Haruka & the Great Holy Grail War

"Romania's quite pretty, don't you think? No minor singularity has ever been here, so this is my first time seeing it." Haruka was walking in the streets of Shigisoara with Karna beside her. Haruka was currently wearing her standard white and black Chaldea uniform, while Karna was in a formal black suit.

"It is," Karna replied laconically. "More importantly, Haruka, have you planned out your meeting with Amakusa Shirou?"

"Hm… somewhat," Haruka replied. "According to what Amakusa told me back at Chaldea, he had convinced the Masters to summon their Servants together and then controlled them with the help of Semiramis's poisoned tea. So accepting anything from them is a no-go. Mordred told me her Master apparently was a latecomer and travelled separately from the others. We have two choices: ally with Mordred and Shishigo Kairi or blackmail Semiramis and Amakusa into letting us stay in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon when it launches. Honestly, I think the latter is a better idea. What do you think, Karna?"

"I believe staying with Mordred and her Master will be safer for you, Haruka, but there is an advantage to staying close to Amakusa Shirou Tokisada and the Queen of Assyria. We would be able to monitor their actions and you would most likely take the opportunity to manipulate them since you know of their future actions."

"Ehehe, nothing gets past you, does it? I'm guessing Discernment of the Poor is a passive skill now, right?"

Karna nodded.

"Let's see… I checked your stats when I first summoned you here, and I'll make sure one more time. Level 90 but I'm making sure you're staying in your second ascension armour so that Kavacha and Kundala are active. Actually, do levels even matter in regular Grail Wars? Your only active skill is your Mana Burst of Flames, which will be mana-intensive for me but I have apples to make up for it. And you are NOT going to use Vasavi Shakti, okay? Use Brahmastra Kundala or anything else, but not Vasavi Shakti."

"Understood, Haruka."

"Anything else we can settle later. Oh, looks like this is the place." Haruka stopped in front of a church. "Karna, can you dematerialize for now? Keep an eye out for any traps."

Karna nodded and dissolved into astral form. Taking a second to compose herself, Haruka turned on her phone and went through the list of Mystic Codes she had. "The standard uniform probably won't help much… the swimsuit is a bad idea… oh yes, the battlesuit will do nicely." Tapping once on the icon, Haruka smiled as her outfit changed to her orange and white battlesuit.

Confidently, she strode to the doors of the church.

***

"I just remembered why I don't like churches… they're creepy when they're empty," Haruka complained as she walked down the aisle to the altar. "Hey! Anyone home?"

"Oh? Who might you be?" A man stepped out from behind the altar.

Haruka fought off the urge to wave at a Servant she was quite familiar with back in Chaldea, and opted for a smile. "I believe I'm the second-last Master to join the Red Faction in the Great Holy Grail War? My name's Haruka."

Amakusa's eyebrow lifted just a fraction. "The Mages's Association contacted me and said they were replacing Feend vor Sembren with someone Wizard Marshall Zelretch personally put forward… and you are that person?"

"Yup!" Haruka said. "Who are you, by the way?"

"My name is Kotomine Shirou, the mediator for this war, and a Master of the Red Faction. Do you know about the details of this war?"

Kotomine… ah, why did he have to choose the last name of the guy I hate the most besides Solomon? "Red Faction versus the Black Faction of Yggdmillenia, the Red Masters are supposed to be from the Mages's Association, and we're supposed to be taking back the Greater Grail. I guess I know enough."

"I see. Then, will you show your Servant? I will show mine as well."

Haruka shrugged. "Go ahead, Lancer." I'm going to have to get used to calling you Lancer, she mentally thought to Karna.

If not for the other lancers you summoned to Chaldea, you would have called me that all the time, Karna replied, materializing in full armour.

Behind Amakusa, a beautiful woman dressed in black and with pointed ears materialized, a dangerous smirk on her face as she assessed Haruka. Haruka stared back refusing to back down. She reminds me of Gilgamesh. Well, she was a ruler and was associated with Babylon… which means I'll have to be careful around her. Gil's Archer personality is most like her… Amakusa wasn't lying when he described her to me back in Chaldea.

"Such nice eyes for such a young girl," Semiramis commented as she gazed at Haruka. "Already looking like they're filled with experience beyond your age, and not afraid to stare down a proud ruler."

Haruka shrugged before curtsying to Semiramis. "I don't know who you are but you appear to be ancient royalty."

Assassin of Red's smirk only widened. "Oh, and already deferential to the one clearly above her in rank. I approve of you and your Servant, child."

"Thank you for that, my Queen," Haruka replied.

Is all this shallow flattery really necessary? Karna asked.

No, she's probably seeing through me, but being polite won't hurt. At least she seems easier to deal with than Gilgamesh's Archer personality. Lucky for me, she doesn't seem to call people mongrels.

"Shall we discuss a bit more about the Red Faction's plans? We are expecting the last Master tomorrow, so we should start deciding on how to handle the Black Faction."

"Sure," Haruka said with a shrug.

"Please follow me to the back, then."

Here it comes. Obviously I don't have a high magic resistance, so we're going to fight our way out if necessary, Karna.

Understood, Haruka.

***

"Please sit," Amakusa invited as he let them into a dimly-lit room with comfortable-looking couches. Haruka picked the one closest to the door, Karna standing beside her.

Semiramis materialized with a pot of tea, handing it to Amakusa. He poured cups for both of them.

"Thanks," Haruka said, but didn't touch it.

"You don't like tea?" Amakusa asked.

"No thanks, it tastes like bitter leaf water." In truth, Haruka quite liked tea, but she knew the tea Semiramis prepared was probably poisonous.

"Do you want some water, then?"

"Nah, I'm fine… after all, you two are planning on stealing Karna from me once you incapacitate me with a poisoned drink… right? After all, all you want is the Greater Grail… Amakusa Shirou Tokisada."

The shocked expression on Semiramis's face was priceless, and Haruka snickered, snapping a picture with her phone to save for later. Meanwhile, Amakusa simply smiled, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "You aren't a normal mage, aren't you?"

"Who knows," Haruka said. "Shall we handle this matter civilly or do you want a fight? As a Ruler-class Servant, I bet you've already figured out Lancer's true identity. And I do have some tricks up my sleeve."

Semiramis recovered from her shock and gestured, a magic circle forming on her hand and firing a chain at Haruka. Karna blocked the chain before it came within 2 metres of Haruka, sliding into his battle stance. Haruka simply aimed one pointer finger at Amakusa, who hadn't moved, and spoke. "Gandr."

A bolt of black shot from Haruka's finger. Faster than what even Semiramis could see, the bolt connected with Amakusa's chest, blowing him back with a grunt of surprise. Semiramis rushed over to his side. "Master!"

"I cannot move my body… is this your power, Haruka?" Amakusa asked.

"Actually, it's one of the spells from my mystic code. You shouldn't be incapacitated for too long. Now, can we get to negotiations? I don't plan on actively going against you two."

"Then what do you want, child?" Semiramis hissed.

"Let Karna and I stay in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for the duration of the war and give us free rein to mess with the Black Faction whenever we want. I will take orders from Amakusa if they fit my goals. In exchange, I can give you knowledge about your possible futures, as I am, as you may or may not have figured out, a magus from the future, brought here by Zelretch." Eh, I can deal with the consequences for revealing this too early. It's the only way for them to let me go crazy anyways.

"So you know how the war will turn out in the end?" Amakusa asked.

"There's a bunch of possibilities. Obviously if I tell you now the current timeline is going to be messed up, and I don't want that happening. I also know the identities of the Servants in the Black Faction and that you guys plan on stealing the Greater Grail from the Yggdmillenia family as soon as you gather enough supplies for Queen Semiramis's Noble Phantasm."

"You know much more than anyone else should in this world… I will believe that you are someone from the future, then. It can't be helped. I will agree to your conditions, but you will tell me everything that can happen to my plan."

"Yes, yes, humanity's salvation, I get it. Are we good, then? Contact me if you have any orders for me. Now, if you don't mind, we're going. Let's go, Lancer."

Haruka spun and left the room, Karna briefly glancing over at Amakusa and Semiramis before following her.

"She'll ruin our plans," Semiramis stated when they were out of earshot. "I can tell. She is not afraid to face even the greatest adversaries of this world, and despite my growing respect for her abilities and personality, we should eliminate her."

"She'll be hard to incapacitate even without her Servant to protect her," Amakusa stated, pushing himself up and dusting off his clothes. Picking up a piece of paper Haruka had dropped, he noted the phone number written on it. "We should tread carefully around her. With her on our side for now, we will have the advantage in information."

"Understood, Master."