AN: Here we are! Back with Arc Two! Hurray! Be sure to leave a review and tell me your thoughts on the chapters! I love to know what you all think! Enjoy!

Berserk

Arc Two: Chapter Six

{those intrepid heroes; those who wade out into battle}

He finds himself at the Sola tree. The branches tower over him, red leaves glinting in the afternoon light, rustling in the gentle breeze sweeping around him. The entire tree seems to quiver with the wind, branches twisting together like vines, the bark bone white against the green of the glade. The Ellyra doesn't sing this time, speaking in a familiar voice. It's gone quiet, almost unnervingly so. He knows a soul resides inside the gnarled bark, and absently he wonders where it's gone.

Shaking his head, Natsu turns away from the tree, glancing around the clearing with interest. It looks the same as it did only a few nights earlier, the stream still gurgling noisily, birds making soft sounds in the surrounding trees, cooing to each other. Off in the distance, a dog barks, the sound faint, but recognizable. The bell at the tower in Magnolia chimes, the sound echoing through the clearing, making his ears ring.

He isn't entirely used to the new noises yet. Everything is different from how it was in Pergrande. In the Empire it was loud, a constant buzz of noise at all times, snarls from the Berserks and the screams of men, dogs barking, music seeping through the walls from the ballrooms above. It would have been too much noise, if he wasn't accustomed to it after so many years of living in the capital. He's almost surprised it never drove him mad.

Magnolia is different in that regard. The town is quieter, near secluded. It reminds him of Jorah, cut off, but not really. Magnolia is smaller than Jorah, and there are cities nearby, rather than miles and miles of forests and mountains. Magnolia wasn't built to be a fort, merely a small, comfortable town. He hasn't been to town yet, but he imagines it's a warm place, inviting to strangers, though perhaps not to him.

Natsu turns back to the tree, peering up at it's branches curiously, tracing them with his eyes. He takes a step closer to the giant, footsteps silent as he walks through the grass, mindful of his steps. He doesn't know what it is about this place, but it feels different from the rest of the forest, an energy and a stillness clinging to the air, almost electric. The entire glade smells of magic, faint but noticeable to him, and familiar magic at that. It's stronger than the scent that clings to Lucy and her family, older, but more powerful, the bloodline thicker.

It's the clinging scent of a relative long since passed, several decades old, purely Fae, no weakened smell from human blood. He takes a deep breath, nearly sneezing when the smell of stardust clouds his senses, threatening to choke him. For a moment, it overwhelms him, making him cough and sputter, but he forces himself to take another breath, swallowing down the thick taste on his tongue.

Natsu hadn't realized how strong the smell of a Fae would be. He's only ever caught wisps of the scent from people and objects, the scent diluted. Lucy told him early on that her magic was a small thing, not nearly as powerful as it had been in previous generations, but he's only beginning to understand how powerful the Fae must have been.

He's seen Lucy's magic with his own eyes, watched it grow through he hadn't realized it much at the time. And Laxus is a powerful magic user himself. The ancient Fae must have been terrible and beautiful creatures, enchanting and wicked. All of that magic could have been used for anything, it could have destroyed worlds. And he imagines it did, long in the past.

And to siphon all of that magic away…

Natsu shakes his head dispelling the thought. His hand comes up to rub the back of his neck, fingers finding the scar on his throat, long and pale and raised. It healed well, smooth to the touch, but his skin crawls when he remembers the feel of the King's blade ripping through him.

He sucks in a deep breath, hand falling back to his side without a word. His hand curls into a loose fist, his nails scrapping lightly against his skin. Absently, he glances down at his hands. Bruises bleed red and blue along his knuckles, darkening slightly, but not as bad as they could have been. The first knuckle on his right hand has split open, blood leaking between his fingers and dripping to the ground. It's worse than it was when he left the house.

Wincing, he looks away from his hands, turning back to the tree. He hadn't meant to hit Laxus so hard that they'd both bleed, but he can't bring himself to regret it. He's spent years feeling remorse for the fights he's been forced into, little choice but to rip others apart, but this time was different. The choice was his. He snapped, but it wasn't due to a magical stone pressed to his throat or the threat of violence hanging over him. This time it was pure, unaltered rage. It was him.

Natsu isn't sure how to feel about what happened. He's been trying so hard to keep his temper in check, to control his violence, but—the way the blood roared in his ears as Natsu slipped through the backdoor of Makarov's shop, his heart still beating wildly, a thrill running through him, fire rushing through his veins, it was like a long forgotten memory. It was exhilarating, letting go. He hadn't meant to, and in some ways he wishes he hadn't snapped the way he did, but it felt good—right.

Igneel once told him that the beast wasn't meant to be contained. Controlled, yes, but never ignored, locked away in the back of his mind. It's damaging to do so. Keeping that part of him caged would only make it more violent when it was finally released. It's why the guards at the Domus Flau would only allow the older Berserks to fights once every three weeks in rotation. It made them violent, near bloodthirsty, to be kept away from the fights for so long, caged with nowhere to go.

As a child he never quite noticed how Igneel's fingers would start to twitch after several days in the cage. He would pace more and snap at the guards walking by, eager to be let out, but constantly denied.

Natsu hasn't let go in months. He's been on the edge several times, but even when he wanted to he never and though he wishes he hadn't hurt anyone, he feels lighter somehow, better, a fog lifted from his mind.

His anger is a part of him, a part of Berserk nature, and he won't lock that part of him away. Yet, he still needs to learn control. He was never taught how to turn that anger into something less violent. Natsu won't pretend he doesn't enjoy the thrill of the fight, he always has. He enjoys the way it makes his heart race and his bones hum with something like fire, his blood burning through his veins.

It was nothing like when he used to wear the collar, though he could feel a lingering affect from the cursed object, the dark magic worming through his mind, still powerful even when it wasn't around his throat. He was lucid this time, at least mostly.

His heartbeat spikes as he remembers the red in his vision, the thrum of power that rushed through him, and takes a deep breath, steadying himself. His head throbs, his fingers twitching, aching for another fight, and Natsu bites his tongue to keep himself from screaming. A violent need settles low in his stomach, a wanting for another fight, and he bites down on his tongue so hard he tastes blood in his mouth.

For only a moment, Natsu allows himself to relish in the feeling of being able to fight back, of allowing himself to be what and who he is. His pulse stutters for a second before evening out once more, Natsu taking a deep breath as his breathing returns to normal. He spits out the blood leaking from his tongue, wiping his bloody knuckles on the torn fabric of his pants, smearing the blood across his hands.

As much as he wants to justify himself, he can't. Laxus was an ass, his words barbed and meant to make him snap, but it doesn't excuse Natsu. Laxus has every right to mistrust him, even if Natsu would like to believe otherwise. He can't expect that to change so easily, and he doubts attacking the Faeborne helped him in that regard.

Regardless of the justification, Natsu still snapped. He could have killed someone. He likely would have killed someone if it weren't for whatever spell Makarov threw between them. He needs to be able to control it.

Natsu blinks up at the tree, wincing at the sunlight spilling through the branches, and settles himself down onto the ground. The grass tickles at his bare back, making his nose wrinkle, but he ignores it, tracing the patterns in the tree bark with his eyes. His shoulders relax as he listens to the sounds of the trees, the woods making soft noises, soothing and quiet.

The stream babbles as he sinks onto the ground, water sloshing noisily against the rocky bank, gurgling and groaning, almost alive. It snakes through the glade, cutting it nearly in half as it wanders from where the sun rises to where it sets, trickling off into the woods. He nearly followed it the first time he saw it, wandering with it for a day before turning back, unsure where it would lead him, a lake perhaps, or maybe the ocean.

Natsu would like to see the coast again, smell the salt in the air. He doesn't remember much about the north lands, only the biting chill of winter and the salt that would cling to his skin and hair, coating his tongue when he would speak. He remembers the summer being beautiful, the snow melting into nothing for only a few weeks every year, the wildflowers blooming rapidly, there one day and gone the next, falling to rest when the frost returned.

He hasn't seen the ocean in years, Ðüskell locked in the middle of the Pergrande, and the Domus Flau hidden away in the darkest parts of Crocus, nowhere near the coast for fear of attacks from the sea. Magnolia, he thinks, is near the ocean, maybe a few days journey, maybe more. He'd have to ask Lucy sometime. Maybe one day soon he'll be able to see the ocean ago, the miles and miles of water, the gulls crying out, the salt clinging to him.

It won't be like the icy waters of The North, with the water so dark it looked near black against the snow and ice of the land, icebergs adrift in the deep water, the current near violent during the winter storms. He doesn't imagine the oceans of Fiore being anything like that. They'd be placid, a calm sea, the waters warm during the summer months.

Despite their differences, he'd like to see it, if only for a moment.

Natsu releases a heavy breath, raking his fingers through the long crass at his sides. He twists the stalks between his fingers, playing with them absently as he looks around the glade, mapping it in his mind. He isn't sure how he found himself here once again, seemingly drawn to the quiet and the magic of the tree. He hadn't meant to wander so close again, his fight with Lucy still a bitter memory.

Wetting his lips, he leans forward, propping his elbows against his knees and eyeing the Ellyra critically, willing it to speak, but if stays silent, tall and proud and seeming to mock him. The branches twist in the air, moving unnaturally, sentient, and a handful of leaves snap from the branches, raining down on him gently.

He plucks a leaf from his hair, twirling it between his fingers slowly. The leaf seems to glint in the light, an almost metallic sheen making the red glossy. Natsu runs his finger along the edge of the leaf and it folds under his touch, crinkling at the edge. A breeze whirls around him and Natsu releases the leaf, letting it be ripped away from his fingers, his eyes following it as it disappears off into the distance.

Natsu's gaze returns to the tree, his eyes tracing patterns in the bark. Something takes shape in the knots and scars on the trunk, his eyes narrowing slightly when he sees what looks like a face. It's faint, but he can make out a pair of eyes, a nose, downturned lips, as if someone was pressing themself through. The sight of it unnerves him, something pulling at the back of his mind, though he doesn't know what.

"I see you found the tree again," a familiar voice speaks up from behind him. Natsu doesn't jump at the sound, the presence familiar to him. He's nearly surprised that he didn't hear her walking up behind him, but blames it on the tree and the forest calming him.

Natsu wets his lips, swallowing. "It's like you said," he tells her in return, smiling slightly when she steps up behind him, hesitating for only a moment before settling down beside him on the grass, "it seems to call people here." Their conversation from days ago comes back to him, her words echoing through his mind, and he takes some comfort from them.

Lucy hums beside him, seemingly in agreement. "It's probably for the best," she muses, a lilt of amusement to her words. He glances at her over his shoulder, raising a brow, and she purses her lips. Lucy shifts on the grass, crossing her legs beneath her and leaning back on her hands, eyes on the tree as she squints through the sunlight. "People have become lost in these woods," she murmurs, glancing at him briefly. "Some never find their way out."

"Did you?" he asks. Lucy startles, frowning at him in confusion and he turns back to the tree. "Did you ever get lost?" he clarifies. His fingers twist through the loose fabric of his pants, plucking at a thread absently. He cocks his head towards Lucy, waiting for her to speak, her silence comfortable between them.

"Once," she tells him after several minutes. She sits up slowly, moving her legs out from under her and tucking her knees against her chest, chin propped against them. He turns to her as she continues, blinking down at her with interest. "My mom found me. I was only missing for a few hours at most." She glances up at him, smiling faintly. "Laxus was supposed to be watching me, but he wasn't very good at it," she says, grinning. "Granted, he was only twelve at the time. Thought he was more responsible than he actually was."

Lucy snorts and Natsu finds himself grinning along with her, her amusement contagious.

"What happened?" he murmurs, eyes slipping shut as her magic washes over him, covering him like a blanket. He relaxes as she moves closer to him, her side pressing against his as she leeches warmth from him, hair tickling at his arm. He forces his eyes open once again, but Lucy isn't looking at him, her eyes locked on the Sola tree.

Briefly, Natsu wonders if she's trying to distract him from the conversation they should be having, and a part of him is grateful for that. He doesn't want to talk about this morning, about how he snapped like that. He thought he had better control than that, but maybe he was wrong.

"I wandered off the path," she tells him, fingers drumming against her thigh, a slow, steady pattern that matches the beating of his heart. "I don't remember why," she continues, shoulders shifting when she shrugs. "I don't remember anything from that day, for the most part." She goes quiet for a long moment, lost in her thoughts, and Natsu presses his shoulder to hers, unsure what to say.

She glances up at him at his touch, smiling slightly, though there's a dark shadow in her eyes that he doesn't recognize. Not anger or fear, but something else he can't place. He searches her gaze, trying to figure out what it is, but she looks away before he can place the odd look. "They looked for me everywhere," Lucy wets her lips, arms curling tighter around herself, "afraid I'd wandered to close to the cliffs between here and Onimus."

Natsu tries to place the distance in his head, only vaguely familiar with the name. Igneel might have mentioned it to him once or twice, just as he did with Magnolia. He was part of the rings back when there were several throughout Fiore, a dozen, perhaps more. They used to trade berserks between the rings, selling the strongest fighters for a decent profit. Onimus must be a good twenty miles from Magnolia, if he remembers correctly. The city further north.

"That's a long ways for a child to walk," he notes. Her magic stirs within her, her stardust smell growing stronger, though it's nearly masked by that of the Ellyra. The tree smells different from all of the others they saw in Pergrande, stronger. the others never smelled like much of anything at all, simply trees that spoke in hushed sounds, calling out to them as they passed.

Lucy's magic brushes against him like a caress, warm and familiar, and he leans into the phantom touch, his shoulder pressing more firmly against hers.

"You would think so," Lucy laughs, making him grin. She glances up at him, the shadow gone from her eyes, replaced with amusement. "I had a habit of getting into trouble when I was younger," she tells him, seeming proud of herself.

His lips twitch fondly. "You still do," he reminds her, snorting in amusement. It seems an ill timed joke to him, but Lucy's smile only grows, her laughter pattering off as she turns back to the tree, staring at it as if it might give her answers to a question she hasn't asked.

Lucy sighs. "Maybe," she murmurs back to him, staring at the face in the tree with interest. Her magic reaches out for the tree, rustling the branches with a strong gust. She falls silent again, expression going blank as she eyes the tree blankly, gaze far away.

Natsu decides to bring her back. He knocks his shoulder against hers roughly, enough to startle her, but not hurt her. Lucy makes a soft sound as he leans too far into her, jostling her, and she sends him a nasty look that he doesn't see, his eyes on the tree. "How'd she find you?" he asks, curiosity brimming. Something about hearing her old stories makes him light-hearted, calmer than he was. It's the way she tells them, losing herself to the memories.

"It was dark," she begins slowly, closing her eyes and leaning against him, mulling over the words before telling him. "Nearly midnight. Winter. It gets cold in Magnolia at night." He nods, head tilting down to rest against the top of hers. "She came to the Sola Tree for help." Lucy's fingers drum against her knees. "She was going to plead with the Gods to find me, to keep me from being lost, wandering forever."

"And did the Gods answer?"

"They didn't need to," Lucy says. She wets her lips, humming to herself for a moment. "She found me under the Sola Tree." Her fingers stop moving, her hand falling slack at her side. "I was completely fine. Like I hadn't been lost at all."

They sit in silence for a long time, neither of them knowing what to say. Natsu bites his tongue to keep from asking more questions, not knowing how much he should pry. Lucy hasn't told him much about her mother, and he recognizes sensitive subject, having his own. He won't push for more than she's already given.

"This is Anna's tree," Lucy tells him suddenly, pulling away from his side. His eyes snap around to look at her, Lucy rising to her feet. She takes a step forward, then another, moving until she's right in front of the giant tree, the Ellyra towering over her. "She was the last full Fae from our family line. That was over one hundred years ago." Lucy glances at him over her shoulder, expression blank yet pensive, eyeing him curiously. "She barely made it to Fiore before the full height of the Pergrande revolt. Almost died in the first wave of the slaughter." Lucy turns to face him again, resting her back against the trunk of the tree, half in shadow. "They buried her here when she died."

Natsu doesn't know what to say for a long moment, taking it all in, unsure what to think.

He stares up at the Ellyra, at the face pressing through the bark. It has a name now, Anna. He knew the trees housed the souls of the dead, but he never really took the time to think about what that meant. It's a strange thing, really, how they're alive even after they've been gone for nearly a hundred years, sometimes even longer.

He doesn't know what makes him say it, but the words are on his tongue before he can stop himself. "She sounds like you," Natsu tells Lucy, so soft she doesn't appear to hear him at first, but then her eyes snap around to meet his, widening only the slightest at the edges, flashing a burning gold.

"You heard her?" Lucy snaps, pushing away from the tree. She takes a step forward, then stops, staring at him wide-eyed. Her lips part, mouth dropped open in surprise. Her fingers twitch at her sides, hands moving like she doesn't know what to do with them, and Natsu narrows his eyes at the bewilderment in her gaze.

Slowly, Natsu nods. "I thought I heard you singing," is all he says in reply, tongue sticking in his mouth. Lucy's expression confuses him, her eyes almost too bright, but when he blinks she's fine again, back resting against the tree like she hadn't moved at all.

Natsu pushes himself to his feet, joints cracking as he stands. Absently, he wonders how long he was sitting there, the sky seeming darker than it was only moments ago, time slipping away from him. Lucy watches as he shifts on his feet, her gaze flickering to his bruised hand and then to his eyes, something critical in her gaze.

"Are you okay?" she asks him suddenly, crossing her arms, eyes locked with his. Her expression slips into one of concern, her teeth pulling at her lower lip.

Natsu glances down at his knuckles, flexing his fingers slightly. They aren't nearly as bad as he thought they were before. Most of the blood has dried, clotted, though the scabs crack when he bends his fingers, a small amount of blood weeping from the wound. The bruises will be bad for a few days, but it's nothing of concern. Natsu knows that's not what she means though. "Just a scratch," he says, voice rough.

Lucy purses her lips, back straightening, and he realizes she isn't fooled by his easy response. They both know what she means, and Natsu is beginning to learn how little tolerance she has for people playing the fool. "Natsu," she begins, voice clipped, but he doesn't let her finish.

"Lucy, I'm fine," he promises. It sounds like a lie even to him, but he would never admit aloud how much his fight earlier rattled him. Everything went red and it was like being back in Pergrande again, only this time it was only him. He had no one to blame but himself, and that scared him. It terrified him more than he can comprehend.

"Are you?" she asks him, and there's a quiver to her words that make him still, Natsu half-turned away from her. He glances at her over his shoulder, his eyes going wide when he sees the slight trembling in her hands, her pupils shrunken down so small the gold in her eyes seems to swallow them. A spike of fear crawls from her, making the scent of her turn bitter.

He wets his lips, knowing the answer even before he asks the question. "What does that mean?" His hands clench tightly, more blood slipping between his fingers, and Lucy takes a slow step closer to him, hesitating for only a moment.

"You didn't stop, Natsu," she tells him, voice thick, crackling when she speaks. He turns around to face her directly, fingers twitching. Lucy rips her eyes away from his for a moment, her arms coming up to wrap around herself, fingers biting into her skin. "I called out your name, and you didn't stop." She looks at him, a shade paler than normal, and Natsu takes a step towards her without realizing it. "It's like you didn't even hear me."

He winces, all of his pride from before turning to shame. He doesn't know what happened earlier, only that he didn't feel like himself. Everything happened so fast, a fog settling over him, and he didn't realize what he did until that potion blew up between them. And that's not who he wants to be. He doesn't want to accidentally hurt the people he cares about. He won't be that person.

He swallows down the lump in his throat, wetting his lips. Natsu's eyes squeeze shut, "I'm trying to be better," he promises her, voice cracking horribly when he speaks. Lucy moves, but he doesn't open his eyes. The wind whips around him, seeming to pull him forward, but he doesn't move, anchored in place.

Soft fingertips settle on his jaw, cool hands pulling him down. Natsu sighs as Lucy pulls him into her, thumbs drawing circles against his skin. "I know," she whispers, so soft he almost doesn't hear her. She smooths the frown from his face, her hair tickling his chest. "But you don't have to do that by yourself."

AN: Almost caught up. I'm not making edits on Arc Two unless noted at the top of the chapter. There's really not much I feel the need to change, aside from a few lines and character mentions. A completely new chapter will either be out this Saturday (June 2) or the next Saturday, as I'm restructuring the arc and trying to remember exactly what I was trying to do with it.