TURNABOUT By Cryogenetic

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Astaroth or any of the Soul Calibur Characters, they belong to Namco.

Summary: Astaroth reborn! Not in the most clinical sense but still... Marius encounters him, will he run away or face his fears?

Chapter Three - Rebirth, Encounter under Moonlight

Dawn approached and Marius awoke from a deep sleep, feeling anew and refreshed. Lately, he was accustomed to sleeping in the nude, even after he was told he shouldn't. At the age of 16 he had now garnered quite a reputation as the town's oddball, still loved but...from a distance he though sometimes. Whereas everyone was taught to never wander from the comfort of their village, Marius had constantly been exploring elsewhere. He stood up on his feet, outstretched his arms and yawned with a big smile.

"Gods, I feel great!" He said to himself out loud.

His body was slender and toned from being such an active youth, his skin a subtle shade darker than the rest of his village and he had the most beautifully dark eyes. They shined of tenacity and if anything else a young, headstrong boy in his teens ready to take on anything.. Now dressed in nothing except for underwear of sorts, made from leather. He'd been given his own home to reside in after they all decided he was old enough to be living on his own without the aid of others, it was also beneficial because he wouldn't influence his peers with his ever-growing and dangerous curiousity... Just days ago, he'd spotted what he described as half-man and half-lizard with a sword and shield prowling around, luckily he wasn't seen because he was high up on the branch of a tree. Then when Desa, a young girl wanting to accompany him to the far cliffs almost fell and nearly lost her life, Marius increasingly irritated his people with his meddling.

After washing out his mouth and splashing some of it on his face, he pulled back the makeshift door to his small home and saw the town bustling with the usual honest rhythm to their daily work. Preparing the harvested crops, fetching water and other tasks needed to keep the natural flow of things. "Hello, Marius!" one of the older village women exclaimed, he waved back with a smile and gestured to help with anything if he could. "I'm alright here, but thank you!" she said with a simple kindness. He trotted toward the fresh water well to quench his thirst, ahh, this is the best water in all the land, he mused. He began looking for Talros, the town's resident blacksmith but couldn't find him, even after telling himself he'd find work today Marius couldn't help but take a meddlesome chance yet again and wander off. He figured he hadn't been to the nearby Cerrato Forest in some time, a place filled with childhood memories with his best friend Illaria who had been gone for some time now. Helping with relief in other villages, following Nightmare's horrific raids.

He'd heard many warnings and objections behind him as he started running towards the trees in the distance, smiling while yelling that he'd be back later. It seemed with everytime he had said that, his surrogate family worried what if something would happen to him? While a young man, he had the innocence of a child who hadn't seen the evil of the world yet, only the whimsical and harmless.

Out of breath by the time he arrived there, the woods around him felt as if he'd never seen them before. No matter how many times he would go there, each time had been the same, beautiful and wonderous. After catching his breath, Marius climbed up a tree and lay his back against its bark, letting his mind drift. He thought back to Illaria, for a long time now he knew she was falling in love with him but just couldn't tell her that he didn't feel the same way about her. How it would break her heart if he had let it be known, at the same time it was killing him to keep her in the dark about it all. Though young, there were things Marius knew he wanted, things that weren't a choice even if he wished they could be. The truth was, he enjoyed the company of other boys his age, he could say girls were pretty because he could see the beauty in them but not much else. They lacked something he longed for, a visible strength to them and a hardened body of steel. Girls were soft like rose petals, and many were as sweet as the finest creams but that wasn't what he yearned for. He thought of Illaria as his sister and best friend in the world, nothing more and it killed him.

Just then he was startled by a frightening scream that almost caused him to fall several feet to the ground, he held on to the trunk of the tree though and calmed himself. He dropped from the branch carefully and fought his initial instinct to run away, now instead he was running toward it. He then accidently scuffed his toe on a rock from sprinting so fast, he stopped short and screamed followed by another disembodied roar emenating from the distance. He had to know what was making these sounds, it could be somone in trouble and he might be able to lend a hand. He was always willing to help, and perhaps that was his problem or at least what the villagers believed was wrong with him. He ran and ran, until he stopped instantly at the site before him; a grotesque mound of something like human flesh transmuted with the ground beneath it. It writhed and screamed, it looked vaguely human from the shoulders up. Suddenly, the thing looked into the young man's eyes and bellowed a painful howl right at him. Marius ran scared out of his mind and kept going until he reached the border of Rellos. Tears were welling up in his eyes, unsure of what to tell them without having to hear them bagder him about what they had been warning him since childhood, he jetted to his hut and rested his mind as much as he could. "What was that? Gods, what was that?" After a few resltess minutes, he decided to go back to see, a stupid idea but he simply felt he couldn't do otherwise.

Night had come. It was pitch dark, and while he had always snuck out when all the others were asleep, he had never ventured this far out at such a late hour. Any number of things could happen, but he was compelled to know what he saw.. The sprint there now seemed only half as long, and when he arrived at the site of the gruesome scene he remembered; nothing was there. A saddening disappointment mixed with relief overcame him, now he was debating whether what he saw was real or a product of his vivid imagination. Oddly enough, he heard faint footsteps against earth and twigs, was his mind playing tricks on him? If so, it was working. He was terrified, a less familiar feeling but somehow not as strong as his inquisitivity. He remained absolutely still and listened for more footsteps, and sure enough there they were again. Closer this time, there was a sluggish and lazy sound to the footfalls. Marius stepped lightly into a clearing where moonlight hit the area brightly, he knew he was more vulnerable here but the faint glow comforted him. Even if it was exactly where that hideous thing was just hours ago. Following what seemed like an eternity of stillness and quiet, the rustling of leaves and shrubs gave way to a massive figure coming into the clearing. It looked like a man, only almost twice a man's size and incredibly powerful. The eyes glowed a hot white that lit up the area around his face, and when they dimmed out Marius really couldn't see much but a large shadow...

As it moved a little closer, a column of light shone briefly and he caught a glimpse of the shadowed form.

The young man couldn't help but look at the figure before him, he was sure this thing could kill him but it enthralled him deep down, what was thing thing?. It was powerful and that became oddly appealing to the boy. Whatever this thing before him was, he assumed it had something to do with what he came upon earlier. The creature stepped into the faint moonlight and then Marius could see it even more clearly. His face had looked exactly like what he remembered, with strong features and no hair whatsoever. Perhaps what he saw was it was being born he figured, either that or his young mind was just going crazy from the adrenaline rush... Never failing to be the curious fool he was labeled as, he wanted to communicate and maybe it would respond.

"Um Hello.." Marius said quietly, afraid of what could happen; this thing dwarfed him immensely after all, it remained still and so did he. What happened next never crossed his mind, the white glowing eyes lit up very slowly and then it blinked as if in thought.

"H-Hello." The hoarse voice sounded of doubt, almost like a child unsure of something.

Marius walked up slowly, the creature backed away in response with each step.

"I won't hurt you." Marius offered, a nervous chuckle to hide his fear. "I don't think I could either way. Please.. Let me see you, step into the light.."

The giant walked into the open fully, the young man now could scrutinize the figure before him. The pale light hit its body, there was no hair anywhere on it despite looking like a fully grown man. The skin looked smooth to the touch, almost perfect, as if crafted and chiseled by a master artisan. Marius inched his way toward it and looked up in an attempt to look the creature in the eyes, as if to say that all was alright.

To his surprise, it crouched down to the smaller man and put it's head down, shy of the strange encounter. Its skin had a bronze hue and the face was strong yet gentle in appearance, Marius found himself gliding his fingers down its face; the giant's eyes went heavy and he was obviously enjoying it. It looked like it was feeling for the first time, and it pleased Marius to know that this creature had a gentleness to it. He felt it was only fair to speak to it as a person. "What's your name? Do you have one?" He dropped that particular question and cupped its face with both hands, "Were you born here? Where we are standing?" Marius realized the creature could be a golem, a being made from the earth made flesh. Tales of such creatures have been told and many times one in particular was mentioned being responsible for much pain and misery during the time of the battles for Soul Edge.

"Yes, I was born here. I...I remember you. You r-ran away though."

"Please understand, I was afraid. I had never seen such a sight befor-"

"Astaroth. I think that is my name." The tainted name was uttered in a soft tone by its deep voice..

"What?" The young man grew weary. It was in moments like these where Marius could stop being a boyish youth, when it counted.

Marius slowly moved away and for the first time he showed the emotion of resentment towards another, "I've heard of you. You killed many innocent people. A golem they called you, created; not human. Forged by magic and spells. Are you here to kill again?" The creature stood tall and in barely but a whisper it answered with an empty voice, "No. I do not know why I am here."

"Why are you here then?"

"I-I don't know."

It was indeed Astaroth, the Warrior of Doom as he was called by many but it was far from the truth... Stripped of his magical absorbing abilites, the fearsome Kulutues gone and without the grotesque protruding heart that had forever been etched as part of his frightening appearance. The most significant difference was that Astaroth seemed to know that he was not being inhabited by Ker, Ares' agent of death. He was himself, his own person but the idea's comfort was fleeting. Only guilt reamined...

Ker was the sole reason why he left so many dead in his wake, Astaroth had never knowingly killed anyone because he was never given the task. He became merely a host for Ker to do Ares' bidding and satisfy his thrist for blood and power. Early on, the grand priest Kunpaetku had discovered that golems had to be taught everything they'd need to know to forego their tasks. They also had no soul of their own, unless one could harness a soul and place its force into the golem's body.

Returned to earth for no reason known to him and now with a soul his own, he had retained all his memories from his two previous lives, all of them filled with blood and screams...and now drowning in a painful guilt. Something new to him, like the first cut a child feels...a most painful one.

"Wait, Please." Words never uttered in those previous lives, the golem needed someone to stay with him; he was petrified of what had happened to him. "I-- Don't leave me here alone. I'm af--"

Confusion was the only thing running rampant in Marius' mind, and it showed on the outside. "I don't understand any of this. You are nothing like what I had heard, I should be dead by now, shouldn't I?. The monster I'd heard of was ruthless, cunning and murderous. How can you be afraid?"

"The beast of the past was never me, my body acted on the whim of a monster named Ker and most of all Ares."

Marius mouth was agape. "Ares, the God of War..?" Fear running high, hearing of such powerful beings from the golem.

"Yes, Lord and master to those who created me." Defeated in his tone, Astaroth wanted to renounce the bastard but knew he couldn't do anything about it. It was maddening.

With a sigh of frustration, Marius decided to risk everything and sit near the confused creature. "Gods, This is too strange, but perhaps I could grow to understand? If you'll let me I mean..." Astaroth turned his head to face the boy, "Tell me... Why would you stay? More than you can know have been killed with this body. In the past, you're innocence would never have spared you soul being sent to Ares." Astaroth was either embracing his apparent new humanity or at a loss to understand how this boy could be so giving and brave or simply so foolishly naive. The golem was a killer. "Because you asked me to. Your previous life is all it is, nothing more and you said it wasn't you, that it was Ker. The past is the past, nothing can change that now. Though not many would agree with me, I've always felt it is the truth and always will." Marius gave his newly discovered aquaintance a faint smile as if to try and help wash away the regret in the golem, it was for naught. "This must be my curse... To live with the guilt of my crimes, to live with this fire inside me, this...soul? What a cruel joke.." Astaroth let out a chuckle with an evident dash of self-hatred. "I didn't ask to be given life in the first place, yet I am to pay for crimes commited through me. How unjust. Ares must be laughing at me now for sure."

Astaroth shifted uncomfortably before standing to his feet. "Please stay here, I will return soon. I, I -- Promise." Marius had the idea the brute needed to be alone with his new mind and heart filled with a storm of confusion, to sort things out he supposed. Astaroth walked away from the boy, his footsteps heavy and dense; the boy found himself admiring the massive and oddly attractive being fading into the woods. Physically, Marius thought that Astaroth was stunningly attractive, not soft and delicate like some girl. Astaroth was large, powerful and hard like a rock yet with a strange sadness to his existence that made him all the more appealing to him. Realizing what he was just thinking, Marius slid his gaze away when remembering that this thing wasn't really human no matter how enticing it looked to his young eyes. His mind running amuck in doubts, fears and what will happen when he returns home, he laid his head against the nearby tree trunk hoping that when he'd wake up this would all make more sense. After letting go of his thoughts, sleep came easy to his tired body and he drifted off into a deep slumber..