Chapter
3 – Buying Seconds
Five years have passed since Icarus
and his wife discovered the orbs that are able to float the ground. Atlas sits
on a balcony across from another balcony as he watches Teela in a dress talk to
other people at a party. He plays with a ring in his hand and hides it when
Teela looks over to him to wave and smile. He smiles and waves back before
Teela and the others rejoin the party. Atlas then goes back to thinking while
playing with the ring and looking out into the distance at the ground with large
chasms in it.
“Atlas, how come you aren’t joining
the party? It’s one of the few were allowed to have in these troubled times,”
Icarus says as he sits with him.
“You know me. I’d rather keep to
myself. It’s too much of a headache for me to be involved with the decisions
that decide the fate of the kingdom.”
“I know what you mean since it’s my
job. When are you finally going to tell Teela?”
“Tell her what?”
“I know that you have feelings for her.
I’ve known ever since you two became friends.”
“I think your job is getting to
your head.”
“That ring in your pocket says
differently.”
“O-okay.”
“It didn’t take me long to propose to
my wife. It did take long for us to be comfortable to have kids, but God provided
us this place and it happened. You know it can happen with you too.”
“Is this why you came out here to
bother me?”
“It’s one of the reasons. Another
is because I need you to get another orb-”
“Yet another orb. How many do we
need?”
“As many as we need to survive.”
“Well, look out there and see the
holes in the ground. This solution of yours will only work for so long.”
“What do you think we should do
then? Just let all of our hard work fall into nothing?”
“If God so wills it. We don’t even
know what these orbs are yet after all these years. We don’t know why they can
float mountains and houses, but can barely float people, animals, and trees. I
say we should stop relying on these orbs especially since so much conflict and
so many people have been hurt over it.”
“Do you want my children and your
future children to grow up in this world? Do you want them to go through the
same thing we did with our parents or did you forget that they even existed?”
“Tch.”
“Do you want them staying in a
place for what ten maybe five years in a place like we do before moving away?”
“Some places like this have stayed solid
for generations until now.”
“That’s beside the point. It’s a
hard life and a constant fear for all of humanity. Do you want everyone to live
like this?” The ground begins to shake as Icarus and Atlas watch as the perimeter
of the kingdom falls down while the rest of it manages to stay afloat. “Do you
see what I’m talking about?”
“Fine. I’ll help you get another
stupid orb if it makes you feel better but mark my words when I say that God
will tear down this place if He feels like it, so you shouldn’t be relying on
those orbs all the time.”
“Thank you. I’ll be joining you on
this errand.”
“It’ll be the first time in a while
that you’ve done anything with me,” Icarus says as they walk through the castle,
“Why is your special presence needed?”
Icarus and Atlas descend the castle
via an elevator that is operated by a person slowly moving an orb away from the
elevator.
“My face and name are famous across
these lands and we’ll more likely get the orb if they see that I’m the one buying
it.”
“Why not just have an escort with
you instead of me?”
“It’s for old time’s sake. Besides,
most of our deals have gone through without a hitch. I don’t think anything
will go wrong with this one.”
“Let’s hope you’re right.”
“Hey, I’ve been right about a lot
of things so far.”
“Tch, sure. If you say so.”
Atlas and Icarus mount their horses
and go to the deal location. At this location is a large group of men and women
on horses with swords, shields, and bows with them. Atlas looks at Icarus who gives
him a reassuring smile before the negotiation begins.
“Good afternoon,” Icarus says to
the leader of the group.
“Good afternoon to you as well. The
messenger said that you would be coming with your friend as your only escort,
but I didn’t completely believe it, especially with how in demand they are.”
“This is my show of trust. What do
you say? Do we have a deal?”
“So, we give you the orb, and you
allow us sanctuary in your kingdom?”
“Yes, and the promise that you will
never have to fear the ground falling.”
“Really? With so many holes in your
land and so many people looking to take these orbs, are you sure that your home
is so safe?”
“I’m sure of it and that the fact
that it hasn’t fallen yet is proof of that.”
“I see. Well, I’ll put my faith in
you and in God with this blessing that He has given us.”
As the leader of the group gives
Icarus the orb, a separate unknown group attacks them. Atlas protects Icarus
who has the orb and runs away. When they escape the ambush, they find that the
large group that was meeting them is now reduced to a few people with everyone
else being dead.
“Do you still think it’s worth it
when stuff like this happens?” Atlas says.
“I do when so many more lives can
be saved. It’s like you say when the ground falls and people die. This is just
something we can’t help, so we have to deal with it.”
Atlas is about to say something but
is silenced by what Icarus says. Once he gets back home, he throws his things
aside and goes back to his balcony and playing with his ring. He then feels
like he needs guidance from God so he goes to a nearby church and feels the
ground shake along the way. Fearing the worst, he heads to where Icarus and Teela
are to see that they’re running towards the center tower of the kingdom.
“We have to leave!” Atlas says
while pulling on their arms.
“All of the orbs are collected at
the bottom of the tower! They’ll save us from this!”
Icarus runs ahead without another word.
“Teela? You know that God will get
what He wants because He has that right. We’ve been depending on these orbs too
much and it’s finally coming to bite us. Please. Leave with me.”
“No, it’s going to be fine. We have
to trust Icarus!”
“If I’m wrong, then we can come
back and we’ll have a laugh and-”
Parts of a building start coming
down and separate the two.
“Atlas! I’m going to join Icarus!
It’s closer and safer!”
“Wait! Don’t!”
Atlas fidgets with the ring in his
pocket thinking that it could change her mind, but the moment for it quickly
disappears as more rubble separates them and the distance between them
increases. The people running towards where Icarus is makes Atlas thinks he might
be wrong. That God might’ve gifted the orbs as a way to save them, however,
something tells him that he should leave the kingdom just in case and he rides
his horse and does so. By the time he reaches the outer walls, everything has
fallen down except for the inner part of the kingdom where Icarus and everyone
else is supposed to be. He gets down on his knees and thanks God then begins to
think about how he’s going to get a bridge to connect the floating island to
the rest of the land.
Using his binoculars, Atlas sees
that the floating island is crowded with people. Some even push others off in
the fear that they won’t be able to survive long on such a small island. It isn’t
long before the rest of the island begins to fall apart. Atlas gets on his
knees and prays that this stops. Unfortunately, his prayers aren’t answered in
the way he wants and the island falls to the abyss below.
“Icarus…Teela…I’m so sorry,” Atlas
says as he begins to cry.
He tries to pick himself up and use
his binoculars to see if anyone else survived. Atlas travels around the area
and finds that he is the only survivor.
Again, collapsing to his knees he
prays and says, “Why, God, have you stranded me like this? Why have you taken everything away from me? I know that you know better than me and I don’t deserve
the kindness you’ve shown me so far, but still? What do you want me to do? What
am I supposed to learn?”
With no immediate answer, Atlas
assumes what he has to do and tells the allies of the kingdom what happened to
them and even shows them to convince those who are in doubt. Once this is done,
he settles down in a small farm town and eventually falls in love with a woman
and marries her within a week. Throughout the rest of his life, he thinks that
the ground will fall down, but it doesn’t and the same farm town miraculously because
a prosperous city much like the kingdom he was in before. In his last breaths,
Atlas thanks God before joining Him and everyone he’s known in Heaven.
The End
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