Roxas stood frozen outside Riku's cell, simply staring at the silver haired male, as Zexion stood by the door, watching the scene unfold with an amused expression. He was rather used to Riku's odd knowledge of all his surroundings, even when incapable of seeing anything.

"Are you going to simply stand there all night, or will you be joining me in here?" Riku asked, seemingly kick starting Roxas' brain with his comment.

"Sorry." Roxas mumbled as he quickly went about opening the cell door and stepping inside.

Riku chuckled and shook his head. "What are you apologizing for?"

"Um... I don't-" Roxas started, only to be interrupted by Zexion.

"Don't answer that, he'll only make you feel like a moron."

"Why must you ruin my fun?" Riku asked, looking in Zexion's direction with an irritated look on his face.

"Because you ruin my sleep." Zexion countered as he moved across the room to go sit at the desk.

"Bastard." Riku muttered as his head turned back to Roxas. "Anyways, what brings you here Roxas?"

"His name is Ventus." Zexion corrected, folding his arms over the small stack of books he held and resting his head atop them. Riku seemed to ignore him as his attention stayed on Roxas, knowing the mouse would soon be fast asleep.

"I wanted to talk to you about Axel." Roxas responded. Riku nodded in understanding then nodded towards the small cot off to the side of the cell.

"Sit down."

Roxas blinked then slowly nodded, though he paused in his step and looked over to Riku. "Do you... Want me to take that off you?"

Riku looked to him curiously then shook his head.

"That's alright. I'm technically not even cuffed." Riku said, the chains suddenly falling from his body and clashing loudly against the floor as he stepped away from the wall. Roxas looked up at the silveret in wide eyed wonderment. How on earth had he been able to do that? And why hadn't he from the start?

"But... How..?" Roxas breathed out, utterly astonished. Riku pulled off the blind fold, tossing it to the floor and placing his hands on his hips.

"A good hatter always carries his tools." Riku smiled, holding up an old dingy needle. "Anyways, what did you want to know about Axel?" Riku asked, plopping himself down on the bed, then laying back on it, cradling the back of his head in his hands.

"Why everyone hates him." Roxas stated simply.

"And no one will tell you right?"

Roxas nodded his confirmation.

"And that's why Zexion brought you to me. Cause I'm not afraid to tell on the bastard."

"I.. Guess..?" Roxas said slowly, confused by his words. Riku chuckled and shook his head.

"It is, I know Zexion well." Riku smiled and glanced over to the now sleeping mouse.

"So, will you tell me?" Roxas questioned.

Riku was silent for a moment, carefully thinking over his words.

"Axel is well known to be a bit of a rat. Ironic choice of words I know, but it's true. He gets bored rather easily, and watching others suffer entertains him. He's a sadist basically. He used to only be a mild nuisance to most, but once Larxene was in charge, he became worse. At first, it was merely a matter of, if you pissed him off then he'd make you pay by informing her royal bitchiness that you had broken the law and thus getting you punished by her. Then, it started to just become a game for him. Recently though, he hadn't done anything really, and I thought he had realized how wrong his actions were and was trying to change. Guess that wasn't the case though. Or perhaps..." Riku looked over to Roxas. The blond simply sat there, head down and taking this all in. It wasn't too big of a surprise to him, probably due to what Larxene had told him, but it was still a lot to take in, seeing as when it was Riku, it was the undeniable truth. At Riku's pause, Roxas slightly turned his head and looked to Riku from the corner of his eye, as if to tell him to continue on.

"Perhaps, he was just waiting for something more fun to come along."

Roxas was silent for a moment longer, looking down at the cot between him and Riku.

"So I'm... A play thing to him?" Roxas asked slowly and cautiously.

It was hard to even get the words out. It absolutely hurt to even think that Axel would absolutely betray him for his own amusement. It was true he'd only known Axel for about a day and a half now, but he thought they'd had a connection immediately. He'd been a pervish little cat, but Roxas enjoyed that about him. Perversity had always been something he could appreciate in a person, oddly enough. But the red head also just had a charm to him, he made you want to grow closer to him, even if you'd only spoken for all of two minutes. After an entire day with him, you could only imagine how Roxas felt at this point.

So with this, it hurt Roxas to think that he was merely a toy for Axel's entertainment, and he was absolutely dreading what Riku would say next.

"I don't know what Axel thinks of you. The man's an enigma to everyone who knows him. But from what I've observed of him, I wouldn't suggest you upset him in any way. Because no one is exempt from being his toy." Riku explained slowly. He didn't want to hurt Roxas, but he had to know the truth and be more cautious of the red haired feline.

Roxas suddenly felt numb though. He knew Riku was being careful with his words, and he understood what Riku was saying to him in all. He was Axel's toy, and the red head probably didn't care about him in the slightest. It shouldn't have hurt him so much, after all, they only knew each other for a very short time. He shouldn't feel like he had just been told his father died again. But he did. He felt like his heart had been torn from his chest once more and thrown carelessly out the window. The overwhelming urge to curl into a ball nagged at him insistently, though all he could do was sit there and stare down at the floor with pinched brows and a downturn to his lips.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked in a calm voice, though there was a twinge of worry to his tone.

It warmed his heart slightly to hear the concern as he spoke. It had been years since anyone had been concerned about Roxas. Not since his father past had it been inquired of whether or not he was alright. He couldn't help but feel touched. It was habitual though for him to try and pretend that everything was fine.

He started to nod so he could merely brush his worries to the side for the time being, but he paused mid nod, staring at the floor for a minute. He squeezed his eyes shut, gripping his golden locks tightly in his fists.

"No... I'm not..." He said quietly, trying to keep the emotion from his voice.

Riku, thankfully, had dealt with a tearful Sora enough times to not feel awkward in his current situation. Granted, he barely knew Roxas, but he knew how to console a person, and regardless of having only met him the previous day, for all of two minutes, spending this time with him now, he felt comfortable in his presence.

So, he placed a hand on the blond's shoulder, pulling him over into a hug.

Roxas was startled by the gesture, his eyes widening as he was pulled against Riku's firm chest. He didn't feel awkward though. It had been just as long since he'd last received a hug as when he'd last received concern, so the embrace was warm and comforting to him. Slowly he returned the hug as he felt tears well in his eyes.

"Everything's going to be fine Roxas. Axel's not a terrible person. It's just a matter of whether or not he cares about you. And if he escorted you here, and you still haven't lost your head, I'd say he cares about you, at least a little bit." Riku said.

"Wow, you sure know how to cheer a person up." Roxas muttered sarcastically.

"I apologize, but this is all I can offer. I don't know what Axel's thinking, I'm not capable of reading minds, and it wouldn't be right to lie to you, so all I request is that you try to bear with me." Roxas chuckled quietly and nodded.

"I'll try... Thanks Hatter." Roxas said quietly. Riku released him from the hug at this point and smiled slightly at Roxas.

"Just call me Riku."

Roxas nodded in understanding.

"Okay. Riku. I'm gonna... Go to bed now."

Riku nodded as well in understanding. "I'll see you at the trial tomorrow then."

Roxas took that as his cue to get up and leave, but as he made his way to the cell door, Riku stopped him.

"And Roxas?" He started, effectively getting his attention.

"Thank you for your concern over my life." Riku said with a smile. Roxas blushed a dark pink, but smiled in return.

"It's no big deal. No one deserves to die just because they wanted to protect everyone, even if they don't care for some of those people." Roxas responded. And with that, he left, leaving Zexion to sleep at the table, knowing now how badly the mouse needed it.

As soon as the door to the prison shut though, Riku was being slammed against a wall by an invisible force. Though of course he knew who it was.

"Hello kitty." He said in greeting with a small, smug smirk. The cat started to materialize before him after he'd spoken his name, though the normally smug look on his face wasn't there, but rather a look of anger contorting his features.

"You son of a bitch!" Axel hissed out, a cat like growl in the back of his throat.

"You know, it's rather rude to eavesdrop." Riku pointed out, trying to seem somewhat scolding, though his amusement with the current situation was rather clear to the feline.

"Why the fuck did you tell him?" Axel inquired in a low, threatening tone.

"How does 'for shits and giggles' tickle your fancy?" He grinned widely as his mad side started to peek through a bit. Axel growled though, grabbing him by the front of his shirt to pull him forward then slam him back against the wall.

"Stop fucking with me Hatter!" Axel snapped, the combined sound of his loud tone and Riku's body slamming against the wall waking Zexion. The once sleeping mouse looked up curiously at the commotion, only to frown as he saw only Axel and Riku in the silveret's cell, Roxas was no where to be seen.

"Axel, what are you doing here?" Zexion questioned in a stern tone as he stood from the table.

"I'm here to kill this insane, silver haired, hat making prick!" Axel snapped, though he continued to glare at Riku rather than give Zexion anymore of his attention.

"Please Axel, quit your nonsense. You know as well as anyone else that no one can defeat Riku. Look at him now, he's supposed to be chained up and gagged and here he is just standing there like he's not even in a prison." Zexion said, gesturing to the seemingly bored Riku that was kind of just looking around at this point, completely indifferent to everything that was going on around him.

"Stay the fuck out of this Zexion." Axel growled once more, his eyes narrowing into tiny slits as he continued to glare daggers at Riku. Zexion couldn't just leave Axel in there though. Even though he knew full well that Riku could handle himself, if Axel started a fight, then it would alert the castle guards (mostly because Axel would possibly fly through a wall or two) and if they found out, then Zexion would be the one in trouble, as he would be to blame for Riku's escape. He started to quickly make his way over to the cell, though Axel quickly raised his hand toward the door.

"Barrier." He muttered, and Zexion watched the flash of light slide over the bars quickly.

Zexion sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose. He could already sense how strong the spell was, something that would normally surprise him. Normally a barrier spell would be weak when you were angered, due to the fact that you couldn't concentrate as well being upset, and without concentration your spells were weakened. Though Axel's anger always seemed to strengthen his spells.

That was a problem for Zexion.

Normally, he could just dispel something with his own magic with ease, but spells as strong as Axel's meant he needed his Lexicon. The only one who's magic he couldn't easily fend off was Riku's, his spells being as strong as Zexion's, though it was more amazing for him as he didn't need a Lexicon for his spells to be as powerful as Zexion's.

"Why did you fucking tell him?!" Axel snapped once more as Zexion summoned his Lexicon. It only took him a moment to turn to the proper page, the paper flipping quickly on it's own. But the moment it stopped, Zexion halted, looking up as Riku spoke calmly.

"Because," Riku started, grabbing one of Axel's wrists, and holding it just tightly enough that the cat couldn't attempt to get away.

"He deserved to know the truth Axel. The truth of what you have done to this land. Surely, we've all committed our far share of crimes against the queen, no matter how small and insignificant they may be and regardless of the fact that we were simply trying to help those we cared for. And we've received punishment for everyone of those supposed crimes thanks to you. And yet, for all of the terrible things you've done, for all your crimes, you've only received punishment once, and what a ridiculous punishment it was."

"Get to the point." Axel hissed.

"He deserved to know who you really are. What you've really done. And with the type of person he is, you'll now be punished for the pain that you've caused everyone."

"So this was all about revenge? You fucking twisted bastard!" Axel snapped, removing one hand from Riku's shirt.

He clenched it into a tight fist and swung it right for Riku's face, though Riku easily grabbed the fist in his own hand. With his other hand still gripping Axel's wrist, he easily removed the cat's hand from his shirt with ease, then used the wall to launch himself over the red head. As he landed, he pulled Axel over him, the cat soaring above him and landing flat on his stomach with a loud grunt. Riku crossed his arms over his chest as he walked around to the side of Axel, looking down at him with half lidded eyes, a mixture of irritation and disappointment clear on his face.

"You still don't get it do you? Fucking moron." Riku said, shaking his head. He delivered a swift kick to the feline's side, hard enough to make him flip onto his back. Axel tried desperately to hold his glare, but the pain was clear on his face. Even with his cat like reflexes, he still hadn't been able to avoid Riku's assault, the silver haired male simply moving too fast for him.

"What are you... Talking about?" Axel grunted out as he gripped his side.

"Think about it. Roxas now knows the truth about you, what you really are and what horrible things you've done. There's only two ways this can go. He can either hate you for the rest of his time here, or he can accept you, regardless of your spotty past. And in truth, you want that right? You want him to accept you. Because it means-"

"Shut the fuck up. You don't know what your talking about." Axel grit out, though there was no real bite to his tone as he looked off at the cell wall.

Riku's expression softened as he looked down at the feline. Axel couldn't stand to look at him as he wore such an expression. He didn't want the man's pity.

"I'm fucking out of here." Axel said, getting onto his knee before disappearing completely.

The barrier dropped from the cell door, now allowing Zexion entrance.

"Alright, chain me up before the guards come back." Riku said as he moved back to his place by the wall. Zexion chuckled, shaking his head as he entered the cell.

"You did it for the revenge didn't you?" Zexion asked amusedly as he began putting the chains back into place.

"Just a little bit. Mostly it was for my own amusement." Riku said with a smug smile.

"You should be a little more careful for listening ears Hatter." Zexion said as he finished with the last chain and grabbed Riku's blindfold off his bed, moving to tie it over his eyes.

"It's alright, he's gone this time." Riku said, shutting his eyes as the black cloth covered them. Zexion finished tying on the blindfold, then started for the cell door. He came to a halt though as he turned his head back slightly so he was looking at the silveret from the corner of his eye.

"You know, you shouldn't kick a man when he's down." Zexion said with a small, amused smile. Riku chuckled.

"Really Zexion? You're going to use that type of humor right now?" He questioned, receiving a simple shrug in response.

"It seemed appropriate for the mood."

Riku shook his head with a small smile placed on his lips as Zexion closed the cell door.

The next morning, Roxas laid in his bed, eyes half lidded as he picked at some fraying on the edge of his blanket. He'd been up for about an hour or so, though he couldn't tell the exact amount of time since there appeared to be no clock in his room. He could hear people bustling about outside his room, possibly cleaning or doing some sort of other task for the queen.

He knew he should probably get out of bed as well, after all, lazing around in bed for the whole morning wouldn't look too good on his part, but his thoughts were just so consuming right now. He couldn't stop thinking about what Riku had said to him. What Axel had done...

It was terrible to think that he was the cause of all the hardships this land had seen under Larxene's rule. It made absolute sense now as to why everyone held a grudge against him. He was the reason why they were all cursed. And he didn't even appear to feel even remotely remorseful about what he'd done. In fact, he still taunted them to this day. Hell, Roxas couldn't blame a single one of them. He'd have felt the exact same way.

Then he realized it.

What if Axel was planning to turn him in as well? If that happened, Roxas would surely be killed.

A shiver ran down his spine at the thought. Sure, in the past, Roxas had considered suicide. With his father dead and his mother on drugs in her twisted idea of coping, Roxas didn't have much left for him. He had no friends at school, or even outside of school. He'd figured, nobody would ever miss him.

Though here...

Here he found himself enjoying his life for the first time in a long time. The people here were a tad off their rockers at times, but he found himself enjoying that more and more. He found himself liking all of their little quirks, and loving this place, regardless of the turmoil that Larxene has caused in her rule, every second that he was here. He didn't want this life to end, especially not because of Axel. Some how, that felt like it would be the ultimate betrayal.

Roxas, unfortunately didn't have much longer to think on things though as his door suddenly swung open, bouncing slightly off the wall as Saix stepped into his room, looking very business like. Roxas jumped in his bed, startled by the sudden intrusion, and peeked over the brim of his comforter.

"Come on Ventus, we can't have you lolli-gagging about in bed all day!" Saix said as he strolled into Roxas' room.

"Larxene has demanded you join her for lunch this afternoon, then after an hour of rest, you will join me on the training grounds for three hours. After which, you may do as you please until dinner, understood?" Saix explained as Roxas, now sitting up, stared on at him in bewilderment. Saix looked to him, expression serious as he raised a brow in questioning.

"I said, understood?" Saix asked once more.

Roxas slowly nodded in agreement.

"Then hurry up and get dressed, lunch is in fifteen minutes." Saix said before walking right out of the blond's room, shutting the door behind him, leaving behind a rather perturbed Roxas to stare at the large door with wide blue eyes.

After hurriedly getting dressed in a white button up with a red vest that had a stitched heart design all over with a pair of black slacks and leather shoes that were just a little too big for his feet, Roxas was lead by one of the many guards to a large dining hall. A table, half the size of the room, was placed in the middle, with a deep red table cloth placed over it and a thick white strip of cloth placed in the middle. On top of the white cloth sat several bouquets of red roses and two silver candelabra's with red, unlit candles sitting inside. The table could practically fit a whole army, yet there were only three place settings at the end where a grand chair stood, thick and sturdy, pronouncing itself as the seat of the king. Though it was not the king who sat there.

Instead, Larxene sat in the deceased's place, dressed in another one of her grand gowns. A smile formed on her lips as she spotted Roxas entering the room and she stood from her chair.

"Ventus, there you are! Delightful to see you!" She said happily.

"Come, join me! Marluxia will be with us in just a moment!"

Roxas nodded and quickly made his way across the grand room. Larxene took her seat once more, a servant hurrying over to push her chair in. As Roxas took his own seat, the servant did the same for him, then bowed to Larxene before making his way over to the wall to stand by incase he were needed once more.

"We missed you at breakfast this morning darling, but I figured we should let you sleep in after that long journey you went through just to come here." Larxene said with a smile, allowing herself to drop her perfect posture for the moment and hunch forward, resting her cheek in the palm of her hand as her elbow was propped up on the table.

Roxas smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it, and I did very much need it." Roxas said politely.

"So how did you sleep? Was your bed comfortable enough?"

"Yes, my bed was fine. I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep though. I guess I felt a bit homesick." Roxas said, lying slightly as he laid on his run away act. A forlorn look took over his features as he looked down at his empty plate.

"Oh it's okay darling, this is your home now!" She said chipperly in hopes of cheering the boy up.

Roxas couldn't help but find the dark tone in her words, void of any kind of compassion or sympathy, regardless of how sweetly she had spoken.

Before Roxas could say anything in response though, the doors to the hall swung open, and Marluxia came strolling in. He easily strolled across the hall with his long legs, swiftly seating himself as the servant pulled his chair out for him then pushed it back in.

"Marluxia! Wonderful to see you darling! Now lunch can begin!" Larxene said happily as she clapped her hands together. The doors towards the back of the room, which Roxas assumed lead to the kitchen, suddenly swung open and several different servants hurried out with the food. They each held two large trays with two large portions of food that they set down on the nice red cloth before the three of them. Roxas' eyes widened considerably at the large amounts of food. He'd never seen so much delicious looking food before!

"I apologize for my tardiness highness, but I was tending to some last minute arrangements for the trial this afternoon." Marluxia explained as the servants went about placing food on the trio's plates.

This comment caught Roxas' attention, the blond prying his eyes away from the enticing food and looking up curiously. He'd completely forgotten about Riku's trial. Saix hadn't even mentioned it when he came to get him up.

"Oh that's quite alright dear. We didn't wait long, plus Ventus was here to keep me company." Larxene said, smiling happily at him. Roxas looked to Larxene then smiled slightly and nodded. Larxene seemed to catch that he was a bit off though and looked at him questioningly.

"Ventus, are you alright?" She inquired curiously.

Roxas blinked in surprise, slightly taken aback, but he slowly nodded.

"Yes, just a bit thoughtful I suppose."

"And what, pray tell, might be on your mind this morning?"

Roxas had to take a moment to think on this, processing her fancy speech before trying to think on how to properly word his next sentence.

"Many things I suppose, but what I suppose is bothering me the most at the moment is probably the trial. It is this afternoon, though Sir Blood says I am to train with him this afternoon. I was kind of hoping to attend the trial and see how everything turned out." Roxas explained, hoping he sounded polite enough.

Larxene blinked in surprise, but her expression quickly turned irritable as she let out a frustrated sigh.

"That damnable mutt." She muttered to herself. "Of course you may come Ventus, you may simply tell Saix that I insisted you join us at the trial. That will at least keep him off your case."

Roxas smiled and nodded.

"Alright. Thank you your highness."