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General Chat => Fan Fiction and Art => Topic started by: Darth Niix on September 03, 2016, 11:59:20 PM



Title: Song Fic: Ashes of Eden
Post by: Darth Niix on September 03, 2016, 11:59:20 PM
I don't know if I'm permitted to post song lyrics on here. I couldn't on Fanfiction, so here we are. This is a short oneshot analyzing the song "Ashes of Eden," from Kylo Ren's official Spotify playlist. I own neither the song nor Star Wars, sadly.

A Song of Shining Shadows
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At last, Kylo Ren had an opportunity to rest. Ever since the Resistance had destroyed Starkiller Base, the First Order had been in constant movement, fleeing the crumbling weaponized planet. Hux had found the young man laying bloody and defeated in the snow, felled by that Force-sensitive scavenger. Two stormtroopers had taken him by the arms, lifting him as he looked back to see the girl boarding the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca and her friend, the traitor. She, too, had turned and they had locked eyes for only a moment before she boarded the freighter. The stormtroopers led him to his command shuttle and eventually to the Finalizer, where his many wounds were treated. Now, their projected course was to Supreme Leader Snoke, but with their base destroyed and resources thus limited, Hux saw fit to refrain from using the hyperdrive of the Star Destroyer. They had a long journey ahead.
Not that Ren minded. Away from the passionate heat of the battle, his injuries cried out in agony; his waist and chest wounds were dressed with bandages and a bacta patch respectively, the former already tinged with red. It would likely be saturated within the hour. But what caused the most agony was the gash that now marred his narrow face and shoulder. However, the lightsaber of Luke and Anakin before him had fully cauterized the wound and destroyed most of the nerves, so a dressing was not deemed necessary and it didn't really hurt. No, the physical pain was easily dismissed. It was the one who had inflicted it that caused him such torment.
The warrior wandered about his quarters for a few moments, pacing with the loose, slumped stride of one with no purpose or destination. Eventually, he reached for a jumbled mess of wires and a small device that served him as a music player. He deftly untangled the black cords, put in the earbuds, and absentmindedly shuffled his music, sitting on the edge of his unmade bed as he tossed the device behind him. He buried his head in his hands, hunched forward with his elbows on his knees, and let his thoughts wander as his song started.

Will the faithful be rewarded
When we come to the end
Will I miss the final warning
From the lie that I have lived

Is there anybody calling?
I can see the soul within
And I am not worthy
I am not worthy of this


Would Snoke reward him? Yes, he'd done as he'd been instructed, but... It had been so very difficult. Even now, the sting of regret tore at his heart. He'd thought that he was meant for the darkness, but if so, then why did he hurt so badly? A pain that transcended physical, as though the very blood in his veins had frozen. He felt chilled. He thought back to the face of his father. Even after all that Ren had done, the man he loved yet hated had reached out and so gently caressed his face; he had forgiven him. Why?

Are you with me after all
Why can't I hear you
Are you with me through it all
Then why can't I feel you

Stay with me, don't let me go
Because there's nothing left at all
Stay with me, don't let me go
Until the ashes of Eden fall


As the song took on its haunting main melody, something still quite foreign to the warrior touched his cheeks as it had before on the bridge, a dampness; it burned the laceration that he had received as punishment for his sin. Tears. Why had he done this? He could never take it back. He had no one now, save for his mother. And even then, would a mother's love still be strong enough to blind her to his crime?

Will the darkness fall upon me
When the air is growing thin
Will the light begin to pull me
To its everlasting will
I can hear the voices haunting
There is nothing left to fear
And I am still calling
I am still calling to you


He pulled away from the burning yet freezing flood that had seemed to fill him and focused his concentration elsewhere. He couldn't continue to dwell on this; sentiment had been the downfall of his grandfather, and it would be his as well if he didn't temper it. He was an agent of the dark side, after all. Right? Compassion had no place in his heart. No place in the Master of the Knights of Ren.  And yet, the light... It scorched him still, like a wildfire. Especially when he was around that girl. Why couldn't he just extinguish it? He'd attempted, yes, but his deed only tore him apart further...

Are you with me after all
Why can't I hear you
Are you with me through it all
Then why can't I feel you

Stay with me, don't let me go
Because there's nothing left at all
Stay with me, don't let me go
Until the ashes of Eden fall

Don't let go


Again, as he'd feared, his thoughts returned to his father, and this time he gave in fully. He surrendered himself to the waves of freezing flame and sobbed with no one to hear. The scoundrel, the rebel, the smuggler, his father. Forever gone, because his son was weak. He'd played the part of Kylo Ren, but that façade was no stronger or braver than Ben Solo had been. If anything, Ren was weaker. He was weaker. He had nothing and no one now, not even himself.

Why can't I hear you
Stay with me, don't let me go
Because there's nothing left at all
Stay with me, don't let me go
Until the ashes of Eden fall
Heaven above me, take my hand
Stay with me, don't let me go
Shine until there's nothing left but you
Heaven above me, take my hand
Stay with me, don't let me go


Finally, his thoughts turned once more to that plucky, courageous, blazing girl. It was like she was the very light that pulled at him personified. And with that realization, something in Ren changed. Something in Ben Solo changed. He had to make sure that his father hadn't died for nothing. At last, as he looked at what he and the First Order had done, he found himself to be shocked. How had he not seen how corrupt he had become? He couldn't answer this. But he knew that something had to change. And he needed the girl for that. He needed her shining hope more than ever before now. With new resolve, he took in a shuddering breath, grabbed his music player, and got to his feet. But as he raised his head, the faintest glow illuminated his tear-stained face, and his shining dark eyes met the echo of his father's forgiving gaze as the device fell from his hand, clattering to the cold floor.

Shine until there's nothing left but you