Haruka & the Great Holy Grail War

"It's so boring here," Mordred whined as she watched Kairi work on a new bone tool.

"We'll go out tonight if that makes you happy," Kairi said gruffly. He hadn't expected Mordred, the Knight of Treachery, to act so childish when she was bored.

A wave of mana rolled over the place, and Kairi tensed. "Someone's tripped the bounded field."

Mordred sat up, her face now serious. "Who is it?"

Kairi activated his circuits and looked through the eyes of one of his familiars outside. "A Servant… and his injured Master. This is strange. Saber, go check it out. Do not engage them in battle."

"Fine," Mordred sighed as she stood up, summoning Clarent into her hand. "This better be interesting," she muttered.

***

"Saber is coming," Karna said.

"Good, just who I wanted to see," Haruka said. She shifted and accidentally banged her injured shoulder on Karna's armour. "Ow ow ow!"

"You two are either suicidal or have a plan up your sleeves if you deliberately tripped the bounded field," a familiar voice spoke. Mordred materialized, a bored look on her face. "Who're you two?"

"Lancer of Red and his Master. You're Saber of Red, right? I just want to talk to your Master. I'm not with Priest Kotomine, I swear."

Mordred tilted her head, communicating with her Master. After a few minutes, she lowered her sword. "We're only letting you in since you said you're not with that priest. Follow me."

Exchanging glances with Karna, Haruka motioned for Karna to follow the Saber deeper into the graveyard.

***

"Master, we're back," Mordred called as she entered the small antechamber she and Kairi stayed in.

Kairi looked up and saw a white-haired Servant carrying an injured red-haired girl in his arms. "Lancer of Red and his Master. How did you even know we were here?"

"I know a lot of things, Shishigo-san," Haruka said. "I came here just to talk."

Kairi appraised Haruka with a sharp glance. "Where did you get all these injuries?"

"Ran into Saber of Black and his Master. I incapacitated the latter, but I got some nasty injuries. Do you know any healing spells? I don't. I can give you some information in exchange for your help."

"Hm… fine. Lancer, can you set her down on that mat over there?"

Karna complied, and Kairi moved over to Haruka's side and examined her cuts. "These look like spear wounds."

"I got stabbed by a few of them—ow!" Haruka yelped as Kairi gingerly poked at her lower leg, which had a barely-closed stab wound.

"You say you don't know any healing spells, but some of them have healed. Only a bit, though." Kairi muttered an aria, and Haruka's flesh slowly started knitting itself back together.

"My uniform is a mystic code that can cast 3 spells. One of them is an emergency heal usually meant for a Servant, but they can be cast on the user if needed. But usually I'd need some more healing done before I'm completely fine."

"Interesting…" was the only thing Kairi said before he moved on to a deeper cut on Haruka's arm, having completely healed the injuries on Haruka's lower body.

"So? What information can you give us?" Mordred asked.

"Saber of Black's identity is Siegfried, for starters. I also know the identities of all the other Servants in this war. It's kind of a long story, but I know you two are trustworthy enough."

"You can start with it, then. I'm done over here. You might need a bit of rest to make sure you're completely fine, but I've stopped all the bleeding and repaired your blood vessels." Kairi moved away from Haruka and resumed his position near the fire.

Haruka slowly lifted an arm, surprise as she realized there was no more pain. "Wow, you're good. Thanks. I'll tell you my story, then. Karna, make sure Mordred doesn't attack me, okay?"

Kairi's mouth dropped at the casual reveal. Meanwhile, Mordred leveled a scathing glare at Haruka, a dangerous aura rising off her. "How do you know my True Name?!"

Karna moved in between Mordred and Haruka, spear ready, but Haruka waved him down. "The same way I know the other Servants's True Names and the way this war is going to turn out… because I'm from the future."

***

"So you're essentially saying in the future, humanity is going to be wiped out and you've been tasked with fixing incidents in the past that never happened to reset the timeline?" Kairi asked in disbelief.

"Basically, yeah. The entire scheme's by the Grand Caster Solomon. With seven Holy Grails, he gave them to a Servant or a human of the past and let them wreak havoc with their wish. The results of that wish usually mess up the past we know of and as a result, also incinerates our future. I travel to the past with a bunch of Servants, find the reason why the past is messed up, and destroy it, recovering the Holy Grail and taking it back to Chaldea. We've defeated seven singularities so far, and the final one is supposed to be our last battle with Solomon—if we can find him, of course."

"That doesn't explain how you know my identity, though," Mordred said.

"I'm getting there," Haruka said. "With each singularity, I met various Servants and obtained suitable catalysts to summon them in Chaldea. Chaldea's system allows me to summon multiple Servants, and sustain them without my own mana. I don't understand how it works, but there's around 100 Servants in Chaldea right now. You included, Mordred."

"100?!" Kairi gaped.

"Mhm. I know all of them by name and appearance, considering I summoned them myself. Mordred's a case where I met her in a singularity, though. You helped me out greatly in 1800s London, so thanks for that." Haruka grinned at Mordred.

"You're… welcome?" Mordred sounded confused, but Haruka laughed.

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot that you're not the Mordred that I know. Karna's the same case. I summoned him after the American singularity, where I encountered him and a bunch of others."

Karna simply nodded.

"So, who have you summoned so far?" Kairi asked, interested.

"There's a lot… we'll be stuck here all day if I tell you. However, I will tell you that there are cases of Servants with the same identity, although under different classes or even at different ages. An example's Gilgamesh. His main class is his adult Archer form, but there's also Caster Gilgamesh and a child Archer version. Cu Chulainn's another example. He has two Lancer forms, one Caster, and one Berserker."

"That's… insane. How do you even tell them apart?"

"They look different, of course. They also act really differently. If I have to talk to them, I usually call out to them telepathically."

"Hey, Haruka… is my father in Chaldea?" Mordred asked.

Haruka tilted her head. "Which one?"

Mordred gaped. "What do you mean, 'which one'?!"

"Uh… your father is Arthur Pendragon, who has 3 Saber identities, 2 Lancer identities, 1 Assassin identity, and 1 Berserker identity. There's also a Saber identity that said he came from a completely different world."

It was Mordred's turn to fall slack-jawed, although Kairi copied her actions.

"Actually, to clarify, besides the one Saber-class, they're all different versions of the father you know, Arturia Pendragon. And then there's the male King Arthur who came from a completely different timeline."

"Wait, wait, wait," Kairi interrupted. "Arthur Pendragon was a female?"

"Technically a pseudo-male thanks to Merlin's magic, but she is female. The male Arthur Pendragon I'm talking about isn't Mordred's father. Arturia Pendragon, on the other hand, is Mordred's real father."

"You know what, I'm getting confused by all this," Kairi groaned. "Can you just tell me about this war since Saber's all shell-shocked over there?"

"Sure. Priest Kotomine's real identity is the Ruler-class Servant, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada. He wants the Grail for his wish to save humanity. Which, by the way, is a bad idea, so I'm stopping him."

"Wha-how?!"

"The Einzberns screwed the rules and summoned him in the Third Holy Grail War. He survived and decided to carry out his plans in this war. He's pretty nice in Chaldea, but right now, he's still a jerk. I'm currently letting him think I'll stay on his side, but when the time's right, I'm either going to defect to the Black Faction or become a third party."

"…"

"Wanna join me? You guys can have the Grail once we take down everyone. I don't want it."

"This… is a lot to take in…" Kairi finally said. "I can tell that you're telling the truth, though. I'll have to think about this."

"Sure," Haruka said. "Mordred told me back in Chaldea that you were a really great person and Master overall, so I know you'll make the right decision."

"Wait, she remembers me? Even though you summoned a different version?"

"The Servants I've summoned have memories of previous Grail Wars. Karna was the original Lancer of Red in this war so he knows what happens, and I summoned him here straight from Chaldea so he's the one I originally summoned and bonded with. Makes things easier, you know?"

"I see…"

"Anyways, I have another favour to ask for you. Can you create a Servant summoning circle?

"… you're going to summon another Serv/ant?"

"Master, please reconsider. We've already had this conversation," Karna said firmly, speaking up for the first time in a while. "You will not be able to provide enough mana for two Servants since we are no longer tied to Chaldea."

"And I said I'd be fine. This is also for Mordred's benefit as well, you know."

"Huh?" Mordred had finally snapped out of her shock. "Are you summoning Father?"

"Yes and no," Haruka said with a mysterious smile. "Can you do it?" She asked Kairi.

"Sure. Give me some time, though."

***

"Master, you do not even have a catalyst," Karna reminded Haruka as they stood in front of the summoning circle. "With you summoning directly from Chaldea, you might end up with more Black Keys."

"Please don't remind me about my Black Key summoning hell," Haruka groaned. "These should work as a catalyst, right?" She pulled two Craft Essences out of her phone. "One conceptualized piece of Excalibur and a nice photo of Arthur with Paracelsus and Ozymandias. Luckily I have multiples of both so losing those won't do any harm. Excalibur's concept will guarantee Arthur's arrival."

"So you're really going to summon King Arthur," Kairi commented.

"Mhm. He's on really good terms with Mordred back in Chaldea, plus I kinda want to Excaliblast some enemies here while I'm at it."

"A male Father…" Mordred muttered. She still appeared to be quite shocked.

Haruka placed the two cards into the middle of the circle and pulled out 3 Saint Quartz from her phone. "That reminds me, I should do a few summons later." Activating her circuits, she sent a burst of mana into the circle, and it glowed, rainbow orbs spinning around and finally converging into a blast of bright light.

When the light died down, a handsome blond male clad in armour stood in the circle, a confused look on his face. Looking around, his eyes settled on Haruka and Karna. The former grinned at him, and his confusion melted into relief. "Master Haruka! Karna!"

"Hi there, Arthur! Glad to see you're fine."

"Where are we…" Arthur trailed off as he saw Mordred gaping at him, and a grin spread across his face. "Mordred! So this is the war you were in… you're cute as always."

Mordred's face turned redder than a tomato as she spluttered incoherently, and Haruka could have sworn she saw steam come out of the embarrassed Saber's ears.

"Well, that's a first…" Kairi muttered.

***

A few minutes earlier in Chaldea

"I hope Master returns safely," Arthur commented. He was talking with his female Saber counterpart, Arturia Pendragon. "I don't know how much longer we can restrain the more troublesome Servants."

"I'm ashamed to say my altered counterparts may cause some trouble," Arturia said with a frown. "I saw Saber and Lancer conversing with Berserker earlier-they might be planning something."

"It's hard when there's so many different versions of you," Arthur said sympathetically. "I know I'm one of them, but I believe I'm the easiest to tell apart."

Arturia laughed slightly. "We are both versions of the concept of 'Arthur Pendragon, but our genders make it easier to differentiate. I suppose that;s why we agreed on the earlier proposal, brother ."

"I could say the same, sister ."

The two shared a laugh before Arturia developed a pensive look on her face. "Have you seen Mordred around, by the way? I don't want the Alters harassing her while Master is gone."

"Look at you, finally concerned for your cute daughter. I think she's with Jekyll, though. The last time I saw them I believed they were playing with the children."

"You make a better parent to her even though you've declared yourself as her uncle. It's all thanks to you and Master that we finally settled our differences though."

"Now if only she'd get along with Lancelot and the others, it would be perfect," Arthur said.

The two were walking down one of the corridors in Chaldea. Up ahead, they could hear voices, and stretching out their senses, they could tell that it was Gilgamesh's Caster form conversing with Enkidu.

"…"

Noticing the slight frown on Arturia's face, Arthur spoke up. "You don't wish to encounter Gilgamesh and Enkidu?"

"Caster is easier to deal with as he is not obsessed with me, but he is still the same person…" Arturia trailed off.

"Well, you could always—" Arthur cut himself off as a summoning circle suddenly formed under him, and he felt his body forcibly dematerialize.

"Arthur?!" Arturia cried out in shock.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu heard Arturia's shout and came running, only to stare in disbelief as Arthur's body disappeared along with the summoning circle.

"… I believe he disappeared the same way as Karna," Enkidu observed calmly, but there was a hidden shock to his tone.

"So Haruka has summoned him to her side?" Gilgamesh asked. "She must be having trouble if she's calling for more of us." Not many Servants knew about the true situation with Haruka, but Caster Gilgamesh was among the few who knew she was in another timeline.

"… I believe I will go explain the situation to Dr. Roman and Da Vinci then," Arturia sighed.