Axel flipped through the book when he felt one of his family call for him. It was one of the vampires that had adopted into the family. He had the amazing ability of mindspeech. He could talk to any vampire but his gifts were even better then just that because he could also allow them to speak back to him. He was one of Axel's favored guards and had been sent out with the group going after Fang.

He and his have been disengaded from the town. No one has been hurt, on our side or the townspeople.

Good. Bring everyone to the library.

Roxas didn't notice any of this. He was completely distracted by the book in his hands. The blond only realized something was up when there were suddenly a lot of people in the library. Though he saw nobody come in.

Axel looked around at his family. All of the vampires, but those currently standing guard, and one of the human guards were now in the room. He laid the book down, opened to the story of the Goose Girl, then looked back up at them. "Thank you for coming. Fang might cause us problems so I want all of you to be even more diligent. No humans are to leave without a vampire, even during the day. And no one is every to go anywhere alone. You may go." He picked back up the book and watched as they all left.

Roxas listened silently to what Axel said. That was a bit surprising. Sure, he didn't know Fang very well. But he didn't trust him, so what the redhead said was probably a good idea. It wasn't like he was going to be going anywhere anytime soon himself. So he just relaxed again and continued reading his book.

Axel went back to flipping through the leather covered book. He only read the titles of each story though. He was waiting for something, anything to happen. There were no more families to deal with, or at least for a bit. He wouldn't be buying new slaves for a few days at least. So he was simply bored.

Roxas read for a while before looking up at Axel. "..What are you reading?" he asked. The blond could tell that Axel seemed bored. So he wanted to know if there was anything he could do to help.

Axel looked up at Roxas then down at his book. "Oh, just a collection of fairy tales. It was given to me a long time ago by a woman I cared dearly for." He smiled at the thought of her. "She told me I thought to highly of myself. She thought I might learn something from these tales." He sighed and more to himself then anything he continued. "She would have been good for this world. Too bad she didn't want to step into this dark world."

Roxas was silent, thinking about that. "What happened to her?" he asked, curious. Though he didn't really need to know if Axel didn't want to tell him. He could deal without knowing. He was just extremely curious. And also extremely bored. Talking would help that for both of them.

"She died an old woman. Sadly she outlived her husband but she had her eight children beside her when she passed." He remembered that long ago time like it had been moments before. "I had just become a vampire, maybe twenty years before, when I met her. Or I should say when I bought her. I wasn't so nice then. My slaves didn't have freedoms. They were just to be used and thrown out. I treated her that way and woke up to find her sitting on me with a stake against my heart. I have to say that woke me up. Over her life I changed and my family changed into almost what it is now." He smiled at the thought of how he had changed then frowned. "She might have lived outside the darkness but her youngest daughter didn't get that. After she had died I didn't think any would go after the family. Why would they? I wasn't connected to them. Sadly I was wrong. Her youngest was taken and killed." He looked over at the blond. "I only tell you that so you know what your life will always be. I let my slaves go after a time but most stay. They stay because it is safest here. And because they know I never really let them go. The ones that leave are still under me so that if they are attacked it is as if I was attacked. Most will not go against that... You will never be free from this world."

Roxas was silent as he listened to what Axel said. That made him feel terrible that that happened. It just wasn't fair. The blond nodded, understanding what the redhead said. He really didn't want to get attacked. So he knew that he would have to stay here, no matter how much he would like to be free. He just couldn't risk it. "I understand." he told him.

Axel nodded when he saw that Roxas understood. He had worried that he might still believe he would get out of this lot. "Good. It is a hard thing to force people to stay and even harder to know I am the cause when they are hurt." He looked at the door for a moment then turned back to Roxas. "The others should be done cleaning by now if you would like to go do something different."

Roxas was silent for a while. Sure, he would like to go do something else. But he really didn't know anybody except Maria. And he had no idea where she went. The blond shook his head. "No. I'm fine here." he told him, his eyes going back to his book.

Axel nodded after a moment and looked back down at the fairy tales.

Maria nodded at the other slaves in the kitchen before leaving the room. She searched throughout the manor looking for two different people. Finally she came upon Eli. She ran over to him and jumped into his arms and hugged him. She dropped down and grabbed his hand and dragged him to the last room she had to check, the library.

When she opened the door she saw Roxas and Axel. "So this is where you've been hiding. Roxas I thought you should meet my fiance Eli."

Eli nodded and tried to stand up straight. While Maria was outgoing he was more of a loner. He was tall but almost always was slumped over. He had thick glasses, was nervous, and was almost the defination of a geek. But even with that he was good looking. Because of that he was forever gratefull to Axel. In the slave pits he came very close to being bought because of his pretty face but Axel bought him. Though they all soon realized how great that was. Like most vampires Axel and his family had problems with technology but Eli was a computer genius. He had been a hacker, which had led him to the slave pits, but now worked for Axel's family in the tech field.

"Hello Eli. I trust our stocks are doing well." He looked back at Roxas. "We were talking earlier of the differances of this family from others. Eli is another differance. I bought him as a slave but found he had a very valuable skill. He earned his freedom a month after being here when he had made me a large sum of money. I value great skills. Any with them are granted servant status and are paid. He and all of the human guards were once slaves but now are free."

Roxas looked up when Maria came in with another guy. He smiled a bit at him when they were introduced. "Hi.. Its nice to meet you, Eli." he said. The blond's gaze moved to Axel when the redhead spoke. "Really?! That's cool!" he said. Though he was sure that he would never end up like that. He was positive he didn't have any special skills that would be useful to Axel. At least, as far as he knew.

"Yes, I find it much easier. Other families keep them as slaves, no different from the others, but they soon find the slave they bought who was once a great hacker now can't figure out how to turn the computer on. I find I get much better results this way." He smiled at the servant. "So Roxas, do you have any great talents? Or at least any you remember?"

Roxas thought about it for a moment. The sadly hung his head and shook his head. "No.. I can't remember anything." he said. No matter how hard he tried, the only thing he could remember was being at that slave market before Axel had bought him. He really wished he could though.

Axel waved it off. He really hadn't expected anything. "Well maybe you'll remember or you'll learn. But for now you can stay or go off with them."

Roxas thought about it. He wanted to stay with Axel, but he also wanted to go hang out with Maria. ".... I'll stay for a while." the blond stated. Besides, the book was just starting to get good.

Maria nodded. "Then we'll let you guys get back to what you were doing. We'll be in Eli's room if you need or want us. Axel can show you the way. She winked at Roxas. "Don't worry. You won't come in on anything. Eli needs to work on his computer. Replacing something or other. And I like to think company is good for him and that his intelligence might rub off on me."

Axel smiled at the answer Roxas gave. When Maria spoke he turned to her and nodded.

"Alright. I might come back later." Roxas said, nodding a bit to what she said. The blond figured he could stay here a while longer, then go spend time with her. Plus, he needed to start learning his way around this place. He didn't want to get lost again. That wouldn't be good.

Axel smiled as they left. As soon as they were gone he looked back to Roxas. "Not what you expected huh? Freedom, pay, choices, and weddings. Doesn't really scream vampires." He laughed knowing he suprised people. "Probably suprising to find that Maria is taken too."

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. It's not really what I was expecting." he said. Then the blond realized he didn't know what he was expecting. Though he knew he must have had some sort of opinion before. "That was a little surprising. But I'm happy for her."

"We're all happy for her. I bought her a few years before him. She was always a happy child but she was different before he came. She always had a small part in her that hated and feared me and my kind. She thought that some day I would stop pretending to be a good person. But then I bought him and apparently making him a paid worker and then later allowing them to plan marriage changed her mind." His eyes softened as he spoke then twinkled as he continued. "But then you short lived humans do change your minds quickly."

Axel shut the book on his lap and stood up quickly to put it away. He quickly walked back to his seat and flopped back down. He lit a small flame in his hand.

Roxas nodded slightly at his explanation. Then he smiled slightly when he said humans changed their minds quickly. "I don't change my mind quickly." he said. Though he wasn't sure why. It felt like it was the right thing for him to say. He was surprised when Axel lit a flame in his hand. That was unexpected. But also, pretty cool.

"Oh, really? Just a day ago you hated me. You planned on doing anything to escape. And yet now you at least don't seem to hate me." He bounced the flame around in his hands.