Monsters and Men (Discontinued - Re-writing)

It all started with a book

Oikawa blew the dust from yet another tomb from the shelf and looked at the front cover before placing it back. He repeated this several times before finding one that had a promising title, and climbed down the ladder back to the table. Bokuto had his forehead pressed flat against pages of an open book and let out a whine. 

"We have been in here for two days. I am so bored."

"Yes well, we don't know anything beyond our names, including where we even are, it's full moon and there's a werewolf outside. What exactly would you like to do instead?" Snaps Oikawa aggressively.

"I know, I know!" Exclaims Bokuto. 

Bokuto snapped the book shut and threw it behind him, getting up to go get another. Oikawa sighed and carried on reading. He could understand Bokuto's frustration, they had both woken up a week ago in a place that looked like literal hell, with no idea how they got there or who they were. 

They had explored the area, only to find sheer cliff faces, and an underground network of rooms. This is where they had found Kuroo, who seemed to know exactly who he was. This would have been useful, if it wasn't for the fact protruding from his black messy hair were two wolf ears, and he had a tail. He however seemed harmless enough. On the second day they had found a demon that called himself Hinata, he warned them that on a full moon Kuroo transforms into his true wolf form and would have no control over his body. The demon lifted his shirt to show deep scars from long claws, and whilst the demon didn't seem to be able to be killed, the two humans knew very well they could.

Neither Oikawa nor Bokuto had any memories prior to a week ago, and other than starting counting the days and finding this crypt full of dusty books, they had achieved little to no progress. That is if you don't count finding a locked door that according to Hinata is the only way out. So here they are on day seven, barricaded into this tiny pocket of hell while a true wolf smashes against the door. 

Oikawa watched Bokuto pulling random books from shelves, flicking through them briefly and tossing them in a haphazard pile behind him. Oikawa shook his head and shut the book he had been reading, deciding to try the 'Bokuto approach' and pulling random books off the shelf. After a while he yawned heavily. 

"Go get some sleep, I'll keep watch." Bokuto called to him. 

Oikawa nodded and headed towards the bundle of blankets scattered on the floor that they had found on the first day. He lay down and attempted to drift off to sleep, thankful that Kuroo had stopped trying to get to them for a while, presumably to go and attempt to kill Hinata again. 

Oikawa was skeptical in his thoughts about the creature, so far Hinata had done nothing but try and help them, but his very being seemed to want to cause chaos. He assumed that Hinata thought his only chance to escape this prison was with the two humans, and Oikawa wondered how he would change if they ever did get out of this place. At least the full moon was over tomorrow and Kuroo would be back to his somewhat human form. Oikawa's thoughts stayed on the world of monsters and men as he drifted off to sleep. 

---

Oikawa was shaken awake by a sleepy looking Bokuto, and pulled himself up off the blankets to let Bokuto sleep. He took a drag from a water bottle and looked around the room again. There had to be over a thousand books in this room alone, and there was steps down to a lower room with even more. Oikawa took one of the torches off the wall and headed downstairs, continuing the 'Bokuto approach' of pulling books off the walls and flipping through them. 

After maybe sixty books, one caught his eye, with a deep green cover and black text in an elegant script across the front 'The Garden'. He flopped down on the stone floor and opened the first page:

In order to understand the creation of The Garden, one must start at the beginning. At the start of the age of Elements, the world only had the realms of Fire and Ice. As the Fire spread over Ice it melted the ice, turning it into gas and created the realm of Air. As the Ice spread over the Fire it solidified it, creating the realm of Earth. 

The second age, Creation, had begun. From the realm of Ice came the cold blooded race of Werewolves, that roamed the frozen wasteland. From the realm of Fire came the race of Demons, mischievous trouble makers. From the Earth realm came the blood sucking race of Vampires. And finally from the realm of Air came the race of Angels, who's role was to painstakingly try and undo the destruction caused by the rest. 

The creatures battled one another, with a blood feud that resulted in The Great War. The result was only a handful of each of the races left. To this day, no one knows what had triggered the third age to start, the age of The Garden. Three significant things happened on the day of the Great War. 

1) All the remaining creatures were scattered across the lands, they were frozen in time.

2) The Garden appeared, a beautiful expanse of land, that combined the four elements in harmony. 

3) A Prophecy appeared, stating that at the start of the fourth age, the Age of Humans, eight humans would be transported to the land, time would unfreeze and if all eight humans could reunite in The Garden before time ran out, the world would be saved. If not, everyone in the world would die. 

Below the text there was a sketch of a beautiful garden, and in the center, as part of a large water fountain, was a giant hour glass, with all its sand at the top. Oikawa stared at the page, re-read the Prophecy, and then bolted for the stairs, yelling Bokuto's name.