Chapter Text
Russia blinked open his eyes. And he saw white. The world was white.
He blinked again, and the whiteness didn't disappear. He sat up, rubbing his eyes weakly, trying to process-
And then, it all came back to him. The car crash- America and Alaska- there was a flash of panic- then, a wave of relief seemed to wash over him, and let him relax- they were safe. They were alive. The car had only killed him-
Yes. He was dead. He felt it, deep down inside- that connection to his life- it had been snapped away, he felt... alive, but... not alive. That didn't make sense, but life (or death) rarely made sense.
Russia stood up. So... this was the afterlife... He felt like he was in his normal body- wearing his normal clothes.
He turned around in a slow circle. He was in a completely white room. He felt a tiny tinge of panic-
Was everything just... white? Nothing? Was this his afterlife? Doomed to spend an eternity in pure nothingness? No- well- Russia hadn't been the best person, but he'd done his best to be good- he- there was no way that this was the rest of eternity for him...
He furrowed his brows lightly, trying to swallow back the panic- he turned around in a slow circle, and the world- changed.
No, the wall changed- it wasn't white anymore- there were darker colors, shadows- there was a door. And it led... somewhere. Where did it lead? Russia was about to find out, because he stepped outside-
And was immediately pounced on by a blur of black and red and yellow, and-
Oh my-
Russia's eyes instinctively filled with tears- as he found himself face to face with a short, soft-looking woman, with a flag that resembled Germany, and a glowing halo above her head- and soft, painfully familiar grey-blue eyes-
"Mom..." He whispered softly, voice trembling.
"Russia-" She whispered softly, "My beautiful little Russia-!"
She hugged him tightly- and Russia hugged her back, crying, not from pain or fear, but from the emotions that flooded through him, love for the woman he'd never got to meet, the woman who had sacrificed herself for him, and had given him the chance to live-
And now, they were both dead. Together.
They finally pulled away from the hug, their matching blue-grey eyes shining with beautiful tears.
"Oh Russia..." She looked like she was about to start crying again, as she gently cradled the side of his face, "I'm so sorry- I'm so sorry that I couldn't stay with you- and watch you grow up- and be there for you-"
In response, Russia simply hugged her again.
And Weimar, for the first time in her death, hugged her son, and finally, the world felt right- Russia felt hundreds of beautiful emotions flooding through him- The afterlife was far from empty- it was loving, and beautiful, and filled with hostile looking Germans-
...
What????
Russia pulled away from a still-smiling Weimar, his eyes wide-
Because between the white walls of a long, multi-doored hall-
Was a giant crowd- of a bunch of.... slightly intimidating, and eagerly watching Germans.
"Russia-" Weimar tilted her head, "These are your relatives."
"My... relatives..." He said, slowly- before furrowing his brows, "Who the duck are they?"
Weimar smiled, "They're from my side of the family- all the Germans-" She laughs lightly, "Here's Prussia-"
She pointed to a man with a black and white flag- who studied Russia with narrowed eyes, his arm resting on- an entire freaking sword-
Holy shrimp...
"And- oh! Here's your.... many greats-great-grandfather!" Weimar happily pointed to a tall man with a yellow and black flag, and wide, black, crow-like wings, his gaze sharp and judging-
Russia offered a feeble wave.
The man glared at him, wings folding majestically, and Russia fidgeted self-consciously, feeling deeply out of place with these sleek, dramatic, terrifying people-
"Oh- and here's my Dad!" Weimar practically bounced forward, grabbing the arm of-
A tall, hulking man with a rectangular face, in black, white, and red- he has small, blank eyes- and no mouth-
Russia's lips parted in silent terror as the man towered over him.
Weimar giggled happily, hugging him, "Isn't he sweet~? Dad! Look! This is my son, Russia! Look at how much he's grown up!"
"He's dead." The German Empire said flatly.
Weimar beamed, "But he lived a happy life!"
"Why does your life matter if you're dead?" GE asked in the voice of someone who's seen too much bad and received too little good.
"Oh, come on- don't be like that!" Weimar laughed- before turning as Russia anxiously tapped her on the shoulder.
"Uh- M-mom...?" He tested out the word- before smiling as Weimar beamed with joy, "Mom- I just wanted to know- where's the rest of my family- like.... Alaska's real parents?" He asked hopefully.
"Oh." Weimar paused, "Well- since your Father is still alive- there's a bit of a gap in the family tree, so they're not here."
"Oh..." Russia sounded disappointed, before freezing, and facing his German relatives, "N-not that you guys are... bad company, or anything, I just-"
The tall crow-man lifted his nose, scoffing, and walking away, his dark wings folded majestically by his side.
Slowly, it seemed that everyone started to lose interest- giving Russia final glances- or, in Prussia's case, a very long and hard glare- before drifting away.
Russia related, as he was left in the hall, alone with his mom-
He stiffened. And the German Empire.
GE glanced over at them- before turning away, glancing at the tiny herd of leaving countri-
"Nuh uh uh-!" Weimar grabbed him by the arm, "Not so fast!"
GE sighed deeply, "What do you want, my dear?"
Weimar smiled brightly, "Come on! Don't you want to hang out with me and my son?"
Russia smiled- offering the intimidating man a soft, hopefully friendly wave.
GE scoffed and turned away, "I have no interest in that."
Weimar raised an eyebrow, "Reaaally? Well then- why haven't you left?"
GE fell silent. Not only because he had no mouth, but because Weimar had completely exposed him.
Weimar grinned deviously, "C'mon Dad! Meet Russia! Russia- this is my Dad, the German Empire- Dad, this is Russia, my precious little polar bear~"
Russia smiled softly, though his smile faltered for a brief moment as he remembered how Afghanistan used to call him that.... before when- he lived with his Dad, and- he was just a little kid, and- Afghanistan was happy, and- he was alive....
Suddenly, someone tapped him on the head-
Russia nearly screamed when he looked up and saw the German Empire towering over him.
"You okay?" He asked flatly.
"Oh- uh..." Russia looked away, "Um..."
GE's eyes narrowed, "Why are you afraid of me?"
Russia's mouth got a bit dry as he thought back to that one night- in Third's house- after he nearly killed his Dad, "You- you're the guy that- that hit Third a lot and- hurt him and- put... plastic bags on his face? Or something?"
GE scoffed, "I see my reputation precedes me. How lovely."
Weimar gave Russia a soft smile, "Oh, Russia- yes, he's done... horrible things, but- the afterlife is for moving on from your life, and becoming a better person- and he even managed to love on from it in his life! Which is super awesome!" She laughed, squishing GE into a hug, "I'm so proud of you, Dad!!!!!"
"It's been years-" He said flatly.
"But I'm still proud of you!!!!!" She squished him into a hug.
GE sighed with feigned annoyance- before his eyes softened, and he lightly hugs her-
So uh... that was... cute, Russia supposed- but now he was kinda just... awkwardly... standing here.
He felt a bit... weird. He was here. The afterlife. And it was just a room filled with terrifying German relatives... and his mom. Not that he was opposed to that, but- it felt like something was missing...
"Russia.... why do you look so confused...?" Weimar asked softly, her blue-grey eyes filled with a hint of concern, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, it's just- I don't-" He hesitated, "I don't know- I'm just..." He inhales deeply, "This is the afterlife. The afterlife. And I- I mean... it's just..." He couldn't find the words, so he just shook his head with a hint of distress.
"Sh.. Russia- it's fine..." She smiled softly, "Didn't the UN give you a tour?"
"Th-the who??" Russia paused, eyes wide, "No one toured me- there was no.. you-enn..."
Weimar paused, "W-what..? The UN wasn't there? You weren't greeted by a man with- white wings and an olive branch wreath-? You were just... alone...?"
Russia, still looking confused, nodded hesitantly.
"Oh... My poor little Russia-" She cooed softly, gently stroking the side of his face- before whirling around, expression flashing with murderous intent, "Where is that coward? WHERE IS HE??? I knew that stupid little jerk-face was up to no good! That little PIG!! I'LL KILL HIM! I DON'T CARE IF HE'S DEAD, I'LL KILL HIM AGAIN AND AGAIN AND POUND HIS STUPID FACE INTO THE DUST!!!"
Russia flinched back, eyes wide with terror- this... this was not the Weimar who had been immortalized with soft paintings, and loving words- this Weimar... was fucking terrifying....
Just as suddenly- she switched back, offering Russia a sweet smile, "Aw- sorry dear, I just get a bit angry sometimes- But that's fine- let's go play UNO!"
Weimar grabbed both him and GE by the arms, whisking them away- it was a bit of an amusing sight, a bewildered Russia being dragged off- a strong and towering GE only moving through his own apparent willingness-
Russia found himself searching the halls they passed by- all white with shadowed doors- he even caught sight of some small groups of people- other... dead people...
God this is weird- I don't think I'll ever get used to this-
And just as suddenly, they skidded to a sudden halt at a wide, smooth, shining, circular table-
And in the center- was a single, dark, out of place box of UNO cards.
"She pestered the UN for weeks until he got UNO for the afterlife." GE muttered fondly.
"UNO....?" Russia asked feebly, "Why UNO...?"
"Because." Weimar replied with expert precision as she leaned back into a seat, starting to shuffle the deck.
"Because what?"
"Because you shouldn't question things." She replied simply, yet with a tinge of wisdom in her soft voice, "Sometimes you want to do things- you have no logical explanation that can be placed into words- it's just your feelings, your emotions, that put you down a certain path. And- our current path is playing UNO."
GE grumbled, but took a seat, his large body looking awkward, seated in a little spinny chair, arms resting on the sleek table-
"I'm sure that you'll be very good at this, Russia." Weimar said cheerfully.
"Ah- i doubt it-" He sighed as he took a seat as well, watching her hands absentmindedly shuffle the deck, "I've never been much good at UNO-"
"Well, this is a different type of UNO- one that has to do with magic!!!" Weimar cheered.
GE rolled his eyes, "Not magic, just... light manipulation, I guess-"
Russia glanced down at his deck, then back up at them, "Light manipulation...? I don't even know what that is- why would I be good at it?"
"Well- different people in the afterlife can perform light manipulation better based on- well- y'know, how good of a person they were-" Weimar smiled brightly, "So, I tried pretty hard not to hurt anyone, and I have this here halo-" She taps the glowing yellow halo above her head, "And I kinda have special powers-"
She held up an UNO card, tilting it away from them- but a moment later, it seemed to... glow, and a faint, blue glow reflected onto Weimar's face as she laughed, "See? So people who can light manipulate better, because they were better people, can kinda cheat and see what colors other people have, and weaponize that, and freaking slay at UNO!!!!!"
GE rolled his eyes, grumbling slightly- he certainly didn't have a halo.
Russia tilted his head, "Wait... do- do I have a halo..?" He asked hesitantly.
Weimar paused, "Honey- you have an entire freaking set of angel wings, why would you not ha-?"
"ANGEL WINGS???????"
Weimar smiled, "Russia- have you looked in a mirror recently?"
"No!" Russia screeched, "I just died, like- twenty minutes ago!"
"Fair- well, anyways, there's one-" She grabbed his hand, and pulled him up from his chair, leading him to one of the halls decorated with elaborate, shining silver mirrors, "-here."
Russia froze- There was Weimar besides him, Weimar wearing a tan leather jacket, and small dress, and adorable pair of boots, and a little halo above her head, Weimar, his mother, who was perfect and beautiful and kind and caring and sometimes terrifying-
And there was him. But... Russia was... different. He had a pale blue halo- and a pair of wings. They were white, and shining, and sleek, and beautiful, and just the sight of them made Russia want to cry-
"Oh my God..." He whispered softly, folding his wings besides him- they moved like his arms and legs- just a single thought, he simply willed them to move, and they did-
He tilted them, spread them- just... stared at them. Slowly, from behind, GE joined them with his dark aura, that seemed to clash so much with Russia and Weimar-
"They're good wings. They suit you." GE finally said, gazing at their reflections- Russia and Weimar, seemingly small and soft and bright and innocent and beautiful- and himself, a dark, hulking monster in the background-
Weimar turned back, smiling weakly, gaze studying GE for a moment, before grabbing his hand, "C'mon. Let's play UNO."
And they did.
Everything was going smoothly, until GE made the jerk move of tossing a +4 at Russia- one that he couldn't stack- and he was forced to grab four new cards. Luckily... one of them was a Wild card....
The color had switched to yellow, and after Weimar and GE made their turns- Russia placed down the Wild card.
"What's the color?" GE asked in a bored voice.
Russia paused- before smirking lightly, folding his angel wings neatly by his side and tilting his head, practically glowing with light- and he wasn't the only thing glowing- a moment later, as he simply... willed them to- GE's neatly fanned out, and hidden cards lit up- revealing a deck of yellows and reds.
Russia leaned back with a grin, "The color is blue-"
GE rolled his eyes, "Good grief... I hate this game..."
"Awwwww- come on Dad-" Weimar patted him gently on the hand, "Maybe we can ask UN to let us get Monopoly!" She suggested as she placed down a blue four-
GE sighed, moving to the deck and picking through it, eyes narrowing at the apparent non-existence of any blue cards.
Russia smiles, watching GE's deck grow ever bigger- then... it struck him. Everything he'd done in life, everything he'd ever worked for- was it really just for this? To win a game of glowy UNO?
... If so... totally worth it-