It had been over a year that they had been chasing down hints, rumors and even legends. Many had heard of the relic, but no one knew the precise location, only whispers of where it might be or if it even existed. One person said they had heard of it, another being said they knew someone that had seen it at one time, another said they were told by a Jedi themselves that it never existed. Stories upon conjecture led to piecing together everything they had to bring Rey to the Outer Rim planet of Maris III, a lush jungle covered planet where she hoped to find what she was looking for.

Rey used her lightsaber to cut through the thick foliage, cursing under her breath at the oppressive humidity in the jungle. It was thick and the smell altered between the rot of undergrowth and the fragrance of flowers in the air. It was overall unpleasant and Rey hoped it wouldn't be much longer until she reached her goal. After landing she was lucky enough to find a settlement where a few locals agreed to take her to where they believed the temple was located, at least the edge of it. They would not accompany her into the jungle, as they were too superstitious regarding the relic, scared of it, or both. She would have welcomed the assistance of a guide, but there did seem to be a rudimentary path she was following, though it hadn't seen footsteps in a long time.

Finding a stump that seemed would be somewhat comfortable to sit on, Rey stopped to rest for a moment. Everything was moving so fast. It felt like just moments ago she had been an orphan on arid Jakku and now she was part of the Resistance, fighting against the First Order and Supreme Leader Snoke. She still wasn't entirely sure why she was there, except that she had nowhere else to be and finally felt at home among her peers in the Resistance. Her life on Jakku was over and she was where she was supposed to be or she wouldn't be there. She gathered her thoughts to focus back on her mission and started back on her trek through the dense jungle.

After proceeding for awhile, Rey felt the hair on the back of her neck start to rise and she came to a stop. Looking around slowly, she peered between the purple vines that hung all around her, twisting and turning through the white barked trees. She peered around large green leaves with pink streaks in the middle. It felt like she was being watched, no, tracked. Ready for whatever might come, she brought her lightsaber up. Was a predatory beast was following her? The jungle had to be full of unknown dangers looking for small human snacks. Shaking her head, she tried to clear her mind of the fear. Using the Force to reach out, she tried to see if she felt anything. She did not. Sighing, she didn't even know what she was even looking for. Her skills were still so basic, so unhoned. Having no one to train her, anything she did was of her own accord. She had been able to do a few basic things, move and levitate small objects, things of that nature. Finn had found a lightsaber training device on the Falcon that she used to try and train with the lightsaber she had also found there, an unbelievable stroke of fortune. While going through some crates in a hold, she opened one that had some robes on the top. When she took them out, a lightsaber hilt fell out. It was an astounding find and to add to her disbelief, it worked. It was that very lightsaber she was using to cut her way through the jungle now.

The relic had been constructed by Revan, one of the most powerful Jedi and Sith Lords of all time. Revan was first a Jedi, then a Sith then redeemed himself as a Jedi again. Even his bizarre death was split between the Light and the Dark Side before he finally became One with the Force. He built the relic while a Sith, but he still had remnants of the Light within him, however faint they might have been. Because he had both the Light and the Dark Side within him, the relic could be used by a Force user of either Side. However, Revan's Cynosure was especially powerful for someone with both the Light and Dark Side within them. Someone like Revan. Someone like Kylo Ren.

General Organa loved her son, but she was no fool when it came to acknowledging how dangerous he was. She knew the Resistance had to find the relic before he did and brought such a powerful tool to Supreme Leader Snoke and the First Order. They had to recover the relic before Kylo or his power could be increased to levels incomprehensible and devastating to the Resistance. Rey only hoped she would find it before him and for all they knew, she could be on the entirely wrong planet.

Rey jumped back slightly as something small ran across her foot, cursing herself for being so startled by something so small. Certainly she was getting tired of cutting through the dense tangle of vines and other plants but there seemed to be no end in sight. Pausing, she sighed, but as she did, she had that same feeling that something, or someone, was tracking her every move. It was unnerving, especially in the confines of the jungle with little light making it through the canopy. It wasn't possible that someone was following her. No one but the locals knew she was even here beyond General Organa. She would almost prefer a creature to a human. Well, maybe. That all depends on the size of the creature in question. Rey had seen her share of creatures she didn't care to see again.

Continuing on for what seemed an endless amount of time, the foliage finally began to thin out and then a clearing emerged. The canopy still loomed overhead, but the trees retreated, leaving a small area with only the undergrowth and some vines snaking through the leaves. Right in the middle was a cellar type door. A random door on the ground in the middle of a jungle on an Outer Rim planet. Rey laughed in spite of herself. It did sound like the sort of thing you would hear in a myth. She shrugged and grabbed the door handle. It did not open. She pulled harder to no avail. Frustrated, she took a few swipes at the door with her lightsaber, but it did not even leave a mark on the door. Sitting down on the door, she poked at some moss with the toe of her shoe.

The Force. Of course. Use the Force. How better to keep a Force relic protected that with a door you must use the Force to open? She excitedly stood up, facing the door. Waving her hand in front of the door, she said, "Open." Nothing happened. She tried again and once again, nothing happened. Angry, she kicked the door, achieving nothing but further frustration and a sore foot. Collecting herself and her thoughts, she tried to clear her mind. She focused on the door, thinking, "Open." Concentrating as hard as she could, she felt like she was about to burst when the door finally sprung open. She looked down at a stairway leading into a dark corridor. "This is what I'm here for," she thought, and proceeded down the stairs.

The temperature began to drop immediately. The corridor was about six and half foot tall and maybe four feet wide, not large but not so small that Rey felt too confined. Surprisingly, it was completely dry. Coming from a desert climate, wet and slimy environs were not her favorite thing so she was relieved to find the corridor free of such things. It was completely dark so she used her lightsaber to light the way. The walls were smooth light brown marble like stone, devoid of any markings. She was making good progress until she literally ran into a wall that seemingly appeared right in front of her. She grunted as she hit it.

The wall completely blocked the corridor. It was as if she reached the end of it, but that couldn't be possible, could it? She hadn't found anything yet. There couldn't be a cellar in the middle of the jungle with an empty hallway. While the whole mission didn't make total sense and that certainly made less sense. Maybe this was another Force trial? She cleared her mind again, focused determinedly and thought, "Open." Nothing happened. She thought move, clear, even break. Nothing worked. Leaning back against the wall, she wondered what was she missing. Her lightsaber nicked the wall a bit and where it did, the wall started to glow. Rey stared at it. As she looked closer, she noticed a pattern etched into the wall. She touched her lightsaber to another part of the pattern and it began to glow, as well. She took her lightsaber and traced over the entire pattern and it glowed furiously, culminating in a bright light and then the wall disappeared. Not a Force trial, but the lightsaber is the preferred weapon of a Jedi or Sith. Or an aspiring one, depending on where one might be on their path.

She wondered if there would be any further trials and also wondered if Revan put these trials in place or if another who had possessed the Cynosure did. They clearly did not want it falling into the hands of someone who wasn't Force sensitive. The first two trials had been fairly simple, Rey figured, or she wouldn't have been able to solve them. She was curious as to why they weren't more difficult or if the strength of the seeker wasn't of any concern to the person who placed the trials, just that they were a user of the Force.

Rey noticed the ceiling was starting to get higher. Light was also starting to stream in from a high point in front of her that she could not see. Soon she saw what was her third and final trial. A huge monolith, blocking a cavern. To proceed, she would have to move the monolith, which was probably twelve feet high and four feet across. It completely blocked her path and was much larger than anything she had ever tried to move before. Blowing out a breath, she put her lightsaber on her belt.. She had come too far to give up and she was at least going to try to move this behemoth. Breathing deeply, she began to envision the monolith moving. She concentrated hard on that image, concentrating so that hard sweat beads formed at the edge of her hairline. She let out a huge breath and began breathing hard, stressed from her effort. Determined, she wiped her forehead and she began to concentrate again.

The monolith started to move! She heard a voice behind her, "Let me help you with that."

She spun around to face Kylo Ren. "You! You've been tracking me."

"Yes, Rey. Thank you for making my path here so much easier, but I knew the relic was here and how to find you. You only arrived here on Maris III moments before I did. It is a shame those villagers were not more...helpful."

"You killed them?" she exclaimed.

"I had to. I could not have one of them alerting you to my presence," he said slowly.

"They won't come in the jungle! They're too scared of the relic. You killed them for no reason!"

"There is always a reason. It is merely a matter of perspective. I tire of this idle talk about irrelevant things. Revan's Cynosure. It is mine. It is meant for me. It is my destiny."

"Over my dead body," Rey seethed.

"If that is what is necessary," Kylo Ren pulled out his lightsaber, the unstable blade blazing and crackling in the dark corridor. Rey pulled hers off of her belt, glowing blue against the backlight of the cavern.

The cavern was lit from above by a central hole in the ceiling with a crossbar within on a domed ceiling. Around the top of the dome, below the central hole were four more identical holes, all letting light stream in from above. Vines grew down into the cavern, but not so much as to block the light. They twisted around the crossbars, weaving in and out, up and down. The floor of the cavern mirrored the window; it was round and there was a crossbar in the center. The holes led down to seemingly bottomless pits and at the center of the crossbar was a pillar where Revan's Cynosure sat. The relic itself was a glowing blue cube floating and slowly turning over it's pillar. Each side had a set of four runes inscribed on it, each faintly glowing white. There were pillars like the one in center holding the relic against the walls parallel with the end of each bridge with each having a solid marble sphere on top. The bridges leading to the pillar were only two feet wide so one had to tread carefully and keep their balance as not to fall into the pits. There didn't seem to be any Force trials in retrieving the relic, just a matter of being nimble and being quick probably was a good idea, as well.

Sparks flew from their lightsabers as they connected in the corridor. Kylo pushed Rey into the cavern where he could fully raise his and take full advantage of his considerable height over her. Never intimidated by him, Rey countered his every move, their lightsabers a blur as they fought furiously for possession of the relic.

"I do not know why you continue to fight me, Rey," Kylo shouted, "You need someone to train you."

"You're not the person destined to train me. I'll never go to the Dark Side," she took a wide swing at his midsection, leaving her upper body open. He came in with a swipe to her shoulder, hitting his mark. She grabbed her shoulder, but only for a second. It was just a glancing wound and she wasn't going to give up that easily.

Rey heard something start to rattle and ducked just as one of the marble spheres from the pillar nearest to them came hurtling toward her head. It cracked in half as it hit the wall then down to the floor. She could only imagine what that would have done to her head. Barely having time to react, Kylo was upon her again with his lightsaber, viciously slashing at her. Able to do nothing but defensive moves, he finally had her backed up against the wall of the cavern. She was able to get her lightsaber up to block his, taking all of her strength to hold him back.

"I do not want to kill you over this," he said.

"You're not getting that relic so I guess you don't have any choice!" she gathered all of her emotion and used Force push to throw him back, though not nearly as far as she had hoped. It was enough for her to get in a more offensive stance and catch her breath for a moment.

"You could be so much more if only you would let me show you," he stood and walked towards her.

"I will never be a pawn for Snoke," she started to step towards him and met his attack. He once again had her on the defensive, but she met him stroke for stroke. He was unable to land a blow but he was driving her backwards with every one. In the pitch of battle, they both had lost track of where they were in the cavern and they were both dangerously close the edge of one of the pits within the center of the room. Kylo made a ruthless jab at Rey and she jumped back. She was on the edge and fell, her lightsaber skidding across the cavern and she barely grabbed the edge to keep herself falling into the abyss.

Rey clung to the edge, fearing the last thing she was going to see was the mask of Kylo Ren looking down on her as she plummeted to her death. She had failed in her mission, failed General Organa and failed the Resistance. Her fingers were slipping and she involuntarily cried out. Kylo continued to look down at her silently. She imaged he was getting some sick sort of pleasure in watching her slowly slip, finger by finger, to her death and the mental anguish that accompanied it. She felt her left hand completely slip and she cried out again, trying to grab at the edge in vain.

"Give me your hand," she looked up, not entirely comprehending what she heard.

"Do you want to die? Give me your hand," Rey didn't know if she should trust him or not but at this point she had absolutely nothing left to lose. She grabbed Kylo's hand and a sudden shock went through the both of them. Visions of a young General Organa in a white dress saying, "Help me, Obi Wan." A man's voice, "Rey, do not be afraid." Visions of Han Solo, General Organa and young Ben Solo with Chewbacca. Ben Solo, lost, in a mist, all of these things, swirling together in both of their minds.

Kylo fell backwards hard as he pulled Rey up and she landed hard on her front, almost knocking the wind out of her. Kylo reached up and took his mask off, looking at Rey, "What was that?"

"I, I don't know," she said, "Did you see the same things I did?"

"My mother in a white dress, my family," he seemed pained to say much else.

She nodded, "Yes, Ben. I saw the same thing."

"Ben is dead. He has been for a long time," Kylo stared at her hard with his dark, piercing eyes.

"Is he? I don't think you're entirely sure of that," she looked back at him equally hard.

He stood up, "Ben was weak and foolish. He is gone."

"If that's true, then why did I see a lost and confused Ben in our vision?"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAW!" he bellowed, beginning to pace, "You are starting to try my patience, Rey. Do not make me regret my decision."

"You don't regret your decision, Ben. You said from the start you didn't want to kill me."

"Stop calling me Ben. You do not know me well enough to call me that," he cast his eyes down.

"Oh, but I think I do. This isn't the first time I've been in your mind. Nor the first you've been in mine," she paused.

"Rey," he said, "Who are you?"

"I don't know. I'm no one. I'm, I'm beginning to learn that I truly I don't know," she was now the one to cast her eyes down, "So what do we do about this problem we have?"

"What problem?" Kylo sounded downright miserable.

"The relic. Revan's Cynosure. That thing floating in the middle of the room."

He didn't say anything for a moment, just looked straight ahead. He finally spoke, "It is yours. Take it."

Stunned, she stared at him, "What?"

"Take it and do so before I change my mind. The destiny of the relic lies with you, not me."

"What will you tell Snoke?" she asked.

"That is my problem to deal with, but I will simply tell him to arrived first and were able to obtain the relic before me," he shrugged. He put his mask back on. "I am sure we will meet again, Rey."

"I am sure, Ben," she watched him as he walked out of the cavern and down the corridor, out of sight.