Chapter 14: Custody

Rey nearly stumbled as she backed away with a hand over her heart, skin crawling from the force signature of the apparition standing presently on the ship.

"Master Skywalker" she breathed in disbelief.

An unseen breeze moved tangles of luminescent hair on the shoulders of Luke's robes; his penetrating gaze bore through Rey, and he slipped a knowing smile overflowing with secrets.

Alwick cowered in his presence, but Vurdan swept an arm out, not allowing him to retreat out of the ship.

In a whirl of sudden movement, Tyrus barreled in and brought his ignited lightsaber down on the ghosts' head; it passed right through, throwing him off balance and he careened shoulder first into a wall panel.

Luke looked on with pity as Tyrus righted himself, leaning his full weight against the wall as he worked to catch his breath.

"It would be wise to save your energy, old friend."

The corner of Tyrus' mouth curled downward in contempt, the first glimmer of real emotion Rey had seen since meeting him. Disengaging the lightsaber abruptly, he shook his shoulder out and crossed his arms.

"Rey," Luke turned to address her, "this is your fight now."

She moved to approach him, mouth hanging ajar; there were so many questions she wanted to ask regarding the Jedi texts she'd poured through in the past months. Too many times in her loneliness did she long to have a mentor again, someone with knowledge of the force.

"I...I have so many questions-" she started to say as she neared him.

"There isn't much time, Rey." His hand raised near his shoulder.

"But you're here!" she begged.

Luke's eyes grew soft with compassion. "I'm not here, but i'm not really gone either. We've come to warn you, and encourage you."

Rey halted at the mention of 'we'. An icy sensation travelled up her spine in response to more blue aura's appearing around them. They became clearer as seconds passed; other beings in robes stood around Luke.

There were some gasps and sounds of shock from the Knights, save Tyrus.

One of the apparitions stepped out from the group, a tall man with shoulder length brown hair, and a scar on his face disturbingly similar to Kylo's.

"I'm Anakin Skywalker, Leia's father." He introduced himself solemnly. "I'm here to tell you that the dark side knows many lies. It uses our fears to its advantage, and corrupts our good intentions, ultimately taking what we love."

Rey's eyes widened at the force ghosts' confession.

The grandfather of Ben Solo.

"What awaits you on the Finalizer will determine your fate."

Frustration afflicted her as she received his prophetic statement. "How am I supposed to even know what that means?".

The force apparitions looked on with somber expressions, but not one answered her question.

In a fit of impatience, she continued to rant. "Why must everything be so vague! Teachings, incantations of peace, encouragement, prophecy...everything in the texts was seemingly subjective at times, and when that's all that is left behind, how are the Jedi supposed to defeat the Sith?"

She looked over her shoulder at the Knights as she completed her sentence. Alwick's expression was one of wonder. "Sorry" she quickly added.

Vurdan almost smiled. "No apology needed when one speaks from passion."

A froggy voice cleared its throat as a small force ghost made his way through the legs of his company. A short being with wide, pointy ears and a staff settled himself ahead of Luke. He rested two small hands on top of the staff, and sighed tiredly.

"Take away your choice, we must not."

Rey crouched down to his level carefully. "Who are you, Jedi master?" she asked respectfully, eyes shining with sudden curiosity.

"I am Master Yoda, young Rey."

"Of course" she whispered in awe.

Master Yoda dipped his head in reverence. "Balance by forcefulness, achieved can not."

A moment passed as she wrapped her head around his backwards sentences. "I...I don't understand. If you tell me the way, I can end all this...I can save Ben Solo and the Rebellion."

"Equilibrium is something that happens naturally," Luke spoke up, "think of water and rock as opposing forces. The water rushes between, settling around the rock, and becomes level again. The rock mass displaces the water, but water accommodates by rising higher around it."

Rey closed her eyes and stretched her neck from side to side. "So you probably can't tell me if I'm the water or the rock, while eluding that I need to make my own choice?"

"That's correct" Anakin Skywalker confirmed.

"Rey," Luke spoke very seriously now, "the energy between all things is attempting to balance, and you are one of the elements."

A supernatural wind began to pick up around the force ghosts as he spoke; their robes were beginning to lift at the hem.

"Where are you-" Rey attempted to ask, but was cut off as a large gust of the phantom wind blew the ghosts back. The blue aura around them pulsed weakly as the color began to lose its vibrancy. One by one, the apparitions began to fade away once they turned gray.

Luke was the last to phase out, but his voice still echoed in the ship for all to hear.

"Balance cannot be forced...it can only be found."

A long silence followed the surreal moment. Freen's hands were touching palms and fingertips with his hands spread under his chin, lost in thought as he considered the events. Tyrus tapped his lightsaber against his thigh in agitation. Vurdan stood in silence.

Surprisingly, Alwick was the first one to speak up; his voice wavered in confidence.

"Well, this is uh, possibly beyond us."

"I'd say so, lad" Vurdan agreed.

"This changes nothing" Tyrus cut in with a loud voice, "we stay our course, deliver the girl, and wipe out the Rebellion."

The knights looked on, but none denied his order.

"Tyrus," Rey appealed with a soft tone, "Luke told me that the Jedi have to end. Whatever he believed in the past is not what he spoke about here, and he blames himself for his own mistakes. The Force is trying to right itself."

He didn't answer as he stared her down.

"I think it's time to let it go, my friend" Vurdan coaxed. "Our loyalty is with Kylo, and whatever happens between the two of them is likely going to involve us in some way."

Vurdan's words stirred curiosity in Rey. "May I ask...why are you all so deeply loyal to him?" she addressed him aloud.

Alwick bowed his head and rested his chin on his chest plate, sighing, and Freen purposely avoided her gaze.

"After burning the temple," Tyrus spoke in a distant voice, "we left with Kylo to work under Snoke. He filled his head with aspirations of fulfilling Anakin's legacy. It wasn't long after that when the torturing began. Kylo had no idea what Snoke was capable of, and because he'd dragged us into it, he accepted all the punishment."

"As in...?" Rey prompted.

Freen interceded. "He was tortured not only for his mistakes but ours. Kylo wouldn't allow Snoke to lash out at us...so he took the beatings in place of us."

There was a grim moment of realization for Rey as this new information sank in.

He called himself a monster...but how could he be blamed when he took on every physical punishment from Snoke?

She shuddered remembering the excruciating pain she had experienced at the hands of Snoke. How many times had Kylo been tortured like that?

Tyrus lowered his gaze to the floor. "So scavenger...what shall we do?"

Rey crossed her arms as she turned to the pilot window that looked out into the galaxy.

"Proceed with your original plan and deliver me to the First Order."

*

A full day had somehow passed in the time Ren inhabited the cell. The lack of light made it impossible to tell just how long exactly it had been. The only sounds he could ever manage to hear was the passing conversation of stormtroopers as they patroled the corridors of the detention level.

When he'd awoken from unconsciousness, the taste of burnt blood was in his mouth and the right side of his face was swollen on the crest of the cheekbone. He didn't dare to look at his hands; he'd lost all sensation from the wrists down, and his fingers could move but the nerves were numbed.

Nightmares plagued him for the time he'd been out, at one particular segment he'd discovered both his hands were removed and replaced with robotic limbs similar to Luke Skywalkers'. The idea disturbed him deeply.

A wave of nausea passed over as he recalled the encounter with Palpatine; he really was following in his grandfather's footsteps if Anakin's master was even more cruel than Snoke ever was. The fate of the Skywalker's was obviously to be in chains of a corrupt power. 

If Lilith and Ozir were easily taken to Palpatine, were the rest of the knights gone as well? Were they given different orders to kill Rey?

His last interaction with Tyrus seemed as genuine as could be; the man was incredibly loyal, and he always kept the Knights in line, but if he'd lost reach of Lilith and Ozir, then who knew where he was on the spectrum.

With stiff arms, he rose from the floor by sliding his back up the wall, and moved to sit on the bench to keep him more upright. 

Leaning his head back, he shut his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. Saving his strength was priority, and fighting the pain would only drain his energy. Slowing his heart rate would decrease at least some of the inflammation from the barbs.

Activating his diaphragm with a sharp inhalation through the nostrils, Ren pursed his lips to control the exhale with slow release. Repeating the process several times, not only did his pounding headache disappear, but the blood pressure lowered noticeably in his limbs, and his fingertips prickled dully.

Thank the stars...the nerves aren't dead.

With that thought of relief, he relaxed in his upright posture, and continued the breathing pattern until he began to forget where he was. The cell, the ship, and all his pain faded far away from his mind.

A loud ringing sounded in the corridor at that moment, and he straightened up, alert all at once.

It was the alarm for a new entry to the cell block from the hanger bay. First there was the sound of stormtroopers hustling past his cell, then some voices confirming security was in place before the cell block vibrated from the door to the hanger bay opening.

Listening intently, he caught just every odd word that echoed in the corridor. 

"...scavenger...on Tatooine"

"....holding cell...tomorrow...Supreme Leader."

Then loud and clear, a female voice commanded "You will take me to the Supreme Leader at once."

Ren's heart skipped a beat. 

She's here.

The laughter of the officers in Rey's company echoed down the cell block in response to her demands. 

"Move along, little lady" a gruff voice insisted, clearly spoken as they passed by Ren's door, "you'll be thankful that the Supreme Leader can't see you till the morning."

The force pulsed like a drumbeat at the door. Rey's force signature was as strong as an ocean wave, and it comforted Ren. The Knights had not harmed her.

Several pairs of footsteps passed by, and he listened to the footfalls until they halted. Counting the paces again in his head, he figured they were putting her in the third cell down from him. 

Moments passed as the patrols changed over, the sound of a cell door closed, and footsteps exiting the detention block faded into the distance. 

More silence followed as the units completed their shift changeover.

Ren's stomach managed to flip flop despite the pain in his body. Even though the Force conversations were real enough, it was always in the back of the mind the other person wasn't really there. She was really here now, and his body was fully aware.

The last real time he had seen her was still a painful memory. The desire to cross the floor to her in the heat of a victory battle was almost carnal; he regretted not continuing walking forward to physically communicate his feelings before his mouth could screw everything up.

Idiot, his thoughts confirmed.

If his hands weren't bound and bloodied, he would have put one over his eyes shamefully in reflection.

*

Several hours passed in the detention block. The patrols took their turns checking out for the evening meal hour, rotating among the crews until everyone was fed. The meal trays for detainees were distributed through a slot on each door by a droid. There was a hyper speed jump somewhere in that time as well.

Ren eyed the tray floating partway out of the slot, but couldn't bear the thought of moving his hands in an attempt to eat. He'd rather go hungry than reopen the wounds.

The air quivered in the cell, and Ren steeled himself as the air rushed through his ears.

In a single blink, Rey appeared cross-legged on the floor of the cell with her head down and her eyes closed in concentration.

Ren didn't move or say a word as she sat there. When he finally did, he straightened his spine just a fraction, and the shuffle of clothing was enough to pull her attention out of her meditation.

Rey's eyes flew open as she lifted her head. She quickly swiveled her head to look around the cell before seeing Ren on the bench.

Her eyes lit up with a full grin on her face.

"I did it! I think I have finally figured out how to get this thing to turn on purposely. Really, you just have to concentrate on your Force signature, visualize your breathing and....and..." her words trailed off,  the excitement fading as she took in his current state. An alarmed expression crossed her face as she began to rise from the floor and she reached a hand cautiously towards him.

"Kylo...what are these? What's happening here?" she asked, stopping short of actually touching him. Rey searched his eyes as concern filled her own.

"We need to talk"