Will of the Many~ Poe Dameron

The Past Never Dies

And in the end. It's you against you. Fighting for yourself...

-Anjali Chaturvedi 

Serena had never felt a room so cold, her home planet of Csilla held nothing in comparison to the chill the black stone and Snoke gave off. 

Snoke sat on his elevated throne of black obsidian, he used the stone for its negative energy. It was a conductor for evil and he wanted it everywhere. 

Serena stood in front Snoke with her head held high. Her hot breaths filled inside her mask. Sweat built on her cheeks and forehead and the mask rubbed irritatingly against the nape of her neck. She hated the mask, and the throne room, the throne, but most importantly, she hated the person who sat along it. 

Snoke.

"I can feel the conflict swirling inside of you, child... you say you are ready for the power of the Dark Side, but you hold on to the light..." His voice scratched from years of abuse. 

"I don't!" Serena screamed at him. 

Snoke bent forward on her throne and looked her over with untamed disgust. His hollow cheeks leveled out to spiked cheekbones, his eyes sagged deep into his skull and displayed dull, lifeless color. Whenever Serena looked into them, she felt like she was staring into death itself. 

"Worthless child... I can see inside your head!" Snoke's bony fingers curved over the ends of his chair's arms so hard his decayed, blackened fingernails dug into the harsh stone. "I know what killing does to you... I see your dreams... hear your pleads... you do not live for the Dark Side, you live for Kylo Ren!"

"NO!" Serena's hand itched for her lightsaber. "What must I do to prove myself?" Her hand shook from the force it took not to draw her weapon. 

Snoke's crusted lips pulled back to bare rotted teeth. He leaned back in his chair as he lifted a hand towards the side of the throne. 

Serena craned her neck to see the double doors behind Snoke's throne open. Two Storm Troopers brought in three small children of varying ages. The one on the farthest left was barely old enough to walk on her own. Her toes dragged across the cold black stone and her knees wobbled with uncertainty as her arms were ripped forward by the guards. The one next to her seemed to be the oldest strictly by height alone but despite his length he was nothing but skin and bone. The little boy on the far right had chubby cheeks stained red with tears and sobs. He pulled away from the guard which did nothing against the guards strength. 

The three children were pulled further into the room by the guards. When they were by Snoke's throne, the guards stopped and threw the younglings towards Serena's feet. 

They fell disgracefully in front of her and scrambled cowardly to their knees. 

"What is this?" Serena snarled as her hand inched towards her blade. "Who are they?" She looked back towards Snoke to see the same, blistered smile plague his decrepit face. 

"You need to remember that what you do... all that you do... is on my order, not Kylo Ren's." Snoke's  smile pulled back into a tainted snarl. "You are only here because I allow it. As soon as you forget that, you become useless to me."

Serena's heart fell into her stomach. 

Snoke's top lip twitched as he felt her hesitance. "Now... strike them down."

"Why?" Serena's voice lost its muster as her eyes fell to the small children. They trembled against their binds and cowered into one another, though she could by their skin tones they weren't related. Whoever the children were, they were hand picked for this purpose.