I Have Friends In Both Places
Sixteen

The next few days dragged by achingly slow, and all Atlas did was train. He trained until his knuckles bled from punching, his wings ached from flying, and his body was covered in bruises from not dodging fast enough. It seemed that the word ‘dead’ had been repeated to him thousands of times as the fake sword hit his chest. Atlas couldn’t get his technique right, and he was scared he would mess up in the fight. Luckily, he would be able to work a bit in magic today, something he knew he would be a bit better at.

Currently, there were four days until the fight. Atlas hadn’t talked properly to Alijah in the days beforehand, both too busy and too scared. Atlas trained with Nolan and Malia as they were both the most experienced fighters in Hell, and Alijah wanted him trained the best he could. Every night, Atlas had learned something new, though, even if it costed him the pain. The pain would be nothing if it meant he would survive the fight.

Atlas made his way to one of the training rooms, which were giant rooms with what seemed to be steel but stronger for the walls. He hadn’t seen anything penetrate them yet, and it was strange but amazing. Inside most of the rooms were weapons, but there was nothing in the one he had entered, besides Lele and Galen who were hugging each other with soft smiles on their faces as they stared into each other’s eyes. It was cheesy, and Atlas felt a small pang in his heart as he thought of Alijah while looking at them.

Atlas stepped in and cleared his throat loudly, watching as they separated with flustered faces. “Sorry, Li. Are you ready?”

Atlas nodded, and Lele left the room after kissing Galen on the forehead. “Yeah. Let’s do this, dude.” Atlas’s voice was soft, but Galen ignored it and simply grinned, motioning for him to come forward.

And they practiced for hours after that simple motion. Atlas was better at magic than hand-to-hand or sword-to-sword he took to note. He was able to easily learn the spells and tricks though he couldn’t master them in the short amount of time he was given for the day, but Galen was proud of him, and that’s what mattered.

Atlas’s clothes were singed from the flame magic, reminding him of when he first fell to Hell. His hair was disheveled, and he felt a bit light headed from the energy it took out of him. It was amazing, though, and he understood why Galen had such a strong love for it. It was exhilarating, and for once in a long time, Atlas felt absolutely powerful.

By the end of the session, despite how worn out Atlas felt and looked, he was giggling loudly with Galen as the two shot fire balls that didn’t have enough force behind them to hurt the other. They were reenacting scenes from their favorite action movies, jumping around the room and on the walls while filling the room with their laughter.

Atlas rolled on the ground and yelled out “pew pew” while shooting fireballs at Galen who dodged it easily before sending his own back. Atlas did a backflip and sent another as he fell to his feet, and Galen laughed loudly, doing a spin and pirouette, throwing his own. Atlas dodged before quickly dropped to the ground, laying on his back, panting loudly.

“I’m so hungry,” Atlas groaned out, spreading his arms wide.

Galen nodded and walked over before dropping right beside the other boy. “Me too.”

“What do you think they have for dinner?”

Galen groaned and rubbed his face. “I think they’re doing like sandwiches or something because nobody had the time to actually eat today.”

Atlas grinned at that. Finally, he thought to himself, a simple meal. Don’t get him wrong. The meals they served were amazing, but Atlas was always missing that little slice of his life before, like when he and Galen used to sit in the kitchen in nothing but shorts while blaring music and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Galen was usually just a bit drunk, but that didn’t really matter.

Atlas grinned a bit and turned his head to Galen. “Race you.”

“Oh, you’re on, pretty boy.”

The two sprung into action, standing on their shaky limbs and sprinting out of the room and down the hall. Atlas used his wings to block the boy a few times while Galen called cheating and jumped on the boy’s back so he could jump over him. The two made quite a lot of noise, and a few heads ducked from their rooms to see the commotion before retreating back inside making Atlas laugh loudly.

Atlas stumbled into the dining room first with a grumbling Galen behind him who kept mumbling “cheater” under his breath. Atlas let out a booming laugh that had him bending over and holding his knees. “Dude! You can literally teleport!”

Galen’s mouth fell into an ‘o’ shape, and he sighed. “I am the dumbest person to have ever lived.”

“I mean, we already knew that.”

Galen hit Atlas on the back of the neck in response, so Atlas hit Galen’s arm, and soon, they were wrestling on the floor, only stopping as Galen screamed out “My earring! My earring! My earring!”

Atlas stood back up and shook his head before walking over to the table with tons of food sitting on top for when the higher-ups came in. He had recently been informed that only high-ranking people could enter this dining room while the others ate in the common room, to which Atlas called Alijah out for being stuck-up while Alijah simply rolled his eyes and told him it was for planning purposes.

Atlas reached out and grabbed one of the sandwiches, grinning as he opened it to see it filled with peanut butter and jelly. “I’m in Heaven all over again.”

“Quite the opposite, really.”

“Oh, shut up.” Atlas hit Galen’s neck this time to which Galen simply rolled his eyes and grabbed himself a sandwich, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed.

Atlas quirked an eyebrow. “You do realize that there are literally chairs.”

“The floor is just one giant chair if you think about it.”

Atlas took a moment to stare at the boy, crack a grin, and then fall next to him. The two munched on the food happily, pushing each other around every now and then. Even though Atlas’s body was exhausted, his mind was running freely like he had drunk eight cups of coffee in a row, all filled to the brim with sugar. As he settled down, though, his mind caught up to his body, and soon, he thought he might pass out on the floor, which wasn’t looking like a bad idea at the moment.

Atlas fell to the floor on his side and looked at Galen who was eating his third sandwich while ignoring the other boy. “Galen,” Atlas dragged out, “give me attention or give me death!”

Galen sighed. “Guess you’ll have to die.”

Atlas let out a scoff and flailed his arms like a child. “I am falling apart over here, dude! I’m perishing!”

“What am I supposed to do about it?”

Atlas stretched his arms upward and fell back onto his back. “Carry me to my room, oh trusted one.”

Atlas could practically feel Galen rolling his eyes. “Why don’t you just get your soulmate to do it? He’s right there.”

Atlas jolted up and turned to see Alijah making his way down the hall, his focus on the person he was talking to, whom Atlas didn’t recognize. Atlas then looked down at himself. “Oh, I look like garbage.”

“He literally won’t care.”

“I care,” Atlas whined. He sighed and laid back down. “I give up. I give up. I’m never gonna have a love life ever.”

“You’re literally made for each other. You’re literally destined.”

“Why do you keep saying literally so much?”

“Because I’m literally your best friend.”

Atlas laughed and nodded, grinning over at the boy. “Yes, you are.”

The two began laughing again at absolutely nothing, only stopping when a familiar voice spoke up. “What are the two of you doing?” Atlas looked up at Alijah without a care in the world, his head loopy from sleep deprivation and being next to his friend.

“Just talkin’ bout you, loverboy,” Atlas stated before stumbling to his feet, saluting to Galen, and then walking off, oblivious to what he had just said or what would happen the next day.

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