Tartarus, the First Day

After a few hours left on the road, Fumihito, Erlana, and Scrimgeour were finally greeted by the sight of a large town up ahead. Compared to the previous town where he had been thrown into this world, this place looked nearly twice as big comparatively speaking. He could see an abundance of natural growth rising from the ground in the form of roots that wrapped around buildings, places that seemed naturally bright with various banners, and buildings that looked like they were hundreds of years old.

If he didn’t know any better, it would have looked like someone framed a picture within time.

“So, this is Tartarus? It looks weird, but is that why it had so much knowledge at some point?”

Erlana chuckled and glanced over at him with a bright smile and her hands clapped together.

“That’s what makes this a little special, Fumihito. Come on, let’s go! Scrimgeour, you don’t mind staying outside the town for a night, do you?”

She looked back toward the undead who simply shrugged their shoulders. Ever since they had gotten closer, Scrimgeour hadn't been as talkative as before. Fumihito knew that the man kept some silence to let Erlana and him talk, but something was worrying about the fact that the former paladin hadn’t said a thing. They just had that faraway look directed ahead the entire time as if he could see something they couldn’t.

“Right, no worries. I’ll go grab some cover and try to find a place to lay low until you two can meet up with me tomorrow. You should make it quick though.”

He raised his brow at the undead’s response.

“Do you not like this place?”

Scrimgeour simply stared ahead at the town.

“I just have a feeling is all. You two should go and explore the place and grab yourselves a room. We’ll try and leave tomorrow once we’ve gotten the supplies and secured some transportation. Someone should be willing, right?”

Even though he wasn’t sure what to make of that, Erlana seemed to understand the mission. After all, she had an idea on how to conceal Scrimgeour’s presence and he had faith that she’d know how to. She was a mage and he was just some guy who had the unfortunate luck of becoming a necromancer.

“Please… Please… Hear… See…”

His eyes widened briefly at the sudden intrusion within his mind. As if someone or something dragged their finger through his skull and whispered honeyed words into his lips. He nearly stumbled if it wasn’t for Erlana grabbing onto his hand.

The woman giggled briefly and offered her hand toward the young man whose face grew a little hot yet again. He pushed aside the earlier thought from before. It was probably just his mind playing tricks on him again. It had to have been that.

“We’ll see you later, Scrimgeour. Let’s go and I’ll show you around, Fumihito. This place was amazing when I came here as a kid!”

Well, at least he had that to go on. He was honestly just pleased they were going somewhere cheerful where an entire town wasn’t torn apart in paranoia because of their actions. Erlana pulled him along and he simply followed, jogging across the grasslands and down the beaten dirt road to the entrance of the town.

As expected, there wasn’t a gate or any such feature barring what appeared to be numerous sigils painted into the ground. Erlana didn’t seem to have her focus set on them, but he couldn’t help but notice that there were more than just a couple of them imprinted onto the dirt. He couldn’t examine it any further before she dragged him forward and past the front.

Stepping inside, he was greeted by…

“This is Tartarus?”

What Erlana originally described to him made it sound like this town was pleasant. He expected festive spots, colorful decorations, and maybe a smiling child hanging around his mother and father. What he saw was the exact opposite. The streets were littered with trash, he could smell rotten meat obscuring his nostrils, the windows of every home and building were boarded shut, and what people he could see looked like the type who hadn’t gotten a day’s sleep.

Most of the people he saw wandering around looked sluggish.

“Uh… Well, it’s just… I’m sure it’s just been a rough year. I remember bright fireworks, the most delicious pasta they made, and even a few pig riding competitions! Maybe we can check in for some food first, huh?”

He had to resist the urge to point out how some of the people walking around looked like they were ready to slump over and die. The man shrugged and gave her a small nod while trying to ignore the people around them. None of them seemed to eye them warily, but it didn’t look like they cared for them either.

Erlana guided him through the town and the further they went, the more he saw how people seemed dead inside. Less and less of them were there and some of them had even closed their shops. It was only mid-day.

“Erlana…”

“D-Don’t worry about t-that, Fumihito. I’m sure people are just… It’s…”

They stopped at a small shop that left his female companion frozen on the spot. He dragged his eyes away from the surprised look on her face over to the storefront. What was something that Erlana seemed to look forward to was now an old rundown shop. Windows were boarded up, chairs strewn about at the front, and there were even a few footprints left on the solid wood flooring. He couldn’t be sure if this place was just a mess or if it was abandoned at some point.

“None of this is like I remember it… I guess hard times did fall on this town. I know I only visited as a kid, but it really did seem so much more lively back then,” Erlana mumbled at his side as her eyes were dragged away from the shop back to the streets of the town.

He wasn’t even sure what to think of the place. On one hand, nobody was trying to kill them or thought they were criminals either. On the other hand, it honestly looked like everybody in this town was ready to keel over and die. It didn’t look like any of them even took notice of them aside from a few stray looks some of the people there gave them. He could even see a couple of children sitting on the dirt road laying against one another with the same eyes as everyone else. Bloodshot.

“Erlana, is it normal for a town to be like this? It looks like something from a history book in my world.”

Fumihito didn’t want to think the worst of this place, but it was looking more and more like a great depression had hit this place. It could have been any number of things from a lack of money, maybe crops going down, or even something along the lines of illness. The only issue with the last one was that he could see a few eyes and the bloodshot sign didn’t suggest anything fatal yet.

Were they sick or was there something he just didn’t see here?

“It shouldn’t be. It’s happened where a few towns have bad seasons or even lose out on some business, but it’s never enough to actively set a place back. I just don’t get how this could have even happened.”

She sighed and crossed her arms over one another before dragging her sad eyes away. It was the first time he could see something beyond the simple smiles or the nervous expressions she had. In a way, he almost felt like she was trying to look back at something that he just didn’t understand.

“Well, I can tell you right now most of them aren’t healthy. The people here looked like they haven’t gotten a day’s rest in weeks. It’s a little startling just looking at them,” he replied with a narrowed gaze directed over to another group of people walking down the street. Only two of them seemed fine compared to the rest, but they looked like they were trying to speed walk out of town.

That wasn’t a good sign.

“...Well, let’s go ask for directions to the inn. We can focus on food later if we find a nice spot. I’ll have to go out and buy some ingredients too. They should at least have that in stock somewhere here,” Erlana mumbled and walked off with him following right after her.

Fumihito ignored the sights for the rest of the walk after. The more he walked, the more this place was just starting to worry him. It would have been something average if only a few people looked exhausted, but everybody they walked past seemed to have the same funk barring the very few who seemed to be outsiders just like Erlana and him.

Eventually, they finally stumbled upon someone who looked like he had some semblance of sanity in his eyes. Though, the man was slumped against the wall with his bloodshot eyes locked onto nothing but the air ahead of him.

“Excuse me, my friend and I are looking for the local inn. Where would we find it?”

It was a simple question from Erlana, but what he didn’t expect was for the man’s hostile look and his nostrils to flare.

“You two should leave while you still have the chance. Get what you need and get as far away from Tartarus as possible. It’ll be better for you in the long run…”

And that sounded ominous.

Erlana only seemed perplexed, less than he was since he felt the urge to take the man’s offer and just follow their advice.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t do that. I’m sure this Tartarus has gone through a lot since I’ve last visited, but surely it can’t be that…”

But a bark of laughter was the only thing Fumihito heard before the man across from them grimaced.

“Can’t be that bad, eh? That’s what they all say before night comes. That’s what the priests said and that’s what the mages said. Do what ya want. The inn’s just down the road, but don’t ya forget about what I said. If you’ve got a lick of sense, the two of ya will leave before the night’s upon us…,” and he watched him push away from the wall and stagger off with a drunken sway in his step.

“Otherwise, you’ll never see the dawn the same way again.”

‘That was just ominous…’

Even Erlana seemed as nervous as he was, but the poor woman was trying her best to play it off with a nervous laugh. A nervous laugh that became silent moments later once she turned around and stumbled off. Even he didn’t have anything to offer her after something like that. People here looked exhausted and now they got a warning to go away and get as far away from the town as possible.

Was there anything here to even consider?

“Up ahead, huh?”

What else could he say other than that? Erlana didn’t seem as upbeat as before either with the way this town looked. He wanted to try and say something, offer her a hand, but it felt useless to even try.

“Yeah, it’s… it’s up ahead. I guess some things do change over time.”

And some part of him hated how close to home it hit. 

The smell of rotten meat continued to plug his nose and he did his best to ignore it as Erlana and him kept moving forward. There were only a handful of shops open and even the stores looked empty. Some trade must have been going on if they had shops open. Maybe it was just instinctual for exhausted people too.

The inn was getting closer now that the two were in sight after taking a turn. The place looked about as rundown as everywhere else and it looked to be about two floors high and wide. The windows were boarded up like the other place and there were a few pieces of furniture scattered outside.

"That smell is disgusting. I honestly can't believe you can stand it, Erlana."

To his surprise, she looked confused and turned around to stare at him once they approached the front door.

"Smell? What are you talking about?"

Was she just messing with him? 

"The smell of rot? It's like something died here. I can smell it everywhere."

Erlana only looked puzzled before she tilted her head.

"Fumihito, I haven't smelled anything like that at all and I've been with you all this time. Where in the town does it smell like that?"

The oddest thing was that...

"Everywhere. I can smell it everywhere."