—————Sorin—————
“Goddamn it Sorin, we can try again. He won’t be able to be her vessel! I can used him for something else.” Stephen shouted at him. Sorin was so close to breaking. It was clear… over the course of 10 months Stephen Albens went insane. It wasn’t gradual, although it was seamlessly smooth. Sorin had seen Stephen at a low but when the mutilation of arcane bodies started, he knew this was different. It took too long to piece together his plan. For some reason he wanted to give life to one of their bodies without the soul… but their bodies and souls worked as essentially the same thing in concept and practice. To ground himself he’d always go back to Michael and play with him but this was getting bad. He had to get Michael out of here… then it happened, worst case senario. He was able to transfer his consciousness temporarily through some form of astral projection, a spell available to him because of his rare class. He created a child. “This will be my path to her.”
But all Sorin could see was another child that would be abandoned or abused, whose whole purpose is as a test project. “Did you even name the kid?” Sorin crossed his arms and stared daggers at Stephen.
”Why so I could get attached like with you?” He scoffed as if he actually thought it wasn’t a serious question.
Sorin grit his teeth at the snide remark, ”He’s your son! You’re not going to take responsibility for him or at least make his life enjoyable!?” He sounded exasperated, how could one not when you see someone you care for make the same mistakes over and over again.
Stephen cut him off, ”No, Michael is my son! Anyway we need to move, the gods have sent their heroes again, they really want me out of this world.” He laughed, it was pissing Sorin off.
He screamed, ”You don’t get it old man! You are endangering the many for one woman, maybe because they already have enough Heroes, things happen for a reason that’s why there is balance.”
Rather than retaliating with his rising frustration, he took a breath and began to reminisce, ”She’s more than a woman, she’s an icon, and concept. If I can do this for her no man or woman will have to lose someone like her again. Grab the boys and let’s go.”
———— Atlas ————
He saw a man with jet black hair and tight leather clothes enter his testing room. Atlas was currently indisposed at the moment hung from a strange contraption which he had no clue what it was for but he was here since he could remember so he didn’t question it. The man quickly undid Atlas’s binds. “Cute baby.” He ruffled his white hair while looking into his big round blue eyes. “He doesn’t want to name you so it looks like Atlas is gonna have to stick but it fits. You’re getting the worst end of the stick here and soon you’ll have to take on the world, I wish I had more time to prepare you but he’s getting close to something, I’m not too sure what but I will stop him. First way to do that is to get you out of here.“ he cradled the baby pulling him from the contraption. He tucked him into his bag and went to Michaels room. Atlas had seen Michael around but didn’t know how to feel about him. He wasn’t that much bigger but he seemed to crave attention in a way that felt unnatural to Atlas whose head poked out of the bag to see the commotion. “Michael we gotta go.”
Michael shot up to his feet, “another attack.” He said used to the constant moving.
Sorin sighed, ”Yes but we aren’t going with your dad. There is a friend I want you to find they will be in the building on the other side of the well. His name is Haydrian. He’s a cop, he can find you a home.”
Michael stomped, ”I don’t wanna new home!”
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Sorin kneeled before him, “but you need one. Think about the silver linings, your dad can focus if you aren’t here and you’ll make new friends.”
”I want my mommy.” He screamed as he threw a tantrum.
”She’s gone Michael, and that’s okay, she was apart of your life but she wasn’t all of your life. You can still live on with her in your life, every time you think of something she’d do or say, that’s her still with you.”
“She was everything.” Sorin froze, atlas understood as he’d heard those words before, he was just like his dad, but he wasn’t wrong either. She was always there, all he ever knew and now she was dead. “I want to see her again.” He started to cry. Sorin shifted uncomfortably, he wasn’t good at the whole feelings thing from what atlas could tell.
“Me too.” Sorin answered, “but we must keep moving.” He grabbed his hand and his bag and began to head out to the back of this abandoned castle where they had been hiding out. There there was a well, “take this bag to him he will know what to do with it.” Michael took that bag, it was kinda heavy, certainly too much for a 3 year old to carry for an unknown amount of time. He struggled into the well dropping into an apartment where there was a naked man and woman standing on either side of them. The woman let out a scream, while the man shouted, “what the fuck!”
Michael took the initiative, “hi. I’m Sorin Albens.”
The man face palmed and let out a long breathless sigh, ”Goddamn it, what did those Albens Knuckle heads do. I’m haydrian and this is my… friend Winona.”
“What were you two doing?” The curious chilled asked to their chagrin.
After getting dressed and learning of sorin’s involvement he took a look in side the bag to find a baby, “I see so you have a little brother… Atlas… but he’s not actually yours… and Sorin wanted me to take care of you both? Well I don’t owe him that much plus the kid is an arcaneling, he’ll attract attention. Not the good kind. We have to get him back over. I’ll need to to recharge the well.” Atlas wasn’t too sure what’s was going on but he could tell it wasn’t going to be good. “I know a lady that does foster care for an orphanage.” He tried to give them a reassuring smile but it kinda just looked like he was suspicious. Winona left to go get kids snacks from the corner store at the end of the block.
”orphan?” Michael repeated not understanding.
Haydrian gave the child an unflinching gaze “consider your father gone. I’m going to get you a new safer family. Him too.” He looked over at the baby atlas.
michael stood defiantly, “I don’t want a new family I want my old one and I want atlas.”
haydrian sighed, “listen kid how would you feel if someone dumped two kids on your plate when you have something going on?” The children looked confused, “don’t answer that, look… I get what you want, but you can’t have what you want and stay safe too.”
michael glared back at him, “then I don’t want to be safe!”
haydrian shrugged sighing, “you don’t have to want anything, you’re a child you don’t get that choice.” He grabbed the bag with atlas and left heading to the well Michael had used 10 months ago. It wasn’t a far drive. At last had never been in a car and found it nauseating on turns but comforting some times, before he knew it he was asleep. Haydrian picked him up and entered the building looking through the drawers and chests before finding some gold coins and placing them in a small pouch before he went to the well and placed his hand on it. It looked rough, made of many bricks, it began to glow though causing it to become mesmerizing to the child. He went to a desk, began to write a note before he folded up the note, pinned it to the pouch, and placed it into the bag with young atlas. “This is for you kid, you’ll thank me one day if we both live to see it.” Then he dropped him in.
Atlas landed on a cobblestone street somewhere, a back alley not that he knew the difference when a man came upon him. This man didn’t look normal but atlas’s understanding of normal was very limited. He looked stringy, like he struggled to put on muscle. He looked strung out as he wobbled unsteady, his mind absent from the world around him. Atlas started to become afraid before the man looked into the bag seeing the note and baby. “Weird looking kid, maybe an albino half elf or something. No wonder he was abandoned.” He read the note before he saw the bag of gold below. He picked it up, “I could just take the gold and leave the boy? What do you think?” He said to no one in particular, “yeah that’s right it wouldn’t be fair to this kid, we’re his only shot.” He picked up the baby, and began walking to a place filled with debauchery, lust, gluttony, and drugs… his and atlas’s new home.