Prologue: A Victory and a Reveal

How am I going to get myself back home?
We are the last people standing
At the end of the night
We are the greatest pretenders
In the cold morning light
-Bastille, Get Home.

Archie Hewlett [16]
District 3 Male

Two cannons boom in the distance. Archie' eyes fly open, his breathing speeds up, and despite the fear that courses through him, there's excitement too: he's one more dead tribute from being able to go home. He wrinkles his nose as soon as that thought comes to his mind, pushing it away as shame fills him.

Whatever Career boy he's up about is also someone's family. He's someone's son, maybe a brother, maybe an uncle, a good friend… he's something to someone and Archie can't just have a blatant disregard for that. He knows that there are people back home in District Three waiting for him, and he's sure that there's a ton more waiting for the arrival of whatever Career boy isn't dead yet. Of course, there's also two more families mourning and Archie can't believe that he was actually excited to know that people were dead.

It makes him feel disgusting.

But then, he supposes that he is. Or that he will be. There's two of them left now, and Archie knows that he has to kill to be the one left standing. It goes against everything he believes but he can't just sit everything out and wait for the numbers to dwindle like he's been doing for the past few weeks; the Gamemakers will spur him into action soon, and if he wants to see his parents and his little sisters again then it's going to have to end with a cannon boom that isn't his.

He sits up, shuffling around to grab his backpack stuffed at the bottom of his sleeping bag. He takes a moment to go through it, taking out the packets of dried fruit he's been saving. The thing about the Careers is that, unless it's something useful, they tend to leave the supplies with the bodies of those that they killed. They have more than enough back at the cornucopia, and they assume that it'll just be picked up with the body. But three times now, Archie has stumbled upon their kills and so he's ended up with a decent amount of provisions. He's been saving the packets of dried fruit, though, even though he wasn't sure what for at the times that he forced himself not to open them, finding something else instead.

He figures now is the best time of any; either he dies with a stomach full of his favourite snack, or it's his victory breakfast.

Once he's finished eating, Archie starts to pack his things up. There's a horrible feeling of dread in his stomach—which doesn't really mix well with the fruit. It's terrifying to think that he's so close to both going home and dying. He's made it this far, even if everyone had pegged him a bloodbath. He's not sure how, but he's still here, and surely that counts for something even if he is up against a Career.

Bundled up, he takes a step outside of the cave for the first time in a few days. His breath fogs out in front of him, and the sun reflecting off of the snow makes his eyes hurt. Still, he wants to get away from here, towards the one tribute remaining if he can. Archie doesn't even want to think about what the Gamemakers will send their way to get them together. Nothing to kill them of course; the Capitol wants to see the two of them duke it out themselves, but that doesn't mean that in the event that he does actually win this, he wants to have more nightmares. It's been hard enough falling asleep already and whilst he knows that what might happen in the next couple of hours will scar him even deeper, he tries not to dwell on it as he trudges across the snowy mountain.

Instead he thinks about home. About his mom and his dad and Marie, Ada and Grace. The five of them probably huddled around the TV at this moment. He thinks about his mom's hugs, his dad's laugh, Marie's curiosity, Ada's cleverness and Grace's kindness. How excited they'll be if he steps off that train once more.

The final eight interview went well, he knows that much. The warm stew that Stylus, his mentor, had sent down that night came with a note he still has in his pocket. He stops in the snow, nudging the card out.

Your family did well. They want you home. Grace says she's got something to show you when you return. Do your best to live and see it – S.

There are tears in his eyes when he reads over those words, and he inhales slowly as not to break down there and then. But even if he did, it wouldn't be for long. Something slams into his side, sobering him up as he lands hard on the ground and turns to see the One boy, half of his face covered in blood as he stares down at Archie.

Archie watches as the card is whisked away by a gust of wind, letting out a pained cry as he watches it go.

"I want to make this last," the One boy laughs, using one hand to grip Archie's chin and force him to look at him. "You don't deserve to be in this spot, and I want my victory to be memorable. I thought it would be by killing Trout and Cadmus but you complicated it all."

Trying to push the boy off, Archie whimpers slightly as the tip of the boy's knife presses against his neck. "I haven't done anything," he gasps. "If you're going to kill me just do it."

The One boy tilts his head to the side. "Looks like you're shit out of luck, Three."

"Mom, Dad, Ada, Marie, Grace…" Archie manages to choke out. "D-don't watch."

And what happens next is a blur. He doesn't know how he gets his dagger, or how he manages to free his arm from underneath the One boy, but somehow it ends with his dagger in the boy's side and the pressure on Archie's neck releasing. The boy tips off of him, and Archie gulps in as much air of he can, rolling onto his front before struggling on to his feet.

Something trickles down his neck as he stands up, a stinging sensation kicking in as he realise that the boy nicked his neck. He holds a hand there to try and stop the bleeding, bending down to pick up the very knife that injured him.

To his left, the boy stands up too, his hand pressed into his side as he tries his best to straighten up. "You're going to pay for that," the boy says, and there's a grin on his face that unsettles Archie.

But the boy tries to straighten up too quickly given that there's a knife in his side, and a flash of pain crosses his face as he tilts and tries to keep his balance. Archie tries to warn the boy as takes one too many steps backwards, but the boy either doesn't listen or doesn't hear.

It all happens in slow motion; Archie lunges forward, arm outstretched to try and grab the boy's hand as he starts to windmill. Even in the moment Archie realises that it is a little bizarre, but it's the only thing he can will his body into doing at that moment. But he's too late, he doesn't manage to grab it and the boy falls backwards, down a steep drop.

The dried fruit makes a reappearance when Archie hears the thud of the boy's body hitting small shelves of rock on the way down.

The last cannon booms. Archie screams into the snow.

"Congratulations to the Victor of the 99th annual Hunger Games, Archie Hewlett!"

Archie is in no state to register the announcement, and it's not until he's being lifted into the hovercraft that he actually realises that he's going home. That he'll see his family again.

His last thought as the people aboard the hovercraft sedate him is that he can't wait to see what Grace has made him.

Archie doesn't speak much any more.

He's thankful for his family, for them putting up with him as he tries to navigate this new life, but it's hard for all of them. There are many nights that he wakes up screaming and scares his sisters, there are times that he looks at Ada and all he can see is that tiny District Seven girl who's corpse he stumbled upon a few minutes after the Careers had killed her, and there are days that he doesn't come out of his room.

The first time that he tried to get drunk and forget, his mom slapped him hard across the face and told him to get out until he sobered up. He had, and when he'd come back the next morning after sleeping in a bush in the back garden, she'd hugged him fiercely and told him that she'd only done it because she loves him.

Archie he believes that's true with his whole heart.

He sees a therapist before and after the Victory Tour, someone who helps him with his problems. Someone that helps him get closer to the Archie he was before. He'll never be the same, he knows that, but it's nice to be able to play games with his sisters in their new back garden without having a meltdown because the temperature drops and suddenly he thinks that he's back in the arena.

He doesn't speak much, but he tries his best to communicate with his parents. It's hard to admit when he's having a bad day, but he does it anyway. And his dad will hug him so tightly that he can't breathe and his mom will make him soup and sit with him for as long as he wants. Both of them will make sure that the girls don't bother him too much that day, and that he's on his way to being okay.

Archie's lucky, so lucky, he knows that. Not everyone coming back from the arena has anyone to support them, but Archie has won the jackpot.

But tonight is the announcement for the Quarter Quell, and the soup nor the hugs, nor the company is making him feel better. Grace stretching her legs onto his lap, as the other two play card games in front of the fire. He resists the urge to push them off, instead guiding his gaze up to the welcome home banner hanging up above the TV. She had made herself, apparently the night that he had been reaped. It had been what she wanted to show him; that she'd believed in him from the beginning.

"You won't have to go in again, will you?" Grace quietly from beside him.

He shakes his head. "They've already done that one," he says. "I'll be okay. Don't worry."

"You don't look okay," Grace's voice is soft. "You look scared."

"I-I am," Archie nods. "I-whatever happens tonight I have to—"

"He has to mentor it, Grace," Marie cuts in. Archie nods. "So if it's bad then he'll…" She trails off, not wanting to finish her sentence. Archie feels awful; if it's bad, then he'll get worse after he comes home. He knows that's what she meant.

Grace looks momentarily terrified. "Arch… what if we have to go in?! Me and Marie and Ada? What if—"

"That's not going to happen!" Archie's shout sounds more harsh than he intended it to be. He doesn't even intend to shout, but the thought of his sisters in that arena sends a jolt of fear through him that doesn't even equate to what he felt in the arena. "Don't say things like that Grace! Why would you even bring that up?!"

There's a shocked silence in the room, Ada and Marie staring up at the pair of them with their mouths slightly open. Grace's eyes fill with tears, her bottom lip trembles, and she bursts into tears before swinging her legs from Archie's lap and running out of the room.

"What happened?" Their mom enters the room, arms crossed over her chest. She looks towards Marie and Ada on the floor. "Were you teasing her again? I've told you so many time that you shouldn't—"

"It's my fault, Mom," Archie admits staring down at his lap. "I shouted at her."

"Why?"

Ada glances towards him, and then to their mom, speaking for him. "She asked what would happen if the Quell twist was us going in. Arch wasn't trying to be mean, he's just worried."

Their mom sighs. "We'll speak about this later, alright, Archie? I'll go get Grace. It'll be starting soon, anyway."

Archie nods, their dad joining them shortly after she leaves again. When his mother comes back down, Grace murmuring a tearful apology before settling down on his lap, the TV flickers on and Archie's stomach drops. He grips Grace a tighter than normal, her suggestion from earlier at the front of his mind.

His breathing speeds up as the previous Quells are read out, and the reveal gets closer. He has the benefit of knowing that the Victors have already been forced back into the arena, that he himself is safe, but he's worried that his family isn't.

"And finally, as a reminder that it wasn't an easy choice for a parent to send their child off to war, the reaping bowls will be made up of mothers with daughters and fathers with sons. The parent pulled out of the bowl has to choose one of their children of their own gender to enter into the arena, regardless of age. This child will represent their district in this year's Games."

The TV flickers off, and Archie's family is not safe. He is, and his father won't have a name in the bowl, but his mom will, and what are they supposed to do if it's her name and she has to choose between the girls?

Grace is eight, Ada is ten and Marie turned twelve last week. None of them would stand a chance in an arena, especially with the chance of tributes that are decades older than them. Besides, who is their mom supposed to choose? Marie because she's the oldest? Grace because she'll undoubtedly get more sponsors with her innocence? Ada because she's the smartest?

Fuck, Archie thinks, fuckfuckfuckfuck.

How is he supposed to be okay with mentoring this?

I hope you enjoyed this Quell reveal, as well as insight into the latest Victor, Archie!

So, a few things I just want to clarify/inform you of in regards to this twist:

If a family has four daughters and no sons, only the name of the mother will be in the reaping bowls. Same as if a family has only sons, only the father's name will be in the bowl.

There is no age limit. If a 70 year old parent is pulled, they can choose their 50 year old "kid" to go into the games. I'd like to see some diversity, but it's not a huge issue if most tributes end up being a little older.

There are no volunteers; whatever child is picked is the child that goes in.

In regards to tesserae, anyone eligible (so, daughters with alive mothers and sons with alive fathers) are allowed to take tesserae. The combined total of the daughters tesserae will be how many time their mother's name is in, and likewise for fathers and their sons. So, if a family of seven, three sons and two daughters, had their children take out tesserae for all seven of them, the father's name would be in 21 times, and the mother's 14. I hope that makes sense!

If you have any other questions, please PM me!

Also, a quick disclaimer. I am currently a third year university student in the UK. As such I am currently undertaking a project called a dissertation which a 10,000 word essay (for my course, at least, I know it differs... my housemate's is only 5,000 but due much earlier) on a subject of our choice. This is currently eating up a lot of my time, along with other deadlines I have. Because of this, at times, updates could slow down. I'm undertaking this as a way to be able to take a break from writing my dissertation and other essays, yet still be productive. So, updates might be slow but I will try to keep you updated on my profile if there's a particular time that I know I won't be able to get a chapter out for a while. My dissertation and uni work will always be my priority.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you submitting a tribute! :)

-Myths and me