Once Upon a December Ch 3: In the Dark of the Night
As the three moved out to get ready, a small white bat was perched on the rooftop and spying on the group…
"Rivaille?" the bat repeated in disbelief. "B-but Rivaille is dead."
As he talked to himself, he didn't notice the green glowing relic behind him trembling slightly, rising an eerie wind that moved the cobwebs around them.
"All the Ackermans are dead. They're dead. Damn dead." the bat repeated to convince himself.
The skull opened and a small green demon made of fog crawled out, hissing lowly as it flanked the bat.
"Am I right, my friend? I mean, how could that be Riv-?!" he paled and sweated even more when he realized the demon next to him.
"EEK!" he cried out as the monster spread its wings and roared in his face.
More demons crawled out, startling the bat even more and causing him to fall off the roof, saving himself by grasping the edge with his paws and remain upside"down.
"Oh, come on! Am I supposed to believe that thing woke up after all these years just because some guy claimed to be an Ackerman?" He whined as he climbed back up. The small demons hissed threatening.
"Okay, okay, I get the message. Enough already with the glowing and the smoke monsters!" he whined, raising his hands in defense. He sat to think "Uhm…if this thing is awake…it must mean Rivaille's alive!"
"Let's go get our stuff. We got a train to catch, right away!" Hanji below announced excited.
"Whatever, shitty glasses…" Levi muttered.
The bat followed the three humans and the dog as they left the ballroom and disappeared from his view.
The glowing tube shook and begun to float in mid air, scaring the bat out of his wits. In panic, he didn't realize his foot got caught in the tube's lace and he was dragged off the ground as well.
"Woah! Mayday, mayday!" he cried as the tube flew off like a rocket, dragging the bat behind it. It flew into the icy lake waters and down a green glowing hole. Passing straight inside like if it was coated by a cape of oil that separated water from a dry underground tunnel below.
"Aaah, heeelp!". The bat shouted.
With each turn of the tunnel, the bat would splat against the walls over and over again. Then they flew over a lake of boiling lava, causing the bat to get his ass on fire.
"Hot, hot, it's hot!"
The tube darted through a cobweb of blue slime that attached on the poor animal's fur and then they shot into an endless dark space with big floating spheres of dirt and unrecognizable plants and skulls.
The relic flew right towards one of them and jabbed into a table of solid rock, causing also the bat to splat his face against it with a loud crack.
"…Ouch…" he groaned. He set his paws on the rock and tried pulling himself free until he managed to pop out.
"Boy…what a flight…" he moaned, rubbing his head.
"WHO DARES INTRUDE ON MY SOLITUDE?!" a booming voice bellowed, causing the bat to gasp and hide behind the green tube.
A man in dark cloak with long beard and rounded glasses appeared from behind a pillar, yellow eyes blazing. He was so mad that he kicked the pillar, causing it to fall to pieces.
"Get out! Out I said!" he shouted and grabbed the small bat, squeezing it.
"Agh! M"massterr…! Can't…breathe!" the bat wheezed.
The wizard's eyes widen in surprise as he loosen the grip on the critter. It let out a gasp of relief.
"Bertolt? Is that you?" the man asked as he settled the bat down.
"Master? You're alive?" he asked.
"Yes, in a manner of speaking." Kemono spat. Doing so, an eyeball rolled out his socket and ended up in the bats' hands.
Startled, Bertolt let go of it.
"Uh, uhm… that fell…right out there, sir…" Bert pointed out, trying to mask his disgust.
"Something happened." the wizard growled as he set his eyeball back in. "I knew it…I could feel the dark forces stirring!"
"W-well. If I may say…I think I saw him, that Rivaille."
The madman slammed his fists next to the bat, causing the rock to rattle.
"Rivaille? Alive?!" Kemono bellowed. His mouth slid down his beard.
"Sir, your lips are…a little 'out of place'."
"That Ackerman brat…" Kemono hissed, ignoring him.
"I guess the curse did not worked as much as we thought, sir…" Bertolt said meekly, putting the fallen mouth back into place.
"THAT'S why I'm stuck here in Limbo!" the man growled "My curse is unfulfilled!" he threw his hands to his sides, causing the left hand to separate from the wrist and slam into Bertolt.
"Oof!" the bat wheezed. Stars danced around his head.
Kemono stared in horror at his empty wrist and bemoaned.
"Look at me! I'm falling apart…I'm a wreck!" he slumped himself on the rock/table in the center of the room and sighed.
"But…considering how long you've been dead, you look pretty good." Bertolt smiled in reassurance, trying to cheer up his master as he settled the hand back on the wrist.
"Really?" the man asked hopefully.
"Sir, is this the face of a bat who would lie to you?" Bert asked with a smile. "Just a minute there you had your old spark back."
"If only I hadn't lost the gift from the dark forces…they key to my powers." Kemono growled.
"Uh, you mean that reliquary?" the bat asked as he pointed to the jabbed tube.
The wizard's eyes widen in surprise and gasped "Where did you get that?"
"Uh, I found it when…"
"Give it to me!" the man grabbed the tube and held it in his avid hands.
"Alright, alright! No need to get grabby." Bertolt winced at the thought to get squeezed like a squeaky toy again.
"My old friend, together again." the man cooed at the artifact and laughed. "Now my dark purpose will be fulfilled and the last of the Ackermans will die!"
Green lightning and thunders erupted from the object as the mad wizard laughed in triumph. Insects, rats and other unholy creatures crawled out of their holes as Kemono begun to say…
In the dark of the night I was tossing and turning
And the nightmare I had was as bad as can be.
(The bugs crowded around the wizard, lifting him off the ground as he continued to sing. Then they let him go by accident, causing his body to crash on the rock and separate in a mix of limbs and bones; head rolling off.).)
It scared me out of my wits
A corpse falling to bits!
Then I opened my eyes
and the nightmare was...me!
(he pulled himself back together and the bugs begun to dance around him)
I was once the most mystical man in all Sina.
When the royals betrayed me they made a mistake!
(green smoke leaked out the tube, forming a round, floating mirror with a portrait of the royal family. He slammed his fist on the mirror, causing it to break into pieces and dissipate)
My curse made each of them pay
But ONE little boy got away!
(a picture of a young Rivaille remained intact between the destroyed pieces as Rasputin viewed it with rage.)
Little Levi, beware,
Kemono's awake!
(he gloated as he stomped the remaining piece, pulverizing it.
(creatures of darkness, bugs and monsters grouped around as they sun in chorus with their master)
In the dark of the night evil will find him!
In the dark of the night just before dawn!
[Kemono]
Revenge will be sweet
All: When the curse is complete!
In the dark of the night
[Kemono]
He'll be gone!
(The monsters continued dancing, eventually dragging and unwilling Bertolt with them)
Bert: oh, ehy, guys…
[Kemono]
I can feel that my powers are slowly returning!
Tie my sash and a dash of cologne for that smell!
(The bugs ran to prep perfume and handed him a blue madman stood in front of his lair's mirror, where instead of his reflection there was the shorter and younger one of Levi, dressed in royal garments and putting up the sash)
[Kemono]
As the pieces fall into place
I'll see him crawl into place!
(He turned away from the reflection an ripped the sash off of him before tossing it to the ground like an old rag. He descended the stair, followed by his procession of insects)
Say goodnight, Levi, Your Grace!
Farewell...
[All]
In the dark of the night terror will strike him!
Kemono: Terror's the least I can do!
In the dark of the night evil will brew.
Ooh!
[Kemono] Soon he will feel
That his nightmares are real!
(In the dark of the night)
[Kemono] He'll be through!
In the dark of the night
Evil will find him
(Find him!)
Ooh!
In the dark of the night terror comes true.
(Doom him!)
[Kemono]
My boy, here's a sign
[All]
It's the end of the line!
In the dark of the night...
In the dark of the night...
(down in the deeps of his prison, he settled the artifact on a pedestal. Green flares shot out of the skull and little demons begun to fly in spirals around the room.)
[Kemono]
Come my minions,
Rise for your master,
Let your evil shine!
In the dark of the night...
In the dark of the night...
(the demons flew their the way up the stairs; Bertolt and the rest of the bugs ran around in panic as they were chased by some of the demons, like cats chasing after a mouse.
Bert yelped as he ducked as a demon nearly grabbed him.)
Find him now,
Yes, fly ever faster
[All]
In the dark of the night...
In the dark of the night...
In the dark of the night...
[Kemono]
He'll be mine!
And with the last line, the madman burst into a blood-curling laughter as the demons disappeared in the dark of the night.
-!-
"Circus Train tickets…why am I not impressed?" Levi muttered with arms crossed.
Hanji was sitting on a sofa of their cabin, holding a passport as she filled them with the information they needed. Eren was sleeping next to her writing travel kit that contained a small stack of papers and a bottle of blue ink.
She grinned as she begun to tickle the pup's nose with the feather in her hand, causing Eren to giggle in his sleep before sneezing.
"Eheh, sorry." she apologized.
Erwin had just finished setting the bags on the shelves above their seats. Levi insisted to keep his bag next to him, through he put it clear that it was NOT because he couldn't reach said shelves, unlike Hanji's version of the facts.
The tall blonde was about to sit where Eren was, but the pup growled at him, causing him to stand up again.
"So the mutt get's the window seat, uh?" he joked.
Levi snorted "Told you."
Erwin dismissed him and sat next to Levi, much to the teen's annoyance. He reached for under his scarf to pick out his winged necklace.
"You could sit straight at least. Remember, you're a Duke." the blonde pointed out.
"Tch, how is that you know what nobles do or don't do?" Levi replied.
"I make it my business to know." The man answered with a smirk.
Levi rolled his eyes and stared out at the moving landscape out of the window.
Erwin sighed "Look, Levi. I'm just trying to help, all right?"
"Sure, because blackmail sure is helpful…"
Hanji lowered a little her passport and sighed before burying her nose back in the book.
"Oi, do you really think I am royalty?" the boy asked.
"Why not? Sounds convincing."
"Then quit bossing me around." Levi replied before slumping back on the seat, stubbornly staring out the window.
Erwin sighed and rubbed his eyes in exasperation.
"Well, he sure has a mind of his own." Hanji giggled.
"Yeah…we will have to work hard on this kid's manners later." Erwin chuckled, earning a death glare from Levi.
Hanji pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket where the names of Erwin and Levi were written. Under the blonde man's name there were three lines, while under the boy's there were at least 26, then Hanji added a new score for the teen.
-!-
The train proceeded over the rails without any problem. Levi was sitting next to the window, reading a book while Hanji was out to get a snack for herself and Eren.
Erwin cleared his throat as he sat on the seat opposite to the raven's. Levi didn't bother a glance and preferred to just ignore him.
"I do believe we got off on the wrong foot." the blonde begun.
The boy said nothing nor looked up at him.
"I was saying…"
"Yeah-yeah. Apology accepted. Now shut it, this is the best part." Levi replied, waving his hand dismissively.
"We didn't talk about any apology. But I'll be quiet if you will decide to cooperate just for once." Erwin said.
Man, if this boy could pick on his nerves sometimes. It seemed as if he was talking with some hissing, black stray cat.
"What if I shut you up manually?" the teen spat back.
"You can try, but I don't believe a wise decision taking on someone twice your size."
"Wanna bet, big ass tree?" Levi hissed, lowering the book and scowling at the blonde.
-Meanwhile-
Eren sat next to Hanji, who picked snacks to stuff in her mouth and sometimes threw him a biscuit here and there.
Suddenly; thuds, crashes and muffled screams could be heard from what was their cabin, causing Eren's ears to perk up and his heart to skip a beat.
He turned to Hanji for explanation when the goggled woman just smiled at him and waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh, don't worry." she reassured. "They're fine. Just…'Settling down' differences. By the way, Eren, be a dear and remember me to get a first aid kit before getting back there, can you?" she winked at him before stuffing more goods in her mouth again.
The dog frowned in worry but stood put anyway. Honestly, he didn't want to think about what was going on in there…
-Later-
"Now, listen. *pant*… We'll have no more of this again, understood?" Erwin stated firmly.
"Okay, Okay, fine! I get it! Now get off of me, you bastard!" Levi's shouted furiously, through his yelling was muffled by the seat's cushion.
Erwin had a firm grip on the raven boy's arm, twisting it behind the teen's back, while he held the boy face-down by pressing the back of his neck into the seats.
The blonde didn't have any fun time either. His face was bruised, with a black eye, a broken nose and many cuts on his arms.
A small, handy knife was left on the floor, Erwin already expected the boy to carry some weapon with him.
To be small, Levi was far from any definition of weak.
The man slowly let go of him, but picked up the knife to keep away. Levi rose from his position and gruffly sat back next to the window.
Unlike the blonde, he didn't have any particular bruise except for the hand marks on his right wrist and back of the neck where the man grabbed him.
"Glad to know we have settled this down." Erwin said.
Levi didn't spoke, just sending death glares at him before looking out the window again. They remained in silence for some time until the teen sighed.
"You think you're gonna miss this place?"
The blonde arched an eyebrow. "Miss what?"
"Sina."
He remained silent for a moment before he shook his head.
"I think not."
"But it was your home, doesn't it?" Levi asked.
"I once lived there. I rather not going into details." the man cut short.
"So you want to live in Maria's Kingdom then…"
"Maybe." The blonde cut him short "What about you?"
Levi rested his back on the backset. "Searching for something…through…"
Hanji opened the door, carrying a first aid kit under her arm. "Hi, guys. Happy to see you still in one piece! I'm glad that you two made peace at last."
"In your dreams, shitty glasses." The teen growled.
Hanji said nothing as she forced Erwin to sit down and proceed to medicate cuts and bruises. Eren jumped on the seat next to Levi and the teen petted the dog's head.
"Don't worry, just a nice talk." he reassured the worried pup. "I'll go for a walk."
Levi got up and walked out the cabin, leaving Hanji and Erwin by themselves.
"Oh~ho!" she grinned at the blonde "An unspoken attraction!"
"To the skinny little brat? Suure." Erwin rolled his eyes.
"Just saying." the woman replied with an 'innocent' face. "I do believe he had a nice firm lil' ass to grab and squeeze. Not to mention his pretty ballerina legs ~"
The blonde sighed "How can we get him to cooperate? He just won't listen…"
"He will come around eventually, don't worry."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I used to live with some like him…acting all hard and stuff…" Hanji said as she bandaged Erwin's cuts on his arm. "He will come around the situation. After all…trust is earned, not given."
Unknown to them, Levi was just outside the door, haven't gone so far than two steps. He sighed as he ran a hand trough his dark locks.
"Isabel, Farlan…where did I just got myself into?"
-!-
The sun was slowly sinking behind the snowy mountains, painting red and orange the sky. The train continued its course peacefully, until a trail of green little demons flew out the woods and chased after it.
Some crawled their way down the chimney, causing the furnace on the front of the train to overheat.
Meanwhile, in the passengers' cabinet, Hanji was walking around the halls with her passport in hand when she noticed a couple of travelers that were comparing their passport books.
"Hey, last month the traveling papers were blue, but now they are red." the man said to the woman next to him.
Hanji smiled as she checked her blue passport. But then she gasped in shock. She quickly hid the book in her jacket and rushed back to her cabin before the controller could see her.
Inside the room she found Erwin reading a book while Levi was asleep on the seat, resting his head on his scarf on the armrest and using his large coat as blanket. Eren rested close to him.
The blonde settled down the book and gazed at her. "Hanji, what's wrong?"
Always managing to tell from the face, this guy.
"It's what I hate about the government." she said and showed her passport to him "Everything's in red."
"Red?!" the man replied in surprise.
She nodded. "We better move to the baggage car and fast, before the guards come."
"It won't work. We should better get off the train." Erwin said as he handed Hanji her bag.
A green flare of light flew next their cabinet window.
Eren, pulled out his sleep, noticed the flare and begun to bark angrily at it.
There were strange, little flying creatures with bath wings and lion tails. They snickered before one of them flew in front of his face, startling the pup with a hideous grin.
The shepherd, snapping out his shock, growled and barked even louder, pawning at the window's glass in an attempt to attack.
The ruckus woke up Levi.
"Oi, what's the fuck…" he muttered as he sat up.
"Levi, we have to go, now." Erwin said as he grabbed the teen by the arm and forced him up.
"Slow down, eyebrows. What's the rush? Where are we going?" the boy asked frowning.
"No time to explain. Grab your bag ad follow me." the man cut him short.
Levi muttered something under his breath but obeyed. He flung his coat back up, grabbed his bag and followed Hanji and Erwin into the baggage wagon.
"Maybe this could do it." the woman said as she settled down her luggage.
"At least until we reach the next station." The blonde added.
Levi entered the last and closed the door behind him. The wagon was freezing compared to the passengers' ones.
"I take that the government just came to bite us in the ass, uh?" he said sarcastic.
"It's their own safety's norm." Hanji said apologetic "I thought the passport wouldn't change so much…"
Eren trotted up to the door leading to the engine cart, but as soon as he noticed a green light coming out from under the door he glared and begun to bark and paw at the door.
The demons flew under the train's body, snickering evilly as they reached for the drawbars connecting the passenger wagon to the luggage one and blew them up.
The explosions busted open the door, causing the three companions to stumble while the head of the train and their car gained speed.
"What was that?!" Hanji shouted.
"I don't know!" Levi replied.
With a quick glance to the broken door, they saw the body of the train behind them slowing to a stop.
"Aww, here goes the dining car…" Hanji groaned sadly.
Eren continued to bark furiously at the door through the previous green glow was replaced by a fiery red one.
Levi rushed to the peephole of the door and saw sparks and flames bursting out the chimney.
"Uh, Erwin…someone has flambéed the engine!"
Erwin removed his coat and climbed up the stepladder.
"Stay here you two, I'll check it out." he ordered.
The man walked over the rooftops of the car, careful not to fall off, until he reached for the engine. It was boiling hot and spewing sparks of incandescent carbon. Vapor fizzled out the tubes and there was nobody at the drive.
He then noticed a corpse of what it had to be the engineer sprawled on the floor, lifeless.
"Damnit." he cursed. He reached for the crazed thermostat, but it quickly blew up spewing glass shards in the air and flames flooded out the furnace, licking dangerously at his feet.
"We're going too fast!" Levi shouted to Hanji, his voice was barely audible over the roaring wind. The woman was worried for their friend until Erwin got back to them with a serious expression.
"The engineer is dead and the train is going to explode. We have to jump out."
The blonde reached for the loading door and opened it, the shrunken landscape of the forest speeding fast below them.
"Are you insane?!" Hanji shouted as the train crossed over a bridge.
"We could uncouple the cars." Levi suggested.
"Vote for Shorty's idea!" the woman raised her hand. Eren raised his paw as well.
Unknown to them, the demons were sticking under their cart and listened to their plan. They quickly reached for the drawbars and overheated them, casing the disjoint to break and melt down.
Erwin leaped on the drawbars; only to find them melted together.
"Give me an axe, a wrench, anything." he ordered.
"Here!" Hanji said, passing him a small, handy hammer. With an exasperate eye roll, Erwin begun to hit the metal.
Eren barked at Levi as he ran around and hopped on top of a tall box he was standing on.
"What is it?" the boy asked and noticed the pup pawning at the writing on the box.
'Explosives'.
Erwin kept beating the metal but the handle of the hammer broke quickly.
"It doesn't work!" he growled in frustration "We need something better than this."
Levi handed him a dynamite candle already lit up.
"…That will work." the blonde said as he jabbed the explosive between the drawbars and rushed inside. The three quickly ran for cover behind a tall pile of luggage.
"What did they teach you in the orphanage?" Hanji asked to Levi.
"You better don't know." he cut her short.
He really didn't want to speak about Isabel's failed cake attempt…
The dynamite blew up, parting both wagons and letting the engine wander off.
The demons then flew down for the next bridge that ran across a deep canyon in the mountains.
"The brakes are out!" Hanji shouted as she tried hard to pull the handle.
"Turn harder!" Erwin replied as he tried to extinguish the flames fire that reached their cart by beating them out with his coat.
Hanji tried again, but then the wheel of the brake broke off.
"Whoops…" she looked at it, both embarrassed and worried.
"Oh, well. We still have plenty of tracks. We'll be just a coast to a stop." she tried to lighten up as she tossed away the now useless brake's wheel.
A sudden earthquake rocked the rails, causing the three to stumble down again.
At the canyon, the demons had conglomerated into a giant version of them. Raising its wings, the monster broke down the bridge in half before it dissipated in a green smoke.
By the time Erwin, Levi and Hanji got back up; they stared in horror at the now destroyed bridge.
"You were saying, glasses?" Levi asked.
Erwin looked around for a solution that could help them stop their car but Hanji then spotted a roll of heavy chains on the floor.
"We can use this!" She said gleefully. "Give me a hand, boys!"
They pulled the chain until they reached the back of the car "Ok. Now I need to anchor this under the drawbar. We need to…"
Levi stepped forward, grabbing the chain from Hanji's hand and skillfully reaching down for the lower part of the drawbars. He was small and agile and he didn't have any problem to find the right spot to anchor the end of the chain.
"Done!"
A metal plate from under the cart broke off and it almost hit him, but he dodged it at the last moment, causing him to lose his balance. A strong hand grabbed his wrist and helped him climb back up. When he got up, he saw Erwin.
The board dashed off until it broke down a small tree on the side of the rails.
"And to think that could have been you." the blonde mused.
"Fuck off..." he spat back.
The carts were racing down the mountain side, dangerously dashing to their fall.
"Here goes nothing." Hanji stated "Brace yourselves!"
Pushing the heavy chain off their cart, the three saw it extending wide as it anchored to the rails, but the cart's weight and speed caused them to break and deform.
The car rocked dangerously as the back wheels broke off from the body and the wagon steered dangerously to proceed its fall sideways with a loud screech.
The three gathered up their luggage and reached for the busted side of the cart that faced the snow of the mountainside.
"Well, this is our stop." the teen said, with Eren perched on his shoulder.
With a brave shout, Hanji, Levi and Erwin jumped off and landed on the cold but soft snow with a few rolls.
The engine rushed to the end of the rail and plummeted down the canyon, followed by the luggage cart.
The impact caused them to explode in a giant column of smoke and flames.
Levi and the others popped out the snow, staring at the scene before climbing out to dust themselves off.
"I hate trains…" Hanji muttered. "Next time, I'll drive. Got it?"
This caused Levi, Eren and Erwin to sigh and nod in approval.
They didn't liked trains anymore.