Ah school, the place to hone your mind, and learn who you are as a person. Thinking of the possibilities, Henry smiled, he might even get some clues to the biggest question on his mind.
'Who am I?'
Though Henry didn't have time to think however since he had reached his destination.
The school was massive, it looked like it had around twelve different buildings within its grounds, some of which were bigger then the hospital. Let alone the giant crowd in front of the gate. At least forty people were at the front gate, most seemed to be Henry's age, some were with older people who Henry presumed to be their parents. They didn't seem happy, though. Most people held a solemn face, the parents looked as if they had been crying.
'Maybe it's just a rough day for them. Nobody likes to see their child leave home… I think.'
Walking through the crowd, he got a glance at a group of people with a sign in front of them.
***
"Registration/Aid"
Waltzing over, Henry went through his premeditated explanation.
' "Hi! I seem to have lost my sigil and was wondering if I could prove my identity to get in?" '
Simple and sweet, It had to work.
When he reached the desk, he overheard a parent arguing with the older looking gentleman running the desk.
"What do you mean, my daughter cant go through! She was chosen, your job is to help the chosen!"
The man's voice fell silent.
"Y-you can't just let… you can't let my daughter die."
'I don't think she'll die without an education, but to each their own.'
The older man stared blankly at the man and whispered.
"I think it's best for you to go home, sir."
Both men stared at each other, and the parent turned around and left. Quickly, Henry walked up, put on his best smile, and spoke.
"Hi sir!"
The man made a surprised face.
"Hello young man, how may I help you?"
"Well you see, I have accidentally lost my sigil, and I was wondering if I could prove my identity to get in?"
'Easy.'
"Hmmmm. Give me a second."
Pulling out a book from underneath the desk, the man began rummaging through its pages before looking towards Henry.
"Henry? Henry Philip's?"
'H.P from the notebook, it is mine.'
"Yup! That's me, uhm, good old. H-henry".
"Well, I'm glad you're okay, made quite the scene when you got your sigil."
Standing up, he put a hand on Henry's shoulder.
"You aren't the only late student, ill bring you to the rest… I trust that you won't be as aggressive as you were prior?"
Henry wearily nodded his head, this man was strong, the grip he had on Henry's shoulder was enough to make him wince in pain.
'Aggressive? Why was I aggressive, how do I even know this guy?'
A million questions played through his head, but no matter how much he thought, he just didn't remember anything clear.
***
Henry had been led into a large building that the school called "Block A." He was given a bit of information from the old man, who he had now learned was named Kairn. He was one of the school's administrators, and was the head groundskeeper.
Apparently I was one of seven students who had been late to the acceptance ceremony, which had taken place the day before. Therefore, they were all to be inducted into the school together.
'Well, this could be an opportunity, maybe some of these people know me, or at least know something about me.'
Now stood outside what Henry presumed was an old classroom, he could hear incoherent mumbles from inside multiple voices, some male, some female. Kairn turned to Henry with a stern look.
"I don't know what the change in attitude was from last week, but you should keep it up, the others won't be as lenient with you as I have been."
'What? What did I do?'
"Wait, what do you me-"
Henry was cut off by Kairn opening the door.
Immediately, all eyes were on the two.
"Hello everyone."
Kairn spoke harshly while scowling at the other students, who slowly went silent.
"Thank you, now if you couldn't already tell I've brought along another late registrant."
Henry nervously faced the group, which included three boys, and three girls, not counting him. Some looked as if they had been crying, specifically a boy whose hair had already begun thinning, and graying he still had tears on the sides of his face.
"This is Hen-"
Another boy with a large stature stood up and pointed at Henry.
"I know you! You tried to kill a guy during application day!"
'I tried to kill a guy?!'
The class began to an outcry against Henry being here, a girl with cyan hair spoke-up.
"How was he even allowed into the school after what he did?"
'I don't even know what I did, lady!'
Kairn sighed and gave a stern eye to the class, causing them all to sit back down.
"Just like you and everyone else in this school, Henry passed the application, and was chosen. You don't decide whether he joins or not."
The group looked at each other, some scoffing and looking towards the wall others nodding and becoming more vigilant, and some even resting their heads, seemingly trying to go to sleep.
"Uhm, nice to meet all of you."
Henry mumbled before shuffling to a seat in the far right corner, it must have not been far enough since the others moved seats away from him. Besides one, a shorter boy with frizzy hair sat only one seat away from him. He didn't seem particularly bothered by Henry's presence, he just seemed... annoyed.
'What a nice first day.'
Kairn looked at the class before checking his watch.
"Well, I doubt we're having any more for today. Why don't we get this going."
Quickly, Kairn left the room, coming back with a small booklet.
"Ahem, you all have been registered to the TimidusAcademy. You lucky few have been chosen by our great miasmal specter, a malign hybrid of a nightmare, and more theatrics. To make a long page short. You have all been selected, be it by a god, or some other upper being, I do not know. What I do know is that if you're not lucky, soon you will all be dead."
The class all looked up, paying their due attention to Kairn.
'Chosen? By what.'
Henry thought back to when he had woken up, the dream he had before. Something's missing, something he just couldn't put his finger on.
The gray haired boy began crying, the girl who had stood against Henry earlier patted his back and whispered something in his ear.
'What the hell have I gotten myself into.'
"Do not fret, because we at the Timidus Academy were chosen just the same as you."
Kairn raised his hands, which were rough and covered in callus's. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until Henry noticed. The color… slowly the complexion on his hands were dulling, graying, not just the color was off his hands they were becoming smoother. Crumbles, dust, and rocks began cracking from inside his hands crawling up his sleeves changing his arms into amalgamations of skin, and concrete, the veins, and bone shining through the cracks. Kairn's face was flat, he held no shock to the unnatural transformation his body has undergone. Just like it had started the rocks slowly eroded and his skin now red and thin took over, and he was back to normal as if he had just scratched his arms a little. Dust and gravel now rested at Kairn's feet.
The class was all paying attention, though no one else seemed as shocked as Henry, merely amused and baffled.
Henry's thoughts came to a halt, he couldn't even conceptualize what he had witnessed.
"We inside this academy have all been marked, we have no clue how the marked are chosen or why. What we do know is that you will have to fight to survive. It will be dangerous, but I believe that with time, and training most of you…"
Kairn glanced at Henry.
"Will survive."
'The fuck, what did I do?!'
The class was silent.
"Now, seeing as its almost dinner, ill show you all to your rooms so you may set your belongings down."