Pain pain please make it stop.

"Riku, stop it, you're hurting me!" Laughter, hard hands, please let it stop.

Understanding.

"You're not Riku." Silver hair, bright aquamarine eyes, smiling at him. But the smile was all wrong…

"It took you long enough to figure that out." Teeth grazing his neck as the pain started again. "You can cry for him if you like. He can't hear you."

Roxas woke up with a gasp, disoriented. For a moment he couldn't remember where he was… or even who he was. But then it came back to him, and he reached over to touch Axel… and blinked when he realized the blood witch wasn't there.

"Axel?" He glanced around, hesitating… then shook his head and lay back on the bed. He wanted to hide in Axel's arms for a moment, but that was coming from Sora… and it wasn't Axel's arms he wanted.

Riku raped Sora, but it wasn't him, it was something controlling him. Roxas clicked his teeth together, looking at the dark ceiling. No wonder he's traumatized, yet desperate to get back. Sora was forgiving and truly loved Riku. Yet, he couldn't handle what had happened… so he'd retreated, leaving Roxas to take care of things and giving Roxas an intense desire to get home. It all made sense. The only thing that didn't make sense was…

Where was Axel? Roxas frowned, prying himself out of bed. Axel should have been in bed. He walked out of the bedroom, seeing in the dark easily, and opened the door to the workroom. Axel wasn't there, but Roxas frowned at the smell and the feelings he was getting from the iron bowl Axel used in his work. The smell was faint, but… it smelled like freshly spilled blood. And the bowl radiated darkness, as if it had been used to access the darkness recently. Roxas was intimately familiar with the way that felt. Then he noticed the ladder leaning against one of the walls, leading to a trapdoor. Was Axel on the roof? Roxas hesitated, then started climbing up the ladder. He wanted to know what Axel was up to.

The roof of the house was very flat, and Roxas quickly got his bearings, finding Axel. He was sitting on the edge of the roof, looking up at the stars. Roxas walked up beside the redhead, sitting beside him.

"What are you doing?" He finally asked, when it was clear Axel wasn't going to speak. Axel turned his head to look at him, smiling faintly, and Roxas stared at him. His skin was pale, almost ghostly in the moonlight, and his green eyes were burning with darkness. He'd never seen his pyro Axel like that… but it was incredibly sexy. For the first time, this Axel seemed to have a dangerous edge.

"Just watching the stars." Axel said, his voice rough with disuse. "I've always liked watching the stars. I watched them with my mother, and my pyro cousin." Roxas looked up at the stars, twinkling above them. They were beautiful… although not as beautiful as the man beside him. For a moment, he wished he could love Axel. But Sora's heart was already given to Riku, and Roxas had no heart to give. "You watched the stars with him too?"

"Sometimes." Roxas said quietly, remembering. Axel had always liked the stars, although he had preferred the dawn more. He glanced over and met Axel's eyes, seeing that beautiful, wild darkness again. What had Axel been doing to cause that? Before Roxas even realized he was moving, his lips were pressed against Axel's. He could smell blood on Axel's skin, but it was… good. A dangerous smell, like the dirt and blood after a mission… Axel reacted, pulling Roxas into a rough embrace, his teeth grazing the blonde's neck as he groaned.

"I love you so damn much," Axel gasped out, almost sobbing, and Roxas blinked as he felt hot tears against his neck. Why is he crying?

Then Axel did something that was wonderful, painful and put stars behind his eyes, and Roxas forgot how to think at all.

"That was incredible!" Xephras was grinning widely, excited by what was happening, and Roxas smiled. "Well done!"

It was the second day of the tournament, and the bookies still hadn't wised up to him. Albert had already made an obscene amount of money off of it, although that was going to taper off as soon as the bookies realized what was happening and adjusted the odds.

The tournament had turned out to be a far more serious matter than Roxas had expected. It was all live weapons, and deaths seemed to be extremely common, although if your opponent dropped their weapon and raised their hands, you were supposed to spare them. There was no actual rule that you had to, but poor sportsmanship got you booed. Roxas had already killed one man, but had managed to disarm the other and knock him on his ass. He was glad, since he'd spotted an anxious woman and two young children in the sidelines watching. That man had actually been rather good, and Roxas wondered what he did for a living.

Now he was on his third bout, and Albert's streak was probably about to end. This man was favored as a possible winner in the competition, and if Roxas beat him the bookies would be wising up. Roxas blinked and stiffened as the man entered the ring… he had beautiful red hair, green eyes and tattoos on his cheeks. Although, fortunately for Roxas peace of mind, his hair was long and in a pony tail, not spiky.

"Do all blood witches look like that?" He muttered to Xephras, who nodded.

"All of them. I've never seen a blood witch or witchblood without the red hair, green eyes and tattoos. Freaky, no? Especially the tats. You'd have to ask Axel about that." Xephras glanced at the sheet he'd gotten. "This guy is named Rahl. I think that girl is with him." Xephras pointed to the sidelines, where a pretty girl with the same red hair was watching with anxious green eyes. "If he's good, try not to kill him. We could use a few more blood witches in the Organization, if they're up to it." Roxas nodded. It was common knowledge that Albert watched the tournament for good prospects to join his gang. And blood witches were always tremendously useful to the Organization for their healing abilities. Axel was doing that for Albert, but almost all the big names in the Organization also had pet blood witches.

As soon as their weapons crossed, Roxas knew that the man was good… very good. Too good. He would have trouble taking him down without killing him. He finally managed it, but only just… Oblivion cut deep into Rahl's side, and the man fell to his knees with a gasp, dropping his weapon and raising his hands.

"Yield." He said, his face tight with pain and blood on his lips. Roxas stepped back, nodding acceptance as the girl leapt from the gallery down into the dirt.

"Rahl!" She ran to his side, and pulled his shirt away from the wound. Roxas winced… he'd hit a lung with that last strike, and the injury looked very bad. She ignored him completely, though, slashing her own hand and quickly writing a pattern on Rahl's skin in her blood. Roxas blinked as she gasped, the blood flaring and vanishing into ash. He could literally see her lose weight, her clothing going from comfortable but tight to lose on her skin. And the wound closed instantly. Rahl coughed for a moment, wiping the blood off his lips, then smiled at her.

"Thanks, Lily." Rahl took a deep breath, then looked at Roxas. "Good fight."

"Thanks. If you're looking for work, come see Albert at the warehouse on Denby Street." Roxas said quietly, and Rahl hesitated, then nodded.

"Might do that." Then they were gently shepherded out of the ring as the next battle got started. Xephras clapped Roxas on the back, grinning.

"Good job! That's it for today. Want to come to a tavern to celebrate? The whole gang is getting together. Hey, bring Axel too! He needs to get out of the house more." Roxas smiled… Xephras good cheer was infectious.

"Sounds good, I'll go get him. I was wondering though. Why aren't you doing this?" Xephras was an excellent keyblader and would surely stand a good chance of winning the competition. Xephras grinned.

"You're forgetting, the point isn't to win, it's to make a lot of money on the bets!" More seriously. "I did do this, when I was twelve and first hooked up with Albert. Made him a ton of money that year, but no one would bet against me the second. It's how it goes."

"Ah." That did make sense. "Well, I'll go collect Axel. What tavern are we meeting at? The Smiling God?" That was the usual place Albert's people hung out after work. Xephras nodded, still smiling.

"Of course, where else? Later Roxas!" Xephras waved as Roxas walked off, and Roxas smiled to himself. Once you got used to the smiling, Xephras really was fun to be around.

"It's a bit hot for all those clothes," Roxas remarked to Axel, who smiled tiredly. Axel was wearing two shirts and a sweater, and Roxas couldn't figure out why. It was far too hot outside for that, although Axel seemed mostly unaffected.

"I have my reasons." Roxas frowned, but didn't pursue it as he opened the door to the tavern.

"Hey Roxas!" Albert waved, and Roxas paused as he saw Rahl was with them. The red haired man smiled and nodded to him, though, and he nodded back. "Axel… you look like shit! Haven't you been eating?" Roxas blinked as he suddenly realized what the clothing was for… to conceal how much weight Axel had really lost. And despite it, Albert had noticed. Axel shrugged with a small smile.

"I've been eating a ton, ask Roxas. It's just hard to keep it on these days." The girl with Rahl, Lily, frowned but said nothing as Axel helped himself to the bar snacks.

"Hmph! Well, let's try to feed you up." Albert gestured to one of the serving wenches, and she quickly took his order… plenty of potato bites, chicken wings and bread and vegetables with dipping sauce. Axel grinned and started to eat as soon as it arrived, his appetite as voracious as always.

Soon, Roxas was chatting with Mina and a few others about the days events, as Axel and Lily shared the fine points of blood magic. Rahl watched them with a smile and amused himself by putting out and lighting the candles on the table. Roxas had to smile that… it was something his pyro Axel would have done.

"So you're a witchblood?" Roxas asked him conversationally, and Rahl nodded.

"Yep. Too much fire in me for the blood magic." Roxas nodded, then tilted his head to one side.

"But you still have the tattoos?" Rahl lifted his eyebrows at him, then glanced at Axel, who shrugged.

"I'm surprised your friend didn't tell you." Roxas blushed faintly as he realized why Axel probably hadn't… Axel had tried to tell him a few stories about being a blood witch, but he hadn't been in the mood to listen and Axel had taken the hint. "They're a rite of passage thing. We all get them at puberty. The girls get them too, but they're in a place that you don't get to see unless you're really friendly." Rahl grinned, running a hand of Lily's back as she laughed. "There's the blood rosette, too, but only the blood witches get that. You've probably seen it, but didn't know what it was. It's a brand." Roxas suddenly blinked as he remembered the scar on Axel's shoulder. He hadn't thought much of it… it was clearly an old burn… but now that he remembered, it did have a pattern like a blood rune. "Being a blood witch or witchblood is almost a separate culture, in a lot of ways. I sometimes think that's why we get so much grief."

"Probably. People are afraid of things they don't understand, especially in small towns." Axel said, and there was a dry grief in his eyes that made Roxas look down at the table. "It's a lot better here than where I grew up, that's for sure."

"Yeah, we like it. We got driven off our estate, is that what happened to you?" Rahl asked curiously, and Axel nodded with a sad smile. "Those idiots don't know what they'll be missing, without Lily to ensure good crops, good rain and deliver the babies." Rahl shook his head in disgust, but Lily sighed.

"I only wish I thought they'd realize what I did for them… but they'll more likely think I put a curse on them when we left." She shrugged. "Oh well. That's life. They would have deserved a good curse anyway." As they talked, Roxas caught Xephras eye, and blinked. Despite his constant smile, there was something… angry about the other keyblader. The look he was giving him wasn't entirely friendly.

When Roxas excused himself to find the bathroom, he wasn't really surprised to find Xephras following him. Or gripping his shoulder.

"We need to talk." Xephras said firmly, and Roxas frowned at him. Xephras stared at him a moment. "How many shirts is Axel wearing, under that sweater?"

"Two. What business is it of-oof!" Roxas grunted as Xephras suddenly slammed him to the wall, and was tempted to call in his keyblades. But he resisted the urge and just glared as Xephras leaned in. The other man wasn't smiling at all, for the first time he could remember.

"What in hell do you think you're doing? Don't you see how much weight he's lost? He can't maintain this kind of drain. You need to make him stop!" Xephras growled, and Roxas gritted his teeth. He knew how much weight Axel was losing, knew how bad he looked. But Sora's desperate need was driving him, and he couldn't afford to stop.

"Xephras, this is our business, not yours. Let go of me." He said harshly, and Xephras glared for a moment before slowly pulling his hands away. Then he winced, his hands going to the collar on his throat.

"Can't get upset, can't get upset. Happy place. Need my happy place." Xephras whispered to himself, and smiled again. Not a nice smile, but a smile. "Roxas… I hope you can live with yourself when he's gone. I really do." And Xephras walked away, leaving Roxas there.

Alone with thoughts of need and death.