Three Months

Beds

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.