Inertia: Beneath The Starlit Veil Chapter 29: Chapter 29

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Chapter 29 (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,