The metal felt cold beneath her splayed fingers as she pressed her hands against the door. It also throbbed with a strange and raw dark energy. Her stomach churned queasily as she glanced up at Kylo, who was focused only on the entry to Snoke's chamber.

"Understand that once we pass through these doors, this will not be a straightforward fight. Not at first. He will know your thoughts… your darkest fears, and he will not hesitate to use them against you. Believe your reasoning and not your eyes," he warned.

The doors opened inward of their own will, and as Rey dropped her hand she found herself staring into the eyes of her master, Luke Skywalker. Beside him, General Leia Organa stood with her hand on his shoulder.

"I… I wasn't expecting that," Rey stuttered.

"We've come to rescue you," Master Luke said, stepping towards her. "Rey, come away from him. You know how dangerous he is. He's filled your head with lies in his attempts to turn you."

"Is that the best you can do?" Kylo drawled in a bored voice. He took a few leisurely steps forward. General Organa raised her blaster and aimed it at him.

"Not another step, Ben. I WILL shoot," she warned.

"Then shoot," he scoffed, and took another step.

"Stop!" Rey cried, seeing the general's finger move nervously against the trigger. "Everyone stop, please."

"They aren't real Rey. They couldn't be here, use your brain. I've trained you for this—the resurrection fields, don't you remember?" he reminded her.

Rey quickly looked the pair over. They appeared solid, not a hint of a waver or flicker. Their mannerisms—from the way they stood to the expressions on their faces—were entirely accurate.

"Rey please… I wanted to believe my son could be saved, that Ben could be brought back, but he can't," the general pleaded, though her eyes never left Kylo's face. "You still have a chance. You can return from the dark side. Come back to us… while you still can."

Although her words, struck Rey hard, she did notice something off. With the doors closed behind them, the chamber they had entered was completely dark. In fact the only light seemed to come from a strange glow that only illuminated Master Luke and General Organa. She could see nothing of their surroundings. It made them appear as though they were actors on a stage.

Master Luke's face became stern.

"If you will not return with us, then you leave me no choice, Rey. Forgive me."

He lit his light saber and took one menacing step towards her. It was as far as he got. Kylo swiveled. His blade blazed to life as he moved and with one graceful swing, cut through Master Luke. Rey shrieked as Master Luke burst into wisps of smoke, and with one last mournful glance at Kylo, so too did General Organa.

Beyond where they had stood, she could now see a faint glow of light and without a word, Kylo crossed the floor towards it. Rey hurried to catch up.

"W-what was that?" she stammered.

"Nothing. A trick. The Supreme Leader's chamber is a battle meditation sphere, built to mimic the Dark Moon. It allows him to control the ship, but it also grants him the same abilities that the ship does. If the power of the Dark Moon allows him to project mass hallucinations across entire planets, imagine how simple a task it is for him to conjure up a few dusty, old ghosts for us."

Rey nodded. She and Master Luke had seen the devastation left in the wake of the Dark Moon's path. Entire populations of dead on battle fields where there appeared no trace of an enemy. They died killing themselves and each other.

"Can they hurt us—these apparitions?" she wondered.

"I don't know, but they will certainly try and convince us to destroy each other," he replied. "Which is why... we must master our fears."

She had the distinct impression that his words were meant as a reprimand. He certainly hadn't shown any emotion before or after slicing through Master Luke.

They had not walked very long before they found themselves in another corridor— although this corridor seemed distinctly out of place in the ancient temple. The ring of Kylo's boots against the metal grating of the floor was familiar. The walls were familiar… the slight taper to the ceiling…. even the supports… this was the corridor of a ship, and the farther they walked, the more certain she became. Had they somehow left the planet, or were the remains of a ship buried deep within the ancient temple? Yet how could that be possible? Her best guess would place the corridor aboard one of the old Imperial-class star destroyers, which were fairly recent constructs compared to such an ancient temple.

She was quite sure now that it was a star destroyer, that if they kept moving in the same direction, they would, sooner or later, come to the ship's hangar, and then it occurred to her, with a nervous tightening of her stomach, that not only was she certain of the ship's make, she was becoming fairly certain of exactly which ship they were on. Only… wasn't the corridor too narrow? Was it becoming more narrow as they walked?

"It's a trap!" she gasped, snatching his elbow and forcing him to stop. "This feels… all wrong, like we're walking into a trap."

"We were walking into a trap the moment we set foot on Korriban," he reminded her.

"But this… this is wrong… it…"

"It isn't real, Rey. We're not really in a ship. We're not in space. It's an illusion."

She reached out and knocked against the wall, hard enough to hurt her knuckles. The resulting bang echoed through the corridor.

"Feels real," she murmured, rubbing her sore hand.

"You know this place," he realized.

Before she could answer, the floor shuddered violently, as though the ship had come under heavy attack. The entire corridor lurched, tilting on an angle, throwing her against the wall.

She tried to push away, but could not. The center of gravity had changed and she was stuck against the wall, which had now become the floor. The walls were bending around her with loud, metallic shrieks, rivets popping from support beams like corks, and Rey screamed as well, instinctively throwing her arm over her face and curling into the fetal position.

And then she could hear only the sound of her own ragged breathing and the thudding of her rapidly beating heart in her ears. Slowly she lowered her arm to see smooth, shiny metal a foot above her. Beside her on either side was the same. She was trapped! Completely enclosed in some kind of metal coffin!

"KYLO!" she screamed, and began beating her fists on the ceiling.

"Here," came the low growl of his voice.

Rey twisted, maneuvering her body so that she lay on her stomach. She found herself face-to-face with the sole of Kylo Ren's boot.

"We're in an air shaft," he calmly informed her.

"How… how did this—"

"I've told you, the Supreme Leader will see your fears, all of them. This is not real. The answer we need, is how did you get out of here the first time it happened to you?"

The first time it happened… Rey swallowed thickly. She could already hear them. Whispers of a language foreign to Jakku. They were beneath her somewhere. She knew what would come next, and cringed before she even heard it. The tapping of a stick on the ceiling below. They knew she had taken to the air vents, and methodically, they were trying to find her.

"Rey, how did you escape the first—"

"Go!" she hissed. "Crawl! Move now, GO!"

His boot disappeared as he moved forward, and Rey crawled after him. They were moving, but so was the tapping sound of the stick. It wasn't far behind them, and soon the hollow ring of an empty shaft would become a muted thud, giving away their position.

"Faster!" she hissed. "Come on, faster, please!"

He stopped, and Rey was forced to stifle a shriek of fear and irritation.

"This is ridiculous. We might crawl through this blasted shaft for eternity without any direction. Try and remember now Rey, how did you escape?"

"GO, please!" she begged.

"Rey… it isn't real."

"I didn't!" she cried. "I didn't escape. They… they… caught me. They beat me… tortured me… they…"

"Stop!" he ordered.

Though he needn't have bothered. Her voice had trailed off before he even spoke, but the memory of what happened played in her head, and surely, he saw it. Rey closed her eyes reflexively, as though it would stop her seeing it again.

"Afterwards… they dumped me just outside of Niima Outpost. I suppose they thought I was dead. They left me as a warning to others, not to set foot in their territory."

There was no answer. She opened her eyes to see that Kylo Ren, was gone.

"KYLO?" she screamed.

Beneath her, the stick tapped again and the sound of it was a muffled thud. The air left her lungs. She took several short panicky gasps, trying to draw in the oxygen she desperately needed but the air was gone. She was suffocating.

And then, the place where Kylo had been only seconds before exploded in sparks and sprays of shrapnel.

Somehow, Rey found the air to scream. Hands snatched her wrists and dragged her down, through the hole blown in the vent, the twisted metal ripping painfully against her arm and side.

She hit the ground hard, pain shooting through her and then felt a boot press against her cheek. A man's voice shouted harsh words at her in a foreign language.

"Please... please don't," she whimpered. "Please don't do this."

Her vision blurred with unshed tears, but suddenly, behind the squatter, she saw a dark shadow move, and then, a brilliant flash of red light exploded from his stomach. The squatter crumpled to the ground, and in the emptiness where he had stood over her, a bright blue sky flared into existence, causing her to cover her eyes.

She sat up quickly, wondering at how the metal flooring could have changed to grass without her noticing. A gentle breeze stirred the hair which had strayed from her bun, tickling her cheek, and she could hear the rustling of leaves. She knew where she was. She knew, without turning around, that behind her would lay forests as far as the eye could see. Before her, the same breeze raised tiny ripples across the mirror-like surface of the lake. This was Takodana, and it was still beautiful.

Kylo Ren, in his black cowl and tunic stood in stark contrast to the blue sky behind him. He too was watching the water as it lapped against the shore.

"I know this place," she said, climbing to her feet, and swiping hastily at her eyes. "Takodana, but why are we here?"

"A bad memory," he murmured.

"Yours?"

"No. Yours. You were terrified of me that day. You wished you could kill me. I remember that."

"But not anymore. I'm not afraid of you anymore. I don't hate you. Kylo I… I…" she stumbled.

He remained silent a moment, allowing her to fumble for the words and then gave a harsh laugh.

"You love me, Rey?" he finished, and shook his head. "When will I ever be able to make you understand? When will my words finally get through that thick, useless head of yours? I don't want your heart. I want your power. I want your will to be the same as mine. Love… is a useless and wasteful energy. If I could cut your heart out and keep your power, I wouldn't hesitate."

"I don't…I don't understand. Why are you talking this way? You don't mean—"

"Of course I do. But of course I do! I've told you this in so many words over and over again. Do you think I saved you back there out of compassion—out of love? Fool! Until now, I thought I would have a use for you, but now… well, you have turned out to be a disappointment to me, Rey. Such a great disappointment," he sighed.

"What do you mean? What's wrong with you?"

Kylo's lips quirked into a lopsided smile—though it was not a kind one. His eyes were cold as he studied, her.

"Seeing you… the great hope of the resistance… laid low before some back-planet scum-squatter, whimpering, crying, BEGGING for your life. I had not known how disgustingly pathetic you could be," he said and gave another short hard laugh. "You've turned out to be a waste of my time."

"You don't mean that."

"Oh but I do, girl. You have no idea just how much effort I've invested in you—how hard I worked to keep you alive—especially when you seemed so keen to throw it all away over a stupid droid. All those years on Jakku, I made sure you were hidden, made sure no one would ever be able to find you, and all it amounted to was this- a pathetic, useless scavenger who can't even defend herself from a commonplace scum-squatter."

Even though his words stung and confused, her mind caught at the meaning behind them.

"What do you mean by 'made sure no one would ever be able to find me'?" she demanded. "What did you do?"

He smiled wider, clasping his hands behind his back.

"What do you think I mean? Haven't you guessed it yet? The reason your mother never came back for you? I think you know. You want so desperately to believe in all your foolish notions of love and redemption that you can't even see what is staring you in the face. I've already told you that I spared your life on Yavin Four when you were a child. If saving your life was Ben Solo's last act, then hiding you away was the first act of Kylo Ren. Once your mother had delivered you to Jakku, I killed her. She was a loose end, and I couldn't take the risk of her breaking under torture if anyone were to come looking. She was a link between you and I, so I got rid of her. You reminded me of her back there just now, she also begged for her life."

"No…" Rey whispered, shaking her head. "You're lying. You're trying to make me angry so that I can use the dark force."

"Perhaps I am… but it doesn't make it any less true," he taunted.

"LIAR!"

"Search my mind then, Rey. Go on… do you want to see it in my memories? Do you want to see her beg for her life? I think you'll be shocked at your resemblance. I killed my own father for this cause, do you think I would spare your mother out of pity?!"

The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach evaporated, as the rage blossomed in her heart. She could feel the dark force flowing into her. Her hand, which only seconds before had been shaking uncontrollably, was now steady as she gripped the hilt of her light saber. She could feel the power in her fingertips and toes. It was ancient and chaotic, and tore through her like flame touched to paper. It occurred her to her that she probably didn't need her light saber, that she could simply lift her hand and send that power racing toward him, that she could and would crush Kylo Ren into a fine dust.

But before she could do so, he disappeared, and the sky shattered into a billion grains of glittering sand that rained down upon her. The forest exploded into ash and as the dust settled… as it settled she realized that she stood in a rounded chamber of shining black metal which throbbed with power. To her right, were the doors they had entered by, she was only a few steps from them. On her other side, Kylo Ren knelt with his arms outstretched, holding what appeared to be an invisible weight. His head was bent over the thing she could not see and he whispered to it as he rocked back and forth.

Before her was a black throne on a raised dais, and upon that throne sat the decaying clone body of Snoke.

Though 'sat' was perhaps too generous a term for it, she realized. Wide metal bands, which at first she took for restraints, circled his shins and waist—she quickly realized that they were securing his weak, corpse-like form in place. Black tubing hung down from the ceiling connecting to his shoulders, and points behind his back that she could not see. She did see that the tubes were moving some sort of fluid in and out of the body. His head hung limply, and for a moment, she wondered if he were already dead, but then he lifted his head to stare at her.

"Welcome," he hissed. "Welcome, Rey of Jakku. I have been waiting so long to meet you."

His gaze shifted to where Kylo knelt on the floor, still holding tightly to his invisible burden as he rocked.

"Pathetic, isn't he?" Snoke's voice was a threatening whisper.

"Stop it!" Rey ordered. "Whatever you're doing to him, stop it now!"

"No," Snoke said simply. "He's so weak… so easily tempted. How I've managed with only him for all these years…. well, best not dwell on the past. I have no use for him now. Would you like to know what he sees? Would you like to know Kylo Ren's greatest fear?"

"I'd like to kill you," Rey answered.

"You can try," Snoke agreed, pressing his withered lips together in what appeared to be a smile.

Gritting her teeth, Rey raised her arm and allowed the dark power to flow out. She envisioned it winding its way around his body and crushing it into chunks of rotten flesh.

Snoke gasped, and then gave a wheezy laugh as he waved one hand limply.

"Good. That was good! You are powerful. Not as powerful as I, but impressive none-the-less. With training, I believe you will become the strongest Sith in one hundred generations."

"With training? You… train me? I will NEVER call you master. I will NEVER be a Sith!"

"You were MADE to be a receptacle for dark force energy. Do you not realize it yet? When have you ever felt this much power before? Certainly not under Luke Skywalker. He lied to you. He tried to keep the truth of your nature from you, he wanted only to bind your powers so that you could never use them, but I will train you to wield your powers fully. I will teach you to—"

I will NEVER be a Sith!" she repeated.

"Is that so? You stand there full of hatred, full of rage and the need to kill… you stand there bursting with the power of the dark side and you call yourself, what exactly? Not a jedi, I hope!" he gave another sickly wheeze that she supposed was a laugh.

"I call myself Rey," she growled, igniting her light saber as she stalked toward him.

She was immediately blown backwards by a powerful burst of energy.

She glanced up in time to see Snoke's face contorted with effort. Beside her, Kylo gasped and looked up. He made eye contact with Rey and then glanced fearfully back at the invisible thing he held. He looked at her again and his arms fell slowly to his side.

"Welcome back," she growled. "I could use a little help!"

"My apprentice!" Snoke greeted him. "So good of you to join us! Now say good-bye!"

Kylo's body stiffened and jerked as he cried out in pain.

"NO!" Rey screamed, releasing another bolt of energy. Kylo's response was immediate. He leapt to his feet and lit his blade. He ran towards the dais, and was then thrown to the side as though bouncing off of a wall. Rey breathed in, drawing the dark force of the meditation sphere inside herself.

"No!" Kylo snapped. "From him! Not from the sphere, take it from him!"

Rey nodded and lifted her arm, curling her fingers slowly into a fist. She could feel Snoke's power, she could feel it as she drew it towards herself. It was distinctly different from the ancient and chaotic darkness around them. Snoke's power came with the taint of death. The rot of his clone body, and the pain of his many mortal deaths stung her even as his power slowly filled her.

Snoke gave a feral growl and she could feel it being pulled back out of her. For a moment she was tempted to let him take it. His power was a poison. It would destroy any vessel it tried to fill. But then she saw Kylo, on his feet again and running at the dais. She pulled back, concentrating on ripping everything she could from him.

Again she could feel the power filling her, but this power burned! It burned like acid from her fingers to her toes and her mouth was full of the taste of rot.

"NO!" Snoke growled, but he had already lost too much. When he raised his hand to Kylo, the knight simply swerved to the side and pivoted back. Snoke tightened his hand into a fist, and lightening shot from his clenched hand, striking Kylo's face and arm. It was too late. Kylo was already bringing the lightsaber down when he struck, and the blade sliced directly through the skull of Supreme Leader Snoke.

There came a roar as the body fell apart like an overcooked roast, and Rey was again thrown off her feet.

She had won the tug of war, but now the dark power rushed into her without her willing it, and it burned. Every inch of her skin was on fire. She could taste bile and smoke. She was shaking violently, convulsing and writhing on the floor. She felt her body could at any minute explode.

"REY!"

Kylo grabbed her by the shoulders, struggling to hold on to her seizuring form.

"Let it out, Rey! You have to let it out. If you hold on to this much it will kill you. Release it!"

If she could have spoken, she would have told him that she wasn't holding on to anything, that she was basically being ripped apart from the inside without her consent.

"LET IT OUT!" he screamed. His hands wrapped tightly around her shoulders and he gave her a hard shake.

He was panicking, she realized. His eyes wide, his scar visible now against the deathly pallor of his face—he was afraid.

He moved his hands to the sides of her head, and she could feel them shaking with effort. He was squeezing her… he was going to crush her skull… but then she could feel that same pressure across her entire body. She understood. He was trying to force Snoke's energy out of her.

Rey pushed, bearing down on the burning sensation in her stomach. She closed her eyes tightly, groaning with effort.

"Get out! GET OUT!" she seethed through clenched teeth.

The power exploded from her. She could feel it burning as it went. The chamber shook. The tubing fell from the ceiling and black fluid sprayed from the loose ends. A distant rumble from beyond the doors suggested that the ancient ruins were soon to crumble around them.

Kylo slid his arms beneath her and quickly lifted her, adjusting her weight as he straightened.

Rey tried to be afraid of being buried alive, but decided that the effort it took to be afraid was perhaps too great, and then everything went black.

She faded in and out as he ran, and her memories from this point on were not so clear. Many months later she would remember a brief moment of being annoyed that her head was bouncing around so much, and then darkness, and then Kylo ordering her not to die, and then darkness, and then the smash of falling rock, and then darkness, and then perhaps it was stairs, or climbing, and then darkness, and then waking up to vomit and realizing that what came up was her own blood, and then darkness.

Her very last memory, however, was completely clear. She lay on the ground and Kylo was bent over her. Behind him, she could see the fire red sky of Korriban. Her entire body was wracked with pain, but where his hands rested on her stomach, she felt a strange warmth. He was muttering something in a tone too low for her to hear. His face was drawn and tired, though his eyes were still those of a wild, frightened animal. A shout came from somewhere far off and his head snapped up in response. He looked down at her and realized that she was staring back.

And for a long moment they said nothing, just stared at one another. His lips parted, and Rey tensed. He would say it. He was going to say the words she wanted most to hear… but instead he swallowed hard. And then…

"Good-bye, Rey," he whispered.

And he was gone.

She was alone, abandoned on Korriban, and when the darkness came again, it stayed for a long, long time.