I am extremely sorry! It has been months since I last updated this story, and there are no excuses!
I am truly thankful to those of you who keep on reading this story, and I hope this at least gives you hope that the story will continue, I just need time to fix my thoughts and actually write.
Anyways, here's Chapter 21, finally, I hope you enjoy it. I will post, hopefully soon, the last chapter of Part II. I am thinking about making a Part III with much more romance and less "physical" struggle. However, like Part I had it's conflict and Part II had it's own big mess, Part III will have a much less hurtful yet equally problematic conflict, including a lot of romance and angst... I hope you all stick with me through this ride.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"Master, do you even know where we are headed?" They were jogging on a long hallway that seemed to go straight ahead for a long distance; Anakin led the way, something inside his heart was telling him that they were on the right track. He's close. Ahsoka and R2D2 followed, Kit Fisto and Aayla weren't far behind. Anakin kept on accelerating his pace, his eyes and mind concentrated only on the end of the hallway, which was now slowly beginning to descend.
Kit Fisto had tried to be patient with Anakin's take on the mission, so far he hadn't gone on a mad rampage like he had predicted, but if Fisto wanted to keep it that way, someone had to calm Anakin down, "Anakin, you must concentrate…"
"That's what I am doing; I think I know where he is." He kept his eyes in front of him, letting his force barriers drop so he could sense every tingle of force around him. He knew he could somehow hear him, Obi-Wan. He could hear Obi-Wan screaming through the force, there was agony and despair. And he wasn't going to waste any more time.
"Anakin, listen…."
"I know where he is!" There was no hesitation on his voice.
Kit Fisto understood Anakin's attitude, but he wasn't going to let anyone die in this mission, not for one of a knight's mistakes. "You heard Master Vos, Dooku's assassin is headed our way, we must keep alert, Anakin, listen to me," He grabbed Anakin by the arm and turned him. He expected Anakin to react violently, he thought he would see anger on the young one's eyes, but all he saw was grief. Kit Fisto understood now, he knew what it was all about. "We'll find him Anakin," He smiled reassuringly, "We will find him, but we must be careful, we don't know what we are up against." The five had stopped in the middle of the hallway. Everyone looking at Anakin's wet eyes.
There was a low thud in the distance and the Jedi looked at each other for a while, slowly trying to read one another. The sound kept on vibrating in their ears, slowly heading their way. They all knew, they all had the same look on their face. It was Aayla who decided to announce the visitor's arrival, "Ventress."
Her laugh erupted from the ceiling. There were two more thuds and the tiles above the rescue party dropped. The Jedi immediately dodged most of the crumble and the droid flew away, screaming like he always did when stressed. However, out from the opening on the ceiling dropped a grenade. All Jedi tried to run away from the blast but the grenade detonated the moment it came in touch with the ground.
The Jedi all flew with the impact and dropped hard on their backs. Secura had crashed into one of the walls with the force of the explosion, injuring her right arm and loosing grip on her saber. Anakin was the first one back on his feet, his eyes planted on the ceiling, waiting for the assassin to show herself, determined to be the one to strike her down. With an incredible speed, the dark apprentice dropped from the hole and landed swiftly on her feet, throwing a grenade at Anakin. Fisto, with the help of the Force, grabbed hold of the bomb and flung it farther into the hall. Everyone was on their feet now, even Aayla, who was trying to balance herself after the harsh impact she had taken. Four Jedi surrounded the apprentice.
"Well this shall be fun." She didn't hesitate for a second. She flung one of her saber towards Aayla but Fisto quickly covered her from the hit. With her other arm she sliced the air in front of Anakin, who quickly moved out of the way and deflected her saber away. She kept on repeating her moves, slicing through the air, sometimes attacking the Jedi and sometimes protecting herself. Asajj had never battled so many Jedi at the same time, but the rage was beginning to build inside of her. She had to prove to her Master that she could do anything.
On a moment of distraction, Ahsoka hurled her lightsaber into the assassin's leg, slicing slightly at her skin. The dark lady flinched but kept her ground. Her angered eyes fixated on the youngest Jedi. "You little…" She took both her sabers and jumped into the air and into Ahsoka, ready to slice open through her skull, but Anakin, with the force, threw her into the wall, enjoying as the dark woman's eyes shone with pain.
She stood up quickly and called out for help from her droids through the communicator on her wrist. Then she hurled towards Fisto and Aayla. "Anakin, go!" Aayla seemed to have recovered instantly from the grenade's explosion, being able to ignore the physical pain that shot through her body, and was now working with both of her arms with her usual perfect poise. She looked back for a second to the other two Jedi and the droid, "We can handle her." She sliced at one Asajj's arms, burning some of her skin, making the assassin drop one of her curved sabers. "Go!"
Ahsoka looked at her Master, waiting for his reaction. They knew they couldn't leave them, but they seemed to be able to handle the dark woman. Besides, they still needed to find Obi-Wan and Dooku hadn't appeared yet into the picture.
Anakin looked down at Ahsoka and nodded. They both turned and continued down the hallway. There were many openings on the sides, leading to more maces of halls, but Anakin seemed to be focused only on continuing through the same path. She wanted to ask him how he could know if they were headed the right way, but she decided not to distract him, after all, she trusted her Master.
...
Both Jedi Masters, Shaak Tii and Seasse, were still fighting stylishly on the entrance, constantly checking to see if any droids were to arrive from the inside of the castle. They had complete control over the droids that kept rushing their way.
Cin knew he couldn't move from his appointed spot even though he wanted to join the others on the battleground, he had to be ready with the ship the moment it was needed and he was the eyes from the outside. Instead, he kept quiet, only making sounds when announcing through his communicators.
Inside the fortress Quinlan rushed through the many halls, having only the Force and his memory from the cameras at the control room as guides. Once in a while he would encounter groups of droids, and just as quickly as they began to call for backup, he finished them all. Then, he heard two sets of explosions to his right.
He ran as fast as he could and only slowed down at the sound of the assassin's evil laugh. He was only feet away from the scene, one level above them, right at the spot where Asajj had detonated the first explosion, but he didn't want to swarm into the mass of sabers that kept on moving around through the air in such small space. Instead he kept to himself, waiting, and ready if any help was needed from his fellow group. Once the Jedi got a hold upon Ventress and Anakin and Ahsoka continued on their search for Obi-Wan, he knew it was his cue to advance as well. If Anakin was running this desperately through a maze, so sure of himself, then surely he had a hold of something. He kept their same pace, listening closely to their footsteps right under him. He only stopped once they had all reached the end of the hall.
...
"Master?" Ahsoka stared blankly at the wall that stood in front of them, not looking at Anakin when she asked the question, "What do we do now?"
Anakin knew he had to keep on going, he could sense Obi-Wan even closer than before. He felt his lament, almost as if he could hear him scream.
He dropped to the ground, landing on his knees, a tear running down his cheek. Obi-Wan was near, but why couldn't he find his Master! Desperation had gotten a hold of him.
Ahsoka fell next to him and embraced him for a moment. Then, finding it to be her last effort, she stood up and raised her voice. "Anakin," at this, the Jedi knight looked up, his padawan had never talked to him by his name, at least not with that tone, "You have to get up, Obi-Wan is waiting for you to find him." She tried to soften her voice, "We must find him."
Anakin looked up to his padawan and then to the white and blue droid, then, he closed his eyes. He let his walls crumble without hesitation, knowing that it was extremely dangerous, but if there was any way for Obi-Wan's presence to be detected, this was it. Anakin crossed his legs and breathed out and in, very slowly, calming his heart beat and emptying his mind.
The first thing he felt was an intense push of darkness, one that he fought instantly, impeding the strange force from distracting him. Once he got it out of the way, he concentrated on every scent of Force signature, intending to find the one that he had been familiarized with for so long. He could feel Fisto and Aayla far behind him, next to the blur of madness that was Ventress, he could also feel Vos right above them on a different level of the castle, all of his senses open and ready, but he couldn't feel anyone else in the hall. So he exhaled calmly and pushed through the wall that stood in front of him… The first thing he felt was anxiety, like something couldn't let him breathe, but he fought through the sensation and concentrated on the Force ether. He tried to relax until he was able to feel what had been hiding behind the wall.
There he saw him, not Obi-Wan, but Dooku. His outline was tangible, but Anakin couldn't read any of his being, the evil man's walls were up and strong. And then, just like a soft yet fuming breeze, he felt him. Obi-Wan. It wasn't him exactly, but he could see an aura of blur whispering Kenobi's name that sped around and around helplessly through another room, a room full of… a room full of Dark Force that pushed Anakin out of his trance.
He opened his eyes only to find Ahsoka fighting droids feet away from him. It took him a moment to realize what had just happened and what was hidden behind the wall. "Ahsoka!" He then pointed at the wall with his left hand, "He's in there!"
Just as he spoke, Quinlan dropped from the roof and landed on top of a droid, slicing its head to the ground. Anakin, now aware of his senses, joined Ahsoka and Quinlan bringing down the few droids that were present. In no time, they had finished the job.
After a second of silence, Vos asked, "What do you mean, Anakin?" Quinlan was puzzled about Anakin's discovery but he had certainly felt darkness moving close to them, he had felt it for a long time now. "Across the wall?"
Anakin only nodded as he tried to pierce the wall with his saber. The energy splashed many glimmers of light but it only dug into the wall for some inches. "We have to cross this thing!"
He stepped back hurriedly, desperate and tired of waiting, and Vos had barely enough time to pull Ahsoka away before Anakin pushed into the wall with the help of the Force with extreme power. They could hear the wall move, slowly, but it was working, inch by inch, with each struggle that Anakin managed, the wall began to subside. It was causing him pain, his muscles twitched and his entire body began to tense like Ahsoka had ever seen before, she could see it as he continued to push into the 'wall'.
Something told Quinlan that he had to stop Anakin. That amount of Force power was extremely dangerous, he could literally see the Force strangling in the air between Anakin and the wall. As Yoda always reminded them, the line between darkness and light is extremely thin. If he let Anakin continue… but they needed to get to Obi-Wan. He had seen him on the screen not too long ago, unbearable pain flashing through his eyes. So he let the Jedi knight work, and after some seconds of a very overwrought atmosphere with the Force sliding everywhere around them, the 'wall' had finally fallen down to the other side.
They could now see how the corridor continued on down after a set of stairs. The golden from the walls now turned into a dry lead without shine. Whoever and whatever was hiding underneath had the imminent sense of sorrow.
Anakin could now feel everything. He knew that Dooku was near, but, most importantly, he could now read Obi's Force signature screaming out for aid.
Behind them, more droids kept on coming.
Ahsoka turned around to face them first and Quinlan followed right behind, R2-D2 stood away from the shooting, and Anakin, he couldn't take his eyes away from the dark corridor that would lead him straight to his Master. It was as if the entire world behind him had vanished as he walked down the steps.
Both Quinlan and Ahsoka were concentrated on ending with the many droids that kept on marching their way, but it wasn't long before Ahsoka noticed her Master's absence. "Master? Master!" She kept on deflecting fire but she couldn't concentrate, "Anakin!"
Quinlan noticed her turmoil and dragged Ahsoka out and away from the droid's fire. "Master Vos, we have to find Anakin, we don't know what's down there, he's too distracted, he might…"
"Calm down, Ahsoka," He looked at the newly found staircase and tried to sense what was hidden before them. Pure misery.
"Master? What… what's wrong? Is Anakin…" Quinlan took her by her shoulders and looked closely at her eyes.
"Ahsoka, you stay here, alright? I'm going to follow him, it will be alright." He sighed and observed as the droids kept on marching their way. He couldn't take Ahsoka with him, it was too dangerous, too much darkness kept on lingering by. "Call for backup, alright, tell them that we have found him. You try to hold the droids back, alright." He glared quickly at the staircase of stone. "But please, no matter what, do not go in there, understood?"
Ahsoka only nodded, scared to ask what the Jedi had sensed. They both stood up, and just as Ahsoka stepped into the line of fire to continue fighting, Quinlan stepped into the darkness.
...
Shaak Tii used her communicator to ask if they had found anything yet. The only one to answer was Fisto, "Ventress is here…"
Shaak waited for any more information but the silence only caused her more preoccupation. "Quinlan, Quinlan are you there?" The Jedi Master couldn't hear any response. "Has anybody…"
"We found him." Was the first thing Ahsoka said through her wrist band, "But, they… Master Skywalker and Master Vos found Obi-Wan, they… I need backup, please, anyone, there's too many droids…"
Fisto was the one to answer, "We're on our way Ahsoka, hold on tight."
Fisto had barely deflected one of Ventress's hits as he looked at Secura, reassuring her that he could handle the assassin by himself. It took a bit too long for Asajj to get a hold on what was happening. Just as she was about to hurl after Secura, Fisto had force pushed her against the wall. "Ventress, I thought that you wanted to fight." He smiled just as he flung his saber towards her.
It only took seconds for Aayla to find Ahsoka in the middle of a droid charge in the same hallway, farther down, struggling to battle against the many droids in such a crowded space. Together they took down most of the droids, Ahsoka's left knee bruised with a battle-droids aim. Once they could move freely in the space, Secure asked, "Where did they go? Where's Obi-Wan?" Ahsoka only glanced at the opening in the wall as she sliced a droid by its middle.
It immediately hit Master Secura as well, the realization that whatever was lurking past those steps was malevolent and wicked, it only took a second for her heart to feel the rush of darkness trying to pierce through her soul. She looked at Ahsoka, only to be reassured that she hadn't been the only one who had felt the blast.
...
Quinlan Vos walked slowly and paciently, unsure of every step that he took on the cold silver stone. He tried to keep up his senses, as always, but there was too much noise trying to crowd his brain, piercing through his concentration. The Force barriers that he had kept up for so long were beginning to crumble as he followed Anakin's Force signature. It didn't take him long to finally find the Jedi knight.
But what he found wasn't at all what he had expected.
Dooku was standing feet away from Anakin, who was somehow still standing, bolts of dark force escaping the Sith's finger-tips and landing on the knight's body.
Quinlan was about to step in to help Anakin when he witnessed something that seemed impossible, for he only knew of two Jedi who were capable of such ability.
Anakin, enraged and distressed, extended his arms and he began to accumulate the lightning into a Force sphere. It didn't take much for Dooku to notice what was happening. Equally surprised by Anakin's power, the Sith stopped the Force shock from rushing out of his palms, and he sighed, astonished, just as Anakin send all the power accumulated on his hands back towards him.
Quinlan couldn't do much but fall on his back with bewilderment as he saw the darkness that covered Anakin's eyes. Too much emotion accumulated into one body, too much turmoil. And then, Anakin turned, his eyes focused only on one thing. He walked towards the steel door and slid it open. Quinlan could feel as the Dark Force escaped from the room, engulfing the aura with a putrid smell and a dense breeze, but Anakin, the only thing Anakin noticed as he glared into the room was his Mater, Obi-Wan, hanging naked from the ground with chains around his wrists. His entire body was sweating and shaking uncontrollably, his eye lids about to close.
Quinlan observed as the darkness escaped from Anakin's eyes as he heard the knight say, "Obi-Wan, I'm here!" Quinlan observed as the darkness escaped from Anakin's eyes and heard the knight scream out from his heart, like a breath he had held on to for too long, "Obi-Wan, I'm here!"