Snoke and Kylo Ren stood in an immense dark hall, fifty meters in length, width, and height. Dozens of large, black pillars stood reticent and foreboding in the room. The air was undisturbed and quenched any noise or vibration. Above them the old Jedi temple on Coruscant was built; the place where the Jedi Council had met for a thousand years before the Jedi Purge at the hands of Darth Vader. This was what used to be the portico of a Sith Temple since buried by the Jedi to prevent anyone from entering it. Even so, the ground was littered with the bones of long-dead Sith.
Snoke, standing just a few inches shorter than Kylo Ren, walked in front of him toward a large door.
"Everything is happening exactly as I have foreseen, My Apprentice," he snarled. "The Resistance will take our bait . . . to their destruction."
His emaciated face grimaced, showing uneven and sharp teeth.
"But one thing remains," he said.
"The Jedi and his apprentice," Kylo Ren said as he stepped over a pile of human bones.
"Yes," Snoke said. "They will come to us, but it is unclear at the moment what you must do. You must find the answer to that."
Snoke stared at Kylo Ren, searching deep into him, but not with his empty eyes. Kylo Ren felt the icy wave of the dark side probing him. He suppressed a shudder.
"This is an ancient temple. Over four thousand years old," he stated.
Kylo Ren hid his curiosity behind an affectation of disinterest.
"This is my temple . . . for I built it." Snoke studied Kylo Ren, observant of his reaction.
"You do not believe me. I sense your distrust," Snoke noted.
Kylo Ren bowed his head, "Forgive me, Master. I find that difficult to understand."
"Then let me teach you," Snoke continued with a provoked demeanor. "Have you ever wondered why the Sith master and apprentice always end with one destroying the other?"
Kylo Ren knew that to be true. If no one else defeated one of them, they always ended their relationship with betrayal and death.
"It is the dance to seek immortality. A dance that I have ordained, though none of them knew it. It is their trial to prove themselves as a true Sith."
They continued to walk amidst the bones.
"These," he gestured to all the bodies, "are my children, as all Sith are. I am the father. The Sith. The one to whom they all strive to be like. For centuries they have searched for immortality found only in the dark side. Your grandfather, Darth Vader, sought it. His Master, Darth Sidious, sought it. His Master, Darth Plagueis, sought it. But I am the only one to have found it. And with each new awakening of the Force, I arise again."
They came to a large portcullis at the far end of the hall.
"These masters and apprentices have killed each other in betrayal," Snoke stated and glared at Kylo Ren.
"Do you know why I have told you all this?" he asked Kylo Ren.
"No, Master."
"Because it is for you to enter the Sith Temple. You will be tested, as all apprentices are. You will go in as Kylo Ren. But when you come out, you will be either my loyal servant or my enemy. If a servant, so be it. But if you exit and rise against me, you must know what kind of enemy awaits you. And what your fate will be."
Kylo Ren noticed a set of bones at Snoke's feet still grasping onto an ancient lightsaber, its head severed.
"I understand, My Master."
With that, Snoke lifted the portcullis with the Force. Kylo Ren entered. Snoke then closed the portcullis behind him. They could see each other through the openings.
Kylo Ren ignited his lightsaber for light, the bloody cross-bars erupting out the sides.
"Excellent," Snoke grimaced. "Now go and let your anger and fear guide you to your destiny."
He watched through the portcullis as Kylo Ren descended into the darkened tunnel. The red glow of this lightsaber was swallowed by darkness in the distance.
The walls of the temple had been marked with lightsaber gashes and claw marks; the signs of ancient Sith apprentices guided by their anger. Kylo Ren began to hear malevolent voices, from somewhere just outside of the red light, before and behind him; whispering just loud enough for him to hear, but low enough for him to question their verity.
"He is using you," a familiar male voice echoed.
Kylo Ren glanced around searching for the voice.
"You are my son," the voice said.
"Shut up!" Kylo Ren cried out and rushed forward.
He came to a wide open space where the walls and roof were hidden by the dark void. A narrow path of stone descended into the darkness, on either side a deep dark chasm with no bottom visible. A short way along, the slightly declining path split and headed in two directions. Kylo Ren stopped, unsure of which way to go.
He sat down on the ground and began to dwell on his hate and fear, for there was plenty to meditate on. He hated his father for tempting him to the light. All the more, he hated himself for his failures to abide Snoke's teaching. Above all, he feared Snoke, the Master of his fate. Kylo Ren allowed that fear to grow into anger toward his father, then himself, and ultimately to Snoke; and with that anger, he drew from the dark side of the Force looking for which path to take. Then opening his eyes, there was light far away at two passages, one to his left and the other to his right. Although in the dark, he could not see the paths connect to either door forty yards away; he assumed either path led to their respective exits.
Then out of the passages came two silent figures, wrapped in pallid light: on his left, Leia, his mother, and on the right, Luke Skywalker, his old master. It was obvious to Kylo Ren which path he should take. He walked swiftly and confidently down the path to his right. The ghastly light in the passageway receded; and Luke disappeared, so that when Kylo Ren arrived at the door it was vacant.
Kylo Ren found the passage to descend even further, always going down and becoming colder and more damp until he reached a domed room with a dark pool. The water, if it could be called water, was black and thick. Something dwelt in the pool- something evil, something ancient. Kylo Ren felt the creature's rage.
He reached into the pool with his anger, calling out the monster. It obeyed and began to surface. A black humanoid creature rose in the pool, slimy and glistening in the red glow; but the slime was only a coating from the thick water. It began to fall off of the creature in great coagulated masses, revealing a hooded head, then robes, then a man. It removed its hood to show its face: Luke Skywalker.
Kylo Ren raised his lightsaber, "So this is my test."
"I will not fight you," Luke said.
Kylo Ren gritted his teeth. "Then you will die!"
Kylo Ren, holding his lightsaber with two hands, lunged toward Luke. Not knowing how it happened, he saw that Luke had side-stepped the attack. He attacked again, swinging across then downward, but with no success.
"What game are you playing, Old Man?" Kylo Ren goaded as he lost sight of Luke.
"What game are you playing, Padawan? Pretending to embrace the dark side?" Luke said from behind him.
Kylo Ren screamed, spun, and swung, his fury rising. "I'll show you the dark side."
Luke always escaped unharmed. Kylo Ren flailed and missed a dozen more times.
"I have found a new apprentice," Luke said. "She is stronger than you are."
Kylo Ren, seeing the futility of attacking, lowered his weapon.
"She has replaced you, and she will defeat you."
"Foolish, Old Man," Kylo Ren shouted. "The dark side has made me powerful. More powerful than even her."
"You are not a servant of the dark side, Ben. You deceive yourself. She has defeated you, and she will defeat you again."
With that, Kylo Ren gave full vent to his rage and gave himself over to it. "You lie!"
His eyes became yellow and red; the dark side was taking control. He leaped at Luke, one hand out to grab with the Force, the other at his side for a direct stab with the crimson lightsaber.
A green lightsaber flashed and parried the attack. Luke pivoted to face Kylo Ren, who had landed with his side to Luke. Luke made a horizontal attack, his bright blade streaking from the left in a shaft of green light.
Kylo Ren spun and blocked, their lightsabers locked for a moment, throwing red and green sparks. Kylo Ren placed his foot on the wall behind them and pushed Luke away.
Luke fell back into the black pool, which only seemed to be a few inches thick now. Kylo Ren pursued. He attacked repeatedly with furious mania. Luke stepped back with each block, unable to return any blows.
Kylo Ren swiped high and across from the right, then low and downward. Luke blocked the first strike, but the second took Luke's leg at the knee, burning through the flesh and bone. Luke angled to the ground, another swipe severing his right arm, his lightsaber lost. He collapsed to the ground, looking up to his conqueror.
Kylo Ren's Force driven eyes, filled with anger, glared at his former master.
"I am not your Padawan anymore." He raised his lightsaber for the final blow.
"There is still good in you." The voice was not Luke's but a woman's.
On the ground, with her severed leg and arm, lay his mother.
"There is still good in you, my son."
The red and yellow of his eyes faded to brown.
"Mother," he said low and almost inaudibly.
"Come back to me, Ben."
Seeing her lying, mangled as she was, created an unexpected emotion in him. A tear fell down his cheek.
Leia's form began to grow dark and glistening, as she melted back into the thick mud of the pool. It slipped away between Kylo Ren's legs back into the murky water.
Kylo Ren approached the portcullis from the dark passage, his lightsaber still lit for light. Snoke knew of his arrival and opened the gate.
"And who are you now?" Snoke questioned.
"Your servant, My Master." Kylo Ren replied.
"How are you so sure?"
"Your pet creature in the black pool, I have defeated." Kylo Ren chose his words very carefully. "And I know what we need to do to draw the Jedi and his apprentice."
"Really now," Snoke stated with no emotion.
"I will send two of my knights, Tanut and Kiam, to the prison planet of the Stygeon system."
"Very good," Snoke said as if he knew already what Kylo Ren was planning.
"We need Rey's mother." Kylo Ren guarded his emotions.
Snoke studied him with the dark side.
"We shall certainly see," he commented.
