An amused chuckle echoed out of the ripples in front of Daniel followed by the visage of a middle-aged man slowly and casually walking out of the ripples.
Just as the middle-aged man stepped out of the portal, Daniel's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and for a moment, he thought his non-existent heart skipped a beat;
"H-how is this possible!?"
"W-who are you!?" Daniel stuttered at the figure that was busy grinning back at him.
The figure that stood on the dark side of the dimension looked like a photocopied replica of Daniel himself, but with extremely contrasting and different features.
He had pale skin that looked like the color of bones, two black horns with blood-red runes all over it as well as purple flames burning at its tip.
His left eye was pitch black with blood-red pupils, whilst his right eye was blood-red with pitch-black pupils and they both seemed to contain all the evil in existence and those that are yet to exist.
There was a closed vertical slit on his forehead and several runic patterns decorated his entire face in a mesmerizing and enchanting manner.
He knew Daniel was scrutinizing him and burning his image into his mind, so he allowed him to take all the features in before replying to the questions that Daniel stuttered at him a few moments ago.
"I am Legion; for we are many." The figure replied with a smirk.
"Unh, what do you mean?"
"Am I still alive?"
"Why am I here?"
"What is this place?"
Daniel fearfully fired several back-to-back questions whilst taking the same amount of backward steps, looking to put as much distance between himself and the figure that called himself 'Legion'.
"Well, considering the price you are about to pay, I guess it is only fair that I add five answers to your part of our original deal," Legion replied with a mischievous smirk.
"I mean what I said, and you will understand once we're done with this conversation."
"As for your third question; yes, according to the standards of these minor planes, you're dead."
"As for the reason why you are here, it is because the plenary multiverse needs you."
"And lastly, this is a soul world; one that was once mine but is now about to be yours," Legion answered as he gazed into the sky, and released a deep sigh.
Legion looked back at Daniel and realized that he had many more questions, thus, he quickly interrupted him;
"I won't be answering any more questions; so I want you to listen closely and do as I am about to tell you, otherwise, not only would I kill you right now, but I would also kill that lover of yours who has forgotten about your existence in the most gruesome way."
As Legion spoke a diabolical aura rippled out of him and whilst it was somewhat restrained by the boundary that separated the light and dark part of the dimension, Daniel could still see the void-rending glint that flashed across those eyes.
After noticing that he had grabbed Daniel's absolute attention, Legion sighed, and all the diabolical and obnoxious aura that even chased away the skeletal beings finally receded;
"Don't worry, there's not much I can tell you anyway, otherwise, those old bones and witches might locate us, and that would not only be bad for this world, but this universe might shatter if a battle ensues," Legion added casually;
"Firstly, you need to understand that it took us an insurmountable amount of effort not only to hide you from the elder gods but the true spirits as well."
"Secondly, we also had to wait for a very long time for this moment; at least, by the standard of your world, that amounts to about 49 billion years, now."
"I and my partners had to travel across several planes, billions of major worlds, and countless minor worlds to search for the 'seventh son of the seventh son of the forgotten one'."
"As the seventh son of the seventh son of the forgotten one, you became also means you are one of the candidates of the prophecy of the true spirits; The Forgotten Cornerstone of the Foundation of All Existence."
"We tried to reach other candidates that came before you, but no matter how fast we try or how hard we fight, they seem to get to these candidates before us and shatter their entire plane, thereby ensuring that the shattered plane can never produce candidates."
"But luckily, when the forgotten one on this plane was born, we were closer to him than they were, so we hurriedly placed a seal on him, hid him from their view, and sent him to a random universe."
"To prevent any mishap, we sent the seventh son of the forgotten one to another universe, and when you were born, we brought you here, and finally, our billions of years' worth of effort is about to be rewarded."
"You need to understand that it is taking me a whole lot of willpower to prevent myself from initiating the ritual right away; otherwise, you would already be on the way to whatever realm Yama thinks is best."
Daniel simply kept listening because he had the feeling that once Legion concluded his explanation, the meaning would dawn on him.
"We had to send that nuisance to other planes, just to keep you off their radar. But since I would have to wait for a day so that Yama can wipe out every trace of your being from all records, I have opted to use the little time to explain a few things to you."
"The prophecy claims that; the forgotten cornerstone would become the capstone. For now, it won't sound like much, but as you grow in power and the gods, elder gods, and true spirits begin to notice and hunt you down, you will understand the sheer importance your existence is to 'Eternity'."
"But fear not, you will not be alone on this journey; and we three would do everything we can to help you survive against them." Legion continued to explain several mysteries and interconnected prophecies that seemingly hinted at the prophecy of the true spirits.
But among them, Daniel only paid attention to a quote with three parts with different meanings.
The first part of the quote stated that; [When the Omni-being is born, he will remind us all of the forgotten true spirits.]
The second part of the quote said; [He would come as one, but stand in infinity.]
Then the last part said; [To collect the debt that was owed him from the dateless time.]
Daniel didn't know why, but for mysterious reasons, he felt seriously pissed off whenever those quotes recycled within his mind.
If one were to look at Legion, on the other hand, one would notice a palpable sense of appreciation deep within his lethargic soul; he was like a traveler who had ventured deep into the cold harsh illusion of fantasies but finally found his way back into the warm embrace of reality.
He, like Daniel earlier in the day, had toiled for countless eons for his catch, and after countless battles, schemes, deaths, and reincarnations, finally holds his catch in his grasp.
[Finally, brothers, our rest is on the horizon!] Legion thought to himself as a purple-colored tear skidded down the side of his face.
Then all of a sudden, his face turned solemn as he looked to the sky and pierced his gaze through the soul world into the physical realm; his vision phased past the bottom of the ocean where Daniel's body now laid and landed on the two heavenly bodies that were no gradually approaching each other.
"It's about time," Legion said as he waved his hand and the sky in the outside world became visible to Daniel;
"The only time we can awaken the forgotten cornerstone is the day when the natural phenomenon you are about to witness occurs."
"This phenomenon occurs only once in the entire lifespan of every planet, and for this planet, it is today."
"It comes in different forms, but as for this planet, it is when the blue moon enters into a penumbral lunar eclipse with the black sun." Legion began to explain;
"The first stage of this ritual is the appearance of the blue moon; this happens when a part of the planet experiences two full moons in a single month."
Legion spoke as the moon began to rise gradually into the sky above the ocean; surprisingly, it was blue.
"That's right, I can clearly remember that we had a full moon on the first day of this month, and since a moon revolution takes 27 to 28 days, then we should truly see a blue moon tonight," Daniel said in wonder as he watched the mystical scene unfold, firsthand.
"Alright kid, the time has come for us to make our move." Legion declared whilst placing his palm on the thin barrier separating the light and dark parts of the soul world...