And this confirmed at least one thing, that this young man was him, but was this his future version or a prophecy or something? He didn't know.
As Six stood near the dead body of his future self, the sky rang, and clouds cracked.
"The Hollow Crown shall crack and break, in war of flame, of fang, of fate.
Some will rise when kingdoms fall, But only one shall hear the final call.
The beast shall burn, the heavens shall weep, As old oaths wake from ancient sleep.
Swords shall clash and stars shall dim, And all shall kneel — or die — for him.
He who bears the weight undone, Not forged by light, nor shadow's son.
But he who bleeds and walks alone, Shall wear at last the Hollow Throne."
....
"Haah!!!" Six jerked awake in his bed, soaked in his sweat. breathed heavily, as he thought back to the dream, or should he call it a nightmare?
And the last thing, the words spoken directly by the heaven itself, the prophecy.
He didn't understand what the meaning of the prophecy was, but one thing was clear. A storm was brewing, and he was the centre of it.
*knock* *knock*
"Six, it's time." A voice came from outside, reminding him where he was and what his condition was. Six got and drank the water beside his bed and went out.
"Yuck! You stink, kid." The person, a young man easily in his late teens or early twenties, said as he pinched his nose when the bad odour from Six's body hit him.
And he was right too, as Six hasn't had a bath ever since he woke up; he was covered in blood and sweat.
Not being able to stand the odour for a single moment, the young man pointed his hand towards Six, with his palm facing Six, and then a strange blue circle appeared at his palm; it was covered with runes/symbols of unknown origin.
Then, as soon as the circle was complete, the circle glowed, and a wave of water surged out and drowned Six in it, washing all odour and stains from him. Before Six could even register what happened, another circle formed on that young man's arm.
This time the colour of the circle was different; it was a greenish shade. And soon a current of air hit him, drying him and removing all the water from his body.
'Magic, So Magic actually exist.' Though his face didn't change, there were stars in Six's eyes; he didn't even understand why, but he was feeling butterflies in his stomach.
Though he thought he had hidden it properly, the stars in Six's eyes didn't go unnoticed by the young man, who smiled lightly at the childish action. But didn't mention it.
"Now, you don't stink, at least, haha." The guy laughed to himself. The more Six noticed him, the less he fit the place, as just to join the organisation, he had to kill innocent kids. That was enough to tell how cruel this place was. And this young man was completely opposite of it, or he was acting.
And even though Six didn't remember anything about him or the world, one thing he knew was that humans are not trustworthy; it was like a statement stored in his subconscious mind.
He didn't completely understand why, but he still chose to follow his instinct, and that helped him pass the trial.
And that same instinct of his is telling him that this young man is not what he is showing himself to be, and Six decided to be on his guard against him.
"Well, enough chit-chatting. Let's get to business. Now follow me." Saying so, he started walking to one of the paths leading away from the living area, and Six followed behind.
And walking, taking some right and some left, they finally reached a circular hall.
The hall was massive, wide enough to hold hundreds; it had ten paths leading in different directions. Six himself arrived from one such path.
And people were pouring from these paths and were going to the centre as if waiting for something. Six looked around to ask the young man about this. But he didn't find him near him.
"I didn't even ask his name?" This suddenly dawned upon Six, as not just asking a name; he didn't mutter a single word from the start.
'Next time I will ask his name.' Deciding so, Six went ahead to join the rest of the people, who were as clueless as him.
"I didn't even notice where he went away; all he told me before was to wait here."
"Yeah, something similar happened with me too."
Six's ears perked as the same type of conversations were going all around him.
"Attention!" a stern voice caught the attention of everyone. He was a middle-aged man clad in black plated robes, standing on a podium, with an insignia of a crimson bird with wings wide open, turning black towards the end.
"You were stolen. Sold. Forgotten. This world breeds rot. But rot, under fire, becomes fuel. You are now in this place not to survive but to be forged into a weapon."
"You belong to 'Ashes, not a kingdom, not a cult, not a rebellion. We are the storm that follows the decay."
"From this movement onwards, you, all of you, have been assigned the rank of grunts. And for the next six months, you all will be taught the ways of ashes at this place we call Furnace".
Before people were even able to digest this information, the man continued.
"Spheres!" He spoke, and a group of people that were standing around the podium like a statue moved.
And Six saw the young man from before in the group of people, but right now his face was emotionless, completely opposite of what it was previously.
"Everyone form ten lines and wait for your turn." One of those people, whom the middle-aged man called spheres, spoke, and the grunts, as the middle-aged man said. formed ten lines, each in front of a sphere.
Six also joined the line formed in front of the young man from before.
As soon as the grunts were organised, the middle-aged man tapped his foot lightly on the ground, and something magical happened.