Chapter 8
"A shower of meteors?" said Xehanort, examining the lump of meteorite in his hand. It was a strange substance: very tough yet with a texture not dissimilar to rubber or thick elastic. It came in a variety of bright colours: they had yet to determine what the base was, if there was one.
"Yes, a very great one. It filled the sky" said Dilan.
"Most of them fell onto the country, outside the town, but some buildings have been badly damaged. I found this sample in the ruins." Ienzo added.
"And this was after the Heartless appeared?" Xehanort asked, placing the lump of meteorite on the desk.
"No. They appeared to occur simultaneously," said Even, who was trembling quite badly. The shock of last night's events, and the fear of discovery, had shaken his usually icy demeanour.
"And the time? I need to know the exact time" said Xehanort earnestly.
"It was late night. No earlier than 11:30" replied Aeleus. Xehanort sighed.
"Then I am sure: they are connected: my opening the door and the events above ground."
He turned once again to his memories of that night. He still felt a chill at the thought of what he had seen: a huge, pulsating mass, so bright that it hurt to even stand in its presence. It had radiated power with an intensity that Xehanort had never experienced before. It was all he could do to drag the door shut, only for it to vanish as soon as it had closed. What was it, Xehanort wondered? He would have to think further on it.
"Your security measures are very poor. It is a wonder that you have not been discovered before now."
The apprentices whipped round. Sephiroth was perched on the edge of one of the lab workbenches, regarding them with a patronising stare. Xehanort was on his feet in an instant.
"How – " he began but Sephiroth cut him off.
"Please(!) The cameras are openly displayed and your spells of concealment were obvious, if one was looking for them. They were easy to break, once I had found them."
As he spoke Dilan, Aeleus and Braig began to edge towards the workbenches. They reached for scalpels, chairs: anything they could use as a weapon. Xehanort slipped his right hand behind his back, readying a powerful spell. Sephiroth stepped forward, away from the workbench.
"Stop. Do you really think you six can defeat me?" he asked, hand resting lightly on the handle of the Masamune.
"Xehanort," he said, turning to face him "you are a mighty sorcerer but, I tell you, I am mightier."
The two men stared deep into each other's eyes. After a long moment, Xehanort's gaze wavered. His right hand fell loose at his side, the spell forgotten.
"My name is Ansem" he said sternly. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.
"Ansem is it? Well, Ansem, I come with a warning: watch the western stairs."
Vincent Valentine slipped silently around the corner, easily avoiding the gaze of the camera mounted high on the ceiling of the tunnel.
Why would someone want to watch a tunnel that leads only into empty caves, Vincent wondered?
He crept forward through the darkness, his highly developed night vision negating the need for a flashlight. The air up ahead was warmer. The tunnel was widening. As he drew closer, he could see a spiral staircase carved into the rock, illuminated by a dim light that seemed to be coming from the top of the stairs. He paused to examine the steps. They were neatly cut and clean: new and recently used. A few more minutes' observation revealed no tripwires, pressure pads or other tricks. Slowly, pausing often to check for traps, Vincent began to climb.
At the top of the stairs, he came to a doorway carved into the rock. It was strange: there was no door, no covering of any kind that Vincent could see. If this was indeed a secret passage, as he suspected, why was the entrance so obvious? Vincent began to feel uneasy. He reached inside his suit jacket and drew his pistol. Holding the weapon high with both hands, he crept forward, nerves tensed.
The room beyond the doorway was large and dark, lit only by thin neon strips above the workbenches that were placed against the walls. More workbenches were in the middle, cluttered with various pieces of scientific equipment. In the very centre of the room there was a strange contraption: a bed tilted at fourty five degrees from the floor, around which had been built a complex frame of tubes, machinery and leather belts. Vincent approached the contraption with something approaching reverence: there was a terrible feeling surrounding it, almost like a tomb.
The hum of electrical lights powering up caught his attention. Vincent spun round as, one by one, the laboratory lights sprang into life. What they illuminated seemed to him more terrible than any imagined horror that the darkness could have concealed. The workbenches, previously hidden with shadow, were now revealed to be groaning with large glass jars. Inside the jars, floating in preservative fluid, were hearts, glowing softly with ethereal light.
"What have they done?" Vincent wondered out loud.
"What was necessary," said a voice behind him. Vincent spun round to face the speaker but at that moment was struck from behind and he knew no more.
The door closed, muffling the screams coming from the laboratory.
"An unusual way of disposing with prisoners" said Sephiroth dryly as he followed Xehanort into the apprentices' common room. Close behind them came Dilan and Aeleus, like menacing gargoyles perched on Sephiroth's shoulders.
"What do you want from me?" Xehanort demanded furiously, turning on Sephiroth. Sephiroth gave him a quizzical look.
"If you wanted to betray me, then you would have already done so" said Xehanort "Similarly, you would not have warned me of the Turk's approach. Therefore it is clear that you want something, in return for your silence."
"I'm impressed," said Sephiroth "perhaps you not quite as foolish as I first thought.
"Yes, I do want something but I have more to bargain with than my silence" he continued "I was not alone in connecting your disappearance at the ball with the events of last night.
"Oh no: you are neither as clever nor as subtle as you think," Sephiroth said, in response to Xehanort's outraged look "I noticed you leave, as I am sure the Turk who you are currently attending to downstairs did. It was a simple matter to connect the two. How many more do you think saw you? You have been fortunate that someone has not asked the question more openly."
"Your point" said Xehanort bluntly.
"You have been careless but you have also been lucky: this is why you have escaped detection for so long. You can only be lucky so many times. I offer an alternative."
Sephiroth paused. When Xehanort did not speak, he continued:
"I will provide you with legitimate cover to conceal your experiments. I will propose the formation of an elite unit, with myself at its head, to combat these… Heartless that you have unleashed. Caraway and Beatrix will not oppose me on this: anything to assure the people that we are dealing with the crisis.
"Under the pretext of special training, I will turn over members of this unit to you, to do with as you please. You will be able to operate much more safely, without having to resort to kidnapping."
"And in return?" Xehanort asked, his voice laden with suppressed rage.
"You will show me everything you have discovered: every secret, every experiment you have conducted."
Sephiroth reached into his leather greatcoat and drew out a slim volume, bound in red suede. Xehanort recognised it instantly: it was his Report on the darkness. Aeleus made to grab for it but Sephiroth blocked his hand.
"Be still," he ordered. Aeleus stepped back.
"I have studied it," said Sephiroth, tossing the Report into Xehanort's hands "and I wish to know more. This darkness of the heart you wrote of: I want it. I want the power it can give me."
"And what would you do with that power?" Xehanort asked, pocketing the Report.
"That is my own business," said Sephiroth curtly.
"Do we have a deal?" he asked "My silence and my protection in return for the secrets of darkness."
Xehanort turned his back on Sephiroth. For a long time he was silent.
"You have but one other choice," Sephiroth said smoothly "and that is to kill me. And we both know that you cannot do that."
Xehanort sighed and turned back to face Sephiroth. When he spoke, his voice was slow and deliberate.
"How long will it take you to create this… unit?"
"Three weeks, at least. I do not wish to arouse suspicion."
"Very well. When it is done I will send for you. You will experience every experiment I have undergone. We will awaken the darkness that sleeps within you."
"Thank you. I am glad we understand one another"
With that, Sephiroth bowed and swept out of the room, completely ignoring Dilan and Aeleus. For a long while, there was silence in the common room. It was Dilan who spoke first.
"Do you really intend to –"
"Silence!" Xehanort thundered. Even the stoic Aeleus flinched at the fury in Xehanort's voice.
"What choice do I have?" Xehanort asked, arms flung wide. Dilan and Aeleus took a step back, heads bowed. When Xehanort spoke again, it was in a more measured tone:
"Dispose of the Turk in the usual manner when the others are finished with him. Then prepare the machine for Sephiroth."
He paused as strode towards the door. He turned back and spoke to them in a grim voice:
"And bring weapons"
A short chapter for me, but I think that was a good place to end it, don't you? As always, I ask you to review with any thoughts, praise or criticism you might have about this, or any other, chapter.
