Nothing is Ever Truly Over
Chapter Four
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"No, please!" the scrapper begged upon realizing the threat Rey presented. It instantly turned her into a sniveling coward in Rey's eyes, as if she wasn't pathetic enough before. "I'm sorry!"
So much fear Rey felt within her. But it mattered not. It didn't make her hesitate for a second. She prepared herself, winding up.
"REY, NO!" Ben screamed out of desperation, hoping to stop her in any way he could.
Only for Rey's blade to fall, swinging around and mercilessly cutting the scrapper clean in half.
Instantly, Rey felt Ben's presence disappear, to be replaced with a sense of pain within her lightsaber. It felt like it was screaming in agony. Yet the blade still burned yellow.
She didn't care. She was consumed with an all-encompassing rage. She gave nothing more than a once-over of the former scrapper, turning around when she sensed her life force vanish. She felt even more strengthened by her act.
She sensed two people standing just outside, other scrappers. They were her next targets. All she could think about was to make everyone suffer as much as she had suffered.
She paced over. As soon as she got through the doorway they were standing guard at, she performed a quick one-two slash, swiftly cutting off their heads.
Another person in the area turned towards her, a common thug. The hatred radiating off Rey was so intense, even this non-Force-sensitive could feel it. Her oppressive presence froze him to the ground out of fear for his life.
It was a life he didn't need to worry about for much longer, as Rey strode over and cut him down.
Rey's eyes scanned the marketplace, spotting the large crowd present that day begin fleeing the place via multiple routes. There were many bounty hunters and scum among them, but also innocents; ordinary merchants along with elders, and women and children.
At one point, she would've dropped everything to save them, but now, Rey didn't care at all about what happened to them. She dashed towards them, saber poised to thrust through each one. After reaching them and running her blade through a few of the first she reached, she followed up her dash attack by unleashing a string of swift attacks, and the blade instantly ended everyone in its path. She felt the death of every man, woman, and child. Instead of recoiling from it, the pain only strengthened her even more.
She soon cut off another exit route. Screams of panic ensued, and she began silencing them one by one, cutting down every innocent family she came across. Every single death unleashed wails of terror both into the air and into the Force.
None of it shook Rey in the least, her eyes still burning with pure hatred for everyone who crossed her path.
She spotted another escape route that many people had fled down. She recognized that if she didn't act, then they would be able to escape unharmed.
But Rey didn't want that. Instead, she reached out into the Force, and with her unfathomable rage pulled down a building, cutting off their escape. The populace cowered before her, and Rey felt nothing but anger towards them. They were pathetic and weak in the face of danger.
She felt nothing but a thirst for blood, and threw her lightsaber at them. The blade cut half of them down, and it cut down the other half on its way back to her hand.
She sensed danger behind her from the main marketplace, and swiftly brought her blade behind to deflect a blaster bolt. Turning around, she noticed she had attracted a few enemies willing to fight back. Among them were several scoundrels and amateur bounty hunters, along with one sharpshooter whose shot had been deflected just in time by Rey.
She didn't hesitate, quickly dashing over to one and delivering a swift upwards strike, ending him at once. Sensing danger from her left rear, she turned and deflected a blaster bolt straight back at its source, killing the meaningless criminal.
"Kill her!" another shouted, leading four other thugs in a charge towards her, armed with a myriad of melee weapons.
She narrowed her eyes. She hated this person already for daring to stand against her.
The first came at her with a staff. She evaded the first strike, reflected a blaster bolt back and killing who shot it, and followed up by striking down the staff-armed thug effortlessly.
Two more charged at her, these each armed with a pair of long knives. They were swift, strikes quick and direct, but Rey was faster. She saw the attacks coming seconds beforehand, and evaded each one. As one strike came towards her, she grabbed her foe's arm, swiftly disarming her befuddled enemy and striking him down. The second knife wielder attacked, but Rey slid under his strike and cut him in half from behind. She followed up by reflecting another blaster bolt back to its origin, killing another.
The last two each had one rudimentary sword each. Rey didn't bother waiting for the first to attack, pulling them towards her and swiftly stabbing them in the abdomen, ending their life instantly. She then closed with the other enemy. She brought down her lightsaber in a heavy, overhead slash, cutting straight through their sword. She then twisted, leaping up into the air to follow up her attack with a leaping slash, ending them.
She heard running footsteps, and turned to one of the entrances left open. Two well-equipped bounty hunters with A280C blaster rifles stood there, one of them equipped with a jetpack and more sophisticated weapon gauntlets.
"I'm going in!" the jetpack hunter said, jumping into the air with their jetpack and activating one of the gauntlets, aiming downwards and unleashing a stream of fire while flying and creating a wall of flames.
Rey rolled out of the way, quickly reflecting the first bolt out of a burst of three blaster bolts from the ground hunter back at them. It wasn't enough to bring them down. She noticed them take a knee, and it was only instinct that allowed her to dodge an extremely powerful and precise blaster bolt, one that she knew she could not block.
She sensed the jetpack hunter take off again. Looking over, she saw them shoot a missile from their other gauntlet. There was no time for her to do anything other than roll out of the way. The missile strike was followed up with two blasts, which she blocked, and another powerful blaster bolt, which she dodged.
Rey scowled at them both, wiping the grime off her face. She hated these two, without even knowing them.
She focused on the ground hunter, and threw her lightsaber at them.
"AGH! She got me!"
The attack connected, curiously knocking them back and off their feet rather than just cutting them in half. Rey thought perhaps maybe their armor was somewhat resistant to lightsabers. It wasn't unheard of, she knew.
She followed up her attack quickly by dashing in a blur and grabbing their throat, hoisting them up. Her other hand hovered before their covered face and she began to suck the life force right out of them. She used to give life, as she had to the serpent on Pasaana and to Ben on Kef Bir. But now, she was taking it. Once it was fully extinguished and they fell to their knees, she roughly kicked the hunter over like they were trash. Their death gave her a sick sense of satisfaction going off her twisted yet gleeful expression.
"You're mine!" the jetpack hunter taunted as they took off and launched a missile at her, which she rolled away from. It was followed up by two blasts and one powerful blast, all of which she evaded.
She bared her teeth in a deadly smirk. Rey reveled in just how much more power she had over one simple bounty hunter. She demonstrated her extreme superiority by channeling all her hatred, extending her hand and releasing it as a powerful streak of Force lightning.
The bounty hunter didn't even have time to scream, as the lightning was powerful enough to speedily fry them into a burnt crisp.
A twisted giggle left Rey's mouth. She found it funny how pathetic she found the bounty hunter for standing up to her. She slowly strode up to them, lightsaber still ignited, and cut their head off in such a casual way.
Her power trip began to wind down, and she surveyed the area.
So many dead bodies were lying all over the ground, many cut up into pieces. Rey tilted her head, finding something slightly off about the picture.
Squinting, she noticed what it was: someone was moving. She quickly strode over to investigate.
It was a little girl, no more than six solar rotations old, wrapped in the arms of her dead parents. Rey could feel the traumatic fear coming off her. So much that it was impossible to speak.
Looking to either side of her at her parents, Rey was reminded so heavily of her own parents. She knew they had given their lives to protect her… and yet, she hated them for abandoning her. She was around the same age as the little girl before her when it happened. She would never forget how they left her.
"Don't worry," she breathed out reassuringly, yet her tone oozed with a darkness that was just impossible to conceal. "You won't suffer like I did."
And she ran the little girl through with her lightsaber. She died with a silent scream on her face.
Her face triggered something within Rey. It discomforted her a lot, so she looked away.
Only to run into more faces devoid of life. Feeling pained, she tried to turn away.
But no matter which way she turned, death greeted her. She began to hyperventilate as she panicked. The sight that greeted her from all angles horrified her. She couldn't believe what had just happened.
She had just massacred an entire town. The only sign of life within Mos Eisley was her own. After her actions, the place was enveloped with a dark aura. And it wasn't just criminal scum she killed, which she could've morally justified to feel better about herself. No. She had also killed innocent people indiscriminately. By the Force, she had looked a child straight in the eyes and murdered her.
She looked down at her lit lightsaber. She could feel all the pain within it. It seemed to be screaming at her in agony.
Looking to the sky, she noticed it had darkened significantly. There was only a sliver of light left as the second sun nearly set completely.
Without thinking, she sprinted in that direction like her life depended on it.
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On Coruscant, Finn felt a distinctly painful feeling deep inside him, in that particular sense that he could only sense Rey in. It felt not only painful, but vengeful and dark.
"Finn?" Rose asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"
He didn't really know exactly what he was feeling. He couldn't explain it to Rose when he didn't exactly understand it himself. All he knew was that he was feeling Rey. But it didn't make sense to him. Rey had never felt this way before. She just felt so different than what he normally felt from her.
"… Yeah," he nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, I think so…"
He did still believe in her, though. Perhaps it was just a feeling and nothing to be concerned over. But it did make him lose his appetite, and he pushed his breakfast away.
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On Dathomir, Cal shot up from his sleep, alert and panting heavily.
"Cal?" Merrin sleepily asked, her voice scratchy from just waking up. "What is it?" She lazily wrapped her arms around him as she stretched, reminding him distinctly of a Loth-cat.
But it was only a small corner of his mind that thought such. His main focus was elsewhere.
"Something terrible just happened," he said, shaken by the feeling he just experienced.
The Nightsister woke up more at how distressed her Jedi was. "What?" she asked, immediately wishing to help him.
"There was a spike of incredible darkness somewhere," he described. "So much rage, anger, hatred, and sorrow… It's horrifying. I've only felt this level of darkness once before…"
Merrin locked her gaze with his, imploring him to continue so she could figure out how to help.
"… when I ran into him."
Oh no… She knew exactly who he was: Darth Vader, the machine-like man who had nearly managed to kill him. Even now he still had the scar on his side to prove he had encountered him and survived. Merrin could scarcely imagine another presence so twisted and corrupted. Darkness she could handle. Darkness was natural. But not that corrupted and twisted darkness of the Sith.
Cal turned to her, resolute. "We need to find it."
Merrin nodded in agreement. She trusted him implicitly.
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Rey ran and ran, all the way into the desert, chasing the waning light of the setting sun. She needed something to hold onto. She didn't want to feel this way, like she was about to fall apart.
The Lars Homestead was in sight. She grew invigorated by that. And there was still light in the sky. She still had hope.
She ran and ran, only just barely holding it all together when all she wanted to do was die. She felt so sick to herself for what she did. She wanted to run far, far away from it.
Just before she could get there, however, she stumbled and fell. Just as the sun set completely and the last of its light disappeared, leaving the sky in total darkness.
What she had done finally hit her, and she chucked her lightsaber ahead of her just before the homestead, now completely disgusted with it as she broke down into heaving sobs. What was worse, she couldn't feel Ben anymore. In his place, all she could feel was pain. The amount of agony she felt was overflowing, and she couldn't take it. It felt crushing.
In front of her, the featherlight brushing of a black cloak accompanied sinuous footsteps from high-quality black boots, mostly covered by the hem of a black dress, as someone approached her.
Rey heard the steps, and her sobs quietened down as she followed the black dress's hem all the way up until she saw who stood before her. Their identity shocked and terrified her.
"No… You're not real," she whispered shudderingly.
She was staring at herself.
Herself, as in the very same dark reflection of herself she had encountered within the Death Star. And she was her greatest nightmare. She was like this... dark shadow she couldn't get rid of.
The darker Rey smirked, amused. "I'm as real as you are," she countered in that slithery, whispery tone of hers. "If you had been more aware of yourself, perhaps you would already know that."
Hearing her talk made Rey realize that she had heard her voice before. "You were the one who told me to do it," she put the pieces together, shooting a glare at her. "To kill them all."
Dark Rey cocked her head. "Yet you were the one who was so quick to do so." Her lips curled into a grin. One that relished in causing pain. She shuffled her feet, changing her stance into one that projected power as she stared Rey down from under her black hood. The one-of-a-kind lightsaber hanging off her belt reinforced the image. "Face it: you were the one who slaughtered that entire town without a care in the galaxy."
"No I didn't!" Rey hissed an instinctual denial. She quickly fumbled for a possible explanation. "I know you had something to do with this! I would never kill innocent people!"
"And yet you miss the point." Dark Rey raised her chin up at her, as if Rey was beneath her. Literally speaking, she was: Rey was still on her knees before her darker self. "I am you, just as you are me. And I know you would do the same thing again. You want to know why?"
Rey withered a little under how oppressive her darker self was. "No, I wouldn't do this…" she insisted, but it was with a notably weaker conviction.
"It's because you're a survivor. You've been one your whole life. You would do anything to stay alive, absolutely anything. Wouldn't you?" Dark Rey tilted her head inquisitively. She stepped closer to Rey, who looked down. She gripped her chin – surprisingly gently – with her left hand to tilt her head back up. "There's no need to feel guilty. You lost your last companion. Why wouldn't you want to take revenge on the one who took him away? It's perfectly natural."
"It's an act of evil," Rey said, trying to scramble away, but the grip on her chin intensified, enough so she felt the ring on her finger dig in to her skin.
"Evil and good is only a matter of perspective." Dark Rey purposely released her chin and watched her stumble back. It only demonstrated how much power she had over Rey that she couldn't escape unless she willed it. "Like our so-called Master Luke," she mocked Rey, taunting her with her own false perception of her and Luke's relationship. "He thought it would be a fantastic idea to kill his own nephew in his sleep."
"NO! You have no right to mention his name!" Rey rose up to her knees.
"Yet you do?" Dark Rey paced before her with a specific lethal elegance. "You know, he was right when he said it was time for the Jedi to die. No wonder he didn't want to train you. Clearly, you make a terrible one. No Jedi I've heard of ever culled an entire town."
Rey couldn't hold her gaze. Her darker self made her feel so ashamed of herself. A true Jedi wouldn't commit a massacre out of uncontrollable rage. "They took BB-8 away from me," she whispered out of a final attempt to justify herself, but even she knew it only proved her darker self's point more.
"And there you've learned your lesson," Dark Rey breathed, stopping her pacing. "To love, is to die… and to kill, is safety."
It was a brutal statement, but one Rey regrettably found to be true. All the people she had ever loved ended up dying. And there was a distinct satisfied sensation that filled her when she killed all those people.
"Just accept the truth. You are no Jedi."
All of the fight left her at that, because she was right: Rey was no Jedi. She was far too impulsive and gave into her emotions far too much. She curled in on herself even more, completely dejected.
Dark Rey then knelt before her, placing them at equal height. It was a curious move, and it made Rey look up, slightly baffled.
"But that doesn't mean you have no purpose," she said with a surprising amount of care.
It confused Rey that her darker self could be so caring. And it was genuine: there was no sneer crossing her face, no hard eyes, and an honesty in her face that Rey was familiar with; people within the Resistance had often described her as having an honest face.
Dark Rey stood up, and extended her formerly clenched left hand towards her, imploring her to take it.
Part of her still didn't trust her, but another part of her thought it was foolish for her to mistrust someone who was literally herself. It made Rey feel like the butt of a bad joke to be mistrustful of herself.
And that is why she took Dark Rey's hand. She couldn't deny someone who knew her better than she knew herself, especially when that person actually was herself.
"The one thing you will always have, is power," Dark Rey imparted to her as they walked back into the Lars Homestead. "Nothing can ever take that away from you."
She made a convincing point, Rey had to acknowledge. She wasn't really one for power, though. "What are you saying, exactly?"
When they entered her room, Dark Rey stopped and turned to her. "I'm saying to use that power." As Rey sat on the bed, her darker self took a look around the place. Her gaze fixed upon one specific unopened box, and she walked towards it. She trailed a finger along the edge. She glanced back at Rey meaningfully, seeming to know what was already inside yet not judging her for it. "If you have the power to change things, then it's a sin to choose not to when things could obviously be better."
Rey thought deeply. It made sense to her: if it was possible to make things better and the opportunity to do so wasn't taken, then that was counterproductive. Complacency was dangerous. Even with what little she knew about the Galactic Republic and New Republic, she recognized that they were flawed and did ultimately fail. She could see that establishing another Republic like the Resistance wanted may not be the best idea.
As she thought, Dark Rey stepped towards her and off to the side. She then gestured towards the box. "Open it."
Rey was caught by surprise, but wasn't totally averse to the idea. "Why?" she asked, slightly concerned.
"It's time for you to accept what is true and stop hiding from it."
Ben had talked to her about accepting the truth several times, most recently earlier that evening. She was a bit ashamed that it was only until now that she heeded that.
Hesitantly, she paced towards the box, and slowly opened it back up for the first time. She first took out a set of clothes.
"Put them on," Dark Rey gently pushed. "You may say you don't, but I know a part of you is drawn to them. Why else would you get them despite that?"
Rey was still wary, but she did as suggested. There was no arguing her point, after all. A part of her did like this outfit she got, even against her better conscience.
She shed her all-white outfit and began putting on her new all-black one. First was a black battle dress, one whose combination of elegance and durability ensured that it was as at home on the Senate floor as it was in the face of battle, with long, tight sleeves juxtaposed by a more open v-neck. The dress was accompanied with a belt – reminiscent of Kylo Ren's but not so bulky and more streamlined – worn high just under the bust, making the dress fit even tighter than it already did.
Following was sharp, black boots with reinforced soles, which Rey really wanted because she had felt all of the dead bodies under her feet with her current pair; this new pair would allow her to put that experience behind her and never think about it again.
The next article that followed was the staple of the ensemble: the black hooded cape, just as meticulously crafted and withstanding as the dress to fit perfectly within a high-class gathering as well as on a battlefield. As opposed to the tight dress which felt more suffocating, the cloak flowed freely enough to feel like she was drowning in it.
She hesitated to take the last two items, but with Dark Rey's gently encouraging look, she did. The former item was a ring, very reminiscent of the ring Leia had worn but black. She put it on her left index finger.
The second item she was far more nervous to take. But take it she did. It was a lightsaber, double-ended with a hinge in the center. Rey examined it. The hilt was thin enough for her smaller hands to be comfortable with it. And she was ashamed it fit her so well.
"Don't feel shame," Dark Rey softly admonished from over her left shoulder. "You should feel pride in your first creation."
She had made this weapon first, before she made her yellow lightsaber. She had recoiled at the finished product and shoved it into a box never to be seen again, much like she had with her new satin black outfit. And then she covered it up with something more acceptable, with the yellow lightsaber and virgin white outfit.
Taking a shuddering breath and clenching her fist, she ignited the lightsaber. The two emitters hissed and blew to life, illuminating her in blood red as the two unstable blades spit and crackled. With a smooth motion of her arm, she swung the lightsaber to lock the hilt into its staff form.
She looked to Dark Rey, and felt a bit squeamish under her gaze of pride. After her transformation, it was like she was looking in a mirror. It made her uncomfortable.
"Don't be afraid of who you are," she said to her once again. But this time, Rey didn't feel unadulterated fear at the statement. It wasn't a taunt this time, but rather it was a genuine piece of wisdom. "Use your power, and you won't lose anyone else ever again."
That sealed it for Rey. She never wanted to lose those she loved ever again. Though she felt burdened, she also felt a sense of purpose now. She nodded her understanding at Dark Rey.
With that, her darker self disappeared, but the darkness did not disappear alongside her. Rather, Dark Rey only disappeared because now Rey had become her; she had become the very thing she feared the most.
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And there's chapter four, and what an eventful one it is! Rey pulls an Anakin killing the sand people, she's completely lost touch with Ben, a handful of people have felt the huge spike in darkness but only Cal and Merrin take it seriously, and Rey undergoes a transformation after her dark self confronts her.
This is one chapter I've been waiting to write because Rey's darker side was always what interested me the most about her, excluding her relationship with Ben. She's incredibly hypocritical when it comes to Light Side vs Dark Side, to the point that, in my opinion, she doesn't seem to recognize the difference between them. She only follows the light because that's what everyone expects of her. But what frustrates me is that she never has to face the consequences of her darker tendencies, like every single time she hurt Ben, whether it be physically or emotionally. This time, however, she does. It's impossible to ignore or justify slaughtering an entire town indiscriminately. Anakin couldn't get away with killing children, so why should Rey?
Besides literally every scene with Adam Driver including the Reylo scenes (because come on, he's the best; and he and Daisy really had excellent chemistry) the Dark Rey scene was my favorite in TROS. I really liked the way Daisy Ridley played Dark Rey. It really reminded me of how Helena Bonham Carter played Bellatrix Lestrange in a way, and she's one of my favorite Harry Potter villains because of that portrayal. I'm just disappointed that we didn't get more Dark Rey, because that was by far my favorite scene in the whole trilogy with just Rey. Plus, she just looked so cool with that outfit and lightsaber.
I had always liked the idea of Rey confronting her greatest fear – her dark self – and failing to overcome it. Rey actually has a terrible track record when it comes to her successes. She's failed at most of what she's set out to do. Sure, she beat a weakened Ben on Starkiller, but it didn't change the fact that Han was dead. It was just her taking out her anger. She failed to bring Luke back, failed to turn Ben away from the First Order, and Dark Rey effortlessly beat her on the Death Star. So did Ben, as a matter of fact; he had her on the ground. She only won because she didn't realize he had stopped fighting. The only successes to her name are moving the rocks and ultimately beating the Emperor, but even the latter can't be solely attributed to her. If it weren't for Ben showing up when he did, she would've given in to what the Emperor wanted.
Much of the combat scenes was influenced by Jedi: Fallen Order, because let's face it: it has the best lightsaber fighting out of any Star Wars game so far.
Also, don't expect Force-sensitive Finn here, because that's utterly ridiculous and only exists for fanservice's sake. Here, he merely has a close connection to Rey and only feels her because of that. Think of it like how Padmé was able to feel Anakin in ROTS, but it's only one way, because clearly Rey isn't as close to Finn as he is to her.
Lastly, I want to give a thank you to everyone who's stuck around so far. The fact that people are reading this really does make my day. Every time I get a review, I take so much time responding to it because I really do cherish them. So, if you'd like to, then follow, favorite, and leave a review.