The Broken Ones | REYLO [Complete]

10. Hallucinations

--KYLO REN--

"Ben."

The voice immediately wakes me and I sit up, looking all around for my attacker. But no one is there. It's that voice again, the one I keep hearing the few times I've dreamt in the past months.

"Ben."

I jump off the cot and stride for the cell door. "Who's there?" I call out. No one responds, not even the guards stationed outside. Frustration and alarm send ice through my veins.

"Show yourself!" My voice echoes off the empty walls and reverberates through the metal of the cell. Still, the guards remain motionless outside.

"Don't be alarmed, Ben."

I spin around at the sound of the voice again and my body immediately tenses. Before me stands the figure of a young man, near my own age. A scar similar to mine leaves a jagged line over his eye. The cot in the corner of the cell is visible through his blue-tinged body. I'd learned of these illusions during my time training as a Jedi. Skywalker had made them sound as if they were real, as if they were the living spirits of Jedi who had left their physical bodies. "Who are you?" I demand.

"Do you really not know me?" The man asked, seemingly amused. "You ask for my guidance nearly every day."

My mind immediately jumps to the source of my inspiration, the charred mask I treasure. Perhaps I've never seen his true face, but surely this hallucination couldn't be him. "I don't believe you."

"Allow me to show you, then." He approaches and extends his gloved hand, reaching for my temple. I flinch and pull away but he moves with me. His touch isn't so much a touch as it is a sensation. It chills my skin and sends electricity through my entire body. I'm immobile, completely vulnerable to this person, this thing.

My mouth opens to warn him away, but darkness soon blankets the world and my consciousness slips away. When I awaken, all I see is white. Sudden heat beats down on me, radiating in waves from every direction. My eyes finally adjust and I look around to find sand in every direction. The blue figure is standing to my left, gazing around at the bustling market that surrounds us. His form gradually solidifies until he looks as real as the people milling about all around us.

"Where did you bring me? Is this Jakku?" I ask angrily.

"No, not quite. This is my home planet. Welcome to Tatooine."

The differences become more apparent the longer I look around. Where Jakku was barren and the people were harsh and hardened, Tatooine is bustling with normal life and beings who appear softer, perhaps even kind.

"Why have you brought me here?" I demand, turning to face the man claiming to be my grandfather. The corner of his mouth ticks up and suddenly I see my mother reflected in him. Not so much his appearance, but his mannerisms and expressions.

"To tell you a story my son--your uncle--never did. One that I was never able to share with him because of the many mistakes I made. Mistakes I want to prevent you from repeating."

Doubt creeps into the back of my mind, but something about his words ring true. I find myself wanting to believe him. "What's your name?" I ask, needing to hear it from him.

My grandfather looks at me with amused eyes. "Anakin Skywalker."

"Where is Darth Vader? He's the one I want to speak with. You are him, so why isn't he here?"

"Darth Vader is dead. Yes, he and I were one and the same for a long time, but he was never me. He was everything I hated most about myself. Before I was corrupted by the Emperor, I was the most powerful Jedi anyone had seen in millennia." Anakin stops and chuckles to himself. "I was an arrogant kid, always trying to prove myself superior in every way. And I was, most of the time, but I'm lucky I didn't get myself killed."