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Apo wasn't expecting much when they pushed her into the arena for the first time. She had come to not expect a lot from the training facilities. From harsh training regimes to strict rules to the teachers breathing down her neck, she had been whittled down and molded into someone who didn't expect a lot. So that's why she didn't think to go easy on the girl on the opposite side of the arena. That was the way the arena worked, after all. You couldn't leave until you fought each other, training for the moment they would inevitably have to battle to the death in an amphitheatre for their patron god's honor. She wasn't expecting an easy fight.
That's why she was surprised when it was.
The girl seemed to be a champion of someone like Hephaestus, seeing how her main strategy was to unearth rocks and chunks of iron, and to take cover behind them. Apo would call it cowardly, but it's exactly what she did the first couple of times she had been locked in the arena. Then again, she was a coward, she had always been a coward. She just trained herself to not show it. After all, it was survival of the fittest.
Maybe she had gone a bit too hard. Considering that her opponent had ran out without an honorary handshake, maybe she should have gone lighter, but going lighter was a show of weakness. She couldn't show weakness.
So Apo followed her. She didn't care if it was breaking the rules that had been hammered into her brain, she followed her.
She found the girl sulking in a prep room identical to hers: empty white walls, training dummies that looked suspiciously too intact, two benches overlooking a small pit full of the same material as the floor of the arena. She was sitting on a bench facing away from the door, flinging small mineral chunks around in the air.
"Hello?"
The girl jumped and whirled around, sending a decently sized piece of copper into Apo's chest. Almost immediately her eyes widened, and she folded into rapid apologies almost immediately.
"Hey. Hey, it's okay," Apo tried reassuring her. "I'm alright you didn't hurt me." That might have been a lie. That was definitely going to bruise later.
"No, no, no, no, no," the girl scrambled around, searching around for something like a first aid kit or something that could help Apo. "I hurt you, I need to help!"
Apo trained her eyes on the girl's leg as she hurried around, and the way she winced when she put weight on it. "Hey. Forget about me, are you okay?"
"I'm fine!"
"You're limping."
"I'm fine!"
Realization shot through Apo like a bullet. "Did I hurt you?" The lack of a response told her all she needed to know. "Um… oh wow. Okay. I hurt you, you hurt me, so we're even?"
The girl deflated a bit before sitting down on the floor. Apo slowly sidled over to join her. "What's your name, by the way?"
"Cherri," the girl said after multiple seconds of hesitation. "Anointed devotee of Hades."
"That's funny. I'm training to be champion for Persephone."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Apo stared down at her hands, absentmindedly picking at a hangnail on her thumb. "My relationship with my dad… isn't great. I guess she saw a bit of herself in me," she admitted to the girl she just met, that she probably shouldn't be admitting personal secrets to. Cherri had a strange air of trustworthiness about her though, one that made Apo want to tell her things, despite her better judgment.
"I see." Cherri said quietly. Somewhat sorrowfully. "I made a deal with Hades." Apo didn't respond. she didn't know how to respond to that. She just stayed quiet. "I have… I don't what it is exactly, but I'm sick. I almost died a couple times. I don't remember how it happened, but we made a deal."
Apo hummed softly, hoping it would show Cherri a bit of compassion.
"In exchange for more time, I have to fight in the arena in his honor. I'm the first Hades champion in years. I'm supposed to win in the arena. I don't think I can even win one fight. I don't know how I'm supposed to become an undefeated champion if I can't win one fight."
She put her head in her hands, and Apo hesitantly patted her back, trying to be reassuring. "Guess we both have problems then, huh?"
"I don't know why I told you that," Cherri said, voice breaking. "I shouldn't have told you that. I don't even know you. The supervisors are going to be so mad at me when they find out."
Apo shrugged next to her. "To me, it just sounds like you need someone to talk to."
The other opened her mouth to say something, but was swiftly interrupted by a pounding on the door.
"Oh. I think they've come looking for me." She stood up, sighing slightly.
"Oh." Cherri sounded sad at that, sadder than she had a couple moments before. It made Apo's heart hurt. "Do you think I'll see you around at some point?"
"Maybe."
"By the way, I didn't get your name."
One of the supervisors pounded on the door again, and she heard herself being addressed in a shout from the other side. "Apo."
"Okay." She flashed a weak smile her way. "See you, Apo."
"Bye."
To tell the truth, Apo wasn't expecting to see Cherri again. A lot of her interactions were one and done, like they were all passing ships on the open sea. She didn't meet a lot of people more than once, twice if she was lucky. She had a couple friends, but wasn't that close to them at all. She preferred to stay alone, just in case. You never know what secrets people could be hiding, how manipulative they could actually be. Despite all that, she kind of wanted to see Cherri again. Cherri gave off the vibe of someone warm and trustworthy. Apo didn't know what to make of that.
She didn't think it would ever happen, seeing Cherri again, but it would be a welcome surprise if so.
That's why she was surprised when she accidentally stumbled upon Cherri again.
Apo was trying to hide from the supervisors. She didn't want to train anymore. She didn't want to be a champion. She didn't want anything to do with Persephone or the arena, she just wanted to go home.
She had found a cool corner on the campus where almost nobody ever went near. It had become her go-to spot for when she needed to be alone. Today though, it wasn't empty.
"Hello?"
Cherri looked up from the corner, her face lighting up ever so slightly as she saw Apo standing there. "Hi Apo."
"Hi," Apo said awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"
"Hiding," Cherri murmured after a moment of hesitation.
"Same. Mind if I sit down?" She took her small headshake as a good enough answer. "Any reason you're out here?"
"I'm tired of fighting in the arena. I think it's wearing me down more than if I didn't take this deal in the first place."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"I thought you thought that we weren't close enough for you to share all this about yourself," Apo tried joking, trying to maybe lighten the mood.
"I've decided that I like talking to you, actually. I've thought about that conversation a lot, you know. I think I can trust you."
"This is our second conversation."
"I like talking to you," Cherri said, as if that was the final decision, and that was that.
"Okay." A beat. "Wait, you've been thinking about me?"
"Probably too much," she admitted. "In my defense, you're nice to think about."
Apo looked away, ears burning for a reason she couldn't place. "Thanks."
"Yeah. You don't have to thank me, you made me feel better by finding me back here and talking to me. Don't apologize for anything." She nudged Apo's hand with her own and shot her a bright smile, melting her brain just a tiny bit.
"I was just afraid that… you were moving too fast in regards to talking to me, and were going to regret it."
The brown haired girl next to her shrugged. "It's okay. I like fast."
"I think I should go soon. It's getting hard for me to breathe. You know… I'm ill."
"I see."
Apo got to her feet and extended a hand, offering her a way to stand easier. The other took her hand with a smile somehow both weak and full of an emotion that she couldn't discern. Just like all of Cherri's recent actions, it made her heart flip, which was wholly frustrating.
It was rare for Apo to try and seek someone out in a crowd, but there she was anyway. It was rare for all the champions in training were all gathered together, so this was like a once in a lifetime experience for her. She was searching the crowd, looking for one person in particular. Cherri. She was looking for Cherri. She was looking, and she couldn't find her. Apo would know Cherri if she saw her. Was it irrational, to admire someone she barely knew so much? It had felt like she had known her for an eternity. The amount she took up in her thoughts was becoming embarrassing. Cherri Cherri Cherri.
Apo wasn't expecting to find her. But she did.
Rather, Cherri found her.
"Apooooo!" She was jumped on from behind, knocking the wind out of her lungs. She stumbled a bit before regaining her balance and becoming stupidly nervous once she realized who had just pounced her. Eloquently, she managed to choke out the first words that came to mind.
"Holy shit."
"Are you glad to see me?"
"Glad is an understatement."
"Progress checks, am I right?" She pretended to gag, and Apo shoved her playfully, leading to her doing the same thing in retaliation. Some of the other kids around them stared, but for once, Apo's social anxiety could go to hell, she was going to have fun with her friend.
"Hey! I think they're pretty okay, after all, I get to see you again!"
"True. I hate them. Oh Cherri, you've barely improved! Cherri, we're concerned about you! Cherri, we might have to find a replacement for you if you don't show any growth by next check!" she mocked, her disdain bleeding through every word.
Apo pressed her mouth into a line as she complained, she didn't like the notion of what she was saying, or the insinuation that came with it.
"Hey. You're capable, I believe in you."
"You don't know that," she smirked.
"I've seen what you're like in the arena, I think you can do anything you can put your mind to." It was Cherri's turn to become red with embarrassment; or at least what Apo thought was embarrassment.
"I mean… I've probably improved a lot!" Apo didn't like that 'probably'. "Turn that frown upside down, I'm not going anywhere."
"Okay." She jumped nearly a foot in the air as the announcement to begin the progress checks rang out, calling a 'Ren, Zeus champion-in-training ' first. That was how the calling worked, the champions of higher level gods got picked first; the advantage of being chosen by an important deity. Cherri cackled at her as she got over the start of a sudden loud voice. "Don't laugh at me!"
"Sorryyy!" Something about her tone made Apo think that she was not in fact sorry.
"Liar."
"Me? Nooooo."
"Liar liar, pants on fire!"
"I am completely honest," Cherri argued back.
"Sure you are."
"I ammm!"
Other trainees around them side eyed the two for not treating the gathering with the seriousness that they should. Apo didn't care, though.
In the moment, all Apo cared about was getting to goof around with Cherri. All Apo cared about was Cherri.
Eventually, a second was called back, a girl named Pearl, training to represent Poseidon. By the order they went with, Cherri was next. All of a sudden, Apo wanted to grasp onto her and never let her go. The Hades trainee seemed to share the sentiment, growing quiet and hooking Apo's sleeve with her fingers.
"Your turn next, huh?"
"Yeah," Cherri said softly. She shuffled a step closer to her, and she could feel her heart skip a beat or two. "I don't want to go, though."
"Like I said! You'll do great!"
"Not that." She paused awkwardly, and the only sound between them were the muffled side conversations between other trainees waiting their turn to be called up and assessed. "I'm going to miss you," she finished, quiet enough that the people other than Apo around her couldn't hear her. "I don't get to see you enough."
"Agreed. We should really find each other somewhere more convenient sometime."
Cherri hummed in agreement and pressed her forehead to Apo's shoulder. "Promise?"
Apo reached over and hesitantly linked their pinkies. "Maybe when we're all done with training, we can relax."
"I'd like that."
"Me too," Apo smiled down at her, and Cherri avoided eye contact.
They stood there in silence for a while, hand in hand. Something about Cherri made Apo feel safe. At home.
Eventually, the call came. Cherri, Hades champion-in-training. Her turn. Apo was being left alone again.
Cherri started to walk forward, stopping as she got pulled back by a taut force on her arm. Apo didn't realize that they were still holding hands, but she didn't want to let go.
"Apo… I have to go."
"I don't want you to."
Cherri's face twisted, as if she was conflicted about something. Quickly, she ducked back and brought Apo's hand to her mouth and gave it a small peck. As quickly as she turned back, she rushed away, off to her progress check. Apo stared after her, not knowing what happened, but knowing that her heart might just implode in on itself.
Apo was antsy as all hell. She couldn't focus on training, learning, anything. The thought of Cherri took over her waking mind, dancing around in her brain like a pinball. It was getting embarrassing, frankly. She didn't even know the Hades trainee that well. Why did she have to be so infatuated with her? She wanted to know everything about her. Favorite color, food, season, type of weather.
Apo was one hundred percent, undoubtedly, down bad. Her trainers gave her weird looks when she substituted her normal plant magic for the darker, more death focused part of Persephone's abilities, but it reminded her of Cherri. It was silly, Apo thought, but a Persephone champion falling so deeply for a Hades champion could be counted as a strange act of fate. Hey, she wasn't complaining.
With the isolated nature of the training program, Apo didn't see Cherri for a while after the progress checks. She knew that she could have done a lot better, but she had been rightfully distracted. She had still passed - they weren't getting rid of her yet. Lost in thought, Apo accidentally sent a large bone veering towards the wall.
"Apo, her trainer scolded, "what has been wrong with you recently? You can't focus, you can't aim-"
"I know," Apo interrupted quickly, trying to deflect the worst of their criticisms. "I'm sorry. I think I need some air? I haven't been outside in a while."
The trainer sighed, pinching the bridge of their nose with their fingers. "Fine. We'll pick back off tomorrow."
"Okay! Thank you!" As soon as the words had left their mouth, Apo was off, speedwalking away towards the hallway that led down to the courtyard. At last, she was alone, alone with her thoughts and the clicking of her shoes against the floor.
She felt slightly bad, she had been finding excuses to end practice early for the past two weeks. But on the other hand… could you blame her?
She needed a break. She needed a break real bad. Cherri centered distractions aside, Apo was starting to burn out, and burn out bad. She needed time to just breathe, to exist without being molded into the perfect fighter through endless training sessions and sparring and the occasional arena fight that got too out of hand, the ones that she lost. Apo wasn't allowed to lose.
She turned a corner, then another, then another, then she pushed open the set of doors that led out to the courtyard. The courtyard wasn't anything special, all it was was just a medium sized garden surrounded by windowless walls. Due to the walls surrounding it, it was shaded at least sixty percent of the time, but a couple patches of flowers still managed to grow there. They smelt sweet, a smell that reminded her of morning dew. Somewhere in the back of her brain, she thought that Cherri would probably like them.
She walked to a bare patch of grass and lay down, watching clouds gently float by on the wind through the visible square of sky. The sun peeked through occasionally, warming her face and starting forming the first traces of a sunburn across her cheeks.
It was nice to let the pressure off of her shoulders every once in a while.
Apo closed her eyes and exhaled, letting out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in. Sitting alone outside brought her peace, even if it sounded silly. Somewhere in the distance, a bird sung, and she could hear bugs flitting around her ears. She could hear the crunching of gravel somewhere behind her head, someone else walking around and enjoying the warm air. She chose not to open her eyes and crane her neck to look, choosing to stay in the warm and dark space of her mind. Unfortunately, her peace was broken as she felt a small point of pressure on her forehead.
"Hi Apo."
Apo's eyes flicked open quickly - almost too quickly - because good gods, she knew that voice. She knew that voice all too well. It was a voice that had lived in her head for the past month or so rent free.
"Hello."
She smiled up at Cherri, who was grinning back at her with a smile that resembled everything good in the world. She bent over her, her head obscuring the sun, and the sun's rays shone out from behind her like a halo.
"Hiiii," she trilled, adjusting herself so she could see her right-side up. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, it feels like it's been forever!"
"Sixteen days. Not that I was counting." Apo added the second sentence perhaps a bit too quickly, failing at being charismatic and nonchalant almost immediately.
"Sure you weren't," Cherri teased, letting herself down to sit next to her. Apo pushed herself up to meet her, not objecting to what she had just said.
"It's nice to see you."
Cherri hummed in agreement, and scooted a bit closer. The fact that she kissed her hand last time they saw each other remained unsaid, unmentioned, or maybe even forgotten.
Apo hadn't forgotten. Apo couldn't stop thinking about it. And frankly, it was making things very awkward for her. Instead, she took to studying the Hades champion next to her. It might have been a trick of the light, but her skin seemed paler than usual, and light bruises were splotched across her arms. She couldn't help but wonder if something happened, but it would probably be rude to pry.
So Apo just stayed quiet.
"Hey Apo?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I tell you something?"
"Sure, what is it?" Apo leaned in a bit, heart temporarily stalling when their shoulders bumped together.
"Well, I like you, so I do think that you should know that I'm not going to be around much longer."
Apo's heart dropped. "Why not?"
"I failed my progress check," she admitted after a second of hesitation. "They're going to be keeping me around until the next progress check, maybe a bit longer if they can't find a replacement for me quickly."
"I thought Hades champions were super rare. Does that mean that you might not leave for a while?" She probably sounded too hopeful, she probably was too hopeful.
"Maybe."
Apo hummed in response, not quite sure how to reply. "I don't want to… just lose touch with you."
"You think I'm just going to abandon you? Hell no, I'm going to go to every one of your arena matches and watch you become arena champion! Don't think you're getting rid of me that easily!"
Apo turned to smile at her, whipping her head back to its previous position when she found that their faces were close together, too close for her heart's liking. "I like you too, you know," she admitted through a moment of impulsivity.
"Excuse me?"
"Oh! Uhm… you said you liked me… that's why you wanted to tell me that you failed. I just- I wanted you to know that I also like you."
Apo buried her face in her hands, confident that she was bright red. Cherri laughed at her and placed a hand over hers, maybe a comforting gesture, maybe just an accident, but she didn't move it.
"Cool."
Apo could hear her voice falter for a second, and she wondered if she actually meant it.
"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly, trying not to look at the hand covered by Cherri's. "I- if that was… unwarranted. I-"
"Apo. Look at me." Cherri cut her off swiftly, wrapping her hand around the Persephone trainee's, squeezing it a bit too tightly. Apo turned to look at her with what was probably an incredibly pathetic look. "Don't apologize, you don't have to apologize."
"I feel like I have to, though."
"Don't apologize," Cherri insisted.
"But I-"
"Shush." She pressed a finger to Apo's lips, cutting her off before she had a chance to object. She froze under the contact, eyes pinned to Cherri's. If her eyes flicked down to her lips for the quickest of seconds, that was probably unrelated. "Apo. I- I really, really, like you, and if you say you like me too? I'm okay with that."
"Okay," she managed to squeak out. Cherri smiled at her softly, so softly, with an unreadable expression that was still full of affection on her face, and if Apo hadn't died already, she sure as hell was dead now.
"I probably like you a bit too much for someone I've only spoken to a grand total of four times," Cherri said, full well noticing how much she looked like a tomato.
"Stop," she whined, moving her hand away from her face. Neither of them moved their hands away from the others, and Apo gently brought their hands to a rest by her side.
"Apo…"
"Don't."
"Apo?"
"Don't talk to me."
"Apo."
"What?"
"Tell me if I'm misreading any signals, okay?"
Cherri raised the one of her hands that wasn't entwined with Apo's, bringing it up to the Persephone champion's face, lightly tracing the outline of her jaw before closing the barely existent gap between them. The kiss was quick and uncertain, but it told Apo everything she needed to know and more. Cherri backed away just as quickly, face a shade of pink that could rival the bow in her hair.
"Um." The silence that filled the gaps between sentences was uncomfortably noticeable. "I'm sorry, was that too much? Was I too headstrong? You can hate me now if you want, I-"
Apo shut her up with another kiss. This one was much more confident, more sure. After a couple seconds, Cherri broke away with a stupid smile on her face.
"Is it stupid to say that I think I'm in love with you?"she asked, breathing heavier between words.
"Yeah, but I guess that also makes me pretty stupid."
"You are stupid!"
"No," Apo joked back, smiling so wide her cheeks hurt, putting a hand to her chest in mock offense.
"Stupid!"
Apo cackled and shoved Cherri's shoulder playfully, not noticing her small hiss of pain. Her heart felt warm and she thought she could probably start floating on the clouds if she wanted to. It was nice to think that the world was on her side for once.
The next two weeks came and went. Apo didn't talk to Cherri those weeks, didn't see her anywhere through the corner of her eye. And that was fine! She didn't feel like a part of her soul had been torn out and ripped to shreds at Cherri's absence! Nope! Not at all! She was coping in a completely normal and healthy manner. Thinking about the girl you were in love with twenty-four/seven was a healthy coping mechanism, right? Completely normal. Apo Kuna was completely normal and put together and oh, she just accidentally walked into a wall.
She shook her head to recalibrate herself, unfortunately painfully aware of the other trainees who side eyed her as they walked down the hallway.
She bowed her head in apology as she slipped back into the flow of movement. A ginger trainee that she hadn't seen before scoffed at her as she cut them off, and they sped up and walked around her before she got a chance to apologize verbally. Apo frowned at the back of their head as they got further from her, and she concluded that they had their reasons, probably having a bad day.
It was none of her business, anyway.
As she walked down to the assembly hall, she kept scanning the people around her, looking for brown hair adorned with pink bows. It definitely helped that she was taller than most people, she could see over people's heads for a better vantage point, but despite that, she couldn't see Cherri.
And that was fine! That was fine!
It might not be fine. She missed Cherri in the way a wife might miss a loved one enrolled in the military. She wanted to see her again so badly it hurt. She was taking up her every waking thought, which Apo welcomed, because she really liked thinking about her.
Though it would be a lot better if she were actually standing next to Cherri, holding hands and goofing around with her.
Her hopes did rise a bit as she entered the assembly hall, giving her more groups of people to look through and find the bright-eyed champion of Hades in, but no dice. No Cherri, either. She was hoping that she would find her, like last time they gathered the trainees for progress checks.
And that was fine.
She fidgeted with her hands absentmindedly as she looked around, partially waiting for Cherri to sneak up and ambush her, but Cherri never came . She watched other trainees mingle, while some others stood on their own and stared at the people chatting happily with each other, either through jealousy or contempt.
There was still no Cherri. Apo was (had been?) so excited to see her again, Cherri Cherri Cherri was practically all that had been inside her head for the past two weeks. A pathetic crush was ruining her life, her ability to focus and train, and frankly? She was thanking it.
Because thinking about her was multitudes better than having nothing to think about during training than thinking about all the things she was doing wrong.
She just stood alone there, surrounded by people doing what she would greatly like to do. The Zeus kid, Ren, was called up, and Apo watched him cheerily wave goodbye to the group of people he was talking with.
It didn't matter to her that she was alone. It didn't matter that Cherri was the only person who actually talked to her.
Maybe she just wasn't looking in the right places. Awkwardly, she sidled through the crowds to the other side of the hall, hoping for someone to stick out to her. Nobody did. That was somehow worse to her than thinking she saw someone.
That someone was Cherri. That someone was always Cherri. Even if Apo herself didn't know it.
Gods, she was pathetic.
After a while, the Poseidon trainee was called up, and she was internally starting to panic because she was running out of time. They would call back Cherri, and Cherri would be gone because she wouldn't come back into the hall.
Would they even give her a chance to do her progress check because technically, she wasn't a trainee anymore? Would she get called up? Would she even be in the hall if she didn't need to do it?
Her mind was whirling with questions she wasn't sure she even wanted the answer to, she didn't want the answer to them at all, actually. She couldn't fathom Cherri just being gone.
She couldn't just not see her again. She couldn't. She had to see her again. She had to see her again!
Apo was totally not freaking out. She was fine, and okay, and not panicking. Cherri had told her that she was going to follow her area battles, so maybe sometime in the future. The thought was reassuring, but not comforting.
She wanted to see her now.
"Cleo, Hades champion-in-training!"
Apo's ears perked up at the call, even more confusing and distress settling in as she registered what had been announced to the room. Silently, her eyes trailed after the person that went up, the same long-haired ginger who she had accidentally annoyed in the hallway.
She isn't Cherri, her mind sang, annoyingly stating the obvious. Where is she, then?
Suddenly, Apo didn't really want to stick around. Unfortunately, missing a progress check would probably spell the end of her career as an arena champion. And if she didn't fight in the arena, her chances of ever seeing Cherri again were definitely zero.
If the new Hades champion - Cleo - was here for the progress checks, that meant Cherri had been let go earlier than expected.
Deep breaths, Apo. Deep breaths. This was fine. This was okay! This was okay. She could deal with not seeing her only friend for years, potentially.
Cherri felt like more than a friend, though.
The thought of maybe getting to see her again was strangely motivation enough to stop her from walking out and just leaving.
She could stay here. She would stay here, continue to train, and become a champion. Cherri would come to all of her area matches, and they would meet each other again, and everything would be great.
She could wait it out. All to see Cherri again.