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ARES
ORTEGA
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BACKGROUND!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Ares Grant Ortega was born of Elena and Castor Ortega on September 17, 2130. They were of the working class and therefore lived in one of the poorest sections of the Ark known as Factory Station. Elena was a historian and Castor was a janitor. His mother was Mexican while his father was half-Caucasian and half-Mexican, leaving him with mixed heritage.

Ares is bilingual; Elena began teaching him Spanish at a young age. She affectionately referred to him as her conejito, or "little bunny," because of his hyperactivity and constant excitement. He used the language less over the years, but is still fluent.

The Ortega family was familiar with the disadvantages of living in Factory Station. They often only had enough rations for each of them to shower once a week if they were lucky, and sometimes even had to substitute alcohol for water because it was cheaper. Ares has a high drinking tolerance because of the fact that he started young.

When Ares was eight, classes were let out early because of a student being ill in the classroom, and he therefore had to walk home by himself. He unlocked the door to their living quarters to see his mother in bed with a man who wasn't his father. Although she tried to apologize, he couldn't figure out what was going on and was frozen. His parents fought for hours before she vanished and was never seen again.

Elena's infidelity had a profound impact on Castor. He turned to alcohol to cope with his loss, making their living quarters constantly reek of liquor. Although he was never abusive toward his son, Ares was still neglected. He lived in constant fear of his father spending all of their weekly rations to feed his addiction. Due to the fact that he was not shown much love and affection after his mother left, he struggles to form intimate connections with others in his older teenage years.

When he was nine, he learned of a secret and illegal fight club in the Ark called the Underground. He wasn't allowed to join until the age of ten. The initiation ceremony required him to swear himself to secrecy and subsequently be branded with the trademark symbol of the club: a small swirl on the right shoulder blade that was burned into the skin. It symbolized the wearer's promise to stay connected to the group forever.

The Underground was led by Klaus Silas, a man in his thirties who treated all members like family but valued loyalty above everything. If someone intended to rat the club out, Klaus would kill them before they could and make it look like an accident. He became somewhat of a father figure for Ares— not because of warmth, but because of the fact that he actually paid attention to the kid.

Ares trained with the Underground for six years. He learned to craft weapons out of scrap metal and ordinary objects, to fight dirty, to patch his own injuries up, and above all, to fight fair. It's because of this that he values a level playing field so highly. He gained many scars during the brawls he participated in, including his most prominent one: a slash across his right eyebrow that narrowly missed his eye and continued onto his cheek.

Although he was notorious for causing trouble in the classroom, Ares worked very hard in school and competed for the number one spot in the physics class with Monty Green. He wanted it so he could score an apprenticeship in Go-Sci and get enough extra rations to pick him and his father off of their feet. However, just as he was at the peak of his academic performance, disaster struck.

Ares was walking home from classes on an ordinary afternoon when he was struck in the back of the head hard enough to knock him out. He woke up in a pool of warm blood with the body of Merritt Santiago beside him, a knife scattered on the floor nearby. Not thinking of the consequences of his actions, he screamed loud enough to alert a nearby janitor, who called the Guard on him. He does not know who framed him.

Because he was sixteen at the time, the Council decided unanimously to lock him in the Skybox until he was of age. His desperate pleas of innocence only worsened his case; when word broke around the Ark, he was rumored to have brain damage and gained the nickname 'Psycho'. Chancellor Jaha deemed him guilty and ordered his incarceration.

Ares hoped for a place in Solitary. However, he was paired with Nathan Miller, the son of Sargeant Miller who was locked up for petty theft. The two did not get along despite Miller's attempts at friendship. However, Ares begrudgingly grew to tolerate him in the year and a half they spent as cellmates.

Miller is the only person to know of his innocence. After a guard delivered a red sweater for Ares to wear and he'd had a meltdown upon seeing the color of blood, he'd had no choice but to spill the truth of his so-called crime. Miller had taken the sweater for himself without question. This sparked an unspoken agreement between them: Miller would always take the warm-toned clothes while Ares would wear the cool-toned ones.

Although Ares didn't intend to become friends with Miller, he unknowingly became close with him by listening to all of the stories he'd tell about his father and his boyfriend, Bryan. Ares will never admit how much he knows about them despite having never met the pair.

The two were selected to be in an Earth Skills class taught by Charles Pike. Ares was fascinated by the subject, but Miller spent most of his time sleeping through the classes.

Ares and Miller are part of the hundred delinquents who are sent to Earth.