Star Wars IX- The Rise of Skywalker

Chapter 13- Holocron

Kylo looked at the delicate object, glass with metal sides. It sat neatly within the palm of his hand, approximately the size of his hand both in width and height. The three sides met in a point, creating a 3D triangular prism with a triangular base- a pyramid. The metal was intricate and engraved with symbols holding the glass, which had similar etchings on its surface. It emitted no light, yet within it, Kylo could see a dark red mist or energy pulsating and twinkling.

"Where did you get this?" he asked angrily, hoping to hide the fear he could feel catching in his throat.

"Where we got it isn't of any consequence," Poe stated curtly.

"Do you know what it is you've been carrying?" Kylo asked, looking at each of them in turn, tense, haughty expressions greeting him from all but Rey.

"It's a Holocron. A Sith Holocron," Rey spoke calmly and assuredly as though what they'd been carrying was nothing noteworthy. She paused, however, before she said the most relevant piece of information, but Kylo already knew what she was about to disclose- the owner of this particular device. 

"Palpatine's Holocron."

Kylo placed the Holocron on the floor and leaned back where he sat, looking at the seemingly innocuous object before him- it was anything but. He could hear that thready laugh, feel those spidery hands, the pull to the dark. He was not of the Light; he had been once a long time ago, it seemed now. He would never really be of the Light again, but nor had he truly ever allowed himself to submerge fully within the depths of darkness. During his training on Dagoba, Snoke demanded he deny his family and destroy his compassion for them; Kylo had annihilated the ancient cave instead. Snoke had believed he had destroyed all his attachments, his compassion, and the cave, but Kylo had deceived him; he had often deceived his former master. Murdering his father was the worst thing he had ever done, one at the time he'd thought was necessary, but it hadn't secured his place in the dark. It had had the opposite effect, splitting his spirit to the bone. Every Holocron was unique, and based on the teachings within, the contents of this Holocron beckoned him. Kylo continued to view the object before him; it was beautiful, crafted perfectly, but it contained evil, and Kylo wished nothing more than to be away from it.

"Why am I here?" he asked again, not to anyone in particular, his gaze fixed on the crimson essence within the object.

"We need you to open it; you're the only one who can."

It was Rey who answered him. He turned to her, her face concerned but purposeful. The concern he sensed was for him. For his immortal soul, perhaps? Her concern was misplaced; his soul was beyond saving.

"No, I'm not the only one," he responded darkly. In his mind, Kylo spoke the name of the other person who could open this device. Should he ever acquire it, the galaxy as they knew it would end; everything would end. He couldn't allow that to happen. He paused, considering looking back at the prism.

"We cannot know what is inside. If I open it, there is no knowing what will happen."

"Can we destroy it without opening it?" Finn asked. It was a reasonable question and one Kylo was considering himself.

"It cannot be destroyed by anything other than dark energy or opened by anyone who doesn't understand the teachings of the maker, so I guess I just have to try and see."

Kylo changed his position to kneel before the prism, like a religious monk about to pray to his deity, but Kylo was not about to pray. He gave Rey a mildly anxious look, a be ready just in case look, in case of what he could not say. He removed his gloves and brushed his hands anxiously upon his trousers before he closed his eyes and reached one hand out towards the object. He knew from training with Luke that he would have to hear the Holocron and what it was telling him before he could open it with the Force. He probed at it with his mind and felt the essence within. Suddenly, his eyes shot open, and he flinched his hand as though he'd been shocked. He'd seen destruction, fire, burning, countless bodies of dead Jedi, murder, planets of death, war and Darth Vader.  He'd heard screams, lightsabers clashing and that laughter, that hideous cackle. He let out a shuddered breath, hands on his thighs to steady himself as he hung his head and breathed.