AUTHOR'S NOTES: The Golden Age of Hunger Games continues, and like a few of the ones before it, the victor of this one has shown their face a few times in some of my other stories. I won't spoil too much though, but you can already see seeds of rebellion forming at this point. This is not a chapter that will be forgotten easily, and the victor leaves a crazy legacy that we will see parts of in at least two other chapters somewhere in the distant future. Just something to think about as the next few chapters crop up. It'll be a while (numerically) though, so don't hold your breath too soon.
That said... Happy Reading!
The 46th Annual Hunger Games
The Hunger Games were an atrocious act put in place by a vengeful Capitol wishing to continue exerting its oppressive control over the districts. That was what was taught in districts like 12 and 11 anyways. While it was accepted in most cases that the reapings were truly random, a few definitely had their odds fixed to them.
Such was the story of District 8's Paige Alwin, and the 46th Annual Hunger games began the story of how she became a legend—and the first symbol of another rebellion in a time when true revolution was still decades away from happening.
The year proved to be an odd one, primarily because two tributes from the more outer districts—7 and 10—had both been volunteers. District 7's Keshet Elian was in it for the respect and the glory, while Lyndis Montoya, the girl from '10, later claimed that she had only volunteered 'out of sheer curiosity'.
Over in District 2, the Aranai sisters were not through volunteering either. The 3rd sister, Zakura, made it to the stage, and hoped to avenge her oldest sister, who had been killed last year at the hands of a District 5 girl.
However, it was District 8 that spawned the most controversy. 18-year-old Paige Alwin, a known rebel suspect, was reaped, and while many people knew that the odds were rigged, they knew that there was no volunteering for this one. Her partner, an unassuming 14-year-old with the slightly quaint name of Alice DeSiete, did not seem to have rigged odds; just bad luck and a disturbingly good memory. As an aspiring designer, he was also an exceptionally talented artist who was notorious for sketching the faces of older tributes in memory or as subtle reminders of the Capitol's brutality. His latest project was Valendria Tallarico, a powerful but controversial District 4 girl from the previous year's games that everyone thought was going to win, only for her to let the remaining tribute kill her to get her out of the miserable cycle that she would have been subjected to as a victor.
One look at Paige, and Alice knew he was dealing with someone that would not be forgotten so easily. He was open to her even if she was initially hostile to him. Nonetheless, the two befriended each other, and soon they and 22 other boys and girls were shipped off to the Capitol.
Already it was clear that Paige Alwin would be trouble. Her interview was nearly cut short because of a controversial line or two she said against the Capitol, but her partner Alice managed to at least partially recover in her behalf.
Apart from the intrigue surrounding the District 8 pair that year, the tributes of the 46th Hunger Games were all a bit crazy in one way or another. The careers were actually fairly common stock this time around, apart from District 2's Zakura Aranai—a fighter who sought to avenge her fallen sister Roxanne from the previous year. Other tributes, including those from the farther-out and poorer districts than '8, were crazy. Many people even considered Paige to be rather fierce and unapproachable, while little Alice quietly watched it all unfold from the sidelines.
The crazier tributes were from the outer districts though, such as the cold and collected "S. Isi Kwan" from District 12, and her similarly silent partner; the openly crazy and unpredictable Lyndis Montoya from District 10, and a gigantic girl from District 11 named Adrianna Meyrick that was simply nicknamed "Smash". The training room had proved why she had that nickname, as she had punched a hole through a wall just to prove that she could. Considering that the Capitol did not build their own things out of cheap materials, it had admittedly impressed even some of the Capitol staff themselves.
Lyndis also happened to weird out everyone this year by making it a personal goal to give each and every tribute, male or female, a big smooch on the lips. On this front, she actually managed to succeed, topping it off with Paige herself on the final day. Had it been a weaker tribute, someone might have actually picked a valid fight with her, but she proved to be quite the warrior on her own, and so most of the others left her alone for now. Her time would come in the arena. After all, Lyndis was not the only one that would be scoring high that year.
As such, there were a slew of high-scoring tributes this year: from the careers who all scored 10s and 11s, down to Keshet and Lyndis, both of whom were psychotic enough to score 12s. the rest of the outer districts scored between 8 and 11, while both of the District 8 kids scored 5s. It was at this moment that both Paige and Alice knew that the Capitol was rigging it against them, and that they were going to be fighting an uphill battle that might not even be winnable.
Whatever the case, the time for training had ended, and it was into the arena for all of the tributes. Paige remained alert and vigilant from the get-go, knowing that sooner or later the Capitol would try to kill her here and make it look like an accident. At her side was the unquestioningly loyal Alice, who refused to part ways with his partner so early on.
"Smash" ended up proving right away why she had that name, using hammers to crush a kid to death and then punching another kid's sternum in with her bare hands. Equally savage on this battlefield was the axe-wielding maniac known as Keshet Elian, who seemed to have formed a fierce rivalry with Lyndis, and had joined the career pack.
The forested arena made it clear to Paige and Alice that it would be trouble for them, and be boon to rural tributes such as those from Districts like 11 or 7. Keshet would be a much larger threat than Marcel or Gemma from District 1, or even Zakura and Myron from District 2.
This wound up proving true over the next couple of days. That wild District 7 girl ended up slaying Marcel and Myron, while Alice used a bow to drop Gemma in a lucky strike. The boy had precision—a trait perhaps explained by his incredible artistic talent back home.
The first attack on Paige came a day or two after the deaths of three of the careers. A large bear-like monster—probably twice the size of a normal one, came down upon them. They crossed paths with the unlucky pair from District 6, who were not as fortunate to escape. The mutt did not differentiate one tribute from another, and the poor boy was literally torn in half. The girl was not seen again, but a cannon went off later that night long after the bear had disappeared. Paige and Alice presumed that either Keshet or Zakura had gotten her. they had been weakened by a trap they claimed had been from District 12's Joss Colton, who, like many from his District, was a skilled saboteur and trapper.
There was a bit of downtime during the games, which Paige and Alice used to actually talk against the Capitol. Alice had nothing and no one to lose, since his parents had all but forgotten his existence years ago. Paige had had a lover back home: a woman named Hanna Faron, and much to her dismay, she knew that Hanna was a target of the Capitol and that she was doomed the moment Paige's name had been drawn. Amusingly, Alice was the one to console her, and somehow, he actually managed to do exactly that. Paige might have known that she was doomed from the start, but she knew that Alice was wild enough to continue her rebellious tendencies in her name. As such, she vowed to continue to fight and try to bring the younger boy home.
The days wore on, and soon there was a new threat that made District 8 worried: There had been no sign of Lyndis, Isikiro, or Smash since the beginning of the games, and no cannons for them either—meaning they were still alive. By the 10th day of the games, they were three of the 7 tributes left. The other two were the District 8 pair and the District 7 pair. The boy, Nesara, had joined up with Alice and Paige, expressing disapproval of his partner's extreme actions, and more importantly, he had managed to save them from the Capitol essentially materializing tracker-jackers around Paige out of nowhere. 10 days in and none of their traps could successfully kill her, and they knew that needed to change. All the wasps had managed to do was knock her and Alice out for a couple of days, thanks to Nesara's intervention. Unbeknownst to the tributes, but the Gamemakers had been ordered to kill Paige and make it look like an accident; and their lives were on the line. She was far too dangerous of a rebel to be allowed to live or win the games, and so she needed to be exterminated. Had Nesara not shown up, they might have succeeded, but he managed to help nurse Paige and Alice back to health.
There was mostly silence in the arena during this time, although deep in the woods three tributes were working on building something that even the Capitol took interest in. It did not appear to be anything that could get them out of the arena, and it was rather amusing to watch Lyndis and Isikiro chop down some of the mighty trees with their axes and then to watch Smash drag or lift the massive logs all on her own back to the camp.
When Paige woke back up on the 13th day, the three of them scouted the eastern edge of the arena, before gasping in awe at what they had stumbled across. Out in a large clearing was a well-constructed fortress, that even had a crude flag waving atop it, bearing only the numbers 10, 11, and 12.
"Clearly Isikiro's work," Nesara suggested.
"It makes sense," Alice agreed, "Smash and Lyndis probably helped carry the logs back here with Isi leading them. She's definitely more the leader type than those other two loonies."
However, as the afternoon wore on, they could not figure out how to get past the walls without being seen and probably ambushed. They knew that those three tributes were in there, but didn't know how to reach them.
Their hesitance caught up with them, and Nesara met his end at the pointy side of Lyndis' blades. However, before she could turn and attack Paige or Alice, there was a streaking noise heard around them. Glancing up, the three tributes saw fireballs raining down at them from the sky. It set parts of the fortress ablaze, causing the five tributes to race to safer grounds.
Oddly, upon reaching the cornucopia, Lyndis turned on her allies, who seemed to be trying to attack her first. Paige and Alice used this moment as a time to run, hoping that Lyndis and Keshet would meet up and kill each other before them.
Little did they know that the 'rain' of terror was not yet over.
Early the next and final morning of the games, the fireballs returned, chasing Alice and Paige back to the cornucopia, where Zakura also popped out and attacked them. Alice, being the smallest and weakest of the remaining tributes, hid behind a pile of old crates leftover from the pillaged cornucopia supplies, watching as Paige and Zakura duked it out. The two girls grappled for several intense minutes before Paige pulled them to the ground, allowing Zakura to remain on top of her.
What Zakura did not realize was that Paige knew she would meet her death here, and that she fully intended to take Zakura down with her. Moments later, Zakura was struck in the back with a large meteor that killed her instantly and left Paige mortally wounded. As she lay there dying, she screamed obscenities against the Capitol, verifying that she was, in fact, trying to spark a rebellion before her death. Alice went and put her out of her misery before the Capitol could, almost as if he was helping her spit in their faces. He knew what he had to do. He had seen the injustices of the Capitol and knew that he had to fight back, even if it took 50 years or more to realize his dreams. He had to find a way to defeat Lyndis and Keshet.
Luckily, the rivalry between the two girls seemed to have done well in keeping them busy. Lyndis' words didn't exactly sit well for him though.
"Winner gets to off the boy." She teased. They knew he was hiding there, and so all he could do was watch them, the bow still in his hands. He was not as silly and aloof as he had seemed, after all.
Shortly before Keshet could overpower Lyndis, Alice let an arrow fly, landing it right in Keshet's forehead, killing her instantly. This caused Lyndis to freeze, before she laughed and limped towards him, her hands in the air. To his surprise, she simply conceded defeat.
"You… don't even want to win?" Alice couldn't help but ask.
"Nah," Lyndis shrugged, "District 10 has had its 15 minutes of fame… and my curiosity is sated. I volunteered to find out what it was like, and frankly, the fact that you just offed my rival is good enough for me. You've earned it kid—strike me down."
Alice didn't want to take another chance. He respected Lyndis, but could not wait around for her to change her mind, and knew that she would annihilate him in a "fair fight". Thus, he pulled his bowstring back and ended Lyndis' life with one of his last arrows, ending the games. Alice had become the 3rd victor from District 8, and the 46th victor of the Hunger Games.
Paige Alwin was not forgotten though—and instead, she had planted the seeds of rebellion, which would take decades to germinate. Alice made sure of this, especially after verifying Paige's fears-the Avox that served him after the games was none other than Hanna Faron herself. Seeing her helpless expression for a split-second made him vow to continue Paige's holy work. The effort was not fruitless, however. Alice's tact kept him out of the spotlight, and his methods of sowing discontent among District 8 were subtle enough to keep them mostly out of the limelight. Alice did get remembered for being the youngest victor to win the games thus far (an ironic foil to Paige, who had actually been one of the oldest tributes to go into the arena, having turned 19 shortly after the reaping, and only a couple of days before her own death), but his real notoriety would come years in the future after his legacy impacted the Hunger Games. Right now, however, that remained to be seen.
What he did not realize was that he had also left a legacy in District 11, and moreso, District 12. "Who was Paige Alwin" became something of a mantra in the latter of these two districts, although similar to Alice, it was kept on the down-low. The 46th Annual Hunger Games was the first of many games to produce victors with revolutionary thoughts—and while most of them remained silent, it was only a matter of time before they would remain silent no longer…
VICTORS BY YEAR:
1HG: Fukaya Kerezaki (#1, District 5)
2HG: Lucy Takamatzu (#1, District 11)
3HG: Naseru Litzak (#1, District 3)
4HG: Naisha Szasz (#1, District 2)
5HG: Jade Prima (#1, District 1)
6HG: Cedar Hardin (#1, District 7)
7HG: Susan Jackman (#2, District 5)
8HG: Malcolm Reed (#1, District 6)
9HG: Mags Cohen (#1, District 4)
10HG: Faren Dragmire (#2, District 1)
11HG: Maius Karuha (#2, District 2)
12HG: Iunius Karuha (#3, District 2)
13HG: Hilda White (#1, District 10)
14HG: Minali Otoyome (#2, District 3)
15HG: Willow James (#3, District 1)
16HG: Lark Chandnea (#2, District 11)
17HG: Woof Casino (#1, District 8)
18HG: Leah Holden (#2, District 7)
19HG: Zeruda Mezkiel (#2, District 6)
20HG: Muscida Lee (#2, District 4)
21HG: Kada Lahka (#4, District 2)
22HG: Gleam DiFronzo (#4, District 1)
23HG: Ivette Coronado (#3, District 5)
24HG: Olivia Thurman (#1, District 9)
25HG: Laurel Fox (#1, District 12)
26HG: Daron Armstrong (#5, District 2)
27HG: Cobalt Evans (#5, District 1)
28HG: Lyme Golding (#6, District 2)
29HG: Ash LosDias (#3, District 7)
30HG: Challis Worth (#2, District 8)
31HG: Beetee Latier (#3, District 3)
32HG: Fletch Crossley (#4, District 5)
33HG: Seeder Howell (#3, District 11)
34HG: Price Emerson (#6, District 1)
35HG: Leto Irizari (#7, District 2)
36HG: Jackson Kjelle (#5, District 5)
37HG: Zerviah Hawke (#3, District 6)
38HG: Wiress Plummer (#4, District 3)
39HG: Nephi Lott (#3, District 4)
40HG: Miriam Luxio (#7, District 1)
41HG: Marcelina Kovac (#6, District 5)
42HG: Niles Lincoln (#8, District 2)
43HG: Blight McKay (#4, District 7)
44HG: Sagittaria Svenja (#4, District 11)
45HG: Dezna Meraxa (#4, District 6)
46HG: Alice DeSiete (#3, District 8)