Jaden flinched as Clara spoke, regretting his decision as he felt the pain, the hurt, the betrayal, all wrapped up in a firey fury so intense, he could feel the heat of her glare as it pierce him.

"I won't deny selfish desire is what cause me to prolong your life, and for that I know there is nothing I could ever do to atone for that. But please do not think that my weakness was the only reason I kept you under my wing." A deep sigh would flow from his form as he ran a bloodied hand through his hair. His white locks, now speckled and spattered with flecks and splats of his blood, framed his face in an peculiar fashion as his head bent forward to rest in his palm. With the amount of regret and loss set in his eyes, he seemed to almost visibly age before Clara's age, his body seeming frail an fragile within the immense blackness of the chair upon which he sat. "I knew, within days, that you and Diana were not the same. In fact, you couldn't have been anymore different. No, hat made me want to care for you through this tragedy was that I saw a poor girl with her heartbroken and cursed with something she never asked for. I knew it was my fault, and knew I had to take responsibility for you. But more importantly, I felt something. . . thaw as I cared for you. I felt joy when you began to slowly get through your issues sorrow when I noticed the scars you still bore and the hatred that consumed you. You made me feel human again, after years of doing nothing hunt and kill, I'd forgotten what it had been like to care for others."

"I saw some of myself in you, Clara, that drive, and, unfortunately, that same way burning hatred for that damnable hellspawn. Being with you, and seeing how your hatred affected you is what kept me from pursuing him. Killing him won't change anything, not for me and not for you. The damage has been done, and vengeance will not provide the closure you seek. Know that it was never my intention to use you as a replacement for Diana, never my desire to do anything but care for you and share your company. That is the truth of it, I swear to you, however little that may mean at the moment."