The couple's show of hearts was met with no interruptions. Nothing but the vacant gusts of wind that occasionally brushed through their perfect hairs allured the masses. The path was as dark and empty as when they had started, but there were some differences. The fissures began to decrease in frequency and size, the branching smaller paths were more frequent resembling more like alleys than veins of the city and the buildings appeared more residential than industrial.
They encountered more of these metal chassis with many openings and holes with the occasional wheel made of a flexible material. There was also glass of a quality that trumped most of what they could find in markets back home, all shattered and scattered about. No signs of life, though, not even a corpse. Perhaps there were some in these homes, or maybe this place was truly deserted, barring for that headless interloper and those that had been brought here. With a bit of gallows humour, Kaureerah played 'guess what it was before the marhazannet'.
The main path was subjected to a few twists and turns as the building density increased and the architecture differed once again. It looked 'older' in the sense that it had been built before the big roads were constructed and the homes tightly arranged together with what resembled shops and other outlets at the base floors. But the main path was still obvious, being a road considerably wider than the diverging paths.
At the final turn, they'd finally find it: The Square, where a big stone fountain stood adamantly in the middle. Naturally, it was a shadow of its former glory with the tower cut in what they could estimate to be about half its original size. There was no water, of course, but there was something to take notice of at the top.
A box. A wooden one, looking a little more weathered than the ones they had started with. As they approached, they could hear a persistent static emanating from it.
The two had chatted about light topics. Leon was smarter than to dump more heavy things on Kaureerah after what they had just been through. Still, in his light-hearted way, he couldn't help but try to inquire what she had been up to since he left for the White Thresher. They hadn't talked nearly enough since then and maybe it would give him insight into what changed her. Kaureerah was smarter than that. At most points, it seemed she was perfectly capable of sensing his ulterior motives and gracefully shifted the conversation away without making it an issue. It was a dance of hidden intents masked behind pleasant small talk. But before he ever had the chance to take the lead of that tango, they had arrived at the fountain and the presence of another drew their attention elsewhere.
A person sat on the edge of the basin with what looked to be a large rifle on their lap and her hands on her remarkably white hair. She turned her head to acknowledge the two arrivals.
“Oh, hello!” a friendly wave with a friendly smile. A smile that looked crooked due to her bandages hiding a part of it. Her voice was charged with enthusiasm, had she been there for a while?
“I was worried none of you would make it!” she merrily remarked, legs restlessly tapping against the stone flooring while her hands idly continued to braid her hair.
“I was waiting for my friend to arrive before I spoke to it, by the way.”Kaureerah recognised her as that Tarlonese sniper from the Trials. Her demeanour was every bit as different from what it had been then as Kaureerah's. In fact, it was even further changed. The eeaiko had mentally referred to her as 'the Golem' in her head back then, for she'd seemed a dead thing inside. Now, she was there waving excitedly and asking about a friend and it didn't seem...
real to Kaureerah.
"Well, here he ees!" she replied with an equally welcoming tone, though perhaps a bit demonstrative on the enthusiasm.
"Il Sole heemself: everyaune's frend!" She spread her arms on the same side, striking a pose as she gestured towards him. Her fingers wiggled enthusiastically.
The woman was a stranger to Leon and first impressions were off-putting. A cheerful demeanor in a place like this didn't feel disarming as much a warning sign for madness and her Tarlonese accent was a whole other can of worms. But it was better to hide those feelings for now and play friendly. Not wasting Kaureerah's flamboyant introduction, he took a bow toward the stranger.
"And eternally second best at giving introductions."He stood up straight and continued in a friendly but more appropriate manner.
"May I have your name? Who is this friend?"White braids were finally complete, a look she had wanted to have for the longest time. Unfortunately for Pluurii, there would be no mirror to admire the end result of her fashion pang. But where misfortune struck, fortune came under the form of the radiance of these new encounters. How delightful! It wasn't often that so much positivity surrounded her. Even less so when she could indulge without a single care. Well, at least when on the job.
“Oh. Oh ah uhm, yes!” She sprang onto her feet, the gun now in her hands and her not-so-great braiding showing its shoddiness with one of them slowly untangling before her audience's very eyes.
“A name. Yeah, introductions, that's definitely a thing I should do. Would've been more polite of me.” She sounded like a nervous wreck but her demeanour was immaculate to a T. No nervous gestures other than her prosthetic foot continuing the restless tapping.
“Pluurii is okay. If you guys have a nickname, that's okay too.” pronounced nods came with her over-the-top introduction.
“It's nice to meet you, Leon and Neki!” It hit her just a couple of seconds after that they hadn't actually introduced themselves yet. She had forgotten that part of mundane social convention. All she could do was purse her thin and dry lips.
Luckily there was another question she could latch onto.
“Oh, Yvain! The blonde man from the country of Perrence with the Nikanese sword and the tailor-made matching clothes of a lower Northern Constantian Baron.” definitely a normal way to describe a 'friend'. A sniper's attention to detail made layman-friendly.
“We got separated in the fog.” she mentioned with a descending tone to emphasize the unfortunate nature of the event.
“I was hoping he'd find our rendezvous. But ...” she shot a concerned look toward one of the main arteries that led to the plaza, one shrouded in many terrestrial clouds.
“If we're still alive, there's a good chance he's fine too, I'd reckon.”Leon tried to hold his growing suspicion. Her knowing his name was no surprise, he was famous and even Kaureerah had been growing in the public eye. No one who knew Kaureerah properly would use 'Neki' first. She had either gotten it from some kind of official documents or, somehow, she had been following them.
What good would it do to dredge those suspicions into the light? It would only invite unnecessary conflict and Pluuri seemed friendly enough.
“Yvain is a good friend and a semi-decent judge of character. I think we'll find ourselves fast friends.” He joked.
Leon approached to take a seat at the fountain to rest from the tiring walk. He didn't waste much time pulling out the Lyre and playing a pleasant, unintrusive tune.
“Neki is great with braids, you know.”Perhaps there was some worry about the safety of those who hadn't arrived. If Juulet
had died, there was a decent chance Yvain had joined her in the grave. But if those worries did play at his mind, he certainly didn't show it
Kaureerah could see that Leon was thinking what she was thinking. She clambered into the fountain, dry though it was, and decided to play the role of the goofy and friendly sidekick.
Nobody knew her as Neki. That was why she'd been calling herself by the name: for distance from herself. It was, by some metrics, an insult. So it passed that the eeaiko sensed another liar and was reminded, in turn, of Leon's lies. He had still spoken only in avoidant and saccharine half-truths.
"He is e fletterer," Kaureerah chirped, popping up from the fountain and mimicking a swimming motion.
"Don't believe e woord aut auf hees pretty leetle mauth." She winked.
"Baut I sauppose I'm naut bed."Having settled in and made introductions, she waited a moment before glancing uneasily up at the box.
"Soo... whose shoold be the foorst voice it heers?"A fat and radiant smile reigned on Pluurii's expression. She didn't interject much, though, with the social battery being rapidly stressed beyond what she was used to. Still fun to watch these social butterflies go, though!
Where she lacked the know-how to add to the conversation, a straightforward question came from Kaureerah, to which she found an opportunity to have her voice heard.
“Oh, uhm, I think Leon would be a-”“I am aware of your presence.”The radio spoke as if it had the goal of shutting down the Yasoi's opportunity to contribute. Or at least she felt like this was the case. She clenched up and tightened her grip on the gun, eyes on the one source of guidance they've had so far.
“Most of your comrades have not made it. They have encountered adversity, no doubt. And soon you will too if you do not act quickly.”A high-pitched sound came from the box, and from everywhere around them. It was the sort of sound one heard when two microphones were brought close together, although to most here this was a completely novel and particularly awful sound.
“If a ghost has been active for this long, then you may be facing a stirring. And then a horde. If we want any hope of penetrating that gate, we will have to take preventive measures now.”“And here we just sat down.” The radio speaking brought Leon's playing to a stop. It was a call for desperate action but one without any direction. He spoke into the box,
“What do you mean? What are you doing with the speaking boxes?”“You may have noticed that this city has its own inhabitants, those that spite death itself and hunt the living. They will converge soon after the disturbance we, as a group, have caused. Their numbers alone will be a problem.”“There is a solution. They can be serenaded. The difficulty arises with the frequencies' secrets locked away in the forge itself. This is where you musically-inclined performers come into play in this caper. You will be fending off the horde while simultaneously sampling which frequencies affect their demeanour. Once found, I will activate the protocol. That lyre should be of good use to you.”“Do not let them get to the radio.”Neki did not much trust or believe a word this voice in the box said. If it was working against the haunted city, how had it gotten all of these... 'radios' up in various places? Someone had to have placed them there: either the being behind it, who must've been powerful or accepted by the city, or it had sent others here before. What had happened to them, she wondered. Liars:
so many liars around her.
"Well it's tyme too get e-slaughtereng," she remarked, springing out of the fountain.
"End pley e little ditty." She rolled her eyes.
"Wee staup it with the pauwer auf myoosec, baut dausn't thet woork better in a peench point?"“Music? I don't think I can be of much help.” said Pluurii, once again made to feel like an extra or even downright an outsider. This was all about the artistically talented, something she couldn't partake in other than shooting down the disturbances. This is why her voice got meek and she was content with fading into the background. Free of distractions, she'd sense about as quickly as Kaureerah the threat that had so far only existed through the words of the box.
Just outside of the range, there was movement. Not just wind but actual matter moving with intention. Inhuman intention by the way the articulations moved, it seemed. The little they could capture hardly resembled human movement, and yet they were undoubtedly humanoid-shaped. Like their joints moved independently from the rest of the body.
“To the right.” swift and professional, she trained her sights on one of the arterial roads that led to the plaza. Emerging from one of the long-gone shops was a person. One in an all-red get-up that reflected strongly in the light projected by the Tarlonese. Its whole body was wrapped in a singular suit - was it really a suit? It looked more like a myriad of red cloths wrapped all over the body, except for the head. Speaking of the head-
“No skin. No brain.” she remarked.
A skull devoid of any flesh, as well as a spine, hung from the stump between the shoulder. The spine remained upright, preventing the skull from falling any further down. The rest of the body, from the bit of sensing they could do on it, or one of the many 'people' that emerged from their dens, were 'alive' under these suits. The heads were in different stages of decomposition. Some were mummified, some bloated, some skeletal, and a few were just bones like this first arrival.
Pluurii took a shot. It didn't hit the center of the skull, but a good third of it was obliterated by the bullet. It did nothing to stop the thing's approach. Stiff movements became an uncanny mix of frenzied dashing and
mechanically perfect running. The arms were constantly flailing like they were already ripping into what they were running toward. Another followed, and then a third. Until they had a chain reaction.
“Uh-oh.” Leon had limited trust for the voice in the box. Did he trust his intentions were pure? No. But the voice had provided them the pills and told them he wanted them to succeed. At the very least, this voice needed them alive and that was enough to trust in its advice. Music was the key to stopping these things.
He grabbed his lyre and looked to Kaureerah, perhaps expecting a duet with her voice. But she seemed ready to fight as much as Pluuri was. Perhaps this was further part of her recently shown desire to feel powerful. He wasn't about to keep her from that.
"Two lovely ladies to defend my honour while I play a tune? I'd say I'm in heaven if the circumstances were different." He joked, trying to keep their spirits up against adversity.
"The Perrench call this one the Danse Macabre. I've always had a curiosity about it." He began to strum the song.
Leon had been playing a haunting catchy melody while Kaureerah appeared to be channelling the same kind of magic he had seen at the bridge. It put him ill at ease given what she had last done with it. What did she plan to do now?
But when he looked over, she had her guitar in her hands with a familiar inspired look on her face. His cheerful song was promptly concluded to give way to the songstress.
"I'd sey there's nautheng too doo baut keell them, baut they're aulredy ded." Kaureerah strode forward, cracks forming in the pavement as fungal tendrils began to sprout.
"So it's tyme too remynd them." She took a deep breath and did her thing.
That Face
"I don't know how to start but I'll say it 'cause it's true
And you need somebody out there who'll just speak the truth to you.
You don't got any ears there, Charlie.
Lookin' kinda rough, Diane.
Straighten out, now, Alexandra.
You gone and lost your head again.
So I'm feelin' extra bad you know, but I've gotta do my bit.
It's better in the long run if you stand and take the hit.
The truth now as I see it, and it's sad but, yes, it's true,
Is that you're fucking ugly, and by 'you' I mean, - yes - you.
Oh yes, you're uglyyyyy! Mhm, you are.
So fucking uglyyyy, I think I'm scarred.
You've lost a lot of weight, Melissa.
And, yes, I love the colour red.
But it's kind of hard to wear it well
When you're just a floating head.
That means you're uglyyyyy! Oh yes, you are.
So fucking uglyyyy, you make me barf.
My throat filled up with bile when I had to see your face.
I know you wanna meet me but I'd like to have some space.
I'd say it was a 'me thing', but it's really just that mug.
And no, my rotting groaning friend, you cannot have a hug.
You're just too uglyyyy! You know you are.
Just stay the fuck there: like, really far.
My advice, dear Anastasia,
If you want some better vibes,
Is to crawl the fuck back down to hell
And stay the fuck inside.
Because you're uglyyyy! You know you are.
Don't make me hit youuuu with my guitar.
Because you'll make it smelly and I'll have to clean your guts
Because it's time for you to know it's time to call it cuts.
Why, you shoulda gone to hell about a hundred years ago.
So I'm doing you a favour when I try to help you go.
Oh yes, I'm doing you a favour when I try to help you go.
So fucking go.
Whoa-oh-oh.
So fucking go,
Oh whoa-oh-ohhh.
Before I hit you, just so ya know."Had she hit the magical pitch? Kaureerah couldn't be sure, but it sure
had been cathartic to get that out. The tendrils seemed to have responded, as well. How they swelled and prepared to attack.
"Soon, yoo faukwauds," she whispered beneath her breath.
For a moment, Leon was equally captivated by the song as the undead, despite its content or the circumstances. He felt like a bit more of the girl he knew had come out where she had been like a stranger moments earlier. It took him a bit to realize he should be providing a backup track. He played to her tune, making sure to mix in a variety of frequencies. Mr Balls said only a specific one would do the trick after all.
It had never occurred to Pluurii just how much better fighting and shooting would be with a theme. Between Kaureerah's vocal solo and Leon's epic Lyre skills, the eccentric Yasoi had a lot of style to contend with.
With expert use of binding, she conjured sunglasses. It was time.😎
Crosshair on the first poor fool to earn her murderous vibes, Pluurii head bobbed the whole time. It did little to mess with her aim. The first one had no chance once it was immobilized by the splendiferous lyrics of the eeaiko star. Once the bullet entered the chest, the thing's core had a small entire wound and a massive hole as an exit. It fell into a pile of blood and flesh.
The next shot was on one knee. Execution.
The third was held with one hand like a pistol.
The fourth came with a hop where she landed on her feet, knee flexed and gun at hip height.
Fifth and sixth were two quick shots after a twirl.
The seventh, however, caught her a little too excited to the rhythm, ripping a measly arm off the disoriented undead. It bled as if it still had a functioning heart.
“Whoops.”The crowd was no longer mesmerized and their gait became stiffly and robotic again. They were still slowed, nowhere close. However, the next ones were.
With beats like these, the fans found ways through the backstage and other unconventional means. From nearby buildings poured more of these horrors and from different angles. Frenzied and famished for the band's last autographs, they rushed in with reckless abandon.
“Leon! Let's make this a real show!”Orbs of light were conjured by Pluurii with the two purposes of adding different coloured lighting to their concert and sending out signal lights.
“Maybe our friends will have an easier time joining us.”The situation was rather dire but, then again, Kaureerah had been in a half-dozen other equally dire situations over the past couple of years. Likely, Leon had as well. The truth was that she needed to cover her fear somehow. She needed to keep it at bay, and so... she played.
When the song was finished, she felt a little better than before. She forgot - for a moment - that everyone here was a liar. They were just allies, instead, with a clear and obvious danger to survive. She glanced over at Leon, who'd played a backing track for her, thoughtfully, and flashed him a tight smile.
"Yoo're aup, Mr. Saun."The positivity Leon presented
had been performative; that was slowly being replaced with something more genuine. A little fire in his chest, his heart, that elevated his movements. He was getting into the spirit of it and forgetting the walking dead. Even the defending cracks of the yasoi's rifle made for some half-decent percussion.
He played a cheerful song and improvised a verse.
"Shes right, you're all ugly
I cannot tell a lie.
So you should go back to your rest place,
cause we're far too hot to die."Leon looked out to the not-so-adoring crowd to give them a smile and a wink. At the moment when his eye closed, a bright sparkle beamed off his perfect teeth. Was it a coincidence or done with intent? Wouldn't you like to know.
The horde was drawing nearer and now the fungal tendrils began to play their part, rising from the ground to trip, ensnare, and rebuff the shambling corpses. Through it all, Kaureerah continued to play.
Liars, they're all liars! It continued to play and replay itself in her mind's ear, following the notes, blending with the music.
Liars, they're all liars!She tamped down on it. She was having fun. Despite the horror of this place and the present danger of death, she was having fun and wanted to keep it that way. Death was something that she had faced before and the fear served only to animate her defiance and fan her contempt into open mockery. The Tarlonese - who was also a liar - continued to fire, and now her targets were held increasingly in place or made easy for her.
"I don't why you even came
here
Stayin' alive is the name of the game
here
Imma doin' just fine, gonna find that pitch,
bitch
An' I'll blow your mind just to scratch that itch,
bitch!
Mhmmmm, you ain't any good.
Mmmhmhmmm, nah we ain'tcha food.
Mmhmhmhmmm, Don't wanna be rude,
But it's time to die-eyyyyyye!
Yeah!
Mhmhmhmmm
Ain't got no brains.
Uh-yeah-yeah-yeah.
Ain't got no style.
Uh-boo-who-hoo-oo-ooh!
Imma say I gotta tell you that I gots to go
now
Hitcha with the bomb and you know that I know
how
Trippin' on my shrooms we ain't got no room,
Yus
This town ain't big enough for the two of...
Us."She was feeling the music, in this most unlikely of places. It seemed, so were the mushrooms as well. A few burst into colourful, noxious clouds as she finished with a flourish and blew a kiss. Was it to Leon, or her adoring fans?
In the Zone
Guns'a'blazin, maidens'a'singin' and hunks'a'strummin'.
'Fans' rushed in with unnaturally synchronized movements. Had their concert resonated even with the undead? It definitely looked uncanny ...
None of that cramped Pluurii's style. With more admirers to bless with the tune of the century, she entered a state of focus acquired through years as a sniper whilst holding her rifle like it was some sort of string instrument. Very unconventional, and thus very rad.
pow
POW
POW!
Each shot hit the mark, some even hitting two. Each shot followed the four-pronged beat that dictated the pace of their show. The white-haired Yasoi hopped around the stone ledge of the fountain, covering every angle with death shots and little chemical enhancement. All pure vibe.
One shot completely decapitated one of them - a decisive hit against normal undead. But these were abnormal. If anything, the lesser weight made it go faster! The only survivor greeted a now ammo-less Pluurii with flailing arms that, as she'd observed right by her, could rip apart stone with minimal magical input. The unnaturally robotic movements of the corpse made an opening hard to find. Difficult but not impossible. The moment an overhead swipe missed the mark, she slid behind the thing, arms around it, and suplexed it at the very end of Kaureerah's piece.
“That's it!”The radio spoke, showing a shred of enthusiasm and urgency.
“Hold on twenty seconds. Do NOT stop.”The effects were visible already. The horde was now converging HARD on them. So many moved at once that some structures even gave out in the distance. They were coming. Multiple white lights hovered high up above, a good ways away. They were shaped like humans and all seemingly looking toward the fountain district.
More came, all proving themselves considerably more deadly than they looked up close. Without any drawing, they could shatter stone, even if it meant sacrificing their limbs. Some hopped from roofs onto the revolutionary musical band, others piled against walls of nearby abandoned buildings until they broke down. Soon they were going to be overwhelmed.
“Until then very end!” wailed Pluurii, alternating between shots and drawing blades from her prosthetic leg when close quarters became an increasing concern. An untenable position, but one she only needed to hold for just ten more seconds. In five, she couldn't even spare the time to generate more ammunition. This was too intense.
FiveA pack of ghouls had the dexterity to hurl bricks and other hard objects toward the star of the show: Kaureerah. They weren't fans, nor were they slouches in their precision shots.
FourLeon was met with crawlers, those that Pluurii had dismembered but failed to finish. They were fast and writhing like insects, hardly humanoid at this point. They dragged their hanging heads, rapidly turning into a gory show with the friction a stone pavement would bring.
ThreePluurii was down to using her rifle as a barrier. She never thought she'd see the day. One came close to swiping her fake leg. The sniper had to retreat back into the fountain.
Two!The radio had been counting down this whole time. Was it purposefully racking nerves?
ONE
The longest second. Do what you can to survive, even if it means sacrifice. Salvation is here, the box promised. Surely it was truthful. Surely it wanted you to live. Surely you hadn't fulfilled your entire purpose already…
It rang for a minute, echoing through the whole city.
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