Chapter 44: Cartier Cooper

A/N: District One is back and this time it's Cartier, a Victor that at first glance, doesn't immediately seem like a conventional Career from One. He's only sixteen and not exactly the best of fighters. Nothing really screams 'Victor', he's unique, but not in the way that would single him out amongst the ever-expanding Victors Circle. Oh, but if you think he's going to back down now, oh boy, you're in for a real shocker...

P.S. Thanks Willuna for your arena idea! This is a modified version of it but it's still pretty similar!

P.S.S. I took some inspiration from Maze Runner and Harry Potter, I don't own those either, all credit for THG, HP and TMR goes to their original authors and filmmakers.

P.S.S.S. Thanks Cartier (cartierscrown) for helping me out with the last few chapters, so as kind of a 'thank you', here's a chapter about a Victor with your name! I put in a whole lot of effort for this so appreciate it lol. Now then, without further ado, let's get back to the story...

Katniss raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't this kid Reaped?"

Peeta nodded. "Yeah. Strange. That doesn't happen too often in District One."

Katniss peered carefully at the boy's face. "He loos like Geneva. Was he her brother?"

Peeta frowned, scratching his chin. "Hmm, not too sure about that. Maybe we can ask the Ones later."

Katniss nodded. "I guess so."

Cartier Cooper

District One

Aged 16

4 Kills

The nobles of District One were starting to wake up to face the reality. Or at least the Ashtons did. They had completely pulled out of the Career Academy, not wishing to risk their children's lives any further, considering their horrible luck in these bloody Games. They were mocked and ridiculed for being weak, when in fact, they were the smartest and ultimately the ones who deserved honour the most, owing to their pivotal role in the later Rebellion. The Carmichaels were still torn, two-thirds wanted out, a loyal third of the family still desired and hungered for glory. The Montgomeries were a hopeless case, to say the least. They were in full-on Career mode, going all out and taking advantage of other families' reluctance to achieve their own family glory, eager to once and for all cement their place at the top of the social pyramid of District One. The Coopers were a queer case, to say the least. They didn't want the honour, but they still competed in the Games year after year, although many of their kids had begun to pursue other interests completely unrelated to the Games. According to them, the only reason why they continued to train Careers was to prevent a Montgomery monopoly on the District. This noble family's actions seemed noble on the outside, but it was hard to tell just how true this was.

Cartier Cooper was, by all measures, a fairly average boy in the District. He wasn't the strongest, but he wasn't the weakest either. He could throw knives just fine, but he was nowhere near the top of the District rankings. Like all Ones, he was classically handsome, but there were others who were far better-looking than him. It didn't matter for young Cartier, though. He had no interest in these Games. All he wanted to do was stay home and make watches. Yep, that was his uniqueness. He was a watchmaker. Usually, the nobles would hire labourers to do the work but Cartier didn't need labourers. He was the best watchmaker in the entire District. He even managed to start his own watchmaking company, one called 'Cartier', which also sold bracelets and other luxury goods, all crafted by the young boy from the Cooper family. It was a welcome change to the system. The noble children were finally learning some skills that weren't bossing people around or beating up servants. Cartier was actually well-loved by many in the District and was one of his parents' favourite children, if not the favourite child. He never took that attention to heart, though. The boy was still young, after all, he couldn't be complacent. He sat in his little workshop in the Cooper family mansion, crafting his little trinkets with the most delicate of hands and the choicest of tools, humming quietly but happily to himself as he did so. Life was good for Cartier.

But it wouldn't always be that way.

The Reaping of the 44th annual Hunger Games was a mixed affair for District One. The nobles were excited, eager to see their kids step up and take on the challenge, even if statistically, the odds of those kids actually coming home were pretty poor, to say the least. The chances were bleak, especially with their kids' arrogant, cocky attitudes, but that wouldn't deter them from volunteering. The common folk were rather bored with this. There was nothing in it for them, except that their kids wouldn't have to go into the arena. But for every Victor the nobles plucked out of the arena, the nobles would only get cockier and be harsher with their treatments. They simply watched on, silently, without many reactions as the escort bounded up the stage, excitable as usual, swinging her prosthetic arms around. The escort had gotten into a car accident as a young girl, one that had killed her entire family and had left her without her arms. She was fairly sympathetic with the District and had gained their respect. The bouncy personality was just for the cameras, after all. Before the escort could even plunge her metallic arm into the girls' Reaping bowl, a girl's hand shot up and a voice screamed, "I VOLUNTEER!" From within the crowd, Cartier's older sister, Pandora Cooper, marched up the stage, a confident, deadly expression on her classically beautiful face. She introduced herself and threw some light banter at her siblings, who knew it was just harmless fun. Pandora was pretty caring towards her siblings. In some ways, she was similar to Jolien Fisher, although speaking of Victors from the other Career Districts was never the easiest topic for the people of District One. Then it was the boys' turn and where things began to twist. The escort pulled out a slip of paper.

"Cartier Cooper!"

Cartier looked up, a little stunned, but he was certain someone would soon take his place. He went up the stage. Any time now. He stood beside Pandora, who had a look of weird uncertainty on her face. Where was the volunteer? Cartier's palms began to sweat. "Where are you?" he hissed under his breath.

The escort looked around, pretty baffled herself. "Uh, any volunteers?"

No response. Shit! Cartier thought, his teeth beginning to chatter. Pandora gave him a wild look, before desperately facing the crowd and scanning the sea of faces, hoping to see a hand emerge from within. But there was no volunteer. "No..." Cartier whispered, his voice faltering and jittery.

"Well, then," the escort stammered, giving Cartier a pitiful look. "Shake hands, I guess." No one was smiling this time round.

Cartier looked up as Geneva clutched his shoulders. He was going to die, wasn't he? Well, at least he had managed to write out his will, giving the shares of the Cartier company to his brother Luxurius. But what about him? Was he ready to die? The answer was absolutely heck no! Geneva sat down beside him, a mourning look in her eyes. Few people knew this, but Geneva was his older sister. She was supposed to mentor Pandora, but given the circumstances, Pandora had told her to mentor him instead, the Cooper girl opting to be mentored by Franc. Cartier buried his face in his hands, feeling as though his life's work had amounted to nothing. He was still going to die in that stupid arena! "How are you feeling, Cart?" Geneva asked, twirling a piece of rope around her fingers. It was something she had been doing ever since she had come out as Victor, a form of therapy, according to Gwen, to take her mind off of the horrors of the arena.

Cartier gave Geneva a desperate look. "I'm gonna die."

Geneva shook her head. "No. That's not true. We've seen surprise Career Victors before like Coral and Iris."

"Both of whom were from District Four," Cartier groaned.

Geneva frowned. "So?"

"They seem to have an unlimited supply of Hunger Games luck," Cartier spat, collapsing on his bed. There was hardly any hope for him. He wasn't even sure if he would be allowed into the Career pack. Maybe this was the end of the line for Cartier Cooper. Life just wasn't fair, was it?

A change of plans had been made this year. Instead of meeting out on the train platform as usual, Draco had requested, well, ordered, that all of the Career tributes and all of the Victors from One, Two and Four hold a meeting on the second floor every year upon their arrival in the Capitol, away from all the screaming paparazzi and armies of journalists. Some, like Sapphire, Reyna and Rafael, were appalled that they too were summoned, seeing that they were of little to no use around the Career pack. But Draco had ordered them to do so, the repercussions for disobedience were harsh, to say the least. A slight delay in the train's arrival had meant that the group from District One were the last to arrive. When Cartier stepped into the second floor, the floor of the tributes from Two, the first thing he noticed was just how loud Draco was in real life. He was pretty loud on screen, but in real life, his bossy, frighteningly intimidating tone seemed to echo and boom for miles away, drowning all who were within hearing range with a sense of despair and terror. He was chiding Coral Thiller, the cute Victor girl from Four, who had won with a spectacular finale, in Cartier's opinion. But now, Coral shrank into herself, cowering as Draco loomed over her, sneering like a madman. "I heard that your boyfriend dumped you," Draco snarled.

"Charlie, he..." Coral stammered, clearly terrified of this gigantic beastly Career Victor. They had broken up? For a split second, something fluttered in Cartier's heart, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.

"And only one person has ever, ah, invited, you. Because you're too ugly," Draco growled, edging closer and closer towards Coral. Coral winced, her eyes puffy red from crying, her lips quivering.

Rafael stepped boldly in front of Draco, although his eyes painted a different picture. "Y-you st-stay away f-from h-her."

"Ooh, trying to be brave, are you?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "Well, you do know who the tributes from One are this year, right? And what happened to their sister, hmm? Their sister who had gone into the arena before Geneva. Their sister," Draco leaned in, snarling every word quietly and icily for emphasis. "Who you killed."

It had taken a while for Cartier to place Rafael, but now he remembered who he was. The boy who had killed Cartier's eldest sister Sublime. Cartier had been too young to remember that moment and he had only ever heard that story once when Geneva was drunk, but it had resonated through his memory. It wasn't the boy's fault, but perhaps, it was for the best that his Games were never to be remembered. But Cartier's main focus somehow drifted back to Coral. She was seventeen, only a year older than him, and regardless of what Draco had said, looked pretty cute, to be honest. Again, that fluttering feeling came back, but he still couldn't quite place it. There wasn't time to either, because the meeting had finally begun. To Cartier's relief, he would be allowed into the pack, and so would the young boy from Four. The rest was just tactics and some talk about honour and blah blah blah, Cartier couldn't bring himself to pay attention. After the meeting though, Geneva came up to him, a sly look on her face. Cartier scowled. "What?"

"I saw you looking at Coral," Geneva whistled.

Cartier glared at her. "Oh, shut up. I have other priorities."

Training only served to prove that the Career pack this year wasn't going to be very strong. The pair from Two, Brave and Justinia, were sworn enemies from birth, constantly arguing and more than ready to slit each other's throats. The girl from Four's aunt had been killed in the Games by a Cooper and her family bore a serious grudge. "I can't wait to slice you to bits," she hissed at Cartier, who reeled away and headed for the opposite side of the Training Centre swiftly to avoid this vengeful girl. The boy from Four seemed nice at first glance, but he kept shooting dirty looks at Brave and Pandora for some weird reason. Cartier wasn't sure he could trust him either.

"I don't think we should be in the pack," Pandora muttered during breakfast on the second day.

"Yeah," Cartier agreed, screwing some nuts and making a crude watch from materials the Capitol had so 'generously' provided. "Everyone hates everyone. It's utter chaos." He shuddered, thinking of the girl from Four throwing a knife at him, before sarcastically apologising for her 'miss'. Like total idiots, the Capitolian trainers had believed her but Cartier hadn't. He could see the burning malice in her eyes. It terrified him.

"Sure, no problem," Franc said.

"We can always have a solely District One alliance," Geneva said, thrusting her fork into a slice of salmon.

Pandora frowned. "How about we include that girl from Ten into our alliance? She seemed strong and she's relatively nice."

Geneva shook her head. "Violet Valderrama-Ramirez? Nah, she seems shady to me."

Pandora shrugged. "I don't think so. VR didn't seem too bad in training."

"I overheard VR talking with John, actually," Cartier piped up, looking up from his steak. "She's plotting to kill us."

Pandora frowned. "You sure, Cart?"

Cartier nodded. "Positive. She's a major threat, that girl."

"Good work, Cartier," Franc told him, grinning. "We've just dodged a major bullet thanks to you."

The next day, the final decision was made. The Fours had their chats with Marina and Coral while the Twos had their huge brawl with Draco with Brutus standing by, unsure of what to do. But in the end, the decision was a unanimous one. The usual Career alliance, the one that was so greatly anticipated every single year by the Capitolian audience, was off the cards this year. The decision was met with cheers from the Outlier tributes and a slew of complaints from the Careers' strong, iron-clad fanbase, or the Career Military, as they called themselves. That night, Draco was the receiving end of a mountain of hate comments on his numerous social media accounts, including Coriobook, Snowr, Capitolgram and TikSnowTok. It wasn't an easy or comfortable decision for any of the people involved, but it would prove to be the right one to ensure a Career went home. Cartier wasn't sure if that Career would be him, though. Pandora was far more popular and was a lot stronger. Besides, Geneva had told him about the trauma of the Games and the VPR. He wasn't sure he wanted to dive headfirst into either of those miseries. "Maybe if I just die and let Pandora win," he mused, tinkering with his newly-made watch. "It'll all be easier for me."

The Gamemakers knew that there would be no Career alliance this year and had designed the area to suit the occasion. As Cartier's launch tube went up, he saw a faint, dim light above him, a stark contrast from the bright sunshine that had greeted the tributes from the past five Hunger Games. He frowned. He could only hope that the arena was some sort of giant workshop. Maybe then he could win. As his pedestal clicked into place, it became evident that his hopes for a workshop arena were in vain. The Cornucopia was in a dimly-lit marble room and was filled with nothing but huge backpacks and golden bracelets plus a couple of primordial-looking brown clubs made of wood, hardly the ideal weapons for a Career but it promised to be an extra bloody Bloodbath. On Cartier's left was Violet, more commonly known as VR for her surname. The ranch girl from Ten gave him a cold, hard stare and although she was no Mare, it still sent a light shiver down the watchmaker boy's spine. On Cartier's right was the girl from Twelve, who looked fairly sleepy and was thinner than a piece of wire. Pandora was four pedestals to his left. Not the ideal scenario, but still better than being a full eleven pedestals away, on the opposite side of the Cornucopia clearing. But the most striking feature wasn't the Cornucopia. It was how tributes were supposed to get out. There were twenty-four doors, each with a certain tribute's name on its frame. Cartier's was right behind him, as was Pandora's. He scowled, his mind racing to figure out its meaning but he didn't need to think. Caesar gave away the answer right off the bat.

"Attention tributes," Caesar's relatively youthful voice, now getting thicker and deeper as he aged, boomed. "You are only permitted to enter the door with your name on it. If you enter a door that is not yours, your tracker will detonate. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour."

"Oh shit," Cartier cursed under his breath, giving Pandora an uneasy look. Great. Now, assuming he made it out of the Bloodbath, he would be stranded and all alone, without Pandora or even VR, fighting on his own unless he could miraculously find Pandora, a scenario that didn't look too likely. He sighed, hopelessness rising within him. It would really be so freaking easy to just jump off... No. That wasn't the way to go, was it? That would devastate Pandora. Cartier had to make sure he stayed alive to keep her morale high. He readied his stance. Straight in, grab a backpack, some of those bracelets, bash someone's head, run. A simple enough routine on paper, not quite as easy to follow when your life was at risk. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. The gong rang and he made a mad dash for the nearest backpack and pile of bracelets. To his relief, VR had run past him, straight into the heart of the Cornucopia, where the bigger backpacks were. Cartier scooped a red backpack and some bracelets up before getting up and bumping straight into the girl from Twelve. He raised his bracelet and brought it down on her head as hard as he could. Just like Geneva, just do it! he told himself, trying to ignore the fact that his sister had been a spoiled, sadistic bratty killer during her Bloodbath, before Sceptre died and changed everything for her. The bracelet struck the girl and she fell to her knees, blood pouring out from the wound. Cartier raised his arm and repeated this bashing, over and over until he was absolutely certain the miner girl was dead. He stood up and scanned the ongoing melee for Pandora but she was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she had already run into her tunnel? He couldn't be sure but he had to get out. Just then, the boy from Five tumbled into him, snarling at him as he raised a thermos above Cartier's head. "Ah, shit!" Cartier groaned. He used all the strength he ever had and pushed. The boy toppled over and the tables were turned. Cartier rolled over and raised his bracelet, bringing it down on the nuclear engineer boy's head repeatedly, trying to make the kill as quick as possible. He heard a sickening, cracking noise, like someone crunching on a potato chip. Jerking backwards, he gaped in horror as red, gory material began to tumble out of the dead boy's head. This wasn't him! He was just a boy who wanted nothing more than to be a successful watchmaker! But there was no time to mourn for the boy. The girl from Four had spotted him and charged her way towards Cartier, bloody red bracelets in hand. "Okay, time to get out!" Cartier declared, making a run for the door with his name. The girl from Four flung a bracelet at him, the girl who recreationally played frisbee sending her bracelet flying into Cartier's ankle. He howled in pain, his pace slowing down considerably as blood trickled out of his sock. Just then, a loud explosion filled his ears, sending all of the tributes, including Cartier, flying to the ground. He looked up, massaging his bruised back, dumbfoundedly muttering, "What the-" The drugged girl from Six had tried to follow her District partner despite his firm protests, and just as Caesar had warned them, she had been blown to bits by the Gamemakers in one big explosion. From within the Gamemakers' Room, someone had accidentally turned the volume to its maximum right as the tracker was detonated, sending Gamemaker Luna tumbling to the ground, clutching her ringing ears as Head Gamemaker Alecto screamed in fury. Back in the arena, Cartier noticed that the girl from Four was clutching her ears, just like Luna was many miles away in the Capitol. He didn't waste any time in making his escape.

As Cartier wandered through the arena, twelve cannons boomed in the distance, but Cartier didn't pay much attention to that. He was more concerned about the fact that his arena was a gigantic freaking maze. The door he had run into had led to a small room, with a door that further led out to a porch and a fenced yard with a wheelbarrow and a small shed full of tracker-jacker mutts. Cartier had barely managed to shut the shed door in time. Beyond the yard was a colossal hedge maze, with thick green shrubbery that rose high above the brown soil. They were at least ten times Cartier's height and occasionally emitted strange lighting and produced weird noises. No chance anyone was scaling those walls. The ground was muddy and filled with disgusting earthworms that made the noble, proper Cartier belch. At least heh had insect repellent in his backpack so those pesky mosquitoes buzzing around wouldn't bother him. Aside from the insect repellent, he had also found a bottle of water, a chocolate bar, some bandages and a whole host of metallic trinkets and tools. Cartier could recognise those tools from anywhere. They were top-grade watchmaking materials, perfect for making an expensive, branded Cartier watch. Which was exactly what he began to make as he navigated the maze. The watch would have a chain, so it could be swung around and the edges weren't as smooth as the bracelets. This watch was actually a far better weapon than any bracelet from the Cornucopia, provided you knew how to make it in the first place, something Cartier highly doubted many tributes could do. He grinned as he showed off his new weapon to the cameras. "See? District One will have a Victor this year!" He had been implying that Pandora would win, but the Capitolians didn't need to know that. They were more than happy to sponsor the young watchmaking Career some ham sandwiches and even some gummy bears, Cartier being a lot more grateful for the latter. It seemed like his time in the arena wouldn't be too bad, right?

Well, he was right.

Before the Griever mutt attacked him, that is. It was a large, dark, spider-like mutt. with many appendages such as spikes and rods. Its movements were like forward rolls, a queer movement that was never before seen in the mutt breeding community. Whenever they moved, they made a distinct clicking sound, one that woke Cartier up on the fifth day and alerted him of their presence. He got up and took out his two watches, now armed with metallic spikes dipped in a blue, acidic poison that had been sponsored to him. From the corner of his eye, he caught a reflection of light and turned towards it, before coming face-to-face with the Griever mutt, hands down the most horrific thing he had ever seen in his entire freaking life. "Oh, my..." he muttered, staring in a stunned sense of awe and terror at this ginormous creature, snarling and glaring down at him. Okay, this thing he definitely couldn't take down with just two watches.

Or could he?

Cartier dived just in time as a spike came pummeling towards him, shrieking loudly as he charged at the Griever, swinging his watches, aware that this was probably an extraordinarily stupid move. But hey, what was he supposed to do, run? That thing would probably outrun him at any rate. He slid to the left as another spike came at him. "Argh!" The Griever snarled, swerving around and charging at him but Cartier ducked and rolled between its legs as it charged headfirst into the hedge walls of the maze. He swung out his watches, giving the Griever two hard jabs. "Ha, take that!" he shouted, trying to sound brave but he really wasn't. The Griever snarled, its pupils diluting a little the poison. it spun around and charged at Cartier. A rod struck him in the shoulder and to his horror, there was a sickening crunch. "Yikes!" he yelped, dropping a watch. He made a run for the opposite hedge wall as the Griever lunged forward, stepping on and crushing the poisoned watch in the process, unknowingly injecting even more poison into its body. Cartier dived out of reach again as the Griever, once again, became stuck in the hedge wall. This time, though, a spear managed to scrape his knee. "Ow!" he screamed as blood spewed out. Cartier rolled forward, ending up underneath the beastly mutt, underneath its soft belly, and used his right arm to swing his watch at the Griever, striking it right in the heart. The Griever let out a loud screech, one that nearly burst Cartier's eardrums. Cartier rolled out of the way as the Griever came crashing to the ground, succumbing to the poison it had endured. He wiped his sweat, taking a sip of water but his shoulder still hurt like hell. Pain seared through it like a searing flame. "Mind sending some medicine, Geneva?" he begged, clutching his wounded shoulder as he sank to his knees, exhaustion taking its toll on the young watchmaker. No sooner had he uttered those words, a parachute came floating towards him, a vial of medicine inside it along with a note from Geneva.

Good job, Cartier! Keep going

-Geneva

Cartier smiled weakly. "Thanks, sis. Now, where the heck is Pandora?" Sadly, it turned out, Pandora was fighting a losing battle against the surprisingly strong pair from Four, who had her tied down and thrown straight into a Griever den to suffer a horrifically painful death. When Cartier saw her death portrait that night, he instantly dropped all his supplies and broke down in tears, letting all of his emotions out like a rushing river of pure melancholy. But what came after was nothing but pure grit and determination. Pandora was dead but he wasn't. He was going to do her proud or die in one big explosion of glory!

On the seventh day, Cartier's shoulder finally stopped hurting. The medicine had been an expensive one, which was why it was so effective. Cartier knew that his shoulder still required further professional treatment, but as far as he knew, there were no doctors in the arena. This would have to do for now, until he could get out and be treated by the Capitolian doctors. He had created a new watch to replace the one the Griever mutt had broken a couple of days prior, staining it with the exact same blue poison. Thankfully, as far as Cartier was concerned, there were no more Griever mutts running around trying to stab him for an easy meal. The poison took time to weigh down a large Griever mutt, but if applied on a human, the effects were pretty instant.

Or so it seemed.

Because there were other Griever mutts and they were pretty rampant throughout the arena. One had attacked the Fours the day before, slicing the boy to bits and leaving the girl with a very nasty sting in her thigh. It was excruciatingly painful but the pain was the least of her problems. It was the effects that went along with it. When Cartier came across her on the seventh day as he rounded a corner in the maze, his jaw nearly dropped. She looked completely different from the girl he had encountered in the Bloodbath several days ago. Her eyes were now bloodshot red and twitched uncontrollably, as if she had gone rabid. Her veins had turned a sickly shade of green, especially around the sting, which practically screamed of infection. Ugly red hives had broken out all over her skin, coating her body with fresh red lumps that itched to no end. Scars and bruises embellished her body, most of them being fresh and self-inflicted, her fingernails caked with grime and blood from all the scratching and self-harming. Cartier winced when he saw her. Sure, they had been enemies and they've had their differences, but still, seeing her now, in such a horrific state, it was hard to feel a pang of sympathy for her. Of course, this was all before he knew that she had been the one who had killed Pandora. He lost any respect for her after realising that. But for now, he gave her a pitiful look as she snarled, having lost any sense of humanity after a slew of nightmares in the middle of the night. The nightmares were harsh, tormenting her with her worst fears and memories, of her brother drowning after a tidal wave had struck, of her best friend being killed by pirates right in front of her own eyes, of Peacekeepers dragging her uncle away, screaming and kicking, to an unknown fate. She glared at Cartier with her murderous, bloodshot eyes, as if he were the cause of all her problems. She was beaten down, badly hurt, weakened.

But not defeated.

She waved her club, charging at Cartier while roaring a loud cry of anger. Cartier swung his watches, ready for a fight. The girl swung her club at his head. Cartier ducked and stuck out his leg to trip the girl, but she jumped at the last second. She struck out her club again, this time making light contact with Cartier's knee. He reeled back as the girl growled viciously, a wide sneer appearing on her mud-soaked face at the sight of Cartier in pain. Cartier gritted his teeth. This girl was going to be a hard one to beat but he wasn't giving up. He swung his poisoned watches, striking her in the waist. She screamed as the metal spikes drew blood, doubling backwards and clutching her torso. She threw her club at him. Cartier tried to dodge but it was too late. The club struck him in the head and he nearly blacked out as a result. That would have been almost certainly the nail on his coffin. A massive lump appeared on his head and he groaned in agony. He had never felt this much pain in his life, being from a noble family. He seethed, grabbing his watches and swiping at the girl, who was also on the ground, the effects of the poison turning her already greenish skin a more sickly, darker shade of unnatural green. The watches struck her, this time in the chest, ripping apart both cloth and flesh and drawing twin streams of oozing red blood, the red of her blood being of a pretty unnatural shade of maroon. She crumbled to the ground, crying and wailing about her misfortunes as Cartier looked on, a pitiful look on the young, noble watchmaker's face. He had never wanted to kill in his life. And yet, here he was, in the arena, with already his third kill of the Games. The girl's cries faltered and soon so did her heart. The cannon boomed as the poison finally did its job, draining the vengeful, miserable girl of her horrifically short life. Cartier walked over, knowing full well that the girl's pretty mentor Coral was watching. Wanting to make a decent enough impression, he bent down and shut the crazed, suffering girl's eyes. "Rest easy, Four," he whispered, giving the girl one final salute before he trudged away.

The final battle was set on the ninth day, after VR brutally beat up the girl from One's throat with her club, which, after an attack by a Griever mutt, was in a pretty bad state and reduced to half its original size. Hardly the ideal weapon to face a Career with poisoned watches like Cartier. The pair met at an intersection of the hedge maze, underneath a bright, moonlit sky filled with stars, stars that seemed to embody the lost souls of the tributes who had died in the arena, including Pandora. Cartier looked up and gazed longingly at one particularly bright star. "I'm coming home, Pandora," he vowed. "I'm going to win this!" The pair arrived at the intersection at the exact same time. In the centre was a stone pedestal with a bright, glowing trophy on top of it. The trophy was made of glass and steel and emitted a bright, baby blue light. VR, who the Capitol were starting to call Violet, against her wishes, smirked as she calmly approached Cartier. "Well, well, well," Violet snarled. "You've got yourself into a pretty tricky situation here, One."

Cartier glared at her. "I'm not giving up, Ten. I can beat you, I'm sure of it." In reality, he wasn't so sure himself, but he was just trying to make himself more confident.

Violet raised an eyebrow. "We'll see about that!" She raised her club and charged. Cartier swerved to his right as Violet's club smashed through the glass trophy, sending shards of sharp glass flying at him. A couple lodged themselves into his foot, leaving him writhing with pain. Glass in his foot. Exactly what he needed when fighting a strong girl from District Ten who had Mare as a mentor. Absolutely perfect. Cartier gritted his teeth and swung his watches but Violet ducked in time. She thrust her club forward again, this time hitting the hedge walls as Cartier rolled over to his side to dodge the powerful blow. As Violet struggled to get the club out of a tight entanglement of branches, Cartier raised his watches and swiped at her back. She screamed as the metal tore her flesh, unleashing a pool of blood. She hissed at him, swiftly whirling around and giving him a hard punch in the nose, enough to draw blood. Cartier winced as pain rippled like big waves through his face. He stumbled backwards, falling to the ground from the sheer pain of the shards of glass that tore into his foot. He threw a watch at Violet, hitting her square in the head. She howled in pain but wasn't giving up just yet. With one final desperate attempt to survive, she stuck out her foot and weakly kicked Cartier in the shin, which made him double backwards but didn't cause too much trouble. He struck her once more with his remaining watch, the poison seeping through her body like rushing rapids. She fell to the ground, blood pouring out in a steady stream and soon the cannon boomed. The trumpets began to sound and Cartier looked up, with a mixture of weariness and relief as he was announced as the year's Victor. It hadn't been easy and Pandora was gone, but at least he had made it out alive, something twenty-three other kids couldn't say.

"I did it," he murmured softly. "I won."

The party had been weird, with all the Capitol paparazzi crowding him like vultures, demanding his attention to ask some fairly stupid interview questions. Cartier had to make a beeline for the rooftop just to escape them. As he exited the elevator, he could see Olive, Rafael and Coral, huddled together, talking in quiet, hushed voices. Olive held her flute, arguably one of the most powerful arena weapons in Hunger Games history, something Cartier was very much aware of. They looked up and gasped when they saw him. Instantly, Olive raised her flute to her lips. Cartier stuck his fingers into his ears, hoping that he would not be hypnotised by this frankly intimidating girl. Coral and Rafael yelped, "No!" and swatted the flute out of her hands.

Olive gave them a wry smile. "Aw, that was the fun part!" Cartier highly doubted whether he and Olive would share the same definition of 'fun'. He approached extremely cautiously, now suddenly wary of the flautist Victor from District Seven. Olive caught his eye and smirked. "Well, I have a feeling we'll chat soon. See you later, Victor kiddo!" With that, she marched off, thankfully carrying her flute away from Cartier.

Rafael's gaze shifted between Coral and Cartier and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "The pain never stops," he hissed. "You'd do well to end it now and be with Pandora. I promise you-" He leaned closer and Cartier backed away as Rafael glared viciously into his eyes, the blue resembling a stormy sea. "-you will never be safe in Panem." He left after that.

Cartier blinked. "Uhh, what was that-"

"He doesn't exactly get along well with other Victors," Coral said quickly, fiddling with her hair in that cute manner. "And there's the PTSD. We were only fourteen when we won, the stress really gets to you." Her gaze lingered over the bright, loud clamour and parades below, a hint of longing sadness in them. "He might actually be right, you know. I can never get Strawberry out of my head..." Her voice began to falter and she choked back a sob. Cartier moved closer and slid his hand into hers. Her cheeks flushed but she didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, Olive and Rafael hadn't exactly left the scene. They had both hid behind a wall and were observing all of this unfold. Rafael rolled his eyes and signed, Ugh, love is strange.

Olive chuckled. "It would be for us. We're aromantic."

Rafael sighed. I'm not sure I like seeing my 'sister' flirting with a Career noble from One.

Olive clapped her hands. "Want me to hypnotise them?"

Rafael raised an eyebrow. That might actually be interesting to watch. Go ahead, then.

Olive smirked. "Great! Give me one minute to compose a song!"

Katniss and Peeta had their moment of silence for Cartier. "Must've been terrifying," Katniss remarked. "Being Reaped in a Career District like One. You wouldn't be expecting it one bit."

Peeta nodded. "Yeah, he probably wasn't prepared for the arena. But those poisoned watches were pretty cool."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Katniss's face. "That's one way of improvising in the arena, I guess. He's cool, I respect him."

"I'd respect anyone who came out of the arena alive," Peeta said. "Except Draco and Julia, of course."

There wasn't much else to say about Cartier so Peeta flipped the page and they moved on. Katniss gasped softly. The girl was definitely familiar to both of them. She had short, rough blonde hair and looked fairly tomboyish. She had dark, stormy eyes that glared ahead unrelentingly. Her arms were folded, almost challenging the crowd below her to a mass duel. Behind her, Reyna and Ragnar looked on with a look of utmost relief as they held each other's hand. "Lyme Sveinsson."

VICTORS

District 1-Sapphire Huntington(4), Onyx Hibonite(9), Franc Montgomery(14), Crystal Montgomery(21), Sterling Jones(25), Luxe Carmichael(36), Geneva Cooper(37), Cartier Cooper(44)

District 2-Ragnar Sveinsson(5), Reyna Boudicca(6), Draco Hadley(10), Scipio MacAllister(17), Freya Carson(22), Hercules Nichols(28), Julia Dawson(39), Brutus Gunn(42)

District 3-Nikola Johnson(13), Gadget Schroeder(24), Beetee Latier(40)

District 4-Marina Bluebell(1), Mags Flanagan(11), Jolien Fisher(31), Timmy Fisher(32), Iris Fisher(33), Rafael Fisher(34), Coral Thiller(41)

District 5-Shocker Crimson(8), Switch Kim(19), Flash Morrison(27), Porter Tripp(38)

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), Mare Trybull (43)

District 11-Orchid Bloom(12), Seeder Crue(30)

District 12-Axel Millar(3)

A/N: And... breathe. Phew, that was a very stressful chapter to write haha, but I'm glad I finally finished it! If I ever had a behind-the-scenes video as i wrote Brutus, Mare and Cartier's chapters, it would show me running around trying to get a million things done at once and then collapsing due to sheer exhaustion lmao. My exams are coming up soon so I can't upload much then, that's why I'm really pushing forward here while I still can. ANyway, hope you enjoyed that and hope you liked those references to Maze Runner, Harry Potter and of course, Cartier's own fanfic 'One Big Explosion', those ideas just flushed out of my head as I wrote and thanks again to Willuna for the arena idea! As usual, pls review and give your thoughts on my planned future SYOT as well as how you think Lyme can be portrayed. Ugh, I really need to rest now, so bye! Cheers:)