Multifandom Oneshot Book

Scene - Memento Mori

Walls of frigid stone, weathered grey and smooth by storm and time, a modest mausoleum stood resolute and silent, watching the world. Within was the preserved body of a young man, lying in a casket with his arms crossed over his chest. In one hand was clasped a microphone and in the other, the neck of his most prized electric guitar. The grave didn't get many visitors anymore; at first there had been hundreds, so many fans coming to cry at the musician's place of rest. They came to beg for him to return, came to thank him, came to remember. But over time, just like all people, he'd been gradually forgotten.

Atop the casket's smooth stone lid sat the image of a young man, the same young man whose remains were interred there. The spirit hopped down from his perch and left the mausoleum, glancing at the fresh bouquet that Morgan had left him that morning and the box of whoppers from Matthew. He smiled, he still remembered that day; the day their friendship had really kicked off. 

Outside the mausoleum gate, the musician glanced skyward; the moon was full. No cloud cover either. It was a rare sight. 

Suddenly he heard a disturbance to the left of him, he turned and could faintly make out the figure of someone approaching and quickly made himself invisible so he could observe them and not startle them.

The figure got closer; they were female, and rather tall, Nate guessed about 5'5", and she hugged herself tightly as she trudged towards his resting place. 

Getting there, the girl gently lay a hand on the cold stone. She stood there in silence for a while, just gazing up at the moon, her eyes empty of all emotion. 

The musician moved closer to her, trying to get a better look at her; dark hair that shone in the moonlight, given a faint purple halo and pale blue eyes.

She flinched as he got closer to her, her hand snatched away from the stone and clasped to her chest as her eyes darted around. She was afraid. "...no..." Her hushed voice had a rather strong British accent to it, though it had a faint musical twang the musician couldn't place. "Don't be stupid... you're just paranoid." She moved forward again, gently placing a hand on the gate and looking through the bars at his casket. "Hey there Nate... sorry I couldn't come earlier, sorry I'm almost two years late, but y'know how it is; had to save up for passport, visa and airline tickets." Her voice was quickly choked with tears. "Sora wanted to come too, but they couldn't afford it. So they asked me to say hi from them too. Anyway I just kinda wanted to thank you; I know you've probably heard it from thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people by now, but you've saved our lives more times than we'd like to admit." Her voice broke again, her tears spilling out and her sobbing unrestrained. "Y-you... you insp-pired me s-so much Nate... I'm almost s-sorry I couldn't help you." She fell to her knees now, body curled in on itself and shaking from her weeping. "I-if I'd been here you might st-still be...."

Nate's expression changed from a sad smile to shock. "N-no! It wasn't you're fault there was nothing you could've done."

The girl looked up, those pale eyes shining with tears. She'd heard him? "N-nate?"

"Wh-what?!" 

She hadn't actually heard  him per se, but she could sense his presence. "Nate? Are you st-still here?"

He didn't know how to respond, no one had been able to actually know he was here. He tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder, seeing what would happen.

The girl jolted, her hand going to where his spectral one rested. Her eyes darted around frantically before eventually settling on where Nate floated.

"C-can you... see me?"

She didn't respond, she just shook slightly, still silently sobbing. Nate could almost hear her inner conflict. She must think she was crazy, but there was probably a part of her that desperately wanted what she felt to be real. Suddenly, she dropped. She didn't pass out, just fell to her knees. Shifting so she was sitting, the strange girl pulled her knees up to her chest and leant against the stone wall of the mausoleum. "You are, aren't you? Why haven't you moved on yet? It's been two years already, what business could you possibly have left unfinished?"

Nate settled next to her, "I don't know really... I just kinda woke up in that coffin."

"Is it Morgan?"

That gave him pause, he'd tried following her hoome once, but that had been in the early days. Maybe he was a strong enough spirit to manage it now?

"You want to protect her, don't you, want to keep watch. You always did strike me as the guardian type." She chuckled weakly, "Matt did a special Game Theory in your memory you know. A Ni No Kuni one, can't remember exactly what it was on right now but it was really nice. Dookie did a video on how Zoroark could fuck you up too, we needed some levity after you'd passed." 

Nate managed a smile too, it was so strange seeing this girl go from inconsolable to semi-enthusiastic. 

"We still miss you... I keep checking your twitter every day, there are thousands of replies to your last tweet saying how much people miss you, how much they love you." There was the sadness again, the tears. "Dookie and Morgan still have their memorial tweets to you pinned, I don't think it'll ever change." She wrapped her arms around herself tightly as a frigid wind blew through. "I'm still worried about her. I know she never tweeted much normally but she's been unnaturally silent lately. I wish I could help you get to her, I just don't know where she lives... next time she comes you need to stick close to her, maybe possess something in her pocket like her keys or something like that. I know real life isn't Ghost Trick but it's worth a shot eh?" Her gaze shifted, moving from the moon to where Nate's spirit sat. He could see it in her eyes; she could  see him. "You deserve rest, Nate." She stood, looking back through the bars and taking out a book from her coat. "Here, I know it's not much but I printed out all the fics I wrote about you and hand bound them, I'd always wanted to give you this and I guess now's my chance." She crouched and slid it through the bars before standing again, her hand going to the plaue next to the door.

Meminisse oportet te mori et vivere summa.

Remember you must die, so live to the fullest.