Chapter 10: Demon

Word Count: 4,973

For some reason I posted this chapter but it was mysteriously removed...so I am posting it again

I got a Beta~ *happy dance* That's why there's this chapter so quick.

Please enjoy an edited chapter.

Alfred stared up at the frightening man in horror, his eyes refusing to look away from the man's icy ones, mostly in fear of the large man attacking as soon as he did. Still, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ivan lying in the snow, unmoving. He should attack to save Ivan, but...this ghost-thing scared him. He knew he was scared of ghosts, but this seemed different somehow. He heard the sound of several shoes crunching into the snow behind him.

The man must have heard it too, because he looked up from Alfred and into the distance behind him. After a moment, the ghost looked back down, his soul-crumbling gaze piercing Alfred again before he started fading quickly, almost as if the wind and snow were carrying parts of him off and he was becoming the snow. After a couple moments, he was completely gone. Alfred blinked several times, wondering if he had imagined it, but more importantly, if it was coming back.

Shaking his head to clear the ominously deadly thoughts, he quickly got on his hands and knees and went to the unconscious demon. Ivan was lying on his stomach, face turned to the side in the snow, so at least he could breath. Alfred moved over him, knees resting on one side of the broad body and hands pressed into the snow on the other side as he examined Ivan. He had all his clothes on and yet...Alfred frowned, eyes narrowing. He smelled blood, Ivan's blood. But he couldn't see any of the crimson liquid that went with it. The smell was strong though ,and he wondered how he could have missed it before. It was probably what helped him find Ivan so quickly.

Looking up, he saw some people coming into view. Perhaps they could help, they probably would know more things that would help Ivan then he did. When they were close enough, he saw that they were guards by their red uniforms. Of course! He must have been out of the boundaries of Ivan's rule. Where it ended and started was still a mystery to him, but he remembered all too well getting beaten up by the guards for breaking the law before being taken to Ivan. But this time he was with Ivan, so they couldn't hurt him.

"You!" One of them shouted as they came to a stop, close enough to see figures clearly, even through the whipping wind and could make out four or so men. They eventually stopped marching and stood stock-still in the snow.

They seemed shocked by the sight before them,and Alfred could understand their surprise - he hadn't ever seen Ivan truly unconscious (other then the light sleep he sometimes went in while they laid in bed together). One of the guards finally broke from his trance and looked at Alfred.

"You...you killed him?"

Alfred's eyes went wide and he looked down at Ivan, no he couldn't be- no, Ivan was still breathing, his chest moving up and down slowly in a sort of unnatural way. Relieved, he looked back up, shaking his head rapidly and sitting up so he wasn't on top of Ivan.

"No, he's not dead, he's hurt though. I need help, and quickly!" Nobody moved. "Please!" He didn't know if he could help Ivan all by himself. He could try, but where to start? He didn't even know where the taller one was hurt, let alone how to cure it. Finally, one of the men moved forward, the same who had accidentally accused Alfred of killing Ivan. He stopped in front of the demon and shifter, looking in between the two for a moment. Alfred gave the man an encouraging smile, relieved that somebody was helping.

That is until the soldier pulled out a gun, "W-What are you doing?" Alfred asked nervously, maybe guns had uses other than hurting, maybe in some weird way it would help. There was no other explanation that he could think of.

"Helping," the man said, pulling the hammer back on the gun and pointing the barrel at the back of Ivan's head. Alfred's eyes went wide. Before he could think, he was lunging at the man, knocking him to the ground. A shot rang out loudly. Thankfully, it didn't seem to have hit anybody - especially not Ivan. Alfred growled at the man under him, who glared back and started struggling to push the shifter off of him.

"Are you out of your mind?" the man yelled.

"Are you?" Alfred snarled back. "What the hell do you think you were doing? That wasn't helping, that was harming!"

"Yeah, I was going to kill him!"

"How does that help anything?" Alfred shouted. He did not understand what was going on at all. The guard put a hand to his shoulder and pushed him off. Alfred finally let go of him, crouching in the snow and glaring at the man. "Explain this!"

"You must be out of your mind, don't you know who that is?"

"Duh, it's Ivan!"

"Yes, the demon ruler that has terrorized us and our families for generations!"

"Huh? No he hasn't! I haven't seen him once do anything that would terrorize."

"You must be new." The guard deadpanned. "Now move, it's nearly impossible to kill it, but now is the perfect time. And if you stand in my way, I will shoot you down as well."

Alfred's eyes widened; was everybody he met crazy? What kind of luck did he have? Arthur, who swore he could see magical creatures that didn't exist ; Ivan and his crazy mood changes; his bigger sister that always was crying over everything; his little sister that wanted to sleep with her brother. And now, this guy, who wanted to kill Ivan.

Glaring, Alfred stood up. "No." The soldier frowned, slowly standing up as well.

"Why would you die for that monster?"

"Because he's my master."

The man sniffed, disbelief evident in his eyes, but he stepped forward and pointed the gun towards Alfred's forehead, the barrel just barely touching his skin.

"What a shame, and you seem so young too." He actually did look sorry for what he was doing, but that clearly wasn't going to stop him. Alfred grabbed the outstretched arm, gripping it tightly, before moving in and hitting the man in the jaw. It wasn't as effective as biting and scratching, but it worked well enough. The man's head was thrown back slightly ,and Alfred grabbed the gun, jerking it out of his hands. Gripping the gun in both of his own hands, he bent it until the metal gave a powerful crack, easily snapping in half. Carelessly throwing the harmless pieces in opposite directions, he then grabbed the front of the soldiers shirt, yanking him forward.

He was glad the other men hadn't decided to join in or he might be screwed. But they were watching, waiting to see who would come out on top. The soldier before him looked at the broken gun, eyes wide with shock; perhaps nobody had ever had the guts to destroy his weapon like that before. The horror was plain on his face.

"W-who are you?"

"Alfred, Alfred F. Jones." He's always loved that name. "And if you ever, ever try and kill Ivan again, I will do more than break your weapon." Alfred snarled, lip curling angrily before he let go of the other's shirt. "Now go."

"B-but he will kill us if he finds out about this! We have to kill him now or I'll be killed, maybe even my family too."

"Then take your family and leave, out of this place and go to the United Kingdom." Would Ivan really kill them? Well his temper was bad,Alfred would admit that, but killing seemed a little much. "Now go," he repeated.

The solder hesitated before slowly backing away. Once he seemed to think he was a safe distance away from Alfred, he turned and ran off. He would probably have a tail in between his legs if he had one. The blond turned to look at the others. "You three."

They looked at him a bit nervously.

"You'll help me get Ivan back to his castle safely."

They all nodded in understanding. Usually he would add in a 'please' or smile at them to tell them he didn't blame them, but he couldn't do that at the moment. He didn't know if they were thinking of hurting Ivan too.

What had Ivan done to get on everybody's bad side?

Ivan blinked his eyes open slowly. He was back in his room. How had that happened? His whole back and shoulders felt sore and painful, especially when he moved them. Not that he was surprised. He put his hand on his forehead, closing his eyes as he remembered the recent encounter with Winter. The other was always cruel. After their little encounters, he usually woke up in the snow in some bizarre location. Ivan sat up, groaning at the pain that shot through his back. Not many things hurt him ,but Winter sure made up for the things others couldn't do. It wasn't like he could heal, like some other creatures were gifted with, it was always a slow process.

The warm blankets slid off of him, exposing his skin to the cold room. Then he noticed he didn't have a shirt on, or pants,for that matter. There were bandages across his torso that were a bit too loose to be altogether helpful ;they slid down his body when he moved even in the slightest. Looking down at the handiwork, Ivan smiled after a moment. Alfred. Wait...where was the blond?

Looking over to the other side of the bed, he saw Alfred's back turned towards him, the blond curled up under the blankets, but not quite asleep yet. After a moment, Ivan moved to lay back down on his side, close to the blond and wrapping his arm around the others torso, brought him close. Alfred didn't object, instead shifting slightly so that he faced Ivan, head resting on his chest.

"Did you do this?" Ivan asked, questioning about the bandages. He felt the blond nod slowly.

Closing his eyes again, Ivan laid there peacefully for a moment before peeking down at the other's face. Alfred's eyes were clouded with thoughts, teeth worrying his bottom lip slowly, corners turned down into a slight frown.

"What is wrong?" Ivan questioned. Alfred looked up quickly before looking back down to stare at Ivan's chest.

"Just trying to figure out things...about you."

"How is that coming along?"

"Not very well. Ivan, is the reason you don't go outside because of that freaky man?" Ivan tensed slightly before forcing himself to calm down.

"Who?"

"The one that hurt you, obviously. You know, tall, evil eyes and a cut across his throat like some sort of ghost."

"You saw him?" Ivan questioned, a bit surprised. He didn't know very many people who had actually seen Winter. Then again Alfred wasn't exactly the definition of normal. The blond nodded.

"Yeah...and I felt cold too. At least I think that's what it was."

"Probably. His name is General Winter, and I would suggest that you keep your distance from him,Alfred."

"Don't have to tell me twice." He muttered, shivering under Ivan's grasp. The taller hummed and kissed the blond's forehead, rubbing his back. "I also talked to Francis and asked him a couple things about you too..." Alfred confessed. Ivan rolled his eyes - Francis was not the best person to get information from.

"I would not take seriously anything that idiot says." Alfred was silent for a moment.

"He told me what kind of demon you were. I guess it's funny, I knew that there were different types of demons ,but I never questioned what you were."

"I told you I got power from paranoia."

"And fear, you never mentioned that."

"Paranoia is a type of fear," Ivan explained.

"Yeah,but there's a certain line. When your people want to kill you, I think that that's when you've crossed it."

"What people wanting to kill me?" Ivan asked, looking down at Alfred, who winced slightly, looking down.

"Um...nobody. It was um...hypothetical? Yeah, that's it." Ivan's eyes narrowed as he moved his hand to the blond's chin, lifting it up to make those blue eyes meet his.

"What people?" Ivan repeated darkly.

"That's not the point I'm trying to make! And you're alright...well mostly. They didn't touch you okay? So you're fine!"

"Nyet, I think this is very important if there are people in my kingdom that are trying to go against me."

"Look, I told them to leave and go to the United Kingdom while you were unconscious, they're probably long-"

"You what?" Ivan growled, his grip on Alfred's chin tightening. The shifter winced slightly, whether at the tight grip or the tone, Ivan didn't know. He found himself on top of Alfred, the younger beneath him as he glared. Alfred frowned up at him. "Nobody is ever allowed to leave."

"I let them leave so you wouldn't do something stupid to them once you woke up!" It took a lot of willpower not to hurt Alfred right then and there. Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes and lowered his head, trying to control himself. Alfred must have caught onto something,because he stayed silent and unmoving for those several minutes. Ivan finally looked back up, still furious of course, but not in danger of becoming violent soon.

"You will stay right here. On this bed. Until the people missing are found. And you better hope they are found soon," he warned as he moved his hand down to touch Alfred's neck. It amused him how Alfred's blue eyes widened when a thick metal collar appeared there, the chained leash attaching to the wall of the room. Alfred's wrists were also caught in chains that pulled his arms up so they had less room to move as the cuffs melted into each other over the blond's head.

Alfred's knees were drawn up with a thick strap around each of his legs to keep them bent tightly so he would only be able to kneel (that is, if he was allowed the privilege of sitting up). Ivan smirked at the compromising position - it actually cheering him up a bit. Alfred,on the other hand, wasn't as pleased, ears down and eyes narrowed before he tried struggling, but to no avail.

"You can't just leave me like this!" he protested.

"Oh but I can~ Do not worry, if it takes a long time finding them, I will make sure you do not starve."

"Come on Ivan, this isn't funny! Let me go!" Alfred growled, seeming very displeased. Maybe Ivan could keep Alfred like this even after the men were found. Then he couldn't even think about going elsewhere with his brother. Yes, that did sound like a good idea. Though he didn't know if it would last that long, he could hope. Putting a hand on Alfred's hair, he petted the blond momentarily.

"Nyet, now you be good ,and no calling for help while I'm gone or I will take away your privilege of speaking," Ivan warned as he stood up and started to tighten the bandages around his chest - at least they stopped the bleeding.

"Speaking is a right, not a privilege!"

"Whatever you say. I will gag you if you break my rule. You should be happy that I am not punishing you further."

"Further? You have me chained to the bed by a collar! I can hardly even move!"

Ivan could hear the blond struggling on the bed as he pulled on his clothes. Once done with the task, he turned back around. He was somewhat amused that Alfred had at least managed to reposition himself. His tan forehead was resting on the headboard and his knees. A moment later, Alfred tried moving his head back against the chains, neck straining under the pressure of the collar attached to the wall.

"Don't hurt yourself," Ivan said, pulling on his gloves, "Oh, if you pee on my bed I will throw you into burning water." And this time it might actually be burning hot. Alfred winced at the idea.

Smiling, he went outside the room, closing the door behind him. Turning away without much worry about his little blond, he walked downstairs.

"Damn it." Alfred growled, trying to pull back against the chain around his neck, but it held firm and it was starting to make his neck sore. He paused in his blind struggling, "Think Alfred, think." He told himself, closing his eyes and remembering back to what Francis said, "Oui, Ivan is a nightmare demon, one of two that I have ever met. And I knew everybody. I was quite popular, you know."

"So what, he gives people bad dreams? That's a terrible reason to kill somebody!" Alfred exclaimed.

"Oh you are so cute Alfred. I suppose Ivan could ,in the literal sense, give somebody a nightmare, but it's more than that. Nobody knows quite what to call them, so that is just a name we give them."

"Well okay, so tell me what he does that would make people want to kill him."

"Well Ivan isn't the easiest person to get along with. I mean we are friends even and sometimes he tries to kill me. But the reason the people living here do not take to Ivan? Well you see what Ivan can do is see people's thoughts and memories, and he uses that to create that which would terrify people or scar them for life. He makes people see things - illusions, if you will. I am trying to explain so you will understand."

"So he makes people see things that scare them?"

"Yes, so some of his citizens live in almost constant fear for the next illusion. They are very realistic. You can see, feel, and smell them. It is very hard to break out of the trance too."

"...that's terrible! So somebody could like feel like they were being eaten alive?"

"Yes! I am glad you understand. Of course, because of this, a lot of people here don't have very long life die of heart attacks."

"That is terrible! Why would Ivan do that?"

"To gain power,of course."

Right, so this was just an illusion. A really real fake illusion. Surely if he believed that then it could stop the chains from existing. Like when having a nightmare, just realizing that it was a dream made it way less scary. But it seemed like his body didn't believe what his mind was telling him. And well, considering he could feel the temperature difference between the metal around his neck to the air around him and the strain his neck muscles were having from trying to tear away he couldn't blame it. "How the hell is this an illusion?" He mentally screamed.

Pulling at the chains around his wrists, he sighed heavily. He couldn't even sleep comfortably! Though that seemed about the only thing that he could do, and he had been woken up twice now in the middle of sleeping. Though he was kind of pissed, he wanted to dream about Arthur's story. He was still missing information, and he knew it. And at the moment, that was about the only thing he could get answers from. Moving so that he was laying back down on the bed, he sighed as he tried getting into a semi-comfortable position, letting his thoughts wander. It wasn't surprising that they immediately went to Ivan and the new information he had.

He couldn't understand how Ivan could be so cruel, causing people to live in a constant nightmare. If Alfred had to live in a world where he constantly saw ghosts he would probably die in like, a week. Seriously, those things were scary. A shudder ran up his spine at the very thought. "Think of something else, think of something else, quickly! Dogs, dogs are good, cute puppies, all curled up and cute and their eyes barely open, one yawning so adorably, small little teeth just barely showing." So cute. He felt his heart melt at the metal image, terrifying thoughts gone as he closed his eyes, picturing the imaginary puppies, playing with them and watching them grow. He sighed happily, letting the images comfort him into sleep.

"Anyway, I meet the demon in a few days, I went there as fast as I could because the less time a demon has to prepare for a fight the better. But it was far from the United Kingdom, I didn't want to fight him so close to so many innocent people after all."

"And you fought him, right? Was he ugly?"

"Yes, quite. The ugliest monster you could lay eyes on."

"Did he have horns? And claws, and teeth?" Alfred asked excitedly.

"Um...yes, he had large razor sharp claws and teeth the size of my entire hand. Plus extremely large horns on his head, like a minotaur."

"Wow. Were you scared?"

"A little bit, I was a little worried that he might beat me."

"But you were a hero! Hero's don't get beaten by villains." It was against every law of nature, and surely nature would stand up for its own laws.

"Well, that was the first time I met the beast face to face. We fought for a very long time. Several hours at the very least. He would swipe at me with his large claws and I would dodge. He scratched me a few times, always close to my neck. It was clear he was going in for the kill each time. He would summon up terrible lesser demons from hell whenever it pleased him.

"Wow, that must have been terrible! What happened next?"

"Well all of a sudden, I fell through the snow. At first I thought the trickster had opened up a gateway to hell, but it turned out to be some sort of buried and abandoned building. The roof of course was caving in, which is how I found myself there. Well, he followed me inside. It wasn't a very big place, but we were completely surrounded by snow too."

"His weakness right?"

"That's right. And I decided to use that weakness against him. In such a small space he couldn't summon very many things. He made darkness come so that I couldn't tell where he was. However, I easily shattered that spell with my own, creating a great flash of light. It temporarily blinded me, but it had a more lasting effect on him. While demons can see well in complete darkness, it's harder for them to see light."

"That's why there's more monsters in the dark?"

"That's right." Arthur smiled, "Now, that blinded him long enough for me to concentrate to perform the spell I had made especially for him. Months had gone into the study and creation of it. I almost blacked out, it was that powerful. His claws ripped through my stomach, thankfully not deep enough to tear out my stomach,but not before I finished the spell. He then grabbed my neck with his large, icy hands."

"No! Did you live?"

"Yes, I did. He must have sensed I had done something, because he didn't kill me right then. His blood-red eyes narrowed at me and asked me in the most despicable, demonic voice one could ever hear 'What did you do.' And I told him-"

"What did you do?" Alfred interrupted.

"Well, I told him that I had cast a spell that would trap him inside that frozen wasteland for the rest of eternity. Oh, he was furious, he threw me against the wall, which caused a lot of pain. Thankfully, I was able to summon enough strength to climb out of the hole that I fell through and escape."

"You didn't kill him?"

"Ah...no, I didn't."

"Why not?"

"He was a powerful demon, and it is nearly impossible to kill one unless they're asleep, and they can go years without sleep. The best I could do is trap him in his own little hell where he could no longer hurt anybody."

"Wow! But how did you get home when you were bleeding?"

"I used magic to heal myself and headed back."

"So is the demon still there?"

"Yes, he is. I know because people who have gone that way never come back and nobody hears from them ever again. Ever since trapped there, he has lured people into his clutches with trickery."

"Is this all true? Like a truely true story?"

"Yes, that is why we must never ever go east past the enchanted forest. For beyond that is where he lives."

"Well nobody goes into the enchanted forest anyway. But don't worry, one day I'm going to be the hero and I'll vanquish all evil, just like that demon...um..."

"Ivan. Maybe when you're older." Arthur chuckled, rolling his eyes, clearly not believing it. Then again Alfred didn't notice at the time since he was a child that the other didn't believe him. Instead he felt warmth at the fact his older brother believed him, "Now, go to sleep."

"Okay!" Alfred said, laying down completely, letting his head rest on the pillow comfortably. Arthur pulled the blankets up to his shoulders, ruffling his hair slightly.

"Goodnight Alfred." Arthur said before leaving, turning off the light and leaving a small candle lit for a night-light. Sighing and closing his eyes,Alfred let thoughts of battling demons and saving people lull him to sleep.

Alfred opened his eyes slowly, instantly pouting, "I think his voice is nice. And red eyes? Na-uh, they are totally purple...or is it violet? And He said himself he didn't have horns," he thought. Then again, he hadn't seen Ivan's 'true form' or whatever. Not that he cared, nope. Speaking of which, he squirmed as he realized there was an arm around his waist.

"What, already back to torment-" Wait, the chains were gone. He smiled and squirmed more. No time to talk, freedom was in sight!

"Calm down some, da? Or I will put you back in chains," Ivan growled, hand moving to his neck. Alfred stilled his movements a moment before he turned to glare up at Ivan, who was smiling down at him.

"You left me here in chains! Not only were you an ass, but I'm hungry now and need to go to the bathroom!"

"You can hold it."

"How do you know?"

"You just woke up."

"So?"'

Ivan sighed and shook his head. "I found the man who you told to run away."

Alfred's eyes widened. Already? He squirmed a bit nervously, trying to ignore the warm body pressed against him.

"Um...r-really? And um...what happened?"

"He was still here actually, before I could even ask about anybody who was missing he told me some interesting things." Alfred tilted his head slightly to the side, hand subconsciously gripping the front of Ivan's shirt, something to hold on to as he tried guessing the conversation in the pause. Before any logical theories were formed however, Ivan continued: "He told me that you tried to kill me and that he had done all in his power to stop you."

And that is where I leave you.

But yes, I have a Beta Reader. I am forever happy. Forever.

Anyway, Alfred did not fight General Winter like some of you seem to have thought. Also, he's not a demon. Just saying, he's something else entirely. But I'm not saying what so :P