Part I, Chapter VI: Turning the tables
[In which Rey finds courage, and Kylo Ren is helpful.]
~o0o~
"Kylo Ren. What news?" The Supreme Leader leaned forward expectantly.
"I have located Skywalker and the girl on an otherwise uninhabited planet named Ahch-To. I have already plotted a course, have sent a few scouting drones ahead and can be on my way any time you wish me to."
Judging from how a smile flickered across Snoke's withered face, it seemed the Supreme Leader was pleasantly surprised. Perhaps he had not expected Kylo Ren to deliver results this quickly.
"Excellent work, my disciple. How did you find out? Did you draw the information from the girl?"
"In a way," Kylo Ren replied. "She doesn't know I know though."
"If she doesn't know, there is still time for you to get back to your full strength before going after them. Do thorough reconnaissance on their location, make sure they can not escape when you strike. This time, I will allow for no excuses, and I will permit no failure. If they slip through your grasp again, Kylo Ren..."
Snoke's voice had taken on a threatening tone, making Kylo Ren's skin crawl. The Supreme Leader could be merciless when enraged - though of course his punishment was never unreasonable. Certainly, in the past, Kylo Ren had deserved it in times of failure or disobedience. These days, it was hardly necessary anymore.
"Rest assured I will not disappoint you."
"Very well. How did your last encounter with the girl go?" Snoke inquired.
"I have demonstrated the inferiority of the Jedi beliefs to her; and I am sure she has seen the truth of it. I can attest that there is a capacity for the dark side in her. I intend to push a little harder next time, draw it out."
"And about my warning to you?" Snoke stared at Kylo Ren hard. "Have you yourself noticed any… unsettling effects?"
"If anything, it enrages me more when I watch her cling to Skywalker's teachings. His weakness does not become her."
His words seemed to satisfy Snoke.
"Proceed, then."
~o0o~
What do I do next time I see him?
The question hung over Rey like a shadow as she watched the sun rise over the ocean, and it was constantly at the back of her mind all morning as she practiced with Luke to close off her mind and contain her presence in the force.
The truth was, there was nothing she could reasonably do, Rey thought when, later in the day, she rowed out into the bay once more. Perhaps it would be a different story if they met and faced off in the real world, where normal rules applied. However, in the dream world, there could be no hope to ever prevail over him. As long as he was the one in control of the scenario, he had her completely in the palm of his hands.
As long as he was in control… Well. Hadn't it all started with her pulling him into her dream? Why let him take control every night? Why not trap him in return? But no, Rey decided, no, it was too reckless, too dangerous to consciously try it. Too many things could go wrong. Luke had warned her not to meddle with the bond.
Still, the idea was nagging at her.
Rey anchored the boat and took a deep breath. Then she leaned over the side and plunged her head down into the water. She forced herself to breathe out through the nose, then pulled back, took another deep breath, and repeated the process. Water got into her nose and ears, but she willed herself not to be freaked out by it.
After having repeated this exercise a few times, she kept her head underwater for longer, and forced herself to open her eyes. The saltwater bit into her sensitive eyes immediately, and the first few times she immediately pulled back into the safety of the boat.
You're being a baby, Rey, she chided herself. The next time, she braced herself for the unpleasant sensation, and willed her eyes to stay open, as well as her head underwater.
The ocean ground swam into focus. There it was, a circular structure, sprawling some ten metres below. It looked a little bit like the back of a turtle with a dome in its midst. All around it, Rey could make out holes in the ocean floor; tunnel entrances that seemed to lead towards and into the building complex. Luke had been right: this temple seemed to have been built to be submerged under water.
Rey, out of air, drew back and furiously rubbed her eyes. Luke had - frustratingly - refused to tell her about what awaited below until she was ready to dive down there with him, and she was dying of curiosity.
She spent the rest of the afternoon training to swim and dive. By sunset, she managed to go about halfway down to the ocean floor, and had gotten quite used to keeping her eyes open. But now she was freezing, and the daylight was fading fast. The water on Ahch-To was crystal clear and a diver could see far - the more unsettling it was to look out over the sheer underwater cliff not far behind the temple, and feel an abyss of darkness stare back.
Rey shuddered involuntarily, pulled herself back into the boat and made for the shore. She had faced one phobia successfully today - time to face another.
They say attack is the best defense, she reasoned. Anyway, if she was taking such a huge risk, she might as well follow up on another thing that had been nagging at her during the last few days.
Ben Solo once met my mother.
~o0o~
Kylo Ren had never once worried about the possibility that the girl would ever turn the tables on him and mind-trap him while he was asleep. She was terrified of him, the last thing he expected her to do was to seek him out voluntarily. He was therefore all the more surprised to find himself in a dream that could not possibly be his own.
It was rather unpleasant, in fact - the murderous heat of Jakku hit him like a sledgehammer. He was standing in full sunlight in his heavy, black coat and the hot, dry wind that whipped around him bore no relief. And on top of it, Rey had decided to shackle his arms and legs together. How cute.
She was some distance opposite of him in her light scavenger getup - shielded from sunlight, wind and sand in the shadow of an enormous half-submerged starship, with her staff by her side. The girl's energy felt different from last time, more... focused. She had obviously been lying in wait for him.
"These are rather pointless," he told her, indicating at his shackles.
As if on cue, a gust of wind hit him in the face with a load of sand. Finding himself becoming rather annoyed, Kylo Ren lifted his cuffed hands to rub his eyes and to shield them. He did not particularly care for sand.
"Better safe than sorry with you," she replied guardedly.
"So, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Kylo Ren inquired, squinting in the glare. "I don't suppose you have seen the truth of what I told you last time?"
Rey did not immediately answer, but the way she turned her head to the side told him that indeed, what he had told her lingered in her thoughts.
"Either way. Remove these cuffs, girl. I do not wish to hurt you unnecessarily by doing it myself."
"The cuffs stay on." Rey squared her jaw and crossed her arms.
"Suit yourself." Kylo Ren said. He knew it would hurt her if he threw his weight around, but he would not be treated this way. Time to show her how easily a skilled force user could break out of her hold on the scenario.
Rey felt a searing stab of pain in her head as he gathered the force around himself. Whatever it was that he was doing, it nearly sent her to her knees. Agonised and not sure how to make him stop otherwise, she lashed out at him wildly with the force, tossing him several meters backwards and making him crash hard onto a rocky plateau. She was getting the hang of this force push thing - but already he was about to get back up. She could not allow that. Again, she lashed out and grabbed him, held him in a force grip like he had done to her several times now.
Kylo Ren blinked in surprise and then actually displayed the ghost of a smile. "Good. Very good. You're a quick student."
Rey inwardly groaned - this was her dream, and he still managed to make her feel like she was dancing to his tune. She'd never used the force grip before. This was probably just what he wanted.
"You're still not my teacher," she reminded him.
"Really. Even though you learnt everything of what you can do with the force by watching me?" He retorted, and Rey was lost for a moment, realising that this was true, strictly speaking. Anyway, she had him under control now. Time to pursue her original plan.
"There is something I want to know," Rey said. "I know you remember me from fifteen years ago. I was in Luke's school for a while. I heard that you were there when my mother took me away."
Kylo Ren was surprised but took care not to show it. Snoke had told him to look for leverage when dealing with the girl, but he had not realised that he had long held something she had wanted all along.
"I do remember," he confirmed simply.
"Do you know why? Did she tell you her name? What did she look like?"
"I did not care at the time," Kylo Ren said. "Her presence in the force was strong, but she was untrained, much like you are today. She was nervous. She said she was on the run from… ah. I see now."
For a moment, Kylo Ren stared off into the distance. He seemed to connect some dots; some long-forgotten information appeared to fall into place in his mind. Rey watched him, breathlessly. Apprehension forgotten, she drew closer.
"Who was she running from? Did she say anything to you? Anything at all?"
He looked at her for a moment with an unreadable expression. "How about I show you what I remember?"
Rey looked at him incredulously. "You can do that?"
"If you let go of that force grip," he said.
Rey paused. Was he lying to her just to make her let him go? He looked at her, apparently reading her thoughts as they showed clearly on her face, and sighed.
"As I demonstrated earlier, I could easily break out of this force grip and these silly cuffs, you know. I'm choosing not to because if I do, it will hurt you. You're controlling this dream, it is already putting a strain on you. You might not notice it now, but you will realise it when you wake up."
When she still hesitated, he added, "I cannot show you if you won't let me."
I should not be listening to him. This was a bad idea from the start, a part of Rey insisted, but was overruled. Carefully, she released her hold on Kylo Ren, willed his shackles to disappear.
"Much obliged," he said, and stepped towards her, stopping when she immediately raised her staff at him. "Do you want to see the memory, or do you not?"
Rey knew she really should not, but her curiosity got the better of her. This had been the whole point of tonight's enterprise, after all. She lowered her staff, and allowed him to get close and put his hands to the side of her face. As he looked into her eyes, Rey froze up anxiously. She knew all she needed to do to get out of this was to break off this dream, but then she would learn nothing.
Kylo Ren, in the meantime, was privately taken aback at how pliable she was all of a sudden, how badly she must be yearning for this information to let him come close like that. She was evidently scared, however. This was where he had to prove that her trust in him was not misplaced.
"Calm down. I'm not taking anything this time, I'm giving you something."
A hallway, a door in front, a hall behind. Evening. A woman in front. Brown hair, delicate features, a hunted expression. "Luke Skywalker isn't here right now." - "Where is my daughter?" - A little girl running past, squealing with joy as she threw herself into the woman's arms. "Mum!" - "I'm taking her with me. She isn't safe here." - "Not safe? Madam, this is Luke Skywalker's school." - "Yes, and the Divinators already watching it. Watch out, young man. They are close by." - "Bye, Ben! Till next time!" The little girl, smiling and waving.
Rey gasped as the vision ended as suddenly as it had begun.
"Who was watching the school - what are 'Divinators'? Why did you not tell Luke?" She asked him almost feverishly.
"At the time, I did not believe any of it. Now..." He trailed off, considering something. He still had not taken his hands off her face, but Rey did not make a move to pull away. There was still a chance she would learn more.
"What about my father? Have you seen him, too?"
"Never met him. But I have an idea where to look. Have you got names for me?"
Rey blinked. "Why are you being so helpful?" She could not help but ask.
"I have no reason not to help you." He shrugged.
"Besides being my enemy?"
"I'm not your enemy. I'm your teacher."
"I told you you are not my-"
"And as your teacher, I'm warning you. Listen," Kylo Ren said, suddenly very serious, all but cradling her face now. "The last few times I controlled our encounters, it took a toll on me. I would imagine it is even harder on you. If you keep me here longer, you could get seriously hurt. I will try and find out about your parents, and we'll talk again. Now tell me what names to look out for."
Rey was taken aback at how urgent he sounded. Did he even realise himself that he was gently rubbing his thumb across her cheekbone? She drew back anxiously. The way he suddenly dropped his hands, it seemed he genuinely hadn't - and now, having caught himself, he looked distracted, almost flustered.
"I have only my father's - Sorus Ghan. May be fake, but it's all I have to go on," Rey said eventually.
"I'll look into it. Now- if you please?"
Rey stepped back further. With him being so bizarrely cooperative, there was really no reason to draw this encounter out any longer. Abruptly she separated the connection and opened her eyes in her cottage on Ahch-To. Everything around her spun, and her head ached so badly she felt nauseous. She barely managed to stumble to the door and vomit out her dinner behind her cottage.
Luke was nowhere in sight, and for once she was glad for it. He would probably not be happy with what she had done tonight. As she stumbled back inside, the world still spinning madly, Rey touched her face to find she had a violent nosebleed.
"Oh, blast," was her last thought before folding up and letting darkness engulf her.
~o0o~
[to be continued]