Work Text:
There’s no way to describe nothing. Because it is simply that. An indescribable void of absolute nothingness that only last for a fleeting moment before the wave of consciousness overtakes the soul; springing a survivor head-first back into the match to start the process of running away from the hunter all over again. Leaving them with no time to process what they’ve just experienced before they forget it. They’ve just temporarily died and yet the survivors brush it off with a mere shiver. They don’t even realize that what they’ve just experienced was death. Because the human mind doesn’t have the ability to fathom the feeling of nothing. There may be a few words to describe it; peaceful, quiet, maybe even warm and inviting like a cozy cabin in the middle of a snowstorm. But that doesn’t quite sum it up. The way the comforting embrace of death washes over them and takes away all the pain they’ve just endured mere minutes ago. Only for it all to return in an instant.
That was rebirth, the pinnacle of the embalmer’s one ability. Aesop Carl was quite used to it by now, having been reborn a thousand times over in the purgatory that has become the manor. He dies match after match to the point where it became just another state of being to him. Death has lost all meaning to him by now. Now there is only rebirth to take its place.
Even if Aesop wasn’t bothered by the process, the same cannot be said for his teammates. While Aesop finds the feeling calming and giving him a sense of freedom he’ll never be able to grasp. Because he is, in fact, already dead. But with being stuck in this hellish loop of matches. He could hardly call this an afterlife. His ability gives him a taste of something so far out of his reach.
However his teammates aren’t as fond of it, they tell him it feels like they’re truly dying. And it fills them with immeasurable dread and fear. Probably something they’ll never get used to.
But Aesop will continue to relive the cycle of death in every match without much thought. So when his eyes fluttered open back into the world, stepping out of his coffin as it melted into the ground behind him. The only reaction he gave was a simple sigh of relief, brushing off invisible dirt off his uniform.
Shortly thereafter, the sirens blared their song of terror shortly after Aesop regained his senses, indicating that the exit gates were now active and whoever was left alive could start to open them. The embalmer wasted no time to head for the nearest gate. Thankfully, in the red church, it wasn’t terribly far away from where Aesop spawned.
His swiftness was motivated but one circumstance, there was only two survivors left in this match; Himself, and the batter. Now the two were left to fight tooth and nail for a tie. And Aesop knows Ganji’s determination is unfaltering. He had already taken kite after the other two survivors were eliminated. All the while Aesop decoded the last ciphers as quickly as he could. However when it came down to the last one, the hunter had caught sight of Aesop priming his current cipher and quickly made her way to interrupt. She swam up him, harpoon in hand and ready to pierce straight into his chest with the force of the seven seas, already worked-up from Ganji’s kite. She desperately wanted to take her anger out on the embalmer.
But thankfully, Aesop had been decoding long enough to prime it to a certain point before a rather harsh hit from the business end of the Naiad’s spear sent him barreling to the ground with a deep gash in his heart. Aesop coughed up blood and stained the grass red with his essence, but before Grace could pick him up he was already being taken by the sweet release of death. And Grace’s attention from his coffin was quickly stolen by the batter’s cricket ball hitting her square in the back. Starting Ganji’s final fight for the finish line.
Ganji must’ve popped the cipher after he made sure Aesop had completely made it through the rebirthing process. Aesop was thankful for that.
Aesop arrived to the red carpet in moments after he awoke, he’s quick to open his makeup box and summon his second coffin. But he doesn’t get to work just yet, he knows fully well that Ganji can hold his own long enough to get the gate open. So he decides to focus on the main objective first. His finger works swiftly in pressing the buttons on the keypad to the point where it looks rehearsed and memorized. But as it gets closer to being decoded the more stressed the embalmer gets, his hand gets shaky and his eyes can’t focus. But before the long the heavy metal doors slowly split apart to reveal the exit. And Aesop releases the breath he held captive in his lungs.
Aesop swallows down his blooming anxiety and hurriedly drops down to grab what he needed to embalm the surrogate doll inside his coffin into his subject. He had already put everything he needed into his case beforehand and knew exactly what to grab. So he hastily worked, painting the dolls face In foundation that matched the batter’s skin, meticulously carved the scars onto his nose, and finally tying a replica of the man’s bandanna around the surrogate’s head before it began to morph into Ganji’s likeness on it’s own.
And just like that, his job was done. All he he needed to do was wait. He placed all his tools back into the makeup box and held it at his side before stepping back to examine his work. He wasn’t sure how the doll inside turned into a perfect recreation of a teammate without Aesop sculpting it with his own hands. But he found a sense of intrigue in each subject. It was a perfect representation of how they’d look completely at peace and dressed for a funeral.
Ganji’s in particular always caught Aesop’s eye. Because he found that Ganji was the most serene looking out of everyone he’s embalmed in his matches. The angry expression plastered on his face constantly was now dropped into something more soft. Aesop wished he could see it more often, it was a good look on him, truly it was. He wondered what made him look so angry in the first place. Because deep within his face there was a sense of pain that Aesop felt. Is there any way it could be eased?
Aesop stepped closer, admiring the beauty that was the batter. His jawline was strong, his cheekbones were high on his face and completed that. His eyebrows were blocky but well shaped. The scars? Aesop would argue that those accented him. Any form of blemish would do the same. Aesop always found unique beauty in every human body and the same went for the batter.
He looked like a statue sculpted by an artist’s hand. He wouldn’t be surprised if he learned his body was chiseled entirely out of stone.
Gingerly, Aesop raised his free hand to gently caress the Ganji look-alike’s cheek. The ‘flesh’ was cold. Aesop could feel it through the fabric of his glove. Aesop held the replicate rather lovingly as he peered deep into the batter’s features. Too mesmerized to realize that the rebirth process had begun already. Somewhere far off Ganji had unfortunately been struck down despite his efforts. Maybe it was intentional since he seemed to purposefully lead Grace into a far off corner before he went down. He was rather clever when his more brash actions are looked past.
Aesop hardly noticed when the skin of the surrogate started to warm up, or when the serene expression contorted into Ganj’s usual one. That was when Aesop finally realized he should step back, but it was too late.
Ganji’s eyes shot open before Aesop could retract, his bleary gaze meeting Aesop’s dull eyes.
To Aesop’s surprise, the batter only reacted by leaning into the touch, even if Aesop was tensed up by the action.
“Mm—I’m never going to get used to that.” He mutters, gently holding onto Aesop’s shoulders as he stepped out of the coffin to keep balance before quickly letting go so Aesop could squirm away and mumble some apologies.
“Thanks though.” Ganji added, rubbing the back of his neck. “I can’t believe we managed to tie that.”
Aesop clears his throat, “Well, good thing it’s over, no?”
Ganji chuckles softly, his laugh is sweet, almost like music to the embalmer’s ears. “Thank the stars…” he says.
‘He’s…calmer after rebirth.’ Aesop thought to himself, usually by now Ganji would have just ran out of the gate without a second thought and be fuming over his teammates mistakes. Doesn’t help that the other two went down so quickly.
‘If the rebirth process has such an effect on him…then maybe when his emotions are stronger…’ his eyes slowly fall to his makeup box. Could his ability be able to soothe the batter in his darker moments? Maybe…he could still help the lost souls he came here for in the first place.
The two had been sitting in silence for a while, so Ganji awkwardly pats Aesop on the shoulder and Aesop quickly looks back up at him with furrowed eyebrows. Ganji opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted by the sudden spike in their heart rates. Grace was rapidly approaching their location and Ganji had no interest in throwing away their hard earned tie.
Swiftly, he grabs the embalmer by wrist and bolts towards the exit. The action caught Aesop off guard. Thankfully Ganji was kind enough to catch him when he tripped over himself.