Chapter 19 Confronting the Darkness

Obi-Wan's shovel hit something solid and he banged it against the ground to be sure, "I think I've found something." He said as he knelt down and started to clear away the dirt from the surface, "The Darkness seems to be concentrated here, Anakin, this must be it."

Anakin knelt next to him and they cleared the dirt revealing a hinged panel, "Yes, this is it." Obi-Wan confirmed, trying to find the latch to open it.

"Here, try this." Anakin said, shoving the edge of his shovel into the space between the rest of the floor and panel and tried to lever it up, "No, that won't work." He conceded after a moment's hard pushing.

Obi-Wan felt along the edge, "Wait, here it is." He announced pushing a little lever his finger had found.

The door popped open revealing a ladder leading down into the dark chamber below. Dark Evil permeated up from the hole and for a moment, a black shadow enveloped them, moved upwards and then descended back into the opening. They looked at each other, "He's down here." Obi-Wan said.

"Yes, well; age before beauty, Master." Anakin said, grinning.

"Thanks." Obi-Wan replied, pulling the portable light from his belt, lighting it and then beginning the descent down the ladder into the hole.

Anakin triggered his own light and then waited until Obi-Wan was several rungs down before starting down after him.

Obi-Wan shown his light around the room, it was clear that this had once been a dwelling; now in shambles, it appeared the room had been ransacked. A bookshelf stood along one wall, but the books were strewn about the room; a table lay on its side, one leg broken off and lying on the floor next to it. A chair was overturned in the center of the room and what Obi-Wan thought had once been a communications center, was a pile of junk on the floor next to the desk it had once rested on. Shining the light further, Obi-Wan discovered a kitchen area; broken dishes lay on the floor and broken glass sparkled as his light fell on the shards.

"Obi-Wan." Anakin whispered next to him.

Obi-Wan looked in the direction Anakin had shown his light…

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Zak felt a sudden surge in the Dark energy and turned to see a dark shadow rise up out of the hole where his master and Master Anakin had been digging and then sink back down. He started toward it, but before he could reach it, the voices of the others sounded in his head, "No, you must not go there." It was the first one he had talked to when he had fallen. "My master is there, I must help him." "You cannot; he must fight the Dark One and you cannot help him." "Then what can I do?" "Finish what has been started. Set us free." "Before I do that, you must know that you are not abominations." "Then…what are we?" "Well, if you had not been sent here, then you would have been what I am, a Jedi." "Then we are special?" "Yes, you have the ability to sense the Force." "You have mentioned this before; what is the 'Force'?" "It is…the life energy of everything. It is everywhere." "Oh, and this ability makes us special?" "Yes, it is a gift; and when we set you free, you will become one with the Force." "Oh, we would like that; but what of the Dark One?" "He cannot follow you." "Why not?" "Because he exists only in Darkness and you are in the Light where he cannot go." "But he is here with us, now." "But he cannot leave here; when you are free and become one with the Force, he will not be able to follow you there." "Then he will be trapped here, forever?" "Yes." "Oh, this is good. But now, you must finish what you have begun." "I will." Zak took one last look at the trench and then turned to one of the Clones standing nearby, "We have to finish gathering the younglings together." He instructed.

"But shouldn't we wait for Master Kenobi?" He asked.

"No, we need to finish this now. It's what my master would want; we are wasting our time standing around." Zak replied.

"Very well." The Clone answered and hailed his comrades over to instruct them to continue the gathering.

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Boba fidgeted in his seat as the speeder made its way to the outcrop; he could not get the pictures of those children out of his mind. He paused in thought for a moment, and had to laugh at himself; a year ago, would he have cared about those kids? He shook his head, probably not, he decided. When the speeder arrived at the spot, Boba hopped out and walked over to the edge. He felt hot anger rising up when he looked over the edge; Zak had fallen…no Zak had been PUSHED down there onto those rocks. When he found out who had done it, he swore he would make them pay. His eyes wondered, then, farther over and found his friend, standing near a pile of…no, it couldn't be. He shimmied down the nearest rope.

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Anakin's light reflected off something shiny on he floor; together, they walked over to it and Anakin bent down to pick it up. It rolled away from him. He looked at Obi-Wan, "Why did it do that?" He asked.

"I don't know." Obi-Wan answered, both mystified and curious.

This time, Anakin tried to call it to him, but instead of coming, it just rolled a little further. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow when Anakin looked at him and Anakin frowned, "I don't think I like this." He said, bending down again to retrieve it only to have it roll away out of his reach and into the darkness beyond the range of his light.

"Anakin, maybe…" But Obi-Wan's words trailed off as Anakin focused his light in the direction the object had rolled…..someone was sitting in the corner….

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Boba picked his way through the rocks and stood next to Zak, "What are you doing here, Boba; Master Obi-Wan told you to wait at the ship." Zak said without taking his eyes off the task being carried out by the Clones.

"How long have you been standing? You really should sit down." Boba replied in genuine concern.

"Don't change the subject; what are you doing here?" Zak asked again.

"I'll tell you if you sit down and tell me what's going on here first." Boba replied.

"Alright." Zak answered, moved to a rock nearby and lowered himself down.

Boba sat down on the ground next to him and waited, "The others want to be set free." Zak began.

"And you're going to do this how?" Boba asked.

"By burning them, the way we burn the Jedi." Zak told him.

"Oh; well, where is Master Kenobi? I have to talk to him." Boba asked.

Zak turned his head and nodded in the direction of the hole, "Down there; but no one else can go there right now." He replied.

"Why not?" Boba asked.

"Because, something is down there; something very evil." Zak answered.

"Well, I need to see him, right now." Boba said as he stood up.

Zak reached up and grabbed his arm, "You can't go down there, Boba." He insisted.

"You don't understand, Zak; I've found younglings, and we have to help them." Boba told him urgently.

"There are younglings here, too; and we are helping them to move on. When we are done here, then we will move to where you found the other younglings…if in fact, that's actually what you found, and we can help them too." Zak replied.

"But, Zak; the younglings I found are still alive." Boba informed him, causing Zak to look up at him.

"Where?" Zak asked.

"In the city; a scientist was using them to test that Force killing drug on. He's keeping them in cages, Zak; we have to help them." Boba explained.

"That's….but we have to wait for Master Obi-Wan." Zak decided.

"No, we can't; we have to help them now." Boba persisted.

"Look, Boba; I don't think anything worse is going to happen to them. I know you want to help them, and I do too, but first, we have to get rid of the Dark thing that's here or else those younglings will just be replaced by different ones." Zak said. "Besides, we still don't have the right to go barging into someone's place of business. That's why Master Obi-Wan wanted you to investigate on your own. Now that we have proof of what they are doing here, we can contact the Chancellor and let him know what's going on."

"Then let's do it; let's contact the Chancellor." Boba suggested.

"No, Master Obi-Wan has to do that." Zak replied.

"Then we have to wait?" Boba asked.

"Yes." Zak answered.

Boba sat back down, "Alright." He said.

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In the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Master Yoda, clutched his heart and cried out in his meditation; Mace came to him at once and sat down next to him, "What his it, Master?" He asked.

"The Chosen One." Yoda replied, still holding a hand to his chest.

"Anakin? What?" Mace asked.

"Torn again, he is between the Light and the Dark." Yoda answered.

"What will happen to him?" Mace asked.

"The outcome of this, I cannot see." Yoda told him.

"But, Master Yoda, I thought you said his future was clear; how could this happen?" Mace asked.

"Always in motion is the future, Master Windu; nothing for certain is." Yoda answered.

Mace looked down into his slap sadly, "We cannot lose our Chosen One; not now, not when he has just found himself." He said.

"Hmm…one ally he has on his side." Yoda replied.

"The Force." Mace answered.

"No, Master Windu; at this time, the Force his enemy is as he fights between the Light and the Dark. His brother, his ally is." Yoda corrected.

"Then it is up to Obi-Wan to bring him through this and back to us? And we cannot help?" Mace asked.

"No; only his brother's love can through this bring him. We must wait." Yoda said, resignedly.

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Anakin moved slowly toward the figure sitting in the corner; Obi-Wan put a hand to his shoulder, "Wait, Anakin." He advised.

"Why? He's dead, whoever he is." Anakin replied, shrugging his hand off and moving closer.

Obi-Wan sighed and moved with him. The object had rolled up to the man's feet and as they moved closer, they could see that the man had mummified, but his features and hair were still almost perfectly intact. Anakin bent down to pick the object up and as soon as he touched it, the man opened his eyes, "Hello, Darth Vader; have you come to claim your weapon?" He said.

Anakin looked down at the object he was holding….it was a lightsaber, "Who are you?" He asked.

The man grinned at him, "Who do you think I am?" He asked.

"Anakin, are you alright; who are you talking to?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin turned around to look at him, "To him; he's alive, Obi-Wan." He answered.

"No, he's dead; turn around and look again." Obi-Wan told him.

Anakin turned back to see the man, still sitting there, still grinning at him, "He can't see me." He said.

"Why not?" Anakin asked.

"Anakin, why not what? Look at me." Obi-Wan said behind him.

"Why not?" Anakin asked again, "I can see you, and he's my brother; he should be able to see what I see."

"Oh, I don't know then; maybe you should let him hold your weapon." The man said.

"It's not mine." Anakin replied.

"Anakin, what am I supposed to be seeing? And what is not yours?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Obi-Wan, I'm beginning to think I'm going crazy; you really can't see him looking at me?" Anakin asked, starting to become alarmed. "This, he says this is mine." He held up the lightsaber in his hand.

"Well, it's not." Obi-Wan replied.

"Maybe it is because he is not a Sith, like we are." The man said as he continued to grin.

"I'm not a Sith." Anakin replied.

"What? Of course you're not, Anakin." Obi-Wan assured him.

"But he says that I am." Anakin answered.

"He can't tell you anything, my brother; he's…." Obi-Wan started.

"…dead; yes, I know." Anakin finished, "To you, maybe, but he's talking to me."

"Oh, now, Lord Vader; do I look dead to you?" The man asked.

"Stop calling me that; my name is Anakin Skywalker." Anakin retorted.

"Well, now, you have a Sith lightsaber in your hand; and you were mentored by…let's see, who was is…oh yes, Lord Sidious." The man stated.

"You're wrong; I'm a Jedi; not a Sith." Anakin countered.

"You are starting to worry me, Anakin; I think we should burn this whole thing. Destroy the body and there will be nothing to hold his evil together." Obi-Wan said.

"You are not going to let him do that to me, now are you Lord Vader? We are kindred are we not?" The man asked.

"Shut up, shut UP, SHUT UP." Anakin yelled, and instinctively ignited the weapon he had in his hand.