I Have Friends In Both Places
Eight

It had been six days since Atlas began to think, and everyday Alijah came to his door to ask for the answer. Everyday, Atlas responded with a simple. “I’ll think about it.”

Questions ran through his mind like a tornado. Did he really want to destroy the only true home he had? It was where he had been born, grown up, and faced his trials. It’s where his only two angel friends lived along with countless other simple angels who had no thought but to simply follow what they were told to do. It was home to fledglings that had their whole lives ahead of them.

But it was home to true evil like the people who had destroyed his wings and thrown him down to Hell like it was nothing but a minor flaw to their day. It was home to the three highest who had constantly sent people down for doing simple things wrong while other horrible angels cheered them on. The longer he thought, the more he realized how corrupted his home was beginning to become, and Atlas didn’t know how to handle the truth. How would anyone?

Atlas had spent barely any time in Hell, and he could already see how much better it was. The rankings were fair, people were punished or rewarded the correct way, and the demons seemed truly happy and taken care of. There hadn’t been a day where Atlas’s wings weren’t checked on by a nurse or he wasn’t brought food in case he was hungry. He was supplied proper clothes and things that made him a bit happier like sketchbooks and pencils when he asked. He was treated better than he ever was in Heaven, and he didn’t expect it at all.

So, it was the seventh day of sitting in his room along when he finally decided on his answer. He had spent the entire day thinking long and hard about if he really wanted to follow through with his response, but when the knock sounded on his door at exactly nine o’clock, he knew he couldn’t back out.

Atlas opened the door with a small smile on his face and gripped the door tightly out of nerves.

Alijah was dressed in a beautiful black suit today, and Atlas felt his breath get caught in his throat. “Have you decided yet, angel?” His voice was just as beautiful as him, Atlas concluded. These seven days had given Atlas enough time to truly appreciate the man that was Alijah Hood, and he often found himself chastising himself for his sinful thoughts.

“Yes, I would like to help.” Atlas’s voice was soft but firm and Alijah grinned at his answer, clapping a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Then, I guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow to discuss the plan, and we may have a small surprise.”

The next day came faster than Atlas expected, and soon, he was awoken to a bright-eyed Lele jumping on his bed. The boy jumped and jumped around until Atlas was awake and grumbling about how he just wanted sleep. Lele laughed and fell down beside Atlas with a grin.

“Do you guys like ever sleep down here,” Atlas questioned, rubbing his eyes.

“You’ve been asleep for twelve hours, dumbass. I think we’ve given you enough time.” Lele rolled off the bed and pulled Atlas out too. “You need to get ready for the meeting considering we have to go over everything with you because you’re never there!”

Atlas rolled his eyes and stumbled to his closet where he grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans and sneakers with a belt. He still wasn’t able to pull on a shirt, but his stomach and arms weren’t bandaged anymore as he slowly healed, and his wings were getting better and better as the days passed.

As Atlas pulled the jeans up his legs, Lele rambled on about how excited Alijah was that he agreed to it. Atlas cut him off midsentence. “Hey, Lele. Why is Alijah so laid back?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, when he first asked me about everything, he was so calm and relaxed. He seemed like a completely different person from when I first met him.” Atlas pulled on his socks with a huff and looked over to Lele who was now upside down from the ceiling, his shirt barely hanging from his small frame.

Lele tapped his finger to his chin in a funny way before shrugging. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s trying to warm up to you. I mean, you’ve both been through the same stuff, and if you’re supposed to take down Heaven with us, you’d need to be on his good side, y’know?”

“I mean, I guess,” Atlas mumbled to himself before lacing his shoes. “Can we go now?”

“Why, of course, my young and dumb angel.” Lele fell from the ceiling onto his feet and led them out of the room easily. “You know, Alijah’s a really cool guy when you get to know him. He’s changed a lot over the years, you wouldn’t believe. After falling from Heaven, he really was the devil the humans have come to know, but he realized he had to fix himself, and he did. He’s so much more different, and we all love him. It’s crazy, to be honest.”

Atlas learned through the five-minute walk that, though in the beginning, it seemed like the boy wouldn’t talk much, Lele rambled on and on about everything and anything without reason. When they finally reached the meeting room, it seemed like Atlas had listened to him explain different kinds of cheese and why provolone was the best compared to all other kinds.

The meeting room was similar to all the other rooms, but Atlas was still a bit blown away. In the room were the same people from the days before, but this time, they were spread out, each either reading or talking to others. Alijah looked up as they entered the room and made a motion to come to him which Atlas followed immediately, not knowing what do with himself in the room.

Atlas smiled a bit at Alijah, and Alijah pointed at the table in response. “We’ve figured out a plan while you’ve been gone, and I think it’ll work perfectly as long as nothing crazy happens.” Atlas nodded and sat down in the seat next to Alijah as Alijah did the same. “You’re the start of this all. We need you to make your way to Heaven, beg for forgiveness, and they’ll hold the council meeting to see if you should be allowed in. At that time, there will only be a few guards taking the entrances. If we take them out, we can make it to the meeting room and take over from there as almost everyone is called there.”

Atlas nodded a bit, hesitant at his part of everything. “How do you plan on getting me up there, how do you plan on even getting in, and aren’t they going to detect you. Heaven has sensors and guards all around the place. It’s almost impossible to get in unless you’re an angel.”

“I think you’re going to like this part.” Alijah grinned and called over a boy with dark hair and medium-length horns.

“Yessir,” the boy responded, a stupid smirk on his face.

“Explain to Atlas how we plan on getting in.”

The boy turned to Atlas with a small grin and nodded. “Okay, so, it’s pretty damn simple. Heaven only lets in angels, but they don’t check if the person is in any database or whatever. They’re just like ‘oh, wings? Damn, get in here, y’know.’ So, if we get a specific druid from Earth, he can perform a spell that masks our demon-y-ess and gives us wings. We would do it ourselves, as we’re able to disguise ourselves from humans and lower-ranking angels like Lele did.”

Atlas raised an eyebrow at the statement. “Who would the druid be? Is there anyone down there powerful enough?”

“Actually,” Lele spoke up this time, leaning back in his chair to where Atlas thought he might fall out. “We know the perfect person.” Atlas moved his hand in a motion that told him to elaborate. “Galen Rabattre.”

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