"What should be your punishment?"
The voice said. The darkness that was everywhere is clear out.
"What?"
My eyes wander around this place. This is not a place. There is only one floor in the vast place. The floor where I am standing. The floor? It was made up of an obsidian mirror, polished so perfectly that you can see the reflection of you in it and even those things which your eyes cannot believe in.
There is no ceiling. It is more like that of an open rift into the sky. There are planets, stars and even constellations shining so brightly in the sky and even moving around. One constellation which I never saw in the history blink at me.
Outside the floor where I was standing, everything was clouded. There are thrones everywhere where my eyes go.
The air felt thick, my heartbeat felt too loud. The eyes of the people who are sitting on the throne striking fear in my heart. They are not looking at me. They are seeing through me.
I turn around. This is not real. Their eyes are not on me but the man who is behind whom I failed to notice until now. The music filled the place, this song feels different. This is the first time I am listening to music but it feels heavenly.
My heartbeat goes crazy when my vision falls on the man. He is standing proudly with a smile. He is not afraid of them. He is wearing nothing. Yes, he is naked but he held a weapon in his hand. The sword.....the sword resembles mine. The man himself was me. He looks a bit older than me. I will definitely look like him in the coming 3 or 5 years. The only thing that makes him different from me is that he is smiling without fear. His eyes are bright. He has that which I lack. Understanding. He is so calm.
"What should we do with you?"
The man in front of us said in a deep voice. He is not human. None of them resembles human nature by any chance. Some look like humans but their features are not human. He wears weird short garments with the color combination of red, blue and yellow. Around his neck is the garland of flames and there are two red four eyed, broad nosed, brindle, reddish-brown watchdogs whose eyes are not leaving the man who looks like me.
The murmurs fill the hall. It is a serious matter. I cannot understand what they are saying and then as if my brain got autoprogrammed like it is translating every word they are saying.
"We should finish him——"
"——a mere mortal having this much arrogance——"
"——mortals are trying to be on same place as us——"
They want him dead. This is what I understood from their conversion. The man in front of us looked at him. His eyes were analyzing him. Those eyes felt like they had seen several dramas.
He raised his hand.
"Judgement is here. As we have decided that for your sin against us, you would meet the fate of death"
He mutters something. Then as the sky began to rearrange, the constellations danced on his command. A hole is dug in the center of the sky, gradually spreading. Next, the movements of his ten fingers dancing creates a trail of bright light, waving, he creates a geometric shape in the sky. Immense energy concentrated shook the sky as it was experiencing the earthquake. A majestic meteorite appeared in the sky as its size was opening the path more in the sky.
"How long has it been since I used this spell? I remember wiping out the dinosaurs with this"
The meteorite is approaching the man but instead of being scared, he takes a fighting stance as he meets a powerful opponent.
Suddenly, that giant meteorite was destroyed. I cannot believe my eyes. The one who destroyed the meteorite is now standing in front of the man.
"Sorry, I was late for the trial, Dharmaraja"
This man is different. He is far different from anyone who is sitting on the throne.
"What is the point of interfering in the hall of judgement, Devaraja!?"
"Sorry for disturbing everyone present here. I cannot believe that every deity of this cosmos had gathered over a mere matter of a mortal"
He is wearing white toga. His long white hair is flowing with brightness and creating a calm cloud-like structure. He is handsome for some standards if he had not.....so many eyes all over his body. Each was staring at the man of the trial. It is creepy to see every eye on his body rotating and taking in every angle.
"I was not thinking of disturbing this judgement, Dharmaraja. I was not even coming here for a trial for a mortal who got death as the punishment. But——my friend is very interested in this mortal. What do you say, brother?"
There was another man alongside him. When and how?! This does not make sense! How come I did not see him?! He is standing beside the man who looks like me.
He has long black hair and his silver eyes are staring into my eyes. He is wearing a conical cap over his head and a yellow garment to cover his lower body like a pants. Around his neck is a garland of lotus. There is a footprint mark on the left side of his chest.
Another familiar face. Am I dreaming? First, the man had the same face as me and now this man has the same features as Nikolai Fyodorov. He is giving me nightmares. No. Why am I scared of him? I do not feel scared whenever I encounter him. His presence made me freeze but it was never a displeasing feeling.
"My dear child, what problem do you have? Why are you standing here? What is your sin?"
His smooth voice asked him.
It looks like everyone noticed him here. Everyone stood up from their throne and bowed their heads. The judge of the hall speaks first.
"Lord, he committed a great sin against the heaven by attacking on the spirit of victory"
"What did this mortal do?!"
Devaraja asked in shock. Eyes of his are now in the same direction.
"Why did you commit such a sin? Attacking on an immortal is a massive crisis"
It was the first time the man on the trail spoke. He is smiling without fear. There is no single doubt of fear in his eyes.
"Since I opened my eyes and held my sword, I had fought thousands of battles and never been defeated. My sword had never touched the ground. People say that I am blessed by the immortal victory. So, I want to prove that my battles were won by myself alone"
He is without doubt a battle loving person. His personality is somewhat similar to that famous anime protagonist who was alien and loves to fight strong opponents.
"A mere mortal trying to reach the place where immortals dwell? My friend, you think we should give him a place in heaven among my army?! You have a lot of experience with the mortals. You had even lived among them for many thousands of years"
White hair man laughed. He is not taking this matter seriously. Is he even serious? The man who looks the same as Fyodorov speaks with a smile.
"This is not the same, Devaraja. This is the kaliyuga, the age of evil when mortals will go against each other. Brother will kill the brother. Father will kill his son and son will go against his father. The time when mortals start to think of themselves as the almighty"
Both of them smile at each other. Who are they? Are they brothers or are they friends?
He turned his attention back to the man on the trial.
"O child, I will help you with this. You want the battles and quest to prove yourself that you are not a mortal. You want to live the glory and fame of the immortals. Then the path to that story is full of several obstacles that none of the mortals can perform to join the ranks of the.....gods"
The smile did not leave his face. His eyes got brighter as he heard him. He was ready. Ready for everything.
"I am"
"State your name, child"
He turned his head. The man on the trail was looking at me. His eyes were staring at me. Can he see me? How? Is it not a dream? It feels more real. You do not remember the dream and the dream does not last that long.
"I have fought many battles but defeat never came. They said that Mesopotamia is unbeatable due to their wall. They said Pharaoh the gods of Egypt cannot be humbled. Father of texts and gold, Indus, cannot be tamed. They said that you cannot conquer the land of gods, China. Now, they say nothing. I am seen as a force of hope and war. They call me victory. I am Verethragna"
"——"
I woke up with a headache. My senses come back to my body. My body feels heavy.
"I wonder what that was?"
I murmur while waking up. What a horror! Was it a dream? Or a memory? It was Verethragna. The original owner and user of this sword. The real master of Sraosha.
I get up from the floor. Was I that tired? I slept on the floor without my futon and I am sleeping in the living room.
"I should make tea to relieve my headache. School is off today....."
I go to the bathroom. Brush my teeth and splash cold water over my face to wake me up properly.
After cleaning my face. I go to the kitchen to make tea. I put water on the heat. The temperature is around 80-90° C.
"Water should be hot but not babbling like it is angry"
I add genmaicha in my cup. I pour the hot water in my cup and wait for a minute to let it prepare.
"Only a minute. If you wait more seconds then it will get bitter. Drinking is too quickly or drinking it later both are the bad idea"
After what it felt like a minute. I sip my tea. It is a combo of green tea with roasted rice. Warm, cozy and comforting. The samurai used to drink this type of tea. Well, it was an early version.
"I should prepare breakfast.....we have Beatrice as our guest now in this house. I might think I should make an Italian breakfast"
In a big bowl, I pour 500g of flour. Then I put 70g of sugar in the flour. I add 10g instant yeast, 1tsp of vanilla essence, 2 eggs, 200ml milk and a little bit of salt. I start to mix it together till it becomes soft dough. I add the softened butter and knead for like 10 minutes.
"This is tiresome. How are Italians able to cook this thing?! Now, I have to wait for an hour to let it rise!"
I left the dough. I put 150g butter between baking paper. Flatten into a thin rectangle by using a rolling pin. Yes, I have many things. Why? My brother is a paid gambler.
"Let it chill in the fridge"
"What are you doing, master?"
A voice came behind me. It was Sraosha. She was looking at me with a puzzled expression.
"I am cooking"
"But, this is the first I am seeing sweat of your body during the time of cooking"
"Italian food. I am making cornetto. We got a guest and an ally in this war. Beatrice Alighieri. She is an Italian"
She tilted her head and watched me.
"Where were you? I did not saw you yesterday in the morning when we were having breakfast"
"I was upstairs, master"
"You do not need to hide yourself. I had already introduced you to everyone. Why hide yourself?"
"Your brother"
I know. This is going to be a big conversion. I want to discuss about my dream with her too.