The Spiral of Causality
Rating: M for language, strong violence, sexual themes and lemon scenes, etc.
A/N: This is my fic continue where the current manga has left off. I am a die-hard fanatical fan of Berserk, can almost say I know it all by heart (don't care if called a nerd) and this wait for the continuation has got me so worked up I wanna write out this fic I been thinking about for a while, I am warning now I will keep as close as I can to the themes presented in the manga, meaning tragic and dark moments, but I believe in lights at the end of the tunnel and things like that, I hope you all enjoy and forgive my shakiness when it comes to slow updates.
Chapter 1: Ill winds
In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? It is like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true, that mankind has no control…even over his own will.
Summary: The prophetic words of the horrid God hand, agents of the idea of Evil who resides in the abyss. The world has taken a new turn, Griffith defeats Emperor Ganishka and has re shaped the world weakening the ties that sever the astral, sprit world and the physical world. His kingdom, the mythical city of Falconia is now his. The supposed Hawk of Light has won…?
Elsewhere the Struggler, called Guts fights against his fate to reach Elfhelm, to find the cure for his beloved Casca. These two meant to be sacrificed now pose a threat to the web of causality, will they succeed or perish.
The current battle is Guts facing the so called sea god, he with his newest companion Schierke prepare, while back aboard the sea horse something ominous approaches the others.
The waves crashed against the rocks on the cliff face, dark and high before falling back down, thankfully due to the shape of the cave entrance they could not reach the long figure standing at its entrance.
Guts stood staring into the shadow of the open maw of the cave of the sea god, possibly going in his mind what any warrior thinks of before a fight, and in his case it was serious. He could feel the spray of the sea, the salt air, but only partially, thanks to be only semi possessed by the berserker armour.
He looked very intimidating in this state; the armour seemed to almost be alive when it altered in shape. The canine like helm, gauntlets formed along both his hands that appeared when the armour's power was called and vanished when he returned to normal, even allowing him use of his metal left hand, without even thinking he flexed his fingers as if he had never lost all below the elbow, he wasn't fooled though, it wasn't reality, just a tool he could make use of in this state. His right eye, his left forearm and hand, they were both gone. He hefted his monstrous sword, called the dragonslayer and rested it on his right shoulder as was his custom, a trait inherited by Gambino long ago.
"Guts, do you sense that" A quite, intellectual, feminine sounding voice asked over his shoulder.
It was the voice of Schierke his most recent companion to join his group. She was a witch who had studied under Flora, who had been like a surrogate mother to her, and joined Gut's and his group shortly after her death. Even though she had told Guts she thought of it more as her mistress moving to a different plane of existence she was still a young girl at heart on these matters.
However she had proven essential to the group, being well versed on beings of the astral realm, as well as teaching Farnese in magic which allowed her to accompany Guts in her ethereal body and keep his berserker armour in check.
Gut's looked over his shoulder. Schierke was not really there, her physical body was back on the Sea Horse, the boat they were travelling on, but her ethereal body was clinging to his back, she looked like some kind of a spirit, but not one of the ones that had plagued his nights these last few years.
Just thinking about those nights reminded him of the twinge pain he felt at his brand, he was certain of it.
The Sea God was in fact an apostle.
The only thing Guts felt was different was the pain was different, also this feeling of dread coming from the dark cave entrance, it was an overwhelming sensation, he felt the same feeling from many of the apostles he had encountered, but only with certain ones was this feeling more intense, apostles like Zodd he sensed that from, maybe because Zodd was a lot older than some of the past demons he had fought or killed.
"It's older" Guts said in his deep voice, his manner of speaking was often blunt and quick to the point.
"Your right, the OD I sense from this one, It's more sinister, and older. It must be older then that one you talked to back in Vritannis, Zodd" Schierke replied making a shrewd insight to the flow of OD she sensed.
"Good thing I got you hear to keep me from going to crazy, I'm gonna need my wits for this fight" he said.
The berserker armour was something he had acquired as a gift from Flora when her home was attacked by the new band of the hawk. It was a cursed suit of full plate armour that was created by the ancient Dwarves, a race that is seldom seen.
Guts recalled the first time he had put on the armour thinking how much it reminded him of his ally known at the Skull Knight, for lack of an actual name. There was in fact more truth to that thought as he later learned the armour had in fact once been worn by the knight before Flora took it into her keeping. Shortly after his battle with the Apostle Grunbeld he had learned a lot about the Armour and it's power, primarily it gave the wearer enhanced strength and endurance in battle by lifting what Schierke called the subconscious limits out minds sets on feeling pain, temporarily bonded wounds, fixed dislocated joints or broken bones by piercing the body with metal spikes and had an effect known as the "berserker rage". There were however some recent harmful effects, if Guts fought for too long as the berserker he risked death by blood loss and in his state of temporary insanity he could hurt his friends by accident, that aside is had a few physical deteriorating side effects after his first time using it.
Guts had asked Schierke to explain all she knew about the armour and as subtly as he could got the information he wanted about his other concern
This armour has come in handy plenty of times…but, that thing has gotten out and now has a new home, and he's getting stronger Guts thought as he glanced at his fake arm now usable when in his semi possessed state. It was that inner black flame he was thinking of the one whispering into his ear of bloodshed and revenge, the thing that nearly hurt Casca. His inner beast, the hellhound as he dubbed it due to the shape it took, had entered his armour through an ethereal wound he had gotten from one of the members of the God Hand called Slan, since he came to the realization that being partially in the astral realm due to his brand that was how it had been able to move into the armour possessing him turning him into the Berserker.
It was something that had troubled Gut's mind for sometimes despite his measures of control, the main one being the little witch clinging to his back to hold back the insanity but still giving him nearly all the strength of the armour at the same time, he had a growing fear the he might hurt one of his new companions, or worse, Casca.
"Guts" Schierke called to him bringing him out of his train of thought.
"Ya, I know, this is the thing that likely changed those weird pirates" He said surmising all those details with a more blunt form of insight
Schierke's astral form smiled at her friend, she had grown to like Guts, whether or not she admitted or realized it she had developed a somewhat childlike infatuation for him, maybe due to the lack of a father or big brother or any male role model in her life, she did recall when she and Farnese caught that conversation of Roderick asked Guts what Casca was to him she had really wanted to hear him confirm it.
Quite acting this way you fool, this is hardly the time or place, I must concentrate on keeping the negative OD in check to preserve Gut's Ego for this battle She scolded herself before get back to the task at hand.
"I can feel that this thing is not alert to our presence yet, we might be able to surprise it, but I'm a little worried about what does have its attention" She said in a grim tone.
Guts nodded slowly, he knew it was pointless to overthink his plans before even seeing what this unnatural enemy would be like. He would just let his instincts do the work like he usually did.
With a casual movement he drew forth his monstrous blade known as the dragonslayer. The awesome blade was nearly equal to him in height from the tip of the blade to the end of the long handle, it was starting to show more signs of use since the last time he'd had it repaired at Godo's but he would deal with that later. Holding the seemingly un-wieldable blade in his right hand he advanced into the cave. Schierke too also glance at the sword, she had still not gotten used to it, and the way Puck had described it to her after her first glimpse of it
It was too much to be called a sword. Massive, thick, too rough, it was more like a slab or iron.
Still she had seen Guts wield it with speed and strength that she had never seen before, the fact that his brand gave him an unintended addition to his strength, Guts truly was a grandmaster with his sword.
Back on the warship the Sea Horse, the crew and passengers were still marvelling at the work their protector Witch, Farnese, had made. It was a shield light known as the Formation of the Four Cardinals, a protective spell by calling up the elemental lords of Earth, Air, Fire and Water to protect any inside from beings of the astral plane, that was how the only daughter of the famous Vandimion family explained it but to the sailor's it was like the lights of the northern night skies.
In truth even Farness could not believe she had constructed this wondrous shield, a member of a notoriously religious family learned to become a witch, and feeling like she was doing more then she had ever done in her entire life.
She was a young woman, nearly 20 years old, of medium height with a slender, ladylike build however that had recently acquired some toning due to the rigors of daily travel. She had dark eyes and sunny coloured blond hair that framed a lovely but delicate looking face, her hair used to be about shoulder length but now only reached the bottom of her, jaw a common style among villagers. She wore a collection of both men and woman's clothing and wore a small but well-crafted silver dagger on her belt given to her by her mentor Schierke. At first glance she seemed the common aristocratic woman, delicate, fragile, ready to dance and exchange pleasant gossip with other ladies of a court. None would suspect she was in fact the former leader of the knight of the holy iron chain, or a witch in training.
Over the recent weeks she had gone far in her teaching, she had a much cleverer mind then she realizes and now that it had come a long way in see that there was more to the world then religious duty, or her cold suffocating life in a mansion with servants she was excelling at her study.
Turning her gaze from the glowing walls of her shield she hear the sound of a female voice making cooing sounds of amusement and happiness while sailors cheers and chuckled. Her eyes found the other reason why she was so vital to her companions; in particular to the man she admired the most, Guts.
Casca stood by the railing near one of the rope ladders leading up to the upper parts of the mast helping the little black haired child climb up the ropes while supporting him with her hands on his back in case his grip slipped, the sailors cheered nearby, at a respectful distance as the boy made it to a higher level than before. Farnese took a moment to look at her ward, the woman she cared for whose mind was lost.
Casca was only slightly taller than her, maybe a few inches. She was also a gorgeous woman, dark chocolate coloured skin, black eyes they sparkled with pride and amusement at the moment, a lovely face that had a strong look to it full lips pulled back as she cooed at the boy who was impressing all with his skill at climbing, her black hair tied back into a loose ponytail at the moment now was going past her shoulder was full and lovely. Over time Farnese had noticed that her hands were somewhat rough, and calloused, the signs of one who wielded a sword, and her body while it looked to be a shadow of a former physique she was well toned and in excellent shape, she must have been a warrior at some point, is that how she and Guts met as soldiers fighting together, Farnese had guessed at one point. This all clearly said for why Guts looked at her with clear admiration, she was not only beautiful but must have been a skilled warrior. There was however a big mystery to her.
Casca's mind appeared to be like that of the child she supported. That was something that she and the rest of their little group had been asking each other occasionally at night after Guts had fallen asleep, how did she get like that? What happened to her and Guts, and why is Guts trying so hard for her when she is so afraid of him? These were some of the major questions presented, they tried to find answers. Even Schierke could offer no guesses, even when they knew it had to involve those brands they each had, however her knowledge of the Brand of Sacrifice was limited, and there was not enough information to make a more educated guess.
Some nights they had dark thoughts that maybe Guts was the reason Casca was like she was, it was an ugly thought but it had to be said, they had all seen Guts' more dark side, the one in battle, the one brought to light from the possession of his amour, and that only added to the mystery, however they saw his goodness, the fact that despite any dark thought non could think long enough on it to doubt the one simple fact they all knew.
Guts loved Casca more than anything in this world.
Farnese smiled at seeing the boy finally slip but his foot got caught and he hung upside down while the sailors chuckled good naturedly while Casca let out a slight gasp then helped free the boy's foot. Unaware that her mentor had been thinking the same thing she also thought about her first experience with astral projection when she overheard the conversation between Roderick and Guts, Casca…what are you to Guts and what is he to you, who did you used to be, and what happened to you…Master told me of that smile on his face when he was told how to cure you, it's true I do feel a little jealous but I want to meet the real you.. She thought to herself. Her thought were then interrupted by a calm and soft voice over her shoulder.
"It would seem the child is enjoying his time on the ship" Serpico commented following his mistress's line of sight.
Farnese smiled "Yes and Casca appears to be enjoying her time as the caretaker again, still I really wish I knew how that boy got to the island, or how he found us back on that beach, only to disappear" she said speaking her mind and turning to look at her most trusted servant, now friend.
Serpico was a taller than here by a few inches, he was lean and fit, his shared the same hair color as Farnese but his face had a more sharp and pointed look, like that of fox as some had joked once or twice, he was a quiet but shrewd man, highly intelligent, quick witted, and skilled with a rapier. What some considered to be the epitome of a valet, herald at arms, and escort for a noble lady. In truth he was in fact the illegitimate half-brother of Farnese. They shared the same father and when he learned he made a secret deal with Farnese to stand by her always and he would be lifted to a noble status. Farnese was not aware of the connection between her and Serpico, and this had led to some troubling matter for both of them in the past. Still Serpico loved his sister dearly and stood by her as she had done by him in their recent adventures. Serpico also carried his own unique magical weapons and equipment; he was gifted with the hood and sword of sylph, the wind elemental. His cloak seemed to almost always be flowing in its own wind and had the power to deflect arrows or other projectiles; it also gave him added boost to his jumping and slowed his descent if jumping from a great height. The sword of sylph was in fact an eagle's feather in a wooden hilt that when swung would generate currents of wind strong enough to cut through nearly anything. He had since learned to add those to his own style of fighting with his nimble and precise swordsmanship with his rapier.
They were then joined by the few remaining members of their group Isidro along with the two pixie elves, Puck and Evarella. Isidro was the youngest of their group, a boy of about 13-14 years old, short but growing his own layer of physique due to his training with Guts, he had short fiery red spiky hair and the attitude that had often earned him the nickname Monkey. He was an aspiring swordsman who, despite neither of them admitting it, was Guts' apprentice. It was through his advice that Isidro had developed his own style of fighting combining a pirate's cutlass and his salamander's dagger, his gift from Flora, a special dagger forged from lava that cause wounds to burn like hellfire and ignited things it cut such as wood. He had a close and comical friendship with Puck and was developing a close friendship with Schierke something like that or brother and sister due to their close ages.
The last two members were Puck and Evarella. They were elves of the pixie family. Evarella was a supervisor and partner to Schierke in matters of magic and served as the sister act of being a coming relief along with Puck for the group. Puck was, as he claimed, Guts' manager and as the others saw it been with him as long as Casca had as such when they talked about the hidden truths concerning Guts and Casca it was then Puck would get very quiet or leave, leading to some curious eye's at him.
As part of the group both elves were just as essential elves of the pixie race could secret a special powder from their wings that greatly healed even serious wounds, which had saved Guts life on a number of occasion. In the past that was the main reason Guts allowed Puck to stay with him but in fact Puck also served as a sort of conscious for Guts in his days as the black swordsman.
"So how do you think the boss is doing against the sea god?" Isidro asked, no one could really say but it was a question on all their minds.
"I cannot say but if there is one thing we all know is that Guts is not a man to be taken lightly, and with Miss Schierke at his side I am confident the battle will go well and then we can continue on our journey" Serpico said with rare emotion in his normally neutral tone, it was respect for the man he trusted.
Just then the child strolled past them, he was small, maybe 2-3 years old, with long black hair and dark eyes like that of the woman who chased after him in their likely game of follow the leader. The boy had fair lighter coloured skin but whenever the others looked at him closely they saw a familiarity.
"Ya know there something that's been bugging me bout that kid" Isidro said crossing his arms as they all watched Casca catch the child then both sad down to share a bowl of soup brought to them by one of the sailor's.
Serpico nodded "Your right, he bears a strong resemblance to Miss Casca, they have the same eyes" he said.
"Not just that, but his hair, skin and face. They remind me of Guts" Farnese said joining their train of thought.
She looked at her friends "and you remember back in that hut in the beach when he tried to climb on Guts' back and nearly fell, when Guts and Casca caught him?" she asked them.
They both nodded and Puck joined in "It was like looking at a family" he said in a sombre tone.
"The chestnut is right, but how do you think that's possible I mean you seen how Casca acts around the big guy, and what about how that kid just appears and vanishes there's a lot of unanswered questions here, and what's with that look on your face Puck?" She asked noticing an unusually sad look on the cheerful elf's face
The others all looked at Puck curiously as he sat on Isidro's shoulder "Well, I know something about Casca and Guts"
Before Puck could go any further a voice rang out from the crow's nest
"Captain! Sails spotted sir, it's the same as before!" the watchman shouted.
Down at the helm Roderick, Captain of the sea horse, prince of the royal family of Iith pulled his spyglass out of his coat pocket to look at the ship that had emerged from the fog. He spotted the tattered sails, and the ominous looking ship that had been following them.
"All hands, battle stations, man the main guns and prepare for combat! Our Pirate friends have returned" he shouted calmly giving his orders to the best of Iith's navy.
No sooner had he spoken that cannons roared from the enemy ship as the battle began again.
On the deck the companions moved to reach Casca and the child to get below deck just as a cannon ball tore the trailing between them.
Inside the dark and dank cave Guts walked calmly into a large open cavern that was well light by some glowing plants and a crack in the ceiling of the cave. He felt the pain in his brand go up a notch.
"Time to say hello" he said his eyes narrow as he raised his sword hearing the demon move in the shadowy corner.
To be continued….
A/N: Well here's to the start of my Berserk story, I hope you all enjoy this and I will be working on the next update soon.