Chapter 249: A Chance at Life
Cyrus Solaris
Before my mother and I got going, she turned to me, her eyes burning with an intense flame.
“Anquaris, when we do this, our timing has to be precise if we are going to outsmart this echo. The clan that I belong to has a similar ritual. This one, in particular, depends heavily on two things: the blood and cosmic energy signature used in the ritual. Because the soul that will resonate the most with those properties has an easier time claiming the body,” my mother said.
“So, I would have to overtake the ritual?”
“Yes.”
I ran a couple of scenarios in my head.
“What if I imbue the body with my cosmic energy beforehand?”
“He would notice; he is far too perceptive. It would have to be done within seconds of the chant finishing.”
“Well, then you gotta be quick, Mom. I'll do everything in my power to hold him back while you imbue and enter the body, after all the steps are completed.”
“Anquaris, are you sure about this?” She said with a worried look.
I lifted my sleeve.
“I got this, and a full tank of cosmic energy. I'll manage.”
A small smile tugged at her cheek.
My mom and I traveled back to the Atë members' hideout in the exskeleton graveyard.
The place made my skin crawl because I had started putting a couple of things together.
Lugat thought someone named Gula had sent me to retrieve the body. He said Gula was a despicable person who had become a cannibal and eaten his own kin.
The echo in the shrouded cloak ate insects like they were a delicacy. And with so many molted exoskeletons scattered around, I couldn’t help but wonder if the person who sent me was the same Gula I had been warned about– and yet, somehow, praised.
My hands began to shake. The thought of facing another member of the Atë didn’t sit well with me.
Then my mom placed a hand on my shoulder.
I looked at her and saw her warm smile radiating with confidence.
“Don’t worry, I'm with you every step of the way.”
A deep exhale left my body, and within a short period of time, we arrived at the door of the hideout.
I knocked a few times on the old wooden door.
No one responded.
Did he think I wouldn’t make it back?
I knocked a few more times.
Still no answer.
Then the echo phased through one of the walls of his hideout, chewing on a handful of beetles.
“So… You made it back, and you have brought company as well.” The man I assumed was Gula said, his face still hidden beneath his hood as his gaze shifted from me to my mom, and finally settled on the dead body I had brought.
“Yes, I did. But you seemed to leave out the fact that another member of the Atë would be there.” I said, crossing my arms.
“Must have slipped my mind. You seem to have fared well despite that.” The echo said.
I gritted my teeth.
“Whatever. But I have fulfilled my end of the deal. I'm a member of Atë right now?”
“You have held up your end of the bargain,” he said, floating towards me, his stature towering over me.
He glanced at my Mom, but quickly turned his gaze back to me.
“Kneel,” he said, floating in front of me.
“Why?”
“Brat, it's part of the ceremony; back in our time, it was an entire ordeal. But I assume you don’t want to waste time. So kneel so that I can dub you an official member.”
I looked at my mother.
She gave me a small nod.
“Fine,” I said, dropping to one knee.
Then the echo pulled his hood back and revealed his face.
He had pale green skin, pitch-black eyes, and short silver hair. Glossy patches of chitin covered parts of his body, while thin appendages rose from his temples, twitching constantly.
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He barely looked human.
Neither did Lugat, now that I think about it.
“Everyone has that same look when they see us for the first time. Horror. I used to hate it when I was young. Now I use it as fuel.
I relish the look on those pitiful weaklings, because I know that I am better, and always will be.
As you grow into who you are, you will see those same looks increase; you might have already seen them. Where was it again… Oh, right in the Valador region, in that small little town.”
A cold chill washed over me.
I had nearly forgotten Echoes had access to Starbound's memories.
Then a heavy hand fell onto my shoulder.
“I Atë Gula Boros, dub the young hatchling, Atë Cyrus Solaris,” Gula said, tapping my other shoulder and the crown of my head.
He floated back a few extra feet.
“Welcome to the ranks of the Mad Titans,” he said, glee oozing from him.
I didn’t know what I should have felt, but there was a hint of some weird kinship, and I brushed it aside.
“Alright, now that this is out of the way, can you tell me what I need to know about defeating the rift, and the old and new evil?” I said, standing upright.
“I can, but I need you to walk with me and bring along that body.”
My hands clenched. I didn’t like feeling as though I was being strung along.
But I played along.
Gula led us to the pyramid farther north, and after a few silent moments, he broke the silence.
“You have already received part of the answer you seek regarding the old and new evil.”
“How?” I said, walking alongside him, while my mother carried the body.
“Lugat is the source. In the past, when he sired someone, he was able to grant the victims of his affection some of his abilities. The creature you seek is a product of that sire.”
“ I’ve never heard of a constellation that can grant that kind of power.”
“Constellation…? Oh, hatchling, you have much to learn of the history of this world. But the creature you speak of lies dormant, its true state shrouded behind a veil of secrecy.”
I furrowed my brows.
“How can I find it and defeat it? I need to bring it back with me.”
“You will need two things: something that shows you a reflection; beings that have been sired don’t have them. And as for the second thing, they are weak to silver. That is all that I can provide you regarding it.”
I clicked my tongue. The information was helpful, but it still left me feeling lost. The rift was a large place, with thousands of creatures. How was I going to figure out which one of these things didn’t have a reflection, and where was I going to get silver of all things?
“Alright, now about the rift, how do I defeat it?”
“I’ll give you that information when we reach our destination,” He said.
So we trudged through the exoskeleton graveyard all the way to the pyramid.
The area where the pyramid stood was barren.
The infrastructure was tattered and eroded; there were skeletons of a wide variety of species lying around, including humans.
Roots strangled its edges, vines flowed down from the terraces like a vegetative curtain, and moss-covered steps climbed its sides.
My muscles tensed, preparing for the worst.
Gula floated up the stepped pyramid; my mom and I followed.
The pyramid was steep, nearly three hundred feet tall. It took extra effort, but we made it.
When we reached the top, the terrace wasn't what I expected.
The place looked like an old workstation. The air was thick with heat and soot. To the left stood an old makeshift furnace made of deformed obsidian and clay, its smoldering flame creating soot that blackened the walls.
Wooden beams ran overhead, lined with an assortment of tools.
In the center of the room was a large black anvil, and next to it stood a well-like stone structure, connected to a cobbled stone trough that led up to the large furnace.
“You can place the body over there,” Gula said, pointing towards the furnace.
I looked at my mother, and she gave me a confident expression. But her eyes never stopped scanning the area.
“Alright, now tell me, how do I defeat the rift?” I said.
“Well, you have to defeat the Rift Guardian. Its hide is the toughest thing in the entire rift. Only someone at the Adpet Stage, armed with a weapon forged from Celestium or something as strong, can bring it down.”
My heart sank.
I had none of those things.
It's impossible to escape this place.
I turned and looked at my mother.
Then the sky darkened around us, and a dark crimson replaced the orange glow that enveloped the rift.
I leaned my head outside of the terrace and saw a familiar sight.
It was a low-hanging blood moon.
“Cyrus, there is one thing I still need from you,” Gula said, floating towards me.
I took a step back.
“That is?”
“I need some of your blood. Then we can go our separate ways.”
Right into our hands.
I glanced at my mom, and we locked eyes for a brief moment.
“Fine,” I said, finding a jagged rock on the ground.
“Where do you want it?”
“In the well over there is fine.”
I nodded and walked over to the well. I cut my hand and let the blood drip into it.
My mom placed the body into the burning contraption.
We watched as the body melted into a glowing liquid, flowing through the trough toward the cobbled stone well.
The liquid filled the mold; Gula began the chant.
May thy flesh awaken, and may thy blood recall the wandering soul that death has claimed. For I reclaim what was lost, be made anew. Enter thy vessel and rise once more!
As soon as he finished, I activated Tidal Pull and yanked Gula away from the well.
My mom imbued the liquid and dove into it.
A large, bright light erupted from the well.
“What have you done!” Gula yelled out as he charged me.
I braced myself for the worst, knowing that if this succeeded, I would have all the help I needed.
Gula picked me up by the throat.
“We had a deal, hatchling!”
I grabbed his arm.
“B-Bringing back my mother meant more than any deal with you.”