Star Beings

I shouldn't have touched the danger rock

I blink. Am I... back in my dorm? I sit up. "Was it all a dream?" I ask aloud. My head is killing me. I hear someone knock. "Come in." I groan. Lane opens my door. "Hey DJ. You good? You were supposed to be at training like thirty minutes ago." "We have training today?" "Yeah...? Did you forget?" Lane asks. I shake my head. "No, just slept a bit late. Lemme get dressed." I say with a nervous chuckle. Lane smiles and the leaves. "It was just a dream then. It was all a dream..."
I get up and change. I glance at myself in the mirror. Then I startle backwards in shock. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" I yelp. My reflection is disheveled, and my uniform is ripped. Not to mention my eyes aren't right. One is green and the other is brown. The reflection slowly lifts its left hand to reveal a crystal growing out of it. I rub my eyes in disbelief. The reflection looks normal now. "What the hell..." I grumble. I pull on my boots and walk to the commons. And then I freeze in my tracks.
Anai stands with her arms crossed, talking to Nat and Hade. LAUGHING with Nat and Hade. "Babe? You ok?" I hear Lane ask. "What the... did you just call me babe?" "Yeah. Is that ok?" "Uh... yeah. What is Anai doing here?" I ask, eyeing Anai fearfully. "What do you mean? She's been here longer than us, remember? She's lived here with Elian most of her life. And she's a Star Being so she trains with us. Even though she's a lot more advanced." Lane says with a shrug. "Is something wrong? You're acting weird." I shake my head no. "I just had a really weird dream. It felt way too real." Lane smiles and kisses me on the cheek. I feel my cheeks get hot. "Alright. Now come on, Elian and Hera are probably waiting for us to train."
The moment I see Elian I nearly break down. It was just a dream. Elian didn't betray us, and neither did Anai. Did I just dream up the past three months? "DJ, DUCK!" I duck under Maxine's fist. "Damn, really goin hard today aren't we?" I joke. Maxine smirks. "Well, I am. You seem a bit out of it." She says. I laugh. "Really?" I freeze Maxine's fist in mid air and attempt to knock her down. "Because I think I'm on top of my-" She unfreezes her first, blocks my attack, and then sends me flying backwards. I laugh. "Nice job." Maxine grins at me. "You too, DJ." I get up and dust myself off. "Next, Caleb and Lane!"

We train for hours before we finally head back to the dorms to wash off and get ready for dinner. I towel off my hair and get dressed. I hum to myself quietly as I pull on a shirt. I walk back into my bathroom and glance at myself in the mirror. I jump when I see the reflection. It's the same weird version of me. It lifts its hand up again, showing the black crystal growing out of it. Then it mouths the words "wake up"
I blink. It's gone. "That weird dream is really affecting me..." I say with a nervous chuckle. But then I pause and think. I think about how oddly serene this day has felt. Everything about today has been perfect so far. Almost too perfect. The only thing off is what I thought was a dream and my weird reflection. "Unless it wasn't a dream...." I mutter. "Did... did Not-Me trap me here?" Then I remember something from a certain show I watched as a kid. "If this is my mindscape, then whatever I want should be what exists. Which would explain why everything about today has been perfect." I say. I snap my fingers. "That's it."
If whatever I want to happen happens, then this should be my way to prove it. I want Hade to poke their head in my room and say Nat is looking for me. I hear a knock. The door opens. Hade pokes their head in. "Nat is looking for you." The door shuts and I hear Hadr walk away. "Oh fuck."
I lean onto the counter, almost weak from shock. I look up at my reflection. It looks at me with annoyance. "What? Oh I'm sorry that I wanted to stay in a world that is LITERALLY PERFECT FOR ME."' I growl. "But you knew something was off, dumbass." It says. "Wait, you can talk?" "Now that you finally understand that this isn't right, yes." It says with an eye roll. "Oh fuck off. Wait so why are Lane and I..." the reflection raises an eyebrow. "This place shows what you want. Even if you don't know that you want it." I shake my head. "No. It's probably just... something weird..." I mutter. The reflection gives me a look but doesn't say anything. "Anyways, how do I get out of here?" "You have to break the illusion." "And how the hell do I do that?" The reflection suddenly looks very uncomfortable. "You're not gonna like it." "It's better than staying here." I growl. The reflection sighs. "You have to literally smash the illusion. Everything that's not right here, Elian, Anai, and Lane, you have to "kill" them."
"What?!" I yelp. "I told you you'd hate it. But it's the only way. Now, this place mimicked reality. So you should be able to summon your weapon." The reflection says calmly. "How do I know this isn't reality? How do I know you're telling the truth?" I ask, glaring at the reflection. "Because I'm you. I'm the part of you that knows this is bullshit. The part that regrets letting that damn Crystal take the reigns. Also, I'm literally talking from your mirror. That couldn't even happen in Worlomands." The Reflection laughs at it's joke. "Anyways, you need to summon your weapon and destroy them. It's the only way to save your real friends."
I close my eyes and summon my weapon. A spear should do. I feel a slight weight in my hand. I open my eyes. "Well... let's do this."

I burst out into the commons. Nat is standing there, looking for something. "Oh there you are DJ-" "Can't talk, where Anai?" Nat looks taken aback by my dismissal. "Oh... well, last I saw she was heading over to her uncle's to talk about something." I nod and run towards the teachers dorms. I quietly open Elian's door, sneaking in. They both have their backs turned to me. They're talking about something. The floor creaks. Elian and Anai turn around. "Shit." I mutter. "DJ? What are you-" I wind up my arm and throw the spear at Anai. The moment it hits her chest, she seems to shatter like glass. Millions of pieces hit the floor before fading out of existence. I turn to Elian. "DJ? What the fuck kid?" He asks, looking at the spot where his niece was in horror. "I'm sorry..." I whisper. The spear flies back into my hands. "Wait... kid NO-" I throw the spear. Elian shatters, the look of fear on his face slowly breaking into pieces.
I run out of Elian's dorm and start running back towards the Star Being dorms. I need to find Lane. I almost trip racing into the commons. Then I head for our dorm. I open the door and run to Lane's room. She looks up from her phone and at me. "Oh hey babe. Wait, why do you have your spear?" I step inside the doorway. Lane sets down her phone, her expression cold. "So... you figured it out." She says. "I'm sorry Lane..." I whisper. Lane laughs. "Oh hun..." she summons a sword. "I'm not going down without a fight..."
She leaps towards me. My spear quickly shifts into a sword. I block her attack. "Lane, please!" I beg, dodging another attack. "Why are you so desperate to escape?! This place is perfect!" Lane grazes my side. I yelp in pain. "Just think... no betrayals. No broken hearts. A perfect world, one that you can change and mold however you please. What does the outside world have that's so special? Out there your friends and lovers can stab you in the back. Your own mother can hate you just for liking girls. Is that really what you want?!" Lane asks. She stands still for just a moment. Now's my chance. "It's better than living in hell," I lunge towards Lane, raising my sword to strike. "AND PRETENDING IT'S HEAVEN!!!" I stab down, hitting lane in the chest. She shatters. And so does the room.