Cyrus Solaris
I didn't remember much after coming back from my starbirth trial. I only recall panicking after seeing all the astral behemoths that surrounded me.
Now that I've regained consciousness, I can see the carnage left at our campsite. Scattered all around are remnants of the astral behemoths that appeared while I was taking my trial.
I noticed my father packing up our tents and sleeping bags, which were the foundations of our living quarters for the past two years.
"Father, why are you packing up camp?" I asked.
"This place is compromised. You and I both expended way too much cosmic energy today. It's only a matter of time before they track our signatures. There's food next to your bag—eat up, and let's get going."
I did as my father told me. I ate the cooked rabbit we hunted earlier in the week and gathered my things. Before we left, I watched my father gather the corpses of the slain astral behemoths into one spot.
In his palm, solar energy swirled as he stood over the pile and gently released the energy, consuming everything. Only ashes remained.
We walked for some time, traveling through the mountain ranges that rested above a small town. We always traveled at night. My father took every precaution to ensure our safety, insisting we use as little light as possible to avoid drawing attention.
I learned to travel in the dark by following the faint emission of his cosmic energy, while he guided us with his infrared vision.
"How are you holding up, Cyrus?" my father asked as he dodged a branch from a nearby tree.
"You had me worried when you passed out."
"I'm feeling better now that I've recovered a little from the cosmic energy depletion."
"What happened to you during the trial?" He asked.
"A lot, honestly."
"Go on. We have all night."
"Well, I passed the trial and found the Solaris constellation. But when I connected to it... things didn't quite go as planned."
"Such as?"
"Well, I met Solaris, the creator of our clan's fate constellation." My father stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to me, analyzing my words.
"That can't be possible. No one from our clan has seen him since ancient times, thousands of years ago—before the pantheons were forced to leave our realm."
"I understand, Dad, but I met him. The constellation's power sent me back to those times. I saw how our people were granted their powers before the constellations existed." I said, trying to convince him.
My father remained silent for a long time, as if he knew there was some truth to my words.
"What else happened during your trial?" he finally asked.
"Solaris ripped out my core and replaced it with something else, and said we in the pantheon have our secrets."
"T-That has never happened before," my father said before he fell back into silence.
I have known my father to be the most knowledgeable and capable person in every room. He was one of the strongest Starbound in the world, and when it came to the nuances of fate constellations and their trials, nothing surprised him until now.
"What did your new core resonate with, then?" he asked, breaking his silence once again.
" A dark celestial object that shared a lot of the same properties of a black hole."
"A black hole?" My father said, his voice trailing off.
"Potentially, yeah... I'm sorry, Dad."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Because I couldn't continue our clan's heritage. I know how much it means to you and our family."
"Don't worry, my son. Fate has something different planned for you, and I think it's time we changed our plans too. It's time we finally meet up with Grandpa."
"Wait... does that mean we can finally leave this continent? Because I'm tired of searching for old astral relics that don't seem to exist."
"Yes. Whatever you've connected with, I've never heard of anything like it. And with the power you displayed after returning from the trial... You do know you defeated two Stellar Fiend astral behemoths, right? That's unheard of for someone who just completed the Star birth trial—especially with a celestial core at the embryonic stage."
"I did?"
"Yes, but it took all of your cosmic energy. Your power is a mystery, Cyrus. I'm not sure I know how to guide you properly anymore. The only person who might have knowledge of rare and unknown fate constellations is Grandpa Zaire. For now, we'll go back to basics, since everything we've done up until now was designed to align you with the Solaris constellation."
"Do we really have to go back over the basics? You have ingrained them into my mind for the past two years. I really think that I am past all the beginner training now."
"Yes, we do. Your new constellation is unknown. We do not know how your body will react to its power, so we have to test it out first."
I hated that my dad always had the perfect response to any retort I gave him.
"Alright, whatever, you're the boss."
After our talk, we continued through the thick brush that plagued the mountaintops of the range.
We traveled several miles before finding a clearing suitable for camp. We carried limited supplies, so setting up didn't take long. I was tasked with checking the perimeter for lurking astral beasts, as usual.
While doing my task, I couldn't help but look up at the sky. The farther into the mountains we went, the brighter the stars became. Now that I've traveled to the astral realm, it feels like they're calling me to return.