Different Perspectives Chapter 21

Author's Note: I do not own The Hunger Games

Diamond Parlour, 19. District 1 resident.

I let out a sigh of relief as Cartier Duncan stood beside Ametrine Grande. Dad had me when he was my age, a year after he won his Games. My sisters Mink and Treasure had just left the pen where the girls were. Mink is sixteen, and Treasure is fourteen. As the ceremony ended, I decided to head to my dad's workshop. Inside were casting moulds, cut gemstones in every colour of the rainbow, ores of metals, miles of chains on rolls and hoops and earring posts in storage tins. I remembered how Dad would watch in fear as Tributes were hacked down whenever the Games were shown on TV. He still has trauma from his own Games, I thought. He had to kill Rocky Turner, the boy from District 2, just to survive. From what I heard about his Games, most of the Tributes died from injuries they sustained while in the Stables, illness or died from the cold. Apart from Rocky, my dad said, Robert O'Brien, the boy from District 12, was killed by Xavier Morgan, the District 11 boy, who was in turn, killed by Erin Grealish, Robert's District Partner.

Five days have passed since the beginning of the 21st Hunger Games, and both Cartier and Ametrine are still alive. Standing in the jewellery shop, a shop I work in, I heard Sextus Jaaskelainen, the manager of the store, arguing with a woman whose voice I recognised as Fabrica Whatnot, a fashion designer in The Capitol. At that moment, on the screen, I heard Lucky Flickerman say "Looks like the District 1 girl is not going to win this year". As I looked at the TV in the store, I watched in sheer horror as Alexei Gandy, the boy from District 2, shoved Cartier to the ground. Seconds later, Cartier lay dead, his blood staining the heather red, guts hanging out from a slash wound in his abdomen. I watched Alexei gave chase to a Tribute. "Maxmillian isn't going to like that" I heard Sextus say as he put the phone down. I remembered that Cartier was Maxmillian's Tribute. "At least Molly's girl died quickly" I responded as I went back to work. That evening, Treasure told me that Alexei Gandy of District 2 won the Games.

Four years later…

I stared at the screen, my girlfriend Rosamund beside me, as the sun began to set on the Arena for the First Quarter Quell. That year, the Districts had voted in their Tributes. Originally, District 1 had planned to vote in the nephews and nieces of the District 1 Victors, however the idea was abandoned when someone pointed out that Maxmillian's nieces were children. Molly Frost's nephew, Crown, was voted in, while my sister Treasure was voted in as the only eligible female Tribute related to a Victor. Eight days ago, she entered the Arena. Eight days later, it's just her and the boy from District 9, Eric Vega. Crown had been killed earlier that day, torn apart by Coyote Mutts. My thoughts were soon disturbed by the sound of the Cannon, and looking at the screen, I saw that it was my sister Treasure that died, from her injuries sustained in the fight with the District 2 pair.

Decades later…

"I Volunteer as Tribute!" I watched, horrified, as my youngest son Felix went onto the stage. The 68th Hunger Games was taking place this year, and next to me, my wife Lily comforted me. Rosamund died several years after Treasure's death, because of childbirth; the daughter she was having died as well. I fell for a woman named Lily, who was five years younger, and with her, we had six children: Silver, Topaz, Garnet, Bronze, Beau and Felix. Pearl Rickards II, the female Volunteer, looked at Felix with a look of disgust.

Switching on the television, I saw that the landscape was a barren, frozen wasteland. I watched as the girl from District 12, Charity McNarama, shivered before huddling into a ball. "Nigel! Locomotova! Where are you?" Felix yelled, as Caesar Flickerman began his commentary. "It seems like Felix Parlour from District 1 has betrayed the Career Pack"

Sixteen days have passed since the Tributes entered the Arena, and there were four Tributes left: Felix, Pearl, a burly District 2 Tribute named Agamemnon Clark, and a District 3 girl named Ada Burns. Agamemnon's District Partner, Phoebe Shields, died when she fell into a frozen lake in an attempt to kill Felix. The District 4 pair died of starvation and the rest of the Tributes, including the District 6 pair, froze to death.

The Second Rebellion…

I watched as Bronze summoned the District 1 rebels. "This has gone too far; Snow must pay for the death of my brother and the Tributes that died in these cruel Games. District 1, and Panem, can live in peace without the threat of death hanging over our youth."

Several years later…

Sitting at the graveyard in District 1, I turned to the grave of my father. "Dad, I hope you're proud of your kids and grandkids. You would have loved the new Panem." Laying the flowers on his grave, I made my way to where the Victors of District 1 lay, before going to Rosamund's, Treasure's and Felix's graves. My children are now grown up, and they're in the prime of their lives in the new Panem. I will see you again, Rosamund.

A look at the life of Edgar's eldest son, and how the Games left a shadow on the Parlour family.