A Lonely Heart by SomaFan (Vic Banks)

Author's notes:

This is yaoi. (gay, homosexuals, men with men, etc.) Don't like? Don't read. Really a simple concept when you think about it.

Warnings: Bad language, violence, blood, gore, and ...well read with caution.

I claim my rights to own Syoto and Darkron, as they are my characters lovingly created in my very sick and twisted mind. Steal them and die a bloody painful death. ^.^

Obviously I don't own Berserk or its characters. If I did... oh if only. T-T


Chapter 3: Down into Darkness

The rain and wind increased to borderline hurricane levels around the ceremonial altar. A thunder louder then any canon sounded as a bolt of black lightning hit the weirdly shaped knife with deadly precision. The small crack began to grow exponentially and soon swallowed the altar and its offering as the earth began to quake. A gigantic demon's claw grasped the edge of the fissure and eyes, one red one blue, appeared from the black depths. As the monstrous creature took in the surroundings, the woman landed from her floating perch above the altar and stepped forward, showing her gorgeous yet blood covered body to the beast. "Welcome back, my demonic prince." She said with a graceful bow.

The demon studied her for a moment, and its maw turned down in a horrid abomination of a frown. "I do not see the other 'virgin' sacrifice. I told you I would need it to bring my followers into this world as well."

"Forgive me. I tried my best, but virgins have truly become a rarity in this modern world. If you would permit me just a little more time, I'm sure I can find a suitable person." She kneeled at his hoofed feet, begging for forgiveness. Instead the demon kicked her hard sending her sprawling backwards. While she lay on her back stunned, he grabbed her hair and pulled her up by it to bring her to face level.

"Whatever do you mean? There is a perfect sacrifice right here." Her face blanched, as the creature grinned bearing its long fangs and licked at the blood that leaked from her now crushed nose.

"What? N-no! Y-you c-can't!" Her words were cut off as his clawed hand stabbed through her chest. As he held her still beating heart in his blood soaked hand, his chilling laughter rang out into the stormy night. Another black bolt struck the ground, followed by many subsequent hits until it was almost a solid wall of black energy. The ground began to quake and groan as it was mercilessly ripped apart.

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Stunned didn't even begin to describe it. He'd been kissed! His first kiss… stolen, and by a guy as well! Guts didn't know whether to be angry, disappointed, or happy. "……Happy? Did I really just think that!?" Guts shook the thought out of his head, decided on being angry. It was simpler to explain, and easier to control. He found himself running full speed after the white haired boy, finally catching sight of him in the hall by their lockers. "Griffith…!" The name was all but growled, the low dangerous tone causing the other students to back away in terror. Griffith simply turned around with an innocently, inquisitive look on his elegant face. Guts took the three big steps needed to grab the smaller boy by the collar, and raised his fist to strike him. Griffith's eyes widened and he covered his face with his hands in a desperate attempt to block the incoming blow.

However, before Guts could strike the ground began to shake and rumble with such force he was knocked off balance. In the confusion of the unexpected earthquake students scattered and ran in all directions. Griffith, having been released, tried to shout above the noise trying to get people to calm down only to get knocked to the floor by a nearby panicked male. As he tried to lift himself up the row of lockers along the wall broke their restraints and began to crash down. Without thinking, Guts threw himself over Griffith shielding him. The floor beneath them cracked and crumbled away just before the lockers hit, sending them both into an unknown cavern under the school. The last thing Guts heard before he was swallowed by the darkness was Caska's desperate cry of "Griffith!!!!"

He awoke to find a bloody Griffith staring down at him, and, upon remembering the kiss, sat bolt upright knocking their heads together hard. "Ouch! Ah Guts…!" The voice was gentle yet stern, like a parent admonishing a child.

"Sorry…" Guts replied holding his own head. "…Are you ok? Where are you hurt?"

Griffith rubbed his head a little more before tearing a piece of his shirt off and binding Guts' arm which he had just noticed was bleeding profusely. "No where. This is your blood. You took most of the damage from that fall and the debris. The only damage I received is the bruise where you just hit me."

"Oh…" It was all Guts could manage to say. He didn't know why but he felt sorry for doing it. It made no sense, especially since he had been ready to pound the boy into a pulp just a few minutes ago. "Shit…my head is so screwed up. Dammit." Looking around the black room, Guts rubbed his arms in a futile effort to drive away the damp cold that was beginning to seep into his limbs. It was then he noticed a strange smell in the air. Mold…dust…and…death. …The room smelled of death. How did he know what death smelled like? He wasn't sure, but he knew that was what it was. The sickeningly sweet smell made his stomach turn. "Where… are we?"

"I think it's a cavern of some sort…like a tunnel that ran under the school or something. I can't really tell it's…too dark." Griffith shuddered at the chill and unconsciously leaned against Guts. "Maybe a cavern isn't the right word… seems more like a catacomb. Ugh what a smell…!" He shivered again and covered his nose with his hand. Suddenly out of nowhere a load of books, pencils and other school supplies landed on Guts' head.

"Owwww! Goddamn fucking piece of shit!!!!!!" Guts yelled at the accursed contraption of metal that he knew was hanging open somewhere above his head. Griffith stared in shock for a moment, before he burst out laughing. After all that had happened, he couldn't help it. That locker was really too much. "Shut the hell up! It's not funny!"

"I…ha… know that…ha ha ha, but I….can't…help…it….ha ha ha!" Griffith wiped a few tears from his eyes and slowly calmed down as he met Guts' now venomous glare. He cleared his throat. "Ahem…Sorry. …Well Sitting around here isn't going to do us much good. We should try to find a way out of here."

"And how do you propose we do that without a light, Sherlock."

"Ah it's elementary, my dear Watson." Griffith smirked and ruffled Guts' hair a little trying to lighten the mood. "We'll find a wall and simply walk along it as far as we can. That way even if we don't find a way out we can always come back to where we started."

Guts snorted at the suggestion, but since he didn't have a better idea decided it couldn't hurt to try. He simply nodded to Griffith, who then stood up and helped him to his feet. Griffith checked his watch, took one of the pens on the ground, and forced it into the wall. "A marker." was the only explanation given. Honestly, Guts didn't care as long as they got out of there. He had a bad feeling and it was only getting worse the longer they stayed down here. "Whatever…" They walked in silence for hours. Instead of getting out Guts had the feeling they were traveling deeper into the earth. It was getting colder and the smell was getting stronger. "Hey Griffith…I think we should turn back."

"Hmm? Why's that?"

"Call it a hunch…Something's wrong."

"Is your paranoid sense acting up again?" Griffith teased lightly. "Heh you're starting to sound like a coward." Just then Griffith's hand touched something slimy and cold. He moved his face closer to get a better look then jumped back with a yelp, clinging to Guts.

"Now who sounds like a coward…" Guts cringed as he saw the rotting corpse that the boy had just touched. "Gross…it looks to be about a week old, but I could be wrong. I don't know much about this kind of stuff."

"Who cares? Let's go back…" Griffith said with a slight gag as he wiped his hand on a tissue he dug out of his pocket.

"Sure… Now you want to go back." Guts stated sarcastically.

"Shut up…" Griffith snapped. He hadn't meant to but that had really creeped him out. A part of him knew he should have listened to Guts sooner, but another part of him hadn't wanted to be told what to do. For some reason it annoyed him to think he had miscalculated, and the fact that Guts had pointed it out so bluntly didn't help. He paused for a moment. "…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled."

"Whatever. It's not a big deal."

"It's a big deal to me." Griffith spoke more forcefully then he intended. "…I…I don't like not being in control. It doesn't matter if it's of a situation or my own actions…something about it scares me. …I don't know why." Guts stared at Griffith's back, watching small quivers shake the delicate shoulders. He looked on as Griffith's hands found their way to hug his arms, and his fingers began to dig themselves into the soft flesh causing blood to begin to flow. For the second time that day he moved without thinking, taking Griffith's hands in his own, and wrapping the petite boy in a tight embrace from behind. This action opened a floodgate on Griffith's emotions. Tears he didn't know were there or where they came from flowed down his face as he sobbed. They stayed like that for a while and until Griffith's sobs lessened and stopped. "You can let go, Guts. I-I'm OK now…" With a simple nod, Guts released him. He then continued to rub at the numbing chill in his arms. "Guts… about that…"

"Whatever you want to say, wait till we get the hell out of this place." He couldn't suppress the shiver that raked his body. "It might just be because of the blood loss, but it feels like it's getting colder in here."

Griffith nodded and once again they took to walking in silence. Though they were heading back the way they came, Guts still got the feeling that they were heading deeper into the ground. He paused trying to get his bearings. "Hold up Griffith… Something's not right."

"Of course something's wrong. Nothing about this place is right…" However, this time Griffith headed the words of the larger boy, and looked around carefully. There was a strange pulse to the air he hadn't noticed before. It flowed and ebbed a little like an ocean tide, while beating like a human heart. The air seemed clogged with the dark power. His sixth sense kicked in and he stepped backwards, closer to Guts.

"Damn. Your hands are cold…and wet too."

Griffith turned around to face Guts, a concerned look plastered on his face. "Um Guts…I'm not touching you." They both froze looking down to his wrist which was clasped by a strangely greenish colored hand. Following the arm to the body of the corpse they had run into earlier. "Guts…" Griffith's words were shaky and quiet, proof of his unusual terror.

"H o l y SHIT!!!" Guts punched at the now "living" body, hitting it square in the jaw. Its flesh made a sicken sound as the blow landed, knocking it back onto the floor. "Did I kill it…again?" As if in response, the body jerked once again attempting to rise.

"I say that's a no! Now run for it!" Not having to be told twice Guts took off in the opposite direction following the white haired boy's lead.

After what seemed like hours, they slowed to a stop catching their breath. "Shit shit shit shit shit! What the hell is going on!? How did that thing…!?"

"I don't know… Let me rephrase that. 'I don't WANT to know.'" Griffith looked around, cautiously taking in his surroundings. "The marker… we should have run into it by now…"

"Maybe we passed it… I mean we were kinda running for our lives there….Shit. It's so fucking cold…" Guts sat down on the ground with his back to the wall, shaking uncontrollably. His arm was still bleeding, and the makeshift bandage had fallen off in their retreat. Griffith once again tore his shirt and wrapped the wound, taking extra care to make it tight. He then sat himself between Guts legs wrapping the larger man's arms around himself. "Warmth." was the only explanation given, and Guts didn't protest. He was too tired to worry about what Griffith was doing. The pulsing energy that surrounded them had an almost hypnotic quality to it that made him sleepy, and he closed his eyes. He awoke after what seemed only a few minutes, but had actually been a few hours. Griffith had fallen asleep as well, and was still slumbering quietly in Guts' arms, his face pale and serene. "Heh…He's actually kinda cute when he's quiet like this." Where the thought came from, he didn't know, but it left a slightly warm feeling in his chest. As he studied the face of his new friend, it took him a minute to realize he could see it clearly. …There was light. "Where…?"

Guts froze when he saw a man in front of them. He was strangely tall, and lithe in build. His bluish-silver, waist-length hair was interlaced with gold strings and hung loose down his back. The man studied them with almond shaped eyes, the same mystical color of his hair. In his visible hand he held a small orb, the source of the dim light. Guts shook Griffith awake, and before the boy could complain, pointed out the stranger. Griffith took in the person with the same intense scrutiny, before opening his mouth to speak. A raised hand from the man silenced him. "It's not safe for you two here. If he finds you…"

"Who?" Griffith's question was simple, but the man just shook his head.

"No time. You have leave."

Guts growled at that. "We'd love to, but in case you haven't noticed we're lost, elf boy."

The man seemed amused at the response, a small smile appearing on his lips. "Elf? Is that what I seem like to you? Heh heh you don't know much about this world, do you?" Guts raised an eyebrow at that, anger beginning to rise in his gut, but the man's eloquent, rich voice continued unwary of the danger. "If you are lost then there is no helping it. I'll lead you out."

"No offense, but… how do we know we can trust you?" Griffith's tone had become serious and forceful, like the voice of a Commander in an army. "How do we know you won't lead us to this person we should avoid? Or that you aren't the one we should be running from?"

"You don't know…" The man responded once again amused. "…but you don't have any other choice. Unless, of course, you want to fight all the ghouls that have risen from their graves in complete and utter darkness, then by all means don't let me stop you." He snickered when both boys shuddered and glared. "Oh but you might need these. Just in case, you know?" He threw them both a sword. One looked similar to a steel saber, the other more like a giant hunk of steel attached to a hilt. Guts took the bigger blade and was shocked at its tremendous weight. How such a delicate man had carried, yet alone threw, such a weapon was beyond him. "Well if you two are ready shall we go?" He paused however when he noticed Guts' trouble hoisting the blade, the wounded arm almost buckling under the weight. He walked over to the larger boy and placed his hand over to injury. A warm greenish light radiated from his palm. When he removed his hand, Guts stared in awe at his arm, which had been completely healed.

"How…did you?" While Guts gazed at the man in awe and wonder, Griffith was looking at him with wary eyes. A stranger they didn't know had just offered to help them escape from a hell that shouldn't exist in anything but a B-rated horror movie. This didn't bode well, and it irked him to no end that they really had no choice but to trust this…"thing".

Instead of answering Guts' question he simply beckoned them to follow him and walk down a passageway. At first things went smoothly enough, but they were soon attacked by more of those corpses. Guts' large blade was swung in a very crude yet effective style, slicing through the creatures like a knife through butter, splattering rotting flesh and crushing bones against the cavern walls. Griffith's style was much more elegant, almost dance like, but still ruthlessly efficient slicing off arms and legs before cleanly severing their heads. They were complete opposites in both body and mind, at least that much was clear, and yet when they worked together it was like magic. They both fought the creatures in a very deadly yet strangely beautiful dance of blades, as if they were seasoned warriors and not two untrained Highschool students. Finally they emerged victorious from the brutal battle. The man hadn't fought with them but had simply stood back and watched… or perhaps studied was a more appropriate term. Griffith couldn't help but glare at the man, as he watched them both slump tiredly Griffith against a wall, Guts leaning on his sword. The man raised an eyebrow at them. "You didn't expect me to fight, did you?"

"It would have been appreciated." the venom was clear in Griffith's voice.

The man shrugged. "I can't fight."

"Even without combat experience, you could have helped in some way! Chuck stones at their heads or something! There are more then enough around here!" Griffith shouted as Guts simply watched the scene.

"I suppose I could have." He agreed yet smiled almost cruelly. "However I only said I'd lead you out. And if you can't even handle creatures as weak as this..." He trailed off leaving a few more questions hanging in the air, before once again beckoning them to follow. Griffith wanted nothing more then to punch that smug smirk off the "thing's" face, but resisted the urge. After all he had no doubts this guy would leave them alone without a second thought, and without that light…

They continued on, and for some reason didn't run into anymore creatures that tried to attack. Griffith noticed that the pulse around them had seemed to get stronger, but it was now focused around the man. The others seemed to back away from it, which was a little disconcerting. "You're repelling them." It was as much a statement as a question, and the man nodded in conformation. "…if you could do that, why didn't you do it sooner?" Griffith's lips pursed in anger becoming thin to the point of disappearing. The man didn't respond, but pointed towards a path, at it's end a clearly visible old but sturdy staircase. There was a faint light coming from it the top.

"There's the exit. You should go now." There was a strain in his voice, it was raspy and weak. They stared up the stairs, but Guts turned around. The man was watching them go, an almost sad expression on his face.

"Why don't you come too? Surely you can't want to stay down here…" Gut's got a weak, cheerless smile in return.

"I can not leave right now, but we will meet again soon."

"What's your name?"

"Darkron. Please stay safe until we meet once again you two." and with that he disappeared back into the black of the catacomb.

Guts followed Griffith into the sun, and judging by the direction it was clearly just beginning to rise. That of course meant they had been down there all night long. "I kinda feel sorry for him…he didn't seem that bad considering." Griffith gave an uncharacteristic snort at that. He didn't trust that "thing" and having sympathy for "it" was out of the question. Darkron had lifted a weapon even the gym teacher Pippin would have had trouble carrying, yet claimed he couldn't fight. He had healed Guts with some sort of strange power, and used the energy that flowed around them to make a barrier protecting them only after he had watched them fight. This person wasn't human…that was the only thing Griffith was sure of. But what he was… or even whose side he was on, was a complete and utter mystery…

"Where are we anyway?"

Guts looked around. "I think it's just outside of the city. Looks like Berman's Bar is over there. I know the way from here. Come on, I can show you where you left your car." Griffith simply nodded. He was tired…too tired. He looked at Guts with a small amount of awe and a lot of respect. He had been the one hurt the worst, and yet he seemed to have already recovered a good portion of his strength. It seemed a little unfair… "Hey, Griffith! You coming?" Guts' words broke him out of his thoughts. But before he could respond his exhaustion caught up with him, and he felt himself fall forward. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was Guts as he shouted his name.


There, another chapter finished. God I suck at updating, I apologize deeply for the long wait. This turned out much darker then I had originally intended, and I apologize for the horror movie feel. I'm no fond of scary movies, and I scared myself when I reread it this chapter. o.o; I know I'm a coward. x.x

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Again I ask to be forgiven for minor spelling/grammatical mistakes. No one to proofread and all that…

Ah…but I digress. Did you love it? Hate it? Please tell me, so I can make it better… or stop writing altogether if I suck. X3 In other words… Please read and review.