Glitter and Gold
Chapter 30
34 ABY – The Supremacy
Vex didn't know how long the torture had gone on. The pain was unlike anything she'd ever known. Excruciating, harrowing, screaming-in-agony pain. Without the Force, she couldn't protect herself. Without the Force, she couldn't push the pain away.
Vex was defenseless.
For once, Snoke hadn't lifted a finger to harm her. Instead, he'd fixed his Praetorian Guard on her. All eight of them. Even with Vex being a well-trained fighter, she was unarmed, wounded, out of practice, and outnumbered.
It had taken less than a minute for her to end up on the floor, but even then they hadn't stopped. A dig here, a cut there, an electro-chain whip across her face. She was screaming, writhing in agony, reduced to a mindless, instinct-driven creature.
"Enough."
And all at once, it stopped. The Praetorian Guard stepped away. Vex didn't notice at first. The pain hadn't stopped. She still burned and throbbed and bled from a myriad of wounds scattered across her body.
"Rise, Vex." he ordered.
Her hands – slick with blood – reached out, seeking to brace herself on the floor. As soon as she seemed to find a balance and began to drag herself up, her hands slipped from beneath her, sending her crashing back to the floor. A piteous cry of pain left her lips. "I can't," Vex sobbed out.
A shockwave of pain – an invasion of her mind – exploded in her mind, vanishing as quickly as it'd come, before Vex could even muster a whimper. A warning. "I have never tolerated those words before, Vex. I will not now," Snoke growled.
Vex exhaled shakily, raising exhaustion-ridden limbs to wipe the blood from her palms onto her clothing. And she tried again. And again. And again. All while Snoke and his guard watched.
When she finally dragged herself to her knees, she braced herself on her fists, finding her legs were all but useless. Vex was weak. Humiliated. Reduced to something she'd sworn never to be. She looked up, finding Snoke's eyes fixed upon her.
She didn't know what he saw. Her insight into the evil man was gone now, wiped clean by her three years of freedom. She didn't know what to expect. "Are you satisfied, child? Has your punishment returned you to my side? Have you fallen in line?" Snoke questioned.
Vex's fists tightened, beginning to ache against the hard floor. Her gaze darted away, mouth forming a thin line. "Where is my heir? The babe you call Anakin?" he asked, finally. Vex's eyes found his again, mouth falling open in shock. When had he found out? Had he invaded her mind, found her son's name?
"Oh yes, you must think yourself so clever, Vex. Wiping your own mind to prevent me from taking what I want." Snoke growled, his already malformed face creasing with a scowl. "But you know how to find him. You're not so foolish as to send him away without a back-up plan. A map, so to speak,"
Vex simply stared at him, refusing to say a word. She would never betray her son to this monster.
A noise of frustration left the old man before he forced an expression of gentleness to his features. "This is your last chance, child. Things do not have to get worse," he warned with a kind tone.
She shook her head. "I can't. I won't,"
Snoke's face hardened. "Then things will get worse," he growled, raising a hand. From one of the alcoves in his throne room, the very face of Vex's nightmares in the flesh.
"No," Vex breathed.
"Yes, my child. You remember James Creel, do you not?" Snoke smiled, gesturing to the approaching man.
"Hello, Vex. It's been a long time," Creel said, a pleasant smile on his handsome features. She flinched away when he reached towards her, tracing the collar around her neck. "And you're wearing my creation – how fortuitous,"
James Creel had been Vex's tutor when she was only eleven. He'd been a bounty hunter and spy all over the galaxy before Snoke had contracted him to teach Vex all that he knew. He was only twelve years older than her, but even then, even at twenty-three and oh-so-very handsome, Creel's interest had been much more focused on little girls like Vex.
He'd created the Creel collar to keep her from fighting back.
But when Snoke had found out, Creel had been exiled to the furthest reaches of the galaxy. Vex wished, especially now, that he'd killed him. But, instead, Snoke had brought him back to wage war upon her.
"Please," Vex uttered, eyes finding the man who'd raised her. Looking as smug as sin, Snoke leaned back in his throne.
"You know what I want, Vex. That is the only way out of this," he told her. Her eyes dropped in defeat. "Creel will take you to sick bay to be treated. He will bring you back to heel, as he has before," Snoke stated lazily. "I only hope the next time we see each other, you'll be seeing sense,"
"Please," the sob burst out of Vex's throat, her skin growing itchy with her panic. " -father, please!"
Snoke looked down at her with some interest, and a smile spread across his misshapen lips. "And so it begins," he uttered, watching her head bow with shame. Creel's hand wrapped around her arm, yanking her to her feet.
"Remember, Vex, as you so like to remind me – I am not your father,"
34 ABY – Ahch-To
Something was wrong.
Luke couldn't quite put his finger on it, but nothing had felt right since Vex had left, taking her son with him.
He'd been lonelier than he's ever been before. After so many years of solitude, he was suddenly lacking all he'd had before. A daughter, of sorts, and by that extension, a grandson.
He could only assume that this feeling had something to do with Vex because of it. He'd deliberated for several long hours before he'd finally decided to open himself up and reach out for her.
Sitting upon the meditation rock at the mouth of the Jedi temple, Luke followed her path among the stars. First he traced her path to D'Qar, then to Jakku. Then into the hands of evil.
Luke's eyes snapped open, immediately clamping down upon his powers and drawing back into himself.
Vex had been captured.
Luke rose, starting down the island's rocky path.
Vex was in hideous pain. Isolated from the Force, somehow. Tortured by someone truly cruel.
Luke found himself standing at the edge of the cliff, looking down upon the crashing waves below. Beneath the water, his old X-wing stared up at him.
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Much love, Suz Singer.