Angel Fire

chapter vi

Aquila ran very far away from her home. It was close to dark and she knew that her mother would be up in the sky soon, which meant that her mother would also know that she was not home. However, at the present moment, she didn't care. Athena and her children would have been long gone by now, but not the slightest bit of Aquila wanted to return.

She ran to the Cliffs, where she felt she would be safest from prying eyes. Calistena's words kept reverberating through her head and she couldn't make them stop.

You don't know what he is capable of. You don't know him.

The trouble was, the more she thought about it, the more she realized the truth behind it. She hardly knew Atlas. He knew practically everything about her, as she was always the one to speak when they held conversations, but he never spoke of himself. She didn't know him, not the way that he knew her, and it made her chest ache to think that she might have been played.

She huffed a shaky breath and crumpled to the ground, tears leaking from her azure colored eyes and dripping down her porcelaine cheeks. She felt weak and stupid, to think that she had once thought so highly of the god who probably cared nothing for her at all. There was nothing she could do except cry, and so there she laid, in the pale light of the twinkling stars, weeping.

Atlas heard her crying. He was about to duck under the bushes when he paused to hear the sound of sobs and sniffles, and he hesitated. He knew it had to be her, for only she knew the location of the place he was looking to enter. She had been the one to show it to him and now, it had become his favorite spot to be alone. But now, he was hesitant. Not for his sake, of course, but for her own. Would she even want him there? He no doubt would cause more grief by being present, and he certainly did not know how to comfort people. He would only cause more distress.

But something in his mind told him that he simply couldn't leave her there to suffer on her own. He had done it all his life, yes, but she was different than he was. She was sweet and innocent and pure and kind, and didn't deserve to suffer through her pain alone.

He pushed the brush to the side and crawled through. All at once, he exited and stood up, the light of a pale moon reflecting against the sea far, far below. He took in her figure, lying broken on the ground as she wiped away her tears.

"Aquila?" he whispered, a part of him hoping she didn't hear him. She jumped, however, startled, and turned to him.

"Atlas," she exclaimed, her voice cracking from the crying she had just endured. She stood up, wiping her cheeks frantically. Clearing her throat, she said, "hello," as cheerfully as she could make it.

"Why are you crying?" he mumbled quietly, seeing through her facade in a heartbeat. She let her shoulders droop as she sighed.

"It's nothing really," she shrugged.

"Crying like that isn't just nothing."

"I-you heard that?" she winced. He nodded meekly, keeping his cold colored eyes on her the entire time. She sighed again.

"It's just... people were saying things," she cast her eyes towards the ground.

"Who? What kinds of things?" he asked quickly. Suddenly, he had a terrible feeling that he was involved.

"I have a friend who... t-tried to convince me that... you were... taking advantage of me," she shook her head quickly, looking anywhere but at him. Another tear managed to slip through her eyelashes and dark down her face. Atlas impulsively reached for her.

He grabbed her arm, but not harshly. He let his fingers brush against her skin, gently gripping her elbow and with his other hand, he tilted her face up towards him.

"Do you believe them?" he whispered, a sudden jolt of fear echoing through his body. What if she leaves?

"I don't-" but she stops. "I don't want to, it's just that... well my friend is very convincing and now I just don't really know."

"What did she say to convince you?" he asked gently.

"She said that I didn't know you," she looked right at him, right into his eyes. He swallowed. "And I don't. I know who you are, but I don't know you." He nodded slowly. "I tried to tell them that I know you enough to know that you aren't just using me but...I'm sorry Atlas," she whispered desperately, more tears pooling in her eyes.

He looked at her, biting his lip. The hand holding onto her elbow trailed down her arm and gripped her hand gently, and Aquila's skin erupted in goosebumps. He led her to the cliff's edge, and there, he sat down, waiting for her to follow. She did.

And there, under the moon and the stars, above the sea, Atlas told Aquila everything. He started with his favorite color--which was black. He told her that he loved red roses and he hated every other type of flower imaginable. He despised the cold, which was why he always sits under the tree in the park during the day, because there it is warm. He enjoys music and laughter, but he isn't good at them. He broke his arm when he was 7 years old trying to shake hands with a lost soul in the Underworld, which made Aquila giggle. He pointed out all of the tattoos that covered his skin, explaining the reasoning behind the ones he liked the most.

He told her about the time he first saw her. How confused he was that someone actually had the decency to smile at him. And then from there, how absolutely annoyed he had been with her and all of her antics. He told her about his frustration and confusion, about how he admires her and how he seemed to always want to see her, despite not knowing why, and about the fact that never before has he had a friend until he met her. He was very grateful for her, and he told her that too. 

He told her everything, and when he was done, he closed his eyes and let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. They were silent for a long time. Atlas stared down at the ocean, at the earth below them while Aquila watched the sky. After some time, he felt something heavy rest upon his shoulder. Startled, he looked down to find Aquila's head nestled into the crook of his neck, gently resting on him. He held his breath.

"Thank you," she mumbled. "And I'm sorry you felt all those things about me." She couldn't see him, but Atlas cracked a smile at that.

"Don't be," he replied. "You were worth it."