Bury Me Shallow, I'll Be Back

Mash digs the grave herself. 

The soil is too hard for any of the staff to lend a hand. With the contract broken, Mash doesn’t have any more strength than the average human either, but what she lacks in power she makes up with stubbornness. The result is a shallow, dirty mess, which will surely be unearthed after the first rain. But this is the only thing she can give. 

She wants to lower the body too, but the effort of digging took too much out of her. The Chaldea staff does it in her stead. Meunière spreads a blanket over the trunk, hiding most of the injuries. Like this, it almost looks like Senpai is sleeping.

For a moment, there is nothing but silence. No one wants to be the first one to speak.

Eventually, Director Goredolf steps forward. “I… know I have not known the Master of Chaldea for long, compared to some of you. But they were still- very influential to me. I owe them my life, multiple times over.” Mash remembers- the first time he stepped into Chaldea. The arrogance and disdain dripping off his every word. There is none of that right now. He looks down at the corpse, pain all over his features. 

“We disagreed on many things.” The New Director continues. “But they were- truly, one of the bravest, one of the strongest, one of- of the kindest people I have ever met. They were… a splendid human.”

Yes. Senpai… was a human. Despite what anyone might think, mage or demon pillar or servant- they were a human. Just a simple, ordinary human.

And ordinary humans die when they are killed.

“Senpai was…” What can she even say here? How can one summarize an entire life, and entire relationship, in a handful of words? Nothing she can could possibly be enough. Nothing she can say can possibly give them justice. “They were… my first friend. My best friend. They were… they were everything to me.”

And now they’re gone.

She had lost the doctor. She had lost Da Vinci. Through everything, through everything- they had been the one person she could always lean on.

And now she is the last one. 

“I…” Her voice cracks, then. Her whole body seizes, overtaken by grief, and she hiccups a sob.

It’s like a dam has broken. One by one, the people around the grave start weeping as well. Director Goredolf stands quietly, tears streaming down his face. Meunière wails, a profound, broken sound from the depth of his soul. Sion closes her eyes, huffs, then punches a nearby tree.

“Damn it,” she hisses, “damn it all!”

So, this is it. This is the end. Without anyone with Master affinities, they’re all doomed. Without servants, none of them have the firepower to survive this.

Still, they have to try. To honor their sacrifice, if nothing else-

“Oh thank god I found you guys in time.”

The entirety of the Chaldea crew turns at the same time, facing the voice. The sight renders Mash speechless.

Senpai stands among the bushes, well and alive, while their corpse lies barely a few feet away.

Their gaze goes from Mash, to the grave, to Mash again. “Ah. This is. Really awkward.” 

“You-”

Mash doesn’t know who spoke up, and she doesn’t care. Senpai jumps into the clearing, hurrying towards them. “Look, I’m really, really sorry, but I’m kind of on a time limit here. I give it maaaybe two hours until Benni-Enma tracks me down, three if I’m lucky and she fights the Wild Hunt on the way for custody over my soul. So. Uhm. Can I ask you guys to grieve me later? Please? We have to move now. ”

“You are dead.” It’s Director Goredolf this time. He looks like he’s been hit by a truck. “You- you are dead. We buried you.”

“I know.” They smile at him, because why wouldn’t they? “But if you don’t move now, you all will die too. Please. I can’t help you guys as much as I used to. I don’t know how long it takes to crawl out of an underworld. We need to do as much as possible while I’m here.”

Mash recognizes that attitude. They’ve been like that for as long as Mash can remember. Always looking forward. Sometimes, it felt like if they paused for a second, if they looked back even once- they would die. Like a shark, at risk of drowning the second it stops moving. Sometimes, it felt like they were running at full speed, because the road beneath their feet was crumbling, and if they thought back on their losses, if they spent too long reminiscing, they would fall apart with it. Senpai is urging them all to do the same now- Eurydice begging Orpheus to leave her behind, to just move, move, move, crawl as far as they can, to keep their sorrow in until they’re safe to express it.

Mash hates it. She hates it like she has never hated anything before.

But they are running out of time.

She reaches out, grabs Senpai’s arm. She’s still crying, but she refuses to let the tears blurry her sight. “Lead the way, Senpai.”