Chapter Text
Atlas hated his life.
Sure, it was beautiful sometimes. The infinite blue skies and clouds like the whitest wool. The silhouette of a lone hawk gliding across the sky. The long, pale green grass dancing with the wind.
Yet, the most beautiful thing to him was the town. During the day, the small wooden structures would reveal people. They were dressed in dull colors such as pale white, beige, grey, and sometimes, the occasional washed out blue. But the common folk’s smiles were so bright and full of life, that the colors were easily forgotten.
Small children ran around the town square, playing games he couldn’t even guess. The adults were trading at the same area and thought of the things they needed for the week. And the teenagers were flirting and daring each other to do crazy things that would affect the rest of their lives.
The village wasn’t the best sight during the day, but it was a whole different story during the night. Each house would light a kerosene lamp that would burn a yellow-orange all night. The array of lights would amaze Atlas even to this day.
There would always be those couple people out at night, trading illegal objects or just messing around. It would give him nostalgia about the good old days when he could play with his brothers without a care.
That was all ancient history now. Even if he wanted to do it again, he was too old to play foolish games and his brothers were all dead. Not to mention, he was cursed so as he could not move an inch.
As he said before, It was a terrible life.
All he wanted to do was see the world and how it’s changed in this past millennia. He wanted to see his favorite places again. He wanted to visit the throne room where him and his brethren once ruled Earth from. And most of all, he wanted to see his lover again.
He wanted to see the boy that stole his heart and never let him go. He wanted to see the boy he gave half his immortal life to so he too could live forever. He wanted to see the boy that he gave his freedom up for.
Over all that, he wanted to brush off the tears from his lover’s cheeks that he couldn’t while being taken away. Gods, he missed him.
He shifted the weight of the sky from one side to another, hoping to make his position more comfortable.
As he did this, there was more shuffling outside of the barrier surrounding the area where he was trapped. He quickly looked up, excited that something different was happening for once.
There was a boy right against the barrier. His build was lanky, tall and surprisingly muscular. His hair was cut quite close to his scalp, unlike the normal style in his days. That was all he could make out thanks to the barrier’s shimmer.
Suddenly, a hand shot through the barrier, shocking Atlas. Mortals could never get through the barrier, much less get that near to it. But to the contrary, a boy of the small town below stepped through the barrier and looked out towards his village.
He slowly chuckled at first, then started to laugh almost hysterically. He clutched his stomach and wiped away tears from what Atlas could see. Then, the boy started to scream, oblivious to his standing there.
“Look at me everyone! I’ve done it! I made it to the top of the haunted mountain!
Not only that, but I’m free! I’ll never live my life out and die in that village like the rest of you! May the gods have mercy on you!”
With that, he put his hands on his knees and started to pant, the spectacle knocking the energy out of him.
He turned around and there was a huge grin on his face. When he spotted Atlas, the grin faded. When Atlas saw his face, he almost choked on his spit that had turned into a paste.
The boy looked exactly like his long, lost lover. Before he could stop himself, he opened his mouth and out came one line.
“Jack, Is that you?”