Riku felt like he was floating. He was warm, content, comfortable… although there was something cold on his neck. That was annoying. But then the pleasure started, taking his attention away from that. Someone was touching him in a way that was achingly familiar. Hot hands, sliding down his chest, over his stomach until they found the ache between his thighs…

"Sora." Riku murmured, eyes still closed. Surely they were both in heaven… then suddenly, something pinched him viciously. "Ow!" Riku awoke fully with a start, blinking as he tried to understand what was happening. There was someone on top of him, someone much too big to be Sora. "What…?!?" He tried to struggle, and the chain around his neck tightened abruptly, choking him until he stopped moving. The naked man over him had the end of it coiled around one fist, and Riku looked up, shocked and in pain, meeting amused yellow eyes.

"Look around," The man suggested, his voice amused, and Riku slowly glanced around the room. It was a very beautiful room, well furnished, and he was lying on a large, plush bed. But Riku's gaze was immediately drawn to Sora. His lover was chained to the wall by a cuff on his neck and a long chain, and he was completely naked. He was bruised in places, and his skin was reddened in spots that made Riku swallow hard. Sora was watching them, his blue eyes wide and filled with silent tears.

"Sora!" Riku tried to jump off the bed… but the chain caught him as the man holding it laughed. Riku tried to call up his aethalmagery, then the earth magic, but it was like there was a glass pane in his mind. He knew the powers were there, he could feel them, but he couldn't reach them. He gasped and eased back, looking at the man on the bed. "…Xehanort?" Riku swallowed, going pale as he remembered what Axel had written in his note. "You're a psychonaut." Xehanort laughed, gently touching his cheek. Riku flinched away from the touch.

"Indeed. And you should be glad I am. No one else could have reached you in time to save you… but for me, reality is sometimes optional." He waved his hand down… and through the bed, as if the bed wasn't there at all. Riku swallowed again as he saw that. The problem with psychonauts who could manage a stable body was that reality was often their toy, and they had all kinds of unexpected and unpleasant abilities. And they usually looked at people as hardly better than bugs. "I was so pleased when I saw you had been sent here, Riku. I've wanted to get to know you for some time." Riku blinked, looking at him uncomprehendingly. He'd been too young to be involved, when Xehanort lost his head. "Kadaj told me so much about you." Riku went dead white at the mention of that name.

"You… how did you know my brother?" Riku demanded, his voice shaking, and Xehanort smiled, a flash of white teeth against tanned skin.

"Oh, I knew him since he was a child. I taught him everything he knew. He bragged about how well he had you trained… I think I would like to see the things he taught you." Xehanort purred, and Riku panicked completely. He jumped out of the bed, ignoring how the chain choked him, and struggled frantically to get away.

"Riku!" Sora cried as he saw how blue Riku's face was turning. The aethalmage was going to choke himself unconscious with his struggles. Xehanort only watched, impassive, tightening his grip on the chain for a moment before he spoke.

"If you pass out, I'll have to use your little friend again." Riku froze as he smiled, and Sora shivered. "I've already tasted him, but only in passing… but if you refuse to cooperate, I'll play with him. He's a bit old for it, but he might be trainable." Riku shook his head, and slid back onto the bed, the chain slackening around his neck.

"No, please. I'll do anything you want. Just leave him alone." Riku said shakily. Xehanort smiled, and slowly traced Riku's cheek with one finger.

"Then let's start with the basics." Then his hand suddenly wound through Riku's hair, yanking the silver hair back painfully. "And remember what you're supposed to call me."

"Master." Riku whispered, his eyes soft and submissive… and bright with held back tears. Sora watched, horrified, as Xehanort pulled down the silver hair's head.

"Very good, pet. You may begin." Sora closed his eyes, hands over his ears as he tried to block out what was happening on the bed. The soft sucking sounds seemed to go on forever… but when Riku cried out in mingled pleasure and pain, he had to look up. He shivered as Xehanort slid into the silver haired boy, then blinked. Riku seemed to… be really enjoying it. Except for the tears sliding down his face. Sora looked down as Riku cried out again, his back arching as the white haired man did something to him. The sounds of them moving together seemed to go on forever…

"Master, can I?" He asked breathily. Xehanort watched him, a strange, amused detachment in his eyes even as he sped up his rhythm, making Riku gasp and the tears fall faster.

"Not just yet." Riku panted, eyes glazing over as the pleasure reached a painful peak, the tension in his penis and warmth curling in his belly just begging for release… but he couldn't. Not until Xehanort allowed it. Riku cried out again as the other man hit his special place again and again. It was such sweet torture.

"Master, please! Please!" He hated begging, and hated even more that Sora could hear him… but he needed it, needed the release. No matter how much he hated it or how much he hated Xehanort for doing this to him.

Sora couldn't take his eyes away from what was happening, now, although he wanted to. Riku was begging, pleading, moaning and flushed with the pleasure. It was so… Sora swallowed, realizing he was reacting a bit to the sight. But Riku was so beautiful, and despite how good their sex had been, he'd never managed to melt Riku into a puddle like this… but tears were still sliding down Riku's face. Then Xehanort whispered something in Riku's ear, and he cried out, arching as he finally released. Xehanort laughed, and ran his fingers through the sticky whiteness before bringing them to Riku's face.

"Clean it off." He said softly, and Riku complied immediately, slowly and sensuously licking his master's fingers. "Very good, pet. I'm beginning to see why Kadaj tried to keep you around, the fool. Well… we'll explore your more advanced training later." Riku made a sound that could have been a short, muffled sob, and Xehanort smiled, standing and taking him over to where Sora was chained. A similar chain was fixed onto Riku's throat, and he pulled away the silver choke chain. "Later, children." And the psychonaut vanished into thin air, teleporting away… or perhaps he had never been there at all.

"Riku…" Sora started, then stopped as Riku buried his face in his hands. "Riku!" Sora put his arms around the silver haired man, feeling him shake. "Riku?"

"Now you know… how much of a slut I am…" Riku whispered brokenly, and Sora's eyes widened.

"You are not! You stopped him from… from doing more to me." Sora swallowed as he remembered the rough sex he had awoken to. It hadn't been the worst he'd ever had by a longshot, but it hadn't been good. Riku looked up, blinking as he remembered what the man had said about tasting Sora.

"Sora… he hurt you? Are you alright?" Pulled out of his misery, Riku examined Sora carefully and was relieved to see only a few bruises and reddened places. Sora smiled faintly.

"Only a little. He said he was just passing the time before you woke up." Riku looked stricken, and Sora hugged him tightly. "I'm okay, really. Riku… who is Kadaj?" Riku shuddered at the name, but drew a deep breath.

"My brother…. I guess you have the right to know. Since he seems to know everything, and he's going to use it against me." Riku closed his eyes for a long moment, finding the will to tell Sora the truth. Sora just hugged him close, trying to give comfort. "Kadaj was my older brother. A lot older… mom and dad were in a long term marriage, even though they hated each other. It was a family thing…" Riku paused, sniffing, before he continued. "He taught me to… to lick the lollipop when I was four."

"Four?" Sora said, appalled. Even in the slums, there were some standards. They didn't care too much about the age of consent, but even in the slums, four was just too young. Riku nodded, burying his head against Sora's neck for a moment before he continued, his voice trembling.

"Mom… didn't notice, or didn't care. She was addicted to Dusk." Sora winced at the mention of that drug. It was a particularly potent drug that could lead to mood swings and violence in chronic users. "Kadaj… sometimes… he protected me from her. She even broke his nose once. I th-thought… he was the best brother…" Riku let out a harsh sob, and Sora ran a hand through his hair, soothing him. "Dad was… never home. Not his fault. He was a secret agent… like Axel, but even more, since he wasn't a technomancer. And he hated mom. He would come home and we'd go to his house for a while, and then he'd be gone again." Riku swallowed, wishing for some water, then blinked as he glanced around. There was a bathroom, and the chains would let them reach it. "I'm going to get a glass of water, okay?" He really needed it. Sora nodded.

"Okay." Riku walked to the bathroom, his chain clinking, and wished desperately for clothes. But he didn't think they would be getting any. Fortunately, there were glasses in the bathroom and he quickly filled one before going back to Sora. The distraction helped settle him, and he continued the story in an almost normal tone of voice.

"All my childhood, Kadaj trained me. He used punishment, rewards and magic to make me his devoted slave. And I was." Riku took a deep swallow of the water, blinking back tears. "By the time I was eight, he did everything with me… everything… and I thought it was normal. He was my god, and I thought it was normal to sleep with your brother and… everything. I only realized it wasn't when… when they mentioned incest in school, and I figured out they were talking about me and Kadaj. And I realized it wasn't normal to f-fuck your brother." Sora felt almost paralyzed as the story unfolded. He'd thought he and Roxas had a hard life… but this was worse. Much worse. "I tried to ask him about it and he p-punished me and I… I knew the teachers were right. It wasn't normal to be your brother's sex slave. But I… I couldn't think of what else to do. And then my sister was born." Riku paused, and a faint smile crossed his lips. "She's so cute… you'd like her. She's twelve now. Her name is Chappi, but I call her Chipmunk. She's always chattering." Riku dwelled on thoughts of his sister for a moment, before returning to the story. "Mom hated her, said she was too loud… I tried to protect her from mom and Kadaj. I… I was afraid he was going to use her too, but I figured if I was there he'd just stay with me. But when… she was four and I was fourteen… she mentioned a game she was playing with Kadaj. And I knew." Riku's voice roughened, and Sora hugged him again. "I knew what he was going to do. I had to do something. They'd taught me in school that ultimate justice came from the King, so when mom took us to the palace for a special dinner I… I went right to the King's room and demanded to see him."

"You did?!?" Sora blinked. Even for a child of aethalmage's, he couldn't imagine the strength it must have taken to go and demand that. Riku chuckled softly and sadly.

"I was terrified and the guards stopped me right away. But I put up a huge stink, and the King heard the ruckus and came out. King Ansem has a soft spot for kids… he asked me what was the matter, and I told him. I told him everything." Riku rubbed his face with one hand. "He was so angry, Sora. He took me to the mind healers right away, and stopped mom and Kadaj from leaving the palace. Kadaj… everyone thinks he was sent to the Susiji and caught a blood disease there, but he didn't. He died that day. Mom got sent to a hospice for the insane."

"So Axel doesn't know?" That relieved Sora. If Axel HAD known about Riku's past, his comments about acting like his brother would have been unbearably cruel. Riku shook his head.

"No, he doesn't. All he knows is that he went to school with Kadaj and hated him. Which proves Axel's a pretty good judge of character, I guess." Riku took a deep breath. He wanted to finish the story. "Anyway… King Ansem recalled dad, Sephiroth, to the palace and told him that his only job now was to take care of us. Dad set me down and told me he was sorry he hadn't been there for us, and it was probably too late for him to be a father to me, but we could be friends. And he was so p-proud of me for saving my sister." Riku smiled weakly, through the tears in his eyes. "It meant a lot to me, hearing him say that."

"He sounds nice," Sora said softly, and Riku laughed.

"He's not really nice, but he's… honorable. And he knows he's not nice, so he got Chappie an unbearably nice nursemaid to be a substitute mother. She's coming out normal, mostly. And I'm…" Riku swallowed a bit of water. "I'm not normal. The mind healers did their best, but… they said Kadaj had me too long. They did a lot for me, but I still react to… to the way he treated me. I can't help it. I feel like… like such a dirty slut sometimes, but I can't be anything else…"

"You are not a slut!" Sora said fiercely, startling Riku out of his own feelings as he hugged the taller boy fiercely. "You're Riku. I love you just the way you are. It's not your fault your brother was sick." Then Riku's arms encircled him, and aethalmage whispered in his ear.

"Thank you." They held each other like that for a long moment, then the door swung open with a creak. They both looked up, surprised, as a young woman with short brown hair stepped into the room. She was carrying a tray of food and was wearing an iron collar, and her eyes were so cold, so empty. With wordless efficiency, she handed Sora a bowl of soup and a piece of bread, and the same to Riku. Then she walked out. Neither one of them was tempted to speak to her.

"Oh good." Sora said in relief as he bit into the bread. He was starving, and the soup smelled good. Then he noticed that Riku was just looking at the bread in his hands, expressionless. "Riku?" Sora suddenly paled as he remembered what Riku had said…

Put us on starvation rations, or even normal people rations, and we die fast.

"Riku." Sora breathed, feeling like his heart was seizing. "How… how long can you…?" Riku looked up with a bitter smile.

"If he doesn't give me a lot more than this… three days. Maybe four." Riku looked down at the bread again. "But don't worry, Sora. If he taught Kadaj, then he knows about my metabolism. I bet this is just a game…" Sora shivered, as he thought about that. A game involving food?

He didn't want to find out what kind of game that would be, but he was certain he would.


"It's going to be hard on the Queen, but the best time to act will be at the marriage ceremony in two days." Cloud pointed at the map, and Axel nodded thoughtfully.

They were plotting how best to ruin Xehanort's fun, and this seemed like the best idea so far. The marriage would take place, by long tradition, on Starcrest field. That was a very large field, which would give them a lot of scope to work… and hopefully they could convince the Guard to get the civilians out quickly. Some would probably die, but it was still their best shot at getting close to the Queen.

"We'll have to coordinate with Seifer to pull this off." Leon said quietly. "I'll go to the palace to speak to him." Cloud frowned, but nodded. He didn't like sending Leon into that kind of danger, but Leon was best at missions like that. Well… Zexion or Zigbar might have been better, but there was no way Seifer would trust them.

"Seifer will be glad to see you. He seemed pretty upset about everything." Axel remarked, and Cloud smiled, a touch sadly.

"I can imagine. Poor Seifer… he wasn't ready for this. I hope he's been managing to use Hayner." Cloud shook his head, putting it out of his mind, and went back to the strategic planning. "Zexion can be here…" Axel watched intently as they laid out their plans. He didn't expect the plans would last much past their intervention in the wedding, but it was still good to have plans.

Of course, even with plans, they still had to wait two days. Axel studiously avoided Roxas throughout the day, but found he couldn't at night. There was something he needed to give the blond.

"Roxas." Axel frowned at the boy lying in his cot, kneeling down beside him. "Roxas?" There was a twitch, and Axel sighed to himself. Roxas heard him, he just wasn't responding. "Roxas, I have something for you. Please." Nothing. "Roxas…" Axel sighed, and invoked the geas. "Roxas, turn around and look at me." The blond moved without thought, and furious blue eyes met green.

"Are you going to order me to have sex with you now?" Roxas hissed, and Axel stared at him, stunned, as the words tore at his heart.

Crack.

"Shit!" Axel gasped in pain as the vial in his hand shattered. He'd broken it without thinking, and blood started to flow from the glass splinters embedded in his hand. "God damn it!" Roxas blinked at the blood as Axel used his earth magic to force the splinters out, then seal the wound. Axel reached into his backpack and pulled out another vial, throwing it to him convulsively. "Here. Dreamless sleep potion. You'll sleep four hours, without dreams, and be completely refreshed." His voice was hoarse, ragged, and Roxas swallowed at the look in his green eyes before Axel turned away.

"Axel…" Roxas stopped as Axel walked away. What was there to say? Yes, he'd hurt the aethalmage… but Sora was still dead. Roxas looked at the potion, then swallowed it quickly, turning away again.

It would be good not to dream.


Axel stared at the wall as he tried to sleep and wished, desperately, for his own vial of dreamless sleep. But he'd given it to Roxas, and he didn't want to ask Zigbar for more. He knew the things that went into making it, and they were expensive. He doubted the freeshooter had any to spare, since they would all be using them the next day as well. That was the important part, anyway… he could afford to be tired tomorrow, but not the day of the wedding.

He didn't want to think. Thinking would hurt and thinking would keep him awake. But it was so hard to shut down his mind. Closing his eyes, he tried to watch the patterns of light and darkness behind his eyelids. That was relaxing, and eventually he began to drop off…

Axel was vaguely aware he was dreaming. An odd, unsettling dream. But most of him was twelve years old, wandering through the academy.

The academy had a name, but Axel couldn't remember what it was. To everyone, it was just the academy. The place, old as Theradin itself, where the offspring of the powerful were taught. And not just the powerful… children of the poor who showed special abilities could get scholarships. But mostly, it was the powerful. Aethalmages, nobles and wealthy merchants all sent there children here. The building was big enough to be a palace in its own right.

But in this dream, the building was empty. That never happened in real life, and Axel was feeling more and more uneasy as he searched. There was someone he needed to find, but he didn't know where… and his chest hurt. Why did it hurt so much?

"Easy lad." Hands suddenly gripped his shoulders, and he looked up into wise, compassionate green eyes. "You can't find what you want here, son."

"Dad!" Axel hugged Gilius, and in his dream his father was so much taller… just as he'd been when Axel had been twelve. "Why does it hurt so much?"

"It's just a broken heart, lad. It'll get better with time." Axel wept as he heard those words, just as he'd wept when he'd heard them years before, when his father had helped him through his first heartache.

"I thought this was the one. I want it to stop hurting." Axel suddenly tore away, running through the dark halls. "I have to find him!"

"Axel!"

"Axel?" Axel blinked, blurrily making out a face above him as the dream shredded away. Finally he made out silvery purple hair, and blue eyes in a beautiful face. "I'm sorry to wake you, but… you were crying out."

"Oh. Sorry." Axel muttered, pushing himself up. "How long…?"

"Only a few hours." Came the soft reply, and Axel winced. "You didn't take the dreamless sleep?" Zexion knelt down beside the bed, folding his arms on it and looking at him.

"It… broke." Axel didn't want to explain how that had happened to Zexion. Zexion just looked at him, waiting for an explanation, then slowly glanced at Roxas across the room. The boy was dead to the world, and would be until the potion wore off.

"You were calling his name, in your dream." Zexion observed, and Axel swallowed, looking away. "Things aren't going well between the two of you?"

"There is no between the two of us." Axel said, surprising even himself with the bitterness of his tone. Zexion just looked at him, his eyes sad, and Axel had to drop his gaze.

"That might be too pessimistic. He's grieving, and blames you. He might eventually forgive." Zexion said quietly, and Axel shook his head.

"That wouldn't change anything. He doesn't understand." Roxas didn't understand his dedication to his duty. Axel rarely got pulled to do these special missions… he was a technomancer first… but when he did, he handled them like his father had taught him. It was his duty, and the duty of anyone with him, to see that the mission succeeded… whatever the cost. Riku had understood, but he'd been trained at the academy too. Zexion sighed. He knew where Axel was coming from. He'd never had a purpose like that, as an assassin, but Luxord had explained the King's oath to him.

"Perhaps he could. But not now. He's too upset." Axel shook his head, and Zexion watched him for a moment, hesitating. "Axel?"

"What…" Axel's voice trailed off as Zexion pressed his lips against his. It was a gentle, tentative kiss and seemed to last a long time before Axel pulled away. "Zex. That's… I can't replace him." Zexion closed his eyes, and rested his forehead against the bed.

"I know." Zexion whispered. "Even if you lifebonded to me at this moment, you couldn't replace him. My sun is gone… but I would like to pretend." Axel hesitated, then gently gripped Zexion's shoulder. The smaller man drew a deep breath, opening his eyes. "Axel… could you just hold me? I… don't want to be alone."

"I can do that." Axel felt relieved. Truthfully, he didn't want to be alone either… and he couldn't touch Roxas. Not now, when things between them were colder than the roof of the world. Zexion slid onto the bed beside him, and it was a very tight squeeze, but they managed it. Axel felt Zexion's breath against his neck as he dropped off to sleep again.

This time, if he dreamed, he didn't remember.