Chapter 93: Chapter 91 – A grisly meadow

Rosa stared up at the reddened sky. “A nightmare…?”

“Remaining here is still an option,” Scarlett said.

The woman turned to her. She shook her head. “No. I’m coming with.”

“…Very well.”

They walked forward towards the forest ahead of them. Scarlett created a pair of small flames to lend them some light, though even with that, she had a much harder time finding her footing compared to during the day.

The deeper they got, the thicker the scent of charcoal hanging in the air got. When they reached the other end of the forest, exiting out into the glade where Freymeadow lay, a gasp left Rosa beside her.

The entire village was on fire.

Smoke trailed up from many of the houses, some of them nothing more but charred skeletons of their original frames, flames licking at their remains. Even the stone wall sheltering the village had been toppled over and scorched beyond recognition in spots, surrounded by sleets of seared, dead grass. The enclosure for the sheep had also burnt down, nothing left but a smoldering piece of rubble spread out over the field. The animals themselves were nowhere to be seen.

Rosa wore a horrified expression. “W-What the Blazes happened here?” She blinked, then turned to Scarlett. “We have to get the others. There could be people that need help!”

Scarlett gave her a long look. “There are none to help.”

The woman stared back at her. “…You knew this was going to happen.”

Scarlett stayed quiet.

“All those people…!”

“Their fate had already been decided.” Scarlett shifted her gaze towards the village, searching across the ruined homes. “I cautioned you against joining. There is nothing we can do.” There was no movement amongst the buildings other than the fires themselves. “I will only say it once more.” She looked back at Rosa. “You may still stay here, if you so wish.”

“…You’re going over there, aren’t you?”

“I am.” Things wouldn’t progress from here unless she did.

The bard remained silent for a while, a dark expression on her face. Eventually, though, she took a step forward. “…I said I’m coming with,” she said, raising her klert in the air. “And I am. Let’s do this.”

Scarlett eyed the woman. Though her countenance was a far reach from her usual merry one, the sparkle of determination in her gaze spoke volumes.

They started moving, walking past the narrow river that ran around the open glade as they stepped onto the dirt road leading up to Freymeadow. The closer to the village they got, the heavier the scent of burnt wood mixed with another; putrid and tanned blended into one. When they reached the gates, it was almost to where Scarlett could taste it. Breathing in through the mouth just made it worse.

The first thing they saw was a corpse. Lying on the ground outside one of the ravaged buildings, the body had been burnt to the point beyond recognition.

Scarlett regarded the display.

Without question, it was horrible. Beyond horrible. It wasn’t something any person should ever have to see. The sort of sight that traumatized. That normal people, actual normal people, had nightmares about.

Yet she felt nothing other than revulsion at the scene. Not abhorrence, horror, or frightfulness. Just revulsion at how it looked. And annoyance at the stench.

She wished she could at least say she felt terrified by her lack of reaction. But there wasn’t even that. What she knew one should logically feel at a time like this didn’t matter at all.

“Who… Who would do something like this?” Rosa’s voice trailed off next to her.

Scarlett turned to the bard. There was a quiet rage behind the woman’s eyes, mixed with dread. Yet Rosa was taking the sight far better than most others would.

Scarlett left the body behind, continuing further down the street. Rosa silently followed along. They passed by more displays like the first, with scorched remains lying on the dirt, or stuck among the burning buildings. Some smaller than others. Perhaps it would not have been an exaggeration to call this place hell, had that been a term used by the people of this world. To them, maybe this was how they imagined the six Blazes.

Eventually, they reached the center of the village. There, they were met with even more of the same, with groups of burnt corpses spread out across the square, clustered around the still-burning platform in the middle. There was a strange stand on top of the platform, made of a deep black stone that was melting into the wood beneath it.

At the focus of all this chaos was a lone figure, kneeling on the ground next to the platform, with their back turned to them. Dark, raven-colored hair hung over the person.

Arlene.

“There’s still someone alive!”

Scarlett put her arm out, blocking Rosa from running off. The woman gave her a bewildered look, but Scarlett continued walking ahead gradually. She crossed the square with her gaze held forward, carefully striding past the bodies of those that had once lived in this village. Her focus was on Arlene.

The raven-haired woman’s shoulders were moving. Like she was sobbing.

She didn’t appear to notice them as they got closer. Scarlett stopped in front of her. The woman was staring down at the ground.

Rosa stepped up next to Scarlett, pausing at the sight. “…Are you injured? What happened here?“ she asked the woman.

Arlene stilled. Slowly, she looked up at them. Tears were streaming down her face.

“I-Is there anyone else left?” Rosa asked again.

The woman didn’t answer. Her eyes moved to Scarlett. Her gaze was like none Scarlett had ever seen before. As if the woman’s existence was just pure anguish.

Rosa kneeled on the ground, placing a hand on Arlene’s shoulder. “Please, if there’s someone… Anyone…”

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The woman stayed quiet, eyes fixed on Scarlett.

Red embers bloomed into existence around the three of them, floating gently through the air. A faint haze started spreading across the square. Rosa paused, looking around in confusion. The haze quickly enveloped them, turning into a dense cloud as their surroundings suddenly morphed. It was like a giant brushstroke was drawn over the world, replacing it with a mishmash of colors and shapes.

Arlene was the last of the grisly scene that remained, her now-empty gaze staring at Scarlett as everything around them changed. Then she too gradually became a part of the kaleidoscope of colors that was closing in, leaving only Scarlett and Rosa. Scarlett looked at the bard, who held a dazed expression on her face. The woman’s mouth formed words, but no sound seemed to escape.

Things remained like that for a brief while, as the colors around them became clearer, taking on brown, red, orange, and yellow hues, transforming into trees and a forest. Some of the colors became people, and the faces of Shin, Allyssa, and Fynn slowly crystallized in front of them. Finally, as if the last jigsaw piece of a puzzle was locked into place, everything manifested as one, and Scarlett and Rosa found themselves in the clearing once more.

Allyssa gaped at them. “What… What just happened?”

Scarlett glanced at Rosa, who was staring at their surroundings with wide eyes.

“We have returned,” she said.

“No, but…” Allyssa waved her hands around. “That wasn’t how it looked when you came back before.”

Shin held a deep frown. “You just materialised from thin air.”

“We chose another means of exit this time. That is all.”

Allyssa gave her a skeptical look. “What happened over there?”

“Nothing of note,” Scarlett said.

Rosa seemed to pause at her words, finally turning around to meet her eyes. They looked at each other for a few seconds.

“…That was one strange exit,” the bard eventually said, letting out a small laugh as she looked at the others. “I’ll have a hard time topping that in the future.”

It was at times like this that Scarlett appreciated the woman’s talents as an actor. “I do not see why you would have to,” she said, shifting her attention to the center of the clearing.

She stopped, staring at the space. The gate was still there, faint ripples moving across the air, just like when they had first arrived. There was at least one more use left.

She turned back to Rosa. “It appears things are not yet over. Will you accompany me once more?”

The woman blinked, then looked at the gate. “Again…?”

“Yes. The choice is up to you; however, I believe you may want to.”

“…Alright. Let’s go.”

“Wait, what about us?” Allyssa asked. “Should we just stay here again, or can we actually come with this time?”

Scarlett considered the girl for a moment. “It is as before. You will remain here, along with Fynn. As will Shin.”

The expression on Allyssa’s face suggested she wasn’t especially fond of that answer, but she didn’t voice any complaint. Nor did Shin or Fynn.

“Follow me,” Scarlett told Rosa, before once again stepping through the portal. Her surroundings warped as she exited into the other side of the clearing.

It was day once more, the sun hanging high in the clear blue sky as the bright green leaves on the trees wafted with the wind. The air was fresh, the smell from before completely gone.

Rosa appeared behind her a moment later. The woman looked around carefully. Scarlett let the woman take things in for a few seconds before she started moving towards the forest path ahead of them.

She could explain things to the bard, but it would be easier to just show her.

They traversed quietly through the forest until the trees thinned as they neared the clearing where Freymeadow was nestled. Scarlett could tell Rosa was preparing herself for the sight. But the woman’s expression completely froze when they made it out into the bright clearing.

There stood Freymeadow, completely intact. The houses were as they were when they first arrived here, the wall and grass encircling the village untouched. Sheep were moving around in the enclosure next to the village, with a couple human figures walking amongst them.

“What…” Rosa trailed off, then looked at Scarlett. “How is this possible?”

“As I said, their fates have already been sealed. There is nothing any of us can do.”

Scarlett started walking off towards the village. Rosa stayed where she was for a moment, before hurrying after. They passed by the river and stepped onto the nearby dirt road, continuing along it until they reached the village’s gates. Inside, the heads of two middle-aged women sitting in front of one of the nearby buildings turned towards them. They were the same women they’d seen on the first day they arrived here in Freymeadow, and they held the same looks of curiosity mixed with wariness as they had then.

As Rosa gawked at the two, Scarlett continued deeper into the village. Every person she passed by gave her the same look. There was no recognition in their eyes.

Finally, she reached the village square, where the children who’d been playing there the first day were gathered next to the wooden platform at the center.

Rosa caught up once more, her gaze now lingering on the children instead as Scarlett began crossing towards the large building on the other end. Sitting on a chair on its porch, staring out at the square with a vacant gaze, was Arlene. Her current quiet image painted a stark difference compared to the tortured appearance Scarlett had observed just a short while earlier.

The woman’s head turned as Scarlett stopped in front of the porch.

“Oh?” Arlene said, eyes locking onto her. “A visitor?”

Scarlett looked at the woman for a moment, then she spoke. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Scarlett Hartford. I have come to be taken in under your tutelage.”

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