[Third Person POV]
As Hajime activated the cards, they all glowed like Bunnicula's before a character stood in place of each of them.
There were five people Hajime planned to summon, though only four were being summoned right now, Hajime unwilling to summon Monet until he was prepared.
The four individuals standing in front of him, from left to right, were Pamela Beesley, Welf Crozzo, Blake Belladonna, and Jenny Realight.
Each of them was summoned with a different goal in mind.
Pamela Beesley was summoned due to her past roles as an office receptionist and administrator. Since he was going to form an organization, Hajime would need someone to help run the place. Not everyone wants to go out and fight gods and demons all the time, so having someone take care of the little things is important. Besides, she was the only regular human, and while she could learn magic, that would still take time.
Welf Crozzo was obvious why he was summoned. He was a highly skilled blacksmith and the only mortal in Danmachi capable of making magic swords. Due to how Rakia used them to annihilate the Elven forests, he swore off making any more out of guilt for the deaths his swords caused. Luckily, that shouldn't be a problem here. Dxd has magic swords too, namely the Excalibur fragments, but rather than raw destruction, they can have other abilities. It might even give Welf a new perspective for making swords.
Blake Belladonna and Jenny Realight were both summoned for similar purposes as combatants.
Blake was summoned more for her aura than anything else. Aura was a manifestation of the soul, and semblances are a unique and innate manifestation of someone's strengths. Aura could be used in many ways, including to shield and heal damage. It was, essentially, a free powerup.
Unlocking aura was both simple and complex. It used one person's aura to stimulate and activate another's. The difficult part was that it required someone with a strong attunement to their soul, though as a student at Beacon, the best hunter school in Remnant, Blake was likely capable of performing it.
Jenny Realight's potential was more direct. There was plenty of technology for her Takeover Magic: Machina Soul to absorb, including whatever Hajime gets from Telos Karma. Plus, with Hajime's assimilation of Laxus, he thought it might be possible to learn it himself. Even if he couldn't, it was still a good idea to summon her now, since that meant she'd have more time to adapt to any new forms she acquires.
With individuals like Ajuka and Azazel existing, getting machines that could drastically increase her strength was a guarantee. Plus, there was something he would have her test eventually: sacred gears.
Though not exactly what you would think of when you hear 'machine', they were a form of machine.
If anything, they were the most complex machines in existence, since it took millennia for anyone to recreate them, and even then, they still are considered subpar to the originals.
Hajime was excited, thinking about how his organization would finally start coming together.
As the light from the four cards dimmed, four new figures stood in the training field.
The first person was a woman in her late 20s with curly, red hair that flowed past her shoulders, tied up in a bun. Her outfit consisted of a grey Pratt Institute sweatshirt, blue jeans, and gray sneakers.
The second was a male teenager with short, spiky, red hair. He wore a blue shirt under a black kimono with a belt crossing his chest, white pants, long brown boots, and a blue scarf tied around his neck.
The third person was a 17-year-old girl with long, black hair reaching her lower back. She wore a white, sleeveless undershirt under a black, buttoned vest with coattails, white shorts, and long black boots that reached mid-thigh. For accessories, she had black ribbons wrapped around both forearms, a small backpack where she sheathed her weapon, a black scarf around her neck, and most noticeably a black bow on her head, under which she hid two black cat ears.
The last person was a woman in her 20s with long blonde hair put into a ponytail, reaching down to the middle of her back, with a red flower on the side of her head. She wore a strapless, purple dress and a white skirt, both of which had a slit going down the left side starting from her hip. Above the slit was a white cloth wrapped around her waist. The rest of her outfit consisted of pink heels, a golden necklace, earrings, and bracelets. On her left shoulder was a tattoo of a blue horse head surrounded by a pair of wings, the guild symbol for Blue Pegasus.
From left to right, they were Pamela Beesley, Welf Crozzo, Blake Belladonna, and Jenny Realight.
Though this wasn't the first time he'd seen what were fictional characters, whether it be people from the world of Highschool DxD, Blue, his first summon, or his time over on Kinkow, Hajime was still excited to see them.
He had grown up with Yasaka and Kunou, so he never considered them fictional to begin with. Blue, a summon from a fictional story, was an animal that was completely unable to have a conversation.
His time on Kinkow, though it could truly be considered his first interaction with a 'fictional world', still didn't give the same feeling he expected it would. Maybe it was because he was busy most of the time or didn't interact much with the main cast, but it still felt ordinary; more like a vacation, rather than another world.
This time felt different.
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[Pamela Beesley POV]
It was dark.
My life flashed before my eyes.
I remember what I think were my last moments.
Dwight, Nellie, and I had caught Frank, who had vandalized my mural. For revenge, Dwight took me out to his truck to vandalize it in return, and I painted an ugly troll side-potrait of Frank on it.
After work, Frank came out to see his truck vandalized and attacked me.
Brian, one of the documentary crew employees, jumped in to stop him, but...
*Bang*
*Bang*
I felt like crying, but in this strange place, I couldn't.
I left Jim, Cece, and Philip all alone.
Damnit!
Suddenly, I heard a strange, ethereal voice talking to me.
It told me I would have a chance to come back to life, but in return, I'd have to serve someone.
I tried to ask if I could see my family, but nothing happened. I didn't have a mouth or vocal cords, nor was there any sound in this void.
Despite that, the voice somehow knew what I wanted to ask.
Unfortunately, it said that, though it was possible, it could take years. Still, I accepted, at least hoping for a chance to see them again.
-----
[Welf Crozzo POV]
I was in the dungeon, gathering materials for my next sword, when a monster party appeared.
I don't know if someone else caused it or if I was just unlucky, but I was killed after being overwhelmed by the monsters.
I thought I would be brought to heaven, but instead I was stuck in a dark place. I wasn't sure if this was part of the process, but I learned it wasn't when a strange voice asked me if I wanted to return to living.
Though I was conflicted about it, I quickly got over it and accepted, still hoping I would be able to make a legendary sword.
-----
[Blake Belladonna POV]
I don't remember much of what happened.
There was chaos at Beacon, Yang and I were fighting my ex, Adam, then nothing.
Darkness surrounded me, like it was trying to drown me.
A voice called out to me.
I don't remember what it sounded like or what it said, yet I knew what it was promising.
I'd be able to come back to life in another world, one completely different from what I knew, though it didn't tell me what that would entail.
I accepted, though.
While I miss my parents, team, and friends, I have already died.
I hoped that, since I was being brought back to life, I might be able to see them again.
-----
[Jenny Realight POV]
During the fight against the invading dragons, I died.
Seeing a dragon about to kill one of my guildmates, I used my takeover magic to increase my speed and push them out of the way. Unluckily for me, the attack still hit, killing me instantly.
Despite knowing the pain should've been immense, I couldn't recall the injury at all, which was weird since I should remember that if anything.
As I was waiting in this void, a strange voice called out, asking me if I wanted a second chance.
Though I knew resurrection magic was illegal, I didn't reject the voice. Who doesn't want to live after all?
The voice said I'd be brought to another world with new magic and technology, but as someone's servant. Despite the downside of serving somebody, I was excited.
I remember hearing about Fairy Tail's encounter with another world, but I was never able to go there myself. The only time I've heard it talked about made it sound fascinating.
Accepting the voice's deal, a light quickly started to fill the void, though when I looked around, I could never find it.
Eventually, the light, which had been growing from my peripheral vision, fully consumed me as I knew I vanished from the void.
-----
[Hajime POV]
As I saw the four people standing in front of me, I could tell their thoughts were consuming each of them.
Pam was the easiest to read. She looked like she was about to start crying. Judging from her outfit, she was probably summoned from some time during season 9, meaning she won't see her husband and kids.
Welf was doing the best out of everyone. With how powerful the gods are, it likely isn't impossible for him to believe something like this could happen.
Blake, though she wore a mask of calmness, was rattled. Not sure if it's because of the summoning or whatever happened before it, but she looks shaken.
Jenny wore a frown, but aside from that, she seemed fine. Like Welf, I imagine she already thought something like this could happen. Her world did have its Edolas counterpart, so it's not unthinkable that more worlds can exist.
The four of them all looked towards me once they gained their bearings. Welf was the first one to speak, also being the calmest of them. "Are you the one who brought me here?"
That seemed to jolt the others out of their thoughts before Pam burst out into tears.
"Please, please send me back! I- I don't care what I need to do, but I- I, my family- and," she couldn't even finish her sentence before she broke down in grief. Clearly, something happened, possibly with how they're summoned.
"Unfortunately, while I can send you back, that is currently impossible."
Welf, seeing the woman's grief, spoke up in her place.
"May I ask why?"
"My powers work by reaching through space and grabbing things. I have no control over what, or who, it grabs. Occasionally, it can give me the ability to make tunnels through space, which would allow me to send you home, but I've only gotten something like that once, and it was temporary.
If you truly want to go home, I can probably help, but for all I know, you could have to wait decades for that to happen.
Not to mention, even if I do, there would be other problems, like what to do with your new memories, how much you might age, and whether you can even return to the point you left from."
Welf nodded in understanding. Though I'm sure he was surprised by all this, he showed none of it on his face.
Pam's crying intensified hearing that, and although I felt guilty, there was no way for me to know this would happen besides summoning someone else before her.
Turning to the other women, I asked if there was anything important I should know.
Jenny spoke up, explaining how, before I summoned her here, she died fighting dragons. Then darkness, a voice, and she was awake here.
Hearing that, Welf and Blake confirmed it with their own stories. Pam, though racked with sobs, eventually explained what I already pieced together.
Despite how sad it was, Pam's story helped ease some of my guilt. Had I just ripped her away from her family, that would be one thing, but dying in an incident she escalated was another. Had she rejected that voice they mentioned, I'm sure that another version of them would have taken their place.
After several more minutes of crying, Pam calmed down.
Once again, she asked if I could send her back, which I confirmed I could, but again told her she might have to wait decades.
From there, I explained to the four that I had summoned them to build my own organization, and brought each of them here to fulfill specific roles.
Everyone accepted it, and though Pam said she needed some time, the others were fine.
Letting the others grab some snacks I had brought, I was ready to summon the final person for today, Monet.
__________
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!