Gah I'm getting sloppy. To anyone who reads this, I'm damn sorry I can't write faster.

The interrogation room hadn't changed at all since Sora's last visit. Even the occupants hadn't changed all that much. Only now Roxas was involved which made everything feel about ten times worse.

Losing Kairi made Sora hurt everywhere and that sucked but at least Sora could still function minimally. Watching Roxas lose Naminé was like having your heart cut out with rusty spoons. Maybe it was the fact they both looked like an errant breeze could shatter them. Maybe it was the fact Roxas' eyes looked like they could drown you. Or maybe it was the fact that a worse thing could not have happened to two nicer people.

The core of the problem was that Roxas was a man with few needs and fewer demands of the world. In life Roxas only needed four things: Food, water, shelter and Naminé. Without Naminé, Roxas would die young and miserable. Nobody who knew them could say otherwise. Roxas had a strong spirit, but without Naminé, he was only half a person.

As far as Sora was concerned a world where Roxas and Naminé weren't together was no world he wanted to live in.

So a tired, broken Sora and the utterly shattered Roxas sat opposite a very concerned looking Selphie and Leon who had determination written all over his face.

"You must be Roxas," Leon said.

"That's right," Roxas replied in a tired voice.

"Well Roxas, I'm Leon and this is Selphie. I understand you already know Sora."

"Nice to meet you Leon," Roxas said.

"Alright, we need to talk to the both of you. And we need to know a lot as fast as possible. So I'm going to ask you some questions. I need you to answer as best you can. Afterwards you can ask anything you want to about the case and I'll answer if I can. Is that okay?"

"Yes," Roxas said faintly.

Wordlessly Leon produced the same recording device as last time and put it on the table. He hit a button distinctively marked with a red dot.

"State your names for the record please."

"Sora Skye"

"Roxas Keyes."

"Alright, Roxas, let's talk about Naminé. How long have you known her?"

"About six months."

"And how long have you two been together?"

"About five months."

"When was the last time you saw Naminé?"

"Five days ago, when I kissed her goodbye at the airport."

"Where were you going?"

"I was going with my brother to see my father who's currently in hospital out of state. Naminé had to stay behind because she had exams."

"What's wrong with your father?"

"He was going in for heart surgery. We wanted to be there in case... in case he never woke up." Roxas was barely keeping control of his voice.

"And did he wake up?"

"It was a close thing but he pulled through."

"Alright. When did you find out Naminé was missing?"

"When I got home. She hadn't been answering my calls for maybe two days which was unusual for her, but when I got back I found the door smashed in I called you straight away. That was about twelve hours ago."

"Was there any other sign of intrusion? Any sign of a struggle?"

"Well, there was broken glass on the floor, but I couldn't figure out where it came from. Other than that it seemed like she just vanished."

"In the event we're wrong about who we think is doing this, does Naminé have anyone who would want to hurt her?"

Roxas looked like he'd been punched. Sora took over out of mercy.

"I know you never met her but the concept is absurd. Naminé is possibly the sweetest, nicest, most endearing creature that was ever placed on this Earth. No one who'd met her could possibly have wished her ill." Sora placed a comforting hand on Roxas' shoulder.

"Okay that's good to know. Does Naminé have family in the area?"

"No, I'm all she has left. She doesn't have any siblings and both her parents died in a fire last year." Roxas said.

"What were her parent's names?" Leon was looking at Roxas intently.

"Tidus and Yuna Hope." Leon's mouth fell open. Then it closed. Then it opened again. Then it closed again. Selphie looked similarly shocked.

"What did I say?" Roxas said anxiously.

Leon looked physically ill.

Sora was puzzled.

Selphie took over.

"Alright, Roxas, how do you know Sora?"

"Oh, we're friends."

"How did you two meet?"

"We met through Ventus, my twin brother and Sora's best friend."

"This true Sora?"

"Yes."

"Alright Sora, why were you standing outside anyway?"

"Oh uh, yeah I came to show you something. I think I found where he took Kairi, and more."

"Really?"

"Hold on I've got pictures." Sora produced his phone, pressed the necessary buttons and handed it to Selphie. Selphie examined the phone for a few seconds before passing it wordlessly to Leon.

"Sora, do you have an idea why he might want to hurt you? Do you have any enemies?"

"No. Not that I know of."

"We need to know where we can find this. It's a long shot but he might have slipped up."

"I found the tracks in an alley that runs between Twelfth street and Eleventh street."

"Thank you."

"I also came to ask if I could help." Selphie looked up, there was steel in Sora's eyes. She wanted to say yes. But she simply couldn't.

"Sora, it's nice of you to offer, but official policy says we can't put you in danger."

"Can't I fetch coffee or something? I need something to do. Please. Anything at all." The desperation in his voice was like a knife through her heart. But she couldn't. Especially not in this case. They were dealing with a criminal who targeted the police. He'd kill poor Sora without a thought.

It was now Leon rejoined the conversation. He wordlessly hit the stop button on the recorder.

"Screw official policy. I think I've got a job for you Sora. Roxas too if he wants to help."

"Leon is that such a good idea?" But Leon was standing up and he rushed out the door with a general yell that sounded like "Wait here."

Leon came back ten minutes later with a bundle of papers under his arm. Everyone else looked up as he entered. Leon threw the papers down on the table and began leafing through them, pulling out photographs and other condensed pieces of information. A few seconds later, when he was ready he started slapping bits of paper down on the table so the other could see them.

The first two were photographs of Naminé and Kairi.

"Alright, I need to explain very fast. Sora, do you remember everything I told you last time?"

"Yes."

"Well we may have been wrong. Very wrong. The Prophecy case is very relevant here though. But this time around we think it's someone different. We don't know who though. What we do know is that so far we have two victims. Naminé and Kairi. I'm trying to figure out which link between the two because that could give us the method our perpetrator is using to decide his victims. At the moment though, there are simply too many possible angles. We need to narrow things down. First off there's the fact that they look similar. Do Naminé and Kairi know each other well?"

"Not really," Sora said after some thought.

"Well good, that kills that. Here's where I'd put my money at the moment though." Leon pulled out two more pictures and slapped them down above Naminé and Kairi. Sora could recognise one as Rikku.

"Rikku Lamb and Yuna Hope. Kairi's adoptive mother and Namine's mother respectively."

Roxas interrupted.

"I should probably mention that Naminé was adopted too."

Leon stared at him hard.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes it was in a letter her mother left with their solicitor. She only found out after they died."

"Alright, this just makes this link even more likely. As I was saying... Rikku and Yuna. Both Adoptive mothers. Both were also victims in the original Prophecy case and protected witnesses. Furthermore both are now deceased."

Sora and Roxas shared a glance. Sora was concerned and Roxas was puzzled.

"There's a third woman who fits this pattern," Leon slapped down another picture, this time a woman with shockingly white hair and red eyes. "One Camilla Paine. She was also one of Prophecy's original victims and she too is now dead. Beyond that we don't know much about her. What we do know is where you come in. The person who called in finding her body was one Riku Paine." Leon slapped down another picture, this time of a boy with the same white hair and intelligent green eyes. Sora went goggle eyed. Leon stopped mid-speech to shoot a look at Sora.

"Don't tell me, you know him."

"I saved his life once. In fact he and his sister were how I got together with Kairi. We were best friends until one day he just disappeared. What happened to him?"

Leon and Selphie shared a troubled glance, with Leon obviously mouthing "Sister?" before he turned back to Sora.

"Riku definitely has a sister? Do you remember her name?"

"Xion. Xion Paine. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but she was definitely not his real sister. I remember Kairi saying that Xion had told her she knew she was adopted."

Here Roxas interjected.

"Did you say Xion Paine? You won't believe this. Before we moved in together, Naminé was sharing an apartment with a girl called Xion Paine."

Leon didn't know which one to look at in disbelief. Selphie was writing furiously in a notepad.

"Do you remember what she looked like? Either of you?"

"Oh... Yeah," Sora said

"Yes," Roxas said

Leon shot the both of them an expectant look.

"She looks like Kairi. At least she did. Except for the hair. She had short black hair. That was when I saw her last. Roxas would have a better idea if it's the same girl."

"It sounds like the same girl. I have a picture at home. I would have said like Naminé but it amounts to the same thing."

"Right, we'll need that. I don't know what the hell else is going on but my instincts say that if that girl isn't already gone, then she's in danger. Here's where we need your help. See, as far as we can tell, Riku is Camilla's son. Everything else we have on him is a list of minor criminal offences that marks him as either an associate or a member of The Crowns. Have you heard of them?"

Dimly Sora could recall the name from a few news reports. He shook his head and looked over at Roxas who was doing the same.

"They're a small-time gang who live and operate in the south of the city. Why we need you is these guys won't talk to the police. About anything. So if there was another potential victim, say Xion, which looks incredibly likely, Riku wouldn't call it in or take any warnings from us seriously. Which is why we need you to go and talk to him. We need to know. Do you think you could do that for us?"

"Yes." Sora said.

"Roxas, it would probably be safer if you went with him."

"Yes. I'll do it, I'd like to help."

"Good, Sora time is of the essence. I'm going to get Don to brief you and drop you off wherever you need to be. I'll leave how you do it to you, but we need you to talk to Riku fast. I'm also going to ask you to tell Roxas what you can about the case. I'd do it myself but in light of what's just fallen on our laps, we're going to need to look into other things fast."

Leon produced a card from his pocket.

"When you find anything, anything at all, call me on this number."

"We will."

"Good. Thank you for doing this. Both of you" Leon went to the door and stuck his head out. After a couple of seconds the door opened and Don walked in, motioning to Sora and Roxas. The two boys got up and left in his wake.

Leon sank slowly into the chair, his shoulders slumping. This was beyond anything he'd expected.

"We better see if forensics can spare someone to check out that alley."

"Mmm."

"Selphie, Which way is up again?"

"I've lost track myself."

"This new guy. There's so many questions. And when you pull any two puzzle pieces together and they breed more questions. This case is hell's own worm cannery."

Selphie nodded, looking intently through her notes.

"I want my damn friends back, they'd know where to go." Leon said tiredly.

"Don't worry, we'll get this guy Leon. We'll get those girls back. You'll see."

"I hope so Selphie. I also hope I haven't just killed the victim's boyfriends."

"I wouldn't worry. All they have to do is talk to an old friend of Sora's, how hard can it be?"

"It's not that. This new Prophecy seems to be keeping tabs on the boyfriends as well. I hope I don't regret letting them out of my sight."

Selphie shrugged and suppressed a shiver... those boys would be fine, wouldn't they?

The new quarters were nice. In fact they were almost too nice. The only problem was that there was nothing to do. There was food in the fridge. There was a table to eat at, a bathroom with a shower. There were chairs and a couch. And everything was soft and comfortable. It was warm too, there was a heater on the wall though she wasn't in control. Though she did have control of the lights through a bank of switches by the bedroom door. The best of the lot though was the bed. It was a huge double bed with plenty of blankets and quilts and after an eternity in a sleep deprived hell it was the nicest thing she'd ever seen. The prisoner hopped in experimentally and found herself wanting to fall asleep almost immediately. She resisted however in order to take stock of the rest of what she had.

Which wasn't much. There was a wardrobe across from the bed, but no clothes. The kitchen was stocked with utensils and appliances with the exception any form of knife. In the bathroom there was a full stock of hygiene products and towels. Upon discovering the last the prisoner immediately got the most satisfying shower of her life, turning the heat way up and scrubbing herself raw. She washed her hair and got out feeling a whole lot better about the state of affairs.

She hung the towel back up and went through to the bedroom where she stood in front of the mirror. Compared to when she's looked at herself yesterday, things seemed to have gotten much better. The bruises all over her body had now faded from yellow and purple to purple and red. She still too thin and too pale but breakfast yesterday seemed to have pushed her back over the danger line. Things were looking up.

As if on cue, her stomach growled at her. She hadn't realised it she was so hungry. The fridge upon closer inspection was stocked with ready cooked meals. She chose one that was descriptively labelled "Chicken + Vegetables" and put it in the microwave. When it was finished cooking she took it and a spoon and sat down at the table. It was surprisingly good, whoever cooked this had put effort into making sure she got to eat well. Or maybe they just didn't know who it was for. Either way when she was done she put the container in the kitchen bin and looked around.

What now?

It was a good question. There was nothing to do. The prisoner heaved a sigh and sat down on the couch. This was another test. Or another game. Here in her white paradise, all she had was herself. Maybe that was it, while she was here she was supposed to spend time reflecting or self-analysing. Her master had said she would have companionship soon. Until then she would have to amuse herself.

She looked around again but there was nothing to see. Everything was white. The only colour here was on her, and even she looked pale. There was nothing much to hear either. Except her breathing, the buzz of the fridge and the low rushing sound that indicated some form of temperature regulation. Nothing here smelled particularly strong. This place was almost a void except for one thing. Touch. The more she thought about it the better it felt. The soft covering on the couch tickled her and the more she looked around, the more she could see that everything looked good to touch. She experimentally spread herself out on the couch feeling it all down her back. She couldn't get enough. This was a sensual place alright. It subtly channeled attention to your body. Which could only mean, given all that had happened to her, that she was supposed to think about sex. Some more. And once she started thinking about it, she realised other parts of her were already ahead of her. She sighed, her new simple life would take some getting used to.

When she was done, and her body was finished convulsing, a now familiar shame set in. She didn't try to fight the feeling. As much as it hurt, even pain was better than boredom. Thoroughly tired she decided it was time to try the bed out. She let the warmth of the bed envelop her and slipped away into the comforting embrace of sleep.

The next few... well that was the thing. The prisoner soon found out that her new home had much the same effect on the passage of time as the basement which was to say it was impossible to measure. She was removed from it. If the microwave had ever held a clock it seemed to have been removed. All she had to go by was that she ate and slept, but couldn't tell how long it was between meals and sleeps. Life could only be measured by the seemingly endless cycle of pleasure and self-loathing.

She soon came to realise she was being watched. A thorough examination of her living space revealed several small holes, high up on the walls. If she looked from the right angle, these would glint. Which told her that there were almost certainly cameras in them. Which told her that her master wanted to watch her descent into depravity. Which was fine with her.

More time passed, and she became acutely aware of her want for company better than just her fingers.

Finally, three sleep cycles later, things began to change.

The first significant event to occur after her change of quarters, was when she heard voices from outside the door and then the mechanical click of the lock. Unsure of how to present herself she stood up trying to will away the slick of juices on her inner thigh. The door opened and The Smiling One walked in.

"Hello pretty one, have you been well?"

"I have Master."

"I'm glad to hear it. Now I have a surprise for you, I brought you a friend."

A slender shadow stepped out from behind him. It took all the self-control the prisoner had not to cry out. She knew that girl. Naminé, that was her name. Or it used to be anyway, assuming Naminé had been put in the same position as her. Naminé looked terrible. She too was naked and shivering, her body was mottled with bruises and far too thin. Her hair in particular, normally golden and radiant was matted, dirty and lost most of it's lustre. Naminé normally looked like the wind would knock her over now it looked like she'd topple all by herself. It was indecent and wrong that this had happened to Naminé. The prisoner could accept that she herself was a nasty, treacherous slut but couldn't believe that the same could be said of poor, sweet, innocent Naminé. The Smiling One had to be wrong about Naminé. He had to be. It shook her to her very core to see that girl in the same state she'd been in when she arrived.

Naminé seemed similarly shocked to see her and had a hand to her mouth. The Smiling One moved to the door. His movements gave no clue as to whether he noticed the silent communication going on. If she had to guess though, the prisoner would say he knew. She also knew there was an angle here that she couldn't see. She was beyond caring though. A truly friendly face held more value then her master could strip from her in a whole life-time. But she knew she was expected to refrain from any action to comfort poor broken Naminé until her master had left them. Speaking of The Smiling One, he was now standing outside with one hand on the door, ready to seal them back inside. Before he did though, he left them with a final incentive.

"If you two play nice, you might just earn a name each." Then, as was his wont, he left them. The door had barely slammed before the prisoner took the few necessary steps to reach Naminé and encircled her in her arms. She pulled the other girl tight to her chest and for reasons she didn't fully understand began to cry. In between her own sobs she could feel Naminé's chest rising and falling brokenly. She seemed equally affected by the moment. The prisoner felt Naminé's arms circle around her back and together the two broken souls shared the pain of their ordeal.

For a full five minutes or more they just stood there holding each other until by unspoken mutual design the moment ended and they took a step back.

"Kairi? It's really you isn't it. I never thought I'd see anyone I knew ever again."

"Me too... You look terrible."

"Have you seen yourself recently? You're all bruised and thin."

"Something tells me I'm not as badly off as you right now."

"Probably. You wouldn't happen to have anything to eat on hand would you? This place looks wonderful."

"There's food in the fridge, I can heat something up for you. Meanwhile you can get a shower if you want to."

"We have one of those? That's great news. I feel kind of... filthy after all that time in that terrible place."

"We do, through that door over there. We'll talk more when you're clean and you've got some food in you."

So a few unmeasurable units of time later, the prisoner sat at the table with a freshly cleaned and fed Naminé. The girl had wolfed down her food after emerging from the bathroom. Now she carefully set her cutlery down and looked over at the prisoner, indigo eyes glowing with pleasure taken from having some form of basic decency restored.

"What now?" Naminé said.

"I've been asking myself that since I arrived." The prisoner replied.

"Well we could talk. Maybe figure out why we're here?" The prisoner looked at her inquisitively, had the other girl been put through the machine? If so she must have understood what their master wanted.

"You mean aside from the obvious right?"

"Absolutely. I thought we'd leave the sex aspect until later. I just got my food down and though sex is not an unpleasant thought, I'd like to wait and see if the food keeps first."

"Sure."

"I mean maybe it's the look you are aware exactly how much we look alike right?"

"Yeah. Huh. You remember Aqua and Terra's wedding?"

"Yes, or at least I think I do. That was where we were introduced right?"

"Uh-huh. Well just after that, someone came up and asked if we were sisters."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was Aqua's sister I think. Can't remember much more about her."

"Well what's that got to do with anything?"
"I don't know, maybe he thinks we're sisters?"

"I doubt it. He seems to know all about us. Even before he forced me to tell him about myself I got the impression he knew everything about me."

"Yeah I felt the same. I guess he just likes our look."

"That's probably it. Still it's some coincidence."

"What's it they'd say in a movie? There are no coincidences."

"I always hated that line. It sounds like it means something, when really there's nothing to it. It just sounds good."

"I don't know, I always liked the way it implied some kind of overarching plan to everything. Like someone or something is planning it all."

"If there is a plan to this, it's a crappy one. I never saw my life ending up here."

"I'll say. I'm still not sure I didn't just dream the past couple of days. What kind of sadistic person would actually plan and then carry through on something like this?"

"You know, I'm not sure he is human."

"What, he's some kind of demon or something?"

"Exactly."

"If you'd said that before all this I'd never have believed you. Now I'm not so sure."

"That's the thing isn't it. He can't be human. Humans can be bad, but they aren't like this. He'd have to completely lack a heart. It's nicer to believe we're the sex-slaves of some kind of demon than it is to believe that he's only a man."

"Gah, don't say that." The prisoner shivered.

"Say what?"

"Sex-slaves."

"Why not? I mean that's what we are isn't it? You know what, forget what I said about the food. No sense putting it off. We need to talk about this right now."

"Sure. Well there certainly hasn't been much of the sex. Not since he left me here anyway. And before that, he could have... taken me any time he wanted to but he didn't and he hasn't since. I don't know about you."

"No me neither. Aside from just once at the very start. I wonder why?"

"Maybe he wants us to want it."

"Well mission accomplished there."

"You too?" The prisoner said, perking up.

"Yes. I can't stop thinking about that machine. How awful and horrible it was, but also how good it felt. I... I had to... in the shower. I couldn't help it. What about you? You've been here longer than I have, surely..."

"Yes. I have. A lot. It's not enough though."

"I feel it too. I've been trying to ignore it. Mind over matter and all that, but it won't stop. I know I'll need to do it again soon."

"I understand. I've lost track of how often I've had do it myself."

"Is this another of his trials?"

"It makes no sense. He wants sex. Well here we are. We're willing. We're able. What's he waiting for?" The prisoner asked no one in particular.

"Maybe... Maybe it's not himself he wants the sex for." Naminé said hesitantly.

"Well then who?" The prisoner said with a sweeping arm gesture.

Naminé just stared at he pointedly. The prisoner looked evenly back. What was she implying? It came to the prisoner in a flash. Really? Wow. Ok. Well that explained why there was only one bed.

The recognition must have shown in her eyes because Naminé shifted uncomfortably. A blush sprang to the blonde girl's cheeks. Could she do that? With sweet, innocent Naminé? Well of course but... well... there wasn't really a good reason not to and Naminé certainly was very pretty. And it wasn't like she'd never done anything similar before. And she had been bemoaning the lack of better companionship. Now the prisoner could feel herself blushing as well. She realised a silence had fallen as they both considered their immediate future. The prospect hung heavy in the air between the two beaten souls until the prisoner couldn't stand the silence.

"So... uh... have you done anything like this before?"

"You mean had sex with another girl?"

"Uh.. yeah." The prisoner was clearly the more embarrassed of the two.

"Yes. Before I met... my boyfriend... there was a girl."

"Oh, right. Me too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's just it sounds like it was a bit further back and probably a good deal more innocent." Which was somewhat ironic, given that of the two girls in the room, Naminé looked the more innocent.

"I can't believe after all this, he just wants to watch us have sex with each other!" Naminé said suddenly and angrily. "No offence or anything Kairi, it's not that I wouldn't have sex with you... I would love to," They both blushed and Naminé continued on, "but it seems almost insulting for him not to take a direct interest." She finished.

"None taken, I don't think that's all there is to it." the prisoner said plainly. "Most likely we have to earn his interest or something."

"Right." Naminé said. "So what now?"

"Well, I was thinking you look tired. I know I was when I got here. We have the most wonderful bed in the other room, maybe you should try and get some sleep?"

"Now that you mention it, I do feel absolutely exhausted."

"You look it."

"Kairi can I ask you a favour?"

"Uh... first could you please stop calling me that. That's not my name any more."

"Sorry. I didn't think that... well I just didn't think. I'm sorry."

"Don't mention it. Now you were going to ask a favour?"

"Yes...um... Please, come with me. To bed that is... and just hold me. I'd really like just to be held. I know it's not my place to ask and it's not fair on you but I'd like somebody to hold me. I'd like you to hold me. To remind me of happier times and better places. Please." The prisoner didn't even need to think about it, the thought of actual, affectionate human contact was utterly uplifting.

"Sure. I can do that. I'd love to."

"Thank you." was all Naminé said before she headed for bed. Kairi took the plates from the table, put them in the sink and followed.

When the prisoner got to the bedroom, Naminé was already in bed with her back to the door, so the prisoner tapped all of the switches by the door to off, slipped in behind Naminé and pulled the covers over herself. Then she snuggled up to Naminé's back, draping her arm over Naminé's waist in the process. She felt Naminé press back against her happily. Together, feeling happy safe, they drifted off to sleep in their white paradise.

And done. The second half of this chapter took me an absolute age to write. I had the first half finished a week and a bit ago but the second half refused to come out.

I didn't realise where this was headed until recently but it looks like I'm going to be writing some F/F lemon into this story. It's not going to be all consuming or anything, and the story will have a happy ending, which will put everyone back where they started, so don't worry. If girl on girl isn't your cup of tea, you shouldn't miss too much if you skip those sections.

On another note, I think you can start speculating about some of the more mysterious elements in this story any time now. I've probably and inadvertently dropped some hints as to what's happening and though you won't get it all just yet there's much you should be able to guess.

Review reply time. I really should do these all by PM, but I'm utterly lazy. They stay here for now.

Animal Lover Bebe- Amen.

The Story Will Continue- Thank you again for your compliments. I did try to avoid the walls of text this time around. Don't worry about the story, I'm a bleeding heart romantic and good will prevail. Eventually. Mostly.

Paradise Avenger- Thank you. For Everything.

RedSeaGlassStories- Welcome to the fold. Thank you for you kind words and I'm damn sorry I'm so slow. I hope this makes up for the wait, at least partly.

Again. I'm sorry I'm so damn slow. That goes for you all.

Also to my silent readers... I know you're there. I'm not going to threaten to name you, or withhold updates, or anything like that. I will however implore you to let me know how you think I'm doing.

So with nothing left but my customary sign off, I bid you farewell for another chapter.

Read, Review and Most Importantly: Enjoy.

If you have any queries, drop me a PM.

Yours Sincerely

Everhopeful83