I Have Friends In Both Places
Fourteen

Atlas dangled upside down from the ceiling. His wings had healed enough to let him fly, and he was using it to his full advantage. All day, he had stayed in his room, and he refused to talk to anyone. After he went to bed the night before, he thought over what Galen had said. The boy seemed so sure of himself, even in his sleep-deprived state, and Atlas was scared of what that meant. He couldn’t possibly be like that; could he? He didn’t even want to think about it, but as the time turned to seven, he knew he would have to go to dinner and face the truth no matter how much he didn’t want to.

Atlas thought long about whether he would just skip it, but he was starving, and the book he was trying to read wasn’t even interesting in the first place. So, he threw the paperback onto the bed before falling to the ground, landing on his feet perfectly, almost like a cat.

He didn’t change his clothes, sticking with his sweatpants and baggy t-shirt because he was too lazy to change even though he knew the others would look decently presentable. His hair was a mess of its own, so he ran his fingers through it to try and get it to stick down some, but it didn’t work very well. He grumbled to himself a bit before shrugging his shoulders and making his way out of his room to the dining room. He could already hear chatter, but he knew no one was eating yet. There was still another fifteen minutes until food was served.

Atlas entered the dining room, and almost immediately, Galen was in front of him with a grin that made Atlas question if his face would break. “I thought you weren’t going to show up tonight,” Galen stated happily.

Atlas shrugged his shoulders. “I was hungry.”

“Hungry for Alijah,” Galen stated teasingly.

“What?”

“What.” Galen played dumb before shaking his head. “Anyway, let’s go eat.”

Atlas didn’t resist Galen’s hold as the boy pulled him with a tight grip toward the table. Atlas simply stumbled along and took his seat when he made it there. He kept his eyes on the table, though, and he refused to look up until his name was called by Alijah. He lifted his eyes slowly.

“Are you okay,” Alijah questioned. His voice was filled with genuine concern, but all Atlas could think about was how they were soulmates. Soulmates. It was such a strange word. Atlas’s soul was tainted, though, or that’s what Galen had basically said.

Atlas mulled over an answer before nodding. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Alijah didn’t look convinced, but he looked away nevertheless, and Atlas was thankful for that. “We’re planning on fulfilling the mission next Sunday. That gives us nine days to train and get ready.” The table fell silent as Alijah spoke, all eyes trained on him, listening intently to what he was saying. “We only have one chance to do this, guys, so we need to do it right. The warriors have begun their training thanks to Nolan, and Atlas will begin rehearsing his part tonight. Everyone needs to be ready, and they need to be prepared for anything.” Alijah paused for a second and sighed. “I want to end this with the least amount of casualties possible. We have a prophecy on our side, a prophecy we need to fulfill because it’s what is supposed to happen. We can’t break the rules this late into the game, so I need everyone ready. After dinner tonight, we need to meet in the library to discuss the spells and such, but for now, enjoy dinner. Who knows when we’ll be able to eat like this again.” Alijah’s voice fell to a quiet whisper, and he shut his eyes before looking up and towards Atlas. “Now, let’s eat.”

The table cheered, and smiles adorned everyone’s faces as they partied for what they feared might be their last dinner altogether. Soon, training would take up everyone’s time, and you would have to get food when you could. No one would have time to eat together unless they were training together, which was seemingly unlikely as each of them were to train other demons in their own classes, and when the battle came to an end, who knew who was going to make it out alive. All they knew was that there wouldn’t be many.

Atlas pushed his food around his plate for a bit, taking small bites every now and then, as he looked around the table. These were people he had grown to love in such a short amount of time, and he was scared to leave them. He didn’t want to fight. He didn’t want to risk the lives of so many people, but he knew it had to be done. He had to fight for the greater good, even if it meant risking everything in his path.

Galen seemed to be in an excitable mood despite the circumstances, and it was one thing keeping Atlas stable. No matter how hard things were, Galen had a pretty good outlook on it. Galen wasn’t scared of death or the things beyond. Hell, he was friends with both angels and demons, and he meddled in witchcraft and the supernatural of the human world. He wasn’t normal, but he was all the normal Atlas needed.

Alijah, though he seemed a bit down in the dumps, still help himself highly. His shoulders didn’t fall, and though Atlas knew he was scared, he was determined to keep up a good exterior in front of his friends and his people. He might be scared, but it could only be seen through his voice, a voice Atlas had grown to love just as much. He knew that if that voice muttered the simple sentence to go kill someone, he would do it without a second thought because he would do anything for Alijah as long as it didn’t harm him.

Lele seemed to be the most excited, though. The boy didn’t shut up about how elated he was to be able to fight ‘The Great War’ as he liked to call it. He was jittery and prepared, but Atlas knew that if he got too excited on the battlefield, he would lose focus and get destroyed easily, so he was scared for Lele. This might be his first and last true fight, and he didn’t even realize.

The other people sitting at the table were people he didn’t truly know all too well, but he still held them dear to his heart because they had helped him through everything down there and accepted him easily. There was a nervous Nolan who could always make him feel better, a Malia who was always ready to take someone down in a fight, a kind Danny who was always ready to help someone no matter what, a cocky Isaac who never seemed to replace any flaws in himself, and Gabe and Aaron who he had never spoken to once. They were people who helped him with the smallest things that made the biggest difference, and Atlas loved them all in his own little way, so he was scared, but he was okay, and that’s all that mattered.

The last dinner was very nice as Atlas lost himself a bit in the feeling of being around friends because no matter what happened in the future, he would always have this memory tucked deep in his brain, and he didn’t want it to be sour. So, he laughed a Lele’s dumb jokes and Galen’s ridiculous stories that he had watched first-hand. He stuffed himself with so much food he thought he might burst. He talked to Malia about her kids, and he prodded Nolan about his love life. Unfortunately, the boy didn’t really have one, so he was simply left a flustered mess. He threw joking insults and Alijah to which the boy threw right back. Atlas had a good time, and he was truly happy for just those few minutes, and that’s what mattered.