These Violent Delights

Chapter 14: Stuck in Jabba's Quarters

WARNING: Physical assault (Force-thrown into a tree TFA style).

—

"Ooomph."

By the time you landed on your feet, it felt like you had fallen for a lifetime. You groaned, sinking hard and fast into this freezing, dismal world you had constructed. It took you a moment to realize you were standing in a heap of snow—something you almost hated as much as sand. It stuck to your eyelashes and chilled you to the bone as you stood in the middle of a thick forest, stupidly looking all around for Kylo, who had been sucked through a black hole...inside your mind?

"What the fuck is happening?" you muttered to yourself, squinting like an idiot as though it would help you see through the dense wall of trees in front of you. The wind started to whine with a low, ominous howl, and you pinched yourself, desperate to wake up. But your body responded stubbornly. You felt a pull, but not the same chaotic pull you'd felt toward Kylo. It wasn't maddening. It was comforting. You couldn't explain it; you didn't recognize this feeling in you, this innate knowledge, but it propelled you forward down a winding path of freezing terrain.

But the deeper you went into the forest, the more uneasy you felt as the sky deteriorated into darkness. And by the time you found Kylo on his knees under a thicket of trees, the light was almost gone. "Hello?" you whispered, but it evaporated into nothingness, just like your heavy cloud of exhales in the frigid air.

He didn't turn toward you, but you could see the profile of his face under the sinister glare of the sky. Unlike when he was sitting with you, he was wearing his battle attire sans his robes. You squinted as you studied him—this was definitely the Supreme Leader before you, but he looked different. Younger, slimmer, his face more gaunt and without a scar, and no longer exuding the power you had just been admiring by the lake. Instead, he looked defeated and afraid.

You tried again. "Kylo?"

Still, he didn't respond as he remained hunched over, blood oozing through his gloves and spattering red droplets onto the snow at his feet. The sight of them pulled you closer, but your legs were heavy and sluggish, and you froze in terror as the light through the tops of the trees faded into nothing but an ominous, red glow. Something terrible was about to happen. You felt it.

You reached for Kylo, this man you wanted to hate yet felt the need to warn, but a massing pressure of sound and sensation closed in around you. From every angle, through every tree branch and snowflake, you heard it: panicked voices, synchronized steps, the whine of a ship, a loud slam, the pounding of a heart, then—silence.

You could not see, you could not hear, you could not feel. You felt shut out from something that you did not understand. This nothingness...it panicked you, as though you were stuck at the top of an inhale, waiting in suspense for release. And when that exhale finally came, your senses returned to you. One by one. You could see and hear again, but it was different this time. Instead of panic, you felt calm. Resolve. And the sounds were no longer overlapping into an indecipherable mess. They were clear and moved in a progression that told a story you recognized but wished you didn't.

"I know what I have to do, but I don't have the strength to do it. Will you help me?"

"Yes. Anything."

The weighted clunk of Kylo's helmet, the unclipping of his weapon, the whistling of wind, the twisting of leather, and then—the violent, crackling hum of his lightsaber and an animalistic, piercing wail of agony, followed by two broken, desperate words...

"Thank you."

A ghost of a hand cupped your face, so gentle and full of unconditional love and heartbreak, and the pain that had been numbed barreled toward you, and fast. You fell to your knees, your mouth twisting around a throaty scream.

With a fierce whip of his head, Kylo set his raging gaze on you from the center of the forest. "I told you not to follow!"

You couldn't speak. All you felt was pain originating from inside of you as the cold air frosted your lungs and froze the tears on your cheeks. You tried to tell him you didn't want to be here, but your mouth hung open in muted agony.

He strode toward you with fast, aggressive steps. "WAKE UP!" he yelled, and with an outstretched hand, he propelled you into the air, sending your back crashing against a tree.

You screamed as you plummeted to the ground, and you closed your eyes in fear, but the landing was soft. When you got back on your feet, you looked around at the ever-shifting trees and the strange globs of snow falling from the twisted, crimson sky. Any other instance and this otherworldliness would frighten you, but all you felt was relief.

This is just a dream. I'll be okay. Everything is okay.

But as Kylo beelined toward you, his anger was palpable. "I don't want you here," he seethed, yelling your name, "you need to leave. You need to WAKE UP!"

"I can't," you tried to shout, but your voice didn't seem to work. "I can't. I'm sorry!"

"You should be sorry," he snarled, towering over you with wild eyes. "You aren't supposed to be here! You shouldn't have followed me!"

As though his wrath sparked a rage inside you, you lurched forward and screamed at him. "Then put me back where you found me!"

"I can't! It's too late for that!"

"No, it's not!" you screamed, slamming your fists into his chest. "Stop hiding on Exegol and come face me in person, you coward!"

With a guttural yell, Kylo swung his lightsaber above his head, clasped both hands on the hilt, and drove all of his weight downward. The blade pierced the snow, and the ground beneath you cracked open with a deafening roar. Trees, snow, and rocks all fell inward as the chunks of land you were both standing on split apart.

Panicked, you tried to scramble away from the crumbling earth, but an avalanche of snow carried you over the edge. You fell facing up, watching with horror as the dreamworld above collapsed within itself. Just as the sky came down, meeting you as you free-fell beside soil and trees and snow, you slammed your eyes shut and screamed inside your head.

I want to wake up!

Down you went deeper into the molten core of this tumultuous manufactured hell, simultaneously falling up toward consciousness and light and life. It wasn't until you heard those words again, wrapping around you like chains, that you were able to wake up.

"Thank you."

Gasping for air, you shot off your mat in a cold sweat. You trembled as your heart raced, ragged breaths tumbling from your lips. You looked down at your body—just to make sure it was intact—before scrambling to the corner of your cell. You clutched your knees to your chest, trying to stop yourself from hyperventilating. Even with your pulse returning to a steady rate, you couldn't find it in you to move.

Hours passed like this. Hours. It wasn't until the lights flickered on and a Stormtrooper came sauntering in to collect you that you were able to force your back off the wall. "Get up, Prisoner M421. The Supreme Leader requires your presence in his quarters."

As you shakily got to your feet, the nerves swimming in your stomach were not subtle.