Romano and Madoka finished up in the rooms near to the bedrooms and moved on to the sports center. Together, they combed through the gym (enlisting Oni for help for a brief moment), then moved to the fitness room. Everything seemed to be perfectly in order.
Everything was...
A familiar chime tolled. Instantly, Madoka's whole world turned upside-down.
"A body has been discovered! You have thirty minutes to investigate, then a trial will begin!"
No...no...no...God, please, no...
"Clair!" Madoka bolted out of the fitness room, new tears springing to his eyes. He was barely conscious of Romano chasing after him as he raced up the stairs, vision blurred. "CLAIR!"
"Good luck charm?"
Madoka skidded to a stop, whirling towards the rec room. Clair's figure slowly emerged, her expression concerned.
She's safe. She's safe. Thank God! She's safe!
"Clair!" Madoka ran to her, nearly tackling her. Clair yelped. "Oh my gosh, don't youever scare me like that again! Where have you been?! I was worried sick about you, I thought someone killed you! Oh gosh, I-I'm so glad you're okay...C-Clair...!"
"Shh, shh..." Clair patted his back gently, as if everything was fine. Somehow, it only made Madoka feel worse. "It's okay now, good luck charm. I'm alright. I-I'm sorry, when you didn't come back I started looking for you, and I guess we must have missed each other..."
What? Missed each other? No...there's no way. But...
Madoka sniffled, pulling back and looking Clair in the eyes. She smiled at him, patting his shoulder.
Where was she?
Romano jogged up behind the two of them, brushing off his shirt. "I hate to interrupt such a touching reunion, but there are more pressing matters to attend to. Namely, beginning our investigation."
"Investigation..." An odd look was reflected in Clair's eyes. Madoka shuddered, his head swimming.
Where were you? Where were you? Clair, what happened?
"W-were you..." Madoka swallowed, his hands moving to grasp Clair's. "W-were you safe? Who was with you? Where's Faqir?"
"Faqir?" Clair peered down the opposite hallway, noticing a shape struggling to sit up. "Is that him? I'm afraid his bracelet didn't fix my nearsightedness, haha."
Something is wrong. Something is horribly, horribly wrong. Why is she so calm? No, she's not--why is she so fidgety?
"W-we need to..." The words stuck. Madoka clung to Clair's hand, dragging her back towards the casino. Romano hurried behind them. "Come on. There's...there's blood over here..."
Clair suddenly yanked her arm away, holding her right arm close to her body. "I-I can walk alright alone, don't worry. I won't leave this time...do you hear that?"
"I believe we should be focused on what we see." Romano gestured to the casino. The door hung open. At their feet, Faqir stirred, slowly sitting up with a groan.
Madoka look one look into the room...and collapsed to his knees.
What? What? Is that...why? W-when? Did I...is this...
The words stuck.
Without a word, Romano entered the room and knelt beside Mercy--Mercy, the Ultimate Hunter, reduced to a sobbing mess. Mercy, who had just been with Eriko, alive and--
Eriko.
Desperate to confirm it with his own eyes, Madoka raced into the room. The sight of Eriko's body--Eriko, who he had seen alive and well only half an hour ago--Eriko was still and cold.
No. No. No...
"No..."