The Chosen One: A Reylo Story

Chapter 5: Machinations

An ominous feeling wrenches inside of her.

The resistance... they must figure out why the Knights of Ren want those artifacts. And she's their best shot.

A slight pang of guilt creeps up on Rey. She tries to dismiss it immediately.

She has no reason to feel guilty. Not about this.

He used their Force bond to get what he wanted on Deveron... but two can play at that game.

She knows that he at least partially suspects this motivated last week's request to help her understand why the Force is connecting them... the desire to probe his mind and find out what he and his Knights are up to.

But he mostly believes the reason she gave him—that she wants to understand more about the Force and why this bond exists in the first place. She knows this because she felt it. Since that day in the cave, she's grown much better at sensing his emotions, even his thoughts. If she just lets herself be still and calm in his presence, almost as if she's trying to hear his heartbeat, she can let his emotions pass through her, feeling them as he does. She's sure he can do something similar with her.

The best lies are always partial truths... Rey really would like to know more about this Force bond. Not only why it exists, but what they can do through it. Maybe things that have never been done before...

But her priority is discovering his plans for the artifacts. If she happens to learn more about the Force and their bond, that'll be a fringe benefit.

She's not so naïve as to think this isn't a dangerous plan. He's extremely powerful in the Force... and good at getting into her head. She needs to shore up her mental defenses.

In this regard, the Jedi texts have been helpful. The parts she can read have taught her a lot about Force telepathy. Just this morning, she was reviewing the section on something called "reflection." It's an ability one uses on another telepath. The Jedi must split her mind in two, as though she has two minds rather than one. One mind is the "front." It projects to the detector decoy thoughts, most often thoughts that mirror what the detector wants to hear. The other mind is the called the "underside," and conceals the Jedi's true intentions.

This is how Ben killed Snoke in the throne room.

There it is again... that pang of guilt creeping in. She tries to shake it off.

She doesn't understand why she keeps feeling this way. Yes, she's grateful Ben didn't follow his master's orders and slaughter her in cold blood. But that doesn't excuse him from rampaging through the galaxy, destroying lives and livelihoods just to get his hands on those artifacts... there must be a reckoning... he must be held accountable for his choices.

She has absolutely no reason to feel guilty. None.

"Rey!"

Her attention snaps to the left at the sound of her name. She looks through the crowd for a familiar face.

"Rey!"

Rose squeezes her way past a couple of pilots and runs over to her at full speed. She barely stops herself from barreling into her.

Before Rey can manage to greet her properly, she blurts out "I'm so glad I found you!" She's still out of breath. "We need to talk."

"Of course!" Rey replies. "But, where's Finn?"

"Well," Rose starts, "That's what we need to talk about. He's still in Cantonica."

"Why?" Rey asks with concern. "He was supposed to be here today. Is ok?"