Arc 4: Awakening - Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.

Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.

The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.

"Speech"

Time*

Arc 4: Awakening - Chapter 5

"Greetings, I'm Darkness, a Crusader. Theoretically, my weapon's a two-handed sword, but don't count on it too much. I'm clumsy with my hands and have a tendency to miss. But I'm good at being a tank, so please take care of me." Darkness introduces herself to everyone.

Daisuke looks at Darkness, who is sitting at his table with his original group and now with her, Aqua, and Eris.

On the side, not too far away from them, are Kazuma and Megumin. This is a strange setup, and he feels like he just stole Kazuma's plot armor, aka his future teams, and his actual plot armor is Aqua herself. This leaves Kazuma with only one Archwizard who specializes in Explosion Magic.

Of course, Darkness came here mainly for Esdeath and maybe Scathach as well. As for Aqua and Eris, they are being forced to be here against their will.

"She is under your command." Daisuke looks at Esdeath and then thinks for a few seconds whether he should consider putting her under Scathach as well or not. But remember what kind of person Darkness is. She is better off with Esdeath than with Scathach.

"Did you hear that? You're under mine now." Esdeath grins at Darkness, who lets out a whimper of excitement as her face turns crimson.

"Ye-Yes, Mistress!" Darkness said happily, causing mixed reactions from everyone. Especially from Eris, who looks like she has honestly forgotten what Darkness is like.

"Mistress?" Esdeath raises an eyebrow in amusement. "That's fine. You will do as I command, whenever I command." She grips Darkness' chin, making her tremble with pleasure at the touch. "Do so, and I will reward you. If you do not obey my command, you will be punished. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress!" Darkness looks at Esdeath more lustfully as she begins to breathe harder than before. "Whatever you say, I will do!"

"I'm scared..." Aqua whimpers in fear at the scene before her eyes.

"Same here." Eris looks ready to cry at any moment now.

"By the way, Master." Scathach calls Daisuke's attention. "Shall we stay here while we eat and hang out for the rest of the day until nightfall? Artoria, Altera, and even Setanta don't seem to be done anytime soon."

"They can stay here. I want to test something else and need your help, Scathach." Daisuke wiped his mouth with a napkin before standing up.

"Alright." Scathach smiles, stands up after wiping her hands clean, and then looks at Eris. "Esdeath, would you mind keeping an eye on her? I don't want her to run off again. Of course, I can easily hunt her down, but I'm not that free to do that too often."

"Sure." Esdeath agrees while she gives Aqua a look that means anything but good for the goddess.

20 minutes later*

"So, Master. What did you need my help for?" Scathach tilts her head and smiles at Daisuke as they stand outside of Axel with the sun slowly setting.

"Of all of them, you are the strongest." Daisuke begins, and Scathach nods in agreement with his statement. "Well, I haven't tested it yet, but I would like to see how I fare against someone of your level in my current state with everything I have created since the first day."

"But, we have sparred with each other more than once before." Scathach looks at Daisuke with a confused face.

"Yes, but I never went all the way. With everything I have at my disposal." Daisuke points out as golden ripples appear in midair around the area behind him. Numerous pistols emerge from the golden ripples and point directly at Scathach. "And when I meant everything. I don't mean the Noble Phantasms stored in the Gate of Babylon, but what I've created."

"Does that include Esdeath? If I remember correctly, she is also Rashomon when she switches between the two forms." Scathach noticed the one thing missing from the whole thing. "You didn't take Esdeath with you, and she's still in the Adventurer's Guild. Unless you're going to call her here?"

"I honestly forgot about that part." Daisuke sweatdrops with how used he is to Esdeath in her current form compared to the lifeless Rashomon. "Alright, so almost all the way. It's okay because even without her, I'm not alone."

"Well, yes. You have the Holy Grail. You can summon anyone in my home universe." Scathach blinks at Daisuke, who is now even more confused. "I guess you haven't thought this through?"

"Was it that obvious?" Daisuke frowns as he pulls back the Gate of Babylon, no longer in the mood to fight.

"Something like that. What's wrong, Master?" Scathach walks over and stands in front of Daisuke. "Actually, what made you want to fight me? When it's usually the other way around, with me occasionally calling for a fight."

Daisuke thought about it momentarily before explaining that he was trying to find his true calling and the reason for it.

"Honestly, Master." Scathach shakes her head in disbelief. "Out of all the people to have an important subject and the one to introduce it to you. It would be a surprise if you found your so-called true calling at some point in the future without accidentally finding something so close to a true calling and eventually losing your way. Making your life more miserable as time goes on."

"What's wrong with Esdeath introducing the topic of finding one's true calling?" Daisuke looks at Scathach blankly.

"Master, you should know who Esdeath is in the first place before she was fused with Rashomon, right?" Scathach's right eyebrow twitched slightly.

Daisuke nods.

"Then shouldn't you see the problem here?" Scathach looked directly into Daisuke's eyes and saw that nothing had changed. This made her sigh loudly as she raised her right hand to her forehead. "Master, even I can see that Esdeath isn't the best person to discuss this topic with. Though it's good that she made you more aware and 'alive', as she said. She didn't or doesn't know that this is something that requires years of searching, not doing random things in the hope of getting some kind of feeling out of it."

"So instead of experimenting to find my true calling. I should just let nature take its course and go with the flow until something hits me in the face?" Daisuke rubbed his chin with interest. Scathach's words were profound and made him rethink his attempts to find his true calling.

"Yeah, something like that." Scathach gives Daisuke a wary smile. "How about we talk about your past? Before all this happens, you manage to obtain the Holy Grail and travel the multiverse."

"Sure." Daisuke brought out two nice comfortable chairs from the Gate of Babylon for them to sit on during this conversation instead of standing all the time.

Scathach sat down in her seat, looking at Daisuke, as she is eager to find out what kind of person he was like back then.

"I was, or I don't think I am now, the heir to a business company for various industries. My family is five generations of businessmen who knew when to move forward and when to take a few steps back so as not to be ruined by being too greedy." Daisuke begins by explaining his background. "As a child, my future was determined for me. My parents made sure that everything was planned perfectly to avoid any mistakes. Of course, some parts of the plans failed before they could be realized, but my parents and everyone else just adapted and found a solution to fix it or replace it with something else."

"Wow, did your family not consider letting you do your own things when you were growing up? Like finding a hobby to take a break from being overworked?" Scathach asks Daisuke.

"They had already thought about it and looked at what other kids would do to relax. So they let me do popular things as a hobby. I read manga, watch anime, and play all the latest video games. Anything other kids liked, I would do as well. My family made sure that I wasn't pushed too far into my studies, and even planned out what month of the year would be for what my family called leisure activities." Daisuke remembers his childhood.

"So, your family does care about your well-being." Scathach smiles, but only for a few seconds as she notices Daisuke's blank face.

"I think so?" Daisuke blinks slowly, thinking back to all the things he went through as a child and into adulthood. "I just did what everyone told me to do. I never had much trouble doing what I was told. It was not until I was an adult that I could decide what to do while working in one of my family's businesses. It was difficult initially, but I slowly got used to making my own decisions."

"So, did your family care about your well-being?" Scathach looks puzzled at what she is hearing.

"I guess from some people's point of view. My family takes care of my health. But I feel like my family treats me more like a customer than a family member or maybe a product, and everyone in my family is like that. They treat everything like a business opportunity." Daisuke continues to stare at Scathach. "Family love and all that. My family... I think they learned it and showed it while I was growing up. But I always feel it... fake."

"Why do you say that?" Scathach comes closer and puts a hand over Daisuke's to show her support. "Did they hurt you in any way? Physically? Mentally?"

"Not that I know of." Daisuke replied dully. "They never hit me physically to cause long-lasting damage or forced me beyond my limit. They always seemed to know when I was about to reach my limit and stopped me before I did. They made sure to answer any questions I had. Questions would come up randomly, and I would get the answers to those questions with facts to prove that the answers were valid. I was even allowed to ask other children who didn't know who I was to see if my family's answers were similar or almost the same as what the children told me."

"Why do you think your family's love is fake?" Scathach asks carefully.

"Because I saw that I wasn't the only one growing up like this. The other children in my generation in the family were going through a similar process as I was to be prepared to replace the previous generation." Daisuke answers simply. "I don't know if it was because I was born to be the family's heir. But, the other children seem to be taught how to fake their emotions. Something I wasn't taught. I just knew that the children were faking their emotions. No matter how well they hid them."

"I see." Scathach looks uncomfortable. "Do you ever want to see your family again?"

Daisuke did not say anything for a few minutes with a blank expression, and Scathach waited patiently for an answer.

"No." Daisuke's voice has a touch of life in it. "I don't think so. Or I would rather not see them at all."

"Well, I will do my best to make sure that no one ever forces you to reunite with your family." Scathach stood up and smiled at Daisuke. "In fact, everyone in the group, including myself, is your family now."

Daisuke smiles. He is unsure about Scathach's words but is willing to try it.