Servants of Remnant
Chaldea is gone, but the memories remain. A world, filled with fairy tales, monsters and men. A history unlike any other. Sometimes… a hero is needed. From another world, from another time. Not all of them are great, not all of them are 'good'. But when the world needs a hero, these Servants answer the call. Perhaps only one, perhaps many do. These are the tales of many timelines. The 'Servants of Chaldea' who come to Remnant.
Asterios
Asterios hummed as he walked, a small smile on his face as he carried the body of a particularly large deer over his shoulder. It had only been a day since he'd fought the demon and saved the kids, but already he knew he had to get them food. He'd eventually found a nice spot to have them rest, at least he hoped… well, he actually found a small cave, put the two sleeping children inside, and then moved a rather large rock in front of it to make sure nothing tried to get in at them.
Still he'd only been out hunting for maybe ten, twenty minutes, they should be fine… he hoped they were still asleep so that they didn't wake up scared. He knew what it was like, being stuck in a small confined space in complete darkness… but there were monsters about. He couldn't hunt while carrying them, and he didn't want them to just be laying unprotected on the ground or in a tree.
As he walked towards the cave, he heard growling, scratching. Instantly, he picked up the pace, running towards the hiding spot and spotting a big black bear trying to push the boulder out of the way. But moments later, it stopped, before turning to him and roaring. Asterios returned it, and pulled back his free hand.
He charged towards the bear as it charged towards him, his white mask and yellow eyes full of murderous intent as he lept at him, snarling as he snapped his fist forward, smashing it directly into the back of the bear as it tried to claw at his chest… and ending up clawing his spiky plate on his stomach before being bashed into the ground. It whimpered, and Asterios grit his teeth before raising his foot, and grunting as he smashed it down on the monster's head. It splattered, black dust going everywhere as the body started to dissolve. He'd noticed, oddly enough, these things were strong and big, not used to fighting something similar to them.
He supposed his strength and size was good for something then. "Are! Okay!?" Asterios called as he walked up to the boulder, looking around before pushing it out of the way, allowing the light to fill the cave. The two children clutching each other as he smiled at them. "Monster... gone," he added.
He waited, the color slowly coming back into both kids as the little boy sighed in… maybe relief. He slowly took the deer off his shoulder, and stepped away from the entrance. He set it down before walking over to a tree about as tall as he was, summoning one of his axes before slashing at the base, cleaving clean through the tree's bottom and catching the trunk as it toppled over.
Behind him, the children watched as he got to work, using his axe to remove branches from the tree before throwing them into a pile, and cutting up pieces of the trunk to make a makeshift spit. The girl actually shirked back with a sound of disgust as he stabbed a pole straight through the deer's body, and set up the spit over the pile of branches. The boy was a bit more interested, or perhaps confused, as Asterios set his axe on the ground, looking for a few moments… ah there was a nice rock.
Picking up said rock, he held his arm to the branches, the metal cuff right above it as he started striking it with the rock. Sparks flew for a few seconds, before catching the branches on fire, he watched, and waited, as after a few moments the fire roared to life, but wasn't setting the deer on fire.
Sitting down in front of his makeshift spit, he started spinning it slowly with one hand, looking at the two children with a smile. He knew he looked scary, but he hoped they could… ignore it maybe. Try to stay near him, so he could keep them safe. The girl sat down, clutching her knees to her chest as she rocked back and forth, almost eying the deer with a bit of awe as the boy stared at the fire.
"Names?" Asterios asked, both kids looking at him as he put his free hand on his chest. "Asterios…" then he pointed at the little boy, then at the girl beside him.
"Ren," the boy muttered quietly, before staring at the fire again, quietly, as if in shock.
"N-Nora," the girl said, looking directly towards him, before continuing. "You're… a really big Faunus mister Aster-Aster…" she fumbled his name, and Asterios blinked for a second.
"What… Faunus?" he tilted his head, still spinning the deer, slowly cooking it as Nora looked at him confused.
"You are! The people with animal things, you have Horns!" she said, pointing directly at his big black horns. He tried to look up, but obviously he couldn't exactly see his own horns. He'd seen some of the bodies in town had animal features… but he hadn't realized they had a name, or were that common.
"Faunus… common?" he asked, and Nora just tilted her head again in confusion.
"How do you not know?" she asked back, and he just rubbed his chest for a second before answering.
"Live… alone… cave…" at least he used to, but then he'd finally gotten out, long after his original death. The distant memories of Okeanos, and from there, Chaldea. He missed his friends…
He felt a hand on his leg, and turning, Nora was holding his leg, trying to hug him. He smiled before turning back towards the cooking deer. Ren remained silent, but he eventually settled on staring at Asterios rather than at the fire.
Every once in a while, Asterios could hear the growling of animals, attracted to the smell of their meal. Whatever they didn't eat, he'd leave for the animals. But if any demons came up, he'd beat them back, just like the last. Slowly, he removed the spit, sticking it in the ground, Nora watching as he took up his axe again… and awkwardly tried to cut away a piece of the deer. Bloos dripped out as he grabbed a stick, holding it over the fire for a second before stabbing it into the piece he was starting to cut away. Slowly, he managed to tear out the piece, it wasn't completely cooked, so he held it back over the fire again before pulling the stick the deer was on back out of the ground and putting it back over the fire to continue turning.
When the piece he had on a much small stick was done, he looked towards Ren, who started back with blank eyes. "Eat?" he asked, holding it out to him. Slowly, he took the stick and tried to take a bite. He seemed to be having trouble, but he managed to tear away at the meat soon enough.
The next piece went to Nora, and she was a bit more eager for the food. He smiled as she ate the cooked meat, Ren still working on his own piece as he continued his 'work'. It wasn't fast, but it was rather relaxing.
An hour went by, at least he thought it had been an hour. The deer had been messily cut away in several places, both Ren and Nora had eaten at least a few pieces of meat for themselves before Asterios had even started eating himself. When they had 'finished' he threw the carcass into the woods, and almost instantly a pack of wolves descended on it, having not had the bravery to try and take on Asterios himself, even with his back to them.
Ren and Nora watched as he shoved his axe's head into the ground, tearing out a lot of dirt and then just dumping it over the fire to snuff it out. "Let's… go?" he asked, bending back down to the pair.
"Can I ride your shoulder?" Nora asked, trying to look very cute, at least he thought so. With a smile, he offered his hand, and she put hers in his. Easily he lifted her up, and she yelped a bit as she dangled before being sat on his shoulder. He looked to Ren, smiling. Slowly the quiet boy walked up to him, and he gently raised him up before putting him on his other shoulder. Standing up tall, Asterios dismissed his axe, and started walking, Nora holding onto one of his horns and gasping as he moved.
He kept his pace brisk, and before long, Ren was hanging onto his other horn as he moved. "Faster!" Nora cheered. Asterios smiled, enjoying her enthusiasm, and while he did go a little bit faster, he didn't start running. Euryale never liked it when he went very fast, and these kids were human. Humans couldn't handle the speeds he could get up to. She just kept giggling as she leaned into his mane of white hair.
For hours, he traveled, making his way out of the woods, and back onto the road, continuing to travel away from the town that had been destroyed by that demon beast. But even the roads had their dangers. He could feel them, slinking in the shadows of the forest, but not approaching. More monsters, the black beasts. He kept his head high, and his ears open, but for now, they seemed content to stay away from him and the children.
But then a new sound broke the peace of nature, the sound of wheels. Asterios kept walking, and eventually, he saw it, much further down the road. A caravan of carts, heading towards a fork in the road. "People!" Nora called, her arm entering his vision as she pointed in either excitement, or just as a statement. He was… a bit apprehensive of going towards people, but he had the children with him. Maybe they'd be nice? "Let's go! Let's go!" well, if she wanted to.
He started walking, summoning one of his axes behind his back just in case, and holding it with one hand as he walked upright. Someone saw him, they obviously did… given they seemed to scream before toppling over in their cart. Several people started to pop out of the caravan, some staring, others looking, and then hiding… and a few carrying guns. Nora was waving as he walked closer… and apparently the sight of the children must have done something, because at least one people lowered their gun.
"Hello!" Asterios called out, raising his free hand as Ren shuffled on his shoulder, trying to hide within his mane. No one started shooting at least, but when he got about twenty feet away, one of the people raised their gun again.
"That's close enough! Who are you!" they shouted, a bit of fear evident in their voice as Asterios lowered his hand, he almost lowered his shoulders in disappointment, but consciously didn't so that Ren and Nora didn't fall off his shoulder.
"Kuroyuri!" Ren shouted, before coughing a bit, and a older man walked up to the one holding the gun, before pushing it down by the barrel towards the ground.
"What happened at Kuroyuri?" the older man, brown skin and white hair, asked, and Asterios started to step forward as he spoke.
"Monster… killed… everyone… I… came… too late… only… saved… children…" Asterios grumbled out, closing his eyes, remembering his failure.
"Monster… what you mean one single Grimm?" the woman with the gun asked, and Asterios slowly nodded. In an instant, there was fear in her eyes, and much of the caravan started to murmur amongst themselves.
"Calm down, if you all lose your heads you'll start attracting the Grimm," The older man called out loudly, Asterios putting that bit of information away for later. The monsters were called towards people feeling fear? The man sighed, before looking towards Asterios… and just staring upwards. "Huh… you are the biggest Faunus I have ever seen…"
"I… know, the monster… lives… I only… drove away… we ran… before it came back… angry," Asterios spelt out, and the old man just raised an eyebrow as Ren hid within his mane again, Nora hanging on his horn still as Asterios bent down so he could at least be… more on level with the man, so he didn't have to look so far up to see his eyes.
"Wouldn't have taken you for a hunter big guy, then again…" he rubbed the back of his head. "You kinda sound like you've living in the woods all your life," Asterios just nodded at that one. The man sighed again, "My name's Julis, what your name big man?"
"This is Asterios! He's really really strong! He threw the monster over the houses into the forest!" Nora shouted excitedly, but that just seemed to cause more worry among the people. He hadn't been able to kill it, even pouring most of his strength into that throw, and Julis didn't seem to like that either.
"That strong huh… and you couldn't kill it?" he asked more quietly, and Asterios closed his eyes.
"Maybe… but… children… it wanted them…" he stated, and Julis at least smiled.
"At least you have the right priorities Asterios," he started, before looking further down the caravan of carts. "Where are you all heading?"
"...Don't… know…" Asterios started, and that just left Julis with yet another sigh.
"Alright then… you're a big strong Hunter right? Maybe you can… guard the caravan and we'll let you travel with us, that alright?" Julis offered. Asterios smiled and nodded slowly, and looked at Nora, then at Ren. "Get down kids, you can ride on my cart," Julis offered, and Asterios put out his arms, dropping his axe on the ground with a clatter that left people staring at it. Nora climbed down Asterios' arm, Ren doing the same as Julis led them to the cart in front, grumbling about the 'change in plans' and helping the two kids up into it. Asterios grabbed his axe, slowly standing up and resting it on his shoulder as he looked over all the carts. He could feel the people's fear… of him. And if fear was-
He perked up, and grunting, several people screaming as he tossed his axe between two carts, before following his axe… to find it embedded in the head of a quickly dissolving wolf demon, Asterios walking between the carts carefully and grabbing his axe from the body and looking in the woods.
"Well color me impressed big guy!" Julis called, the horses of the carts all whinnying in fear as Asterios just looked around, consciously keeping himself from growling, and summoning his second axe. People gasped in surprise as the carts started moving… and more wolves leapt out of the woods towards the people.
Asterios gave a roar of his own, and bat away two of them, their bodies crashing against trees and snapping them before going limp and starting to dissolve. He looked towards Julis, who just crackled the reins of his cart. There was several more charging towards the group. And he could feel even more coming up. "Behind!"
The people who had weapons raised them, and the gunfire started, he heard several people screaming as a bear charged out of the woods at him. Asterios just raised his axes as it jumped at him and slammed into his stomach, and tried to bite through his skin, a small bit of blood coming from the shallow wounds before he slammed his axes down on the monster, killing it easily before looking around. The ones in front of him were sticking to the shadows, so he turned his attention towards the road behind him, several wolves and a few boars rolling towards the carts, deflecting bullets with their hard bony armor.
Seeing this Asterios turned and lept over the carts, people gasping as he land on the other side of the road and held out both his axes. The pair of boars rolling up trying to ram into him… and then he swung one axe, cleaving straight through the shell of the first before kicking away the other boar, sending it flying into a wolf before charging forward, the people turning their attention towards the forest now that he was defending the front.
Had this many been following him? Or had they been following the caravan? He slashed another wolf with a single swing before stomping on another monster's head, killing that one as well. Someone screamed, and he turned, seeing another wolf, a big one, a very big one, holding a person in its claws, and about to slash them with the other as bullets pinged off it. He had to do this just right…
He enhanced his arm, before grunting as he chucked one of his axes, the axe flying inches above people's heads, and cleaving straight into the big wolf demon, the person falling from its grip and scrambling to get behind the cart as Asterios took a slash to the gut, a few drops of blood coming out, but he just returned the favor by grabbing the offending wolf by the neck and tossing it into a tree, smashing it into said tree and killing it with a snapped neck. Why were there so many!?
"There's too many of them!" a woman shouted, the firing of guns getting slower and slower as the screaming continued. He needed to do something! He'd already failed once, he couldn't fail- the labyrinth.
He knocked away another bear before running back towards the carts, lightning sparking around him as he gathered up all the mana he could muster. It had to be enough, just enough, hopefully enough! He couldn't make the full labyrinth, he just needed a few rooms, he just needed enough space for everyone to fit inside!
"Chaos!" he started shouting even as the monsters poured out of the woods, he pulsed out a field, the world around the carts starting to shift rapidly, trees turning to stone, stone becoming pillars, the ground becoming marble. "Laybrinthos!"
The people gasped at their suddenly changed surroundings, as the monsters caught within the labyrinth with them, numbering three, slowed down, confused as Asterios looked up and ran towards them, grabbing one by the neck, before smashing it into the other two, breaking a pillar in the process, but killing all three before they could regain their bearings. Panting… and draining rapidly, he looked towards all the carts… all the people trapped with him inside this labyrinth… for the moment.
"What in blazes…" Julis started, and he saw Ren and Nora looking on in awe, "Is this… your Semblance?" he didn't really ask it towards Asterios, just said it out loud… as he fell to his knees.
"Aster!" Nora lept out of the cart, running towards him as people were looking around confused, he was feeling heavy, very heavy. The blood he was losing was the least of his concerns, even as she ran up to him and hugged his leg.
"What's wrong with him?" Julis called, leaping off his cart as people started climb out and gather around him, his breathing heavy as he looked down upon all the people around him.
"...energy…" he needed mana fast, or he was going to fade away. He couldn't leave them like this, not so soon, with the monsters still outside the labyrinth, waiting for the moment to strike. He looked at the carts… one of them had something. It wasn't magic, but it was energy, something he could substitute for it maybe? He needed it or he was going to die.
Slowly, he raised his hand, pointing towards the cart, "Does he need the Dust?" a young woman asked.
"But we need that!" another man shouted at the woman, before Julis put his foot down, the sound reverberating through the room.
"Just get him the Dust, now." he ordered, and after a few moments, a pair of people climbed into the carts, and started pulling out canisters, he had no idea how to do this… so he'd have to make do.
He held out his hand, the two canisters being place it in, and he twisted their tops open with his other hand. Inside was yellow powder, something that smelled of lightning. Lightning he could work with, something he could use… and everyone gasped as he just opened his ouch and drank the two canisters of Dust.
He seethed in pain as the Dust entered his system, roaring as lightning crackled around him. Nora was still hanging on him! And she continued to hand on even as he smashed the fist holding the now empty canisters into the marble. His insides burned, but it would have been worse if it wasn't lightning power. He wasn't running on empty, but he'd be low… very low…
"Why the hell did you eat it you idiot!?" Julis shouted at him, and Asterios just looked up as best he could at the brown skinned man.
"No… time…" he spat out, before coughing up a bit of lightning into the marble floor. That was going to sting for a while… a long while. The lightning stopped crackling and Nora let go of him finally, a worried look on her face… even as she then looked at her own hands. "Are… alright?"
"I'm fine! What about you dummy!" Nora shouted at him, pointing a finger in his face. She did seem fine, as far as he could tell.
"Son, you've got a hell of a condition," Julis muttered as Ren came up Asterios as well, resting a hand on his leg as Asterios just closed his eyes, people still murmuring to themselves as he looked towards the ceiling.
"Monsters… will be gone… soon…" he said slowly, and Julis just sighed, before climbing back into his cart. Ren and Nora didn't leave his side as people walked around, talked, ate, and observed their strange surroundings. Asterios just sat on the ground, waiting, and carefully checking the drain on his mana. He had maybe two hours in him right now before he'd dip back into dangerous territory. He'd keep the labyrinth fragment up for thirty minutes before dropping it.
"You're amazing," Nora said to him, Asterios slowly turning his head… and offering a small smile as she cuddled up to his leg. He felt amazing… even with the pain, he'd done it. He'd saved people. Master would be happy if she could see him now. Maybe Euryale would be happy too.
After thirty minutes, the stone faded away, people already back in their carts, and Ren and Nora on his shoulders as they found themselves all back on the fork in the road, the monsters gone as Julis started the caravan moving again. People were still talking about him. Some with fear, others with curiosity… but he heard that some were grateful. He didn't say anything. They could speak for themselves, and believe what they wanted to. He had the two children on his shoulders as they continued do
AN: Fluffy Asterios is fluffy. I hope all of you enjoyed the chapter, and are enjoying the stories. I've seen a couple of questions about certain things that I can answers and some I can't. But for future reference, Sun of the Schnee does not take place in the same timeline as Servants of Remnant, while The Lone Meteor takes place in its own timeline.
The general rule is If the chapter title is the same, it takes place in that specific timeline. Different titles mean different timelines. What changes is the Servant mentioned, who is the point of view character for that chapter. Just wanted to clear that up for everyone. I see your ideas, and hope to hear some more!