"Move! We gotta hurry to the ships !" I yelled

I motioned for Mash and Francis to follow me. I ran towards a red ship with white interior as Emiya and Quetzalcoatl were busy holding the flesh off.

I pushed the door to its control center but it wouldn't budge.

"MOVE OUT THE WAY!" Francis kicked the door down as she ran inside.

I ran after her. I came across the numerous controls of the ship. They were various shapes and colors and me being a complete noob when it comes to operating aquatic transport vehicles made my confusion worse.

"Francis! Do you know how to start this ship?"

"I have the rider skill that allows me to ride any vehicle but this ship still needs to have its power turned on in order for me to drive it!"

Crap, we don't have time to figure it out on our own. I need to think! How do we figure out how to start this ship?

Wait a minute

"Instructions!"

"What ?" Mash asked.

"I need to find a manual !"

"Hold on, it might be in the captain's office !"

"Ok I think I know where it is. It is in the hallway to the right of this room !"I said looking at the map of the ship on the desk.

I dashed towards the hallway and entered the office. I pulled against the shelves but it was unsuccessful.

"Crap, they're locked!" I kicked the shelf in frustration.

The shelf drawer opens in response.

Well that was unexpected, but I ain't looking at a gift horse in the mouth.

I saw multiple documents inside, I scrounged through and found the manual.

"I got it !" I yelled towards Francis.

"Good ! Pass it to me !" She replied back.

I handed the manual to her as I frantically tried to open it.

"Ok it says here that we need to find and turn on the generators."

"Where are they ?"

"There are 4 of them, all of them are located in lower levels."

"Got it, we'll head there. You make sure to get the ship ready for sailing immediately"

"Roger that Master."

"Come with me Mash."

We headed towards the lower levels of the ship, as we got closer it became more apparent that we might encounter the flesh. The blood splattered across the walls was a clear indication of that. As the lower levels became darker I turned on my flashlight as I kept constant attention to my surroundings. Some of the lights were functioning but still dimly lit.

I came across a door with the words "power room" engraved onto it. I opened it carefully, expecting flesh to jump out at me. But instead I was tackled by a very solid figure.

"Gah– Mash watch out" I struggled to get the figure off my body who I could now confirm to be a human. I watched as two other people tackled Mash.

She could have knocked these guys out by now but Romani's orders were to recover any survivors and that meant that we couldn't harm any survivors we met unless absolutely necessary.

"Chill out man ! We are normal ! We are humans !" I begged for him to release me as I saw him pull out a knife.

"Lies !" the insane man yelled.

"What are you talking about !? We are solid and have none of the features of those flesh monsters !"

"Shut up, Shut up, Shut up, SHUT UP !" the man yelled as he weaved his knife towards my throat.

"Jeez Mash ! Help me !" I blocked the knife with my hand as I called her out for help.

My forearm was pierced by the knife as a result. I struggled against the knife as he pushed down harder with the goal of aiming for my neck.

"Senpai!" Mash yelled

I knocked him off my body as adrenaline coursed through my veins. Mash quickly threw one of the men into a wall knocking them out and slammed her shield through the other man's stomach, impaling him. She was frozen in fear and the realization that she just killed a person.

I didn't have time to ponder on how to comfort her as the man in front of me charges with his knife. I dodged last minute as the knife grazed my jacket.

"We are not one of those flesh monsters ! Please believe us !"

"Bullshit !" He swings his knife at me.

I catch it before it reaches my neck. Mash comes into my rescue as she punches him catching him off guard. I tackle him to the ground and grasp the knife he previously held and pushed and pulled as he tried to take it away from my hands.

"Sir please stop !"

"Go to hell you damn monst–" the words seized in his mouth as I felt my hands on his chest. I looked down and saw that the knife had pierced through his chest.

"Shit, Mash help me put pressure on the wound !" Shit I messed up. I slipped and my knife is now lodged in his chest.

"Senpai, we can't heal his wounds like this ! We need to take him to the medics in Chaldea !"

"But we can't Mash ! We need to start this ship or our mission will end in failure. We are already surrounded by the flesh."

"I am sorry but we have got to leave him."

What kind of a master even am I? I killed the first survivor I have seen from the outside world in years.

"Senpai, is there really no other way ?"

"I am sorry Mash but we have no choice. You said it yourself back at Chaldea, we have to save what's left of humanity. In this case, we have to let him die in order to contact more survivors."

Regret filled my heart as I watched the man slowly lose the light from his eyes. At least one of them is still alive.

"Mash help me tie up the guy you knocked out, we will ask him questions later. Let's head to the generators and get this ship started."

I wrapped my wound and taped the hole on my jacket as I walked towards the generators.

The ship's engine starts emitting a roar as all the lights turn on throughout the ship.

"Yes Mash we did it !"

"Yes.."

I felt like kicking myself right now. Why the hell did I think it would be right to celebrate after I just killed a person a few minutes ago ?

"Mash I am sorry, I didn't mean to kill him."

"It's alright senpai."

"Mash, I am really sorry. I have been a jerk to you since this morning and now I messed up and made you watch this guy die."

Why am I such a failure ?

"Senpai, we couldn't have done anything to stop this. The man was too delirious to contemplate his actions."

"I know but I wish we could have been more careful."

"HEY GUYS, THANKS FOR STARTING THE SHIP. WE WILL START OUR TRIP TO OUR DESTINATION NOW" Francis's voices boomed through the radios in the ship.

I rushed along with Mash outside to alert Emiya and Quetzalcoatl.

"Emiya! Quetz ! The ship is ready ! We are leaving now !"

Emiya continued to kill a few more of the flesh with his flaming sword. According to him, the sword he wielded belonged to Surtr the guardian of Muspelheim, the bringer of Ragnarok. Thank god Emiya had it in his arsenal or we would have been screwed a long time ago. Emiya eventually bolted towards us and jumped with quick speed. Quetz on the other hand decided that she needed to slow down the flesh so she jumped and firmly kicked the ground with her heel, sending numerous flesh monsters flying away. She abruptly ran and jumped towards our ship as it began its movements.

"What do you think of that Master ?! Not bad am I?" She smirked

"Thank you Quetz, your strength is still impressive." I complimented her. Even though her lack of flame based abilities put us at a disadvantage, her strength was still plentiful. Romani insisted on bringing her with us to South America due to it being close to Mexico and her connection to the sun as well. She knows the area pretty well and she might be able to figure out what happened to the sun.

"I can't wait to reach South America ! Once we reach there we can travel around and maybe even go to North America ! The thought of going to Mexico again sends flutters to my heart !"

How can she be so happy after everything that's happened ? Does she not realize that being a servant will not protect her from the sun ? Sure maybe many years ago she might have been able to somewhat control the sun, but the sun as it is now is something completely monstrous. She was once called the god of the sun, but I don't believe for a second she is. If she was a god of the sun then she would not have made so many people and her fellow servants suffer. As much as I would like to call her out on her happy go lucky attitude, I can't do that to her. She despite her quirks has been a great friend to me. It's not her fault for not being able to control the sun. I am still quite curious about what she thinks about the change in the sun.

"Hey Quetz, can I ask you something personal?"

"Sure Master !"

"How are you able to keep going on despite how the world has turned upside down ? You are Quetzalcoatl the god of wind, god of culture, spirit of rain, and also the god of the Sun. Doesn't it bother you that the Sun has gone out of your control ? We have been through alot but I never imagined that we would lose so many people that we cared about. Doesn't it bother you that despite the power you have as a god you can't give a proper salvation to the people who have been turned into the flesh ? Doesn't it bother you that the only thing you can give them is death ?"

"Master, I think about it everyday. I think about my failure in my duties as a goddess. I failed to save humanity from something that I was supposed to have control over. Even now I can't help but remember the people that I have failed. But I try to keep moving forward, because it's the only thing I can do to atone for my failure. I can't give up because I have no right to. I was blessed with power as a goddess therefore I have no right to give up, humans were powerless for the majority of human history and they still persevered. Humans created huge civilizations and even put themselves on the moon, this was all the result of them moving forward regardless of the hell they faced. They walked into that hell and never looked back, that is why I as a goddess can't give up. I have no excuse for it."

"Quetz…, I am sorry I didn't mean to assume that you didn't care."

"No worries master ! I know you didn't ask this question with ill intent. I know you were asking this question from a place of pain."

"What ?"

"Master, you are not fooling anybody here. Your fellow co-workers in Chaldea may not notice it but we servants who have been by your side can see that you are in pain. Don't think for a second that none of us saw or heard about your outburst towards Mash this morning."

"Look I am sorry about what I did to Mash. I have not been alright ever since what happened to Serenity."

"Master, you know for a fact that what happened was not your fault. You couldn't have known what would happen. We all thought she would be fine. Our lack of information is what caused her to suffer."

"It doesn't change the fact that I lost her ! It doesn't change the fact that I had to hear her utter her last words to me ! She never once in her life had someone she could touch and be close with. I was the first one she was able to. And I was the one who told her to foolishly go outside at night. I should have known that the sun's light would be reflected by the moon, but in the end it was too late ! It's not fair, I was the first one she could be close to and I was the one to end her. I–" I was cut short as I felt long arms wrap around my body.

Quetz was hugging me. She was nuzzling her head against my face.

"Don't. Please Don't. I won't hear it from you. I can't handle it."

I looked up to see a most shocking sight. Quetzalcoatl was crying, tears from her face were dripping onto my shirt through her mask as she hugged me tightly.

"Please stop blaming yourself ! If you won't do it for yourself then do it for me ! I can't stand watching you hide your pain behind your eyes. I want to let you know that no matter what happens I will always be there for you ! If you have any problems then please talk to me like you did now ! The more you hide it the worse it gets ! Please I have lost Ereshkigal and Ishtar, I don't want you to lose you too."

I never thought I would see the day where one of my own servants would cry. They are people after all. I should have known about this. Quetz and the others were also in pain. I can't let them suffer because of me.

"I am sorry Quetz." I apologized as I hugged her back.

"I will let you know from now on if I am ever feeling down."

"Thank you." she replied

"No, Quetz, thank you. I needed this. I have been running around with my head underground without ever noticing how my friends ever felt. Our time in this world is limited, even for you. I want to have good memories with you before anything happens. We have both lost a lot therefore let's make the most of what we have left. What do you say Quetz ?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea ! Just promise me something."

"Another promise ? You are asking a lot from me aren't you ?" I cheekily teased her.

"Oh shut up you !"

"Ok fine what is it you want me to promise ?"

"Promise me that if I ever turn into one of those flesh things I want you to burn my body until there is nothing left for the sun to reanimate. Bury the remains of my ashes in Mexico, my homeland. I want to die and be buried with my dignity intact. I want humanity to remember me even when I am dead."

I was stunned by her proclamation. I didn't want to lose her too. But it is inevitable in the hellish world we live in. I can only protect her for so long until the sun comes to take her away. I won't let that happen ! Not again ! She genuinely thinks she might die in this mission. I refuse to let that come to pass. We will visit Mexico after we finish our mission in South America. We will eat some tacos and have some drinks while we are there. Maybe we could engage in some lucha libre ! She will finally get the chance to experience authentic Mexican wrestling after many years. She will. I know she will.