Rae ordered Zetha and Minhyuk to rest once they had healed Orion. Orion thanked the two healers for their aid as he rose to his feet and approached Axel. Taking his thumb, Orion pressed it against the hangel's forehead and closed his eyes. Although Orion was not an ambassador angel, he performed a spell that simulated the stars' ability of 'soul seeing'. This allowed him to gaze into Axel's soul and determine whether or not the hangel was able to access Angel's Landing.

How is he doing that? Axel recognized the pressure in his mind as Orion's presence. It was a similar feeling to when Eryx had helped him escape from the brim of his unconsciousness except Orion's presence was much, much stronger. He's not an ambassador, so how?

I am from a time when stars roamed freely. They did not live their lives cooped up in their residences working tirelessly to fuel Stardom. Orion's voice echoed in Axel's mind as the actaeon responded to the hangel's in-mind inquiry. My mother was a star.

Axel's eyes widened when he realized that Orion was half-angel, half-star. So, you have the gift of soul-seeing.

Indeed. While my 'soul sight' is not as powerful as Ellessi's nor will it be nearly as strong as Castyr's once he is fully developed, it is strong enough to read souls to a certain extent.

Axel was intrigued by Orion. He was from a time that was no longer remembered. Only a small few could recall the years from all those centuries ago. So, he thought he would take the opportunity to inquire about what the universe was like centuries ago. Why do the stars no longer roam freely?

The Heavens grew greedy for their light. Upon the invention of Stardom, all the stars that came in the star showers were placed in warm residences and kept from the rest of the universe. As they did not know any different, they remained content with their warm, easy lives. That is, until Castyr came along. When he escaped his residence and started his own adventure, he realized the sweetness of freedom.

However, his adventure led to his fall. When he saved the universe from the tyranny of Demon King Vitrius, Castyr sucked in all of Vitrius' darkness and used his purity and light to cancel it out. However, Vitrius' darkness is still battling what remains of Castyr's light.

When Castyr fell, the Heavens stole him from Kilo to harness his immense power. Luckily, Kilo was able to save Castyr and hide him from the Heavens until Aklys and I began the Age of Concord, and I restructured the Heavenly realm. Now, stars are free to leave their residences whenever they like. Castyr could return to his residence Ithyos. However, I believe he has found his home with Kilo.

Orion withdrew his thumb from Axel's forehead and stepped away from the hangel as he completed reading Axel's soul. The seraph gazed at Axel kindly as he proclaimed, "You are ready."

"What do I need to do?" Axel followed Orion in moving their conversation from inside his mind to being shared with the rest of the unit.

"Find yourself," was Orion's reply.

"Eh?!" Axel could not believe his ears. He was too stunned to speak. After all he had been through, training, fighting, protecting Dexys, what he needed to do was 'find himself'? "What kind of bull-"

"Find your past selves, to be exact," Orion added, stopping Axel from cussing out his frustration. "Your soul is the original key to Angel's Landing, and you have lived numerous incarnations. Two other incarnations before you have unlocked Angel's Landing. You must reach deep within yourself to discover how they did it."

"How do I reach them?" Axel inquired, frantic to understand how he was supposed to reconnect with his past incarnations. "I don't even know their names."

Orion smiled softly at Axel's eagerness to end the war. He has a good heart. He will be fine, but a little help never hurts. "I shall tell you, little hangel." The seraph's gaze moved to Rae for a moment before returning to Axel as he revealed, "Ilios. Ilios is the name of the incarnation who came before you."

"Ilios..." Axel's heart thumped in his chest when he heard his previous incarnation's name. However, what surprised him the most was Castyr who rushed to Axel and threw his arms around the hangel. "Eh, Major...?" Axel had not seen Castyr be this caring or full of emotion, so he looked to the star's guardian angel for an explanation.

Kilo, who watched Castyr hug Axel tightly, smiled gently as he explained, "Ilios was Castyr's mentor and commanding officer five hundred years ago. He...died saving Castyr from Vitrius' blade. It was just before Castyr became a fallen star."

Pain assaulted Axel's chest when he heard Kilo's explanation, and images of the black sword that protruded from his body flashed through his mind. The sword... That was Ilios. It was my past life. It was how I had died. As Axel realized the nightmare that had plagued him his entire life was the death of his past life, a well of emotions consumed him.

They were Ilios' emotions. The emotions he felt at his death.

Tears filled Axel's eyes as he held onto Castyr and began apologizing profusely. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect you. I couldn't save you from falling. I'm so sorry."

Axel fought back tears as he felt the full extent of Ilios' love for the star. Castyr was precious to him. He was a son, a brother, a friend. Ilios had wanted Castyr to live a long, happy life. Not one of trauma, pain, and a constant battle to remain in control of the energies constantly conflicting within him.

The sword in the scabbard that hung from Rae's waist began to glow as Axel connected with the emotions of his past life. Recalling his conversation with Aniela as she trained him, Axel left Castyr's arms and began walking toward Rae.

"It is an honor to wield Genyr. It used to belong to a very powerful angel who had sacrificed himself to save the universe from being destroyed by Hades five centuries ago." Everything started to come together as the memory of Aniela's voice echoed in Axel's mind. "Genyr originally was a white blade. It was created alongside High Angel Ilios."

As he reached Rae, Axel's eyes moved from the sword hanging by his side to the colonel's blue eyes. There was a reason Genyr chose Rae much like there was a reason Axel felt pulled to the colonel. Though he did not know how yet, Axel knew he and Rae were connected. Their fates were intertwined.

The respect and adoration for Rae that flowed through Axel's veins increased ten-fold as he gazed into the colonel's piercing blue eyes. While Axel understood Ilios' feelings for Rae, he set those emotions aside. He had his own love for the colonel, and he knew not even the strongest gale could make it quiver.

Interlacing his fingers with Rae's, Axel turned to stand by the colonel's side and face the rest of the unit. Confident that he now knew how to access the knowledge of unlocking Angel's Landing, Axel addressed those around Rae and him, "Let's end this war."

⇼⇼⇼

The areas surrounding the wreckage of the Transport Tower were filled with flames and smoke. The forces of Hades were setting the city aflame as they rushed from the opening that was revealed as a result of the explosion. Angelic units K, M, and V alongside the EDF soldiers and Neptune and Jupiter forces did their best to keep the demons from flooding into the city while Unit R made their way toward the opening behind which was the portal connecting Hades to Dexys.

Hades' engineers had replicated the technology of the Transport Tower and mirrored its abilities to create the portal that linked Earth to the underworld. While the portal was not yet perfected, it still allowed for a small but steady flow of demons to pass through. The demons and half-demons that had been taken captive and brought to Hades from Earth where they endured months of brainwashing and torture now emerged from the portal as puppets to Hades' destructive power.

Battles happened all around Unit R as they pushed toward the hole that led beneath the Transport Tower. Demons and angels fought in the sky above while half-demons battled the humans, Neptunites, and Jupitans on the ground. Most of the demons that entered Earth through the portal immediately spread their wings and took to the skies where they did their best to break through Heaven's defenses and flood the surrounding areas of Dexys.

Axel had remained behind with Kilo and Castyr while Rae and Orion led the rest of the unit to join the battle at the destroyed Transport Tower. The plan was for Axel to have unlocked Angel's Landing right as Rae and the others entered the hole. With the power from Angel's Landing to fight the forces of Hades, Rae and his unit would then destroy the machine connecting Dexys to Hades, sealing away the underworld.

The success of the plan relied on Axel's ability to reach his past incarnations and discover how to access Angel's Landing. So, Kilo and Castyr were posted on either side of the hangel to protect him while he reached deep within and connected with his soul.

Breathing in deeply, Axel emptied his mind of all thoughts until the sounds of war faded into the distance. All was dark and quiet. 

Is this how I do it? Axel assumed that emptying his mind would allow him to focus on connecting with his past lives, but it just did not feel right. But simply hollering around in his mind did not seem like it would work either. How was he supposed to reach his past lives?

It was not until Castyr's cry of pain broke through the silence consuming Axel's mind that the hangel snapped. Opening his eyes, Axel's focus broke when he saw Castyr clutching his shoulder. The star had been shot.

Kilo immediately spread his wings and protected Castyr from the incoming volley of bullets, and Axel's heart broke to watch Kilo's beautiful, black wings be pierced by so many bullets. He had to do something! This endless battle was bound to destroy everything and everyone Axel held dear. If he did not act, Hades would raze Earth to the ground.

The sounds of bullets, explosions, shouts of pain, and crumbling buildings filled Axel's senses until he had had enough. He was going to put a stop to the pain. He would free Earth from Hades' darkness. So, with all the rage, pain, sadness, and hope left within him, Axel called out to the universe, "Ilios, come forth!"

The moment the words left Axel's lips, a blinding light burst from his body, and he was sucked into his mind's unconsciousness. Castyr lept to the hangel and caught Axel as his body became completely limp. While Castyr gently set Axel on the ground, the hangel was deep within his soul enshrouded in light.

"Open your eyes, Axel." A deep but gentle voice sounded in the white void causing Axel to remove the arm he had instinctively laid over his eyes.

Squinting at first, Axel looked before him to see a man walking up to him. Adjusting to the light, Axel's eyes widened when he recognized him. He was the one whom Axel had seen for a split second that night in the forest at Nature's Preserve.

But, now, he knew who the man was. "Ilios..."