They realize - Outsders SMP - Reunion Arc - Completed

~ 4 ~ A small visit

Tw: VERY HEAVILY IMPLIED SELF HARM, IMPLIED GORE, cussing, mentions of war.

A/n: cannon-wise, there's quite a bit I changed, most of which I explained already or will explain here, such as that Owen cut Apo off from in front and only stabbed him about halfway through. Also, for Apo's backstory, I'm sure all you apo fans will notice I have almost no idea what I'm talking about. This is because I'm yet to watch Apo's POV. Ik, ik, sue me, and I do want to, but I haven't gotten a chance yet, so I'm leaning heavily on what little we got from Owen's pov. I'm also relying heavily on the ability of minecraft healing potions and the fact that Owen walked away instead of HIDING THE BODY! Neither of which is technically cannon but shhhhhh....

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When Apo woke up again, he had a fresh bandage on his chest, but it wasn't blood caked or hurting, so they gently peeled it off, relealing a large, raw scar held together by many fine stitches. He wondered how long it had taken soup to do that, and moreso how bad he had to be to sleep right through it all. Since they had been inspecting their gut, Apo hadn't heard Red come down the ladder, so when he looked up, he jumped.

"She's amazing, huh," Red said, handing Apo one of his shirts. "Got this from your old house. How are you feeling?"

"My stomach hurts when I move for some reason, but besides that I feel okay. Thanks for the shirt," Apo responded, pulling it on with a faint smile. He noticed his jacket on a nearby chair and pulled it on. "Who cleaned this? Last I checked, it was soaked through in blood."

Red nodded, smiling. "I had to do something useful while soup was taking care of you, no point in just waiting around." His expression turned grim "But enough talk. You've been with me for months, and you say you're going back to the clearing, and as you get there, Owen stabs you almost clean through? If you aren't ready to talk yet that's fine but-"

Apo cut him off, standing up with a wince. "Red, I owe you and Soup my life. You could ask anything of me right now and I would do it if I could. Besides, I have to warn someone about Owen."

Soup showed up just then, holding some vegetables. "I was just coming to check on Apo and see if he wanted something to eat, but this seems more important. Whats so wrong with Owen you have to warn people?"

Apo took a deep breath and began.

"I know who Owen was before here. Before the maze, and he does too. As I was heading back from the clearing, I heard him calling out for me, apologizing for everything. Like an idiot, I followed him. He was my best freind, I missed him so much, I never would've thought, even if you'd shown me the gaping scar in my chest, that he would..." Apo's eyes welled up in tears and his hands shook violently. Soup placed a hand on their shoulder.

"Hey, if you can't-"

"No. No, this is more important than my feelings. I'm sorry." He took another breath and continued.

"Outside of these walls, there is a war between humans and demons. A war that has been going on for years, decades. And Owen is the face of that war. The general, the big bad. My parents were killed because of the hatredof humans, and I hated them so much for it. One of my friends, Eden, helped heal soldiers. One restless night, I decided to go see the current patient and..."

Apo paused and took a shaky breath.

"My family had been harboring an officer, and despite my desperate cries that humans weren't safe, that's what I'd been taught my whole life, they insisted this one was safe. 'Wouldn't hurt a fly'.

But no.

We were found, town razed, homes burned. After it all... I was so mad. I feel terrible, I shouldnt've hurt anyone... but everything was gone for me. I lashed out. I let all my anger out on the officer... I know now how bad that was and I feel fucking awful, I-I'm so sorry..."

Apo couldn't help it anymore. Tears streamed down his face, and he sat there, sobbing for a minute.

"I know what it's like now... to be killed for being on the wrong side of the war. Owen... he lost it. He remembered who he was and gave me ten seconds to run, said I was a disease. Then he chased after me and I was so close... and he cut me off right at the entrance to the maze. He threw his spear through my chest, just for being a half-demon. The opposite reason I killed the officer..."

He choked back another sob, the action itself hurting terribly.

"I'm a murderer. You shouldnt've saved me, soup, I'm terrible. I'm just as twisted as he is,"

They were cut off by a knock at the door. Apo jumped and clutched his chest, and Red drew his sword as soup stared up, perplexed. "No one has visited for a while. Red, stay here with Apo. If its anything bad, I'll stomp three times and you should hide him, but its probably fine. She climbed the ladder and Apo heard the door swing open.

"Hello, Soup. Is Red around? I'd like to talk to him about what happened the night he returned." A muffled, but familiar voice sounded through the floorboards, making Apo's heart start beating out of his chest. Red quickly guided them under the bed, just as they heard three loud stomps coming from upstairs, and then, unmistakably, the a sound that chilled Apo's blood to the core.

Owen's chuckle.

"Soup, cmon, you know me better than that! Three stomps? How creative." Apo heard Owen walk out of the doorway and right above the entrance to the basement.

"I've called a council meeting for this weekend and wanted to let you and Red know. He has been hanging around here and me a lot, so I figured he'd be here. I'd assume you want to know what happened to me, and I'm sorry if I look terrible, I can't much help it though. You'd be surprised to know one of my best freinds did this."

Soups voice sounded out. "Red isn't here, Owen, and I have no idea what you're talking about. You're acting weird, are you okay?"
A small pause, and then footsteps going back outside. "I'm sorry Soup, I'm fine, I'll explain what happened to my face later. I might be acting weird because of that encounter... it was truly terrifying. It was nice seeing you, and see you soon," Owen finished, and Apo and Red heard the door close behind him.

Apo crawled out from under the bed shaking. Red's face was full of hatred. "That lying, dirty, son of a bitch maniac... Apo. Its going to be okay. Meeting night, you are going to tell everyone who Owen really is, and we'll be right there to back you up, okay?"

Soup came back down the ladder just then and turned to Apo. "You ran towards the clearing, not fought him, right?"

Apo nodded, still trembling of fear. Soup frowned. "And you said he lost it?"

"Why is any of that important, soup? Apo just had a run-in with his attempted murderer!" Red cut in.

Soup shook her head solemnly. "Because you might have a harder time convincing everyone else about that. Owen wasn't lying about the gash. He was missing an eye."