Intro:

Shouts to the poster. You requested this combo, I'm delivering. I took this as a writing prompt, to get the old creative juices flowing, and I quite like some of the ideas I've come up with, as far as mechanics of the crossover.

Here's to hoping you don't hate my re-imagining of your request.

Normal Disclaimer:

I hate changing settled canon too much. There is only so much I can avoid changing with this request though, so, to lay out most of this story's canon events:

Shield Hero anime season one, plus perhaps some cut content items from AniNews. (Highly recommend.)

Danmachi seasons one through three, plus light novels 12-15. Also add in the same cut content items from AniNews.

I'm taking a time skip in Shield Hero to make this work, jumping ahead two waves. I'm plugging in my own stuff during that time as I go along.

I'm taking stabs at things I suspect for Danmachi 16+, which I have not read.

I don't own any part of either series. Please support the official release.

Chapter 1: Loss

Ishtar stood on the broken tower steps, watching as her enemy strode forward, the cloak around her shoulders billowing in the wind, and she knew that she had been defeated.

Naofumi watched the Giant swing his club. It flung Terese out of sight, over the hills. Even with the body of the Jewel Hero, he doubted she could survive that blow. Only L'Arc, Raphtalia, and Itsuki remained in the immediate area. Everything had gone sideways when it had appeared.

L'Arc and Terese had engaged the three of them almost as soon as the wave had begun. The battle had been fierce, and was at a stalemate, until they heard the roar and looked up. They had all turned towards it, forgetting their own battle, when a squad of soldiers had gone flying, and it seemed half the hillside along with them.

Ishtar fell, and her Arcanum activated, the golden light shot to the heavens as her essence began its return to Tenkai.

Naofumi didn't know why he did it. He did, obviously, but it had seemed natural to the point he'd not thought about it.

The Giant had moved so much faster than they expected, and only his own quick thinking had saved them thus far. Air Strike Shield had only slowed the Giant's swings, and only slightly, but that gave them just enough time to avoid the blows.

L'Arc had gone into a rage after Terese had disappeared, his speed and skill with that scythe had been unmatchable, even for this Wave Boss. He was honestly the only reason any of them lived this long. Itsuki had rained arrows from afar to no avail. Raphtalia had used her skills to weave through the ranks of enemies, culling the fodder that the long dead soldiers would have been responsible for, leaving only Itsuki, L'Arc, and Naofumi to handle the boss. Her back had been turned to the troll holding the pike. He'd cast the protection without thought.

He hoped Ren and even Motoyasu had better luck, wherever they were.

"SHIELD PRISON!"

The green sides of the ball closed in, but they enveloped L'Arc as well, the shape much different than the perfect sphere it usually took. The sphere was now a flat triangular shape, instead of what he'd consciously meant to do, which was to cover Raphtalia.

He felt the impact, as the Giant hit the prison with it's full force, only his Will keeping it together. He felt his mistake, almost immediately.

He'd played frisbee golf with a few American exchange students, and had been fascinated by the arcs one of them had been able to pull off. He'd later looked up videos of boomerangs and remembered a video game character who pulled off similarly insane angles. Now, his prison had become a boomerang, and the air had caught them.

His stomach lurched as both L'Arc and Raphtalia crashed into him. The three of them spun crazily and then the air caught the flat surface and launched them nearly vertical. He felt Raphtalia grab him, but he couldn't see her. He'd gotten them into this, now he had to get them out.

"L'Arc! Grab hold! As soon as we start to fall, I'm going to start casting Air Strike shield, before we get too much speed! We have to keep our descent slow, or we'll never survive the impact!"

Even as he spoke though, he felt a… change.

Around them, the Shield Prison dissolved into a green mist, and red filled his vision. All of them screamed, as they hit the Wave vortex, and passed through.

On the other side of the vortex, there was tranquility, peace, and terrifying silence. It was a void. Seemingly endless, blacker, darker and somehow colder than anything Naofumi had ever experienced. He felt himself drifting away, all of him, until a burst of golden rainbows lit the void.

Ishtar traveled quickly back the rainbow bridge towards Tenkai, until she saw a sight she'd only seen the like of once in the hundreds of years she'd spent in Gekai.

Three people floated in the void around Yggdrasil, two young men, and a demi-human. Two were Heroes from other worlds, a pair that represented two worlds that collided in Yggdrasil's branches. The young demi-human was impressive in her own right, Ishtar could see that from here, but the young men… They blazed like only one other, but here… Ishtar cackled. She would have her revenge yet.

Naofumi's eyes fluttered open, and the golden rainbow resolved itself into the form of a woman, wearing so little that he looked up and away. He could see L'Arc had no such qualms, his eyes taking in every bit of her.

"You all are quite lucky, to have met me here on my journey." The woman's sultry voice crooned in a slightly familiar way. "You would not want to have drifted off much farther from Yggdrasil. That death is final, with no after-life awaiting you, and no return home for either of you."

Naofumi's eyes were drawn to hers. Who was she? What did she know?

"Ummm… lady? May I ask… um…"

"I am the goddess Ishtar young man." She smiled a smile so enticing at L'Arc that Naofumi blushed until his mind lit up. Goddess?!

"Goddess Ishtar, um… can you help us? We have to get back to…" She shook her head even as Naofumi spoke.

"No, I'm sorry Naofumi, but even a goddess can't tell everything about everything in the short time we have. I can't send you back to whichever worlds you came from, the leaves of Yggdrasil collide at times, but the whole tree is a mystery, even to one as powerful as I." He deflated. Filo and Melty were together at least. Perhaps Melty would take care of her, even if Fittoria didn't.

"I can however offer you another path, one that will save your life, one that will give you purpose, and one that will repay me for the considerable effort it will take, and the price I will have to pay to aid you." Naofumi's stomach sank, and where the rage shield generally would take over, there was now nothing.

Nothing…

For the first time in what seemed a lifetime, he could no longer see the icons in his vision. He was no longer the Shield Hero, and he felt it like a loss, but also like a weight being lifted. He saw in his peripheral vision the same reaction from L'Arc as he realized the Scythe in his hand was no longer a part of him.

"If it will help me keep Naofumi safe, I will do whatever you ask Goddess Ishtar!" Raphtalia spoke quickly, jumping in after seeing the other two hesitate.

"Good Raphtalia, that's very good. You will be a wonderful aid for my acquaintance."

"An aid?" The goddess smiled at her questioning tone.

"Yes, an aid. Similar to how you have fought for Naofumi, I would like you to protect another with the same vigor. He could be a hero, but he is still so young. You will be a great aid to him, the three of you."

"What must I do goddess?" L'Arc responded, but Naofumi was sinking deep into the despair again that had unlocked the Curse Series.

He had fought so hard, just to get to the point of respectability. He'd fought for Raphtalia, and fought for Melty's safety, and finally had fought hard to keep them all together and safe from the Waves. Now even that was taken from him. He had been pulled from one world, and knocked out of another. He was only a normal young man, but this was too much. He closed off, and closed down, and shut his mind, until the warmth of her chest on his face reached into that pit, trying to draw him out.

Raphtalia held Naofumi in her arms, trying to coax him back to her. When he was overcome like this, only she was able to reach him, and she knew it, and felt… proud of it somehow, though she knew she shouldn't.

"He'll overcome this, his spirit, though damaged, is too strong for anything to keep him down too long, and I hope where you will be going, there will be much different challenges, not emotional, as he has faced until now." She turned to L'Arc as Raphtalia held the near comatose Naofumi. She held him tight as the goddess spoke.

"I have a certain enemy, and I would like you three to frustrate her plans. She has her eye on a certain young man, and I want you to keep her from him. Don't let her have him, under any circumstances, understood?" She stared at the pair of them, and they nodded.

"She is cunning, and she will try to charm you, so I will give you my protection from her. No matter what she does, as she is now, she will not be able to charm you three. Join Hestia familia, protect young Bell Cranel, to the best of your abilities, and don't let Freya have him or you. That's all I ask. Is that acceptable?" They both nodded.

Ishtar smiled as she touched her finger to the back of each of them. L'Arc and Raphtalia would be devastating fighters to add to Hestia familia's ranks, and Naofumi's powers would be entirely unique in Orario. Each of their Statuses would be a huge boon to the small Hestia familia. She didn't particularly care about Hestia, but this would be the biggest thorn in the side of Freya the goddess would experience for millenia.

Each world's inhabitants carried a spirit that was different. Like wine of different vintages. The Weapon Heroes were special, in that their spirits carried trace amounts of the essences of all the past heroes. If their worlds existed, then that meant their heroes had been successful, and that measure of success and strength added to their spirits. In addition to the fine vintage, one or both of these worlds would soon fall from Yggdrasil's branches, and there would be no more of that particular vintage for hundreds of thousands of years. The best that multiple worlds had to offer, in two packages, and Ishtar would present them to Freya in packages she would never be able to touch, and they would protect the one she wanted so desperately. Ishtar nearly laughed. Her vengeance would be the stuff the gods talked about until Ragnarok.

"I can only send you to a specific place in the world you'll be going to, but journey due east, and you will come to the city of Orario in just over a month. When you arrive there, tell Hestia that Ishtar sends her a mighty aid, to defend her and her familia from those who wish to tear her familia apart." Ishtar said, smiling at them. L'Arc had to smile, and enjoy her curves in his sight as he mourned Terese. And Glass. She was a friend, but Terese… He'd never forgive himself, for how he'd taken her love for granted.

"I will give you some of the magic you are accustomed to, but the world to which you are going will not operate in the way your Legendary Weapons do. For you L'Arc, the way will be easy, and straightforward. Your Scythe, though no longer the Legendary Weapon it once was, will be unbreakable, and will be your companion still. You won't have the magic abilities you once had, for now at least, but you will be strong, much stronger than anyone will imagine. I believe that Hestia familia has a young girl, a prum, with a sharp mind. Listen to her, and you will not miss a beat." L'Arc nodded, but his mind, even now, with Ishtar in front of him, was consumed with the blue haired beauty he'd lost.

"To you Raphtalia, I have no specific weapon to give you, but there is a smith in the Hestia familia as well, one Welf Crozzo. If you ask, he will forge you a suitable weapon. Your Status will be high, similar to L'Arc's, so you will also surprise the unwary with your gifts." Raphtalia nodded.

"Naofumi, your shield is gone. In this new world, you will need to learn again how to fight. For you, I have three special gifts, fitting for your new challenge. First, a skill called Cover Move, which will allow you to teleport to an ally. Second, a development skill called Impenetrable which will allow you to block all incoming magic. Lastly, I've kept intact your magic Air Strike Shield and Shield Prison. Understand that you may not be able to use them the same way as before, so test yourself, and test how much magical power you have, before you are forced to use it in battle." Naofumi did not move, but Raphtalia nodded, and thanked Ishtar.

"Remember," She said firmly. "Due East. Head straight into the rising sun. Move quickly, run if you can, but keep going until you reach the base of a tower taller than anything you've ever seen, so tall it pierces the heavens."

"Thank you Goddess Ishtar." Raphtalia smiled and bowed again, as much as she could anway, holding Naofumi.

The golden light enveloped them, and they were gone, heading down towards the base of the tree. Ishtar watched, laughing inwardly. There were plenty of worlds to play with until the imposed time when she would go back to Gekai, if Freya was still there. She would build up her familia again, and that bastard of hers, Ottar, would be long dead. There would be mostly even footing…

Naofumi and the others didn't even cross her mind as she continued up the base of the tree towards Tenkai.

Naofumi hit the ground and fell again to his knees, head bowed against Raphtalia. He felt the burning shame in him again. He'd ripped her out of her world. He'd done to her what had been done to him. Long ago it seemed he'd vowed to her that he wouldn't leave her and go back to his world, but this…

The corpses of Filo and Melty weighed on him as well. They had depended on him. On the Shield Hero. Everyone was dead, with him gone. None of the others could stop Glass. Not without him. Even if it was just Glass, none of them would be able to stop that Giant. Their corpses taunted him, the flesh rotting from their faces. Fittoria would not be able to save them.

"Why did you leave us behind?"

"Why did you leave?"

"Why did you make us go with Ren?"

"Why would you sacrifice for Motoyasu?"

"You've doomed us with your stupidity."

He shook with sobs as he realized just how much he'd given up by saving L'Arc. He knew why he'd done it. He couldn't help but like the man, and he wouldn't have been able to help one without letting the other die. He'd only tried to extend shield prison like that a few times, and he'd always had to include himself in the shape. It was his mistake. His choice. If he'd kept Filo and Melty with them, then maybe they wouldn't…

"What's wrong with you!?" L'Arc shook Naofumi, throwing Raphtalia to the side. The fury in his eyes turned inwards just as much as it was outward.

The light was gone from Naofumi's eyes, in a way that turned L'Arc's anger for him away, leaving only the rage within. He could feel her, from the night before, as she'd laid her hands on his back, massaging his aching shoulders. The feel of her knees, straddling him, her sighs when he'd rush in, or push forward without backup… They were all gone. All that was left now was the Scythe that had felt like a curse in the beginning, and these two. Naofumi, blind to her love, and Raphtalia, completely devoted to Naofumi.

What would he do? He'd only pushed so hard because Terese needed him. He wouldn't let anything happen to her, and that meant he'd pushed as far and as hard as he had. She'd not let him…

But he had. She was dead. Without them there, their world was gone. Glass wouldn't be able to fight off the other three by herself, and the other…

Raphtalia held Naofumi, but her own mind was far from settled. She knew now what he must have felt, when he had been drawn into her world. There was so much more that he'd been through… but she'd already lost everything once before. Filo and Melty… she didn't cry, but she wanted to wail. Her little sisters were gone now. Her village was gone… But she still had Naofumi.

She could feel the Slave Crest was gone. She pulled at her shirt, closing the top, and covering the spot where she'd begun to proudly display the Crest, as well as some of her cleavage. It was a symbol of her love for him. She was not ashamed to be his slave, not the Shield Hero, and never Naofumi. She had been a slave to other masters but there was no Slave Crest needed for this man. He'd saved her, he'd given her food, had given her a sword, had shown her how to defend herself and those she loved. She would hide the spot for now, hopefully it wouldn't occur to him, that the Slave Crest was gone.

When L'Arc had shouted at him, she'd seen the beginning of the same feelings in him that she saw in Naofumi. The fire there was something that heated his own soul. The man had been friendly back on Cal Mira, but that he was an enemy was something that had shaken Naofumi. He truly liked the man, not particularly as a friend, but as a fellow warrior. She'd been able to get him to admit that much.

Naofumi stirred in her arms after a few moments, and finally rose. He reached his hand out to help her up, but she pretended not to notice as she bent, putting both hands on the ground, and then discreetly pulled her shirt higher, covering her cleavage and the now gone Slave Crest, then stood, faking a smile. He shook his head and pulled her in for a rare hug. She blushed, but she wanted to cry as well.

"I'm sorry Raphtalia. It was selfish of me to force you to be strong when you've just been pulled out of your world. I'm sorry."

"Its…" She started to say, but she couldn't finish, her eyes filling with tears. She'd never see Filo or Melty again. Filo… The tears rushed down her face as she cried. The beautiful little Fillolial girl was so innocent, and so sweet. She would be crushed…

The whole process took well over three hours before each of them felt strong enough to begin their journey. They soon realized that L'Arc was not accustomed to sleeping outside.

"We need to find an Inn." He whined again.

"We don't have any money. We need to find goods to sell."

"We've got…" He cut off abruptly, and didn't speak again.

It was an uneasy truce, that first day. None of them doubted Ishtar, or that this was another world, but they had been enemies for months. They'd tried to kill each other. It was no easy feat to put that aside, but L'Arc's personality was just so… relaxed, that they fell into that truce, and then into silent team work, helping look for things that might be useful or dangerous.

The Scythe would be enough to make any would be bandits back off, she was sure. The wicked curve and the length of the blade made an impressive sight, but his skills were unmatched as well. They weren't approached by anyone or anything, until a deer ran across the path, and he sprang into action, the scythe cutting off it's head. They'd at least have food tonight.