"I wonder what's taking Repede so long.." Yuri suddenly said. "He's never taken this long before whenever I asked him to run an errand."
Flynn was frowning to himself, tapping his chin worriedly since Yuri was right about Repede never being late; especially when HE knew where the girl lived, he could just run over for a check. Aria suddenly passed by, still covered in blood from her hair, skin, and to her clothes, a blood covered Repede running next to her barking frantically and catching attention.
"What the-" the two said in unison.
Aria ran over to the elder everyone knew in the lower quarters nervously, wondering whether the kids were going to stay in their room or go back to the living room only to grieve some more.
"Hanks!" the girl called.
"Hm? W-what happened? Why are you covered in blood? And is that Repede with you?" the man asked, clearly panicking.
The girl halted in front of him, being grabbed by the worried old man as she took a breather. Everyone nearby gave her a look of disgust and fright due to the cursed crimson stains.
"Sir, the imperial knights broke into my family's house... Everything is in ruins... and..." The girl felt hesitant to say it out loud for once, collecting all her sanity and stuffing it into her brain so she didn't go crazy or break down again. "And.."
"What is it, dear? Tell me.. This sounds all too serious.." Hanks said, trying to get her to continue.
"Mrs. Florence is dead. She was killed in front of the twins by Cumore. He already killed her and then yet also tried killing Leia next when I got back home," the girl said, Flynn and Yuri overhearing them. "Please, Hanks, help me move out the body and clean up the house before the kids leave their room and see that gruesome sight again."
"We'll help too!" Flynn offered quickly.
Aria jumped and shivered in fear as she looked over to see the imperial knight. Her face was beginning to build sweat and her eyes were welling up with frightened tears again, though the girl didn't seem to know that the tears were about to slip down her cheeks. Her reaction only made Flynn worry about her mentality state, the man reach out towards her as if checking.
"S-stay back...!" she exclaimed backing away as Hanks held her arms tightly to prevent her from attacking.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, Aria. It's only Flynn! Flynn won't hurt you, child!" the old man told the girl, trying to hold her still.
"Repede.. By the looks of the blood stain on you, you weren't able to make it in time either, did you," Yuri said, scratching his partner's ear.
"Woof!" Repede barked.
"Please, calm down, I won't hurt you," Flynn told the girl as he held out his hands.
Aria began to shake her head, her hair stuck to her clothes through the dried up, clotted blood. Flynn wasn't about to give up and pulled the girl over into his body, hugging her close and trying to calm her down. Aria began to pound at his chest to get him to let go, but he was being stubborn, holding her tightly until she gave up and fell to her knees, bringing him with her.
"The nobles... The knights..! I despise them all! I hate them! Why are they even after me? Now look what happened!" she cried out loudly, finally releasing the rest of her guilt that began building up in her body right from the start. "I can't... I don't want to live anymore!"
"No, you'll live," Flynn told the girl sternly. "No one is dying on my watch. Nothing will change even if you did die."
Yuri walked over and rested his hand onto Aria's head as if he was patting a child's head, calmly stroking her hair to help calm her down.
"Hanks, please go first before those kids she mentioned comes out to seek for her," Yuri requested.
The old man nodded and quickly took off with Repede, looking for several more helping hands and equipment.
"Come on, we should go too. You don't want the kids to see it again now, do you?"
Aria looked up at Flynn and Yuri, grief clouding in her eyes clearly. She finally stopped her childish sounding wails and was about to wipe her face, but before she could, Flynn stopped her. Her sleeves were still covered in blood and he didn't want her to smear it all over her face or get it into her eyes.
"Don't wipe. Your arms are dirtied," Flynn told the girl, grabbing his cape to use.
"S-sorry..." the girl sniffed silently. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Flynn...!"
Yuri sighed and pulled the girl out of Flynn's arms carefully, getting her back onto her feet and looking over at Flynn. The two were giving each other messages through their eyes with Aria continued to sniff and stop herself from letting her tears come out any longer.
"Go follow Hanks. He'll need you there," Yuri finally stated. "We'll be right behind you."
Flynn didn't answer his friend and then just walked away from the two silently, becoming the serious knight he always was during work. Yuri then looked at the girl again and then softly pet the side of the girl's head, not really knowing what else to do especially with a sobbing nineteen year old.
"Crying doesn't suit you as much as glaring, now cheer up. Everything will be taken care of," Yuri stated. "Unless you're that type of person who's a crybaby and can't stop, I'll make sure to send you to Flynn for babysitting hours."
Aria suddenly began to giggle, Yuri smiling at the lighthearted noises she was making. Her soft hair was still stuck to her fair skin and tangled up from the dried up blood clots. Lifting up her head up to see his face, Aria's face was tinted pink from all the crying she had done and from total embarrassment.
"Let's go now, we don't want to keep everyone else waiting," the man said again, quickly wiping her cheeks with his sleeve and grabbing her shoulders from behind, pushing her forward lightly. "Lead the way, kiddy. And don't cry anymore. Those kids will worry."
"It's not too far from here," Aria said, beginning to jog. "I'm worried about the two kids under my care.. What if someone takes them away from me or something happens to them?"
"Flynn and I will prevent that from happening."
"... Thank you.. Yuri."
"Alright now, boys, lift her up carefully and slowly!" Hanks instructed.
Yuri and Aria entered the building, seeing everyone wearing dark colored rags to avoid getting blood stained onto their bodies. Mrs. Florence's corpse was covered by a giant white cloth that slowly bled the same blood the woman was releasing from her giant stab wound on her chest. Flynn noticed the two coming in and motioned Yuri to come help, the long haired man nodding as well as heading over.
"Go take a quick shower and look after the children. We'll be up with you when we're done," Flynn said, giving off a beaming smile to the girl.
Aria nodded and bowed to the males in the room then motioned Repede to come with her to get his fur washed. The dog didn't want to at first, but did so anyways knowing she just wanted to show as much gratitude she could to him. Once the girl was finally able to shower and bathe the dog, she felt a little calmer and lighter from being able to finally release a whole portion of her stress from her body. The dog swished his tail back and forth comfortably, splashing water and flinging soap around the area.
"I'm sorry for causing you and your owners so much trouble today," Aria told the dog, earning a nudge. "It must have been really annoying and stressful for you all."
The girl then began to dry off the dog and herself, heading to her room to change. Repede followed closely behind her, heading over to the bloody clothes spread out on the floor.
"I'll take care of that right now.." Aria said after she changed.
The girl grabbed her brooch and held it tightly in her left hand, holding her right hand over the poisoned clothes she wanted to throw out so much. She had second thoughts though and decided to keep them since they were specially made by Mrs. Florence for the kids. Her clothes, however... She was told someone gave it to her the day she was born, waiting for her to grow old enough to wear it. Her hand and the blastia formed brooch began to glow and reverted the blood stains, forcing it off the clothes and splattering it back onto the floor after a few seconds later.
"I guess I'll throw these into the the dirty clothes basket now..." she muttered, cleaning up the liquefied blood on the floor.
Repede dragged the shoes off to the side then grabbed the family's clothes graciously and pattered over to the girl who was now at the trash can on the other side of her room. Aria gave him an ear scratch and pointed over to the basket next to the door, grabbing the pouch Flynn recently returned to her and slipping in her blastia before she grabbed the clean looking shoes. Luckily, the bag was never contaminated by blood. The girl dragged the basket out and off to the side of her room, took a quick peek in the living room as she put the shoes away to see everyone clean up the mess, and then headed over to where the kids were located, opening the door to see them both still staring at the wall in front of them. Repede curiously stuck his head in to see how the children were.
"Hey, guys... Are you hungry? Anything bothering you?"
Leia looked over at Aria slowly and just stared silently, not really knowing what to say. Leon didn't even budge.
"Look, it'll be fine, okay? I'll bring up some food and let you both rest."
Leon shook his head and then stood up from the bed, causing his twin to jolt a bit and do the same confusedly.
"W-we'll be fine...! I'll help you with chores and housework from now on!" Leon exclaimed, no longer wanting to burden the older girl. "We can't let you do everything.."
"I'll help too!" Leia said, following her brother's footsteps.
Aria smiled at the two and turned to head out the door, the two kids running over to her and grabbing a hold of each of her hands. The teen reciprocated their action and decided to head over to where the dirty basket of clothes was located.
"Let's go wash our clothes first..."
Aria glance at Repede silently and sent him off to alert the men downstairs about the kids beginning to travel around the house again. The dog took off while the kids ran over and picked up the basket for the teen. Opening the door to the laundry room nearby, Aria sighed to herself, not making a single noise so that the kids didn't grow worried or suspicious. Their stomachs suddenly gave off a small growl when they set the basket down on the floor to start washing them, Aria filling up the giant water basins.
"Oh man, we better finish this quickly and feed you then.." Aria commented as she began to clean off a few clothes one at a time in a clean water basin. "I'll head down to cook while you stay in here and finish the rest okay? There's only a few left."
The girl pulled out the clothes and checked whether she cleaned it well enough, approving her handy work and taking it over to the clothes line outside.
"Okay!" the two chimed, raising their hands as if they were in school.
Aria smiled and dried off her hands, turning around to reenter the laundry room and walking out the other entry as well as exit way. Yuri was about to knock when the girl opened up the door; his firm knuckles were about a centimeter away from hitting her head. Blinking with wide shocked eyes, the girl grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the room before the twins could see. He was changed back into his usual black clothing; he possibly threw away the rags after getting his job done.
"Now isn't the time for you to see them," the girl said, earning a blank look from the older man. "I haven't told them about anyone visiting or staying over for a bit..."
"Right, well, we've finished cleaning up, but we can't fix the furnishes or stuff like that," he announced.
"That'll be... alright..."
Aria then walked off to head to the kitchen with Yuri and Repede following her obediently. Yuri then lifted his head a little higher to see the girl's reaction, but didn't see anything abnormal about her.
"Say... Flynn and I.. We need to talk to you."
Aria stopped and turned around curiously with a stare that asked, 'What for?' She can't really think of any reasons for the men to have a little conference with her about besides the most recent death she was involved with.
"I-is it serious?" she asked nervously.
Yuri noticed the difference in her tone and smirked at a small thought, deciding to mess around with her for a bit before telling her what it really was about.
"Oh yes, very serious... Young lady, you have violated the laws so many times for so long, we have decided to give you the divine punishment!" he announced in a more highly noble tone. "Ten years of thieving, insults, and attacking! You are to face jail and the royal family's decisions to repent for what you have done!"
Aria backed away a little unaware of the lie being a joke. Yuri was looking down on her, his hands on his hips and his face struggling to hold in a smirk; that was until Flynn came up from behind and knocked him on the side of his head. He was also changed, his blue and white clothes looking clean, as always, just without his heavy looking armor.
"Quit scaring her. She's had enough of a scare as of today already..." the knight stated tiredly.
Yuri gave a teasing pout in response and stopped with the jokes, rubbing his face and head to calm down a little. Aria released a sigh of relief and relaxed her tense muscles, leaning onto the wall next to her.
"Don't do that..." she said, completely bothered by the men.
"We apologize," Flynn replied, elbowing Yuri and getting a groan.
The knight then held out the bears and white thread to the girl, smiling worriedly whether the items were going to affect her or not. Aria stared at the items and then took out her brooch and pinned it onto her shirt.
"And what's this for?" she asked blandly.
"It was the things you bought earlier today... Would you want me to throw them out?"
The girl stared and then looked at Flynn, smiling calmly and innocently, something she never liked to show to strangers.
"Thanks... Are the clothing and thread the woman had with her safe also?" the girl asked softly.
Flynn nodded and looked over to the basket near the group, nodding over to it silently. Sighing in relief, she held out her hands to accept the bears and white threads then headed over to the basket, laying out all the items on the floor. Both Yuri and Flynn were watching her curiously, Repede sitting on the floor patiently and nipping at his pipe in his mouth to keep himself occupied. The girl held out her hands and took a deep breath, using the blastia's powers to revert the dried up blood back to liquid and removing it from the objects. Throwing the items back into the baskets, the girl looked around to find an unneeded towel to use and throw away.
"Would you like to stay for dinner today..?" the girl asked, picking up the basket and looking back at the amused two. "You did say you needed to talk to me."
"... Sure..." they finally said.
"Aria! Everything is now up to you to watch the kids... Speaking of which, where are they?" Hanks asked.
The girl pointed at the laundry room and handed the basket to the old man to bring in for her. Hanks smiled and gave a nod as a thank you then headed to the room she showed to him just a moment ago.
"Thank you again, Hanks."
The man waved behind himself as he slowly approached to the laundry room.
'Kids, Hanks is visiting you two today!' the old man called cheerfully.
And with that, he was granted immediate entry into the room.
"I'll be fixing up dinner now. Those children are hungry..." Aria said, walking straight into the said room to cook.