| BTS | Damnation | ✓

Chapter 27

Jung Hoseok's Point of View

I let out the breath I was holding as I release the arrow I had drawn. It takes a second for me to hear the satisfying thunk, letting me know that I'd hit my target.

"Hoseok."

I groan. And ask out loud, "What is it now!?"

"There is no need for that. Hurry, come to Meeting Room 4. There is something that we all must show you."

I furrow my eyebrows, confused at his happy tone, and put my bow down. I make my way out of the training room and walk at a faster pace to the meeting room.

Well, it must be something big, I tell myself. The fourth meeting room is the biggest meeting room.

It doesn't take me long to reach the big white doors. I take a long, deep breath before opening it. Once they were completely open, I'm met with angels applauding. The claps are in unison, almost robotic as I make my way towards Aero. Once I meet him in the middle, the applauding slowly dies down.

"What's...what is going on?" I ask.

Aero smiles, a genuine one I've never seen.

"God has summoned you."

My eyes widen. "Me? He has summoned me?"

Aero nods enthusiastically. "You are the one meant to take his place. Follow me. I will take you to the place where he will speak to you."

Aero places a hand on my shoulder. We are followed by another round of applause as Aero takes a different exit out of the room.

The walk was quiet due to me still being shocked. God has summoned me? For what reason? Am I the one to take his place? That makes the most sense. He's never summoned one of us before.

He leads me to his office. It clicks in my head why he made me go to the meeting room first. He was making sure that the hallways would be empty as he takes me back to the mirror room. He leaves me by the door as he summons another mirror to the front of the room.

He bows as I step forward. "He is waiting."

He straightens up and exits the room.

I stare in the mirror. Unlike the other ones, all I can see is darkness in this one. Strange. Why would he want to meet me here?

I take a deep breath and slowly walk into the mirror. I feel the strange sensation of falling. My wings open on instinct as I step forward. I walk for several seconds before finding a fountain. I look around, calling out for someone.

"Jung Hoseok. I have been waiting for you." A voice answers from the darkness. It echoes across the room.

Excitement bubbles inside me. "Before you say anything, I just want to say how proud I am that you chose me to be the next god. It is an-"

"I'm very sorry, but that is not why I summoned you here."

I feel something inside me break.

"Excuse my tone, but if that is not the reason, then why summon me at all?"

"I had to warn one of my archangels. With five of them not in heaven and one of them being taken over by unknown forces, you were the one to call."

"Warn us?" I ask, my voice dull. "Warn us of what?"

"There is an entity that calls themself Abraxas. I have no control over them. They have been destroying worlds and ours is next."

"How do we prepare ourselves?"

"There is no avoiding this. Abraxas Is too strong to be defeated."

Anger boils inside of me. "Then why summon me at all?"

"One of you had to know the truth."

My anger subsides, being replaced with curiosity.

"The truth?"

There's a silence before he spoke. "You know that fountain behind you?"

I nod and turn around to face it. The water trickles slowly in it, barely making any sound. The water was completely black since there was no light in here. My exposed wings only let a faint whiteness be seen.

"Right there is the fountain of youth. A fountain that restores youth to anyone who bathes or drinks from it. I had taken it from the humans once it became too known."

I nod, knowing the story. "They overused it."

"Right. I took it away from them so that could learn an important lesson."

"And what lesson is that?"

"Youth can never come back."

I look back up. "And what does this have to do with the truth."

He goes quiet again. "Hoseok, I am disappointed in your choices. You were wrong to choose heaven over the other archangels. You seven were bred differently. Those six were meant to be like brothers to you."

I furrow my eyebrows. "But isn't it a law to follow heaven over anything else?"

He sighs. "Even if I was going to pass my legacy, I would never want to pass it to you. You failed the one test I gave to you."

I blink. "'Even if I was going to pass my legacy?'" I quote. "Does that mean...?"

"Yes. The seven of you were never meant to replace me. You were always meant to just be my archangels. I was waiting for the time for you to all mature and learn important lessons but it all fell apart. And now there is no time."

I sit down on the wall of the fountain, the shock being too much for me. That was the one goal that kept me moving forward with my poor choices.

"I am very sorry, Hoseok. You were one of the best warriors of the seven. But now, I must leave."

There are no other words. Silence falls inside the room I'm in. With the light from my wings, I can tell there's no exit from this room. I'm too broken to try and look for one.

Several minutes pass until I hear a cracking noise from ahead. Quickly, it comes closer and closer until it was near my feet. I stare at it, not feeling anxious or scared. I expect the ground to crack more and swallow me and the fountain. Instead, there's a flash of light from ahead. I'm barely able to take one last breath as it lights up the entire room.

I'm basked in the warm light as I feel myself fade away. For the first time in a long time, I smile.