Dyingoffeels: Yes. They will fight eventually. Now he has confirmed that she's with the bad guys, he's going to want an explanation. I can't wait for you to see what else I have planned.
Shairo: Re:Chain is interesting. It's going to be exciting when Sora finds out because he's been oblivious to Shaylex's fall to darkness. She is. Much will be explained later on. But, she will be fighting both Sora and Riku throughout the story. And Repliku will come in the next chapter so don't worry.
A/N: Hello fellow readers. Welcome back to a new chapter. So with the Castle Oblivion story, I'm going to alternate chapters between Sora and Riku as Shaylex will interact with both of them. It keeps the storyline fresh and easy to handle. I want to thank you all again for taking the time to read, like, follow, leave a review, etc on my little story. I can't believe it's almost been a year since KH3 came out. And I'm super excited for the ReMind DLC to be released. Anyway. Enough ramblings. Onto the next part of Castle Oblivion.
Shaylex reappeared in the room where Zexion, Lexaeus and Vexen were waiting. "That was truly inspiring Shaylex! You have embraced the true lifestyle of the organization!" Vexen praised as Shaylex grabbed her coat and put it on.
"But that does pose one problem now, how are we going to get Riku to give in to the darkness?" He asked worryingly. Shaylex tolled her eyes and turned to the older members.
"I know it won't be easy. But I know Riku is going to be looking for an explanation. And it won't be long before Sora finds out too." Shaylex explained, flipping her hair out from under the coat. She had noticed that it had grown a lot since she first came to the organization. Maybe she could cut it when she gets back from Castle Oblivion.
"True. You did appear to Sora, correct?" Vexen asked. Shaylex nodded.
"But I kept my hood up to conceal my face. I've been keeping an eye on his movements throughout the castle. Maybe it's worth me checking up on them, upstairs. See how things are progressing." Shaylex explained. Everyone nodded and agreed and Shaylex teleported to the room where Namine was currently being kept. She was currently drawing a picture of Sora, Riku, Kairi and herself. "I hope you're not making Sora forget about me?" Shaylex asked as she walked up to Namine. The young blonde girl looked up.
"No, I'm not. I'm only putting in new memories from Sora's childhood. Years before you arrived on the islands." Namine explained. Shaylex smiled.
"Good. I kind of want his heart to break a little bit when he finds out the truth about me." Shaylex said.
"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Axel asked as he walked into the room. Shaylex turned to face him.
"I have no other choice, correct? I technically should be killing heartless in the other worlds. But here I am, in Castle Oblivion. Messing with my old friends. I'm still unsure as to why I'm still here though." Shaylex explained. Axel just turned his face away.
"Who knows." He responded. He sounded unsure. Shaylex looked at him.
"Axel, what do you know?" She asked.
"Nothing. It puzzles me too, you know." Axel explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "We're friends, right? I would tell you if I knew something. Got it memorized?" He added pointing at his temple. Shaylex smiled.
"Of course I do, Axel." She said, nodding. She turned to the monitor and watched Sora for a while. "Why does Marluxia think that Sora would be valuable for the organization? We already have Roxas. And myself. So why him as well?" Shaylex asked as she watched Sora about to head into another card world. Axel just shrugged.
"Because another keyblade wielder would mean that we complete our goal faster. To complete Kingdom Hearts so that we can be whole again. Isn't that correct?" Larxene's condescending tone spoke as she entered the room. Shaylex rolled her eyes as she turned to face the blonde vixen.
"But of course it is. But you can't rush these things Larxene. We have to make sure that Kingdom Hearts is perfect. Yes, another keyblade wielder might speed up the process, but it could also hinder it." Shaylex explained.
"Ha! You're just jealous because Xemnas has taken a keen liking to both Roxas and now, to Sora. Let's face it. You're just a has-been now. Slowly getting tossed to the side. Like a piece of garbage!" Larxene spat out. Shaylex felt her anger rising. She dashed at Larxene, summoning her keyblade and pinning the nymph against the wall, the keyblade pressed at her throat.
"SAY THAT AGAIN YOU BITCH!" She shouted. Larxene's face changed suddenly. From that menacing, resting bitch face to slightly worried.
"I... I didn't mean it. I was only joking. Come on Shaylex lighten up!" She managed to stutter out. Axel managed to lightly grab Shaylex's shoulders and pull her away. Shaylex let go and dismissed Promise. She went back to the monitor and continued watching Sora. She noticed that he was about to finish up the card world and leave. She pulled her hood up to conceal her face and disappeared and reappeared outside of the door and waited for Sora. She concealed herself so that they couldn't see her when they entered. But so that she could hear on their conversation. A few minutes passed and the doors opened and the three heroes walked through. Donald and Goofy walked a bit further ahead but Sora stayed still. He seemed to be deep in thought.
"Who could that have been before in my memory? It wasn't Kairi. And it definitely wasn't Ashley... But, another... girl? Maybe... I think her name was..." He mumbled. He must have been thinking about Namine. She was starting to push her way into Sora's memories. She leaned against the wall and revealed herself. Which Donald saw.
"Sora! Look!" He said and pointed at Shaylex.
"You again!" He exclaimed. Shaylex smiled under her hood.
"Hello again, Sora. How are you finding Castle Oblivion?" She asked, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms.
"Why do you care?" Donald asked. Shaylex chuckled.
"Oh, because I know things. Things you don't yet understand. Tell me, Sora. What is your quest again?" Shaylex asked.
"We want to find the King, Riku, and Ashley!" Donald replied. Shaylex chuckled as she stood back up straight.
"I'm glad. I wouldn't have it any other way." Shaylex said as she walked past them towards the stairs. "One of your friends is closer than you think. Sora." She added as she turned to them. "And I have them, in my clutches." She said sinisterly. Sora growled and summoned his keyblade.
"Well, whoever you are, Shaylex. I'll fight you for them! You're just a coward who hides behind a mask."
"Fighting words from a 'keyblade master' but are you sure that you really are one, Sora?" Shaylex asked. Sora looked at her confused.
"What do you mean? Of course, I'm the only keyblade master!" Sora announced and held his keyblade up. Shaylex laughed and held out her hand.
"Oh, you have no idea." She said and called Promise to her hand. It came swiftly and smoothly. Her fingers closed around the handle and she showed it off. Sora, Donald and Goofy's mouth's dropped open. Shaylex had to smile.
"A keyblade?! But how?" Goofy asked. To say that the three of them were confused was a bit of an understatement. Shaylex held her keyblade out and pointed it at Sora.
"How about this. We fight. See who's the true master with a keyblade. If you win, I'll show you my face and tell you a little bit about my history with the keyblade. But if I win. You get to remain in the dark for a bit longer about my identity. Do we have a deal?" Shaylex explained as she then placed her keyblade by her side. Sora's mouth closed and dropped down into his fighting stance.
"You're on!" He declared and the two of them began to fight. Shaylex took a defensive stance first as Sora began to swing his keyblade at her, cutting through her a few times. But she managed to break his streak thanks to the card mechanics of the castle so she hit back with a few well-aimed blows of her own. She began to put cards aside so that she could unleash her aero raid. Sora and Shaylex kept going backward and forwards, hitting and dodging each other. Shaylex could see that they were both beginning to get tired. She set up her last card to activate her special move. She unleashed her wind vortex and sent it Sora'a way, and then threw her keyblade into the mix. But Sora managed to counter-attack and cut through her strike and parried back, landing the final hit on her. Shaylex stumbled back as the fight ended. She began to laugh.
"You certainly have gotten stronger, Sora. You've come so far since the islands." Shaylex said as she stood up, she felt a pain in her side but she brushed that off. Sora stood up.
"Since... the islands? Have we met before?" Sora asked. Shaylex began to laugh. Which was a bad idea because her side hurt even more when that happened.
"You still don't know who I am?" She asked. Sora still looked at her, confused. "I guess I do owe you an explanation, seeing as you won our little fight. Yes, I was on the islands. I was there when it was destroyed. But, unlike you, I wasn't so lucky." Shaylex explained, placing a hand on her chest where her heart used to be.
"What do you mean? What happened to you?" Sora asked as he took a step towards her.
"I got lost. Separated from my friends. I came across a large wave of heartless. I tried to fight them off. But, there were too many." She explained turning her back to the group.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Shaylex. I didn't know. What happened?" Sora asked. He sounded concerned and worried for her. Shaylex sighed.
"I lost my heart." She said softly as she clenched her hand that was on her chest into a fist.
"What?!" Sora asked. Again, he sounded so scared and worried for her. Shaylex had to smile. Sora had been oblivious to her fall since the beginning. Was he finally connecting the pieces to her?
"I lost my heart. The heartless ripped their claws into me and took my heart." She added on. Sora was sometimes slow to understand sometimes. Especially with something as big as this.
"Then, how are you here? Shouldn't you be like, a heartless?" Goofy asked confused.
"Yeah, you don't look or sound like a heartless," Donald added. Shaylex chuckled.
"There's more to it than just a heartless. Yes, the heart becomes, a heartless. But what do you think happens to their body?" Shaylex asked. Sora placed a hand under his chin, thinking.
"Well, I guess, it would just disappear?" Sora asked nervously.
"Not exactly. The body turns into something called a Nobody. A being similar to the heartless but it is just an empty shell. Without a heart to feel, or show emotion. But sometimes. If the heart is strong, the body, it doesn't disappear. It stays, along with the person's mind. Just like Axel and I." Shaylex explained. "A full person that is just missing one key component. An empty shell that shouldn't exist yet we do." She added, turning back to face Sora. A smile formed under her hood.
"That's crazy. I'm sorry you went through that." Sora said, taking another step forward. Shaylex took a step backward and turned her back to him again.
"Spare me your apologies Sora. You couldn't save me back then, you can't save me now. Besides, we're done here." Shaylex explained and began to walk towards the steps.
"HEY! You promised to show us your face!" Shouted Donald. Shaylex chuckled.
"I guess your memory is still good. Very well. But from here on out, I won't reply to any other name but Shaylex. Because the old me is dead." Shaylex said as she placed both hands on her hood and pushed it back, revealing the back of her head, her dark blonde hair flowing out. She turned to her right so that Sora could see her star mark and her violet eyes met Sora's blue. He gasped.
"Ashley?" She stuttered. Shaylex smirked and disappeared in purple smoke. Leaving Sora, Donald and Goofy wondering what had happened, to Sora's old friend.
A/N: And... we shall leave that there. Apologies if this chapter is slightly short. I wanted to end things on this little cliffhanger. Got to keep you all interested somehow. But thank you again to everyone who has read my little story and I'm excited to continue Ashley/Shaylex's journey with you all. And if you haven't yet, check out the other Light Protector stories. They are really good and deserve just as much love! I hope you all have an awesome day, morning, afternoon, evening, night wherever you are in the world and I'll see you in the next chapter.