At the core of the planet, deep beneath Vader's former stronghold, lie a labyrinth of seemingly endless, winding tunnels. The walls were solid black as in the castle above, but whereas the interior of the fortress shined in a sleek, glossy state, the tunnels in the bowels of Mustafar were noticeably more jagged and unpolished in their construction. Positioned sporadically along the path, Rey noted a handful of thick, iron doorways. She shuddered to think what hidden horrors lurked behind each one. Even on the remote planet of Jakku, Rey had heard unsettling tales of the caverns of Mustafar; where Jedi go to die. These were more akin to catacombs than caves.
She stopped for a moment to vomit along the side of the pathway, wiping her mouth haphazardly with the sleeve of her cloak before upping her pace to catch up to the general. It was the second time she'd had a fit of illness since stepping off the lift into the planet's core. Despite having mentally prepared herself for the intensity of the dark sensations in this detestable place, she still found herself overcome by nausea. She hadn't fainted from the sensation as yet however, and in perspective, she counted it as a small sort of accomplishment.
At length, the tunnel connected to a massive, circular room in the belly of the cave. The ceiling above them was vaulted, stretching upwards for what appeared to be well over a hundred feet. Looking around, Rey noted that over a dozen tunnels were adjoined at this focal point. It was clear that each of the tunnels converged in this one place.
The general unclasped a small, silver bracelet from her wrist and placed it on the ground at the opening of the tunnel from which they had just emerged, marking their return passage to the surface.
"Clever," Rey asserted with a nod of approval.
"Thank you, dear," the princess replied, adding drolly, "try not to get sick on it."
Normally, Rey would've chuckled, but her oppressive headache and low spirits kept any semblance of joy at bay.
Leia had moved on toward the center of the expanse. There were a number of miscellaneous objects strewn about the room: rows of bookshelves, ominous-looking weapons, a communications control center; and in the center of it all, a rectangular, ebony pedestal carved directly from the planet's core. An iron box was perched atop the stone pillar.
This was it. Since their arrival on Mustafar, Rey had sensed that General Leia had some other elusive purpose in mind when she'd elected to hide her small crew of Resistance fighters away on the most dreaded planet in the galaxy. Whatever the contents of the box, the objects within were valuable enough to the Resistance to merit subjecting her people to the darkness of the nefarious planet.
The general drew nearer and motioned for her young companion to follow suit. Leia placed her hand on the box, wiping a thick layer of dust away from the surface. Her eyes met Rey's in an unspoken apology.
"You're really not going to like this."
Carefully, she removed the lid and set it aside. A small, solitary object glowed a deep shade of red from within the iron cube. A moment ago, Rey was certain that she could not possibly have felt more intoxicated by the darkness than she had while wandering the planet's core.
She had been egregiously mistaken.
She steadied herself against the stone pillar, forcing herself to remain on her feet despite the vertigo that threatened to seize control of her senses.
"What is that thing?" Rey choked out her query in disgust.
"It's a kyber crystal," explained the general. "But it's been bled."
"Bled?"
"Kyber crystals are necessary for any functioning lightsaber. The crystals themselves are bound to the light side of the Force when they're formed in nature. Dark Force-wielders can only seize control of them by bending them to their will. The process morphs the crystal into the fiery shade of red you see here."
Rey shuddered as her mind returned to the conversation she'd had with the general aboard the Falcon.
"General Leia," she began with a desperate plea, "there's no way. I can barely stand the…"
"I know," the princess interrupted her, but her tone was far more contrite than impatient. "One cannot lead effectively without taking deliberate pause for self-reflection and introspection. And whenever I've forced myself to take a step back and evaluate the decisions I've had to make since Luke died, they've seemed so far beyond what I should be asking from any of you."
Although Rey felt the darkness pressing down like a pallet of bricks against her chest, the humility and wisdom of the general's character made the burden a trifle easier to bear.
"And yet," she continued, fixing her gaze on the girl, "when I consider the severity of our circumstances, these actions, though arguably foolhardy, are the best options we have. This place..." she motioned about the room, cocking her head to one side as her eyes scrutinized her surroundings, "...my father used it for decades to choke the light out of the galaxy." Her lips puckered, bitter with shame.
"But I believe that in the right hands, they can help us to salvage the light and help it to shine more brilliantly than ever."
Leia turned her attention once again to the crimson crystal. "You have to heal it, Rey."
"Heal it?
"Your lightsaber is in pieces. You require a new kyber crystal for your weapon."
"Yes," Rey affimed quickly, "but wouldn't it be wiser to simply collect a crystal that hadn't already been bled?"
Leia shook her head. "The First Order will have scouts and stations at kyber crystal locations all across the galaxy to power their weaponry. We can't risk exposing ourselves before we've even begun to recover. And traveling to the Unknown Regions to Ilum's kyber mines simply isn't an option. We cannot abandon the galaxy at a time like this."
Rey's heart sank. It was a struggle even to remain standing in the presence of the corrupted crystal. How was she supposed to find a way to heal it when she couldn't even heal herself?
"Bleeding a kyber crystal nearly drove my father insane once," Leia continued. "Being the prideful man that he was, he insisted on doing it yet again to prove that the process hadn't gotten the better of him. The first crystal powered his lightsaber. But this one he kept as a prize: a testament to his power over an innately Light-willed entity."
Rey nodded, comprehending her superior's implications, "And so we take what was intended for darkness and use it to shine the Light."
The general responded with a soft smile. "Precisely."
"But how do I even go about healing a kyber crystal?"
To the young woman's surprise— and chagrin— Leia returned her inquiry with an apologetic shrug. "I haven't the slightest idea."
Rey stared back in a state of speechless bewilderment.
"I'm not a Jedi, Rey," the general reminded her at length. "I can't train you like that. I don't have those answers."
"But you're one of the most Force-sensitive people in the galaxy!" Rey argued, her voice trembling, pleading with her mentor not to leave her to this task alone. "For heaven's sake! You were blasted into the vacuum of space and survived!"
"And I promise to tell you everything I know," Leia assured her with a whisper, pulling her young friend in with a compassionate embrace. "I will be a support and guide for you in any way that I can. But I can only offer you insight based on my own experiences; I can't show you the ways of the Jedi. "
Rey bit her lip, checking her emotions like a dam that served as the only barrier between solid ground and a torrent of churning, tumultuous water. Her first official act as Jedi-to-be entailed reversing the work of the most notorious Sith lord who'd ever lived. How was she supposed to step into her role as the last Jedi without a seasoned, veteran master to show her the way?
"I will walk with you every step of this journey." Leia loosened her grip on her troubled companion, taking her face in her hands and surveying her with a maternal warmth that almost— almost— chipped away at the sharp edges of the darkness.
The girl forced a slight smile, no less discouraged, but all the more appreciative of the general's boundless compassion. Rey took a moment to fully collect herself, returning her stare to the small, ruby rock.
She was ready.
General Leia met the young scavenger's eyes with a knowing look and reached into the iron box, delicately palming the fragile crystal. She gripped it gently; a crimson aura enveloping her clenched fist. Rey swallowed hard as she reached out her quivering hand, bracing to receive the trinket. Leia placed it into the girl's outstretched hand.
She felt the dam give way the moment she clutched the crystal. Leia's face smeared into a blur before her eyes, the already dim lighting of the cavern waned around her. Every sound fading into a vortex of silence, every image melting into pitch. Her body grew limp as her feet faltered beneath her.
Yet in the same instant, amid the chaos of swirling colors blotted into darkness and sounds swept into silence, a single, sharp figure towered in the foreground, grounded and clear.
Him.
His eyes were soft and focused, marred by fear and regret, betrayal and pain. He peered directly into her as if she were a riddle whose answer would forever elude him. And his voice: rich and intense and fiery with a yearning that— had it been tangible— would have branded her.
Rey…
Rey….please...
