Enter the Night
Welcome readers, to the prologue of my second series, Enter the Night. This took me quite some time to write, but the idea to expand on the RWBY universe using the characters from my first story has been with me for quite some time.
In this story, I anticipate readers to hate the main character, he IS a villain. Either way, I plan on this going on for about 10 chapters, since this will focus on the main character's rise to crime and the training he will go through for years. Depending on whether you all prefer me to keep these stories separate once they both reach the same point in time is up to you.
Without further ado, I present Enter the Night, starring Lance Marulius.
-M
Prologue
"Pain from the past is what drives us to action in the future"
Lance awoke to smoke enveloping his room as he rose from slumber. Rushing out of his bed and putting clothes on, Lance rushed to the door and opened it, seeing that the smoke that choked his lungs had suffocated the entire house. Looking down the stairs, Lance was horrified of the flames coming from the living room.
The door across from his room opened to show his mother and father, frantically looking around. The father noticed Lance standing in the hallway.
"Lance, thank god you're up. We have to get out now, the house is burning!"
"Why daddy?"
"I don't know, let's just get out of here!"
Gathering together, the family rushed downstairs as best they could before nearing the front door. The flames continued to spread throughout the first floor and boards from the ceiling began to crumble down. Lance's father opened the door with speed, only to be caught with the sight of an angry mob holding torches and guns.
"Shannon, take Lance out-"
Before he could finish, Lance's father was shot square in the head by an unknown person in the crowd. Shannon, Lance's mother, screamed and pulled Lance back as more bullets flew by them. Retreating to the kitchen which lay in the back of the house, the two opened the back door and ran towards the forest.
Lance was crying the whole time, barely keeping pace as his mother pulled him along. Continuing to run, the frightened young Lance lost track of his mother as he pushed through the undergrowth of the forest, and did not stop until he could barely breathe.
Lying on the ground, Lance attempted to catch his breath, and looked around for his mother.
"Mommy? Mommy?"
Not finding any trace of her, Lance backpedaled to the edge of the forest where the house now fell in on itself, becoming a glorified pyre of flame. Not daring to leave the bushes, Lance tearfully looked around the yard to notice the crowd cheering over the fallen body of his mother, shot in the back while running.
"Revenge…How does it feel worthless humans…Burn one of ours we burn one of yours…Justice"
All of the chants that emanated from the mob continued on as they moved away from the body to look at the flaming ruins. Lance tried his best to keep quiet, still weeping and in shock of what happened in a span of ten minutes. Wiping his eyes and glaring back at the mob, Lance could only see the silhouettes of Fauna, sporting tails, ears, and other animal appendages.
These people…these monsters that stole everything precious to him. The Faunus were the ones who murdered his family in cold blood, this Lance would not forget. As the night dragged on, the crowd left as the police arrived from the nearby town to investigate the scene. Lance made no attempt to move from his spot, and instead lied on the ground, and cried himself to sleep.
Two Years Later:
Vale Streets (Present Day)
To Lance it felt like he had been stealing and pick-pocketing for days, in reality he had been at it for over an hour. It had been two years since the fire that burned his home down, and Lance at the age of 14 was still on the street. Not having any family to return to, Lance left the town he live near and journeyed for a day to the bustling city of Vale.
It was here Lance took shelter, if you could call it that, finding an abandoned alley dugout attached to the side of an abandoned building. Using this as his home base, Lance would go out every other day stealing food or money and returning back to his "home" to rest.
Today was one of his scavenging days, and after a couple years of this, Lance had quite the talent for not getting caught. Lance moved around the marketplace slithering like a snake underneath the stalls. Looking up to make sure no one was witness to his crimes, Lance snatched an apple from a vendor cart while the owner was talking to a customer.
Scurrying out of the stall area, Lance sat down and began to tear through the apple. He knew he needed more food after this, he had trouble recently finding food that he could get away with, and it showed as his body reached the point of being skinny beyond all belief. BY now his hair had gone from a dirty blonde to scraggly, mud-covered blonde accompanied by brown eyes. Covering his body, Lance had on a torn up pair of shorts, and a navy blue shirt (he recently beat a Faunus unconscious for it). Shoes were rare to come by, and after going for so long without a pair, Lance figured he wouldn't waste the energy on them.
Finished with his apple, Lance got up and began the walk back to his hideout. Upon reaching his home, Lance took a nap.
*Grumble*
Or so he thought. Getting up from the makeshift bed he made out of a thrown out rug and several blankets, Lance sighed.
"Goddammit…"
It was night time after several hours of finding nothing to eat. Even the people around the area were too aware of what was going on to be able to pick-pocket without getting caught. Growing desperate, Lance continued to search until he laid eyes upon a well-dressed man in a white suit. He had orange hair and a black bowler hat, carrying a cane as he strolled down the street ahead of him.
This man caught Lance's attention for the sole fact of money. Everything about him shouted cash, and if he could just grab his wallet…
Lance walked out of the alley behind Roman who seemed oblivious to his surroundings as he hummed a tune. Walking in pace with Roman, Lance knew that he would get caught if Roman kept walking, even he wasn't that good. Finally, Roman's phone rang, and he stopped to pick it up. This was his chance!
"Bingo…"
Reaching into his pocket, Lance found some paper Lien and was in the process of fishing it out when Roman turned around, and looked down to see the child trying to steal from him.
"Hold that thought, I'll have to call you back. Well, what do we have here? A little rascal trying to steal from an innocent citizen."
Roman held on tight to Lance as he struggled to get free from his grasp.
"Let me go!"
"I don't think so, kid. All I have to do is call the police and they will pick you up in an instant."
Lance stopped squirming realizing the futility in doing so. Roman smirked.
"That's better. Now, why were you trying to steal from me?"
"Needed money for food…"
"Hmm, food you say? Why not go home to mommy or daddy and get some there?"
Lance was quiet as he looked at the ground.
"Ahhh, I see. No parents in the picture."
Roman still held tight to Lance thinking to himself. Making a decision, Roman spoke again.
"What's your name?"
"L..Lance Marulius."
"Alright Lance, how about I take you back to my place for some food."
"Seriously? Knowing I was stealing from you and you still offer me food? This has gotta be a trick."
"Well it isn't! Out of the kindness of my heart I want to give you something to eat. So walk with me or not, it's your choice."
At this moment, Lance's stomach once again growled ferociously, almost making the decision for him.
"Fine…"
For about fifteen minutes the two walked, while Roman talked to Lance. Surprisingly, Roman was giving him some tips to be a better thief, at which Lance immediately caught interest in. At that point the two began to converse quite a bit, Lance even opened up about his past and experience with the Faunus. Finally, the two reached a warehouse by the harbor.
Walking inside, Roman took Lance to a kitchen area and handed him some microwaveable meals.
"There ya go, eat up."
Lance did as he was told, heating up the food and devouring it. Roman was quite impressed with his eating skills to say the least, but there was something more that Roman wanted to know about.
"So Lance, you said you don't like Faunus right?"
"That is correct, after what they did to me and my family, I would hunt every one of them down if I could…"
"Okay! Sheesh, that's pretty dark. But I like your style! Listen, I can see you are going through a rough time, and I'm willing to help even more."
"Go on," Lance questioningly spoke.
"What if I were to train you to take revenge on those who wronged you? Give you're the power to fight your enemies and become rich as can be! Forget leaving in a shitty alley, and go to the grandeur of your own mansion with the riches of others. I'll be honest with ya, I'm not a barista at DustBucks or a cashier at Lacy's, because jobs like that get you nowhere in life. Just like you, I steal from others to SURVIVE! That's how I got all of this! My point is…I want to help you live a better life, and most importantly, take justice for your parents. Together, we can achieve both of our goals, and you will live like a king! So, you in?"
Lance was stunned to say the least, from listening to Roman earlier; he figured he may have been into some illegal activities, but to get this huge warehouse full of food, furniture, appliances, cars, and everything else, just by doing whatever he wanted to do. No laws could hold him down, just like Lance. Thinking back to the night he watched his father killed, and the crowd of Faunus cheering around his mother's body, Lance almost shook with fury at those who ruined him. If Roman could honestly provide all of the training needed to exact revenge and live the comforted life, than it was worth it.
"Alright Roman, you have yourself a deal."
Inside Romans head, he was jumping around for joy at this opportunity. Granted, he was contemplating kicking the shit out of the kid for trying to steal from him, but Roman gave him credit where it was due. What he attempted was ballsy, and Roman knows true potential when he sees one.
"Excellent Lance, this is great! Rest up, and find a place to crash for the night, because tomorrow we are going to train like there's no tomorrow!"
Roman walked away laughing maniacally as Lance stood there not really sure what to do. Wandering around, Lance found a room with a bed and several other amenities. Having nothing with him, Lance fell into the bed, shut the light out, and fell asleep.
It was the first time in a long time that Lance slept peacefully, and if he had anything to do with it, this wouldn't be his last.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading the prologue to my new series, I truly appreciate it! If you haven't already, I have another story that will correlate with this one that tells the trials and tribulations of my OC team MRCY (Mercury)! Please review, follow, or favorite if you enjoyed. If not, then just leave me a review telling me what I can improve on, anything helps really. Next chapter will be beginning of training with Roman, so check in then as Lance Marulius becomes the Dark Sorcerer!