ANGEL'S LANDING | BL ✔

CHAPTER 10 | THE COLONEL

Axel's breath hitched in his throat when he locked eyes with the cool, blue orbs he had cried out to the night before. They were just as steely and distant as they were when Axel first saw them. Coming to stand in front of Axel, the man stopped and gazed at him for a long moment. The man's gaze then shifted past Axel before sweeping around the floor to ensure it had remained secure during the time he was away.

"Lock the perimeter," the man commanded. His voice was deep and low and commanded everyone's attention.

"Ae, Colonel," Sinjae responded before hurrying to the outer walls and activating a device that emitted a glowing, curtain-like element that surrounded the entire third floor.

As the perimeter was being secured, the colonel swam his eyes over all the people present, counting each person. "Where is Zetha, Kiera, and Iris?" He inquired upon determining those three were the only ones missing.

"They are scouting out District 17," Destil informed his commanding officer.

"Recall them," the colonel instructed. "We just came from there."

"Ae, Colonel." Following the colonel's orders, Destil immediately contacted Zetha telepathically and told his teammates to return to base.

As Destil recalled his team members, the colonel walked away from Axel and went to Minhyuk who was currently healing Aniela. As the colonel stepped away from Axel, it exposed the hangel to the two men who had entered with the colonel and had been standing behind him. The man on the right looked at Axel with his purple eyes before turning to the man standing next to him who was staring at Axel with wide, black eyes.

The man on the left who was staring at Axel with wide eyes had silver hair and a rifle slung over his shoulder while his partner, the one with purple eyes, had black hair and no weapon in his hands. In fact, now that he thought about it, Axel had not noticed any of the angels carrying any weapons. Except...

Turning to look at the colonel who was checking on his subordinate, Axel observed a sheathed sword hanging from his waist. No other angel had a physical weapon on them except for the colonel and the man with the sniper rifle. How do they fight, then?

Confused by the realization that he had never seen an angel carrying a sword, which is usually an angel's weapon of choice, Axel turned back to face the two men standing in front of him. The man with purple eyes was now looking at Axel curiously in reaction to his partner's interest in the boy. Axel was curious as to why the silver-haired man was staring at him so intensely, but the moment he locked eyes with the man's black orbs, Axel knew there was something more to the situation.

Pain assaulted Axel's head as he stared into the endless void that was the man's eyes. Soon, his chest felt as if it was being pierced by the black blade he had seen so often in his dreams, and he fell to his hands and knees. Axel clutched his chest as his breathing tightened from the intense pain.

The man with black, void eyes tilted his head slightly as he watched Axel drop to the floor in pain. Hearing Axel's pained grunts, Destil was quick to rush over.

"What's wrong? Axel?" Destil frantically tried to find what was causing Axel pain, but Axel merely shook his head and said, "I'm fine," between strained breaths.

"You're clearly not, though," Destil returned. "I'll have Minhyuk look at you." Destil tried to get Axel to his feet, but the boy said, "It'll pass. I'm fine."

Seeing Axel try so hard to control the pain, Destil inquired, "Does this happen often?"

Axel was unable to respond as the pain worsened. He gritted his teeth as his vision began to swim and turn dark. It has never been this bad before.

The silver-haired man had taken a step toward Axel to try and help him only for it to cause the boy more pain. Observing the situation, the man with black eyes realized that he was the cause of Axel's pain. Stepping back, the silver-haired motioned for the man with purple eyes to follow him. As the two men walked away from Axel, the pain lessened, and Axel's breathing became less strained.

As Axel recovered his breath and his vision cleared, Destil asked, "What was that?"

"I'm not sure," Axel answered as he shook his head. "Usually, I only feel the pain when I dream."

"That's not normal..." Destil commented as he motioned for Minhyuk to come and take a look at Axel.

You think? Axel looked up at Destil through squinted eyes. I've never heard of anyone experiencing anything like this. I've been tormented by this my entire life, and I still have no idea what it is... Axel's eyes trailed to the floor as he got lost in his thoughts trying to decipher this haunting pain.

The colonel, who had observed the situation, gazed at Axel with his cool orbs before speaking to the boy. "Do you have somewhere to return to?"

Hearing the man's deep voice, Axel shifted his gaze to the colonel and gazed at him for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "No, it was all destroyed."

Silence covered the floor as the colonel pondered what to do with the half-angel he had rescued. The boy was not trained and thus would likely not survive long on his own. He would be a burden to the three teams he commanded and would require years of training to be able to survive one of their raids. But...there was something about the boy that would not allow the colonel to cast him aside.

"Rae..."

Hearing his name, the colonel turned to face the two men who were behind him when they spotted Axel. It was the silver-haired who had spoken to him. The silver-haired hardly spoke, so Rae was inclined to hear him out.

"Keep him with us," Castyr began. His gaze shifted to Axel who was looking back and forth from the colonel to the silver-haired. "We need him."

"Your reason?" Rae inquired. He was not opposed to keeping the boy with the three teams. He also wanted to figure out why he had been affected by Axel when he had touched his face.

"He is a powerful angel. We will need him in the war against Hades," Castyr stated.

Axel's eyes widened. A powerful angel? What does he mean? I'm only half-angel, and I haven't received a day of training in my life!

"You know who he is?" The colonel asked.

Castyr shook his head. "Negative. But...I just know it. I know he is someone extremely powerful."

Rae's eyes narrowed when he heard Castyr's words. Castyr was not an angel but rather a star. A star born from a star shower. He was created for the sole purpose of defending the heavens. Being just under 700 years old, Castyr had recently begun to develop his ability of 'soul seeing.'

Soul seeing was an ability unique to stars that allowed them to see the past, present, and future of an angel's soul. They begin to develop the ability slowly when they turn 500 and fully master soul-seeing at the ripe age of 1,000 years of life.

Knowing Castyr's identity as a star and his growing ability to read an angel's soul, Rae was inclined to believe Castyr and agreed to keep the boy with his unit. However, the ultimate choice would be Axel's. Axel would be the one to choose whether to stay with Rae and his unit or leave and find a way to survive on his own.

"What do you say?" Rae inquired of the half-angel. "Do you agree to become a soldier for the Heavens and fight to free Earth from Hades?"

Axel's heart swelled at the colonel's offer. It's time to fight. No more running. All his life, Axel had been running from the pain, running from his identity, from those who bullied him, from those who wished to be his friend. At that moment, Axel decided he had done enough running. He now wished to make a stand and fight.

He also felt a sense of camaraderie with the angels surrounding him. They saved and healed him without asking for anything in return. If they would have him, Axel would want nothing else than to be trained by such elite soldiers and fight to free his home planet.

Thus, without hesitating, Axel answered, "It would be an honor."