The Legend of Niflheim

~First Niflheim story, I might turn this into a series. Depends on how well this one turns out.~ Most towns have spooky tales to tell. Niflheim has more than it's share of legends..

The Legend Of Niflheim

      Niflheim. A town named after its constant mists. From a distance, it would just look like a giant cloud. On the inside, however, is a big town bustling with trade. The only thing missing was sunlight. Nobody knows how or when the mists appeared, but nobody bothers to find out either. Curiosity can literally kill in Niflheim. 

The town was divided into five districts: Residential, Industrial, Educational, Market, and Federal. 30 years ago, the last king of Niflheim was assassinated. After that, the town adopted democracy, to prevent corruption. Over the course of 20 years, the plan backfired. The government began to realize how much power they really had. 

Somehow, they cut all elections, to keep themselves in power. People who took action against them were either killed or banished. To make sure nobody else could speak out against the government, the children of these families were sent to live in the industrial district to work in heavily guarded factories for their whole lives. One such child was only three when his parents were killed in front of him. Were it not for a few other children living in the same factory as him, only revenge and hatred would be in his heart. Children living in these factories have no names, only numbers. This child's number...is 14.

      "Another dream about them.." 14 brushed his dark-brown hair from his eyes as he stared at the pipes in the ceiling as he woke up. A few minutes passed, and he finally stood up. "Hey, he's alive!" 17 said in between bites of slop called food. 17...The self-proclaimed 'tough guy'. Short, spiky, jet-black hair. Built like a linebacker. His parents were banished when he was fifteen years old. Three years in the factory, and he became a sort of 'guardian' to 14. There was no doubt he was best suited for the job. "Yeah, unfortunately. One of these times I just wanna fall asleep and STAY asleep." 14 said as he picked up his hammer. "Another dream about your parents?" 12 said, just waking up herself. "Yeah...The same one." 14 leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling again. 12...shortish black hair and deep blue eyes.  She was like 14: she was torn from her family at young age. Nobody knows what happened to her parents, but she believes they are still alive, living in a better town. Her and 14 are both seventeen years old. They have stuck together ever since 14 was thrown into the factory. Since they were taken at a young age, they never needed emotions like love. Neither of them realizes how much they actually care about each other.

      14 thought back to his dream. It seemed so real. Every time he had this dream, it seemed to last a whole day. Most of it was him and his parents spending time together. It always seemed to end with him about to go to bed, no matter what he did to stop himself. It was like that part of his dream was on auto-pilot. He would get half-way up the stairs when the door would break down and 3 men would run in. The last thing he would hear is gun-shots, then darkness until he woke up.

      "Well," 17 said as he stood up, "Time to get to work. Don't wanna end up like 15." 15 was a kid who refused to work. All he did was sit around and complain about how he didn't deserve to be in the factory. It didn't last long. He had suddenly 'disappeared', but it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened to him.
      As everybody left the room, 14 stopped for a second to look around. He always did this every day, to find some sort of a way out. There was bound to be a hole or something in an old steel factory like this. And he had just found it. "Hey! 12! 17! Come here!" He almost yelled. They rushed back to see what 14 was so excited about. When they saw the hole, they almost shouted too. Nobody had ever escaped the factory. Most of the walls were supposed to be fixed, but most people didn't even know about this room, which is why the three were always in it. 

      "Step aside, kids. I'll show you what I can do." 17 said, making fists as he walked over to the hole. He was the kind of person to act first and think later, which made it surprising that he had never been injured on the job. 17 tried to break apart the wall by punching it, but ended up nearly breaking his hands instead. 12 just shook her head. "If we're gonna get out, you gotta try better than that." She said. 14 picked up the hammer, but as he was about to hit the wall with it, 12 kicked it in. Both guys were just standing in awe. 17's ego was nearly broken. He had always thought he was the strongest.

As soon as they saw the outside, they crawled out of the factory, careful to lean pieces of the wall against the hole. If any of the guards found it, all hell could break loose. The three looked around for patrols or something that could hinder their escape. There was nothing. "No security on the outside?" 14 said, amazed. "They aren't trying to keep people out," 12 said, "They're trying to keep people IN. They didn't plan for anyone to get out." 17 started running. "What are we waiting for, then?! Let's get out of here!" He yelled. 12 grabbed him before he ran off. "Be quiet! There may not be any patrols, but they could still hear you." She whispered. 14 walked ahead to see which way they should go. He spotted a group of houses. "There! Follow me!" With that, they ran to the residential district.

"So what now? Are we just going to break into someone's house and say "Hey, I escaped a factory, now I'm using your house."?" 17 said, thinking out loud. Before 12 could find an explanation, 14 stopped in his tracks. "14?" 12 started to get worried. "This..." 14 muttered, almost silently, "...This is my home." He recognized the house from his dreams. It had to be his family's house. The door was still broken, the way he remembered. The house seemed like it hadn't been touched since then. At least his parents' bodies weren't there anymore. 14 decided to rush into the house. "14, wait!" 12 almost yelled. "I have to find out who I am, 12. This may be my only chance!" 14 was done talking. He immediately ran to the room he remembered to be his own. Almost on instinct, he opened a box labeled 'Toys'. He dug through it but found nothing but old and broken toys. Except...There was a tape and a tape recorder at the bottom. He read the name on the tape. "Tius...Could that be me?" 14 couldn't wait. He put the tape in the recorder as fast as he could, but never did he imagine he would hear this:

'Tius...If you're listening to this you must have escaped the factory they sent you to. I also means your mother and I are gone. Silenced by the corrupt government. I hid this tape in your toy box because nobody would think to look in it. We wish things could have been different. But now is not the time for you to reminisce of what you can remember of us. No, you must bring the government down. You may think this is impossible, however, it is very possible. It is for this reason the guards are coming to end us, but they will not factor you in. Your mother and I have traveled all over the town, scattering information and items you will need to bring them down. This will not be easy, but I know you can do it. You have the Lionward blood flowing in your veins. You were born a fighter. The first piece you need is in Niflheim's last standing school building.You will find a cryptic message along with the item. You will know the item when you see it. Use your intuition to find it. Remember, this is not a normal government you are dealing with. They may not even seem completely human anymore. Good luck---THEY'RE COMING! TIUS, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, DO NOT GIVE UP! We love you...goodbye. ..CLICK..

"Mom...Dad..." 14...Tius...Couldn't believe it. "You knew this would happen.." His emotions finally caught up with him. They all came out at once. 12 put her hand on Tius' shoulder to comfort him. 17 couldn't bear just standing around. "What are we waiting for?! We got places to go!" He yelled. Tius' head shot up. "No. I can't get you two involved in this. I need to-" 12 cut him off with a hug. "You can't get rid of us that easy." She said. "Besides...You'd fall apart without us." She said jokingly. "We've stuck together this long," 17 said, "We aren't gonna just stop now, when you really need us. Besides that, we really don't have any other choice." Tius stood up, finding his strong resolve. "17, you're the only one who can really remember life before the factory. Do you know where the old school is?" Tius said as they started to walk out of the room. "Of course, I used to walk around it all the time. By the way.." 17 paused. "You can stop calling me 17. We aren't in the factory anymore, and I CAN remember my name. Call me Shaun." He said. All this talk about the past made 12 remember her name too. "Same with me. Call me Sera." She said, proudly. Tius chuckled. "Well...Shaun...Sera...Let's go!" And off they went towards the last standing school.

They stood at the entrance to the school; the doors nearly falling off. "Tius, this place scares me." Sera said, hiding behind Tius. "It's ok, just stay close to me." Tius said, the words just coming to him naturally. Although Tius and Sera couldn't see it, Shaun saw it clear as day. "They wouldn't know what to do without each other." He thought to himself. The three walk into the school and all of them instantly feel a rush of cold air, as if a fan had been suddenly turned on. "Ok, so..." Shaun started, "What are we looking for?" Tius stopped to think. "I don't know. My dad said I would know it when I see it." He said. "So we're going around a creepy building looking for an item that could be anyTHING or anyWHERE?" Shaun asked. Tius chuckled. "Cmon, big guy you aren't scared, are you?" Shaun just looked up at the ceiling, frustrated, but he saw something that made him go from bright red, to pale white. 

"What the hell is that thing?!" He whispered. There was a dark figure crawling on the ceiling, completely unaware that anyone was below it. It looked like a sort of shadow with a tail-like trail behind it. "Ok, stay quiet, I don't think it hea-." Sera saw it and screamed, alerting the shadow and a few others that were lurking in the darkness. As the shadowy beings moved towards the three, they changed form into dark beasts. Shaun and Tius were completely caught off guard on one side, they didn't even notice on started to drag Sera away, until Tius heard her muffled cries. "Sera!!" Tius charged at the beast and punched it as hard as he could. Sera fell to the ground and the beast disappeared. "Are you ok?" He asked. Sera was barely conscious. "I'm...fine." She blacked out. "This is bad. Shaun, you ok?!" Tius called out. Shaun was fighting off the beasts around them. "Don't worry about me, take Sera and find the thing already!" Shaun could hold his own, but how long could he last against these beasts?

Tius picked up Sera and ran up the stairs where it was quiet. He stood still for a second to remember his father's words: 'Use your intuition to find it....' He closed his eyes for a few seconds and focused..."THERE!" He ran towards a room and kicked the door open. At the front of the room was a box. This had to be it. Tius set Sera down on a chair and opened the box. On top there were two guns. "Heh...thanks dad, you know me better than I do myself." A few seconds later, Shaun ran up into the room. "WE GOT TROUBLE!" He yelled. There were more beasts moving towards the room. Tius ran outside the room and held the pistols up. The creatures seemed to back away when he held them up. "Heheh...Scared? Well, too bad. I'm out of mercy!" Tius' hands glowed as he shot at the beasts and light came out of the guns. It first hit the beasts, then went through the whole school. "What?" Tius was shocked. He had never heard of guns that shot light. After a few seconds, he passed out.

When he woke up, Sera was standing above him, looking worried. Tius sat up and held his head. "Tius, you're awake!" Sera held him in a tight embrace. Shaun looked up from reading a book he found on a desk. "Welcome back. What happened out there?" Tius took a second to remember what happened before he passed out. "Well, I guess the school is safe now...But when I went to shoot them, my hands...started to glow. Then light shot out of the guns. That's all I remember." Shaun didn't seem surprised. "Well, with what we just went through, I guess it's believable. Hey, there's more stuff in this box." 

Tius got up and looked in the box. There were two identical knives and a katana. There was also the encrypted message Tius' father had mentioned. "Well, I guess we should divide these." Tius said. Shaun spoke up immediately "I CALL THE NINJA SWORD!" He picked up the sword and went over to an old desk. He focused on the desk and sliced it three times. It wasn't until he put the sword back in the sheathe that the desk fell apart. "Sweeeet." He seemed satisfied. Tius looked over at Sera. "That leaves the knives for you then." Sera picked up the knives in their sheathes and put them in her pockets. It seemed right for her to have the small weapons since she was the fastest.

"As for this message...I'm gonna need some time to figure out what this means. Guess we gotta camp in here for a while then." 

END...?

Author's Note

For anyone that didn't understand: '14'(Tius) and '12'(Sera) are both seventeen years old, and '17'(Shaun) is eighteen years old.

Sorry the intro was so long, I had to explain the back-story of Niflheim and the main characters. Now that it's out of the way, any future Niflheim stories I write will go straight into it.
If I do write more, any ideas or changes I should make?

Reviews

[Kent Clark]

Dude, I love the changes you made ;D This is so epic! It's like KH meets DMC meets Silent Hill. More! I must have MORE!

[Noctis Lionward]

Lol thanks man

[Kent Clark]

Just speaking the truth, bro ;D

[Kent Clark]

This is great, bro! Sure to win the contest when you're done with it ;D