20. Chapter 20

Enjoy the pain. This is the last chapter before the epilogue.

Chapter 20

The tracks led Luke, Anakin, and Ben towards a huge ship, which, for some reason, hadn't taken off. None of them liked that. It meant that Achyls wanted them to find her. Achyls wanted them to come after Rey. Surely Achyls wanted Rey to watch her family die, breaking the girl's resolve to be light. It would have broken Anakin. In another life just the threat of it broke Anakin.

"Are we really just going to walk into a trap?" Ben voiced looking at the intimidating ship.

Luke and Anakin shared a smile. They'd both heard enough of the other's tales to know that Anakin's words rung true. "Walking into traps is our specialty."

The Knights of Ren quickly disarmed the 'surrendering' Jedi, and they were brought before Achyls. She did not smile, fully aware that they thought themselves to be playing some trick. Well, she wasn't going to give them time to do so. "Bring our guest to us at once," she ordered one of her Knights.

"Whatever plan you have Skywalkers, it won't work," she warned them with a dangerous gleam. "I have a dozen knights all of whom will gladly die for me, and all of whom I will gladly let die. They are each worth a Sith at least, and you've struggled to defeat those in the past."

Luke stood with the same defiance he had when facing the Emperor. "Then we were alone, divided. Together we will prevail."

"You're hopelessly naïve," Achyls waved off, sitting in her large chair as if it was the throne to the empire. Perhaps in her mind it would be. "I do hope for your sake that they reward naivety in the afterlife."

"Let go of me you slimy…" Rey's voice echoed in the room as she was led in. Relief was clear in her eyes when she saw her family, but panic quickly replaced it. They were hopelessly outnumbered, and their lightsabers had been taken away. Undoubtedly they would fight, but this might just be the one they finally lose.

"You are not a fool Rey," Achyls told the girl as she arrived. "You're thinking that you cannot win against my forces, and you are correct. None of you know what it is like to go up against an army of the Dark Side, but I can assure you it is not pleasant. Surely your cousin has told you that Knights of Ren have a strict honor code. I promise on my life that if you swear yourself as my apprentice, the same as your grandfather did to that fool Palpatine, I will allow your family to have a place in our new order. I will build them a grand estate, a whole planet on which they can thrive. You will be with them. Deny me, however, and you will die, and then I will go to Coruscant and ensure that Senator Amidala dies as well. Even if, by some impossible trick, you were able to defeat me and my men, you won't all survive. Do you really want to risk your grandfather, your cousin, your father? Perhaps you do not want power, but you do want a family. Don't throw away what you've waited for your whole life for over some foolish notion of right and wrong."

A very large part of Rey wanted to listen to her, because Achyls was right. They would not all survive such a fight. Even if they won they wouldn't all live to see it. And if they lost… Rey could not stand the thought of losing her family.

Which was why, learning from her grandfather, she said "no."

"So be it," Achyls decreed, her sad tone implying that she truly did care about Rey, in a twisted way. "Kill them."

The Knights of Ren came out of the shadows, and terror fell. They fought with terrifying strength, and skills of the greatest Jedi Knight. Anakin and Luke together managed to knock two into each other, and quickly got blades. Seeing the red sabers in their hands was terrifying, but they did not have time to linger. There were a dozen other knights, and they had family to protect.

Achyls came after Rey with the strength of a legion. She bore dual blades, the blue one of her Jedi self, and the red of her Sith. Rey realized that Achyls's strength came from her not forsaking the Light completely. She fought with the strength of a dozen Kylo Ren's. Rey didn't even have a weapon.

"Any time you want to give in just kneel," Achyls cursed, as Rey danced away from her blades. "I am a forgiving person."

Rey didn't doubt it, but she would not kneel. She jumped to the side, trusting the Force to guide her. She could not win though. She had no true training and no weapon at all. It was only a matter of time before Rey made one wrong move, and it was all over.

Ben did not know these Knights of Ren, but he knew their training. He was stronger than them, their leader. With a powerful burst he tossed one across the room, and heard the man die as he hit a beam. Kylo did not care. He summoned the dead Knights saber and moved with deadly speed, taking down all who came near him. He was filled with rage and the Dark Side, and none of Achyls pitiful Knights knew the Dark Side like Kylo Ren.

Luke found himself trying to keep tabs on Rey while trying not dying himself. The battle was not going well. With each knight he managed to fight off, another seemed to replace it. They were too strong. He'd fought Vader, but Vader never wanted him dead. These Knights shared no such inhibitions. With each step, they moved to cut off another of Luke's hands. With each parry, they tried to drive their sabers through his heart. The fight was vicious, and Luke quickly lost sight of Rey. He could only pray she was alright.

Rey knew the blade was going to hit her before it did. She went to jump, sensing the strike, but it was too late. Her eyes shut, bracing for death, but no pain came. Two equally horrifying screams burst out at once, but neither were Rey's. Her eyes flew open.

At her feet lay Achyls body, a saber straight through her heart. The remaining Knights panicked, and either fell or fled. Luke, Anakin, and Rey didn't care to follow them though. They were far more concerned by the sight of another body lying by Rey, a saber in his chest as well.

Rey could barely see straight as she bent down next to Ben. He had a crooked smile on his face, and the scar Rey left on the Starkiller base barely seemed noticeable next to his bright teeth. He held himself propped up by one arm, but fell on Rey as she bent towards him. "No," Rey whispered knowing her eyes did not deceive her. Kylo Ren, no, Ben Solo, had just taken a lightsaber to the chest for her. "Anakin! Father! Help! Please Force help!"

"Shhh," Ben told her, reaching up to wipe a tear away from her eye. "Shhh Reyna, it's alright. It's okay. There's nothing to be done, and that's okay. You're not meant to come back to the Light Side and live. It gives you too much time to fall again. This… this is the way it has to be."

No! Rey shook her head furiously; Ben could not die! Not now that he was so close to being redeemed. Not now that he was redeemed. "I just got my cousin back. I can't lose you. You need to hold on so you can see me all wrinkled again. You need to… you can't…"

"Don't try to save me, don't," he whispered, each word more difficult to get out than the last. "Please. I am Ben Solo, and I sacrificed myself for my cousin. Don't take that away from me. Don't take away my light." His smile had faltered a little, but it lit back up. "You Rey, you're my light."

Anakin and Luke hung back, fully aware that there was nothing that could be done, and knowing Rey was the only family Ben wanted in his final moments.

"You know I lied to you," he whispered looking up towards Rey as if she was the sun itself. "I didn't... I never wanted to kill you. Your father thought I would, but I didn't. I never wanted to hurt you. You were always the brightest thing in my life, the only thing that kept me from darkness. It was only when you were gone that Snoke could get to me, because my love for you had always kept him away. Do you remember Reyna? Do you remember how much I love you?"

"And a light, is only a light, if you can see it," Rey sung, unsure where the words came from. Ben had been humming the tune for days though, and Rey understood why. Suddenly, she remembered, why. Tears dripped down her face as she nodded, remembering how much he loved her. How much she loved her big cousin Ben. "I remember Benny. I won't ever forget."

Ben nodded, his chest barely rising with a breath. "And my little ray of light, will guide me home, and my little ray…" His song cut out, and Rey broke down clutching his empty body in one first, and last, hug.

Cheesy? Yes cheesy. I only ever do cheesy.