Haruka & the Great Holy Grail War

"Phew, I thought they were actually going to kill me," Haruka said, skipping out of the church. "I think that went quite well, though. Thanks for helping out, Karnacchi."

"It is a Servant's duty to protect their Master. Now, what will you do?" Karna had dematerialized his armour in favour of the black suit he had been wearing earlier. Haruka had changed back into the Chaldea uniform.

"Hm… Mordred and her Master are only going to come here tomorrow afternoon. Jeanne's not showing up until tomorrow night, when you were scheduled to attack her. I don't have any real money on me, but I can project some Romanian money. Luckily projected money can last for a few days, and we'll be long gone before then. I'll find a decent place to stay for the night and get some food, and we can make some plans for the rest of the war."

"You will most likely have a target on your back thanks to the Queen of Assyria," Karna warned. "She is very suspicious about you."

"As expected," Haruka said dismissively. "She's like Medea and Gilgamesh's personalities mixed together but a billion times more evil and manipulative than Medea. I can trust you to protect me anyways. Anyways, should we find an inn or something?"

Karna nodded.

"Great! Let's go, then!"

***

Chaldea was currently in a state of emergency.

The only Master and human who could possibly save humanity had disappeared, and the staff and Servants were in a panic.

To be honest, Dr. Roman and Mashu probably wouldn't have known Haruka was missing until a day after her disappearance, but after Siegfried burst into Dr. Roman's office exclaiming that a summoning circle had appeared under Karna and forcibly teleported him somewhere else in the middle of a spar, Mashu had went to find her senpai…

… only to find that Haruka was missing from her room, her phone gone as well but her charger still plugged into the wall.

A facility-wide search had been issued to all the Servants to find their missing Master, but she hadn't been found. Dr. Roman and Da Vinci had also stated that no one had Rayshifted out of Chaldea at that time, causing many to believe that Haruka had been abducted by Solomon. Karna's disappearance was also a mystery.

Dr. Roman was currently pacing around his office, agitation clear in his features. Da Vinci looked on, irritation at him clear on her face but hints of worry over Haruka were also present. Mashu had been sent with some other level-headed Servants to make sure the more chaotic Servants didn't cause trouble now that their sole Master was gone.

"It just doesn't make sense!" Dr. Roman finally spoke. "I'd understand if only Haruka went missing, but Karna as well?! This doesn't match up with anything I've ever read about!"

Da Vinci sighed before clearing her throat to cut off Roman's next tirade. "Roman! Just calm down for a few minutes and think clearly! You've been pacing around for the last hour!"

"How can I when humanity's future is at stake?! Solomon's going to win at this rate and we can't do anything!" Roman resumed pacing around, and then yelped as Da Vinci grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at her.

"ROMANI. ARCHAMAN. CALM. DOWN."

Roman winced. He knew Da Vinci was dead serious when she used his full name, and with her sternest tone of voice at that. "Fine. What am I supposed to do?"

"The first thing you can do is stop panicking and help out with calming down the staff."

A knock was heard at the door, and Da Vinci released Roman. "Come in."

A certain Saber-class Servant, also known as Arthur Pendragon, walked into the room. "Dr. Roman, Da Vinci, I think I found a clue as to Master Haruka's whereabouts."

Dr. Roman's eyes lit up. "Where is she?!"

Arthur had a distinct look of discomfort on his face as he pulled out a Craft Essence out of his pocket. The card depicted a bearded old man. "I was talking with Arturia when I heard a voice come from my pocket. It appeared to come from the Craft Essence, and it said it knew where Master was."

"The Craft Essence spoke?!" Da Vinci exclaimed.

Dr. Roman gestured for Arthur to hand over the card to him, and examined it. "Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg… master of the Second Magic and the only one to traverse the vast worlds of the Kaleidoscope, hence the name of this Craft Essence. It gives you a huge burst of mana so you can immediately cast your Noble Phantasm. Haruka gave it to you so you could use Excalibur right off the bat."

"Ho, you know about me as well? Like the male King of Knights has stated, I do know where she is."

Dr. Roman yelped and dropped the card. "What?!"

Da Vinci grabbed the card before it fell on the ground. "Return Haruka and Karna back to Chaldea immediately! How are you even speaking through this card?"

"Perceptive, as expected of Leonardo da Vinci. Haruka and Karna are currently participating in a Holy Grail War in another domain of the Kaleidoscope. Rest assured, they are fine. And as to how I can talk through a Craft Essence… after all, wherever there is a 'concept' of my being written in the records of the world, I can use that actualized concept to speak to you. Don't try to understand it, the Second Magic is quite, quite complicated. I will return Haruka and Karna to you after one week. It's the same war Vlad III, Astolfo, Siegfried, Jeanne d'Arc, Mordred, and Atalanta participated in."

"The Great Holy Grail War… but Haruka has never been in a real Holy Grail War before!"

"Relax, she has enough experience after 7 singularities where she risked her life far more than a single Grail War. Karna's there to protect her as well. She's more capable than any other Master, I'll give her that."

"What reason do you have for sending her there?!"

"A little experiment of mine. She willingly agreed."

"How…?!"

"The answer is obvious to that one, Roman," Da Vinci sighed. "Haruka's obsessed with Saint Quartz. Zelretch probably bribed her."

"Correct! 1000 quartz, no more and no less."

"Haruka…" Roman groaned and dragged his hand over his face. "What if we locate Solomon before the week ends? What if he ends up destroying us when we're at our most vulnerable? What if another singularity pops up?"

"Not of my concern, but you can last one week without her. Oh, looks like my time's up." The Craft Essence promptly started smoking, and Da Vinci dropped it. It disintegrated into thin air.

Arthur gaped as he watched his Craft Essence destroy itself. "I suppose I'll have to pick out another one from storage…"

"This is a mess," Dr. Roman moaned. "I need Magi Mari's assistance… Da Vinci, can you get my laptop?"

"Romani Archaman! Do you honestly think you should be turning to an internet AI right now?!"

Arthur watched awkwardly as Roman and Da Vinci started arguing, and after a few minutes, he sighed and dematerialized. "Be safe… Master Haruka…"