Roxas sat in the throne room of the castle, Larxene beside him in her large decorative throne as he sat on a small stool, legs together and hands in his lap as he looked around awkwardly. It was utterly silent in the large hall, Larxene looking over her nails boredly as she waited for her guards to bring in this prisoner. Roxas had a suspicion the prisoner was Riku, but he couldn't figure out why she'd need to talk to him. From the sounds of what everyone had told him, it seemed like she'd just immediately kill him rather than talk to him.

Suddenly, the throne room door opened, the loud noise echoing through the hall as a group of guards entered the room, carrying two very familiar twins, one thrashing about in an attempt to be released and the other simply being calmly led, but looking rather upset with the guards.

Roxas felt his stomach drop at the sight of the two boys.

"Dee and Dum? For what reason have you brought them here?" She asked confusedly. She could understand Vanitas to an extent, the boy had started some trouble a couple of times in the past, but Sora? He was one of the most well behaved subjects.

"Highness, we found these two outside the castle by the forest. We didn't know what to do with them so we thought we should bring them to you." The guard explained. Larxene looked at the guard as though he were an absolute moron.

"So what? They probably got lost again, these two have no sense of direction." Larxene said obviously. "Just release them. Idiot guards can't do anything around here."

Vanitas smiled smugly at the guards holding him, pulling his arms away from them and adjusting his clothes. Just as that group of guards was about to lead them back out of the throne room, more guards came walking in, carrying a completely bound Riku. Eyes covered and mouth gagged as his arms were bound to his chest and ankles cuffed together.

"Ahh exactly who I've been waiting to see!" Larxene said happily. Roxas had to resist the urge to jump out of his seat and go help the man. Though Sora didn't have that much restraint.

"Riku!" He called out, eyes wide and full of worry as he broke away from the guards and ran over to the silver haired man. Riku's head snapped up at the sound of Sora's voice and he pulled slightly at his chains.

Sora placed a hand on Riku's cheek, looking over his bound body.

"Oh my god Riku, I've been so-" Sora started, only to be cut off as a guard grabbed him and started to pull him away. At this, Sora started to thrash, trying to get back to Riku.

"No! Let me go!" He screamed as he tried to plant his feet on the polished floor and pull his arm out of the guards grasp.

Larxene sighed, rolling her eyes and standing from her throne.

"Guards! Remove them before I have your heads!" Larxene commanded, pointing towards the door. Roxas' eyes widened as the guards quickly started to do as they were told, Sora still struggling against their hold as Vanitas tried to get him to calm down. Once more the doors shut and Larxene sighed as she plopped back down in her seat.

"Guards, bring him forward." She said, beckoning them with her finger. Roxas' worried eyes rested on the bound silveret as the guards did as they were told, dropping Riku to his knees at the foot of the stairs.

"Remove his blindfold and gag." Larxene commanded.

Riku squinted his eyes and blinked several times as the cloth was removed from his eyes and the light came flooding in. He slowly looked up, eyes locking on Roxas. His expression didn't even change as he saw the boy, though his eyes narrowed slightly as he looked to Larxene.

"Good morning Riku! How was your night in the dungeon?" Larxene asked with fake sweetness as a sadistic grin spread across her face. A mischievous smile spread across Riku's face at the question.

"Simply delightful! It was a joy to make your guard nearly piss himself in fear." Riku responded in kind. Larxene's brows furrowed at this.

"Was he not gagged through out the night?!" She snapped, looking up at the guards in anger. A smirk came to Riku's lips as the guards fumbled for an answer.

"Whoopsie. Did I get someone in trouble?" He asked, looking at Larxene with smug amusement. Larxene growled in annoyance, but other wise ignored Riku as she continued to question her guards.

"Who did this?! Was it one of you or someone else?!" Larxene snapped, growing impatient.

"I-it was the the guard left to watch him last night ma'am." One of the guards answered nervously as the others agreed.

"Said he was biting last night and he couldn't get the gag back on!" Another guard defended. Though it was clear this information would be of no assistance to the man as Larxene was utterly pissed, her face turning red with anger.

"OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" She screeched, pointing to the door. Roxas jumped, startled by the outburst and nearly falling off his stool. Riku looked amused as he noticed this and Roxas couldn't help the blush that worked it's way onto his cheeks in his embarrassment. Two of the guards quickly nodded then hurried out of the throne room to find the man in question. Larxene then quickly marched down the stairs and up to Riku, slapping him across the face, her long nails scratching across his cheek and leaving thin red welts on his pale skin. Riku seemed unaffected though as he continued to simply smirk in satisfaction.

"You will behave yourself! Roxas or no Roxas I will have your head!" She snapped. Riku tilted his head back as he started to laugh at this. It was a manical laughter, the kind that sent chills down Roxas' spine and shiver in fear.

This only appeared to further anger Larxene though.

"Silence!" She commanded, stomping her foot in anger. Riku stopped laughing at this, his head rolling forward so his bangs hid most of his face as he looked down. He then slightly lifted his head, looking up at Larxene through his lashes and an opening in his bangs revealing one aqua marine eye.

"Now, where is Roxas?" Larxene demanded. Though Riku stayed silent as he continued to stare at her. Roxas couldn't help but feel as though he was plotting how to kill her.

Larxene growled in aggravation, grabbing Riku's chains and pulling him upward threateningly.

"Where is Roxas?!" She snapped. "I will not repeat myself again!"

Riku chuckled, shutting his eyes and shaking his head. When he looked back up at her, amusement could be seen clear in his eyes.

"Where's Roxas? Where oh where could he be? Here, there, anywhere really! Why he could very well be right under your nose!" He said with a laugh. Roxas' heart sped up at this and he tried to stay calm. Thankfully though, Larxene appeared to simply ignore this.

"That's lovely, but it doesn't answer my question! Now where is he!" She snapped.

"I thought you weren't-" Riku started, only to be interrupted by Roxas.

"Hatter!" Roxas hissed in a warning tone. Larxene glanced back at the boy, but seemed alright with him speaking up, taking it as him being respectful.

Riku was silent for a moment longer, his eyes locked on Roxas.

"I haven't the slightest clue where he could be. After all, he's had an entire day to go anywhere he like in Hearts. Though I'm sure he's at least intelligent enough to stay away from you." Riku said, never once removing his eyes from Roxas. The blond's breath caught in his throat as he completely froze.

"As I expected, you are completely useless! No matter, at least we'll have your execution to look forward to." Larxene said, finishing with a sadistic smile. Roxas snapped back into reality at this point.

"E-execution? What for?" He asked curiously. Larxene looked back at him, brows furrowed as she placed her hands on her hips.

"For bringing an uplander here to kill me." Larxene said as though it should be obvious.

"Do you have evidence of this? Any witnesses?" Roxas asked. He watched as Riku's brows slowly drew together in confusion. Just what was the blond trying to do here? Get himself killed?

"Are you questioning me?!" Larxene snapped suddenly, making Roxas jump slightly.

"N-no! I apologize if it seems that way, I'm simply curious!" Roxas defended.

Larxene looked over him a moment, her eyes narrowed, before responding once more.

"If you must know, I do, indeed, have a witness. It's the cat." Larxene said. Roxas froze in shock as Riku snorted in amusement.

"T-the cat?" Roxas stuttered quietly in confusion. Larxene nodded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes the cat. Axel to be more precise."

"Because he's such a trust worthy witness!" Riku said sarcastically. Roxas couldn't even pretend to care about Riku's words right now. He was still trying to grasp the fact that Axel was behind the silver haired man's imprisonment.

"I believe we're done here guards! Get him out of my sight! And start the preparations for his execution tomorrow morning!" Larxene said, waving her hand in the direction of the door.

"W-wait!" Roxas spoke up once more, making the guards freeze. All eyes suddenly turned on him curiously, some mixed with fear, another mixed with irritation.

"What now?" Larxene snapped, placing her hands on her hips.

"Perhaps you could hold a trial!" Roxas suggested. His heart was racing in his chest as he suddenly started to worry for his own life. She clearly had a short temper, it was like walking on glass with this girl, so Roxas would definitely have to be careful about how he spoke to her.

Larxene's brows pinched together and she took a couple steps towards the stairs, stopping at the bottom and looking up at Roxas suspiciously.

"A trial you say?" She questioned.

"Y-yes! With witnesses and everything! It could be fun, and you might come to find that Riku could have been framed or something." Roxas explained, praying beyond all hope that this worked. He needed to drag this out if their plan was to work. Roxas still had to locate the keyblade after all.

"No one's suggested one of those to me since before the King died. In fact, it was he who had suggested it, trying to save his loyal pet." Larxene paused for a moment, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping a finger to her chin in thought.

"Oh well, what harm could it do to hold a trial." She finally said, shrugging indifferently. Roxas sighed in relief as Riku's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Roxas looked to the silveret, smiling slightly as he noticed how he marveled at his achievement.

"Guards, prepare the court for the trial of Hatter, Riku. And you better have it ready by tomorrow morning or it's your heads!"

Much later in the afternoon, Roxas was introduced to Saix once more as Larxene explained the situation to the blue haired man. She'd then left them alone, instructing Saix to teach him everything he knew. And teach he had, the two blowing through the basics and right into sparring with fencing swords. Though Roxas wasn't paying much attention, his thoughts still on that of the so called traitorous red haired feline. He still couldn't understand why Axel would turn Riku in, knowing the man would lose his head for what he'd done.

Roxas was broken from his thoughts once more as Saix struck his arm.

"Focus Ventus!" Saix said, looking at him pensively.

"Right, sorry." Roxas said, slightly embarrassed. Saix sighed, running his hand through his hair as he was silent for a moment.

"Alright, what's on your mind?" Saix asked as he stuck the tip of his sword into the ground. Roxas looked up in surprise.

"It's nothing." He answered quietly, looking away.

"Bull shit." Saix said immediately. "Look, I just want to do my job, but I can't do that if you're not paying attention. So if you could kindly get this off your chest so we can focus on the task at hand, I'd greatly appreciate it."

Roxas was silent a moment longer, startled by the bluntness of Saix's words.

"It's just... Larxene told me Axel had turned Riku in. I can't understand why he'd do something like that though." Roxas admitted, slightly sheepishly.

"Because he gets bored." Saix stated, crossing his arms and slightly raising his brow. Roxas looked up confusedly.

"Bored? What kind of excuse is that?"

"Axel's kind of excuse. Are you satisfied now?"

Roxas thought for a moment then slowly nodded. He wasn't sure he really understood, but he figured he'd take Luxord's earlier advice and question the red head himself of these accusations.

Saix nodded, then quickly got back into his fighting stance, motioning for Roxas to follow suit.

Roxas sat in his room later that night, the lamp by his bed on, illuminating the room in a dull glow. He was looking over his night stand, inspecting the contents of the drawer. There really wasn't much held within, but there also wasn't much for him to do in the large room. It wasn't like at home where he could at least watch the tv, even if they only had local channels. Now what used to seem so utterly mind numbing to the boy, paled in comparison to the extreme boredom as he sat in this room. Then to top it all off, the room and even the hall outside his room were eerily silent, making every sound in his room seem ten times louder than it actually were.

Which is why when he heard something rapping on his window he jumped and let out a rather girlish yelp. He could hear a faint, rather familiar chuckle from outside the thick pane and immediately got off the bed, walking quickly over to the window and opening it, though when he looked out, the red head he was in search of was no where to be seen. Where the fuck did he go?

"Hey cutie~." Axel's smooth voice purred into Roxas' ear. Startled, Roxas jumped once more, hitting his head on the window frame.

"Son of a bitch!" He cursed, grabbing the back of his head as he carefully backed out of the open window.

"Shit, you alright Roxy?" Axel said, stepping over to the blond to worry over his new wound, only to have Roxas back away from him. He hadn't forgotten about what the queen told him about Axel ratting out Riku, that was the only reason he'd actually hurried to let him in his room, though he forgot the cat could get in on his own.

"I'm fine." Roxas said quickly, holding up a hand to keep Axel where he was. Said man looked at him in confusion.

"Is something wrong? Did I piss you off?"

Roxas looked up at him sharply at this. Fuck yeah he pissed him off, but he couldn't get too mad at him just yet. Just because Larxene told him something didn't mean it was true. Actually, after spending most of the day in her presence he'd found that to be the opposite. The blonde woman seemed to over exaggerate everything and bend the truth to make herself seem in the right.

"Larxene said you're the one that told her Riku brought me here." Roxas bit out, immediately getting down to business as he continued to rub at his throbbing head. Jesus Christ that had fucking hurt.

Axel's eyes widened in surprise and he took a half step back. Though soon his expression turned amused and he raised a brow to Roxas with a small smirk.

"And you believed her?" He said with a small chuckle as he shook his head.

"Yeah I do. Because I saw the look on Riku's face when she told me!" Roxas snapped. Axel rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"That doesn't mean anything Roxas."

"I want you to tell me right now Axel, or you can forget about ever speaking to me again. Did you fucking tell her that Riku's the one that brought me here?" Roxas said in a low, threatening tone. Axel narrowed his eyes at the blond and leant down so he was level with him.

"No. I didn't." He answered.

Roxas' brows were pinched together and his eyes were narrowed. After a moment longer, he tisked in frustation and pushed past Axel, leaving the room and heading into the hall. The bastard was full of fucking shit and he knew it. But he'd surely die of old age before he fucking fessed up.

"Ventus. What are you doing out here?" A calm voice said from behind Roxas as he was making his way down the hall. For a moment, he almost continued walking, completely forgetting that while he was staying here he had to be referred to as Ventus. Though he managed to remember and turned around, looking curiously at the new presence. Before him stood Zexion, looking utterly worn down as he had several books wrapped in his arms.

"I was just taking a walk." Roxas answered, turning around to face the man. "Are you alright? You look like shit."

Zexion chuckled.

"You're sure the charmer. But yes, I am just fine. Tired is all, but you would be too if you were up almost around the clock." He said with a small smile as he adjusted the glasses on his nose. Roxas' eyes widened in surprise.

"Around the clock? Why's that?"

"So long as I am in this castle I am never, not needed. Someone's always coming to me for some kind of new task, because I'm one of the few who actually knows what their doing when it comes to all the jobs Larxene seems to hand out. And as you may have probably realized, I'm not quite intimidating. So that means when someone needs something they come to me. Really, the only sleep I ever got is when I'd go to visit Riku and Demyx." Zexion explained as he started to walk down the hall, gesturing for Roxas to follow him.

"So, what's got you all riled up then?" Zexion asked, keeping his eyes forward. Roxas blinked in surprise and looked confusedly at the mouse.

"What do you mean?" He asked, though Zexion turned to give him that all too knowing look.

"I may be tired but I'm not blind. You were stomping down the hallway all in a tizzy when I found you. Slamming doors and muttering about stupid cats." Zexion chuckled and shook his head. "Why even Saix wouldn't go near you in such a state."

Roxas blushed and looked off in embarrassment.

"I didn't realize I was such a scene..." He muttered.

"Obviously not. So, what did the idiot cat do this time?"

Roxas sighed, gripping his hair.

"The queen told me Axel's the one that told her Riku brought... Roxas here. So I asked Axel about it, but he told me he didn't. He's... definitely lying right?" Roxas explained quickly. He felt odd talking about himself in third person, but he knew he had to when they were out in the halls.

Zexion was thoughtful for a moment, but soon he spoke up once more. "Well Ventus, I'm far too respectful a person to inform you of something that is not my business to tell."

Roxas sighed at this. He was denied once more, but Zexion shook his head and continued on.

"But, there is someone who will gladly tell you everything." He finished, smirking slightly as Roxas' eyes lit up.

"Then take me to them!" Roxas said hurriedly.

Zexion nodded at this, the two falling silent as Zexion walked quickly down the corridors, and Roxas struggled slightly to keep up. Finally, they came to a large wooden door and Zexion stopped, turning to face Roxas.

"You wait here a moment. I have to make the guard leave before you can come in." Zexion explained. Roxas nodded in understanding, and watched as Zexion slipped inside. A few minutes later, and the door opened again, a guard exiting the door, then Zexion appearing right behind him. They watched the guard walk off before Zexion turned to Roxas and beckoned him inside.

It was slightly chillier in there than the rest of the castle, making Roxas thankful for the fact that he still had on Luxord's jacket. It was also darker, the room only lit by a lantern on a desk to his left. To his right were three jail cells, the first two uninhabited, but the third held a familiar silver haired male, who was chained to the wall. Roxas looked back curiously at Zexion, who simply held out his hand, a key laying in his palm, then nodded towards Riku's cell. Roxas blinked in surprise, then slowly took the key and made his way over to the cell. He stood there for a moment, watching the man. Slowly, Riku lifted his head, seemingly looking right at Roxas, and he could just barely seem him lift one of his slim brows, then a smile inched it's way onto the silveret's face, and Roxas suddenly felt as though he were frozen.

"Hello Roxas."