Temptation Of Grey

Chapter 24 - The soul of the darkness

They both went to the cave, both of them wondering what would happen to them, looking forward to the next events. They were very nervous but tried to not show this to the other.

They both washed away the sweat of the workout and changed clothes without getting too close. Then they sat down again directly by the warm fire and looked at each other. "Shall we then?" Rey asked and Ben nodded determinedly and closed his eyes. Rey did the same, trying to breathe calmly and focus on Ben's consciousness and get deeper to him.

She felt that he had created this time no lock and she got easy access. He had opened to her completely. She could feel his worry and anxiety on the edge and tried to calm him mentally.

Rey plunged deeper  and deeper into Ben's mind. She ignored the images that appeared and faded away from her to approach the core, the deepest and most hidden part of his soul. She saw snatches of Snoke, Hux, his parents and other memorys past her, but she released them immediately to get deeper.

Then the atmosphere blurred around and after a few moments she found herself on a mighty black rock bridge. To the left and right of her the precipice dropped steeply to end in a stream of red-hot and fire-lava, and right in front of her, in the red glow of the lava, a mighty fortress rose from the same black rock.

Rey had to tilt her head back to look at the top of the fortress. The coldness radiating from the building made her goose bumps and her hackles instinctively rose. She was at the core. She had arrived.

What would she expect behind these walls? Well, she would not find out if she stopped in front of it! So she straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath, and began to approach the mighty iron portal that seemed to form the entrance to the fortress.

She had expected that she would first stand in front of a locked gate, that she had to laboriously try to find a way into the fortress. But as soon as she approached the portal, there was a groaning sound and a moment later the huge gates started to open as if by magic, to let her enter.

Someone wanted her to come in. Someone wanted to have her in the fortress. She was not sure if that was good or very bad. But she went on, determined to face whatever was coming.

Rey stepped through the gate and entered a gigantic hall. The entire fortress seemed to consist of this one endless hall. The only source of light came from the rocky walls, which were traversed by small streams of glowing lava, and shone red dusk upon the dully-gleaming, perfectly smooth surface of black rock and the jagged walls, broken only here and there by larger rocks.

What should be the meaning of this empty fortress? That Ben's soul was empty and black as the night? She did not want to believe that. It had to be more than that. She went deeper into the room, trying to see something in the oppressive darkness.

Suddenly she heard a noise and froze. Angered, she listened to the seemingly endless silence and then heard it again! Slightly to the left of her at some distance. It sounded like a ... soft sob? She immediately turned in the direction of the sound and walked quickly towards it. She felt the temperature rise and the warmer it became the closer she got to the source of the noise. And then she saw him.

A few steps away from her. Huddled there on the ground and leaning against a rock was a little boy. He had tightened his legs and tightly wrapped his little arms around them as if to give himself security. His short black curls framed a pale, cute face with a few summer blips and a little snub nose. He could not be more than six or seven years old. But when he noticed her as well and his head shot up and he looked her in the eye, her breath caught.

His eyes were deep lakes of despair, fear, loneliness and hopelessness. And it was Ben's eyes. Her heart ached under that look and the only thing that counted for her from that moment on was to free that sweet innocent boy from this dark nightmare. She reached out in his direction and quietly said, "Ben," his eyes widened in surprise, "Ben, come to me, come with me, I'll get you out of here, you do not have to stay here."

"Oh, yes, he will." said a cold voice behind her. The boy opened his eyes in panic and curled up in the shelter of the rock again to a small ball and Rey turned around hastily.

"He's just learning how pointless it is to devote oneself to the weaknesses love, trust and affection. Weaknesses that make you dependent and powerless. So, we don't want to disturb the learning success."

"Kylo Ren!" Rey spat out the words, for the sight of the little boy had stirred her anger. Ren was only a few feet away, in full armor and mask, and now activated his lightsaber with a slight sideways movement to point it at her.

"You should disappear, rebel scum! I will not let him go and you will die trying if you want to take him. He belongs to me and together we will finish what our grandfather started."

Rey resolutely activated up her lightsaber herself and replied," You are not Ben Solo. You are just a part of his soul. A product of Snoke's manipulations. You only have as much power as Ben Solo gives you, and it's time to put yourself away and clear the place in this soul for its rightful owner. And I'll manage that this succeeds."

She felt Ren's anger wash over her. "Then I will destroy you!" he shouted, his voice distorted by the mask, and attacked her.

Rey parried the mighty sword thrust that Kylo Ren used to attack her and the fight began. It was strange that this time she could not break into a mind to anticipate the next steps in the fight. Kylo's consciousness was like an empty shell and impenetrable. So she focused on his fighting style, which was as familiar to her as her own.

For some time they duel without any of them gaining the upper hand. Suddenly he made a quick turn and managed to hurt her at the shoulder of her sword arm. A triumphant laugh sounded as she shrank back, unable to use her arm properly.

He approached her like a deadly predator his victim and began to play with her. He also hurt her hip and left leg. Desperate Rey could only remember that the boy could not stay here under any circumstances.

She collected her last powers and managed it to inflict a deep wound to Ren' s thigh with a skillful rotation of her lightsaber. That made him so mad that in one movement he swept her lightsaber from her and clasped her neck with his big hand.

Rey could not react fast enough because of her injuries. He lifted her up with the hand around her neck. His masked face approached hers and he said coldly, "Now you're going to die, rebel scum, and we'll fulfill our true purpose and you can do nothing about it."

She knew he was right, knew she had failed, and tears of regret came into her eyes. She could only think of Ben as he took her breath and let her sink into unconsciousness.

Suddenly the pressure was released from her neck and she fell to the ground gasping for air. Little Ben stood between her and Kylo Ren and raised his hand. Rey could feel the incredible force power that pulsed from the child. He had thrown Kylo from her with his powers.

Fear and doubt had disappeared in the boy's eyes, giving way to determination and self-confidence. He raised his childlike voice, which, however, vibrated with authority, shouting, "Get out of here, you have no more power over her or me, I will not allow that anymore, she is under my protection!" He stretched out his little hand again and a blast of force power erupted and Kylo Ren dissolved like an illusion in 1000 small parts and disappeared.

When the chaos subsided, little Ben turned to face her and approached her. He squatted down on the floor in front of her, because Rey was unable to stand up.

"Are you all right?" He asked quietly, looking closely at her from those big and far too old eyes. "I have already seen you, I know you from my dreams." He carefully reached out his little hand to touch her face and continued to ask, "Are you an angel?"

Rey smiled and could only stare in relief. Then the whole scenery began to dissolve before her and the dark fortress and the little boy disappeared.

She found herself again in an indirectly lit room. A large window occupied a complete wall and you could see out into the outer space. In front of the window was a huge black bed. Rey frowned and looked down at herself. She wore a white floor-length tunic. Her hair fell open over her shoulders and was much longer than it should have been.

Suddenly two warm, big hands lay on her and covered her hips and shoulders. A male body pressed against her back and the deep voice of Ben at her ear whispered softly: "Finally we arrived, I hope our quarters are to your satisfaction, sweetheart." And Rey smiled happily....