[with the immediate threat gone, Zhongli straps his polearm onto his back again (jostling his wound a little bit, though he doesn't flinch) and stoically approaches Ryan's corpse]
. . .
I don't understand how this could have happened so quickly. One moment, we were in the ballroom at a bustling party. And the next. . .
[either way, he kneels down next to Ryan and reaches out to place a hand against his forehead :(]
with gentle care (since he, is after all, wearing all white. f.) he checks Maria and the others, frowning at the grisly scene. it’s only been like 20 minutes since they met but he’s still Displeased by being unable to protect. ]
It may be an illusion. We may need to find our way out.
[ which- huh that’s right. where did their door go? do they have to knock down a wall or smash through a convenient window?? ]
[i just keep laughing every time i try to tag this. anyway.
ryan's forehead is cold under zhongli's fingers, as one would expect a corpse to be.
maria seems to just have a snapped neck - her death seems the cleanest of all of them so far. but as shen qingqiu is examining her body, he'll feel something close around his ankle.
it's a hand. a bloody hand. it's attached to jeord, whose eyes are now glowing red and who is dragging himself toward him with a single-minded intensity despite the fact that he's definitely riddled with a bunch of fatal wounds. he snarls:]
[the garbled noise of dead Jerod's zombie cries draws Zhongli's gaze snapping upwards. he has been genre clueless this entire CYOA up until now. FINALLY!!! HE KNOWS SOMETHING!!!]
-- zombies!
[and. . . feral ones, at that. he knows that zombies-- such as Qiqi, at Bubu Pharmacy-- can be calmed and even live normal-ish lives. but. . . he also knows from experience that, more often than not, they're dangeros and volatile. and so, with speed becoming of a seasoned warrior, he once again grabs his polearm from his back and literally throws the weapon like a javelin, aiming for Jerod's back in an attempt to pin him to the ground]
THIS IS THE WRONG GENRE FOR OTOMES, WHAT THE FUCK-
his foot snaps out at least, trying to dislodge said zombie from his ankle. away with you! ]
Be alert of the others!
[ since he doesn’t have his sword or frankly anything to fight with except his bare hands, it might be time to improvise? today, peak lord shen qingqiu fights with a table leg. or a chair? whatever’s more studier he guesses ]
[still blissfully unaware of Zombie Time, ryan's smile brightens along with keith's agreement. yes, a success...]
Let's go, then. We don't have to be gone too long-- if there's anywhere you particularly like, I'll let you lead? I haven't gotten to see very much of the place yet.
[jeord's zombie is pinned to the ground with an unholy screech. (unfortunately, the dice say ryan is too busy with hot sir keith to hear this going on.) the zombie writhes and tries to snatch at shen qingqiu's foot again, but is not able to break free.
sqq is very smart, honestly, because the other corpses are starting to move. katarina is sitting up, and her jaw unhinges like she just wants to eat everything in front of her. alan, who has a huge hole in his chest, lurches forward to try and get his hands around zhongli's polearm. don't worry about the fact that he's kind of stabbing jeord a little more. maria sits slowly up, and her snapped neck falls to one side. she makes a little face. keith lets go of ryan's hand and lunges at zhongli.
ryan stays dead. hm.
meanwhile, the living keith gives ryan one last final twirl and leads him toward a door leading out to the gardens. it's not the same door that zhongli and shen qingqiu went through. it's in the opposite direction, actually.]
The gardens are nice. There's a corner of them that's particularly well-tended.
[OH NO YOU DON'T, SIR!!! Zhongli immediately bolts forward with as surprising amount of speed and aims an agile sweeping kick at PRINCE ALAN'S HEAD in an attempt to shove him away from his polearm]
Shen Qingqiu! Look for an exit! If the door is locked, shatter the windows!
[they need to get out of here ASAP, just like the creepy red-eyed monster told them to do like ten comments ago]
[ YOU DON’T HAVE TO TELL HIM TWICE. HE’S UP AND AWAY, MASTERFULLY DODGING THESE NEW ZOMBIE CHILDREN. good luck, zhongli!! you are your polearm are much more equipped for this!!
anyways he nyooms for the walls and the windows looking for anything open or smashable . he’ll even take a hidden door he accidentally trips over ]
[oh, hm. he briefly considers this might not be the best plan, to go the other way, but-- he hasn't heard more noises, so they're probably fine! haha.... britt i tried.
so he goes happily along with keith, heading out to the gardens!]
zombie keith misses zhongli because he moves so fast - he overbalances and slams into a puddle of blood past him. this sprays blood everywhere (sorry about your white robes, shen qingqiu) and leaves him stunned for a moment.
also, zhongli's kick takes alan's head clear off his shoulders. it smacks into a table and then richohets at zhongli. his mouth is moving? he's trying to bite him?
maria gets to her feet and takes a few shuffling steps away from this chaos.
shen qingqiu will find that the door they came through is locked tight, and that the windows aren't breaking no matter how hard he hits them. he can't see clearly outside, either - they're sort of frosted over. however, he'll see two shadowy figures on the other side of a window as he's trying to break one...
as he's doing that, katarina shuffles over toward the food tables and starts munching on some blood-soaked pastries. (rolled a 1 for her actions, which is fitting.)
meanwhile, in the garden, living keith takes ryan for a stroll and plucks a very pretty flower, which he holds out to him.]
This reminds me of you.
[gay.
also, since ryan did not fail his perception check this time, he'll spot something through one of the windows behind keith:
shen qingqiu in bloody robes, trying (and failing) to break the glass. also, maria with her neck bent at an impossible angle and blood on her face, shuffling up to him and reaching out to him from behind!]
[boy I sure hope SQQ can handle himself in a fight, because between Jerod, Keith and Alan. . . Zhongli has his hands full?? Alan's head flies towards him, and as swiftly as he can, he grabs the handle of his polearm and yanks it out of Jerod's body to like. . . bat Alan's head away. like the polearm is a bat and the head is a baseball. BASEBALL WITH ZOMBIES!!!]
[this leaves him a bit. . . open. . . for the other two zombies, BUT HOPEFULLY THEY'RE BOTH STUNNED ENOUGH THAT THEY DON'T ATTACK HIM WHILE HE'S PLAYING BALL WITH ALAN'S HEAD]
[ it’s fine he’ll just resemble carrie for the rest of the cyoa. how fitting.
anyways, sqq will eventually remember he’s a peak lord and despite inheriting the ability, he does have Some skill.
though it seems to be rather ineffective against these windows. his old mans shoulders simply doesn’t have the strength it seems. maybe he should throw a chair at it....? though wait, who’s that on the other side of the glass?? what if he just pounds on the window some more instead.
meanwhile he’s completely oblivious to the current threat behind him ]
ryan's face flushes when he's offered that flower-- he takes it with a pleased little nod, tucking it behind an ear. this is cute, keith is too sweet...
but. what's in the window-- oh goddamnit. he's having a MOMENT here.
he ignores it for just a second, finding a blue flower to offer keith in turn.]
This one-- um, it matches your eyes, I think. You were right, they're all beautiful out here--
[when he gets a second where keith won't see, he just gestures to sqq to keep going. it'd take a minute for ryan to run all the way back and take the door they did, he's not blind, he knows they did not just leave a room with sqq in it and bloodied... he's going to let him break that window so he can try to come join them then.
he knows better than to go try to break a window in front of an npc ok, but hi, sqq, you're acknowledged. he's just moving to admire another plant further out of the way, so he can try to reposition keith and make an escape in a minute here.]
[zhongli bats alan's head away, and it smacks into jeord, who was just sitting up from the ground. alan's head is now angrily biting jeord, who is trying to yank him away. hm.
meanwhile, alan's body is trying to get up, but when it does, it shuffles into a wall and falls over again. katarina is still occupied with the bloody food. nom nom.
that just leaves zombie keith, who lunges for zhongli with his arms outstretched! he's dripping blood everywhere and it's very gross.
as for maria, since no one warns shen qingqiu that she's coming, she... actually, she just taps on his shoulder. ari, i would give you death, but maria is the helpful option. she smiles (it looks weird because her neck is bent at the wrong angle), focuses, and...
shen qingqiu's hand is now glowing. when next he punches the window, it will shatter! loudly.
living keith, meanwhile is just tucking the blue flower behind his own ear when it does.]
Thank you. This--
[SHATTER.]
What was that?! Ryan, get behind me!
[he is now standing protectively in front of ryan.]
[OH MY GOD, MARIA IS SAVED BY ZHONGLI NOT NOTICING HER APPROACHING SQQ AND THEREFORE NOT ATTACKING HER IN AN ATTEMPT TO HELP. thank goodness]
[anyway, hi zombie keith. how are you doing today. would you like some POLEARM shoved through YOUR FACE, because that's exactly what Zhongli is doing. . . attempting to thrust the pointy end of his weapon right through zombie keith's head. but he also hears the glass shatter and cries out]
[since ari said to skip her-- THANK YOU SQQ AND MARIA. he startles at the noise, and reaches out to set a hand on keith's arm briefly.]
I'll be okay! Promise. [he's so used to just not needing to worry about death or anything.] You should, um, go make sure your sister and everyone else is okay, and I'll find out what happened and meet up with you as soon as I can?
[...sure, reasonably ryan should go check on the party instead, but he's just praying keith likes him enough to buy this??
if it works he's going to go join zombie squad for the record!!]
zombie keith fails his roll to dodge and takes a polearm to the face. it's just as bloody and gross as you would expect it to be. i'm not going into detail in case of squicks but just know it's there.
meanwhile, ryan does in fact have enough clout with living keith for him to buy that. he nods and runs back to the party - which in turn has ryan rejoining zombie squad.
the instant he joins up with them, there's a dialogue box that pops up - ]
Ryan has rejoined the party. The party is no longer split.
[Zhongli is probably covered in blood and. . . zombie bits, then. but it's fine, as soon as Zombie Keith is taken care of, he whirls on his feet towards the menu]
Leave!
[AND SLAMS THAT OPTION because why the fUCK would they stay]
-oh, wow, it looks kind of bad in here. What did I miss...
[living keith Just left so he's, like. actually very unconcerned as he sees this zombie keith on the floor? nor is he disturbed in general at all this. he asks that question like he's asking what he missed during a movie when he went to the bathroom.
and as zhongli slaps LEAVE:]
Wait, wait, can we not talk about this, I was just getting somewhere-!
[his DATE! he wanted more of those sandwiches he probably worked hard on during a timeskip!]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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meanwhile, back in not dead land, keith pulls ryan back up.]
That's true. It's all right to just relax and enjoy ourselves every once in a while...
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[with the immediate threat gone, Zhongli straps his polearm onto his back again (jostling his wound a little bit, though he doesn't flinch) and stoically approaches Ryan's corpse]
. . .
I don't understand how this could have happened so quickly. One moment, we were in the ballroom at a bustling party. And the next. . .
[either way, he kneels down next to Ryan and reaches out to place a hand against his forehead :(]
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with gentle care (since he, is after all, wearing all white. f.) he checks Maria and the others, frowning at the grisly scene. it’s only been like 20 minutes since they met but he’s still Displeased by being unable to protect. ]
It may be an illusion. We may need to find our way out.
[ which- huh that’s right. where did their door go? do they have to knock down a wall or smash through a convenient window?? ]
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anyway, as he's pulled up, ryan gives the less dead version of keith a little smile.]
It is--! I don't get much of a chance to, either, usually...
[he takes a quick glance around the room. it seems like his sister is doing fine, so... okay. after taking a second to psych himself up:]
Hey, um, after this, do you maybe want to take a walk or something-? I mean, we've been busy inside all day, it might be nice...
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ryan's forehead is cold under zhongli's fingers, as one would expect a corpse to be.
maria seems to just have a snapped neck - her death seems the cleanest of all of them so far. but as shen qingqiu is examining her body, he'll feel something close around his ankle.
it's a hand. a bloody hand. it's attached to jeord, whose eyes are now glowing red and who is dragging himself toward him with a single-minded intensity despite the fact that he's definitely riddled with a bunch of fatal wounds. he snarls:]
-̷̙̗̺̥̋̈́̐̉̓͘-̵̡̰̲͉̬͈̻̠̺̳̪̤̦̼̐͆ͅ-̷̧͍̝̰̜̬̭̾͒̅̓͊̉̈́͑̈̇̀̌͑̓̕̕-̴̦̫̰̤͖͓̟̲̲̣̭͙̥̝́́͜ ̴̨̨͕̪̞̰̻̯͎̟̞̞̹̣͈͊͐-̵͇̫̥̥̲̲͕̾͘-̸̨̢̱̺̠̲̯̠̩̙̪̜͇̙̳͍͛̎͐̽͛͊̂̕̚ͅ ̶̮̼͙̦̪̟̮͓̳͖̮̔͗͆̉̏̽͋̅̎͋͗̚͠-̴̡͇͔͉͎̦͇͇͚̘͕͖͓͍̗̓̀̈͌̈́̈́͐͌̈̆͆͂̎̕-̸̨͔̩̣̮̲͕͌̃͐͑̿́́͆͠͝-̸̡̈́̊́̂͂͑̑͂͋̒̚̕͝͠͝-̶̥͙̖̽̂̂́̐̽͛͗̄̍͠͠-̴̢̫̮͙̻̹̮̈́̽̊́̆̈́̚͠
[meanwhile, back at the party!
keith glances over at katarina, who appears to have challenged prince alan to an eating contest (and is winning), and chuckles.]
Sure. Let's get some fresh air.
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-- zombies!
[and. . . feral ones, at that. he knows that zombies-- such as Qiqi, at Bubu Pharmacy-- can be calmed and even live normal-ish lives. but. . . he also knows from experience that, more often than not, they're dangeros and volatile. and so, with speed becoming of a seasoned warrior, he once again grabs his polearm from his back and literally throws the weapon like a javelin, aiming for Jerod's back in an attempt to pin him to the ground]
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THIS IS THE WRONG GENRE FOR OTOMES, WHAT THE FUCK-
his foot snaps out at least, trying to dislodge said zombie from his ankle. away with you! ]
Be alert of the others!
[ since he doesn’t have his sword or frankly anything to fight with except his bare hands, it might be time to improvise? today, peak lord shen qingqiu fights with a table leg. or a chair? whatever’s more studier he guesses ]
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Let's go, then. We don't have to be gone too long-- if there's anywhere you particularly like, I'll let you lead? I haven't gotten to see very much of the place yet.
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sqq is very smart, honestly, because the other corpses are starting to move. katarina is sitting up, and her jaw unhinges like she just wants to eat everything in front of her. alan, who has a huge hole in his chest, lurches forward to try and get his hands around zhongli's polearm. don't worry about the fact that he's kind of stabbing jeord a little more. maria sits slowly up, and her snapped neck falls to one side. she makes a little face. keith lets go of ryan's hand and lunges at zhongli.
ryan stays dead. hm.
meanwhile, the living keith gives ryan one last final twirl and leads him toward a door leading out to the gardens. it's not the same door that zhongli and shen qingqiu went through. it's in the opposite direction, actually.]
The gardens are nice. There's a corner of them that's particularly well-tended.
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Shen Qingqiu! Look for an exit! If the door is locked, shatter the windows!
[they need to get out of here ASAP, just like the creepy red-eyed monster told them to do like ten comments ago]
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anyways he nyooms for the walls and the windows looking for anything open or smashable . he’ll even take a hidden door he accidentally trips over ]
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so he goes happily along with keith, heading out to the gardens!]
Oh, I'd love to see it, then-!
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zombie keith misses zhongli because he moves so fast - he overbalances and slams into a puddle of blood past him. this sprays blood everywhere (sorry about your white robes, shen qingqiu) and leaves him stunned for a moment.
also, zhongli's kick takes alan's head clear off his shoulders. it smacks into a table and then richohets at zhongli. his mouth is moving? he's trying to bite him?
maria gets to her feet and takes a few shuffling steps away from this chaos.
shen qingqiu will find that the door they came through is locked tight, and that the windows aren't breaking no matter how hard he hits them. he can't see clearly outside, either - they're sort of frosted over. however, he'll see two shadowy figures on the other side of a window as he's trying to break one...
as he's doing that, katarina shuffles over toward the food tables and starts munching on some blood-soaked pastries. (rolled a 1 for her actions, which is fitting.)
meanwhile, in the garden, living keith takes ryan for a stroll and plucks a very pretty flower, which he holds out to him.]
This reminds me of you.
[gay.
also, since ryan did not fail his perception check this time, he'll spot something through one of the windows behind keith:
shen qingqiu in bloody robes, trying (and failing) to break the glass. also, maria with her neck bent at an impossible angle and blood on her face, shuffling up to him and reaching out to him from behind!]
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[this leaves him a bit. . . open. . . for the other two zombies, BUT HOPEFULLY THEY'RE BOTH STUNNED ENOUGH THAT THEY DON'T ATTACK HIM WHILE HE'S PLAYING BALL WITH ALAN'S HEAD]
[hopefully]
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anyways, sqq will eventually remember he’s a peak lord and despite inheriting the ability, he does have Some skill.
though it seems to be rather ineffective against these windows. his old mans shoulders simply doesn’t have the strength it seems. maybe he should throw a chair at it....? though wait, who’s that on the other side of the glass?? what if he just pounds on the window some more instead.
meanwhile he’s completely oblivious to the current threat behind him ]
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ryan's face flushes when he's offered that flower-- he takes it with a pleased little nod, tucking it behind an ear. this is cute, keith is too sweet...
but. what's in the window-- oh goddamnit. he's having a MOMENT here.
he ignores it for just a second, finding a blue flower to offer keith in turn.]
This one-- um, it matches your eyes, I think. You were right, they're all beautiful out here--
[when he gets a second where keith won't see, he just gestures to sqq to keep going. it'd take a minute for ryan to run all the way back and take the door they did, he's not blind, he knows they did not just leave a room with sqq in it and bloodied... he's going to let him break that window so he can try to come join them then.
he knows better than to go try to break a window in front of an npc ok, but hi, sqq, you're acknowledged. he's just moving to admire another plant further out of the way, so he can try to reposition keith and make an escape in a minute here.]
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meanwhile, alan's body is trying to get up, but when it does, it shuffles into a wall and falls over again. katarina is still occupied with the bloody food. nom nom.
that just leaves zombie keith, who lunges for zhongli with his arms outstretched! he's dripping blood everywhere and it's very gross.
as for maria, since no one warns shen qingqiu that she's coming, she... actually, she just taps on his shoulder. ari, i would give you death, but maria is the helpful option. she smiles (it looks weird because her neck is bent at the wrong angle), focuses, and...
shen qingqiu's hand is now glowing. when next he punches the window, it will shatter! loudly.
living keith, meanwhile is just tucking the blue flower behind his own ear when it does.]
Thank you. This--
[SHATTER.]
What was that?! Ryan, get behind me!
[he is now standing protectively in front of ryan.]
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[anyway, hi zombie keith. how are you doing today. would you like some POLEARM shoved through YOUR FACE, because that's exactly what Zhongli is doing. . . attempting to thrust the pointy end of his weapon right through zombie keith's head. but he also hears the glass shatter and cries out]
Go, Shen Qingqui! I will follow!
[AS SOON AS HE CAN]
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I'll be okay! Promise. [he's so used to just not needing to worry about death or anything.] You should, um, go make sure your sister and everyone else is okay, and I'll find out what happened and meet up with you as soon as I can?
[...sure, reasonably ryan should go check on the party instead, but he's just praying keith likes him enough to buy this??
if it works he's going to go join zombie squad for the record!!]
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zombie keith fails his roll to dodge and takes a polearm to the face. it's just as bloody and gross as you would expect it to be. i'm not going into detail in case of squicks but just know it's there.
meanwhile, ryan does in fact have enough clout with living keith for him to buy that. he nods and runs back to the party - which in turn has ryan rejoining zombie squad.
the instant he joins up with them, there's a dialogue box that pops up - ]
[and then a menu:]
2. LEAVE
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Leave!
[AND SLAMS THAT OPTION because why the fUCK would they stay]
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[living keith Just left so he's, like. actually very unconcerned as he sees this zombie keith on the floor? nor is he disturbed in general at all this. he asks that question like he's asking what he missed during a movie when he went to the bathroom.
and as zhongli slaps LEAVE:]
Wait, wait, can we not talk about this, I was just getting somewhere-!
[his DATE! he wanted more of those sandwiches he probably worked hard on during a timeskip!]
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What are you planning-?
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[and slams the "leave" button again]
[OVER AND OVER. that's. that's his answer]
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