They realize - Outsders SMP - Reunion Arc - Completed

~ 1 ~ The Reunion.

Tw: gore, blood, Canon violence.

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"I know what you are. You are everything wrong that the world has to offer. You are the amalgamation of all the gluttony and lust of humans, with the evil and cunning of demons. You stand as a testiment to everything vile. You are a disease on the face of this earth. And I, am its cure."

The words echoed in Apo's ears, burning them from the inside out as they heard Owen continue on. Their heart pumping in their chest, adrenaline filling their mind, every inch of them begging them to run, but they couldn't yet.

This was the person they trusted with their life for YEARS, (a trust that was proving to be acted upon right now),  they couldn't just turn around without saying anything.

As Owen kept talking every word stabbed into Apo's heart, hurting more than a thousand spears, burning more than millions of gallons of molten lava pouring down their back. They wanted to go home. They were tired of all this. They didn't want to fight. They didn't want to beg.
They didn't want to flee.

They wanted to be safe.

For the first time in their life, they wanted to finally feel safe.

They never felt safe in their village.

They never felt safe in the clearing.

They never felt safe in the maze.

Why couldn’t they just go back to the clearing and live as happily as they could given their circumstances? Why had Owen turned on them so quickly when they had spent years together, nothing but trust between them?

As Apo's thoughts were racing they kept talking, trying desperately to reason with Owen, to try to save both his life and the man they once knew.

But it was too late.

Owen began to count down.

And Apo finally came to terms with the facts in front of them. Owen was a hunter, raised to be feared by all, under the strong delusion that he was defending those that mattered from a danger that they were a part of. A prejudice built off of pure emotional manipulation, one that would take more than ten seconds to clear. Owen was a broken and crazy man, and all Apo could do to help was hope they were quick enough to reach the clearing in time.

"Whatever happened in your life Owen, I'm sorry that you couldn't find peace."

And then it was all a blur.

Running. Heart pumping. The maze Apo had feared becoming a route of survival. A dethtrap becoming their only sheild between themselves and their best freind.

No.

Themself and a madman.

But it wasn't protection enough.

Even the best sheilds can't protect from gunshots thrown from behind.

A searing and sharp wave of pain appeared in a second, pressing through Apo's chest, making it difficult to breathe. In a split second the world went from real to nonexistent as Apo's body tried to cope with the agony by flooding them with serotonin and good thoughts.

As the spear made its way through Apo's body, blood spilling out everywhere, Apo could only help but imagine a better world. One where they were happy. One where Owen and them escaped. One where they all had escaped...

"We- we did it"

As apo felt themselves fade away, they tried to finish one more thought, but their body had had enough. Their train of thought derailed as they tried to remember a feeling they had never felt, imagining a word where there was

He was being dragged

p...

Every pebble was agony, moving the spear a bit further into him.

pe...

He got kicked into a bush aggressively.

peac...

Apo felt themselves fade from existence before they could finish their thought.

Owen's calm footsteps walking away was the last thing they heard.