These Violent Delights

Chapter 12: Crumbs of Depravity

WARNING: Forced kiss.

—

The moment he landed on Exegol, Kylo could actually breathe again.

Not because the planet itself brought him peace—this barren place was just as insufferable as General Hux—but because he had finally escaped the grasp of his prisoner. The Supreme Leader wasn't expected here for another two days, but after their exchange in his quarters where she had finally seen his face, Kylo had to physically remove his sorry ass from the Finalizer just to stop himself from going to her cell.

All because of the shift within her.

Violently shaking his head as to deny it, Kylo slumped down in his seat and let Exegol's murky blue haze swallow him whole. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, concentrating on the mechanical purr of his TIE silencer's engine. He needed this time to clear his mind, to put distance between himself and M421, to forget that she had looked at him like no one had before. And as he sat there in his rumbling ship, listening to the high-pitched whistle of lightning strikes assaulting Exegol's surface, Kylo discovered that it was actually working. His mind was finally quieting, his heart rate was returning to normal, and he wasn't aching at the thought of her...

But then, the hairs on the back of his neck rose, something tugged at the corner of his consciousness, and Kylo got the creeping suspicion that this alone time wouldn't last. Because even though he very pointedly docked away from the busyness of the First Order encampments, and most people avoided him now due to rumors that the dangerously imbalanced Kylo Ren had returned, there was always someone that couldn't read the room. Always.

In fact, he was so confident, he began to count down in his head. Five, four, three, two—

"Supreme Leader, what a most welcomed surprise. We weren't expecting you for another 40 hours," a young, unfamiliar voice squawked through his commcenter. He sounded peppy. So peppy it made Kylo's blood boil. "Shall we deliver the most recent report to your location, sir?"

Begrudgingly opening one eye, he lifted his finger, pressing the comms button to give the officer a peppy little response right back. "No."

"Oh, uh, yes, Supreme Leader, sir." Static blared through his holospeakers as the officer hesitated. "Then, should we, uh—"

Agitation flared in his chest. "Figure it out."

"But, sir, we—"

With quick movements, Kylo slammed his ship's commcenter off. Not only was the Supreme Leader sitting here trying to collect himself, he was also tired. He wanted one moment, one fucking moment, where he did not have to explain every little thing to every single person around him. He just wanted to be alone, to sit in this dark, miserable abyss that was Exegol before he had to tend to his duties, his many, endless fucking duties. And he wanted to do that in silence.

But just as always, Ibbot had impeccable timing—and a potential kink for pissing off his creator. "Just curious, Master Ren...do you think turning off your comms makes you invisible?"

With a tense sigh, Kylo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Not you, too, Ibbot."

"Because they can still see you, you know," he prattled on, quite pleased with himself. "Just because you're avoiding them doesn't mean they can't see you."

"I'm well aware."

"Are you? Because you've—"

"Ibbot," Kylo barked, aggressively gesturing to the holoscreen that blinked in sync with Ibbot's responses. "All I ask is that you not be a major pain in my ass for one day. One day!"

Ibbot was quiet for a moment. "Yes, Master Ren," he dejectedly mumbled. "Sorry, Master Ren."

Kylo scoffed, shifting in his seat. "No, you're not."

"Ha! You're right. I'm not sorry. Per your programming, I can't feel remorse." He paused, and when he spoke next, there was a thread of panic in his voice. "Come to think about it...I can't feel anything at all."

Dragging his gaze across the First Order encampment in the distance, Kylo muttered under his breath. "Aren't you lucky."

"Never mind your existential crisis, Master Ren, did you hear what I said? I can't feel anything at all!" Ibbot wailed, and Kylo's eyes rolled to the back of his head. "My face! My eyes—I'm blind! And my toes! Where did my toes go! I can't feel—"

Unamused, Kylo leaned forward and powered down the engine—effectively shutting Ibbot up—and grabbed his helmet, slipping it over his head. With a tense exhale, he pushed himself up and out of his ship. He avoided a slew of Stormtroopers passing by as he unclipped his lightsaber, igniting it by his side. Its red glow cut through the nebulous fog as he set his sights on the Sith Citadel floating ominously in the distance. Suspended in the air and shaped as a colossal, upside-down pyramid without an apex, the architecture was imposing, yet entirely fucking useless.

But this didn't surprise him. As he witnessed first-hand under Snoke's rule, the Sith were nothing if not ostentatious. He always knew the massive heap of floating stone was constructed here, but the Book of Sith taught him that it was only designed as a symbol of power, while the real power laid in the vergence below. A concentrated pool of cosmic Force energy, the vergence's transcendental qualities could be excavated and utilized—something he hoped Skywalker didn't have the opportunity to do while he was here.

Sparks of static zapped between the frayed end of his robes and the dry ground as he hastened his pace. The lure to get closer was seductive and dangerous, something he submitted to and welcomed. Caught in its energy field, Kylo's mind went blank, as though it was parched and needed his negativity and darkness to survive. He took a deep breath, basking in how light he felt as the Citadel absorbed his inhibitions, but of course, of fucking course, someone had to ruin his moment. Again.

"Supreme Leader!" General Hux shouted. "Wait!"

Eyes still locked on the Citadel, Kylo's fingers tightened around his weapon. "You're not supposed to be here, General."

"I know, I—ugh! Will...you...just...slow down?" Hux shouted between huffs. The ridiculous pitter-patter of his boots enraged Kylo. "For fuck's sake, don't make me chase you! This is humiliating!"

Kylo halted and spun around, using every ounce of self-control to stop himself from boomeranging his lightsaber through the General's neck. After Hux's deployment here proved fruitless, the Supreme Leader thought he had made it very clear that he wanted him long gone before he and his knights arrived.

"Your duties on Exegol have come to an end, General," Kylo said as Hux and his aerial hololight droid finally caught up to him. "Or have you forgotten my orders to refocus your efforts where you might actually prove useful?"

After he caught his breath, Hux shot Kylo an offended look. "Of course not, Supreme Leader. I—"

"Good," Kylo interrupted, spinning around to walk toward the structure again. The aerial droid zipped after him, beaming its infuriatingly bright light above his head. Endlessly annoyed, the Supreme Leader moved faster. "Get that thing away from me."

As Hux hurried to keep up, he let out a tight sigh. "Not everyone has a laser sword to use as a glow stick, Supreme Leader. I need—"

Without looking at either of them, Kylo raised his lightsaber to swat at the droid. The panicked sound it made as it buzzed away gave Kylo a small, but much-needed, dose of serotonin.

"Oh, for the love of Naboo," Hux muttered before whistling to summon it back. The droid hovered hesitantly above him, staying as far away from Kylo as possible. "Ah, there we are. Now that I can see where I'm going again," Hux said with a lick of accusation in his tone as he straightened his uniform, "allow me to explain myself. The navigational barrier around this godforsaken planet does more than just make it impossible to find—it also disrupts our signaling channel. I was unsure if Captain Phasma received my transmission about the protocols regarding the pyramid's potentially harmful influence, so I only went against your wishes to ensure the safety measures were understood."

Kylo sounded bored. "And?"

"And what?"

"Were they understood?

"Barely," Hux complained with a scoff. "The holomessage was warped in transmission. She knew that all troops must be on rotation, but the implementation of psych evals for all ranks got lost in translation. So, I believe what you meant to say was, thank you, Supreme Leader."

"Ah, indeed," Kylo mused distractedly, lifting his head to look up at the Citadel looming in front of them. "My gratitude must have gotten warped in transmission, too."

"How very witty you are, Ren," Hux said without missing a beat, indignation seeping from his every pore. "I want to be just like you when I grow up."

"Don't count on it, General," Kylo said, unbothered, as he approached the underbelly of the structure. The pull was stronger than ever, sucking him in like an event horizon. "You're excused."

Hux scoffed. "Trust me, sir, I would love to make my departure prompt, as this pesky rock does more than just float—it stirs the most abhorrent tendencies from my troops. As I've expressed many times, the energy radiating off this thing is quite hostile, which no doubt explains why my long, grueling hours on this planet have proven unproductive."

"It doesn't want you here," is all Kylo said, refusing to give Hux even a morsel of his time. "And neither do I. You're excused, General."

Hux only walked faster to keep up with his strides. "Please, if you'd allow me the time, Ren, I was hoping to discuss Prisoner M421. I was so very disappointed that our meeting with her was canceled this morning."

Kylo stiffened under his prying gaze. He knew Hux wasn't happy about the shower incident in the prisoner's wing—the General was fiercely protective over his Stormtroopers—but the Supreme Leader would rather gouge his own eyes out than talk about Kitten right now. "Surely you'll survive until we reschedule."

"That, I do not doubt, sir," Hux said smoothly, "I only wish to know your plans with her. As I recall telling you, I would like to use her."

"My plans are no concern of yours," he shot back before taking the first step under the Citadel. The pyramid hovering heavily above him, Kylo turned his head and called out to Hux from over his shoulder. "Return to Starkiller, General. Only return to Exegol when it's time to collect your troops."

Hux's polite goodbye failed to hide the scorn hemorrhaging in his mind, stopping Kylo in his tracks beneath the Sith fortress. He turned around to center his sights on the General, a harsh blue glow outlining his tall figure as a gust of dry wind blew beneath his black robes, making them take flight. He let the tense silence expand between them, making it known that he saw right through his charade of pleasantries, and that he knew Hux didn't need the push from Exegol to seek out taking his place.

The Supreme Leader kept his voice low as he approached him. "Psych evals are required for all First Order personnel that have stepped foot on Exegol, General." He paused in front of him, allowing time for Hux to digest his reminder as a warning. "Am I understood?"

With the aerial droid's light beaming above him, Hux's smile cast a wicked, sinister shadow across his face. "Absolutely, Ren." Keeping his eyes locked on Kylo's mask, he gave a starchy bow before turning around to leave. "Best of luck gaining entry, sir."

A surge of negativity swarmed in Kylo's gut as he watched the General's lanky form cross the vast landscape of Exegol. He knew that a man as ruthlessly ambitious as Hux would always be a threat to his power. Still, he couldn't tell if the pit opening in his stomach was a warning or just the architecture's energy swaying him into vicious suspicion.

Kylo...Ren...son of darkness....

The Supreme Leader swung his head around, the hairs on the back of his neck rising at the ominous voice echoing beneath the pyramid. Without thinking about it, his feet moved under him, the garrison's power drawing him deeper beneath its frame as though it were alive. And the further he went, he understood what Hux meant—the energy it emitted was hostile. Technically, the General and any other non-Force-sensitive individual could enter this area, but the electrical field surrounding it would make it unpleasant, to say the least.

For Kylo, though, this hostility felt familiar. It didn't scare him. It enticed him, only getting stronger the farther he went. The energy was fierce and demanding as it led him to the very center, where the point of the pyramid would be if there were one. He slowed, tipping his mask down as he came upon the octagonal, stone platform embedded in the dirt. He walked the perimeter of it, taking note of the Sith symbols carved into the surface before coming to a stop in the very center. Seconds later, the platform began to descend, taking him into the bowels of the structure with a colossal groan.

Fingers curling around the hilt of his lightsaber, Kylo took a wide stance as he was submerged into a dusky blue fog. Flashes of icy lightning revealed the grand hall below with gigantic, hooded Sith statues lining each side, their stone faces tilted downward as though to judge those that dared trespass. He craned his neck, observing the massive chains hanging from the stone infrastructure, some supporting the statues, while others dangled uselessly in ruins. And as the platform finally landed at the bottom with a thundering boom, Kylo realized that the entire place was in ruins.

He jumped down, moving with purpose as he weaved through piles of rubble atop the cracked, crumbling ground. The trek was long, led by statues and the collapsed alcoves and passageways tucked between their feet. The only rooms that were still accessible were the experimental laboratories, still equipped with an array of specimens floating in immersion tanks. From a quick glance inside, the rooms were full of operational equipment, but Kylo didn't stay to explore; he could smell the rot of decomposing creatures through the filter of his mask.

The stench was so strong and rancid that it followed him all the way to the end of the grand hall. He pivoted to the right. Per the Book of Sith, he knew the vergence laid below the entirety of the Sith refuse, but previous excavation sites were up ahead, beyond the many ancient libraries that Emperor Palpatine ransacked for his studies. Kylo came here to search both areas—if Luke had made it inside the Citadel, he could have used either resource—but just as he began to climb the steps onto another platform, he came to a halt.

Voices. He heard voices again.

Cruel, sick voices that taunted him from afar. His heart pounded in his head, and chills licked up his spine—something didn't feel right. He turned his head left and right, readying his lightsaber as he tried to find the source of the noise. Indistinct yet sinister, they wrapped around him from every angle, down the halls...below him...even above him.

His breaths coming faster now, Kylo twisted his head up at the statues, expecting them to be the ones speaking in tongues under their breath, but they were as lifeless as they were decaying. He spun slowly to look in the direction he came from, but again, nothing. Only white zaps of lightning amongst a gloomy, dull backdrop.

Kylo whipped around, his stomach churning at just how close the voices sounded now. But when he looked side to side, he saw nothing at all, only to realize that the next cluster of whispers came from the wall in front of him. He approached it cautiously, tilting his head back to look at the immense crack down the middle as though repeated lightning strikes caused it to separate. The split in the stone created a crevice just wide enough to forge a path, and even though it was dark and narrow, Kylo could see flickers of light shining from the other side. The enigmatic temptation intensified as he got closer, and when he put his hand on the stone, the voices escalated to chants.

They were melodic in their hum, soothing yet eerie at the same time as it called him to come closer. Kylo knew he had to follow the sound of it, even if that meant squeezing through this dark, haphazard pathway. Sheathing his lightsaber, he rotated to the side, trying his best to glide through unscathed, but the jagged stone scuffed his robes and tunic as the walls cleaved into his diaphragm and spine.

The trail was suffocating, but his only choice was to press forward as the dark energy drew him in tighter. It seized him by the throat, pounding in his head and tingling his fingertips as it swelled in his gut. And as he took the final step out of the passageway, he realized that it wasn't the vergence that was calling to him—it was this, the fortress's amphitheater, home to the throne of the darkness.

Kylo Ren's rightful seat, if he were to identify with the Sith.

The chanting became louder, possessing him with its haunting melody. This place was just as dark and muggy as the other rooms, but the throne seemed to glow as it stood imposingly tall across from him. The longer he stared at it, the more Kylo felt commanded to cross the vast, oval stage and approach the steps of the throne. His throne. It was a narrow yet towering seat of power, flanked by upturned, curved spikes that resembled the claws of a beast greedily reaching for its prey, for him.

As his feet carried him forward, a flurry of lightning bolts zipped through the arena, highlighting the tiered rows of seats that hugged the platform he walked upon. Although the forum was empty, flashes of lightning brought forth shadows in Kylo's peripherals. Hooded, shapeless shadows that tilted from side to side as they harmonized their cruel hymn, steadily building as an echo of the past erupted around him.

"The mighty Kylo Ren..." came the gritty sound of his dead Master's taunt, followed by an uproar of sickening titters. Out of habit, Kylo moved his hands to his helmet as he walked toward the throne. Of course, he knew the former Supreme Leader was dead, but Kylo's body was consumed, still reacting as though he were walking through Snoke's throne room. "When I found you, I saw what all Masters live to see...raw, untamed power!"

Kylo's pulse pounded in sync with the chanting as he lifted his mask off his head. Without thinking, he let it slip to the ground with a heavy clunk—just as his Master would have wanted. He was alone in the amphitheater, yet everything around him felt alive with a caliginous, eternal power. It dominated him, controlled him, monopolized his every thought, his eyes glossing over as voices of the past propelled him up the first step of the throne.

"All these years, I thought I was training a new Vader. Alas, you're nothing but a child in a mask...."

Snoke's words rolled off him, falling flat to the damp stone beneath his feet because they were just that—words. Weaponized words that had once split Kylo to the bone, but no longer had power over him as he took the next step and the next, ascending slowly and mechanically. Each footfall imitated the memory of when he had climbed the steps to Snoke's throne after severing him in half, sitting down to reclaim his own caliber of potential. Not as the heir of Vader, but as the name he had given himself, Kylo Ren.

And as he got to the very top and spun around, facing the shadows in the stands to address his devoted subjects, an orchestra of death surrounded him, akin to the beautiful, brutal sound of Snoke's death and Kylo's rebirth. It came to him quickly and potently as the piercing wail of his lightsaber resounded in his eardrums, followed by the symphony of grunts and metal clattering from the slaughter of Snoke's guards by him and the Knights of Ren. They peaked and faded, then came the low, demonic snarl.

"Son of darkness...here to take what's his..."

Thump, thump, thump. Kylo's heart beat like a drum as his body seemed to move for him. He felt himself slowly sit down, his hands finding either side of the throne. The moment his fingers reflexively curled around the armrest, silence fell over the amphitheater like a heavy blanket smothering flames. The presence of the past reached for him, clawing at him as vapors of unease billowed throughout his mind. It wasn't until he leaned back, his body conforming to the cold, hard slab of stone supporting his spine, that he was snapped back into the present.

"Fuck," he gasped, lurching forward and coughing. He drank down oxygen as though he had been holding his breath for an eternity, choking on the dusty blue film that clung to every crack and crevice of this underground world. And before he could even dissect what the fuck had just come over him, the thing he was running from finally caught up with him.

Fear.

Kylo closed his eyes, his chest rattling with rapid breaths as his fingers curled around the edge of the throne. He had come here to avoid the truth: he was fucking terrified of Prisoner M421. Of this change within her, of what was to come. When the Stormtroopers had led her down his corridor, he felt her plummet into an abyss of obsession, hate, and yearning—the same pit Kylo had already plummeted into. He had tried to ignore it, to shut her out and pretend that the shift within her wasn't real, just as he had the first time she saw his face in her psyche.

But the change in her was real. It was so powerful and bizarre, even she was panicking. After she had rushed to insult him, Kylo could still feel her mind reeling with a chaotic mix of attraction and intrigue, along with resentment for having that attraction toward him. It had only gotten stronger when she returned to her cell, where she desperately waited for him to walk through the doors to see the man behind the mask again.

To say that Kylo didn't have to stop himself from going to her would be an egregious fucking lie, but every time he played through a scenario where he explored this mutual connection with her, it left him with a terrible feeling in his gut. He didn't trust himself to be around Kitten, not when her emotions were equally as unstable as they were strong, just like his. He needed to maintain his facade of control, or else he'd break down and give into her so, so easily...

A guttural grunt tore from Kylo's chest, trying to will away his filthy thoughts and hold onto the ounce of dignity he had left. He was a fool for coming here. He saw that now. This was his fault. Possession...greed...aggression...while he was no longer a slave to the dark side, these things still lived within him, but in his vanity, Kylo didn't foresee Exegol's power influencing him.

But of course, he was fucking wrong, always fucking wrong, he thought as he parted his legs, palming his growing need through his pants. Vile, disgusting visions flashed in his mind, but they moved too fast for him to get a real taste of them. They came at him chaotically and extrinsically, until he caught something that made him feel sick—the Knights of Ren having their way with Kitten. He winced at the painstakingly clear image of her on her knees, surrounded by them as their gloves roamed all over her body. There wasn't a single part of her that was left untouched as multiple hands darted between her legs, fingertips twisted at her nipples, and greedy gloves fought to seize the buns on her head, competing to direct her mouth onto their cocks.

Even though he was included in this vision, vitriol seared through Kylo, a seed of jealousy growing in his stomach as it escalated to a gangbang behind his eyelids, their masks just a blur as she was passed around and utterly destroyed. It was so intense, he had to channel all of his energy into abandoning the fantasy, shifting in restlessness once it finally passed him by.

More illusions played out in his mind, and even though they only centered around him, he couldn't concentrate—they felt foreign, out of place, unstoppable. Even more so than usual. One second, he could see her straddling his face, gently lowering her cunt to his lips, the next, he was fucking her from behind, his hand around her mouth as he kept her pinned against the wall. The rest blew through him like a locomotive, as though they weren't even his, or they were scenes from a holodrama, or—

His eyes shot open, his entire body stiffening as he abruptly leaned forward. These weren't his thoughts. That's why they felt incongruous. They were an upload from somewhere else, from someone else. An upload of his prisoner's thoughts.

The Supreme Leader pushed himself off the throne and tore down the steps. He began to pace, his mind racing a hypermile a minute. He knew M421 had an attraction to him, but this? Filthy fantasies centered around him, her enemy? She was thinking these things right now in real time; Kylo was positive about that. Courtesy of the Citadel's vergence, he must have been able to cross space and time to see her thoughts as though she were here with him.

It crazed him. It confused him. It was the final straw on the bantha's back.

Even though he had come here to run from his prisoner, Kylo needed clarity, and he needed it now. Dropping down in the center of the amphitheater, he sat cross-legged on the cool stone and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and immediately delved into a meditational state, a rush of warmth surrounding him. No, not just warmth, heat. Fire. Scorching every cell of his body as he called upon the Sith Lords that once walked these halls. Though long dead, their power still lingered throughout the stronghold, kept alive by blood alchemy forged in every stone here. It only took seconds to sense them, and Kylo could hear them and feel their anger for his choice to stay on his own path instead of adopting the Sith way.

Kill...kill...kill...light...light...light...soared all around him, carried by a black, dense cloud that hung over his head. He remained unfazed. This, and the mesmerizing chant that brought him to the throne, had been a ploy, enticing him to embrace their religion, to bow to the Sith, to serve them. But after suffering at the hands of Snoke for half his life, Kylo promised himself he would never let anyone, or anything, dictate his path ever again. As they continued to croon, their efforts did nothing but irritate him.

"No," came his deep, severe demand. "You will unlock the power of the vergence."

Cackling, growling, hissing, howling...the sounds of the dead enveloped the Supreme Leader, defiant in his defiance. Their energy was strong, but Kylo was stronger than all of them combined. He pushed through, and once he made it past the heavy, corrupted miasma they had erected around him, he felt more powerful than ever.

"Incredible," he muttered, sweat gleaming on his forehead as his eyes darted back and forth behind his eyelids. "Tell me why I need the girl. Tell me why she makes me weak."

Kylo was expecting answers, but recoiled at what he saw—glimpses of his own insanity. They replayed moments of his weakness like a holodrama, forcing him to see his lowest points from over the last two weeks. Stroking himself, pacing back and forth in his quarters, drowning in obsessive thoughts...it was pathetic, but most of all, it was embarrassing, just like they had intended. He didn't take the bait.

"Tell me why," he commanded. "Show me what Skywalker knows about her that I do not."

Ominous laughter bellowed around him, cruel taunts and jeers spearing him from every angle. But Kylo dug his heels deeper into his meditational state, detaching from the spite of these tortured souls to focus on finding the truth. Eventually, distant, distorted voices called out to him, their echoes reverberating throughout his bones.

Defiled...defiled...defiled...

Crystal...crystal...crystal...

Kylo's brows pulled together, a line of concentration breaking out on his forehead as he searched for the connection between their words. "Defiled crystal?" he asked, his pulse shaking his rib cage. "Does this mean Skywalker already has the diseased kyber?"

Stolen...stolen...stolen...

Power...power...power...

Hidden...hidden...hidden...

"Hidden? Hidden where?" Kylo repeated, desperately reaching out for clarity, but was only met with muddled visions. An agitated breath blew through his lips while more sneers and taunts erupted around him, and Kylo realized the more he'd asked for help, the more they'd lead him astray. He'd need to find his answers another way.

Pushing aside his irritation, he refocused his efforts. "Grandfather, I am here. Give me counsel."

The response was immediate. Power surged through him as he felt his ancestor's presence, and because of the vergence's abilities, Kylo expected to see his physical being manifest before him. But instead, an image of Kitten flickered in his mind. He didn't understand, but he didn't break focus; instead, he leaned into the vision. She looked so pretty as she tossed and turned on the mat in her cell, and the need he felt to touch her was overwhelming.

"Bring me to her," Kylo said, voice quavering. "Now."

With another burst of power, the Supreme Leader was pulled in every direction. Although he was completely still in the center of the amphitheater, his consciousness went up and down and sideways all at the same time until he was no longer inside his body. He felt light as he drifted in a vast space of endless, gray matter, wandering so far away he was afraid he'd never return to his physical being on Exegol.

But then the brume blended into a beautiful, bright blue sky as though he were floating in the clouds of a paradisaical planet. Eventually, he began to descend, and the sounds of birds chirping, water splashing and the wind whistling between tree branches carried him back to safety. It wasn't until his boots touched the ground that everything blinked into focus, and he realized where he was.

While the Force signature of his bloodline had sizzled out, Kylo was in a place that his grandfather used to visit while he was alive—Vader's Retreat. It was the girl's safe space on Coruscant with the wildflowers, the lake, and the crumbling pyramid he used to chase her through when they were kids. Exactly what she had uncovered in Sector 45B, right before they connected with his mother. He glanced around. It was truly picturesque—save for his screaming prisoner, running at him full speed from the top of the hill.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Kylo frowned as he turned toward her, taking a wide stance to prepare for impact. He'd be lying if he said he expected this type of greeting after the shift between them, but some things never changed. Before he could even blink, Kitten barreled straight into him to tackle him to the ground, and they both went down with an umph.

Grunting and yelling, they both tumbled in the wet sand, fighting to get the upper hand. Her momentum had given her an edge, allowing her to straddle him for about .02 seconds, but Kylo was stronger and immediately flipped her on her back. Then, hovering over her with his hips between her legs, he secured her wrists above her head and pinned her below him.

"Let go of me," she seethed, squirming in his grasp and writhing her spine off the ground.

Kylo pressed into her, pushing her back down. "No."

She thrashed and tried to kick him, but he kept her secured with the weight of his body. He swallowed, gazing down at her frame below him, her soft and fuckable frame, so deliciously conformed to his, so warm and tempting and—

"Hey, get that thing off me!" she yelled, forcefully yanking Kylo out of his head. She lifted her wide, offended eyes from the bulge in his pants, setting them accusingly on his face. "Is that why you found me in my dreams, sicko? To fuck me?"

"I didn't find you, you found me," he snarled, spit flying from his mouth. "I came to Exegol to get away from you!"

She scoffed. "Says the man that kept me trapped in his quarters like a pet!"

"It wasn't safe for you to go back to your cell—those were Hux's men!" Kylo shot back, his fingers tightly curling around her wrists. "I didn't have a choice!"

"Fuck Hux, and fuck you!" she yelled, trying to push him off. "LET GO! You're hurting me!"

Nostrils flaring and eyes wild, Kylo glowered at her before rolling off her with a grunt. She stepped away after they both got on their feet, but kept her eyes on him as she crouched down, trying to collect a bulky rock from the shore.

Kylo shot her an annoyed look as he readjusted himself. "Killing me in here will bring you nothing," he chided with a harsh tone. "Physicality in your dreamscape does not translate to reality."

"I can try," she said, trying—and failing—to secure a large rock for the umpteenth time. "Any...moment...now..."

"Enough," he flared, the breeze lifting his robes in a black furry behind him. "Tell me why you sought me out just to attack."

Slowly, Kitten stood up straight and looked at him like he was insane. "You think I sought you out?"

"I know you did," Kylo said, taking a step closer to her. "Even with the power of the vergence, you would have had to reach for me to feel you from here."

She blinked. "Uh, in standard galactic, please? What the fuck's a vergence?"

Kylo spoke tightly, quickly. "A pool of Force power that can trigger this," he said, throwing an agitated gesture between them, "astral projection."

Kitten's jaw dropped. "It wasn't enough for you to fuck with my head while you were brushing my hair, but now you had to astral project into my head? What kind of sick game is this?"

"I didn't mess with your head in my quarters. I did nothing to you," he said, suppressing his irritation. "Now answer the question—why am I here?"

"Because you found me!" she yelled, throwing her hands up. "Because like the weirdo you are, you used this so-called-vergence to spy on me!"

"I only found you because I followed the crumbs of depravity you left behind! It would have never worked if you hadn't invited me here!"

"Banthashit. None of this is coming from me. I know you planted something inside me when you took your mask off. It's the only explanation for this!"

Kylo spoke with jerky, abrupt hand movements. "For what?"

"This! The crumbs of depravity!" she exploded, gesturing wildly between them. "I can't stop thinking about you, which we both know is not normal, so I beg of you, just make this kriffing stop!"

Kylo jolted back, shock consuming him as he stared at her. "You think...you think I'm responsible for making you fantasize about me? That I tricked you into wanting me and my knights?"

"Yes," she said with unwavering confidence, her flinty glare boring through him. "That's the only way it makes sense."

After a beat of silence, Kylo threw his head back and laughed, a burst of deep, cruel laughter that echoed around them. He couldn't help it; he was already hanging onto the very last thread of sanity, and now, the little brat was blaming all of this on him?

"Stop that, it's not funny," she hissed, but Kylo only laughed harder. "I said, stop that!"

"Fucking hells," Kylo breathed, shaking his head as he turned away from her, drifting along the edge of the lake. He called out to her from over his shoulder. "You're hilarious, you know that? Delusional and in denial, but hilarious."

"It's not funny! Take back whatever you did!" she yelled, storming after him. "And stop walking so fast! I was talking to you, Jabba!"

"No," he said as he continued to move away from her. "Process that you want to fuck me. Then maybe we can talk."

M421 made a strangled noise of annoyance before stubbornly yelling, "NO!"

Kylo chuckled to himself again as she tried to keep up with his strides. "Then good luck with that, Kitten."

She protested some more, but the Supreme Leader ignored every huff and puff as she followed after him. It wasn't until her voice cracked that he considered stopping. "Kylo, please. I need your help to make this go away," she choked out, sniffling. "Please. I...I feel like I'm losing my mind."

With an agitated exhale, he finally came to a halt and turned to face her. He couldn't read her mind while he was in it, but he could tell she was genuinely asking for help. Still, he had every intention of telling her that this was something she had to work out herself, but she looked so desperate, almost afraid, and his shoulders dropped just a bit. He frowned. Goddammit.

"I don't know how to make it stop," he said, emphasizing each word. He hesitantly looked her up and down. "If I did, I would have done it already."

A range of emotion flickered across her face. Confusion, anxiety—then shock. Her eyes widened adorably as she took an excited step closer to him. "You feel it, too."

Kylo dropped his gaze before making eye contact again, swallowing thickly. "Yes."

She inched even closer, the corner of her lips tugging up into a smile as she did the unimaginable—she grabbed his hands. Kylo's heart sputtered in his chest as he looked down at them, his eye twitching as he darted his gaze between her face and her hands clutching his. His chest constricted, his body responding to her touch, her tender touch, as she looked at him in a way she never had before. With hope.

Hope. He closed the gap between them, and when she didn't step back, only tilting her face to his, Kylo felt hope, too. Whatever this was, maybe it did change things, and not for the worse. He didn't have to be afraid. He didn't have to run. They both wanted each other, and they could both have each other, right now.

"That's amazing, don't you see?" she breathed, and he couldn't believe this was happening. But then, she obliterated his hope as she continued. "If we both feel crazy around each other...it must be a warning sign that we shouldn't be together, right? That we have to be separated? All you have to do is let me go, and this insanity will disappear!"

First, a hardness settled into his face, then Kylo yanked his hands from hers. "This changes nothing," he said coldly, pivoting to walk away from her. "You are still a prisoner of war."

He could feel her confusion as she chased after him. "What? But if you're going crazy too, why would you want me here? Why would you want to see me?"

"I don't want to see you," he said, balling his fists by his side as the lake lapped at his boots. His voice was low, dangerous. "I want you to leave me alone."

Kitten reacted with a scoff, stewing in angry silence before speaking again. "That's rich, coming from the man who is inside my brain right now."

Kylo didn't respond. He only strode faster, away from his maddening little prisoner in the fucking dreamscape she invited him to. When he first got here, he had found the sounds of nature and the idyllic landscape to be calming, but now he wanted to burn this place to the ground, to strangle each individual bird that dared sing, to poison the lake with—

"Hello?" her grating whine broke his concentration. "I am talking to you!"

Again, he said nothing. He was afraid if he did, he would blow a fuse, and the last thing he wanted to do was give her any indication of how profoundly she affected him.

She groaned. Again. As though it were such an inconvenience that he accepted the invitation into her mind. "Come on, Jabba, tell me how to get rid of you!"

"Wake up," he said with quiet rage, throwing her a curt glance over his shoulder. "It'll do both of us a favor."

"You think I haven't tried that already?" she asked, the water splashing at her feet as she so obnoxiously kept up with him. "I don't know how to! I'm stuck in here with your crazy ass!"

Kylo's head began to pound. He was going insane, truly insane, to the point where he wanted to tie his robes in a knot, hoist them over a branch from one of these stupid trees, and swing from it. By his neck. And when she opened her mouth to groan yet again, Kylo finally fucking snapped.

"Jabba, I'm—"

Spinning around, the Supreme Leader grabbed her face and kissed her. A hard, aggressive kiss that made her freeze in his grasp. When her brain finally caught up with her body, and she started to resist, squirming against him, Kylo traced her bottom lip with his tongue. Muffled groans bled between their mouths as his fingertips dug into her cheeks, keeping her face to his. He sucked her bottom lip with aggressive force, ignoring her frantic hands that threaded through his hair to pull him away before ending the embrace with a rough bite.

When he finally released her, she stumbled away, looking at him with murder in her eyes. "What the fu—" Boom. The ground began to shake, sending them both sideways as her dreamscape deteriorated. She put her arms out for balance and shot him a panicked glance. "What's happening?"

Taking a wide stance as the earth rumbled below him, Kylo glared at her and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "You're welcome."

Uncertainty flickered across her face, but then another violent tremor tore between them, and she was gone. She had woken up. And like a snap of a rubber band, Kylo was thrust back into his body on Exegol. He reeled forward, panting as cold sweat dripped down his temple. Blinking rapidly, he tried to stop the room from spinning as he focused on his hands before him.

Then came Vicrul's concerned voice. "Master Ren, are you alright?"

Kylo was slow to raise his head, but once he saw all six of his knights staring at him, he was quick to rise to his feet. He didn't want them to see him like this, not again. Agitation prickled his skin. He had notified them to arrive on Exegol early, but wasn't expecting them to come so quickly, and he definitely wouldn't have gone to Kitten if he suspected the knights would be an audience to her dreamscape drama.

"I'm fine," he said, abruptly walking through them to get to his helmet. "The vergence took me on a field trip. That is all."

Trudgen swung his war club over his shoulder. "Where did—"

"That does not concern you," Kylo snipped, grateful when they all stepped back and fell silent. He did not have it in him to explain that he came here early to avoid M421, and yet, all she had done was infiltrate his mind further. With a rough exhale, he picked up his mask and slipped it over his head, turning to get the fuck out of there. "Follow me."

A barrage of footsteps erupted behind him as they obeyed, following Kylo down a dim, damp trail out of the amphitheater—thankfully wider than the path he took to get there. He set his intention to find clues about Skywalker and let the Force guide him the rest of the way, his mind racing too fast to focus. He knew that Exegol's vergence offered a range of supernatural advantages, but astral projecting from across the galaxy into the mind of a non-Force-sensitive being? That was unheard of, even for someone as powerful as him, which meant the influence of the Citadel was much stronger than he had ever imagined. Something that could be useful to him but also used against him by his enemies. Like Skywalker. Or Hux.

With a tense stride, Kylo took a sharp right turn, leading his knights to the main library. "Effective immediately, all of you will keep an eye on General Hux. Every little thing he does, I need to know about it. If he travels off-base, I'm to be alerted. How he spends his personal credits, I'm to be alerted. If he itches his testicles, I'm to be alerted." He tilted his head to the side, waiting for acknowledgment. "Understood?"

Facing forward again, the Supreme Leader nodded in approval before they even finished their slew of, yes, Master Ren's. "Excellent. Now, we search for signs of Skywalker. Footprints, fingerprints, missing pages in the ancient texts. Then we move onto the laboratories, then the excavation sites. If he didn't leave a trace—fine. We find and destroy anything Luke or the Resistance could use against us."

Kuruk spoke through their Force-bond. "With all these ruins, is there anything here they could utilize, sir?"

Kylo clenched his jaw under his mask, every muscle in his body tensing. "When there's a will, there's a way."