A/N: Thanks to richards25, daydreamer626, Oxenstierna D. Yuki-Rin, Kman528, mangesboy01, charliesunshine, krikanalo, allonsydney, Deedledum, Realfiction and Beauthg for reviewing the last chapter!
Now that the 'bonus' chapters have started, I've come across a small problem.
There wasn't a winner of the Third Quarter Quell.
However, there were twenty-four victors in the arena, and so I'm starting a bonus '1 Quell, 24 Victors, 24 Oneshots' as an add-on to this story, telling the complete (or near-complete, anyway) story of the 75th Annual Hunger Games, with each piece of the story being from a different perspective.
These twenty-four chapters will take the chapter count to 99, so I'll throw in an epilogue at the end to give us a nice round 100 :)
Many of the first few chapters are going to be bloodbath chapters, so I'm going to try and keep them interesting as much as possible.
I hope you like the idea of these chapters, and that the oneshots of the Third Quarter Quell are as interesting to read as the rest of the story :)
"Sing us a song of the century
That's louder than bombs and eternity
The era of static and contraband
That's leading us into the promised land
Tell us a story that's by candleight
Of waging a war and losing the fight
They're playing the song of the century
Of panic and promise and prosperity
Tell me a story into that goodnight
Sing us a song for me..."
- Billie-Joe Armstrong, 2009.
The 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Third Quarter Quell) - Day 1, 9.55 am
Cecelia Wright (29), District 8 Female (victor of the 61st Annual Hunger Games)
Green Day - Song of the Century (2009)
Five minutes to go.
Just five minutes, and then a fourteen-year-long wait will be over.
I will return to the arena for the second time.
But this time, I'm not fighting for myself. That said, I never fought much last time. I may have won the Games due to large amount of luck, but this year, luck isn't a factor. The Gamemakers - Plutarch, at least - are on my side. Not that I'm trying to get out of the arena. I've done no preparation for these Games, even though, as the only female victor from District 8, I knew I would be going into the arena three months ago.
But this isn't about me anymore. This is about Katniss Everdeen, the mockingjay. The face of the November revolts that surely inspired this Quell. I'm almost certain that Snow chose what was written on that envelope. Eight months ago, three districts rebelled against the Capitol. Three, Four and my beloved District 8. Of the three districts, ours fared the worst, holding control for just a week before the Peacekeepers wrestled it back. If it wasn't for the fact that the Capitol wanted to cover up the first uprising in nearly a century, I'd almost certainly be dead by now.
And now the Capitol have their chance to wipe us all out in one go. Get rid of the troublemakers from Districts 3, 4 and 8. Get rid of Katniss, in whose name we have risked our lives. Start again, with the Hunger Games continuing, as torturous and sadistic as ever.
That is why we are making a stand.
To return justice to Panem.
We should not be punished for something that barely a person alive remembers.
For the best part of a century, we have been punished for the action of men and women we never knew. The rebels should have been punished; that could be passed off as fair. But punishing their friends, family and all future generations? Surely they knew that at some point, somebody was going to make a stand.
Well, now that time has come.
All of my life, I have only known the suffering of the districts, the cruelty of the Capitol and the constant threat of the Hunger Games. There was no hope of escape. At least, not until Katniss and Peeta managed it.
Maybe this was how it all started last time. We aren't taught history at school; at least little about the centuries before the Dark Days. Maybe all it took last time was a spark of hope; a spark to cause all the districts to rise up against the imperial force of the Capitol. From what we've been told, the rebels got close to overcoming the Capitol, too. Their downfall was the land around the Capitol, which is far too mountainous for fast movement forces. The rebels became stuck in the mountains, becoming easy targets for Capitol hovercrafts. Or so they say.
This time, we have some of the Capitol on our side. Plutarch and his team; rumours out of the Capitol is that they've been an underground force for years, considered terrorists by the press. The revelation that the Head Gamemaker has turned his back on the government will surely cause discontent in the Capitol.
Like many of us, I've offered my services to Plutarch for these Games. It has to be Katniss that gets out alive.
Tributes from six of the districts have told Plutarch that they are prepared to give their lives for the mockingjay. It may only be a small contribution in what may be the start of a long journey to freedom, but if Katniss dies in the arena, I guess we all will sooner or later. If I'm going to die either way, I might as well die knowing that the right person will survive whatever atrocities are waiting for us in this year's arena.
I've already accepted my fate, which I can see as only a positive thing. Knowing that I' not going to return home no matter how hard I try. That's why I did nothing to prepare myself for this year's Games. I spent my last few months safe and happy with my family.
At least I had a chance to say a proper goodbye to my three kids.
I hope they survive all of this. There's a storm coming, no matter who lives or dies in the next few days. I just hope nothing goes to waste; that the sacrifice of my fellow victors and myself will count for something.
A pleasant female voice calls out from a speaker, and I know that I have twenty seconds until launch. I take one last sweeping look around the launch room and embrace my stylist before walking into the capsule.
As the capsule rises in darkness, I conjure up an image of my three children in my head. I try to imagine them as the happy children they were back before the violence of the November revolts.
I'll never get to see them grow up.
The thought consumes me for a moment and I have doubts over whether what I have promised is the right thing to do. But a promise is a promise. It was difficult - heartbreaking, even - to sit them down and tell them that mum wouldn't be coming home. A tear forms in my eye as I remember their reactions. They're too young for this; all of them. But they must know. They must understand what is about to happen. They must understand the sacrifice that I am about to make.
I hope that one day, they will be proud of their mother.
Then I'm suddenly blinded as I burst upwards into the bright light of the arena. For a moment I feel alright, but I soon feel edgy. The first thing I see, the golden horn that is the cornucopia, does nothing to help my nerves.
It might not be a good thing, but I feel like I'm fifteen once again.
A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, please review! We're so close to 450! As ever, I welcome constructive criticism. Plus, I'd like to know what you all think about the idea for the bonus chapters :)
Also, as the verdict as to which project everyone wants to see seems varied, I'm going to set up a poll on my profile to settle the matter. Please feel free to head over to my profile and give your opinion :)
