FF Drakon and Apollo's backstory

Part 2: Apollo’s POV

Days. Apollo spent days rotting in a jail cell in the Ruby Slayer camp, eating one meal a day and starving to death. A couple other older kids sat in the same cell as he did, some sickly pale and skinny. Apollo wondered how much longer he would last in that cell.

He hugged his legs to his chest and hung his head weakly. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d seen daylight… It was so dark down here in the Ruby Slayer’s camp. So dark. He missed home. He missed Artemis. But every time he thought of Artemis, he only felt guit. If he hadn’t gotten to his younger brother in time, Artemis would be here right now, starving in this dark, rotten place.

One of the kids, a bony raven-black-haired girl scooted over to him and lightly poked him on the shoulder.

“Hey. Want a bite? You look like you’re on the brink of death,” The girl remarked, showing him a half-eaten piece of bread.

Apollo eyed the bread, his stomach growling, but shook his head. “I’m alright. Offer it to one of the other poor souls down here.”

The girl went silent for a moment, still staring at him, then said, “Well, if you say so… hey, I heard one of us is going to get injected today. If I’m right, it would be the eldest of us - either you or me, I’m guessing. The others here look younger than us.”

Apollo sighed. “Oh… Well, I hope you’re wrong. I’d rather die down here than become a Ruby Slayer.”

“Maybe being a Ruby Slayer isn’t so bad. I mean, they’re people just like us, aren’t they? I’m sure they’re capable of the same feelings as us. Maybe… It's better here. In the Ruby Slayer camp.”

“How could you think that?” Apollo said, frowning, confused. “They’re evil. And their mind is being manipulated to give them one purpose. One goal in life. It’s miserable”

“Well, my home life wasn’t too great. I’m hoping to maybe… have another chance here,” The girl shrugged, staring off into space. “I’m a talented medic, but no one appreciates me. They say I’m useless, a burden, because of my limp leg,” she indicated towards her bandaged leg. “The muscles stopped working when I was little. It was a struggle to walk, but with support, I’ve learned to become faster and stronger. But what does a limp leg matter in medic work? I’m perfectly capable of taking care of others.”

Apollo thought for a moment. That made a little sense. But why become a Ruby Slayer as an escape from home life? Wasn’t that more miserable than being called.. Useless and a burden?

Distant echoing screams alerted Apollo, and he got up and crawled over to the cell door. “What’s going on?”

The girl shrugged. “A raid on camp, maybe. Or some angry Ruby Slayers.”

The sounds of battle got closer, and Apollo tried to see through the darkness of the cell. “I.. I can’t make anything out in this dark-ass place.”

He could make out a body collapsing onto the ground, and a couple people rushing over to the cell - Apollo quickly backed up as someone rattled the jail cell, the cell keys jingling as it struggled to open the door. Light suddenly burst in as someone flashed their lantern on.

Apollo stood up, tense, ready to fight if a Ruby Slayer was coming to inject him.

“You’re safe now - we’re a Fallen Flower group! Hurry, we need to get out of here before backup arrives,” The stranger said urgently, grabbing Apollo’s hand and rounding up some of the other children.

Apollo’s eyes widened as he followed the rescuers out of the cell, past dead Ruby Slayer guards and into a lit area of the camp where battle raged. He didn’t recognize these Fallen Flowers - they must be from a different camp. But maybe they could help him find Drakon and his home again.

Someone’s voice rang out suddenly. “HEY!! Kid!! Watch out!!”

Apollo whirled around as an arrow whizzed past him. “Ack!” It was dangerous in the middle of the battlefield. They needed to hurry out.

As the Fallen Flowers hurried to retreat from camp, Apollo heard someone yell, “DUCK!” before something hard and solid hit him in the back of his head. His ears rang for a moment, and then everything went dark. As Apollo struggled to remain conscious, he could see the girl he’d talked to in the cell glance at him before running in the opposite direction, towards the Ruby Slayers. Someone shook Apollo’s arm, trying to get him up, but his world faded away quickly.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Heyyyyy, kiddo, wake up!”

Apollo’s eyes fluttered open to see a concerned medic’s face above him. “Oh!! Thank goodness. You were out for DAYS and you were shaking for a moment - we figured you were having a seizure or a nightmare, so we woke you up-”

“Where am I? Who are you?” Apollo asked sleepily. “Who… am I?”

“Oh boy, it seems it's as bad as I suspected,” The medic said nervously, biting their fingers and sitting back in their chair. “Well, you were hit in the back of the head - real hard - and uh, I suppose you forgot a lot of things. Memory loss.”

Apollo blinked and began to panic. “I… who am I? No, my name is Apollo - I remember that much… I.. I’m sure I can remember SOMETHING else…”

“It may be a while before you get your memories back. Months, years, it often depends.” The medic told him, shaking his head sadly. “Oh, when you feel better, you can meet the rest of the camp. You’ll love it here. Sure, we aren’t the biggest camp around, but the leader is kind and we have plenty of welcoming people who would take you into their homes.”

Apollo was silent, not sure how to process this information. He felt… he felt like he needed to remember something important. Where was his family? He could make out silhouettes in his mind, people he loved a lot, but they were blurry. He couldn’t remember their names.

Eventually, he gave up trying to remember. For now, he’d relax here and try to fit in with this new lifestyle. Maybe he’d be happy here.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------

Apollo was now living with his adopted family, who cared deeply for him - he had an older sister and a caring mother, although his mom COULD be just SLIGHTLY less worried for him and then it would be perfect.

Apollo also met a girl named Amarist, who was really pretty but had a big attitude towards him, so he did his best to avoid her.

He learned and became skilled in the arts of bow and arrows, although the sight of blood always made him queasy, so battle was difficult for him.

He was well-known throughout the camp, and he was kind and caring towards everyone.

He was happy here. Content. He eventually gave up on trying to remember his past life, even if his curiosity was still there.

But all that mattered was that he was happy.