atlas trudged through the night air with his gaze belonging to the ground. he made sure not to be bothered nor to be seen as he paced off into the woods. this seemed to be a new found routine for the ares boy - keeping his distance from everyone and everything.
ever since mason had passed atlas developed into an angry and standoffish person which was the exact opposite of who he truly was. purple bags grew under his eyes and red pigment formed around his knuckles from repeatedly hitting things. nobody really seemed to notice who he was becoming, not even his own friends. at least that's what he believed. everyone was mourning the loss of mason and even his closest friends started to close the doors on interaction - including kenna.
he remembers walking into her cabin and seeing her distant from reality. as much as everyone who had been close to mason felt, he knew kenna would be the closest person to feel what he had been feeling. but alas, even he didn't find comfort with kenna as she excused him to leave.
but neveah knew what he felt like and that's who he turned to amongst the mourning. and now they both would start a war.
the sound of the leaves occupied the silence in the night air as atlas paced through the woods. his pace quickened in hopes to not catch attention from any of the campers, but someone had been following him. as he set for the woods he ran into an invisible wall it had seemed as he bounced back, startled and confused. atlas hit the wall in frustration as he stepped back knowing exactly what this was - or who this was and exactly why she was here.
"she told me what you were planning and i didn't believe her."
atlas takes a deep breath in response, his back still facing her and his eyes glued in front of him. he swallows.
"i thought, if atlas leaves camp i might not ever see him again," she says with disbelief still entangled in her voice, yet her tone cold. atlas turns to face her now as he locks eyes with her stone expression, "Isabeau."
"he'd never do that," she continues meeting his stare.
atlas breaks her stare looking off to the side with a defeated huff. "i wrote you a letter and i was going to give it to-"
"are we friends?" isabeau interjects. atlas scoffs in return and breaks eye contact with her once more. "of course we are. i mean we don't actively try to kill eachother anymore-"
"no i'm not doing that. no jokes, no insults." the brunette steps closer to him. "are we /friends/."
atlas stares at her clearly taken back by her words and by her angry demeanor. before he can respond she continues, "i know why you wanted to leave in a letter. so you can leave and betray the gods. i bet you were imagining me reading it and thinking 'hm i'm really going to miss him.'"
there's silence between the two, only owls hooting in the distance. he takes a deep breath searching to find words to say that could make up for hurting her, but he can't. instead she finds the words, "well too bad. because that was not my reaction. this is." isabeau walks up to him now leaving two feet of space in between them.
"i am not okay with you leaving. and i am not okay with never seeing you again." she pauses. "and i am not okay with you leaving me behind." her eyes start to well up with tears and for a moment atlas's heart starts to hurt as he thinks about his other friends he's leaving behind. atlas bites the inside of his cheek. an angry tear slips down her face as she quickly wipes it away. "i'm coming with you."
atlas's expression folds as he quickly reacts to her statement, "isa-"
"no." she says firmly the poison back in her voice. "you /hurt/ me and you do not tell me what i can or cannot do." she backs away a step as he looks off into the distance. "i am tired of being told what i can and cannot do. i'm tired of being used."
"i know," atlas responds knowing the amount of truth behind her statement.
"good." she says. "i'll see you when we leave."
before he can even respond she disappears, fading into the night.
