DISCLAIMER: I do not own Berserk, or its associated characters. I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, or its associated characters. I'm just writing this for my own amusement. From this point on, most of the action is going to stay in the world of Full Metal Alchemist. We are now into AU territory, for both series. There will be FMA spoilers from this point onward, and I'm not going to mark them at the beginning of every chapter. However, there will be changes in events, that render some of the spoilers a moot point and change the story. Dante's absorption by the Gates, is one of them…


Incidentally, I didn't make up the sword of Behelits. Skull Knight reveals that he's been crafting it, around book 26 or 27 or so. I don't know if it can carve ways between worlds, it might eventually…

He was running again, through the darkness. He was a boy, and naked, carrying only his old sword.

And IT was behind him again, he could feel IT's breath on his back. IT was close, and he knew what would happen if IT caught him.

Before him, was a field of corpses, a lone hill overlooking it. There was safety on the hill, he knew, and so he ran.

The corpses stood as he approached, each one oozing from their deadly wounds. A knight riddled with arrows tried to tackle him, and he lopped off its leg and kept moving. A squad of nearly skeletal men-at-arms leveled pikes and tried to skewer him, but he knocked them aside and kept moving.

But no matter how he ran, IT got closer.

He was at the base of the hill and running up, sword flickering left and right as he used it to hold back the dead. He could see the camp chair, and the silhouette of the man sitting on it, crutch to the side. The dog was there too, and the man was petting it, comforting it in low, nonsense words.

"GAMBINO!" Guts called.

The figure didn't look up, and Guts kept running.

"Help me, Gambino!" IT was so close now, and the hands were nearly on his back…

The figure shifted, and Guts could see it now, the same familiar missing leg, and bandages. But something was different, this time…

"GAMBINO!" And the hands pushed him down, held him down as he struggled, and he knew the sword was useless now. He knew what would happen…

"I can't help you." The figure said, and it was not Gambino's voice. The light shifted, as the figure stood on its crutch, right leg missing…

But… Gambino lost his LEFT leg…

"Gam…Gambino?" He asked, as the unseen hands held the back of his neck, caressing obscenely…

"After all." The figure stepped forward. "You brought this on yourself."

And Guts looked at the scarred figure, with missing leg and arm. It was not Gambino.

It wore his face.

And then there was pain, and darkness, and a little boy crying…

And Guts woke, as something slimy was pulled from his back! He looked left, to see Puck busily thrashing a small, tentacled octopus-thing, barehanded. Incubus, nightmare eater… He remembered. He frowned. Tiny one, though. And I can almost see through it…

He tried to stand up, and ended up kicking sand into the air, and going nowhere fast. What?

He looked down, at the space where his right leg used to be, and the tied-off trouser leg that had been added while he was out cold. Oh yeah, forgot about that. He frowned. That's going to be a problem.

"H-hey! You're awake!"

"Guess so." His voice was rough, and his throat was parched. It was warm here, and the sky was filled with the light of pre-dawn.

He looked around more carefully.

Stone ruins all around him, and sand under him and as far as the eye could see. His breastplate was unbuckled by his side, and his sword still lay where it had fallen. His ragged shirt had been ripped to shreds, and tied in tiny, elven knots to serve as bandages all along his torso and hand. And leg.

Damn. Little guy does good work. Owe him one for this.

"I'm glad you're up!" Came the shrill voice, next to his ear. Guts winced.

"Yeah. Hey, where are we? Is this Kushan?" He glanced around. So much sand…

"No. Well, maybe. It's… I don't know. I don't think so." Guts blinked, and stared evenly at Puck, who shrugged.

"I can't really explain it. You know how the Skull Knight said that thing about Other Worlds?"

"You heard that, all the way up there and on Griffith's back?"

"Of course! Us elves have super-sharp senses, far superior to puny human ears… And, well, you guys were talking kinda loudly."

Guts snorted, puffing sand off his lips.

"Anyway, this doesn't… feel right. I mean, it's not bad or anything, but the flow of things, the magic tastes… different. I don't know. More orderly."

Guts shrugged, sending up a billow of sand. "Doesn't mean much to me-" He stopped. His eye went wide, and he reached up, grabbing the small, surprised elf with his bandaged hand.

"Elf. Puck."

"Wha-wha-wa---what?"

"Where's Caska?"

The wind blew between the ruins, sending up puffs of grit as it howled. Puck shook his head, saying nothing for a long moment.

"I don't know. I don't think she came to this same spot. But, she should be SOMEWHERE, if the Skull Knight was correct…"

Guts let him go, let his hand fall back to the sand. Then his mouth twisted, and he nodded. "All right then, we'd better go find her."

"Wha-… you're not serious! Look, I know you're tough, but even for you… Your LEG is off! You've been in a fever for two days, I've had to bandage you up, and go bringing you water and cactus bits to eat, and even with my faerie dust you're NOWHERE near healed yet, and if you move too much your wounds might reopen, and the sun here is FIERCE, if you don't stay in the shade you'll overheat and probably die, and, and, and… OOOOOooooohhhhh!"

Guts had grabbed hold of his sword, and was painfully levering himself up. Teeth gritted against the waves of pain, he wobbled, as the sword shifted in the sand, and barely caught his balance. Finally, roughly, he was upright, shading his eyes with his artificial hand against the rising sun.

Puck sighed, and plumped down on his shoulder, pouting. "I give up. Fine! Go, then…"

"You don't have to come with me. You've already done enough. And I'm only going into more danger."

Puck looked at him. "Are you nuts? I don't KNOW anyone else here! Besides, I want to help find Caska too. And, you're still too interesting."

Guts laughed, a harsh bark. "Alright. Go where you will, then."

Hobbling, using his sword as a crutch, leaving his armor behind in the sand, the Black Swordsman started slowly westward.

When you don't know your destination, any road is fine.

ELSEWHERE:

There was dust and grit filling her mouth, and Caska coughed. Spat. It was dark around her and tight, but there was light overhead.

And so, she scraped her hands against the clutter around her, pulling herself up. She was bleeding, covered with small scratches, but she didn't care. "Ba!" She insisted, reaching toward the light.

And then there were voices, coming from above, the first one soft. "Hmpf. The basement's a mess, looks like most of the first floor fell into it."

"Where's Mistress?" This voice was shrill.

"Another good question. Make yourself useful and start shifting beams out of here."

And above her, noise. More light. "A…KAFF, kaff. AAaaa!" Caska yelled, choking on the grit sifting down.

"Lust! I hear something! I hear… Mistress?"

"Dante, are you down there?" Came the soft voice, again, louder this time.

"Aaaa!" Caska yelled again, stretching hands toward the light.

"There! I see her hands! Gluttony, pull her out."

"Yes, yes!" And ham-fisted hands came down and wrapped around her own, pulling her out of the rubble, out into the light.

The hands held her up, and face-to-face with a funny, round, bald little man. He blinked, puzzled, as she laughed, and scrambled to the ground. She sat there, arms wrapped around her knees, breathing hard. "A-hu, a-hu, a-hu…"

"That's… not Dante." Said the soft voice, and she looked up to see a beautiful woman looking down at her, reaching down toward her face. Caska stared in wonder, as the woman turned her face, left, and right, and gently pulled her towards the light for a better look.

"Smells… Smells human! And dirty! No baths, no baths…" The small man chanted, bouncing up and down.

"Now what… Have you gone and transferred bodies again, mistress? But then, why… Why are your eyes so empty?"

Caska was rubbing her head and sneezing, sending up clouds of dust, staggering toward the outside, finding her way out of the wrecked mansion.

"No. No, you couldn't be Dante. But why are you here?" Lust mused, following the strange woman with careful steps, picking her way across the ruined floor.

"Lust, can I eat her?" Gluttony's tongue was out, exposing his own red brand. He was drooling.

"No. Something happened here, and we need to know just what. Keep clearing the basement, look for Dante."

"Aw…"

"There may be a few unconsumed red stones still down there."

"Ah! Stones, bones, stones…" With a cheerful grin, Gluttony returned to work, his thick arms throwing rubble aside with unnatural strength as he dug down.

And Lust took Caska's arm, as she stumbled, and nearly fell back into the basement. "I don't know what happened here, but until I find out… You are coming with us."

She didn't notice Caska's slight wince at a sudden irritation.

Or the tiny drop of blood that welled up from the brand, hidden under Caska's clothes…