PANIC CORD ━━━ l.skywalker ¹

epilogue

E P I L O G U E

Clary heaves a deep breath, staring at the boy standing before her. His eyes are trained on her, the red glow of his saber making her avert her gaze as she stares at the floor.

"Ben," she whispers. "Don't do this."

"Tell me where he is," the boy spits, his eyes dark, but no longer because of their color. Clary stares at her nephew, the boy she had helped Han and Leia raise. She doesn't recognize him. Her chest aches.

"This isn't you, Ben," Clary says. His eyes blaze with anger, anger all too familiar to her. "I'm sorry. I should've done more for you. I should've done more for Cal."

Ben's teeth grit and he lifts a hand, motioning with his fingers to enclose around her neck. Clary gasps as her breathing is cut off. Her lungs scream as they claw at her chest, writhing under his grip. She's vulnerable — the very thing she had feared her whole life, and she can't fight back. She has no will to fight back. She grabs at her throat. Her lungs are on fire. Her insides are on fire. Her mind is on fire.

"He was right," the boy whispers. He's no longer Ben Solo. He's someone else. Someone different. Someone cruel, far beyond saving. "Love really will be your downfall."

He throws Clary forward and she groans as she flies into the solid wall of her home. She inhales sharply, gasping for breath, but Ben approaches her once more. He grabs her by the collar of her shirt, forcing her to look at him, eyes blazing. Before, they were Han's eyes. But now, Clary doesn't recognize them.

"Tell me where Luke Skywalker is," he seethes. Clary closes her eyes, small tears escaping them as they cascade down her cheeks.

"Never."

A sharp pain courses through Clary's body as Ben screams, impaling his saber through her. Clary gasps, the pain unbearable as it filters throughout her whole body, immobilizing her. Ben rips the saber out of her, and blood drips from the wound in her abdomen, staining her clothes and the ground below her a dark crimson.

"I need to destroy what destroys me," Ben says softly as Clary falls to the floor, trembling. "Or else I'll be shown no mercy. I'll make you pay. I'll make you all pay."

Clary reaches for Ben, but he turns away, leaving her, his words echoing in her ears. Destroy what destroys you. Make them pay. A final tear escapes Clary's eyes, rolling down her cheek, as darkness envelops her. She inhales sharply, taking her last breath, taking the last moments of her life to remember everything; Han, Leia, Chewbacca, 3PO and R2, Luke, and finally, her children...Ani, Anaïs, and Aeron.

A soft wheeze escapes her as Clary's eyes cloud over, glossy. She can only hope her children won't be as foolish as her.  

FIN