Roxas panted harshly, groaning gutturally as Axel's hips dug into him, fingers closing on his shoulders with bruising force as he moved in and out in a harsh, barely tolerable rhythm.

Their lovemaking had turned almost violent in the past few days. Axel was crackling with a new power… it felt like the light, but it wasn't the kind of light Roxas had encountered before. This was a light that burned, pitiless and brutal, and it felt like it was going to burn them both away. It was certainly burning Axel away. Roxas had to struggle now to ignore how Axel looked… and in bed, the pain of bones digging into him was a constant reminder. But the pain felt good.

"Ah, ah… Axel!" Roxas gasped out, biting Axel in the shoulder and tasting the coppery blood, smelling the charnel scent on him. It was driving him wild, and Roxas groaned, tightening around Axel.

"Roxas." Axel growled his name and gripped his hips now, trying to push himself in harder, deeper. Roxas stared into his green eyes, flickering with light and darkness, and found his vision hazing with the brutal pleasure.

I want to love him. The thought was clear even in the pleasure haze. It made what heart he had ache. He wanted to love Axel so badly, to return the feeling the blood witch was giving him… and he couldn't. He just couldn't. All he could do was this, and Roxas dug his fingers into Axel's back as the redhead brought him over the edge, crying out as he came hard between them. Axel kept thrusting a few moments more, then released as well with a guttural, animal sound. To Roxas, it was unbearably sexy. Axel slowly pulled away from him, green eyes meeting blue.

"Love you Roxas." Axel said, his voice hoarse, and kissed Roxas roughly. Roxas returned it, gripping the red spikes of hair tightly.

"I…" I wish I could love you. But he couldn't, and for some reason he choked on the lie. Axel smiled crookedly and turned away from him… Roxas never liked to cuddle. Roxas watched him for a moment, saying nothing, and finally closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

What was there to say?

Axel looked down into his bowl of porridge… and knew he couldn't eat it. Or rather, he could, but digesting it at this point would take more energy than the food was worth. When you reached the end of the line, being a blood witch meant making some trade-offs. He'd burnt away every non-essential he could think of and some things that really weren't non-essential at all. But now he had to drag energy from places that should have been completely off limits. The function of all his organs had been reduced… including his digestive track.

"Axel? Aren't you going to eat that?" Roxas voice raised him from his reverie, and Axel looked up with a small smile.

"No. Don't think it would agree with me." His light, easy tone fooled neither of them and Roxas swallowed as he stood. "I'll get back to work." He was almost done. Just one more light rune, and the design would be complete. "We can probably cast the spell tonight, when you're done work." He started to walk away when Roxas' voice stopped him.

"Axel…" He turned his head to look back, and met sad blue eyes. Tell me not to do this. Tell me to stop. If he stopped right now, Lily might be able to repair the damage, although it would take months of bed rest. If Roxas only said the words…

Of course, he didn't.

"I'll see you later." Roxas dropped his gaze to his bowl of porridge, and Axel smiled crookedly.

"Yeah, later." He stepped back into his workroom to find the last light rune, and complete the designs.

He couldn't be done soon enough.

Roxas frowned as he walked home, ducking into an alleyway. Someone was following him. He could feel it, and it didn't feel like a kind regard. Suddenly he felt the air move behind him, and whirled, catching a keyblade against his in a clash of sparks.

"Xep?" Roxas stared at the other keyblade master. Xephras was still smiling, looking at Roxas through their blades, but it was a particularly unnerving smile and his eyes were bright. Xep yanked his blade back, circling him, and Roxas turned to follow his movements.

"You're going to kill him." Xephras said conversationally. "I snuck into his house, spied on him as he worked. Ebony and ivory runes. He'll die to cast your spell. But that doesn't mean anything to you, does it? He doesn't matter to you." Roxas swallowed as Xephras confirmed what he had known, really. That Axel couldn't cast the spell without killing himself. "And he'll do it for you because he loves you. But I'm not going to let this happen. I'm not going to let you kill him." Then he attacked, his keyblade darting at Roxas' face.

The fight was like their first practice, but in deadly earnest. Roxas knew from the first clash of keyblades that Xephras was trying to kill him, and he had to return the favor. Sparks flew in the dark alleyway and the battle seemed to go on forever. Roxas gasped as Xephras sliced him in the side, but managed to trap the purple haired man's blade under Oathkeeper, Oblivion pointed at his chest.

"It's over, Xep. Go back to Albert. This is between me and Axel."

"No." Xephras said simply, and lunged at him with a dagger, trying to dodge Oblivion. Roxas reacted without thought and Xep halted abruptly, their faces only an inch apart. "…Oh." Roxas felt a sick horror as Xephras looked down at the keyblade impaling him through the guts. He didn't even seem surprised as he looked up at Roxas, his eyes still bright. "Always knew I'd die a virgin." His eyes went unfocused then, as he gazed over Roxas shoulder at something only he could see. "Happy place?" He asked questioningly, then slid off the keyblade with a sigh. Roxas watched, paralyzed, as the blood spread on the dark stones.

"Oh Xep." He whispered to himself. Xephras looked so small now, crumpled on the ground, his collar glittering in the moonlight. They could have been friends. They were friends, for a short time. But there was no friendship for Xep now. Nothing for him now. Roxas looked down at the blood on his keyblade, and made it vanish. "Sora, I hope you won't be able to remember this when you wake up. All the horrible things I'm doing for you." And he turned and walked away, Sora's burning need driving him. He needed to get back to the Destiny Islands… no matter what the cost.

"Axel?" Roxas stepped into the work room… and swallowed.

It had changed a great deal in just one day. Axel was standing behind the table, smiling sadly as his eyes burned with glorious darkness and aching light. On the walls surrounding him, he had written the blood runes. It couldn't have just been blood… it would have taken too much… but it looked like blood, and it looked disturbingly fresh. On the table in front of him, iron wire had been twisted into a dozen runes, each connected to the others in a circle… and connected to a final rune in the centre of the circle. Roxas could feel the darkness and light drifting off the iron, the brutal potential that lay within the pattern. It was horrible and wonderful and he knew without question that it could do what Axel wanted it to do. It could bring him back to the Destiny Islands.

But only at a price.

"Axel…" Roxas desperately wanted Axel to stop. Desperately wanted him to refuse to go on. Desperately wanted to demand that he stop… but that he could not do. The words seemed to stick in his throat. And Axel only smiled.

"Don't worry, Roxas. Everyone has to die someday." Roxas' breath caught in his throat as Axel finally voiced the truth. He sounded… amused. There was a strange, fey exhilaration in his eyes as he laid his hand down on the rune in the centre of the circle. "Ready?"

"Yes." Roxas whispered, feeling Sora's need like a throbbing in his mind. Axel's hand tightened on the rune, and Roxas could suddenly smell blood. The scent was overwhelming, and Axel's face twisted slightly as blood began to drip and pool beneath his hand. The blood slid over the wires, and as Roxas watched it coated the runes… which began to glow with light and darkness. The power kept building until it was nearly painful, and Roxas stared at the runes… until Axel's soft gasp sent his gaze up. Roxas went pale as he saw what was happening to the blood witch. "Axel!" Livid bruises were spreading under his skin, as if he was being beaten… but nothing was touching him. He was bleeding under the skin, and as Roxas watched, horrified, the bruises spread with unnatural swiftness. A red mist was springing up, rubies shot with black and white, but he could still make out Axel. The redhead blinked, and bloody tears slid down his pale skin. Skin that was bruising even as Roxas watched.

"Goodbye Roxas." Was the last thing he heard before he fell into a tunnel of rubies, ivory and onyx.