Bonded in the Silence: A Reylo Fanfiction

Chapter 34: Resurrection

Author's Note: Second last chapter you guys!!!!! Frick this one was amazing to write, and I'll be coming back around to fix mistakes in it. Thanks for all the patience...the more you spur me on, the greater the chapter becomes from what I initially imagine!

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The blood.

Tainted when it entered the body, it moved to fester in the bones, stirring production of the darkness, damaging the marrow to prevent replication of the healthy cells.

It spread like an insidious wildfire, mingling in the arteries and veins little by little, more cells returning to join the pool of life.

The river opened up suddenly, and the darkness flowed out with the good, emptying itself from the vessel...

*

Copious amounts of the scarlet fluid flowed over Rey's fingers, pressed firmly into her robes. Her arm was trembling as she staggered backward in shock at the injury she'd sustained, hurt and betrayal on her face.

It took all of Ben's self-control to not lose it in the wave of guilt crashing over him. He wished there was another way, but there was no other choice.

"It's in your blood, Rey" the words tumbling from his mouth. "Palpatine...his blood."

"Was this the only way?" Rey paled and disorientated with pain, looking down at one of her palms to see her fingers shaking. "I shouldn't have followed him to the underground...". Reeling off balance, her back came to rest against a wall under the stairs and she gasped, lowering herself to sit on the cold floor.

"I should have listened to you...instead of looking for them everywhere. It was my greatest weakness."

Ben rushed to her, his hands sorrily tempted to cradle her face but instead focused on carefully prying her fingers away from the fabric so he could look at the wound. A generous clot of dark blood fell out, followed by the slow, syrupy pour of what appeared to be tar. It was so thick that it rolled off the fabric of her robes, congealed and viscous with a mind of its own.

The blood rolled out onto the floor, a molasses of vital fluid, and it sickened Ben to watch as it bubbled and steamed for a few moments before it died of air exposure.

The prominently blue veins around Rey's jugular began to fade rapidly as her abdomen emptied of the dark fluid. Finally, the flow petered out and bright red blossomed suddenly around the inflicted injury. Rey's own blood now stained her white robes.

Ben stripped his tunic quickly, down to just a loose undershirt, balling it up on one end and pressing it in to stop the bleeding. Rey cried out with the pressure as Ben took her hands and firmly crossed them over one another on his tunic.

"You need to stop him" her voice broke, and he could barely hear her words over the sound of crackling energy that was nearing. The hurried footsteps of Tyrus were coming down the stairs above them, most likely with Lilith right on his heels.

I don't want to leave you.

"Please go" she urged, her lips losing their color now.

He hesitated, taking one long look at her before rushing out from under the stairs just as Tyrus and Lilith connected again at the bottom.

Tyrus' hair was soaked with sweat and it was evident he was tiring against the ferocity of Lilith's blows. Lilith's face had a sheen of perspiration also from her efforts, but her iron will still shone through; she was determined to win this fight. It wasn't in her nature to give up, that much was known about the Arkanian.