//------------------------------//
// Chain/Days: Earth and Illusion 
// Story: Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

After separating from Sombra, who Riku knew didn't need their help at all, the boy found that most of the castle looked the exact same, just white hallways and passages that took one deeper into the structure, causing him, Mickey, and Aqua to be more on guard than they were when they entered this place.

"This is making me nervous. We're in enemy territory... where is everyone?" Mickey asked, because he had been expecting to encounter some of the Nobodies to come out and attack them, either the members of the Organization or even some of their minions, only for him and his companions to find that there was nothing coming at them.

"I assume that some of them are tending to Sora's group, and are likely planning on how to deal with us." Aqua replied, as it seemed like the information Sombra had gotten previously was true, Sora was the main target and that meant the three of them were lesser targets in the eyes of the Organization, where she glanced around for a time as she thought back to the last time she had been in this structure.

"From what I can tell one dark presence has already fallen." Riku stated, because thanks to Seeker Ansem possessing his body like he had, even though that had forced him to be a passenger in his own body until he was banished to the Darkworld, he could sort of sense dark figures, not like how Sombra could sense Heartless, "Given what's going on, that's likely Sombra taking out someone who dared to get in her path... probably one of the members of the Organization."

"You would be correct." a new voice replied, speaking as they entered a new chamber, where the trio found that there was a tall figure standing on the other side of the area that happened to be wearing one of the coats that the Organization wore, a serious looking man who had short spiked brown hair and seemed to be carrying a weapon that appeared to be a sword and an axe merged into a new form, "Vexen has fallen, much to our sorrow. I do not know how you three and Sombra were able to enter this castle, as no invitation was extended to you, but this is such a waste... to possess your power, while being afraid..."

"Let me guess: 'of the Darkness'?" Riku remarked, where he stepped forward and summoned his Keyblade, as he suspected that this Nobody was going to stop them from moving forward and that meant one of them would have to deal with him, hence why he was approaching the figure while the others stood back, trusting him to deal with their foe, "Sorry, but I was able to learn a few things from Sombra while we were in the Darkworld... the Darkness has no power over me now."

Lexaeus stood there for a few moments, studying the boy that was in front of him and understood what Riku was saying, his heart was strong, his eyes were filled with determination, and his stance suggested that he wasn't afraid at all, rather he was ready for anything that might happen next. Such a thing caused him to think about what Vexen had said previously, about how the boy would be afraid of the Darkness and that they might be able to use his fear against him, incite his rage so that he might be taken down faster, but the now slain researcher was wrong, the boy was stronger than they assumed. Such a thing only made him wonder if this newfound mental strength translated to physical strength as well, because even if the short amount of time they had spent in the Darkworld it sounded like Riku had learned something from Sombra, meaning he could be stronger than the reports said. He sighed for a moment before releasing some of his energy, manifesting a dark red aura with black wisps floating around him, something that was directed at Riku as he found that the boy actually stood his ground for the duration that he did this, causing Lexaeus to stop as he lifted his weapon.

Only one thing worried him right now, and that was the fact that Riku had trained with Sombra, though in what way he still had no idea, meaning there was a chance he might lose to this boy, since it appeared that the other two were watching the fight that was about to take place in this chamber.

"Very well. I, Lexaeus, will test the power of your heart." Lexaeus stated, where he shifted his stance for a moment as the boy did the same, which was a good thing to see, while also confirming that the other two didn't seem interested in giving Riku any aid in the upcoming fight.

In the next instant Lexaeus rushed at Riku and found that the boy did the same, showing him that his foe was definitely no longer afraid, though as he brought his axe sword down he watched as his opponent dodged to the side, where he swung at his chest and cut into the fabric of his coat, like he was testing the waters. Lexaeus gathered his power as he slammed his weapon against the floor, causing things to rumble as spikes of earth burst out of the tiles and reached for Riku, mostly to weaken him to the point where he could be brought in for whatever plan Zexion had in mind. What he discovered was that Riku was definitely faster than what Lexaeus had heard, causing him to really wonder what sort of training the boy had done with Sombra in the Darkworld, as this seemed like they had been training for years, instead of the few days they had been in that realm. While that happened he also discovered that none of his attacks seemed to hit the pair that was just watching them right now, rather the earthen spikes struck a barrier and it stopped them in their tracks, something that made him curious as to who the blue haired lady was, since it didn't seem like Mickey cast the spell.

Of course he didn't let that bother him and he clashed with Riku, the edge of his axe sword colliding with the Keyblade for a few seconds before Lexaeus forced his opponent backward, where he called on more of his power and strengthened his body in the process, allowing him to hit harder than before. At the same time he also started occasionally threw his axe sword at his foe like it was a boomerang, as it would go a certain distance and then return to his hand, and the attacks in question could be devastating if they struck his targets, where he found that his foe used his Keyblade to stop his attacks, or at least attempt to as one pushed him back again. Such a thing told him many things, such as the fact that he was still far stronger than Riku was, even if the boy had trained with Sombra before coming to this castle, and it was clear that he was going to win this battle in no time, even if Riku unleashed a flurry of blows on him. In response to that Lexaeus simply used his empty hand to punch his foe hard in the chest, allowing him to knock the boy up into the ceiling before grabbing him as he fell towards the ground, where he tossed Riku back towards the door he and his companions had used to enter this part of Castle Oblivion.

"You are strong, but not enough to best me." Lexaeus stated, though as he said that he noticed something interesting that he knew was definitely not part of the information they had on the boy, there was a faint glow, like that of the moon if he had to guess, around Riku's body, before he watched as his left hand grew claws and fur, "What the..."

As Lexaeus thought about what this meant Riku called upon the full power of the amulet he wore and let out a howl that shook the chamber they were in as he fully shifted into his werewolf form, something that reminded him to thank both Sombra and Radiant once they were done with this castle. Lexaeus, surprised by the transformation, hurled his weapon at Riku, intending on knocking him into the wall and ending this before something bad happened, where he and the others found that Riku just grabbed the head of the axe sword when it reached him. Such a thing also came as a surprise, that the boy happened to have a form that was far beyond what they knew about, in fact he was sure Vexen had no idea he had this power, before Riku swung his hand down and slammed the head of the weapon into the floor. Lexaeus decided to use his innate power and caused the earth to send spikes at his foe, where he discovered that Riku was even faster as well, as he rushed to the side and avoided his attacks with ease, meaning this form gave him a significant boost to all of his abilities.

In fact he was sure of that as Riku grabbed onto his face with his empty hand and slammed his head into the floor, and as he got back up his foe vanished before he was slashed several times, causing him to drop to one knee as he found bits of energy escaping from his form.

"I see... your heart is strong." Lexaeus said, as Riku was strong in his convictions, he had channeled his own power with a surprising degree of accuracy, even before revealing his transformed state to him, and he was now sure that the boy was more in control of his own dark powers, causing him to lower his head for a moment, "Forgive me, Zexion... this was a fight I shouldn't have started."

Riku and his companions watched as Lexaeus disappeared, which appeared to be what happened when a Nobody was beaten, they just faded away to nothingness or something along those lines, causing him to tap his amulet as he returned to his normal form, where he, Aqua, and Mickey got underway as they continued to explore the rest of the castle.





While that was going on Sombra was making her way down the halls of the castle, finding that the coloration really didn't change too much, at least until she found a white wolf that had red markings, and happened to be in the middle of using it's tail to paint one of the walls with a vibrant color scheme. Such a thing told her that someone in Castle Oblivion agreed with her, there was far too much white in this strange place, though the interesting thing was that the wolf seemed happy to see her and barked a little as she approached, like it was waiting for her. Sombra thought back to what Seras had put in her notes, about the various members of the Organization and Namine, and recalled that Kairi's Nobody had a wolf that was her High Rank, even though the wolf was more like her friend than her servant. She was able to confirm that the wolf happened to be here for her, as it circled her for a moment before sitting, like it was waiting for her to follow it, though as Sombra considered that she felt the air shift a little as she glanced at the end of the hallway.

She found that there was another member of the Organization, this one a younger male with steel blue hair that covered one of his eyes, and from what she could tell he was carrying a book in one of his hands, which meant he had to be the one called Zexion, who seemed to vanish as Sora appeared in his place, causing Sombra to laugh.

"Come now, is this the best you can do?" Sombra asked, as according to what Seras had found out Zexion was supposed to be an illusionist of some kind, wielding the power of illusions to bring down his opponents, and if this pathetic display was his best than she was going to eliminate him here and now.

"Sombra... you are nothing but a creature of Darkness. The Light will purge you." the Fake Sora replied, which she could tell was Zexion speaking, where she could see why people might fall for his tricks if they were distracted by something else that happened to be going on in the area, though the Nobody raised his hand and his illusion did the same, forming the Kingdom Key before firing a 'beam of light energy' at her.

Sombra just stood there as the fake attack hit her chest and dissolved into nothingness, where she sighed as she flashed through the space between them and grabbed onto Zexion's head, slamming him down into the ground, before letting out a chuckle as she placed her own illusion spell on her opponent. In the next instant she found that Zexion's eyes had taken on a whole new look, the shroud of one that was trapped in the illusions produced by her Dark Magic, as he freaked out for a moment as his head glanced around for a time, showing that he was believing what he was seeing. Sombra knew that this was the interesting side effect of this particular spell, as whatever the Nobody happened to be seeing right now was a potential truth that could, if certain conditions were met, be made a reality, like how she assumed Twilight had seen her own inability to save the Crystal Empire when she was looking for the Crystal Heart. The spell wasn't perfect, as one could be released from the spell if they were touched by someone else, so if she tapped Zexion's shoulder he would snap out of it, though he would be shaken or even disturbed by what he had seen, meaning defeating him would be far too easy for her to do at that point.

With that in mind Sombra held out her hand and summoned her Keyblade, where she slashed at Zexion and struck him in the chest, breaking the spell in a matter of seconds as he staggered backwards, with a look of pure fear on his face, which seemed to be a common thing when the Organization's members realized how strong she really was.

"You... Xemnas is wrong to underestimate you... you will destroy Kingdom Hearts." Zexion said, where he dropped his tome as his body started to break apart, just like when Sombra dealt the finishing blow to Vexen earlier, though she could tell that the Nobody had to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't an illusion and was actually happening, "Lord Xemnas, I... am sorry..."

That was all Zexion was able to get out as his body vanished into nothingness, his book following suit moments later, to which Sombra stood there for a few more seconds, thinking about what had just happened and why someone like that would think he could best her in battle. Such a thing made her wonder why the weaker members of the Organization had been assigned to Castle Oblivion, even though she had no idea if the others were as bad as Vexen and Zexion, but it did make her wonder what the latter had been planning with this foolish attack of his. It also made her curious about the rest of the members that were scattered throughout the rest of the castle, since they were no doubt watching her and Riku's group tear through whoever dared to attack them, since she felt Riku fighting someone else in another hallway. While she thought about that Sombra heard another bark and found that the wolf was still nearby, in fact it must have hidden itself for a time while she was dealing with Zexion, before it moved through one of the painted walls and vanished, and when it poked it's head back through she followed it without delay.

Such a thing allowed her to find a hidden passageway that seemed unknown to anyone else in the castle, causing her to smile as she followed the wolf to a brand new area of the castle and could only imagine what might happen when she and the wolf reached the end of the mysterious path.