Rey just stared ather sister. She couldn't really be Rose, could she? However, after a few moments as the information sank in, Rey began to notice the slight differences. Her face did seem rounder like her twin's, and Rey had seen earlier that this Paige was slightly shorter than usual.
Rey nodded slowly. "I can see it now." She looked around before she leant forward and whispered, "How did you manage to pull this off? Why did you do it?"
Her sister shrugged. "Paige wanted to learn witchcraft and I didn't."
Rey sat back in her chair, still trying to make sense of the situation.
Paige, or rather Rose, looked at Rey nervously. "I was worried about you coming to see me; eventually you would have figured it out. I know you won't tell anyone… will you?"
Rey smiled and tapped the side of her nose, "I don't know what you're talking about, Paige."
Rose gave a sigh of relief. "You wanted to know how we managed to do this without anyone noticing, well, it didn't take us that long to sort it out. You remember when I came back because I was feeling homesick?" Rey nodded and so Rose continued, "I'd been studying her books of spells and came back here with the one we needed. Paige and I switched places just before I left to go back to Maz. Paige was terrified that Maz would know what we had done, but interestingly Paige seems to be fine there, so maybe Maz hasn't noticed."
Rey bit into the cake and chewed thoughtfully before speaking. "I have to say, well done, this is some feat you've managed to pull off."
Rose beamed with pride before the smile dropped. "Why don't you stand up to Mother? She's been keeping you in the shop too long. You look terrible," she said sadly, looking at her sisters pale face and weary eyes. "You're not even wearing the clothes you used to. What's up with the grey dress and shawl? You look like an old woman."
"Mind your tongue, young lady," Rey joked, putting on her best old woman voice. Outwardly she was trying to not let her sister get upset, but inwardly she was screaming in agreement. Rose crossed her arms and looked at Rey expectantly. Rey sighed. "We've just been really busy. And it's hard on her, with Father's death and trying to sort out all the loans for the shop."
Rose frowned. "You don't get enough credit for your skills. I saw what's-her-name wearing the gorgeous blue dress you made and next thing I know, she's run off and married some prince. And recently, I swear I saw a guy wearing those trousers you made has had nearly seven near death experiences and escaped without a even a scratch on him. That whole thing about the eldest never amounting to anything exciting in their life is rubbish. You just need to go out and seek it yourself. After all, technically Paige and I haven't sought out ours. We were just handed it and swapped places."
Rey rolled her eyes and just as she was about to reply, a teenage boy no older than 16 years poked his head into the back room. "Paige, we need you." He then quickly ducked away to help manage the crowd of customers all clambering to buy cakes and buns and pastries. Rey got up to leave, deep in thought about what Rose had said. Maybe she could chase her fate; it was worth a shot. Waving goodbye to her sister—who was now rushing around behind the counter—she took a breath and stepped into the flood of people.
She walked back to the shop, not as anxious as before but still keeping an eye out for any men who planned to accost her. However, she didn't notice the sinister figure lurking in the shadows, watching her closely as she made her way back.
Back in the workshop, Rey mulled over what her sister had said to her. She held up the luxurious and lavish burgundy coat she had spent the last couple of days working on and inspected it for any minute flaws. She frowned as she picked off bits of thread.
"Maybe Rose is right. Maybe I need to get off my arse and do something with my life. Something that isn't sewing." She cocked her head. "What do you think?" she asked the coat. The garment remained silent. Rey rolled her eyes. "I need to stop talking to these bloody clothes."
Business after the anniversary tended to be a lot slower, and with a surplus of clothing, Rey spent most of her time minding the front of the shop. It was nice spending most of her day not cooped up sewing, but with nothing to do and still no one to talk to apart from her mother, she felt antsy. Normally her hands would be busy, but currently, as she sat at the counter with nothing to do, all she could do was fidget and twiddle her thumbs. She had already rearranged and straightened up the clothes—so much so that Jyn had begun to lose track of where everything was.
"Don't move anything while I'm gone, Rey." Jyn gave her daughter a look before she rushed to yet another meeting trying to sort out all of the finances.
Rey sighed as once again, she was plunged into silence. She put her head down and groaned; the only thing breaking the silence were her fingers rhythmically tapping on the counter. Suddenly, the bell on the door jingled, signalling that a customer had entered the shop, and she immediately perked up. Finally she had something to do. She tried not to let a look of shock cross her face as she was greeted by the sight extremely wiry and pale man.
She felt herself tense up, however. It wasn't from his wrinkled and scarred face—a rather nightmarish and severe scar disfigured the top of his bald head—but her unease came from the atmosphere of evil he brought along with him. The stench of it filled the shop and Rey didn't trust him one iota. But a customer was a customer, so she plastered a smile on her face and welcomed him. The man looked at her with a deep disdain and ignored her pleasantries.
"Miss Andor," he sniffed, "I've been hearing of your skills as a seamstress. In fact, I've been told that good things happen to those who've bought your clothes, and I know why."
Rey looked at him in surprise; that was not at all what she had been expecting. The man carried on, "You're very bold trying to match the powers of the Wizard of the Waste, and I've come to put a stop to it. I'm already dealing with one nuisance, and another one is the last thing I need." He carelessly waved his hand, and an odd feeling washed over Rey.
Her eyes widened at the realisation. "You're Snoke, aren't you?"
Snoke sneered at her. "Indeed I am. I hope you've learnt your lesson to not meddle in a world where you don't belong. If I have to see you again, and I should hope not, I won't be as kind to you as I have just been. Oh, one more thing, you can't tell anybody that you're under a spell."
Rey felt weak as she watched him swiftly exit the shop without a second glance at her. As she shakily walked back to her seat behind the counter, she stopped suddenly. What did he mean by she couldn't tell anybody that she was under a spell? She didn't feel any different, apart from the fact that her joints were mysteriously aching. She looked at her hands, but instead of seeing her smooth and youthful ones, she saw wrinkled and veiny hands. The hands of an old lady.
She tentatively drew them to her face and felt skin to match. Funnily enough, she didn't feel scared or anxious like she thought she ought to be;rather, she felt calm and collected. She shuffled to the bathroom out the back and saw the face of a ninety-year-old woman staring back at her. Her dark brown hair was now a silvery white, and her face had become shrivelled with age. Rey wasn't a particularly vain person, but she had to admit that she was slightly pleased that she didn't look like an ugly old hag and that she did still look rather robust and healthy for her age.
She suddenly remembered her mother.
I can't stay here, she thought, she'd probably think that this was her fault.
Gathering her wits, she decided that now was the time to set out to seek her fortune. Snoke had taken off about eight decades of her life, so it was now or never. Grabbing her shawl, she closed up the shop and headed home to grab some more things before she went on her way.
She scribbled down a note to her mother explaining that she was going to be gone for a while and apologising for not being able to help out with the shop. She did leave out the key reason—being that she had turned into an old lady—but even if she could have mentioned it, Snoke had stopped her from being able to even try.
The only way to leave the city involved walking past the bakery where Rose worked. She desperately wanted to say goodbye to her sister, but she didn't want to make her worried. She was too busy to have to deal with that. Watching Rose through the window, she sighed and then carried on on her way.
By the time she reached the outer reaches of the city, Rey's joints were killing her, but she was just as stubborn and determined as ever and so she soldiered on, unwilling to waste any time. Her sight wasn't as sharp as it used to be, but she was still able to take in the peace and beauty of the environment around her. Grabbing a long stick, she began her journey of hobbling up an unfortunately large hill. Not only was it now uncomfortable for her to climb up, but it was also home to the castle of Kylo Ren.
"I'm an old woman now," Rey muttered to herself, "he's not going to be interested in me."
Convinced that her heart and soul were safe from the clutches of the evil wizard, she confidently marched onwards. Soon she was far too out of breath, and she reluctantly sat down to eat some of the bread she had packed to take with her. Being exposed to the air, it had become slightly stale, but stale plain bread was better than nothing. She rested for another half hour before she noticed that it was becoming twilight and the sunlight was slowly draining away, the moon starting its ascent and lighting up the land just enough for Rey to continue. However, even if there was still enough light, with her now weakened eyesight and uncertainty of what roamed the night, she didn't want to risk getting caught out. Getting up with a groan, she packed away her food and shuffled up the hill.
Rey thanked her lucky stars for the light of the full moon, but stars could only provide so much luck as she wearily conceded that the only way she would be able to continue on her way would be to ask Kylo Ren if she could stay at his castle. She sighed and headed towards the ominous building. Much to Rey's annoyance, it certainly lived up to its name of being a moving castle. The closer she came to it, the further away it went.
Mustering up all of her strength, she doddered as fast as she could to it. As soon as she was close enough, she gave it a whack with her walking stick, a loud clang reverberating through the hills and valley. The castle screeched to a halt and, satisfied, she climbed up the stairs. It was a rather ugly building up close, and Rey wondered if it matched its inhabitant's soul. Black, dreary and menacing. She knocked on the door and felt a wave of anxiety wash over her as she waited for the dreaded wizard to open the door.