Edited by: Piamo Just to note, I changed the Hirean Empire's "church" to "temple" because later on, I feel it sounds sooo much better. This change is reflected in the chapters I have posted and will be posting.

That night, when Atlas went into dreamland, he found himself in a clearing full of flowers. The air felt fresh and clean, and there was a light breeze that carried a scent of jasmine and rose. The flower field seemed to go on forever, with different colors and varieties but a lot were flowers Atlas had never seen before. In the middle of the flower garden on a patch of grass, there was a large dragon and a man next to it. 

The only people he could think of were his adopted parents, the Dragon God and the God of Light. He had never seen any person look at a dragon so lovingly… 

“Ah, Atlas! We finally meet,” a feminine voice resounded. The man’s mouth wasn’t moving, so it was definitely coming from the dragon. 

“Dragon God…?” Even though he asked, he knew there was no one else it could be.

“Yes, that’s right. My name is Sohtris, and this here is…” 

Avlios was patting the ground next to him and Sohtris so Atlas would sit next to them. “Avlios, the God of Light. Pleasure to meet you at last.” 

Atlas walked over and slowly sat down. He looked at Sohtris and then at Avlios. “Yes… nice to meet you… Mom and dad?” 

They shouted at the same time, “Mom?!” “Dad?!” Sohtris was the former while Avlios was the latter. 

Atlas flushed with embarrassment and anxiety. Was he not supposed to call them that… “Well, on my status, it said you two are my adopted parents, so… so I can’t call you mom and dad?” 

“No no no, of course you can, Atlas!” Sohtris quickly replied. She seemed really excited, “You can call me Mom!” She was even stomping on the ground.

“I agree with Sohtris. You can also call me Dad!” 

The two looked completely in bliss. 

“That’s good. I wanted to thank you both for bringing Sir Walter here… He’s my best friend and brother from my previous world.” 

“Of course… We felt so bad. You weren’t supposed to be sent into that body so we wanted to help you in some way,” Avlios said while urging Atlas to sit near them. 

“If you can bring Sir Walter here… Can you see what happened to my parents on Earth? Are they okay?” 

Sohtris felt heartbroken hearing Atlas ask about them, but she knew she had to tell him to give him some closure.

“My dear… Your parents were devastated when they found out you died. After losing you, their only child, it was a huge blow for them. Eventually, Avlios and I felt a bit bad, so we decided to send them a small puppy and a kitten that looked just like you and Sir Walter. They named the small puppy Wally while the little kitten that looked just like you was named Al. It was the best we could do to give them a bit of closure after your death.” 

What they didn't tell Atlas was they left Al and Wally on his grave, curled up waiting to be picked up by his parents.

Atlas teared up, but he knew that crying wouldn’t help with much so he wiped his tears as quickly as they came. He tried so hard to push them to the back of his mind because he knew that he would never see them again… 

Even so, he too, felt heartbroken and missed his previous life’s parents. They meant the world to him. They gave him so much love and made sure that he was never lacking. They were always so patient with him, helping him become the man he was. 

“Thank you… I… I hope they will be okay without me. I didn’t mean to leave them so early.” 

No one wanted to die before their loved ones. He couldn’t imagine how it felt to have their kid die before them. It was too cruel… If he wasn’t so clumsy, maybe, just maybe, he would have been able to spend more time with them.

“If you ever want to know how they are doing, feel free to ask us. We can’t speak to them directly, but we can always let you know how they are doing.” Avlios patted Atlas on the head. He felt bad that there was nothing they could do to comfort Atlas. 

“That’s enough. Thank you so much.” 

He was truly grateful. He missed his family a lot but he was already dead. He could only hope they would be well even after his death.

Sohtris did her best to cheer him up. “Well, we know it’s tough, but there’s someone who died at the same time as you who has also reincarnated here. When you meet him, maybe you can talk about your previous world and life.” 

Atlas got a run-through of what happened to him and Milo (aka Cyrus). According to Sohtris and Avlios, Atlas’ soul got lost and followed Cyrus’. His soul then crashed into Cyrus’ soul and caused Cyrus to lose his ability to conceptualize his emotions. At first, he was shocked, but then he felt bad. He was also happy to have another brother as he was an only child (human-wise), but the guilt of hurting his newfound brother was too much.

“Cyrus isn’t hurt, right? I didn’t mean to do that, I promise. I’m just…” 

“We know you are a little clumsy. No one blames you, Atlas.” If Sohtris could, she would put his soul into a big bubble so he didn’t hurt himself and everyone around him… “Also, though it will take a few years, his soul will heal and he will be able to feel emotions again.”

Avlios couldn’t help but agree with Sohtris. If there was a protective bubble around Atlas’ soul… It would save everyone a lot of trouble… “When the time comes, you and Cyrus can meet here. It should be when you two settle into your bodies and you know you are in a safe place.” 

“I can’t wait to meet him! Seeing as how he saved a mother and child, he seems like a nice person. Better than me. I probably can’t save anyone like that.” 

Especially because I would trip first before saving anyone. Then someone would have to save me…

The two Gods internally agreed: More like you have to be saved because you are clumsy and always lost… 

Avlios coughed. “Anyway, you can wait for Cyrus to come find you. I doubt you and Sir Walter will be able to find your way out since the forest is as big as the Holy Kingdom itself.” 

They also said this because Sir Walter was also not from this world. He could probably find the way out of the forest, but he wouldn’t know what country he arrived at. In the best-case scenario, he would be in the Hirean Empire and somehow make his way to Cyrus. In the worst-case scenario, they end up in the Holy Kingdom instead. 

It was best for them to stay in the forest until Cyrus found them.

The damn forest was that big?! Atlas wanted to vomit. How deep into the forest did that scum bring him to make him get so close to the center of the forest??

“What a jerk that man is…” Atlas mumbled. 

The Gods already told him about his scum family but he still couldn’t remember anything from before he arrived to this world. 

“We did that on purpose, Atlas…” Sohtris sighed. She knew he had to know. “Your memories from this current life are too traumatic. Once you get out of the forest and live with Milo, you can unlock them when you are ready. It will be rough on you physically and mentally, so please prepare yourself.” 

This was also another reason why they brought Sir Walter to this world. He was here to help Atlas cope once those memories came back. It truly was horrifying for anyone to live through. Atlas would need a support system.

“They were that bad, huh…” 

“Of course. As the God of Light, do you know how angry I was when I saw what they were doing to you? I wanted to strike down the entire kingdom, but I don’t specialize in anything but healing magic…” 

“If I didn’t stop Avlios, who knows how many innocent people would get caught up in it…” Sohtris was afraid he would take everyone’s Light magic abilities, and then the whole country would descend into chaos. More innocent people would die and that was something they wanted to avoid.

“Well, since you said Cyrus will help fix up the Kingdom, then I will also help him. I don’t have anything to do and I feel bad for hurting his soul like that…” 

“Eh… Well, you can discuss that with Cyrus.” Avlios felt bad that even Atlas wanted to help him fix what he started. He felt like a failure as a God. 

It would seem Gods themselves also needed help sometimes…

******

A few days later Cyrus and Atlas met up with each other in their dreams. They were in the Divine Realm, surrounded by the same flowers they saw when they saw Sohtris and Avlios, but the two Gods were nowhere to be seen. 

Sir Walter also wasn’t in the Divine Realm.

Atlas finally saw what Cyrus looked like in this world. He had the same eye colors, just the opposite of what he had. He also had platinum blond hair, like Avlios. 

Cyrus also looked at Atlas and felt he looked a little like Sohtris even though neither had seen her humanoid form yet. 

To break the silence, Cyrus held out his hand to give Atlas a handshake. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Atlas. My name in this world is Cyrus, but you can call me Milo if you want.” 

Atlas excitedly shook Cyrus’ hand. He put a lot of force into the handshake by accident. “It’s so nice to meet you too! When I heard that you were the one that saved that woman and her child, I was really shocked I could meet someone so heroic.” 

“Oh, anyone would have done that.” 

His face was still expressionless, but Atlas could feel that Cyrus was happy to meet him too.

Just from that greeting, Cyrus could deduce what Atlas’ personality was. He was a himbo. A little on the dumb side, but he was good-looking. He meant no harm, but it was his obliviousness that caused trouble. 

He felt that he got a little brother even though he knew Atlas was older if they included their past life ages. In conclusion, Cyrus felt he had to get stronger to protect his new little brother from danger… Though why did he feel it wasn’t any outside enemies that were dangerous but it was Atlas who was a danger to himself… 

“Let’s sit down. We have a lot to talk about…” Cyrus pulled Atlas over to the center of the flower garden and sat down. 

“Okay!” Atlas obediently followed. 

Even though he knew that Cyrus was younger than him when they died, he felt Cyrus was much more mature than he was. He didn’t mind calling Cyrus his big brother. There was no need for him to play adult when he knew, even as an adult, he was a little childish. 

“How are you doing in the forest?” Cyrus asked first because he wanted to make sure that Atlas was okay while living in the forest. 

Atlas, who was extremely expressive, had a huge smile on his face while talking about his time in the forest. “I’m doing alright. Sir Walter is with me now, so he helps me battle monsters while I am exploring. I also have an item box, so that makes it a lot easier to gather food and materials.” 

Seeing Atlas confirming his safety gave Cyrus a lot of relief. “That’s good. I’m glad you’re doing okay… Wait a moment, who is Sir Walter?” 

“Ah, Sir Walter was a dog who was like an older brother to me. We grew up together but he died when I was 16. Mom and Dad… Ah I mean, Sohtris and Avlios, had him reincarnate to this world to help me in the forest. He’s now a divine beast. He’s really strong! He can take down an S-rank monster with just one slash!” 

Just like his thoughts, Atlas talked a lot, but Cyrus was able to get the information he needed from that long explanation. 

“It’s good you have someone to help you. When I get stronger, I will be sure to find you and Sir Walter. Until then, you must be patient and wait for me.” 

Atlas didn’t see any expression changes on Cyrus’ face but he could tell that he was being genuine. He felt that Cyrus was really reliable, more so than he was. 

“I will hold you to that promise. You have to come and save me as soon as you can.” Atlas felt like crying. He really didn’t want to live in the forest anymore even with Sir Walter with him. He wanted a bed, new clothes, and most importantly, good food to eat. 

He also wanted some ice cream. 

“Is there ice cream in this world?” Atlas couldn’t help but ask Cyrus. 

He knew Cyrus was living in the Hirean Empire as a noble’s child. He was bound to see if there was ice cream. 

Cyrus, knowing how Atlas had died, felt his new little brother was a bit pitiful to hold on to ice cream for so long. “Yeah, there’s ice cream and all sorts of good food. When you get out of the forest, I can give you some.”

Tears finally fell from Atlas’ eyes. “Ice cream! I can finally finish my ice creammmm.” 

Cyrus let Atlas cry. He didn’t know why Atlas was crying so much. He could be crying about the ice cream, about getting tossed into the forest, or even about dying. Even so, he felt like Atlas was crying for the both of them. Cyrus could no longer cry, scream, or yell, so seeing Atlas do all of that for him, he felt the weight on his shoulders lightened. 

Atlas brought Cyrus into a hug, tears staining his shoulder. Cyrus was a little shocked at first, but soon, he also hugged Atlas. He didn’t have any emotions on his face, but he knew he was a little sad. 

At least he and Atlas had each other. He didn’t feel so alone anymore.