"Orion? Why do I feel like I have heard it before" Ray thought as his eyes fixated on the glowing stone?

Although Ray was listening intently, one could argue that he was also telepathically understanding what was being communicated to him. He had been molded by the soldier program and was not going to believe anything without gathering information first.

As the stone continued speaking, Ray remained cautious.

"It's too early to believe anything," he thought to himself.

"Oh. Excellent. I love your cautious attitude. Yes, it’s too early to believe anything. But hear me out," the stone said, its words reverberating through Ray's mind.

"What! You can read my thoughts?" Ray exclaimed, his astonishment evident in his voice.

He jumped out of bed and backed up, becoming extremely cautious after his remarks. He stared at the stone with an expression that would frighten anyone who saw it. It was the same face he had shown during his battle against the sky fish. Now, he felt threatened by the stone.

"Calm down, child. I'm on your side. Come closer. I won't be able to communicate with you from that distance. You should honestly thank me," the stone reassured him, attempting to alleviate Ray's fears.

Ray slowly climbed back into his bed, cautiously sitting down beside the stone and the tree branch. Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind, speaking with wisdom.

"Listen carefully, Aiden or Ray, whichever you prefer. I am Orion, a higher-dimensional entity. We formed a contract back on Earth. You see me in this state because of my past events - I was reduced to this form after my battle against the other gods," the voice explained.

Ray was in shock but tried to compose himself and listen carefully.

"What do you mean, a contract?" he asked. But, he remember end how the stone responded to him after the plane crash so he figured it out that was when it formed.

"I wanted to help you, but you died in the plane crash. I was deeply saddened by it. All my efforts to save you were washed away by undeserving fate. But your father brought you back so I helped to revive you as a clone. I helped to pull your soul back, but it took everything from me to do that," Orion replied in a stern and sad tone.

"Your father was an amazing person. He understood I needed energy and gave me ample amounts of it by placing me in the fusion core. Back then, I could not even communicate because I had no energy to do anything other than observe. Unfortunately, I could not restore your memories of your previous life. I was so close to restoring just a little portion of myself, but our luck ran out - they found me in the fusion core," Orion explained.

As Ray sat beside the stone, his mind was racing with questions.

"Fusion core?" he said slowly, his thoughts scattered. He realized that the energy emission might be his doing.

"What found you? And why?" he asked with a curious and serious expression.

Ray said slowly and realized that the energy emission might be his doing.

Orion hesitated for a moment before responding.

"I cannot tell you that. It is dangerous information and of no use to you now. All I can tell you is that its goal was to rewrite all battles in future events. You were one of the most important links it had to eliminate. Fortunately, I had already made contact with you. It had no power in your realm and its form was empty, with no physical form. I overpowered it by releasing all my stored power, but you died after the building collapsed. It was admirable that you saved lives, but your life had far more importance. In my final attempt to save you again, I had to jump consciousness (soul) across realms to your counterpart," Orion explained in a calm but firm voice.

Ray's eyes widened with shock and anger.

"So, you caused the explosion? All of the suffering and pain I went through...for what?" he said, his voice rising in volume and intensity.

He could feel his teeth grinding against each other, and his expression turned terrifying, filled with malice and anger. All his misery and suffering were because of events he had no control over. Now he learns that he was just a pawn in someone's game, swept up by the play.

Ray's voice rose with emotion as he spoke, his anger palpable.

"Do you know how miserable life has been because of you? Can you even comprehend my suffering? Contract? Battles? Future? What future?" His hands clenched into fists as he glared at the stone, the frustration and pain of his experiences boiling over.

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"Why do all this for what purpose? Why me? What did I do to deserve such misery?" Ray's voice grew louder and more frantic as he spoke, his eyes darting around the room. The weight of everything that had happened to him felt crushing.

Orion, the voice of the stone, remained silent, feeling the same emotions as Ray. He erected a transparent barrier around the bed, knowing that the things being said were not meant for anyone else to hear.

"You stole my future, my life, everything. What more do you want? You threw me into a world I don't know about, a world filled with absurdity!" Ray ranted, his voice breaking as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. He had found some comfort in his relationships with his mother and sister, but it was not enough to fill the void left by the events of his life.

Ray's hatred for the situation was consuming him, and he knew that he was only continuing on the path that the original Rayhein had set him on. Despite this, he couldn't help but feel lost and alone in a world that no longer made sense to him.

“I feel your emotions. Our contract makes me feel everything you have felt. But I will not apologize because I did this to save you and your world. I sacrificed everything for it as well. You and your planet were not ready for what was to come. Ray,” the stone said in a soft but firm tone.

“Not ready? What do you mean not ready? What’s coming?” Ray asked, still confused and frustrated.

“The convergence, Ray. All the realms will go through it when they are ready. But many worlds, including yours, are not ready yet. They will undergo changes. This world is already half done with preparations. I did not have the luxury to choose a different realm but it suited us for the time being. I had to help you before your soul left the ethereal planes for good. So I chose the closest realm to yours.”

Ray listened intently to the stone's words, trying to understand what he was being told. He had calmed down a little but still, he felt disgusted that he was being used

“But why me? What about the original Rayhein? And what about my broken memories? What is this world and realm you keep talking about?” he asked, his confusion growing.

“You will be the important pillar for everyone to stand upon in the future, Ray. Although some might say you are negligible in the grand scheme of things, I disagree. You are the foundation for one of the possible futures. It’s uncertain, but I hope we can make that future possible. For the sake of the realms.”

"It's sad to see your counterpart die," Orion said.

"You could say he was like a close twin. The only reason you can inhabit this body is that he was your identical twin. Everyone in your world has a twin counterpart here in Kastashia. mirrors the original. "

Orion continued, "I will fix your memories. The intrusion of two consciousnesses in the same body destroyed and warped them. You only have bits and pieces left. The only thing I could salvage were memories of language. I convinced the original Rayhein to yield to you his body. I promised him redemption for his goals of saving his family and a request for his afterlife."

Ray shook his head in disbelief. "You stole someone's future."

Orion replied, "I will explain more when the time is right. For now, this world is your home."

Ray looked at Orion skeptically with anger "it's hard to trust you after everything that's happened. Was this all part of the book back on earth you wrote? The story of the family and their future? What was that"

"I have no reason to hide anything from you, Ray. The book was just a glimpse of the uncertain future of what might happen in this world.”

Ray was feeling overwhelmed by all the information that Orion was revealing to him. He couldn't believe that his entire life was not what he thought it was.

"Just how much do you know? What do you want from me now? You have gone to such lengths to save me and do all this. This plan I am sure it spanned decades. There must also be a reason why you chose this place as well," ray asked

he felt being used by an entity he knows nothing of.

Orion was happy and replied,

"I love that you have a bright mind. You're quick to catch on. Yes, everything has a reason. In time, I will tell you, but for now, please believe me. We first need to save this realm, Kastashia. In time, it will be invaded with full force by the Chaos Realm. They want to absorb this realm and become stronger. The one you call the Dark Rift Walker originates from there. Also, the gods will gain full authority to intervene as well, forming contracts to oppose them. That's when an all-out war will start."

Orion continued, "You might have decade or fifteen years at the most to prepare. We need to do a lot. You are my representative, obviously, but your brother and sister as well as some others will be the turning point of everything. You need to protect them. There are a lot of things and dangers in this realm. You need to get stronger and lead it in a better direction because the future is looking very miserable if things don't change. All the other realms will follow the same fate, including Earth. Some will be devoured, and some will survive. It's a battle for survival for now."

Ray struggled to comprehend the sudden turn of events that had set his entire world in motion. It felt like he was a helpless puppet, being controlled by forces beyond his understanding. He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he had somehow seen this coming. This is what he feared. His hands trembled as he stared at them, trying to make sense of it all.

But then Orion spoke, his voice filled with sincerity and boldness.

"Ray, you are no puppet," he said firmly, "You have the power to change and make your own fate."

Ray looked up, surprised by the sudden confidence in Orion's words. His eyes glistened with unshed tears as he realized that he didn't have to be a victim of his circumstances.

"My actions will decide everything? Do you know how absurd that sounds after everything that's happened?" he said, his voice thick with emotion.

"For the course of this world, I will try to save you and guide you, even if you fail. You are my contractor, and a contract means life and death for both parties. If you die, I will never be able to accomplish what I need to."

Ray's heart felt heavy.

"What is it that you need? what is so important that you would make you go to such lengths? Power?" he asked, feeling a sense of disgust and anger as he talked more.

"We all have a role to play, Ray. Some great, some terrifying. At the end of the day, we are defined by our stories and what we leave behind," Orion replied, his voice calm and steady unlike rays.

Despite his uncertainty, Ray couldn't help but feel that Orion was hiding something.

"This is too much I need time to think," he said softly, his voice choked with emotion.

"Don't worry. You have something that others don't - the strength to keep moving forward, regardless of the circumstances" Orion said with boldness and affirmation.

Orion's words made Ray very conflicted Ray, stirring something within him. He rose from his bed and made his way to the window, gazing out at the night sky. It was a beautiful sight, with stars twinkling overhead and a massive planet with rings looming in the distance.

Ray felt a sense of purpose stir within him as he stood there. He thought about his siblings. He never had siblings back on earth. Playing with Lilly for a few moments Ray felt warm inside. remembering Avan he felt contempt but he did not hate him.

"Why would I hate Avan? The original rayhein made some mistakes. Although I have some idea of what it might be." his thought drifted.

A pang of sadness hit him as he thought of rayhein, the person he had been named after. He hoped that Rayhein was in a better place now and that he could honor him by saving his family. He related to the former rayhein a lot. Even if this dimensional entity did convince him to leave his body, Ray was too skeptical.

"Be careful" he whispered to himself, remembering something from the original rayhein's last words. he did not trust Orion fully and he was far too angry and emotional to make a decision.

"I needed some time to think." he said