I Have Friends In Both Places
Seven

As Atlas stepped into the dining room, the scent of breakfast immediately hit his nose, and he was met with the sight of an entire table covered in delicious food. A few people Atlas didn’t recognize besides Nolan sat around while Alijah sat at the end of the table.

“Sorry we’re a bit late, Atlas was having some trouble,” Lele spoke up, a grin on his lips as he sat down and motioned for Atlas to sit beside him. “But we can start now.”

“Yeah, grab whatever you want, guys. Long day ahead of us,” Alijah responded, immediately grabbing some bacon from the table.

Everyone followed in suit, and soon, plates were filled with all sorts of treats that looked delicious. The sound of utensils hitting glass and people eating happily along with quiet snippets of chatter between the ten friends was the only thing heard until Alijah cleared his throat.

Everyone looked toward the boy as he pushed away his plate to signify that he was about to talk. “We have a problem, and we need to solve it soon.” Quiet mumbles of confusion sounded before it became quiet again. “Heaven is getting worse, and everyone can see it. Atlas is just proof that something is wrong up there, and I’m tired of it.” Atlas looked up questioningly, listening intently as Alijah spoke in a booming voice. “Over the years we’ve made small accomplishments in bringing Heaven down, but I think it’s finally time that we hit hard. It’s time that we take down the true evil and take the afterlife for ourselves.”

People around the table nodded and cheered in encouragement, grins on each of their faces except Atlas’s.

“This task will take quite a bit of planning, but we will wage a war and win, no matter the cost. It’s time Hell prevailed. Now, after everyone is finished, I need you to meet me in the J3 meeting room. We need to discuss and map out everything. No one is allowed to utter a word.” Alijah stood up and placed his hands on the table. “I’ll see you guys soon.”

Atlas watched Alijah began to leave the room, and the boy quickly stood and ran after, following Alijah into the hall. “Alijah, wait!”

The brunette turned and looked at Atlas questioningly. “Yes, Atlas Axel?”

“Okay, you don’t have to call me by my full name, and can I talk to you about this, please?” Atlas’s hands were shaking from nerves, terrified at how the boy might react. “I just – I’m not okay with this, and I don’t know if I want to participate in it. I understand how you feel about Heaven and all, but that’s – well, it was – my home. I’ve been here and awake for barely a day. I just don’t understand, I guess.”

Alijah pursed his lips and looked around before grabbing Atlas’s arm. “Follow me, angel.”

Atlas stumbled alongside Alijah as the boy pulled him down a number of hallways. “Wait, where are we going?”

“I need to tell you the story. I need you to understand because you’re a vital piece to this.” That was all Alijah said, and it left Atlas with more questions than he had in the beginning. Atlas followed Alijah down a few hallways, questioning how big this place could be.

When they finally stopped, Atlas was out of breath and ready to fall asleep again. ‘Man, I really need to get in shape,’ he thought to himself. He was so used to using his wings that using his legs so much was just awkward.

Alijah stopped in front of two large red doors that screamed elegant. He took a dramatic pause before pushing them open quickly, the doors creaking loudly. Atlas grinned at what it opened up to.

In front of the two of them was a large and open library filled to the brim with books, and it looked to be many stories high. “Man, Galen would love this,” he mumbled to himself as he followed Alijah inside.

Alijah led Atlas to a small section with plush seats and a nice fireplace. He motioned for Atlas to sit down before walking away and up some stairs. Atlas stared at the burning flames, watching as they turned into two figures dancing along the wood. Their bodies soon turned to blobs, however, which then turned to crystals and magic flying upward. Atlas watched in amazement as the fire then turned into a face, Galen’s face to be exact, but his face was contorted in horror. Galen’s face let out a silent scream of Atlas’s name before the flames fell back to their normal state.

“Alijah,” Atlas called out, his voice shaky. “Alijah what the crap was that?”

Alijah poked his head out from a balcony a few floors up. “What?”

“The fire. What just happened with the fire?” Atlas stood up and looked up to Alijah who simply shook his head and went back to looking for whatever it was he was looking for.

“It shows you your worst fear. The one thing you’re absolutely terrified of.” Alijah let out a chuckle after the sentence. “It’s quite fitting for Hell. Am I right?” Atlas nodded and looked back at the flames before sitting down in one of the chairs. “Why? What did you see?”

Atlas glanced up and spoke in a soft voice, but he knew Alijah could still hear him. “I saw Galen screaming for help, for my help.”

“Yeah, what are you to him anyway? I know Galen and Lele are like a thing, but what are you guys?” Atlas looked up to see Alijah descending the stairs, a large book in his hands.

“Me and Galen? We’re just friends, best friends.” Atlas had never thought of Galen as more than that, and he never would. Galen was his brother in every sense besides blood. Galen had helped him through a lot while he had helped Galen. Neither one could exist properly without the other.

Alijah hummed in acknowledgement and sat down on the chair opposite of Atlas. “It seems that the only thing you’ve heard since you’ve gotten here is history, but I’m here to give you another lesson.”

Atlas nodded and watched as Alijah opened the large book and flipped through a few pages before landing on one in the middle of the book. “You see, when Hell was created, we found a prophecy lying down in the midst of the rubble we built the kingdom off of. It’s a prophecy not even the angels know about because it could destroy the entire plan, but we hid it with only one copy hidden in this book. This seems like some cheesy storytelling, but we literally had no idea what to do with it, so we did this.” Alijah pointed a picture of an ancient looking tablet with archaic writing on it, writing in the language of God, and Atlas was once again thrown off because he didn’t know a language. “It can only be read by prophets and the highest level of druids, and we were able to translate this much before the last one died. We don’t know who the next one is as he hasn’t risen to power yet.”

Atlas’s eyes scanned the page littered with notes and scribbled writing. Only a few of the sentences made sense, things like ‘the good will defeat evil’ and ‘Heaven will be restored to its rightful owners.’ That’s all that was legible.

“What does it mean?” Atlas peered up at Alijah who was relaxed in a chair.

Alijah looked down and adjusted his position before responding. “We don’t really know much. We know that it talks about an angel and a demon who try taking over Heaven. It says that good will win and the evil will be put in its rightful place, but at this point, there’s no doubt in my mind that the angels up in Heaven are not the good in this scene. We may not be the best there is, but we’re a hell of a lot better than them.”

Atlas nodded and blinked quickly as the writing on the page blurred into an unreadable mass. “Am I the angel, then? Is that why you need me?”

Alijah nodded. “It talks of an angel, pure of soul who befriended a human, sent to fall to us in order to help. When you told us your story, it just proved it to us that you’re the one. You’re the one we needed. By sending you down to Hell, the angels forged their own demise.”

Atlas took a moment to think before slowly standing up, his legs a bit shaky. “Can I just take a little bit to just think.”

“Of course, we’ll get to planning. You can think it over, but just know that everything truly relies on you.” Alijah grinned a bit at the end and stood up as well, taking the book with him.

Atlas’s voice was incredibly sarcastic as he responded. “Wow, that really helped me. Thank you so much.”

Alijah nodded. “Of course. Glad to be of your assistance.”

Then, Alijah snapped his fingers and Atlas was back in his room, staring at the empty walls.