Star Wars Episode X: The Shroud of The Dark Side

Chapter 5: Ben Solo

Ben stood and walked toward the ghost of his grandfather. He sat down on the edge of the bed and just stared. For a few minutes neither of them said anything else. Ben looked at the ground and whispered "I thought you all had abandoned me."

Anakin walked over and sat down by him. "We never left. Even when you left us. We were always waiting for you."

"Why haven't you answered me? I've been calling to you all for years." Ben asked defensively.

"We can't just appear because you want us to. There needs to be a reason for us to come see you. But there is a reason. I have to warn you." Anakin stopped and hesitated.

"Is something wrong? What's coming? Does this have to do with the Lord Caedus and that weird alien?" Ben didn't care that he was firing off so many questions, he had to know what was going on.

"Yes, I don't fully know, Yes and Yes. The alien species you are looking for is called the Yuuzhan Vong. That's all I know about them. They come from outside of this Galaxy. I found the name in my time in the Jedi Order on Coruscant. As for Caedus, Luke tells me you can find information on him in the old Jedi academy he used to run."

Ben frowned. "So the old Jedi temple you were in, and the old Jedi academy I was in." He thought hard about this for a minute. Luke's old academy wouldn't be hard to get into. It was on a more unknown planet and as far as Ben knew hadn't had anyone move in since he helped burn it down. However the temple on Coruscant would be impossible for him to get into. Rey and Finn would have to look through that one.

Anakin looked at Ben sadly. "I'm sorry Ben. My failures as a Jedi are what led you down your path. Just know that we were always looking out for you. I'm sorry we couldn't do more. You are the key to stopping the Yuuzhan Vong from taking over this galaxy. You must find a way to come out to the public. It is the only way. You can't win this war in the shadows."

"How can I? It isn't safe yet. I know I need to but I don't know how. I don't think anyone is anywhere close enough to helping me either." Ben sighed. He knew his grandfather was right, but finding a way to come out of the shadows to the public was not an easy task.

"Is.... Is my mother ok?" Ben hesitated before asking.

Anakin smiled at him. "Yes. Watching over you, and happy to do so. Happy with your choices in the last two years."

Ben relaxed a little knowing that Leia and forgiven him for what he had done. Like killing his father. He needed to hear this. Ben has done a lot of bad in his life, and in the past few years he has tried to do good to make up for it but recently he's felt like nothing but a failure.

"I have to go. Ben, I'm sure we will speak again soon." Anakin smiled as he faded away.

Ben stood up and spent a few hours pacing. He decided to try and contact Rey about what was going on and try to see if she could check on the old temple of Coruscant, and if the airspace was clear enough for him to speed off to his old academy. He found the comlink and tried to contact Rey. She didn't answer him so he tried to contact Finn. Still he heard nothing from them. Starting to get worried Ben tried Rey one more time and still, she didn't answer him. For now he was going to do nothing. Last time he tried to do something it made everything worse. He would take Rey's advice and stay put. Still, he couldn't just sit there. Sitting by himself stuck in his house was madness. Ben went and pulled out the Kylo Ren lightsaber. It was time to see if he could purify it. Opening the hatch he pulled out the cracked red crystal. Placing it in his palm he closed his fist and sat down with it. Closing his eyes he felt like he was being sucked into the crystal.

Opening his eyes back up, Ben was in a red misty field. In his hand was his original blue lightsaber. The one he would eventually turn into the crossguard. Igniting it, he was shocked to see a white blade instead of a blue one. Looking up, a figure had formed in front of him. It was Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it. Charging at Ben he had no mercy. Ben doged and swung at the fake. Kylo blocked him and then used the force to send Ben flying. He took off his mask and Ben saw what he would have been had he stayed Kylo Ren. Kylo was thin, had yellow eyes, waxy white skin. He had dark shadows under his eyes. Kylo looked at him and smiled.

"You're nothing without me. I am you. I'm a better you." Kylo sneered.

Ben shook his head. "No. I'm stronger without you. I'm stronger with the light. I'm stronger with Rey."

Kylo Ren laughed at him. "No. you're weaker with her. Weaker with the light. Snoke gave you everything. I gave you everything. You abandoned your destiny."

Ben was starting to get angry. He started to walk back towards Kylo and then stopped. This is what he wanted. Kylo was trying to pull him back toward the dark.

"This is what you want. I won't let you. If you want me, come to me."

Kylo Ren sneered at him and charged. He was brutal with his attacks, but Ben was good at defense. He realized real quick that Kylo Ren hadn't changed styles, this was exactly how he had attacked. Ben realizing this, quickly started on the counteroffensive, Kylo Ren's smile quickly disappeared. Ben overwhelmed and disarmed him, he kicked Kylo onto the floor.

"Do it. Kill me. You know that you want to. You know that you NEED to." Kylo taunted him.

Ben paused for a second. "No. If I kill you I win. We're done here." Ben turned off his lightsaber and walked away. Ben felt warm and happy. Smiling he walked into a bright light. Ben woke up with a start. He was lying on the floor, and the crystal was across the room. Except something was different with it. It wasn't red, or cracked. The crystal was a nice white and seemed to have fixed itself. Ben walked across the room and picked it up. He put the Kyber crystal back into the lightsaber and tried to ignite it.

That was a poor choice.

The crossguard lightsaber couldn't handle the fixed crystal and exploded in his hand. Ben went across the room and hit the wall. Stumbling up and walked to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. His right hand was burned and his face was cut up in a few places. He was bleeding from the old scar across his eye. Swearing under his breath, Ben grabbed some bandaids and wet clothes and cleaned up his face and hand. Ben froze realizing that his crystal he just purified might have just broken again. He ran back to the room and grabbed the Lightsaber. It was surprisingly still intact. The top was smoking and busted. But the bottom was still ok. He quickly opened the hatch and pulled out the lightsaber. It was smoking but was fine. He took a deep breath and slumped to the floor. It was a long day. Ben was tired of the random crap. He crawled into the bed and fell asleep.