The Grey Area

Part Five : Canto Bight

CANTO BIGHT – ARENA – NIGHT

"You know me better than that." I whispered. Luke grabbed my hand—I could see and feel him. "I can see you!"

"Can you see anything else?" I move my head around, it was all black. I shook my head. "There's a girl here, I think you two should meet. I was going to send her, but seeing as how you were about to board a First Order ship..."

"Is there anyone on it?"

"Let's find out." I followed close behind, crouched as to avoid anyone from seeing me. On who knows what, I tripped and crashed on my knees, onto the loading deck of the ship.

"Are you blind too?!" I whispered as I peeled myself off the gritty incline. Luke was gone. I took as big of steps as I could without lifting my feet from the ground. I stayed crouched, with my arms stretched out in front of me. I was off the incline and in the ship.

PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST

Luke stood in front of me, the sound of the ships doors closing drowning out his laughter.

"You look like an idiot, kid. Take it easy, the ship is on auto pilot, don't touch anything. See you soon." I may have looked like an idiot, but my crouching prevented another fall as the ship shot up, and out of the arena.

I ran my hands along the walls, familiarizing myself with the ship. When I found the cock pit, I took three steps to the right until I was feeling another wall of shelves. I found goggles and put them on.

"Tight little-" I grabbed them from my face and saw very dim lights and a stark shadow of my hands. The shadows and fuzzy lights turned to my hands, my clothes! Did I fall asleep in the midst of exploring the ship? Did I knock myself out when I fell? I slapped my face, my jaw popped and the sting lingered. I went to my bag and grabbed my journal. I spent the rest of the ride reading over my notes and being able to do everything I had learned all those years ago.

I only knew I had fallen asleep because I started to see the beginning of the day and how dumb the goggles looked. They were bright green, with a deep purple lens that bordered on being brown. The second my vision returned, everything went black.

"Rey! Rey!" Luke's voice rang in the darkness, disappeared into a whisper.

I woke up a sweaty mess. I looked out the window and saw the emerald green island. The waves crashed violently against the steep cliffs, a flock of Porgs flew by the window. I missed those little buggers.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I ran to the cock pit, and like I was possessed, I began pushing buttons and pulling levers. The ship was headed for a flat patch of grass-- I think this was on the other side of the village, near the temple. But who cares?

The landing was a lot smoother than the take off. I tied up my bag and ran out the door and through the grass. There were flowers scattered throughout.

"Porgs!" I jumped at one and caught it. It squawked for mercy but I held on to it and ran to the cliff side. I missed seeing how far the ocean was below me. It made me feel like I was flying.

I overshot, my foot slipped off, but before we could go down I grabbed for the grass. I caught the air but still managed to pull us up. Had I always been this powerful with the Force?

"Sorry, guy." I let the Porg go. I've never seen one run before, let alone run so fast. I took its lead running and ran to where I remembered The Temple to be. 

Up and over, over and up, the hills were a maze, but one I grew up in. 

The Temple! It stood beautiful and proud. A cloaked figure walked toward it with a torch. I stopped moving and held my breath. Thunder cracked and lightning struck The Temple: setting it ablaze. 

Mortified, the cloaked figure began yelling and talking to a... boulder? It sounded like Luke, but would he really yell at a boulder? I knelt down and felt the ground. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in, and out. Atop the boulder was a small green fog. Beside the fog was the familiar bright, glittering dust. Master Luke.

I got up and walked towards Master Luke, taking long, quiet strides. He stared straight into the fire in silence. I think the fog may have left him. The smell of the fire made my stomach grumble.  I reached for Luke's shoulder, he placed his hand on top of mine.

I watched as he argued with some girl. She was crying, yelling at him. He was lost for words, but angry, remorseful. He headed towards The Temple, torch in hand.

"Kid?" Master Luke stood before me. I recognized his favorite cloak and his signature scent. Bitter cherries and forest. He had his hands on my shoulders. Was this real? What did I just see? Were those visions? Dreams? The Temple was gone... Will he rebuild it and destroy it?

I met his gaze. His eyes lit up. He looked exactly the same.

"Rainbow eyes!" He pulled me in for a hug. I could have cried, but that would have just been awkward. Master Luke was good with teaching but not so much dealing with feelings. "How are you alive? What the hell happened to your eyes? I thought you were dead!"

"I searched for you during the fire! Ben tried to stop me, but I kept looking for you and..." I took a seat on the boulder where the green fog sat. "It gets blurry. Something got in my eyes. I made it to the ship. When I woke up, we had crashed on Canto Bight."

"We?"

"I had the other students with me." He took a step back. His face paled.  "I don't know what became of them. When the Casino Heads got word of what I could do, I was imprisoned."

"I don't believe you." He sat on a small boulder, a few yards from me.

"Why would I lie?"

"I found bodies." He gestured weakly to the ruins.

I shrugged. "You found clothes and critters."

"No one came back to me."

"No one could find you."

He shifted on the boulder. "What happened to you?"

"They put something in my neck. I couldn't see. I couldn't use the Force." I let out a small laugh. I buried my head in my hands. "I could see the future, though. It always came true. Then I found out if I touched the ground, I could see the layout of the room."

"That's why you were crouching when I saw you." He nodded, stroked his excuse of a beard.

"The closer I got to here, though, the more I could see." I stopped myself from talking about the goggles, he'd think I was insane, or worse, an idiot. "There's more to the Force than you taught, isn't there?"

"Just when you thought you had it all figured out, something changes..."

"Seeing the future, floating-"

"Floating? That's Force 101."

"Not objects floating. Me floating."

"Who taught you?" He nearly spat.

"No one, I fell off the cliff-"

"Fell off a cliff? You said you can see!" Porgs scattered from his volume.

"I overshot! I tried to grab the grass, but I just came back up." My laughing caused him to chuckle. He shook his head.

He rubbed his face and sighed in his hands. "You know the decades of training I went through to learn half the stuff you girls do so easily?"

"We're just fast learners." He guffawed, a flock of Porgs flew from the sound.  He shook his head and watched the last of the Temple fall to the ground. "So, who's the girl?"