliation of the careers the year prior they were determined to come back strong and hopefully take home the victory. The District 1 pair was as gorgeous as always, conforming to the typical District 1 look. Their male earned a ten by wowing the gamemakers with a wide variety of skills, particularly with axes, swords, and spears. Their female earned a nine, scarcely missing a ten because of how she lost track of time during her session. Her looks as well as her humor made the sponsors swoon, and her hair, dyed purple at the roots, was beautiful as well. The District 2 tributes were more scary and intimidating than they were beautiful. Their male was particularly dark in every one of his features, from the shadows on his face to his menacingly unsettling gaze. He scored double-digits, showing the gamemakers his showmanship as well as his talents for strength and weaponry. District 2's girl earned the highest odds of winning out of all of the tributes. It was no coincidence. She was a mysreiously intriguing girl. She was a wizard with the throwing knives, and her age and score made her a great contender for victor. District 4 produced a varied showing, with one tribute earning a ten and one tribute earning a nine. The boy was only fifteen, making him the youngest career in the games. His skills with the knife wowed the sponsors. District 4's female was a strikingly beautiful girl; with her strawberry-blonde hair and sea-green eyes she was able to impress many of the sponsors. She was a wizard with the trident and bow, so much that she earned a ten. Outside of the career districts, several tributes earned remarkably high scores. Four eights were earned. The first eight scorer, Zacharia Picadilly of District 7, was a very handsome boy whose talents for the axe impressed many. His district partner, the beautiful Blossom Luther, displayed talent for the throwing knives. District 10's Winter and District 11's Hyacinth earned eights as well, both showing their skills with curved blades. There was a plethora of sevens. In fact, five sevens were earned in these games! The most notable tribute to earn a seven was Bellatrix Jespersen, the District 6 female. She was only twelve years old, and yet she had scored a seven by displaying her skills with the bow and arrow. The Capitolites couldn't help but adore her humor and her likability, and Bellatrix earned many sponsors. Scorpio from 6, Ezequiel and Lindsey from 9, and Wren from 12 scored sevens as well. The rest of the tributes scored between six and three in their private sessions. There was a single volunteer outside of the careers: Hyacinth Christmas from District 11, who volunteered into the games to save her girlfriend. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Quinn Challengor, 17, (10) 7-1 and Lucretia Croxen, 17, (9) 8-1

District 2: Falcon Jagoe, 16, (10) 8-1 and Maverick Donner, 18, (10) 6-1

District 3: Obsidian Bialas, 18, (5) 15-1 and Celestine Osorio, 14, (4) 40-1

District 4: Sebastian Rhea, 15, (9) 10-1 and Maria Dutra, 18, (10) 8-1

District 5: Eris Sigalot, 13, (3) 60-1 and Persephone Kovitz, 17, (6) 18-1

District 6: Scorpio Sgourakes, 16, (7) 17-1 and Bellatrix Jespersen, 12, (7) 20-1

District 7: Forrest Vinson, 18, (8) 10-1 and Blossom Luther, 15, (8) 22-1

District 8: Zacharia Picadilly, 13, (4) 42-1 and Valerie Clairfreund, 12, (3) 70-1

District 9: Ezequiel Stamper, 18, (7) 15-1 and Lindsey Montaigne, 17, (7) 16-1

District 10: Carter Nobili, 16, (6) 21-1 and Winter Corderoy, 18, (8) 12-1

District 11: Orion Rudolph, 12, (6) 22-1 and Hyacinth Christmas, 18, (8) 12-1

District 12: Wren Flint, 18, (7) 14-1 and Jasmine Donaghey, 14, (4) 44-1


THE GAMES

Sharp blades of sunshine cut into the tribute's vision as they rose up into the arena atop their golden pedestals. Many tributes placed their hands on their foreheads to block out the rays of the gem of the sun so that they could see well. The yawning mouth of Typhon, the father of all monsters, stood less than two hundred yards from them. Strewn in and around it were Greek and Roman battle weapons.

When the flashing numbers reached zero and the gong rang, only little Orion from 11 turned tail and fled at first. Back at the cornucopia, two tributes seemed to be neck-and-neck, sprinting at the head of the onrush: Maria from 4 and Carter from 10. Carter dropped to the ground when he spotted an orange backpack, whereas Maria ran towards a belt of throwing knives that sat in a cluster of pink blossoms to her left. Maria clipped the belt securely around her waist and began throwing. Her first try stuck lucky. The throwing knife lodged itself into strong Carter's back. He screamed as he fell to the ground, staining the grass red as he died.

Carter Nobili, District 10 Male: 24th, Killed by Maria, Bloodbath

While Falcon may not have been the best tribute with weaponry, he was certainly the strongest tribute in terms of physical strength. Falcon spotted a weak girl out of the corner of his eye. The career ran over to where she was and grabbed her by the torso, slamming her into the ground as she crumpled like a rag doll. Falcon leaned over and used a katana that rested beside a yellow flower near her to slash open her chest, causing blood to spray from her abdomen.

Valerie Clairfreund, District 8 Female: 23rd, Killed by Falcon, Bloodbath

Hyacinth was one of the few non-career tributes who didn't seem to mind killing, even if it wasn't in self-defense. Hyacinth darted as fast as she could into the cornucopia's comforting darkness and grabbed the first thing she could find: a scythe and a canteen of crystal-clear water. Hyacinth ran out of the cornucopia and found herself face-to-face with a boy that was trying to kill her with a machete. Hyacinth thrust forth her scythe. The force of the blow sent the wind-knocked boy to the ground, and Hyacinth buried the sharp tip of her scythe deep into his stomach to polish him off.

Obsidian Bialas, District 3 Male: 22nd, Killed by Hyacinth, Bloodbath

Maverick was in business when she saw a spear sitting on a table inside of the cornucopia. Maverick closed her eager fingers around the cool wooden shaft and swirled around, facing the cornucopia's opening. She ran out into the chaos of the bloodbath, itching to make her first kill. It was too easy, for mere seconds later one of the outer district boys ran straight across her path. Maverick buried the sharp flint tip of her spear deep into his back, and it drove through his torso before protruding from his stomach. He waved back and forth a few times, off-kilter, before collapsing to the ground, dead.

Zachariah Picadilly, District 8 Male: 21st, Killed by Maverick, Bloodbath

Having pulled her throwing knife out of Carter's skull, Maria fluidly attacked her next victim: a dark-haired boy who was grappling over a backpack with another tribute roughly three feet away. The boy screamed as Maria's throwing knife entered the side of his head, sliding into his skull and piercing his brain. He fell limp to the ground beside the horrified girl that he had been fighting with.

Eris Sigalot, District 5 Male: 20th, Killed by Maria, Bloodbath

After killing Eris, Maria diverted her attention to the girl that he had been fighting with. The girl sat, eyes wide-open, quivering in Maria's wake. Her death was quick after Maria plunged her throwing knife deep into her waist.

Jasmine Donaghey, District 12 Female: 19th, Killed by Maria, Bloodbath

Little Celestine from 3 was the next to fall when Falcon snuck up behind her and kicked her to the ground. She tried to scramble to her feet, but she wasn't quick enough to outrun Falcon. The swift career slashed his katana across Celestine's face. She screamed as she clawed at her face, a huge gash running from her eye down to her neck. Then, Quinn from 1 ran over and finished off Celestine by shooting her in the central abdomen with a stone-tipped arrow.

Celestine Osorio, District 3 Female: 18th, Killed by Falcon and Quinn, Bloodbath

Lucretia made the final kill of the bloodbath. She was thirsty to prove herself to her fellow careers, as she was one of the two careers who had yet to make a single kill in the bloodbath. She picked up a war axe that lay in a corpse of bushes to the side of the cornucopia. Lucretia flung the axe toward the back of a boy that was just about to disappear into a grove of trees. The axe's sharp edge buried itself into his back. He fell to the ground, splattering the marble steps with red as he slid down them and came to a stop at their base.

Scorpio Sgourakes, District 6 Male: 17th, Killed by Lucretia, Bloodbath

Eight bloodbath deaths was a miniscule number. It somewhat infuriated Estella, who was expecting a longer and more eventful bloodbath given the strong crop of tributes this year. The six careers, all of them surprisingly still alive, stayed at the cornucopia. Supplies at the cornucopia were scarce, as the vast majority of them had been taken away by the other tributes. Nevertheless, the careers were able to throw together a camp for the night. Five sleeping bags lay in a row on the floor of the cornucopia (actually, only four, because they only had four and one of them was just a blue tarp bag). The six careers played rock, paper, scissors, and determined that Lucretia would be stuck with the tarp. She sighed with slightly sarcastic disappointment. That night, the tarp bag was scratchy but warm.

The tributes that headed up toward the hall of the gods were certainly testing their luck, as it was obvious that that would be the first place for the careers to head to the next morning. Regardless, three tributes headed for this route: Persephone from 5, Blossom from 7, and Orion from 11. Out of the three tributes, Blossom was by far the fastest. Being from District 7, which had tough labor quotas, she had to be a fast runner to make ends meet and to support her family. Blossom was the only tribute to actually reach the hall of the gods before nightfall. The climb up to the palace was particularly difficult not because of its length, but because of its slope. For every foot of length travelled on Mount Olympus, a tribute increased in elevation by three and a half inches. The particular parts of the body exercised by the long climb were the biceps, the backs of the lower legs. Every part of Blossom screamed for her to stop except for her willpower, and by the time five o'clock in the evening arrived Blossom had finally reached the very top of Mount Olympus. She turned back and took a quick moment to admire the view. She looked down and saw the entire arena sprawling out beneath her. She was scared back into reality by the sight of the career's camp. It took all of Blossom's strength to push open the front door. The inside room was well-lit. Rows of columns lined the walls, and in the very center of the room was an array of twelve thrones around a crackling fire. Blossom had little energy left to admire the scene. She dragged herself into a dark corner and leaned against her only pillow. A dark wave of sleep rolled over her. Persephone was the second-fastest runner of the trio after Blossom. Persephone, named after a Greek goddess herself, was knowledgeable of Greek mythology from the stories her father and mother told her before bed each night. She knew that the halls of Mount Olympus were filled with food and marvelous wine that made the mouth explode with flavor. Persephone wasn't usually a determined individual, but it's a whole different animal when your life can be ended at any second. Persephone kept walking long into the night, only stopping about twice every hour for five-minute breaks. Once she finally reached the hall of the gods, she walked around behind the building and fell asleep, not bothering to leave anything tidy around her. Little Orion from 12, the only tribute to run away from the bloodbath, was not nearly as fast of a runner as Blossom and Persephone. He travelled about halfway up the mountain before stopping for the night, hoping to get a good night's rest for the difficult days to come. He had nothing, and his throat felt dry from dehydration. Water would be his number one priority in the morning.

Three tributes stayed in the rolling green field surrounding the cornucopia. They were Lindsey from 9, Winter from 10, and Wren from 12. Winter, being from District 10, realized that the cows roaming the field would be great sources of food. Winter had a curved knife that she had retrieved from a sponsor a few hours prior, and so she decided to kill one of the cows. It was quick work. Finally, Winter began starting a fire to cook the meat of the wild beast. She started the fire inside of a small cave that would shield her from the eyes of the others. The meat was delicious, and Winter's teeth gratefully sank into the tender steak. She realized that she could keep killing animals for as long as she needed to in order to get food to eat. A spark of hope was lit inside of her. District 12's Wren had only managed to grab a crowbar from the cornucopia. Wren had little food. The only way to get good food was from sponsors. And, the only way to get sponsors was to get your hands a little dirty. Wren picked up his crowbar, the matte metal lacking a sheen despite the brilliance of the overhead sun. Wren prowled the arena before eventually finding Lindsey, District 9's girl, snoozing away in a ditch beside her backpack.

Lindsey woke with a start as Wren's crowbar raked across her leg. Lindsey fumbled for her weapon, a knife, but couldn't find it; Wren had already confiscated it and placed it about ten feet away. Wren struck Lindsey again, this time in the abdomen. Lathered in her blood, Wren killed the girl over the course of the next few minutes. The girl was a bloody mess by the time that Wren was done. He backed away, admiring his handiwork as the girl's cannon shoot filled his ears.

Lindsey Montaigne, District 9 Female: 16th, Killed by Wren, Day 1

Those that travelled down the slopes of Mount Olympus particularly intrigued the audience. Many of these tributes may have been driven by sheer curiosity. After all, the urge to discover new things can seem almost irresistible. A whopping four tributes followed this path: Bellatrix from 6, Forrest from 7, Ezequial from 10, and Hyacinth from 11. Forrest made it the furthest down, ending about a kilometer downward from where he had started. Forrest noticed that the air seemed much fuller down there than up atop Mount Olympus, which made sense. He settled down in a small cove, hoping to get a good-night's rest. Ezequial had absolutely no luck, as he made it about a hundred yards down before slipping and falling. He tumbled down, down, down the side of Mount Olympus. He fell for nearly ten seconds before slamming into the hard ground, killing him instantaneously.

Ezequiel Stamper, District 9 Male: 15th, Fell off of Mount Olympus, Day 1

Bellatrix made it about fifty yards down before having second thoughts. She climbed back up to the field on which the arena proper resided, and slept for the night with her back against a shady oak tree. The most interesting story, however, was that of Hyacinth. She was determined to make it down the mountain and see what lied at the bottom. However, she recognized that this would be impossible in one night. Eventually, she decided to stop in a small cave etched into the mountainside. However, right before she settled in, she received a cryptic note from her mentor, Seeder Kaiser.

I love dogs! Don't you? They're just the cutest little darlings in the world! I heard that my friend, Hayden, has three of them. He lives down the street from me. They're usually nice, but if they get mad, they'll bite!

Hyacinth sat down on a rock and read the note a few times. There must be a hidden message somewhere in the note. She tried reading only every other letter, but ended up with nonsense. She tried virtually every algorithm imagine, with no luck. Suddenly, it struck her. What the note said caused a worm of dread to form in her stomach.

I heard that my friend, Hayden, has three of them = I heard that my friend, Hades, has a three-headed one.

He lives down the street from me = He lives underground.

They're usually nice, but if they get mad, they'll bite! = They're usually asleep, but if you wake them up, they'll kill you.

Instantly, Hyacinth picked up all of her supplies and scrammed. As she did, a three-headed dog nearly ten feet tall leapt out of the shadows. It was Cerberus, Hades' pet dog in mythology. Hyacinth ran and ran and ran. Apparently, the gamemakers had not programmed the muttation's intelligence very well. It was not very good at turning corners, and after merely thirty or forty seconds of chasing Hyacinth it fell off of the mountain and tumbled down, further and further, before disappearing from sight.

The morning of Day 2 came in the form of a cannon shot. The careers woke up bright and early, hoping to catch a sleeping tribute or two. The six careers split up and ventured out across the arena. At around eight o'clock in the morning, Maverick turned into a cave and found Winter bathing in a pool of naturally condensed water. Without hesitation, Maverick ran up to the unsuspecting girl and thrust her spear through her torso. Her blood dyed the water red.

Winter Corderoy, District 10 Female: 14th, Killed by Maverick, Day 2

Days 3 and 4 passed, void of conflict among the thirteen remaining tributes. The number of tributes was still higher than it would be after a standard bloodbath, and so Estella decided to throw in a twist. All of the cows and horses roaming the arena turned into savage beasts that would hunt the tributes down and would not be satisfied until they saw blood. The muttations were fast, but the terrified tributes were faster. It was an hour later that they actually made their first kill in Orion, the weakest tribute remaining. A horse rammed its head into his torso, knocking him to the ground before trampling him to death. Then, the mutts were recalled by the gamemakers.

Orion Rudolph, District 11 Male: 13th, Killed by Horse Muttation, Day 5

Noon on Day 6, the careers suffered their first losses. Quinn and Sebastian were wandering through the arena as buddies, staying close to each other. Hyacinth was hiding behind a corpse of bushes about fifty yards away from where the two tributes walked. Taking infinite care to be as silent as possible, Hyacinth knocked one of her two arrows into a crossbow that she had received from a sponsor present. Hyacinth lifted the crossbow into the air and pulled the trigger. The arrow buried itself into Sebastian's shoulder, to the great alarm of Quinn.

Sebastian Rhea, District 4 Male: 12th, Killed by Hyacinth, Day 6

Quinn, alarmed at the death of his ally, pulled out his sword and began searching for the tribute that had killed Sebastian. After about ten seconds, he finally spotted Hyacinth's eyes peeking at him from over the corpse of bushes. Too late. Hyacinth's arrow had already entered his neck. He fell to the ground, clawing at his throat as he gurgled and moaned himself to death.

Quinn Chellengor, District 1 Male: 11th, Killed by Hyacinth, Day 6

Day 7 passed, deathless. Day 8 saw the death of one tribute. Maria had long prowled the arena, and she finally struck lucky when she stepped into the green field and spotted a pair of brown eyes peeking at her from behind a marble statue. Those brown eyes were unmistakable as human. Maria ran around behind the statue. Her prey tried to run, but Maria would have none of it. She hurled her throwing knife; it buried itself into the tribute's arm as they fell, their blood splattering the marble statue.

Forrest Vinson, District 7 Male: 10th, Killed by Maria, Day 8

On Day 9, the gamemakers unleashed a fierce muttation into the arena. It was a model of the hydra, a nine-headed swamp creature with the ability to regrow two heads for each of its heads that was cut off. The monster spent the entirety of Day 9 terrorizing the tributes, always moving on after about an hour of chasing any given one tribute. It finally went in for the kill a few minutes before midnight. The creature pounced upon helpless Bellatrix, who had already wasted her weapon trying to kill the monster a few minutes prior. The hydra's hissing was the last thing that Bellatrix heard before it mauled apart her body to a pulp.

Bellatrix Jespersen, District 6 Female: 9th, Killed by Nine-Headed Hydra Muttation, Day 9

That left the final eight: Lucretia from 1, Falcon and Maverick from 2, Maria from 4, Persephone from 5, Blossom from 7, Hyacinth from 11, and Wren from 12.

On Day 10, Estella began to grow frustrated at how the tributes were abusing the use of the hall of the gods. The two tributes inside of it, Blossom and Persephone, could clearly see each other. They just refused to kill each other. Those two had large supplies of water and virtually never left the darkness of the building. Estella wanted to shake things up.

A single thunder bolt, one that could have been summoned by Zeus himself, struck the hall of the gods at exactly noon on Day 10. The building immediately began collapsing inward, and Blossom and Persephone screamed as they scrambled to exit the building before it crushed them to death. Blossom was certainly the more agile of the pair, as she was able to dodge the falling debris easily. Her closest scrape with death occurred when a chunk of marble nearly eight feet wide fell from the ceiling merely five yards from her. Blossom was bombarded with debris and shards from the marble that buried themselves into her skin like sharp glass. Blossom was thrown out of the hall of the gods and into the outside world.

Persephone was not so lucky. She was less than twenty yards from the exit when a huge piece of marble fell from the ceiling and landed directly on top of her, crushing her flat instantaneously. She died right away as Blossom clung on to her life outside.

Persephone Kovitz, District 5 Female: 8th, Killed by Falling Debris, Day 10

Outside, Blossom began the long and very painful process of tearing the shards of marble out of her body. She sobbed miserably from the agony as she ripped them out of her flesh, each one opening a hole from which blood drizzled. Some sponsor medicine helped a bit, but it was agonizingly painful. Her moans of pain lasted the entire day until Maria stumbled upon her thrashing form and finished her with her knife.

Blossom Luther, District 7 Female: 7th, Killed by Falling Debris and Maria, Day 10

The morning of Day 11, a message in a bottle was floated down to each of the six remaining tributes. The message inside was an advertisement for a bottled-water stand at some kind of carnival or fair.

Get your water now! The most refreshing water in the world! Untouched by human hands! The advertisement boasted. Next to the words was a picture of a well-dressed man sipping crystal-clear water from a plastic bottle.

This message was not random. The phrase "get your water now" was really a warning to the tributes. At noon on Day 11, every single lake and river in the arena dried up. Now, there was no water left. The tributes would have to kill as much as they could, less the games last so long that their water ran out and they died from dehydration.

The morning of Day 12, the gamemakers sent a hoard of skeletons after the tributes. They had bows and arrows and had impeccable aim. They disemboweled two of the careers by nightfall, when they were recalled by the gamemakers.

Lucretia Croxen, District 1 Female: 6th, Killed by Archer Skeleton Muttations, Day 12

Maverick Donner, District 2 Female: 5th, Killed by Archer Skeleton Muttations, Day 12

Day 13 would turn out to be the final day in the arena. The gamemakers herded the final four tributes together via satyr muttations. The four remaining tributes all met up at the marble cornucopia, and the final battle began. Falcon had his katana, Maria her throwing knives, Hyacinth her bow, and Wren his crowbar.

Falcon and Marena, the two careers, went for each other at first. The two outliers, Hyacinth and Wren, went for each other. Hyacinth and Wren's battle ended soon. It lasted only about three minutes, after which time they had all given each other a series of minor cuts and bruises. Then, in a leap of faith that would either make or break his chances of survival, Wren lunged forth and smacked Hyacinth in the head with his crowbar. Hyacinth screamed as she fell to the ground, her skull dented from the strike. Hyacinth tried with all of her might to cling on to her life, but it was impossible. She passed away on the ground of the arena, just short of victory.

Hyacinth Christmas, District 11 Female: 4th, Killed by Wren, Day 13

The fight between the careers, Falcon and Maria, was quick to crown its victor. Falcon had already been rather tired from being chased by the satyrs and so he was pretty tired, a disadvantage. Maria eventually went with the strategy of disorienting him by delivering fake blows and twitching her arms slightly just to make him panic. In his fatigue-addled state, Maria could easily corral Falcon into a vulnerable position. When that happened, she hurled her throwing knife into his stomach. The blade wormed its way into his heart, and he crumpled to the grass as his cannon shot sounded.

Falcon Jagoe, District 2 Male: 3rd, Killed by Maria, Day 13

The final battle of the twenty-eighth Hunger Games was between Maria Dutra of District 4 and Wren Flint of District 12. Their fight was long; even though Maria was a fast runner Wren was agile and could always escape. He was often out of range of Maria's scattered blows, and Maria grew rather frustrated after a while. After a ten-minute long duel between the two, Maria triumphed. She was able to catch up with Wren. Maria grabbed him by either side of the torso and knocked his crowbar out of his hand. Maria watched as his crowbar spiraled through the air before disappearing from sight. At that, Maria grabbed either side of his head. Mere seconds after the sickening snap, the trumpets sounded in their victorious trill in congratulation of Maria's victory.

Wren Flint, District 12 Male: 2nd, Killed by Maria, Day 13

"Maria Dutra of District 4, you are the victor of the twenty-eighth annual Hunger Games!" Estella proclaimed as a hovercraft appeared to collect District 4's first victor in nearly two decades.

Maria giggled with excitement as she climbed into the hovercraft that would whisk her away to the fame and celebration that awaited her back in the district that she loved.


AFTERMATH

District 4 was elated to finally have another victor: Maria was their first victor in seventeen years. Their last victor, Mags Flanagan, was beginning to find it difficult to manage so many tributes and was happy to share the job with Ms. Dutra. The Capitol adored Maria, and many were happy to see her added to the nation's growing lineup of victors.

Maria's victory tour was rather average, except for her stop in 12 where she was showered with ill-will for the entirety of her stay. They were cold about their loss, as it had been many years since a tribute from 12 came as close to victory as Wren had.

Maria moved into the Victor's Village of District 4, the third victor to do so.

Maria would live to the age of sixty, strangled to death by her shower curtain around the time of the seventieth annual Hunger Games. In her lifetime, she would never marry but would adopt a single son.


NEWS

Maria moves into the Victor's Village of District 4, the third victor to do so.

Odius Ruttler's daughter, Sophie, is born.

Dayta Albrand has her first child with her husband, a boy named Circuit.


LIST OF VICTORS

1HG: Cordin Frey (#1, District 3)
2HG: Sapphire Waber (#1, District 1)
3HG: Molly Toliday (#1, District 4)
4HG: Amelia Spangler (#1, District 2)
5HG: Misty Sablone (#1, District 12)
6HG: Olivia Seager (#2, District 2)
7HG: Flux Stafford (#2, District 3)
8HG: Brandi Coyne (#2, District 1)
9HG: Isaac Crandall (#1, District 5)
10HG: Velvet Farrow (#3, District 1)
11HG: Mags Flanagan (#2, District 4)
12HG: Slate Ogston (#3, District 2)
13HG: Woof Dozier (#1, District 8)
14HG: Blaze Skalnik (#4, District 2)
15HG: Dina Wilmarth (#2, District 5)
16HG: Beatrice Toland (#1, District 6)
17HG: Amelia Bankston (#5, District 2)
18HG: Markus Gardd (#2, District 6)
19HG: Odius Ruttler (#6, District 2)
20HG: Seeder Kaiser (#1, District 11)
21HG: Freya Digard (#7, District 2)
22HG: Gold Carson (#4, District 1)
23HG: Ashlyn Breston (#3, District 6)
24HG: Dayta Albrand (#3, District 3)
25HG: Diamond Griego (#5, District 1)
26HG: Thor Rosner (#8, District 2)
27HG: Magnet Lisagor (#4, District 3)
28HG: Maria Dutra (#3, District 4)


A/N: Surprise! I know that my last update was yesterday, but let me do some explaining. It was New Year's Eve, so I got to stay up until midnight. I wrote this chapter to pass the time while waiting for the New Year. I wrote it from 7:00 to about 10:00 and spent the rest of the night revising and editing and such. By the time I finished it was only a few minutes before midnight. Mission accomplished!

With that out of the way, I hope you've enjoyed! Here's our first District 4 victor since Mags, not a long gap for an outlying district but certainly a huge one for a career district like 4! Please review if you have a quick moment, and I'll see you next time. Happy new year everyone!