So I re-read "Forsaken Hero" and I thought to myself "what if Sacrament of the immortal king worked but not the way they intended."
Essentially Subaru comes back, but since his soul already moved to a new timeline; were left with a mindless corpse that can spread an affliction of death.
Basically the zombie apocalypse AU one-shot. Started playing Project Zomboid recently, so here's this.
His cold and long dead body laid on the bed of the hospital room. His skin was scarred, pale as snow, and any sign of strength that he once had was replaced with skin and bones.
Two royal knights, Julius Juukulius and Felix Argyle, look down in horror at the result of their actions. The inside of their minds were crumbling because all the memories they've had of torturing and beating a supposed cultist were replaced with them cruelly beating their friend in to submission for information he didn't have or knew anything about.
Natsuki Subaru only cried for help the whole time. For the months he spent in that disgusting and cold dungeon, he only pleaded for help. The whole time he was locked in that hole against his will, he pled for his innocence, and they ignored him.
The purple haired knight rested his hand on the boy's forearm, in deep thought about what he did to him. The ramifications of this whole ordeal also coming to the forefront of his mind. Whatever punishment came to him, he believed he deserved wholeheartedly.
"I hope that you can forgive me in the next life, Subaru Natsuki." Julius muttered silently to himself, a single tear running down his face. "You never deserved this."
On the opposite of the bed, the demi-human healer stood still. Felix has been shaking in one spot since him and Julius arrived in the room. Nothing could have been done to save Subaru before they pulled him out of that hole he was locked in.
Felix knows a long dead corpse when he sees one, and what remained of the nasty eyed knight was a perfect representation of that.
Subaru was abandoned to rot a few weeks ago and must have perished alone in that cell, truly a horrible way to go. Like before, he was starved to just skin and bones, his skin damaged all over, dried blood stained all along of what was left of his tracksuit.
What stung Felix the hardest that if their memories came back just only a few days prior he could have been saved, just barely, but he would have made it. The boy has been dead for a few days at this point, signs of rot such as his skin blackening in some parts and heavy rigor mortis for how tough it was to move his arms and legs about.
News of his death has already spread throughout the internal parts of the royal selection camps in the area, but not the public, not yet to the public that is. The people loved Subaru and hailed him as a hero, all Hell will break loose when the true details leak out.
Felix's face was already covered in the stains of dried tears. His dear Crusch-sama has basically cast him out and left him to his own devices after this whole thing was uncovered. Old man Wilhelm had to ordered by Crusch to stand back as his blood was boiling over the death of someone who was dear to him, again.
A chill ran down his spine as he knows that the entire Emilia camp must be on its way to try and find him. Od, what will they do to him? He was the main torturer, the one who started doing it. What will Emilia-sama do? Whatever punishment came to him, he feared for his life.
They've done everything they could, every healer doing at least something to try to help, but to no avail.
Well, they've done almost everything.
An idea flared inside the cat boy's mind. He had one more trick up his sleeve that could fix this and make everything better!
Sacrament of the immortal king.
He could use it and fully revive Subaru from death! It is the last thing he could do to try and bring him back. His one spell in case all else fails. He just has to try.
"Julius, I have one more idea."
"What do you have?"
"Sacrament of the immortal king, I can use it, and it will bring him back, it has to."
"Are you sure? Please, Felix, are you sure it would work?!"
"Yes, nya, I'm confident! This has to work! It just has too! Ferri-chan won't fail! He will make everything better again."
Julius gulped, as this spell was always Felix's last resort. He didn't have the title of "Blue" for nothing, he was the greatest healer in the kingdom. If he can revive himself, then must be able to bring Subaru back.
Felix put both of his hands on Subaru's chest and began the process. A bright light that shined throughout the whole room, similar to a second Sun for how bright it was, encompassed Subaru's entire body.
When the light show was over, nothing seemed to have happened.
Tears ran down the cat boy's face again. "Why didn't it work...? Why didn't it... Subaru-kyun, please wake up! Ferri-chan can't fail!" More hot tears streamed down his face an on to the floor below.
The elegant knight held his head down and mourned. It was over, Subaru was dead for good and the lives they live now are most certainly over.
That was...
In just a sudden jolt of movement, Subaru stood up from the position he was in. His upper body lifted off the bed, and he faced forward to the end of his mattress and towards the wall.
Both of the knights looked at him and froze, he was alive. He was alive! Until Felix noticed immediately that something was wrong.
His body still looked the same, not healed at all. And from what he could tell, he wasn't breathing either.
Then Subaru opened his eyes.
Those brownish and iconic nasty looking eyes were gone. His irises were gray, just barely blending in with the rest of the white in his eyes.
"Uuughhhhh..." Was all the came out of the boy's mouth. Felix was now weary of what he has just done. Did something go wrong?
"Subaru-kyun...?"
The boy's head stiffly turned towards the demi-human knight and stared him down. Felix was now scared.
"Raaaughhr!" Subaru screeched and pounced on Felix!
"Subawu! What are you doing!" Before Felix could fight to get him off, he felt a pair of teeth sink in to the side of his neck and rip out a huge chunk. Blood spattered on the floor and drenched Subaru in the red fluid. Felix laid on the ground bleeding out.
"Felix!" Julius screamed, rushing over to the other side of the bed and pulling Subaru off of his friend and throwing him on the floor. "Felix! Can you hear me!? Subaru what did you do!?"
Then a hand grabbed tightly on to him from below. Looking down, he saw that Felix had the same eyes as Subaru did. "Felix?" The cat boy grabbed him with both of his arms and bit Julius in return on the leg. He yelped in pain, his mind not processing what was happening. Before he could retaliate, Subaru came back from behind him and tackled him on to the floor and sunk his teeth into him.
Hearing the commotion on the other side of the door, a lone nurse walked in and saw three bloodied bodies standing upright in the middle of the room.
"What...?" Was all she could say before they all lunged at her.
The Emilia camp was restless as they continued the rush back to Lugnica. Subaru was being held in a dungeon in the capital, and that's all they knew, which was the most terrifying part to them.
After the death of Gluttony, two things have happened. For one, Rem finally woke up and was reunited with her dear sister. Two, the members of the Emilia camp remembered their dearest friend and knight.
He was accused of being a sin archbishop of the witch cult. Quite the accusation, except for the part that he had a distinct miasma compared to the rest of the cultists attacking the city. Locked up and thrown away, no questions asked.
Beatrice was sitting by herself away from everyone else, her eyes were bloodshot and stained with dried tears. The contractor that she loved and cared for so much was betrayed by her of all people. She's the one that blasted him away, called him a cultist, and had him taken away by the authorities.
'He hates me, he hates me, he hates me... Betty's Subaru will never love her again! Betty doesn't know how she can even apologize for what she has done! Betty will do everything she can to help you and apologize!'
The little spirit's thoughts were repeating the same things over and over again. How Subaru must hate her, how he will never forgive her and will probably leave her behind. Her body felt like it was seizing up from the fear she feels from the upcoming confrontation with him.
Sitting across from her was another girl in her own world. Emilia sat looking down at the floor wondering how she can let something so wrong happen. She remembers that day clearly and now with her memory of her dear Subaru now back she wonders if he'll ever even forgive her.
That face. The look in his eyes will never leave her memory. That all she sees now every time she closes her own eyes.
The look of despair was plastered across his face when she casted him away and screamed at him how she has never had a knight, how she also joined in on Beatrice in accusing him of being one of the cultists.
When he was hauled off in the arms of several armed guards he looked so hollow, like his entire world came crashing down around him and he was sent straight to Hell.
She betrayed him in one of the worst ways possible and things between them will never be the same again. If he even comes back to their camp.
If he was even alive.
The last thought came across her thoughts again and again. Subaru dying in custody with nobody remembering who he is, and hated by everyone around him.
The corner that the Half-Elf was sitting in froze up a little bit more, the air in the carriage getting colder and colder.
'Subaru please... please be okay...'
In the front of the carriage holding on the reigns of the ground dragons that guided them to the capital, Rem was staring down the path of the road in front of her in fury.
She was in a coma for one whole year, her battle with Gluttony left her immobilized and bedridden for a whole twelve months with nobody except her Subaru-kun knowing who she was.
The camp told her how he took care of her while she was in her sleeping beauty state, talked to her for comfort and told her about his day.
And what did they tell her after she asked where he was?
Locked in a prison in the capital for being a suspected archbishop.
Her joy immediately ended and was replaced with an endless rage. It took all her willpower to not lash out at Emilia and Beatrice for how stupid they were for throwing around such a bold claim abour somebody.
But unfortunately the words of a great spirit and royal canidate for the throne overuled any sort of proper investigation on the matter. Instead Subaru was locked up without any sort of trial and only the God's know what has happened to him since then.
She hasn't talked to anybody, not even her own sister, since they started the mad dash back to the capital.
Subaru has to be okay, he just has to be. How will they smile in the future together if he was dead? Would he even want to come back to them if he was alive.
She was afraid of never seeing her love ever again.
Before they got back in the capital, something was already terribly wrong.
Usually the traffic on the roads in to the capital aren't busy. Every once in a while a roaming trader will pass them by on the road, but nothing too much.
Right now it seems that carriges and carts full of people just keep on coming down the road they were on. What was unsettling and gave the sign that something was going on was the fact that, every person that passed them by looked like they were in a panicked state.
Some people were crying, others were wounded. They passed by them without saying a word, they were rushing to leave behind whatever was happening back on the trail.
A bigger feeling of dread washed over the camp of what was to come when they finally arrive in the capital.
