Reviews:
Greer123: Thank you. I'm happy you enjoyed the interaction between the two of them. There's no HP this time, and the Berserker Armor will come real soon.
PrometheusDark: Harry was in for it for sure. I'm really glad you enjoyed that scene, I had fun writing it.
EVA-Saiyajin: I got your PM so no worries there, I'm really glad that you're keeping up with the story and any other questions you have, you can always message me.
Grocamol: Harry does wear baggy pants in the world of Berserk on account of the brace, you're right. He does dress a bit like Moody too.
ezok: Charlotte is definitely not going to be as naive as she is in canon. The stage is set for conflict further on with her character.
demonic hellfire: Bella is going to be enhanced for sure, and it was always a sore spot for me too that Charlotte wasn't more skeptical of the new Griffith. And I got a chance to look up John Hawkwood, Miura sure took inspiration there.
Necrogod: Thanks. I hope you enjoy this one.
kaxipoptos: That's what I had in mind for Schierke as well on the team. And the Death Eaters would be humiliated once they learn Guts is just a regular human when that part comes. And Guts has a lot of perspectives this chapter and the next. As for Charlotte, there is future conflict set for her.
Hairul The Nightrage Beast: I just read #354. I feel overjoyed.
Guest: Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed.
Pyromania101: Glad to have you back! I hope that the story continues to hold your interest down the line. Cheers as well!
Disclaimer- Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and Berserk is owned by Kentaro Miura. I own nothing.
The old woman sitting in front of Guts looked nothing like how he would expect a witch to look. Her apprentice – Schierke, looked the part more than she did; the younger girl dressed in purple robes and her outfit came complete with a wide-brimmed pointed purple hat, all she was missing was a broom and she would have looked like children's stories of how a genuine witch would look. This woman – Flora, looked and dressed just like any other elderly woman Guts could find in Windham or outlying village. A blouse, long shirt, and bonnet were hardly what anyone who dreamed of witches would have considered an appropriate attire. The more Guts studied the woman, the more he noticed the dead giveaway was in her eyes.
Those eyes of hers were filled with a curious intelligence that exceeded her time on this earth. There was an odd sort of twinkle that shone as well, making Guts feel like she knew everything about him already; like she could look inside of him to further evaluate his self-worth. It was off-putting, but her almost grandmotherly smile helped to put that anxiety away. Harry had spent the better part of two years studying under this woman, and if he trusted her apprentice enough to let her into his head, that had to say something about this woman's character.
"How may I be of assistance?" asked Flora, her almost twinkling eyes passed over each of them, seemingly looking into all of them to gain a better understanding.
"So you're the witch then," Guts didn't bother phrasing it as a question.
"Did Harry not tell you about me?" Flora asked in a teasing tone.
"He told me some," Guts answered. "And with your apprentice over there watching our travels, I would think that you would know why we came here."
"Schierke has told me much, that is true," Flora gave a gentle nod of her head. "You seek to cure this young woman of the damage inflicted upon her mind." Her gaze drifted over to Casca, who was curiously eyeing all the decorations across the room. "And along the way you've managed to secure a few more traveling companions. Isidro, a young boy from a mountain village who seeks to become a legendary swordsman."
Isidro had begun to revert out of his transfigured monkey-state and back to normal but still had a tail protruding from the base of his spine. Puck sat on top of his head. "Your legend has already begun, my pupil."
Flora looked to the two blondes. "Farnese de Vandimion and her attendant, Serpico. Once members of the Holy Iron Chain Knights, this young woman seeks a truth beyond what she was taught, and he follows her faithfully."
Farnese avoided the old woman's gaze, looking ashamed almost. "You… are a true witch then?"
"You feel guilty." Flora did not say it as a question, and her tone had shifted to a more understanding one. "During your tenure with the Holy See, you participated in a number of witch burnings." Farnese's silence was more than enough of an answer. "You wish to atone for your prior actions?"
"Those people who I burned… I thought I was doing good, doing good by God…"
"You did what was expected of you, what you were told. Perhaps you enjoyed watching the fire consume, but you are not beyond redeeming yourself. When you live as long as I have, you realize that there have been far worse done by far worse people."
Farnese looked quite surprised, to say the least. "T-then you are not angry with me? I thought for sure that…"
"You might have enjoyed watching those flames, they might have ignited a passion inside of you, but even now those internal fires burn away at what you once perceived as truth; your mind, Lady Farnese, is as open to change as anyone as young as yourself. If you continue to dwell on the past and all the wrongs that could have been avoided, you'll become old before your time." The old witch said that without as much as a twinge of displeasure.
This woman… she's lived longer than she looks. To Guts, Flora looked to be around seventy, but the way she spoke… it would take more than seven decades to not hold a grudge against a person who made it their life mission to hunt other witches.
Farnese seemed to be at a loss for words as she mulled over what Flora had just told her, leaving Serpico to answer on her behalf. "Thank you, Miss. Flora." He gave a polite bow of his head. "You're acceptance is much appreciated. For as long as we are guests in your humble abode, you will receive nothing but hospitality from us."
"My, such a polite and well-spoken young man. That must have come as natural to you as the wind in a grassy plain." She seemed to be thinking to herself about something when she said that.
"All of you have something that you seek, some easier to obtain than others." He saw Flora's eyes linger on Casca for a brief second. "From what Schierke has told me, helping to heal this young woman's mind takes current precedence."
"Can you do it then?" Guts asked, wanting an answer as soon as possible. "You can heal her to how she was before?"
"I am no King of the Elves, but I have studied the mind arts. That one other wizard who stopped by so long ago even taught me a skill in the magical mind arts. Do you remember what it is called, Harry?" Flora asked, quizzing her one student.
"Uh… oh! Yeah, you said it was legitimency." Harry answered.
"Legilimency," Flora corrected, "but close enough."
"What is it?" Guts asked.
"Well, Harry and Schierke will know what I mean when I say that it is like a more advanced kind of thought transference. Instead of seeing and hearing thoughts and events, legilimency is the practice of going through a person's mind and viewing their memories. In more extreme cases, it can even be used to plant visions or illusions of certain events – not that I plan on doing that to this woman." Flora quickly added that last when she noticed the suspicious glare Guts was giving her. "What you must understand is, the mind is not just some book to be open and read at will. It is a complex maze that is unique to every person."
"But… would it work?" Guts asked the old witch. "How could you going through her mind help?"
"It would be difficult," Flora was honest about it at least. "This child-like mentality that she currently possesses, it is a shadow of what she used to be. No matter how bad a mind was damaged, it has a way of protecting itself. The key to restoring her lies deep within her subconscious." As she spoke, Casca became fascinated with a caterpillar that was crawling along the wooden floor. "I will help where I can, but," Flora looked Guts dead in his eye, "the only way she will be truly healed is if she is willing to come back herself."
Willing? Why wouldn't she be willing? To be the woman she used to be, the one who could handle a sword and fight in battle, to be able to give orders to followers, that was who Casca is. Or… does she, actually like being like that… Guts really did not want to consider that possibility. The former seemed the better option than the current state Casca was in now, but, was he really the one to decide that for her?
What had happened to Casca at the Eclipse… Guts knew that feeling. His aversion to human contact, his attitude, it could all be traced back to those three silver coins Gambino had accepted. Afterward, Guts had been in near catatonic state for most of the morning after. Not saying anything, not bothering to move, he had shut down then, not sure how to cope. Is that what Casca was doing now? Wandering around in her own mind because she wasn't sure what else to do?
"If you say that it has a chance of working, do it," Guts told the old witch. "Even if Casca doesn't want to come back to how she was, at least she knew that she had a choice."
It was unpleasant to think about. Casca was the strongest woman that he knew, and he knew that she was somewhere inside of her current state. Even if she wasn't capable of recognizing it now, or maybe she was, maybe the real Casca was able to experience everything this one was capable of experiencing. That would be the thing that was presented to her that she had full control over; her choice.
"Hm," Flora smiled fondly. "The choice is indeed hers to make, no one else's. I will assist where I can, but, I would ask your assistance with something as well."
"What?" Guts asked. If this was the price or deal he would have to strike up, then so be it.
Flora's gaze shifted to the temporary newcomer that they had picked up in the woods, the old man named Morgan. "You are from Enoch Village, are you not?"
Morgan took a few tentative steps forward, a child-like smile on his wrinkled face. "Indeed I am. You may not remember me, but I found this place back when I was just a boy."
"Oh, yes! You're that sweet little child who was looking for medicine for your mother." Flora recalled. "It's been at least fifty years since then, you've obviously grown."
Morgan chuckled. "If you don't mind me saying, but you look exactly as I remember you, nothing about you seems to have changed."
"You flatter me so, but pleasantries are overshadowed by a more pressing matter at hand. Trolls have been attacking your village, have they not?"
Morgan nodded sadly. "They have. They've attacked twice already, running off with livestock, tools, and women. Poor Hannah lost her husband before getting carried off."
Flora turned to Guts again. "That is what I would ask of you; to rid these woods and this man's village of this troll swarm."
"Troll slaying, huh? That's your price? Fine. The ones back there went down easy enough, they can keep coming, they'll meet the same end."
"Thank you for your agreement," Morgan thanked, "but, if I may ask, how is it these trolls have begun appearing? People in the village all believe them to be myths and legends."
"The world has recently undergone a shift," Flora explained. "Different layers of reality are beginning to overlap with each other. The one of darkness, Quilphoth has begun to manifest itself in this forest. All of it stems from a certain reincarnation ceremony."
Griffith.
"Schierke, would you so kind as to show some of our visitors around the mansion, perhaps even show them some items that will help with the troll slaying? I believe that these two," she looked at Harry and Guts, "have some further questions to be discussed."
The little witch bowed her head. "Of course, Mistress. Follow me please." The apprentice led the five others back out the way they had come previous, leaving the older witch alone with the two of them.
"How'd you know we had questions?" Guts asked. Had she used that legilimency, or whatever it was called on them? If she had, then he hadn't even felt it happen.
"Well you just asked a question right now," Flora pointed out. "And it makes sense that after all this time; the two of you wouldn't have any questions about what is going on. Even if you have walked different paths, the end goal has always been the same."
Harry looked to Guts. "Uh, why don't you go first? If you have any questions about Casca, then I get it."
"This magic mind art, you were talking about, will she feel it?"
"Most likely, no."
"'Most likely?'" Guts parroted. "Meaning…?"
"She will be asleep when I conduct the spell. That will make it easier to traverse her subconscious mindscape. Dreams have a way of showing our deepest desires. Normally the subject would have to be awake so eye contact could be established, but there are other methods to circumvent this."
"How long would it take?"
"Time has no concept in dreams," Flora told him. "Depending how far into the mind, possibly a day, even more. Once I reach a certain point, the rest will be up to her."
The way she's saying this, not missing a beat… it sounds… possible.
"I just have one other question then," Guts reached into his satchel to pull out the green behelit he had got from that slug-count. "Do you know anything about these?"
"I know some." She didn't sound as cheerful as she had been previously. "May I ask how you came about such an object?"
"It wasn't mine at first; I got it from a man who stole it from an apostle."
"The behelit is a fetish of darkness. It is different from the one I have seen previous, but the function is still the same for each; power in exchange for a sacrifice. And they always have a way of finding the person they were meant for. If that is you, or someone else, that remains to be seen."
More or less what I already know. "Alright." He put the behelit back in his bag. It may not be mine then, maybe… maybe I'm just a ride for it then, waiting until it comes to the right person. "That's all I wanted to know for now."
Flora fixed him with a curious gaze, looking like she was expecting more. "Oh, that's all for now? Here I was expecting you to ask if I was fully qualified to undertake this task."
"You're not about to start doubting yourself, are you?" Guts asked. She probably meant it as a joke, but anything that concerned helping Casca wasn't to be taken lightly. "I've seen firsthand the things your two students can do, if reading minds are one of those things, it would be far from the most ridiculous."
"Hm. Well, I assure you, your faith is well placed. I will do my best. It will not all be legilimency, some other magic will be involved, but it should yield the same results." Guts begrudgingly nodded. "Now," she looked at Harry, "I assume you have a fair share of questions as well?"
"Less about Casca, but yeah, I do." Harry reached into his own satchel and pulled out that book he had gotten after the whole Tower of Conviction fiasco. "Do you recognize this?"
Flora took the book, flipping through the pages and an almost nostalgic look in her eyes. "The first copy of this doctrine," her eyes were fixated on the text instead of them. "Schierke told me you came about this at St. Albion."
"She told me you said he was the one responsible for the fall of Gaiseric's Empire."
Her wrinkled fingers touched the note at the back of the text; slowly trailing down the parchment-like she was reaching into the past. "Brothers may not always see eye to eye, but Gunderic did care for the Empire the two of them had built."
"So it made sense for him to want to tear it all down," Harry missed the logic in that statement. "He sounds like a real good brother."
"You are familiar with the Brand of Sacrifice, it worked the same with him as it did for the others; what is sacrificed must be valuable, you have to care for it. Gunderic was the architect of the empire, seeing his work come to an end that he put time and effort into, along with all those who looked up to him." She paused. "I remember when I came upon him mapping out a part of the expansion, he said, 'It's as if planning this city is in collaboration with time. I've experienced the sensation of feeling as if you've seen something before, but this is entirely different. It is almost as if the design was planted in my head, waiting to be tilled. I can see and know what's behind every corner.'"
"He sounds like a pretentious snob," Guts remarked. Harry had read him that same letter and he had a pretty good idea who this Gunderic turned out to be.
"A bit," Flora didn't bother to deny. "But there were those he truly cared for. His nephews being among them as well as the citizens of the empire."
"Well, what about the falling out with his brother then?" Harry asked. "If he cared so much, what could have driven him to destroy it all?"
Flora ran her fingers along the parchment again before shutting her connection that that part of the past. "No one factor can be singled out for that. As you've read, Gunderic was strongly opposed to the social system of slavery. Both he and Gaiseric were the sons of a tribal chieftain and a slave woman; it was a status that followed them all their lives until Gaiseric took lead after their father's passing. He conquered more tribes, and then a country, and eventually a continent. It was around that time that I met the two of them."
If she's for real, she's almost a millennia old.
"So even if he was the son of a slave, Gaiseric kept the system?" Harry asked with clear disapproval in his tone.
"Make no mistake, he hated it as well. But for all skills with a blade, he did have a larger plan in mind. Slavery at that time was present in every tribe and land, to eliminate the trade right away would start a civil war, so Gaiseric devised a system to slowly weed it out over time, usually having the slave men take wives and fight for their freedom in an arena. Gunderic saw this as barbaric and wanted to end it all together."
"So what happened?" Harry asked, wanting to know more. "It sounds like they both wanted the same thing."
"It also came down to how they viewed magic and the world around them. Like with the troll situation now, magical creatures were common back then. If someone could perform magic, it was seen as a favorable sign. Gaiseric saw the potential for magic, and I didn't quite make the best first impression when I met him and Gunderic for the first time." Harry opened his mouth to ask how but she quickly said, "It was quite embarrassing, that's all."
"Gunderic was more suspicious toward the practice, but he accepted it easily enough." The nostalgic smile she had begun to fade. "And on one of his expeditions, he came across that red behelit, given to him by an old soothsayer. He claimed to start being plagued by night terrors, visions of endless destruction, and the only way to stop it was to follow the light from a white hawk."
It was as if his ears had just popped as a numb sensation began spreading across his body. "How is that?" Guts asked before Harry could. "Griffith was after all of that."
"Time is not a circle, but more like a spiral. The reason for Gunderic's visions has played out and up to that man's rebirth. Gunderic's desire to separate the worlds of reality come to fruition now."
"So… he separated people's belief from the astral layers until Griffith would be reborn?" Harry summarized.
"Remember, there is power in belief, that is how faith is formed; that is how magic is utilized. If people of this time who have had no prior experience with the astral world see a man who can unify them against an invading force, how would he be perceived?"
"They would love him," Harry concluded. "Before, he was always a master of getting people to believe in him; and now that he's a Godhand… that would only make them stronger."
"It sounds too convenient," Guts said, a bit of anger present in his tone. "How could a guy nearly a thousand years ago see that far into the future? Even if he was the first Godhand, this was before all of that."
"You both carry the brand, you've encountered him then; surely he mentioned something called causality?"
Causality? When Griffith's behelit had activated, Gunderic – now Void had talked about being anointed by fate; like it had all been planned out ahead of time.
"Yeah," Guts bitterly recalled. "He said something like that."
"Did anyone else survive the fall of the empire then?" Harry asked his next question.
"Apart from me, Gaiseric's two sons, Huneric and Gento were away at the time of sacrifice. I never got a chance to see them again, and their father continued to fight, eventually bleeding out in his own armor."
"Did he stay dead?" even though it was asked as a question, there was a little secret to what Harry actually meant by that.
"Gaiseric's body decayed like all else to the sands of time, but the fighting spirit he possessed, something like that is much harder to kill." She had a coy smile on her wrinkled lips.
Sounds like a real bonehead.
"Alright," Harry seemed to process everything that had been told to him, thinking of what else he might ask the aged witch. "What about the other wizard then – Merlin? How exactly does he fit into all of this? He would have been after Gaiseric, but you confessed to knowing him."
"That I did. The world that he traveled from, it was one that was similar to this one before the split of the astral layers; it was one where magic was intertwined with the mundane; an ideal world of a sort."Traveling worlds? She makes something like that sound easy. Magic, I guess. "He came here after winning a great victory in his land, hoping to prevent further conflict. An acquaintance of mine-," Two guesses who. "- discovered him upon his arrival and escorted him to me so that we might meet."
Harry looked like he was expecting more than that. "Did he do anything else? That just seems vague."
"He stayed to travel around Midland, to learn more about the people and customs, and also to find out more about the astral layers of which he managed to traverse. He possessed an inquisitive mind with a thirst for the unknown. The more he ended up learning, the more he became convinced that the worlds should remain separate."
"But, magic is largely linked to the astral worlds," Harry said, confused. "Why would a wizard be opposed to something like that, it was how he got here in the first place."
"Think of what is happening right now with the trolls," Flora reminded. "The people today and even back then after Gaiseric had lost most, if not all their belief in the supernatural. Think about your one friend who was recently reborn and the beings he is a member of. If the deepest and darkest part of the astral layers were to become available to traverse, imagine what would happen then."
A world like that… with Griffith as he is now, the rest of them too… "Hey, witch, are you saying the Godhand would walk the earth?"
"That is a straightforward way of viewing it, but, yes, you would be correct to assume so. Of course, Merlin did not leave without taking precaution, he left the very object he came with, in my care in the hopes that it would be of use one day."
"What is it?" a curious Harry asked, leaning forward like a child.
"I showed you what was down in the treasure trove before, did you not see it?" she was smiling, meaning she wasn't going to give him the answer on this one, she wanted to see if he remembered. Clearly, he did not.
"I… remember that armor, but not much else."
"Hey," Guts interjected. "It seems to me that you're just telling him all this stuff now. Why'd you wait so long if he was your student? Why not have your other apprentice tell him through that thought whatever you called it?"
"Well…" Flora began. "I suppose I felt I owed these explanations in person. A firsthand account is a treasure in of itself, and I've seen many things in my life, more than I should have in the time allotted to me." She rose from her seat. "It isn't that I distrust Schierke, but knowledge earned is better than just asking for the whole story." She proceeded to the door. "Unless you have any more questions, I believe we should be joining the others."
Neither of them raised any other queries at the moment, and the Mistress of the Spirit-Tree led them to where her first disciple was gathered with the rest of their group.
They found Schierke with the others gathered around the dining room table, an assortment of objects was pooled together for them to observe. And from the looks of it, Isidro had found one object that caught his fancy.
"There you guys are!" Isidro noticed their entry. "Come check some of this stuff out for the troll slaying!" he held up a dagger that seemed to glow with an inner fire. "With some of this stuff, those trolls don't stand a chance."
He skimmed the dagger across some moss that lined the wood lain wall. It caught fire instantly. Isidro took a nervous step back, leaving Schierke to extinguish the flame before it spread.
"Careful with that!" she lightly berated the aspiring swordsman. "That dagger you're holding is a Salamander Dagger, it's blessed with spirits of fire."
"S-seriously?!" he held the dagger a nose length from his eye, looking to see if he could spot tiny fire spirits surrounding his new weapon of choice. If he wasn't careful with it, he was going to end up burning himself. But… on one hand, pain could make for a good teacher aside from Puck. Isidro might have to learn the hard way on this one to not go poking that dagger around all willy-nilly.
"Excuse me, Miss. Schierke," Serpico spoke. "What are these?" he held up an emerald green cloak and a thin blade – if it could even be called a blade – that looked extremely fragile in Harry's opinion. It seemed like one good swing would break it in half.
"Those items are blessed by sylphs," answered Schierke. "The spirits of the wind. The blade is a feather from an eagle, and while fragile, it can cut by utilizing the wind. And the cloak will allow the wearer to be like a gust of air."
"Hm." Serpico gently handled both. "This world of magic is new to me, but if we are to combat supernatural forces, I will oblige. If the sylphs would have me, I will accept."
Farnese meanwhile took interest in a burlap bag. "Pardon, but what is inside of here?"
"Those are some of the berries that I used earlier," the young witch answered. "Creatures such as trolls are repelled by their scent and taste. You're welcome to take them for further protection."
Farnese peeked inside the bag, counting how many there were. "Thank you."
"Are you going to take anything, Guts?" Harry asked, but he already knew the answer.
"I'll stick to what I have." He patted Dragonslayer's hilt. That sword seemed almost an extension of Guts now than it was just a sword.
"A wise choice," Flora seemed to agree. "When I look at your sword, I sense its own od signature. If that blade has been killing those not of this physical world; then it could very well harm beings of both physical and astral."
Harry didn't have to know how to read minds to know what Guts was thinking at that moment.
"I wish to offer something to everyone as well," Schierke announced. She held out her hand which contained a few strands of her green hairs. "If everyone could tie these around their fingers, it will be possible for us to keep in contact through thought transference. With it, we'll be able to establish a mental connection, and visualize where we all are in case one of us gets separated."
"Truly?" Serpico asked as he took a strand of her hair, tying it around his finger. She distributed them to Farnese and Isidro as well but paused when she got to Guts.
"Pardon me, Guts, but do you need assistance tying yours?" on account of his metal arm, it would be a challenge. And Harry knew if she had been paying close enough attention before their connection was broken, she would have noticed that Guts did not exactly enjoy having other people touch him.
Guts sole eye stared down at Schierke with a neutral expression. Eventually, he extended just one of his fingers. "Do what you need to already." He didn't sound mad about it, just a bit hesitant.
Schierke quickly tied the green hairs around Guts' finger before moving over to Harry. "Try not to lose these ones."
"Promise." He accepted the hairs. "If I do, you might end up going bald."
She didn't laugh. "You're not funny, you know."
Even though he received no gift or thought transference, Morgan still thanked his hosts. "I cannot express how much your assistance is going to help. When do we strike back against the trolls?"
"We can stay the night here at the spirit-tree," Schierke offered. "The troll attacks have been happening during the day, correct?"
Morgan scratched at his stubble. "From what all of us witnesses have gathered, yes. It makes it easy to spot those hairy bastards. I would have thought that they would be out at night."
"Normally they would, but if they start getting more confident, they'll come at just about any time."
"Why not show them to their rooms, Schierke?" Flora suggested. "They have a long day ahead of them tomorrow and need their rest."
"Of course, Mistress. Follow me this way."
Schierke led them to the upper level of the spirit-tree mansion, Farnese went to wash up, taking Casca with her to hopefully wash out the other girl's hair. Serpico unpacked both his and Farnese's equipment, and Isidro and Puck claimed one of the rooms as their own, crashing right away. Harry was granted the room he had before on the bottom level of the mansion, and Guts was given a room to himself.
As he stripped off his armor and into his smallclothes, he rested Dragonslayer adjacent to his bed, the comfort of knowing that his sword was always within his reach brought him a small comfort that went a long way knowing he would always be ready.
He had not had much time to really reflect on it before, but with the rune in place over his brand, and staying in a mansion guarded by magic; this could be a night of sleep where he did not have to be ready to fight for his life. It probably wouldn't last, nothing was guaranteed. The last time he ever felt content was back with the Hawks. He probably would have forgotten about it, but it was just one of those feelings that stick with you even after they have passed, something to hope to cling to in order to experience it again; almost like a firefly that had fluttered into his room. Its light would go on and off, again and again, and always flew before it could be caught.
After tracking the firefly with his eye, he began to tire, the promise of a safe night's sleep brought a tempting offer that he wasn't going to pass up.
And Guts did not dream of death that night. But why… why does it feel like there's something breathing down my neck? In that realm of dreams, he would look, but he would only find himself.
While they all slept, Flora waited in her study, listening to the door slowly creak open, almost unheard. Someone else had joined her.
"How long have you been here? You didn't bother saying hello when they arrived."
"I have been here for some time. I was following along behind them on their journey."
"Were you perhaps hiding out in the cellar?" Flora asked. "Feeling nostalgic, my old friend?"
"There is nothing nostalgic about what you keep below there. But I was examining it."
"Do you intend for him to wear it as you once did?" Flora asked.
"He is a struggler, he will fight as he has always done. But if he is to don that accursed armor, it will be at the price of his humanity."
"Yes, he is a struggler indeed. I could instantly about that young man, his life has not been a pleasant one; you're right, he will struggle and fight. He reminds me very much of you in that regard. And Harry with that curious and creative mind of his, he reminds me very much of how the other sorcerer had been when he visited."
"You speak as if events are circling back around."
"Oh no, not circling; spiraling. You both left something behind with me that I've been keeping safe." Flora looked out the window at the moon. "My time here is short. When I pass, those relics will be passed on. When that time comes, can I ask a favor of you, old friend?"
"What is the favor you speak of?"
"When the time comes, will you fight on my behalf? The White Hawk knows about the existence of this tree thanks to our mutual acquaintance; he will not let this stand. Will you fight?"
He kept silent, but she knew what it meant. she had known him long enough to discern one silent treatment from the other. His silence now was answer enough; she needn't even ask to begin with.
She smiled. "Thank you, my friend."
There looked to be a stormy overcast above them as they exited the cover of the woods for the open landscape that housed Enoch Village. The place looked largely unchanged in scenery since Harry had first come across it; the river flowed and meandered harmlessly along the border with a stone bridge marking the entrance.
One thing that was different was the sense of desperation that clung to the air like a rolling fog. No children were out running the streets, smoke rose from the blacksmith's chimney, and a few townspeople dug a grave for a body that looked to be horribly mutilated; the stomach had a gaping hole in it, and the body looked to have been embalmed.
"Not the best way to introduce my home village to you folks," Morgan said, apologetically. "Young Ted over there was the husband of one of the girls who got snatched by those trolls."
"This village has people in it and is a helluva lot bigger than mine was," Isidro eyed some of the houses.
"Might I inquire what the plan for eradicating the trolls might be?" questioned Serpico.
"When the trolls come, Guts, Harry, and yourself will deal with the bulk of the forces for the time being. Isidro and Morgan will escort civilians to the village temple. I'll be at the top of the temple invoking the power of the Four Elemental Kings. Farnese can come with me as well to ensure that my spell does not get interrupted."
Schierke had left out Casca from the plan. She was back at the spirit-tree with Flora, who would be making an attempt to heal her mind. For the time he had been learning magic, the mind arts was not one Harry specialized in, and Schierke neither. Whatever Flora was going to do, it would probably involve more than just legilimency, probably some other forms of magic as well.
"You just want me escorting civilians?" Isidro thumbed the hilt of his new dagger. "I can still fight, you know?"
"I never said you couldn't," Schierke shot back. "But Morgan was kind enough to agree to help escort the people to the safety of the temple and he isn't exactly in the best of shape to fend off trolls if any get close. Er, no offense to you, Mr. Morgan."
"Think nothing of it, Miss. Witch," the old man laughed it off. "When you reach past fifty, you get comfortable with your age."
"Hey," Guts said, getting Schierke's attention. "That temple, it's Holy See. I don't know a lot about your magic, but will it work the same if you cast it from there?"
Harry supposed he raised a good point, after learning about the dark origin of the Holy See's motives, it made sense that the magic around it might operate differently.
"While that faith is strongly opposed to magic, that site was once a shrine to the Four Elemental Kings," Schierke recalled. "Their influence still lies deep within this land, but it will take time to call upon their energy for aid."
Farnese eyed the temple as well. "Calling upon the energy of other beings… forgive me, but that sounds much different from what I've seen you perform, Harry."
"He can do it the same as I," Schierke answered before he could. "Magic exists in both the environment and in ourselves. He has just been drawing from his own reserves; which can be self-destructing if used too much." She fixed him with a look.
"I'll be careful," Harry diligently reminded her. "I'm not planning on handling the trolls alone."
"Yeah, about that… how are we even supposed to know when the trolls show up until its too late?" Isidro asked a logical question.
"That lies to the rest of you and the elves as well," Schierke planned. "Currently, that bridge we crossed is the most direct way in and out of the village. If the three guys take a position there, Harry can scan for their od signature. Once he has it, he'll use the thought transference to let the rest of us know. At that point, you and Morgan get the villagers to the temple and I'll begin the spell."
"I'm fine with that," Harry agreed. "You think you can handle your end, Isidro?"
"You think I can't? Leave it to me, I'll make sure everyone gets there alright, but you have to agree to another spar when we're done here. I want to see how my dagger holds up against that sword of yours."
"That sword has the dust of my ancestors," Puck defended Harry's blade. "Do not get so cocky, my pupil."
The group split into their three separate units, Schierke and Farnese going off to the temple, Isidro and Morgan waited for their signal in the main street of the village, and the three guys waited patiently by the stone bridge. The overcast showed no signs of clearing up, instead, it grew much darker; the prospect of rain seemed more than likely.
"I don't suppose your magic can do anything about the cold?" Serpico asked.
"It can," Harry confirmed. "But there's no telling how some of the villagers might act to seeing it. Trolls are one thing, but magic could be entirely different. This overcast actually works with what I have in mind."
"Truly?"
"Lightning," Harry casually said. "Like this, it's much easier than conjuring my own."
"That does make sense, I suppose. This troll slaying gives me a chance to see exactly what this sylph blade can do." Serpico held the blade out an arm's length.
"Just remember to have belief in each of your swings," Harry advised. "It's a magic blade, and belief goes a long way when it comes to making magic work."
"Relying on magic items… this is quite the stark contrast to what Lady Farnese and I did in the past."
"From hunting to helping." Even though Harry had a brief fight with Serpico back at the Tower of Conviction, the elder blonde youth seemed to have moved past the ordeal, at least for Farnese's sake for the time being. If the situation called for it, Harry knew Serpico would choose to save Farnese over the rest of them. He didn't fault him for that; Guts was much the same way with Casca. What he was worried about was what would happen if Farnese could not be saved. What would Serpico do then?
"Hey," Guts spoke. "These trolls have to be coming from somewhere."
"Like a nest of sorts?" Harry followed his train of thought.
"Yeah. That witch mentioned the astral worlds or something overlapping. If we find where it is, we cut off its head."
"I suppose that it's possible," Harry somewhat agreed. But how were they going to seal off a part of one world?
One thing at a time. There would be no further troll hunting if they didn't deal with the batch at hand. Speaking of witch… he could feel something crowding the air, a foul, dark feeling that was being amplified by the second. It started faintly at first but had slowly started to gain traction to the point where it could not be classified as a single life form moving toward them.
Schierke, Isidro, they're here.
'N-now? This old man was just telling this story about-'
'-It can wait!' Schierke cut off that train of thought. 'Just get the civilians here to the temple. I'll begin the spell.'
"It's time," Harry pointed to the bush beyond the bridge. Guts attached his crossbow, and Serpico took his stance. One by one, the long snouts of the trolls started popping out, closely followed by the rest of their black, hairy bodies. Like before, some of them carried bone weapons and others had farming equipment such as pitchforks and sickles from the farmers they had raided.
Guts wasted no time in firing off a barrage of bolts at the visible trolls, his projectiles finding their marks, piercing their eyes and mouths, killing them instantly. Harry raised his staff to the sky, calling on the energy being built up in the sky above and released it down in the form of a lightning bolt, striking a pack of trolls.
Some trolls stumbled from the continued barrage and the force of the lightning strike, but before they could rise again, Serpico cut the air with his new weapon. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but after a delayed reaction, blood spurted from the trolls from cuts that passed them by like the wind, unseen to the naked eye.
Serpico inclined his head to the blade, impressed and startled that he actually had such a power at his disposal, but he quickly focused his attention on the other trolls, the sight of blood was starting to upset him.
Some trolls made a break for the bridge as Guts reloaded his crossbow, but moving to the forefront, Serpico cut them down with a few strokes of his weapon, the air strikes killing the trolls quickly. Seeing their brethren cut down so easily, a pact of trolls held back from advancing, moving back instead.
Guts pulled out one of the explosives Rickert had given to him before their departure and tossed it at a pair of trolls that were attempting to cross the bridge. The small ball stuck to one of the trolls' fur easily enough before going off. Where there were once two trolls, there was now only half of one.
Harry levitated the half of the troll, dispelling it toward some of the more eager pack mates. The trolls were starting to get into a frenzy at this rate; some actually tossed a few makeshift spears at the three of them. With the wind as his ally, Serpico cut the projectiles in half before they had a chance to land.
'Hey!' Isidro's voice spoke in each of their heads. 'I don't know what you guys are doing, but I kind of need your help over here!'
What do you mean? What's going on? Are the citizens not listening?
'Oh no, they're listening. They can see the trolls! No need to tell them about it!'
What do you mean? The trolls are all back here.
'Well the one I just set on fire seemed to be in the village, so you tell me!'
With Guts and Serpico continuing to mow down the trolls, Harry searched for more od signatures. Sure enough, he could distinguish Isidro easily enough due to their thought transference, but the dark od of the trolls seemed to be coming from inside the town as well. How was that? The trolls were all… Harry extended his focus to where they were fighting the trolls by the bridge. Many were just throwing themselves to their death, but another portion had broken off while falling back to sneak around out of their sight to wade through the water.
'That old man got hit pretty bad, I'm trying to get him back to the temple, but it looks like the trolls are going to beat me there. The damn things can smell that's where all the people are.'
"Guts, Serpico, did you hear that? We have to get back to the village center!"
The two eased up on their assault, rushing back to the center of the village and the awaiting temple. As they rounded a corner, they came across some of the trolls that had managed to sneak around through the water as indicated by their wet fur. Serpico jumped, and his cloak seemed to billow around him, carrying him well over the trolls heads almost like he was riding a gust of wind. As he was at his arc, he cut down thrice, and the trolls dropped dead.
"My, I… certainly didn't expect it to have that much weightlessness to it."
"Hiya!" the unmistakable voice of Isidro came from closer to the temple. They found the young swordsman fighting back three trolls, while trying to support a wounded Morgan on his feet. The old man seemed to have a nasty cut on his shoulder that was bleeding badly, staining his shirt.
Isidro was burning the paws of the trolls as they reached for him, the salamanders doing their own magic, but with Morgan slung over him, his movement was restricted. A few terrified citizens watched helplessly from the open temple doors, perhaps hoping that god would keep them safe.
Puck flew with his burr, whacking the one troll in the eye as it grabbed for Isidro again.
"Don't fly too close, idiot!" Ivalera scolded the other elf. "Leave the slaying to these guys, the ones with the actual weapons." She dragged Puck away midair before he could foolishly attack again.
Harry barely saw Guts whip out Dragonslayer; the large blade passed over Isidro and Morgan, cutting the trolls in half. Their blood soaking the sword and the steps of the temple. The villagers looked on in wonder and terror in their eyes.
"Did you see him kill those trolls?"
"The size of his sword… I've never seen one that big?"
"Who are those other two? One's dressed like a wizard."
"My word! Is that Morgan?!"
"Move it," Guts told Isidro. "Get the old man inside."
Isidro made a move to protest. "But I can-!"
Morgan put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Lad, you can either grow old and without regret, or die young and full of promise. I know what I'm comfortable with."
The youth seemed to be debating a conflict inside of himself, looking to the temple doors, to up where Schierke was performing her spell. "Damn old man!" he began hauling Morgan back up the steps to where the rest of the citizens were waiting. As the doors shut, a circle of light surrounded the temple, Schierke had completed her spell.
'Is this it?' Farnese asked. 'This light, these are the Four Kings?'
'Yes. As long as I stay concentrated, no supernatural creature will be able to cross.'
Indeed, some of the outlying trolls found that they were unable to clamor forward and snatch up the citizens that awaited them inside. The three guys who were outside of the protective barrier quickly dispatched the remaining trolls with extreme prejudice. The last troll fell before the first raindrop in a sudden downpour.
The bodies of the trolls lay scattered throughout the village square, the blood would have left a stain if not for the rain coming to wash all of it away. It saved Harry and Guts the time to clean off their blades, and a few droplets of blood that fell on Serpico's clothing were washed off as well.
"Is that it then?" Serpico asked. "Have the trolls been eradicated?"
"For now, maybe." Harry said. "But there's still the nest to worry about and-,"
The sound of heavy footsteps put them all on edge again. A fresh new pack of trolls came running through the streets toward the temple and where Harry, Guts, and Serpico stood defensively in front of it. There were more of them this time, but none of them large enough to have caused those footsteps.
Before any of them had time to react, a large tree branch went flying through the air, over their heads and crashed into one of the temple's windows, eliciting a scream from the inhabitants inside. While the barrier kept supernatural creatures out, it was useless against physical objects.
The culprit behind the attack was a large creature with hairy legs like a troll, but much wider and taller in height. Its head was elongated into an upward snout, and two tusks protruded from each side.
'An ogre!' Schierke exclaimed.
But that wasn't all, a creature that looked to be a hybrid between a horse and a frog came galloping/hopping right behind it. 'A kelpie!'
What?
'A water creature that used to lure people to water to drown them. This one must have emerged from the overlapping as well.'
"It doesn't matter what they are, they're just the same as those trolls, they can bleed, they can die too." Guts went to do battle with the ogre as it began tearing up cobblestones from the street to throw at the temple. His Dragonslayer sunk into one of its legs, gaining its attention.
"Would you lend me your aid in taking down this… kelpie?" Serpico asked Harry. "If this is water-baseded creature, I don't know how well wind will affect it."
"Got it," Harry agreed, already coming up with a plan to take down the kelpie. The creature was soaked already; if he could get a strike of lightning in, Serpico could finish the thing off.
Harry prepared to cast a basic lightning spell, but as soon as the kelpie saw him move his arm, a long, from-like tongue shot out from its mouth, wrapping around Harry's wrist before pulling back and taking the staff right out of his hand. "You're shitting me right now."
Testing his theory, Serpico cut the air up down and center, his air attacks went forward, but a water barrier appeared in front of the kelpie, taking the strikes in its stead. The kelpie puffed out its throat and spit out bursts of water at the two of them. Harry rolled out of the way and made a move to pick up his fallen staff, but a troll slammed its ax down before he could reach it.
"You little guys are starting to aggravate me." He drove his sword through the mouth of the troll, pushing it back on another that had been trying to blindside him.
"Looking for this?" a large foot kicked his staff to him. Guts' armor was dripping with water and blood as the diced up corpse of the ogre lay behind him. Harry gratefully accepted, Getting ready to do battle with the kelpie once more.
Before he could strike the kelpie got a good hit on Serpico with the tongue. The appendage struck Serpico on his shoulder earning a pained, "Gnah!"
With the water surrounding the kelpie, Harry summoned the blast of lightning, frying the kelpie where it stood. With its defense down, Serpico cut the air again, this time the kelpie ended up with a large horizontal slash going across its neck; dark blood spilling out only to be washed away.
With the two biggest dangers gone, that just left the remaining troll to deal with, and there seemed to be more this time around than before. Perhaps the fear of the ogre and kelpie had kept them at bay.
'The three of you, get back behind the barrier! I'm going to channel the power of the King of Water.'
They did as instructed, the barrier allowing them entry but denying it to the trolls. Either Guts or Serpico was about to ask what Schierke meant, but they soon got their answer as they noticed the rumbling sound that was coming from behind the temple. By channeling the power of the King of Water, Schierke had just unleashed the entire river through the village, washing the trolls and a good portion of some of the less than stable homes away with it as the water began to subside.
"Huh." Guts looked to where Schierke stood at the top of the temple. "That's some girl."
With the current threat dealt with, Serpico was taken inside the temple to join the rest of the wounded citizens including Morgan. The attack from the kelpie had dislocated his shoulder, but aside from that he was unhurt. He would however, be forced to sit out on the next portion of the mission; to eradicate the nest of trolls. If nothing was done about the source, then the trolls would just keep coming back, making their battle here today completely in vain.
Harry and Schierke led the way with their method of following the flow of od. Guts had recovered a piece of fur from the corpse of a dead troll for them to use as a means of locating the nest. It seemed to be working, but Guts had no way of knowing for sure except to ask them directly. He had seen Harry do enough magic before to know that he knew what the boy was doing, and if Schierke's demonstration back at the village had proven anything, she was just as competent in the field. The way they were going, they were headed back into the forest, but not to the spirit-tree.
Isidro had joined them, Farnese having stayed behind to tend to Serpico and some of the other villagers. But this time, the boy hardly seemed to be in an adventure filled mood. He was sulking almost.
"Oi, what's wrong, Dro?" Puck flew on top of the boy's head.
He pulled out the salamander dagger. "I never really got a chance to use this. I could have helped out against those trolls too."
Yeah, childish worries.
"Hey, cheer up!" Puck encouraged. "Where we're going, there are bound to be plenty more trolls."
"Don't go around encouraging his fantasies," Ivalera told Puck. "This is no time to be messing around. You have to stay on alert, you might miss something otherwise."
"Like a creature that's a nose?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Ivalera scoffed at the question.
"No, I think he has a point," Isidro agreed. "I'm staring right at it."
"Make as much jokes as you want. There isn't such a thing as – huh?"
They all stopped to observe the strange creature on the path.
Indeed, it was a nose. A nose with eyes and two little legs. It was harmless and one of the weirdest things any of them had ever seen. Do they kill it, or just leave it be? What the hell is it anyway?
They never really got an answer as the nose just began to walk off down the path. And they followed after it, curious to see where it went. And it was as if the forest around them had become a completely new setting.
The trees were darker and packed much closer together. More exposed roots popped up from the ground, making the path largely uneven and hard to traverse. Even the air seemed heavier, like an extra force was being applied to them.
"This is it," Schierke concluded. "This is where the layers are overlapping."
"The trolls od, it feels like it's all over the place, and there's od here that I don't even recognize." Harry tried to single out where the troll layer might be located.
"So… the trolls can come popping out at any moment?" Isidro looked over his shoulder, almost expecting to see a troll waiting for him.
"The trolls are close, but not close enough to the point that they're on top of us," Schierke tried to ease his worry. "And once we're close enough, we can always just redirect their od to throw them off of us."
"Any chance of you knowing where the most of them are gathered?" Guts asked. Once they figured that out, that was most likely the nest or den.
Harry concentrated further; trying to determine which way yielded the strongest od. "From what I feel, to the right, and then… down. Like a cave almost."
"Living in a cave, I guess that does sound like where a troll would live," Isidro agreed.
The ground off of the path was even worse. If the ground wasn't uneven, it was filled with a liquid that sure wasn't water or blood. Just some disgusting form of nastiness that manifested along with this overlap. Once they reached a certain point, the ground did indeed, slope downward into an underground cave.
Stepping inside was like stepping inside the maw of a waiting creature; and having almost been eaten by supernatural creatures, Guts knew what it felt like. This feeling now was more alienated than anything. Even with two mages escorting them, there was no telling how deep the cave went or where it led to.
More than once, they heard the scuffle and bark that could have only came from a troll, probably fighting over food or a bone of some sort. But the deeper they went, the more they heard the trolls somewhere off in the distance making their primal barks and yelps.
'Let's just rely on our thought transference here,' Schierke advised. 'We still have the element of surprise on our side.'
Fine. But once we reach the heart, I don't plan on holding back.
The point they were at now, the barking was at an all time high. 'There must be close to three hundred down here,' Harry guessed. 'How did there get to be this many in such a short time?'
Harry got his answer in the form of a human screaming along with the howling and barking of the trolls. Gathered in a pit of some sort, the trolls had lit a fire, some danced around it, waiting for their turn at the many naked women and children that were gathered around. The trolls mounted the women like dogs, forcing them to take one after the other as the mated with the humans.
One woman collapsed, crying and pushing at her stomach, trying to keep something down, but it burst from her stomach; a dozen tiny trolls. The woman's dead blue eyes stared over to them.
Seeing this scene… it was just like with Donovan… just like what had happened to Casca. And Guts snapped.
Dragonslayer was in his hand and he cut down three trolls before they could claim one of the young children. He spun around; Dragonslayer cut five more this time. A swing, six more dead. Another, four more. Once again, two down. Up down, left right, right, left, down, up, right, up, down, left, left, right, down.
Years of training and fighting was coming unleashed right here, against a filthy race of creatures that were powerless to stop the slaughter of their kind. His sole eye was seeing white and red, his heartbeat pounding in his ears, if that voice was whispering to him, Guts could not hear it over the rage he was feeling at the moment.
More cuts, and more blood was spilled. Some of it landed on the women and children, but most of it went splattering against the cave walls, creating a form of abstract art that only used one color.
'Guts…' the vice of Schierke sounded in his mind.
He looked back to where she and the others were waiting. Harry seemed the most composed, but even he looked a bit worried. The two others had clearly never seen this level of violence displayed from him before.
"Go," he ordered them. "Take the citizens out of here. Isidro."
"Y-yeah?"
"You guard the rear. That is your mission."
"What about you?" Harry asked. "Are you really going to take on the rest of the den?"
Already, the sounds of more trolls coming could be heard. "Don't worry about it. Swinging my sword… it's always been what I'm best at." Just me, when it's just me, I can let loose.
It took sore coercing, but Harry and the others got the captured women and children to their feet and assisted them in finding the exit of the cave. Harry cast one last worried glance back at Guts before he followed.
Guts didn't bother waiting for the first troll to come to him, he went for the troll. He wasn't restricting himself to just one spot; he went deeper into the cave, continuing to carve up the trolls as he went. The walls became much narrower at one point, so he used Dragonslayer to push straight forward, impaling up to six trolls along the length of the steel. He flicked their bodies aside once he reached a large alcove and he continued his slaughter of the trolls.
They feared him. They weren't bothering to attack anymore; they were just trying to get away from him. He crushed their skulls, split them in two, shot them full of crossbow bolts, Guts was doing it all.
Through his frenzy, he became aware that he was not standing on pure solid ground, his boots made a splashing sound whenever he moved. He was standing in a pool of troll blood.
More and more trolls fell, their spilled intestines were pooled somewhere under all of this blood, and that was when Guts felt it. He hadn't been hit or anything, at least not by anything physical. No, it was more an overwhelming presence, and it was rising behind him.
The troll intestines were forming a shape, the shape of a woman; one bare of clothing, and two wings growing out of her back. Slan, the only female member of the Godhand had appeared.
A/N: You all know what's coming next. Thanks for reading.