Chapter Text
Rey didn't believe in magic, or gods, or anything that hadn't been thoroughly studied by the scientific method. Still, she was human. She avoided walking under ladders, didn't like to open her umbrella indoors and always noticed when the thirteenth fell on a Friday. But what did it prove ? It was all just common sense. Ladders could fall, umbrella got everything wet and didn't go through doors and what could she do about the fact that people made more of a big deal of Friday the thirteenth than Thursday the twelfth ? It was all just silly human superstition and most of the time, it occupied no space in her mind.
Well... Until last year.
And today was one of those days.
First, she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Of course her bed did not really have a right or wrong side per say but Rey did usually get out on the left side, near the window, so she could look at the sparrows that had made their nest in the tree bellow her appartement. Did she think this was related to her terrible mood ? Of course not, she had barely noticed and forgotten the birds entirely.
She remembered them quite well though, when she came out of the building, ten minutes late, and a black cat jumped in front of her catching one of them in its mouth. The beast hissed and devoured the poor thing while Rey, wide eyed, unable to look away, struggled to find her car keys in the pockets of her coat.
They were upstairs.
An hour late, she finally got to work, after spending half of that time picking up the pieces of the large mirror that had somehow fallen when she reached for her keys.
"What's up with the crows today ?" Asked Finn, her co-worker and best friend, handing her an extremely sugary coffee.
She grabbed the warm drink in her hands and took a sip, discovering at the same time a whole murder of black birds, strutting around the grass in front of the History department.
"How many are they ?" She asked almost swallowing wrong.
"Ten, eleven, twelve... Yep thirteen. Thirteen crows, must be a witches holiday or something !" Finn laughed. "Or is it one of your lucky days ?"
Rey rolled her eyes and they went in.
"You call them lucky..."
At lunch, Rey found not two but three four-leafed clovers and a ladybug with seven dots flew on her hand. Lucky pennies covered her path, enough to buy her a snack during her afternoon break. The whole day was filled with similar events. Not all bad, but all very weird.
"Ok yeah, today's definitely a "lucky days" !" She told Finn while walking to their cars.
"Maybe you should see a medium" He said after she'd told him everything "It happens more and more often, doesn't it ? I think you've been hexed."
"Don't be silly I would nev..."
Rey knocked on the Benevolent Maz Kanata's door. A week had passed. The door opened as she touched it and she entered a dark little room filled with smoke, crystal balls and books on the mystic. The walls were covered with heavy fabrics and in the middle of it all, a little woman sat in an orange velvet armchair.
"He's a pretty one !" She said clearly amused. "Well... as much as they can be, that is."
"Who ?" was Rey's skeptical answer.
"Come sit. It's been a while since I've had to deal with a demon."
Rey, still at the door crossed her arms, did not like to be mocked. Being here was shameful enough.
"Oh get rid of that look on your face." scorned the little woman "You all look tough and confident, you skeptics, until you realize you need Maz Katana's help. Sit down Rey, sit, sit."
Maz was a resolute woman and Rey did not like the severe look she casted upon her, so she obeyed, sat on the stool facing her armchair across the table.
"Give me your hand."
She did.
"Hmm... That's unusual."
"My hand ?"
"It's hard to read. Full of crosses and scribbles. Messy angel you've got there."
"Well, if he's letting a demon near me, I'm not surprised." Rey played along, not believing a word of what she said.
It made Maz laugh, she looked up somewhere behind Rey.
"She's a funny one, isn't she ?" She said to no one that Rey could see. "Other hand."
Again, Rey obeyed.
"Look at that !" exclaimed Maz, and Rey would lie if she said that didn't pique her interest. "Even worse than the first, perfectly unreadable. I guess I'll get the cards."
The little woman stood up more gracefully than Rey would have though her capable and went rummaging for an old looking deck of black cards with gold details.
Still, Maz could see nothing. She tried the pendulum, tea leaves and coffee grounds, nothing worked. Rey had expected to be lied to, but not like this. She thought Maz would tell her about her parents, rejoice in the fact that they were both dead and tell her all sorts of lies about them, deliver messages they had for her from the great beyond. But she had been at Maz's place for two hours now. Clients were sent away and the poor little woman looked more confused by the minute.
"Well... Nothing in the runes. I guess we'll try the crystal ball and if that doesn't work either, we'll do a séance."
"A séance ?"
Oh so that was Maz's great finale.
"I won't be able to pay for that much." said Rey, starting to get up.
"Oh sit down, I've already told you I wasn't going to make you pay. I just need to know."
The intensity of Maz's eyes made Rey shiver.
"But know what exactly ? If there's nothing to know, there's nothing to know ! It's not that imp..."
Maz rolled her eyes and placed her crystal ball on the table.
"Nothing to know. Ha ! What's he doing here then ?" She looked up behind Rey "Huh pretty boy, will you tell me ?"
For a second, Rey could have sworn that she saw a shadow cross the mirrors behind Maz, but she war tired and bored and apparently captive to a very mad and incompetent medium. It was just her imagination.
Nothing came from the crystal ball.
"Who are you ?" Asked Maz suspiciously.
"I told you, I'm no one !"
"No one." she repeated. "I almost want to believe you. Not one spirit knows anything about you ! But no one is no one. Why are you hidden like that ? What's so special about you ?"
Rey looked at the little woman, puzzled. She truly was no one. Born to nobodies, in the middle of nowhere. She had been an orphan since she was five. She moved around, Became nobody from nowhere. A child of the system. There was nothing special about her. Until the start of her "lucky days" her life had been pretty uneventful.
Yet, Maz did not believe her.
"I'll get ready for the séance." She said looking like a warrior going to battle.
Candles were placed on the table, incense burnt, prayers said and repeated.
"Spirits are you there ?" said Maz.
The table shook and Rey rolled her eyes.
"I call upon you. Tell me your name !"
The candles lit up.
Impressive, thought Rey.
"Kylo Ren" said Maz in a deeper voice than her usual one "Master of the knights of Ren."
That name... It made Rey feel something. Like she had heard it before. Like she was happy to hear it again.
"Show yourself Ren. In the name of all the benevolent gods, show yourself !"
Her eyes were closed, so Rey took the opportunity to study her wrinkly face. In her focused frown Rey thought she could see anger and maybe a little bit of fear. She was starting to believe that, at the very least, Maz truly believe in all that nonsense. She was maybe a fraud but it was despite herself. It was a pity but Rey could respect that. It was...
"Show yourself !" screamed Maz, her body vibrating, still fighting the supposed demon.
The force of her scream made Rey jump.
Something moved deep down in the earth and the entire room shook. The candles melted in a second and everything went dark except for the many glow in the dark stars stuck to the sealing. Something hard fell on the table, then, everything was silent.
"Maz ?" Asked Rey's shaky voice.
No answer.
Rey tried to get up. It felt like her insides had been turned upside down and she could barely stand on her legs.
"Maz ?" In the dark, Rey reached out for the little woman. She felt an arm but it was lifeless.
"I told her to leave us alone." said a deep voice in the dark.
Rey jumped.
"Who's there ?" she whispered trying to hide her fear.
"Don't you know ?" The voice said.
"Ky... Kylo Ren ?"
It felt stupid to say it. Soon, Maz would turn on the light and have a good laugh and make her pay extra for the theatrical. Still, said a little voice in Rey's head, what if it was all true ?
She felt him move around her. The shape got closer and closer until Rey felt a warm breath on the back of her neck.
"I'm going to have to take you with me, Rey. It wasn't my plan but..." he paused, probably looking at Maz "I'm afraid you won't like it, but it was always going to end this way."
Big hands gently grabbed her shoulders and from dark it all went to nothingness then to the big everything until finally somewhere around it all, somewhere warm. Somewhere burning.
His hands were still on her shoulders, they felt like fire on her skin, strong and scorching. It took Rey a while to come back to herself. To remember Maz, the Nothingness and the big Everything. She almost remembered a voice from back there. Soft and motherly.
"Bring him back to us, Rey." it said.
But night swallowed the Everything like black ink in a glass of water and the memory got away from her.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a big plain, covered with bones and decaying corpses. The sky was a orange hue streaked with red and violet clouds. Far away, she saw a black fortified castle on top of rocky hills.
Kylo Ren's hand slid down to her arm, softly.
"Come" he said "He's waiting for us."
But Rey couldn't move. Her legs could barely hold her weight and something in her chest squeezed all the air out of her lungs. She could have cried, fall on the ground and wait for her death but Rey was not like that. Full of furry, she turned for the first time to see who was that thing, that man, who toyed with her for weeks, probably killed poor Maz and took her to this... this hell !
"Take me back !"
He let go of her and took a step back. Tall, dark and intimidating as he was, he looked surprised. Rey was more relieved he looked human.
"Take me back. Now !" She yelled again.
A discreet smile turned the corner of Kylo Ren's lips, grim and devilish. He grabbed her again.
"I'm afraid that's not possible. Come, we don't have time for this."
Rey refused to move. His eyes, his touch, it all filled her with such anger.
"No." she heard her own voice say assertively. "Take. me. back."
She closed her eyes and said it again.
Kylo Ren grabbed her arm.
"Take me back." She said again.
He tried to pull but something moved around them, Rey felt the big everything twirl, darkened by nothingness and suddenly everything was cold. Her voice echoed for a while, blending with the rumbling of a coming storm.
"What did you do ?" said Kylo Ren, faintly.
When Rey opened her eyes, she was in the middle of the street in front of her apartment building, facing Kylo Ren. Snow fell on them, cold and quiet.
"Who the fuck are you ? What have you done with Maz ? Where were we just now?" Questions burst out of her like corrupted fireworks. She screamed and pushed Kylo Ren until she couldn't talk anymore.
He tried to answer, but she wasn't listening. He looked weak and confused but she did not care. There was nothing he could say that would make all this better. Rey looked at her apartment and sighted. "I... You know what ? Just leave me alone."
She left him there. What was he going to do ? Drown her in lucky pennies ? She could have laughed at the idea.
She was almost at the door when Kylo Ren teleported in front of her. But it didn't look like it did in movies. For a second he had moved slowly then really fast, while he was torn in half, twisted in all directions, stretched and contorted in impossible ways. His screams seemed to come from another world. When he was finally whole again he grabbed his stomach and leaned forward in pain.
"What have you done to me ?" pleaded the demon.
"Me ?" Was Rey's outraged answer "What could I ever do to you ?"
She walked past him and went inside.
"Rey !" he called. "You've got your powers back. Stop, pretending you don't know who I am !"
When she looked back, he was gone.
Rey took a shower. She stayed under the hot water for an hour. It didn't wash away that feeling in her stomach. That heavy, hollow, burning cold thing that made her feel like something terrible was coming.
Her phone buzzed at regular intervals for the entire time. It was Finn. She knew it was without having to look at it. He was her only friend. The only person she really talked to. "no one is no one" said Maz's voice in her head. But what if she was ?
Rey wrapped herself in her bathrobe and fell onto the couch. It didn't take long for her phone to ring again.
"Rey, I was getting so worried ! Are you ok ? I thought that you..."
"Finn, Finn, Finn, no I'm ok, I was..."
"Do you want me to come over ?"
That made her laugh. Even for Finn, this was a bit much.
"No, I'm good, don't come." She lied decently.
"Ok, ok, but what did the Maz say ? She wouldn't tell me anything. I take it it was bad, but how bad ?"
It took a while for Rey to gather her thoughts.
"She's alive ? I mean she's ok ?" Rey stuttered. "She hum... Seemed a little bit sick when I left."
"I don't think that woman can die !" Laughed Finn. "I told you I was going to see her after you !"
"Right, right."
So many things were going through Rey's mind that she could not speak. She breathed for the first time in forever.
"So what did she say ?" Asked Finn excitedly.
"Oh hum well, not much really. Nothing worked."
"Nothing worked ? What do you mean ?"
Rey stood up and paced around her flat nervously.
"She tried everything. Cards, tea, it was so stupid !" She laughed erratically. It all felt fabricated now. Like a fever dream.
"You know I'm surprised because..." Finn started but Rey did not listen
She looked outside, expecting to see Kylo Ren, but no one was there. Only a stray black cat crossing the street. Maybe it was all in her head. What did Maz burn in her little witch room after all ? Maybe the fumes got her high.
"She said I had a demon with me, can you believe that ?" She laughed again, more frankly this time.
Rey had thought Finn would find this as ridiculous as she did. She was wrong.
"A demon." he said instead almost coldly. "Did she tell you his name ?"
The burning cold feeling crashed back onto her.
"Yes but Finn, it's not real, she's just trying to scare me or something."
"Tell me his name."
"Finn, I don't remember. Something like Kyle no, Kylo. Yes. Kylo Ren."
Finn did not answer for what seemed to Rey, way too long.
"I'm coming over."
"What ? Finn, I told you I'm ok I don't need..."
But he hang up and Rey was left there, still looking at the cat on the other side of the road.
Finn arrived half an hour later with ice-cream and homemade pasta sauce, acting like nothing was wrong at all and he didn't freak out and drove across the city, at night, at the simple mention of the name Kylo Ren.
He put on a silly show about pirates and started cooking the pasta. It's only when she went to the toilet that Rey discovered the line of salt along the front door of her apartment.
"Finn ? What is that ?"
"huh ?" His innocence was so badly faked it hurt Rey's Brain.
"The salt, Finn, the salt." maybe she was getting tired, maybe Kylo Ren's words kept running through her head. You've got your powers back. Stop, pretending you don't know who I am ! Whatever it was, she was growing restless.
"Oh yeah, haha it spilled a little !"
"Spilled a little ? Finn there's a whole..."
"Oh wait, do you hear ?"
A second too late, the timer Finn had set up for the pasta rang.
"Are you hungry ?"
Rey sighted and went back to the couch, to watch the pirates almost kiss. It was cute. She should watch this when she's less angry.
Before a minute had passed she got up.
"Actually Finn, I..."
"Here you go !"
Rey grabbed the pasta bowl Finn handed her, absent-mindedly. It smelled divine.
"Thank you. Wait, no. Finn, no." she put the bowl down. "What the fuck is going on ?"
"Nothing's going on. Oh damn I love that episode !"
Finn walked to the couch.
"Oh come on !" Rey almost yelled. "What is happening to me ? Who is Kylo Ren ? Who are you ?"
Tears fell down her cheeks. And only at that moment did Rey realized what the void inside her had been.
"You're hiding something from me Finn. I know you enough to know that at least. But it's like... This is all crazy, and you're the worse of it all. You're scaring me. I don't want pasta. I don't want whatever that show is called. I want an explanation !"
Finn's eyes fell to the ground.
"Oh Rey..." He said, looking like a lost puppy. He put his bowl down on the coffee table and practically run towards Rey. "I'm so sorry. I'm just... well... New to this I guess. When you asked me to look after you I agreed of course, how could I say no to an archangel but... It's not as easy as I presumed."
"What ?"
"What about what part ?" said Finn nervously, raising one eyebrow and pursing his lips.
"All of it Finn ! But mostly the archangel part..."
"Well hmm, yes, congratulation, you're an archangel !"
He did a little dance with his hands.
"Wow" wide eyed, more tired that she had ever been, Rey managed to smile "I don't know what kind of encense Maz Kanata was burning today but it is strong. Come sit down, I'm sorry."
Finn's mouth opened just barely, he watched Rey dry her tears with the back of her hand, take her bowl of pasta and walk to the couch, unable to utter a word.
"I mean... Is this some kind of test ?" he said, blinking slowly.
"I was worried, I'm not going to lie. But clearly your little medium likes to drug her customers."
"Maz would never..." whispered Finn, glued in place.
"Let's just enjoy the night, ok ? We'll feel better in the morning. Funny we both went to bible stuff, I mean I suppose it makes sense."
"But..."
"I'm really sorry for snapping Finn, you can leave the salt if it makes you feel safer. Come sit and eat, I'm starving and your show does seem cool !"
"It is... really cool."
"Well then come watch !"
Rey smiled at him and patted the space next to her on the couch. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It made sense that this was all just some kind of bad trip. She was studying the bible a lot for one of her courses and it probably went to her head a little. She smiled and grabbed her fork. She only hoped she hadn't paid Maz before leaving. The woman was clearly a fraud and a danger to society. That'd teach her to go see a wannabe-witch.