Chương 149: V.2-C.50│Trouble IV│
Anakin was getting into the habit of picking up his girls like this.
The princess carry is famous but it is also kind of cliché, but that wouldn't stop Anakin from taking advantage of this to help develop his relationship with any of the girls.
Heading towards the temple, Anakin and Shaak both made it there in record time. One might be wondering why he didn't call anyone else to come here, and that is because no one else is required.
He has gotten the general gist of the situation going on within the Palace of the Woolamander and knows that it would probably be within his power to solve this problem. He hadn't however communicated with Barriss for a few minutes and doesn't know about whether or not she has completed the problem yet.
From what he understands, they are going to be tasked with solving a puzzle of sorts which would then allow them to unlock the Golden Globe. It did anger him, he could admit he wasn't really feeling all to happy, despite finalizing his relationship with Shaak.
This was a monstrosity, but he could get some valuable information and knowledge from this if he studied it properly. What exactly this could contribute towards, one may ask.
It will help in the formation of his own dimension within the Force. It holds souls after all, even when it is just the souls of children, it was more than enough because it created a whole other space for him to go into and explore.
In fact, it was such a marvel of both technology, Sith intellect and the dark side of the Force that he couldn't and wouldn't pass this opportunity up.
He could hear it now, the soft cries and pleas for help within the Force. He wouldn't be leaving this problem and let the children be trapped and suffer for longer than they already have.
He knows that it would be his descendants, or rather, the descendants of his counterpart that would have saved these children and released their souls. That wouldn't be happening, not because he wouldn't have descendants of his own, he knew he was probably going to have a very, very large family.
No, it is because they would be freeing them now and he has taken up the mantle of freedom and liberty. It has now become a part of him not only because he, himself wants to continue this idea but also due to the influence of his people and subjects.
"Ani?" Barriss' voice was heard as he and Shaak were now on foot, exploring the ruins of the palace for themselves. Shaak had fully recovered most of her lost energy and could continue which lead Anakin to seeing a problem.
While he may have imparted eternal life to those connected to him through a Dyad and for his mother, that didn't mean they were as powerful as him. Not in their base form without the Force compared to his base form, and in fact it is entirely possible that he is so physically and mentally dominant that they wouldn't stand a chance even if he handicapped himself and they were still able to use the Force.
"Yes, Barriss, it is I." Anakin replied as he stepped around the corner to see the Golden Globe and Barriss talking with a little, rat, cat, lemur thing...
Barriss ran upto him and embraced him with slight tears in her eyes as she was emotional over the Golden Globe. The children were what she is worried over, not anything else at this moment, not that she doesn't care for Anakin but because he is unharmed and completely safe.
The Golden Globe was protected by a powerful energy shield which threw back anyone who attempted to touch it.
There was also the fact that the only way to break through this shield was by using the Force to waken it. Then there are also the haunting manifestations of the followers of Exar Kun blocking their way to entry.
Overall not a good time.
"The children..." Barriss left off, and didn't need to say anymore as Anakin could sense her distress through their bond and allowed her to be comforted by his presence within the Force and his physical self that of which is embracing her.
"I know." Anakin replied.
"Shaak, you are here as well." Barriss looked towards the other person within the room.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Shaak had a frown on her face as well. "So this thing is another source of dark side energies, huh?"
"Yes, from what we have done... Oh! I forgot to introduce the Jedi Master here." Barriss was now not hugging Anakin anymore but was still physically attached to him as she pointed towards the very old Kushiban. "This is Ikrit."
"Pleasure to meet the two of you." Ikrit did some funny bow that was really unsuitable for his physical form, given he used all four appendages, excluding the tail to move.
"Yes, as you may have heard from my wife here, I am Anakin Skywalker." Anakin assumed that Barriss would just gush over him and reveal to any and everyone willing to listen, to tell them she is his wife.
"Yes, yes. You were a Jedi, the supposed chosen one, yes?" Ikrit had heard of some crazy stuff as both Barriss and Ikrit conversed with each other.
"That is what I was told, however I dont really like prophecies all that much." Anakin answered while internally. 'Of course it is true, or at least it is completely true that I am some sort of miracle given birth by a mother and only the Force. Then there is all of the other factors, but the Force is strange and anything related to prophecies of the Force is 100% correct.'
'That was until I was actually coming into form. I am no mere Anakin Skywalker, but the sum of two souls, the chosen one and some random guy from a place far, far away...' Anakin finished inwardly as he regarded the sentient being that looked like a pet.
"I dont know how much has changed over the years, but it would seem that the Order is just as weird as I had gone into exile." There were many things that happened throughout the history of the Jedi and the Republic, Ikrit was a testament to that fact himself.
"Right, so you guys have managed to destroy the outer layer, but are unable to actually destroy the orb." Anakin replied changing the topic back to the main subject at hand.
"Yes-" Ikrit was interrupted as Barriss wanted to be the one to explain. She had only told him so much through the link and now wanted to take up as much time as she could. not that he doesn't spend time with her.
It was only natural for her to be so intimate.
Barriss would go on to explain all that had happened, from her arrival and to her meeting of Ikrit in as much detail as she could. She wanted Anakin to know not only because she wanted him to know everything about herself and vice versa but because she knew that he would have a solution to their current predicament.
Or, at least she believed he did but it wasn't really based off of any logical fact that he could.
[]
While the children's predicament was tragic and Anakin wanted to destroy the orb as soon as possible before heading back to the Empyrean, that doesn't mean he would pass up this opportunity.
No, he would get all of the gains possible from the artifact, preferably not at the risk of the children within.
"So you have a plan, right Ani?" Barriss asked him, not leaving his side.
"Well, yes and no." Anakin replied.
"What do you mean?" Ikrit asked.
"You see, from what I understand about this orb, is that it is kind of required for someone to be a child to destroy it." Anakin said, starting to lead the conversation in his direction. A direction that would convince Ikrit of allowing him to do whatever he wants because there is no telling what the little guy would try to do.
"Yes, that is correct." Ikrit replied, nodding his little head up and down.
"Because of this fact, we need to have someone here that is young enough to be considered a child. Unfortunately for us, there is no one here under the age of whatever was considered an adult thousands of years ago." Anakin continued as everyone was just nodding along.
Shaak and Barriss didn't have any bright ideas in this moment, but there was someone who could potentially destroy this thing. Someone back on the living ship, Jabitha.
In fact, Anakin believes that it was not only that someone capable of destroying the orb but also Jabitha herself that could also be considered a child. She was created a few years ago and still holds a child-like personality with very little developments.
Shaak then spoke up. "What about Ahsoka? She should be young enough to be still considered a child... At least I hope that she would be."
It was possible that Ahsoka could be young enough and Anakin knew that one of his descendants, or at least the descendants of his counterpart, named after himself would be around the age of 12 at the time.
So he at least knew of an age range to consider what children were, and he was unsure about whether or not Ahsoka would be young enough to destroy the thing. Not that he wanted it destroyed, but he wanted it to stay just as it is, just without all of the children's souls inside of it.
"I dont know about that, Ahsoka may be young and can still be considered a child in a sense, but that doesn't mean she can actually fit whatever required age range here." Barriss interjected her own thoughts probably having come to a similar conclusion as Anakin.
"So you guys have a child?" Ikrit said believing that Anakin and Barriss have had a child already, but then again considering both of their ages, having a child that was old enough would seem insane. What Ikrit said however did slightly embarrass Barriss because the relationship between herself and Anakin seemed to advanced to this point.
A point in which people would misunderstand what they speak about with each other, not understanding the actual context and coming to their own conclusions based off of their perceptions.
"You got it all wrong there. It would seem your old age has gotten to you." Anakin supplied to make sure Ikrit understood that he and she were not so debauched enough to start having children at whatever age they would need to be. "Wait, how old do you think we are exactly? From our looks, you would believe we are within are twenties, right?"
"Well..." Ikrit mistakenly thought Barriss was a child herself, now he made the mistake to believe by looking at Anakin he could determine everyone's age here. "Sorry about that, it would seem that it is true. My age is getting to me."
"Whatever, there is nothing wrong with that." Anakin said as he then looked towards the Golden Globe, having decided that enough was enough and he should start the process. "I am going to begin now." He walked towards the orb, unafraid of being pushed back.
"Wait! Ani, what are you doing?" Barriss had to step back as Anakin was already right next to the orb and touching it.
"I said I have a plan." Anakin placed his hand on the device and he felt it both checking him and then trying to push him away.
It didn't work however as he seemed unharmed and very nonchalant about the situation.
"How are you doing that!?" Ikrit exclaimed, both confused and surprised as that didn't have the same effect as it did for him, or even Barriss when she tried something.
"Don't worry about it, it shouldn't matter all that much what I am doing or how I am doing it." Anakin was in fact using the Force to stay in place.
There was nothing fancy about what he is doing because the Force allowed him to stick himself within one fixture of space and allowed him to maintain that position. It was something easy for him to do, considering all of his other capabilities, having learned about the ability to fly using the Force helped as well.
What Anakin was doing is drawing upon the energy of the device. Slowly siphoning its powers and abilities to keep itself afloat, trying to weaken the prison even more so than what it already has been.
Which is basically nothing at all, considering it housed the souls of so many individuals, that Anakin felt a rush of energy. It may seem wrong what he is doing because all of that excess energy had at one point, belonged to the children.
He was trying to make sure the prison collapses in on itself, and in doing so its inner dimension would be incapable of fueling the necessary power.
Lightning, or electricity started to come out of his hand that touched the orb.
Shaak, Barriss and Ikrit could only stand there, in awe of the power that they felt within the Force. This confirmed his status as the chosen one within Ikrit's mind, having known about the prophecy and all, as it was normal for the Jedi to know about it.
It was not something kept secret but upheld as some form of mythological belief.
Anakin was drawing in this power but making sure the device didn't try and start stealing and sapping energy from the children to restore itself and its functions. The prison was coming undone, undone enough for all of the trapped souls to escape.
First it was in the tens, then the hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and it seemed as it wouldn't stop. Children and more and more and more kept coming and coming and coming.
Finally after a storm of epic proportions that centered around Anakin and the orb, it came to a stop as Anakin had both successfully freed the children and kept them safe as he absorbed the energies of the orb.
The Golden Globe was still in tact because he couldn't destroy, as the label of only being capable of being destroyed by a Force-sensitive child was true.
"You've-You've done it!" Ikrit exclaimed. not really knowing what exactly had just transpired.
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