Thou Art Mortal Post-Games
PG 1: Victory over fate
Steeleia awoke to find herself still standing in the colosseum, her wounds still visible but feeling much less painful. The various deities that had packed the stands before were now all standing around her, looking at her with gratitude.
"What's going on? If I've won the Games why am I still here?" Steele asked. 3 figures made their way through the crowd and approached Steele. All of them were old women, a form which Steele was surprised to see a deity of any sort take.
"We can't thank you enough for your service to all of us," the first one said.
"You have not only freed yourself from the barbarity of the Games, but you have also freed all of us as well," the second one told her.
"But who are you?" Steele asked. "Who are all of you?"
"We are all of the gods and goddesses of old, revered by people thousands of years ago. We died away long before Panem came to exist, so we were never a threat to its security," the third old woman explained, her voice making her sound as if she was the oldest and wisest of the 3. "But Matthias designed this Arena deliberately so that knowledge of us—or at least some of us—would be brought back into public consciousness. His goal was to show that the tributes, through the power and mercy of the Capitol, can overcome any being, even a god, that stands in their way. Throughout the Games, did you ever wonder why none of us were able to kill you? Very rarely was a mutt even permitted to kill someone else."
Steele thought for a moment on that subject, remembering suddenly how Augustiana had hoped she would prove as heroic as she made herself out to be in the Arena. Matthias, ironically, had been intending to shape the tributes in general as heroes that could overcome whatever stood in their way, regardless of their attitude or how they went about doing it—assuming that what these women said was true.
"I think I understand now," Steele replied with a nod of her head. "But what does it all mean? Why does it matter? And why have you am I still here?"
"As we explained before," the third old woman said, "We wish to thank you for freeing us. We were happy before, blissfully enjoying rest. We were not worshipped, yes, but we were happy to have been forgotten. The world had survived without us."
"Although I certainly don't like the way it's going!" the muscular old man that had lifted Dorea into the colosseum piped up.
"Foolish humans, claiming to be enlightened when they really are no better than they were centuries ago, still valuing the shedding of blood over its preservation!" Quetzalcoatl chimed in.
"Oh…humans," a god wearing winged sandals and a cap snickered. "But they're not all bad. If they were then we wouldn't be talking to Steele, now would we?" Steele wanted to thank this god for his remark in humanity's defense but she wasn't sure if it was in good form.
"Nevertheless, we despise Matthias for what he did to us," the first old woman said. "He brought us all back from the memories of the world before Panem just so that he could put us under his tyranny."
"We all disliked fighting you people," Apu spoke up, approaching Steele at looking at her with sympathy in its mineral eyes. "But we were constructed by the Gamemakers, compelled to obey."
"We were at least allowed to speak freely," Tiurakh pointed out. "But the mutts weren't so lucky."
"Well, I, for one, enjoyed it!" Apep hissed, clearly holding a minority opinion. "It was good to get out and be relevant again after such a long slumber! And well done, Steeleia, getting the Ma'at lover to kill himself!"
The second old woman spoke to prevent the words from sinking into Steele's heart. "But we must explain one more thing to you. I and the other two here are known as the Fates. Long ago we three controlled the lives of each person."
"I, Clotho, began life by spinning its threads," the first one said.
"I, Lachesis, measured the thread of life and determined how long it would be," the second said.
"And I, Atropos, ended it," the third old woman said simply. "What we must explain is that in the old days, no one could interfere with our judgments. Not even Zeus himself. But in the forms you see us in now, brought about us by the Capitol, we had no control, not even over who lived and who died. While you were certainly held in favor by many of us, there was nothing we could do to influence your victory. Only the Capitol and the actions of the others did that."
"It was quite an unwelcome change for us," Lachesis remarked. "But we were glad that it was you, although we wish that we could have gotten to meet all of you."
"Spinning a thread to represent each of you was enjoyable," Clotho admitted. "We were able to look into your lives and see things that we perhaps should not have known, but we confess that you all delighted us at times. Tiberius was once an endearing child, even a peace-maker, if you can believe it."
"But it was all symbolic," Atropos explained. Reaching into her robes, she withdrew a long piece of silver-colored string. "This is the one we used to represent you. Keep it as a token of our appreciation. By winning these Games you have freed us, and we can all rest in peace."
"Wait!" Steele asked. "How can you say that when you're all just…mutts? I mean, are you mutts? How do I not know this is some Capitol trick to get me to like them?!" Atropos nodded in understanding.
"You are understandably worried," Lachesis said. "There is no way we can prove that we are what we say we are. We could be gods, or we could be mutts who have been programmed to behave in ways resembling the gods we are based off of. But would we be telling you about Matthias' tyranny if we were simply programs?"
"It is good that you are discerning," Clotho added. "But if you are too skeptical of everything that you see around you, you might be too cautious and fail to appreciate things."
"Like what we intend to reward you with, for example," Quetzalcoatl chimed in once more.
"What sort of reward?" Steele asked. She didn't receive a verbal answer, but above her and the heads of the gods several orbs of light appeared one by one. Steele had just enough time to count and realized that their number was 23.
She nearly screamed when she saw one of the lights come towards her, morphing into what appeared to be the boy from 3, dressed in a dazzling white robe.
"I—I let you die!" Steele cried, overwhelmed with grief and joy at seeing Mohan back, hugging him tightly.
"It's all right. I know my family will miss me, but tell them it's going to be ok," Mohan told her. "I don't want them to be upset." Steele opened her eyes and blinked back tears, only for Mohan to resume the form of an orb of light, and another orb quickly took its place.
"You're the girl from 7, right?" Steele asked the next tribute. Cecilia nodded.
"I knew that I hadn't died for nothing," she said with relief in her voice. "If Dorea had won, then I'd have fought off all of those Careers for nothing. I never wanted to be in the Hunger Games, but at least I got to decide how I was remembered. When your death is almost inevitable, having that control means so much." Steele wanted to say something, but Cecilia hugged her.
"Remember that you're not just living for yourself," Cecilia advised her. "You're living for all of us."
Next came Teddy, who declined a hug but was trying not to grin.
"I never thought I'd be glad to be wrong," he mused.
"I…I don't remember much about you," Steele said. Teddy burst out laughing.
"Then I guess I was right after all!" he cried humorously. "Don't worry about me, though. I have all the time in the world to re-organize my mind. Turns out something great was waiting for me at the end of life. I'm not allergic to the sun anymore, either. Make sure you catch some rays when you get to 11 on the Victory Tour."
That was hardly on Steele's mind as Denelle appeared, immediately giving yet another hug.
"I'm so happy for you!" she cried. "You won! You won and get to go home and see your family again!" Steele wanted to protest that she didn't really have a family, but she decided to just accept the congratulations anyway.
"Why are you all so happy about me winning and you guys dying?" she asked as Denelle disappeared and was replaced with Pulse.
"Are you kidding?! The afterlife is great!" she cried. "Turns out death was like the best thing ever! I knew I wasn't crazy! All those crazy issues we all had are fixed now! Everything the Arena did to us has been undone!"
Steele felt a bit jealous of the dead, but still said nothing.
"Oh, and tell my mom and dads—er, mom and dad and fake uncle—tell'em that I want to be cremated. As much as I miss home, I don't want a single part of me left behind there. It's a closure thing," Pulse explained sheepishly. "Teddy said he didn't care, though. Put in a good word for us!" she said as Thomas took her place.
"Wait!" Steele ordered him before he could make a move. Thomas did nothing.
"It's ok, I won't touch you if you don't want me to," he replied. "But tell my mom not to lash out at the Capitol. I don't want to see her get hurt."
"But then she could get killed and join you in…the top of the Arena?" Steele guessed. Thomas shook his head.
"I don't want her going before her time, like I had to," he replied. "Just make sure that when you get out of here you tell everyone the truth about what's going on. They can't hurt you if you're too significant. Get on people's good sides. That's how my mom stayed afloat."
Noelle appeared next. "I know you don't know me," she explained, "And I'm sure Amuren said little about me, but when you get to 9 tell Ivan that I'm sorry. Tell him I overreacted, and that I want him to be happy. My own happiness doesn't matter anymore."
Steele felt like she had to strain her mind just to remember what everyone was telling her. How were doing this, and why did a number of them have these urgent messages? Why would Matthias give the dead tributes this privilege?
No, wait, he didn't. But how is this happening, then?
Rex appeared and patted Steele on the back as if she were some male chum of his. "You were pretty badass, beating Dorea like that! You got her to want to lose! That took some serious balls!" he said without realizing his mistake. "Eh…"
"Thanks, Rex," Steele replied awkwardly. "You were…"
"Tough, real tough!" he finished for her. "But not much else. You're really something, though. All those years…wasted. Whew. Really something for me to think about?"
"You're not mad?" Steele asked.
"Are you kidding? ! The Games went just how I wanted it to! Well, up until Dorea killed me. It was the boy from 10's kill!" he insisted before vanishing. Said boy showed up next.
"Good job, Steele," he said, his drawled voice almost a mutter. "Ever since I've been dead, I've been thinkin' 'bout what life really meant, the way it was so short. Tell Eve I wish it could have been longer, but she was real sweet to me to make me happy."
"I will," Steele said. She felt ashamed at having only tiny details about the other tributes. What had their lives been like before the Arena? All she received from them were names, messages, and a few hugs. But their loved ones would all know that she hadn't been there at the time of their deaths, so how would she be able to deliver these messages?
"And…" Matthew added just before turning into light, "If ya ever need a place, my family'll take you in. They're good people."
Thaleia came next, but she had some tears in her eyes. Steele was much more choked up hugging her.
"I'm sorry," Steele whispered through tears. "I'm so, so sorry."
"No, don't be," Thaleia replied, drying her own eyes. "I died defending the Victor from her rival. I feel great. But…I'm still sad because I won't get to see you again. Clyde would really like you, and it's so hard to make him happy. And my family won't understand. And…well, just tell them the water's fine, now. They'll understand. And you were there. They won't blame you."
"Goodbye, Thaleia," Steele said as the girl from 4 disappeared. "You were the only Career that was nothing but nice to me. You were a great ally, too."
After the touching moment with Thaleia, Steele found it difficult to keep a straight face when Copper appeared. Surprisingly, though, Copper just gave her a hug and acted quite normal.
"Good job!" he told her simply. "You get to go on living while the rest of us got to stop being crazy!" he then disappeared, with Steele unsure as to whether he had said that to be boastful or jealous.
The younger girl from 10 was next. Steele vaguely remembered her name being Julia.
"You don't have to hug me," she explained. "But I just want to tell you something: when you're about to die, you'll know when you suddenly stop regretting everything. Don't spend your life feeling ashamed or regretful. Learn from your mistakes, ok Steele?"
Steele could not make a reply before Noiz appeared.
"You wouldn't like the afterlife. You don't know anybody there," she insisted. "You keep on chugging for the rest of us, Scarface. I have a lot of catching up to do with…some very important people. Say whatever you want to everybody I left behind. They'll understand."
"Ok, Noiz," Steele replied, no longer feeling much emotion when tributes like her came before her. "You must have done something cool to stay alive for so long."
"Really? I didn't know leeching off of an already-established alliance and stealing their bolt gun was 'cool'. I thought it was called strategy!" Noiz replied with a laugh. "Seriously, though, it's weird; you won the game even though you refused to play it the right way. You're way more subversive than I ever was. You merit serious respect."
Steele was about to insist that she did not when Noiz suddenly vanished and was replaced by a very impatient Dade.
"Where is he?" he demanded. "Well, don't just stand there! Where is he?!" Steele had no idea what he was talking about, but then she saw something green slither out from her tunic sleeve.
"Sssam!" Dade cried, immediately plucking him from her arm and holding the snake in his hands. "Be nice to Steele, cuz she's your new caretaker now!"
"Caretaker?" Steele asked, but of course Dade left before anything more could be said. Rocko appeared and began speaking without even bothering to look at her.
"My family already knows my miniscule secret, so you don't need to say much to them. However…I think you did very well for yourself. Be sure to do as Thomas said, although I'd add that the Capitol has an underbelly very much worth exploiting for anything you may need of value."
"Umm…ok," Steele said as Rocko was replaced by Lidda, who had an unusual pouty look on her face.
"I didn't want you to win!" she said rudely. "But…you'll pass. I mean, I'd rather have you than Dorea! SHE KILLED ME! Although she really didn't like doing it, apparently. Her glass eye is fun to poke, though!" Lidda then proceeded as to how this apparent art project of hers was coming along and how some entity known as "Iris" was hogging some of the dyes in this cave, but then she was involuntarily dragged away by another orb of light, who revealed itself to be Clyde, who was struggling to form a smile.
"It's a good thing I don't have to worry about my mother anymore," he joked to force himself to smile. After what she had been through with her own parents, Steele didn't find that funny in the slightest. Clyde's face relaxed.
"Just…I don't really know what to say. I just feel…better. Everything's all right now. The voice in my head is gone, and I can think thoughts independently of it. I'm just glad I can finally rest, not worrying about anyone or anything. And Dorea…"
"What about Dorea?" Steele asked.
Clyde stared down, coughed, and blushed. "Nothing," he replied before vanishing. Darius appeared and started talking just to fill time.
"Turns out I was a genius the whole time!" he declared. "If you look at the footage, I hope you see that it shone through. Just say that if you can't think of anything on the Victory Tour. And don't hide your tears, there's nothing wrong with mourning us. Although I wish you wouldn't. Also…get some hydraulic fluid for Ernest and Nora."
"I will," Steele promised. Elodie came next.
"Your boyfriend put a dent in my plans," she said brusquely. "But someone needed to. I can look back at the whole thing now more rationally and objectively, and now I think…what was I thinking, trusting the president?"
"Trusting him to do what?" Steele asked. Elodie decided to vanish just then. Steele's heart pounded in her chest as she realized who would come next.
But instead it was Riley, who briefly considered punching her affectionately in the arm but decided against it. Steele felt all of the guilt building up again.
"Riley, I—"
"No, you're not doing that," Riley replied. "Did you not learn anything from the others? How were you trained to be a Career if you were so stubborn?! Lemme guess, same way as me, hard work and constant pestilence?"
"I guess so," Steele replied. "So we had that in common."
"Yeah," Riley said. "We were both like semi-Careers. But that's not important. What's important is that my family probably hates your guts right now." Steele felt incredibly nervous at the way she said that.
"But there's a way to get on their good side," Riley went on. "Go and find Cornelius. He goes by Festus. Augustiana will know who you're talking about. Perhaps in an intimate manner on account of the current psychotic president of Panem. Regardless, get him home. My family won't stay mad at you then."
"I don't know if they'd let me do that!" Steele tried to explain. "And how exactly did you get a brother working for the Capitol?"
"I don't really know, it just sort of happened," Riley replied. "But I believe you can end it. Maybe even the whole Capitol thing altogether!" Without warning she was replaced by Tiberius.
Tiberius looked different, she realized, and it wasn't just because he was wearing a white robe. His face seemed to have this warm, almost affectionate glow to it, and the smile he had on was genuine, not some tough guy smile like Rex put on or a fake one like Clyde, but a real one of peace and joy and gratitude. Steel hadn't even known that Tiberius was capable of such emotions.
She nearly gasped when he overcame her in a squeezing hug, thinking for a moment that he wanted revenge and was happy that he was getting a chance to hurt her. Then the fear gave way to that familiar sadness again.
"Don't cry," he urged. "There's no reason to be sad. You didn't even kill me. I threw it all away because I let things get to me. You won, Steele, and you deserved it. You showed them that you were right and I was wrong. I…I don't know how JT will feel about all this, but he probably saw it coming. Don't say that to him, though."
"What…what do I say?" Steele asked. "Isn't that why you killed yourself? To place the guilt on me?" Tiberius chuckled, and Steele felt the vibrations from his voice as their bodies were pressed together.
"Yes, I did. That was my intention. But…I know you're stronger than that. You don't have to let things define you. Don't let everyone remember you by a bunch of labels, or just as that girl that fought Tiberius. You're so much more than that. And even though I was so cruel to you, you have to admit that it shaped you into what you are. Maybe you wouldn't have won if it weren't for me. Nevertheless, though, I'm so sorry for what I tried to make you become."
"And I'm sorry for how I messed with your head," Steele replied, feeling as if the words just somehow didn't belong.
"All we can really do is forgive and forget," Tiberius reminded her. "And I have eternity to do that. Personally, though, I don't think I deserve it."
Dorea came next, giving Steele what she knew was going to be her second-to-last hug. "You can do this," she told Steele. "I know you might not feel like a winner right now, especially with having to face all of us again, but trust me, none of us hold it against you. Our real enemy, as always, is the Capitol, and you're the only one among us who can say that she was brave enough to survive it. Not even the gods can say that."
"Is all of this…even real?" Steele asked as Dorea released her. Dorea gave a smile, but little else.
"All you can do is believe that it is," she replied, letting Amruen take her place.
He was the only one she wanted to run to. The couple wasted no time spending their last moments locked in a passionate kiss. But it came to an end soon enough.
"How many guys can say that they met the love of their incredibly short life in the Arena?!" Amruen asked, laughing. Steele looked behind him to see that the orbs of light that had been the other tributes were beginning to ascend.
"Amruen…are you real?" she asked. "What do I do once I get out of here? If you're the real Amruen than what would he say?" Amruen gave her one last kiss on the cheek before answering.
"Just do what you know is right. Forget about your past, you have a whole future in front of you. Give the Capitol what for. I know you can do it. Tear them down from the inside if you have to, just them what we District people are made of. Once they see that we're human beings, they might start thinking twice about sending us into the Arena. And that's a pretty good first step."
"But then what? I can't just overthrow the Capitol! I'm not sure if I want to!" Steele pleaded. "Please, Amruen, just stay! Keep your light or whatever, just don't leave me to face those people alone!" Amruen squeezed her tight and began to rise off of the floor. Steele gasped when she realized she was rising too, along with the gods and the orbs of light, all ascending to some greater light higher in the sky, at what should have been the roof of the Arena.
"Amruen, where are we going?" Steele asked, nearly screaming with fright and exhilaration when he let go and made her realize that she was floating upwards all on her own.
"We'll be going somewhere different than you," Amruen explained. "It sucks that you have to wake up, but somebody had to stay. Just remember everything that happened to you here. Especially me. We all love you, Steele, but you know I love you the most!"
"I love you, too, Amruen!" Steele cried desperately as he went upwards past her. All of the tributes resumed their human forms and vanished into the light, starting first with Mohan and going onwards from there.
"Wait, don't leave me! Let me go with you!" Steele cried, no longer capable of coherent thoughts. Amruen turned around and waved goodbye as he vanished last, behind all of the gods and deities.
Then the light seemed to shine all around like it had once before, and Steele felt that for the first time in days she would be going somewhere new.
AN: Sorry this didn't get released earlier. I had more personal stuff to go through, but it was easier this time.
We still have 2-3 more chapters to go, but I'll try my best to keep the Victory Tour at a manageable length. But just before that, there's one more thing I have to get done in the plot.
Keep in mind that this scene with the gods and the tributes was planned in advance regardless of who won. I did enjoy getting to have all the tributes make one last cameo, though, and I hope you did, too.
And in your reviews, please fill out the following survey:
How does this SYOT compare with others you've read?
Favorite non-tribute character and why? (canon or OC)
Favorite tribute and why?
Least favorite tribute and why?
Was there anything about your favorite tribute that you disliked?
Was there anything about your least favorite tribute that you liked?
What did you think of the Pre-Games as a whole?
What do you think of the Victor?
What did you think of the Arena as a whole?
What did you think of Matthias?
Were the length of the chapters excusable or too long to read in one sitting?
And now for submitters (whose tributes made it in) only:
Do you feel that your tribute was portrayed accurately to the submission form?
If there are any discrepancies, do you like or dislike the changes I made (usually unintentionally?)
Do you feel that your tribute got enough POV time in the Pre-Games?
Do you feel that your tribute's death was reasonable? (as in not cheap or lame or unfair)
Of all of the tributes, which one would you have preferred to win besides your own?
If your tribute had Games-eligible friends or siblings, would you want me to reserve a spot for them if this gets a sequel (BIG IF!)?
