LIGHTNOVELONLINE Arc 5: Seeking Answers – Chapter 4
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 5: Seeking Answers - Chapter 4
A week later*
Daisuke takes a deep breath and inhales the fresh air of the sea. They are somewhere in the sea, enjoying nature.
Well, that was before their board crashed and now they are on a massive abandoned ship that appeared out of nowhere while they were following the distress signal.
"This place gives me the creeps." Riza said to everyone and went deeper into the abandoned ship. "Hey, Daisuke. Can't you build us a boat to get us out of here?"
"Yes. But I will need some time before I can build us a working functional boat." Daisuke replied.
"Looks like no one's around..." Hime said in a bored tone with crossed arms. Her eyes scanned the area.
"Hey, is this ship some kind of luxury liner?" Hiro asked everyone.
"It probably used to be." Riza replied, then touched the surface of a bar counter with her left index finger and brought it up to her face to see the fingertip covered in dust. "Looks like it's been abandoned for a long time."
"The furnishing isn't that bad either." Hime picks up a vase with one hand while cupping her chin with the other as she looks at the dusty vase in wonder.
"Ah, Hime-sama, could this be? A ship filled with treasure that becomes lost. A ghost ship... or something?" Riza picked up an old wine bottle, grinning at Hime as she didn't pay attention to her surroundings.
As Riza was about to be attacked from behind by an undead, a male werewolf with a four scars across his face appeared, stabbed with his left claw, and sent the undead flying as Riza ducked.
"Wo... A werewolf?!" Riza shouted in shock as she continued to hold the wine bottle.
"Save the talk for later! Have a look around you!" The werewolf shouted at Riza.
"What is this...?!" Hiro looks around in fear.
Daisuke had already drawn the Tsumukari Muramasa and sliced through several of the undead. In the blink of an eye, he had ended their lives once more.
He appears beside Hime as part of his duty as her hired bodyguard. He eliminates any undead that approaches her.
"How are you killing those guys, Daisuke?! I ripped off one of their heads, and they are still moving!" Riza yells at Daisuke, who kills another undead and stays dead, unlike the others being done by everyone else.
"Of course, it's because of the katana he wields, which is the main reason for ending the lives of these undead." Hime answered for Daisuke before he could speak. "Though I am curious how in the world he managed to make such a fine blade that produces such supernatural effects."
Daisuke uses the Second Magic together with his overpowered Noble Phantasm sword to kill many undead in a short time. Until there are no undead left, everyone stands in the large dining room.
He looks around for more undead while everyone gets to know the new addition to the group, the werewolf who has turned back into a human, but is shirtless, and is called Keziah Bold. And this guy knew Riza's father, who was his comrade.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your talk, but could you explain what's happening, Keziah?" Hime stands in between Riza and Keziah. This causes Keziah to kneel before Hime immediately.
"Please excuse my rudeness, going by your appearance. You're a princess of the royal family." Keziah needs only one look at Hime to determine her identity.
"How about we talk somewhere else, not here?" Daisuke spoke up as he noticed more undead slowly making their way here.
Everyone agrees and heads back up to the deck.
An hour later*
Daisuke placed a nice, fancy plate with a steak in front of Hime to eat with a knife and fork set.
They all eat on the deck, where Daisuke has quickly set up a nice-looking table with matching chairs and a lit lantern to illuminate the area.
Keziah even found a sleeveless black shirt to wear.
"Is this really safe to eat?" Hiro asks everyone as they each eat their own steak. Riza and Keziah easily eat five steaks by themselves. "Isn't this meat, like, extra expired? Inedible no matter how you cook it?"
"If you don't like it, don't eat it, human." Keziah glared at Hiro, causing the poor boy to flinch.
"So, you're in the same situation as us then, Keziah." Hime spoke up.
"Yes... Three days ago, our fishing boat was capsized by this ship. I was the only one who survived." Keziah begins.
"Wait." Riza cuts Keziah off as wolf ears appear on her head. "Do you hear that, Keziah? It's the sound of the flute again."
"I can hear it." Keziah also has a pair of wolf ears appear on his head like Riza's. "Then there are survivors left on the ship?"
"Everyone! Come and look quickly!" Hiro called for everyone's attention and quickly moved to the edge of the deck to see a ship in the distance.
"Guys, there is a ship! If we call for help..." Hiro looks out at the sea with excitement.
"No points. It's the same as before. They can't see the abandoned ship from over there." Keziah said to Hiro, with his arm folded over his chest. "They probably got the distress signal and are heading this way."
"They will collide with this ship and sink just like us." Riza looks at Keziah in shock, then back at the ship coming their way.
"Not to mention that the people on that ship might not be as lucky as us to board this abandoned ship." Daisuke pushes up his sunglasses.
"Then what are we going to do?!" Hiro shouted in horror.
Hime huffs as she pushes her hair behind her left ear, "It's obvious. We will look for the mermaid." She puts both hands on her hips.
"You mean the ones rumored to have died out before the war?" Riza asks Hime.
Daisuke wonders how mermaids became almost extinct in this world when there are many more dangerous monsters to deal with. Then again, the Princess Resurrection series doesn't make much sense anyway.
"Alright, let me make this easier for all of us instead of going on a wild goose chase." Daisuke didn't feel like experiencing what it was like to be trapped in a sinking abandoned ship with no way to get out alive. Well, that would be the case if he didn't have Omnifabrication and, among other things, that are considered as cheats alone by certain other worlds' standards.
D4C appears behind Daisuke as he pulls out a large black sheet to use with D4C from the Gate of Babylon, then lets it hover in the air for a split second before pulling it away. Someone now appears. Of course, it's not a person from another parallel reality, but this one is from this very reality, thanks to one of the additional features added to D4C's creation to pull others in other places to where he is, in the same way, to travel between dimensions with D4C.
Madeleine, a little girl with long black hair and a white dress, barefoot, and the mermaid on this abandoned ship for who knows how long, look at everyone in disbelief while holding her flute.
"Did you bring some random little girl? Because this mermaid has legs." Keziah gave Daisuke a scornful look.
"Where did you find her, Daisuke?" Hime kneels down beside Madeleine, who begins to tears as she quickly rushes into Hime's arms for comfort.
"Somewhere in the ship." Daisuke decided to tell the half-truth. "The door was locked from the outside, trapping her alone in a room."
"Then, I'm certain now. This girl." Hime embraces Madeleine. "In exchange for having her voice cursed, she would become human. She could not swim away herself or call out for help. She could do nothing but play her flute and call for ships to rescue her."
"Is it that curse where you die if you talk? So it was ideal to lock her up? Damn!" Keziah scowls in anger.
"You could say that." Hime replied. "Anyway, this ship has been using the mermaid's power to summon ships. It has caused many shipwrecks and continues to feed on the souls of the dead. This mermaid is the key to its prosperity. The undead won't just let her escape. They will appear to recapture her. They will force her to call more ships and claim the victims of the souls from those shipwrecks."
Hime stood up, looked at Daisuke, and fell silent like everyone else.
"Sorry, you said something, Hime?" Daisuke looks back as he has just killed what looks like a floating shark made out of the dead souls bound to this abandoned ship with his Tsumukari Muramasa. "This thing just showed up while you were hugging the mermaid."
"Well, the fun's over." Hime rolls her eyes in boredom, then looks at Keziah. "So, how long before your master shows up? And don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Just by looking at me, no one would think I'm from the royal family. I'm guessing it's one of my siblings."
Riza warped her arms into their werewolf form as she prepared to attack Keziah, not that it was necessary since Daisuke was right next to him with the blade of Tsumukari Muramasa resting next to his neck.
"W-Wait, maybe there is a misunderstanding going on here!" Hiro shouted, completely confused and lost.
"I really need to teach you how to think more with your brain, or at least develop it to be more than it is right now." Hime's eyes never left Keziah. "Anyway, how about you call your master to appear? Unless you want us to kill you to save ourselves the trouble you might cause us?"
Daisuke moved before anyone could expect it as he sidekick Keziah with enough force to launch him off his feet and into the incoming telekinetic blast that would have severely injured him if he hadn't done something about it, which he saw in the future through Flawless.
Flawless gives Daisuke more information, allowing him to take further action. This leads to him grabbing the large black sheet while pushing everyone closer together and letting the large black sheet hover above them; then D4C reappears and sends everyone away from the abandoned ship.
"Wait, we're back at the mansion?!" Hiro looks around in shock.
True to Hiro's words, everyone is back at Hime's mansion, more specifically, in the dining room.
"And you could have done that at any time?" Hime stares at Daisuke, who is putting the Tsumukari Muramasa away in the Gate of Babylon. "Bring us back here whenever you want?"
"Yup." Daisuke replied, grinning slightly as he enjoyed everyone's reaction. "But, don't expect me to do this all the time."
"In fact, it would be the opposite. If it's not really a life-or-death situation, don't use it to save us. You can escape yourself, but that's all. Otherwise, you'll spoil my fun." Hime said to Daisuke, who was stunned by this.
"I will say this again and even more in the future. How can you still be unknown to others?!" Riza shouted in disbelief, then sighed loudly. "Forget it. I'm going to bed. It's been a hard day for me..." She didn't wait for an answer and went to her bedroom.
"Come with me; I have a good position for someone like you." Hime takes Madeleine with her.
Daisuke doesn't even say anything to Hiro and just goes to his bedroom and calls it a night as well.