I needed a momentary break from a previous work and decided to go this route. Have fun~!
Disclaimer: Fan of Fanfics21 does not own anything of the Fate franchise from Type Moon, nor Fire Emblem of Intelligent Systems.
It was raining. Dark clouds littered the sky as the plains were filled with flesh, steel and blood. It was a war, a great war that existed as warriors fought each other to the death. "Lady Seiros...!" one knight called out in their dying breaths, arm outstretched to the lone woman on the battlefield.
She was beautiful, inhumanely beautiful as the blond hair danced in the wind and green eyes sharpened and focused like a predator's. She was looking at the mountain of a man who was all muscle, him and ten others were wielding unnatural weapons that gleamed blood red in the darkness, decimating countless lives in their wake.
The young man observed this, a specter of a past or possible future before him as Seiros and the leader of the enemy side fought each other one-on-one. The young man was impressed by Seiros's cunning, as she sacrificed her own weapon to take out her foe's before hammering into him with fistcuffs. The bigger man was knocked to his back as Seiros pinned him with a knife to the throat. "Tell me Nemesis, do you recall the Red Canyon?" she demanded as Nemesis's eyes widened in realization of who she was.
The young man noted it all down, of the pure hatred and grief in Seiros's voice as she repeatedly stabbed her enemy to death. Then the rain stopped as Nemesis breathed his last, light breaking away the clouds as her allies cheered. Seiros didn't care for it, as she went to cradle Nemesis's sword that was left lying in the mud. "He's gone now, mother." the saint said, gentle comfort in her voice as if she was finally at peace. Then darkness swallowed the young man observing the events before numerous visions of things unknown to him flashed before his eyes before the area around him changed.
This was the part he was used to seeing. A stone stairway leading to a massive stone throne with a young girl sleeping soundly on it. His teacher said this was a Divine Spirit, a weakened form of a once mighty god that somehow came to live within him. That was a mystery both he and his father came to wonder, although he guessed his father has some speculations on who is responsible for it.
"Oh my..." an unfamiliar voice spoke up, breaking the young man's thoughts up as he looked to the throne and by a small margin, widened his eyes. "What could have brought you here?" she asked with a curious expression.
*Village cottage*
Jeralt Eisener knocked on the door cautiously as he caught a whiff of the smell. That girl was brewing last minute potions for the crew and after experiencing the dangers of interrupting a process knew to be delicate with the noise.
"I'm almost done Jeralt, this is the last one before we start heading out." the female voice behind the door answered. Jeralt nodded his head in understanding and went to go check on his kid with a more concerned look. Ever since they returned to Fódlan, his son was experiencing the same dreams over and over again with extra detail each and every time he dreamed of it. Well sure his son had done so in the past, but not as often as he did now and it was starting to worry the old man a bit.
He reached his son's room and began walking in, seeing Byleth sleeping still despite the constant routines of traveling at specific times. He knew that it must be the same dream again, since Byleth was wearing that same expression in his sleep. Smiling softly since he knew his child was alright, he placed a big hand on the young man's shoulder and began to shake him softly. "Hey, time to wake up."
With that, Byleth woke up. Eyes darting to the source and seeing that it was his father, Byleth relaxed. Years in his life as a wandering mercenary, instincts to swiftly attack possible assailants in his sleep was the norm. Even if they were in a simple village and not camping outside. He slowly got up and began to do small stretches with his body as Jeralt smiled with a shake of his head.
"You sure know how to sleep, kid, for a minute I thought you'd never wake up." he joked as Byleth finished stretching and began putting on his armor and gear which was neatly set up before he went to bed. "...so, that same dream again?" Jeralt asked.
"I got names…Serios and Nemesis." Byleth answered him. Jeralt let loose a low whistle at the mention of those names.
"The Saintess and the King of Liberation, huh? That took place ages ago, but knowing what she would say…"
"It is not a coincidence, but fate." Byleth recited. A tug of a faint smile on his face before it reverted back to its usual stoicness. "There's more. The girl in my dreams, she woke for a minute and we spoke.'' Now this got Jeralt's attention there. "She went back to sleep soon after, so her strength isn't fully recovered yet." he went on as Jeralt sighed.
They both knew that this goddess was somehow connected to Byleth's lifeforce if what she said was true when she used her magic to study his unusual condition and warned of this goddess being potentially dangerous to both Byleth and anyone around him. Since this sleeping goddess was dwelling within him, she could possibly hijack his body if she fully awakened at her full strength. Even then there was little they could do since if anything were to happen, Byleth would die since their fates were intertwined.
It would all depend on this goddess herself on what she would do next when she fully wakes up.
"Sir, we have a problem!" one of Jeralt's Mercenaries stepped in to call out his boss.
"One thing after another." Jeralt sighed exasperatedly, getting a small covered cough from Byleth but the old veteran could tell that was his attempt of a laugh. Poor fashion, but at least it was an effort in trying to express himself more so he could forgive it. "Let's go see what's going on. Oh wait you're sword is-"
"I'll use that when it comes to it. Also…" Byleth looked at the mercenary and gave him a knowing look. "Get Shez, let her know we might have an early morning exercise coming up real soon." he told the mercenary who nodded his head and ran off to find the mentioned girl. Within a few minutes at the front of the village six people meet and a fateful encounter that would set the world of Fódlan in an upheaval none would know of.
"So these three are our newest clients?" asked the purple haired girl named Shez while she scratched the back of her head. A curious story behind this girl's background as a fellow mercenary. She once belonged to a different mercenary band several months ago that was wiped out by Jeralt's own forces led by Byleth. Being almost killed by the Ashen Demon, she woke to a strange and unusual power but still lost to him. Thanks to the decision of a certain vice-captain of the mercenary group, she had begun recommending bringing her into their ranks as Byleth's apprentice.
Byleth wasn't against it since he knew his vice captain's decisions were not without reasons or merits, while Shez was baffled and against the idea. Whatever the vice captain whispered into her ear that day convinced Shez to join as Byleth was now training his future successor as the Ashen Demon when the time came. Needless to say, Shez's opinions on Byleth changed after his lessons began. By the goddess, Shez had improved drastically under Byleth's tutelage as she became a truly promising mercenary in the group.
But back on track…
"That's true my friend, and what we're dealing with is bandits who are after our lives…and our gold." The cheerful and friendly boy of the trio of students explained it to them as plainly as possible.
"Bandits? Here?" Jeralt questioned with disbelief while eyeing their uniforms warily as Byleth snapped his fingers in realization of something.
"Bandits don't usually come to this area and are specifically targeting you. Either as a ransom target or assassination." Byleth deduced as Shez looked at her 'mentor' before thinking about it and nodded in agreement to that logic.
Past the tower in the woods, they all could see half a dozen bandits trudging through the trees like limping monkeys with their eyes focused on the village in front of them with axes of iron in their hands. "Shez, it's time for those lessons of yours to be put to the test. Up to it?" Byleth asked without blinking an eye while his 'apprentice' blinked in surprise before smiling and cracking her knuckles.
"Believe me, 'Sensei'." Shez grinned as she drew her sword out and popped her neck while calling Byleth by that foreign honorific. "I've been waiting for this!" before turning and looking at him. "Am I going to see what the Ashen Demon is like as well?" she asked with giddy excitement. This made Byleth cast a side glance towards his father and Jeralt merely chuckled.
"Might as well show these three potential clients what you two are made of. Have fun and show them why you're called the Ashen Demon, kid." his father smiled with pride which caused Byleth to nod his head and step forward.
"We would like to assist as well. It is our fault you and this village are dragged into this mess-!" the blond haired student spoke up, with only the best of intents as Jeralt held a hand up.
"Don't you three worry. You've been chased for quite a bit and need to recover that energy. These two can handle it alone. Just watch." the mercenary leader assured them as the white haired girl studied both Byleth and Shez with interest.
"Since my sword is being adjusted right now, I might as well use that instead." Byleth thought as he took a deep breath. Then, the world grew cold as frost began to creep upon the grass and leaves despite it being in the early days of spring. Confusion swept around the bandits as their breath became visible and they shivered from the sudden chill. They were certain to win this against two mercenaries, probably having some fun with the female while they're at it before the sight of the man stopped them in their tracks.
Shadows enveloped him like a second skin, eyes glowing with blue flame that stared into their souls. They saw those same blue flames coiled around his right arm…as his hand gripped a ghostly flaming sword as horror crept into their hearts as they were drunk with revelation.
There was a ghost story shared amongst the bandits and mercenaries alike of a specific individual amongst the mercenary ranks. An expressionless human with ruthlessness and brutality to match. Of one who wore shadows and with blazing eyes and a fiery sword destroying all that opposed him as he claimed your soul to the darkest pits of the frozen hells to suffer without any mercy of the Goddess. A demon that walked amongst men. Scourge of Bandits, Nightmare of Mercenaries, Ruiner of Acheron, Fury of the Goddess. He had earned many titles that could not be recalled from memory alone.
Kostas didn't believe it, thinking it was all hogwash by drunkards just to scare their friends. But they were right, horribly right and now he was facing the bogeyman of the banditry world right here on the job as for the first time in his life as a bandit, prayed for the Goddess to save his soul.
The Ashen Demon was here, and hungry for their souls.