*??? POV*
*Location: Purgatory*
*Year: ??? (Outside of Time)*
You know, lying down on blue grass gets pretty boring after a while, but wanna know what doesn't get boring? The stars, there was always something new to see, always something there just waiting to be captured by the memory of the soul, in my case, quite literally. Even though the stars in this place, purgatory, I think, were always interesting to see, I mean, what other place could you see the sky constantly changing, heck, even the color of the stars changed.
The only thing that would make it better would be if I had an apple or some kind of fruit in my hand. Too bad the trees were just the plain kind, you know, oak or pine, or various other trees you notice in the background of wherever you are and don't really pay attention to. I mean, sure, the orange leaves were interesting enough, but even that gets boring after however many years have passed so far.
At first, I freaked out, of course, I mean who wouldn't, realizing that they died and were now stuck in what I'm calling purgatory, because it didn't feel like heaven, nor did it feel like hell. It just felt like...calm, ever-present calm, and nothing could change that, unfortunately, no matter what you did or tried, it would not change. At first, for the battle-weary, I imagine the place would be a welcome sight, but...like I said, nothing changes here.
I think I went insane briefly in the first hundred years, then sane after the next hundred. Now, though, I spent my days just waiting for anything to change, but the stars, the stars were ever-changing, as I said. Though I suppose it's better than hell, but even the neutrality of this place, the calm can be its own kind of hell, its own punishment for whatever I did.
I do remember bits and pieces of my life, but none that wished to stay, none that wanted to at the very least. Was it possible for memories alongside the mind to have their own afterlife, their own resting place so that the soul can move on, to be reincarnated, or to be remolded into whatever form the gods so wished for them next? I suppose anything was possible at this point, perhaps I was to forget everything about my mortal life before entering anew into whatever world awaited me.
"Human's always overcomplicating it, never seeing that sometimes even the gods mess up, particularly in your case." A new voice said, calm as a pond and yet screamed with the wisdom of the deep sea.
Getting up, I saw this new figure, a humanoid being dressed in robes of white with the stars printed near the top of it. It had no face that I could see, nor did its skin look even vaguely human, but instead had the color of a blood-drenched ruby. Its hands were clamped together, as if studying me, waiting for me to respond for some reason.
"What are you talking about, then? What's the purpose of this place, then?" I said as I stood up, brushing myself off even though there was no dust to speak of in this place. Although I suppose no matter how much time passed, one would still think of oneself as a mortal and keep their habits.
"The purpose of this particular purgatory was to act as a waiting area, a place for weary souls such as yourself to wait for judgment to come." The figure said as they looked up to the sky, and I couldn't help but believe the thing was smiling in its own way.
"Unfortunate for you, though, as they have forgotten you, my dear little soul, imagine that, the gods of your world forgetting a soul, no matter how minuscule they are."
"It makes one wonder, if humans were created in the image of their gods, then what does that make a god?" The figure said as they sat down on the grass and looked at me, expecting some profound answer.
I just sat down near them and looked at what I believe was their face. Looking more closely at them, I could see the faint outlines of thousands of eyes. So many that if I were still my former self or in a human body, I would be prone to go mad, to be driven forever insane from this brief glimpse. Yet I didn't, but I knew that would not be for long, as I quickly looked to the ground to save whatever remained of my current mind from that fate.
"Then I suppose the gods are just as busy as we humans are, and can make mistakes just as we do, but once they know them, some may not change, but others, the good ones, the great ones will pick themselves up and change so that it may not happened again." I said as a bright flash crossed the sky, a shooting star, the first one since I've arrived in this place to be seen.
"Oho, a shooting star, quite rare for an afterlife to have something like this, but I suppose when a recorder like myself makes an appearance, things get...messy." The entity said as I saw their twelve-fingered hands trace the ground, making symbols I didn't recognize but yet did at the same time for some reason.
"That doesn't matter, though, as I am not here as a recorder but rather to help you and create new stories." the being said as more stars started flashing across the sky, creating a rainbow of all colors, both old and new in ways I've never seen before.
"Although that all depends on you, do you wish to leave this place of calm and peace, a place you neither live nor are you dead, but in between, at least till the gods notice you again." it said, taking my hand and making a circle with a triangle in the center of it, but alongside that a symbol of a star.
I studied the hand he made this symbol on, looking at it and then at the rest of the body, and felt my face. The face I had grown weary of all these years, just as weary as I grew of this place as well. This purgatory was no place to live, as it said, it was a place between life and the other afterlives.
"You already said it yourself, this place is not one for mortals, not ones that have existed here as long as I have, at least."
"I have grown insane, so much so that I looped back to sane, and now here you are, offering me a new life, a new way out of this place."
"I know that in life I was not without sins, that's just being human, but I believe that this place serves two with, one being to serve as a place to calm souls fallen from war."
"The other to punish and cleanse the sinners, those who did not deserve hell but not heaven either, not until they were ready." Once I finished that sentence, I sighed.
"Now that you're here, though, well, I see that it was only that first one, and well, I suppose it's time to leave this place, and I'd rather it be sooner rather than later if that was alright with you." I then stood and offered the recorder my hand to help them stand up, ready to leave this place.
I heard them chuckle a bit as they took my hand, getting up to their feet as a swirl of symbols began surrounding me, and I recognized them. They were the symbols he drew on the air as we talked, as the stars flashed across the sky. Yet they began to stop one by one, with only one remaining, a bright purple star hung in the sky, all alone and never to be changed, it seemed.
"Well, then, I hope you can gift this universe an interesting tale to add to the mix, after all, such a melting pot of mythologies and powers is always prone to chaos." The recorder said as a bright glow of white light erupted from both of our hands, as a new sensation went through my soul, pain and pleasure. Not only that, but all old and new sensations began flowing into me, making me feel something I haven't felt in a long time.
*3rd POV*
*Location: Midgard*
*Year: 4500 BCE*
The Aesir, gods who reside in Asgard and represent war, the skies, civilization, and all that entails it. The Vanir who reside in Vanaheim those associated with the old world, healing, and everything else that comes with it. These two tribes of gods would never truly live in peace, and now, now that's clear as they wage war across the nine realms, and even now the calmest of these battles takes place on Midgard, realm of mortals and all creatures of the Earth, as it would come to be called.
As god battled god, soul against soul, and as the armies clashed to claim victory over the other. It was truly a sight to behold, even now as the skies crackled with fury and might of beings who humanity right now and perhaps in the future could never compete against.
Now, though now we find two gods of minor footnote, gods that held no domain and no power over nature nor war. One of the Aesir gods and one of the Vanir goddesses, a rare find on the battlefield. In the far future, when humans look on at this story and wander the why, why these two beings fell in love with one another, why they chose to run from battle to wed and leave this wretched war behind.
Some would say the Aesir name 'Nið' would come to be known as cowardice and a shame to one's family, even if both Aesir and Vanir chose peace in the end. The other 'Rømme' or to flee/escape, much like retreating/running away from the battlefield. These names would help shape their personality in the eyes of humanity, yet that couldn't be more wrong.
These two simply wished to no longer fight, to no longer be monsters of the Aesir or Vanir. They voiced their opinions whenever they could and yet found nothing to show for it except the insults thrown at them by their comrades. So when they met on the battlefield, they saw each other's eyes and saw a way out, for as the dust of the battlefield kicked up, it gave them the perfect cover.
They chose to leave it all behind to be named cowards, to have their names be referred to as insults in the grand scheme of things. It didn't matter, though, as this would also bring something new to the world, the first union between Aesir and Vanir, between the new and old world. An occasion that would allow a soul much older than the body to be born into the world.
It would be the birth of a warrior of liberation, of joy, of the sun, and of freedom to all who crave it and wish for it.
It would be the birth of Nika God of the Sun!