Star Wars: A Resistance Story. Book 3

Chapter 11: Second Test and Unexpected Events.

"Breathe in... Breathe out... Again... Breathe in... Breathe out... That's good. Now focus and keep the control."

Kneeled in front of her mentor, eyes shut, Ly'ra could only hear his voice. Nothing else existed around her except the Force, calm and peace. Several weeks had passed since her first Test and since, every single day, Ben was training her, making her work her use of various weapons, training her to control her powers that were growing each and single day even more, he was training her to be the one she should be. The barrier in her mind had been completely suppressed few days ago and the young woman had learned to control this power that was unknown to her until now.

Ben kneeled down in front of her and studied her. A part of him was feeling guilty to force her into these exercises, but he also knew he had saved her life. Unfortunately, his mission wasn't better with her presence. Informations from the First Order weren't good and he hadn't reached Rey since this incident aboard the Finalizer. Coming back to the young woman in front of him, he took a deep breath and rubbed his face before giving new instructions.

"That's good. Now start."

The young woman slowly raised her right hand above the ground and several metallic pieces raised from the floor, surrounded by a light red and yet familiar light and started to turn around a cristal. In her concentration, Ly'ra could see her saber growing alive, being slowly built. Then, when all the metallic pieces were perfectly adjusted around the cristal, they welded with a simple move of the young woman's wrist. With a last breath, Ly'ra allowed the newly built weapon to fall in her hand, slightly surprised by the cold of the metal, and finally opened her eyes. The handle was quite long and thin, with silver and black color, covered with a dark leather lacing. The transmitter was black as well, with the old Jedi Order's symbol engraved on it. She looked up at her mentor who encouraged her to active her saber with a simple nod. She took then a deep breath and engaged her lightsaber. A purple blade appeared between Ben and Ly'ra with the well known sound and the young woman surprised herself by recite the words Dante used to tell her several years ago.

"Cristal is the heart of the blade. The heart is the cristal of the Jedi. The Jedi is the cristal of the Force. The Force is the blade of the heart. They're all mingled. The cristal, the blade, the Jedi. You are one."

The Supreme Leader arched a brow, silently asking for an explanation, and Ly'ra answered with a grimace.

"It's... Dante who was telling me that. Each time I was watching him used his saber, often he stopped his exercises and told me these words. I understand them only now."

Then, an idea seemed to born in her mind and she frowned.

"Why purple?"

With a small smile, Ben sat down on the ground and studied the young woman's blade a moment before answering.

"You know when we were on Hurikane? You didn't actually find the cristal. The cristal came to you. Do you know why?"

Ly'ra thought about it for a while, eyes fixed on her weapon. Since the beginning of the Tests, Ben and Ly'ra almost never left Dathomir, only once, few days after the first fight. They went to a small planet situated between the Outer Rim and the Unknown Regions: Hurikane. There, the Sith left his apprentice alone in a cave so she can find and come back with her cristal. She needed several hours before coming back to Kylo Ren's ship, a purple cristal in her hand. The only explanation he gave was an amused smile, the same he was giving her right now. Then, an idea popped in her mind, a memory of her classes with Dante and she asked:

"Because of the Duality?"

Ben nodded slowly and explained:

"Cristals choose their owner. I am absolutely not surprised that such a color chose you Ly'ra. I told you several times: you are the Duality. It's logical and normal that your saber is the perfect reflection of who you are."