Norway woke slowly, his eyes reluctant to open, his limbs oddly stiff.
Was this what getting old was like?
Slowly, he pushed himself into a sitting position before opening his eyes.
When he finally did, he closed them again immediately.
When in all nine realms was he? He'd never been here before.
This was not America's basement. Not remotely.
Was this yet another hallucination?
Yet, so far, all of them had been horrifyingly unpleasant.
This place was what the Bible would call heaven.
Was he dead?
(Then again, if he was dead, he probably would have ended up in Hell. At least he'd be in good company.)
So, was he dead? Was this a hallucination? Or was he really here, at the base of an enormous tree that overlooked an even larger plain, with many houses scattered across it?
Something, a distant memory, tugged at him.
He opened his eyes again.
It was a sunny day.
He looked down at himself. He wore all blue: blue tunic, blue leggings, blue shirt.
He could not feel the fabric against his skin.
He felt nothing.
He could not feel the collective emotions of his people that were always in the back of his head.
A sound caught his attention.
A beat.
Then another.
And then another.
Was it his imagination, or was there a lag between the second and third beats?
Well, it probably wasn't important.
At least, not as important as the group of people walking towards him.
Among them were two very familiar faces (well, he did tend to see them every day in the mirror). This was very bad.
"Lukas Odinsson."
His old, presumptuous, name. He had not used it for…many years.
"Am I dead? Is this heaven?"
"No. Not…yet."
Ominous.
"Who are you? Where am I?"
"Why do you not recognize us, Norovegr?"
The people in front of him seemed curious.
Words came unbidden to his mind. "You are- were - my gods."
"And are we not still?"
"You abandoned me! You let my people die of the most ignoble means! We were defeated! And in the end, we had no choice but to renounce your names." Every word was cold, emotionless, dead.
"What would you choose now?"
"I am finished with this life. My purpose is no more. My people- I cannot even sense them anymore."
"Have you considered that it is due to the fact that you are no longer in Midgard?"
"Would that affect it?"
"It might."
"Let someone else take my burden. I have served long enough."
"Who is there to take your place?"
"You would know, wouldn't you?"
"Aren't you feeling guilt at abandoning your people?"
"I feel nothing."
The beats were growing both louder and slower. What did that mean?
Erik pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "Lukas, you must live."
"You can't make me. You are powerless."
"Will this help you make up your mind?"
The man with one eye held out a mirror. Lukas took it and stared into it.
A man, whose name was no longer known to Lukas, set down a scalpel. Just for a moment. Then, he picked up a surgical needle.
The view broadened.
From above, Lukas saw himself lying on a hospital bed, the nameless man bent over him. Another man (whose name would not come to Lukas's mind) worked on repairing what seemed to be an inordinate amount of damage. What had happened?
A sudden noise, the piercing shriek of a heart monitor, split the silence.
This sent the two men into a panic- a strangely silent one.
Lukas no longer heard the beats.
Had that been his heart beat?
Was he truly dead now?
No matter, he felt nothing.
"Make the correct decision, Lukas."
What was the correct decision?
"If you die, more will die with you."
Who? Who would die? Could he… well, not live, but deal, with himself after that?
"I- I cannot live as I have been."
"What do you mean, Lukas?"
"My sanity. I must have that. I cannot live split into three entities anymore."
"Are you sure, Lukas?"
"That is not my name. I am Norway."
The man with one eye smiled. "Welcome back, Norway."
The monitor in the mirror made another noise, a soft ping.
The world swirled like mist and disappeared. The last thing he remember was seeing Sigmund's ad Erik's faces, hopeful, yet afraid.
A/N: Sorry it's been so long! I had another bout of writer's block, I started school (on the first of August. -_-), and I've been delving deeper into Homestuck. It's a problem.
I really do inted to finish this, and I'll have the next chapter as soon as I can.
Also, I recently changed my Tumblr url; if you want to follow me, I'm coffee-is-my-soporific.