The Bond That Ties Us
Chapter Twenty-One
To The City
We need to be careful, Ben thought. I believe it was able to pull you into another illusion because you were tired.
Rey didn't like to think she was so weak. On the other hand, denying it would only exacerbate the problem. She had been tired, so tired she was still shaking from the run that had taken place once the illusion started.
What do you suggest we do?
We rest. We combine our thoughts again, and we rest.
The stone city.
Ben and Rey looked up at the skyline at the birds soaring overhead. They were circling around the top of one of the abandoned towers. Rey wondered if they had made a nest up there.
Her eyes swept over the rest of the city. It was exactly as it had been in the first illusion. It went miles inward. Rey couldn't see any sort of end to it, only tower after tower after tower… What had this place been like when it was thriving? It was sad to see it now.
The journey to the center was going to be long and arduous. They would have to rest more because their path through the trees hadn't been nearly as strenuous as this would be. Rey felt like she was holding them back and knew it was nonsense. Ben would inevitably have had to take a break, too. He projected an image of tirelessness, but he was only human.
And everyone grew weary eventually.
Rey hoped they would make it there before nightfall. They had no idea as to how long days on this planet lasted. Darkness could be an hour away, or twelve. They hadn't gotten a good sense of time here, seeing as how they'd spent most of it trapped in illusions or sleeping.
What do we do if it grows dark?
We find cover.
And join our thoughts?
Yes.
What if this is a trap?
We came here on our own. The outcome will be the same whether it's a trap or not.
She supposed that was true.
Rey stood under the shade of a crumbling building and panted. Sweat was dripping down her forehead and neck. She wiped away the former and took a swig of water from her bottle. Not too much, though. She needed to conserve what she could. She knew that much from growing up in a desert.
At the touch of Ben's mind, she let him in. They needed to rest for a moment and regain their grasp on their surroundings. They'd been going straight for hours, but at this point, everything looked the same. Towers, broken buildings, plant life flourishing, all of it unending. They couldn't even see the forest anymore.
She hoped they would be able to find their way back to the Falcon once this was over.
They rested for half an hour and then soldiered onward. It was hell climbing over these buildings, and sometimes the flora would be too thick to cut through easily. Ben had brought out his lightsaber, making a path for them. The sight of it always made Rey quite envious. She missed the feeling of having a lightsaber in her hand, of being able to defend herself.
Of having something capable of attacking the thing trying to murder her. Maybe then she'd have a fair chance.
Ben caught onto her rising bloodthirst. We are going to use the Force, remember?
Yes, he was right. She'd gotten tunnel vision.
The Force will be more potent than anything a lightsaber can do.
The Force. They'd already had a taste of their combined powers, and they hadn't even pushed them to the limit yet. Once they got there, once they reached this thing, the might of their power would eviscerate it. She had doubted this morning, but she didn't now.
She just…
She…
Rey bit the inside of her lip. Hard. The flash of pain reminded her of herself. Honestly, she was a little terrified of what had risen inside of her. She knew murder wasn't the way, that tit for tat wasn't what was right. She also knew that using the Force copiously could have negative impacts on her sense of self, as well as her body.
How do you do it? How do you resist?
I didn't.
Well, all right then.
I had no reason to. Now… with our connection, with what's happened… I build my resistance with what I pull from you.
So it still calls to you? The power?
The power calls to everyone. The use of it is what sets Jedi and Sith apart.
That made her feel a little better.
Gravel crunched beneath their boots. They came to a stop before a line of buildings that didn't have an immediate end. A giant tree wound through them, and Rey tilted her head back to see the roots better. She could climb those easily.
You are… having trouble resisting?
He didn't need to ask that. He could see it clearly in her mind. Which meant he was probing for something.
All I want to do is take our power, right now, and go deal with this thing.
Rey placed the sole of her boot against the biggest root. It wasn't slick, but it was also very dry. Getting a foothold might be a problem. She took a few steps back, then several more, and then crouched with one knee on the ground.
She exhaled.
Rey tore across the gravel, arms pumping at her sides, and leapt. Her feet found purchase, and she wrapped her arms around the root. With some shimmying, she was soon an easy twenty feet off the ground.
Has it occurred to you I may not be able to climb like that?
It's not as hard as it looks.
She concentrated and kept climbing. Some fifteen minutes later, she stood at the top of one of those ridiculously tall buildings. She put her hands on her hips and lowered her head as her heart pounded madly. Catching her breath was taking a moment; she was a little too winded.
Two minutes later, Ben landed next to her, frazzled and irate. That was not pleasant. He brushed his hands off, clearing away the bark.
Rey didn't answer him. She was too busy staring straight ahead.
Not questioning her, Ben stood beside her. Together, they took in the sight they'd been searching for. Bodies and bodies of petrified people, climbing over one another, fighting for something Rey hadn't been able to figure out yet. And the girl at the top, her hand outstretched, so close to grasping something.
"It's going to take another hour just to get down there," Rey said. They had no climbing equipment, and the side of this building was a straight shot down. They'd have to find another way to go around; probably keep walking over the tops of the buildings and tree roots until they found an easier way down.
There was an eerie quiet in the air. Rey hadn't realized how much wildlife was still rooting around in the buildings until it was gone. The waist high grass and the trees continued to flourish, but there were no birds, no critters…
It was deeply unsettling.
They were getting closer, and so far, the sunlight was holding strong. It had taken two hours instead of one to get there. After an hour and a half of hunting for a way down, they came upon a hole in the roof of one building. It consisted of layers of abandoned floors, and they followed them until it spat them out decently near the ground.
They wanted something, Rey said. She reached the first of the statues and went to touch it, but Ben gripped her hand and yanked it away.
You don't know that it won't spread to you.
Heart still racing from the sudden grab, Rey nodded. What do you think they were after?
The creature that is toying with us.
Rey's brows rose at that. What?
It's just a hunch.
She was still looking at Ben and walking forward as she slammed into an invisible wall. The force of it sent her flying a few feet back, and she grunted in pain as she landed on gravel. What in seven hells…?
So it's hiding in there!
We can probably penetrate it with the Force.
And then what?
Then we meet it when it comes for us.
Uneasy, Rey took Ben's hand. He waited for her to be ready this time, and then they both called upon the Force. It came swiftly to them, stealing Rey's breath. She did her best to ignore it. Now was not the time.
Concentrate.
They moved as one, their awareness stretching. They took the Force and gathered it, as if in handfuls, building it until it was brimming over. They fused it together and then launched it forward, Rey crying out, Ben standing grimly.
The air rippled.
Now what—
Darkness.
Rey could feel it, something headed straight for her. She threw up her arms, squeezed her eyes shut.
Nothing hit her.
After a few tense heartbeats, Rey lowered her arms and opened her eyes. The darkness had vanished. In its place was a sprawling metropolis, the touch of wildlife gone. There was nothing here but shininess, everything metal or plastic and completely devoid of empathy. It was an odd thing to think, and she wasn't sure how she knew that.
Her eyes lifted to the people climbing over one another. They were swarming, they were rushing past her to the center to join the fray. Weapons flashed and went off, lasers bouncing off metal surfaces and taking out more people. The cries of the dying and the vengeful filled the air.
Everyone had completely lost their minds.
Ben—
She turned to him, but he wasn't there.
Oh, no. An illusion?
Rey pulled at the Force. It didn't respond to her call.
An illusion.
They'd discussed how to tell if she was in one, but not how to get out of it!
She was being shown the past, though… why?
She hadn't seen anything for the people to be warring over, but that was because she hadn't peered hard enough. Something was up there, glowing a brilliant white. It faded back into non-existence, and the air rippled. The crowd screamed harder. A child was elbowed in the face, crushed a second later by someone's foot. Rey looked away, ill.
What is this?
A voice answered her. This is what happened here. You wanted to know.
"Take me back!" Rey cried.
No. I want you to see them kill one another to get to me.
To… to what, the glowing white ball…? Was it saying that it was—that thing she'd seen so briefly?
"What are you?" Rey asked.
The petrification process had begun. It sprang from the ground and moved steadily upward, claiming all in its path. Faces were frozen in time—the woman at the top, reaching, reaching, fingers stilling as the stone encompassed her.
I am everything and I am nothing. I am energy, but I do not change. I am wanted because of what I can do, the power I represent.
"Don't play around!" she snapped.
I can feel the desire in you, the desire to kill me. That is new. I have never felt this. I have always been wanted, coveted, never hated.
"I'm not a doll for you to experiment on emotions with!" Rey looked round and round, but couldn't spot anything significant. If it weren't for the pulses of movement the ball sent off, she would have thought everything was petrified, not only the citizens.
I wonder if you could kill me. Strangely, it didn't sound like a taunt or a challenge. I think that would make me very happy. I am very lonely.
Lonely?
What?
Rey stepped closer to the center, her eyes now trained back on the ball. "What do you mean?"
I am only wanted—to be used.
"I don't—care about using you!" Rey shouted. "I have no idea what you are, and I really don't need to! Now take me away from this illusion and bring me back to reality!"
This is not an illusion. This is a memory.
Blasted…
"Memory or not, let me go!"
You really do not want to know what I am?
"If I can use it kill you!"
You are not intrigued by my potential?
"Whatever you are, I don't want it. I have everything I need. All right? So—"
You do not want pure, unlimited power?
"No! I have enough power!"
The voice was quiet. Just when Rey lost her patience again, it spoke anew.
You do not want to use me? Even if you knew what I was…?
She closed her eyes for strength. "If you want to tell me, then tell me," she gritted out. "But I really don't care either way. If I listen, will you free me?"
Yes.
"Fine." She crossed her arms. "Let's get this over with, then."