"So to summarize what you're saying is, that being impaled with a spear somehow resulted in your affinity blossoming?" asked Varun, chief of investigation unit.

"Yes." Blaze replied reluctantly.

"According to the information I've gathered till now, your affinity to fire did not blossom at 15 like it normally should; do you think there is any specific reason behind that?"

Varun noticed Blaze's ignorance towards the investigation, "Ignoring my questions will not help me to find out what exactly happened the night of the banquet; your cooperation may even help bringing your mother's killer to justice. So why don't you tell me what 'actually' happened and we can be all done with it."

"I have told you, and everyone else who had asked me at least a hundred times, what exactly happened! But none of you have believed even one word that I have said, have you?" Blaze said firmly, "All you guys are doing is stalling for time, I don't know what your intentions are, but let me tell you one thing; if I am going to be executed for my mother's murder, then just give me a vial of poison, that would be a thousand times better!"

"Now why would come to the conclusion that you'll be proven as the murderer?"

"I'm not as dumb as you expect me to be; firstly, I'm the only survivor of that incident and my testimony is already proven to be a lie. There was not even one corpse of any outsider, other than the house servants. Secondly, my powers have really blossomed, I can ignite fire but that fire is not strong enough to burn someone without even a burnt corpse left."

"That is exactly my question; why can't you recreate a fire of that magnitude if had done it before?" Varun asked.

"How the hell would I know. But it surely proved fortunate for him; now he can just say that my powers must have gotten out of control and caused all those deaths."

"He? Who is 'he'? The Crown Prince?"

Blaze's silence answered Varun's query, "Now all that is left is either me getting executed for murder, or being imprisoned for misuse of powers." Blaze scoffed a bit, "He finally got what he wanted."

"Then I have no more questions for you; I will take my leave for today, Prince." Said Varun and was about to leave but someone knocked at the metal door.

*KNOCK**KNOCK*

The door to the cellar in which Blaze was kept opened with a clanky noise.

"Come on! I was being courteous, asking for his permission to enter; why did you open it without his word?"

Blaze stared confusedly as he had never met this man before, who had come to visit him while all this chaos; this man was clearly a foreigner, he thought to himself.

"Now, pardon my intrusion, Prince Blaze Kamiyama. You see I have a really important matter that needs to be discussed immediately." The white-haired man entered the room.

"Who are you and, on whose permission did you come into the Royal dungeon?" Detective Varun asked the stranger.

"Did I ask you such question with such a violent tone? Did I even ask you 'any' question? Matter of fact, did I even acknowledge your presence in this room? To me, you are simply of no importance, therefore I shall not address any of your curiosities." The man's words silenced Varun quite efficiently. "On the other hand, if the prince wanted to know of my identity, then I must answer without any resistance."

Both him and Varun looked at Blaze with curious eyes, He nodded and the man answered,

"My name is Kai Yamada, you probably have never heard of me, but I'm an old acquaintance of your mother, Nila. I have something important to tell you, regarding her death."

"What kind of special information do you have? Tell me this instant! I'm the one handling this investigation." Varun proceeded to interrogate Kai but failed.

"I will not say a word until the prince and I are left alone."

"You have to answer me; I have the authori…"

"Detective, please excuse us." Blaze finally spoke.

"But…" Varun was going to speak again but suddenly realized that it was useless to argue anymore, as the prince had already taken the stranger's side. "Then, excuse me" he departed.

And right when the door was closed shut, Blaze pinned Kai to the wall and held a knife to his throat; Blaze's glare was fierce but Kai didn't seem to mind it much, rather he seemed to be amused a bit.

"Who are you?! And don't you dare even think of lying, tell me or I'll slit your throat open right this instant!"

"Wait! Knives are allowed in the dungeon? But they took mine at the entrance." Kai said in a jolly manner, "And about your question, I've already answered it."

"Stop lying! I know damn well your not an acquaintance of her; so now stop lying and start telling me who you are and why you came here!", Blaze said as he held the knife even closer to the throat, and unknowing to him, the blade cut the skin and a little blood came out.

"Well you're not wrong, I didn't actually know her but OUCH!" Blaze had held the knife even closer to the throat, and unknowing to him, the blade cut the skin and a little blood came out. "First thing's first get the knife away a bit please! Why is the knife necessary anyways?"

"What's to say you're not one of those assassins who just came to finish the job."

"Oooh! You're a smart one, its never bad to be cautious; but you see, I don't like having a knife to my throat, SOOO I'll be taking that."

"Wha…."

And just in a blink of an eye, Blaze was slammed into the ground and the knife was taken from his hand.

"Well I must say, they really do make quality knives here." Said Kai while examining the knife's sharp edge.

Blaze quickly got back on his feet and was ready to charge at him, "I'll burn yo…"

Kai held the knife by the edge, put the handle on Blaze's lips and shushed him, "Shut up and listen to me! I slammed you and took the knife just now with absolute ease; do you really think I couldn't just slit your throat if I wanted to?"

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The knife's handle was still on his mouth so he didn't speak and just shook his head.

"Now, will you listen to what I have to say, calmly?" Blaze nodded, "I'm on your side, I don't intend to harm you; Now, I did lie that I was Nila's friend but I do have something important to tell you."

"What?"

"Your nation is in dire danger, and I need your help to save it."

"Nation in danger? What are you talking about? All the nations are at peace right now, there's no possibility of war; why would the nation be in danger?" Blaze asked in confusion.

"Trust me, its worse than war. The 'Brethren of Salvation' are preparing to overthrow the Empire and take the whole nation under their control."

"The Brethren of Salvation? They're real? Not just some mythical organization?"

"Unfortunately no; they're very much real. The Brethren have already conquered the Torukiyo Plains; and they are the ones who organized the attack on your house."

"Wait! That's not possible; the Crown Prince planned the attack."

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure of that. All I know is that some members of the Brethren hired 37 mercenaries for that night."

Blaze looked very confused from this sudden information, Kai noticed it and spoke again, "But your suspicions may not be completely baseless. The Crown Prince did hide the corpses of those mercenaries."

"So what do you want me to do?" asked Blaze.

"Well, I've been following the Brethren's trail for a long time; I know how they work; I know how he thinks."

"Who?"

"The Eldest Brother of the Brethren, Thorn. He's their leader; each and every step a brother takes is planned by that man. He conquered the Torukiyo Plains without any war. Dude's a genius if you ask me; I would've liked to befriend him if he wasn't a Sociopathic mastermind."

"Thorne wants me dead? But why?"

"I think he's fooling the Crown Prince. He gets rid of you in return for a position of high power in the Empire; and then he'll overthrow the Emperor the first chance he gets."

"…"

"And that's where I need you."

"Why?"

"Thorn is a ruthless bastard, but what I've noticed in his strategies is that he never kills someone until it is absolutely necessary. So if he wants you 'dead', then I want you 'not dead'; you following what I'm saying?"

Blaze was tremendously confused, "So you don't yet have anything particular for me to do for you, do you?"

"I do not."

"Then thanks for the warning; I'll stay very cautious, and try not to die."

"Oh! No, I actually do need you to die."

"WHAT??!!" Blaze instinctively shouted at Kai.

"Hush, hush, hussshh! Don't be so loud, they'll hear you."

"What do you mean you need me to die?! You said you were on my side!"

"I am! I'm on your damn side. But if you stay alive any longer, Thorn will change his plans. And trust me, every time he changes his plans, they just become much more complicated; and I'm too close to catching him, I can't let him succeed this time."

"So what? You'll kill me just because of that?!"

"Oh come on! Don't be so dramatic, I'll just…" Kai stopped as he heard the guards marching towards their cell, "I don't have any time to explain this. I'm really sorry, but this is gonna hurt, a lot."

*CLANG*

The metal door opened and in came Varun. But before he could even understand was happening, Kai cut his palm with the knife; and from that slit the handle of a dagger came out with a dark shadow covering it, Kai grabbed the handle pulled out the dagger and threw it right into Blaze's throat.

And just in a blink Varun saw Blaze's body fall onto the bed behind him with blood gushing out of his throat, "Prince!!" he shouted but Blaze didn't reply as there was no life left in that body; even his eyes were looked lifeless, pitch black.

Varun was shocked as to what had happened right in front of him; he was enraged, seeing such a young boy die in vain.

"YOU!" he yelled at Kai, "You'll pay for that!"

"You saw that? You saw me murdering the Prince, right? You see that he is dead right?"

"Yes! I saw that you monster!" Varun took out his revolver and fired at Kai. But Kai quickly dodged the bullet and, in a flash, got right in front of Varun; right before landing a hit, he said,

"Then tell everyone what you saw. Everyone!" He punched Varun right in the face with terrific force and Varun passed out immediately.

"The corpse was taken?!" the Emperor shouted frantically.

"Yes, your highness." Varun couldn't raise his head in front of the Royal court as he felt responsible for the young prince's death.

"What were you doing?! Only one person barged in and killed someone of the Royal family! You shall be executed for your incompetence!!" Ansh yelled at him.

"May I say something, your highness?" Asked Calix from among the other noble men and the Emperor nodded.

"I believe if the detective is to be executed for not being able to prevent such a tragedy, then the Crown Prince should be held responsible as well."

"How dare you?!" Ansh was agitated once again, "What do I have to do with all this? He was there, and still let something like that happen; I was not even there!"

"Exactly Prince Ansh, you were not there, and neither were the security personnel normally assigned to a detained 'Royal Blood'. Pardon me, but I think it is rather too peculiar that the Prince who claimed to have been attacked recently was kept in a dungeon with such minimal security. Won't you agree that, that seems too much to be just a coincidence?"

The whole court echoed for the murmuring of the noblemen present, "Silence!" The Emperor spoke,

"Head strategist Flores! Speak clearly; what are implying?"

"Prince Blaze said several times that he was attacked that night; but none of you believed him. Instead detained him, you believed that he lost control and killed his mother! The prince would rather take his own life than harming Lady Nila. That just shows how little his own family members know him."

"Calix! Don't forget you're talking about my family. And who are you to say that, you yourself didn't meet him until recently."

"Yes, I must admit, I haven't known the prince for long; but the young prince I've met, is a far better man than many I've met in this Empire. Did you know that this was the third attempt on his life?"

"Third?" Ansh asked instinctively.

"Yes! At his Debut-E-Hunt, he was nearly killed by a Stone-claw; but it wasn't the Stone-Claw that had always lived in the forest. That beast was imported and was set free in the forest to kill Prince Blaze. I had scouted out the forest again on the Prince's order."

"Why didn't you inform me of this?" the Emperor asked.

"The prince suspected that the Crown Prince was the one who arranged this; thus, he wanted to handle this silently. He thought he would be attacked once again if this news got public."

The court now burst with the noblemen talking; 'The assassinated prince suspected the Crown Prince; Nonetheless, Prince Ansh was the only one who could have a reason to want him dead' is what everyone thought, and it wasn't that farfetched either.

"Prince Blaze announced his participation in the trial only because of this, he never intended to be the heir to the throne before; all he wanted, was to protect his mother and himself. That is the only reason he decided fight back; and look what happened, right after he decided, he was killed."

Ansh was flabbergasted, everyone present in the court looked at him with suspecting eyes. "Preposterous!" he exclaimed, "I will behead you right this instant!"

Ansh got up from his silver throne and was about to unsheathe his sword but was stopped by the Emperor's words.

"Ansh! Calm yourself!"

"But father, he dared to accuse me of so……" Ansh noticed the look on the Emperor's face; he remembered that look, rather, he could never forget that expression. His father was mistrusting him.

"Father! You also think I did that?"

"What I think does not matter; what matters is the truth."

"But Father!"

"Crown Prince Ansh! Get back to your quarters for now. Calm your mind, we will talk about this later."

Ansh realized that it was useless to argue anymore, his father had already lost trust in him. Because of 'HIM', that damn strategist, he thought. Ansh left the court but before leaving, he gave Calix a death glare.

The Emperor now gave out his decree, "Detective Varun, you may have failed to save the prince, but I think you can still be forgiven for your sins; bring Blaze's killers to justice, find the truth, and maybe Blaze will forgive you, wherever he has gone now."

"I vow on the honor of my family, I will find the truth, even if I have to give my life in return."

"General Calix, you will aid Varun in any way he needs your help."

"As you order, your highness."

"Their funeral will be held only after I punish the bastard responsible for this. The court Is dismissed."

On their way-out Calix asked Varun, "Do you have any leads we can follow for starters?"

"Unfortunately no, the case was about to be closed. Do you have any suggestions?"

"I do actually. There's a place I think we should visit."

"Where?"

"For now, I think we should go to…"

____________________________________

"HELL!! This is hell!" Blaze screamed in fear as dark creatures made of shadows came charging towards him. 'As if dying wasn't enough' Blaze thought, what is this hellish place he had woken up in? He has no idea.

But perhaps, he knows someone who has an idea or two about all this.