Title: The Prince of Rose Kingdom
Author: imaginary_witness
Pairings: Eruri
Characters: Levi, Erwin Smith, Miche Zacharius, Hanji Zoe, Flagon, Isabella Magnolia, Furlan Church, Carla Jaeger, Grisha Jaeger, Eren Jaeger, Dita Ness, Judd, Isle, Zackly
Original Characters: Carolina, Lana Zackly, Len Zackly, Elaina Smith,
Ratings: R/NC17+
Warnings: Violence/Gore, Sex.
Genre: Alt. Universe - Fairy Tale. Dark, Angst, Fantasy, Romance, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Suspense, Tragedy.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story: living (or passed) human beings or fictional characters. These events never happened, according to history or as the original author intended them. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to offend. For entertainment purposes only. Thanks.

Author's Notes: Because Eruri deserves a magical fairy tale.


Chapter 1: March, 9th

It was quiet inside the carriage. All that could be heard was the creak of the wooden wheels and the sound of the four horses trotting along. Outside one of the horses huffed. A bird sang. The carriage continued on. The right-hand wheels sunk and pulled out of another deep puddle, causing the driver of the carriage to snap the reigns outside.

The sunlight that escaped through the leaves of the trees was filtered to a pale yellow that drifted through the carriage's windows. Pastel blue cheesecloth curtained the glass, and kept the three occupants of the carriage masked from the outside's view.

Two were fast asleep, both leaning against the other in their slumber. The third was wide awake, holding the curtain away from the window just enough to press his head against the carriage wall and watch the outside world pass by. His companions and him had watched the city turn into the village, the village turn into the fields, and the fields turn into the dense growth of the forest. The others had fallen asleep as they entered the forest, the trees blocking the sunlight and making it seem as though night had descended. That was several hours ago. Now the young boy watched as the path twisted, round and round, winding through the forest. He wondered vaguely how much longer their journey was, as they had been in the carriage for several days now driving onwards to some unseen end.

The girl moved, the deep puddle disturbing her. She pushed her brother's head off her shoulder, then straightened up in her seat and smoothed the skirt of her elaborate, pink lace dress.

"Oh, I just can't stop thinking about him." she mumbled, then swept a wayward strand of hair off her face.

The boy attempted to give her a smile, but only half of his lips twisted up and his eyes were empty of emotion. She turned away.

"Don't you have any food? I'm hungry, Levi."

"Food?" the second boy asked. He opened his eyes, then moved to sit up straight as well. "I want some food too." He gave Levi a weak smile.

Levi nodded, his shoulder-length hair swaying against his collarbones. He glanced between the brother-sister duo, then pulled a square basket out from under the bench-style seat. From the basket, he produced two slices of raspberry cornmeal cake; it was the last of snacks in the basket. He handed a slice to each of them, then sat back in his seat. It was his duty to serve them their food and not have any until they were done eating; after all he was only a servant.

He hadn't been born as a servant to the royal family. It had been a mere chance that he had even been discovered by them. Levi had been found curled up again the western castle wall one spring day several years ago, attempting to take shelter from a rainstorm. His mother had died that winter, unable to afford medicine for her worsening illness, leaving him alone at the age of four. He had managed to provide for himself for several weeks, but as the cold winter turned to a rainy spring and he found himself without a means to provide for himself, he had begun to travel on foot until one night he was forced to seek shelter closer to the large building in favor of its protection from the rain. A guard had found him and carried him into the castle. Levi had been scared and surprised when he was suddenly surrounded by royalty, servants, and several soldiers in armour. The guard that had found him asked him for his name, and where his parents were. It was the King that had taken pity on him, and introduced him as a servant to his daughter, Princess Lana, who was six years old at the time. The Queen had disapproved, finding it unacceptable for her daughter to have a male as her personal servant, but the King found nothing wrong with the difference. Two years later, the Queen gave birth to a son, and the matter of Levi's sex as a servant to the princess had finally been settled; instead he was to be Prince Len's servant from then on. But Princess Lana would often argue to own everything in the castle, so Levi was often torn between the two of them for most of his days.

Levi said nothing as his royal masters ate their fill. It was their usual routine: he would be silent as they ate. If there was anything leftover and they were generous, they would offer him some. Otherwise he was only fed two meals a day, consisting of dry breads, raw wheat, occasionally rice, and the leftover vegetables from the royal's meal. As of now, there was only another two pieces of the cornmeal cake left, and he was certain they still had several more hours on the road before they arrived at their destination, so he wouldn't be allowed to eat anyways. They were on their way from Sina Kingdom to Rose Kingdom, en route for Princess Lana's engagement. She had been arranged with the prince of the kingdom; a political alliance to unite the two kingdoms. They had been on the road for four days, and were set to arrive at Castle Rose by morning. King Zackly and his wife were to arrive a fortnight after they had arrived, which would be just before the wedding. This was according to the agreement between the two kings and the reasons for the individuals means of travel were never disclaimed. Levi wondered why they couldn't all travel together, but he was only a servant, so he didn't bother to ask.

"You haven't even seen him yet." Prince Len complained, rolling his eyes and breaking Levi back to the present in the carriage. Levi hated to admit it, but after several days of Princess Lana's lovesick sighs and wispy comments, he too was annoyed.

"I know I haven't seen him. But I was told about him." Princess Lana replied coolly, "He has eyes the colour of the sea, and his hair is like spun gold. He's tall, and handsome, and strong, and his name is Erwin Smith."

Levi couldn't help but roll his eyes as well. It was ridiculous that she was bragging about her fiancé to two other boys, boys – Levi doubted – that would be jealous of her arrangement to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Prince Charming.

"Not you too, Levi. You can't complain, I forbid it." she protested, her voice becoming higher in pitch. She crossed her arms across her chest and pouted.

"In my humble opinion, Princess, you haven't met him yet. You shouldn't believe all you hear." Levi replied, trying to sound reasonable as opposed to Prince Len's childish remarks.

Lana puffed her cheeks out and rolled her bright green eyes. "Boys." She murmured, shaking her head.

"It's not that-" Levi began.

"I'm just...happy, Levi. I'm really happy. I'm going to be married. It's all I ever dreamed of as a child."

Levi's grey eyes narrowed. Lana was only two years older than him and yet she was treating him as though he was a baby. Not to mention, he grew up alongside Lana longer than even her brother had and never once did he remember her mentioning her dream of being married. He nodded twice anyways, trying not to let her complaining get to him.

"You never-" Len began.

"No, it's fine, Princess." Levi cut him off.

"I mean, haven't you ever dreamt of marriage, Levi? I know we never asked much of you, but haven't you dreamt of your future? You don't plan on serving Len forever, do you?"

"Prince Len?" Levi asked, thrown off guard. He tilted his head, several strands of his jet black hair falling over one eye. Princess Lana had thrown tantrums whenever Queen Zackly attempted to assign Levi as Prince's Len's personal servant, so to be suddenly dismissed from her service was surprising to him.

"Well, you aren't going to serve me anymore. After the wedding you're going to return to Sina Kingdom with Len. I can't keep you with me. As Queen of Rose Kingdom, I'll have to get ladies-in-waiting. And I'm sure Len would rather you stay with him. But most of the servants are married back home anyways, so I'm sure you'll be allowed to grow up and have a family of your own."

Levi's eyes travelled to the carriage floor. He hadn't been told this. He hadn't even thought of it. He had lived his life so focused on the present and worried about how he would provide for himself if he were to ever be released from service, since he had seen many other servants be terminated in his time at Sina Castle, that he hadn't thought of a future for himself that didn't involve living day-to-day.

"Oh." was all he managed to say in reply.

Len stayed quiet, his bright blue eyes wide. His mouth hung open in surprise, clearly he wasn't told of this either. But he often was kept as clueless as Levi, as it was Lana that was always favored by their parents.

"Well, I suppose things will certainly be quieter without you, Princess." Levi found himself saying, in an amorphous attempt to continue the conversation.

Lana gave a weak chuckle, watching Levi with eyes that sparkled with fondness, then began to laugh. "Yes," she agreed, hiding her lips behind her hand as she giggled, "I suppose things will."

Len laughed weakly as well. "I will miss you, sister."

"Levi will keep you company, Len." She replied, "Besides, in a few years time you will be given a wife of your own. You're eleven now, but you won't be forever. Price Erwin will turn twenty-two in the autumn. A bride must be younger in comparison and right now, I am at the sweetest age for marriage. Eighteen years old is the peak of my childhood, and by next year I shall be a woman. I am to be a mother soon, and so my body is only just beginning to change in preparation for this new role."

Len made a face at her comment, and opened his mouth to protest. "Have you picked your dress, Princess?" Levi asked instead, changing the topic and cutting the prince off.

"No! I haven't even seen it! It's tradition for his mother to pick the dress though." Lana replied, her voice full of emotions. She seemed to fall for his trap of words easily, clearly overwhelmed by the prospect of marriage.

"Oh." Levi frowned for Lana's benefit. "That's...odd."

"Isn't it?" she replied, narrowing her bright eyes. "I have always tried to envision my wedding dress! I wanted it to have puffed sleeves and pearls. In our kingdom the tradition is for the bride to choose her dress. But in Rose Kingdom it's different. Like our languages; we've been taught the languages of the three main kingdoms, Sina, Rose, and Maria, but we all speak different languages, so there's also differences in customs too. That's why we're arriving a fortnight early and alone: it's so that the King and Queen can judge me to see if I'm worthy of marrying Prince Erwin."

Len rolled his eyes. Levi smirked for his benefit. He was just glad to know the answer to his question: Lana was being tested as a bride, and himself and Len were sent along to make sure that she was safe while adjusting to life in Rose Kingdom.

"Boys." Lana rolled her eyes and woke Levi from his thoughts. But she didn't stay silent, "It's not like you would envision your own wedding, Levi," she continued on. "you're a servant, you wouldn't have one."

Levi's mouth dropped open in surprise; Lana had just been asking him about if he wanted to be married. Now she was speaking to him about it with a tone of resentment.

"Oh don't look so surprised. You would have to pay for it; you are the man after all. Unless you were to marry a man, then he would pay to marry you. But I don't think anyone would want to: you're pretty for a boy, but you are a boy. Soon, when you turn nineteen, you'll be a man. Your voice has already begun to crack since you turned sixteen and you started to grow a beard, so you won't be soft and cute like a girl for much longer."

Levi began to look down at his hands as she continued to list off all the reasons he wouldn't make for a worthy bride. If Lana were anyone else, if he wasn't bound by an oath to the king, he would smack her across the face for saying such rude things to him.

But her words triggered a thought in his mind: did he want to be a bride? When she had asked him if he wanted to get married moments earlier, he immediately questioned the thought of watching a faceless girl walking up the aisle towards him to commit his life, love, and service to until his death. It was an image he found himself cringing at: he didn't want that. If things were different, maybe if he could put a face to the image – even then, he found something deep inside him feel...wrong. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he had been growing closer to Len lately: unlike his sister, Len wasn't talking about girls, and marriage, and settling down. Len was still very much into riding horses, learning war strategies, and training his fencing skills – all of which Levi was expected to entertain him in. But of course Len had only turned eleven, so it was natural for him to remain childish. Levi wasn't sure how he would cope once Len began to look forwards to having a wife.

A soft white glow stole his attention and he turned to look out the window, suddenly feeling very confused. The sun outside must have been setting, or the trees had parted enough for such a bright light to find its way down to the forest floor near them. He attempted to gave out the window for a brief moment, his conscious wanting to follow the light, but his mind staying on the topic that Lana had given him of simply never being enough to marry anyone in life.

Levi had become so distracted by his thoughts he found it impossible to drown out Lana continuing her verbal assault against him, each of her words resonating in his mind and amplified by his own self-doubt. "No man would want to marry a man: once you get all rough and hot-blooded they wouldn't want to cuddle you. And you can't have children, so you would have to marry a woman to have your own – it would be a scandal if you were to marry a man and ask a woman to give you a child on the side. Besides, you're a servant: most of your wages earned goes towards housing and feeding you in the castle, so you would have to save up for a long time to afford a wedding. If you wanted to get married, then you probably can afford the certification. But to have a nice wedding, which any bride would want, you wouldn't be able to afford it."

Len stared at his sister as if she had grown a second head. Levi was staring open-mouthed at the floor. He could barely comprehend what it was she was telling him. It wasn't so much the matter that Lana was behaving so arrogantly about it, but rather that she was even talking about his own wedding at all, as if such a possibility strongly offended her.

Suddenly the thought of marriage was pressing on his skull as if it were of vital importance. How could he have not thought of this himself? His mother hadn't gotten married, and that was why she had died and left him orphaned; without a partner to depend on when she was ill, there was no way they could afford the medication that would have saved her life. Would that happen to his children? Would he even be able to have children? He shivered at the thought – did he even want children? His life suddenly felt very fickle, as if he wasn't really living this whole time. If he didn't get married and have children, what would happen to him? Would he continue to serve Len, even after Len was crowned king of Sina? Would he be like one of the older servants he often saw around the castle, the gardener perhaps? Frail and thin in old age, too old to be of any real use but staying as a servant because he wouldn't have any other means of livelihood?

It was when Levi was having another existential crisis that the carriage shook. At first it felt as if they had hit another large puddle and the right wheels would sink deep down and then rise again. But the wheels never seemed to come back up. Then the carriage rocked from side to side, as if giant hands had taken hold of it and were shaking it violently back and forth.

The three inside the carriage were tossed from side to side, and slammed into the walls. They cried out in surprise, their eyes all widening in fear. They could make out the grunts of their two coachmen, at first confused shouts, then moans of pain. The horses whinnied loudly outside, protesting the commotion. They were sure the coachmen were on the ground now, since their voices were now heard off to the sides. Levi's eyes narrowed and he reached out to catch himself against one of the carriage walls. He gripped the curtain rod above the door, leaning against the carriage wall to see outside without moving the curtains.

He could barely see anything but the ground. Dark brown dirt, grey rock. A foot. The coachman's foot! Levi gasped.

Loud voices surrounded them: wordless, angry shouting. The carriage shook again and Levi fell back against the seat.

"What's happening?" Lana asked, her voice squeaky with fear.

"Raiders!" Len replied, his voice a low whisper.

"They must know we're nobility." Levi responded, "That's why they ambushed us."

"I knew we should have had an escort." Lana mumbled. "At least if they brought attention they could have defended us from it."

"Shh!" Levi hushed her. He was trying to make out what it was the raiders were saying outside. To his surprise, they spoke a language that flowed like music, their voices smooth but their tones rough: they must've been speaking the language of Rose Kingdom.

"-the nobles!"

Levi's eyes widened. "Quick!" He motioned to Len, "Change coats with me!"

Len's eyes narrowed, but Lana was quick to understand. She began to pull Len's jacket off him. "Change outfits with Levi!" she whispered urgently.

"But- Why?" Len asked, confused.

"If they go to abduct the royals, you can pretend you're our servant and escape!" Lana explained.

Levi nodded, taking off his coat and handing it to Len. He took Len's coat from Lana and slipped his arms through it.

"Here." Lana slipped the tie from Len's shoulder-length hair and ran her fingers through the neatly-brushed hair, making it a mess alike to Levi's. Levi roughly palmed his hair into a low ponytail and twisted the tie into place. Lana sat back for a moment, then gasped at the minute detail they had overlooked: the crown. With trembling fingers she reached out and took the small circle of solid gold from Len's head. She reached out to place the crown on Levi's head, but hesitated inches from him, unable to crown him herself. "Here." she hissed, unable to see Levi as he equal, even if it were to save her own life. Levi took the crown from Lana and placed it on his own head, surprised by Lana's thoughtfulness. He attempted to stammer out a thanks, but stopped when he noticed she had diverted her attention elsewhere immediately after handing the crown off.

"Shh! Shh!" Lana hugged Len close. His lower lip was quivering with fright and he whimpered softly. "It's going to be alright." she comforted him.

"We're going to put up a fight, but if there's too many of them, then, my prince, you need to get to Rose Kingdom and alert the royal family of what happened." Levi stressed, placing a hand on the boy's knee. "Take one of the horses if possible and go as quickly as you can. I'm going to have to take your place to defend the princess and give you time to get to Rose Kingdom by having the raiders come after me."

Lana tucked her soft brown hair behind her ears and nodded, trying to seem convincing to her younger brother. "Levi's right Len. We need to be safe. Levi can handle it."

Len nodded, putting on a brave face.

"Open the carriage!" the raider's called. Levi was unsure if the words were directed to them or subordinate-raiders.

"Hold the doors!" Levi commanded to Lana and Len.

The three of them scrambled to pile up against the carriage door, holding tightly to the handle so it wouldn't twist. Levi planted the bottom of his foot against the carriage wall, pulling tightly with his upper body the opposite way to keep the door closed. It was his job to keep the royal family safe. The door handle was wiggled and tugged at, but their combined weight made it impossible to open.

"They're holding it!" another man shouted outside.

A loud grunt, then something hard slammed into the thick wood of the carriage wall. Lana shrieked.

"Then we'll break it down." they heard another voice shout. Three different loud grunts were then followed by loud thuds against the carriage wall.

Lana let out a shrill scream, jumping away from the carriage door. Len leapt back as well. Only Levi held the door firmly, his limbs beginning to shake with the effort.

"Len! Lana! Don't let go of the door!" He turned to face them, his eyes wide with fear. "Help me!"

The men outside grunted loudly. Metal smashed through the carriage wall, the pointed-head of a pickaxe piercing through the wall and stabbing through Levi's heel. He cried out in pain, releasing the door and falling back against the royal siblings.

"Levi!" Len cried, "Are you alright?"

"The door!" Lana cried.

The men outside lurched forwards to pull open the door at the same time Levi fell back and slammed into the opposite side of the carriage. The force was enough to push the carriage onto its side, but it didn't stop there. The carriage slid against the pathway, just enough that the roof of the carriage slid off the road and hovered over the ditch that ran parallel to the pathway. The ground of the road was raised higher so that any rain would run off into the forest. Unfortunately, with the heavy ornately carved roof of the carriage unsupported by the ditch, and the three occupants sitting on the wall nearest the roof, the carriage continued its momentum, flipping and falling, twisting as it fell off the road and into the thickets of the roots of the tall trees, smashing into bushes and branches, and throwing its three occupants around inside.

Levi was thrown about so quickly he barely touched the walls of the carriage. On either side of himself, he could hear Lana and Len groaning as each time they hit into him, each other, or the walls, moaning as the air was forced out from their lungs. He felt lightheaded, and his foot burned. The inside of the carriage had smears of blood from where the pickaxe had been driven through his foot and from where they had cut themselves as they were tossed around in the fall. Everything was lost in the commotion: they had no sense of up or down, left or right, or even how long they had been falling. Their screams drowned out all noise, and they found that they had completely forgot about the raiders in their new predicament.

Suddenly, as quickly as the fall had started, their descent ceased. With a mighty groan, the carriage slammed to a stop on its rear end, caught in the thick, twisted tree roots that carpeted the bottom of the ditch. The three occupants were unceremoniously stopped when they slammed into the back of the carriage. Levi groaned, having broken the fall for Len and Lana. His head swam. Blackness spotted his vision and it took him a moment to realize they had stopped moving after the final wallop. Despite acknowledging this fact, he still felt as if the environment around them was still rolling around.

"P-prince L-Len?" he asked, his voice weak from shock.

The boy groaned from somewhere on top of him.

"Prince, I need you to get off me." Levi mumbled.

Len groaned, then exhaled in a choppy gasp. "Le-Le-Levi." He groaned, "I think my leg's broken."

Levi squeezed his eyes shut and swore. He wasn't allowed to swear, especially in front of Len, but he figured this would be a worthy exception.

"Try to keep it still, I need to get up and check your sister."

Lana had been unusually quiet about this whole affair after they had stopped falling, which was highly unlike her. Levi was surprised she wasn't crying loudly or complaining about her wedding. Still, he was glad for her silence, he wasn't sure how far down they had fallen so the raiders could still be nearby.

With difficulty, he crawled backwards until he could sit up, then he turned to Len. The boy's leg was at an odd angle, sticking out to the left when it shouldn't have been, and Levi barred his teeth to hide his nausea at the sight: Len's leg was indeed broken. He said nothing and turned to check on Lana. She was lying against the rear of the carriage with her eyes closed. There was blood on the carriage wall behind her head, and she didn't appear to be moving. Levi sucked in a sharp breath: Lana must've hit her head into the carriage when they had come to a stop and been struck unconscious. With her knocked out, and Len's leg broken, he was unsure of how he would even get them back onto the road by himself.

His head hurt but he forced himself to try to take the role of leader. He was their servant and it was his duty to make sure they were taken care of, even in a situation as dangerous as this. Especially in a situation as dangerous as this. He closed his eyes to focus and push away the pain; he had to focus on his senses in order to grasp reality. Anything that he could feel, taste, smell, or touch would reinforce his concentration and acceptance of being in this specific moment, and it was that concentration he needed in order to form a plan on how to save them.

A single horse outside was whinnying; Levi focused on this sound. He was sure the other horses were knocked unconscious or killed in the fall since they had still been harnessed to the carriage when it had been knocked off the road. He wondered if the last one left was injured as well, or if he would be able to get it to carry Len and Lana to Rose Kingdom? He would have to walk, but that was fine: he was the servant anyways. He wondered vaguely if the coachmen were alive? Had they fallen with the carriage? He didn't think so, they were on the road with the raiders when they began to fall.

"You're bleeding." Len commented, bringing the burning sensation in Levi's foot to his attention.

He grimaced at having remembered but said nothing. His foot was in his boot, and he didn't want to pull it out in fear that it would swell and he wouldn't be able to get it back in for when he would have to walk to Rose Kingdom. His face paled; how would he walk to Rose Kingdom on an injured foot? But he couldn't make Lady Lana walk to her own wedding. He groaned inwardly; he had forgotten about his foot as he made his plan to get them to safety.

Len moaned again and swayed. Levi reached out and caught his shoulders.

"Len?" He asked in a rough voice, "Len? Are you alright? Did you hit your head?"

He knew it was a stupid question the moment it left his lips. In a fall as big as the one they just experienced, they all probably smashed their heads into the heavy, wooden carriage walls a multitude of times.

Len moaned again, but a noise outside stole Levi's attention. His hands dropped from the boy's shoulders and he turned to scramble towards the door of the carriage. He ripped back the pale curtain, not caring if it exposed them to the raiders, and took in the scene outside.

It was dark down here, dark and damp. The carriage had dropped a long way down, not into a mere ditch, but into a gulley. Levi's eyes widened in fear as he realised the situation was much worse than he thought: it would be a steep climb up; two of them had injured their legs, and all three of them had hit their heads.

To make matters worse, the raiders were approaching. Levi watched as they came closer, paralyzed with fear as he drank in their appearances. His head throbbed but he tried to commit their faces to memory: he would report them for this when they got to Rose Kingdom and he had to be able to give them the right descriptions to find these horrible men. The raiders brought with them torches and the pickaxe that had gone through his foot earlier. He backed away from the door instinctively as they attempted to pry it open, but the trunk of a large tree had pinned it firmly shut. The man then tried to smash through the square window glass, but the fire-hardened pane of glass didn't give way. Levi exhaled in relief, realizing that he was holding his breath. The men all laughed at him, then made hip-thrusting motions at him through the glass, all the while pointing at him and Lana. Levi hissed, feeling disgusted.

"What do we do?" One man asked the tall, skinny one Levi assumed to be the leader. "We can't get in, the wood's too thick and the glass won't break."

"Leave them to die there." The man spoke around a cigarette he was lighting, and his large hands and wide-brimmed hat kept his face from view. "They're royalty, we'll be hunted if they are to escape."

"That could take days," the man protested, "and we wouldn't get any of their valuables."

"Screw the valuables!" The leader barked, "It's not worth the effort of staying around to hack through the wood. That skinny assist of their's ran off! He'll probably alert someone about this soon!"

Levi could barely follow their conversation through the throbbing in his skull. It seemed his adrenaline levels were dropping and the pain was sinking in place of it very fast. He thought he heard them mention Judd, their carriage-driver's son and assistant. If he got away, he would be able to get to Rose Kingdom and let them know what happened! They could be saved!

The thought motivated Levi to attempt to push past the pain. He had missed what was said between the two men, but now they were grappling. Clearly they had come to a disagreement. The skinny man wrestled with the larger one with the torch for a moment, before the larger man lost his footing and fell back against the carriage. A large splint on the carriage dug into his back and the man dropped the torch, yelping as he jumped away from the carriage and the makeshift spear.

"Ouch! That hurt!" He cried out.

The other raiders just stared wide-eyed as the flames of the torch began to spread, licking across the varnished wood of the carriage.

"No." Levi gasped, eyes wide. "Lana! Len!" He tried to rise them, shaking them. But they had both fallen unconscious. "Lana! Len!" He tried again, speaking louder.

The men outside were backing away now, nervously trying to laugh off the fire. All at once, they turned and ran, fleeing the area as fast as they could.

"Wait!" Levi screamed, "Come back! Help us!"

But it was no use. The fire spread along the roof, rising upwards as the carriage was wrong-side-up, resting on its rear wall in the thick mud.

Levi grasped the door handle and pushed with all his might, but the door was well and truly jammed. His breathing was beginning to come in a staccato-ed panic, his original relief at the jammed door turned to horror. He made to tuck his hair behind his ears but his fingers touched nothing as his hair was already held back, and he licked his lips, turning to look around. Something. There must be something that would help them escape. He turned, and that's when he saw it. The window set in the front of the carriage that opened to let them speak to the driver. Usually the window was kept up, hidden by a panel of wood that would disguise it as just a plain wall, but the panel was able to be lowered from the inside, creating a small hole in the wall whenever the occupants of the carriage would like to speak to the driver. He never imagined it would provide them with an emergency escape.

Euphoric with relief, Levi forced himself to stand, rushing to reach the window that was now on the ceiling with how the carriage was positioned, and began to unlock the fastens holding it in place with shaking hands. He coughed, the cabin of the carriage was already beginning to fill with smoke, and it was beginning to sear his esophagus as he breathed it in. He shook his head. His vision swam. He body felt drained of energy and he swayed on his feet. The fastenings unlatched and he pushed the panel to the side and down into the space the cover board would fit with his fingertips. The flames crackled around him as he stretched up on his tiptoes to reach the edges of the window. His heel burned and the ligaments in his foot sent a piercing flash of pain up his leg, but he forced himself to hold onto the ledge as his consciousness threatened to leave him. The forest was full of a blinding silver light and he fought the approaching blackness in his mind as he began to tighten the muscles in his arms and lift his chest over the window sill, crawling towards the brightness. He managed to pull his torso up and out of the window, then collapsed against the wooden boards with exhaustion, coughing as he struggled to gasp in lungfuls of fresh air. He wasn't inside anymore, and the forest air was soothing, but he was also not yet outside the carriage; rather he was bent over the windowsill, suspended between the two worlds.

Something wet and cold began to hit him, making him sigh in relief as it cooled his skin from the smoke of the fire.

Rain. It was raining.

Levi gasped in relief, it was all he had the energy to do. If the rain could fight the fire, it could buy him time to drag Len and Lana out of the carriage.

He tried to force his arms to lift himself, his legs to push himself forward through the open window, but his body gave way and he slumped over the sill. His head throbbed, his foot burned. His arms felt drained of energy. He lifted his head to look out into the gulley. The rain beginning to clump his hair into thick strands. The fire crackled loudly, hissed where the rain extinguished the tips of the flames. Levi whimpered softly as his body throbbed and gave in to the blackness that consumed his mind. The wooden wall of the carriage came up to meet him, and he collapsed, slumped over the window sill.