(Cyrus Pov)
"Traitor? What do you mean, traitor? I never betrayed anyone! And seriously, who are you?" I yelled at the floating entity facing me.
"You sat and watched our family get slaughtered, and now you're trying to save the person who made it all happen. If that's not a traitor, I don't know what is," the floating child said to me. I knew the words weren't true, but they still stung deep in my heart.
"What was I supposed to do back then? I had no power!" I lashed out at the child.
"Fight. You could have fought, even if it meant risking your life. That's what we all did. I was younger than you, and I still fought. But then again, I wasn't a pampered brat like you. You probably didn't even know what that looked like or felt like."
Hearing the words of this kid I didn't even know really started to bother me. I wanted to lunge out and strike him, but I knew it would be futile. I also needed to get more information about where I was.
Unclenching my fists and taking a deep breath, I ignored the verbal assault from the floating child and stayed on task. "Where are we?" I asked.
"Where else? The rift," the kid responded in a demeaning tone. "Not only are you weak, but you're also not very observant or smart, huh?"
Gritting my teeth and holding back my anger, I responded, "I know that, but what exactly is this place?"
"So your useless father never told you how this works, huh? What a shame. As for this place, I haven't experienced this setting before. The environment of a rift changes depending on the Starbound that enters. The terrain shifts based on your emotional stability and your astral resonance."
"So… I'm causing this?" I questioned, peering into the horizon. "Then what exactly are you?" I asked, shifting my gaze back to the floating child.
"The people down there and I are what you call phantom echoes. We are the apparitions of those who failed to survive and conquer the rift."
"But all the people from my clan never lived in the Valador region. Why would there be so many of my people lost in this rift?"
"Do you not remember what I said earlier? The rift changes depending on which Starbound enters. In this separate space-time that exists outside of the astral realm, everything is influenced by you—your mind, your emotions, your constellation, and even your lineage. The phantom echoes are subject to those very effects as well."
"So you're saying you're essentially my imagination?"
"Yes, and depending on how far gone some of the echoes are, their aggression will increase, and they will transform into your worst fears. I am not that far gone—I've only been here a year or so, which is why I took the form of a kid from your past. Others have been here for decades."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I want you to succeed in beating this rift. If the rift is cleared, our astral forms will be put to rest, and we can finally become one with our constellation. Is that too much to ask?"
"No, it's not. I need to do it anyway. So that entrance down there is where I need to go, huh?"
"Yes, but the rest of the phantom echoes won't let you through so easily. They are jealous and defiant versions of their old selves. Be prepared."
"Alright, I guess I'm on my way… Oh, by the way, what is your name?"
"It's not important. Go on, you foolish little weakling," the phantom said as his childish form gave me a wry wink.
Wasting no time, I climbed down the side of the mountain, letting gravity do most of the work while trying to conserve my cosmic energy. When I finally reached the bottom, I saw just how many phantom echoes were present, guarding the door. Several hundred stood like zombies, showing no signs of consciousness. I walked a couple hundred more meters until I was within arm's reach of one.
"It's the failure of the Solaris clan," one of the echoes said as it slightly turned its body to face me.
"Shut up. I'm not a failure," I quickly responded as I walked past the aberration.
"There's no hiding it, boy," several more echoes said, taking on the forms of people I used to see at the market with my mother. "We can see it all. That tattoo on your chest gives it all away."
"You don't know what you're talking about," I said, releasing some of my malicious intent.
"Is the little prince getting upset? I guess no one taught you manners, huh?" An echo that took on the form of our battle instructor at school smirked before sweeping my feet from under me.
The attack caught me off guard—I didn't think they would be able to touch me. "Don't you dare disrespect me again. If you know what's good for you." The echo demanded.
Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself off the ground and charged at the phantom, only to phase right through and get whacked on the back of my head. "Fuck you," I muttered under my breath.
"Oh, now we're using foul language as well? That won't do," said the phantom of my old instructor. He made a quick gesture to the echoes around us. I noticed quickly and imbued cosmic energy into my astral legs, evading the oncoming echoes. I thought I was safe, but sadly, I was wrong. Without a single moment to catch my breath and analyze the situation, I found myself surrounded by several phantom echoes taking on the forms of people I once knew, all poised to attack me.
"You think you can escape us with that phony fate constellation? Are you even a part of the Solaris clan? You're the only one from the main family who didn't receive the most powerful constellation. You were meant to be a failure from the very start," the aberration of my old instructor said, floating closer.
"SHUT UP! YOU KNOW NOTHING!" I yelled, activating my ability. To my shock, not a single echo was affected.
"Look at you. Pathetic. I told you—you mean nothing to this clan. A waste of a life. A waste of a bloodline. No wonder your mother died."
Those words pierced my resolve, causing me to lose the will to fight back. My body slumped, and I fell to my knees. The images of that day flooded my mind, no matter how much I tried to shake them away.
The terrain around me began to change. The sun-scorched sky faded, replaced by a gray overcast. The geysers stopped erupting, and the ground beneath me started to crumble and collapse.
I didn't care. The only thing that felt real and true were the words of my people.
The people I failed.