End of Ages - Berserk

  As Casca slowly opened her eyes, the dream that laid bare her soul, taunted her. An  irrational fear of losing her child again gripped her. She jumped up and searched for the little one. When she looked out the window of the elvish cottage, the urge to run to him grew strong. She jumped from the bed, her heart racing, panic encasing her every being. "Don't go!" She thought to herself. She knew that he would not be long for this world or the next but every moment was precious with her child. His long black hair and big round eyes held so much love for her as she did for him. By the time she reached the end of the stairs, she could hear His voice, speaking loud and clear in her head like the days of old. "I had a dream that under the full moon, I was a child embraced by nostalgic warmth."  She gazed upon a dark demon lurking near her child as his long black hair fluttered in the wind. An iron clad demon born of darkness and hate shadowed his small body under the daunting moonlight. She couldn't scream for her child, her voice was lost to her. Images started to play in her head of the baby that she bore, becoming one with the nightmare that raped and tore at her flesh that day. "A baby born between........us?" Casca whispered to herself as she watched on, frozen and helpless.     The pain was unbearable. Her child that had struggled like it's father had intertwined itself with the 5th, hoping to have a fleeting moment with its parents. But the 5th had finally shedded its longing to be with Guts and Casca. His time was up. "But when I wake from the dream, only a vague sense of longing remains, that too will soon disappear." Guts stood silent staring at the child who spoke without speaking. Who's loving gaze and playful antics, voice trembled like Griffith's did the day he betrayed them. Before his very eyes, the moonlight shone upon the incarnate, the vile, the tearful leader of the band of the hawk. The wind changed. The trees swayed in his direction. His hair flowed like millions of light bugs dancing under the evening stars.      He couldn't find his malice. He couldn't shake the images that the child had burned inside of his head. "my child...." He thought to himself. As Griffith's body glowed and shifted in the light of the evening star, Casca ran past Guts anxiously grabbing at the remnants of shimmering lights. Her fear of the ironclad demon faded just like the boy that kept her heart warm under that same moon over the years. This time was different. This time felt like the end.      She held herself tight, crying and swaying, wishing to hold him just one more time. Guts stood watching, afraid to run to her. He wanted to hold her just as much as Casca was to hold Him. This yearning felt more like pain. This pain wasn't new. He had felt it when she cried naked under the large tree after they had fallen from the cliff. He had felt it when she decided that Griffith needed her more than he did. He felt it right before they lost their virginity to each other while the sounds of a waterfall clashed and raged in the background.     Guts took 2 steps back. He wanted to flee, an unnatural response that he didn't know he possessed. "I can't do this." He spoke quietly but with certainty, words he had never uttered in his life fell effortlessly from his lips. He turned to the woods. He would go back to his dark crevice in this fairy tale and swing his sword until the pain turned into madness.  He had finally realized what he wanted to escape the most, being without her.     While she had always been by his side, she was with Him. Even in this moment where he felt like something more important than his hatred for Him had slipped from his grips, she sat there holding the light that possessed his face and his voice. “What am I doing? Why do I care?” His voice echoed in his head as he made his way to his happy place. He couldn’t under his thirst to protect Casca at all costs. His infuriating need to hold her close to him, to become one with her just one more time. 1 tear fell. The coldness of the water that had never shown itself in his 23 years of life. His quick paced walk soon turned into a run.     “My baby?” Casca sat and waited for the pain of losing her child to subside. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Guts take a few steps backwards. His face was riddled with confusion and sadness. “Wait..I can see him?” She whispered to herself. Before she could speak he had made his move to go back towards the woods. She had seen that look before, a couple times. Guts had protected her so many times and every time it ended with “Go back to Griffith or I can’t leave Griffith.” And here she was under the brightest moon holding on to an aberration that resembled Griffith. “I can’t lose him.” She said then proceeded to scramble to her feet.  She ran into the forest, calling his name. Their child had departed this world for good and she needed to hold him. She needed to tell him how she felt, what he meant to her. “GUTS!” No matter how fast she ran, she kept losing sight of him. He was as fast as she expected him to be. When he finally came to a stop he stood at a dark cave opening.   “Guts Wait!” She called out to him again. This time he turned around. His eyes looked sad. He looked so vulnerable, almost helpless. Her heart felt like it would be crushed under the wait of the 1 tear that rested on his cheek.     She reached for him. For the first time in years, she was not in a dream, she wasn’t scared. He took her hand and led Casca into the dark cave. After a few minutes in silence they came out into a dimly lit cavern. “I’ve been standing in the darkness, trying to swing my sword without this suit.” Guts nervously laughed. “Seeing you look at me without screaming in terror, makes those times worth it.” “Guts...I’m sorry. I feel like I’ve said that more times than one should in a lifetime.” She stared into his eye. She always wanted to gently massage the one he had lost. He had lost it the last time she remembered him crying.  Crying for her. She moved her thumb over his closed eyelid then gently kissed his cheek. “I can’t live without you, Casca.” Guts whispered then pulled her into his arms. Her lips were as soft as he remembered them. He started to remove his armor. He needed to be close to her. He needed their skin to touch. “Casca, I love you.” Guts whispered words he had never heard before. Casca eyes grew large. She was shocked by the confession but unlike other times she wasn’t going to let him get away. As Guts waited for her response, she tousled his hair then pressed her forehead to his. “I love you too.” She said. Guts dropped his leg armor and dropped to his knees. The first  time they were together they had a common ailment, Griffith. He pressed the side of his face against Casca's stomach, the thought that she once bore his child was unbelievable.  “Is there room in your heart for me? “He asked. This is why he felt some type of way. He was giving Casca his blood and pain but there was a good chance she would still choose Him over him.  She rubbed her palm over his cheek, “What if we named him Landon?” “I like that name.” He sighed then smiled. “Guts. You and Landon are my heart.” She placed his hand over her heart. “ You and our friends are all I have in this world. And of them, you are the father of my child and the protector of my everything.” She got down on her knees and kissed Guts, pressing her body tight against his. He pulled her gown from her shoulders and kissed and bit at her neck.     He thought he had given up ever being touched or loved by her, until he saw her hold their child that bore Griffiths face. But here she was. Her moans gave him life that he had forgotten. He pulled Casca on to his lap while suckling on her breasts. She lifted her gown and pushed him into her. The feeling was shocking, he had forgotten to breathe while her insides slowly wrapped around him.  [Kill her.] He closed his eyes to drown out the voice of the black cloaked demon dog. Her head went back and she whispered his name. He gripped her bottom and held it tight as images of ripping her flesh from her body rolled like thunder and lightning crashing over a violent sea.  [She is keeping you from him.]  “Casca.” He called out to her. She was eating him alive. He no longer wanted to choose.He wanted to see only her in his mind's eye. A part of him wanted them to start again. For the first time he wouldn't mind having a family or to never swing his sword. He pushed her on to her back, pressing himself deep inside of her. Her eyes watered and rolled in their sockets like she couldn’t get enough of him. The sound their bodies made as they slapped together made all of the hairs stand up on his body. He remembered thinking how he wanted to do this at least a 1000 times with her.  They had so much to make up for and so little time to do it in. [Kill her and follow the only path for you.]    His toes curled as he held her tight, pushing himself ever so deeply within her. “GUTS! GUTS!” She screamed out as his length grew and exploded within her walls. He watched her squirm under his weight.He lifted himself up. He wanted to see all of her many faces at least one more time before he died. Her lips were small and soft. Her large brown eyes were full of life, no longer clouded. As he started to pull himself out of her, she moved her hips and pushed him back in.    Such a small and very intentional act caused him to grow again. “Casca. I said I wanted to do this with you at least a 1000 times and here we are only on the 4th time.” he said while slowly moving himself in and out of her.  “Dumbass.” She said then blushed. “Not this time. You are the smartest decision I have made in my lifetime.” [This is your chance, rip her head off.] Guts closed his eyes, and thought about the warmth of Casca’s body. She intertwined her fingers with his good hand and ran her other hand through the back of his hair.  “Guts. Let's stay like this forever.”  He captured her lips. Their bodies moved in sync as the wind rushed through the valley of the cave. They had completely lost themselves in each other. For the first time, he stopped  hearing the demon's voice.