Revival- A Star Wars Story

Chapter 28- The True Self

Luke hikes across the mountain, carefully listening for the other entity. He reaches a cave, and steps inside. A familiar yet distorted voice calls to him. "Luke..."

Luke winces in pain. It's the voice he heard back on Etilma, and when he was on his X-wing on Inimoni. The voice speaks to him again. "Trust your feelings. Stay true to what you believe in."

Luke fights the pain and steps in further. The Passion is just ahead. But there is something in the way.

"Show yourself," Luke declares.

The entity laughs. From the darkness of the shadows, a figure, cloaked in all black and breathing heavily, steps forward. It is wearing a mask that Luke had never seen before- skeletal, sharp, but commanding. The figure takes its helmet off. And before him, with menacing yellow eyes and a deep red scar, is another Luke Skywalker.

"No... no, it can't be," Luke says in disbelief, "Who are you?"

THE armored stalker's ship flies with incredible speed towards Finn.

"Poe, he's almost got us!"

"Not if I can help it!" Cognition Poe thrusts forward, and the ship heads out of the portal, and Finn is hit with a pounding crash- he's blinded and can't see anything anymore. He sees and hears nothing. But he gradually regains his sight and his hearing. He wakes up and is in a warm home, lying on a furnished fuzzy carpet.

"I take it you must be Finn."

Finn gets up, turns around, and sees a woman sitting down on a sofa, dressed in household robes. He sits down across from the sofa. There is something vaguely familiar about her. And then Finn realizes who it is: "You're Paige. Rose's sister."

Cognition Paige replies, "I am. Look at us- two heroes of the Resistance, sitting together, in my sister's house. Rose will be ecstatic when she comes back home."

Finn remembers how he lied to Rose, claiming that he was trying to regain the trust of the Resistance. "No. I'm not who Rose thinks I am. Not like you."

"Well, I don't know you that well, but from what Rose has said, you're the kind of guy who always tries to do what's right. Even if it means losing everything."

Finn looks up. "She still thinks I'm a good guy?"

"I knew the risks of becoming a pilot," Paige tells him, "I had to take care of my sister, but I also had to fight for what's right. And I knew that if I died, Rose would be alone. But I still did it."

"Because if you didn't, you wouldn't be someone Rose could look up to."

"Deep down, Rose wants to do what's right. But she doesn't know who to follow. The heroes everyone wants to be, the ones on the Resistance posters? Or someone else?"

Suddenly, there's a knock on the metallic door. "It's here," Finn says in a panic. "Paige, how do I get from this place to someone else's world?"

"Take this." She takes a necklace off of her, and says, "Think of where you want to be. You will be guided there."

Finn grasps the necklace, and concentrates hard. Merilia. How do I get into her soul world? I have to connect to her, to want to understand her. How does she see the Force? What does she want it to do?

The door opens, and in steps the armored stalker. And now that it is fully in his view, Finn sees the unexpected: the stalker is wearing a red pendant inscribed with three fangs, the exact one he had seen on Fortuna. It raises a gun towards Finn.

"GO!" Cognition Paige steps in between them, and the armored stalker shoots her. Suddenly, Finn is transported out of Rose's soul world, and again, into blackness. He opens his eyes, and he's standing in a dimly lit circle, and six figures stand around it, facing away with their backs towards him. They don't utter a word. Outside of the circle, there is only darkness. "This is it," Finn whispers, "Merilia's."