Ignite the Stars | Reader x Ben Solo / Kylo Ren

Ch. 9 | Dust to Dust

"It's not your eyes
It's not what you say
It's not your laughter that gives you away
You're just lonely
You've been lonely too long
All your actin'
Your thin disguise
All your perfectly delivered lies
They don't fool me
You've been lonely too long
Let me in the walls you've built around
And we can light a match and burn it down
Let me hold your hand and dance
'round and 'round the flames in front of us
Dust to dust
You've held your head up
You've fought the fight
You've done your time
Listen to me
You're like a mirror reflecting me
Takes one to know one so take it from me
We've been lonely too long"

The Civil Wars - Dust to Dust

*******

"If he won't give us what we're looking for one, one of the others will," a deep unfamiliar male voice says from somewhere close by. Opening your eyes, you're no longer scared over waking up in an unfamiliar place surrounded by unfamiliar people. Sighing, you slowly sit up and take in your surroundings. You're sitting next to a red skinned man with large black eyes. He's dressed like a desert scavenger with his tan scarf, light brown jacket, and light brown pants. His hands are wrapped with white fabric up to his elbows. There are men of a similar species to your immediate left and right, forming a circular formation with a large man in the center. The large man's face is covered by a silver mask with a red inscription in an unfamiliar language and he's shirtless from the waist up. His skin is a tan color but has dark red splotches throughout it. He has on one black glove and in that gloved hand he holds a red ignited lightsaber.

Standing to his left is Ben, dressed in all black with a concerned look on his face. "Ren wait," Ben says as he looks down at the man kneeling next to you. Before anything else can happen, you jump to your feet and stand next to Ben. Not only do you not want to be next to the man that is more than likely about to be executed, you want to distance yourself from the man Ben calls Ren. He's extremely creepy and the feeling being in his presence causes is uncomfortable. Does his presence make Ben uncomfortable too?

Wait. Ren? As in. . Kylo Ren? Did Ben get his moniker because of the weird menacing man in front of you?

"There could be another way," Ben says. He reaches his hand out towards the kneeling man the way he does whenever he's intending to use the Force.

"Stop you're killing him!" One of the men kneeling yells out when the man in front of Ben cries out in pain.

"No. I'm just . . I'm just looking through his mind!" He pulls his hand back and turns to face Ren. "I have it. The artifact is three levels down in a sealed chamber to the southwest. The entrance is marked with a carving of a red snake."

"Nice move kid," Ren says impressed.

"It's a variation on the Jedi mind trick. Snoke told me about it. . but that was the first time I tried it. Wasn't sure it would work," Ben says as he looks down at the ground.

"I'm beginning to see why Snoke thought you'd be useful. Something like that could really come in handy. Anyways, thanks to you, we have what we need, which means we can release these fine folks. Boys, if you would be so kind."

A group of men dressed in all black and wearing masks similar to Ben's Kylo Ren mask approach the kneeling men and kill them one by one. Ben gasps with a horrified expression on his face while he watches the carnage in front of him. A deep unsettling voice echoes through his head. "The Knights of Ren do as they please, which lends them fluidity. Whatever they need to do to survive, to triumph, they do." Your unsure why you're able to hear the voice Ben hears and you don't know for sure who the voice belongs to but based on what you know you're assuming it's Snoke.