I’ve been itching to start posting a fic before the draft is finished but I know that’s a terrible idea so I’m going to post a portion of the first chapter as a preview.
For most, Jakku is a desolate, dusty junkyard. For others, it is a desolate, dusty junkyard, but also so much more. There is a pulse beneath its dead surface, the cold beauty of a sleeping giant’s heart, and for many who dabble in the occult, who seek to harness the Force in one way or another, it is a place of pilgrimage.
Ben Solo is not here on a pilgrimage, at least not of the spiritual kind. His mission is only slightly less mundane, however. There is a girl here, said to be a healer, a telepath, and can move things with her mind. She is called The Reyna, and the miracles attributed to her range from calling forth lost objects to mending broken bones. She is also said to be able to communicate with the dead.
She is all of twelve years old.
Niima outpost is how he remembers it from his travels with his uncle. A rusted collection of tents and stalls scattered near an ill maintained landing pad, the ships parked around ranging from derelict to state-of-the-art.
The sun is setting when he arrives, the merchants shutting down for the day, scavengers who worked until the last second shuffling toward the outpost dragging their discoveries behind.
The most permanent structure--using the most liberal definition of permanent--is a repurposed cargo crawler, where a blobfish called Unkar Plutt conducts his business, trading Imperial rations of questionable age in exchange for scavenged star ship parts, minus what he charges them to use his washing stations.
Ben has seen this type of character on countless planets. Whether they trade for agricultural products, piece work, or parts, they manage to rake in wealth while the people they deal with barely eke out enough to survive.
Unkar Plutt’s establishment--locals call it the concession stand--is also where Ben must purchase his ticket for tonight’s show, as Plutt also serves as the girl’s handler.
He’s come dressed as an average spacer, in clothes similar to those his father favors (though he would never be caught dead in a vest.) Plutt barely glances at him as he sells him his ticket, more interested in the person next in line, a small human boy, staggering under the weight of the goods on his back.
“The show begins in an hour, seating is first come first served. No outside food or drink.”
Ben thanks him, but Plutt’s attention is already on the boy. He goes straight to the arena, a tent that has more patches than original canvas enclosing a dirt circle surrounded by benches. There are only a few people scattered around. One woman holds a tooka doll to her chest, rubbing its ear absentmindedly as she chats to the man sitting beside her.
This kind of con usually begins well before the purported miracle worker takes the stage. Plutt will have one or more of his crew pose as patrons, striking up conversations with the marks in order to find out what they’re searching for, be it a cure for an illness or to speak to a dead loved one. Ben buys a bag of dried fruit and a cup of knockback nectar he has no intention of drinking, and settles in. Within minutes, a man approaches. He’s tall and draped in dusty red desert robes, his skin pale underneath the grime on his face. Ben gives him an open, guileless smile.
“Gee, I’m so excited for this show. I’ve been wanting to make it here for awhile.”
“I’ve heard wonderful things,” the man says, sitting down. “I hope to speak to my dear sweet mama one more time.”
“You don’t say?” Ben says. “I’m here to speak to my mom, too. She died a year ago, quite suddenly. My sisters have been fighting over the inheritance since. I want to ask her where she left her will.” He smiles again and offers to buy the man a drink. He wants to come off as the best kind of mark: rich, generous, and stupid.
The man returns his smile and declines the drink, and Ben feels a surge of greed and envy waft off of him, as well as smug satisfaction. He thinks Ben has taken the bait, while Ben has been reeling him in all the while.
“Well,” the man says, ‘I hope we both get what we need. If you’ll excuse me, I gotta go see if there’s a working ‘fresher around here.”
Ben watches him go, certain he’s going to take the long way to wherever Unkar Plutt or the girl are waiting.
Despite Jakku’s remote location, the girl performs every night. According to Ben’s source, the house is packed every time, with people coming from the villages dotted around the planet, as well as from all over the galaxy. As the tent fills, Ben has to breathe to center himself, lest the energy overwhelm him. There’s so much anxiety and longing swirling around the room, so much desperation. If he’s not careful, it will seep into his very bones.
The man from earlier comes back and takes his place toward the front, while two musicians take their places in a corner. The lights dim as soon as they’re seated, and on a crashing chord from the jet organ, go down completely. A flute trills softly, gaining volume as the lights come up slowly, revealing a young girl, tall for twelve, with dark hair pulled tightly into three buns that cascade down the back of her head like the horns of a krayt dragon. Her clothes are nicer than any he’s seen here so far, pristine white with gauze draped across her shoulders and tied at the waist, flowing almost to the floor. She looks around with large dark eyes, her face serene.
She fixes on him and her mask slips. For a moment, she looks like a much younger, confused child. The moment passes, however, and she walks toward him. Ben had not expected to be the first mark.
Ben smiles, expecting the girl to tell him she has a direct line to his poor dead mother, who at the moment is likely doing something on the Senate floor, perfectly alive and robustly well.
“Yes,” he says, eyes wide and eyebrows raised.
The girl comes to stand in front of him and it’s not until then that it hits him. She is radiating energy, such that he can practically see it rolling off of her. It feels violently blue, with sparks of yellow. Then the world goes silent, as if they’re standing alone in a vast, empty room.
“You’re afraid,” she continues. “That you’ll never be worthy.”
“Worthy of what?” he croaks, his mouth gone dry.