Darkness.
Complete darkness.
This was what Ian was experiencing after suddenly disappearing. At the time, he was barely conscious due to suffering the worst pain imaginable in his lower abdomen. So Ian barely grasp what his supposed mother said in the end about being sent to some trial or pocket dimension or whatever outlandish thing.
Heck, the entire thing was too crazy for Ian to process from practically dying to being revived by this woman who claimed to be his mother wearing some armor that came from a fantasy story. Now he's sent to an unknown place for an unknown purpose and worse, he was feeling extremely exhausted from too much happening at once.
His thoughts slowly drifted off into slumber...
'We'll find each other in the next life...I'm sure of it...'
...until a gentle voice resounded into his mind forcing Ian awake.
Sadly his vision was still pitch black but there were several changes. The biggest one was the feeling of being under a blanket except it was weighing down on Ian and likely the cause for the pitch black darkness. Another change was this revolting smell in the pocket of air that he was currently breathing. The closest description that came to his mind was the smell of raw sewage mixed with rotten meat. It was enough for Ian to gag out loud once the smell became too unbearable yet he could only opt to breathe through his mouth as his arms were trapped.
Ian started panicking a little causing him to breathe rapidly and intake more of that rotten smell in which he gag even more to the point he tasted vomit in the back of his throat. Quickly, Ian shut his eyes tight and clench his fists to somehow avoid vomiting and a possible panic attack. Slowly he steadied his breathing and calmed his mind by chanting what came to mind like a mantra.
'Isabella deserved better. Isabella deserved better. Isabella deserved better...'
.
.
.
After chanting the mantra for who knows how long, Ian finally calmed down enough to assess his current situation. It seemed he was buried alive under a pile of things Ian refuses to acknowledge at the moment but at least he had air to breathe and his body wasn't crushed under the weight of everything. Even better, Ian could wiggle his body a little so he decided to move his arms in front of him. The task was slow and tedious as his arms were trapped but there was enough wiggle room to move them. His hands brushed against the feeling of metal, cloth, and even leather which further hinted at what Ian was buried underneath and the possible source of this stench.
Yet he continued what he was doing and pressed his hands forward in front of him feeling wet cloth....and flesh underneath it.
'Fuck my life, I'm buried underneath dead bodies.'
Finally Ian had to acknowledge his current reality and silently cursed at his supposed mother for putting him in this situation. Ian felt his heart beating rapidly in his throat forcing him to shut his eyes and once again repeat the mantra until he calm down a little. He tried to figure out what to do in this current situation then he thought of the brief information that his supposed mother spewed before being sent here.
'Trial right? She said trial which means there's a goal. And with a goal, this trial could end and I could be sent back. Alright let's take things one step at a time then.'
Gradually, Ian was getting used to his current predicament as he calmly pushed in front of him hoping the weight wasn't too much. He pushed what felt like solid wall yet he felt a gradual shift in front. Satisfied, Ian continued pushing and putting more strength into his arms as the seemingly impossible wall was gradually shifting. He quietly thanked his past self for deciding to do some light exercise a year ago.
Thud
Finally after pushing for who knows how long, Ian heard a tumble and the wall in front of him felt lighter as he gave one final push finally freeing him of his entombment.
The sky.
He could finally see the sky but...the sky in Ian's view was dark meaning it was night time.
Ian sighed internally feeling relieved that he overcame one hurdle. He decided to sit up carefully and try to examine his surroundings.
Thankfully it seems like a full moon tonight as his surroundings were lit up.
Unthankfully, Ian could see his surroundings.
Bodies.
Bodies were everywhere as far as the moonlight could show him. Ian grimaced at the sight clenching his fists even tighter than before but unlike before, he forced himself to take in the horrifying images. He needed to get used to the graphic reality in front of him because it was highly likely there more horrifying sights in the near future. And in that future, there might be no time for Ian to panic because he might run into whatever caused this graveyard around him.
Ian continued examining his environment seeing buildings all around him suggesting he was in a city but he could only see silhouettes of them. He then looked at the bodies around him seeing armored soldiers which gave off a medieval appearance but as Ian kept looking around him, the slew of dead soldiers slowly shifted to slew of dead civilians.
Again, Ian forced himself to take in the horrifying sights. He needed to steel himself for whatever could stand in his path yet his body was instinctively shaking. The sight of regular people was strangely different from dead soldiers but it was only slightly until...
....Ian saw corpses that were younger than him.
Much younger.
Children laid unmoving holding their parents or it seems to be the case but some of their corpses were as mangled as the rest of the adults.
There were sights of dead mothers clutching something small in their arms but the small objects were still like their mothers.
Ian felt his breathing was rising again but he ignored it to continue taking in the images of horrific mangled corpses around him as if accepting death itself.
Then Ian noticed something peculiar.
A cloaked figure was sitting on a half destroyed stone bench near him.
The moonlight shown brightly on them as if highlighting their importance to Ian.
So immediately but cautiously Ian got up and carefully walked down the small hill of corpses he was buried in.
He then walked slowly towards the cloaked figure until he was a step away from lighted area surrounding the figure.
Ian stared at the figure silently until they stood up and face him. But either because of the surrounding darkness or the cloak itself, he couldn't see a clear face. Only a silhouette of it.
Then the mysterious figure finally spoke.
Their voice soft and feminine.
But it lacked any emotion.
"I've been waiting for thee, Ian Argencrest. Thou may address me as Primus."