Chapter Text
A canopy of lights illuminated the two performers on stage, highlighting the glitter on their exaggerated outfits and crystals that reflected against the light. The music was playful and cheery, emphasizing the performer’s jovial dance and interactions with one another. As if the audience was a part of this song, they sang together in unison, “woo, ha-hai!”
Their decaying flesh was hardly of any note to that of the audience, a show where the stage lasts for an eternity.
Zombie stage.
A figure in a navy blue sweater kept their head low, evading detection from the many human guards wielding weapons. They passed by the hoards of fans, the heat and sweat of so many bodies together at once could make their head spin.
One of the zombies, dressed in a blue skirt and makeup to accentuate their femininity, jumped up to hype the audience. Everyone in the audience cheered his name, “Ying!”
“Under the same sky, carving the same dream!”
The figure was advised to cover their bright red hair because it’d be bad if anyone recognized them. After all, they were only here in search of familiar faces.
Riddle Rosehearts, once a graduate student of NRC now worked with Lilia and Malleus to find their fallen students in hopes of a cure. As immortals, they weren’t affected by the undead virus because just like the undead, time had seemingly stopped.
Although, Riddle would be lying if he said he didn’t volunteer to scope out the stage just to return previous classmates. In actuality, he had returned to the stage to find someone specifically. Though, he hadn’t expected to find him so quickly. At first, Riddle didn’t recognize Ying with all the makeup caked on his face. Forced to be portrayed as a girl against their will, which is the last thing he would’ve wanted after death.
“You’re shining far too bright, truly!”
Seeing the second person on stage nearly made him nauseous… Merry… It had been over a year since he saw either of them, 2 years since he had seen Ying alive. The lights moved as the two danced numbly, their eyes unfocused and merely following along with the movement.
“Everything is shining bright!”
Riddle could still remember the day Ying died, it was graduation. Although Riddle would never publicly announce their relationship, he and Ying had grown… Fond of each other.
At first they didn’t get along because both of them were stubborn fools trying to dictate each other’s sense of belief. However, once they had gotten past conflicts the two ended up enjoying each other’s company. Especially Ying, he loved to bother Riddle, annoy him and purposely test the limits.
Oh, how Riddle missed those days.
Since he was a year older than Ying, he graduated before them. Once it was finally Ying’s turn to join him in adult life, he had died before he even got the chance. In this new world Ying stumbled in, he only lasted 2 years.
That graduation day, Riddle came to give his congratulations to Ying and previous dorm members of his. They were still walking up to get their diplomas when a strange man with concerning looking dark spots stumbled into the room. When Professor Crewel approached the man to stop him, the man suddenly lunged forward. His jaw unhinged and stifled itself in Crewel’s flesh.
Then, a pool of other zombies poured through the doors. Panic erupted, and many of the spectators ran to their loved ones to flee. It was too late, many of the zombies had nabbed the graduating students. It didn’t help that these zombies could also use magic, albeit sluggish and less powerful, many students and adults died that day.
Riddle ran to aid his former housemates, refusing to let them die. Unfortunately, Riddle was overwhelmed by the growing number of the mindless mob and Ying was caught in the fire. Riddle watched as Ying fell to the floor, unmoving one moment. Then, twitched to life as he dragged his head from the floor to stare at Riddle’s widened eyes. He groaned as crystalized decay began to rot on his face to his neck.
“Oh my, sweet spark!”
As Merry danced with Ying, a dull and detached smile spread across his face as he followed the instructions the people outside his cage gave. The music had dulled to a quiet beat as Ruggie, a previous NRC student, pulled Ying onto the wheel while Silver held a dagger to throw at him. The two were similar to him and Ying, two zombies who had once been full of life before being disfigured within the very show Merry and Ying now perform in.
They say the show lasts forever, but the performers don’t.
Ruggie’s jaw had completely rotted off, revealing his mangled gums and impeded his speech. Now, he couldn’t even sing anymore, and normally with beastmen zombies, they sold them to the highest bidder. They were considered more valuable for their… “Exotic” nature. As such, they were exempt from the rule of having a limb chopped off if they lost in a round.
As for Silver, his eyes were gouged out during a round, which normally wouldn't have made him a backup dancer, however he lost both of his lower legs and relied on prosthetics. As a zombie, he was barely conscious, as a result he couldn’t dance properly which lost him favor with the fans. If Merry could remember correctly, Silver also died during graduation.
In moments where Ying and Merry dance under the spotlight, were when Merry was most conscious he could be. As zombies, it was hard to remember anything outside of present moments. Merry could barely remember why he was even performing right now. Why was he performing for this audience?
He didn’t even like performing, even though he was most conscious while dancing and singing with his friend. As far as Merry was concerned, the audience ignored him the same way they ignored Ying.
In life, Merry was a feminine young man who played dumb. People associated his femininity with weakness, and who was he to not embrace the role? After all, allowing others to stand on their high horse made it harder for them to see him.
As he was on zombie stage, they purposely dressed him more masculine not in spite of him, but in spite of Ying. Forcing the two into a straight partnership, when neither of them wanted to be. Merry wasn’t attracted to girls, and Ying wasn’t a girl.
But the show wanted him to be.
In promotional art, and in magazines, they portrayed him as a girl, knowing full well he was a boy. It sickened Merry, to see his friend die horrifically and then be used as an object of desire. That’s why before his imminent demise, he and Riddle devised a plan to rescue Ying.
Before Zombie Stage had truly flourished, they could find posters of Ying in discreet areas of town. Wanting to save their friend, they followed the posters and hid within the carriage of supplies being taken into the warehouse filled with the dead.
At this point in time, many zombies seemed to experience differing stages of development. The scientists assumed your experience as a human will influence behavior as a zombie, however if you exhibit symptoms of strong emotions while dead, rarely you develop the same as before. Which as a result prevented many zombies from biting and infecting more people.
It was clear from the scene they were testing to see which of the zombies in their possession would attack. Any that did would be disposed of quickly. As much as Riddle and Merry wanted to save them all, they only had enough strength to bring one back because of the heavy security within the area.
They crept around large containers, making sure to steer clear of the zombies in case they did bite. When they finally found Ying, he was tied to a pole, wearing nothing but a white shirt and shorts. When he looked up at two familiar companions, his eyes brightened up, it had been a year since he last saw any of them. Still, he carried the same dull look as they untied his hands.
Slowly, the two backed up to make sure Ying wouldn’t attack, but after hearing him speak, they were sure he was one of the zombies that wouldn’t attack. The two sighed in relief as Merry quietly turned around to report back to Ace and to make sure no one else approached Riddle and Ying’s heartwarming reunion. By this point in time, he found Ying’s buddies who were also searching for him, they explained everything to Merry before this.
Thud!
Thinking it was someone on patrol, Merry froze in place and stared in the direction of what sounded like something hitting the floor. Ying had grabbed Riddle’s wrist, forcing him to the wall, his eyes no longer bright with a semblance of life. Something was wrong, Ying would never compromise an escape now of all times! Even if it meant more time with Riddle!
Without thinking Merry dove in as Ying’s jaw opened to take a bite. He pushed Riddle to the floor, taking the bite for him. Riddle stared in shock at the sight, but Ying bit down harder, drawing blood from Merry and causing a ruckus for other zombies who weren’t as tame as Ying once was.
Riddle pushed Ying off Merry, and finally Ying snapped to reality. He stared at the gnarly bite on Merry’s arm, the infection visibly spreading to his veins. Merry panted, “Y-You’re fine. You’re fine Ying, please don’t go.” But it was too late, Ying hesitated, staring at what he did in horror. Then, looking back at Riddle with that same expression. The two knew Ying well, and knew he wouldn’t accompany them if he thought of himself as a threat to Riddle as well.
Merry begged Ying, “please, don’t worry just go- ah.. Go with Riddle…” Merry held his bleeding arm, feeling himself lose it as Riddle reached out, “Ying, listen—” A loud smack was heard, followed by the alarmed chatter of guards approaching.
Ying was long gone, and Riddle was stuck between chasing him, versus leaving Merry alone. Gathering what little strength he had left, Merry laughed dryly and told Riddle, “Leave, before they find you.” Riddle tried to argue, but Merry wasn’t having it. “Hurry, or else I’ll infect you too. Or worse, they find you, kill you, and use Ying anyway.”
He doesn’t remember when Riddle was gone, he just remembers passing out, then waking up on the floor.
“Even if we break, it’s alright.”
Merry sang alone, clasping his hands together in a prayer as the memories all flooded back to him. He wondered if Ying felt the same way, if he was most alive when performing. Is that why he stayed? To remember everyone? No, that wasn’t it.
Ah, Merry could remember.
To stay with Ying, to make sure Ying wasn’t alone.
“LOVE! SMILE! BOOM!!”
The two raised their arms together, smiling at the audience as they were told to. Within that audience, Merry could see familiar red hair shifting through the crowd. It was hard to notice because of the hood over his head, but he knew it was Riddle. Had they finally returned to take Ying back?
“Smile, it’s okay, it’s okay!”
As they sang about a show that never ends, Merry wondered what Ying was thinking about in moments like these. He wondered if Ying even noticed Riddle, he wondered if at this moment, Ying even remembered Riddle. Memories were a fleeting thing for the undead…
“This place is already paradise!” (yeah!)
Somehow, the idiot guards hadn’t been able to locate where the sound came from and never found Merry laying on the ground. So he roamed the prison until he found Ying again, curled in a ball numbly scratching the wooden crate.
“Living is fine, dying is fine.”
Seeing Ying on the floor, unable to face what he’d done to Merry, Merry questioned how human Ying was still. Having just been infected, Merry was barely processing any human emotion besides what had been overtaking his last moments. Protecting Ying.
“We’ll rot away together—”
Merry hugged Ying, vowing to stay with him until they were both saved.
“Beautifully insane–”
A guard finally found them, and since Merry was an unfamiliar face, dragged him away to be tested if he wouldn’t bite. Which was hard for Merry, he didn’t realize how close to human contact would make him crave to eat them.
“Only you and me,”
Ying told Merry he wanted to stay in Zombie Stage, even though he hated it. He hoped that if he rose in popularity, the others would find him before he hurt someone else. When Merry questioned why he didn’t just go with Riddle at the moment, Ying admitted, “I’m scared, I know I want to be found, but… At that moment…” There was a pause between the two.
“I really wanted to eat him.”
“Oh my sweet scar!”
The crowd around Riddle raved in excitement, cheering the two on and choosing who would win. A concept Riddle wasn’t familiar with. Behind the two, their points rounded up to see who the winner would be, and to his surprise… Merry won?
Ying was still filled with shame for biting Merry, even if he couldn’t remember that. Knowing this, Merry purposely won so Ying wouldn’t feel guilty about Merry losing a limb. One may say this is flawed logic, but Merry could barely keep a coherent thought. In his zombified trance, this made perfect sense. After all, the one thing he remembered perfectly was to shield Ying from Zombie Stage. Merry wasn’t even sure if Ying remembered why they stayed, but he never bothered to tell Ying why himself.
The crowd cheered and cried at their beautiful and breathtaking performance, if Riddle didn’t know the two personally, he would’ve been blown away as well. But as quickly as feelings of euphoria rushed through him, disgust filled his body. To think he almost found this debauchery beautiful.
Merry sang a slow melody as Ruggie and Silver led Ying away to a wooden table. Riddle still was unsure what the two were planning, but upon seeing the large metal axe, his eyes narrowed.
The axe raised above Silver, before slamming down on Ying’s arm, promptly chopping his arm off. Riddle was horrified at the sight, the grotesque arm fell to the floor unceremoniously as Ying’s dull face never flinched. Just a permanent numb smile as the two escorted him and Merry off stage for the next duo.
The screen flashed the next participant’s names and Riddle’s blood ran cold. Seeing his name, Riddle was appalled, he had thought the previous house warden had been killed off already. There wasn’t any poster for him, nothing insinuating he was here unlike Ying and Merry.
AZUL VS MIWA