RWBYKNIGHTS 2.0: Volume 1

Chapter 17: The Labyrinth

A door creaked open as a young child peered inside. At first, he found himself above a set of stairs overlooking a library, and as soon as he closed the door, he slowly began to walk down, careful not to let out a sound. His heartbeat was fast, he was nervous. Yet he continued.

The reason why he was entering a library this nervous was mainly because of three things. The words of his mom kept repeating behind his mind, not to mingle with any Faunus he came across, and he has always believed in his mother's words, that they were crooks and monsters, yet... His curiosity had gotten the better of him, as everyone around the neighbourhood had heard of a recently opened bookstore owned by a large scary Faunus. It was only a matter of time before the children began daring each other to enter the new bookstore, and he was the first to succumb to the taunts...

As the child reached the bottom of the stairs, he quickly realized how massive the bookstore was in comparison to the outside. Maybe it was thanks to the extra space as he knew he was below ground, maybe it was because he was still a child... But, as he once more scouted the area, he peered back up the flight of stairs, seeing the many eyes of the other children also peering in, all watching him.

Frankly speaking, the bookstore was clean, and brand new, with the walls and floor polished, with the only problem being that due to its size, the place was dimly lit, with shadows being cast over entire sections and corridors. It was unfortunately for that specific reason that his heart rate elevated even further, with a cold chill running down his back as he stared down the long winding corridors that seemed like it would never end...

He felt like he was in those stories, about the hero and the monster, both trapped in a labyrinth, fated to meet one way or another. Shivering at the thought, he calmed himself at the thought that he was the hero, a huntsman to be, and the hero always wins... but did they always win?

Suddenly, the wooden floor shook as the hanging lamps rattled. A footstep, the child quickly realized. Turning back to look at the entrance, he grimaces as he finds the door closed shut. His friends had abandoned him, he was all alone...

Moving once again, he sneaked through the hallways created from long, tall book-filled shelves, each path he took seemingly enough to fit three or five more of himself from feet to head. At first, he didn't think about anything of it all, it was just a library owned by a Faunus, yet... the more he snuck around, it terrified him nonetheless. 

.

.

.

The silence was unbearable. 

The only sound he heard was that of his small feet tapping onto the wood with each step as well as his breath.

Soon enough... The world around him shook once more. Another step. Stopping at a corner, he peered a crossroads of hallways, empty, and he continued onwards. Yet, as he did, he noticed something hanging above him, as the hallway he had entered was oddly dimmer than the rest, he looked up to only gasp at a terrifying sight. A massive halberd hung above him in sharp metal hooks. It was many times larger than himself, with each blade almost as tall as the boy's own height. He was already considered tall for a 10-year-old, how monstrous would a man be to wield such a weapon?

Then, again, the ground shook, then another, there was something else besides him in the bookstore, the monster in the labyrinth. He could feel it himself, they were getting closer, it was approaching. Yet, he persisted onwards, walking deeper, unknowing of how to escape the perilous predicament his dare, curiosity and now foolishness, had brought him into...

Until-

His movement stops altogether. He didn't understand what he was seeing. No. He couldn't see anything. The moment he turned a corner, it was like walking into a brick wall, but there was no wall, and there was nothing to see. Understandably confused and alarmed, he looked back to see the very library he had been walking the entire time, but returning his sights forwards...