Finally, they had arrived at the large white mansion. It was much larger than Roxas had anticipated, but perhaps that was just do to his small size. It was a beautiful mansion though, with such detailed architecture that it made Roxas wonder if the building was even real. On the ground around the mansion were so many petals from the surrounding trees that it looked as if there were a layer of snow on the ground rather than flowers.

"This is it Roxy. Inside there awaits the white queen." Axel said, slowing to a walk.

"Roxas." He quickly corrected.

"That's what I said." Axel responded in dismissal making Roxas sigh and shake his head in exasperation. "Anyways, are you ready to meet her?"

Axel came to a stop as they approached the large entrance doors. Roxas took a deep breath then slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

With that, Axel gracefully hopped onto the cement railing and pushed a small button by the door with his tail. A muffled ring could be heard through the walls, then slowly the front doors started to open with a quiet creak. Axel quickly jumped back onto the stone steps and entered the mansion, Sora and Vanitas following right behind. There was no one by the doors, and the only other person in the room was a girl standing at the top of the stairs. She had short black hair with bright blue eyes, both seeming even darker against her pale skin. Her clothes appeared to be the only thing lighter than her skin as she wore a long, white, ball gown like dress with white lace placed over all the cloth. On the top of her head sat a silver circlet with strings of small white beads hanging from the back. She was a sight to behold.

"Axel! What a pleasure! And you've brought a guest!" She said excitedly in a sweet voice as she hurried down the steps to see her visitors.

"Xion! It's been a while!" Axel said, crouching to allow Roxas to get off his back.

"That's because you haven't come to see me in forever! And you know I can't leave the mansion." Xion said, crossing her arms as she angrily pouted at Axel.

"Wait, seriously?" Axel paused as he vanished only to reappear in his human form. "Didn't I visit just a week ago?"

Xion stared blankly at him. "It's been a month."

"Oh god, I'm sorry! Man, now I feel like a total asshole." He said, running a hand through his hair. Xion laughed and smiled at Axel.

"Well, at least you're here now. So who have you brought along with you today?" She asked, looking at Roxas, Sora and Vanitas. Her face lit up as she recognized the twins.

"Oh! Dee and Dum! Fantastic!" She said excitedly, beaming at the two as Sora waved enthusiastically. She then turned her attention to Roxas as a look of confusion crossed her delicate features. "But who is this?"

"That's Roxy." Axel said with his Cheshire grin.

"It's Roxas!" The blond yelled as he stomped his foot on the ground.

"That's what I said!" Axel responded, seeming otherwise unfazed. Xion was surprised by the sudden outburst, but chuckled none the less at his snappy response.

"I see. Is Roxas from around here?" She questioned, looking back at Axel for an answer. Axel shook his head and crossed his arms.

"Nope. He's from up top. He said Luxord brought him here."

Xion's face fell as her eyes widened. "Oh no. Please tell me Riku's not going through with that plan."

"So you knew about it then?" Axel asked.

"Yes. I ordered him not to go through with it, I even warned him of what would happen." She crossed her arms over her chest and lowered her gaze. "Tell me... Where is he now?"

Axel stared at her for a moment before finally responding.

"Taken prisoner. Zexion wouldn't tell me why."

"And Demyx?" She asked, looking up at the red head with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Axel shrugged and kicked his foot at the shiny white tiles of the floor.

"He was gone when I got there. I doubt he was arrested though. Zexion would have been far more upset had they taken him." Axel explained. Xion chuckled hollowly.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." She said in a sad voice. Roxas felt as though he'd been stabbed in the heart as he saw how distraught the girl was. He took a couple steps forward and gently tugged at her dress in an attempt to get her attention. She looked down curiously at him and he took a deep breath before speaking.

"We'll get Riku back." Roxas said, his voice as determined as the look on his face. Xion stared at him in surprise for a moment, then a wide smile spread across her face.

"Will you now? How will you do this?" She asked curiously.

"We don't know yet!" Sora cheered with a goofy grin. Vanitas made a face and hit his fist on the top of Sora's head.

"That's not a good thing nimrod." Vanitas barked.

"Ow." Sora pouted and grabbed his abused head. "Why not? I like just winging it!"

"Sora, the red queen isn't someone you want to go up against with out a plan." Xion said, looking worriedly at the boy.

"We'll figure it out." Roxas interjected. "I promise, we won't let anything happen to him."

Xion smiled sweetly at Roxas. "Come with me. We can discuss this more once you three are back to normal size. And you have more fitting clothing."

Roxas blushed as he remembered once more that he was dressed only in Luxord's long blue jacket. How embarrassing was that? Having to go before a queen in only a jacket. He didn't even have underwear.

Xion lead the four boys out of the entrance hall and through a door behind the stairs, bringing them into the kitchen. She walked over to the island in the middle of the kitchen and grabbed the cookie jar from the middle of the table top. Reaching in, she pulled out a small cookie.

"Only a bite okay?" Xion smiled as she handed the cookie to Roxas. He took a bite out of it as she had instructed then passed it off to Sora. As soon as he swallowed the bite his body began to tingle and he watched as everything started to become normal sized around him. He was only two or three inches taller than Xion, as was Sora and Vanitas.

"God, I feel like a giant around all you midgets." Axel teased with a cheeky grin as he came up behind Roxas. Roxas turned and glared at Axel, making him chuckle.

"I do like them feisty Roxy." Axel said, tilting the blond's head up to look him in the eye.

"Get a room!" Xion said with a laugh, causing Sora to giggle along with her and Vanitas to smirk.

"Gladly." Axel grinned, putting his hand on the small of Roxas' back and pulled him in close. Roxas' heart was beating quickly in his chest at the close proximity, and as much as his body definitely wanted to find that room, his brain scolded him and told him to push him off. So Roxas placed his hands on the red heads chest then pushed him away to arms length and gave him a stern look.

"No." Roxas said simply, making the cat pout at him.

"Alright, that's quite enough fooling around you two. We have serious business to attend to, and dear Roxas still needs clothes." Xion said, looking at them sternly as she placed her hands on her hips. Roxas nodded in agreement, though Axel still pouted. He was having fun playing with Roxas.

"Come, I'll go find you some clothes. The rest of you go wait in Riku's office." Xion said as she started to lead the boys out of the kitchen.

"Wait, Riku's office?" Roxas asked confusedly as Xion nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, this mansion is actually Riku's home. I lived in the castle before Larxene came and stole my crown. At that moment, Riku opened up his home to me, told me I could live here till I got my crown back and could once more take my rightful place on the throne." Xion explained with a small smile. Though her eyes gave way the sadness that she was feeling, making her expression almost bitter sweet.

Soon enough, Sora and Vanitas split away from the group, though Axel continued to follow along, not wanting to leave Roxas, though he'd never admit that. The trio made their way up stairs to Riku's room.

"They might be a bit big on you." Xion said as she started to rummage through Riku's closet.

"But it's better than wearing just a coat right?" She said, smirking over her shoulder at Roxas. The blond blushed slightly, but nodded in agreement. Soon enough, she pulled out a full outfit and handed it to Roxas.

"This should do. We'll just go wait outside as you get changed." She said, then started to head to the door. When Axel didn't follow though she sighed and shook her head.

"Axel." She said, gaining the felines attention.

"What?" He asked confusedly.

"Come on, give him some privacy." Xion said, gesturing to the door.

"But-" Axel started to protest, but as he saw the stern look on the girl's face he sighed and followed her out to the hall. Roxas immediately started to dress. The clothes were indeed big on him, though it wasn't too bad. The only real problem was the length of the pants and his sleeves, so he just rolled them up to keep them from getting in the way. He gave himself a once over in the mirror. He didn't look too bad. She'd given him a nice, dark blue button up with a white vest and black slacks. To finish the outfit, he pulled on Luxord's jacket once more. That way he wouldn't have to carry it. When he was finished, he exited the room, Axel and Xion immediately looking at him. He got a low whistle from Axel and an approving smile from Xion as they looked him over.

"You look great!" Axel said, Xion nodding in agreement.

"Thanks." Roxas said with a light blush.

"Well, let's not dilly dally any longer. Don't want to keep Dee and Dum waiting." She said happily, quickly leading them back down stairs and to a pair of double doors.

"Well then," she paused, opening the doors to the large office. Though to be honest the place looked more like a fucking library. "Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable."

Roxas' eyes sparkled excitedly at the sight of all the books.

"This is amazing." He breathed as he stepped inside. He wasn't exactly sure he'd seen this many books before, even at a library. This was simply mind blowing.

Xion giggled at Roxas' reaction. "Yes, Riku has quite a few books here."

"Quite a few?!" Roxas echo incredulously. That was a fucking understatement! There was far far more than 'quite a few' books.

"Come on Roxy, you can drool over the books later." Axel said, nudging him over to one of the two couches that sat in the middle of the room. They were placed so they faced each other, and in the middle of them sat a nice Victorian looking coffee table. Roxas took a seat on the end closest to the desk, Axel flopping down beside him as he stretched his arms across the back of the couch while crossing his legs. Sora and Vanitas were already seated on the couch opposite to them, Sora fidgeting slightly as he waited for them to get to business. The boy was anxious to hurry and go save Riku, knowing that to Larxene his "crimes" would only be punishable by death. And Sora wasn't quite sure he could handle that. Vanitas on the other hand, though very aware of his brother's worries, just looked bored and seemingly couldn't wait to get out of here and actually do something productive with his time.

"Okay, so does anyone have any ideas as to how we should go about rescuing Riku?" Xion asked curiously. Sora immediately started going on, trying to form a plan.

Mean while, in the castle of Hearts, Larxene sat in her throne, kicked back lazily and staring off in boredom as she waited for her guards to return to her with her newest prisoner. She was anxious to deal out her punishment for the disobedient hatter.

"My lady, is there perhaps something you would like me to get you? Maybe someone to entertain you as you wait?" Her loyal guard, Saix suggested for what was probably the third time. Though to Larxene, it seemed like the hundredth.

"I've told you already I'm fine! I just want the guards to hurry up and get back!" She snapped. She really wasn't in the mood for Saix's pestering. He had been extremely loyal to her since Xemnas' death, but sometimes he could be overbearing. That was her opinion at least. He'd seemingly become a bit of a sad sack since the king's demise, though she of course never noticed the gleam of utter hatred held within his those dark yellow orbs. Constantly staring at her as he bid his time, simply doing as she said so to stay alive.

"Where on earth could they be?!" She snapped once more, slamming her fist into the armrest of her throne.

"Careful my lady. We wouldn't want another defective chair." Saix said, recalling the last time she'd slammed her hand on her armrest, inevitably hurting herself. She of course blamed the chair, claiming it to be defective and ordered Saix to get her a new throne and burn the offending one.

Larxene simply rolled her eyes and ignored the man, now tightly gripping her armrests in aggravation.

Thankfully, before she could completely lose it and start ordering for other servants death, the double doors at the end of the grand hall burst open and a group of six guards marched in, two of them dragging along a completely restrained Riku. His arms were bound to his chest, his legs shackled, and his mouth gagged. Excessive, definitely, but it was also completely necessary, even the gag. After all, Larxene wasn't the only one that could use magic in the country of Hearts.

"Oh goodie! You finally arrived!" She said excitedly. The guards dropped Riku onto his knees a few feet from the throne, though the silver haired male kept his head down, staring at the floor with half lidded eyes. He crinkled his nose slightly in disgust at the red tiles beneath him.

"Guards, remove his gag!" Larxene commanded. The men looked at each other warily, knowing what the man was capable of, but not wanting to lose their heads, they cautiously removed the gag then took a couple steps back.

"Hatter!" Larxene started, standing from her throne. "Have you any idea why you have been brought before me today?"

She placed her hands on her hips, looking down at the silveret, her expression stern and demanding. When he didn't answer though, she grew angered. She quickly stepped down from her throne and grabbed Riku's collar, using it to drag him up so he would look at her as she balled her other hand into a fist, ready to punch the male should he continue to disobey.

"I asked you a question dammit!" She snapped in her shrill, ear piercing voice.

Riku's eyes were dark with malice as a sadistic smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth.

"What a vile color." He said simply, his tone dark.

"What are you talking about?!" She snapped, growing angrier from him not answering her question, but curious as to what he was going on about.

"This color of red that you have surrounded yourself with. Tell me, is it simply there to hide just how black your own heart is?" Riku sneered. Larxene tsked and tossed him back to the floor.

"You've wreaked quite the amount of havoc during my reign hatter, and it's only due to your skill that you've actually managed to stay alive this long. You should count yourself lucky." Larxene spat as she turned her back on Riku, placing her hands on her hips.

"I would gladly give my life if it meant your demise." Riku said, suddenly serious for a moment, but soon enough that wicked grin returned and a gleam of insanity sparkled in his eyes. "But sadly for you I won't die till I see every limb torn from your body!"

A dark cackle slowly started to bubble out of the man.

Larxene snarled as she spun back around. "Guards! Remove him from my sight! I'll deal with him later!"

The guards were startled to say the least. Not only by Larxene's outburst but by the sadistic cackling coming from the hatter. Slowly they picked him up once more and started to drag him out of the hall.

"And make sure you put his gag back on! I don't need another escape!"

Roxas sighed, rubbing his temples. They'd been sitting there at least an hour (not like time really mattered here though), listening to Sora try to come up with a rescue plan. So far, Vanitas and Axel had managed to pick apart everyone.

"Come on, go easy on him. Don't you two care at all about saving Riku?" Xion said. Axel slumped slightly in his seat, though Vanitas continued on.

"Come on, it's not like Riku can't handle himself. He's escaped from Larxene plenty of times, surely he'll be able to do it again." Vanitas reasoned. But Axel lowered his head and slowly shook it in disagreement.

"No he won't." Axel said darkly. Everyone looked over curiously at this. "They completely bound him with enchanted chains, they even gagged him. They've grown wise. Riku won't be leaving this time. Not without help at least."

Everyone fell silent at the words. Roxas was the only one incapable of taking in the full magnitude of the situation. Though by Axel's attitude he could tell how serious this was. Finally, he spoke up, breaking the short silence.

"Why don't I go infiltrate?" Roxas suggested. All eyes suddenly turned on him.

"We can't. The queen knows what Riku's done." Xion said. "She'll just capture you then kill you both."

"But she doesn't know what I look like. She just knows there's an intruder. And she's got to be smart enough to know you would never just allow me to simply waltz into the castle, because you all know the danger." Roxas reasoned.

"He's got a point." Axel said, crossing his arms.

"Axel, don't encourage him!" Xion chastised. She felt as though she was losing a bit of control here.

"I'm just saying, it's not that bad a plan. And besides, she has the keyblade in there. We can't take her down with out it."

"Plus, it's not like he'd be completely alone. Zexion and Luxord already know what he's here for. And they'll tell Xigbar and Saix. That's four people to help him while he's there." Vanitas added in a matter of fact tone.

"I like this plan!" Sora added excitedly. Everyone then turned to look expectantly at Xion.

"No, absolutely not! It's too dangerous!" Xion said, closing her eyes so she couldn't see their pleading looks. Everyone but Roxas visibly deflated at the denial. But Roxas wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"Not to sound rude," Roxas started, standing from the couch. "But I don't need your permission. I'm not from this world, so you don't control me. I can do whatever I want."

Xion blinked in surprise as the other three froze, waiting tensely for Xion's response. After a moment, she sighed and dropped her head in defeat.

"Fine. I suppose you are right. Just promise me you'll be careful." She said, looking up at Roxas worriedly. The blond nodded once in agreement.

"I promise. And I swear, I'll bring Riku back."

Oh my god, I am so sorry for being so inactive! I feel like this chapter is way too short for how long I made you wait and all, especially since when I finally did sit down to continue it came flowing out so easily. The only trouble I actually had was remembering who Saix was planned to be. I really am sorry though, I'm definitely going to try to be better about updating. At least we're kind of getting somewhere story wise now though. I've added a lot more plot, even surprising myself a bit. And the next chapter will have plenty more! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy! Thank you as always for all the love and support, without you guys, my stories would be nothing! Much love, and see you next time!