III

The first three days alone were calming. Nana brought his meals but he refused to speak to her, sending her away with cruel silence. He felt awful every time he did it, but he couldn't be near her yet. He practiced with his lightsaber cutting through the quiet of his room with the yellow glow. He paced from one short end of his room to the other. The fourth day he lay in bed, unable to move. His eyes drifted close comfortably and the hiss was back. This time it wore a hideous face. Deep dark pools were it's eyes, a deformed nose and terrible mouth. It sat atop a tall dark throne, beckoning him down a grey corridor. Ben met with the creature unsure of how to react.

"Ben Solo...I felt your awakening...there is delicate balance in you...I felt the potential in your power..."

Ben stared up at it, feeling a dull ache in his temples. "Potential for what?"

The creature leaned forward. "Potential for the dark..."

Ben took a step forward. "Who are you? Why do I hear you in my head all of the time now?"

It hesitated, grinning at him. Ben looked away from the grotesque mouth.

"I am Supreme Leader Snoke...leader of First Order...I want you join me...as my apprentice...as the leader of my Knights of Ren..."

"Why would I do that?"

Snoke put his hand up and Ben felt power surge through him before being lifted off his feet. He was now face to face with Snoke, dangling in midair. "I will make you as powerful as Darth Vader. Your grandfather...the ideal power you try so hard to embody...you will not reach the full potential of the force training here...Luke Skywalker does not have the skills necessary to make you as great as you could be...and your force is already strong...this is why I want you."

Ben trembled at the thought of being all powerful. Surpassing Nana, surpassing his uncle, surpassing his grandfather. The temptation was too hard to resist. "You must accept my proposition if you truly wish to become stronger."

Leia flashed in his mind for a brief moment. His beautiful mother that had forced him to come to his uncle's academy without a convincing explanation. All Ben had wanted to grow up to do was have adventures in each star system and live the freewheeling smuggler's life his father once had. He harbored hatred for her and for his father for not stopping her plans. For forcing him into years of self-doubt and confusion he didn't know how to control. Until now. Leader Snoke was guaranteeing him the rightful power his lineage implied. He couldn't let this opportunity go.

"I accept your offer. What must I do to break away from all of this?"

Snoke paused. "You must separate from someone you love...then you will fully realize the dark...you become Kylo Ren..."

The room went black and Ben plummeted back to the floor. He flew forward in bed and Nana yelped, throwing herself into him. Her arms wrapped around him in a vice grip. "What's the matter? What's happening?" He gasped, sweat seemingly seeping from every pore.

"I came in to deliver your meal and you weren't breathing! I spent the last two minutes trying to breathe air into your lungs thinking you had left this world!" She cried, showering his face with a flurry of kisses. He sat impossibly still, thinking about what Snoke had said. He had to separate from someone he loved. There were only two that he loved here.

"Why do you care if I live or die? You didn't hesitate to blast me with the force a few days ago."

She stopped and gave him a hard stare. "I was preventing you from killing a fellow apprentice. I didn't do it for fun! I care very much whether you live or die. I'm starting to think you don't feel that strongly about me." She left him go and he grabbed her, his weakness eating through. He hated this weakness for her so much. "No, please don't go yet. I'm sorry for what I said. I need you..." He admitted, wrapping his arm around her. His fingertips played with the pendant hanging by a leather string between her breasts. He liked it from the first moment they met, when she'd held up the bronze spiraled swirl that matched her skin proudly. In the middle was a tiny blue star whose significance she'd never told him. He did know it was the last memento from her dead mother. She sucked in a deep breath. "Just please tell me what is happening with you? We're best friends. You've confided in me all this time, why not now?"

He shook his head. "There's nothing to confide."

She exhaled in disappointment. "I need to get to sleep. Let me go Ben." She spoke quietly, her hands dead on her lap. "This early?" He responded in suspicion. He didn't want her to leave yet. If it was her he had to part with, he wanted enough memories to keep with him for when she was gone out of his life. He touched her hands gently and kissed her neck. "Ben I don't think..." He pressed his fingers to her lips. She kissed them. "Please help me. I fear the dark is sinking its claws into me" he confessed and the look in her eyes told him she'd sensed it long before he had. "I won't let that happen! I love you, I'll protect you anyway that I am capable." She responded eagerly. His hands curled around her wrists. He thought about how to deepen his impending pain. He wanted his soul to be fully powered by the dark. "Please accept me Nana..." He whispered and sunk into his bed with her. Her eyes seared his. "Now? I thought our wedding night...don't you want to wait?"

He shook his head, tears streaming down his face. "I'm stricken. I need to feel your light. I need to be guided by your light." She took his face into her hands, brushing back wisps of hair from his eyes. "I'll help you, I'll always be be here for you...it was getting hard for me too wait too" She caved easily and confessed, unbuttoning her shirt. His eyes fell on her pendant again, although this time, the little star no longer blue.

It was black.