Chapter Nine
Released
Life sucked, no one was more aware of that than Rey; and yet she really wanted to get to back to living hers. Her eyes drifted around her surroundings and Rey felt her despair deepen. She was trapped and she was alone. Ben was out there somewhere, and she had been sidelined by her own death. She longed to be part of a combined future, but she still didn't regret stopping him from saving her. The thought of him existing in some kind of purgatory-like afterlife was more than she could handle. They had been able to touch, in those moments before she was flung away from him, and Rey wanted that again. Until a spectral being of some kind showed up and told her she was DEAD and needed to cross into the Force, she would continue to fight for a chance at holding him again.
The fiery "spit of hope", as Snoke had called it, rose up inside her like a suddenly awoken dragon and she took a long breath before pushing up onto her feet. Her bones ached with the intensity of the damp cold and forced inactivity. The air around her seemed to crackle with a newfound energy, spinning she stared into the darkness and caught her breath in surprise. A distant glow was slowly growing larger, and the longer she focused the bigger it became. There was definitely something coming toward her.
Spinning, she looked for a safe battleground. True, she didn't have a weapon, but that had never stopped her before. The tall obsidian walls stood out and she rushed toward them, positioning her back against the cold stone. The light continued to move through the moist air like a wraith, intent on one thing, her.
The outline appeared to be that of a bi-ped swathed in soft red light. She swallowed her anxiety, straightened to her full height and waited. In Rey's experience it never helped to show fear in the face of an unknown enemy; and she'd never heard of the darkside 'red' associated with the Force of being anything but bad news for a Jedi.
As the entity got closer, she felt her hands start to shake; sweat gathering at her temples, her body tensing for anticipated action. But as the figure moved into focus, she gasped, Rey knew this person; what the hell was going on?
"Ben?" It came out as a whispered plea of denial. Her eyes blowing wide when he stopped and tilted his dark head, appraising her as one would an experiment. He was once again garbed in the full tunic and cape he'd worn the day she'd met him. A loose garment was wrapped around his shoulders, one that would act as cowl should he choose to don it. But worst of all was the t-shaped lightsaber hanging at his side, again.
Only then did Rey realize her mistake, this wasn't Ben Solo…this was Kylo Ren. Or at least the person he would have been if he hadn't been so burdened by his conflicting paths. There was no kindness in those dark eyes, simply curiosity and something far more sinister that she preferred not to dwell on.
"Rey of Jakku." His full lips parted in a strange imitation of a smile. "Or should I call you Rey Palpatine? Empress Palpatine?" He slowly closed the remaining distance between them as she remained silent, her heart pounding inside her chest. "Or…perhaps you believe you can take on the name of my family, Solo…or is it Skywalker you'd prefer?" He reached out and ran a gloved finger along her cheek. A trail of fire followed the smooth almost feather-lite touch. It wasn't painful, just disarming. "What makes you think you are worthy of such a mantle?" He finished.
She should have swatted his hand away, but Rey was too shocked to do anything more than flinch. His eyebrows rose, making him appear so much like Ben that it nearly drove the breath from her lungs.
"I can't feel you. Inside my head, you're gone." He admitted tersely.
Swallowing thickly, she found her voice was far shakier than she'd hoped when she answered. "My bond was with Ben Solo, not you."
He dropped his hand away like she'd burned him. "Was?" Kylo had homed in on her use of the past tense and it seemed to amuse him. His gaze drifted along her body and she shivered at the cold assessment reflecting out of those dark brown eyes.
Rey's anger started to bubble at his frigid regard. She was not a piece of meat for him to stare at. Not to mention, she'd bested Kylo Ren every time they'd faced one another in battle. Why should this time be any different? "I am dead. Ben is alive." She deadpanned.
"Is that what you think this is? An afterlife?" He chuckled harshly. It sounded foreign in her ears and she wished he'd just stand there and loom over her instead of trying to behave as though they had shared something funny. They weren't friends. He waved his hand and the opaque atmosphere instantly lifted revealing a dense forest. The tall trees had been petrified by unknown years of exposure to the toxic fumes of a dead planet. Great rivers of lava lit up the landscape like the scars of Ren's repaired helmet.
Her mouth fell open and she stared out in shock. "Where am I?" She hadn't meant to voice her question aloud, and she certainly hadn't expected Kylo to answer.
"You don't recognize it?"
Forgetting that he wasn't Ben, she shook her head.
He nodded once, "Exegol."
"That's not possible." She argued.
He snorted, "You thought they took you with them? You said it yourself, you are dead. You did your part, what could you offer them now?"
Her vision blurred with unshed tears as all the issues she'd harbored since her parents had left her alone on Jakku came flooding back with a vengeance. "No." Rey whispered hoarsely. "Ben wouldn't…Finn wouldn't let them leave me behind." It came out small and afraid, even in her own ears.
"But they didn't leave you. They left your body." He corrected. It wasn't cruel, just a fact, as he saw it. Kylo reached out, his eyes softening and plucked at a silken spiral near her ear. He twirled the soft strands between his thumb and forefinger before leaning forward to whisper, "Rey, there shouldn't have been a body. If you had been accepted as a true Jedi…" He didn't finish the thought. He didn't need to, Rey finished it for him.
"I would have been welcomed into the Light." Her throat tightened with conflicting emotions. She'd given everything she had to the Jedi and the resistance, why hadn't the master's accepted her? Her knees wobbled and she sank down wrapping her arms around her knees.
Rather then standing above her, Kylo Ren sank down onto his haunches, his expression sincere. "Say it." He directed softly. Tears streaming down her face, Rey lifted hazel eyes to meet the calm brown. This wasn't the emotionally volatile man she'd come to know; this was the resolved determined apprentice to a Sith. But inside those dark depths was that same connection to her, that scared her more than anything else. Rey could see herself with him. See the shared power they would command and the intensity with which they would rule, together. "Rey, say it." He prodded.
Her vision blurred as she stared at him. "It's a bloodline. The power of the Sith—"
Interrupting, he shook his head, "No, not the Sith."
She blinked several times considering that. "The darkside, it travels along a bloodline."
"And what are you?" Setting his gloved hand on her forearm, he waited patiently for her to come to the conclusion on her own. He'd learned how to read her in their time together and now he used that knowledge to lead her down the path he needed her to take.
Sniffing, she looked up. "I am that bloodline."
"Yes, you are. So, you can't join the Jedi on the 'other side'. Your very cells can't do it. The blood that pumped through your veins in life, won't allow it." He shifted and settled next to her. Reaching out, Ren wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "You would always have been split from him upon your death. But not from me."
She knew she should throw off his comforting warmth, but Rey was so tired of being alone. And what he was saying made sense. Her body hadn't faded away as Leia's likely had; her body had remained upon her death, tied to the world of the Sith Eternal. Was this why her like to Ben had been severed? Had she moved past the point at which she could even be resurrected?
She had a burning question she'd been biting back since she'd seen him walking toward her. "How are you even here? You and Ben Solo are the same person." She asked through her ragged breaths. She didn't expect him to answer; she was pleasantly surprised when he did.
"The darkness is not so easily discarded. When you stabbed me on Kef Bir, you resigned this part of Ben Solo, me, to the darkside of the Force. And when you came to Exegol and forbade the exchange of his life for yours; Rey, you set me free. On this world where the Sith died, I was reborn." He turned to face her more fully. "I have the power to bring you back. But I can't follow you without a body and Ben Solo has my body. You can have everything you ever wanted. You only need to reach out and take my hand."
Just as he'd done so many times before, he stretched out his long fingers. Only this time he removed the black leather glove. Her eyes darted between his earnest expression and the solid flesh resting just in front of hers. She recalled the moment she'd touched his hand inside the hut and the rush of emotions that had flowed along that link. If she took his hand would she lose a part of herself to him? Or would he lose a part of himself to her? He didn't pull his hand away as her eyes sought his. Within those dark depths she saw Ben…her Ben, as he could've been. Was this the part of him that had been lost during the battle with the Emperor? Could she save him this way? Restore his power to him?
She'd lost so much in her lifetime and for once Rey found she just wanted to have a piece of something that was hers. A person that was hers.
It happened in an instant, she lifted her fingers a fraction of the distance before placing her smaller hand inside his open larger one. The bond between blazed to life in a flash. It wasn't what Rey had expected, she screamed in pain as unlimited power rushed into her seeking her very core. "Thank you for truly setting me free." His voice caressed her mind, but it was a distant echo as she writhed against the cold stone beneath her.
Her body rocked with the savage energy coursing through every cell. And suddenly everything blinked out of existence.
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Ben leaned against the cool metal of his makeshift cell. He had a fever and he was constantly nauseated, which could've been caused by any number of things. He hadn't had any further Force-seizures, but his powers were still dampened by the cuffs on his wrists. It had been two days since Finn and the ancient creature named 'Maz' had been so see him. Since then, no one but the guards had been inside his cell. They'd brought him food and ensured that he had plenty of water. The planet was hot, and the constant rains kept the moisture high enough that Ben was sure he'd never be dry again.
At least his body had finally started to cease throbbing with every breath he took. He wasn't fully healed from his ordeal on Exegol, but he was at least moving toward that. The right knee he'd damaged during their fight with the Emperor still twinged with shards of pain, but it was better. Ben shifted, reaching to grab the metal flask of cool water. He gulped back the entire contents of the container and set it aside before grabbing a second one. Leaning forward he started to unscrew the cap when he was interrupted.
A single knock on his door pulled his eyes upward. No one knocked before entering his cell. He didn't answer since he didn't really believe the knock was a request for entrance. Finn slipped through the partially opened door.
He was alone this time, Finn's eyes were wary as he approached the shackled man. "Can I ask you something?"
Ben tilted his head and then nodded. It wasn't like he could deny Finn, not really.
Finn pushed the door shut behind himself and then moved to settle on a wooden cask sitting across from the former leader of the First Order. Ben's eyes followed his progress with rising interest. "Why did Rey believe you would turn?" the former stormtrooper asked without delay.
His question stunned Ben. He found himself at a loss for words. It hadn't occurred to him that Rey would not have revealed their bond to her friends. And he really wasn't sure how to describe it himself. Swallowing, he took a deep breath and shifted his weight back against the wall, unconsciously seeking the solid strength. "I'm not sure I can explain it. Not in a way that will make sense to you."
The ex-stormtrooper pressed his lips together. "Try." He shot back, irritated at the perceived dismissal.
"How much do you understand about the Force?" Ben asked after several moments. He wasn't trying to make Finn feel stupid, he truly needed to know where to start. His knowledge of the Force was so ingrained in him that he would, on occasion, assume others knew as much about the Jedi and the Sith as he did. He watched several emotions flit across the other man's face before he answered in a stilted voice.
"Only what Rey's told me. General Hux didn't exactly want stormtroopers knowing much about what he called a 'misguided religion of soothsayers and machinations'." It was probably the most honest he'd ever been with Ben Solo, or himself concerning the Force. He could sense it, that unifying power that surrounded life and death, but he didn't know what that meant. Finn had hoped that Rey would teach him—he cut off that line of thinking. He couldn't think about her like she was gone. They were going to bring her back; bring her home.
Ben's eyebrows drew together at the mention of Hux's name. He'd never liked that slimy little ginger-rat. He and Armitage had vied constantly for the supreme leader's favor and that had often ended in painful teaching moments for Ben; always at Snoke's insistence. "What did she tell you about her family?"
"Just that they left her on Jakku."
He sighed, his dark eyes were sad as he debated whether or not to tell Finn the truth about her lineage. It wasn't his place and the last thing he wanted was to betray Rey's trust. He'd done so much to damage her faith in him already that he didn't want to add to that list. "I don't know why she didn't tell you the truth—"
Finn interrupted, "She saw herself on the throne of the Sith. That was the only truth I needed to know. It terrified her."
"I know." And he did. Because Ben had seen the same thing, only with himself seated beside her as the ruled the galaxy with fear and blood.
"They why would she risk creating that future just to try and save you?" Finn bit out the last word. His contempt was clearly evident; leaning forward he waited for a response.
Ben licked his lips and crossed his long legs at the ankles. "I assume you already know my story; my mother was the daughter of Vader. Anakin Skywalker..." He wasn't expecting the lancing pain that erupted in his chest at the mention of Leia. Finn nodded. "Rey's father was the son of Senator Palpatine of Naboo." He waited for the other man to piece together the information he'd just revealed. It took less time thank he'd expected.
Sucking in a breath, Finn's eyes widened as he realized just what Ben had told him. Palpatine… "How do you know anything about Rey's father? She didn't."
He didn't say anything for several moments, considering carefully just how much he wanted to tell Finn. "When I found Exegol, the first time, I was informed of Rey's past and the intended role I was to have in her future, by Emperor Palpatine." He saw denial twitch at the corners of Finn's lips. "He didn't lie. Darth Sidious had no reason to lie to me."
"Darth Sidious?"
Ben nodded.
"I thought he was a myth."
"Like my uncle?" An amused jerk to Ben's lips caught Finn off guard. "Didn't you think Luke Skywalker was a myth too; Lando, and Han Solo?" His voice caught on his father's name and he dropped his eyes. He wondered if that pain would ever recede to the back of his mind. Probably not. It wasn't like he'd earned that respite.
Finn straightened up. "Rey was a Palpatine?"
"She is a Palpatine." He corrected quietly.
"Right. That still doesn't explain why she was so dead set on you turning away from the darkside." He crossed his arms over his chest.
Ben scratched at the cuffs as they injected the liquid into his veins. It was on a schedule that was randomized to ensure he couldn't anticipate it. The burn of the chemical coursing through him and the nausea that followed silenced his response for a moment. He waited for it to pass before going on. Finn watched the silent man with a guarded expression. For the millionth time Ben wished he had his powers; he wasn't used to guessing what people were thinking when it came to him.
Finn needed to know the rest of their story. What was it between Ben Solo and Rey that had prompted her decision to run away from her true friends? He remembered the shocked disappointment when she had hit him with a wave from the Force on top of that battered Death Star. He'd only wanted to help her, and she'd shoved him away in favor of saving Kylo Ren; no, not Kylo but Ben.
"This won't make sense to you." Ben said. He continued rubbing his wrists at the injection site. He ignored the irritated look Finn threw in his direction. "There are two sides to the Force—"
"I know that."
Ben continued like he hadn't been interrupted, "Within those sides there are certain bloodlines that are very powerful. The Skywalker line carries so much potential power in the Light side, that it unbalanced the Force. That's part of what made my grandfather susceptible to the Emperor and allowed his seduction to the darkside. While the Palpatine line has been overwhelmed by the darkness with little to no Light anywhere in that lineage. Just as my grandfather was the first Skywalker to reject the Light for the powers of the darkside, Rey is the first Palpatine to deny the darkside for the power of the Jedi. The Force created a dyad. Two presences within the Force that are actually one. Equally powerful and equally divided." He tried to explain their Force connection in a way that might make sense to Finn.
The man seated across from him had leaned forward, his face rapt with attention as he listened intently. "Okay."
Ben shifted, slowly gathering his legs under himself before he rose to his feet. "Rey and I share a bond that allowed us to communicate across any distance. She could see me, and I could see her. The closer we got the more we were able to feel one another's emotions. When I was trying to get to her on Exegol, I was intercepted by my Knights. I had already thrown away my lightsaber on Kef Bir and I am never as powerful without one as I was with that blade in my hands. She sensed me there and when the Force connected us, Rey passed me Luke's lightsaber through that connection." His lips twitched. "She saved me. More often that she should have."
Finn wasn't sure what to say to that, he'd revealed a true weakness to him by telling him about the lightsaber. Rey and Kylo had had some sort of Force-bond? He'd never heard of such a thing, but to be fair there was a lot about the galaxy that he'd never known. And the Force was so much a mystery that it felt like he'd never learn even a fraction of the secrets it held. He didn't think about what he did next, for once Finn simply followed his gut feelings. He stood and crossed the distance between them before holding out his hand.
A look of confusion flitted over Ben's face, "What?"
"Give me your hands." Finn didn't wait, he grabbed at one of the most dangerous men in the known galaxy without any true fear. He had to trust that Ben didn't want him dead. Because honestly if he had, would the former leader of the Knights of Ren need his powers to do it? He'd been trained for decades to fight alongside the best trained assassins the First Order had ever created. Pulling the small golden key from his pocket, he released the locks on the two cuffs.
His eyes dropped to the red scabs that had developed where the injectors had been inserted into his veins. And the fresh line of blood trickling along the inside of his wrists. "Why didn't you say something?"
"Would it have mattered?"
Finn wanted to argue that 'yes' it would've mattered. This was the resistance, not the First Order; they didn't torture their prisoners, no matter who they were. And yet, he knew better; had Ben tried to mention his pain it wouldn't have made them remove the cuffs any sooner. As it was, he was going to have a huge argument about his decision with Poe and Rose.
Ben's dark eyes lifted to meet his and he slowly lowered his arms. "Thank you." The words felt foreign to him. He wasn't sure when he'd said them last. He'd been so focused on his own wants and those of his master for so long that Ben wasn't sure who he would be without that. He'd been lost inside the quest to destroy his family's legacy. It had been Rey's introduction into his world that had set a new quest in motion.
A sudden blast of psychic power so strong it steamrolled down a connection that had been silent for the past several days nearly knocked him unconscious. It hit his mind and send him to his knees as every muscle failed simultaneously. This wasn't just power; it was the combined energies of the darkside of the Force. He hadn't felt anything like it since he'd been in the presence of the Emperor. That sent a bolt of fear through him. Because it wasn't just the darkness, this was familiar…and it had Rey's essence infused with it like a woven blanket.
It felt as though his mind was being torn in half. Ben had fought his own conflicted soul for his entire life; and this was different. This was like being shattered from the inside out. He didn't remember crying out in pain, but his vocal cords strained under the savage attack against his mind.
Finn surged forward trying to catch the larger man as his eyes rolled up into his head. His final cry sounded like it had been ripped from someplace deep inside Ben's soul. And had Finn not been supporting his weight, he never would've recognized the one ragged word he'd screamed out in desperation.
"NO, REY!"
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The medical tech turned toward the cryogenics pods and stammered to a halt when he realized that one of them was open. Hurrying forward, his eyes narrowed and then blew wide in shocked dismay. The pod that had housed the body of the Jedi, Rey, was empty. And it looked as though the lock had been cut by a laser torch…or a lightsaber.
He grabbed up a communicator and sent up an alarm throughout the resistance base. Poe Dameron was the voice that answered his, "What did you say? Repeat your last?"
"The Jedi's body, it's gone sir. She's gone."
TBC…
Author's Note: So, this is finally starting down the road I've been building toward for the last several chapters. Rey had believed so much that she could save Ben Solo, I wondered what would happen if he had to face down the man he'd been in order to save her. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I thank you for your continued support.
Please leave a review…?
