⚔️Serberia

Where...
Where am I...?
The sky above me looked like an endless ocean, shimmering with every shade of night, studded with countless stars and the tentacles of nebulae. In a peaceful silence, above the clear, glassy surface of water reflecting it, butterflies woven from moonlight fluttered.
A sight appeared before me, impossible in reality.
- This is a crossroads. The boundary of the mortal world...
...Who is this?
I hear only a voice - there is no speaker nearby. But I can sense something... lingering in the void... A Cyclopean presence.
- Who... are you asking?
- Good question. Who am I, indeed...?
Wait, you--
- The Outsider.
- The Liberator, and he who committed the original sin...
- I have lived many lives, under many names... as The One About Whom Legends Are Told.
- Even I no longer know... what I truly am.
So it's you... The one I spoke to on the descent from the Mountain...
- ...
I understood... I barely perceived that someone had been behind that snowy veil. That's why...
So... this place...
...You know, I always imagined the afterlife to be a bit more lively.
It's a beautiful sight, admittedly, but after a while it gets monotonous, doesn't it?
...So, do you need something? I highly doubt you're only here to meet me.
Still, it doesn't matter... Either way, it's all over.
I did all I could. I have no regrets about anything.
- Aren't you worried about those you left behind?
I would be lying if I said no, but... there's nothing I can do about it anymore.
I'm not too worried about them. Whatever stands in their path, I'm sure they'll break through.
...Hmm?
I don't know where they came from, but... I noticed beautiful flower petals drifting past me, shimmering with ephemeral light.
Ryoei?
Alessia?
Two figures materialized from the void before me - a brother and a sister, with such nonchalance as if they had been there all along. Their somber, stolid faces, perfect in their unreality, looked at me with an unclear emotion.
Guys... You look great! What, did you come here just to greet me before the feast with the ancestors?
- ...
So? Not bad I did as a commander, as far as I can tell.
- ...
Yes, in the end I messed a few things up. But I'm sure that one day they'll be able to laugh about it... I'm sure they'll forgive me.
Well, let's go! Just like old times.
And, uh, the first round is on you, right?
- ...
They remained excessively silent, boring into me with stern looks... as if trying to tell me something.
Sister?
You don't mean... you want me to come back?
- ...
Ryoei offered an object in his cupped palm - a bear's tusk, which I hadn't separated from since I perished on the Mountain.
Brother...
...You know, I thought I finally got a chance to rest. Even now you're trying to saddle me with this heavy burden?
- ...
The voice chimed in again.
- Accepting my amulet means inheriting everything I am. My strength, my name, my sins...
...So what?
You would do the exact same thing, wouldn't you?
After all... you are the first elder of the Russes and the Aryans.
Or perhaps I should call you "a primordial entity"... Stribog, the Spirit of Wind. The moment I spoke the ancient name, the true form of the Spirit, unnameable by mortal concepts, fleetingly manifested before me. I sighed, shook my head, shrugged with my shoulders and raised my eyebrows. There remains a woman who loves me and carries my child. My hand reached for the tusk. There remain scoundrels, bandits, murderers, and rapists. My hand fell heavily to my side. There remain my brothers and sisters. My hand came alive again, but hesitated halfway. I tried to make out the faces of Ryoei, Alessia, and Stribog, but before me I only saw impassive stone masks, awaiting my decision.