ANGEL'S LANDING | BL ✔

CHAPTER 34 | DELVE

After waking up in a cold sweat, Axel steadied his racing heart by exercising his body. The late-night exercise doubled as a warm-up for the trials that were to begin with the sunrise. Since the unit could not venture into the city to perform operations under the broad light of day, Axel was informed that he was to be used in a form of experimentation to pass the time.

Unit K had an ambassador class on Team K-6 renowned for his remarkable skills of penetrating one's mind and extracting information. Axel was to undergo sessions where Unit K's ambassador angel would weave through his mind in search of ways to unlock Angel's Landing. Since Star Ellessi had seen into Axel's soul and dubbed him the key to Angel's Landing, it was assumed that the knowledge was hidden somewhere within Axel.

What made these sessions classified as experiments was the fact that the ambassador would be attempting to look into Axel's soul from his mind. No ambassador had been able to read a person's soul, just their minds. But, Hendry had tasked Unit K's ambassador to see if he could penetrate into the hangel's soul. Hendry had also relayed the importance of this task to Detrius, Unit K's ambassador, so Detrius was prepared to do whatever to find the secret behind unlocking Angel's Landing. 

The moment the sun rose, Major Eyrik came to collect  Axel. Rising from the sturdy plank he had been holding, Axel silently followed the Major out of the entertainment room and down the wide hallway before coming to a smaller room that appeared to have been used as the sound engineering booth. Inside the room was a tall man with dark skin and bright green eyes.

The man gestured for Axel to lay on the reclining chair that had been brought into the small room. Eyrik stood against one of the walls as Axel slid onto the elongated chair and leaned back.

"I am Detrius of Team K-6, Unit K, and I shall be entering your mind, young Axel." Detrius' voice was deep, and he formed his words steadily and slowly. "Relax as much as you can. The start will be painless; you may feel a slight itch here and there. As I move closer to the deeper crevices of your mind where the lost memories are stored, you may feel agitated. Remember to relax as that happens."

Axel remained silent as he listened to Detrius' instructions. Relaxing his body as much as he could, Axel let his eyes fall closed as Detrius lifted his hand to float over the hangel's face. "Pain may occur as I attempt to cross over from your subconscious to your unconscious," Detrius warned before saying, "Then, let's begin."

Just as Detrius had described, a slight itch formed in Axel's mind as the ambassador began sifting through his thoughts. As Detrius passed through Axel's mind, he could visualize what the angel was viewing. Axel's throat tightened as Detrius hovered over his thoughts of the colonel before moving to Axel's memories with Jay.

Jay's smile flashed before Axel as Detrius surveyed Axel's every thought at an incredible pace. Axel feared he would become motion-sick from all the moving and whizzing around between memories; he wondered if he could grow physically sick from these sessions.

After Detrius scrutinized Axel's memories from the past three months, he began to fly through Axel's childhood memories. The further back Detrius went, the more blurry and vague the memories became. Detrius furrowed his brows as he approached the back crevices of Axel's mind. Though he could barely make out the scenes in Axel's mind, he knew none of these memories held the key to unlocking Angel's Landing. He would need to dig deeper.

The agitation that had taken root in Axel's mind as Detrius delved deeper and deeper quickly turned to painful twitches. Sweat broke out on Axel's neck, and he clenched the cushions beneath him as the angel continued to burrow into his mind. 

Just as an overused muscle grew weak and tender, so did Axel's mind. Relentless pain now filled the hangel's head, and he had no control over his thoughts as Detrius whizzed through his faded memories. The memories that were once vibrant and alive were now grey backgrounds. Detrius had ventured to a time before Axel's memories.