THE HUNT

Twenty Two

"Hey, Chava." Silnaa says, arms crossed as she leans against a wall, watching me.

I ignore her, letting tears fall silently and quickly down my cheeks.

"Sir, the Emperor is ready for you now." An acolyte says, eyes cast to the ground. My supposed sister groans.

"Okay, let's go." She gestures for me to stand. I silently refuse, and she grabs my arm, pulling me to my feet. "Walk." I flinch as she pushes me, hard. She takes my elbow, dragging me through a towering, but narrow hallway. Lightning screeches through blue shards of light, and I flinch.

Soon, we arrive in the largest room I've ever been in. It's more of a cave than a room, and it's cold.

Not just the air, but the feeling.

"Long have I waited." The voice I heard once before grinds in my head. Ahead of me, I see Rey. She stands in the centre of the room. Silnaa continues to push me until I'm beside the Jedi. The girl glances at me, eyes widening as she steps back. "For my grandchildren to come home." Her throat bobs, and she glances around warily, lips parted in surprise. "I never wanted you dead." The voice says, belonging to the figure hoisted into the air by wires and metal arms. The Emperor gestures to Rey. "I wanted you here, Empress Palpatine." He sweeps his hand in the air towards the large stone throne before us. Lightning flashes, and I flinch again. "You will take the throne." He insists. Rey gasps slightly, stepping back. Her focus is off me and on our grandfather. "It is your birthright to rule here." The metal arm pushes him forward, disrupting Rey's intent to put distance between them. "It is in your blood," He finally glances towards me, and chills slice down my back. "Our blood."

"I haven't come to lead the Sith." Rey says shakily. "I've come to end them."

"As a Jedi?" Palpatine asks.

"Yes."

"No." He growls. "Your hatred, your anger." He grins, showing his blackened teeth and dry lips. "You want to kill me." He chuckles. "That is what I want." I suck in a breath, stepping back. Rey shakes her head slightly, furrowing her brows. "Kill me, and my spirit will pass into you, as all the Sith live in me. You will be Empress. We will be one."

Silnaa tenses behind me, and my knees tremble.

"Why take Rey when you can take Silnaa?" I blurt, air fleeing from my lungs as I speak. The Emperor turns his dark gaze to me, and I step back into Silnaa's chest.

"Silnaa is weak." Palpatine says. "She was merely a tool, an enforcer of my word."

"Quiet, Chava." My sister hisses. "I know my place."

"If all of the Sith live in you, and she kills you, won't she have all the power?" I ask. "Won't she be more powerful than a girl who's been a worthless scavenger her entire life?" Rey flinched beside me, but I ignore it.

"What are you getting at, girl?" His voice is dark, and I fight the urge to shrink back.

"If you don't need Silnaa for this, then why are we here? Why can't you just let us go?"

Silnaa gasps, then crumples behind me. I turn, seeing her unconscious on the floor at my feet.

"Because without my power, Silnaa dies." He lifts a hand, and she gasps, writhing on the ground. "She's weak. Strong in the force, but a defective being."

"W-wait!" I hold up my bound hands, and he lifts a brow. "Please, let me and my sister go. We have no place in your regime."

"You're right, maybe I should kill you too." He lifts a hand, laughing as I shrink back. "Don't worry, you'll join your sister once the young Solo boy arrives."

"No!" I watch Silnaa go still on the ground, breathing softening. I fall to my knees, trying to find her pulse, but there is none. "No! Bring her back!"

Though I've only met her twice, and each time at the end of her weapon, she's the last immediate family I have.

"No." He turns back to Rey, and I cry quietly, cradling my sister's head in my lap.

"I'm sorry." I whisper. "I thought I could get us out of here."

"The time has come!" Palpatine spreads his arms, and lightning strikes again. "With your hatred, you will take my life, and you will ascend." I hold Silnaa closer to me as Rey straightens.

"All you want is for me to hate, but I won't." She says, voice wavering. "Not even you."

"Weak." Palpatine spits. "Like your parents."

"My parents were strong." Rey lifts her chin. "They saved me from you."

"Your master, Luke Skywalker, was saved by his father." Palpatine smiles wickedly as he speaks slowly. "The only family you have here, is me and the lover of your enemy." Rey gasps, her strong demeanour falling to fear.

There's a rumble above us, and dust falls through the air as the ceiling opens to reveal the largest fleet of star destroyers I've ever seen.

There's a starfight going on between what I assume can only be the Resistance and the Final Order.

"Rey." I whisper, knowing what she's about to do. She ignores me, trying to catch her panicked breaths.

"They don't have long." Palpatine taunts. "No one is coming to help them, and you are the one who led them here." He pauses, and Rey trembles. "Strike me down," He urges. "Take the throne. Reign over the new Empire, and the fleet will be yours." He narrows his eyes. "Only you have the power to save them. Refuse, and your new family dies." Rey pauses, tearing her gaze away from the sky. She shudders, then looks to me. I shake my head, but she turns to Palpatine, nodding silently. "Good." He grins, voice softening for a moment. "The ritual begins!" He lifts his hands, and lightning strikes again. "She will strike me down, and pledge herself as a Sith." There's a moment of silence. "She will draw her weapon." Rey obeys, igniting her saber at her side.

"Rey, no. Please." I beg, scrambling to stand.

"She will come to me." Rey ignores me, stepping forward. "She will take her revenge, and with a stroke of her saber, the Sith are reborn!" Rey lifts her saber, and Palpatine grins. "The Jedi are dead!"

Rey hesitates, face falling from determination. Something like hope builds in her eyes as she lifts her saber behind her back, preparing to swing.

"No." I whisper.

"Do it!" He snaps. "Make the sacrifice!" Palpatine leans his head back, preparing for the strike. I close my eyes, tears spilling out.

Then the buzz of her saber vanishes.

I open my eyes to see it gone from her hands. She steps back, pulling another silver hilt into her palm. Palpatine moves away, the metal arm dragging him across the room to safety as several red-armoured guards advance on us, encircling us.

Rey deflects the first blaster bolt with the force, how I've seen Ben do a million times. She directs it into the helmet of another soldier. I duck, shoving my shoulder into the closest guard's chestplate. He stumbles with a grunt, striking me across the face. I fall to a knee, sweeping my leg against his ankles. He falls, and I stand, stomping on his helmet at an angle until I hear his neck crack.

I can't do much without my hands free, but I grab the downed guard's blaster, aiming at the closest soldier. Rey grunts, deflecting a bolt towards the man in front of me. He ducks, and the shot embeds itself into my thigh. I cry out, watching the one of the two remaining guards aim at me. I squeeze my eyes shut, but when the shot never comes, I snap them open. In front of me, over the soldier's body is Ben, Rey's lightsaber in his hand.