AUTHOR'S NOTES: And now we reach the final chapter of our standard-fare Hunger Games. It's been a long and exciting century, but for those worrying that this might be the end, fear not: There might be an ending in sight, but there are a few extra chapters that remain between here and the true finale of the story. In the meantime, witness the 99th year of the Hunger Games unfold, and then strap in next week for the summarization of how the Hunger Games actually ended.
In the meantime, Happy Reading!
The 99th Annual Hunger Games
Excitement for the upcoming Quarter Quell was growing throughout most of the Capitol, while of course the Districts were not too happy with the looming announcement of some rule change or another. Fortunately for the sake of putting off the inevitable on their parts, the districts wouldn't have to worry about that for another year. For the moment, they were instead given the 99th Annual Hunger Games, which were memorable in their own right due to the controversies that sprouted from them.
This was not the first time a reaping was rigged. It was rare for it to happen, but usually the affected tribute would also know that his or her name did not just magically pop out of that bowl or lottery by chance. Most of the time this only happened in the rebellious districts like '8 or '12, and this year was no exception. District 8's Diego Hatch was just another standard boy who was unlucky and got his name picked, but the girl, Lyndis DeSiete, was the subject of hushed whispers. Her family had always been at odds with the Capitol, from her grandfather Alice 53 years ago to her own mother 26 years prior to the present day. Alice and Paige DeSiete were notorious because of their heritage. Now and again the children of victors would get reaped or volunteer, but so far Paige was only one of three victors who had a parent in the games (the other two were siblings Cashmere and Gloss Zianja, son and daughter of victor Aurum Zianja). Shishio, a District 6 boy from three years earlier, was the grandson of a victor, but that was not quite the same.
Lyndis, however, would make history if she could escape the arena, which she knew that the Capitol would be engineering against her. She was Paige's daughter, which in turn meant she would be a 3rd generation victor if she won. Eyes were on her in the rebellious districts, such as District 11 and District 12, but not enough to form an alliance with her. They didn't want to end up mysteriously killed in an arena "accident" or something. Despite this, District 12's Aston Emerson and Serana Lonas both agreed to stay out of Lyndis' way, and their comrades from District 11, Mario and Colette, had a similar agreement and mindset. Still, both parties knew that there would come a time for that truce to end, in which case the odds would stack against Lyndis even more so than before.
The careers almost seemed to be stacking against her as well. Darius Howell and Julia Lancaster some of the fastest, strongest tributes that District 2 had to offer; and their soon-to-be allies Victoria Dawn and Vladimir Jory from District 1 were just as fierce-looking, if not more so. Their sinister beauty practically emanated danger, and everyone, from the Capitol to the districts, knew they would score high.
Another surprise that year was that a pair of tributes named Drazen and Leto volunteered from District 5. It made the citizens of District 8 wonder if a couple of families had set it up that way. It was unlikely, but not impossible considering District 5's loyalty to the Capitol.
Despite the dangers it entailed, Diego agreed to stick with Lyndis, knowing that regardless of how the Capitol tweaked her score, that she would be a formidable fighter in the arena. If he was wrong… well, he had made worse mistakes than that. The Hunger Games were basically a death sentence anyways.
Diego did outscore Lyndis in the training center though, taking a 9 for himself, while Lyndis took a 5. However, she figured that just like her mother and grandfather, her score had been rigged, since she had overheard some of the others, including the careers, call her a threat behind her back. That might not have meant anything normally, but considering that Darius and Julia scored a 10 and an 11, and that Victoria and Vladimir scored 11 and 12 respectively, it was clear that they were no pushovers. The notion of District 8 being a threat was a fairly recent change in the Hunger Games mindset. The district grew more and more rebellious with each passing year, and so while they lacked training facilities like the career tributes, it was not unheard of for parents to train their children for combat should they get picked to go into the arena.
Drazen, Serana, and Leto were the only other major threats, respectively taking a 10, an 11, and a 12 in training once all was said and done. Most other tributes scored between 6 and 9, which wasn't bad by any means; it was just often dwarfed by the slew of higher scores that were the norm these days. Of course, as in any Hunger Games, the scores only mattered so much compared to the actual performances in the arena. They were mostly just to keep the betting circles happy, and Lyndis' low score was originally designed to paint a target on her back early on—for the Capitol wanted her dead.
Almost as if they designed it with the much-anticipated Quarter Quell in mind for the following year, the 99th arena was a spectacular sight. Splendid and picturesque mountain vistas and valleys surrounded them on every side; with beautiful, lush meadows and pristine lakes out in the distance. However, some people realized that this arena was not likely what it appeared to be, similar to the Quarter Quell 50 years ago where everything was beautiful but deadly. Caution was a must.
It did not stop tributes from Districts 5, 8, 11, and 12 from going wild in the bloodbath, however. Lyndis served as a reminder that the Capitol rigged her score when she killed the first tribute of the games, and as she managed to get three career tributes to change their minds about attacking her in the frenzy. She and Diego took off towards the northwest after snagging some of the heaviest backpacks, while the careers and the outliers finished sweeping up around the cornucopia. Like several other years, especially recently, there were weapons and supplies, but perhaps part of this year's gimmick was figuring out what in the arena was safe to eat and what was not, for there was no food or water to be found this year at the golden horn.
All in all, this year's bloodbath claimed the lives of 10 tributes, including a girl from District 4, District 12's Ashton, and all of the tributes from Districts 6, 7, 9, and 10. The career pack, this year consisting of Districts 1, 2, and 5, set out towards the east, and as usual, the rest of the 1st morning was mostly devoted to arena exploration so the tributes could learn the layout of the land.
Of course, that didn't mean that no more deaths were allowed on the first day, and Ross Leonard, the District 4 boy, was about to learn this the hard way. He had seemed promising after scoring a kill in the bloodbath, but few could stand against Vladimir, let alone him, and thus his cannon went off late in the afternoon only an hour or two before the anthem was set to play.
Day 2 marked the real day of exploration. Diego and Lyndis both wondered if the arena was going to be oddly uninhabited the way it was the previous year, of if the Gamemakers had come up with all sorts of traps and monsters just for her. She wouldn't put it above them, and even Diego agreed. Regardless, Lyndis appeared strong and smart, and was more than capable of fending for herself.
Usually when the career pack brought in tributes from other districts they would have them be the primary scouters. That was how District 3 had been last year, and now how District 5 was this year. Drazen and Leto scouted around and learned that the mountains were more or less the "wall" for the arena, and that most of the beautiful plants and flowers were in fact poisonous. The exotic colors were deadly, while red plants and most of the "dull" colored ones were the safe ones to eat. The water didn't seem to be tainted at all, much to everyone's relief, but danger was no stranger here. They were making their way back to the careers' camp when they were ambushed by Diego and Lyndis. Lyndis managed to kill Drazen by surprise, and Diego injured Leto's arm and prompted her to retreat as her partner's cannon fired. For a while the District 8 pair pursued the bleeding girl, but eventually she somehow managed to get them off of her tail.
On Day 5, Leto met back up with Vladimir and the two of them became the next hunters. They crossed paths with the pair from District 3, who didn't even put up a fight in comparison to the ferocity that the two careers showed. Thus, within minutes, Leto had slain the boy and Vladimir took down the girl a couple moments later. Their next goal would be to either find District 8, find Serana, or find the District 11 pair. Neither one was sure what the rest of their alliance was up to at this point, but they hadn't apparently killed anyone (apart from Julia who had killed a girl in the bloodbath) and so they really didn't feel the need to worry too much.
Theirs was an interesting relationship very similar to the story of Lux and Cadence, two victors from District 1 and District 5 who had developed a relationship in a very unorthodox manner. Both of them knew that it wouldn't last since there could only be one victor, but they still seemed to rather enjoy each other's presence, as well as the synergy that they produced together.
It took the two of them three days, but eventually they came across the pair from District 11, and set off a wave of traps that nearly got them killed. However, both of them managed to survive, and with the help of a couple of well-aimed swings and throws, Leto managed to strike Colette down, while Vladimir impaled Mario and ended his life. District 8 managed to remain dangerously elusive, and neither of these two thought they (particularly Lyndis) were anything less than their biggest threat.
This proved to be the case after Diego and Lyndis found Victoria, Darius, and Julia, and launched an attack that in turn led to a vicious two-day battle between the five tributes. Normally people would assume that tributes from an unassuming district like '8 would get taken down by three powerful careers from '1 and '2 in a matter of seconds, but Lyndis had been training for this moment for years (for her mother had anticipated that Lyndis or her younger brother Naseru would get rigged into the games sooner or later), and Diego was likewise rebellious and had thus received similar training.
Because of the length of the battle, it was not until Day 10 where there was a 'winner' of the battle, and three career tributes lay dead at the feet of District 8 to the sound of cannons firing. Later that night, the faces of Julia, Victoria, and Darius lit up the sky as the anthem played.
Serana was the one left with an interesting dilemma. Her allies were all dead, but so were most of the careers. She knew that Leto and Vladimir were working together, and knew that the pair from District 8 weren't about to betray each other as other tributes still drew breath, which made her the odd one out.
She decided that she would rather see a rebellious district win than one of the districts that was loyal to the Capitol. Besides, the combined number of victors from districts 8 and 12 was equal to the number District 5 had alone, and less than that of District 1.
She put an extremely elaborate plan into effect that would involve luck and a whole lot of skill. During the night, instead of attacking the two of them (for if she killed one, she reasoned the other would have her dead before she could run) she instead stole a great deal of their supplies, and then flattened the meadow in two different directions. One of them seemed painfully obvious, while the other was designed to look like someone covering their tracks. The twist was that the obvious path was the one Serana ran down, while the covered-up path led right into a trap.
Sure enough, the next morning Leto and Vladimir noticed their supplies were gone (barring their weapons, which were still in their hands) they saw the obvious trail, but Leto's keen eyes noticed the one that looked covered up. She had no difficulty following it due to her tracking skills, but was so fixated on it that she didn't catch the trap she triggered, which shot her up with poisonous darts. She tried fighting the poison, but succumbed and died as a result of it. Serana grinned as she heard the cannon fire, although knew that only one cannon meant that one of them was still out there.
What she did not count on, however, was running into District 8 early the next morning. They did not try and fool her with traps the way she had with Leto; Lyndis simply got right up to her and killed her. She and Diego now went to find Vladimir, desiring to slay him before deciding who got to claim the crown.
It took them a couple of days, but on Day 14, they finally encountered Vladimir, and the fighting began. Even outnumbered two to one, Vladimir was still a prominent threat, this time wielding a greatsword. It had more range then the knives the pair from District 8 were using, which forced them to stay evasive. Vladimir played the defensive, which used less stamina than the evasive offensive maneuvers that Lyndis and Diego tried using against him. Diego was the first to realize this and so he went in for the kill. He managed to stab the District 1 boy in the arm and shoulder, but was slammed to the ground after meeting Vladimir's greatsword. The larger boy stopped just for a moment to catch his breath, but that was the only opening Lyndis needed. Against the Capitol's efforts to work against her, Lyndis lodged a knife into Vladimir's throat and ended the games. She became the 7th victor from District 8, and the 99th victor of the Hunger Games.
Change was coming, and everyone knew it. Lyndis had just made history by becoming the only 3rd-generation victor to ever win the games, just like her mother Paige before her, and Paige's father Alice before her. The Capitol was not thrilled that they got bested at their own game by another DeSiete, and the districts knew it. However, this time revolution was coming, and even without a spark, the fire would still spread—and this time it would change Panem forever.
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)
47HG: Aurum Zianja (#8, District 1)
48HG: Layla Aranai (#9, District 2)
49HG: Chip Sangster (#5, District 3)
50HG: Haymitch Abernathy (#2, District 12)
51HG: Derrick James (#7, District 5)
52HG: Chaff Mitchell (#5, District 11)
53HG: Brutus Gunn (#10, District 2)
54HG: Tiffany Waxler (#2, District 10)
55HG: Zak Dreggite (#4, District 4)
56HG: Zoroka Chandaki (#9, District 1)
57HG: Cecelia Sanchez (#4, District 8)
58HG: Meili Meisha (#5, District 6)
59HG: Zhin Lyautey (#6, District 3)
60HG: Lucas Drazen (#10, District 1)
61HG: Kara Petersen (#5, District 7)
62HG: Enobaria Taos (#11, District 2)
63HG: Gloss Zianja (#11, District 1)
64HG: Cashmere Zianja (#12, District 1)
65HG: Finnick Odair (#5, District 4)
66HG: Elroy Trujillo (#12, District 2)
67HG: Varric Svenja (#6, District 11)
68HG: Carver Tabris (#2, District 9)
69HG: Bethany Shanza (#8, District 5)
70HG: Annie Cresta (#6, District 4)
71HG: Johanna Mason (#6, District 7)
72HG: Immanuel Cox (#3, District 10)
73HG: Paige DeSiete (#5, District 8)
74HG: Clove Kazera (#13, District 2)
75HG: Katniss Everdeen (#3, District 12)
76HG: Johnny Stallings (#9, District 5)
77HG: Ikki Ortolani (#7, District 3)
78HG: Ryuka Satoru (#6, District 6)
79HG: Nailah Zoraki (#13, District 1)
80HG: Zenzi Tallarico (#7, District 11)
81HG: Kaede Raiden (#14, District 2)
82HG: Katsuo Raiden (#15, District 2)
83HG: Mandy Ikezhen (#7, District 4)
84HG: Vigo Zakatau (#4, District 12)
85HG: Resin Balthezar (#7, District 7)
86HG: Marian Greene (#3, District 9)
87HG: Connor McIrish (#6, District 8)
88HG: Ian Nelson (#8, District 3)
89HG: Kozue Sowa (#8, District 11)
90HG: Gill Wainright (#8, District 4)
91HG: Aveline Togisala (#5, District 12)
92HG: Amy Zavala (#16, District 2)
93HG: Korra Francisco (#17, District 2)
94HG: Cadence Montoya (#10, District 5)
95HG: Lux Calameda (#14, District 1)
96HG: Shishio Meraxa (#7, District 6)
97HG: Eli Christiansen (#9, District 11)
98HG: Shigeru Lombardi (#9, District 3)
99HG: Lyndis DeSiete (#7, District 8)