In the beginning, there was nothing but darkness. There was only a realm of fire, Muspelheim, and a cold land hidden inside the depths of the gaping dark. First to be born was the jotun, Magt. Alongside him came a cow, born of the cold, and she nurtured Magt into a strong, fine Jotun king. Later, a wife to the Jotun descended from the flames who became his wife. They bore 3 sons, Odin, Vili, and Vé. They were not fond of their father to say the least, as he was to cold and distant, and he paid no attention to his sons. Instead, he had more children; trolls, and goblins, who bullied and terrorized Odin and his brothers. The trolls were only as big as the toes of their father, and the goblins did not even reach the height of Odin. But, they felt superiority to the brothers who took after their mother’s beauty, and did not inherit their father’s ugliness.

Their father discriminated the most against them, for in the cold land that would be dubbed Jotunland strength was only valued. As such, Odin trained for days, backed up by Vili and Vé. They practiced with spears, swords, and axes every day and hour of their youth, until they could defeat the strongest goblins and trolls. To reward them, Magt gave each a sword made of the strongest ore, Titanum. Little did Magt know that his sons were already plotting to overthrow him and his vile kin. Aided by their mother, Yggdrasil, they fought their father for days on end, until finally demolishing him and his forces. To create a new world, they took the body of their ancestor and hung it in the sky, where midgard was created. His head was hung to make stars, with 1 eye the sun, and the other the moon.

Following this, Odin’s family grew greatly, with the addition of his blood brother Loki, his son Balder, and Vili’s son Tyr. Odin had married the fair jotun, Frigg after the defeat of Magt. Each of Odin’s brothers took on a Jotun wife, who were as beautiful as the Jotuns were ugly. Loki, and his children Hel and Fenrir oversaw the balance of life. Hel was the goddess of death of sickness and old age, whereas Fenrir was the god of retribution. Tyr created the Valkyries, women who guided the souls of valiant men into Valhalla, where they could live again a heavenly life of combat and good food. Balder created the elves and humans, who then populated Midgard. He became the patron god of both races. Vé, who decided to have no children, instead created the dwarves, who were great craftsmen as well as warriors. After the dwarves came into existence, they gave Odin the spear Gungnir, which allowed him to assert his power over all of Midgard. The other races were careful around dwarves, as Seeing the birth of this realm, Odin created Asgard, which was held up in the clouds by Yggdrasil. Niddhogg, the great black dragon became the gatekeeper to the rainbow path that lead up to Asgard, which later became known as the stairway to heaven. Satisfied with their work, the gods withdrew from Midgard. But, Odin always visited in the form of a wise old traveller to see the happenings of the plane. He kept on the lookout for the Jotuns, for the gods were mortal too.

Man is characterized by his actions, and the memories he creates, for they are what live on when he dies.

Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson

Centuries passed, with kingdoms being erected and falling to war and destruction. After thousands more, the realm finally achieved stability, with four empires created. First, the Empire of Humans, Cartassia, next, the Empire of Elves, Cartund, after that the kingdom of the dwarves, Titanland, and lastly in the north, the Empire of the Jotuns, Jotunland.

In the town of Sturluson, in the empire of Cartassia, a baby crying was heard in front of an orphanage, lying atop the body of a frostbitten, and dead mother. A nun opened up the door, visually distraught by the sight, and took the baby into her arms. Her face turned a shade of white rivaling the snow on the ground.

“Don’t worry, little one,” She said, “I’ll take care of you in the place of your mother.”

That baby was me, and I grew up in the orphanage surrounded by other displaced and depressed children. At the age of 3, I was bullied relentlessly, with kids who locked me in closets, and others who harassed me verbally. One key moment I could remember was when I was 5, where I was thrown headfirst into the frozen lake in back of the orphanage. They went as far as to dig a hole straight through the ice, but were caught in the end by the nun, Elsa. By the way, now I am eight years old, and I still have a lot of things to look forward to. I woke up in my musty mattress, surrounded by the usual mildewed rags that were called blankets. My bedmate, Vince poked his head out from above the top bunk.

“Hey Nidd,” he called, “Wake UP!”, he shouted. Grumbling, I turned over, however only after he jumped down. If I had turned in the other direction, I would have seen the playful punch coming my way.

*TWONK*

It hit me straight across the back of my head.

“Okay, okay,” I mumbled, finally managing enough strength to leave the covers that held me captive. I picked myself up, and slipped on a wool shirt along with matted fur trousers. I completed the outfit with the century old leathers that the other boys called shoes. I followed Vince out into the assembly hall, my shoulder length black hair clearly bedraggled. Lonce, a twelve year old smirked at me as I tried to take a seat on the wood bench directly in front of the podium. He and his goons began kicking my back, but to no avail as Elsa had already stood up on the podium in front of the children. She took a deep breath, saying,

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“As most know, today will be the testing day for children aged eight and above. Those who are unsuccessful in finding an academy representative to find them, will then need to wait until they are 12 for a trade. Any questions?”

Lonce laughed, and quickly asked,

“What if you are like Nidd, and probably won’t find a trade or academy, Miss Elsa?”

Elsa, with a heart of gold, was unable to notice the animosity coming from him towards me. She smiled at Lonce, and said,

“Then I’m afraid will need to leave the orphanage when you are 16. But don’t worry about that Lonce, I’m sure that any trade will want you.”

I grimaced, and quickly turned my head downwards. It was well known that I was unable to do anything in the orphanage, much less a trade. After waiting for about an hour, a single file line of wizened old men lined up in the podium in multicoloured robes, ostentatious enough to show that they had money. They smiled down at the children, and quickly got to work. The man in the red robe smiled kindly at the crowd, and with a croak said,

“Children of eight years, form a line to the right of the podium. When we tell you to, put your hand on this crystal,” He held up a faceted clear gem, with a red marking in the center. “It will show a bow, a sword, or a mage staff. If it has none, well, then you are out of luck.” All of the 8 year olds lined up as directed. I was shunned to the back of the line along with Vince. I saw a plethora of symbols projected at the ceiling, reappearing and disappearing until it was my turn. They created a colourful distraction against the monotony grey of the walls. I felt my face flush as I walked up while my hands tapped nervously on my hips. Taking a deep breath of air, I turned towards the red robed man.

“Just place your hand on the crystal, young one. Don’t be afraid,” He whispered gently towards me, the creases by his eyes showing. Hesitantly, I finally obeyed. To my disappointment, and to the other orphans amusement it remained a dull colour. Vince was the only one who did not laugh among the younger boys. My eyes turned a faint red as I stumbled to his side. Tears fell like an overdue raincloud, and I could physically feel embarrassment.

“Don’t worry Nidd, I’m sure you will be good at a trade!” Vincent said enthusiastically.

“Yeah, but you got the bow. I’m sure you’ll do well Vince,” I replied. He patted me on the back, and followed me back into our room.

“I wonder what it’ll be like,” I said to him.

“What do you mean, like what?” He asked back.

“You know, going away from the orphanage.”

Vince chuckled at me.

“We can’t stay here forever Nidd. Someday you will leave as well, and when that comes I pray to Balder that we will be reunited,” He said, with a wild expression. I turned over, and fell asleep. The next day, Vince packed his belongings into a sturdy leather satchel in the morning. He interrupted my sleep while shaking me awake.

“Goodbye Nidd,” he whispered softly.

“Don’t go Vince!” I sobbed, “Who will protect me from the other boys?”

“You will,” Vince said, his eyebrows creasing. “Just train yourself, and get stronger. 1 year of suffering with training is better than 4 more years, right?”

He patted my head, and turned to the door, stepping softly to not wake up the boys in the other rooms. He left, leaving me crying into my pillow, veritably drowning in my sleep. Time went on, and following Vince’s advice I trained and trained, doing pullups on the bunk bed along with situps and pushups on the floor. Of course, the bullying had gotten worse. After a month of training it started to show, with my arms transforming from string beans into hearty muscle. Today, I woke up with a smile and went to the hall for breakfast. There, I could see Lonce already beginning to plot our next torture session.

“Hello Nothing-Nidd, what are you thinking of doing?” Lonce talked, with a gleam in his eye. I simply shook my head and got my serving of apple oatmeal.

“Huh? Little bitch? You know that is what little bitches do, cry and ignore their betters,” he taunted, while shoving his hands into my collar. I put my hands on his wrists, and tried to push them away. Of course, with the 4 year difference between us there was little I could do. I felt tears drop onto my cheeks, which threatened to turn into a salty tempest.

“Cry more you bitch Nidd, cry more.” He raised his hand into a fist, and proceeded to beat my head into the bench. I looked around for Elsa, but little did I know she had gone on an excursion to buy more food.

“Elsa is gone Nothing-Nidd, so don’t try to make it stop. It’s not like she would believe you anyways. He punched my nose until it cracked in a 90 degree angle, and then hit my jaw till my lip was swollen with blood. I cried throughout the beating, hoping to return to my room, To where Vince would have protected me. He pushed me to the floor, satisfied with his sadistic pursuit. I half stumbled, half crawled back into my room, where I collapsed into my bed. When my nose felt numb, I snapped it back to where it was before the beating, creating a slightly crooked effect. Of course, this made it feel worse. ‘It will get better, It will get better’, I cried to myself. After that day, Lonce and his goons were carted off to the barracks to train, to do some good as Elsa said. After they left, the bullying lightened up, leaving me to my strengthening cultivation and a peace of mind. Years passed, until the eve of the trade choosing was around the corner.