Love. It is the greatest of powers to which all other powers fall to their knees in awe. Love can break the heart. Love can mend a soul. Love can break a curse. Love and hate, two powerful entities, yet the greatest of these two is love. Here is a story of the power of love and how it's effects can change even the blackest of souls.

Nestled in the farthest part, on the planet Jakku, sat a wondrous castle. Within the walls if this castle lived a loving couple. A prince and his princess, both adored and loved by their subjects. Han and Leia Solo spent their lives devoted to the good of their people earning them respect. They had it all, yet the one thing they wanted above all else was a baby.

They had tried conceiving for years, yet were unsuccessful. Many nights Han would hold his beloved wife as she wept for a child, her heart breaking with every tear shed. Just as it seemed their prayers would not be answered, Leia became pregnant. Nine months later, she held a perfect baby boy in her arms.

The boy grew up with no wants or needs. Blessed with beauty and wealth he was given everything his heart desired. He had been wanted by his mother to the point she could not deny him his heart's desires. As he grew, he became spoiled and slowly rotten on the inside, for he felt he was owed anything he wanted. This boy they had named Ben carried within him the Light and the Darkness. They waged a constant war within his heart, both trying to win the power of his soul.

Leia and Han noticed their son's souring behavior and did everything they could to help him change for good, but he rebelled against them. He became more dark and spoiled the older he became. When his parents realized they could not reach him they called out for help.

One day, a man came to court. He introduced himself as Snoke, and told Leia and Han he could help them turn their son on the path for which he was destined to go. He spoke words which hypnotized all who heard him speak. They agreed without hesitation, and gave the man full power over their young son. Blinded from his true intentions, they allowed a monster to control Ben. Snoke taught him darkness and pain. He taught him power was all that mattered. Love did not exist. Light was for the weak, and Ben was not weak. Snoke twisted Ben's mind to the point that no one that knew the boy recognized him any longer.

By the time Leia and Han realized what had happened it was too late. Their son was taken from them by Snoke. He was only eight years old, yet his eyes held years beyond his time. Under Snoke's guidance, he learned to embrace the darkness and snuff out the light. It was too late for anyone to interfere. The damage had been done.

One night, Leia and Han confronted Snoke and Ben. They had gathered in the Great Hall, sitting atop their thrones, looking down at their son and his master. Ben looked upon his parents with hate in his eyes sticking close to Snoke's side. Han had accused Snoke of deceiving them and taking their son from them. The more he talked, the angrier Ben felt at his father. Han wanted to banish Snoke from the castle. His father wanted to separate him from the only real father he felt he had ever had. He spoke those exact words to Han, wounding him deeply.

Snoke fought back against Leia and Han, refusing to leave. He threatened them that if they made him leave he would take Ben with him. Scared to lose their son, they relented. Months past and Ben became worse. He lashed out at his parents, at his servants, most of the time causing them physical pain. Still, no matter the darkness within him, Ben felt torn at times with his actions. His mother sensed this, thus giving her hope and helping her find the courage to take action against Snoke.

She, Han and their soldiers attacked Snoke, yet they misjudged his power. They did not know how powerful the darkness residing in him truly was. He struck down the soldiers with ease. When it came time for him to deal with Leia and Han he forced Ben to watch. The moment he saw Snoke's true intentions Ben felt a change of heart. He did not want his parents dead, but it was too late.

Snoke struck down Leia first killing her instantly. Both husband and son screamed as Leia fell to the ground, her blood running on the white floor. Han ran to her, holding her dead body to his chest and cursing Snoke. Ben stood, wide-eyed and paralyzed, as Snoke walked up behind his father and thrust a light saber into his back. He gave Han no warning, no word, as to what was about to happen. He just watched.

"Now, your training is complete," Snoke whispered, squeezing Ben's shoulder as he walked away.

Ben stood there for hours staring at his dead parents, knowing in his heart he had caused this. If it weren't for him Snoke would have never come. Even as the bodies were removed and buried by the servants Ben never moved. He was trapped in a nightmare, but little did he know his nightmare was only beginning.

Snoke disappeared the night Leia and Han died. No one knew where he went, but no one dared wished him to come back. The castle was thrown into chaos. The servants wailed for their lost Prince and Princess. Ben locked himself in his room, not wanting to face what his actions caused. He was the new ruler, yet he turned his back on his people. Most of them died of starvation, or chose to leave, but a few remained, and when Ben turned ten there came another unexpected visitor.

A frail, old woman asked to speak with Prince Ben Solo, but he refused to see her, so she left. She came back a second night, asking to speak with him again, yet he turned her away for the second time. On the third night, she did not ask for him, but with her power she summoned him to her. Disheveled and rotting away in his own self hatred he sneered at the old woman for her intrusion. He tried forcing her to leave his home, but she was more than what the eye beheld. Ben spat at her feet, calling her ugly and wasteful. She allowed him his outbursts, but for only so long.

As he watched, the old woman began to change. Light spread throughout her entire body causing Ben to have to shield his eyes. He had never seen anything so pure, so bright, and when the light faded before him stood a woman of such loveliness he fell to his feet in worship.

"Where are your parents, child?" she asked, softly.

Ben shuttered at the thought of his dead parents. Did she know what he had done? Is that why she was here? He shook his head violently. "It was a man named Snoke. He killed them."

"Did he? Yet, he left you alive?"

Ben said nothing. He drew his face closer to the floor, as if somehow that would hide his shame. What would this woman do to him? He could feel power surging through her body. He was no match for her.

"Snoke turned your soul dark, and you enjoyed it. He was a manifestation of your heart's desire. It may have been at his hands that your parents died, but it was your blackened soul that killed them. You allowed them to die without so much as a fight."

"H—he would have killed me too!" Ben cried.

"Be it better you had died than where you are now. Your soul is torn in two. One burns for darkness, the other burns for light. You have chosen Snoke…the darkness. I am the light side of your soul and I have come here for payment. You will pay for what you allowed to happen young Ben Solo, but not with your life. A lesson shall I teach you, and if you can realize what you've lost perhaps the darkness will not truly win."

"It wasn't my fault!" He screamed, as if he heard nothing she had said.

"You are unworthy of all that you have been given!" the woman said to the boy kneeling at her feet.

"Please," he begged. "I can do better. I can be better."

The beautiful enchantress stared at the boy, his body shaking from fear. His soul had been changed, blackened by Snoke, and if he continued down the path he was on he would destroy the entire planet. She could not let that happen.

"You were given the Light and the Darkness, yet you chose only darkness. It bleeds from your pores like a virus. Everyone that has come in contact with you has suffered. I will put an end to it!"

"Give me another chance, I beg of you. I can change!" He screamed, his arms outstretched to the beautiful woman.

"You will not change. The darkness has it's claws in you. But…"

The boy's face rose to the woman, a hope igniting in his eyes. They stared at one another, as if the woman needed time to choose her words wisely.

"You do not know what it means to love, but if you can learn to love another, and earn that person's love in return, everything that you have will be restored back to you. It will not be easy, for she must learn to look past the darkness and accept the man within. Love will heal the darkness, will heal your fractured soul. Everything that has been lost to you will be made whole again."

"I will see to it that it happens," he said, his arrogance still showing.

The enchantress smiled, no warmth within her features. She raised her arms above her head and a light began to grow. She took the ball of light between her hands. "You cannot force someone to love you, fool. That is no love at all. Your looks can not save you in this. Your handsome face will be marred to the point that people will turn away in shock and horror. Your body will be scarred with all of the horrible deeds you have done. Anyone that looks upon you will scream in fear and flee. But, I will allow one thing to remain. Your eyes. They will be the gateway to your soul, your true soul."

The boy bowed his head, reaching for the woman's feet. He would beg, plead, anything to stop this from happening. When he looked up, light bathed down upon him with such fire and intensity he screamed. The flesh of his face split open in three places. One, down his left temple to his neck. Another, down his right temple to his neck. The third split right between his eyes and down his nose, clipping the side of his mouth and disappearing down his chin. A searing pain shot through his body as hundreds of gashes opened up upon his skin.

Ben screamed in agony as he fell face-first onto the cold floor. His screams echoed off the walls of his castle touching the servants standing wide-eyed and watching. They joined his screams with their own as their bodies began to change. Where once men, women and children stood there were only house hold items. A clock. A candle stick. A broom. A dresser. Cups and dishes. Yet, the screams did not fade.

"Your house will be punished, for they turned a blind eye to the darkness within you. You, who was once the most handsome will now be seen only as the monster you are inside. To remind you of your sins, when the clock strikes midnight each night your wounds will open and you will feel the pain you have caused so many. For one hour you will feel nothing but agony. The darkness within your soul will be unleashed upon you to torment."

The enchantress pulled out a single rose and held it above Ben's head. Tears streaked across his marred cheeks as he looked upon the rose's beauty. "You have until the last pedal falls to find the one who can love you despite the darkness. You have until the last pedal falls to learn what it is to love and be loved in return. If you do not, you will be doomed to live this existence forever. The Beast. The pain. You will condemn your servants to live as they are. I condemn you Ben Solo, and the darkness within you, but with this rose comes a chance of forgiveness. Do not waste this chance. Find the light within you."

Suddenly, the woman burst into light. Ben covered his eyes, moaning in pain and fear. When the light died away, the people of the castle were alone again. They were left to become used to their new, twisted lives. Where once laughter and beauty existed, there was only darkness and sadness. Ben retreated from them all, locking himself in the room he kept the rose. He had placed it in a glass jar and there he would sit for hours at a time just staring at its beauty, a beauty he had lost within himself. He clothed himself all in black, and he hid his face behind a hideous mask. He vowed to never let another soul look upon his ugliness.

He refused to allow anyone to call him Ben Solo, for Ben had died the night Snoke had entered his life. He had murdered him, along with his parents, leaving him a soulless monster. He had given himself a new name, a new identity, and forced his people to call him Kylo Ren. That name suited the monster better.

The years passed by bringing with it nothing but pain and sorrow for the inhabitants of Solo Castle. The people from the towns of Jakku forgot about the once wondrous castle. Their minds were wiped of its existence and the people within. They went about their lives with blinders in front of their eyes, yet some swore they could hear screams coming from somewhere in the distance.

They talked of a part of Jakku that was haunted. Parents told tales of ghouls and ghosts to scare their kids from ever going to the farthest part of Jakku. And it worked. No one ever disturbed the castle. When someone would get close, they would feel an overwhelming sense of fear and flee the area. Solo castle was in a world of its own, frozen in time, with no one who would come knocking on its door. And it would stay that way for ten years, until one fateful night a girl would end up at their doorstep, and would make a deal with a monster to save the one she loved.

Could she be the answer that Kylo so desperately needed? How could she, for who could ever learn to love a beast.