Mercy shifted. Her eyes fluttered, briefly. Everything was a blur of colors.
She was awake, if just barely, but a minute or so passed before she began to register what was happening. Shifting again, Mercy groaned, attempting to hoist herself up off the ground and into a sitting position. Her head throbbed with pain. The world looked as though it were at an angle. She held a hand up to her head, closing her eyes for just a moment.
She felt like she was going to throw up all of her insides.
Eriko...
An unidentifiable feeling formed in the pit of her stomach. She turned her head, expecting the Ultimate Puzzle Solver to be standing next to her. Instead, Faqir laid unconscious on the floor, Eriko nowhere to be seen.
She stared for a moment.
"Eriko," she muttered, her voice quieter than usual. "Where...?"
The feeling in her gut quickly evolved, fear and panic now swelling in her chest. Breath catching in her throat, Mercy attempted to stand, but the second she moved everything spun with twice as much ferocity. She stumbled, hands falling against the wall for support. It was as though the ground below her was constantly moving.
I can't... Mercy held back another bout of nausea, feeling as though she was on a never-ending merry-go-round. Groaning, she steeled herself. Through the dizziness, debilitating headache, and circus ride, she made her way over to the closest door--the casino door. She rested against it for a moment, then opened it, attempting to focus her vision.
"A body has been discovered! You have thirty minutes to investigate, then a trial will begin!"
"No," Mercy whispered, staring in disbelief. "No, no, no, no..."
Breaking into a dizzy sprint, Mercy found herself running forward and crumbling next to Eriko's fallen figure. The girl laid on her side, blood pooling under her head and blonde hair spilling out in different directions. Her eyes were closed and her lips parted slightly, her face having completely lost its warmth. Mercy's gaze fell to the girl's hands, which were clasped together tightly, held close to her heart.
Water formed in Mercy's eyes. Her head pounded even more than before. Pain, tears, and dizziness blurred her vision. Hands shaking, she reached out to brush the hair out of Eriko's face, swallowing sobs that bubbled in the back of her throat.
Why?
Her heart raced.
"Why?" She whispered, suddenly taking the girl into her arms. Eriko was limp, her entire weight pressing into Mercy's body. In a word, she was lifeless. "Why!?"
Despite herself, she screamed out in utter anguish. "Why?!"
Sobs becoming harder to control, Mercy pulled the girl even closer to her, begging in the back of her mind for Eriko to somehow spring to life. She repeated things over and over again, unfinished thoughts becoming amalgamations of please and who and why. Finally, after all words had turned into strangled sobs, she choked out, "why her?"