The 23 Cannons Trilogy

Victory is Always Bittersweet

Victor. Me. I won. I won!

I hear the cheering of the crowd through the speaker. They're cheering for me. I see a hovercraft emerge. Suddenly, I'm lifted into the air. I'm frozen in place, my arm barely holding on. The pain is agonising, but I don't care right now. I survived the Hunger Games. I'm going to go home, I'm going to see my mother again.

The woman that injected my tracker lifts me up onto the hovercraft, and injects me with something. Everything goes fuzzy, and then black.

I open my eyes, and I'm in a bed. I'm wearing a robe. I prop myself up and-

I look at my arm. It's no longer hanging by a thread, it's fixed. I check my other arm as well. It's not horribly deformed. In fact, I look exactly how I did before I was thrown into the Games. I get out of bed and find some food on the bedside stand.

I chug the coffee and devour the soup faster than what I thought possible. An Avox enters the room, holding some clothing. I thank him, and fear engulfs him. I still don't understand why they're afraid of positive reactions. He places the outfit on the bed, and quickly scampers away. It's the same outfit I wore on launch day, complete with my pendant. I put them on, and open the door.

I'm greeted by Rory, who practically tackles me to the floor.

"Oh my Elekky-poo, I knew you had it in you? Did you see the medicine you got? I was the one who gathered the sponsors for that? Aren't you thankful?"

"Careful, she's probably just woken, and you wouldn't want to undo the operations would you? Her arm's still weak," I see Beetee and Wiress, who look elated. I run over to them, and embrace them.

"Congratulations. You're nearly done with these games. You just have the victor's ceremony, and then we're going home," I see my prep team behind my mentors. Never before have I been so happy to see the bundle of multicoloured people. They pry me out of my embrace, and bring me into a sterile room.

They proceed to remove any imperfections on my body, and put make-up on me, during which they discuss the Games. They discuss the number of parties they attended because of my progress in the arena, and how they missed certain deaths. One of them mentions how they may try to become an escort for the next games. Finally, after hours of mindless drawl, they call Apollo in.

He walks over to me, and also hugs me.

"Great job out there. I'm so glad you came back, you've been one of the best tributes I've worked with in my whole career," he lightly kisses me on the forehead, before covering my eyes.

I feel him sliding the fabric on. After a few minutes, he opens my eyes, and I gasp at myself in the mirror.

"Your ceremony outfit," he says softly. It's beautiful. My hair's done up in the most elegant design, and my outfit is to die for. It's a magnificent white ball-gown, complimenting my hair perfectly. And every few seconds, it pulses a slight golden light. It reminds me of the lights the trees are decorated with during the holidays.

"It's beautiful," Is all I can say. It's truly wonderful. We walk out into the hallway, towards the elevator. I step in alone, and it closes. As it goes up, I can hear cheering and applause.

When it stops, I'm blinded by a bright light. For a brief moment, I think I'm at the bloodbath again, and internally chastise myself for thinking like that. I see Caesar Flickerman standing on stage.

"And here she is! Ladies and gentlemen, the victor of the sixty sixth annual Hunger Games, Elektra Sparke!" The crowd goes wild as I walk over to the seat. Suddenly, the lights dim, and a giant monitor flickers to life.