(Third Person PoV)

"Hello. I am the great Bekymon and I'm here to preform a magic show of you all. I would have someone assisting me but he's apparently sick so I'm doing this on my own. Pleasure to be here."

"Should she really be doing a magic show while three of us are in the Maze?"

"Better than just waiting around."

"STOP!"

All heads turned to the Gate.

Owen, Graecie and Magic were standing there.

"She's a murderer! Don't trust her!" Magic cried out.

Everyone murmured in confusion.

"Uhhh and for my first trick, I will make myself disappear!" Bekymon threw down something that caused smoke and ran off to the entrance of the Maze.

"Stop!" Magic tried to run after her but Owen stopped her.

"It's too risky now," he shook his head and the gates began to close.

Bekymon was long gone.

"Whoa whoa. What the hell was that?" Reddoons asked, waving his hands around.

"Language Red and Magic care to explain?" Owen turned to the young girl.

Magic took a deep breath.

"She tied me up. She left me to die! She was the real reason why a lot of us in the Second Clearing are dead. She murdered them! She murdered them all!" Magic's eyes began to swell up with tears.

"Wait, it was Beks this whole time?" Krow asked.

"Yes! She told me herself while we were at the wall. She admitted to it!" Magic said.

"So it wasn't Apo's fault this whole time!?" Red sounded pissed.

"I know. That surprised me too," Owen agreed.

"He still pulled the level," Mohwee sighed.

"Shut up Mohwee!" Owen snapped before covering his mouth with his hand, eyes widen in surprise as if he couldn't believe those words escaped his mouth.

"Why are you getting all defensive over Apo now? Don't you hate him?" Oeca piped up.

"I don't hate him. You got it all wrong," Owen shook his head.

"Guys, now it's not the time to be arguing about Apo. We have to think about the next course of action," Graecie said.

"What can we do?" Mohwee asked.

"Well how about we start with what happens if we ever see Beks again while running in the maze?" Soup suggested.

"Oh that's easy! We kill her!" Oeca said happily.

...

"Well normally I don't condone killing but she did murder her own clearing...I dunno. Two wrongs doesn't make a right," Owen muttered.

"How about we just break her legs? Owen, you should be on board with that," Krow said, raising it's eyebrows.

Owen awkwardly laughed at this.

"Well maybe we should avoid all contact with Beks if we just so happened to see her. Until we figure out whether to kill her or not," Red suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Soup nodded.

"I'm on board with that," Graecie said.

Everyone seemed to agree with what Red's suggestion.

"Hey Owen, can I talk to you?" Silvia went up to Owen as everyone else went to do their own thing.

"Sure what's up?" Owen asked.

"That sure was a close one," they started.

"What do you mean by that?" Owen sounded confused.

"When you left, Beks came down and tried to ask us about Apo. She wanted to put on a magic show and wanted Apo to help her. Both Guts and I refused because not only Apo was sick but also because of the thing that happened. You know, when he was acting child like. Guts can explain that to you. She kept insisting but we refused. We just told her that Apo was too sick to assist in a magic show. Eventually she gave in and left. I could only imagine if Apo was well enough to help her," they shivered.

Owen was speechless.

What would have happened if Apo wasn't sick? Would he have escaped with Beks?

"That scary thing is...that we would have agreed to let Apo go for this magic show. So he can see the sun and have fresh air! Let him see the sky! What if he went with her had we let him assist Beks!" Silvia cried.

"Hey hey. It's alright. Let's not dwell with the what if's. Apo is safe right?" Owen asked and Silvia nodded.

"Guts also told me to tell you to go down to the prison when you came back. They have something to discuss with you about Apo," Silvia said.

"They do?" Owen asked.

"Yep! They want you to go now," they said.

"Ok," Owen turned heel and went to the prison.

He saw Apo playing with an Among Us toy while Guts watched.

"Hey Guts...," Owen walked into the cell.

Apo looked up and his face lit up.

"Papa!" He called out and made grabby hands at Owen.

"Excuse me?" Owen looked confused.

"Ah Owen, you're here. Thank god, I have things to tell you," Guts said, happily.

"Papa hewwo!" Apo said and was about to get off his bed when Guts stopped him.

"Owen get over here," they waved at him.

"So do you have an answer to Apo's...child like behavior?" Owen asked as he stepped closer.

"Come on, we demons won't bite," Guts rolled their eyes and motioned him to get closer.

"But yes I do. I read about this in a book somewhere. It's called age regression. It's where someone regresses into a much younger state. Also called the little space but some people don't call it that. Anyway, Apo seems to have regressed to the age of three meaning his actions are that of a three year old. Sometimes some would regress even younger or older," Guts explained.

"And do you know why some regress?" Owen asked.

"Some do it when they are stressed, for fun or to make bad feelings go away. Mainly because of past trauma that they may have had. I think Apo falls under the last category," Guts replied.

Owen looked at Apo who was staring at him happily.

"Owen, I think you should be Apo's caretaker while he's like this," Guts suddenly said.

"Caretaker?"

"It's literally in the name. You take care of him. Caretakers are usually taken up by the little's lover, best friend or parent. You are Apo's best friend and he seems to trust you while like this. Just make sure that wherever you take him, you would take a three year old to. So not the Maze," Guts explained.

"Yeah, the Maze would be dangerous for a three year old to wander in. Even now," Owen agreed.

"So what do you say? Keeping Apo in the prison while he's like this would be...umm...I think inhumane. It's like imprisoning a literal child," Guts said.

Owen stayed silent for a moment before sighing.

"I suppose he can come and live with me. Both while he's like this and when he is big," he said.

"There's enough room in your house for two people right?" Guts asked and Owen nodded.

Owen sat down next to Apo and looked at him.

"Hey ummm Apo? Would you like to live in a new house? It must to be too much for you to be living in here?" He asked softly.

Apo nodded rapidly.

"Dis place stinky!" He exclaimed.

"Really? This place is stinky? Hear that Guts. They said it's stinky," Owen laughed.

"Oh shush!" Guts folded their arms.

"Come on, Bubba. Let's get you out of here," Owen stood up and held out his hand.

Apo took his and smiled widely.

He led him out of the cell, up the ladder and quickly took him to his house.

No one saw them.

"And here's my house! It's going to be your new home to sleep in, Bubba," Owen said.

"Yay! House! House!" Apo jumped up and down and ran in.

"Whoa! Apo, be careful," Owen said.

Apo jumped and sat upon the only (current) bed there.

"Bubba, that's my bed," Owen sighed.

"Soft," Apo murmured and patted the blanket.

Owen tilted his head and walked closer.

"Soft," Apo repeated, sounding sleepy.

Owen smiled and ruffled Apo's hair.

"I guess you can have that one," he said as Apo went under the covers to sleep, he tucked him in.

Owen went to look for another bed where he can sleep in and placed it down near Apo but not next to them.

He didn't immediately fell asleep though.

He went to grab a journal and began to write in it.

Mainly, what he sees about the others and what's going on with them.

As soon as he was done, he put the journal back.

He went over to feel Apo's forehead. It was still warm.

Owen frowned at this. Guess Apo was still sick.

He should make some stew for him later before seeing if Soup has any medicine for him.

A/N: still need to catch up on the lore. No spoilers!

Drink loads of water! Touch grass every once in a while. Just vibe with life.

Cya in the next one -Flare