Chapter 36: Luxe Carmichael
A/N: So hi guys, here's District one, my second favourite District to write about with their sixth Victor! This means that for the first time, all three Career Districts are jointly tied for first, but who will break the deadlock first? More importantly, whose Victors will break apart first? Hope you'll enjoy this and pls review for more! Cheers:)
P. S. Don't forget to complete the poll on your favourite Victor on my profile page! You can vote for up to three Victors (My personal favourite are the Fisher siblings, Sterling, Ragnar, Seeder, Franc, Jill and Luxe, but don't let that influence your decision!)
There's also another poll about which countries would make good arena settings on my profile, so do check that out too!
Edit: Never mind, forget the second poll, just focus on the first one and if you think the second one is better, feel free to tell me! (Apparently I can only embed one poll on my profile)
"Five Careers in six years, huh?" Katniss whistled. 'They sure were on a roll."
"Yeah," Peeta agreed. "The fourth decade of the Games really was all about the Academy graduates. We still haven't gotten to Geneva and Julia yet."
"Must've been awful for an Outlier in this decade," Katniss remarked, shuddering.
"Yeah, I know." Peeta tapped Luxe's picture. "You know, I heard he was deemed in the Capitol as the second coming of Crystal."
Katniss frowned. "Why?"
Peeta shrugged. "No idea. Guess we'll have to ask someone later, if any of the Ones are still alive."
"I bet at least two are still standing," Katniss said. "Perhaps him and Geneva?"
"Or Augustus and Sapphire," Peeta guessed. "We'll find out soon enough."
Luxe Carmichael
District 1
Aged 18
7 Kills
Luxe was made of pure adrenaline. Seriously, he was a wild one ever since he practically hopped out of his mother's womb. He could never sit still, always running around, climbing walls, scaling fences, jumping into ponds and zooming up trees. To his friends, he bore a strange resemblance to Crystal, only he was much wilder and much more adventurous. Luxe had been to that cave Crystal raved about in her interviews, but he had done so with a twist, he had a sprained ankle a day before his trek and had come down with the flu, but that didn't stop him from venturing further into the systems and discovering new cave networks previously untouched by even the Gamemakers, who had deemed them too dangerous to maintain and had simply placed a forcefield to block them off. But Luxe had no forcefield stopping him. With his bundles of energy, he had hopped into a deep cavern and found the most striking thing he had ever found in his life. A beautiful mosaic of ancient cave painting, dating back thousands of years to a time he had never known. The outstretched hands, the depictions of hunters slaying a wild, raging bull, they were simply breathtaking to a young, excitable Luxe. The Capitol had the cave sealed off after that, but not before Luxe had snapped a quick photo of the paintings, keeping it as a fond, secret souvenir. His life was pure bliss and joy, a far cry from the cries of the gemstone miners who were killed in a rare District One workplace accident a few days ago, and an even farther cry from the agonised cries of dying noble tributes away in the arena.
Over the years, more and more noble families realised just how stupid volunteering for the Games was. As such, many kids often trained halfheartedly in the Academy, prompting strict disciplinary action from the infuriated trainers and heads of families. Anyone who didn't perform up to standard was whipped and beaten, just like in District Two, only in One, only the noble kids were punished. Luxe's parents had been victims of this, being subjected to harsh whipping sessions all year round. They had a strong, profound hatred for these nonsensical Games and would do anything to stop Luxe or any of his two brothers and three sisters from entering the arena. Most of them were weak, so they wouldn't have gone in anyway. But two of them, Luxe and his sister Deluxa, were too strong to pass for weak. Their parents might have some common sense but the rest of the Carmichael family sure didn't. Harold and Griselda Carmichael, the old but firm heads of the entire family, demanded Luxe to represent them in the arena. Luxe's family tried and tried to beg and plea for his safety, but Harold and Griselda were having none of it. They rounded up all six of Gemmy and Polish's children and pointed guns at their heads. It was an easy decision for Luxe's grieving parents. Luxe didn't seem too bothered though. "It's just another adventure, right?" he said cheerfully, flexing his muscles. "I've got this! Don't worry!" He thought it would be another spellbinding adventure that reaped great rewards like his cave discovery. Little did he knew, the only thing that would be reaped was his very soul.
The Adventures of Luxe Carmichael
Part 1: Meeting the gang!
The entire District One entourage gathered in the dining car, each bearing a grimy mixture of expressions. Luxe looked around, grinning as he met his new sidekick, Glow, a beautiful princess who would certainly be a huge part in his new tale, and his fellow adventurers, a.k.a. the Victors and the escort. "'Sup guys!" he greeted, grinning like a madman. "So, who's going to be my mentor for this quest, eh?" All eyes turned to Crystal, whose eyes were wide in shock. Deja vu had struck the District once more and there was only one answer to Luxe's question.
"I'll do it," Crystal piped up. "Err, strap in for the ride?" She tried to be like her younger self, all happy and bright, before the forced marriage days. It seemed to be working because Luxe excitedly shook her hand.
"Well then, fair Crystal, we shall work together and conquer the arena!" he declared, puffing out his chest.
Crystal managed a giggle as Luxe pulled out a shiny fedora from a black duffel bag in the corner of the dining car. What a fedora was doing on a Hunger Games train to the Capitol, she had absolutely no idea. Luxe donned it, giving everyone a delighted smirk. Crystal smiled back, suddenly reminded of her early teenage days, going exploring with Franc and Emma, just having fun and enjoying the moments. She had a new, profound liking for this latest noble tribute from One, even if they were from opposing noble families. He was basically a new and improved version of her old self, bringing back old, fond memories lost over the years. This has to be our year, she told herself firmly. The year Luxe wins!
Glow, on the other hand, was an Ashton and did not like this simple-minded, brainless, fool of a clown. She rolled her eyes as he dilly-dallied around Crystal, the pair of misfits clowning around, sharing their own personal adventures with glee. This was supposed to be the Hunger Games! This was supposed to be serious! Although, what did she expect? She knew full well that the Montgomeries were inbred chickens disguising as humans and the Carmichaels were malfunctioned robots previously sent by the Capitol to spy on them. Her own mother had told her so and she was always right. She took one look at Luxe and scoffed. He wasn't getting very far, surely? "Easy win for me," she muttered, dragging a reluctant Onyx to her room to discuss tactics.
Part 2: Meeting the other explorers!
There was little doubt that the Career pack was as strong as ever this year. There was also little doubt that Luxe did not fit in at all. He kept on referring to the pack as the 'band of explorers' and chattered nonstop about arena adventures and epic quests and vicious mutt battles. The only reason why he was still in the pack was because of his impressive weaponry skills. Those knife-throwing skills were simply epic, worthy of a brave adventurer like Luxe. When asked about how he acquired those skills, he simply grinned and said that he had learnt from fellow questers and journeymen, including the Fisher siblings, Scipio and Sterling. No one dared to object. It was better to keep this bubbly potential serial killer happy than to risk a knife to the throat, or ten. Luxe's fellow explorers included Glow, a psychopathic boy from Two named Mars, his quiet, unnerving and creepy District partner Atalanta, a towering, hot-tempered fisher boy named Don and a moody, muscular sailor girl adept with all sorts of weapons named Malta. An incredible band, in Luxe's opinion. They were going to have a smashing time, literally! As we swung his axe around skillfully, Luxe looked around at the faces of their rival explorers, scanning them carefully. The boy from Seven and the girl from Eleven were surely tough competition, but regardless, he couldn't wait to enter the arena and prove himself as the greatest explorer of all time!
Then there were the wealthy businessmen who would fund and decide his fate during his arena missions. The Gamemakers. Luxe knew he had to impress them, to show that he was more worthy of the golden idol awaiting him than all the other explorers combined. As he stepped into the Training Centre for his private session with them, he grinned broadly, calmly strutting forward. He grabbed a knife and boom! Just like that, he was their favourite tribute. An eleven was awarded for his skills and hard work, a score that would surely prove to be a brilliant supply on his quest.
Part 3: The Jaguar Room!
After two straight years of Gamemakers screwing up the arena horribly, President Snow had personally threatened all the Gamemakers and their families. "Do a good job," he warned Head Gamemaker Shylock Clearwater, pointing a gun at his trembling wife, parents and brothers. Shylock's eyes widened in alarm and he quickly nodded, giving Snow a nervous salute. Snow narrowed his eyes as he slowly walked away, gun still pointed at Shylock's family. "You don't want to end up like the others..."
This year, the arena was a grand spectacle, one Shylock had spent countless hours and sleepless nights planning out, making sure that there were no crooks or nannies left unchecked, no errors left uncorrected, no potential loopholes for the tributes to exploit. As Luxe rose from his launch tube, catching his first glimpses of the brand new arena, his eyes shone with excitement and he could barely resist letting out an eager squeal of anticipation. The Cornucopia was set in the middle of an ancient stone room lit with fiery, crackling torches strung with rope to the wall. In the heart of the Cornucopia was a bronze sacrificial altar, adorned with precious stones and jewellery, with baskets of food, first aid kits and a selection of machetes and knives, seemingly the only weapons around. Engraved on the ancient stone walls were frescoes depicting ferocious jaguars and powerful shamans. There were two windows, both high and out of jumping reach for all of the tributes. Outside, loud, fearsome thunder boomed, causing several of the younger tributes to whimper in fright. Rain poured down from the heavens over a dark rainforest and in the distance, Luxe could hear the growl of a jaguar. The ceiling bore a terrifying, haunting image of the face of a jaguar, the jaguar's face slowly dropping closer towards the tributes with the help of a pulley system implemented by the Gamemakers. Several dark corridors dimly lit with glowing torches led away from the room, each being the source of several daunting noises ghosting about in the air. In short, it was the perfect adventurer's playground for Luxe. He positioned himself to make a quick dash for the knives, licking his lips in anticipation. The gong rang and the adventure was officially beginning at long last! Luxe hopped off his pedestal and made a mad dash for the altar. The adrenaline was pumping wildly in his heart and he was loving every second of it. Luxe was the first to reach the altar. He scooped up a pair of knives and threw them at the stumbling, whimpering pair from Twelve. He grimaced a little when they cried out in agony before crumbling to the ground, horrified by the thought of stealing the life of a fellow explorer, but he didn't let it spoil his mood. He grabbed another pair of knives and used them to fend off the onslaught of tributes charging forward. The boy from Seven grabbed his arm and tried to bring the courageous explorer down, but Luxe wasn't going down so easily. The boy snarled like a jaguar, threatening to end Luxe's quest before it had even begun. Luxe was having none of it, though. This was a rival bandit, as Crystal had so rightly pointed out, and Luxe was not going to submit to this outrageous bastard. He swiped his knife at the boy's face and he crumbled to the ground, bleeding out like a wounded beast. Luxe finished him off with his other knife. Even the worst of villains in his quest did not deserve a slow, painful death equivalent to horrific torture. The girl from Ten was slowly creeping up behind him, machete in her hand, ready to strike. Luxe swung around and kicked her back. "This quest is mine!" he declared, readying his knife for the final kill but Glow beat him to it with her bow and arrow. The arrow struck the rancher girl's temple and she was gone. Glow sneered, thinking that Luxe would be utterly pissed off that she had stolen his kill, stolen his honour, stolen his noble glory. In reality, Luxe didn't care. He was actually extremely grateful. In this story, he was the brave adventurer, the hero, the knight in shining armour, not the villainous killer that threatened to kill brave explorers like him and the girl from Ten. Besides, his kill count of three was more than enough for Luxe. He hadn't exactly been raised in a strictly noble family, you know. The Jaguar Room Massacre was complete, with twelve bitter rivals lying dead on the ground. Luxe was edging closer and closer to reaching the golden idol, or rather, the Victor's crown.
Part 4: The Corridor of Traps!
It was the second day and the ancient temple arena was proving to be larger than what the tributes had initially thought. One of the four corridors leading away from the Jaguar Room led to the temple courtyard, an outdoor space with cobbled steps and large, crumbling ruins of pillars with fading images of wild beasts and epic heroes on them. Beyond the courtyard was the vast, open jungle, filled with deadly jaguars, snakes, bugs and mosquitoes, plus snares dangling from trees and a return of the famed and highly popular winged snakes. Not to mention, it was constantly raining. The rainwater wasn't even safe to drink. The boy from Nine's stomachaches proved just that. The expansive jungle was cut off by a circular river, with gushing whitewater rapids. Lurking beneath the waters were vicious piranhas, stingrays, electric eels and bull sharks, just waiting for an unlucky tribute to fall into the river and make for an easy snack. It was pure hell on earth for anyone who had the misfortune of going down that corridor. They were unable to return to the Cornucopia, as the Careers were still there. So, the boy from Nine, the boy from Ten and the girl from Eleven were trapped in the wild outdoors, at Mother Nature's, or rather, the Gamemakers', mercy. The boy from Nine's stomachaches slowed his progress and the mosquitoes certainly didn't help. He was down with malaria on the first night and succumbed to a vicious attack by several rogue monkeys who ravaged him with fruit and rocks, so many that his skull eventually cracked from the ongoing melee.
Meanwhile, Luxe and his band of explorers, all of whom had thankfully survived the Bloodbath, were creeping up down the second corridor, weapons raised, wary of traps and tributes hiding around. Outside, the rain and thunder raged on, making it hard for anyone to hear themselves think, let alone talk. The ground was muddy and slippery, hardly the ideal terrain to walk on. Glow had already slipped and fallen on her bum twice. By the time the Careers entered a corridor with images of ancient gods and sacred rituals being performed, everyone was frustrated and slowly losing focus. Not Luxe, though. The excitable adventure junkie was cool as ever, having no qualms about the unfavourable conditions, having been there several times before on his fabled expeditions. He was quite enjoying this grand temple, tracing his hand along the stone walls, touching the ancient stone relics, at one point even finding a secret compartment built into the wall containing a fedora, a pair of boots and two extra bottles of water. He wore the fedora and boots eagerly, grinning broadly as he marched forward in his new outfit worthy of a true adventurer, ignoring the eye rolls and groans from his band of explorers around him. Glow pushed past him and stormed forward, an exasperated, mad look in her otherwise stunning blue eyes. "Come on," she barked at Luxe. "We can't afford to waste time on silly fedoras! We need to-" Her sentence finished with a silent scream as two large blades swung in from the ceiling, only a mere millimetre away from slicing up her face. She stood, rooted to the spot, frozen and deathly pale from shock and fright. Luxe wielded his knives, looking around cautiously for more traps. The other Careers followed suit, slowly moving forward across the corridor. Mars stepped on a loose rock and all of a sudden, a flurry of darts flew at them. Luxe only managed to duck at the very last second, heaving a big sigh of relief as he did. Mars however, had been hit in the shoulder by one of the darts, groaning and howling in pain, clutching his shoulder and rolling about. Luxe reached into his backpack for a first aid kit. A smarter tribute would have just killed him, annihilating a big threat, but Luxe was an explorer, not a serial murderer. When one of his band went down, he always made saving them his top priority.
"Hold still," he told Mars, bending down to pull out the dart but Mars didn't listen. He just rolled about like a ball, rolling on until he triggered another trap, a trapdoor that led to a pool of hungry piranhas. Luxe backed away quickly, grimacing at the horrific screams down the trapdoor. The cannon boom made him jolt. His foot stepped on a barely visible lever and another trapdoor opened. But it wasn't underneath Luxe. It was underneath Malta, who screamed at the top of her lungs as she plummeted to a spiky death. Luxe's eyes widened. Realising what he had just done, he held his head in his hands, more horrified than ever. "I-I didn't mean to-" His voice was lost in his throat, the words burning up to embers before they could even be uttered. This adventure was taking a really dark turn.
Part 5: The Anaconda Room!
Five days of walking down lonely corridors has a tendency to bring down even the most optimistic tributes, especially with the constant downpour and growls of jaguars from outside. There was a strong, depressing stench of pessimism in the temple arena, one that wiped the initial excited smile off of Luxe's face. The life had been suckled out of him and he wandered around, a shadow of the adventurer he once was. He kept on reminding himself that this was just a low point in the expedition. Who knew, a jaguar might leap out of nowhere and make things exciting again! But all that came out was the starving boy from Ten, who had wandered in through an underground passage between the intense jungle and the temple filled with large, hairy spiders that had scared the shit out of him. He begged for a quick death, one Luxe was more than willing to give. Glow and Atalanta moaned and grumbled that they didn't get to carve the meat factory worker boy to shreds. Don was a lot more queasy about the killing than the Career girls, he just sat back and looked away as Luxe stabbed the boy from Ten's chest. The night had been plagued by a mixture of nightmares and bullet ants. Glow had been stung by those awful ants, which caused her arm to begin swelling horribly. Luxe managed to fix it up, a true adventurer must be good at administering first aid, after all, in order to help his comrades, but she was still rather drowsy at times because of it, activating several trapdoors and punji stick traps that thankfully did not hurt any of them. Don would often bark at her when a punji stick trap suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but hey, it was all just a part of the adventure, right?
Meanwhile, the girl from Eleven had found a way back into the temple through a network of underground crystal caves after being chased into them by jaguars, winged snakes and rabid macaws, a living nightmare once the macaws started swooping in and pecking at your head. She survived and crawled her way through the caves, reaching a room about half the size of the Jaguar Room. It looked pretty similar to the Jaguar Room, except all the jaguar carvings were replaced by that of anacondas, with hissing noises echoing through the room for dramatic effect. The altar in this room was not made of gold, but rather, iron. Apparently Snow wanted to limit the gold usage in Panem unless it was for his own selfish luxurious pleasures. There were only two entrances, one was the trapdoor, the other a stone door that, with the push of a brown button covered with vines on the outside, could be sealed shut with a sliding slab of rock. In the centre of the room was a large, glowing green emerald, about the size of one of those fruit crates from back home in District Eleven. There was a pulley system attached to it and the farmer girl looked around frantically, anticipating traps. Luckily for her, it was just the boy from Three, a relatively strong eighteen-year-old engineer who had agreed to be her ally back when they were in the Training Centre. They had become separated after the Bloodbath, but here they were, ready to hatch a plan to stop the Careers once and for all.
Luxe trod carefully. The floors of this particular corridor were flooded with rainwater and mud and it in critical need of repair and restoration. Cracks had begun to form and he often found himself stepping into the wet, damp soil of the jungle. This wasn't a good sign. Luxe had read enough adventure novels to know that at any point of time, snakes and bugs could burrow their way in from the outside through the soil and enter the temple, posing a real threat to their lives. So far he had only come across some earthworms, larger than what he, or anyone else in Panem for that matter, had ever seen, since they were genetically modified to be as big as half of Luxe's shoe, but they were otherwise harmless and didn't try to disturb the Careers. Once, Glow found a diamond jutting out of the ground and she excitedly went over to pick it up, but Luxe stopped her just in time. "It's a trap," he told her. "It's there to lure greedy explorers to their deaths. We're smart explorers. We aren't going to fall for that." He was right. It turned out, pulling that diamond would unleash a downpour of chlorosulfuric acid stored in the ceiling, which would react violently with the water, killing off the tributes. If that somehow didn't do the trick, well, Luxe hadn't seen them, but large, lethal spiders were waiting in their cobwebs on the ceiling, ready to strike down the Careers. Nevertheless, they dodged a fatal bullet, one that would prematurely end Luxe's great adventure. And nobody wanted that to happen, right? Just then, the girl from Eleven came into view, looking like a lost deer, glancing around warily, trembling like a leaf. Luxe's eyes widened and he took out his knives before adjusting his fedora. The adventure was kicking along again! "Get her!" Glow roared, charging after the girl, who shrieked when she saw the incoming Careers and bolted away. Luxe followed suit, throwing a knife at the girl but she swerved, dodging it just in the nick of time. She was one quick bandit, wasn't she? Luxe ran and ran, at one point even stepping on a rat and squishing it to death but he hardly noticed. Here was his chance to edge closer to the golden idol of victory! The girl from Eleven made a sharp turn and Glow stumbled into a red pillar depicting an ancient monkey god, effectively kissing the monkey god, who had a look of confusion on his ancient and crumbling face. She cursed and glared murderously at the girl from Eleven. "Come on, let's tear her to bits!" Luxe wasn't too sure about the 'tear her to bits' part but he was happy to keep on running. The girl hopped over the rotting carcass of a capybara, flies swarming around it and entered the Anaconda Room. Luxe saw the boy from Three crouching behind the altar, his hands clammy as he tugged at a rope, all too easily. He screamed at his fellow explorers to stop, warning them of the smart bandit hiding in a corner. Glow and Don screeched to a halt but Atalanta charged on. Luxe had no choice. He threw a knife straight into the witty bandit boy from Three's chest, but not before he released the rope, dropping the green emerald on top of Atalanta's head, crushing her to a bloody pulp. Two cannons boomed. Luxe gulped, grimacing as the once pristine emerald was soaked a deep shade of crimson with the blood of a crushed tribute. The girl from Three ripped a torch out of the walls and was about to hurl it at the frozen Luxe when Don flung his spear at her, the spear piercing through her windpipe and killing her in a flash. Quick and easy. But the torch had slipped out of her hands, and now, the entire room was bursting into flames. The fire was oil-based, so the water only made its ravaging rage even fiercer. Balls of burning flame spewed across the room, engulfing everything, including the emerald, in its burning blaze of destruction.
"Let's get out of here!" Don shouted, hauling Luxe and Glow along with him. Luxe didn't object. He adjusted his fedora once more and ran off, only stopping when he accidentally stepped on a vine trap, but he had run right through it, so it didn't affect him. They're just bandits, he reminded himself. They pose a serious threat to your adventure! But both he and Crystal knew, they were far from bandits. They were fellow explorers, all of whom just desperate for the golden idol, not meaning any harm in the process.
Part 6: The Treasure Trove!
Ten days of evading traps had the power to turn everyone into desperate, almost mindless beings, even the wily adventurer Luxe. He was a lot more careless when he walked through corridors, a lot less aware of traps and mutts. Once, he'd stepped on a blatantly obvious lever, releasing a brood of winged snakes into their corridor. His knife-throwing skills had been enough to fend them off, but Glow had been hurt, suffering a minor blow on her ankle. Nothing Luxe couldn't fix, but the searing pain irked Glow to no end and she began screaming and cursing in rage, demanding an end to these horrible Games. Her screaming and reckless stomping only succeeded in smacking a nest of tracker-jackers and starting a long chase, which thankfully ended when Don activated yet another trap, bursting forth a wall of red hot flames, separating the buzzing and furious tracker-jackers from the exhausted Careers. Luxe was seriously hyperventilating, struggling to catch his breath. The long, endless chases and escape runs had taken its toll on him. His chest beat like a loud, painful drum in his ribcage, almost like the loud, tribal drum that could be heard in the distance, along with loud chanting and the sound of spears clashing. These were just sound effects being broadcast over a loudspeaker, but to Luxe and all the other explorers left in the temple arena, they sounded all too real. Not to mention, it was hard to sleep with all that noise. Plus, the jaguar growls and loud peals of thunder hadn't exactly died out. Luxe, Don and Glow stumbled through the corridors, just hoping that either the boy from Five or the girl from Six would pop out and beg to be killed. That obviously didn't happen. The mental tiredness only made the carvings and frescoes on the walls seem to come alive. At one point, the Careers were running from a jaguar, only to whirl around and realise that it hadn't actually existed. Don bumped into a stone pillar depicting a wild hunter and began thrusting his spear into it like a crazed, ravaged wild beast, only to find out from an agitated Luxe that it was just a pillar. Eventually, on the eleventh day, when they were all weary and willing to almost kill each other just to get this over with, it showed up. A treasure trove, right in front of their eyes. It was a grand, large room, larger than even the Jaguar Room. All across the walls were fading murals of gods and goddesses, jaguars and anacondas, farmers and kings. The ceiling was adorned with jewels and diamonds, with the large, gaping face of a regal ancient king towering over the trove. And of course, the main attraction. The treasure itself. Pools of gold bars, seas of silver bars, stacks of golden crowns, lakes of tiaras and diadems, rivers of rubies, ponds of emeralds, towers of crystals, mountains of sapphires, hills of diamonds, a vast array of sophisticated and mystical-looking weapons, and many more, all just waiting for a tribute to come to claim them. It was the most blatantly obvious trap Luxe had ever seen, a major cliché in his adventure books. The gold always attracted the greediest of explorers, luring them into one, final deadly trap. Don and Glow, under normal circumstances, would have realised this too. They weren't dumb, after all. However, their minds mere muddled by days of being kicked about in the arena. They could no longer think straight. All they saw was the treasure sitting like a pretty princess right in front of them, desirable as ever. "Guys, no!" Luxe yelled but just like what happened with Atalanta, he was far too late. The exhausted pair of tributes entangled with madness and greed took one final charge at the treasure, both of them taking a good swan dive into its opened arms, welcoming their presence, before their bodies seared red with burning pain and all that was left were two skeletons, their skulls lost in their final, terrifying, shrill screams for help. Luxe hadn't been able to do anything in all of this. He just stared in horror, watching the last of his noble band of explorers die a gruesome and excruciatingly painful demise. "Guys..." he made out, his voice barely a low, inaudible whisper. The excitement of the adventure had gone out, all that was left was an empty shell that wanted to go home.
Part 7: The Golden Idol!
Fifteen days in this arena had the power to work its magic on everyone. The girl from Six, lost in her morphling withdrawal, fainted constantly, her long drifts into unconsciousness pillaged with nightmares of jaguars and piranhas ravaging her body. When the Gamemakers allowed a couple of jaguars into the temple, they targeted her first. She squealed as she ran, her little sticks of legs barely fast enough to evade the jaguars, who were slowed down by the snares and nets that had been put into place around the corridors. The girl seemed to be close to escape, until she slipped and triggered a trapdoor. She screamed as she fell into a chute, sliding all the way underground, before being deposited into the murky waters of the river, where the piranhas, sharks and alligators welcomed her with open jaws. There wasn't much left of her, just a few scattered bone fragments and a slice of her left ear that had been left uneaten, but burnt by the electric eels. That meant that in order to complete his quest, all Luxe had to do was find the boy from Five and kill him. In such a large arena, that was easier said than done. What he did find, though, was a large room. It was equivalent to the size of the Jaguar Room, with marble pillars and frescoes depicting ancient heroes and serpentine beings. At the far end was a throne, bronze and covered in spikes, striking fear into the hearts of all who dared try and sit on it. But the main prize was the golden idol, one that resembled the head of a monkey, baring its teeth as it sat on a stone pedestal. Snow had put it there himself, planning on taking it back after the Games and smelting it. But for now, Luxe had his eyes fixed on that one, precious prize, the ultimate end goal for a brave and heroic explorer. He completely forgot that his end goal should be to kill the boy from Five. He just approached the pedestal, lost in his own timeless adventure. As soon as his hands clasped around the golden trophy, an arrow fizzed by, narrowly missing his head by an inch. He dropped the idol, turning on his heels and finding the boy from Five with his bow and arrow, trembling as he tried to take out a second arrow from his torn and tattered quiver. His arm was bleeding, thanks to a vicious brood of winged snakes, and he had just recently come down with malaria. He was in no shape to fight. Luxe whipped out his knife and made it quick. The cannon boomed and the adventure was over. Luxe never thought he would ever think of it this way, but oh boy, he sure was glad that he could finally go home! His chaotic Carmichael noble family seemed a lot less chaotic now that he had ventured into the arena. For once, he was ready to go home.
Katniss and Peeta had a moment of silence for Luxe. "You know," Peeta said. "I think I remember now. His arena was an ancient temple of sorts."
"Must've been horrible," Katniss muttered. "Indoor arenas are usually flooded with traps."
Peeta nodded. "Yeah. We got a pretty decent arena in comparison, you know? We never had to run from too many traps."
There was nothing much to add on, so Peeta flipped the page and they moved on. The next Victor was a classically beautiful girl with blonde hair styled with Dutch braids. Her eyes were a glowing hazel, illuminating in the emptiness of her face. She looked fragile, almost torn. Her lips were sealed tightly, her palms sweaty, her legs blurry in the photo due to their nonstop trembling. "Geneva Cooper."
VICTORS
District 1-Sapphire Huntington(4), Onyx Hibonite(9), Franc Montgomery(14), Crystal Montgomery(21), Sterling Jones(25), Luxe Carmichael(36)
District 2-Ragnar Sveinsson(5), Reyna Boudicca(6), Draco Hadley(10), Scipio MacAllister(17), Freya Carson(22), Hercules Nichols(28)
District 3-Nikola Johnson(13), Gadget Schroeder(24)
District 4-Marina Bluebell(1), Mags Flanagan(11), Jolien Fisher(31), Timmy Fisher(32), Iris Fisher(33), Rafael Fisher(34)
District 5-Shocker Crimson(8), Switch Kim(19), Flash Morrison(27)
District 6-Ford Hamilton(20)
District 7-Hassan Greenwood(2), Jill Wilson(15), Olive Sanchez(26), Birch Davison(35)
District 8-Woof Casino(16)
District 9-Gwendolyn Whitfield(18), Laurel Flamsteel(29)
District 10-Ringo Alvarez(7), John Gatwick(23)
District 11-Orchid Bloom(12), Seeder Crue(30)
District 12-Axel Millar(3)
A/N: Well, hope you enjoyed that wild temple arena and Luxe! That arena was honestly my favourite to write about, since it was inspired by the Amazon, ancient pre-colonial temples in the Americas, the Temple Run game and a bunch of other things that I've read about! As usual, pls review and don't forget to head over to my profile page and vote on the two polls that I've posted there for better Victor content! Oh, and apologies, but I think I may eventually have to slow the updates to a weekly basis eventually, depending on future circumstances as my life is pretty messy at this stage, but hey, I'll try my best! I'm hoping to complete this entire story before my fifteenth birthday, which is March next year, and I hope I can post the final conclusion chapter then as kind of a grand finale on my birthday so yeah, we'll see:) Thanks to everyone who's been there since day one, you've really been very supportive and I can't thank you enough for taking the time to read this! Cheers:)