Aria's Mother, Carly paused as Flare had interrogated her. The smile that she had always worn around Flare had dropped for an instant. Her blue eyes were fully open in front of Flare for the first time.

"Um, I may have heard some rumors... but I choose not to let it bother me." Carly replied as she nervously smiled and scratched her left cheek with her left index finger.

'I see it now.' Flare thought, then suddenly turned half his body around. "Well, it was nice talking to you, miss Carly. I'll guess I'll be going-" A split second, Flare had sensed killing intent within a yard. He quickly turned around and spotted Aria's Mother, Carly with a short gray dagger in her right hand. Flare had quickly caught Carly's right wrist, which held the dagger.

Carly grunted as she tried to push the dagger close to Flare's neck. Her eyes were darkened by shadow and her teeth clenched.

'She's trying to kill me! I guess I said something that she didn't like...' Flare had thought as he attempted to stop Carly from stabbing him. For the next six seconds, they tussled until... 'Sorry aout this.' Flare decided to break her right wrist by squeezing it.

"Aaaiiiee!" Carly screamed in pain, due to the pressure Flare put on her right wrist. She dropped the dagger to the poisonous floor.

Three seconds later, Flare struck her in the neck with a chop, causing her to lose consciousness. Flare caught her body and carried her over his shoulder, before she could collapse on the floor. 'Where did the dagger come from?' He picked up the dagger by the handle, then saw a book on the floor and walked over to it. "Oh, yeah. That's her book." Flare muttered.

One Moment Later

Flare had lied Carly within the guest bed he was sleeping in. As Carly rested peacefully, Flare looked within Carly's diary to see what was in it. He remembered seeing Carly attempt to hide it from him, less than ten minutes ago.

"I think I found something." Flare said after flipping pages and finding information. Flare used his right index finger to mark words. He tried not to read loudly. "It says... they're hobbies are going into town to search for people from the countryside... then lure them into their homes. Make them feel as if they were home, then drug them when they least expect it... afterwards, move their bodies into an old shed, then start torturing them to death-by either execution or poisoning their victims with viruses, so they could die slowly..." Flare was a bit shocked to learn of the family's true motives. "This can't be real... Aria wouldn't..." Flare then thought about Aria and how they met and how she's been nice to him, thus far. Three seconds later, he stared at Carly, who was sleeping. "But, wait... what's Lubora's Disease?"

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Flare's attention was turned to the door, where he heard knocks.

'I gotta get out of here!' Flare quickly thought as he noticed someone was coming in. Then glanced at the glass window in the room.

Seven Seconds Later

Aria had walked within the guestroom with a cheerful manner and plate of chocolate chip cookies. "Um, Flare. I don't know if you're awake or not, but I brought you some..." Aria looked around to see no one else, but her mother sleeping in Flare's bed. "Mom?" she gasped as she noticed the window in the room was left wide open. She dropped the plate of cookies. Her heart sunk, when she learned that Flare had left.

Meanwhile, Flare was running through the forest as fast as he could towards the family shed. He now knows the truth about Aria's family, through Carly's diary. It was five miles away from Aria's mansion.

'I need to find anyone who's still breathing in that shed!' Flare thought as he had ran. For another thirty seconds of running, he spotted a big red building, then grunted. 'There it is!' He quickly ran in front of the shed and stopped in front of the big metal doors of the shed. "The door's locked..." He looked up at the building, then back down. 'I can sense someone's aura on the other side of this door. It's faint, which means... they're probably hanging on to sheer willpower.' Flare then bust down the metal door. 'I can't waist anymore time! There are people need me!'

The moonlight had shined within the front door of the shed. Flare took a few steps forward to see what was really inside the shed. He gasped in shock to many corpses inside of tubes, stretched out on tables, mutilated, tied onto water wheels and hanging from the ceiling. All foreigners which consisted of men, women and children.

Flare was disgusted by this the atrocity and couldn't help, but think that would've happened to him. He slowly walked inside of the shed and covered his nose to block the stench of rotting corpses. "So much death... I can't believe Aria and her family would do this... but why?" Flare

Cough. Cough. Cough.

"Help... help me, please!" A man begged while in a man-sized cage.

Flare looked to his right side to see a man skinny with scars and rashes all over his body within a dark cage. The man in the cage had short gray hair, brown eyes and a gray mustache. He wore nothing but stained and dirty blue pants. His name was Gregory. In the next two seconds, Flare ran towards the cage and ripped out the cell bars, freeing the remaining living captive.

"There. You're out." Flare said after removing the cell bars.

"Thank the gods you found us..." Gregory said as he felt a bit relieved that Flare found him.

"Can you walk?" Flare asked as he helped up Gregory to his feet.

"Soon, I won't be able to walk..." Gregory coughed. "Anymore."

Flare then set the dying Gregory on top of a clear table, lying him on his back. "What's your name? And did this family do this to you?"

"My... name is Gregory. And yes. That cursed rich family... lured me and my daughter to their mansion..." Gregory explained.

"Your daughter? Is she alive? I can find her, by sensing her aura and-"

"I'm afraid my daughter is no longer in this world." Gregory said, in a sad tone.

Flare paused.

"Her name was Michelle. And she was a happy and strong-willed girl... She had short pink hair and brown eyes." Gregory described what Michelle looked like and how she acted. "I used to live on a farm with my family. Three months ago... my wife had fallen ill from an illness. We didn't have any money to get the medicine she needed. But, my daughter Michelle was determined to get the medicine my wife needed and make her feel better. She convinced me to go along to the capital with her... and so I went. After being the capital for four days... that's when the girl found us..." Gregory had referred to Aria. "After I told the family my story, they said they "promised" to help out any way they can. How I was a fool to believe that false promise... then the next day, they drugged us and brought us here." Gregory then pointed at the cage he was in. "The next thing I knew, when they deceived us. I was placed in that cage... while they placed my daughter... up there." he then pointed above him at the ceiling.

Flare gasped as he saw a feminine corpse hanging upwards over their heads. Michelle's corpse was scarred, bruised and had her left breast amputated. Her brown eyes were completely empty. Having no sign of life within them. Her pink hair was cut shorter. "Is that-"

"That's my daughter... Michelle..." Gregory teared up as he spotted her daughter.

Flare clenched his teeth. "Who did that to her?"

"That young blonde girl." Gregory said.

'Aria!' Flare thought about Aria. "Why would she... no. Why would anyone want to do this kind of stuff to anybody!" Flare asked, while looking around at the corpses within the shed.

"For pleasure... and jealousy..." Gregory slowly answered. "My daughter was one of the most beautiful girls in our village. The rich girl didn't like it. So she ordered her guards to torture my daughter physically, verbally. They cut her beautiful hair short and beat her with adamant objects. But the guards refused to rape her-thank god. I pleaded for my daughter's life, but the girl would not listen at all. She died hours after having left her breast removed in front of me."

Flare's eyes were darkened after listening to Gregory's sad story.

"How old are you, son?" Gregory asked as he looked at the visible angered Flare.

"My name is Flare. And I'm seventeen." Flare said.

"Seventeen... my daughter was supposed to turn eighteen, yesterday. But, she died last week." Gregory said.

"Is there anything I can do for you, before pass on to the other world?" Flare asked with a serious face.

"Yes." Gregory pointed at Michelle's corpse above them, again. "Please... don't let the Empire... murder any more innocent people... don't let them die... the same way my daughter did..." Gregory let tears out, staring at his daughter's corpse before giving his final gasp. His arm dropped onto the side of the table.

Gregory had died on a table in front of Flare.

Flare stood in silence after Gregory had died within the shed.

Ten Seconds Later

Gauri had arrived in front of the shed. "Flare! There you are! Miss Aria's been-" Gauri paused as he realized Flare knew the truth. "Worried sick... about you."

Flare turned around and glared at Gauri with his burning golden eyes. "Gauri..." He jumped out of the shed and continued to glare

"You weren't supposed to be here..." Gauri stood still, feeling uneasy.

"How long did you know about this, Gauri?" Flare had interrogated Gauri, while approaching him.

Gauri gasped.

"How long?"

Gauri can see visible anger on Flare's face. "Look. The truth is not easy to tell..."

"How long did you know!" Flare yelled louder.

Gauri sighed. "Ever since I got the job."

"Tch!" Flare grunted. He then clutched Gauri's jacket by the zipper. "You knew this whole time that innocents foreigners were getting raped and murdered by these damn rich people-and you don't even bed an eyelash! What is wrong with you!" Flare had roared.

"I know that! And I have a rotten soul for it, too!" Gauri removed Flare's hand from his jacket. "You think I like watching people from the countryside die? You think I like hearing people get tortured and scream in agony-until the pain goes away?" Gauri argued and turned away

"If it means bodyguarding a bunch of murderers, then yeah! I think you do like it!" Flare said.

Gauri lashed out at Flare. "You don't know me! You don't what I had to do to get this job!"

"Oh, so it's about money. They just pay you a certain amount, so that you would keep quiet, right?" Flare questioned Gauri's morals.

"I have a wife and young daughter to feed and think about!" Gauri replied.

"So did the man that just died in that shed!" Flare pointed at Aria's family shed. "Him and his daughter that you brutally beat wanted to save their loved one! She's probably dead now, because you bastards lied to them about giving them money and helping them heal their loved one! You could've stopped this! You could've saved everyone! But instead, you killed them!"

"You don't think I know that? As much pressure there is... as heavy the burden I have on my shoulders... as hard it is to look at my family... I don't need the likes of you to tell me that!" Gauri yelled.

"Then stop acting like everything is okay, when you know it isn't! People are getting murdered everyday in this capital, because people like you refused to speak out and do the right thing! You're no better than the Minister!" Flare pointed towards Gauri.

"So, what?" Gauri placed his hand on his heart. "You want me to apologize? You want me to turn myself in? This isn't a fairy tale, you know! This capital has been corrupted for many years and I can't do a damn thing about it, nor the Minister! Now, if you want to keep yelling what's right and what's wrong, then go ahead!"

There was a moment of silence as a breeze of wind had blown.

"Fine. If you won't do anything about it... then I will..." Flare walked over towards the shed.

"Huh? Hey! What do you think you're going? Stop!" Gauri yelled as he watched Flare walk back towards the shed.

Flare stopped for a moment. "Why should I? It's not like you're gonna do anything..." he jumped back into the shed. 'I know I saw the can of gas, earlier...' Flare looked around to see a big can filled with gasoline in the shed. It took him a moment

'This isn't good... he's not listening to me. I need to find Miss Aria and fast!' Gauri quickly ran towards the mansion to find Aria.

Six Minutes Later

Flare had stained the entire shed filled with gasoline. He wanted to do something with the bodies, but he knew it'd be a waist, due to them already being dead. So he poured gasoline on some of the amputated and mutilated corpses.

"Goodbye." Flare stared at Gregory's body.

Meanwhile, Aria, Gauri and a few other guards had arrived towards the shed. They were a few yards from it.

"Gauri, is Flare here?" Aria asked.

"Yes, miss Aria." Gauri replied as he had taken her to her family's shed.

'Please, don't let him find out...' Aria hoped that Flare wouldn't find out about the shed.

"Hey, do I smell gasoline?" One of the guards asked as he caught a scent of gasoline inside of the shed.

"Yeah. I can smell it, too." One other guard answered as he sniffed.

Aria gasped in horror. 'Oh no!'

In a matter of seconds, Flare had jumped out of the big red shed, unharmed. He slowly turned half of his body and looked to see Aria and her guards staring at him.

Aria happily gasped. "Flare!" she then ran towards Flare.

"No, miss Aria! Wait!" Gauri stretched his hand out towards Aria, who was running.

"Flare, I'm glad you're oka-" Before Aria could embrace Flare, she felt his his front hand make contact with her face.

The guards gasped as they just witnessed Flare assault Aria.

Aria's left cheek was pink after getting hit. "Flare..." She slowly looked up to Flare and grasped her cheek. "Why would you-"

"That was for Michelle, the girl with short pink hair that you ruthlessly killed last week." Flare answered in a dark tone.

Aria's eyes grew a little big, then they begun to water as she could feel the sting. "But..."

"I know everything that your family did. " Flare said.

"Tell me. How long have you've been doing this? How many innocent..."

Aria's bodyguards, including Gauri had gotten angry at Flare for assaulting Aria in front of them. They pulled out their swords and charged towards Flare.

"How dare you harm miss Aria!" One of the guards yelled.

Flare quickly turned his attention to Aria's bodyguards, including Gauri who charged at him. He had engaged Gauri first in close range. Seconds before Gauri had an attempt tp swing his sword, vertically. Flare delivered a hard punch to the middle chest.

Gauri gave a hurting reaction as Flare gave a critical blow. "Guah!" Gauri gasped out saliva. 'I'm not even close to being this strong... this boy is talented...' Gauri thought before passing out on the ground.

In the next ten seconds, Flare had incapacitated the other two guards with his combat. They were knocked and stretched out on the ground, unconscious. After knocking them out, Flare turned towards and glared at Aria, who seemed scared.

Her body was visibly trembling, shaking her legs nonstop.

Flare took a step forward.

Aria took a step backwards, suddenly tripping over a rock and falling on her butt. "Eek!" She blinked, then saw Flare standing over her, leaving a six foot space. She saw the glare within Flare's eyes and can tell they were glaring through her. Her eyes watered again as she knew that Flare was angry with her. "P-please, Flare! I'm sorry that I killed all of those people! I'm sorry that I tortured that girl to death!"

Flare blinked. "You drugged those people... then brought them here and torture them. Were you planning on doing the same to me?" Flare interrogated Aria.

"N-no! I would never!" Aria stuttered as she shook her head no.

"And why not? I'm not from the capital. I came here to make a better life for myself and those I care about... so why not kill me, too?" Flare asked as he continued to glare at Aria.

"B-because I like you and you're special!" Aria admitted, while feeling verbally threatened.

"Really... name one thing you like about me."

"I... I..." Aria wanted to speak and give Flare her answer, but words won't come out.

"Exactly. I think someone as special as me should do what I can avenge all of those you killed..."

"W-what are you going to do to me?" Aria asked, fearing for her life.

Flare remained silent, the stretched his right hand towards Aria. Then flames had ignited in his hand.

Aria's eyes widened in horror as she witnessed Flare create burning flames from his hands. She was mentally paralyzed. Fearing that Flare would kill her and avenge everyone. She lowered her head, closed her eyes, grit her teeth and lied an arm across her heart. She believed that Flare was going to kill her.

Flare stared at the scared Aria. The ball of flames were still burning in his hands. He silently sighed as he made a choice. Flare threw the balls of flames towards the inside of the shed. Within the next five seconds, the insides of the shed was on fire along with all of the dead bodies and torture devices.

Aria gasped and opened her eyes after hearing an explosion and the sound of burning flames. She looked at where the front door used to be and saw that the inside of the shed was on fire. Her blue eyes widened in shock. "W-what have you done?" she asked Flare in shock.

"Earlier, I sprayed the entire shed with gasoline. Including all the torture devices and corpses. Now you, nor your parents can't use any of those devices anymore to either torture or murder anyone else again. Consider yourself lucky that I don't kill you." Flare told Aria with a serious look.

Aria stared into Flare's golden eyes. "You're... not going kill me?"

"I'm not going to stain my hands with murderer's blood." Flare told Aria, while rubbing his hands. "I'm grateful that you gave me food and a place to stay. But I'm not going to be apart of your self-centered entertainment."

Aria let tears stream down her face. Now knowing that Flare was sparing her life. "Flare..."

"I don't want to see you in town for at least a month." Flare begun parting ways with Aria.

After hearing that message, Aria fell on her hands and knees and sobbed. "I'm sorry, Flare! I'm so, so sorry!"

As Flare was leaving Aria by a burning shed, he thought of something. 'I'm sorry, too. But, I hope the day will come that you will change.'

Flare has walked out of Aria's life and now independent again.