A/N: Thanks for reviewing!
That drive to extreme, that confidence to lead, that willingness to bleed, I will get it back
The massive crowd of Sith that had been against the walls of the chamber was gone. Rey hesitated to look too closely in that direction, afraid of what might have been left behind after the Emperor was defeated. Hopefully nothing, but this place was permeated with the Dark Side and there was no way of knowing what might manifest from it. A shudder ran down her spine as she looked instead at the Throne of the Sith.
"That looks very uncomfortable," Finn said, an attempt to break the tension. Both women laughed, but the response was strained.
"I'm not sure personal comfort was the goal in mind," Rey replied, wondering if she should send her friends away. She glanced at them and was comforted by their reassuring expressions.
"What can we do to help?" Rose asked.
Rey shrugged. Though his sensitivity was improving, Finn had shown no aptitude for psychometry, which was normal – the Jedi Texts indicated it was a rare skill to have. She glanced at the Throne again, wondering if her ability was a result of her lineage. She hoped not.
Finn touched her shoulder, startling her. "What are you going to do?"
"Touch the Throne. Perhaps it will reveal something useful."
He nodded. "And if it doesn't?"
That wasn't something Rey wanted to hear, and she curled her fists in the fabric of her clothes. "Then we look around for anything that could be a portal for me to go through, or for Ben to return." She glanced at the Throne again and took a deep breath. It had been on this planet for a long, long time. Before even the Emperor was born. There would be much to sift through. "This might take a while. If it works. Could you look around while I do this?"
Finn seemed ready to protest, but Rose agreed. "We can do that. We won't go far," she promised.
The words weren't necessary, but they were a relief. Rey walked resolutely up to the hideous, spiky seat and reached out to place a hand on its arm. Usually her ability took some concentration but not this time – she was instantly transported into a vision of the past.
The arena surrounding the throne was full of people – not the dark shapes Rey had seen but living people – and a robed creature was sitting in the seat of power. The people were cheering and the figure gave a deep nod.
Later, the same creature was there again, speaking to a child. The room was empty and the creature had an unpleasant smile as it peered at the little one. Rey stiffened and felt a surge of protectiveness, though there was nothing she could do anymore.
More scenes flashed by of the creature teaching the child. The child became a youth who grew into a man all while under the creature's tutelage. As he grew older still, Rey was shocked the recognize him – the Emperor as a young man.
It took considerable effort not to recoil when the Emperor-to-be killed his master, though Rey had been expecting it. He kicked the creature out of the throne and took it himself. The stands around the throne room held only shadows again, but they cheered somehow, a sound like wind whistling through the cracks in a metal shelter. The soon-to-be Emperor smiled and bowed his head to them.
Rey wondered what had become of the real people before they had become shadows. There was no answer as what she saw continued forward in time. The visions revealed a throne room more often empty than not. The Emperor returned, setting up the laboratory. He spoke only to shadows, seeming to be the only one here who was alive. It was grating to watch him gloat about his plans and she began to despair of seeing anything useful. Then she heard something that made her concentrate on seeing the vision play out.
An old man, the Emperor sank into the throne heavily. "The Vergence Scatter didn't work," he snarled at the dark shapes around the room. They were silent. "I should have been able to enter the Netherworld and return with all the power in the galaxy, but it failed! What use are you to me?"
A shudder went through the crowd and the Emperor, as he clearly was now, pointed his cane at them. "This body is failing me and you offer me nothing!" Instead of its previous cheers, the crowd screeched at him and Rey winced at the cacophony, hardly able to keep from covering her ears.
The Emperor was silent. "The Jedi are destroyed – the Force belongs to me now! As do all of you. Tell me how to overcome death," he ordered.
To Rey's dismay, he appeared to be able to understand the sounds the crowd made but she had no idea what they were saying – or even that they were speaking.
Sitting back in his throne, the Emperor looked thoughtful. "This place is a conduit to the Vergence Scatter – it will be easy to be brought back from death here. But what if I am not killed here?"
The response was again indecipherable to Rey and she was grimly amused that correctly he anticipated being killed instead of dying naturally. The vision wavered and she tried to focus on it, desperate to know what the shadows had told him, but it faded nonetheless. A frustrated hiss escaped her and her free hand clenched tightly. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she kept her hand on the Throne and her mind focused on its memories, determined to glean all that she could from it.
A First Order general – no, actually, he was one from the Empire – marched into the room and turned to face the assembled shadows. His revulsion showed on his face, his crisp military manner was a poor fit for a place this mystical and otherworldly. "The Emperor is dead," he said flatly. "I have orders to come here and bring him back."
The shades shrieked and he glared, waiting for them to settle down. They did not. "Enough," he snapped. "His orders were specific. Show me to the portal and I will summon him."
It took a monumental effort for Rey to follow the vision as the man left the room, but she was able to maintain a tenuous connection with him as he was led by the mass of darkness into a chamber containing a pool. She could no longer hear every word that was said but could watch as he approached the pool and spoke. He put his hand over the water and was suddenly dragged down into it, disappearing despite how shallow it appeared. A moment later, he returned, but his eyes were different – all of him was different, wrong somehow. He laughed triumphantly and Rey understood. The Emperor had possessed him.
Though she would like to know more, or what happened next, the effort of maintaining the vision was too strong and it disappeared. She pulled her hand back, wiping it off reflexively on her trousers, breathing hard. Looking around, she found herself alone and fought the fear that realization engendered.
"Finn? Rose?" Her voice echoed unsettlingly.
"Over here!" Rose called and Rey immediately felt like she could breathe again. She hurried in the direction of her friends, finding them in the corridor that officer from the vision had followed. They were standing together, talking, and she wanted to run past them to look inside the chamber ahead, to see if the pool were still there, but forced herself to wait.
"What did you find out?" Finn asked, taking in her expression.
"I think I found a way to bring him back! I saw how the Emperor returned," she added by way of explanation.
Rose and Finn exchanged a glance. "And you think bringing Ben back the same way will be the best option?"
Her tone gave Rey pause. "I don't know. I hope so. Why? What did you find?"
Raising an eyebrow, Rose looked questioningly at Finn. He shrugged and led the way inside, Rey following with some trepidation. The pool looked much as it had in the vision, but the rest of the room showed clear signs of the intervening years. Not least of which was a handful of bodies that Rey did not want to inspect further. She shuddered and picked her way forward, careful not to disturb anything, and touched the edge of the pool.
The vision returned of the man who had come here to be possessed. But it was not a lasting solution, evidently. The Emperor had used up his life Force quickly and came back here to die, awaiting the next loyal servant. She watched them with a growing sense of horror: one at a time, come in and speak over the pool, only to be taken and used by the Emperor, returning to die so that the Emperor could use this portal easily. She supposed that was the reason, anyway – it was clear that the men and women did not expect this end.
"That one barely lasted a standard week," the Emperor in a new body grumbled as he came out of the pool, speaking to one of the shades that always seemed to be in the room when he did this ritual. "How long will it take to reassemble my body?" He nodded at the hissing response the shade gave him. "Fine, fine. It was closer to death than these bodies are. We need a better solution." The shades shrieked and his expression darkened. "There is only one Jedi left, as you well know. How do you expect me to bring him here? Besides, he is too well-trained. I need someone with raw power to harness if I want to avoid this procedure. Find someone," he snapped.
The vision faded and she felt nothing further, so perhaps that host lasted long enough for him to return to his own body. She shuddered and looked up at her friends. He had been speaking of her, she was sure of it. Of her being an ideal candidate for a lasting host. The idea made her sick, though he had said as much to her before. But she was perplexed that he hadn't sent his shades after his son, in search of his own granddaughter. Surely that was a better option than seeking some unknown fledgling Force-user?
"What is it?" Finn wanted to know.
She shook her head to clear the visions from it. Whatever the Emperor's plots, resurrecting Ben was clearly an option here. But how? He would hate to inhabit someone else's body, and it wouldn't be permanent anyway. So speaking the words over the pool would hardly help her – she wanted him back entirely, not as part of someone else. Even herself. So there was really only one option.
"I'm going in the pool," she said resolutely. "I don't know what will happen. But I have to try."
"Rey," Rose began and Rey cut her off by dragging both of her friends into an embrace.
"If I don't return… Thank you for everything you have done for me. For going on this adventure with me."
Rose was crying and Finn looked dour when she released them. "Wait," he said.
She didn't want to – she was desperate to start, to jump in before she lost her nerve, but she could grant him one final request.
He pulled out the rope they had used to get down here and tied it off to one of the pillars in the chamber, then handed her the other end. "In case it's difficult to get back. We can pull you up."
It was a practical solution to a mystical problem, so she had no idea if it would work. But she greatly appreciated the gesture and felt tears prick her eyes. Swallowing, she nodded and tied it around her waist. Giving each of her friends one last smile, Rey climbed onto the edge of the pool. Then she stepped off.