A/N: Welp, here you go. Before someone asks, no, Roxas/Axel isn't going to be a thing in this fanfic. I'm really sorry to anyone who likes that ship- I have nothing against it- it's just that the age difference here makes me feel a little uncertain. If anyone wants to know, he's eventually going to hook up with Xion. Spoiler alert, oops.

Purpose

Roxas finds his existence strangely meaningless sometimes. Maybe the fire god, Lea, can solve that problem.

Roxas, the god of purpose, found his existence strangely meaningless.

Naminé, the goddess of memories, was the only one who seemed to understand that. Her presence was like a comfort to him. Sometimes he would just sit in her study for hours. She didn't mind, usually engrossed in her small crayon drawings. Roxas liked looking at these from time to time. They were very skillfully done, and reminded him of his older brother Sora's paintings.

Of course, there were times where Naminé had to work. During these times, Roxas wasn't allowed to visit. Today was one of those days. Given that his brother was occupied by something, he was on his own.

Roxas decided to visit the town. True, he wasn't meant to, but at the moment, he couldn't care less.

The town was a hive of activity when he arrived. The lesser gods bowed as he passed, quickly shuffling aside to form a path for him. He wished that they wouldn't; he honestly hated the attention, unlike his brother.

"Hey, isn't that Prince Roxas?" a loud voice to his left called. He heard a hiss of alarm from the direction of the source, and smiled. His day was about to get interesting.

The source, he discovered, was a young man with flaming red hair that defied the laws of gravity, even more so than Sora's did. He felt like he'd seen him somewhere before.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked impulsively. The man grinned.

"You've probably seen me training with Terra," he replied. "I'm his personal apprentice. I'm Lea, the fire god. Got it memorized?"

"Oh, right." That made sense. He looked to Lea's friend, a blue-haired man with green eyes. "Who are you?"

"Isa, Your Majesty." Roxas flinched at the usage of his title.

"Just call me Roxas," he insisted. Momentary surprise flashed across Isa's eyes, but then he nodded stiffly.

"So, what brings you to the town?" Lea questioned. "Nothing to do at the palace?"

"Pretty much," the purpose god confirmed, leaning against the wall.

"Well, you're welcome to hang out with us. Right, Isa?" He looked to his friend, who shrugged.

"If he wants to."

"I think I'd like that," Roxas agreed. "So, what do you guys do around here?"

"We were about to head to the caves," Lea smirked. "I was gonna show Isa a new move Terra taught me. There's plenty of Heartless to demonstrate on there, after all."

"Sounds like fun," Roxas replied. "Count me in." He made his way towards the caves, vaguely aware of Isa saying something to Lea. Whatever it was, he didn't care.

There were plenty of Heartless hanging out around the entrance to the caves, as the fire god had predicted. He summoned Oblivion and Oathkeeper, glancing at Lea. Like all the other Keybearers he knew, he only had one Keyblade. Roxas had always been special in that regard.

"Nice Keyblades," Lea grinned, winking at him. Roxas found himself smiling, something he hadn't done in a while. Even then, it was usually only in Naminé or Sora's presence.

"Thanks," he replied. "Now, are you going to show us this trick of yours or not?"

Lea grinned. "Thought you were never gonna ask!" He pointed his Keyblade at an unsuspecting Heartless milling inside the mouth of the cave. "Fire!" he commanded. A Firaga spell flew towards his target, killing it on impact.

"That is pretty cool," Roxas admitted, impressed. He could only cast Fira, although he knew Sora could perform the top-level spell.

"I agree with Roxas," Isa nodded, looking uneasy. Roxas knew why. He wasn't comfortable hanging around the prince, and addressing him by his name wasn't helping.

"So, Isa, what are you the god of?" he asked, hoping to take the bluenet's mind off it.

"The moon," he replied. The blond was mildly surprised.

"The moon?" he repeated. "You mean you work with my brother?"

"I do work with Prince Sora on occasion, yes," Isa confirmed.

"This discussion is really interesting and all," Lea interrupted, "but do you guys realize we came here to kill Heartless?"

Roxas smirked, leaping over the cluster of rocks they were hiding behind into the swarms of black creatures. They panicked for a few moments, scattering before regrouping, their attention on Roxas.

Lea seized his opportunity, jumping into the fray and killing several Heartless as he did so. Roxas punished them for turning their backs to assess the new threat as Oathkeeper and Oblivion claimed the lives of several.

The pair quickly fell into a steady rhythm, keeping constant pressure on their opponents. Their movements were instinctual, not a single enemy breaking their defenses.

That was the reason Roxas was shocked to feel claws scraping his skin, and he hissed in discomfort and pain. One quick slash from Oblivion dispatched the offending Heartless, and he stared at the sticky, crimson droplets bubbling to the surface of his skin.

"Roxas, you're bleeding," Lea commented, making his way over. The blond scowled at him.

"No, really?" he hissed, dismissing Oblivion and Oathkeeper, as there were no more Heartless in the vicinity. "I couldn't tell."

The fire god looked apologetic. "I…"

"It's fine," Roxas sighed, clamping a hand down on the scratches. "I'll just go see Kairi. Her Cure magic will easily fix this."

"Well, okay," Lea agreed, "but remember that Isa and I will always be happy to hang out. Got it memorized?"

The young prince laughed, any traces of earlier tension vanishing. "You bet I do. See you around!" With that, he invoked the magic that would send him back to the palace.

Kairi seemed surprised when he materialized in her room. As a way of explanation, he gestured to the gashes on his arm, saying a single word. "Heartless."

Kairi nodded in understanding, summoning her Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace. "Are you going to tell Sora?" she queried after casting Cura.

Roxas shook his head. "No. There's no point in making him worry about nothing. Besides, apparently he's busy. With what, I don't know." He was confused as he watched Kairi stifle a giggle. "What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied, much too quickly for him to believe her, but everyone in the palace knew better than to argue with Kairi. She may appear sweet and innocent, but she was a warrior at heart. "So, why were you around Heartless in the first place?"

Roxas hesitated, before deciding he could trust the light goddess. "I was with Lea and Isa. Lea is Terra's apprentice, Isa is his best friend."

"How does this relate to you being around Heartless?" Kairi questioned, tilting her head.

"I'm getting there. Anyway, Lea had learned the Firaga spell, and he wanted to show it off. So we went to the caves."

"Not inside the caves, I hope?" she asked suspiciously.

"Of course not!" Roxas scoffed. "We're not stupid. We know the dangers of that place."

"Good." Kairi nodded her approval. "You may continue."

So the god of purpose proceeded to tell her all about his adventures with Lea and Isa, with the redhead nodding the whole time, showing she understood. At last, Roxas finished his story, leaning back and looking at Kairi for her opinion.

"I think you should hang out with those two some more," she decided, "they'll be good for you. You're more proper than Riku sometimes!"

Roxas choked.