Roxas hummed to himself as he read a book.

His parents had been shaken by his near brush with death and while they hadn't tacked on any extra time, he was still grounded. His dad was talking about driving him to and from the game night on Saturday, which suited Roxas just fine. He really didn't want another close encounter with a drunk driver either, although it was unlikely to happen again.

He was gradually getting used to his new roommate. It helped that he already knew Axel, really. The memories of his life had been quite moving and Roxas had gotten a feel for the redhead's personality. He was very bright and mentally independent. He also tended to like people, which was a bit of a marvel given his harsh upbringing.

He was also extremely dangerous. Roxas was careful to keep in mind the fact that Axel had raped, killed and then eaten many people. He hadn't really had much of a choice about the killing and eating and the rape had been aided by charm magic so it hadn't been violent, but still. Axel had no remorse for any of it. The only thing he regretted was Namine's death because she was the only one who had been real to him. On the other hand, Axel was not psychotic or sociopathic. Roxas had done a project on criminal behavior once and he was sure of that. It was more like Axel had never been taught the moral code most people knew… or rather, he'd been taught a moral code that went against his natural inclinations.

Mmm. Are you thinking that my natural inclination would be to be a nice person? Axel asked sardonically. Roxas sighed and set down his book. It was a bit annoying, how the cambion always knew what he was thinking.

"No, I think you'd be a hot tempered asshole. But I don't think you'd have eaten so many people." Roxas said frankly then winced at the hurt silence. "Sorry."

It's okay. Fortunately Axel didn't sound angry at all, only thoughtful. If if's and but's were candied nuts, we would all be fat, that's what Father Patrick used to say. I really don't know if I would have raped and eaten people if I'd had a normal upbringing. Roxas blinked at that. One thing my mother taught me was how to leash my temper and obey.

"Wait, this is you leashing your temper?" Roxas blanched a bit at the thought but he supposed Axel might be right. The cold woman certainly hadn't let her son get out of hand. True, she'd taught him with pain but that experience had given Axel an ingrained fear of consequences. "You think you might have been less restrained if you'd had a normal childhood?" Roxas frowned at the thought and could sense the cambions' shrug.

Maybe. The consequences your legal system has are laughable compared to what the bitch did to me when I didn't obey. Quite likely I would have blithely disregarded the rules until I finally went too far and got dismembered by a bunch of peasants with pitchforks. Axel's tone turned wry. As you might guess, I've had a while to think about this. All that philosophy and religion the priests tried to cram down my throat.

"You know, Axel, most people don't obey the laws just because they're afraid of getting punished." Roxas observed, crossing his hands over his stomach and watching a bird on the windowsill.

Then why do they? Axel sounded honestly interested and Roxas blinked. Was he serious? Did he really not understand?

"Because… because it's the right thing to do." Roxas said and could sense how completely unimpressed Axel was with that answer. He thought for a moment. "Let's say you steal something from a store. You say to yourself they're a big store, they can afford it right? But a lot of people think that. And if a lot of people think that the store has to raise the prices to account for inventory that goes missing. That hurts everyone."

Except the people who stole it. Axel observed and Roxas sighed. He could see why the priests had been having problems. Isn't that smarter as long as you don't get caught?

"Only if you don't care at all about other people. And you do care, don't you?" Roxas asked and Axel laughed, harsh and grating. His disdain for the idea was obvious. "You cared about Namine." That silenced the cambion briefly. "And Father Patrick. And you care about me, don't you?" Roxas held his breath as he waited. Did Axel care for him or was he in just as much danger as –

Yes, I care for you. Axel sounded uncomfortable with his own reply but Roxas felt a great relief. I suppose I even care for your parents and Cloud, although mostly because it would hurt you if anything happened to them. I'm… jealous of Sora and Riku, how close they are to you. That made Roxas tense again. Axel wouldn't hurt them, would he? No. That would hurt you as well, and I think I might like them if I only had a body to meet them with. But Roxas, I don't care about people I don't know. The only reason I would not kill a stranger is because of the possible punishment.

"Really?" Roxas asked, a bit saddened. Axel really was dangerous and scarred by his childhood. "Well, we can work with that. You just have to extend your empathy a bit farther." Roxas could also see why Father Patrick had tried so hard with Axel. The cambion had basic human emotions and reactions, but tainted by his demonic heritage and his mother's legacy of cruelty. "Maybe you need to know more people." Roxas mused to himself. The redhead had been so isolated for almost all of his life. He'd only really known his mother, Patrick and Namine. That was it. "Axel?" The half-demon hadn't responded at all. That was odd.

How would you go about doing that? Axel sounded very uneasy at the idea and Roxas blinked. Was the redhead afraid? He sounded nervous and a touch angry. Not good. Roxas thought that mindset had the potential to flare into rage. There aren't that many people on the island. Roxas thought about that and smiled.

"And you're going to meet everyone when mom and dad let me leave the house!" He promised the cambion. "I'll take you all over the island and introduce you. Well, not really but I'll talk to everyone for you. Father Patrick gave you books to read, I'm going to give you experiences. How's that?"

I think you're nuts. But okay. To Roxas relief the half-demon sounded far more relaxed. He wouldn't be the one doing the talking, after all. I'd like to see more of the island anyway. So far he'd seen quite a bit traveling along with Roxas but he wasn't a social sort of kid. He tended to keep to himself a lot of the time. This would be interesting. Roxas smiled and relaxed, going back to his book. It was a fantasy story about unicorns and Roxas had to ignore Axel snickering in the background. Ohhh he likes the patriach's daughter! Are they going to have sex Roxas?

"They're unicorns Axel, they don't have sex to reproduce." Roxas said absently and felt Axel's puzzlement. "They use mitosis."

You are so full of shit your eyes are turning brown. They do so have sex! Axel argued as Roxas grinned. They were discussing the reproductive habits of imaginary animals. Imaginary? I'm a half-demon, how would you know?

"Uh, a point. But everyone knows cambions are real, just rare. Unicorns are like yeti. They don't really exist." Roxas said firmly. He was sure Axel was just playing with him but it was fun. Although who knew? Maybe unicorns did exist in some remote valley somewhere, unlikely though it might be. "But if they were reproducing they wouldn't be having sex. How could something with a fetish for virginity have sex?"

Pfth. So are you saying they'd be brought by the stork? I know about mitosis, that's for single cells. Unicorns are too large. Axel argued. Roxas smiled, setting down his book. Talking to the redhead was more stimulating anyway.

Time passed by quickly as they chatted and that almost led to a mini-disaster. Roxas just barely managed to stop talking and grab his cell phone as his mother opened the door to his room.

"Roxas? Who are you talking to?" His mother asked as he pretended he'd just shut his cell phone. Roxas smiled brightly at her.

"Just Sora mom. We were talking about unicorns." His mother looked puzzled but nodded. She wasn't worried about his cell phone minutes, Roxas had an unlimited plan.

"Supper is almost done." She said instead and Roxas nodded. He was getting pretty hungry and he'd found out that Axel could taste things through him. The redhead loved to taste various things. Apparently his diet at the monastery had been the usual for the priests, good enough but nothing close to his mum's cooking. "It's baked beans with pork rolls." Roxas grinned as Axel snickered. The phantom smell of baked ham was still all through the house and he thought it would make the beans taste better. Axel had tried to adjust the smell once but he'd ended up smelling like cheap mouthwash. Roxas was happier with spiced meat than medicinal mint.

When he was going to bed that night Roxas felt a phantom hand at his brow, the light touch of something hard and cool. It was comforting and he snuggled more deeply into his blankets before he dropped off. The mirror showed a scene slightly different from the boy lying alone in his bed. Axel was sitting next to him, gently stroking his hair and touching his forehead with the blunt edge of dark claws.

He did care for the little blonde. More than he'd ever cared for anyone in his life.


"Roxas!" The pastor. Roxas forced a smile, turning away from the counter and the young lady he was speaking to. She was the daughter of the owner and her name was Sufi. Roxas wasn't used to being so social but he was really making an effort for Axel's sake. "You were asking about the history of the mirror?"

"Yes." Roxas said, surprised. "You've heard something?" The pastor nodded, beaming.

"Yes! It was apparently accidentally shipped here along with some holy books from a monastery on the mainland, near Visch. I spoke to a very nice fellow about it, he would like to buy the mirror back. Apparently it's quite a treasure." Roxas stiffened and felt Axel's sudden rage and fear. The pastor went on, oblivious. "He said they would pay you ten thousand dollars for it. Isn't that amazing?"

"I'm not interested in selling it." Roxas said firmly. "For any price. Please tell them that, sir." The pastor looked a little startled but nodded. "Thanks Sufi, but I better be getting home." He said to the young lady, who nodded with a smile.

Thanks Roxas. Axel said softly as Roxas peddled home. But he could sense the cambion's worry under his words. He sent Axel a questioning feeling and the half-demon sent back an even stronger feeling of worry. If they know what the mirror is they won't give up so easily. I'm amazed they were careless enough to let it out of their hands.

"Well, they can't do much about it if I refuse to sell it. I own it now." Roxas said firmly and frowned at the doubt and almost disdain he sensed from Axel. "What?"

I'm not the only one that thinks consequences are all that matter. Was all the redhead said. Roxas swallowed as he understood the message but he thought Axel was being far too pessimistic. They wouldn't try to steal the mirror. Would they? Then he frowned. Xemnas might, but was that priest even still alive? Axel had no idea how long he'd been in the mirror but it seemed likely it had been a while. The redhead had learned about technology by watching Roxas and living in his mind. But had that just been because of Axel's isolated upbringing? Roxas remembered his mother using a very nice oil lamp. How long ago could that have been, really? Maybe you should talk to Cloud about this. Axel finally suggested and Roxas blinked.

"Cloud? Do you think so?" Was Axel suggesting he tell Cloud about the half-demon? Roxas bit his lip, thinking about it. If it had been his parents he would have rejected the idea immediately. They were a nice, church going family and his parents had already been through way too many shocks. They couldn't possibly react well to the revelation of a cambion living in the mirror. Cloud would react at least a little better but Roxas wasn't sure about this at all. "Why?" Why did they have to tell anyone?

Cloud seemed like the kind of guy who can take care of himself. Axel observed and Roxas silently agreed. And he's living in a bigger city right? It's much easier to lose yourself in a city.

"I'm not leaving the islands!" Roxas exclaimed, the bike wobbling a bit for a moment. Axel's silence was leaden and Roxas licked his lips. "Unless I have to." Roxas wondered how the cambion had become so important to him. Well, he knew part of the reason. The redhead could be deadly to him and his family. But it wasn't just that.

I'm glad to hear that. Axel's voice was purring and Roxas blushed as phantom hands tugged on his clothes. They were much lighter than they had been when he was within sight of the mirror but definitely there.

"Stop that! I'm biking." Roxas snapped and Axel laughed. "I don't want to – AH!" Roxas had to sharply hit the brakes as Sora dashed out of his house, waving. "SORA! You're a menace! Haven't I had enough accidents?" He certainly didn't want another one. The brunette grabbed his arm and Roxas muttered some words he'd heard Axel use in his dreams.

Do you have any idea what you just said? Axel said, highly entertained as Sora grinned and pulled the blonde towards the house. That's demoniac and you just called him a sump hole filled with sour witches milk.

"Thanks for sharing that." Roxas muttered sotto voice. And what was Sora going on about? "Riku did WHAT now?"

"He entered an art contest and won! Come see the prize! You'll love it, I promise." Roxas blinked, wondering what that could mean. Riku was looking highly embarrassed as he stared at the statuette he'd been mailed. "See!" Sora gestured at it and Roxas stared.

"What kind of contest was this?" He asked, morbidly curious. The statuette was the kind that would gladden any fantasy fan's heart. A handsome barbarian wearing almost nothing, riding a very large cat and flourishing a sword. Roxas snickered as he realized why Sora had said HE would love it. The figure was a bit muscular for his tastes although the glossy look of it was nice. Roxas smiled as he imagined Axel wearing that outfit, muscles coated in a thin layer of oil… "Mf!" Roxas almost choked as Axel sent back an image of him in white harem pants, lying on his bed in a seductive pose. Fortunately neither of his friends noticed his momentary distraction.

"Isn't it neat Roxas? Isn't it?" Sora's enthusiasm was infectious and Roxas had to smile. "Riku wants to know if you want it. He says it's not his style." Sora sounded unutterably sad at that. Riku colored slightly as Roxas looked at him.

"And you thought it would be mine?" Roxas said sardonically as the silver haired young man coughed, avoiding his eyes. "Fair enough I suppose. Is it free?" Riku nodded, still embarrassed.

"There was a fifty dollar prize. I really don't need this and my family is making retarded jokes. Really, do you want it?" Riku asked and Roxas looked at the figure thoughtfully. He shuddered to think of what Axel would do with it but it was still very nice. A thought suddenly occurred to him and he grinned.

"Cloud's birthday is coming up, I bet he'd love it. Sure!" Riku smiled, relieved, and Sora carefully packed the statuette in bubble rap. Roxas thought it was a wasted effort. The thing had to be pretty solid to survive the trip to the Destiny Islands in the first place. He'd need to put it in the basket on the front of his bike. "I need to be going home though. I'm still grounded, sort of." His parents had lightened up a bit on that but they still wanted him home well before dusk. Sora nodded somberly.

"I'm really sorry about my uncle almost hitting you." The brunette offered. Roxas smiled faintly, taking the statue.

"It's nothing. I'm not the one that got killed. If I had, I'd be haunting him." The blonde said as Axel sniggered. "What, you don't believe in ghosts?"

"Me? I sure do! Remember the haunted house on Almond Street?" Sora exclaimed and Roxas winced. He hadn't been talking to his friend. Riku snorted.

"That wasn't a haunted house, Sora, that was a fault in the foundations. You know they fixed it and it was fine and now the Marcusons are living there." Riku said as Roxas began to peddle. The blonde tuned out his friends' friendly wrangling but smiled as he went home. It was a little harder with the statuette making an unbalanced load in the front but he managed. Before long he was home and unloading the statue. "So what did you think?"

I think you should call Cloud. Roxas scowled at the voice in his head. That wasn't what he'd been talking about at all. He had been referring to the other inhabitants of the island. We can talk about that after you call Cloud.

"You're really worried." Roxas frowned as he put the statue in his closet. "Alright, but not until after supper. I don't want mom and dad walking in. So what did you think of the other people on the island?" There was a sigh from Axel.

They're alright. Axel knew Roxas was trying to demonstrate that everyone was pretty much the same, with hopes and dreams and fears. But he just didn't care. How was he supposed to care about the people he didn't know? Maybe I could care about them. Axel finally conceded. Maybe he could care about the people on the island. He wasn't going any farther than that though. Roxas managed to smile at the redhead's reluctant tone.

"It's progress." Roxas started working on his homework, only taking a break for supper. It was very good tuna steaks with salad and mashed parsnips. Roxas couldn't stand the parsnips but Axel loved them. He let the redhead take over his body for a moment so he wouldn't have to taste them. One brief blackout later, his mother was looking at him in astonishment.

"You ate your parsnips?" Usually she had to fight him to get him to swallow them. "Very good dear! Would you like seconds?"

Yes!

"No." Roxas said firmly and sent Axel an image of the redhead getting spanked. There was a choking sound and then the cambion laughed hysterically. "But do we have any dessert?"

"Just some mango bread." Roxas smiled and went to get a piece. He loved the sweet, nutty bread. Axel appreciated it too and he could hear the half-demon purring in pleasure as he ate. As soon as he could Roxas left the table and went to his room, pulling out his cell phone. He quickly tapped in a number.

Yes? Cloud's voice. Roxas smiled. He could hear Tifa in the background, greeting someone at the bar. He must have called when Cloud was at work. Still.

"Hi Cloud, it's me, Roxas. Do you have a moment? There's something important I need to ask you about." If Cloud couldn't talk right now he could always call later. There was a brief pause and Roxas could hear Cloud talking to Tifa before his brother came back.

Sure, I can take a break. Hold on a sec. There was the sound of Cloud moving around and Roxas was sure his brother had gone outside. What's up?

"Um, you remember that mirror I got from the church?" Roxas swallowed before continuing. "There's a half-demon trapped in it."

What? Cloud's disbelief was obvious and Roxas winced.

"Just listen." Roxas laid out the whole thing for his brother, all the dreams he'd had and meeting Axel for the first time. "…The problem is, the pastor talked to someone. They offered me ten thousand dollars for the mirror." Roxas heard Cloud's indrawn breath at that. Ten thousand wasn't a completely ridiculous amount but it was two years of tuition at his university. "Axel said I should tell you. He thinks there might be trouble with them."

If they know what the mirror is, quite possibly. Did you want me to figure out who this Xemnas guy was? And what monastery was this? Roxas hesitated before remembering.

"On the mainland near Visch. You think you could?" That might be very helpful. Cloud's laugh was clear as a bell.

Oh sure. I have some friends who know how to find things out. Not that I really believe this stuff about a cambion but the only alternative is that you're totally nuts. And I don't believe that. I'll look into it for you, you just hold tight. Roxas smiled, happy at the confidence in Cloud's voice. As long as it wasn't overconfidence. That thought made him frown then shrug. He just had to trust that Cloud knew best.

"Thanks Cloud, I really appreciate it." They said their goodbyes and Roxas hung up, going back to his homework with a smile.

He had a lot of work to do and it just couldn't wait.