WARNING: Mildly disturbing imagery (based off the TROS artbook) in this chapter. You've been warned.

Chapter 3: Into the Unknown

Kylo Ren found himself being led through the galaxy by some sort of pull. He recognized its grasp; it was that of the dark side of the force.

But it was like Snoke's signature. Rotten. Pure evil.

Kylo didn't want to go back to that. He loathed Snoke, finding the last few months without his tormentor freeing. He endured his harsh words, his coercing into the dark side for long bleak years. It was the worst part of his life, but he felt he had no choice, not what after Luke attempted to do.

When Snoke told Kylo to kill Rey, he refused to let that happen, he couldn't do it, ever. In all scenarios, in any universe, he would always choose Rey.

Kylo took a deep breath, his curious mind still wondering where exactly this evil pull of the force was coming from. He followed his gut instinct and made his way through the system, noting that he was going right into uncharted territory. Where exactly was he going?

The planet he arrived upon made him stare in awe and horror. Exegol, a place where the Sith once gathered. He heard about it during his time at Luke's academy but it was just rumors and speculation. And the force led him here. He marked it in his charts in case he needed to return.

Landing on the dark planet and disembarking his TIE-Silencer, he was greeted with no wind. The air was stilted amongst the clouds that covered the entire planet. The evil of the Sith still lingered around him. It was a familiar darkness, one he had unknowingly pushed himself away from in the months following Snoke's downfall.

He took one step forward, then another. The still of the air yet crackled with energy of the force. Lights flashed above, darting through the clouds.

The dark side loomed over this entire planet as far as he could feel. An unsettling dread rose within himself, his gut screaming at him to turn back. Flee from the darkness that choked him until that fated day in the throne room. Kylo continued to follow the threads of the evil, walking closer and closer, determined to know what exactly the root of this evil was, and even be able to destroy it.

Walking into the unknown, he ignited his lightsaber. The energy of the force crackled back at the sheer intensity of his blade in hand. The red light illuminated his way as he approached the cavern and found an opening.

Whispers rose, dancing in his ears. Kylo's breathing became ragged as all his doubts and words were shoved back at him.

You'll never be as strong as Darth Vader!

You're just a child in a mask.

You're a monster!

I will have killed the last Jedi!

Your son is gone! He was weak and foolish like his father! So I destroyed him!

Please don't go this way.

He blinked, trying hard not to let tears escape. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

I never… I didn't want this.

The night that Luke tried to kill him was forcibly shoved back into his thoughts. He remembered the fear. He remembered the utter terror of betrayal shaking him as he stumbled out of the wreckage of his hut and been graced with seeing lightning strike the main temple.

The fear had consumed Ben Solo and given birth to Kylo Ren.

And Kylo Ren was used for 7 long years. Kylo collapsed to his knees, trying to repel the memories of Snoke holding him in the air and using the force to inflict pain through every muscle and every bone through his body.

Yet all he heard was Rey's screams at this memory and not his own.

Snoke was always in his head, knowing every thought, every move he made. It was almost impossible to do anything of his own accord, except obey, even when he didn't want to kill Han Solo, not really. He only did it because he was sorely convinced that would end his pain. End his conflict. Push himself farther into the embrace of darkness.

Coming here was a mistake.

Kylo gripped his lightsaber with unwarranted strength. He breathed in and out as he stumbled forward closer and closer to a dull blue light in the crevasse he entered.

He had to focus lest his own demons kill him in this awful Sith-riddled place.

Immediately he thought of Rey. How she looked at him through the bond many times. Destain. Hatred. Anger. Flustered. Sadness. Tears.

Loneliness.

Understanding.

Disappointment.

He never wanted to see her like that again towards him. All he wanted to see was her smile once.

Her light was so strong. So beautiful. So alluring. His own darkness was pulled towards her light, linked together by a sense of mutual understanding. Kylo stopped his footsteps and leaned against the rock wall, lost in thoughts of Rey.

What he would give to see that smile.

In the months following Snoke's defeat, Kylo kept to himself, only inviting his Knights of Ren to overlook the First Order and keep an eye on other leaders such as General Hux. He didn't want the power, he didn't really want to be Supreme Leader, but he felt he had no choice, it was in the vision he had seen. He was Kylo Ren, feared and revered across the galaxy. The murderer of Han Solo. Master of the Knights of Ren. The one who killed Luke Skywalker. The Jedi Killer.

And so it began, slowly. He lowered the amount of guards around supplies, hoping the Resistance would take the bait. Any reports of misconduct or hints of spies he overlooked. Kylo didn't realize he was consciously supporting the Resistance until he saw some discussion that the Resistance's new location was on Ajan Kloss and destroyed all evidence, making said officers forget that was even a possibility.

He didn't want to tell Rey any of this, so he didn't; only staring at her whenever their force bond opened. Kylo knew when she shut the door on him that nothing he did now would matter to her. He respected that, he made his mistakes, he deserved to pay for them, and his punishment was nothing from Rey. No words. No affection. No belief in him.

All Kylo Ren wanted now to be was himself. He wanted to make his own choices. No voices inside his head.

He closed his eyes, thinking back to when it all started when his emotions finally found some steady ground.

That one fateful day on Starkiller Base in the forest. He had reached out with the force to collect Anakin Skywalker's saber in his grip, and instead it went flying to Rey's hand instead.

At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to have her at his side.

The whispers suddenly stopped. Kylo's eyes snapped open and he exhaled.

Somehow his thoughts on Rey were like a shield for him. He wanted to laugh. Rey was his light in this unforgivable place even when she had fully rejected him.

Moving forward he found a platform in a wide space. He took one step forward and it began its descent into an abyss.

When it stopped, Kylo Ren stepped out. The whispers were gradually coming back, but all he had to do was think of Rey to push back against the voices. His mind was his own, and the only one he deemed to be allowed in was Rey.

He came upon a sight between two towering cliffs. A broken throne and someone gazing upon it, dressed in black.

The dark evil of the Sith swirled around Kylo. Whispers of the past came back in full force.

He squinted at the figure before the broken throne. This force signature was familiar. He knew this person.

A Knight of Ren to be precise.

"So the fallen Master has finally found the lost domain of the Sith," the Knight said, turning around to face his master, voice distorted by the helmet on his head.

Kylo Ren gritted his teeth, raising his still-lit lightsaber up to the Knight. "Why would you even come here, Vicrul?"

"The force told me to, and I intend to carry on the Sith's legacy."

Kylo felt his anger rising. "The Sith are dead, as dead as the Jedi. No use in bringing them back." He sneered at the man.

"Ah, the Last Jedi still lives however, but killing her wouldn't do any good. No, in order to utterly destroy the Jedi and resurrect the Sith, we have to destroy her only hope," Vicrul spoke, walking in circles as if Kylo didn't have a lightsaber pointed at him.

Kylo stayed silent, thinking about Vicrul's words, trying to make sense of what the traitorous Knight was implying. He shoved down the impulse to have his head impaled on his crackling lightsaber for daring to entertain the thought of murdering Rey.

"Do not think your attempts to keep the Resistance safe from us went unnoticed. Hux caught on to your scheming. You care for the Last Jedi. You, who declared that the Resistance was dead, suddenly refused to crush them when you could. You, who said he would kill the Last Jedi. You're letting the light weaken you."

"Do you," Kylo retorted, forcing out words with seething anger. "Realize what the Knights of Ren stand for?"

"Simply going to the dark side and doing as it wishes doesn't offer enough. I see that now," Vicrul answered.

The whispers got louder in Kylo's ears.

The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi.

If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed!

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!

Kylo had to focus on Rey again to block the echoes, but he couldn't, not with Viscrul still walking closer to him, fingers moving to his own lightsaber.

"The Sith offers nothing but chaos. We are the Knights of Ren. The darkness is just," Kylo reminded him.

"Ah, but you no longer linger in the dark side, do you?"

Kylo lunged forward, Vicrul igniting his saber within seconds, blocking the blow.

"That anger could be stronger, Master," Vicrul spat, keeping a steady stance as Kylo's own blade pushed against his.

Kylo refused to listen to the voices. The evil voices he once yearned to hear from were nothing more than mere demons trying to pull him back in.

He was not about to give up his freedom.

Kylo Ren pushed into the mind of Vicrul, always knowing that he was the stronger force user, but was met with a shield. It wasn't anything like when Rey resisted his interrogation. This was something else. Something pure evil, like the force swirling and crackling around Kylo ever since he arrived on this forsaken planet.

Something was moving between their lightsabers. Kylo forced himself out of Vicrul's head, focusing more on the clash between the two blades of red light. Some energy, raw and powerful and unyielding, twitched from the hands of Vicrul and up between their lightsabers.

Kylo pressed his strength forward, suddenly acutely aware that energy was not naturally produced from just anywhere. He took one hand off his saber's grip and focused. If Vicrul's mind was unshakable, then he would have to resort to other means.

Throwing the Knight back, the energy snapped. Lightning threw the two of them back, Kylo flung against the wall and Vicrul tossed off the ledge of a deep pit.

The lightning barely did any damage to Kylo, but he still twitched in pain. His fingers were numb and his side where his wound from Chewie ached. He needed to get out of this place.

Forcing himself up, he reached out with his only good hand and pulled his lightsaber to his grip. He limped all the way back to his TIE-Silencer.

The whispers mocked him for his cowardice, but he was no coward, he knew this. This evil place would seek to disrupt balance. He would not bow before it.

All the Knights had truly turned on him. Questions swirled in Kylo's mind, but the lightning still had him damaged so he couldn't dwell on them for long as he left the atmosphere in his Silencer. He had to focus on getting away from this planet, out of the outreaches of the galaxy.

Kylo Ren swore to himself he would never ever set foot on Exegol ever again.

A twig snapped under Rey's foot.

Her lightsaber clutched in her grip, she wandered to her spot where she meditated and sat down on the large bolder. Reaching underneath the small gap of the rough rock, she pulled out a wrapped cloth and unfolded it. Metal pieces tied and pieced together held a crystal within. She lifted the kyber crystal out from the loose pieces, looking it over in her fingertips.

She found this kyber crystal when the Resistance was hopping from planet to planet trying to gain a foothold. It was currently colorless, almost white. Rey sat down, staring at it in her hands.

It somehow reminded her of her force visions on Takodana. The first time she ever heard words that meant something, that told her she was important to someone. She thought it was her parents, but… It couldn't have been. Rey knows she was utterly alone. She breathed in and out, recalling her force visions as best she could.

No!

It's energy.

Noo!

Come back!

Rey?

I'll come back for you sweetheart.

A soft whisper caressed her ears, nothing like the voices she heard in the vision. It was that same pull again she felt on Ach-To. The same magnetizing energy from Kylo Ren.

Somehow it was very comforting. The dark held its benefits, it offered her answers. Even Kylo gave her answers once, but he refused to come back to the light with her.

Rey stood up, crystal still in her hand, and followed the pull through the woods. Coming across a trench, she pocketed her crystal and made a running start and leaped off the ledge, using the force to propel herself to the other side. She grabbed onto a root but her grip slipped and she fell several feet down below. Rey reached out and pulled a vine to her hand and latched onto it, halting her fall as she wrapped her legs around it.

The whispers got stronger and stronger, but still incoherent.

She climbed down on the vine, releasing when she was close enough to the bottom of the dark misty trench and landing with her feet.

A trance fell over Rey. Mindlessly she let herself walk forward deeper into the mist. One foot in front of the other.

Stepping into a wet cave, the sound of her clunking footsteps against soaked rocks and moss echoed off the walls. At the end of the tunnel was a small flat rock with an object shaped like a pyramid, untouched by age or weather.

Without another thought, Rey reached into her pocket and placed down her kyber crystal on the rock and touched her fingers over the golden pyramid.

It was like she had touched the lightsaber again. Suddenly the whispers were amplified in her ears. Loud and shaking and piercing her entire being.

Rey turned around and saw something blue in the darkness of the cave.

You want Ben Solo back?

The whispers said to her over and over.

She began walking purely on instinct towards the blue light. Walking turned to running; running turned into sprinting.

Rey, I want you to join me.

Sweat formed on her temple as she chased after the blue light. Her steps upon stone turned to sand. It was like she was on a different planet.

So the fallen Master has finally found the lost domain of the Sith.

Lights flashed above. There was no wind. No anything except power.

Before her was Kylo Ren, and her anger rose up within her stomach. Blood rushed to her knuckles.

"You're not Ben Solo," she declared.

His eyes met hers. "Ben Solo is dead."

"He's not!" Rey screamed, running past him and towards the blue light once more.

Your son is dead. He was weak and foolish like his father! So I killed him.

Rey refused to believe Ben was gone. She couldn't be alone again. She was so tired of being alone.

You can save him.

In the blue light and on the ground laid a very terrified looking young Ben Solo dressed in the grey and white robes of a padawan.

Her heart leaped. "Ben," she breathed.

A red lightsaber appeared in front of her, destroying the blue light and cutting through the darkness.

Rey recoiled back, reaching for her lightsaber and igniting it. The color wasn't blue however, it was green.

He had sensed my power, as he senses yours, and he feared it.

Gritting her teeth, she swung at the red lightsaber. The eyes of Kylo Ren beat down upon her as their blades clashed.

Finish him. Get revenge and save Ben Solo. Let your anger flow through the force.

So she pressed back, forcing Kylo Ren to take a step back. The moment of released tension was enough for her to disarm his volatile red lightsaber. With the force swirling around her, pushing her, she reached out with her hand, adrenaline rushing through her blood.

And tightened her fingers.

The energy of the dark side was so enriching. So powerful. It was stronger than anything she had known. It was oddly comforting.

It was like being in a loving embrace she dreamed of once.

Rey blinked. The image before her of Kylo Ren in the air, his hands reached for his own throat, it left her cold and empty under her skin.

She released her grip, but he was still choking. Oh no.

"Let him go!" Rey screamed at the whispers. Reality came crashing on her. She wasn't in control, was she? The line between reality and the force was blurring together. What she did and what she didn't do in the force vision was all mixed and incoherent.

Only you can.

She shut her eyes, forcing her hand to relax.

Still, nothing had changed. She let tears flow down her cheeks as she reached out in the force and made it stop.

And it did, with a crack.

Kylo and Ben were gone.

Rey was back in the cave, right where she was when she touched the golden pyramid.

The whispers were still caressing her ears, even as she redrew her hand from the surface of the object.

How did it feel?

Rey swallowed. It felt too good using the darker side of the force to make it stop.

Far too good.

She wanted more. That was the scary part.

Rey reached into her pocket and found the price for preventing the death of Ben Solo. A cracked kyber crystal.

Not destroyed. Not split in half. Cracked.

Rey pondered the vision. If the only way to save Ben was to follow the dark side, allow it to guide her back to him, then so be it.

She wouldn't be alone anymore.

Don't be afraid. I feel it too.

She wouldn't.

Rey took her steps out of the cave, her body shaking. The dark side offered her what she wanted most, but one thing still terrified her.

How easy it was to tighten her hand out of anger, even towards Kylo Ren.

A/N: And thus, Dark Rey was born. (I hope I did a decent job here with the force vision, I agonized over it the entire editing process lol.) A lot of this was drawing upon the chapter in my previous fanfic VS XIII where I wrote Noctis' nightmare in the Omen trailer.

The title of this chapter was inspired by Amalee's dark cover of "Into The Unknown."

The Knights of Ren got some changes in this fic. Not all of them are male and yes they do have sabers.

See you next chapter!

(Side note I enjoyed Re:Mind so much it motivated me to push this chapter out lol. That's how you do fanservice Disney.)