Death slowly circled around Hatsu, deliberately making his footsteps quiet, but not inaudible. He wanted the boy to focus on his other senses, rather than lauding the loss of his sight; any warrior worth their title was capable of working with what they had at any given moment, and it was a skill Hatsu would need to master sooner rather than later. This was a good first step.<br/><br/>Just before his attack, Death put a bit more weight into his steps, with the express intention of giving Hatsu a little bit more to work with. Since this was to be their first duel, he decided to go for a straightforward approach to give him a better chance of retaliation; to that end, once he was just to the boy's left side, he raised a fist and ran at him, preparing to deliver a simple but powerful punch to his chest. It would be an easy move to dodge, as intended, but if he failed to react, it would certainly hurt.<br/><br/>--------------------------<br/><br/>The elevator stopped on floor 58, as intended, its doors opening to a silent Merle sitting in the corner beside a still-collapsed Vaan. It took several minutes for the girl to finally raise her head and acknowledge that they had reached their destination; strangely, her eyes were still dry, despite the fact that every part of her wanted to cry. The way she carried her body as she stood up, however, said so much more. Her movements were slow and unsteady, and her fingers quivered as she reached down, grabbing Vaan by his wrists. She remained silent as she slowly dragged him through the building, knowing she would be unable to actually carry him far on her own, and that this was the best she could do.<br/><br/>It was a lengthy process, but eventually she reached the staircase that led up to his room. She stood at their base for what felt like an eternity, staring up the slope; some might have guessed she was in thought, but her mind was as blank as her eyes, which showed no sign of their usual luster. She turned back to Vaan and took a step closer to his body. Rather than dragging him by the wrists, she crouched over and wrapped her arms around his chest, pulling him while facing away from the stairs, to minimize the disturbance they would cause to his body. Even with this position, making their way up the staircase was a long and arduous process. About halfway up, her leg gave out from under her, and she fell backwards, a soft gasp of agony escaping her lips as her spine came into contact with the corner of a stair.<br/><br/>She stayed there for a moment, Vaan's unconscious body draped over hers, and her teeth clenched and eyes shut in pain. When she finally summoned the will to lift Vaan and get moving again, it was at an even slower pace than before, as she was now fighting the residual ache from her back. She made no particular sign of triumph as she finally reached the top of the staircase, instead simply continuing to pull Vaan toward his room. She pushed the door open with her back, dragging him through the dimly-lit corridor and across the red carpet, until finally setting him gently in the center of the room. She stood there for what seemed like ages, staring at him. Under the subtle light of the candles, she finally noticed that her hands were now stained with his blood, as was the trail she had taken in getting here. Despite this realization, it was hard for even her to say if there were any thoughts running through her mind at this point. She felt as dead as Vaan looked.<br/><br/>Her mission was finally complete, and she could feel her body giving in to what it had wanted ever since she reached the elevator. Merle dropped to her knees beside him, her arms hanging uselessly at her side.<br/>"Vaan.." she spoke softly, her voice high and wavering as she reached one hand to her mouth, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Please.. Wake up..<span style="font-style: italic">Please...</span>"<br/>Her entire body shook, and her voice was barely even audible between the trembling and tears, which were now falling freely, leaving streaks on her face and small dots on the carpet below. Before long her body simply couldn't support her anymore, and she fell onto her side, her hair splayed out haphazardly behind her. She was almost directly next to Vaan, now; even though he showed no signs of consciousness, she felt shame along with her fear and sadness. Shame at her inability to help him, as well as her inability to keep herself from crying.<br/><br/>"Why did you have to fight him..? If you knew.. what he was..<span style="font-style: italic">why did you do it?</span>I don't know.. what I would do without you.. So please..<span style="font-style: italic">please wake up..</span>" Her sentences were frequently interrupted by her own sobs; she knew he couldn't hear them, but she tried to speak anyway, holding on to that last fading glimmer of hope that he might respond. When nothing came, her tears answered by flowing all the more rapidly, draining her body of every last bit of energy she might have had left. It was only a matter of time before she fell asleep there, collapsed helplessly and uselessly next to him.. though her rest was far from a peaceful one.