Chapter 22: Freya Carson

A/N: District Two's second Victor, told from a unique perspective! It's taken a while, but they've finally notched up their first real female Career Victor!

"You know," Katniss said. "Considering how lethal those Career girls from Two usually are, I'm surprised it took them this long to get another one."

"I know what you mean," Peeta said, shuddering at the thought of Clove and. Enobaria. "I guess they were just unlucky."

Katniss nodded. "Seven kills, huh? Yeah, that's definitely a Career Victor. Know anything else about her?"

Peeta shook his head. "No, we can ask Enobaria later."

The pair had a moment of silence for Freya, the powerful Career girl they never knew.

Freya Carson

District 2

Aged 18

7 Kills

Coriolanus Snow hungered for more power. As one of President Ravenstill's most trusted ministers, he had a lot of it. But he didn't want to be just another minister who could be easily disposed of. I mean, if Minister Ray could be executed, in theory, so could he. No, he wanted to be the big man himself. The President of Panem. He licked his lips. There was one way he could immediately get the top spot. He fished out a vial of bubbly green liquid, caressing it gently. A vial of deadly poison. But in order to use it, he had to be careful. He could not just slip it into everyone's cups. Ravenstill only allowed the Head Gamemaker to share a drink with him. The tubby tyrant had become utterly paranoid over the years. Besides, usually, the Head Gamemaker was a game-loving spoiled brat who wouldn't even imagine rebellion against him. Snow, though, would be different. By poisoning the existing Head Gamemaker exactly twenty-four hours before the start of the Reapings, he could apply for the job before anyone else could. Out of sheer desperation, Snow's application was accepted. He grinned. He was now Ravenstill's most trusted 'political ally', or so he thought. Time for his plan to take action.

First of all, the Reapings. He had to analyse the tributes carefully, make sure that as expected, a Career won, or at least a crowd favourite like Ford won. The Ones were pretty standard. Two beautiful murderers from the Ashton family who sought to regain the honour that they had lost after Crystal's unprecedented victory. He considered letting them win. But he knew these snooty nobles never stood a real chance in these deadly Hunger Games, designed to let only the strongest and wittiest survive. Not unless they were smart like Franc or Crystal. He sighed, shaking his head at their wide smirks and confident poses. Those insects would be dead before they knew it. Then it was time for District Two. Snow leaned closer, turning up the TV volume to the max. He was interested to see this. The stupid escort fumbled her hand through the Reaping bowl, chattering excitedly as she went. Snow rolled his eyes. The common Capitol citizens meant nothing to him. They were beneath him with their shallow attitudes and utter stupidity. The escort called out a fifteen-year-old girl who looked like she was from the quarries. Almost immediately, an impatient hand shot up and a girl yelled, "Oh, hurry up, girlie! I freaking volunteer!" The reaped girl shrugged and headed back to her place in the square. Snow blinked, searching for the volunteer girl amongst the crowds, only to realise she'd already made her way up the stage. She was a tomboyish girl with a shirt and long pants instead of a Reaping dress, which was rare even in a warrior district like Two.

"What's your-" the escort began but the girl cut her off.

"It's Freya Carson," she grumbled, waving her hand impatiently. "Now hurry up. I want to go into the arena and win!"

The escort blinked, stunned by her attitude. Snow chuckled. He had absolutely zero tolerance for those foolish escorts. They always had that high and silly voice and acted as if they were little children. To see those girl make a fool out of her, well it was technically making a fool out of the Capitol but she showed she was strong. The Games needed someone like her to up the drama and entertainment value and gain far better reviews. "Err," the escort stammered, tripping over her own ridiculously high heels. "On to the boys then?"

Freya sighed, tapping her foot, scowling deeply at the bumbling escort. "Like, seriously? People from the Capitol are usually nice and good, but you? Ugh, you're a disgrace. Trust me, the Head Gamemaker won't like bimbos like you! You're as bad as the outlier scumbags!"

The escort gasped, but she couldn't exactly do anything about it. Snow smirked as she lowered her head like a wilted plant and pulled out a boy's name. "Levi Torres."

"I volunteer!" A burly boy with olive skin pushed his way past the crowd, a look of sheer determination on his face. Standing next to the wimpy escort, he towered over her. She seemed frightened of him. In fact, the district citizens all seemed frightened of him.

But not Freya. She smirked and stuck a tongue out. "Nice for you to show up, Cali."

The boy frowned. "Hey! The name's Caligula Jordan, thank you very much. Now then, what are we waiting for?" He pumped his fist into the air. "Let the carnage begin!" The crowd whooped and cheered as they always did and Draco led the pair into the Justice Building.

As she entered, Freya turned around and shouted, "Oh, by the way, don't do anything that will piss off the Capitol when I kill Cali, ok?" Caligula gave her a withering glare but she didn't seem to care. She nonchalantly turned on her heels and marched into the building. Snow watched her and her stage antics. She seemed pretty pro-Capitol, not as much as his best friend Draco, but still pretty close. Much better than the vengeful Scipio and tearful Reyna. He didn't even pay attention to the other Reapings. He had already decided on Panem's newest Victor.

The private meeting with President Ravenstill was tense as ever, with the tubby tyrant venting out all his frustration at the calm man before him. Snow couldn't do much except listen as he rambled on about unrest in Districts Four and Five. "I pay them a good wage, better than those dirty little creatures from Six, Eleven and Twelve, and they dare complain?" he howled, slamming his fist against a desk so hard, cracks appeared on the surface.

"Maybe you should enforce your laws, your honour," Snow suggested, his calm smile masking his inner worry. He hated it when the President went on his rampages. There might come a time when the next target wouldn't be an inanimate object like a desk. Snow wasn't going to wait for that to happen. But for now, he had to stay calm and heed orders.

"That will only make them angrier!" Ravenstill complained

Snow rolled his eyes. Ravenstill was too soft on those District scumbags. They deserved to be punished! They deserved to watch their children die! It was only fair, considering they had torn his parents limb from limb right in front of his eyes when he was a toddler. He wanted cold, hard justice to be served. They deserved nothing. Not even a single ounce of sympathy. "Your honour, they need to be controlled or the production levels will decrease. In my opinion, we cannot afford to let these uprisings continue."

Ravenstill sighed. "I suppose you're right, Snow. I will take your words into consideration. Good luck for your new role and Happy Hunger Games." His voice seemed dead, like the life had been sucked out of him. He was anxious, just waiting for someone to assassinate him or murder him in his sleep. It won't be long, Snow thought, his eyes glinting maliciously at the thought.

The next step to achieving Head Gamemaker glory was to perfect the arena. This year's arena was supposed to be either a desert or a tropical jungle, both of which sounded awfully boring to Snow. No, he wanted something glamorous! Something that will stun the entire nation! Something that would instil fear in the hearts of even the strongest of tributes like Freya! He gruelled the other Gamemakers, demanding them to conjure up more ideas. "Come in, we need something that will blow the audience away!" he shouted. The other Gamemakers scratched their heads, confused. They were Capitolian, the normal shallow kind, not the clever kind like Snow. What did he expect? He sighed and got on the phone with his trusty Victor friend Draco. Technically he was a mentor and could tell Freya and Caligula about the arena, giving them an unfair advantage but Snow didn't care. Those two could win and be showered in glory, for all he cares. Better a loyalist from Two than some rebellious Victor from Twelve or Eight.

"Hey, Corio!" Draco chuckled on the other side of the phone.

"Hey, Draco. You busy?" Snow asked.

"Yeah, I'm with Sapphire here," he snickered. In the background, Snow could just barely hear Sapphire's faint whimpers. He sneered. The girl was their cash cow. She, Crystal, Onyx, Ford and Scipio gained them millions every single time they came to the Capitol. Without them, Snow wouldn't have been able to bribe his way up the ranks or buy any of the poison he used on several of the Gamemakers and a minister or two. His success relied on these Victors and their attractiveness. But that wasn't what he was here for.

"Good to hear, Draco. You know she's used to your touch. Anyway, I need your help."

"Anything for you, my old friend," Draco promised.

"Well, if you mind, I need you to be away from Sapphire for a moment," he told Draco calmly.

"Sure," Draco said, and Snow could hear shuffles of movement and a door closing. "What do you need, Corio?"

"I need a grand idea for an arena," Snow blurted out.

A pause. Silence on the other end. Snow couldn't tell if Draco was thinking of an idea, or regaining his posture after a moment of shock. His request had come across very awkwardly after all. Draco was a mentor. Freya's mentor. This was sensitive information. But he trusted him. Trusted him with withholding information from Freya and all the other District scumbags. "Well, Corio," Draco said slowly, his voice faltering. "Dude, wow. This is, wow."

"Yeah," Snow sighed. "I'm kind of desperate. You see, I plan on assassinating Ravenstill."

Draco nearly choked on the other end. "You what?" he hissed.

"I'm poisoning the entire government," Snow said calmly. "Then I can be President and control the Districts far better. And by better I mean by ruling with an iron fist, of course."

Draco paused again, probably lost in thought. Snow knew that he'd loaded him with information, but as he said, he trusted Draco wholeheartedly." I guess that's good? Wow, Corio. This is big. "

" Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. Now, I really need those arena ideas."

"How about a compass arena?" Draco said thoughtfully.

Snow frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you divide the arena into four quarters. The northern quarter can be a frozen wasteland with frozen trees like the ones in winter in Seven and snowy mountains. There can also be a frozen lake like in Six and some fierce stalker mutts. You know, those new mutts that look like black bears with red eyes and a serpent's tongue and fangs plus quiet footsteps and semi-camouflage abilities. Yeah, those can be chucked in. The eastern quarter can resemble District Four with island chains and rocky beaches connected by suspension bridges. There should be a lot of fruit trees, half of which should be at least mildly poisonous. Oh, and have some winged snakes and shark mutts put in there too. The southern section should be a desert with fox mutts and scattered oases and large boulders. The western quarter should be a thick rainforest with loads of tiger mutts and rivers occasionally filled with piranha mutts. The Cornucopia can be in a valley or something surrounded by four hills. The hills lead to the quarters and the further in you go, the more extreme the conditions are. Think about it, you can have all sorts of events like acid rains, hailstorms, tsunamis, blizzards, sandstorms, earthquakes, forest fires..."

He didn't get a chance to finish because Snow was already thanking him profusely, ideas swirling in his head. He hung up, cackling so loudly his assistant had to come in to check on him. This was going to be the ultimate Hunger Games!

As usual, the Tribute Parade was utterly disappointing. Snow yawned as the procession of tributes in chariots rumbled on, no one doing anything particularly special. Sadly, there was no Switch or Ringo this year to liven things up. Instead, most of the insects known as tributes simply looked scared out of their wits while the Careers were menacing as usual. Freya and Caligula were dressed in Peacekeeper uniforms, really uncreative on the part of the stylists. Even the Ones, usually so flashy, weren't spared from the Terrible Stylist Syndrome. Dazzler and Hermes were forced to don shampoo bottle costumes, one that soon went trending on Capitol social media, because apparently the ever so shallow commoners loved it. It was fitting that the Districts be forced to see their children humiliated in such costumes, but this was just ridiculous. Like, why would people even think this was anywhere near fashionable? Snow could never tell. He sighed, waiting for the parade to end. It seemed to drag on and on. Ravenstill, as usual, gave his speech. It was always the same. Sure, it brought meaning and emphasised the Capitol's dominance over the Districts, but it was still plain boring. He should've at least tweaked a few words here and there instead of giving the exact same speech every damn year. Snow rolled his eyes. This was definitely something he needed to fix. That and the fact that the country was using up too much gold for building the Cornucopias every year. Silver would be cheaper, but of course, Ravenstill the fat fool could never realise that. When it finally ended, Snow immediately raced back to his bedroom, desperate for a good night's sleep after that awful disaster of a parade. Shame an older version of Ravenstill dressed up in District Eleven's banana costumes had to plague his nightmares.

The next day, Snow was feeling far from refreshed. Oh, Ravenstill bumbling around in that silly costume had kept him awake at night. He rubbed his eyes as he entered the Gamemakers' loft. The other Gamemakers were gathered and a buffet was set. Tributes began streaming in, looking mostly dazed or utterly depressed. The head trainer, a man by the name of Tantalus, gave the tributes a quick introduction to the Training Centre. Snow's eye was of course on Freya. She struggled to stay awake through the briefing. Snow assumed she would march straight to the weapons stations immediately after the briefing, an impatient look stamped on her face, but no. She went for the survival stations. The other three Careers followed her like lost puppies. Snow gaped at them, stunned. The Careers never went for survival training! The last time one had, it had been Franc's year all those years ago. But here they were, learning how to identify poisonous plants and bugs. Freya did most of the works, sometimes ratting out the trainers for being too slow or too chirpy, while the other three taunted and booed every other tribute who came near. "That's unbelievable..." Snow muttered, blinking and pinching himself, trying to see if this was just another dream. The Ravenstill dream had been disturbingly realistic, after all. But it wasn't. For the entire day, Freya hardly ever touched the weapons stations, only briefly practising with a rapier and a spear. But she was focused on survival the whole day. He instantly ringed up Draco, who promised he'd give her a tongue-lashing for her 'little stunt'. Secretly though, Snow thought she was being the smart one around. Survival was key, and out of all the Victors, Draco was the only one who hadn't even ventured near the survival stations. Even Shocker and Scipio had taken a moment or two to look through edible plants and bugs. He had a sneaky suspicion, the Games were already over before they'd begun.

"Is the poison ready?" Snow asked.

Phineas, his chemist friend from Capitol University, nodded. "Yes, I have it here." He held out a bottle of seemingly harmless colourless liquid, one that will be Snow's trump card in the Capitol.

Snow took the bottle, examining it carefully. "How about the antidote?"

Phineas gave him a second, smaller bottle with a greenish-blue liquid. "Here it is. Remember, take only two to eight drops. Any more and it will be lethal."

Snow nodded. "Yes, I know. In just a few weeks, Phineas, you'll be at the top of the ministry. Savour the moment."

Phineas was known for never having more than a neutral expression, but for a fleeting moment, Snow thought he saw a tiny hint of a sneer forming on his lips. "Yeah, good luck with your plan and may the odds be ever in your favour. "

The private sessions were the norm, the Careers, Freya in particular, impressing them with their skills, while the outliers, especially the shrimpy cockroaches known as the District Twelve tributes, flailed around for the duration of their session, absolutely boring him to death. At least the buffet was good. "So," one of the Gamemakers asked. "What score should we give those nitwits?"

Snow yawned, showing a mouthful of stew into his mouth. "One. They deserve nothing more than a pitiful one."

The Gamemakers nodded. "How about Freya? We're still unsure of what to give her."

Snow considered this for a moment. Freya's weaponry and survival skills far exceeded those of the other tributes. She deserved something extra. "Give her an eleven."

"Sure," the Gamemakers nodded, unwilling to go against his orders. They knew that these days, with Ravenstill descending into insanity, even a simple disagreement could lead to execution for both parties and their families.

Snow wrung his wrists, chewing calmly on a slice of ham as he thought of all the things he would do and all the people whose heads would get chopped off once he became the President of Panem. He smirked. It wouldn't be long now.

Snow thought Bartomeus was a twat. Sure, he'd kept the cash flowing in by consistently buying Switch, but over the years, he'd become increasingly cringy to listen to. He'd lost his charisma a long time ago. His interviews with the Careers and more popular outliers were fine, but he could not do shit with everyone else. Even his young son, who was still a toddler, had more charisma than him! It wouldn't be long before young Caesar Flickermann replaced his old man for the long haul. His interview with Dazzler was nothing short of perverted, something that made even Snow gag. The one with Hermes was awfully jumbled up. The snooty noble teenager complained about it towards the end of the interview. While Snow agreed with him, he was also disrespecting a Capitol citizen. That would not go unpunished later on in the arena. It was again Freya that caught his eye. She reminded him of a mix between Mags and Draco. Proudly patriotic, but never quite losing that touch of sarcasm and ire. She pointed out Bartomeus's faults, just like Hermes. The difference was, she had also praised Snow's decision to give her an eleven, flattering him with praise. Oh, and she'd told Bartomeus, "At least you're Capitolian, if you were a Twelve, that interview would be inexcusable." Snow liked her. She tried to sweet-talk her way around her insults, making them sound rationalised and diplomatic. Snow could let her slip by. Caligula's interview was slightly better, but Bartomeus still fumbled over his words just like he did last year. He was definitely having a hangover again. It was torturous having to sit through every last interview. The outliers were either sobbing through all of it or stammering all the way. The boy from Ten even fainted from fright. He sighed with relief when he was finally allowed to take his leave. He didn't care much for the pre-Games events. All that mattered would be the Games itself. Even the most charismatic tributes would be challenged, as the world had seen during Shocker's Games. Then, Snow could vent out his anger on the districts' children, making them suffer for their parents' crimes. And after that, he could reign supreme. He chuckled as he returned to his bedroom. The ditsy reign of Ravenstill would end soon. Very soon.

Snow got ready, rubbing his hands excitedly as the tributes were flown to the arena. "Everything ready?" he asked. "Weapons, supplies, traps, mutts, everything?"

The other Gamemakers nodded. "We've triple checked it all, sir," one of them responded.

Snow grinned, catching sight of the tubes being launched. Their eyes widened in fear as they caught their first glimpses of the arena. The tiny girl from Eleven started crying, her sobs like music to Snow's ears. Freya narrowed her eyes, scrutinising the Cornucopia carefully. Snow started the countdown. "Sixty, fifty-nine..." The girl from Eleven started panicking. She screamed and turned around wildly. Snow knew what she was bound to do next and groaned.

"Not again!" a junior Gamemaker cried out as the clumsy clown of a girl lost her balance and tumbled to the ground, triggering the landmines. Blood splattered on the tributes closest to her. The boy from Four screamed, trying hard to rub the blood off his wrists. Freya, however, seemed oblivious to all this. She stared straight ahead, not even acknowledging the stains of blood on her clothes or the bloody remains of the girl next to her. She hadn't even flinched.

"Three, two, one..." Snow pressed a button and the gong rang, deactivating the mines and sending a horde of tributes to and away from the glistening golden Cornucopia. Freya was by far the fastest. She grabbed a spear and hurled it into the half-conscious, drugged boy from Six. She raced forward, pulling the spear out with one hand, before swiftly dodging an attack from the girl from Nine and sending the spear straight through her windpipe. All around her, the carnage continued. For once, Snow actually hoped the Bloodbath deaths would be kept to a minimum. He wanted the tributes to experience his ingeniously-crafted arena, after all. Freya took her spear and marched up to the boy from Four, writhing in pain after the boy from Eight had slashed his leg.

'Let's end this, shall we?" she taunted, spinning the spear around. The boy screamed for mercy, pleading and begging with her. Freya simply hummed and whistled a District Two tune through the whole thing, casually cutting up the little mosquito with her spear. Behind her, the girl from Ten tried to sneak up on her, quietly approaching with her axe. When she was just a mere inch of ending Freya's life, though, Freya calmly swung her spear around, hitting the girl square in the face. Caligula rushed up and smashed her head with his foot. Freya gave him a bemused look, while still tearing apart the boy from Four. "That was my kill you know?"

Caligula rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up, Freya. I've got two kills now, how about you?"

"Three," she replied calmly, striking the final blow on the now unrecognisable little creature. "Face it, Cali, I'm better."

Caligula scowled but thankfully didn't fight back. SNow wanted the Career pack nice and intact for now. They can have their epic battle later on. He surveyed the Bloodbath deaths. Ten. Good, he thought. A reasonably low arena. The tributes were now left to fend for themselves out in the elements. As the Careers packed up and began heading off to the western section of the arena, Snow's phone rang. "Hey, get a monkey mutt or two to attack the pack," he instructed, rushing outside to take the call.

"Hey, Corio." It was Draco.

"I'm kind of busy now, Draco," Snow told him.

"Dude, you won't believe this. One of your friends is trying to kill you with your own poison."

Snow frowned, clenching his fists. Killing him with his poison? That was a step too far. "Who was it? How did they get it?"

"It's Phineas," Draco told him. "He's given you the wrong antidote. I have the real one here with me. But he's a threat, that lad."

Snow growled. He had trusted Phineas! "That sneaky son of a bitch. Traitor!" he growled. "Don't worry, Draco. I've got this."

Snow would finish off Phineas later on but for now he had to focus on the Games. The Careers had fought off the monkey mutts, no problem, and the girl from Four had narrowly escaped a huge tidal wave coming towards her island. He was content to let the tributes do their stuff for the rest of the day, so long as they didn't insult the Capitol. Tomorrow, however, he had something special planned. Not just for the tributes, but also for his dear friend and extremely loyal ally Phineas.

"Hello, Corio," Phineas said, taking a seat opposite him at the restaurant. It was a fairly fancy one, one many businessmen in the Capitol dined in to discuss matters. Snow caught a glint of malice in Phineas's eyes. He had to resist the urge to smirk. Phineas thought he was getting rid of Snow for good tonight, but Snow was clever. He had other tricks up his sleeve. The owner, Felix, a good friend of both him and Phineas, directed an Avox to serve them with two chalices of wine. Felix was a double agent. Phineas had instructed him to put Snow's poison into Snow's cup, but he'd told on him and had switched the chalices so Phineas would drink the poisoned wine. The best part was, the Avox would take full blame. He couldn't defend himself as he could not even speak. He was the perfect scapegoat. Phineas took his chalice, eyeing Snow carefully as he took his. Snow had an excellent poker face. He pretended to be oblivious to anything and continued to talk casually.

"The girl from Four is probably going to die next," he said. He had been allowed a two-hour break from the Gamemakers' room to have dinner with Phineas, but as he left, he had witnessed the little eel being stung by a mosquito, one carrying dengue, and quickly fell ill. The boy from Seven wasn't far away. He would find and finish her off soon.

"Yeah, I totally agree," Phineas said, taking a slow sip from his chalice. At first, nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden, Phineas dropped to the ground, blood spewing out of his mouth like a hose. The diners screamed and a couple of burly peacekeepers on guard tackled the confused Avox to the ground. Snow was repulsed by this sight. Phineas's dying body was absolutely disgusting to look at. His skin turned bright red and started rupturing, blood oozing out from random parts. It had also begun steaming.

"Run!" Snow shouted, pushing through the crowd. Soon, Phineas's body burst into flames with a mighty noise, guts and organs flying into the air. Snow and the other diners and staff were thankfully outside, where the Avox was being beaten to death. Snow knew this was his cue to slip away quietly. He did so, grinning. "Target eliminated," he said softly on a call with Draco. The big assassination attempt on his life was over before it had begun. Phineas was dead and Snow could finally relax.

The second night was the night of Snow's grand plan. He was going to separate the Careers, bringing them towards opposite ends of a tiger mutt den riddled with snares and relatively harmless but still annoying slingshots. The plan was called into action. A fog began to wrap around the four Careers. "Now?" A junior Gamemaker asked. Snow shook his hand and told him to wait.

Freya frowned and grabbed a rope. "Everyone hold on to this," she instructed. Snow cursed. Dang, that girl was smart! He told the junior Gamemaker to snap the rope. Instantly, a large claw shot from the ground and sliced the ropes. The claw's breakthrough forced an earthquake and the Ones and Twos were forced to flee on either side.

"Bring on the insects!" Snow yelled. Another button was pushed and a horde of insects closed in on both halves of the pack, chasing them straight into the direction of the cave. Freya gripped her spear tightly. "It's a trap!" she told Caligula. "There is probably a mutt in there!"

Caligula nodded and wielded his sword. The pair entered the cave, and came face to face with a family of fearsome tiger mutts. On the other side, the Ones, joined unexpectedly by the pair from Three, who were reined in along with them, faced a similar problem

Snow smirked. "Let the battle begin." Thunder rumbled ahead as Freya charged in, dancing around the snares gracefully and slicing through a tiger mutt's belly. She whipped out a knife and hurled it at the girl from Three on the other side, a move Snow hadn't expected. Caligula was struggling with the snare traps and was getting pummeled by slingshots, but he need not worry. Freya had everything covered. She jabbed and struck the mutts expertly with her spear, all the while avoiding every single trap in the den. A tiger mutt had her spear swatted away, but she rolled up her sleeves and gave it a solid, hard punch. She regained control of her spear and judo-kicked another mutt in the face. The Ones had their mutts drawn away to face Freya and were therefore free to slay the boy from Three. Freya finished off the final mutt and let loose a guttural scream, one that had all the Careers backing away rapidly.

"Yeah! Bring it on!" she shouted, thrusting her spear into the air. Snow couldn't help but applaud. He had to admit, this girl was good. Insanely good. Meanwhile, a tsunami had forced the girl from Four and the boy from Seven to duel. While the girl was sick, she was by no means a pushover and kicked his crotch before he'd seen it coming. The boy pushed her to the ground and brought down his axe on her ankle. She screamed in agony, whipping out a small pocket knife and she landed a good stab into the boy's thigh before being hit in the chest with an axe. The girl from Six, wandering around in a hopeless trance through the desert, somehow found a way to escape a school of sand sharks by pushing a boulder in their way and hiding in a cave. In the northern section, the boy from Eleven had been chased by some stalkers and an avalanche into the rainforest section, bumping into the boy from Eight and having a brief brawl before being struck by a falling tree and bleeding to death. All in all, it had been a busy day for the tributes and an entertaining one for the Capitol. Snow grinned as the reviews started soaring through the roof. It seemed that everyone liked the drama of the arena.

"We'll be talking about this being the best Games at this rate," he chuckled to himself.

Snow hated that boy from One, Hermes. He had begun to go crazy on the fifth day, running into trees and stopping to make snow angels as the Careers entered the northern section of the arena. Freya was losing his patience too. "Look, guys, Hermie here is clearly losing it. Can we just ditch him?"

Dazzler frowned. "But he's my brother! I can't just-"

"Whee!" Heres wheezed, running around in circles. "And by the way, screw the Capitol! Screw that Humpty dumpty Snow and the rest of his team! Snow can ditch himself into the snow for-"

Snow hadn't let him finish. He'd stormed over and pressed a red button, triggering a group of stalkers to charge at the Careers. "Run!" Freya yelled, pulling Dazzler along. "Look, your brother's dead meat! Save yourself!"

Dazzler gritted her teeth, taking one last longing glance at Hermes, who was running towards the charging stalkers with open arms. "Fine," she spat, leaving the scene, blinking back tears. She got what she deserved. A family member lost in front of her eyes. The punishment every last district citizen deserved. Snow took great pleasure in watching the stalkers rip apart Hermes to shreds and watching the Ashtons sigh in exasperation and shout in protest. Freya didn't look too good herself. She was muttering about how stupid the nobles were for sending siblings in together. Snow couldn't help but agree. Then again, they were from the Districts. They had no brains. The Careers came across a cave and hid from the onslaught of stalkers, Freya bandaging a wound on Caligula's arm after he'd tried to fight one of them, rather foolishly.

"You lot are gonna get yourselves killed without me," she told Caligula and Dazzler, who shot her glares. She just shrugged. "What? It's true. You lot are exactly like those drugged freaks from Six or those pea-brained halflings from Twelve. As she said those words, the reactions of Six and Twelve were shown on the screen, and Snow snickered at their dead stares. They truly were halflings. Another cannon boomed. Snow looked over at the eastern section, where the boy from Seven had faced off the pair from Five. The replays showed that he had dodged an arrow from the girl and had jumped into the water, only to be eaten alive by the shark mutts. The Fives themselves weren't out of trouble. They were being chased across the suspension bridges by winged snakes, screaming as they ran. Again, their screaming was music to Snow's wicked ears. He was loving every second of it.

A lack of action on the sixth and seventh days, except for the boy from Nine fighting off a group of sand sharks and narrowly escaping a sandstorm, prompted Snow to do something many Gamemakers hadn't had to do in ages. He called for a feast. "Attendance is mandatory," Bartomeus boomed, causing the pair from Five to groan loudly.

"What should we put in the Cornucopia?" a Gamemaker asked Snow.

"Some fruits, water, a knife and a first aid kit," Snow ordered, keeping his eye on the screen as the boy from Ten arrived early, confused by the lack of supplies.

"Got it," the Gamemaker replied, sending the supplies in. The boy from Ten's face brightened as he rushed forward and grabbed the knife and first aid kit. As he was about to run though, a spear sunk into his leg. He cried out in pain and Snow knew what to expect. Freya had arrived, and she was thirsty for blood.

The boy wailed. "Please!" But Freya was a warrior Career from Two. Mercy meant nothing to her. She made his death long and as gruesome as possible, Dazzler and Caligula cheering him on. Over the last few days, Dazzler had practically forgotten about her brother, and when Caligula brought it up, she'd replied by saying that Hermes was an idiot.

Snow rolled his eyes. So much for family love. In the Capitol, siblings were loved, not hated. These District scumbags were truly something else. The pair from Five entered the clearing, shaken after encountering a forest fire. The girl's leg was badly burnt and she hobbled alongside her District partner. Caligula looked up and speared them both, cackling like a madman. Just a shame he'd let his guard down, allowing Dazzler to literally backstab him. Freya gave her a thumbs-up, continuing with the boy from Ten. "Good job, Dazz. He was a pain in the arse."

Dazzler smiled and ran forward to stab the oncoming boy from Eight. What she hadn't seen was the rapier in his belt. He stabbed her through the gut and she let out a choked gasp, coughing out blood. Freya's eyes widened. The boy from Eight was dead, he couldn't be punished. But the boy from Nine wasn't. Roaring in anger, she hurled her spear so hard, it flew straight through the boy's chest and into the boy from Seven's foot. He howled in pain while the grain farmer crumbled to the ground, dead. Snow smirked as Dazzler finally bled out. The Feast was a success! This was practically the finale! The girl from Six was nowhere to be seen, though. He checked all his screens and sighed as he saw her collapsing and almost dying after a harsh hailstorm had worn her out. The acid rain he sent after her finished her off. Snow sighed. Such a pity she couldn't die in glory for the Capitol's entertainment and had to resort to such a boring demise. Freya stabbed the wretched boy from Seven, again and again, screaming and howling in rage. When his cannon boomed, Snow let out a loud, triumphant laugh at the same time she did. They had both succeeded. Freya had won the Hunger Games and Snow had made this year's Games a big success. Now, it was time for stage two of Snow's plan. He sneered as President Ravenstill summoned him for a private chat. Soon, he and all the ministers would be long dead.

Snow could barely resist a smirk as Ravenstill and all of his ministers lay on the floor, covered in pools of blood, their skin growing red, dead as doornails. Freya and the other Victors stared in shock, some like Gwen absolutely terrified, some like Axel trying to suppress a smile. Little did they know, his successor would be much worse. "I advise you all to run," he said calmly, making a dash towards the exit as the bodies burst into flames, causing chaos and pandemonium to erupt across the room as people swarmed the exit doors, screaming and crying for help as if they were tributes in the arena.

On his way out, Snow caught a glimpse of Freya, a troubled yet determined look in her eyes. She pushed her way past the crowd, shouting, "Move it! I'm a Victor, make way!" There was a slight tremble in her voice, one Snow couldn't miss. He met Draco's eyes, the Victor also a little troubled by Ravenstill's gory end. But Snow would finally achieve his ultimate goal. Claim the top crown. It was his just two days later, when he appeared before the nation, dressed in a white suit, a white rose pinned on it to cover up the nasty side effects of the poison he himself had drunk to avoid suspicion. Freya and Draco stood at attention while the other Victors and Capitolian families looked at him warily. He smirked.

"Good evening, this is your new President Coriolanus Snow speaking."

Neither Katniss nor Peeta had much to add on about Freya, so they moved on. But before that, there was something else that needed mentioning. "Thay was the year Snow took power, wasn't it?" Katniss said quietly.

Peeta bit his lip, nodding grimly. "They thought Ravenstill was bad. Snow, he was a million times worse. Yeah, this was it. I think Draco was in on it too."

They both shuddered at the thought of the calm yet impossibly evil old president, now thankfully deceased and unable to do more harm. Peeta flipped the page, his hands faltering slightly. The next Victor was a fairly bulky young man with dark skin and a boyish face. He seemed calm but his eyes were stormy. His mentor Ringo stood behind him on the stage, a look of relief upon his face. "John Gatwick."

VICTORS

District 1-Sapphire Huntington(4), Onyx Hibonite(9), Franc Montgomery(14), Crystal Montgomery(21)

District 2-Ragnar Sveinsson(5), Reyna Boudicca(6), Draco Hadley(10), Scipio MacAllister(17), Freya Carson(22)

District 3-Nikola Johnson(13)

District 4-Marina Bluebell(1), Mags Flanagan(11)

District 5-Shocker Crimson(8), Switch Kim(19)

District 6-Ford Hamilton(20)

District 7-Hassan Greenwood(2), Jill Wilson(15)

District 8-Woof Casino(16)

District 9-Gwendolyn Whitfield(18)

District 10-Ringo Alvarez(7)

District 11-Orchid Bloom(12)

District 12-Axel Millar(3)

A/N: Well, that was Freya's chapter, told from our good old friend President Coriolanus Snow's perspective! Hope you enjoyed that, and pls review for who you want to see next, a male Victor from Ten, a female Victor from Seven, a male Victor from Five or a female Victor from Three? I'm entirely sure about whether I should do John, so if ya'll want any of the other 3, pls PM or review! Stay tuned for the next Victor! Cheers:)