Prologue (1): Nine Worlds And New Beginning

In the endless void, where the most primordial of the elements roamed without any control, the Chaos or The Ginnungagap [1], there sprouted a seed.

From the ashes made by the endless fire & cold, it grew. Spreading its roots, it drew in the nine worlds.

A being, not a male nor a female, was born, known as Ymir or The First One.

After that, lives multiplied from his children and the nine worlds flourished. There were times of peace, chaos, war, grief and many more eras that passed as all the lifelings progressed. Eventually, they even slayed Ymir and forged the Midgard.

The worlds were then divided amongst the people. Creating invisible walls and discontent between them.

The proud and mighty Aesir, who took Asgard, crowning themselves as the apex and leaders of the Nine Worlds.

The beautiful and wise Light Elves, took Alfheim, as they their forests and nature.

The wise and peaceful Vanir, took Vanaheim, away from the chaos after their defeat against the Aesir.

The wondrous and adaptive Humans, were given Midgard, forged from Ymir's flesh.

The humongous and majestic Giants, took Jotunheim, keeping the memories and legacy of The Ymir.

The dexterous and creative Dwarves, took Nidavellir, sharing it with the like-minded Dark Elves.

The chaotic and warmongering Fire Giants, took Muspelheim, along with Surtr and his forces of chaos, where they appreciated their strength.

Finally, the lowest of them all, coldest and most desolate of them all, Niflheim; and then rules Hel, in her realm of dead, Helheim, where the cowardly and dishonorable souls gather after death.

Such was the diversity within the Nine Worlds. For they, never stagnated. They never stopped. Even the mighty Ymir couldn't stop what was to come. Because change and time were mightiest of them all.

Even in the face of Ragnarok,

Aesir still showed their might,

Elves still tended their forests,

Vanir still preached their wisdom,

Humans still created wondrous feats,

Giants still moved forward with their resilience,

The Dwarves and Dark Elves, forged on weapons shields fitting the heroes,

Forces of Surtr still warred on,

And Hel kept the dishonorable and cowardly souls in her army for the reasons unknown.

But, no one was prepared for them.

How, when, why… No one knew. Even Surtr's chaos was no match. The might of Aesir too failed. No weapon of the Dwarves was useful. The wondrous Humans were beaten down. The forests of Elves were destroyed. Giants' resilience reached its limit. Vanir's wisdom had no records for such incidents. The last soul of Hel's mighty army was extinguished…

And the Yggdrasil exploded.

Within the millions if not billions fragments, was a seed. A seed that pulsated with life and vitality. Even in the midst of destruction, it showed a hope for new life.

But suddenly, they came, and their kind took the seed and disappeared in the endless Chaos.

…

The fragments were scattered around in the void after the explosion. It was a scary scene. But there was hint of life in every fragment, root, branch and leaf.

The fragments started coming back and joining and were forming a structure. It was as though someone was reversing time. But it was not so.

The new structure was a massive sphere that resembled Midgard, but it was bigger, hundreds of thousands of times; the old Nine worlds' fragments joined together and formed a continent, occupying 60% of its space.

The two extreme-opposite points on the continent, had an ocean between them.

Thus, the new world was formed, which was called as "Inguz"[2].

And the cycle started again.

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Note:

1. It simply means 'the void' or the 'in-between'.

2. It means "New Beginning" in Norse (alt. fertility).

Author: Shantanu Bondre. (ID: Sam0207)