A/N: thank you so much for the support, I'm so grateful!
I call this chapter the one where we meet the Knights of Ren. I've been meaning to expand on them a bit, so here it is. We also get a bonus young Ben flashback.
Hope you like it!
Brethren. The Knights of Ren had all but forgotten what they were supposed to be for each other. When the seven of them had set out together to leave behind the burning ruins of the Jedi temple in their wake, they had also cast aside their identities in exchange for new ones.
Of course, along the way, things changed: hierarchy wormed its way in, and rivalries were ignited. In large part it was thanks to their patron, Snoke. The lynchpin of the First Order had appointed Kylo his apprentice and subsequently, their Master - the latter a position that was mere formality, but enough to breed resentment in some of the Knights. Those who failed to compete for the titles were gifted the role of Shadow Assassins, echoing the Inquisitors of old Empire and answerable only to Snoke himself. The less useful ones - namely those who had demonstrated a strong reluctance to kill - were made Acquisitors. Their task was to secure provisions for the Order, as and when needed. Elite errand boys would be a more generous way of looking at them. In any case, regardless of these task divisions, the Knights' loyalty was to remain primarily to the Knighthood.
But recently two things seemed to put an end to all of that: Snoke's surprising death, and Kylo's ascendency to the golden seat of the First Order. Needless to say, many of the Assassins didn't take to the news kindly. But being galaxies away from First Order space meant that even when they received messages from Kylo through their scrambled networks requesting for the Knights to meet, they conveniently chose to not respond.
Not to mention that they also saw no need to inform their Master about the secret meetings they've been having behind his back. Caerra had once asked her fellow Knights about Kylo's continual absence. The Assassins simply ignored her. Nevertheless, she and her twin brother Caedus continued to show up for these secret meetings, in case there was anything of note she could casually mention to Kylo when they meet. But often these meetings were insignificant. The sessions they've had tended to be in the backroom of some Mid Rim cantina or another, but their conversations revolved around their fellow Knights travel (and killing) stories. There were of course, the occasional gripes against Kylo, but these were the sour grape sort of remarks which Caerra felt was of zero importance to Kylo.
To be honest, she never quite understood the animosity some of the Assassins harboured towards Kylo, and maybe she never would. The Knights didn't talk much about Kylo amongst themselves. But from what she could gather, the way she and her brother thought of Kylo differed from the rest, and in part because of how they encountered him.
Caerra remembered very well the time she and Caedus decided that they would owe Kylo their loyalty. Back then, he was still just Ben. A lithe but very withdrawn-looking boy, with eyes that spoke of loneliness. But when he came across the pair of twin siblings who were a good few years younger than him crying in that crystal cave, he had been the first to reach out to them...
"Where are your parents?" the black-haired boy had asked as he knelt beside them. His question only prompted louder wails from the two children, a boy and a girl who were both about five years of age.
The boy looked on at them, bewildered and shocked at the turn of events. But even so, he gingerly placed a hand on top of each of their heads, and patted them awkwardly.
"It's okay," he tried his best to soothe them. "Don't worry, we'll get you home. Your parents must be worried about you."
Upon hearing his words, one of the children, a little girl spoke up in a muffled voice even as she continued to sob, "No more. No more!"
The older boy who had found them seemed perplexed at her words. But his confusion wasn't for long.
"I see," he spoke quietly, with full understanding of what she meant. He put a hand on each of the children's shoulder and looked at them kindly. "I'm Ben. I stay with my uncle, he has a school nearby. His name is Luke Skywalker."
The children stopped sobbing for a while, and their eyes widened at his words. "School?" the little girl repeated.
"Yes." Ben tilted his head to the side as he looked curiously at them. "Haven't you been to school before?"
The girl was almost embarrassed as she replied, "No. Our aunt never lets us go to school. She says we're not worthy."
Ben was silent. The girl noticed that his ears were not only getting red, but they were twitching. When he spoke again, however, his voice was comforting, "Then come to my uncle's school. He'll teach you how to read and write. And you can stay there too."
The children looked at each other. The girl seemed unsure, but the little boy kept tugging at her arm with a pleading look. The girl noticed that Ben was peering curiously at them, and explained, "My brother. He can't speak." Another tug at her arm. The girl sighed. "He wants us to go with you."
"What about you?" Ben asked her.
"I go with him," she answered as firmly as a five-year-old could.
Ben gave them a small smile. "How should I call you and your brother? What are your names?"
The children's faces changed. The girl muttered something, barely audible enough for Ben to hear. They weren't names anyone would give a child. No one would name a child after a curse.
"You don't have to keep your names," Ben said. He held out a hand to the little boy first. "Caedus." And then he turned and offered the same to the girl. "Caerra."
"Caerra," the girl repeated, tears welling up in her eyes. She pointed to her brother. "Caedus."
The two children started crying again. But instead of being hunched up and clutching their knees, they ran forward to cling to Ben. The older boy frantically tried to appease them but failed. And so he walked out of the cave to return to school, carrying home two children but no crystal.
Caerra had to smile at the memory. She remembered that Luke initially was reluctant to let them learn the ways of the Force under him. After all, neither sibling was particularly Force Sensitive. It was Ben who had pleaded with his uncle to let them stay. Eventually, the training they received and Ben's constant encouragement helped the twins reach deeper into their Force potential.
A sudden movement at the door snapped her out from her reverie. Caerra looked up to see a figure stride in, his metal helmet nestled in the crook of his arm. She stood up, as did Caedus beside her, and the rest of the Knights already gathered in the dining hall of the old Sith castle. A strange location, to be honest, if this was to be a usual meeting. But if any of the Knights thought it, they said nothing.
The Knight who had just walked in was tall and well-built. He wore a loose black tunic with an asymmetrical cut, a product of battle circumstances more than a careful fashion choice. He was almost handsome, with his aquiline nose and neatly combed back hair reminiscent of the sky at dusk. Like Kylo, he had shed his real name in favour of one given by Snoke: Ceth Ren. But only one of them went on to be his apprentice.
Ceth signaled for the Knights to return to their seats. He set his helmet on the long table with one hand. With the other he set down a holocron, and loaded it into a port on his helmet. An image flickered into life, enlarged and floating above the table.
"This came into my network," Ceth said softly. His voice always had a strange musicality to it that was more chilling than enticing.
The rest of the Knights watched as the holovid played out in front of them. They saw their Master, escorting a girl into the throne room. Snoke trying to make the girl reveal the secrets he desired. All very normal business.
And then everything went to hell.
Snoke's body sliced into half. The lightsaber flashes. The way that Kylo and the girl united to decimate the Praetorian Guards. It was both danse macabre and marital waltz at the heart of the throne room. By the time the holovid ended, everyone had been stunned into silence.
And then came the murmurs and the mutters once everyone had registered their shock. Underneath the table, Caedus reached out for Caerra. The twins held hands as they remained still, observing as emotions got the better of their brethren.
"He lied to us!" one of the Assassins spoke out incredulously.
"And now he's Supreme Leader," another Assassin growled. "How very coincidental."
"Kylo..." A single word by Ceth brought a hush over the room. The Knights glanced up and towards his direction expectantly.
Ceth got up and sauntered towards the center of the table, where the image of Kylo extending his hand to the girl was frozen mid-frame. He mused, "What do you think he offered her?"
It was a rhetorical question; there was only one sort of request someone like Kylo would make with that hand gesture. But still, it needed to be said, and it was the first Assassin who had spoken up that said it, "An offer that should have been asked of us first."
Caerra thought Ceth almost smiled, or it might have been the dim lighting playing tricks on her eyes. She watched as he turned to face them and said gravely, "Then we must do what needs to be done."
Without warning, Caedus leapt to his feet. Ceth's head swiveled in his direction, and he raised an eyebrow questioningly at the young Acquisitor. A protest perhaps? Without saying it, his mocking expression made it clear what he thought.
Caerra shakily got to her feet. She bowed slightly to Ceth, before tugging Caedus's arm, whispering at him to sit down.
We must stay calm, her eyes seemed to tell him. Caedus reluctantly sat down, and Ceth took it as a sign to continue.
"It has come to my attention that there has been a change of authority within the First Order. We have a new Supreme Leader, and he has requested us to help eradicate treason. A sort of person that once we have impressed, we can easily manipulate."
He paused to allow his words to sink in before he declared, "For the sake of the Knights of Ren, I have full intention of cooperating with him."
The Assassins were the first to rise to their feet, crossing an arm over their chest with their heads slightly bowed. Ceth mirrored their actions and bowed back in gratitude. Only two Knights have yet to stand. They remained stricken in their seats at what was unfolding in front of their eyes.
Ceth gestured at them beseechingly. "Caerra. Caedus. Won't you stand with us?"
They had no choice. Not when they were in a room full of Dark side Force wielders who were naturally more powerful than them. Caerra and Caedus trembled as they got to their feet. And repeated the pledge of loyalty the Assassins had given to Ceth - the new Master of the Knights of Ren.