Chapter 25: Sterling Jones
A/N: Here we go! Sterling Jones is my favourite character to conjure up ideas for, and in a minute you will see exactly why. The first ever Quarter Quell and a fair bit of warning, it will be absolutely bloody and brutal! (but then again, this is the Hunger Games. When have they not been brutal, I might ask you) There will be a lot of chaos and horror involved in this Games, where the nation's toughest and most notorious criminals square up against four unsuspecting Career tributes and fight it out to the top of the brutality ladder. So strap in as our dear Sterling attempts to survive this deadly massacre! How did she do it, and more importantly, what's with that dragon thing I hinted in Ringo's chapter? Read on to find out more! Cheers:)
Katniss and Peeta looked grim as they stared at Sterling's face. "I'm glad a Career won," Katniss admitted. "It's rare that I would say that, but considering the backgrounds of all the other tributes..."
Peeta shuddered, his grandparents' recollections of the first Quarter Quell swarming in his mind like wildfire. "Yeah. Sterling was a true hero. But even being in that arena with all those awful people..."
"No one deserved it," Katniss said. "She didn't know what would happen to her. She didn't deserve what those awful tributes did to her. None of the Careers did, actually. I just hope she eventually recovered from all that horrific trauma." The air felt dark as the pair had a slightly longer moment of silence for the poor Career girl who had no idea what was to become of her.
Sterling Jones
District 1
Aged 18
5 Kills
When President Snow announced the Quell, it was surprisingly met with cheers across all of the Districts. They were cheering, celebrating, some of them even hosting secretive private, illegal parties. Snow himself was baffled. This was meant to punish those District scumbags, not make them happy! Instead, those District scumbags were making use of this supposed horrific punishment to punish their own stupid criminals! He gritted his teeth, knowing a terrible idea when he saw one, but there was nothing he could do. Voting had already begun and most of the Districts had a clear set of candidates in mind. He could only sigh and lie on his couch, angrily sipping his tea. Like it or not, he had to suck it up and let the action unfold. There had better be bloodshed, because things were already going off to a terrible start. The President could rest easy, though, because this year's edition of the Games would have much more bloodshed than he could have possibly imagined in his wildest, dizziest daydreams.
Sterling Jones wasn't a noble. That was very, very obvious. She hailed from a family of hairstylists who earned a meagre wage by working at a local salon. Their customers were usually those chatty noble children who dumped a couple of pennies on the table before leaving after an elaborate hair styling session. It was far from enough to supplement a lifestyle in the luxury District. She and her brother Facet had to take out tesserae every year, not that it worried them. After all, some snooty noble was bound to volunteer every year. She had actually been Reaped once, a few years ago, but a snooty noble girl named Dazzler had volunteered in her place. As she left the stage, Dazzler had leaned over and whispered, "Stupid peasant rat." The abuse hurled at her not only by nobles like Dazzler but other, more well-to-do kids from industries like the gem cutters was horrifying. She was a beautiful girl, no doubt about that, but she never had any boyfriends because of her plain background. Every day, as she attended the Career Academy, she would be treated unfairly even though she was clearly the best fighter. She had even broken the national record for the fastest 100-metre sprint. And her knife-throwing skills weren't a big secret. Nevertheless, she knew she could never volunteer. The noble children had threatened her against it.
"If you volunteer," Starley Cooper threatened, her voice low and cold. "We'll make sure Facet never sees the light of day again." They were nobles, they had a certain power. At times lynching incidents had occurred, but the main reason these nobles were usually left alone was because of the wealth they possessed. Snow was power-hungry but he was also a sucker for wealth. Why else would he keep all the gold to himself and replace the gold Cornucopias with silver ones? They had as much power in the District as the Capitol did. But if they exercised it too frequently, well, there was a reason why Anita Montgomery isn't strutting around anymore. Still, that meant she could never volunteer, no matter how badly she wanted to. The reason why she trained was for the slim hope that one day, she would be Reaped again and the Career girl who was to volunteer would chicken out and leave her as the official tribute from District One. Her family needed that money. Long gone were the days where desperate kids like Sapphire and Onyx could volunteer and take home the prize cash. Now, the nobles had the Reapings effectively under control. But this year, this year would be different! There was no volunteering allowed, only voting! Every citizen would vote for their District's two tributes and despite their general hostility towards her, they weren't that stupid. Everyone knew she was their strongest female Career. And with the new voting rule for the Quell, the nobles would have no say in anything. The District was free to choose wisely. Sterling had giggled with glee at this announcement, celebrating with her family. They knew the outcome well. On Reaping Day, it was announced that with a landslide voting victory, she was named the female tribute for District One in the 25th annual Hunger Games. She was grinning from ear to ear, smiling so widely she could stuff a sideways sandwich in her mouth. Her family would never have to go hungry again. She was going to win! Or so she thought. What Sterling could never have known was, this was the worst year to be a Career tribute in the Hunger Games...
Her District partner was a boy from the diamond mining industry. A strong, hardworking lad named Midas, who was arguably the best male fighter in the Career Academy. Sterling shook hands with him. He seemed like a nice guy, someone she could work with. One look at the faces of the noble children who had planned to volunteer, including Starley, whose face was hot red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment, and she knew she had accomplished what so many in District One had always wanted to do, but could never without being shot to death: piss of the pesky nobles. She smirked. Unbeknownst to her, her smirk wouldn't last very long.
District Two had also chosen to vote for their strongest Career Academy students. This year, it was the turn of Tomyris and Trajan, two strong tributes who had come at the personal recommendation of Draco Hadley the classical brute himself Draco had been the first at the voting stations, warning that there would be dire consequences if anyone went against her. Scipio, ever the revenge taker, voted for two random kids as a huge 'screw you' for forcing him to play the brutal Career image. Tomyris was the daughter of two peacekeepers and had grown up studying hand-to-hand combat with retired peacekeepers. She seemed the most well-prepared tribute there was. Trajan's father had been a Career Academy student, who excelled at sword-fighting, but suffered an illness shortly before the Reaping. While such illnesses could be cured in a heartbeat in the Capitol, the Districts had no such luck. He was forced to miss out, but eventually passed down his skills to his son Trajan.
District Three knew two kids they especially wanted to go. Circ, a cyber-terrorist who frequently disrupted networks and hacked user accounts, in addition to numerous theft instances, would certainly not be missed. Digit, another cyber-terrorist infamous for shutting down several hospital databases across Panem and suspected of murdering his entire family, had known he had a clear ticket into the arena and had begun working out long before the Reaping began and the votes were out.
District Four was sick and tired of having to deal with those stupid pirates taking control of their waters and boats. There were plenty of nasty pirate kids to choose from, but for the female tribute, it seemed fitting that Molly, who at the age of eighteen was already the captain of the infamous Red Crew, a girl who had stolen over twenty fishing boats and killed several sailors in the open seas, would meet her bloody end in the arena. Finn was another notorious pirate, the co-captain of the Mirage Corsairs, he was responsible for the kidnapping of numerous young children, many of whom would never make it back to shore. One did, of course, and that she would end up bathed in glory, but that's another story. Finn was also brilliant with the cutlass, so he thought he would have a fair chance of winning. How wrong he was.
District Five had had enough of those power plant troublemakers they have had to deal with over the years. As a result, they made the unanimous decision to send Rosalind, a girl with a history of blowing up power plants in the dead of night as some kind of sick joke and messing up the dam controls every damn month, to her potentially grizzly death. The boy was a little harder to choose. There were so many nasty troublemakers around. Eventually, they went with the horrific rapist named Carl. The fact that he had raped so many unwilling girls off the streets was more than enough reason for the Fives to demand his death. There would be no mercy, no love for that horrible boy.
District Six were serious drug addicts, that much was well-known. But they hated drug lords, the ones who would push the healthy citizens over the edge and overdose them with drugs, the ones that jacked up the price of morphling such that most addicts couldn't afford any and had to suffer from drug withdrawal, often resorting to suicide. They booed and screamed insults at Auta, the daughter of a know drug lord. She had sold drugs to children as young as two, selling them in bulk so that they would overdose and die. Aside from that, she was also a serial robber, robbing the poorest people of what little money they had so that her father could continue running his sick drug empire. She would certainly not be missed. The boy, Aero, was her twin brother. Like her, he had caused numerous little kids to overdose and had played a huge role in the robberies. But he had done something else. Murder. As if overdosing children wasn't enough, this bastard went around at night stabbing homeless people in their sleep and burning down vast slum areas for his own sick pleasure. He was no better than President Snow the heartless bastard himself.
District Seven had two siblings in mind that they wanted gone forever. The girl, an eighteen-year-old monster named Anther who had been responsible for bringing Jill's brother into being a drug addict, eventually spiking his drugs and killing him. It turned out, she had done this for all her life, claiming seven lives in total. Her seventeen-year-old brother was far worse. Rowan, the beastly boy the entire District wanted dead. Yet another serial rapist, he more than deserved to go into that arena. The siblings were crying as they were forced up the stage, only making the Reaping even more enjoyable for the people of Seven. Justice would finally be served.
District Eight were not in short of criminals either. Nap was a convicted murderer who had sentenced Braid to her death. While the District had hated her, seeing Woof's reaction to her execution had shaken things up a bit. Besides, Braid wasn't the only person Nap indirectly killed. She had falsely accused twenty people in her eighteen years of life, and had poisoned a further twenty to become the owner of a textile factory. Now that position was going to be stripped away from her just two months after attaining her prestige, and Nap sobbed uncontrollably as she climbed the steps, trying her best to ignore Woof's murderous glares. Rayon wasn't much better. An arsonist who had burned down at least two textile factories and a kindergarten, it was fair to say that he had made quite a few enemies in District Eight. Enemies who wanted him dead.
District Nine had its fair share of thugs and gangs. They were plentiful, running around stealing crops from hardworking yet impoverished and starving farmers. The vote was pretty spread out, as the District was spoiled for choice as to who they wanted to sentence to their death. The female tribute, Quilete, was eventually chosen with a voting percentage of just twenty percent, the lowest out of any of the tributes. She was a gang leader who had beaten up several farmers and stolen tesserae from poor little kids. Her actions had caused many to starve to death, and the grain farmers wanted her meddling ass out of the way. The male tribute, Kernel, won his place in the horror Games with a voting percentage of thirty-two percent, the second-lowest in Panem. He was yet another gang leader who was well-known for demanding that farmers pay tribute lest they and their families and neighbours be burnt and crucified publicly in the middle of the night. It was a close competition between him and another gang leader who had committed similar crimes, but he eventually got his death warrant by a small margin of 0.3 percent.
District Ten made it very clear that hurting anyone, be it human or animal, was plain cruel. So when it was discovered that an eighteen-year-old girl named Bulla was responsible for killing their beloved epileptic Victor John's family, the peacekeepers hadn't bothered gunning her down. The District had already launched a unanimous vote to permanently end her stay in District Ten. John had never been accepted by his family, sure, but as he looked into the eyes of their killer, the entire District knew they could count on him to make sure she didn't make it out alive. The boy, Banteng, was a nightmarish carnivorous boy who feasted on live animals, biting into poor farmers' livestock and eating them to death. As if that wasn't enough, he would kill newborn children and gobble them up too. Ringo didn't even want to go anywhere near him.
District Eleven had a strong gang presence, one they were more than delighted to get rid of. Cassava was a local thug who was the leader of an infamous feminist gang who sought to kill as many male students through lynching methods as they could. Perennial was the complete opposite. The brutal monster of a boy was the leader of yet another infamous gang, this time a misogynist one that was responsible for numerous raping and lynching incidents that left an entire girls' school devoid of any living alumni. He was definitely deserving of the Quell.
District Twelve knew it was impossible for them to win. At the same time, they wanted some criminals gone for good. This Quell was seen as a huge breather and an immense sigh of relief. The fact that Snow hadn't intended for it to be that way only sweetened the deal for the horribly oppressed coal mining District. They barely hesitated in voting for Cannel, a pyromaniac bomber who had blown up several mines before. She didn't deserve to live a full life, and her relatives didn't either. In fact, her little brother would later be indirectly responsible for the accident that killed off Katniss and Gale's fathers. The male, Digger, was a convicted murderer and cannibal who feasted on the dying bodies of young children on the streets of the Seam. He wouldn't be missed either.
The Districts were finished sending off their worst into the Games. Feeling satisfied that either their little monsters would suffer a most painful death or come home horrifically scarred to the point of suicide, they rested easy during the entire duration of the Hunger Games. Except for Districts One and Two, who actually wanted to see their tributes win. Sterling sat on her train, a little uneasy after seeing the selection of tributes. They all seemed pretty brutal and suddenly she didn't feel so confident anymore. "Hey," Franc slid next to her. "You'll be fine. As long as you stick with the Careers, you stand a good chance of making it out alive."
Sterling sighed, her head dropping like a withered plant. "I know, it's just, those guys, they're awful. Like really awful. And I'll be in an arena with them. Isn't that bad?"
"Well, worrying never helped," Franc said with a shrug. "Try to focus, okay? I promise, you're going to come home safe. I made that same promise to Crystal a few years ago and look, she's safe and sound now," he gestured towards Crystal, who looked up from her adventure novel, grinning. "My point is, Sterling, you can't win if you keep on being anxious."
Sterling nodded understandingly. "Alright, Franc." She stood up, but her legs wobbled like pudding. Franc caught her right as she was about to fall rather unceremoniously.
"You all right, Sterling?" he asked, frowning. His face was scribbled all over with concern. "Need some tea or anything to help you calm your nerves?"
She nodded quickly. "Uh, yeah, tea would be nice." She slunk back into her seat as Franc went to get her cup of tea. She wanted to win for her family, to give them a good life without ever having to work hard and suffer any more abuse from the other Ones. She was eager to get into the arena and all to start paving the way for her victory, but would that even be possible now, considering there were hardly any prey tributes? She wondered if this was truly a big mistake.
Crystal went up to her, adventure novel in hand. She had an adventurous smile on her face, as usual, one that didn't really fit well with her noble background. "I was like you, you know," she said softly. "I thought winning the Games would be easy. I wanted so badly to enter the arena. But when I got on the train..." She shuddered at the mere memory.
Sterling stared out the window, District One's outermost towns slowly fading away into rocky mountain terrain. "My family needs the money," Sterling uttered. "I-I have to win! But how?"
Crystal chuckled. "Don't worry 'bout that. We've got you covered. But a fair bit of warning," she leaned closer, her eyes now serious as ever. "Don't try to go for anyone in the Bloodbath unless you're very, very sure they're not a threat. Not even that pair from Twelve."
Sterling nodded. She liked Franc and Crystal. They'd abandoned the spoiled rich kid cliche that District One had obtained over the years. No, they were in the Games for another reason, love. Franc was there to save his girlfriend Emma, and Crystal was there to avoid her arranged husband Royce. As far as she was concerned, neither ever embraced the nobles' stereotypes. They were fine in her books. She decided it would be good to heed their advice if she wanted to survive.
Franc's jaw dropped. The arena was nothing like he'd ever seen before. There had been Ragnar's toy factory, Reyna's ancient tunnel network, John's majestic birch forest, Gadget's grand Capitolian mall, but this beat all of them in terms of style and glamour. It was a sparkling city with bright, polished white houses and golden roads lined with bronze lampposts. In the main square was a beautiful, gushing three-layered fountain with a prince's statue on top of it. Overlooking the city was a tall hill littered with emeralds and sapphires, complete with a crystal castle perched atop it, filled with shimmering rooms and grand crystal furniture. The courtyard was surrounded by beautiful topiaries of ferocious dragons and valiant knights and warrior queens. In the centre of that courtyard, was the shimmering silver Cornucopia. "Wow," he muttered.
"Wow doesn't even cut it," Crystal murmured. "How the heck did they build that?"
"That must've taken years!" Nikola exclaimed. "It must've been built way before Snow's reign!" Franc nodded. Nikola was right. There was no way Snow could have had that entire arena built within three years, regardless of how good the Capitol technology was. Still, the sheer irony of butting such dark minds in such a bright and wonderful arena, it irked him a little. He scanned the screens for Sterling, the girl he was going to mentor to victory. There she was, fists clenched, ready to burst into the action. Her score of eleven had been impressive and would've made her a clear favourite, if not for the other high scores all around. All the other twenty-three tributes received scores between eight and ten, the highest average in the history of the Games. Franc's stomach churned and he could trace the bile running down his throat. His nerves were getting the better of him. The gong rang and he began to spin, like he was on some sort of freakish carousel.
"You okay?" Sapphire muttered, drying her eyes after having a rough few sessions. Franc nodded, but his vision was starting to blur. No, no, no! He had to make sure Sterling was alright! He could faintly make her out, bolting into the thick of the action and grabbing a sword. She was charged at by Digger, who had a crazed look in her eyes. It took longer than he would have hoped, but Sterling managed to cut him down. Unfortunately, judging by Sapphire's screams, Midas hadn't been able to do the same with Quilete. He squinted his eyes and let out a strangled gasp when he saw Quilete tearing out Midas's ribs, the poor boy screaming in agony as she did. The peacekeepers burst in to drag Sapphire away. Franc turned green. That sight alone had been enough for him to lose both his lunch and his consciousness. He just hoped Sterling would be alright.
Orchid gulped. Cassava was making a dumb decision to charge at Molly, hoping that with her back turned, she wouldn't see her coming. "She's a pirate! Get out of there!" Orchid screamed. Alas, Cassava couldn't hear her and Molly whirled around all of a sudden and kicked Cassava backwards. What happened next forced Orchid to make a beeline for the bathroom in sheer disgust, Ragnar following after her. Molly had carved out Cassava's eyeballs and stuffed them up her arse. It was sick. Neptune was too stunned to even comment about it.
"Oh, gosh, that was gross!" Ragnar belched as the pair went out of their respective toilets, looking more nauseous than ever.
Orchid nodded. "I can't believe it... Is this really happening?"
Ragnar sighed. "You should go get a drink, Orchid. Might make you feel better."
Orchid didn't need to be told twice. In fact, she decided to chug down three whole bottles, in the hopes that the alcohol would wipe out that horrific memory from her mind. It didn't.
Axel was usually having a laugh with his fellow mentors, and while he did try his best to make the others smile during the drone shots ("Hey guys, I think Crystal has a secret admirer! The castle's practically screaming her name!" That had put a shy smile on Crystal's face), his jokey attitude disappeared as soon as the gong rang. He knew neither of his tributes would win, so every year, he made it tradition to give the doomed kids one heck of a laughing therapy session before they entered the arena. This year had been different. His tributes were brutal. Neither had been in the mood to laugh. And Axel had steered clear from them. After all, he had witnessed firsthand some of Cannel's bombing raids. But regardless, she did not deserve the death she was experiencing now. Banteng and Bulla had grabbed her by the arms and legs respectively, and with mighty pulls, they ripped apart her limbs and beat her to death with them. To add salt to the wound, Banteng began feasting on her corpse. Axel was left gaping at the screen, not quite sure how to react to the helpless girl's gruesome demise. After a minute of plain staring, he fled the scene and went to join Orchid, Ragnar and Reyna at the nearest bar. He needed a damn drink.
Woof wanted Nap dead. He had spent the entire mentoring time locked up in his room watching the latest romantic drama from the Capitol, not even caring for his tributes. They deserved death. Nap deserved to die for what she had done to Braid. But as he sat there in the Mentoring Room, he had to take a step back. Nap deserved to die, yes, but did she deserve that particular death? Being dragged off screaming by Carl and raped her so hard, blood began squirting uncontrollably out of her private parts. He couldn't resist a wince. Braid wouldn't have wanted this. "Just kill her already!" he begged. Carl soon did, ending Nap's hellish nightmare with a quick snap of her neck. Rayon wasn't faring much better, but at least Trajan had the good sense to make it quick after noticing Banteng, Bulla, Rowan, Anther and Quilete, the brand new alliance plucked straight from hell itself, making a charge at him. Woof immediately rushed back to the eighth floor for a whole day of binge-watching some romantic comedy, anything to try to keep his mind off of what he had just witnessed. It was too damn horrible.
Gadget didn't speak, as per normal. She had her eyes closed for the whole thing, but she could hear the screams of not only the tributes, but also the mentors around her. The cries of pain and sorrow, they were too much. Nikola nudged her shoulder. "You can go now," he said, grief engulfed in his voice. She looked up and made a silent scream. Circ was dead, cut up and sliced to bits by that horrific misogynist Perennial, who had carved out misogynist messages in her guts. She let out a fountain of tears. Circ was someone she had always hated, but that? That was too much! Digit was dead too, but a quick slash by Tomyris didn't seem as bad a fate in comparison. Still, dead was dead and all too easily, memories of the Careers being electrocuted to death popped up in her feeble mind. Gadget got up and danced her way out, only to collapse when she reached the threshold. Draco clicked his tongue, muttering about how pathetic she was before Nikola shut him up.
"Help," she squeaked, her vision blurring in a whirlwind of stars. Nikola scooped her up and with Onyx's help, brought her to her bedroom on the third floor. She needed some sleep.
Shocker was a mess as usual. Nearly two decades had passed and his actions in that horrible sewer still haunted him. Switch normally tried to cheer him up but after a nasty incident with Carl, it looked like her brightness and humour had vanished for this year's Hunger Games. She sat next to him, quietly observing the screens. Shocker took a big gulp of his beer. The tributes were tearing each other apart. It was such an idyllic setting, one that would have served as a good attraction, not an arena for the most brutal entertainment show in the history of the world. Yet here they were, commuting the most horrific crimes against humanity. He watched as Sterling, Tomyris and Trajan, those three Careers, attempt to flee the Bloodbath, only to run into that freakish alliance. He didn't dare to watch the battle that followed. All he knew was that no matter how stupid they were, those Careers did not deserve to die that way. He focused his attention on his own tribute, Rosalind, a girl he hated but nonetheless wanted to win. She reminded him a little bit of his old self. If he could change, so could she. Rosalind had grabbed a backpack and was ready to go. "Move it!" he shouted. Rosalind made a mad dash for the city, but just a s she was about to bolt down the hill, Finn grabbed her.
"Where do you think you're going?" he sneered, whipping out his cutlass. Shocker cried in agony as Finn proceeded to cut out her insides as Rosalind wailed, screaming and begging for mercy. It took two hellish minutes for her to die. By then, she had been covered in her own guts, the girl disappearing under her own insides. Shocker didn't make it to the bathroom. He threw up there and then. The Avoxes rushed in to clean up the mess. Shocker wiped his mouth with his sleeve, staring in horror at the screen as that monster Carl desecrated that poor girl from Eight. This was getting out of hand. He stormed out of the room, not intending to watch any more of this horror show.
Ford had initially supported the Quell. It was a brilliant opportunity to bring down some drug Lords, after all and help his District with their morphing addiction. However, watching the Bloodbath unfold, he grimaced, realising just how wrong this was. Crystal snuggled up next to him, terrified by Quilete's murder of Midas. He put a protective arm around her. The pair had been close, and while yes, Ford did stammer a lot around girls, Crystal was usually the exception. She was the only one who made him feel comfortable especially when his tributes suffered at the hands of the Career pack, or in this year's case, the hellish pack. He hated to admit it, but he did have some feelings for her, but not a chance he was going to tell her that. Ford watched Auta and Aero, the pair having allied right from the start, being twins and all. Both charged into the Cornucopia to grab their favourites knives, situated near a first aid kit. Aero dashed to get those while Auta swerved and focused on getting a backpack instead. As Aero's fingers closed around the hilts of the knives, the hellish alliance approached. Ford gulped and Crystal squeezed his hand tightly. Rowan and Anther held him down as Quilete grabbed a syringe and some scissors from the first aid kit. What happened next made Ford let out a series of unintelligible screams. They skinned him alive. From beyond the courtyard, Auta watched in sheer terror, screaming for her twin brother as he met his painful end. Tears streamed down her face but even she knew there was nothing she could do without meeting a similar fate. She ran off, the drug princess breaking down into a fit of sobs as she entered the crystal castle, went straight up to the balcony and took a nosedive into the ground below. Ford's heart sank and he buried his face in his hands. Crystal stroked his shoulder gently, her lips quavering from the sights and bloodshed. "You tried your best," she assured him, but had he really? He had let them down. Drug Lords or not, it was his job to make sure they were safe, and he had failed. Crystal leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. It made him feel slightly better, but he was still devastated. The wait for Six's second Victor rumbled on.
Freya wasn't too excited this year. She knew the odds of a Career victory were significantly slimmer this year, considering the fact that there was that hellish pack running around doing the deeds. Still, she watched attentively alongside Draco, ready to assist Trajan when needed. The three Careers had wimped out and were hiding like outlier scumbags in the city. Sterling, that blonde bimbo from One, was sniffling. Trajan was comforting her for some reason. Midas was dead, but so what? If a Career died in the Bloodbath there was no need to mourn him or her. That Career was a disgrace to their District, a disgrace to Panem. She had little patience for her Careers and found herself thinking up of ten thousand different rants when Trajan or Tomyris inevitably came home. They had ditched the traditional Career values! In her-and Draco's-eyes, that was unacceptable. She rested her head on her shoulders. She hadn't slept for ages. Despite her usual energy when it came to the Games, this year, there was an unexpected tiredness that was brought alongside it. Ragnar, Reyna and Scipio, the three disgraces of Careers, had fled to bars or other places around the Capitol. The mere thought made her roll her eyes. Despite her long rants and bashing, they never did seem to have a change of heart. She could only wonder why. But soon, those thoughts faded away. Kernel, that boy from Nine was approaching. Trajan was on guard, but it didn't appear that either of them had spotted each other. She shrugged. Trajan could take him, down, no problem. He was stronger.
Or was he?
Before she could react, Kernel and that pirate Molly had stabbed Trajan's legs, pushing him to the ground. Sterling and Tomyris woke up, screaming in horror. Molly chucked a knife at Sterling but she dodged easily. "Go!" Trajan shouted. "Save yourselves!" Freya roared in rage as Sterling and Tomyris obeyed.
"Traitors!" They were supposed to be an alliance! They were supposed to fight together! But no, those two cowards had abandoned Trajan, leaving him to be crucified and burned by Kernel and Molly. She stood up, howling and ranting all she could.
"Sit down, girlie!" Mags shouted.
"Shut up!" she roared. Mags was beneath her. "Your tribute is a monster!"
"So we're you," Hassan muttered. Freya shot him a glare. She stormed out of the room, disgusted by not only the other tributes, but also her fellow 'Victors'. In her opinion, none of them deserved the crown. Only she and Draco were worthy Victors.
Gwen was scared out of her wits. She had had to use the defibrillators at least ten times for the past three days. Watching Kernel crucify that wailing boy from Two, she had screamed and begged him not to, frantically sending sponsor parachutes with notes telling him to stop. He had promptly pissed on them. She sighed, continuing to read her book on psychology. If she couldn't help Kernel and Quilete, then she would instead focus on helping the existing Victors, most importantly Shocker, Sapphire, Gadget and Reyna, who were in the worst condition. She also needed to figure out how to solve Axel and Orchid's alcoholism. Anything to get her mind off of her monstrous tributes. On the morning of the third day, she heaved a sigh of relief when Sterling and Tomyris ambushed Molly and Kernel, Sterling stabbing Kernel with a knife and Tomyris spearing Molly. She was frightened of those two, Molly and Kernel. At least she never had to see them crucify another tribute again. Still, seeing the bloodshed, it was nothing short of horrific. She used her defibrillator again. "When will this Games just end?" she moaned.
Beside her, Marina bit her lip. The first Victor didn't look too happy with her tribute. Finn's brutal murder of Rosalind had left her screaming and crying. "Hopefully soon," she said, her voice reduced to a soft, hollow whisper in the wind. Gwen crossed her fingers and hoped she was right.
Quilete met her end soon, signalling Gwen's leave of absence from that stupid Mentoring Room. She hid her eyes behind her book as Carl dragged her away from her alliance members, who were busy fighting Finn and Perennial, Quilete screaming as he did. "No please don't do it," Gwen begged. But alas, Carl did. The serial rapist went about his business before slicing off Quiletevsnose and choking her windpipe with it. Gwen could only scream at the top of her lungs as her deadly tribute faced the consequences of her actions. Sure she hated gang leaders but rape and such an extreme murder should land one in a very special part of hell. The tiny Victor from Nine didn't have time to reach her defibrillators. She had promptly fainted from fright, her heart throbbing wildly.
John wanted revenge. He had made sure to give Bulla not a single piece of advice, except to jump off her pedestal before the gong sounded. Sadly, she hadn't done so. In fact, her brutal actions had actually earned her a sponsor: a piece of Capitol armour. Of course, John was obliged to give it to her as per the mentoring rules, but not without a few tweaks of his own. As an engineer, he knew exactly how to subtly weaken the armour such as after a few hits, it would break apart. He smirked as he sent it to Bulla, who was cackling like a madwoman as Banteng chowed down on Perennial's corpse. Anther and Rowan had long abandoned the alliance, not wanting to be anywhere near those two hooligans. That was great. They were now even more vulnerable. John's smirk only widened as Sterling and Tomyris approached from behind. Then the knives began to pour. Banteng was downed first, Tomyris landing a good stab on the back of his head. But Bulla's armour held on as Sterling's first four knives deflected. She spun around, a wide grin on her face. "Nice of you ladies to join the party!" she snickered. Sterling there one last desperate knife. John knew what would happen next. The armour broke into a million tiny pieces and the knife plus the jagged pieces of metal pierced through her cold, empty heart. John almost let out a sadistic laugh, if Carl hadn't approached and tackled Tomyris to the ground, tearing at her clothes. Not long after, John was out of the room, puking into a toilet. The Quell was absolutely disgusting.
Switch was terrified of Carl. When she tried to give him some mentoring advice, he had lunged at her and tried to rape her. Shocker managed to knock him out with a wine bottle but the experience had left her visibly shaken. She couldn't even bring herself to speak. Not until Carl was dead and guaranteed to never go near her again. Unfortunately, that might not be the case, as Carl had ambushed the two Career girls. Sterling had been knocked out cold but Tomyris was still awake and aware, screaming as loudly as Switch as Carl tore apart her clothes and, yeah. Did his thing. Switch fled the room promptly. The cannon sounded later. She forced a second peek and gasped. Carl was reeling away from Sterling, who, despite having her clothes torn and being more than a little bruised, had managed to wake up seconds after it was her turn and give Carl a nice, hard punch. Carl howled in pain. Seeing the uselessness of fighting against an angry Career, he decided to flee. Switch ran back to her room and cowered under her bed. Marina followed her. "There, there, it's alright," she muttered gently. "As you always say, look on the bright side of things." At that moment, Switch could do anything but that. Watching Sterling crumble to the ground and cry had been heart-shattering. Listening to her beg for death, yikes. Switch Knew Sterling was better off dead than alive at that point. Carl had ruined her, and she had witnessed too much in that arena. But she still had to win. Better her than all those other monsters. She was the brave Knight, she had to be! Switch decided she would be the last to find out, though. For now, she was content with cowering under her bed, praying for the end of this horrific Quell.
Hassan was on Team Sterling, just like approximately one hundred percent of all the Victors. None of them, not even that monster Draco, wanted anyone else to win. This was the one year Hassan knew Rowan and Anther could, and should, not come home. Besides, they were being chased around the crystal castle by Finn. What chance did they have? He sighed. Jill glared at Anther, shouting at her to fall on Finn's spear and die. He knew her pain. Years ago, their father had almost gotten him into drugs. He had escaped. Some of his friends had not. Their children took after him, continuing his cruelty. But did any of the twenty-four kids in that arena deserve such torturous pain? Rowan fell to his knees as Finn speared his waist. Anther screamed but Finn punched her to the ground. Hassan had to squeeze his eyes firmly shut as Finn began to disembowel Rowan right in front of a moaning Anther. Even Jill gasped. "Oh, gosh. How is this even-" She trailed off, shaking her head in disbelief. Two cannons boomed. Wait, two? Hassan opened his eyes and grimaced as he saw Rowan's disembowelled and limbless body lying alongside Finn's corpse. Anther had torn him apart with her teeth. Hissing at the cameras, she grabbed Finn's spear and limped off, blood spewing out of her leg. Hassan couldn't believe it. Anther might come home. That would be bad news for everyone in District Seven.
"Anther, do us a favour and get yourself killed..." he snarled. She did, the following day, after drinking from that fountain in the town, which had been poisoned overnight. However, neither he nor Jill had taken much pleasure in watching her die. In fact, both had raced out of the room and headed straight for the toilets. Anther had blown apart limb by limb after drinking the poisoned water, screaming in pain as her hands, then legs and finally her head burst into a pool of blood. Hassan gulped down a bottle of water. Anther was gone, but not in the way, he would have wanted. Still, she was dead and that was that. He braced himself for the finale. Carl absolutely could not win. Sterling had to come out on top! But no one, not even he, could expect the oncoming finale...
Crystal had grown up reading about dragons. She never expected she would ever see one on real life. Well, she was wrong because on the final day of the Quell, both tributes were asked to mount a dragon and face off in an aerial duel. She watched as Sterling, who had been sponsored a fresh set of clothes plus some armour, one that John and Nikola had checked to ensure it wasn't flawed like Bulla's, mount her dragon. It was a magnificent creature. It stared at Sterling with calm, sapphire eyes wedged in its hard, thorny skull. Its horns were made of onyxes, placed just above its large ears. A row of small crystal growths ran down its jaw lines all the way to its tail, which had a big club that looked like an ancient coin called a franc. Six long limbs carried its large body and allowed it to stand elegantly yet intimidating. Its talons were made of crystals, shining in the bright sunlight. Its gigantic wings were bladed in structure, with sharp tips that looked like spears. The creature was a brilliant shade of blue, and it took Crystal a while to register that it had been specifically designed for a tribute from District One. Everything about it screamed One. "It's just, wow," she gasped.
"They want her to win, huh?" Onyx murmured, glancing a little smugly at Carl's dragon, which was a sickly shade of yellow and had a flimsy lightning symbol tattooed on it. District Five in a nutshell. Crystal watched as a stunned Sterling climbed onto the dragon's back nervously. This was it. The epic showdown Crystal had read over a million times about. But seeing it in real life, she didn't know what to expect.
The dragons met in the darkening sky above the glistening city below, now stained red with blood. Sterling had a look of deep concentration on her face. Crystal knew why. She wanted revenge, but the hairstylist girl wasn't stupid. She had to play this smart. One mistake and Carl would be free to roam the nation as both a Victor and a rapist. She couldn't let that happen. Carl, on the other hand, seemed very unfocused. He was cackling cruelly, giving Sterling a cold, dark sneer. "Ready to die, Jones?"
"No," Sterling said flatly. "Because I'm not dying. Not when that means you go free."
Carl laughed like a madman. Crystal's teeth were now chattering. Ford hugged her. She liked his embrace. It was warm, fuzzy, and she liked the smell of his jacket. But now, the spotlight was on Sterling Jones. Even Freya was cheering her on, shouting at her to whack Carl's lazy ass. Carl made the first move, making his dragon swoop it tail towards her. Sterling ducked just in time. Then, she did something Crystal didn't expect. She fled. Carl roared with laughter, chasing after her dragon. Sterling swerved across the sky, her dragon flying low across the streets of the town. "Giving up, One?" Carl cackled. Sterling didn't respond. Crystal held her breath, the suspense threatening to rip her to shreds. She was nearing the castle now. What was she doing? Committing suicide by ramming into it? Having an act of defiance by destroying it? Carl was roaring with glee now as he closed in on her. Then, she jerked the reins and her dragon made a sharp lift into the air. Carl hadn't seen this coming and was sent barrelling into the castle, the crystal crashing down onto his dragon "Aargh!" he screamed. Sterling's dragon swooped its tail and plucked Carl off of his dragon. The monster from Five was a bloody mess, crystal shards jutting out of his body, but he was still alive. The dragon dropped him on his back, moaning in pain. Sterling gave him a good hard glare and Crystal could see the fire burning in her eyes, the desire for revenge, the anger in her soul. She was on the edge of her seat as Sterling raised a shard of Crystal and sent it straight into Carl's head. The cannon boomed. Sterling pushed the boy's body off into the square. Crystal let out a loud cheer as the trumpets sounded. Her fellow Ones cheer along with her, heaving huge sighs of relief as Sterling raised her shard of Crystal triumphantly. The brave adventurer had defeated the beast!
Sterling stared at the ceiling, wishing when her nightmares would end. She had survived and become filthy rich, so rich that she would never again go hungry, but it had cost her too much. She had been violated, abused in that arena by that monster Carl. The deaths, everything that she had seen, it had torn her apart. Physical wounds could heal but the mental ones? Even the Capitol couldn't fix those. She sighed deeply. The once-powerful girl desperate for that lucky chance to volunteer and enter the arena in the Hunger Games, she was gone. All that remained was a broken, almost lifeless shell. She had lost herself. Sterling Jones was no more, only a broken girl remained in her place. She would surely be forgotten for her brokenness, she thought. She was wrong. The Capitol remembered her for her final battle with the dragon. Her final ride was immortalised as one of the greatest moments of the nation's history and she was touted as the bravest Victor of all for surviving that rape incident and coming back with such a bang to permanently punish Carl Marley. District One remembered her as their favourite Victor, well, aside from Gloss and Cashmere, but she was still held dear in her District, well looked after and never shunned. Her spirit and memory would eventually culminate in their shock rebellion against the Capitol, one that caught President Snow unaware and achieved the most success in quickly driving out the Peacekeepers and noble fighters. District Two saw her as an inspiration, as a reminder to never give up even when the battle seemed too tough. Even the toughest tributes like Brutus claimed that he had drawn a lot of inspiration from her fighting spirit. The other Districts loved her. She was the first Victor who was well-received across all the Districts, and most certainly the last. She was met across Panem with thunderous cheers and applause, particularly from Districts Five and Ten for killing their monsters. Even District Twelve found it in them to clap and chant her name as she stepped out onto the stage. And of course, the other Victors, past and future, never forgot her. Gwen made sure she was first in line to receive psychological treatment. Marina invited her to join the District Fourteen revolution when District Thirteen refused to let her in on the big secrets. Sapphire, Onyx, Franc and Crystal became her closest friends, along with future One Victors like Gloss, Cashmere and Geneva. But her best friend? The boy from District Four. The broken one who had won the Thirty-Fourth Games. The one who had been equally horrified by the Games and suffered just as much brokenness. The one who had looked up to her. The one who later told her, she was by far his favourite Victor, the one who encouraged him to never give up. Sterling ensured that when she later died of cancer, no one ever forgot her. She was a national hero, one everyone, except the Capitol elite, of course, mourned the loss of. Until Katniss came along, she was voted as the ultimate Victor. Because she truly was just that. An ultimate Victor.
Katniss and Peeta ended their two minutes of silence, staring grimly at Sterling. "She suffered so much, there's no way I can dislike her," Katniss remarked.
Peeta smiled sadly. "Yeah. Being raped in front of national television, that's just crossing every single line of humanity. Having to watch all those horrific deaths..." He shuddered. "Those Games are over, real or not real?"
"Real," Katniss told him, giving him a kiss.
Peeta gave Sterling one final, lingering smile before, at long last, he flipped the page. The next Victor was a girl with raven black hair and hazel eyes that twinkled in the bright sunlight. She had a neutral expression on her face, so to the untrained eye she seemed perfectly fine, but the way she fiddled her fingers, it suggested something else. She was around Peeta's height and wore a pin on her dress that Katniss couldn't quite see clearly, no matter how hard she tried to squint. "Olive Sanchez."
VICTORS
District 1-Sapphire Huntington(4), Onyx Hibonite(9), Franc Montgomery(14), Crystal Montgomery(21), Sterling Jones(25)
District 2-Ragnar Sveinsson(5), Reyna Boudicca(6), Draco Hadley(10), Scipio MacAllister(17), Freya Carson(22)
District 3-Nikola Johnson(13), Gadget Schroeder(24)
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), John Gatwick(23)
District 11-Orchid Bloom(12)
District 12-Axel Millar(3)
A/N: And there we have it! Sterling comes home, but she's broken and will never be the same again. I honestly think she is my favourite Victor out of all the ones that I've planned and I hope you think so too because while I did have a blast writing this chapter, I'm going to end up with more than a few nightmares of my own after having to think of this haha. I've been having horrific nightmares of tributes tearing me to bits ever since I started this whole fanfic thing but at this point, it doesn't matter. Hope you liked Sterling's character and pls review to tell me what you think and how you would want Olive to be portrayed! Oh, and a head's up, coming up after her is the District Five male and after him, there will be a Career boy from Two and then the District Nine female, so if you can, I'd appreciate if you review or PM me and give me a few ideas! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for Olive Sanchez!