The air of Castle Oblivion was cool. The pale green sky began to twist in shades of violet and grey. Helios stood with his arms folded, silver-blue eyes locked on the boy before him.
"Again," he said.
Thalen closed his eyes, breath ragged but steadier than before. His fingers twitched at his sides, as though he was trying to reach into something invisible. The ground rippled faintly — distortion rippling like heat haze — and this time, more than one shape began to crawl out of the emptiness.
A Creeper slithered up first, its baggy grey body writhing unnaturally as it swung on teardrop-shaped hands. Then another. And then, twisting into existence with a ripple of static, a pair of Dusks. They jerked their faceless heads toward Thalen as if listening. Behind them, the Harlequin remained, twitching erratically like a marionette bound by unseen strings, but always circling close to its master.
Helios' smirk sharpened. He extended his hand, and Equilibrium flared into existence, its black and silver form gleaming in the false twilight. "Now," he said softly, leveling the blade, "order them to kill me."
Thalen hesitated, lips parted. Then he breathed a sigh and gave the command.
The Creepers lunged first. One reshaped into a spear, dropping straight down at Helios' head, while another extended into a blade and slashed in a flurry.
Helios didn't flinch. He sidestepped, catching one strike on the flat of Equilibrium and swatting the spear aside with a flick of his wrist. His footwork was sharp, elegant, every parry calculated. The impact of his blade made the Creepers recoil, as though they'd struck solid steel.
Then the Dusks came. They bent and twisted in grotesque arcs, bodies folding unnaturally as they darted toward him at impossible angles. Helios pivoted back, his keyblade flashing in precise counters, slamming one Dusk into the ground before rolling past another's slash.
"You're letting them move like animals," he said coldly, his eyes flicking to Thalen. "Nobodies aren't mindless. They can think, obey. Command them."
Thalen clenched his fists, teeth gritted. He reached not with his voice but with his thoughts, pushing intent outward. The Creepers stilled, then shifted into tighter formation, circling Helios in unison rather than attacking wildly. The Dusks darted again — but this time in sync, attacking from opposite sides as if coordinated.
Helios arched a brow. "Better."
The Harlequin moved then, jerking like a broken puppet before suddenly snapping forward in a blur of shadow. Its strikes were unpredictable — a vicious lunge, then a stagger, then a slash that came far faster than its twitching body suggested. Helios' smirk thinned as he was forced to treat it like a genuine opponent. Equilibrium flashed, deflecting its blade and redirecting a Creeper's spear in the same motion.
The clash of steel and claw rang through the plane.
Helios struck calmly, driving back the mob in bursts of precise movement. One Dusk twisted toward his back, but he pivoted and drove his keyblade into its faceless torso. Instead of destroying it, he left it crippled, twitching on the ground. He stepped back deliberately, testing Thalen's control.
Thalen's breath caught as he saw the Dusks falter. His hands shook, instinct screaming that they would turn on him if he didn't hold. He closed his eyes, pushing will into the broken ones — and to his surprise, the Dusks stabilized, their motions jerking back under his control. The Creepers too, though dented, stood again.
Helios smirked faintly. "You can patch them up. Interesting. I didn't know that." He spun Equilibrium once and pressed forward again, his strikes harder, faster.
The boy flinched as Helios cut through one Creeper's guard, slicing into its arm. Thalen's will strained. His hands clenched tighter, and the Creeper's wound sealed with a grey shimmer of static, the body warping back into cohesion.
Helios' voice cut through the clash: "If your will wavers, they'll turn on you. Make them remember who's master — them, or you?"
Sweat streaked Thalen's forehead. His eyes burned with effort. He forced his creatures to obey, every fiber of his empty self pouring outward like chains binding them to his will. The Harlequin twitched once, then snapped into motion, intercepting a strike Helios aimed at Thalen himself. Sparks flared as steel met its twisted form.
Helios' eyes narrowed. "Better still."
He pressed harder. Magnet burst from his keyblade, dragging the Dusks and Creepers together into a convulsing cluster. Energy built at the center, ready to crush them all in one strike.
"Let's see if you can keep them."
Thalen's panic surged — and then his hand flared with a grey glow. He screamed, and the Harlequin lurched forward, body splitting with static. It threw itself before the cluster, shielding the lesser Nobodies. Then its jagged limbs twisted, catching the pull of Helios' Magnet and redirecting it outward, scattering debris and shards of light in every direction.
Helios' eyes widened faintly. The Harlequin had moved before Thalen even finished the thought.
The synchronization was uncanny. The boy and his Nobody were moving as one, their wills overlapping.
Helios halted his finishing strike, lowering Equilibrium slightly. His expression was unreadable for a moment, then curved into a sharp, approving smirk.
The dust cleared. The Creepers and Dusks dissolved, their forms fading back into the static of nonexistence. But the Harlequin remained, twitching, its faceless head tilted toward Thalen as though bowing.
Helios let the silence stretch before finally speaking. "That was good enough — you made me try for a second there." His smirk deepened. "Remember they're not just your tools. They're extensions of you. Keep this up, and you won't just command a few Nobodies. You'll build an army of them. And then even I will have to take you seriously."
Thalen collapsed to one knee, panting. He said nothing, but a faint flicker of pride touched his normally blank face.
Helios dismissed the Reflect barrier with a wave. Equilibrium vanished from his hand. "Continue training. I'll pick you up later. I hope to see some level of progress when I return."
With that, he opened a dark corridor. The violet light swallowed him, leaving Thalen and his Harlequin standing in the still air of Castle Oblivion — master and monster tethered by will alone.