CHAPTER 176: BURN MY EYES

"Ready?"

Raphael’s voice carried easily through the wind, though they stood high above Haven City, on the glass crown of the Fiery Cross building. Helicopter blades thudded overhead, journalists shouting into cameras as spotlights and drones danced like insects in the night.

This was history. The first ever hero rescue in space.

Hermes inhaled. He nodded once.

Light ripped through him in response. His body bent forward, his back splitting open into pure brilliance. Wings burst forth in six-fold symmetry, each feather a burning ray. Six eyes opened along his face and torso, glowing like molten suns. Six halos circled his head in whirling, blinding rings.

He became something more than flesh, more than bone. He became the Paragon beast, the angelic monster of radiant judgment.

The crowd erupted below.

The helicopters tilted to keep him in frame. The narrators went wild.

"And there it is! Copy Cat, no—Haven’s very own angel, transformed! This is the six-winged, six-eyed beast of legend, and he is about to embark on mankind’s greatest rescue yet. Alongside his partner, Paragon, they will save those poor children kidnapped by the Russian government and forced into their cruel space experiment!"

Hermes didn’t flinch at the words. He only turned, light dripping off him like molten wax, to look at Raphael.

Raphael glowed in his own way... less like an angel, and more like a demigod of the sun. He hadn’t shed his human skin, but there was already heat shimmering around him, a bird of fire waiting to be born.

He smirked, cocky even now. "See? They finally see you for the glorious being that you are."

Hermes rolled his eyes. "Save the poetry. We better hurry before the Soyuz lands on Mars."

"Of course, my Lord." Raphael’s smirk grew wider, but he didn’t argue.

Together, they blasted upward.

The rooftop buckled under the force of their launch. Their bodies split the air like meteors in reverse, flames trailing, light lancing. The camera crews tilted up, desperately keeping track of them until they broke the atmosphere.

Far below, Somner, Ymir, Magni, and Aphrodite stood in the shadows of the skyscraper, their faces tight with worry.

"Godspeed," Aphrodite whispered, clutching the thin phone in his hand.

On the other end, Dante Quasar’s voice hummed steady.

"I remember the many times I spent in space." Dante said. "Don’t worry. I had Arthur Clarke himself create this little communicator. Our boy just needs to press the button, and I’ll pull him out of there."

Somner nodded, jaw locked. "Good. Because if that alien bastard tries anything, we’re not letting Hermes get taken."

Ymir’s arms were crossed, muscles bunched like boulders. Magni just stared upward, silent, unreadable.

And above, their dearest vanished into the heavens.

***

The first stage was agony.

Hermes felt the weight of air smashing against his body, pressure building to crush mountains. His wings folded close, his halos spun faster, the light of him sharpening into a spear that cut the sky itself.

But it didn’t hurt.

The heat only made him stronger. He absorbed it, welcomed it, let it sheath him in brilliance. Flames curled up his arms, rushing across his skin. His six eyes didn’t blink as the blue of the sky blackened into a velvet void.

Beside him, Raphael finally split apart. His human mask burned away, wings of phoenix fire stretching wide. He was a comet in humanoid shape, every feather a blaze, every breath a furnace.

Together, they pierced the last veil of the atmosphere and spilled into the cosmos.

Hermes gasped.

The universe unfolded before him. The silence was absolute, but his mind roared with awe. Black endlessness stretched in every direction, painted with rivers of stars, nebulae in impossible colors, and planets that hung like gems on invisible strings.

Earth shrank behind them, a fragile marble swirled with blue and white.

Hermes’ wings stretched instinctively, drinking it all in. His chest ached, overwhelmed. He felt tiny. He felt infinite.

Raphael turned his head, his golden eyes catching starlight. A smile touched his lips... different from the usual smirk. A softer, knowing look.

"The first time I came here," Raphael murmured, his voice carrying somehow even in the vacuum, "I cried. After years in that crypt, locked in the dark, my world no bigger than a cell... I finally saw the infinity beyond my prison."

Hermes’ six eyes darted to him. Raphael’s smile stayed faint, almost wistful.

"I almost left," he admitted. "I almost ran. I thought, maybe my home was out there. Maybe I could find it."

His gaze lingered on the endless black. "But the Stripes... they probably laced me with trackers. If I ran, they’d pull me back. Or destroy me."

Hermes’ heart clenched. He hated it. Hated that even if Raphael was a liar, a manipulator, he was still a prisoner. Still a donkey pulling the Stripes’ cart, yoked by invisible chains.

He wanted him free, if only for a moment.

Hermes’ thoughts flickered, unbidden, to Eirwyn. Was he the same? Another soldier shackled, pushed into wars he didn’t choose?

He asked aloud, "Do you think Eirwyn ever felt like that?"

Raphael tilted his head. "I never met him until after he was... out of commision."

He smirked faintly at Hermes’ grimace, knowing what ’out of commission’ truly meant.

"But I’ve read the files. Most Soldiers chose their path. Patriots who would do anything for their flag. Monsters by their own free will. I was the odd one out. An alien, an immigrant. But then again..." His voice softened. "All humans are immigrants."

He didn’t elaborate.

Hermes’ six eyes narrowed. He could feel that he’s hiding something about Eirwyn and that statement.

And so....

He used Mindbloom, which he borrowed from Aphrodite right before they took off.

***

Minutes before the launch, before the Fiery Cross rooftop turned into a spectacle, Hermes had slipped into shadow with his inner circle. His wrist still bled faintly, the bite marks raw where Raphael had drunk his blood.

His own lips were stained red, Raphael’s blood lingering on his tongue like when one got burned by hot coffee.

They had hidden from cameras, journalists, all of it, for this moment.

Aphrodite pressed a small device into his hand. "Press this, no matter where you are, and we’ll find you. Dante says it’ll ping across light-years."

Ymir scowled. "Don’t trust him for a second. If he tries something, call us. We’ll tear through space itself if we have to."

Somner glared, still simmering. "You shouldn’t even be doing this. But fine. Signal us, and we’ll burn the sky to get you back."

Magni clapped his shoulder. "Still, try to enjoy your trip beyond this world, Brother Modi! Not everyone gets to experience something this magnificent!"

Hermes only nodded. His eyes drifted to Aphrodite. "I’ll need Mindbloom. Just in case."

Aphrodite froze, but then, wordless, leaned forward. Their lips brushed into a fleeting kiss. Then it went deeper. Hermes pressed his hand against Aphrodite’s throat, tilting his head as he bit gently on his tongue, drawing a bead of blood. He swallowed, his body lighting faintly, Mindbloom weaving into his veins.

When he pulled away, Aphrodite’s cheeks burned.

He whispered, "Be careful."

Hermes gave him a curt nod, and flew up.

***

Back to the present, the stars wheeled around them, Earth a shrinking blue pearl behind, Mars a glimmering ember ahead.

Hermes’ eyes fixed on the crown of Raphael’s head. His halos hummed as Mindbloom sharpened, searching.

And then....

Thought-bubbles appeared. Tiny globes, shimmering above Raphael’s hair, like fragile glass balloons. Hermes focused. He was about to glimpse Raphael’s secrets—

But suddenly, the bubbles ignited!

Flames roared across them, exploding into blinding fire. Hermes staggered mid-flight, six eyes seared white. The heat was unbearable, even for him, and Raphael didn’t flinch.

The fire spread, wrapping around Raphael like a crown....

Like a warning.