I don't have an Ao3 account, so I'm posting this to Tumblr instead. This is the first chapter of an unknown number (I have four including this one written), and this one especially requires some context. This is an au where Apo never lies to Owen and Rasbi about the lever, and never tells anyone other than the two of them. Apo and Squidney have been locked into an argument since Squidney came back with Ayngel, but no one can prove anything, and Owen and Rasbi wonât tell. The Fruit Trio stays together and Apo doesnât run away with Bek into the maze (and Redd doesn't go into the maze either). So thereâs no Reunion. Something eventually happened where people found out what Bek did, and she was put in jail instead of Apo. The reason this doesn't start earlier in the timeline of the au was because the idea for it was the first chapter, the other changes were explanations for why this was able to happen in order for it to make sense. Sorry for all the words at the start, there will be less (if any) on the other chapters, there's just context that is needed to understand the fic (not just this chapter, the entire thing). Sorry if the formatting is bad, I usually write big walls of text, and this is the first thing I've ever put effort into formatting. And the first fic I"ve ever posted, so if it's just bad in general, sorry. And all the chapters have names, this one is called The First to Go. Also, CW, just in case, there's a death in this chapter, and someone gets stabbed in the eye, but there's not descriptions of gore or anything, and it's nothing that doesn't happen in canon. Anyways, here it is.
Owen shouldnât have let Apo and Rasbi come with him.Â
He knew that going into the maze overnight would be dangerous. Thatâs why heâd tried to go alone. He couldnât let anyone else get hurt. But theyâd insisted, and now he was the only thing between them and a monster.
 He tries to shoot it, but his arrow bounces right off. He yells at Apo and Rasbi to run, but doesnât have time to look behind him to see if they listen.
 The monster comes directly at him. He ends up on the floor of the maze with Apo running towards him, and the monster running away. Heâs never been in as much pain as in this moment, but what happened is a blur.
 Suddenly, his head hurts. Did it not before? His ears ring. He canât see the maze anymore, and he canât see Apo or Rasbi.
 Instead, he sees battlefields, and bodies of those he fought with as well as monsters.Â
He sees monsters, and he wonât think of them any differently, no matter what they may be able to convince those around him. He sees all that heâs done, and he feels no remorse.Â
Eventually, his vision of the maze and the monsters he once called friends return to him. Kind of. Itâs all blurry. Because heâs dying, he thinks.Â
Heâs dying for them. He canât believe that there was a version of him that was willing to do that. He was meant to have died fighting them.Â
He hears Rasbiâs voice, but canât understand what theyâre saying. If only he was able to move, maybe he could do to them exactly what he did to their sister, and then do the same to Apo, and any other demons he came across. But all he could do was lie there, as he saw his own arrow pierce his eye.Â
He let out one scream, but wasnât awake to hear the end of it. The last thing he saw was the sun peeking over the wall of the maze, near blinding before everything fell dark.
Apo didnât regret going with Owen into the maze.Â
He seemed bent on getting himself killed to protect the others, and Apo wasnât planning on letting him, not if they could do anything about it. Though, another option was seeming less and less likely.
 A monster was approaching them. Owen tried to shoot it, and it shouldâve worked, but the arrow ended up on the maze floor. He yelled at Apo and Rasbi to run, but Apo wasnât going anywhere.Â
Owen was knocked to the ground by the monster before it ran away. As Apo started to run to Owen, their ears began to ring, and light filled their vision. They saw humans doing terrible things, they saw betrayals from their friend, from their brother, they saw their home burn because of the human they harbored.Â
They also saw Owen. He was everywhere, his face posted around the village as a warning of what humans could do, his story told to children at bedtime to make sure they stayed safe in their beds at night.Â
Apo saw the hate they had for humans, but it couldnât be reasonable, not entirely. There were humans in the Clearing who were good. Owen had been good. He was dying on the floor of the maze so that Apo and Rasbi lived.Â
Apo didnât know what to do. They felt a bit betrayed, but Owen didnât remember either. He was probably past saving anyway, as much as Apo hated the thought.Â
âAny final words?â Rasbi asked. There was something off about their tone, though. It was strangelyâŚhostile.Â
Rasbi began to walkâŚsomewhere. Deeper into the maze, it seemed.Â
âWhat are you doing?â Apo asked. âYouâll see,â Rasbi told them.Â
Apo looked towards the sky. It seemed that the sun had begun to rise, though it wasnât yet visible over the walls.Â
Apo started running towards the doors to the Clearing when they heard Owen scream. They didnât turn back to see what Rasbi had done to Owen. What they had done to their friend.Â
It didnât matter much, anyway.
Rasbi shouldnât have gone into the maze at night, but no one should.
They hadnât wanted to let Owen go alone, that couldâve gotten him killed. It still could, it could get them all killed, but with a bigger group there was a better chance.Â
If Rasbi went with Owen, there was a chance that they would die instead of him, although it didnât seem like Owen would let that happen. He got between Rasbi and Apo and the monster the moment he saw it, although his arrow bounced right off.Â
He yelled at Apo and Rasbi to run. Rasbi didnât know what to do. They didnât want to run, they wanted to protect Owen, but if they ran, they would be safe. They looked at Owen one last time.Â
The monster ran at him, and Rasbi didnât have time to react before he was on the floor.Â
Rasbiâs ears started to ring as they ran away from Owen. Away from the monster, away from the danger, away from the maze. They kept running until their vision filled with white.Â
After a second, they sawâŚOwen. But that couldnât be him. The Owen they knew wouldnât do that. But of course he would. How could Rasbi have forgotten? They were in the maze for a reason.Â
Owen killed their sister, so he needed to die. He was dying, dying so that Apo and Rasbi wouldnât, but it wasnât enough.Â
Owen was dying anyway, it didnât matter. And there was something Rasbi needed to do.Â
âAny final words?â Rasbi asks coldly as they walk back towards Owen. He doesnât respond, but is still breathing, barely.Â
Rasbi scans the floor of the maze, and finds the arrow that Owen had shot at the monster not far away.Â
âWhat are you doing?â Apo asks Rasbi as they went to retrieve the arrow. âYouâll see,â Rasbi says.Â
They stand next to Owen and stare into his eyes, holding the arrow with the tip facing down above his left eye.Â
âFor the kingdom, and for my sister,â Rasbi says before they stab the arrow into his eye. Owen lets out one scream before falling silent. Rasbi is sure someone in the Clearing heard it, but they couldnât care less. Theyâd gotten their revenge.