Chapter Text
I groaned softly and rolled onto my side. Unfortunately, there was no more space to roll and I fell to the floor with a thud. My eyes shot open.
"Whoah! Good morning to you too!" a familiar voice said cheerfully.
"Ughhh," I grumbled. "Who put the floor there?"
Apo helped me back up to the bed and sat down on the bed across from me. I absentmindedly brushed a bit of dark brown hair out of his face, and he didn't seem to notice.
"You okay?" they checked.
"I guess," I yawned. "What even happened?"
"You passed out," Apo responded with a shrug. "I took you back here and noticed you're kind of starving, so here's some food."
"Thanks," I mumbled. "I didn't even realize I was hungry."
I tossed a couple raspberries into my mouth and was about to reach for a pear when I noticed something. Eyebrows furrowing at the slight headache the object on the table gave me, I asked, "What's that about?"
"A quiver," Apo answered. "It's been on your back since you arrived here, dunno why. There's only one arrow in it, too."
I picked up the quiver and lifted the brittle arrow out of it, inspecting it. The tip was stained dark reddish-brown, but wasn't flaky or colourful enough to be blood. It appeared to be sort of potion, poured carefully onto the arrow who knew how long ago.
"A harming arrow," I explained to Apo. "It hurts three times as much as a normal arrow - or at least, if it's what I think it is."
"How do you know that?" they asked. "Do you think you could've been an archer before this?"
I hummed. "Somehow that doesn't feel quite right. Maybe... a hunter?" No, that didn't feel right either.
"Huh." Apo shrugged. "Well, finish your breakfast and try to brush your hair. I'll be waiting outside."
~
I joined Apo outside the tent just over a minute later. He glanced at me in slightly impressed surprise.
"That was fast." Apo began walking away, and I followed them.
"Nah, other people are just slow," I teased. Apo laughed softly, and I brightened up at the fact that I'd been able to make someone happy.
Happier than I'd ever be.
As quick as the thought came, it vanished, and I blinked quickly as I tried to remember it.
"What's up?" Apo asked.
"I don't know." I shrugged. "Some sort of tiny memory, I guess. But it's gone now."
They nodded. "Oh! This is the pond I was fishing at."
Apo ran forwards excitedly, leaping onto the dock and not at all being careful not to fall into the water. I winced as second-hand anxiety filled me for my new companion.
"Look!" he crowed. "It's - CAREFUL."
I slowly dipped a stick into the water to see how shallow it was. But before I could back away, I caught a glance at my reflection. My head snapped back to the water as my eyes widened in shock.
My eyes were so many shades of brown, with my right one being a little lighter than my left eye. Almost all of my face was covered in scars, the most obvious ones being scratches across half my face. Very few scars matched how big and obvious they were, the only others on my face being small burn marks.
I suddenly felt self-conscious. Despite somehow knowing that I was young, the scars made me look horrifying and older than anyone ever should be.
"Hey," Apo said softly, walking over. "They don't look bad, I promise. I think you look totally badass."
"Language," I sniffed. Apo placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and kindly but firmly made me look into his eyes.
"Listen," they stated. "I don't know what you've been through, but the fact that you survived makes me think that you had to be stronger than any of us know to make it out like this. Scars aren't a bad thing. Yes, they can be caused by bad things, but that doesn't make them bad."
I laughed, but I wasn't that happy despite Apo helping a lot. "Where'd you hear that from?"
"I can't remember, but I remember that I cared about whoever told me that a lot," Apo spoke softly. "Look at the cracks in my horns. I don't like them, but they're a sign that I've gone through something and come out stronger. That doesn't make me weak, or ugly, or old, that makes me a person. Same with you. All right?"
"Thank you," I whispered, voice raspy. "You seem to know a l-lot about getting stronger."
Apo smiled sadly. "I didn't at first, I feel. I had to learn. And I did. Which means you can too. So come on, look at the badass in your reflection." They placed two fingers on my face and tilted my head down to the pond.
Two brown eyes, one lighter than the other. Scars scattered across my face, tears brimming in my eyes, but a smile tugging at the corners of my lips. I got the feeling that I used to be pretty, once.
"You're still very pretty," Apo said in a half-teasing voice.
I hid my face. "I didn't think I said that out loud. Frick."
Apo laughed gently, and I found myself chuckling along with him. It felt like we'd already been friends for ages, and were just finding each other again now.
"I just remembered something," Apo realized suddenly. He pulled my quiver off my back with a bit of a struggle and pointed to a part of it with a little scribble.
It read: 'Owen's quiver! I will break your legs!!'
Apo snickered softly. "Apparently you were a very different person before this place."
"No kidding," I agreed with a laugh. "Who made me so mad I decided to threaten anyone who touched my stuff?"
We laughed together for a moment.
"Wait, is there something on the arrow, too?" Apo realized. I pulled it out and looked at the arrow more carefully. My eyes widened.
"'Owen's first trap arrow,'" I read out loud. "I think this is from the maze!"
"No, it's from the sky," Apo snorted. "I'm sorry... Owen! We know your name now!"
"Hang on, we don't know it's my name-" I protested.
"OWEN!!" they cheered. "It kinda sounds like orange. Like your bandana!" Apo gestured to the bandana on my arm.
I smiled. "I actually do like the colour orange. It's really nice. Oranges are nice too!"
He grinned. "Owenge."
"Owenge!" I gasped. "Hang on, I actually love that."
"Same!" Apo laughed. "We should make Owenge juice for you."
"And Apo juice?" I teased. "Or pie. Something Apo! Besides. Your name is literally apple without the 'L'."
"That's because you're the 'L'!" Apo yelled playfully. I gasped in mock offence.
"How dare you?" I cried out, placing a hand to my heart. "I'm never going to emotionally recover from this."
"Hey, guys!" A person emerged from the bushes, startling both me and Apo. He threw a rock at the person while I nearly fell into the pond. A long stick with a string somehow stopped me from falling in.
"Stop laughing and help me!" I yelled at Apo. The demon boy, doubled over in laughter, was doing absolutely nothing to stop my easily stoppable demise.
Someone else grabbed the scruff of my sweater and yanked me away from the water's edge just as the fishing rod toppled over. The same person, with excellent reflexes, grabbed the fishing rod and tossed it at Apo's face.
Apo's face did not have excellent reflexes.
I turned to look at the person to thank them for helping me when my so-called 'friend' wouldn't. "Oh sh- ...Holy heck you're tall."
A demon with reddish-pink skin and long matching horns stood in front of me. They had shiny black eyes and extremely sharp teeth, plus a black knitted sweater and shorts. BUT WHY WERE THEY SO TALL?
"Dude, you're like the fricking trees!" I laughed, startled. The person looked down and me and snickered in surprise.
"Ah yes, I am tree," they joked, T-posing. I then realized that two other people had walked out of the trees behind them, and I began to feel a bit overwhelmed.
Apo had stopped laughing hysterically at that point. I carefully shuffled behind him (very subtly) and avoided eye contact with anyone there.
"Hi guys," Apo chuckled. "Owen, this is Guts, the tall chaotic one. Rasbi, the socially awkward white-haired one. And Scott, the blue-haired ripped-suit man. Guys, this is Owen. He remembered his name! Ish!"
I managed an awkward smile. "'Ello."
"HI," Guts replied. Rasbi gave an odd wave and Scott jokingly bowed to me.
"Nice to meet you," Scott said with a mischievous grin plastered to his face. "When you're not hiding in treetops or faceplanting in ponds."
"In my defnse, I'd just been told that I was in a giant maze that likely had no way out," I defended myself. "And the second time, blame Apo."
"Why me?" they protested.
"Because you LAUGHED while I nearly DIED," I complained overdramatically. "You are a TRAITOR."
"Oh, boo-hoo," he chuckled. I smiled along with him before turning back to the group. Scott and Rasbi looked like they were trying not to laugh while Guts seemed perpetually confused.
"What did I just witness?" Guts questioned.
"Don't ask," me and Apo responded. They simply shrugged and began walking past us.
"You're abandoning me?" Scott called with a grin. "How rude."
"I'M GOING TO MY HOUSE, BYE!!" Guts yelled. I flinched at the noise and instinctively started to place my hands over my ears.
Apo grabbed my wrist and started tugging me away from the pond. I exhaled sharply, startled out of my mind. Rasbi and Scott quickly followed behind us.
"Where are we going?" I demanded.
"There's a meeting," Rasbi explained. "You're gonna get introduced."
"Uh, haha, how about no-" I tried to pull away from Apo's grip.
"If you try to run they will keep looking for you every single night until you let them throw you a party," Apo warned. "It happened to me, too."
"And me," Rasbi agreed.
Scott snickered. "I was the life of the party."
"I can hide from them!" I again tried to pull away from Apo, but he seemed to be able to predict whatever I was going to do and stopped me easily.
"Tried that," Apo retorted. "Someone had tamed wolves and I got tracked down within a day."
"What about underground-" I started.
"The mines have a chance of collapsing, don't do that," Scott warned.
"And the maze walls are really hard to climb, believe it or not," Rasbi put in with a shrug. "Trust us. Don't try to run."
My breathing quickened and my heart started to race as a campfire came into view at the edge of the forest." I don't really like fire, or people, um-"
Apo noticed how stressed I was getting and began to relent. "Maybe I can talk to them and see if-"
"There's no backing out now!" Scott laughed. "C'mon, Apo. And Owen, don't be a party pooper." Behind his outgoing persona, a glimmer of unease shone in his almost unnaturally cyan eyes.
"Owen's just old," Rasbi muttered.
"I'm less than twenty!" I protested.
"I'm eighteen!" Rasbi laughed. "You're old!"
"Same, and agreed," Apo snickered.
"I'm something under twenty-two," Scott mused. "Anyway, here we are!"
"Free me," I whispered.
"OWeN!" a man in a red suit and sunglasses greeted. He was the one who'd thrown berries at my head when I first woke up in the elevator. "Ya wAnT bEeR?"
"Why do you sound like that?" I mumbled.
"He's fucking drunk," Mohwee pointed out the obvious. "Ignore Red. Nothing he says makes sense, he just likes money, guns, and beer."
"AnD fArMs!" Red added.
"Mate, you sound autotuned."
"Can I please leave?" I whispered to no one in particular.
"I know it can be a bit chaotic," someone with goggles who wasn't Mohwee whispered.
A girl with a twisted black crown and grey eyes stood beside her, nodding. "Stay away from Oeca, Red, and Pearl. Those three are the most chaotic and don't listen to anyone."
"What's wrong about them?" I mumbled.
"One's a child, one's Australian, and one is a sock," goggle girl whispered. "I'm Squidney, by the way."
"And I'm Spidey," the other girl muttered.
"My name's Owen. I think," I introduced myself under my breath. "Nice to meet you two."
"You too," Spidey whispered. "Hey, you want a sussy?"
"A what?" I repeated, raising a brow. Squidney snickered softly.
Spidey reached into her backpack and pulled out a wooden sword. She tossed it on the ground before going back into the backpack and pulling out two things - a longbow and a small red wool creation.
The girl began to toss away the bow before I stopped her. "Wait," I hissed. "Do you need this, or can I have it?"
Spidey shrugged. "Go ahead. Anyways, this is my first ever sussy." She placed it down. The little wool thing had a glass visor, no arms, two short legs, and a backpack that matched its suit colour.
I tucked the longbow onto a strap on my back by my quiver and stared at the sussy. Before I could respond, someone grabbed my shoulder.
"CAMPFIRE CIRCLE!!" someone screeched.
Immediately the group charged towards a massive bonfire and began to claim spots on the logs surrounding it. I shrank back, fearful of the flames for reasons I couldn't fathom. Almost subconsciously, my hand reached up to touch some of the scars on my face.
A child who I assumed was Oeca dragged me over to the campfire despite my sharp protests and forced me to sit on a log where literally everyone could see me. He then vanished off to who knew where.
"Welcome, Outsider," Graecie called with a smile. "Care to introduce yourself? I'm Graecie, as you know, and you'll be with us for quite a while, I'm afraid."
"I-I'm... Owen," I stuttered. "Uh, c-can I-"
"Fellow Outsiders, please do welcome and introduce yourselves to Owen!" Graecie cheered.
Deafening cheers rose out around me, and instead of flinching, I literally shut down. My body stopped working whatsoever. Eyes glazed over, limbs locked in place, lungs struggled to work.
Names flooded in one ear and out the other.
Reddoons.
Mohwee.
Pearl.
Squidney.
Oeca.
Rasbi.
Apokuna.
Spidey.
Scott.
Guts.
Graecie.
Owen.
Owen.
Owen?
Owen!
OWEN!!
"OWEN!!!"
"...Owen?"