Gods and Monsters | Kylo Ren

Chapter I

I felt his presence long before he arrived and I knew he sensed mine. Though our encounter was brief, I still had a clear vision of his face in my mind even after all these years. I held no resentment against him, despite the fact he decapitated my mother right in front of me. I remember my heart briefly swelling with emotion when her head left her body and then nothing by the time it hit the floor. She was my mother and I like to think that I have love in my heart for her, despite my conception being strictly for inheritance purposes only.

Despite this, I knew he was the one who held resentment towards me. The darkness that is my name was enough to make him fear me and my potential. That's what it really is, not who I am trying to become but what is my unbecoming.

My time of peace has come to an end.

I spend the next few days in my chamber, having meals be sent to my door and not allowing any handmaids entrance. This wasn't an unusual occurrence, on most occasions, I tend to prefer total isolation, whether it's to dabble with my abilities, meditate, read, or sleep. This time though it was to conceal my visible anxiety. I had yet to sense him close to the palace, but I still felt fear of what could come. He was more than capable of revealing my true nature and abilities and he could easily strike me down as he did my mother.

I wake up just before dawn the morning of day five no longer sensing his presence, but I feel as though my blood is on fire. I throw a lace robe over my sleeping gown and slip out of my room. I silently make my way to the doors leading to gardens, the palace is eerily quiet and dim as the sun has yet to peek over the hills. Taking my first breath of fresh air that I've had in days, I feel the fire subside just a tad. The crisp cold air of the morning still chills my skin, despite the burning beneath. I wrap my robe around myself tighter and wander further into the gardens.

The sun is just starting to rise when a new sensation fills my body, the heat beneath my skin is replaced with an odd thrumming energy. I just as soon notice that I am no longer alone in the garden, in the close distance a figure stands on the edge overlooking the fields. I briefly hesitate on whether I should approach or go back inside, but my legs are moving towards it before I can make up my mind.

I can tell he acknowledges my presence also, becoming increasingly more aware as I near.

In the morning hue of the sun, I can finally see in detail the man before me, clad in a linen tunic and sturdy pants. He must be at least my age or a year older, perhaps eighteen but he already towers over me, coming across both gawky yet intimidating.

I quickly open my mouth and say the first thing I can think of before he catches me staring and of course it is completely original.

"Who are you?" I ask although something about him feels so familiar. It's as if we've met before which is impossible. I have not had the occasion to observe him before during my time on Naboo and the only other child I can recall from my unconventional upbringing is my sister.

He looks perplexed, but he manages to hide it beneath a hint of a smirk. His face is quite statue-esqe like an artist carved out his bold and prominent features from smooth alabaster.

"Ben." He tells me extending his hand, "And you are?"

"Sylvie." I tell him as I allow my hand to grasp onto his.

At the instant, something new awakens inside of me. I can feel the energy that had entered my body just mere moments ago expand. I feel a rush of emotions consume me as I become aware of the energy Ben has and all my senses go wild as I recognize it matching my own. In that moment it is as if it extends out of myself and connects to Ben's.

My eyes snap open with alertness, I hadn't even been aware they had shut. My gaze returns to Ben and that previous sense of affinity intensifies. I notice then that his eyes are dark brown, nearly black, to match the mess of ebony curls adorning his head like a fallen angel's halo. The sun has risen behind him, spilling over his shoulders, giving him the appearance of an ethereal glow. Deja vu has consumed me at this point, but I can not place him anywhere on the timeline of my life. Despite the intrusive thoughts that I must somehow have been acquainted with him, this has truly been our first meeting. Unsure what to say next, I allow Ben to speak first.

"I feel like I know you from somewhere." He says after a moment, hand still holding my own, confirming my own suspicions but with no explanation to back up such a statement.

"Perhaps in a past life." I tell him still making steady eye contact. "-Or just wishful thinking." I add in jokingly.

A wolfish grin now graces Ben's full lips, as he lifts my hand to his lips, and just before he gives it a chaste kiss in a gentleman like manner he tells me, "I would've remembered."