Short chapter today but I would not be writing tomorrow because it's my birthday *little victory dance* so you get one today. It is still a pretty good length. In this chapter we see Lux wake up and his crowning. Next chapter is his victory tour (all tribute get a short POV about them like with Atlas) and him arriving home. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think. I think my writing was very good in this one and I am super proud of myself. Also, I have two victors but I need seven more. If I don't get any, I will use them from the Chosen Warriors submissions that don't get in.
Lux Hymnoor POV
I stretched out my arms, my numb hands pulling at the linen bed covers, trying to yank them over my stone cold body but it was futile, the weight of my body held them in place. I let out a small whimper as I peeled back my eyelids, exposing my bloodshot, brown eyes to the bright, white, light. I turned my head to the side, my instinct told me to roll over but my body lacked the energy. I instead continued to squint towards the light, hoping that the longer I laid there, the better my sight would become. I must have been laid there for about a minute before something shifted above me and the light flickered off, casting me into darkness.
Moment by moment, the room started to morph into a variety of shapes. Most stayed still as I started to make out their intricate details. One, however, kept changing shape, pacing back and forth around the room. For a fraction of a second, the silhouette stopped and looked over to me, a small smile playing on his lips but a friendly one. For that moment, I thought he was Wover, stood at the base of my bed, watching with a sort of proud sadness as I started to come to my senses. My breath hitched as I attempted to fling myself forward but the straps that held me to the bed kept me firmly in place. My mouth swung open, dribbling slightly as I tried to mumble the boy's name.
"Don't try and speak," a deep, gruff voice whispered, a warm hand being placed on mine. I craned my stiff neck, looking to the side as the darkened formed of my mentor came into view. "You have been out cold for over a month, they say you need to take it slow," Luzja's tone sounded different from the arrogant demeanor that he usually broadcasted to his tributes. He sounded broken and sympathetic to my stiff, drip-fueled self. I turned away from him only to find what I though was Wover, gone. In his place stood a single chair. My heart jumped as the gruesome image of Wover being struck in the back by Keith's spear and left to die in the white sand flashed before my eyes. I wanted him to be here with me, Tristan and Enoki too and it saddened me more than waking up, wired like a machine that they would never grace this earth again.
I went to open my mouth when Lujza threw a small white board onto my lap along with a black pen and eraser. "If you insist on conversation, at least write it on here," I replied with a nod and started to scribble the words I wanted to cry out, down. It took a few attempts to allow my stiff, right hand to hold the pen and form readable symbols but I soon passed the board over to my mentor.
What happened to me?
This made Luzja's face turn white as he passed me the board back. "Keith knocked you out and Aurum got himself and Eleven blow sky high...as for modifications, you needed new hearing, it was wack after the explosion, multiple burn treatments and skin grafts and an operation to sew your head back together," once he said the last few words my hand started to move towards my head. "I would not touch it, just try to forget it," he sighed, cracking his knuckles together, moving his blue eyes away from me. "They had to replace some of your teeth that got knocked out and they gave you some abs...other than that you escaped modification." I raised an eyebrow at this and started to scribble on my whiteboard once more.
Why did they give me abs?
Lujza chuckled as he read my words, his voice tired and laced with defeat. "Why does The Capitol kill twenty-three children each year? I have found over the years that it is best not to think too hard about what they do otherwise your IQ lowers." we sat in silence after that, the only sound being the small electrical clock with it's synthetic tic as it flickered on the wall. After almost half an hour I gained the strength to ask a question I had feared the answer to since I woke up.
Are you happy I won?
Lujza read these words and sighed, leaning his body back in the chair and rubbed his temples. The room was once again met with silence from both of us and I had all but given up hope that my mentor would answer my question when he squeaked out his well thought out answer. "I am happy for me, not for you," he said bluntly before turning his body away from me, ending our short conversation. I cast my eyes back to the holographic ceiling and the starry sky it showed, I did not understand what Lujza meant by his words but I was not completely sure I wanted to find out.
Three weeks later I stood before President Howlette in a gunmetal gray suit accompanied by a white shirt and tie, adorned with diamonds that caught the spotlight and shimmered. I tried to keep a large smile on my face, a grateful smile like Lujza had told me to sport but with every step the president made, the images of Enoki and Tristan's deaths flashed before my eyes. Enoki's panic expression as his lungs filled with salt water, the tears that streamed from Tristan's eyes as Selena tore the knife through his throat.
She flashed a soft smile as a child from my District stood by her side holding a velvet pillow. Ontop, sinking into the fabric, was an obsidian crown, sparks of blue lightning woven into the stone. At the front was a blue, engraved five to represent my District. That's when I realized that the sparks must have been the electricity my home created.
My brown eyes darted over to Lujza who tugged at the corners of his mouth, forming a smile as my own slipped from my face. My eyes then drifted over to the camera that was focused on me and my smile flashed back to life, raising my right hand and offering a small wave. Part of me did it to Brites, to let him know that everything I did was for him but I think part of me wanted to taunt my District. It was mandatory to watch the crowning and I wanted to remind them at every possible moment that I was coming home. Whether they liked my sexuality or not, I was their victory and they would always be associated with me, a thought that made me smile.
"Lux Hymnoor of District Five, you fought with honor and bravery. You have brought pride to your District and Panem...Your victory serves as a reminder of our mercy to your people so it is the greatest honor that I announce you The Victor of The Twenty-fifth Hunger Games, and first Quarter Quell," as she said this, she turned and picked up the crown from the pillow and turned back to me. I took my seat on the golden, red velvet seated throne and straightened my back. As she placed the crown on my head, I was shocked by the weight but I managed to keep my neck straight and a smile on my face. "May you live a long, honorable life and may the odds be ever in your favor."
I was thinking, in Catching Fire, it mentions that the victor of the 25th Games was most likely dead by that point. So that means by the 75th, Lux has passed away in the canon universe. However, this ain't the canon universe so woo for old Lux.