Codex de Nocturnus Corvus

Act 1: Scene 1: The Labyrinth

Year: 2016

Location: Knossos, Crete:

There were tourists everywhere. Wandering among the stones, and ruins, of which the Greek islands are famous. Crete, however, was famous for a multitude of reasons. One, was of course  for it's ruins, another was its arid, yet temperate climate, and, of course, the local culture. Here, however... this was different. This particular locale was the ruins of Knossos, the capitol of ancient Crete and the rumored location of Minos' palace. The legend of Theseus, and how he heroically saved Athens by sailing to Crete, defeating the Minotaur, then sailing home... all took place here, in the ancient past... or that's the myth. Myths didn't make the world. At least, that was Nate Penn's approximation of things. He was a typical teen in appearance, tall, dark brown hair, silver eyes looking through a bored expression. He wore a simple T-shirt and cargo shorts. To be honest, his parents brought him here due to his appreciation for ancient warriors. Spartans fighting Athenians, and similar. Still... he had to keep up, so Nate followed his parents, mainly because he didn't want them to hurt themselves. These ruins were old, and his mother had fallen in a similar set of ruins at Pompeii... it was better to be safer than sorry. The city was a maze in its own right, but the brunette wasn't worried, mainly because he was a very good navigator. He could find his path anywhere, as long as he had landmarks, and knew their relative placement to other landmarks and places. But Nate wasn't thinking about that at the moment. How much longer before they say it's time to go? He checked his phone. Its cracked screen indicated the time to be 3:24 P.M. it's got to be soon. He walked to keep pace with his parents. When he caught up, he wished he hadn't. Their smiling faces and their frantic gestures indicated only one thing. Rolling his eyes at the request, he thought to himself: Ugh, more photographs? They have too many pictures of me already... 

They wanted him to stand on a bridge overlooking a gorge. The bridge was certainly gone, the location it went to lost to time. It merely went across a large chasm... the bottom of which couldn't be seen. A bridge to nowhere, and yet, a sense of trepidation permeated the young teen as he carefully stepped onto the rock that was the bridge. There was no reason to, as they hadn't blocked it off, and it wasn't like there wasn't a family taking  their picture on it right before him. The sounds of tourists were loud, but soon muffled as he heard a sound nobody wants to hear in his position. The rock cracked, shifting down a micrometer. Imperceptible, visually, to others, but it was something blatantly obvious to him, since he was standing on it. The look in his eyes turned from bored, to stressed, hopefully convincing his parents that this could be finished quickly. Unfortunately, they took their time, as Nate continued to stand there for a few precious moments as his father's phone clicked. Relieved, the boy was about to step off the platform when he felt the stone shudder once again. Through the ages, and the sheer amount of tourists before him eroding its strength... it was now, under the pressure of supporting him, that it failed. Shattering, it collapsed and he fell into the dark ravine, screaming the entire way. The last thing he saw was his mother calling to him, reaching down towards him, while his father pulled her back, horrified by the sudden change in events. Their forms faded the deeper he went...

Until there was nothing but the dark, and the feeling of weightlessness... until hitting the ground, hard.

Time passed, and only after a substantial amount of time did he stir. Head throbbing, Nate opened his eyes, scanning the environment. Nothing was visible in the darkness, at least nothing to human eyes. A previous biology class rang in his head, about how the eyes worked. Some animals had the ability to pick up on the faintest light, while humans traded specializing with night vision for being able to see all colors. Still... Nate needed a way to see, so he searched his pockets, and grabbed for his phone and turned on its flashlight. To be entirely honest, its light was weak, barely illuminating the environment. The darkness stopped the beacon only a foot, maybe a foot and a half away from him. Enough to see the walls immediately around him. The stonework immediately indicated that this was definitely manmade, instead of natural... which, of course, contrasted with the gorge he fell into. The walls were carved with ancient Greek symbolism. They told a story that he didn't have the frame of reference for... until he saw it. Much of the imagery featured bulls... but one showed the head of a bull on the body of a man. What the...  the Minotaur? Where am I? This can't be...  Just what did I fall into? Of the two paths to take... he decided to go left, down the corridor. No matter how far he walked, however, the dark was a constant. Time ticked by, mocking him through his phone's clock, reminding him that only hours passed when it felt like days... before he heard a girl scream. Whirling to face the noise, he shone his phone down the hall... but it barely penetrated the darkness. However, what did, was the sound of multiple footsteps running toward him. Akin to a stampede, the growing cacophony of noise... made him freeze. Everyone has a flight, fight or freeze response. It turned out, Nate's, apparently, was to stiffen, an not move. It's not like there was anywhere to hide, especially with the light. He paused, flashing the light down the hall. Whatever was coming would round the corner very soon. His heart thumped as he was paralyzed by the thunder of footsteps, the panting breaths, rushed towards him. Whatever was coming would round the corridor. However, the light soon revealed the face of a beautiful young woman. She was blonde, wearing square glasses, and a lab coat over her outfit. That was the only indication of her job. Still, she was not alone, as two younger girls, clearly related to the first, sprinted down the corridor, followed by two men, one far older than the other. This mismatched group clearly were exploring this place before him... and the fear on their faces indicated that they weren't alone.