Chapter 79
After entering the castle, Ansem was wandering around the halls, looking for the computer room or Ansem the Wise. The castle was still shaking due to the mages fighting the two Heartlesses outside.
While he was walking, a few green lasers were coming after. Ansem saw them and quickly dodged the attacks. He then looked where the attacks came from and saw Bickslow and Evergreen in front of him. He then saw the Fairy Tail emblem on Evergreen's chest.
"That mark on the woman's chest tells me that you two are from the Fairy Tail guild, correct?", he said.
"That's right, bub.", said Bickslow.
"Care to explain why you are here, causing destruction?", asked Evergreen.
"I am look for a man name Ansem the Wise.", Ansem answered.
"Ansem the Wise?"
"Wasn't he the ruler of this place?", wondered Bickslow.
"So you have heard of him.", said Ansem.
"Yes. But they said he disappeared a long time ago.", said Evergreen. "No one by that name is here."
Ansem then held out his hand and blasted the two of them with a strong force from his hand, sending them crashing onto the floor.
"Guess he doesn't believe us.", said Bickslow. "Babies!"
Bickslow's dolls appeared in front of him.
"Line Formation!"
All five dolls gather in midair and then combine by standing on top of one another. All five of them fired a crescent like beem at Ansem. Unfortunately, he dodged the attack.
"Try dodging this!", said Evergreen.
"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"
Evergreen fired a torrent of energy needles at him. Ansem blocked their attacks with his arms, but the needles managed to cut through his coat and pierce his body. To stop her, Ansem fired one of his disks at her, which cut the needles down and Evergreen quickly dodged the attack. Bickslow's dolls then started to fire random attacks at him.
These dolls…does he use telekinesis?, wondered Ansem. He then examined the dolls, who were laughing.
"This guy is strong.", said one of them.
"Super strong!", said another.
"These dolls, what are they?", asked Ansem.
"They're my babies, duh!", he answered with a carefree attitude. "They help me with my magic."
"How come they have a personality?"
"That's my magic."
Ansem smirked. "Thank you for telling me." He then summoned five Marionettes and they all charged towards Bickslow.
"X Formation!"
All five dolls came in front of him and formed an x-shaped shield. All five heartlesses crashed into the dolls and they disappeared. But after the crash, the dolls began to shake.
"Hey, what's wrong?", asked a worried Bickslow.
The eyes on the dolls turn red and they began to fire at Bickslow and Evergreen.
"What the hell did you do to my babies?!", he asked furiously.
"Your magic allows you to control souls, correct? I thought it was telekinesis, but it then became untrue when I took notice of the doll's personality. If they can talk and feel like you, then they must be souls.
"Yeah, and?"
"We've been researching hearts and souls. Trying to recreate them from data and to see how puppets could grow hearts. Those Heartlesses that I summoned can possess a doll and control it, even with a heart they're stronger. Though I never suspect a mage could be able to have that kind of magic. You must really love playing with souls."
"Bastard."
"Now you have to defend yourself against your own dolls."
"Did you forget I'm here?", said Evergreen while she fired more energy needles.
Ansem's shadowy other appeared and blocked the attack with his body.
"What the hell is that?"
Bickslow lifted his metal hood and his eyes turned into green targets. When he looked at Ansem and his monster, he became horrified.
This guy's soul is messed up!, he thought. If I use my magic on him, he's just gonna break free and reverse the effect! He then looked at the monster. I see someone in that monster, but he can't do anything.
Because he was distracted, Bickslow was hit by his dolls and he crashed onto the ground.
"Ever, try using your eyes!", Bickslow suggested while he kept dodging the attacks from his dolls.
"Oh, right!"
Evergreen lifted her glasses and her eyes turned into yellow targets. She then looked at the monster. The monster immediately turned into stone and disappeared. She then tried to look at Ansem, but he was nowhere to be found.
"Where is he?"
Suddenly, Evergreen was sent flying towards the wall. Ansem had struck her in the stomach, with his eyes closed.
"I guess that's it for you two.", said Ansem. "I'll leave you with your dolls."
He then started to walk away from the two.
"Wait! We're not done!", shouted Bickslow as he ran after him. But he was then struck by one of his doll's attacks. When he recovered, Ansem was gone.
"Damn, he got away! Ever, you okay?"
"Yeah.", said Evergreen as she came over to him. "But why is he looking for a guy that is not in the castle?"
"Maybe that guy is here and we didn't know."
"If that's the case, we better find him before he does."
"Yeah. But first we need to get my babies under control."
"He passed Bickslow and Evergreen!", said a shocked Levy while she, Ienzo, and Demyx were watching the security footage.
"Is he done with protecting this area?", asked Ienzo.
"I believe so." She then faced Demyx. "Do you know any of his abilities?"
"A few, but not all since I never seen him fight.", Demyx answered. "He has this monster that he can summon that protects him and attacks others. He can also use darkness."
There was a large explosion at the entrance to the computer room. Smoke filled the room and everyone was coughing.
"What was that?", asked Ienzo.
Two figures emerged from the smoke. Levy, Ienzo, and Demyx stood there, feeling intense at what will happen next. One of the figures was Ansem and the other was a beaten Freed.
"Oh no, Freed!", shouted a worried Levy.
Ansem then lifted Freed up and threw him against the wall. He then noticed Demyx.
"Care to explain what you're doing here?", asked Ansem.
"None of your business!", answered Demyx. He then started playing on his guitar and a large pillar of water appeared underneath Ansem. "How do you like that!"
But then, a large black hand came out of the pillar and grabbed Demyx by his throat. The hand began to slowly crush Demyx's throat, causing him to gasp for air. The pillar disappeared, showing Ansem with his shadowy other. Levy and Ienzo were watching in horror.
"Demyx!", shouted Levy.
"I don't have time to deal with you.", said Ansem.
The monster then threw Demyx near the wall where Freed was at. He then faced Levy and Ienzo.
"Xehanort.", said Ienzo, but he was secretly terrified.
"Ienzo."
Ansem started to walk towards him, but Levy stepped in and stood between them with her arms out.
"Why are you here?", asked Levy.
"This does not concern you, mage. It's best to stay out of it."
"How can I stay out of this when you came here and hurt my friends!"
Ansem held out his hand and fired at Levy, causing an explosion to occur in the room. But when the dust cleared, a barrier with purple letters appeared between them.
"This is…", said Ienzo with surprise.
"Freed's magic!", said Levy.
She then saw Freed and Demyx slowly getting up.
"Levy…", he said weakly. "You and Ienzo must get away from here. Leave him to us."
"But I can't leave you here!"
"Levy-chan…", said Demyx. "Let us do this."
Levy was still unsure.
But Ienzo grabbed her wrist and said, "They're right, we need to get outta here. Sora is counting on us to bring back Roxas."
Levy looked shocked. But then she nodded. Ienzo then pulled Levy out of the room, leaving Ansem with the boys.
Ansem sighed. "Why is it that there are so many things in my way today?"
"That's part of life, man.", said Demyx. "Good thing you're taking it easy."
"We will not let you continue.", said Freed.
"I like to see you try.", said Ansem.
While Ansem was fighting with the boys, Levy and Ienzo escaped from the room and entered the Heartless Manufacturing room. Once they came down the stairs, Levy saw a large rectangle passage at the center of the balcony.
"Where did this passage come from?", she asked.
"I'll explain later.", said Ienzo. "I opened this up just before Xehanort entered, so some of us can escape through here."
Both of them entered the passage had a long stairway spiraling down to a long hall and the walls were glowing with purple lights. After traveling down the stairway for a while, they finally reached the end, where a large door stood there and it opened for them, revealing to be a hallway inside. When they entered, they saw a bunch of doors lined up on both walls. Each of the doors were electronically locked and bound with chains. There was one more door at the end of the hall, but it was not electronically locked and bound with chains.
"What is this place?", asked Levy.
Ienzo explained. "This was the place where we did our research on the Heartlesses over a decade ago. These doors were for those who had transformed into heartlesses so that we may experiment with them and discover the origin of darkness."
"You turned people…into Heartlesses?"
Ienzo nodded. "It was started by Master Ansem. He wanted to discover the origin of darkness to protect the people of Radiant Garden and wanted Xehanort to regain his memory, since he lost it when we found him. Back then, none of the test subjects were consumed by darkness. We also kept Subject X here. Some of our test subjects usually collapsed after going through some trials, but not her. When Xehanort took over the program for Master Ansem, he began doing dangerous experiments on the test subjects, resulting in them becoming Heartlesses. From what Xehanort had told me in the past, Master Ansem had gone mad and shut down the experiments and then he was gone."
"Those poor people…", said a sad Levy. "Did the subjects know about what was going on?"
"Under Master Ansem, yes."
"So what happened next?"
"We ran out of test subjects, so we had trouble continuing. Then one day, Xehanort's memory had returned and then everything went black. I assumed I transformed into a Nobody and joined the Organization under the name Zexion."
"Maybe those test subjects had return to normal, since Sora defeated the Heartlesses during his first adventure.", said Levy with a smile. "I know you feel guilty about what happened in the past. But you were trying to help protect the people and they knew that. Xehanort was the one who did this to them. Remember what you are doing now, you're trying to end this madness with your science."
"Your right. I can see why Fairy Tail is such a wonderful guild."
"Hey, what's with the door at the end of the hallway?", asked Levy as she pointed at said door. "Why isn't it like the others?"
"That is the Chamber of Repose. While Xehanort was working with his experiments, he would sometimes go into that room and talk to someone. No one has entered the room besides him and I don't know who he talked to. Xigbar asked me about it once, but I didn't answer because it was irrelevant at the time."
They then heard a loud bang coming from outside.
"He's coming in!"
Levy then grabbed Ienzo's wrist and the two ran towards the Chamber at the end of the hallway. The door opened, they quickly entered the room, and the door was shut.
The chamber was kind of small, with one throne sitting at the center of the room. The walls had the Nobody's symbols on them with chains connected from each one to the throne. But what really got their attention was an object in front of the throne. It was pieces of blue armor that could be connected, but they aren't. And next to the armor was a Keyblade.
The guard was circular and somewhat jagged around its edges. The upper half of the guard is black, the center is grey, and the bottom of it is white. The handle is a featureless, grey rod. The shaft of the Keyblade is thin and navy blue in coloration, except for the tip, which is silver. The base of the shaft also sports two diamond-shaped bumps. The Keyblade's teeth are comprised of a rectangular frame lined with four short, blunt spikes. This frame and the spikes are all navy blue. The teeth also have three silver pieces bent at right angles; two on the inside corners of the frame and one on the inside center of one side. The Keychain links and token resemble water drops.
"This...is what he talks to?", wondered Ienzo. "A Keyblade...and a piece of armor?"
"I wonder who it belongs to.", said Levy.
The door inside the chamber exploded and smoke filled the room.
"Solid Script: Guard!"
The word 'GUARD' appeared in front of them and protected them from the smoke. Once the smoke was gone Ansem appeared at the entrance. Demyx and Freed are not with him.
"I guess you finally decided to come in here, Ienzo.", he said.
"Who is the owner of this armor and Keyblade?", asked Ienzo.
"No one.", Ansem answered coldly.
His shadowy other appeared behind them and grabbed them.
"Levy!"
Ansem came up to them and said, "No that there are no interruptions, where is the Master."
"Master Ansem?"
The monster tighten its grip on Levy, making her grunt in pain.
"Stop!"
"I know he's here. You two have been close for as long as I can remember. Tell where he is or this girl will suffer the consequences."
"He's not here! You're the one who told me he went crazy and abandoned us. I haven't seen him in over a decade!"
The monster continued to crush Levy and she screamed.
"Would you just stop! He's not here!"
"I'm not a fool, Ienzo.", he said coldly. "I know he's here. Unless, you could tell me what happened to the girl and what you've been doing recently."
"You know damn well I had nothing to do with her."
The monster then started to crush Ienzo. He yelled in pain.
"I know you are here.", Ansem shouted. "If you value these two, then you better show yourself!" He then went over to the abandoned Keyblade and picked it up. He then held it near Ienzo's neck. "I've run out patience with-"
Hand was placed on Ansem's wrist. Everyone saw with surprise who hand it was. It was Xemnas'.
"What are you doing?", asked Ansem calmly.
"He's calling us back.", Xemnas answered. "The war is about to begin."
"But what about the girl?"
"He decided to end it. She is no longer of any use to us."
Ansem sighed and the monster disappeared, causing Levy and Ienzo to fall to the ground. Ansem also tossed the Keyblade near the abandoned armor.
"Alright."
Xemnas looked around the room.
"This may be the last time I'll see this room." He then walked towards the armor and said, "I'll be seeing you soon, friend."
Ienzo then came up to Levy and asked, "Are you okay?"
Levy nodded.
Xemnas then summoned a dark corridor.
Before they entered, Ansem said without facing her, "Girl. You're a Fairy Tail mage, correct?"
Levy looked at them with a serious look.
"When this war starts, you and your friends will die."
Levy didn't change her expression. The two Organization members left.
Both Ienzo and Levy took a big sigh.
"That was too close.", said Levy.
"Yeah."
"At least they won't be going after him."
"Yes. But we need to warn the others about what just happened. They're probably still traveling to other worlds."
"Your right."