Inverted Sky: KH Chain of Memories

Chapter 25: Castle Oblivion part XXV

Sora dropped a few meters before landing on a white floor, the impact of which echoed loudly around the large hall she was now in. The appearance of which was still that of Castle Oblivion, only with a bit more grey, instead of white. Though, in seeing only one exit on the opposite side of where she stood, it let her know that she was likely on the top floor of the castle. While there was nothing and no one else here, the moment Sora took a step forward, Marluxia instantly appeared through a dark corridor.

Him arriving directly between her, and where the exit was located. While the man was obviously making sure to block her way out, he still just offered the teen a small smile. "I apologize for my rudeness." he said in a mildly condescending manner, yet it didn't have as much 'bite' to it as he normally would.

"But I did wish to congratulate you on your rather overwhelming victory." Marluxia continued while bowing his head briefly.

Hearing this made the brown-haired girl blink many times in question, to which she then raised a brow. "What do you mean?" she asked curiously, unsure if this was genuine, or a trap.

Gazing at the man though, it soon became apparent that it was surprisingly the former. Marluxia just shrugged both shoulders, before placing a hand on his hip and using the other to gesture with. "Your speech earlier...it made it so my former compatriots no longer wish to join in on my plan." he explained, tilting his head up for a moment before looking back to Sora.

"Not only that, but at least one of them have actively helped you." the pink-haired man added in an authentically surprised tone.

"They've absconded with Namine...making it impossible to complete my little 'scheme'." Marluxia continued, shrugging once more while smirking in false amusement.

"And now that my last resort to use illusions failed so quickly, it seems that everything has been for naught." he furthered, all as he let out a heavy sigh.

"After everything I've done...after all that I've planned for...I never would have guessed to be defeated by the 'heart'." the man said in a near whisper, but was still barely audible.

Continuing to listen to his words, Sora could only stare at him in silence. While she didn't like him very much, especially in finding out that he was the architect behind everything, she still felt sorry for the man. Her desire to help others making her almost sympathize with Marluxia, to which she slowly nodded to him. "I will admit that I was hoping that they would take my words to heart...but I still did hope you would too." she spoke up in a soft voice.

The man stared at her with an arched brow, to which he then chuckled lightly. "You say the most amusing things...without even realizing. But I suppose I should expect as much." he started, his gaze shifting to the doors behind him for a quick moment.

"You are the one who made friends with a puppet after all." Marluxia continued with a shrug and small smirk appearing on his features.

"He's not a 'puppet'." Sora snapped back instantly, narrowing both eyes on the man for a moment.

Seeing this, Marluxia pointed at the teen with a smile of amusement. "That right there...where did that anger go?" he questioned in a genuinely curious manner.

"You kept most of it hidden when you first arrived, but it slipped out every so often. But then it just vanished...so what happened to your anger?" the pink-haired man continued, taking a few steps forward.

Sora blinked once again to his inquiry, yet she simply offered a shrug of her shoulders. "It's what happens when you have friends...they bring out the best in you." was all she responded with.

Though it was clearly what Marluxia expected her to say, there almost seemed to be a desire to hear more. Or possibly to have some kind of further explanation. But when it didn't come, he just nodded slowly and summoned his scythe in a swirl of cherry blossom petals. "I see. Well then...I suppose there is nothing left now, other than for me to see if you're truly the one." he declared almost cryptically, all while moving into a battle-ready position.

The brown-haired girl gazed to him for a few moments, her able to tell there was something the man was keeping from her. Which led for Sora to shake her head and speak up once more; "I don't know what you're talk about, but I don't want to fight you." she stated firmly, yet she was still ready in case of an attack.

"I know you don't." Marluxia said silently before immediately charging forward and swinging his scythe at the girl with blinding speed.

This attack missed it's target however, as the teen ducked under the weapon's blade and brought her free hand out. This shooting a quick burst of dark energy from her palm, of which Marluxia avoided by leaning to the side of it. Yet with a brief flash of darkness, Sora summoned her Keyblade and thrust it into the man's path. Which lead for him to swiftly flip backward, kicking the girl's weapon upward as he did. As Sora watched this, she couldn't help but blink a few times as it was almost the same move she herself used against her last opponent.

Unlike her though, Marluxia kept moving backward. Midway though his third flip, he threw his scythe at the girl. Whom immediately brought her Keyblade out to deflect the weapon, her eyes narrowing carefully to time it right. The scythe being a difficult weapon to handle because of the disproportionate balancing. Just as she moved into position to deflect the attack though, the pink-haired man appeared in front of her. Him grabbing the scythe as it spun around his form, to which he altered its direction with a flourish so that it slashed in an upward arc. While Sora saw this attack coming, she didn't bother trying to block it with her Keyblade.

The brown-haired girl creating a rather weak barrier in front of her, all as she stepped to the side. Once the scythe impacted the shield, it broke through in less than a second. It was however, just enough time for the attack to pass by Sora as she then flipped over the man's head. Seeing the teen rotate through the air and turn her flip into a slashing strike toward his back, Marluxia smirked lightly. "Clever." he whispered silently, just as he lept to the side.

Him avoiding both the teen's Keyblade, as well as the exploding magic of the shield. Sora knowing he would either have to take one or both strikes if he wanted to counter, so the only way to avoid being hit would be to retreat. But as he moved back, he slashed through the air with his scythe. Which created an arc of pink and black energy that rushed toward Sora, whom swiftly slashed it apart with her Keyblade, all while pointing a finger at the floor.

"Thundaga Prison." she muttered out silently as a spark of electricity cracked around her hand before shooting out from her extended finger.

Following this, a series of yellow lines drew across the floor around where Marluxia landed, to which they rapidly shot up in hundreds of arcs. Each of these forming a chain-link formation, trapping the man inside. As he looked around to this, Marluxia quickly noticed that the lightning magic was far weaker than what had been suggested in the name. This made him chuckle while slashing through the electricity, causing it to disburse. Once he had, the pink-haired man's gaze shifted back to his opponent.

Said girl having created a series of fire balls over her head that grew larger and larger; "Firaga Burst!" she called out as the flaming spheres shot forward.

"Traps...distractions...you're fighting rather smartly. Most impressive." he hummed out silently, just before beginning to dodge away from these balls of fire.

Each of which rushed at Marluxia with great speed, and even greater accuracy. While he avoided most of them, he reduced others to simple hot air by slashing them apart with his scythe. During all of this though, the pink-haired man made sure to keep an eye on the teen. The girl herself rushing to the side, her Keyblade dragging across the floor as it had a dark purple aura surrounding the blade. Once she moved behind her foe, Sora then stabbed the top of her weapon into the white stone of the floor.

"Black Hole." Sora whispered with a narrowed gaze.

Instantly after these words, the line of magic she made on the ground began to glow a bright purple. This then causing the floor to split open half a meter, to which a powerful well of gravity began pulling Marluxia toward it. His eyes widened in response to this sensation, forcing him to try and plant his feet on the ground to stop himself from moving. "Well now...this is new." the pink-haired man uttered out before quickly flipped high into the air.

At the same time, Marluxia swiftly slashed his scythe in the hole's direction. This created an arc of pink and black energy that flew down at his target. While most of the attack simply went through the hole, the edges of the arc hit the floor where the line was drawn. The hole immediately snapping shut from this impact, as the line Sora made was disrupted. The brown-haired teen herself though, still had her Keyblade stabbed into the floor with a small smile directed up toward the man.

Whom watched as the remaining purple lines converged into a circle, before shooting toward him in the form of a deep violet sphere. Despite the speed of this orb, Marluxia was able to slash through it with his scythe. As both side of the sphere moved past him however, they simply reformed into two smaller orbs. Both of which swelled in size, just as the man began to descend back toward the floor. Midway through his fall, Marluxia found himself lifted right back up into the air and suspended there through a powerful gravitational force.

"This is very new." he said silently, yet there was clearly some surprise to his tone.

"You have no idea." Sora called out as she threw her Keyblade toward the man with great force.

Marluxia himself narrowed his eyes slowly, simply watching the teen's weapon come flying at him. It being obviously that the brown-haired girl's aim was only to knock him unconscious. This realization made the man let out a sigh in disappointment, to which he closed both eyes in the process. The moment he did this, a huge amount of dark power surged from his body and broke the magic spells containing him. The darkness also causing the girl's Keyblade to go flying back to its owner.

"Well well...looks like you decided to fight seriously." she hummed softly, her voice barely being heard over the winds whipping up from this rising darkness.

"Well...I realized my mistake in all this." Marluxia claimed as the dark energy disbursed with the simple action of reopening his eyes.

This revealing a large creature behind him, holding an over-sized version of his scythe in its hands. The being itself had grey skin, and two sets of wings. While both had spikes on the tops, the first set were fully black, and the second were mostly grey in hue with red spikes. As this creature towered over Marluxia, it was still slightly hunched over, showing it was even taller than it might appear. But the big difference Sora made a mental note of was the clear difference in how far it could reach with its long arms.

"What do you mean?" the teen asked while narrowing both eyes, taking in and letting out a breath.

'I've already faced someone way stronger than Marluxia and survived. So as long as he's not as powerful as 'that' guy, I should be able to win without actually killing him.' she continued inwardly as there was a clear determination in her expression.

Marluxia simply shook his head as he saw this, to which he crossed both arms, now that his hands were free. "You need more hate in you, or you'll never win." he declared in a firm tone.

Sora blinked briefly in response while looking at him a bit confused; "Why would I need to hate you to beat you?" she asked, unsure of why the man would be saying this.

"It's not to beat me." Marluxia whispered in a sigh, as though it was to himself.

Yet since Sora could still hear him, his words simply made her even more bewildered. "What are you talking about?" she questioned, now just wanting answers.

Letting out a heavier sigh, the pink-haired man merely stared at the teen silently before finally speaking once more. "You're strong, there is no doubt about it, but I need to know the true extent of your power. And the only way I'll see it for myself, is if I make you angry."

The brown-haired teen narrowed her eyes on Marluxia as he seemed determined not to answer her directly. "Why are you so set on making my mad? Or fighting me for that matter? I would get it if you were just mad at me for messing up your plans, or if I did something terrible...but you're just doing it to see if I'm 'the one'." she declared in her confusion, referencing his words from before they started fighting.

As the man looked to her, his thousand meter stare seemed to focus slightly while looking to Sora once more. "If you did something terrible..." he echoed out silently.

"Yes...people get angry when they hear something terrible." Marluxia continued as he nodded slowly to his own words.

Sora blinked a few times while raising a brow, her wonder just what the pink-haired man was thinking up now. She wouldn't need to wait long as the man gained a confident gaze; "I am indeed testing you, Keyblade-wielder. My goal is my own, but I'm to leave things in your hands...I must see your power. Even if I must throw you into the pits of despair and anger." he began, taking a step forward, the creature behind him moving in unison.

"No matter how hard it is for you to hear this, it is the absolute truth." the man continued, causing the girl to start becoming nervous as to what he was about to say.

"The one who let in the darkness onto your island. The one who allowed the Heartless to reach the heart of that world. It was all you, Sora." Marluxia stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

The sheer impact of his words caused Sora's eyes to widen, and even for her breathing to pause. The girl immediately starting to feel her body shake, both from shock and the lack of air. But even as she tried to speak in order to tell the man not to say anymore, she couldn't manage anything out. Allowing Marluxia the chance to simply continue on without anything, or anyone, to stop him.

"It's because you allowed your heart to call out to the Kingdom Key of Darkness that brought the Heartless to your world in the first place. It's your fault that your friends and family were swallowed up by the darkness, and likely to became Heartless as well." he declared while pointing toward Sora and the Keyblade in her hand, his tone sounding as if he were a judge reading off her crimes.

"It was you who destroyed your home."


Events are unfolding very differently, yet still very similarly. Rather than Sora already hating Marluxia, he's fighting to make her angry. And I'm sure all of you can guess the reason for why. To be honest, I did feel like Sora's anger at Marluxia was a little odd in the original version. While I built it up over time, it just seemed weird that I made him the only one Sora hated. I mean, I had a bonding moment between her and Vexen for crying out loud. So with this, I've altered their relationship. However, the big question now is...just how will things end with the way it's already been set? Find out next time when we enter into the next two chapters next week. Until next time.