The Revival of The Force

42 the D/darkness

42 the D/darkness

Her eyes are closed, the room is dark. The only light comes from the moon outside of the windows, hidden behind the clouds. Its light is perseverant enough to attain the planet's surface. Mostly all the rooms in the base aren't equipped with curtains. Rey wants to sleep, but she hears those voices already. They need her help and she wants to give it to them. But she has been calling out for it as well. You can't help others when you need it too. Rey hears a creak, a step on the wooden floor – but the floor in her room is out of stone. She opens her eyes instantly. The room has suddenly shifted to a whole different place. It is pitch dark, no moon, sun or star to give her information. Standing up, she notices that her bed has disappeared. She needs time for her eyes to adapt to the darkness and only then she notices the green thing glowing in the far. She moves closer to it, attracted. Her thoughts aren't straight – is she even thinking? Her steps get faster until she reaches another endless room. The colour comes from a lamp, with a green tissue wrapped around it, hanging down the ceiling. But there is no ceiling. Some cable is holding it and it's going up endlessly. Using the Force to jump this high, she holds onto the thin wire. Why is she doing that? How can she trust it will hold her? Her hands hurt and slip as she tries to climb up. Often falling down, yet she holds on to keep going. It must lead to somewhere, her reasoning is. There is no light anymore, the green has faded, just dark under, above and around her. A new source of light starts to intensify over her, as she notices another floor. She jumps from the cable to land on the steady ground. Above, she checks to see if there is anything. Still no end visible. On each side, an endless corridor reveals. On the existent ceiling are lamps with red light. They almost look like an enormous amount of red lightsabers, aligned and used to make an end to the darkness. The walls are grey, humid with water dripping down. Fungi are growing on them, without any implacable odour. Rey starts her way in the hallway. With each step, a humming grows louder. She notices with the time that it's a choir of voices, all talking at the same time. Rey can't catch any of the words, until there is one that speaks louder than all the others. She can recognise this voice in a million. Her grandfather. Presumably dead, it must be his ghost talking to her. Closer, my dear, Rey hears him say. Without any reasoning, she does. The environment abruptly changes to a huge hall with seemingly nothing. As she calls "hello," she notices the echo that spreads and comes back to her. It lights up in blue this time after the sound left her lips. In the middle, right in front of her – a throne. The throne. With its branches of stone sticking out. Yes, says Palpatine. Welcome to the Dark. Her steps move her to the throne. It could be only a chair, normal, where people sit and eat, but it is so much more. It's death. Of millions of people. And her death. The death of the Rey that she has started to be. Broken from the loss of her love and family which she created, but also powerful, confident and brave. The one that defied the Dark Side and despised the way the Empire treated populations and their soldiers. The one that fought for the Resistance and saved the galaxy from Palpatine's grip. The one that fell in love with her enemy, who she saved from the Dark. Suddenly, Rey stops. You don't have to stop, you're on the right way. It all seems so surreal now, when it felt normal as she arrived and climbed up the cable. How could her room transform into a sanctuary of the Darkness unless it's an illusion? She pinches herself and her body responses with pain. It must be somehow happening. Maybe a parallel world where she landed or someone took her to this place. Impossible. It must be a dream. A very lucid dream perhaps, yes, but it can't be real. But it feels so real. Why don't you sit down, dear? Palpatine's voice asks. Rey doesn't even try to responds, she knows she won't be able to get a noise out of her mouth. She steps back. Everything changes again and a white light, coming from the sky, from a moon, brights up a column. High to her hip, an inscription is written on the top of it. The curiosity drives Rey closer, she lifts her hand up to touch it. The thoughtlessness has gained her again and Rey is about to touch the cold stone, with the drips running down, as she notices a presence behind her. It's not Palpatine, not anyone harmful. It's Ben in his black gowns that he wore when he spread fear throughout the galaxy. "Ben," slips out of her mouth, her voice suddenly coming back.
"No, Kylo Ren," Ben answers and stretches out his hand. "Join me. We will rule together," Ben repeats what he had told her many times so he wouldn't lose her.
But this time, Rey ignores it, it's not because he wants her to stay, it's getting her on the other side. An inhalation of hope fills her lungs. What if she can rule, with him, together? The Dark Side has many secrets, maybe she can, this way, get him back.
"Rey," Ben says softly. "Rey," he repeats louder. And he starts screaming her name, she feels a shacking in her whole body and the Ben in front of her turns to Palpatine –
She snaps her eyes open. She's in her room again. Rey pants like she just ran one whole round of the planet and she cries and she screams, muffled by the material of her blanket. Wrapped inside it and in his arms. The real Ben has waken her up and saved her from joining the Dark Side. He holds her tight and she squeezes him even harder, hoping there is any warmth radiating from him. There is none. Rey realises how close she was to let her guard down.
"I'm sorry," she says to Ben, apologising for letting herself be controlled. She doesn't know if he actually realised what was happening in the parallel world of the Darkness. She doesn't know if she should tell him that Dark Force used his appearance to make her the new Sith Lord.
But Ben responds with an: "It's okay, I know." He keeps holding and rocking her until she calms down.
"Thank you," Rey manages to say to her saviour through sniffles and hiccups. Once more, it was him who brought her back.
Ben responds with a cuddle. He knows better that silence will help her more than any words. Rey has calmed down and sleep is reaching her. Ben whispers: "Don't worry, I will protect you. I will guard you overnight and day so you can rest peacefully."
"Thank you, Ben," Rey whispers back. How can she be able to teach Jedis when she can't even keep herself away from the Dark Side? This proved her once more that she needs help. Something must happen, a wonder perhaps. While she slowly drifts to sleep when the sun is already rising, she promises to herself to never think of this again.

Happy new year! I hope that this year will be better than 2020! <3