After the Scream - 1 Billion Universes remaining

"Here is a day unlike any other," thought Orion as he opened his eyes to a breathtaking scene.

He was, as usual, sitting cross-legged on the void, but he didn't recognize anything around him. To his right was a massive star, gently twinkling, casting light and warmth over the surrounding emptiness.

"Why am I here anyway?" he asked the void, hoping that with a bit of luck, it might respond. It seemed the void had no answer either, as it remained utterly silent.

"How long has it been since I last slept?" he tried again, with an unshakable optimism he didn't remember possessing. The void stayed silent, offering no ambient noise to reply.

"Maybe it's shy because it's not used to talking to someone as irresistibly blonde and solar as me," Orion thought, a smile forming on his face.

Blonde would be an understatement for his hair. It was a shimmering gold in the void, the same color as his eyes, which he noticed using a mirror he had pulled from one of his pockets.

"It seems a lot has happened during my sleep for me to shine as brightly as the nearest star," he thought as he gazed at the star.

"Do you want to bask in my brilliant rays, beautiful star?" he asked the immense star to his right. It seemed as shy as the void, blushing and erupting multiple flares on its surface.

Orion sighed then, "That's the problem with being too charismatic."

He was, however, a man of small stature, with well-defined but not bulging muscles. His face was thin and angular, his cheeks hollow, and people often told him his long nose gave him an aristocratic air.

"There was also a man in that dream, and he gave me glasses. Strange, despite my sudden amnesia, his face remains clear in my mind, as if etched forever to never be forgotten."

His glasses were made of a completely unknown material, a kind of wood on which time had left marks of wear, and the lenses didn't seem to correct his vision, not that Orion needed it.

Yet despite all the unfamiliarity, he felt serene wearing them, as if all the troubles of time and any future problems had suddenly left him.

Suddenly, he frowned. He could now hear a distorted voice coming from the void. But he knew there was no one here.

'Do you think you're better than me?'

Orion began to remember.

'Did you really think you would leave this world peacefully?'

"You died that day," Orion said in a deep voice.

'Just like you. But aren't we both here having this pleasant conversation?' it retorted.

Before Orion could respond, hysterical laughter echoed around him. His skin was now getting colder and the surroundings had taken on a purple hue. He now remembered that fateful day and knew he had to act quickly.

He first tried to summon his rapier, but it didn't respond to his call.

Seeing his failure, the laughter became increasingly hysterical.

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'I suppose this is the only solution,' he thought.

His consciousness began to waver before completely slipping away.

'HAHAHAAHAAA ONE DAY YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER TO THE GHOSTS OF YOUR PAST,' the voice screamed, interrupted by its own laughter.

He could feel himself plunging deep into his soul, drawn further and further down, until there was nothing but an abyss of nothingness around him.

In the midst of this void stood a small child, his blonde hair gently waving and shimmering in the darkness. Orion gave him a single order.

'Find Jason.'

The child was then pulled out of the abyss.

In the now silent void, Orion opened his eyes.

"What was I thinking?" Orion wondered.

Neither the star nor the void bothered to answer him.

"But I'm not asking the right questions, the ones that really matter," he suddenly thought.

"The real question is why am I alone playing hide and seek?" Orion wondered.

"Maybe I should go see big brother and ask him to play with me," he thought.

He then cast one last glance at his radiant companion who was with him in the void of the universe.

"Good luck with your long and permanent fusion slowly but surely leading to the end!" he wished her wholeheartedly.

'That phrase sounded much more optimistic before I said it,' he thought before launching himself into the void, trying to find some landmark to orient himself in the vastness of the universe.

After about an hour of searching, Orion found the galaxy he was looking for. It was a true gem in the universe, with clouds of gas and dust shining in a bluish and golden hue. Stars sparkling in all the colors of the rainbow stretched as far as the eye could see, forming dazzling constellations.

In the middle of this galaxy was a massive black hole, whose gravitational pull was so strong it attracted everything around it. However, even this terrifying force could not dull the beauty of the galaxy, which was a true marvel to behold.

"Finally here!" he exclaimed, looking at a planet so familiar.

It was a flamboyant green with clouds of red gas that gave it a bloody hue in the galactic darkness. He only had to find the person he was looking for.

Given the majesty of his aura, it should normally be easy to find.

However, upon his arrival on the surface, Orion noticed a problem.

'Why can't I locate him?' he wondered.

Orion then considered all possible scenarios in his head: from a zombie apocalypse where his big brother succumbed to a bite, to an intergalactic attack from a demonic empire, to his death from old age.

But then the answer to all his questions came to him.

"He must have been waiting for me to play hide and seek!" he exclaimed loudly, excitement running through his veins.

'But how to find him?' Orion wondered, starting to look right and left for clues.

He began his search on the planet, lifting each stone one by one, looking behind each tree, and moving each gas molecule to see if his big brother was using them to hide.

After a long and laborious search of about ten minutes, still no success for Orion.

'It's because of the fog, it's too thick,' he grumbled to himself.

'He must be in cahoots with the fog,' Orion thought as he approached a nearby city.

'You have to fight cheating with cheating,' he convinced himself, looking for someone to help him win the game.

Orion then found in the streets a person who seemed trustworthy.

It was a tall man, about seven and a half feet tall, built like a professional lumberjack that even Orion's grandfather would have a hard time beating in arm wrestling. He was tattooed with a huge dragon on his right pectoral that his black tank top couldn't hide.

In his smile, mixing rotten and gold teeth, there seemed to be limitless kindness, into which Orion threw himself wholeheartedly.

Orion then followed him into a nearby dark alley where four of his companions awaited them with knives drawn. The giant had explained that they would be able to help him in his search.

But once in the alley, who would have thought that this trustworthy man, in Orion's eyes, would pull out a knife and demand in a harsh voice:

"Give us all your money! Otherwise, the consequences will be severe for you."

Before Orion could respond, he heard a soft voice.

'I suppose I won't have much peace'

"Who is that?" asked Orion, unable to see who was speaking to him.

The men in the alley began to doubt their victim's mental health.

'Can't you see they're trying to rob you?'

"Why do you say that? Didn't they just ask for... ahh, what's it called..."

They were all now waiting for Orion's response as he seemed to rack his brain.

Once he found the word, he announced it in a thunderous voice:

"A salary!"

'...'

The men were now convinced of his madness.

Seeing that their threats were not being taken seriously, one of them approached Orion. With a movement of his arm, he aimed the knife at Orion's shoulder.

As Orion watched with curiosity the knife getting closer and closer, he heard a sigh.

'I should have chosen an older version of myself than this one.'

The knife was dangerously close. But as it was just a few millimeters from Orion's shoulder, time stopped.