Star Wars | Episode X: The Edge of Destiny

Chapter 33: Ruins of the Past

Whispers.

Concentrating, I use the Force and slide the giant rock slab away from the hidden entrance.  Before me, a winding cavern deep into the mountain on Ahch-To.  

"You're sure this is the place?" 

The head caretaker nods at me.  The torch she is holding illuminates the dark and damp cave ahead.  Without a second thought, she hands me her torch---I take it.  Moisture drips from the rocky walls of the cavern and small roots hang from the stone ceiling.  I feel something pulling me---calling me.

I breathe in.

Taking cautious steps ---I enter the cavern. I am hit by falling beads of water on my head.  The smell is dank and noxious---I continue forward. This place hasn't been seen by anyone in thousands of years---since the beginning. 

My heart beats in a calm tempo.  I feel the core energy of the Force in this place---such balance. 

I'm stepping at a decline as the cavern heads down into the mountain.  Carefully, I avoid some fallen rocks that have landed in the middle of the path.  Lowering my torch to the ground, I can see the remains of another torch someone left.  

"This must have been left by a Celestial..."

Whispers.

My eyes dart forward and I keep walking down the path.  After several minutes, my torchlight expands and I can see my destination ahead. 

Whispers.

A ring around the room ignites with fire---I am not alone. My eyes look around the room and see an altar standing in the center of the cave floor.  Placing my torch in a holder by the entryway---I walk to this large, rectangular stone altar. 

Whispers.

On top holds the item I have been questing for---the book of the Celestials. I can feel the sheer power this book possesses.  The knowledge, that if in the wrong hands, would bring the galaxy to its knees.

Whispers.

Slowly, I reach out for the book with my left hand. 

Whispers.

"Show me."

The book flies open and the pages flip to the knowledge I have been searching for. My heart races.  The knowledge I have been desiring since I learned it was possible--the knowledge of what I need.  Finally, after all this time, it's in front of me.  I feel as if I have forgotten how to breathe.  A swirl of emotions blasts through my mind---I want to cry from the images I am seeing on the page.

"It is possible."

Darth Vader was so close to bringing Padme back. He was so easily manipulated by Palpatine and Momin in the end.  Had he just known the ruins carved on the slab I discovered in his castle on Mustafar were simply backward?  The doorway he opened was not the World Between Worlds---it was a deception by Momin.   Vader opened the wrong door---I won't make that mistake. 

"I have everything I need."

Delicately, my fingers run over the ancient page.  The Force is aggressively pulsating around me.

Whispers.

Swiftly, I rip out the page.  Had the events not transpired the way they did.  Had we not fallen into his trap on Exegol---this page would have remained hidden  Destiny has called me, I must answer.

"It's time to let old things die.  No one can ever open this door again."

With tender care, I fold the piece of paper and place it into my pocket.  The book slams shut before me.  A gust of wind blows through the cavern room and extinguishes the flames in the ring around the room.  Everything now dark as it was before I entered.  The only light remaining---is the light I brought here.

I turn around and grab my torch that is placed on the wall.  Lifting it out of its holder, I begin walking back up to the surface.

***

I am surprised to see the caretaker waiting for me by the entrance.  I would have assumed she would have left.  She looks up at me with her large eyes.  Through the Force, I sense she knows what I'm planning on doing---she won't try to stop me.  I scan her mind softly and see that she lost the one she deeply loved long ago. 

She speaks in her native tongue to me.

"The door will never open again, I promise."

Reaching out through the Force---I focus.  Pulling the walls of the cavern tunnel I seal that book inside creating its eternal tomb.  The cavern and pathway collapse with thunderous crashes.  Using the Force, I slide that large rock back in front of the former entrance. Turning back to her---she is stone-faced.  After a moment, she finally nods at me.  She knows that book is too dangerous in the wrong hands---she's always known.  

"Let the past die."