Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga
Chapter seven: The saga of Sigrid in Saga
(FLASHBACK)
(DATE: JULY 31ST, 1997)
Sigrid Aesirson stood a few feet away from the railing that was set up along the curve that overlooked a section of wooded area in the Saga prefecture. The half-foreign delinquent girl had over her back a case that looked made to hold a few sporting instruments such as golf clubs, although the case was only big enough to store one item. In this case, a single metal baseball bat was stored in that sporting equipment case worn over Sigrid's back.
Sigrid looked over at the landscape that unfurled before her, the late July winds blowing gently against her form as she maintained her stoic presence. Her face-framing bangs swayed in the breeze every so often before settling back down. As Sigrid continued her viewing of the lands before her, a young adult Nagi came walking up to her from a few feet away. The blonde girl had a look of mild amusement on her face as she approached the leader of Einherjar.
"You have a lot on your mind, boss," Nagi spoke aloud when she got within three feet of the half-foreign delinquent girl. Having heard the voice of a trusted ally speak up, Sigrid turned to face her friend that approached her.
"Greetings and well met to you too, Nagi," Sigrid remarked, "I take it that there is some sort of matter that you wish to speak to me about?"
Gently shaking her head, Nagi replied, "I only wanted to give you props on that fight that you won last night against that dumb bimbo from Korosuke." Shooting her boss an amused grin, the blonde girl went on, "That was one hell of a show that you put on."
Sigrid returned an amused smile of her own. "…We of Einherjar are warriors, Nagi," the half-foreign delinquent girl remarked, "Oathbrothers and oathsisters sworn under the same banner to win honor and glory in the name of the gods of Valhalla. It is not in the definition of warrior's honor to turn down someone who challenges you to face them in the field of battle, regardless of either their odds of beating you or your odds of beating them." Turning back around to look back over the landscape that unfurled before her, Sigrid remarked with a hint of mild disappointment in her tone, "Although I will admit that I wish my opponent from last night's battle had done her fair share of making our contest a glorious melee."
"Hey, it's her fault for challenging someone that was way out of her league," Nagi commented when she turned to regard Sigrid, understanding amusement in the blonde girl's tone, "It was like she was a level five character, and you're at least level fifty."
"Hmm," hummed the boss of Einherjar, "Perhaps. But even so." Sigrid never turned away from looking out over the landscape that she and Nagi were looking out over, the beautiful scenery, the quiet calmness of the woods, the gentle breeze going over that area. Although Sigrid drew only half of her heritage from Japan, she will still admit that the land of the rising sun was very much a beautiful land.
A beautiful land that was all the more reason why Sigrid wanted to take it over.
The half-foreign delinquent girl reached over her right shoulder, grasped the handle of the metal baseball bat that rested within, took the bat out as a warrior would take a sword out from a scabbard over his back, then pointed over the landscape before her and Nagi with the bat. There were etchings on the side of the bat that very much resembled the inscriptions on the sides of an Ulfberht sword, the blades that were favored by the Vikings of old.
"These lands are still in conflict, Nagi," Sigrid began, a hint of seriousness in her tone, "Our tribe is just one of many that calls these lands home. We and the others wage war against one another on an almost daily basis."
"Hence why you want to lead Einherjar in beating down every other gang out there," Nagi said, "To make us the top gang in Japan."
Sigrid nodded once in the affirmative before she returned her bat to the sports equipment case that she wore over her back. "A strong warrior is always ready to do battle," the half-foreign delinquent girl remarked, "But it's a sign that a warrior is both strong and wise if they do not actively seek battle out. My goal goes beyond simply bringing Einherjar to the top, putting it above all other tribes. In order to truly accomplish such a lofty goal, it is necessary to unite all of the tribes here under a single common goal, a single banner."
"Yours," Nagi said more than guessed, a hint of amusement in her tone. Sigrid said nothing, but gave a single affirmative nod. "It makes a lot of sense," the blonde girl went on, "If every member of every delinquent gang is all on the same team, then it would be a lot easier for us to take over the country." Turning to look more directly at her boss, Nagi continued, "But it won't be an easy task, especially considering you're most likely not the only delinquent in Japan that has visions of taking everything over."
"If there is anyone who stands in my way," Sigrid replied, "Stands in the way of my end goal of uniting all under a single banner so as to bring these lands into an era of peace that is blessed by the gods of Valhalla, then I will face them." Sigrid rolled her shoulders a bit, causing the sporting equipment case worn over her back to shift around a bit. "With Ulfberht in hand, I will face any and all challengers that may come my way," the half-foreign delinquent girl swore, "And nothing short of my falling in battle will save them from being made to yield."
Nagi let out an amused hum that was clearly part chuckle. Patting her boss on the back, the blonde girl said, "I hope that you don't meet your warrior's reward anytime soon, Sigrid. You are still needed here to bring about the era of peace between all delinquent gangs, after all."
Sigrid turned to face her friend, an amused smirk on her face. "It is reassuring to know that there are those here on Midgard that would mourn me, that don't wish to see my finish," Sigrid said, "A telltale sign of a true oathsister." Sigrid turned to more directly face Nagi, placing her right hand on Nagi's left shoulder. "Come, Nagi," Sigrid remarked, a hint of appreciative amusement in her tone, "I've got a warrior's thirst that needs quenching, and it wouldn't do for me to drink Moonberry Cola alone."
"Heh, are you serious, Sigrid?" Nagi replied, her tone sounding with mock offence, "Me, turn down drinking with you? You ought to know me better than that." Sigrid and Nagi, both of them laughing in good nature together, took their leave from the curve that overlook the landscape.
(FLASHBACK OVER)
Sigrid, as she stood on an upper floor patio that was part of the abandoned mansion in Saga, looked out into the backyard of the abandoned mansion. The half-foreign zombie girl was lost in thought ever since she woke up that morning, having awoken from a dream of her past life, back before she had met her glorious end in battle, back before she had awakened as a zombie in the very mansion where she and her fellow undead girls live ever since they were raised to act in that show being produced by Kotaro and his men.
As she looked out over the abandoned mansion's backyard, Sigrid unconsciously reached over her right shoulder, as if to draw her cherished metal baseball bat, Ulfberht, out so that she could point out over the landscape before her. However, her undead hand grasped at nothing but empty air, serving as a reminder to her that the glories in the past are back there, in the past. Sigrid lowered her right arm back to her side, a look of mild somberness on her face as she looked on out over the abandoned mansion's backyard.
"What is the All-father's true reason for allowing my return to Midgard as a draugr?" Sigrid thought as she continued her vigil stance, wondering just what her purpose was now that she was back in the land of the living as a living dead. As the half-foreign zombie girl let out a resigned sigh, her attention was piqued when she heard Sakura call out to her. Turning to her left, Sigrid saw that she was being approached by Sakura, who was accompanied by Lily and Ayumu.
"There you are, Sigrid," the long-haired zombie girl greeted, "The girls here and I were looking all over for you."
"You left the futon room right after getting dressed," Lily pointed out, "And nobody's seen you up until now." Looking up at Sigrid, the child actress zombie girl asked, "Are you feeling okay?"
Sigrid sighed, the air pushing out through her nostrils. She turned back around to go back to looking over the backyard, her mildly somber expression unchanging. "Apologies for having caused you and the other girls undue worry, little one," Sigrid replied, "I was just feeling a bit troubled is all."
"Would you like to talk about it?" Sakura asked.
Gently shaking her head a bit, Sigrid replied, "It was only a dream that I had. A memory of my past returning to visit me in the realm of sleep." Sigrid then turned to walk away from Sakura and the others, saying, "I need to be by myself for a while, if you don't mind." Before any of the girls there could stop her, the half-foreign zombie girl had left.
There on the second floor patio by themselves, Sakura, Lily and Ayumu turned to look at each other with concerned looks on their respective faces. "You girls think that Sigrid is going to be okay?" Lily asked, "I'm really worried about her."
"Maybe Mr. Kotaro can give us a few points on Sigrid," Ayumu suggested, getting both Sakura and Lily to turn to face her, "I mean, he helped you girls out before when you wanted to learn something about some of the other girls, myself included." With a shrug, the teen actress zombie girl continued, "Maybe Mr. Kotaro can fill in a couple of blanks for us so we can learn exactly what is up with Sigrid."
"That's a good idea, Ayumu," Sakura remarked, nodding once in agreement, "Kotaro-san knows a lot about all of us, hence why he chose the ten of us specifically for the 'Saga Stories' project." Tapping her fist into her hand, the long-haired zombie girl said, "Lily, Ayumu, come with me. We have a manager to track down." The two actress zombie girls both nodded in agreement, with Lily even giving a little cheer. Sakura then led her fellow undead back into the abandoned mansion to go about looking for Kotaro.
When Sakura, Lily and Ayumu found Kotaro, the eccentric man was talking with two of the men that was in cahoots with him. Kotaro sounded like his temper was a bit high at the moment; when Sakura and the others got close enough, it was Sakura who picked up enough to figure out that Kotaro was mad about something related to how Sagazine Editorial Department, which is the company behind the local monthly magazine Sagazine Today, was still trying to dig into the respective pasts of the girls of Franchouchou.
Sakura, Lily and (especially) Ayumu were a bit hesitant to approach Kotaro while his temper was as high as it seemed at the moment. So it was to their relief that Kotaro, when he turned to face them when they got his attention, calmed down a lot. "Hello, ladies," Kotaro greeted in a casual tone, "Can I assume that you three have sought me out because you're concerned with how one of your fellow zombies is acting?"
"We're concerned about Sigrid, yes," Sakura began to explain, "She's been keeping to herself ever since she woke up this morning, and when Lily, Ayumu and I tried talking to her, she had this sort of somber, resigned look about her." With a bit of an unsure look on her face, Sakura continued, "She said that she had a dream about her past, back when she was still alive. Nothing bad happened to Sigrid, did it?"
Scoffing a bit, Kotaro said, "Well doi, something bad did happen to Sigrid in the past. She died. That sounds like it would easily qualify as 'something bad happening to Sigrid'." Letting out a huff, Kotaro added, "…But that's not the exact answer that you three are looking for, is it? It's rather clear that Sigrid, given her beliefs, is having a harder time than most of you girls getting used to the fact that you all have returned from the grave as zombies." Kotaro looked up at the ceiling, letting out another sigh.
"…I don't suppose you girls remember how Sigrid said she met her end, do you?" Kotaro began, a hint of resigned wonder in his tone, "Well, it's a good thing for you zombies that I, in my vast wisdom, had learned about how Sigrid died." Letting out a bit of a chuckle, Kotaro said, "Let me tell you girls, the way that Sigrid had died was probably one of the best deaths that she could have possibly asked her gods for…"
(FLASHBACK)
(DATE: AUGUST 30TH, 1997)
Sigrid's body laid on the ground, her right hand still gripped on the handle of Ulfberht. The half-foreign delinquent girl had just died, being killed as a result of having been challenged and sub-sequentially attacked by a group of one-hundred delinquents from a combined five rival gangs that would not stand for Einherjar trying to claim the top spot in Japan.
The alliance of all of those gang members was led by the very girl from Korosuke who had previously lost a one-on-one fight to Sigrid; the girl sought to avenge her humiliation but, having received a first-hand account on Sigrid's prowess as a warrior, felt that safety in numbers was the key to finally defeating the half-foreign leader of Einherjar. Sigrid ended up being killed in that fight, just as the Korosuke girl thought would happen if Sigrid didn't run. After all, Sigrid was facing off against one-hundred opponents on her own, all of them having been brought together by the Korosuke girl just to make sure Sigrid would be punished.
…However, Sigrid was not one to take such a punishment laying down. Since she didn't run, it's obvious that the half-foreign delinquent girl fought back. The one-hundred gang members were all surprised that one lone girl wasn't running from the overwhelming force that they had come to her as. What further surprised the thirteen of them that Sigrid had significantly injured (the Korosuke girl being among this thirteen) was the fact that the other eighty-seven of them had all been killed, felled by Sigrid's hand.
Even after Sigrid had died from her wounds and fell over onto the ground, the remaining thirteen delinquents did not dare approach her body. What further worried the remaining gang members was that a few of the boys and girls from Einherjar came upon the scene; although the thirteen outnumbered the five that showed up, the five were fresh and rearing to go whereas the thirteen were all hurting and winded. As such, the thirteen turned tail and ran, not wanting to risk getting anymore hurt than they already were.
Among the five from Einherjar that showed up to the scene of Sigrid's final battle was Nagi, her closest friend and second-in-command. The blonde girl, her somber expression regarding the body of her fallen friend, allowed her tears to flow steadily in a soundless cry. Nagi walked over to her friend's body, retrieved Ulfberht's case and Ulfberht itself from Sigrid. Nagi threw the case on over her back before putting the cherished bat inside. The other Einherjar members took a bit of time looting what valuables they could from those who their late boss had vanquished before they followed Nagi away, uncaring of whatever else may end up occurring that night, regardless of what said event(s) may be (end up being).
(FLASHBACK OVER)
"…The news over the next few days mentioned the massive brawl between all of those delinquent gangs every so often," Kotaro said to Sakura, Lily and Ayumu as he wrapped up the story, "There are still stories being told to this day about that fight, a story used by many a gang when trying to inspire potential new recruits into joining the rank and file."
Sakura, Lily and Ayumu all looked at Kotaro with wide-eyed looks of surprise. "You mean to tell me and the girls here that Sigrid killed eighty-seven people before she herself had died?!" Sakura nearly exclaimed, "Holy cow! That doesn't even sound possible, a person acting on their own taking on so many people like that."
Gently shaking his head, Kotaro replied, "You and the other girls here will be amazed by how many particularly powerful individuals are out there, Sakura. Believe it or not, Sigrid, even as a zombie, is among the more normal of said individuals. Hell, there are some people that, on their own, can take on entire battalions of people that vastly outnumber the one-hundred delinquent army that Sigrid fought and not only still win, but do so rather handily." Gently shaking his head, Kotaro remarked, "If you girls think that you all being raised as zombies is plenty crazy on its own, then the world at large will give you all a rather rude awakening."
"That…" Lily said, "…That is a bit disconcerting to know." Briskly shaking her head, the child actress zombie girl continued, "But we can go over stuff like that later. Right now, Sakura, Big Sis and I need to know what we can do to help Sigrid out of the funk that she woke up in. We're still really worried about her, and we want her to cheer up as soon as possible."
"I don't suppose that you might have any idea on where any of Sigrid's former gang members may be, do you?" Ayumu asked the eccentric man. Seeing the questioning look on Kotaro's face, the teen actress zombie girl explained, "Sakura, Lily and I can say that we're the daughters of some of the people who survived the fight that killed Sigrid, and that we just want to know if the stories that our parents have told us ever since we were little are true."
Kotaro crossed his arms over his chest, a look of contemplation on his face as he breathed out through his nose. "…I do happen to know the address of Nagi, the girl who took over Einherjar after Sigrid was killed." Looking at the three zombie girls, Kotaro said, "I'm still a bit hesitant to let you girls out, in light of what those bastards who produce Sagazine Today did, but if you girls wear decent enough disguises, you should be able to go about without being bothered."
"If it will help, then we'll go for it," Sakura replied with an appreciative nod, a gesture that Lily and Ayumu both did as well. Seeing the three zombie girls nod in appreciation to him made the eccentric man crack an amused smile.
Rubbing his hands together, Kotaro said with a hint of devilishly amused excitement in his tone, "Oh, this is great for me as well. I've been wanting to make use of some of the other makeup and costume supplies that I have. You girls just have to use monster glamour before I dress the three of you up before I send you out to Nagi's." Although Sakura, Lily and Ayumu all had a bit of an unsettling feeling when they saw Kotaro rub his hands together, they were still nonetheless keen on doing that they could to learn more about Sigrid.
Later that day, in one of the residential neighborhoods in the Saga prefecture, Sakura, Lily and Ayumu, all of them wearing disguises, all stood in front of a lovely enough looking two story house. Of course, one would had to have been there when Kotaro dressed them up in disguises to know that it really was Sakura, Lily and Ayumu. As a testament to his grandmastery in the art of makeup and costumes, Kotaro made the three girls completely unrecognizable.
The 'biggest' example of this is Sakura herself. The long-haired zombie girl was put into a fat suit that made her look like she weighed approximately four-hundred pounds. Furthermore, she was wearing a pair of thick-looking glasses that were taped together at the bridge piece, and a few dabs on the disguise's plump cheeks suggested something of an acne problem. Over her fat suit Sakura wore a long-sleeved blue and purple-stripped long-sleeved shirt under a large pair of overalls, a pair of sneakers, and Sakura was also carrying a few books in her arms, an extra touch that Kotaro added. A lightly-colored sun hat, under which a lot of Sakura's long hair was hidden, completed the outfit.
Next was Ayumu, who was gussied up to look like as much of a stereotypical Goth girl as the eccentric man could have managed. A black sleeveless buttoned blouse, coupled with an equally black somewhat frilly skirt that reached the teen actress zombie girl's knees, plus a pair of black boots that reached halfway up her shins. There was also the black lipstick Ayumu wore, her fingernails were painted black, and she wore black eye shadow. A few accessories such as a pair of black simple stud earrings and some bracelets on only her right wrist completed the disguise.
Lily's disguise was a lot less stand out compared to what Sakura and Ayumu both wore; Lily was simply put into a girl's school uniform from either an elementary or a middle school. The girl's school uniform consisted of a white long-sleeved sailor top with appropriate collar, a red tie worn under the collar and around the neck, a dark blue school uniform skirt that reached Lily's knees, a pair of baggy socks and a pair of brown loafers. Lily's mass of light blue hair was combed and brushed straight before a yellow hat was placed on top of her head, also Lily was given a pair of glasses that looked nowhere near as nerdy as what Sakura was given. Overall, the child actress zombie girl felt that her disguise was very appropriate. It was clear by the wide variety of disguises that the three zombie girls were wearing that Kotaro was having a lot of fun as he dressed them up.
"Ehh," Ayumu moaned in embarrassment as she looked herself over while she and the others stood outside of Nagi's front door, "Why did Mr. Kotaro dress me up as one of those dark girls that like using magic?"
"This is important to keep others from recognizing who we are, Ayumu," Sakura reminded the teen actress zombie girl, "Anyway, we should knock and see if Sigrid's old friend is home." Sakura reached forward and gave the front door a few good knocks. After a couple of seconds of waiting, the door was opened, revealing the now adult Nagi. The blonde woman wore an outfit that consisted of a pastel light blue long-sleeved blouse, a long skirt that was regular light blue, and a pair of indoor slippers.
The blonde woman looked a bit surprised to see such a select mix of girls together, here at her front door; one would not normally expect to see a young schoolgirl, a really fat nerd and a Goth all together in the same group. "Is there something that I can help you girls with?" Nagi asked, trying to be as polite to her surprise visitors as possible, "Or are one of you here looking for Sigurd? He's currently out taking his dog Freyja for a walk at the moment, but the three of you can wait here for him to come back if you'd like. He should be back before too much longer."
"Actually, my older sisters here and I were hoping that you could answer some questions for us, ma'am," Lily began as she looked up at Nagi, "Our mom told us about how she fought this one girl named Sigrid back before any of us were born, and how Sigrid took out a LOT of people before she herself was killed in that fight." At Lily's mention of the late half-foreign girl, Nagi's eyes widened a bit, as if she had just been hit with a blast from her past.
Gesturing to Sakura and Ayumu, Lily said, "My sisters and I don't quite believe what our mom told us about how one girl could do so much, but we heard that you could provide some insight, as our mom told us you were friends with Sigrid." Looking up at the blonde woman, Lily asked, "It's not too much of us to ask you a bit about that Sigrid girl, is it?"
Nagi let out a resigned sigh, a look of somber recollection on her face. "…You'd be surprised by how little people have asked me about my old friend's death over twenty years ago," the blonde woman remarked, "Wanted to get my side of the matter." Nagi stood to the side as she gestured for Sakura, Ayumu and Lily to come inside. The three girls made their way inside, although Sakura did apologize when the butt of the fat suit that she wore accidentally bumped into Nagi as she made her way inside (not that Nagi knew what it really was, mind you).
…
The three girls were seating inside of Nagi's living room, with Sakura and Ayumu together on the sofa and Lily in an armchair next to the sofa on the end that Sakura dominated. Across from the end that Ayumu sat on was an armchair that was at something of an angle, and it was in this seat that the blonde woman sat in. "So miss Nagi," Sakura began, "Our mom told us that you were thick as thieves with this Sigrid girl." Gesturing to Nagi, Sakura asked, "Could you tell us more about her?"
"Heh," Nagi chuckled, "I can't really tell you girls all that much about Sigrid without also telling you about Einherjar, the gang that Sigrid and I used to belong to way back in the day." Looking up at the ceiling in her living room, Nagi began, "Einherjar was a rather notable delinquent gang at the time, mostly due to Sigrid's practices in running it and who she accepted as members." Giving the three girls a mildly amused look, Nagi remarked, "Einherjar was a gang that was well ahead of its time, if you think about it. First off, whereas other gangs at the time were either all girls or all boys, Einherjar was a co-ed gang. We had both boys and girls in our ranks, and that was made a lot of difference; since we weren't exclusive to just one gender, we were one of the largest gangs at the time. There are still some gangs to this day that have yet to match or exceed the sheer numbers Einherjar had at its peak."
Sakura, Lily and Ayumu all looked a bit surprised at that. "Wow," Lily remarked in a mildly amazed tone, "Sigrid sounded like she was really accepting."
Nodding in agreement with the young girl, Nagi replied, "So long as you proved yourself as a 'warrior' to Sigrid, practically nothing else mattered to her. She accepted people of both genders into Einherjar. Sigrid was also lacking in vain beliefs; as an example, there was this one girl who was kicked out of her old gang because she was rather fat and the leader of that gang thought that it made her look hideous. Sigrid, after getting an idea of what the fat girl was like, offered her a new spot in Einherjar."
"Really?" Sakura asked, using the chance that was just provided to look a bit more interested, "Sigrid didn't reject people if they were fat?"
"Sigrid said that since the fat girl clearly had 'a warrior's appetite', then she definitely had to be a warrior," Nagi explained, "It was Sigrid's way of putting things." With a chuckle, Nagi went on, "Sigrid also had no issue with gay and lesbian people either. I remember going along with her, the fat girl that I just mentioned and a boy in our gang named Sigurd when we came across two delinquent girls who were beating up two other girls in their gang because the two girls that were being beaten were outed as lesbians, something that their gang would not stand for."
"I…" Sakura remarked, "…Take it that you, Sigrid, and the others put a stop to the assault?"
Nodding a few times in the affirmative, the blonde woman explained, "Those girls that were being beaten out of their gang were really thankful when me, Sigrid and the others rescued them. Sigrid also saw them fight back against their former allies, so she knew right away that the two lesbian girls were both really good in a fight. Sigrid had us take the girls back to our hangout, we treated their injuries, and Sigrid offered them a home in Einherjar as she shared Moonberry Cola with them."
"Sounds like there wasn't much that Sigrid objected to," Ayumu remarked, sounding amazed.
"Like I said," Nagi replied, "Once she acknowledged you as a warrior, Sigrid couldn't care less about anything that some others would consider as deal-breakers." Letting out a sigh, Nagi went on, "In fact, this brings me to another point in my story about how Sigrid was like, a part about our old friend Sigurd."
Raising a hand, Lily said, "Wait, I thought that you said your son's name was Sigurd."
Nagi nodded twice in the affirmative. "It is," Nagi replied, "I actually named Sigurd after me and Sigrid's friend from our old gang."
"Is there something about Sigurd that makes him so special?" Lily asked.
With a mildly amused smile, the blonde woman said, "Believe it or not, Sigurd was not born as Sigurd. Rather, he was born as Miyabi Kamora."
Ayumu, with a mildly confused look on her face, said, "Umm, that sounds like a girl's name."
"That because my old friend Sigurd was born as a girl," Nagi began to explain, drawing looks of surprise out of the three girls, Lily especially. Nodding a few times in confirmation, Nagi went on, "Sigurd was someone that was referred to as a female-to-male transgender. There is still a bit of talk going on about the matter to this day, but it was a bit worse back then. Even so, Sigrid not only accepted Sigurd either way, she was even the one who gave him the name Sigurd."
"Sigrid was the one who named him?" Sakura asked.
Nodding once, Nagi said, "Sigurd had already been a member of Einherjar for a while by the time he came out. The only objection that Sigrid had was that Sigurd was still using his female name at the time, given that he had yet to come up with a name to reflect his identity as a male." Gesturing to the girls, Nagi said, "Sigrid said that since Sigurd had failed to select his new name, the duty of selecting it fell to her. So she had him kneel before her and, using Ulfberht, she had named him Sigurd, in a ceremony sort of like when a monarch dubs someone as a knight." The three zombie girls looked like they were amazed with what they were hearing about their fellow undead from when she was still alive.
"Wow…" Lily said in a somewhat subdued tone, sounding as if she was touched emotionally, "…Sigrid sounds more and more awesome the more I hear about her…"
"Hang on," Sakura said as she looked to Nagi, "Ulfberht? What is that?"
The blonde woman, with a look of amusement on her face, got up from her chair and told the girls to wait. Nagi went upstairs for a minute, and when she came back down she was carrying a sporting equipment carrier, the handle of a metal baseball bat sticking out from the open hole in the top. Walking over to stand in front of the girls, Nagi took the metal baseball bat out of the sports equipment carrier and showed it to them, showing engravings on the side of the bat that resembled Nordic letters.
"…This," Nagi said as she gestured to the bat, "Is Ulfberht, Sigrid's old baseball bat. It was in Sigrid's hands since before she started up Einherjar, and it never left her possession until the night she was killed." With a look of somberness on her face, Nagi went on, "When me and a few others in the gang found Sigrid's body among the many bodies of those she killed in that terrible fight over two decades ago, it was me who recovered Ulfberht and the case that Sigrid stored it in. I…"
Gently shaking her head as she stopped short, the blonde woman went on when she found the words again, "…I did not want something so significant to Sigrid to fall into the hands of one of Einherjar's rivals. So I took it home with me and, well…" Putting Ulfberht back into its case, Nagi said, "…It's been in my possession ever since."
Setting the case off to the side so that it was leaning against the side of the chair she sat in, Nagi remarked, "Einherjar ended up falling apart a year or so after Sigrid was killed. A few other members, such as Sigurd and one of the two lesbian girls, died not long after, respectively due to a traffic accident and being gunned down at random in a convenience store robbery. That's the extent of what I know about my old gang members. I have no idea what happened to any of the rest of them."
Sakura, Lily and Ayumu were all shocked by the extent of what they had just learned about the past of the half-foreign zombie girl. To think that Sigrid had been so accepting, had united so many, had died in so epic a finish… Sakura felt that Sigrid was one of the very heroes from a Nordic epic poem made flesh (well, that flesh is undead, but you get the point). Sakura also felt a bit sad that the very people that Sigrid had gathered together under the banner of Einherjar ended up drifting apart when Sigrid had met her glorious end in battle. But at the same time, the long-haired zombie girl felt happy that at least one person whose life was impacted by Sigrid had not only moved on in life, but was able to do pretty well, if Nagi's home and the fact that the blonde woman was a mother was any indication.
"Hey, miss Nagi," Lily began as she wore a look of sudden inspiration on her face, "I have a quick question." After Nagi had given her the okay to proceed, the child actress zombie girl took out her smartphone (remember that Kotaro supplied all of the zombie girls with one) and asked, "Would it be okay if I took a picture or two of that bat you said you got from your friend? I want to see if me and my sisters' mom will recognize it."
Nagi, a bit amused by Lily's request, allowed Lily to take what photos she needed. Sakura and Ayumu watched as Lily took Ulfberht out of the case it was stored in, laid it on the floor so that the engravings on the side were face up, and took a few pictures. Ayumu had no idea what her child counterpart was up to, but Sakura felt like she had a pretty good idea what Lily had in mind while she was taking those photos. When Lily was done, she returned the bat to its case.
With their business at Nagi's place concluded, the three girls got up and proceeded to take their leave. However, about halfway to the front door, they stopped when the front door opened and a boy that looked to be either late middle or early high school walked in, holding onto the leash of a young adult golden retriever. This boy had long olive-brown hair and wore a long-sleeved shirt under a t-shirt that resembled a Nordic tunic, a pair of pants, and a pair of rather clunky looking sneakers. The boy gave the three girls a mildly confused look.
"Who are you three?" the boy asked as his golden retriever began growling at the three zombie girls in a way that denoted the dog as being suspicious of the girls.
Over where Nagi sat, she called out, "Sigurd, relax. These girls were just here to visit and ask me about my old friend from the gang I used to belong to before I had you." Gesturing to the golden retriever that the boy, revealed to be Nagi's son Sigurd, was walking, Nagi asked, "Also, can you get Freyja to calm down?"
"Freyja, hush girl," Sigurd told his dog as he led her out of the living room.
After Sigurd had taken his dog out of the living room and away from the girls, Nagi said to them, "That was my son Sigurd and his dog Freyja just now. Sorry that she growled at you." With a look of wonder on her face, Nagi remarked, "I wonder why Freyja was so hostile to you three just now, especially considering she's usually very friendly. Hmm, maybe it's because she's able to tell that you three are the daughters of one of the girls that belonged to one of the gangs that used to rival my old gang."
"Yeah, sure, let's go with that," Sakura remarked as she tried to get herself, Lily and Ayumu out of there as quickly as possible. The long-haired zombie girl was worried that the reason that the living dog was so hostile to her and the other two girls was that she could somehow tell that they weren't exactly 'natural'. Fearing that was the case, Sakura wanted to get away before anything bad ended up going down.
Luckily for Sakura, she was able to make up an excuse to Nagi which convinced her that the girls had to leave pronto. Despite the hiccup at the end with Nagi's son's golden retriever, Sakura and the others found their visit to Nagi's place to be very worth their time. They had a better understanding of their half-foreign friend, and Lily was particularly interested in showing Sigrid the photos that she had taken before she, Sakura and Ayumu left.
Sakura, Lily and Ayumu returned to the abandoned mansion not long after their departure from Nagi's house. When the three girls walked into the mansion through the front door, they were met up by Saki and Sigrid, both of which were in their zombie forms. Both of the living dead delinquent girls had looks of alarm on their faces when three girls who were all living girls for all that they (Saki and Sigrid) knew just walked into the mansion all willy-nilly.
"Umm, we're working on a scene in a Halloween special episode of Saga Stories," Saki said to the disguised girls, "Our makeup artists wanted us to try and work with the zombie dream scene from the series premiere for the Halloween episode."
"Saki, relax," Sakura said in a bemused tone, "It's just me, Lily and Ayumu."
Saki, when she recognized Sakura's voice, went wide-eyed with shocked surprise. "Egghead?!" Saki practically exclaimed, "Is that really you?! Holy shit!" Pointing at Sakura, the delinquent zombie girl said with some laughter in her tone, "How did you get so fucking fat?! I wasn't even aware that undead like us can even gain weight!"
As Saki was making this noise, Kotaro came walking over, having been summoned by the sheer volume of Saki's exclaiming. "Ah, about time that you three girls all got back to the mansion," the eccentric man remarked, "I take it that your little venture went by without trouble?"
Ayumu nodded once in the affirmative before saying, "Yes, Mr. Kotaro. Sakura, Lily and I got a lot out of our trip."
"So wait," Sigrid said as she pointed to the three disguised girls, "You all are simply wearing disguises?" After Sakura, Lily and Ayumu all replied in the affirmative, Sigrid pointed to Sakura and said, "Saki does have a point. Your disguise still doesn't explain what manner of sorcery had taken place to explain your newfound girth."
"It's no sorcery, Sigrid," Kotaro said as he turned to face the half-foreign zombie girl, "It's a mix of a fat suit, some costume makeup and appropriately sized clothing."
Walking over to Sakura, Saki said as she walked around her, "Damn, Shades! I knew that you were pretty damn killer when it came to making us look human before we all mastered monster glamour, but I had no idea you could gussy Egghead here up to look like a total fatass!"
Kotaro, letting out a self-amused hum, replied, "The training that I underwent in order to attain my legendary makeup skills is a pathway to many abilities that some would consider to be…unnatural." The five zombie girls that were there in that area at the time merely looked at the eccentric man with looks of mildly annoyed unamusement.
Throwing her hands up into the air, Sakura said, "Saki, Sigrid, I'll be glad to tell you and the others about what Lily, Ayumu and I had done while we were out once we get out of the getups we're wearing and back into regular clothing."
"I kind of like my outfit, though," Lily remarked as she followed Sakura and Ayumu off to a private room to get out of their disguises.
…
After Sakura, Lily and Ayumu got out of their disguises and back into their respective regular outfits, they gathered with the rest of the zombie girls and told them all about the trip that they had taken. Sigrid was particularly keen on listening in when it became obvious that the three of them had gone on a quest to learn more about her. The half-foreign zombie girl was thrown for an especially big loop when she learned that her old friend from when she (Sigrid) was still alive was, well, still alive and doing well.
It goes without saying that Sigrid had a number of questions for Sakura, Lily and Ayumu, but before she could get even one word out, some of the other zombie girls started shouting out random questions here and there, clamoring over each other as their combined efforts began to overwhelm Sakura, Lily and (especially) Ayumu.
"Sigrid's old friend had a son she named after an old friends of hers and Sigrid's?" Junko asked.
"Did she really kill eighty-seven people before she died?" Ai asked Sakura, shooting a quick sideways glance over at the half-foreign zombie girl before it was noticed.
"It's actually possible to become extremely fat in this day and age simply by putting on a costume and some makeup?" Yugiri asked, sounding and looking rather surprised.
Sakura had to stand up from where she and the other zombie girls all sat on the floor and shout over all of them in order to get them to settle down. "Quiet!" Sakura bellowed, unfortunately making Ayumu cower and cover her ears with her hands due to how loud she was. After she apologized to Ayumu when Lily was able to get her to clam down, Sakura turned her attention back to the other girls.
"Lily, Ayumu and I went to Sigrid's old friend's place because we were concerned with how Sigrid was acting earlier this morning," the long-haired zombie girl explained, "We hoped that by getting some insight on her past, we would be able to help Sigrid out of the funk she had fallen into when she woke up earlier today."
Sigrid, with her arms crossed over her chest, remarked with a slight hint of self-amusement in her tone, "I wasn't aware that my emotional well-being was of so high a priority to you. Truly you flatter me."
"Oh! Before I forget!" Lily said suddenly, making everyone look to her as she pulled out her smartphone, turned it on, and fiddled around with it for a bit. After she pulled something up on her smartphone, Lily turned it around and showed what she had pulled up to Sigrid. "Your old friend said that she collected this after you died and had kept it ever since," the child actress zombie girl said as Sigrid's eyes widened with shocked surprise upon recognizing what she was being shown. A look of confused concentration entered Lily's expression as she said, "I think that miss Nagi called it-"
"Ulfberht," Sigrid said, cutting Lily off but doing so in a way that finished what Lily was going to say anyway. Sigrid slowly took Lily's smartphone from her so she could bring the screen closer to her undead eyes. The half-foreign zombie girl could not believe what she was seeing; her cherished bat was not only still around, but it was now an heirloom weapon cared for by an old friend from her previous life.
To think that her closest ally from when she still walked among the living was doing well, having lived and gave birth to a son. But Sigrid was moved beyond words when she realized that very friend of hers was carrying on her legacy, her warrior's will, by safekeeping the very armament that Sigrid herself had used in her efforts to unite all of the delinquent gangs of the Japan from her time under a single banner.
Slowly, with a hint of somberness, Sigrid returned Lily's smartphone to her. "…Thank you, little one," Sigrid said, her tone somewhat subdued, "Giving this knowledge to me means more to me than you can begin to guess." The half-foreign zombie girl's tone sounded like she had just been reunited with multiple old friends of hers that mean everything to her draugr heart.
Lily was able to tell that she had done Sigrid a huge favor, and that alone was enough to make the child actress zombie girl glad. Glad that she had made the day for someone who she had just learned was a lot more awesome than she had initially assumed. Don't get Lily wrong; Ayumu is still her Big Sis, and no one can ever be as awesome in Lily's eyes as the teen actress that Lily wanted to be like. But Sigrid had just moved a few spaces up in Lily's ladder of the other zombie girls from least cool to coolest.
Tae and Yugiri are currently tied for least cool in Lily's opinion, in case you were wondering.
Outside of and across the street from the abandoned mansion in Saga prefecture that the girls of Franchouchou call home, one would be very much surprised to see a grown man sitting in the tree, his gaze fixed firmly on the. Although many would first assume that this man was one of the paparazzi that had taken to trying to dig into the Franchouchou girls as much as possible, this actually was not the case. But then again, most paparazzi wouldn't be dressed like that.
He wore a long-sleeved dark shirt under a green sleeveless flask jacket, pants that ended halfway down his shins with said pants being in a color similar to his shirt, a pair of open-toed sandals, and a headband over his forehead, with a metal plate that had an etching of a stylized leaf in the center. The man was fair skinned, and he had raven black hair that shot up and back, aside from some bangs that were framing his handsome face, a face that currently showed boredom.
Boredom that came to an end when another man dressed very similar to him landed on the branch in the tree next to him. The only differences were that this second man did not wear a headband over his forehead, and his hair was all pulled back into a single men's ponytail that gave off a sort-of samurai vibe. "I'm here to relieve you and take over the steak out, Sasuke," the second man said to the first.
"Heh," the first man, apparently named Sasuke, chuckled with a hint of mild amusement in his tone, "The ongoing war must be leaving the village really short-staffed if Naruto has to send us, his advisors, out on a steak out mission." Giving his fellow a wry look, Sasuke continued, "Wouldn't you agree, Shikamaru?"
"Well ever since Konoha intelligence gathered evidence suggesting that the actresses that star in 'Saga Stories' might be some manner of undead, you can see why it was prudent to try and gather as much additional info before we proceed with anything," the second man, apparently named Shikamaru, remarked, "Would you want to deal with a bunch of undead running around, and while we and our allied villages have a war on our hands no less?"
Nodding once in agreement, Sasuke said, "I see your point." Getting up from where he was sitting on that branch, Sasuke said, "Take care, man." He then took his leave, leaving so suddenly that one would assume he actually teleported instantly. Alone in that tree, Shikamaru proceeded to pick up where Sasuke left off in the steak out of the mansion that the Franchouchou girls live in.
END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER SEVEN
Author's notes:
This chapter does not have a counterpart in the series proper, as this was a Sigrid-centric chapter and she's an OC exclusive to this AU story's setting. Even so, putting time into developing the new zombie girls is something that I'm aiming to do. Just so you know, Sigrid's bat Ulfberht is a plot element that will be cropping up later down the line, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Also, the world that 'Saga Stories' belongs to just got a little bit bigger, not that any of the zombie girls are aware of it just yet.
But that's is something else for some other time. The next chapter will see Lily have her time in the spotlight. Lily, like most of the other base seven zombie girls, will have a different cause of death in this story compared to what she got in the series proper; Lily's COD is the only thing about her that I'm really changing, if I'm to be completely honest here. Everything else about the child actress zombie girl is A-Okay in my book.