The next morning when Dimentio woke up he felt just awful. The past few days he almost thought he was getting better, but the last night sure proved him wrong. Everything ached and he couldn't even think about food without feeling nauseous.

He wasn't feeling very hopeful that day, so he decided to go out. He didn't tell Luigi this time. Even though it had been a while since he and Luigi went out to do anything, he wanted to be alone. He knew Luigi wouldn't understand.

He didn't eat breakfast that morning, even though his stomach felt empty. He tried getting out of the house as quickly as possible, only taking a fraction of a second to look at himself in the mirror. His skin was slightly paler and he was already thinner.

He made his way outside before Mario or Luigi could ask him what the last night was all about and snuck around the edge of town. He wasn't heading to the woods, but instead to the northern end of town. Still, to avoid being seen, he stayed outside the streets and walked around back.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, he arrived at the entrance to the cemetery.

It wasn't as creepy as he imagined, which was good. He didn't want it to be sad and creepy. The sun being out also helped give it an overall brighter appearance.

He carefully stepped inside, looking at all the occupied and unoccupied places to rest.

"Oh, are you here to visit someone?" A small blue toad asked in a voice that was too chipper for the setting. Dimentio jumped a little, startled by the sudden noise, then turned around himself, hoping and praying that whoever this was wouldn't recognize him. Thankfully, when their eyes met, the blue toad didn't look afraid.

"Um, no," Dimentio admitted. "I came to look for... you know..." he trailed off, nervously swallowing and rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Ah," the toad nodded, immediately understanding. "For a friend or a relative?"

"For me," Dimentio answered.

The toad's face immediately turned to a saddened frown, their eyes softening.

"Oh... I'm so sorry," they muttered. But they didn't dally on the subject. Working at a cemetery, they probably dealt with this a lot. "Well, follow me. I'll show you a few sights."

Dimentio nodded, allowing the toad to lead the way. He tried not to think of this as the situation it was, but instead as something more light-hearted. This was just like mattress shopping, he told himself. I'm just looking for a bed.

"This section is where most people choose to be. These graves are the most well maintained and there's nothing blocking the sun, so people like them. Plus, it's not a long walk from the entrance, so it's easy to access. " The toad started, stopping on a hill that angled down so the castle could be seen. It was a rather nice view, Dimentio noted. However, he didn't like how many graves there were.

"It's a little crowded," Dimentio muttered, looking down at the grass which was neatly trimmed. It was clear that all the graves were being well maintained, which was good. He liked that they were being taken care of.

"Yeah... I feel that," The toad admitted, putting their hands on their hips. "Well, come along. I'll show you a better place."

Dimentio nodded, looking down and following. He felt horrible being there. It made dying seem so much more real. But, he supposed this was a perk of dying slowly. He could prepare and choose this stuff in advance.

Still, it hurt to be out there all alone-

As if on cue, he heard a high-pitched bark from behind him. He and the toad both whirled around to see Polterpup, happily sitting in front of a grave and wagging its tail while sticking its tongue out. Dimentio let out a brief sigh of relief, then kneeled down and rubbed the pup's head.

"Is that Luigi's dog?" The toad asked, cocking their head to the side.

"It's my best friend," Dimentio corrected. "I don't really think it belongs to anyone. It's more of a companion than a pet."

"I see," the toad nodded, smiling and waving Dimentio forward. "Well come along then."

Dimentio nodded and followed, leaning his head down slightly and whispering a soft, "Thank you," to Polterpup.

The dog nodded at him in response, almost as if it was saying, "Don't worry. You don't have to do this alone."

Dimentio was grateful. Even though he didn't want to tell Luigi about what he was going through, it was nice not to be all alone out there. He wished Polterpup could actually speak so it could respond to him, but then again if it could, he never would have told it anything.

"Okay, I think you'll like this place," the toad explained stopping again in another location. There were fewer graves and the ones that were there were more spaced out. But there was no view and the grass was a little too overgrown.

He supposed he was just being picky at that point. He knew it truly didn't matter where he was buried since he'd be dead and no longer able to form an opinion. However, he still wanted a nice place to rest. It was silly, but he wanted a place where people could go and not feel depressed. Not that anyone would come to see him.

Dimentio just stayed silent, looking down at Polterpup and shaking his head.

The toad noted his sorrowful expression, then let out a small breath. "Hey... I get you're scared. Dying's pretty scary, isn't it?" They asked.

Dimentio silently nodded, still looking down. He didn't like how it was so clear how terrified he was, but he didn't feel too ashamed of appearing weak either.

"But at least you have time to prepare and say goodbye, you know?" The toad pointed out. "I mean, nothing's worse than leaving without saying anything. Now come along. There's one more place I think you'll really like."

Say goodbye to who? Dimentio wanted to ask. Who are you to pretend to understand what I'm going through? You're not dying!

But he didn't say any of that. He just silently followed. Because deep down he knew the toad was just doing their job and that the toad was right. It was good that he had time to do stuff like this.

Although a part of him was really wishing he hadn't come there because it was really bumming him out and making the entire situation more and more real.

The toad led them to the back corner of the cemetery, where the small creek from the forest was flowing by. There were two cherry trees and only a few other graves scattered around. "This area is almost empty because it's so far from the entrance, so you won't have to worry about crowds." The toad explained.

Dimentio looked around, then cast Polterpup a short glance, walking around and trying to take the scene in. He sat down on the grass, which was short and soft. Not recently trimmed, but taken care of enough to contain it. When he looked up, he could see the sunlight streaming through the two trees.

"In the spring, the cherry blossoms bloom, so you'll always have flowers," The toad told him while Polterpup happily trotted around. Dimentio nodded. He liked that. He wanted to have flowers, even if they weren't from anyone specifically. He then took a shaky breath, listening to the sound of the trickling water nearby softly.

"The air is still," Dimentio noted, carefully lying down on the grass and looking up.

"Yeah. We don't get a lot of wind down here," The toad said.

Dimentio wished that they did. He wished he could feel a soft breeze. He didn't like how calm and tranquil the air was. It felt too dead and still. He wanted the wind to blow so he could feel the other spirits. He wanted to tell himself that they were still there.

"Well, how do you like it, sir?" The toad asked, softly smiling.

Dimentio paused, then let out a long sigh, looking at Polterpup, who was happily barking at a squirrel that crawled up the left cherry tree. He smiled at the dog, then sat up and looked at the toad.

"I... really don't want to die," he said.

The toad stilled, then sat down next to him, trying to offer compassion. "I know..." they trailed off. "No one does. Even if they think they do, deep inside they really don't. It must be hard. Doing this, I mean."

Dimentio nodded, bringing his knees up to his chest and hugging them. "I just- I... I don't want to go yet. But I can't seem to save myself. There's nothing I can do! I'm trapped in a current and I can't escape, no matter how hard I try to swim away!"

The toad blinked twice, waiting in silence for exactly eighteen seconds. Dimentio counted. They then took a short breath, looking up at the sky.

"I know. I know. But... we're all trapped in that current. We're all going to die someday," The toad told him, "I get that it's scary. I've dealt with a number of scared people. But... well, sometimes stuff like this just happens, and we're helpless to stop it."

"Yeah..." Dimentio trailed off, his voice softer than before because he knew this toad was right. There really was nothing he could do.

He then cleared his throat. "I think I like this place. It's lovely."

The toad paused a minute, then took out a small clipboard, marking the location. "Alright then. Can I get a name?"

Dimentio felt his shoulders tense slightly. He absolutely couldn't say 'Dimentio,' because even if this toad specifically didn't recognize him, there surely would be someone who recognized that name.

Besides, he didn't want his grave to say Dimentio.

He wanted it to say his name. His real name. He didn't want to die as Dimentio, he wanted to die as himself.

So, Dimentio stood himself up and whispered his name to the toad. The toad smiled in return, then told Dimentio that they'd reserve the spot.

"I don't need an exact timeline, and you don't have to answer this because I know it's hard to tell, but when do you think you'll be... you know..." The toad awkwardly trailed off.

"In less than three weeks," Dimentio replied in a slightly shaky voice. He wasn't sure if he was more shaken over the fact that he only had a few weeks left, or because he had spoken his own name out loud for the first time in many many years.

The toad's eyes widened and an almost heartbroken expression formed. "Oh... I'm so sorry..." They trailed off.

"Yeah. I know," Dimentio sorrowfully replied.

The toad then filled out a few more things on their clipboard. They made sure Dimentio was alright, then walked off, readying for the next poor soul who was looking for a resting place. This must have been a really sad place to work, having to tour people who were about to die around as they searched for a final resting place. It was like buying houses, but a whole lot more depressing.

As soon as the toad left, Dimentio allowed a few tears to fall. He sat down with his back to one of the cherry trees and covered his face. "I don't want this," he whispered, his voice shaking.

Polterpup softly whined, sitting down next to Dimentio and leaning its head on him almost as if it was saying, I don't want this either.

"You're not going to tell Luigi about this, right?" Dimentio softly asked, looking down at Polterpup.

The dog simply stayed silent, leaning into him.

"Good," Dimentio whispered, trying to wipe his tears away with the palm of his hand. "I just- I don't want him worrying. You know. He seems so happy. I don't want him to know."

He really hoped he could leave before it happened, that way Luigi would never have to know. It would probably be best that Luigi thought he just left instead of being punched in the face by the reality of this. Not that he'd care that much, but knowing Luigi, he'd still probably at least be a little sad.

Right?

"When I go..." Dimentio trailed off, resituating himself so he was sitting crisis cross then gently picking up Polterpup so the little guy was sitting on his lap, "Can you bring him here to visit? At least once. He doesn't have to know that it's me since a different name will be written, but I want him to at least visit once."

Polterpup nodded then barked, getting off Dimentio's lap and jumping around, signifying that it wanted to leave. Dimentio lightly smiled at the dog, then wiped the last of his tears and stood himself up, using the cherry tree as support until he steadied himself. Even tasks as minimal as standing and walking were getting harder.

"You're right," Dimentio told Polterpup. "We should go. I'll be spending enough time here in a few weeks."

So, he followed the ghost dog out, feeling the deathly still air and longing for a breeze. It was quite a walk from the entrance, and an even further walk back to the house. He was already out of breath, but he could make it.