Chapter Text
The hands grasping at him register in his mind before anything else. With his brain fogged by sleep, Ienzo doesn’t feel fear. He rolls onto his back, shoving the hands away with energy his body is trying to use to wake up. The hands grab again, pulling at his shoulder until he’s forced to sit up, forced to open his eyes and blink past the veil of slumber. The silhouettes sharpen, begin to take shape and meaning, and Ienzo recognizes the gold eyes staring into his own.
Then he is afraid.
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He grasps through the darkness, blindly searching for purchase even though he knows his eyes are wide open. He casts his hands about wildly, not sure where up or down are, just knowing he has to escape. He kicks his legs, swimming, and panic urges him to hold his breath, to not breathe in the darkness swallowing him.
Then the darkness lifts. He gasps, filling his lungs with something that isn’t suffocating. The surface against his back is solid, cool. He raises himself onto his elbows and looks around. He can’t see far in any direction, but there’s light above him and color below. Slowly, he rises to his feet, preparing himself for any more surprises.
#
“M-Master?” Ienzo stills under the fierce grip on his shoulders. The strength of it stuns him. He knows his Master’s hands as ones that handle sensitive equipment, frail tomes, ones that wipe excess ice-cream off his face when Ienzo misses a spot. They’ve never been strong. They’ve never been painful. “Why—”
“Ienzo, listen to me,” he interrupts, the first time ever in Ienzo’s memory. “We must hurry. We don’t have much time.” He pulls Ienzo from his bed and then Ienzo is stumbling after him, wincing when the lights in the hallway hit his sleep-adjusted eyes. There’s only one hand now, clutching his wrist as Ienzo finds himself being half-dragged down the hallway. He shivers involuntarily. The tiled floors are cold against his bare feet. Ienzo spares a second, half a thought and his whole heart, to glance back at his room. Ansem had closed the door behind them.
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He inspects the transparent shape, then he reaches for the handle. He’s not surprised his hand passes through it, but he’s concerned. Clearly he’s meant to open it, but how?
Behind you, the voice says. He turns. There, in another ray of light, he sees an answer.
#
Ienzo knows he’s not asleep anymore, but he can’t wrap his mind around what his heart already knows. He’s given up on trying to ask questions, though they burn in his mouth just as the air burns in his lungs. They had never walked this quickly before. He’s never had to take so many steps to match one of Ansem’s. Even if he had his breath, he fears another order, “Quiet,” another willful sever of the curiosity Ansem had always praised in his youngest apprentice. But he never interrupts , part of his brain protested. He always made sure Ienzo had a chance to speak. He said it was a gift.
Ansem pushes Ienzo into the elevator, letting go of his wrist so he can turn his attention to the controls. Ienzo shrinks against the corner, watching Ansem pull the lever without closing the safety gate. The lift lurches, then descends. Ienzo feels his heart sinking with them.
Lights flash by them through the lift walls.
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He steps through the door and raises a hand to shield his eyes while they adjust to the light. He tries to take a step forward, but the voice assures him it’s alright.
Make sure you know who you are, what you want , it advises. Then you can move forward.
He walks over to the girl first and she surprises him with her uncharacteristically serious question. “Friendship, of course,” he says.
“Is friendship such a big deal?” she counters. He’s taken aback, and leaves her with only a sidelong glance.
“What are you so afraid of?” asks the boy.
He doesn’t want to say it aloud. “Being…being indecisive,” he admits, hoping he sounds more confident than he feels.
“Being indecisive? Is that really so frightening?”
He turns towards the other boy, and though he’s still annoyed, he feels relief that his answer didn’t promote resistance like the others. “To be strong, huh?”
You value friendship, the voice muses. You fear being indecisive. You want to be strong. Your adventure begins in the dead of night. Your road won’t be easy, but a rising sun may await your journey’s end.
#
Ienzo’s heart thuds when they reach the basement. He fears what Ansem will see. The secrets he and the others have been hiding from him since he first caught them. Even then, when Ansem first discovered the experiments under the castle, Ienzo hadn’t been scared. He had felt indifference, annoyance. Any twinges of guilt had long since silenced.
“Master—”
“Quiet, Ienzo. The others may find us.”
Ienzo wants them to. He looks over his shoulder again in vain. Any one of them would be strong enough to break him free from Ansem’s hold.
Ansem guides him past the cells, past the pits of shadows. The hall is empty but Ienzo can still hear echoes of the screams. Ienzo puts his free hand over his ear and squeezes his eyes shut. He trips. Ansem’s hand is the only thing preventing his fall.
“No, Ienzo, you must look.” Ienzo shakes his head and Ansem pauses to tug Ienzo’s hand away from his ear. “You must look one more time at what we have done. At what our folly led us to create.”
Ienzo doesn’t want to look. He knows. Squirming shadows cover and infect writhing bodies, devouring any last trace of light. He’s seen it before. Ansem had told them to stop. Why is he asking him to look now?
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He slashes and the blade passes through the monster. It collapses and dissipates until nothing remains. Several others meet the same fate. He pants, but begins running towards the light he sees on the adjacent pillar.
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Ienzo digs his heels in, but Ansem is resolute. He pulls him along as if he were a doll. Ienzo doesn’t know what’s at the end of the staircase. But he knows what could be there.
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He slows, approaching the shaft of light. The initial burst of panic he felt when the staircase disappeared begins to wane, soothed in the illuminated waves. He steps closer, lulled.
Be careful, the voice warns. The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. He turns, alarmed to see the stain of darkness against the platform. There is only a second to feel the horror of the grossly disproportionate shape before it lurches, ripping away from the platform and rising. He staggers back, unable to tear his gaze away from his shadowy self. Except the shadow is growing, morphing.
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Ansem pulls Ienzo all the way to the door, and when he kneels down, he has to hold Ienzo’s shoulders to keep him from fleeing. Ienzo quivers. Ansem is finally wearing a face Ienzo recognizes, not from frequency, but from gravity. It’s the same one he wore when he found Ienzo among the others in the basement. It’s the same one he wore the day Ienzo’s parents died.
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But don’t be afraid. Monstrous, clawed hands unfurl. And don’t forget.
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“Ienzo, listen to me.” Ienzo can hear the pain in his voice. It matches the expression etched onto his face. “They are planning to overthrow me. I do not yet know how or when, but I know it will be soon. And then I can no longer protect you.”
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He doesn’t have anywhere to run, so he swings his sword when a hand gets too close. Several smaller monsters arise from the ground. He grits his teeth when they scratch him. There’s no way out but to fight.
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“I will not let them have you.” Ienzo winces when the grip on his shoulders tighten. “I do not know if this will work. I only know that there is no other option. I have failed you, Ienzo. I am so sorry.”
The voices of the others echo in his head. The warnings about their Master going mad. Ienzo tries to fight when Ansem retracts a hand to dig through his pocket. Even with both of his hands, he can’t dislodge Ansem’s hold.
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The sword disappears the same instant the creature strikes the ground. Darkness erupts from the fist, a mere foot away from him, and he feels the void beginning to suck him in.
But don’t be afraid.
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“I don’t understand! Why—”
“You must be brave, Ienzo.” Ansem puts something in his hands and pulls him close. By the time Ienzo recognizes it as a hug, Ansem is rising to his knees. “Let this Star Shard guide you, along with whatever is left of your heart.”
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You hold the mightiest weapon of all. He kicks. He reaches, but the pool is only growing. The darkness is creeping around the edge of his vision.
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Ienzo tries to run, begins shouting for the others for help. Ansem holds him with one hand, while the other grasps the handle of the door. In his head, Ienzo screams his protests, tries to warn Ansem of what lay beyond the door. Like the rest of captives in the basement, he is not heard.
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So don’t forget…
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Ansem pulls. Light pours through in an instant, blinding Ienzo. He can feel the hands on his shoulder move to his back, he can feel Ansem pushing him forward. His feet collide and he stumbles, but he never hits the floor.
#
Sora turns, reaching up as the last bit of light recedes.
You are the one who will open the door.