Erik stood frozen, staring into the eyes of his doppelgänger. It was like looking into a mirror—one that showed not just his appearance, but every crack, every flaw, and every fear he had ever hidden. His double smirked at him, its eyes gleaming with a confidence that felt disturbingly familiar.
"Are we just going to stand here and look at them?" Carter muttered. His own doppelgänger was circling him, the same cocky grin plastered across its face. "Because I don't know how long I can take this guy mocking me."
"It's not about fighting," Erik repeated, trying to convince not only his friends but himself. "The guardian said we need to face ourselves. There's more to this."
The doppelgängers didn't attack. They simply mirrored their movements, waiting, as if challenging the group to make the first move.
Lili took a deep breath, her eyes locked on her own double. It stood still, watching her, almost like a predator waiting for the right moment to strike. "Then what are we supposed to do? Talk to them?"
Sasha stepped forward, her voice low. "Maybe we're supposed to understand what they represent. They're reflections of us, but they're showing us something more… something we need to confront."
Erik's doppelgänger tilted its head, its smirk widening. "You're right, you know," it said, its voice an unsettling echo of Erik's own. "I'm everything you hide. All the parts of yourself you pretend don't exist. But I'm still you."
The words hit Erik like a punch to the gut. He had been expecting something physical—a fight, a challenge—but this was different. This was mental, emotional. And somehow, it was worse.
"What do you want from us?" Erik asked, his voice steady despite the rising tension in his chest.
The doppelgänger's grin never faltered. "I want you to admit it. Admit that you're afraid. That you doubt yourself. That you think you're not enough."
Erik's pulse quickened. "I'm not afraid."
The double's eyes narrowed, the smirk twisting into something more sinister. "Liar."
Erik took a step back, his mind racing. He didn't want to admit it—didn't want to face the truth. But deep down, he knew his double was right. There were parts of himself he had tried to bury, to ignore. The fear of failure. The doubt that he could ever truly live up to the expectations placed on him. The constant pressure of being the one chosen by the gods.
"I'm not…" Erik started, but the words stuck in his throat.
Lili's voice cut through the tension, soft but resolute. "We all have things we're afraid of, Erik. Things we try to hide. But that doesn't make us weak. It makes us human."
Her words gave him the strength he needed. Erik closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I… I am afraid," he admitted, the weight of the confession lifting something inside him. "I'm afraid I'll fail. That I'm not strong enough to do this. That the gods made a mistake choosing me."
His doppelgänger's smirk faded, replaced by a look of quiet approval. "That's the truth," it said simply. And then, in a flash of light, the double vanished, dissolving into the air like smoke.
Erik blinked in surprise. "It's gone…"
Sasha stepped forward, nodding thoughtfully. "It's a test. We need to confront the parts of ourselves we've been hiding."
One by one, the others turned to face their doppelgängers. Lili stood tall before hers, her voice steady but filled with emotion. "I always try to be strong for everyone else. But sometimes… sometimes I don't know if I'm strong enough for myself."
Her double nodded, understanding in its eyes before it, too, disappeared.
Carter, still hesitant, finally faced his double with a shrug. "Fine, I'll admit it. I act like nothing bothers me, but that's because I don't want anyone to see how scared I really am. I don't want people to see that I don't have everything figured out."
His doppelgänger clapped him on the back, grinning as it vanished into thin air.
Hugo's voice was soft as he spoke to his own reflection. "I'm always calculating, always thinking ahead. I never let myself just be in the moment because I'm afraid that if I lose control… everything will fall apart."
The moment he spoke, his double gave him a solemn nod and faded away.
Sasha was the last to confront her doppelgänger. Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper. "I've spent my whole life trying to prove I'm worthy of this journey. But sometimes… I wonder if I'm just pretending. If I'm not as strong as I want to be."
Her double smiled gently, a mirror of her own inner struggle, before vanishing like the rest.
As the last of the doppelgängers disappeared, the air around them shifted. The sky, once red and foreboding, began to clear. The desert faded, and the group found themselves standing once again at the base of the stone archway. The carvings on the ground had stopped moving, and the eerie silence that had hung over the valley was gone.
"That was… intense," Carter said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't expect to have a therapy session with myself today."
Lili smiled softly. "But we did it. We faced ourselves."
Erik looked around at his friends, feeling a sense of pride swell within him. They had passed the trial, not through strength or power, but through honesty. It had been the hardest challenge yet, but they had come through it together.
The guardian's voice echoed in the back of his mind: Only the worthy may pass.
Erik glanced at the now-dormant archway. "We're worthy."
The orb in his pack pulsed again, but this time, the energy felt different. It was calmer, more focused. Erik could feel its power growing within him, as if the trial had unlocked something deeper inside the artifact.
"We're not done yet," Hugo said, eyeing the map once again. "The Path of Echoes continues. And if this was just the first trial…"
"Then we need to be ready for whatever comes next," Erik finished, his eyes scanning the horizon. "The gods aren't done testing us yet."
With renewed determination, they pressed on, following the next leg of the journey. The Path of Echoes was far from over, and the trials ahead would only grow more difficult. But Erik knew one thing for sure: they had faced their darkest fears and come out stronger on the other side. Whatever the gods threw at them next, they would be ready.