Act 22
'Epilogue'
After my return home, I set out on a Victory Tour, where I toured around Panem. It was set up half-way between the previous Games and the next Games, as if to keep the horror of them fresh in the minds of the people of the nation. It worked, though mostly I saw bitterness in the eyes of the people I saw. Not bitterness aimed directly towards me, though I'm sure they did send some of it towards me. No most of it was directed at the Capital and the Games. Accompanying me on the tour was Iridis, Woof, Weft, and Gaius. They were supposed to help me behind the scenes, but in front of everyone, on the stage and during interviews, I was on my own.
First up was District 12, like always. The Victory Tours always started with District 12 and then whittled their way down to District One and finally to the Capital. The home district of the victor, in my case District Eight, would always be saved for last. Not that I could complain; at least seeing the faces of my mom and Lilleth would calm me down enough after dealing with 11 other districts and the Capital.
District 12 was about as musky as District Eight, though in its own way. Instead of towering cities with a layer of smog sent from the factories, District 12 was just a bunch of hobbles covered in a layer of soot from the coal mines. Coal was all I knew about District 12. The Capital tried to keep knowledge of the other districts to a minimum. All I knew was their main export was Coal and that they were poor, but the latter only from watching previous tributes from past Games.
As I stood up on the stage, I did see the families and friends of the district's tributes; Calla and Silver. Calla's family was bare to say the least; only a mother and father, and both a sickly looking as could be. I could only imagine how they mourned at their daughter's death. They didn't seem to be blaming me, instead just continued to mourn the loss of their daughter. The people around them didn't add much support. Aside from the occasional back pat, the other residents of District 12 ignored their cries. It truly wasn't much different than District Eight.
Silver's family consisted of only three people. A short woman that gave off the air only a mother did. What probably held a cheery smile was now sullen with the fact her son had died. One either side of her stood two boys, each rubbing her back as she looked up onto me. The one who stood to her right made eye contact with me. He looked a lot like Silver in a way. They both had the same build, same height, and same features, save for this boys black hair compared to Silver's sandy brown.
The other boy I recognized, though only from the cameras of previous Victory Tours. His sister, a girl I had long forgotten the name of, had been a tribute from a few Games back. She had died early on and her death was forgettable. Silver really was one tribute from District 12 to have gotten so far, as of yet. Still, I remembered this boy from the cameras zooming in on his young, terrified face. He had lost a sister then and now a surrogate brother. This boy was sending me all his hatred, like I had personally destroyed his family once again. I did, somewhat, this time. But the one to truly blame was the Capital. I knew I wouldn't be able to tell him this and that I truly regretted killing Silver.
After District 12 came District 11; Nova and Gavin's home district. It really tore me up remembering Gavin. I knew it wasn't proper for a victor to get this emotional over a fallen tribute from another district, but while in the train, I couldn't help but tear up as District 11 came into view. It didn't matter anyway, Iridis did my make-up so well, that it was impossible to make-out the red blotches I had acquired from crying.
Both of the tributes had mentioned their families before. Gavin had grown up in a strictly female house, while Nova grew up in the opposite, primarily male dominated.
I easily came to recognize Nova's family, as they looked just like her. The pitch black hair and dark tanned skin made them a dead rigger of their sister and daughter… Their lost family member. I hadn't gotten along with Nova during training, but even I didn't want to see her die they way she did. I remember Nova mentioning her father's name as Cliff or something and her brothers' as Ash and Mica.
Beside them stood Gavin's family, as if they were brought together by shared grief. I recognized them from Gavin's descriptions of them. He had, before he was murdered, told me about them in great length. It seemed to calm him, so I let him. There was his mom, a great woman named Scarlet. Her attitude apparently had a connection to her name as she was known to be quite the fiery one. She may have been fierce, but Gavin described her as loving as any good mother. Beside her stood who I assumed to be his aunt, Sienna. She was apparently strict, but Gavin described her so fondly I didn't have that bad of an image in my head. One either side of them stood who I assumed to be Gavin's sisters. His older sisters helped comfort their family and even Nova's family. I believed their names to be Mahogany and Amber; though I wasn't entirely sure. The only one that just stood there; not moving to help supply comfort or to cry or even glare at me like Silver's younger adopted brother did. She was Gavin's younger sister, Mary. Gavin apparently was the closest with her, having described her as the most caring and nurturing person in the district. In a way Mary reminded me of Lilleth. She was apparently kind to everyone and would want to help anyone she could. She stood there staring at me and I swore I caught her mouthing the words, 'Thank-you'. I shot a smile back. It looked like a general smile, but I intentionally aimed it at her. She seemed to get it and smiled back.
The following day came District Ten, Nine, and Seven. Two packed into a day was already harsh enough, but three was pushing it. Still, they probably wanted to speed things up so we could get to the Capital and then I could finally go home.
District Ten was where Gypsy and Dal were from. I only got the handful of pitiful stares here, though they were mixed mostly with cold, icy glares. I had killed one of their tributes just like that. Gypsy's family included only a mother and father. Unlike Calla's parents, these two seemed stronger. They still mourned for their daughter, but didn't seem to find it appropriate to show their mourning in public. The father was a large, burly man typical, from what I could see, of those who worked labor jobs in this District. He held onto a soft cow plush rather tightly as he refused to look up at me. Her mom just clung to her husband's arm as she too refused to look up. I could only guess that they didn't want to look at me in fear they may do something they don't want to, whether it was cry or do something a little more reprehensible.
Dal's family stood close by. They at least were looking up at me, though sorrow filled their eyes. I didn't blame them; as I could only assume they would much rather see their son up here instead of myself. Aside from his two common looking parents, he also had two brothers, much older looking then his teenage self, and a younger sister. I couldn't tell if they were mad at me or not, but I couldn't dwell on it. If I did, I would end up getting so wretched over it, it wouldn't be healthy.
District Nine was a refreshing stretch of land filled with grain fields. District 11 was known for their agriculture, but that involved also orchards. I felt slightly claustrophobic trapped in there. It was a different type of cramped compared to the city, one I wasn't used to. I hadn't liked it. District Ten was known for their livestock. They had open fields, but they tended to be filled to the brim with cows and goats and horses and even bison. But District Nine's grain fields were different. They weren't occupied by animals or stacked tall like orchards. It helped free me off much of the tension that accumulated over just the last day.
I saw Elena's family first. It was her twin sister that gave them away. She had the exact same look as Elena, that one of passion. She held something in her hand, refusing to let it move a smidge while standing. How it must have been hard for them to watch their daughter and sister die first in the Games. I don't know if they truly thought she would win, but I bet they were hoping for to last a little bit longer then she had. A sad fact washed over me. Elena's sister was still eligible for the next Games and the Games after that. There was still a chance they wouldn't lose just one daughter, but both.
I also saw Danny's family. I didn't really remember him in the Games. He wasn't an enemy of mine, so I hadn't taken notice of him like I did with Helena or Aur or Marcello. He had been killed by a rockslide, so really he was the only tribute without a memorable death too. His family, a mother, father, and sister, stood their weeping. They didn't appear to care who saw them. I had secret admiration for their bravery in doing this.
We skip my district and head straight for District Seven. And with this, I was back surrounded by trees. I knew District Seven was known for its trees and supplying wood through the act of lumberjacking, but it was still annoying for me.
Amira's family came in view first. I hadn't known her all too well, just like I barely knew Danny. I saw only half of her family. I knew from the interviews that she had an average family of three, but during the tour I only saw two of them. Her mother stood there, not showing any emotions. She looked like she had been preparing for this. I recognized her struggling to handle the emotions that bore down on her from the inside as she gripped her arms, which were crossed in front of her chest. With the mom was a girl who looked exactly like Amira. I had never seen twins in my life and just that day I had met two sets. First Elena and her twin and now Amira and her twin. Her father was nowhere to be seen. But seeing how the Tour, along with everything else revolving around the Hunger Games, was mandatory, he was bound to be there. He was likely in the back of the crowd or watching a screen somewhere where he wouldn't be seen crying.
Next I saw Douglas' family. They were smiling at me. I don't know why, as I killed their son. But all six of them were giving me a saddened, half smile. I could only return the smile partially. It took me a little bit, but I figured it out. They saw my killing of Douglas as not murder but a mercy killing. I guess it was, but it was hard for me not to think that I hard killed him.
The day came to an end and I was soon force to relive it. This time I was dealing with Districts Six, Five, and Four.
District Six wasn't very memorial, at least not as much as it should have been. I thought I was going to be overwhelmed more so with the transportation district then I had with any district up 'til now, but no. The tributes, Anastasia and Othello, didn't seem to have much support from their district either. When the other tribute had had their names spoken, their districts would cheer, or at least clap. Most remained silent at the mere mention of Anastasia or Othello's name unless instructed to clap. But they never did it out of their own free will. I didn't see their families either, though I could only guess why. I wouldn't want to stand in a lifeless crowd as everyone judged my now-dead child. Both of them had died on day one, thus weren't very memorable either.
District Five was a little bit better. It just reminded me too much of home though. It was built of cities, though brighter and shinier. I even got to see the dam that powered most, some, of Panem. I saw Wyatt's family, though it really wasn't much of a "family" as compared to others. It was a single member, a mom. She was standing there with her head held high, trying to keep strong for the cameras undoubtedly pointed at her. I could now sort of relate to Wyatt, even if he and I never talked. The single mom-thing helped me wretch my heart for his death. I had to wonder, while looking at her, if my mom would be the same way if I had died and someone else had won. Or would she have gone back to her drugs and died also; her with a needle stuck in the crevice of her arm.
Seraphina's family was almost hard to miss, but I had finally managed to find them. Only a father and a brother had waited for her. It was saddening to see all the smaller families. I guess they had a lot more to lose when it came to the Games. At least with more family members, there are more people to help comfort. And in a crueler way of thinking, that means fewer mouths to feed. But with smaller families, it felt like a bigger loss. They were already small, but now their numbers had dwindled and that person that took up a significant space in their household was now gone.
District Four was a dock-based district. Everything seemed to either revolve around docks and boats or pounds. Still it was fishing. Not much else to be expected from the fishing district. I tried to forget about Delphine, even trying to ignore her family's stares. I hadn't liked her and I didn't want to show that in front of everyone. I had tried to find Coriander's family, but couldn't seem to locate them. There were a lot of people, just like the rest of the districts, so I knew I couldn't find everyone.
The next day I finished up with the last three districts. District Three wasn't what I had imagined. Being an upper number district, I had always wondered why they didn't produce careers. It finally came to me when I laid my eyes on it. Despite being snuggled up in between Career Districts, they themselves produced weaklings. It was just another city, like District Eight. I even got to smell the familiar burning smog coming from their factories. It had singed my nose hairs a bit, but I quickly got used to it. It just reminded me of the smell of home. I hadn't been gone long, but I still missed it.
I was right about Claria's family. They screamed wealthy, at least by district standards. Sure, they didn't have the Capital aura about them, but they definitely had more standing then many others. Two parents who didn't look like they had stopped working had accompanied a smaller, maybe six-year old, seven year-old at best, boy. They all looked so intelligent and Octavian's parents did too. What caught me was how much Octavian's dad looked like him, just with more wrinkles and taller.
District Two was one I had been dreading. It was obvious Helena and I did not get along. It would be an understatement to say we were anything but enemies. I even hated her now that she was dead and that hatred only raised as I looked upon her home district. It was much nicer than many of the previous districts I had visited, yet she acted like she hated her home so much.
As I stood up on stage and zoned out, much like I had did every other time, I scoured the crowd of Helena's parents. She made them sound so horrible, at least her dad. I wanted to know why. I finally found them, under the attention of the cameras. Even with the cameras on them, her dad seemed to give off an abusive air. He wasn't trying to hide it for the cameras or the rest of Panem, which surprised me. I could automatically see why Helena hated him. I even started to feel sorry for her before I remembered all she had done during the Games. Still I watched for a while as Helena's father gripped ahold of the back of her mom's neck. I had seen this in a lot of abusive relationships. It was a way of the abuser to control the victim. And it was completely legal.
Marcello's family was a bit harder to find. To my surprise I find them cheering with the rest of the crowd. They seem excited about me being the victor, even though it means that their son was dead. I didn't understand District Two and I don't think I ever will. They were so dedicated to the Games and the Capital.
District One finally came. I had finally lost focus after visiting ten other districts. I was so bored, I just wanted to go home. I did manage to catch a hold of Aur's parents sending me death glares from the audience. I couldn't blame them; I helped with the killing of their daughter. Any true parent should be miffed at the person who caused this. Paris' family wasn't anywhere to be found, but that was all just as well. I hadn't really remembered him over the Games and no one else seemed to either, expect for one thing. It wasn't something you wanted to be remembered for though; the Career that died during the Bloodbath. It was a pretty bad title if I do say so myself.
After the day had finally came to an end, I was allowed to sleep in for the first time in a couple of days. After having such long days, it was nice to rest. Still the following day I had to deal with the Capital. If I was just zoning out during the district tours, I had completely left the planet when it came to the banquet. People asking to take pictures with me. Food being shoved into me. I was just like a puppet. Even the interview didn't seem to happen. I mean, I probably answered the questions asked of me, but I don't remember them. I ended up finally coming to when I reached my home district.
There to welcome me was my family and neighbors and so many more. I had singled out my mom, Lilleth, and A-Bees waiting for me. Pill and his gang were there too, smirking, though I couldn't care any less. I was just happy to be home and see my extended family there waiting for me.
Finally finished. What do you think?
The new story is up; History. If you have submitted to this story and want to submit to History, you can, but be sure to submit an entirely new character. I don't want any character, whether accepted or not, I have seen before.