Daylight

53. You've Changed

I could feel the power racing through my veins as the dark lines became so clear and bold, they were like tattoos on my skin. But no pain came with them as they grew. Bex's presence loomed over me. Though, it was nothing but a shadow meant to be destroyed by a ray of light. Sliding off the table Darth Vader had laid me upon; I could feel the water in my boots slushing around as it left my footprints behind. I couldn't stop looking at the veins on my wrists as the force was an unimaginable power to be reckoned with now. I felt like I could sense the entire galaxy and every force-user leftover from wars before. It all felt too real as I felt the dark side of the force cloud my sight, a black film covering my violet eyes if I gazed into a mirror. Luckily for me, the shattered pieces of glass gave me that reflection as I looked to my feet. 

I felt like a whole new person. I felt the power that everyone would fear someday. I felt the balance of the force within me, Light and Dark ceasing a fight. Taking a deep breath, it felt like Vader was still here with me, though I could no longer physically see him. Just the feeling of his spirit beside me gave me enough confidence to turn on my heel and grasp the lightsaber that hummed to life the moment I slid off the table. Bex was stunned by my movement and probably the sight of me as I tilted my head to mock him before grabbing his left wrist and jacket. Throwing him up through the only hole that led to the building's upper floors, I heard him land with a heavy thud as he groaned from the impact.

Slowly and methodically walking up the stairs, I hadn't realized until I watched him pull himself from the ground how I planned on killing him. He was panting hard as he had just run a mile here until it hit me hard. With the force of throwing him up here, he must have been injured in a way. So, I had the power to hurt him with just a single throw? Cocking my head to the side as something was in motion, he came at me again without a single word as I caught his wide swing. Gripping his wrist once more, I could feel the power flowing through his veins, and it made me want to absorb every ounce of it. Hearing my thoughts for my mind was more than just wide open now; he quickly changed coarse but not fast enough. Headbutting him hard, he staggered back as I looked to the floor above us. A giant opening went straight through every floor until the very top as an idea popped into my head. Could I throw him all the way to the top? It was something I wanted to try as he raced towards me but reacted too late. In one swift motion, maybe too hard and fast, I threw him up by absorbing the force from him again as he flew upward, missing two floors as he went.

He could barely move from that impact as I could feel the burning pain from my force. Foul words sprang from his thoughts, all insults towards me as it made me smile. I could feel and see why I would become such a threat to the galaxy. I could understand why it was Darth Vader himself to revive me. I now understood why Snoke needed me dead. Siphoner Jedi had the power to take away the force from within a person, light or dark. All that power in one body couldn't be controlled without skill and help. It either could destroy you, or you could use it to destroy everything. It's how you chose to use it as a gift or a curse upon this galaxy and every living thing to exist. Mina and Suran were tasked from the very start to kill me, a threat to the galaxy, no matter who's to rule it. I was walking death to the First Order and the Resistance.

"So, this is why people have always feared me?" I questioned myself as I walked cautiously up the two flights of stairs to find Bex struggling to stand now. Watching him use a half-broken chair to stand, he huffed as blood spilled from his lips. The damage had been done to his organs; I could feel his pain that came with it. Slices and cuts covered his bare arms now as the fabric was torn to scraps. I felt like the true monster that everyone had seen Kylo Ren as, but far worse as I angled my head at Bex's attempt to reach for his saber. Flickering my eyes at the object, it flew to me with ease, landing in my outstretched hand like it was nothing.

"W-What did you do to yourself? You've changed." I could never imagine him stuttering like hid did as I hunched my shoulders, ready for anything now as I decided to humor him.

"It's what was done against me is how you should question it. But then again, all anyone has ever told me were lies. So, what's the point in explaining this to you? Your stolen knowledge of the force dwindled to nothingness since our time together-"

"I still know plenty about you! It'll be easy to kill you off! The galaxy will be rid of you!" He screamed at me as his teeth were splattered with blood, which he spat before me in anger. Now, I could see the pure malice he had for us, the Jedi race.

"Thanks to my...awakening, Bex Toth, the galaxy may have to change it's mind now. Also, would someone like me do this?" I questioned as I took his saber in both hands before breaking it in half as he screamed for me to stop. I didn't as I kept snapping the hilt in places, breaking it further into nothing as I threw the remaining pieces out a large hole in the wall that led outward towards the streets.

"That's a Jedi's sacred weapon! How could you!?" He hollered as he lunged for me, but I stopped him with just a twist of my wrist.

Flinging him to the opposite side of the floor we stood on; I knew I didn't have the time or patience to follow my plan out all the way as the building was too tall for my liking. I needed to get to Ben, and now Bex was just something irrelevant. Snoke had always been my goal to kill since I first felt his hold on Ben years ago in the temple. Taking a turn for the worst, Bex was slammed hard into broken rubble as he yelped in pain. I could hear several cracks of bones with the impact, or maybe it was the brick wall? I wasn't sure what I heard as I tilted my head at his attempt to stand before his body froze from my power.

"You said I seemed different than before. Do you truly wish to know why Mr. Toth?" I spoke with a slow and sinister voice as I approached his frozen body on the floor, his body heaving with heavy breaths. His face was distorted in pain and hatred, something I was used to seeing after so long. Placing my own saber on a table not too far from us, I wasn't concerned for him to steal it. Raising my hands, I placed them on either side of his head as he shook with absolute fear. He had no idea what was coming as I forced myself into his mind, screams and terrifying groans escaping his bloody lips.

"Bex, do you remember the lesson my father gave us about a mystical source of power called The Hollow?" I gripped his head as he tried to break my hold but failed.

"What the fuck does a fairytale have to do with this!?" He murmured as he tried to move his hands and failed again. Smiling at what I too thought was a fairytale, I sank one knee to the ground so that I could be eye level with him. And that's when he saw it. My darkened eyes of a girl possessed by a demon, staring back at him as his mouth opened wide.

"Shit, your eyes-"

"Blacker than the Dark Side itself, The Hollow wills itself to be absorbed by only a siphoner with great power and strength to wield it. But with it comes great consequence for life will be taken away for the true power of Light and Dark will force itself to awaken, a balance in the force that will be reborn into something new. Now, do you remember what kind of person this Hollow source needed?" I reached further into his mind as I found his answer with some help from my memory. I was always the one who paid attention during those lessons.

"A Jedi of great power. One who can siphon the force from both sides. A child born from a legacy that was unheard of in the old days of the Jedi." He said while spitting out blood. 

"What kind of legacy?" I asked, digging my nails into his head as he squinted in pain. I could feel the force within him fading away from the more I siphoned it from his body. He was almost human now.

"A child born from the mother of the Light and the father of the Dark. A Jedi and a Sith, both but neither." So, he did pay attention to that detail? Hm, what a surprise.

"Amara, please" A mixture of blood and spit dripped from his mouth as I watched his eyes begin to roll. Pleading for his life was never something I could give him, no matter how high or low the price was. He knew what I was doing; he could feel it. He could literally feel how I wanted to end his life.

"Mercy doesn't look good on you," I said with a cold and harsh tone as I took what was left of his power and absorbed it into my hands, the dark veins starting to recede from my wrists. The very force that held his life together was fading before me, the light within his eyes being snuffed out.

"Your death is only the beginning," I said as my final words to the one who hurt me the most as I used brute force to snap his neck by turning it to the side with a quick snap. His body dropped to the floor as I could feel everything around him begin to fade and wither away. The man that drove me to hate everything about myself was gone. The man that made me hate the way my body looked to another was gone. The man that fueled my hatred for all the hurt and pain was gone. And now, it was time to kill the next man that took almost everything from me. But first, I needed to change and hitch a ride to the First Order's Supremacy.

"Hm, but where to find my ride?" I turned to the only standing window as I felt someone, or two someones enters the atmosphere as one of them seemed all too familiar.

"FN-2187, what are you doing all the way out here?" I said with an amused voice and a smile as I grabbed my lightsaber and left the last place anyone would look for Bex's body.

********************

Feeling like a queen ready to rule a galaxy, I watched from afar in a booth covered by drunken men as the girl Finn brought with him and himself were taken away by Canto Bight police. I had guessed that they committed a crime they either deserved or was framed for as I knew where they would be taken. With dry clothes and my hair in it's a beautiful curved and wavy state, I felt ten times more powerful than anyone in this room was born out of. With my lightsaber tucked away in my boot, I left the moment Finn and the girl has dragged away from their initial target, a man that didn't seem worth the search, as I proceeded to where they were detained. Finn better appreciate the welcoming committee because I didn't do it often.

Using the force to make myself invisible, I could feel a pull in the force. At first, it was dark and sinister, and it reminded me of Snoke. Turning my head to the direction, it was coming from; I saw nothing but an empty hallway; every other light was illuminated. Scrunching my brows together, I hummed quietly as I turned to see Vader's mask again, his ghost mere feet before me.

"You're job is done. I'm awake and ready for battle. Why do you haunt me still?"

"Your goal to kill Bex was only the beginning. I've seen inside your mind, Amara. Snoke is strong with the dark side of the force. He will be a formidable kill, but it won't be easy. Plus, you'll have my grandson to worry about as well."

"I'm not worried about Ben separating me. I'm sure he's spent the last several years wanting to kill Snoke. Who wouldn't for that kind of power over the galaxy? Hell, maybe he'll aid me." I brushed past his ghost as I turned down the hallway I needed as he followed easily next to me.

"And if he doesn't? What will you do if your Dyad Bonded chooses to side against you, protect his master?" I stopped mid-step as his question rang in my ears. Turning my head slightly to stare up at his mask, all I saw was the vibrant hue of my violet eyes again. Well, at least I look normal again.

"Then, your effort into saving me will be for nothing."

"Daylight would be for nothing." He said with different words than mine, but still, they held the same meaning. Did he not want his grandson to be turned to the light? Like Luke had done with him?

"I am nothing but a ghost of the past, Amara. What I want is far from reach now. That is why what you want is important to hold on to." Realizing he heard my last thought, I dropped my head to the ground slightly as I rubbed my lips together. Hearing movement and feeling Finn's agitation for trying to escape, I looked at Vader with only one question in mind.

"You gave me the title Gray Jedi Master; why?"

"Is it not something you always wanted? A title with a meaning behind it?"

"It's as you said, you're dead. What kind of title does it mean if it doesn't come from your son, an actual Jedi Master of the living?" I questioned back as it seemed like I wouldn't get any true answer from him.

"Maybe with time, he'll see the same signs I see from you. But first, to earn a title, you must overcome the next obstacle that awaits you, young Jedi Knight." And with those words, Vader vanished from my sight as I was left with more questions then answers, again.

"Any chance you'll stop haunting me after this?" I questioned Vader as I spoke to absolutely nothing as I continued to find Finn and hitch a ride to the First Order. But something made me stop and think. Wanting to smack my head for ever going in a different direction, I had forgotten all about my gifted ship—the X-Wing.

"Time to fly then," I spoke with a smile on my face as I ran out of the building and towards the area where I parked my ship. I took off from the ground in haste with only one destination in mind and flew towards the stars, jumping to lightspeed in seconds.

*************

Only into lightspeed for a few seconds, I locked into the First Order's Supremacy ship, and with it came something else, a Resistance fleet. Probably the last of it as I felt Leia through the force. But with her, I felt her son coming closer too. That's probably the worst family reunion ever. Chuckling under my breath that I could barely hold back, my ship entered their space as I saw the entire First Order's fleet encompassing the only ship remaining of the Resistance. At least, in space. I had only hoped for the best that I could easily enter the Resistance main hold of their only ship before my luck was flipped around as TIE Fighter ships came racing towards me. Slamming a fist into the glass above me, I flew upward and spiraled to avoid their blasts as I mentally smacked myself for dumb luck.

"Ugh, seriously!?"

With the expertise in flying thanks to my own father, I flew with skill around the Resistance ship as the First Order members fired at me while hitting their shields. Well, at least they still have those. A planet sat off in the distance as I recognized it to be Crait. Knowing well enough, there was an old Resistance Base there; I needed to try and communicate with Leia but found it difficult as the large ship that belonged to Snoke began to fire at me as well. Swinging under the Resistance ship, I made a wide turn as I used the force, stupidly-ish, to force two TIE Fighter ships together as they crashed and made a fiery explosion. 

Ok, not so stupid when that was pretty cool. Feeling a little too proud of myself, I noticed many of the TIE Fighters backing off when I felt him. The force was strong, a pull I could never avoid as he reached for me. Flying back to the state where my tiny X-Wing faced the Supremacy, I sat there. Even though I couldn't see him physically, it felt like I could see him through the force. All firings ceased; their fighter ships backed off and flew away from me. My tiny ship sat in between two battling sides. And here I was in the middle, between Light and Dark.

Come to me when it's finished. His words echoed in my brain like musical lyrics you couldn't get out of your head. By now, he must've known Bex was gone. I was almost too sure anyone could feel it in the force. But, did anyone feel the difference inside of me? Fighting the urge to run away was hard to resist, especially since I felt Leia pulling at me from behind. But then, Vader's words emerged from my head, and with it, the pull from the Light diminished. If I wanted to kill Snoke, the time was now. If I wanted to fulfill my plan to save Ben, the time was now. Everything had to happen now. Otherwise, Vader's attempt to save me would be for nothing, as we said to each other. I couldn't forget I had some of his power flowing within me now, which meant he was now a part of me, just like Ben was. With a final plan set in motion, my time was now.

"Snoke, you better be ready for me. Because I'll be the last Jedi, you see standing." And with those words, I turned my back on the Light for a fraction of a second.

I blocked my thoughts up. I barricaded my emotions into a corner. I left no trace of my final plan to anyone or anything as I flew towards the large ship. Feeling the power I absorbed from The Hollow and from what Vader gave me, I felt fully recharged and in the focus of what I wanted for the longest time. To see Snoke's downfall, killed by my hand. The hand of a Gray Jedi.