I Have Friends In Both Places
Twenty

Bodies dropped everywhere. Atlas looked around as demons and angels fought, their true forms shining in the large room. He looked up to see some of the angels hanging back, looking weary to fight, while the ones at the ground looked prepared to risk everything to keep Heaven the way it was.

Alijah had flown up the moment the angels flew down, taunting Dominic easily. Atlas gasped as an angel grabbed Atlas and pulled him to the ground. His eyes flew to the familiar face of a boy named Jeremy. He was an angel that had always hated the boy for reasons Atlas didn’t know.

“Always knew you would betray us, Axel,” he sneered, pressing a dagger against Atlas’s cheek. “But I’m going to be the one to destroy you.”

Atlas sneered and pushed Jeremy off easily, fire appearing along his hands, so he seared the boy’s chest. “Don’t doubt me, Jeremy. I could easily kill you.”

“I’d like to see you try.” And they were off. Jeremy got a few jabs at Atlas, but Atlas had magic on his side. Flames were thrown at Jeremy with ease, knocking the boy’s knife out of his hand when he sent a particularly bad one towards his hand. Jeremy groaned and tried to pick it up, but Atlas grabbed his shoulder, sending shocks of electricity through him.

“You always were a fucking bitch,” Atlas growled out before pushing the boy to his knees and using his own dagger to slit his throat. Jeremy fell to the ground with a thump, and Atlas was distracted yet again as a familiar voice yelled out to him.

Atlas looked up to see Jackson looking down at him from the third floor. “What’s happened to you, dude?”

Atlas stared at one of the only people he really trusted in the angel community and shook his head. “I became who I’m meant to be, Jackson. I know you don’t like it, but you have to accept it.”

“But what about the code? Everything you’ve been raised to believe?” Jackson’s voice was desperate, and Atlas watched as a freaked out Jameson appeared beside the boy. “You can turn back, Atlas. Help us. Don’t do this!”

“It’s too late, Jackson! I know what I am! I know what I’m meant to do! I- I found my other half. I found my destiny! Can’t you just be happy for once?” Atlas was screaming, but nobody around him noticed, too busy with their own battles.

“I am happy for you, but you’re destroying us, Atlas! Look around.”

Atlas turned and stared at the bodies dropping around them. The demons were easily winning, using their weaponry in a way the angels had never been taught how to. Atlas turned back up to Jackson. “You can’t say that you didn’t know that Heaven was falling apart. You knew that they were wrong. You knew, Jackson! I am so tired of being lied to! I found my place in Hell, and we’re going to take down Heaven.”

“But you won’t,” Jackson stressed. “All the prophecies have foretold it. You can’t deny fate. The good will always defeat the evil.”

“It’s funny that you think you’re the good here.” Atlas snarled and turned away only to meet the end of a blade. His eyes widened as he looked at Allison Salfur. The girl had tears in her eyes as she slid the blade out of him, mumbling a multitude of ’sorry’s before disappearing into the crowd.

Atlas gasped loudly, falling to his knees as he felt his soul leak out from his body. He fell on his back and looked up, his eyes focusing on Dominic and Alijah fighting in the sky. Sword hitting sword easily, sliding against each other and making jabs that never made the final kill. Atlas gasped for air, his chest convulsing as he tried to stay alive. His eyes blinked to meet a bleary world, The people around him slowly turning into blobs of color instead of shapes he could make out.

Atlas turned as he heard the familiar call of him name come from a familiar voice. “Galen,” he questioned, his voice breathy.

A body slid next to him, taking his hand. “Oh no, no, no, Atlas. C’mon, man. I lost you once. I can’t lose you again.”

Atlas felt liquid fall from his lips, a liquid he recognized as his soul as it tried to escape his vessel, but if it fell out, he knew he would die. He wouldn’t be able to find another vessel in time. He would perish. “Galen. I’m fine. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. You’re not, Atlas.” Atlas recognized tears falling on his face as his body began going numb. Death seemed to be coming slow, and Atlas wanted it to be over. If he was going to die, then let him die. There was no reason to dragging it out for forever. “Alijah!” Galen was screaming at the top of his lungs for the boy. “Alijah! Get down here, you asshole!”

“I’m fine,” Atlas mumbled again, trying to calm the blubbering boy. “I’m going to be okay.”

“No, you’re not. You haven’t even finished your role yet. You’re not leaving me. You got a hell of a lot more to do.” Galen cried out, his hands gripping Atlas’s tightly. “I don’t even have a spell for this! I’m the worst druid there ever was.” He then let out a yell so loud Atlas thought Galen would kill his vocal cords.

“Atlas?” There was Alijah. Oh, Alijah shouldn’t be there. Alijah shouldn’t see him like this. No one should see him like this. Atlas thought quietly to himself as he felt Alijah grab his empty hand and intertwine their fingers. “Hey, hey. I’m gonna help you, okay. You’re going to be okay.”

“Alijah. You- you need to be fighting. I’m fine.”

Alijah chuckled a bit and shook his head, his voice wavering as he spoke. “No, you’re not okay, angel. Let me help.”

Atlas nodded his head, turning to the direction he heard Alijah’s voice from, though his vision was almost completely gone. "Hey, I never showed you the playlist," he mumbled, smiling a dopey smile.

"You can show me when we get out of here," Alijah stated, smoothing his hands over Atlas' hair.

"That'd be nice," Atlas hummed in response.

It was quite for a moment before Alijah spoke again. “Can I kiss you, Atlas?”

Atlas smiled and nodded. If he was going to die, he’d at least like to finally kiss the boy he was so infatuated with. “Of course, loverboy.”

Alijah chuckled a bit, and Atlas felt Alijah’s lips on his. So soft, so sweet. They tasted like the expensive chocolate Galen never had the money for. Lele had stolen him some, and he had given some to Atlas. He felt like the pillows in Hell that were unbelievably soft and comfortable- the ones Atlas would wrap his arms around when he was particularly sad. He felt like home.

Atlas was so caught up in the kiss that he barely registered the feel of a fluid sliding over the hole in his stomach, a fluid that somehow felt like his lips and the sun combined to make the liquid. Atlas groaned, and his head fell back while his lips still stayed connected as a bright light overtook his vision. A bright violet filled his vision, hurting his eyes so much that he tried to close his eyes to get rid of it, but it didn’t do much.

He felt his body get incredibly hot, too hot, so hot that he felt that he might melt, so hot that the feeling of him falling from heaven seemed like a ride in the park. Atlas screamed, an ear-wrenching scream louder than Galen’s as he felt his body ignite, the purple taking anything he could see, and his back arching as if it would help in any way.

It felt like forever until the pain went away when, in reality, it was merely minutes, and Atlas wondered why he hadn’t just passed out. The violet slowly vanished from his vision, and he was left staring up at the ceiling of the Colosseum with tired eyes, trying to figure out what just happened.

“Atlas?” Atlas turned toward Alijah’s voice, and he gave a dopey grin. “You okay?”

Atlas sighed and shrugged. He couldn’t feel the pain in his stomach anymore. “I’ve been better.”

Alijah chuckled, and Atlas watched as a few tears slipped down his cheeks before he enveloped the boy in a large hug, holding tightly. “You did it, angel. You did it.”

Atlas groaned and wrapped his arms around Alijah as well, laughing as the older boy pressed kisses along every inch of his face. “I did what?”

“We won because of you. I – uh – intertwined our souls, and the power of it killed all the bad guys. God, that sounds cliché.”

Atlas chuckled and shook his head. “That sounds cool as fuck.”

Alijah laughed with him and stood, helping the boy to his feet. The two looked around at all the people surrounding them. There were so many dead bodies from both parties, and Atlas took note of the ones that looked like they had been singed from the sun rather than just stabbed. Still, a few angels stood, no part of them touched, and plenty of demons seemed to be rejoicing together.

“Why are there still angels left?”

Alijah smiled a bit. “They’re the ones who hadn’t done anything wrong. They were the ones who didn’t want to follow Heaven’s rules, but they knew they had to.”

Atlas nodded and looked around a bit more before he was tackled to the ground by a laughing boy. Galen hugged him tightly and shook him. “You did it! I’m so proud of you!”

“Thanks, Galen,” Atlas smiled, pulling them both to their feet as he didn’t want to lay on the ground for very long. Lele grinned at him as Atlas steadied himself, sending him a quick nod before taking Galen from him so Atlas could return to Alijah.

Atlas continued watching the angels around him, taking in a few familiar faces. It was when his eyes landed on Jackson and Jameson that he paused. Jackson was staring at him with sad eyes, sending him a smile, his way of an apology. Beside the two were Lydia and Allison who both were crying as they looked around. Atlas shook his head, and his eyes finally met Sofia Hale who was being held by two demon guards.

Atlas made his way over to the man and reached his hand out for him to shake. One of the guards let go of one of his arms, and Sofia shook his hand, a small smile on his face. Atlas spoke quietly. “I know you didn’t want to do what you did. You look like a kind person. You were following Dominic’s rules, weren’t you?”

Sofia chuckled a bit and nodded. “They can be pretty annoying when they want to be. I’d rather just go with it than fight them. Figured that if I could make myself to head, I could change stuff. You just came into the courtroom at the wrong time.”

Atlas smiled and nodded. “I’ll make sure you’re still treated the right way, Sofia. You’re someone I could see being a good head around here.”

“That means a lot from you, Atlas. You’re very kind.”

Atlas shrugged. “I’m just great, y’know.”

Sofia let out a light-hearted laugh that made Atlas smile just a bit more. All the stress from the days before seemed to be gone, and Atlas wondered what he was worried about to begin with. Well, besides the fact that he almost died.

Atlas felt Alijah wrap his arms around his waist, and he smiled and turned to press a kiss to the older boy’s cheek. Yeah, he didn’t know why he worried.

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