A/N: In this chapter, we will look at Atla's past and why he is so cruel and heartless. This chapter will contain death, mental health, and coping.
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Your POV
After meeting Atlas. I knew there was something about him. That necklace meant something to him and I wanted to know the backstory. I agreed to meet up with him today, his reason was he wanted to show me something.
"Love." Draco's voice calls out. I looked at him as he entered the room. I smiled at him. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just looking at the many books," I replied, my finger gently grazed the spine of the books. He smiled and came closer to me, chuckling to himself.
"I often would come in here to read any books that interested me." He replied. I smiled and grabbed his wheelchair and rolled him near to the sofa in the corner. I sat down on the sofa as I watched Draco try to move his toes. His legs have begun to strengthen but he still needs help to walk. "This therapy is really helpful. I can move my toes."
"I'm proud of you my love." I smiled, leaning down to kiss his lips. "You don't know how much I'm so happy that you are trying. I see how much effort you put into being able to walk again."
"With you by my side. I can do this." He replied with a smile. I caressed his cheek and admired him before I stood up.
"How's the cane?" I asked. He let out a groan and rolled his eyes.
"It makes me feel old." He laughed, shaking his head. I giggled and shook my head and went behind him to wrap my arms around him and leaned my head on his shoulder.
"But it makes you look attracted," I whispered in his ear. He turned his head to the side and smirked.
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. I nodded. He laughed and I smiled. I stood up grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and began to walk out of the room and walked around the manor, enjoying each other's company. He looked up at me and admired me.
"Is there something on my face?" I asked. He shook his head and smiled.
"Admiring your beauty, sans coeur." He replied. He grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to my knuckles. I chuckled, shaking my head.
"How did I get so lucky to find someone like you?" I asked.
"I ask the same thing every morning I wake up." He said with a cheeky smile. "You truly are perfect." We left the room before I left Draco to meet up with Atlas.
"Hello, Atlas." I greeted him with a smile. He nodded, not returning the smile. I noticed he was wearing a jacket. "Where did you get that jacket?" He shrugged and slipped his hands in his pockets.
"Found it on some guy sleeping on a bench." He replied. My eyes widen.
"You stole it from a homeless person?" I asked in disbelief but he didn't answer and turned around to walk away. I let out a huff of annoyance. I quickly followed him. "Where are we even going?" He didn't respond, now I'm beginning to regret meeting with Atlas. We walked to a cemetery.
Turn around. Turn around. Get away from him, he's gonna kill you. He's a criminal who wants to murder more people. Run.
My feet don't stop moving. I continue to follow him. I should have not saved him and allowed him to die on the street just like he asked. He doesn't stop walking like he knows this place like the back of his head and I'm trying to catch up to him.
He finally stops in front of a tombstone. He doesn't say a word and looks down at the grave in front of him. My eyes followed too.
Celestia Warren; 1996-2016
But next to that name was another name too.
Estelle Warren; 2013-2016
Two beautiful angels, never forgotten.
I looked at Atlas who was sitting down. I stood there trying to progress what was going on when he broke the silence. The graves were decorated with flowers and there were toys placed on Estelle's grave.
"This was my wife and my daughter." He said with a shaky breath. I sat next to him and stared at the grave. "They were my everything." Tears rolled down his face and my heart broke for him. I knew he was grieving over the death of his wife and daughter but why was he convicted? Did he kill them?
"I'm sorry," I whispered. He looked at me and for the first time that I met him. His eyes held pain and anger.
"Estelle would have turned ten this year." He took a deep breath. "When she was born. It was the happiest day of my life that I made a promise to her that I was gonna protect her but I couldn't." I touched his shoulder but he didn't flinch.
Atlas POV
I looked at my daughter's grave, remembering all of the memories with her like when I first held her.
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Celestia gripped my hand as she pushed out our daughter.
"That's it, Mrs. Warren. The head is out just a few more pushes." The doctor smiled at us. Celestia groaned and leaned her head against the pillow, looking at me.
"I'm tired Atlas. I can't do it anymore." She whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut.
"You got this. Our baby is almost here and we will get to see her." I brushed some hair out of her face and kissed her sweaty forehead. "You are doing amazing," I whispered. She took a deep breath before she pushed every ounce in her body. We heard the cries of our daughter, listening to her tiny lungs scream in the room, announcing to everyone that she had arrived.
"Go be with her." Celestia let go of my hand and I kissed her forehead before walking towards my daughter who was getting cleaned up but she continued to cry.
"Hey," I whispered. My fingers touched her tiny hands. "Hey, sweet girl. I'm your daddy." She stopped crying and looked at me.
"You wanna hold her?" I nodded. The nurse instructed me how to position my arms before settling the newborn in my arms. I looked down at her and smiled, realizing that I'm a father and I have a daughter to look after. I walked towards Celestia to show her our daughter who was squirming in my arms.
"She's perfect," Celestia whispered, touching the baby's blanket. I nodded, staring at the sleeping newborn in my arms.
"You wanna hold her?" She nodded eagerly. I carefully handed the baby to her while I just watched the two girls in my life. "She's so tiny and precious. I can't believe she's here with us. Our little Estelle." I smiled.
"We're gonna protect her and make sure she has everything she needs and won't have to worry about," I said. Estelle let out a small yawn and stretched her tiny arms before she rubbed her face. "Thank you."
"For what?" Celestia asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I smiled.
"For giving us a family," I replied. "I love you so much."
"I love you too Atlas and I love our daughter." She kissed Estelle's head. I admired my family, cherishing this moment.
Estelle Ivette Warren was born on May 19th, weighing only six pounds and eleven ounces.
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I let out a small sob, staring at the tombstone in front of me, realizing that they wouldn't be able to live their lives while I get to see another day of life. I felt her gaze on me and I knew she giving me pity for losing my wife and my daughter.
"I don't want your pity." I turned to look at her, glaring at her. She looked down and sighed.
"I'm not giving you pity." She replied. I didn't believe her.
"You don't know how it feels to lose someone in your life!" I screamed. She flinched at my sudden outburst and I felt guilty.
"You are not the only one who lost someone." She whispered as she looked down. I stared at her in confusion as she let out a quiet sob. "I lost my brother."
"I'm sorry," I said. She looked up and I saw her tears rolling down her face. I quickly wiped them away.
"How did your wife and daughter die? If you don't mind." She asked. I took a deep breath and began telling her.
"They died in a fire." I began, hugging my knees closer to me. "I was accused of murdering them. That's why I was in prison."
"Did you kill them?" I shook my head.
"Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape did." She let out a quiet gasp. I continued to talk about it. "It happened one night. We were all sleeping when my wife woke up and heard a noise."
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I was awoken by Celestia's shaking me. "Atlas, Atlas. I heard something outside."
I sat up and rubbed my eyes, adjusting to the darkness as we both listened to the silence before we heard some rustling coming from outside.
"Maybe it's an animal," I reassured her but she shook her head.
"It's been like that for ten minutes. Can you check it out?" She seemed a bit frightened.
"Alright," I replied, getting out of bed.
"Daddy." Estelle walked into the bedroom, holding her little stuffed unicorn in her hands while she held her favorite blanket in her other hand.
"What is it, Stelle?" I picked her up and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"They are scaring me." She whimpered.
"Who's they?" I asked. She let out a quiet sob.
"The monsters outside. They keep talking." Celestia and I shared a look before averting my eyes to Estelle who was shaking.
"I'm gonna check it out." I kissed her forehead then I placed her on the bed next to Celestia. "Mommy will protect you while I check it out, okay?"
"Okay." She replied, hugging her mother. I kissed my wife then kissed my daughter's forehead again before I turned around. "Daddy." I turned around to look at her.
"Yes," I replied.
"I love you!" She blew me a kiss. I smiled and laughed.
"I love you too pumpkin but I'm not gonna leave for long." I turned around and walked outside, checking every corner until I was grabbed by a random person.
"I don't want to hear anything from him." A male voice hissed then the person who was holding me began to drag me away from my home. I fought to get out of the person's grip but they just held me tightly. "Now, let the real fun begin."
I looked up to see a man with a mask covering his face but I could see the blonde hair at the end of the mask. He lifted something in his arms that I soon realized was a gallon of gasoline, he began to pour the gasoline around the house. I fought with the person who held me, desperately trying to save my family.
"Please!" I cried out, seeing the man pour the gasoline inside the home, hearing my wife's desperate cries or my daughter's sobs. "No! Don't do this! Don't hurt them! Don't hurt them! Hurt me instead!"
They didn't care.
I watched as the man lit up a match before throwing it on the ground, fire spread quickly around the house while hearing Celestia and Estelle's cries. This was torture. A complete torture that I wish no one has to go through.
I saw a glimpse of the necklace he was wearing, a snake necklace. The man who held me dropped me to the ground and kicked me in the abdomen. I choked out a bit of blood but I managed to see his face. He was not wearing a mask and I realized it was Severus Snape. He kicked me again and I felt useless, unable to save my family.
After what seemed forever I no longer heard voices inside the home and just knew that they were gone. I looked at the house that was now destroyed before feeling pain all over my body before passing out.
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"They killed my wife and my daughter." I took out something from my pocket, holding my daughter's stuffed unicorn. "My brother found her stuff unicorn when they searched the home. This is the only thing I have left of my daughter."
She was crying with me. I untucked my necklace under my shirt and held it out for her to see.
"This was my wife's ring. Their bodies were burned in ashes and there was nothing except for bones. I carry these items with me to remember that they didn't die in vain, they were murdered and I was accused falsely. I tried to appeal my case but the judge overruled that because Lucius and Snape are working with the police to corrupt everything." I clutched the stuffed animal. "I wasn't allowed to attend my daughter and my wife's funeral. Her family turned against me, believing that I killed my family and it hurt me that I couldn't say my final goodbyes to them, to apologize that I couldn't protect them—I felt it was all my fault that I couldn't save them and whenever I go back to the once I called home, I see nothing but the pain of losing them."
"My brother was accused of a murder that he has no knowledge and his trial was the next day when he was found dead. The authority says that he committed suicide but the bullet wound that I found says differently." She wiped her nose. "I found Lucius' ring in my brother's belongings when they returned it to me."
"I suffered a lot being in the prison. The guards told me that I was the killer and it was my fault that my family died. I attacked a guard with my bare hands, almost choking him to death which sent me to a mental institution." I closed my eyes.
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I sat in my cell, staring at the ground finding that more interesting instead of what was around me. My head snapped up when I heard bangs coming from the bars. A guard stared at me with an evil smirk on his face before he walked inside, locking it to prevent me from escaping.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Look at you, no family, no one visits you because you are a killer. A killer who murdered his family, you have no remorse, no sympathy for what you did, and frankly, I feel sorry for you. You deserve to rot in hell, you didn't deserve them and I hope you suffer every day, remembering what you did and will carry in you for the rest of your life." He laughed.
Something ignited me. I felt rage building inside of me. I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him on the ground, getting on top of him and squeezing his throat.
"I'm not a killer!" I screamed. He was flaring his arms around, trying to push me off but I was much stronger than him. I didn't realize how long I was choking him until two guards grabbed my arms and dragged me away while a medic attended to the unconscious guard.
I was dragged out of the prison to a car. I didn't stop screaming or thrashing around until a medic inserted a needle in my vein, numbing my whole body.
"Mr. Warren. Wake up." I opened my eyes to see a nurse staring at me. I looked around my surroundings before finally looking at the nurse again who was holding out a cup of water and a small pill. "It's time for your medicine."
"Why?" I asked.
"To control your anger." She answered. I sat up to realize one hand was chained against the headboard.
"I'm not a monster." I bit my lower lip. She let out a sigh. "I need to get out of here. Please you have to believe me that I'm innocent." She gave me pity which I hated.
"Please take your pill. I'm just doing my job." She said. I grabbed the cup and pill, placed the pill under my tongue, and drank the water, swallowing down the liquid. She gave me a pleased smile before leaving the room. Once she was gone I took out the pill and hid it under my pillow and cried myself to sleep.
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"Ever since I left that place my only mission was to find justice for my wife and my daughter," I replied. "I don't care if I have to go back to prison to finally seek justice but I want to see Lucius and Snape rotting in jail for all the crimes they committed." She grabbed my hand and stared at the gentle.
"We both want to see Lucius and Snape in prison. We both want justice and you're not alone." She reassured me, offering me a smile. "We can work together to find justice. What do you say?"
I thought for a moment, waiting for this moment to finally seek justice for my family and clear my name. "I'd love to."
"How do we get close to Lucius?" I asked. She lifted her left hand to show her wedding band.
"I married his son." My eyes widened while I stared at the ring sitting on her finger.
"You married Draco?" She nodded. "How did you manage that?"
"Draco fell in love with me." She replied.
"How would he feel if he found out that you married him for putting his father in jail." She looked down and sighed.
"I fell in love with him too and I don't know how he will feel once he finds out the truth." She replied. "But we both suffer from losing someone at the hands of the same persons."
"If we need to lock up two criminals who can do anything we must be prepared," I replied. "I need to teach you how to use a gun properly."
She hugged me and for a long time I was locked away, I missed this, having someone to comfort me.
To believe in my innocence, not judging me for my past, and not ashamed of me. I finally found a friend who wants the same thing as me, our only mission is to lock the persons who started it all.
Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape.
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A/N: I enjoyed writing about Atlas's past and took a while to come up with a back story for him to give. I'm currently writing another story that I will soon announce but haven't decided on a name.
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Thanks for reading!