The ground beneath their feet was made of broken concrete and collapsed tiles, pieces of the world above that had fallen through the centuries. Around them stood the remains of small houses, their roofs caved in, walls split apart.Some had been burned, others simply weathered away.
Anna stepped forward, saw what looked like the ruins of a village, buried deep underground.
And at the back of the village were four giant statues reaching the ceiling of the cave. The statues looked like warriors, one female and three male warriors.
The four colossal statues towered within the vast underground cave, their heads almost brushing the jagged ceiling.
They were carved from an ancient stone that shimmered faintly with traces of forgotten energy — symbols along their bodies pulsed dimly, as if the stone itself remembered its purpose.
Dust and moss clung to them, yet their presence was divine and powerful, radiating both awe and melancholy.
The female stood a graceful yet fierce — her Bladecoil, a bladed whip frozen mid-motion, like a serpent. Her expression was sharp and intelligent, her eyes fixed forward as if reading the secrets of time itself. Cracks of faint blue light coursed along her weapon.
Next to her statue stood a smaller statue of a man His youthful face was carved with courage and mischief, frozen in the moment before motion. Unlike the others, his Chakram was not held in his palm — instead, it hovered just above his right index finger, balanced perfectly as if waiting for the flick of his wrist to unleash its deadly path. The ring itself shimmered with faint light, defying the centuries that had passed. His stance was dynamic, almost playful, yet behind it was a strange power — the spark of youth that refused to bow to fear.
The third statue was the most imposing. It wielded an axe in his right hand and a shield in his left hand; the axe seemed to be wrapped around his arm.His muscular frame was sculpted with intricate armor patterns, and his stance was wide and defensive, like an unbreakable wall. The faintest shimmer of silver light pulsed across the edge of his shield.
The last statue was colossal, far larger than the rest, as if carved with reverence and fear intertwined. The air around it felt heavy, charged with something ancient. Dust drifted through the light that cut from a crack in the cave's ceiling, landing softly on the statue's shoulders like forgotten snow.
The giant figure stood still, its Trident driven deep into the stone ground, fissures spreading outward like veins of light. The cracks glowed with a deep gold hue, pulsing faintly — as though the statue still breathed. The trident's tips were jagged, not perfect; they looked alive, as if forged from something that had once burned with the fury of suns.
Aarav's gaze rose slowly to the statue's face.The likeness was unmistakable — his own face, carved in flawless detail. The same tired eyes, the same determined jaw, even the faint scarHe stumbled backward.The moment his hand brushed against the cold stone, something awakened. On his four hands he'd not noticed until now.
A sound, like the deep hum of the earth itself, filled the air.
Then came visions:
Flashes of fire and chaos,
Skies torn apart by machines,
A city crumbling beneath metallic beasts,
And amidst the flames — a young girl screaming his name,
Her hand slipped from his grasp as the world collapsed around them. That voice faint but familiar echoed through his thoughts. "Aarav…" his name?...
"Aarav…"he said out aloud
The four looked at him in silence trying to understand what it meant.
"I remember now.."
"My name…"
"It's Aarav.."
"I am Aarav…" he said with a breaking voice as a tear drop flowed from his eyes down his cheeks falling down on the ground.
"I remember now, my name is Aarav"
"Anna?.." whispered Sameer silently.
""Wait, your name isn't Anna?!" Kabir exclaimed, startled.
Sameer scratched his head, embarrassed.
"I only gave him that name for the moment. He couldn't remember who he was," he explained.
As they talked, Aarav barely heard them. His eyes were still locked on the Trident, the weapon that the statue held. Something inside him stirred, like a heartbeat that wasn't his own.
The longer he looked, the stronger the feeling grew.
Something was missing not outside, but within him.
He blinked as the visions returned, brighter this time blurred, burning, ancient.
The sound of metal.
The cries of war.
The hum of a thousand machines beneath a false sky.
And somewhere among those echoes, a promise he couldn't yet remember.