"You have five more minutes to give me a good reason why I shouldn't rip your throat out right here right now."

"Enough, Highwind," DiZ kept his eyes on Saïx, dulled from several long hours of interrogation, "He will talk when he is ready."

Saïx rolled his eyes, "There is nothing to talk about. I didn't summon any demons."

"Then explain the smells and the darkness."

"Look, it's as I told you a thousand times already," Saïx growled, "I was practicing glamouring a cat to make it look like a Shadow. That's all."

"You could train it to spy on other demons…" DiZ mused.

"Exactly. If you go back into my room, you won't find any pentagrams or summoning books or any shit like that. You'll find a cat under my bed because you exploded into my room and scared it."

Riku slammed his hands on the table, "What about the darkness?" his voice rose, "Cats don't climb through ceilings and smell like melting tires! They don't disappear into the darkness!"

"They could if you put enough glamour on them." Saïx countered.

"Stormguild!"

The Sanctuary was a building adjoined to the Institute, built on unhallowed ground. As there was no angelic substances fortifying it, it could be used to house Downworlders who had part demon blood. Miles underground, there were cells that held fugitives from demons to Downworlders to rogue Shadowhunters. At the moment's notice of Saïx's possibly having summoned a demon, DiZ called on Squall and Vexen to forcibly restrain Saïx and bring him to the Sanctuary's dungeon. Riku came along, still vibrating from the hunt. That'd been a bad decision. Until dawn, the whole questioning process had been DiZ calming Riku down with Vexen and Squall sitting in chairs behind them. Thankfully around 1:00 am Riku got tired, although he was still pumped enough to demand answers.

DiZ sighed, "The sun must be up by now. We should leave this for another time."

"What about Foxway?"

"He's an adult, but he hasn't stopped studying. Foxway is too young and inexperienced to know or perform any demonic summoning spells. The only thing he can summon is his Keyblade. However…" DiZ's eyes stared into the distance as he said this, "Highwind is right. Glamours don't smell. It may not have been Saïx - -"

"May?"

"... But someone did summon them. Demons cannot enter the doors or windows, so they came by pentagram, and escaped."

"DiZ."

This got DiZ's attention. Riku never called anyone by their first name other than his friends, as was custom by most Shadowhunters.

"It's still impossible. The hallowed holy ground should incinerate them the moment they set foot inside. A pentagram would literally be the only way they could live inside of here."

"I'm aware," DiZ yawned, "Iceshield, get to the bottom of this."

Vexen straightened, "Stormguild, you have to know, there really is no way…"

"There obviously is. Find it."

"... Understood."

"Highwind, get some sleep. Training is postponed for a while."

Riku reluctantly nodded. Squall spoke up, "And what of Foxway?"

DiZ went to exit the cell. He answered over his shoulder, "Keep him in here under constant supervision. And all of you, not a word of this to the Clave. I am not to be misunderstood."

The four left in the room sat in awkward silence. Before any of them moved, all of them heard Vexen mumble to himself, "I'm not sure he understands… If the demons weren't labelled, who's to say they were even summoned in the first place?"

Foreboding and dread was what kept Axel away from the infirmary on any other day. Last night, it was Xion wanting to see Roxas that made him step through the doors willingly. By the time they returned from the ruins of the Johnson residence, the locking rune had faded, and the sheet had been removed. As Xion ran inside, Axel read the note on the door:

I have removed the toxins from their bodies. When I left them, they were breathing. If they are not when you see them, you have my most sincerest apologies. I did all I could, and left Raziel to do the rest. Should he have chosen not to save these children, then we must respect that, as we do all of our dead. Only sunrise will tell.

~ Brother Lexaeus

"Wow," Axel muttered aloud, "He got the Silent City involved?"

"Look, Roxas!"

Axel peeked his head around the piece of paper to see Xion kneeling beside Roxas's bed, showing him her sketchpad. If Xion was frightened by Roxas's condition, she didn't show it. A small smile creeped its way onto Axel's face before he entered the room and stood on the other side of Roxas's bed, watching silently on. Xion took note of his presence.

"Do you want to see my drawings too?"

"If you don't mind showing them to me."

As no one ever listened to her other than Roxas, Xion had never shown anyone else her drawings. They were a little more than special to her. Like other girls kept diaries, Xion's sketchpad was journal of pictures. Each one held a meaning that only Xion could see. But Xion wanted to show Axel a little bit of herself and Axel could see this. Whether it was gratitude for earlier or something else entirely, Axel couldn't guess the reason why. Regardless, he took the chair from the medicine table and set it by Roxas's bed while Xion sat opposite him on her knees. Axel paid more attention to Xion than he did all of his Shadowhunting lessons combined.

"Alright," she said, flipping through the pages, "Oh! See, Roxas? It's a werewolf, which is real, by the way."

Axel thought he could feel his heart warming at Xion's humor, however corny. As Xion turned every page, Axel saw not only was she a great artist, but he could see how much she loved them. She handled every page like a delicate flower, a child born from her hand that need significant care.

"And this one! The 'fay', as you so call them. They're real too."

From beautiful drawings of mermaids to fearsome scratchings of warlocks, Xion's whole notebook was full to the brim of amazing pieces of art. When she reached the last page, Axel said lowly, "You saw a lot of them, didn't you?"

Xion was quiet for a moment, and finally replied with, "Yes. They scared me, a lot. But, none of them ever hurt me, and I never stopped trying to get other people to believe that they were there."

"You cared about them."

Axel stared at Xion, eyes wide and mouth slightly parted.

"I… I heard you, a while back, arguing with Roxas. You said the other kids bullied you and ripped apart your drawings… but you still cared. You wanted to save them."

"Well, yeah," Xion looked pointedly into Axel's eyes, a sad smile on her face, "Anyone would."

No, not anyone.

"I guess that's part of being Nephilim, right?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Axel?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"It's nothing. Listen, I'm tired, I'm gonna go to bed, so, seeya tomorrow."

Then Axel went to his room, leaving Xion with Roxas. He didn't hear speak.

"You know, he's not that bad. We should thank him. And… Roxas? I don't care anymore. I understand now. There really is nothing to go back too. But you know what? That's fine with me. There's a better art room here, and the people here are just like us. But, most importantly, I have you. At the house, I told Axel that you were my home. And, that's the truth. I see that now. It doesn't matter where I am as long as I have you. So, hurry and wake up, alright? I…"

Morning came, as well as DiZ to the apothecary. He found Xion sleeping with her head on her arms, resting at Roxas's feet. After the tolling rounds with Saïx, it helped him to see such a thing. DiZ smiled, a real, personal smile. For a minute, nothing happened, then DiZ was surprised by the blinking of blue eyes.

Roxas yawned, "DiZ?"

"Shh," he whispered, gestured to Xion and Kairi, "They are still resting. Wait until they are awake to stretch. How are you feeling?"

"Tired, mostly. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"That is good."

"You look tired. Did something happen?"

DiZ held a warding hand off, "No, no, do not fret about it. I must take my leave. If Rosekey wakes up, tell her training is postponed until further notice."

If?

Roxas started, "Wait, she's not gonna die, is she? She can't!"

"Relax, Wolfstrife," DiZ gave a reassuring smile, "Everything will turn for the better, in the end."

"That doesn't mean Kairi needs to die."

"Sometimes, it does."

That same smile touched DiZ lips as he departed. Roxas's eyes were wide, on his lap.

"Xion…"

Her hand was on his leg, limp in her slumber. Roxas took it in his own, sitting up and bending forward to touch it to his forehead. It was soft and artistic, as well as comforting and familiar. Back during their childhood years, Xion would pet Roxas's hair. He'd feel her palm on his head and melt like a dog being scratched in his one spot. Cloud made her stop after a while. As a father, he knew how growing up was like for an adolescent boy. He didn't want relations between Roxas and Xion other than those of siblings. Roxas would hear him talk to Aerith at night about how he regretted not telling Roxas that Xion was his sister or at least distant cousin. There was no need, in Aerith's opinion. But sometimes, Roxas would lay awake and watch Xion sleep. He'd observe how the moonlight illuminated her hair so the shadows turned to blue, the way her fingers twitched as though itching for her pencils, and feel, against everything else, at peace, knowing she was safe, but it wasn't enough. Roxas had the urge to climb into bed with her, wrap his arms around her, bury his face in her neck; he had to live with just being in the same room. Even now, Roxas wanted Xion under the covers with him, holding him. Never anything sexual, just the sensation of holding her close, hearing her breath.

Roxas lowered her hand from his brow. He could see her face, on the crook of her elbow, completely slack and defenseless. Before she woke up, the walls she built to keep people out weren't there. Xion was there, in her sleep, vulnerable and exposed. There she was, long lashes brushing her cheekbones, jaw not as set, soft, pink, lips slightly parted…

No. You need to stop. She's like a sister to you. You're all she has left. Don't ruin this.

He whispered, "Please, forgive me, Raziel. I have sinned, not letting this beautiful creation of yours know that she is perfect in every imperfect way. Give me the strength to do so, and to endure…"

Roxas choked on his words. On his legs, Xion stirred, though didn't awaken. A sigh of relief flowed through his mouth before he jumped at the voice beside him, "Roxas?"

Kairi had sat up, spreading her arms until they cracked. Roxas stuttered, "Y-you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've been through worse. But, listen, I heard that little prayer just now and, well…" she popped the air out of her spine by leaning back, "This is a new world. Things are different now."

"I know that."

"No, I don't think you do."

Kairi hopped off the bed, making sure to keep the blanket tied around her chest.

"Dude, I know for a fact that I might die young. That's part of being a Shadowhunter. I've known death was coming for me the second I began training. What if Xion chooses to fight? Then you're left with unrequited emotions and a broken heart. Trust me when I say from first-hand experience it sucks ass."

"You lost someone?"

"No, not me. Riku."

"Riku?"

She morosely laughed, "Yeah, hard to believe, right? Her name was Naminé. They were really close, like you and Xion, for years. Everyone but Naminé saw how in love Riku was with her, but…"

"She was killed."

"Basically. The two of them were on patrol and a newly-transformed werewolf found them. Werewolves, the first time they turn, are very strong, and very dangerous. They don't know how to control their power yet. They don't have a conscious, almost as if they've gone berserk. It wasn't the wolf's fault he killed her. Riku was about to slay it, and then Squall showed up and stopped him. Ever since that day Riku's trained the hardest out of all of us. I think it's to compensate for not being strong enough to protect Naminé. Anyway, he never told her how he felt, and I can see how it destroys him every day. There's so much darkness in there, in his broken heart…"

Kairi's breath caught.

"That's it."

"What's it?"

"Remind me to contact Stormguild later. But, yeah, Roxas. Don't wait until it's too late."

"Xion doesn't have to fight. She might not choose what Naminé did."

"No, she might not, but what about you?"

"I don't have to fight either…"

"Roxy…" Kairi sighed, putting her hands on her knees and bending down to eye-level with Roxas, "As I said before, this is a new world. There's gonna be more people, people who will be like her and be able to understand her. What if she meets someone else?"

"Someone else?"

"Yeah. There's a plethora of Nephilim boys that'd like her."

"None of them would ever deserve her."

"You feel you do?"

"No one will ever deserve her."

"Then show her that. Nothing's stopping you now."

Not exactly.

"Okie-dokie, I'm gonna go shower. There's no rush, but keep in mind what I said, okay? Someone sweet as you doesn't need that. Oh, and don't worry," she winked, "Your secret's safe with me. Seeya later!"

"Bye…"

Thoughts weighed down Roxas's head. He let out a defeated groan, shutting his eyes and praying again to Raziel that Xion didn't hear a word of that.