Haruka & The Great Holy Grail War
When everyone had gathered in the ruins of Yggdmillenia Castle, Vlad spoke up first. "As of now, the Greater Grail War has fallen apart. The Red Faction possesses the Great Grail but it is entirely controlled by one man: Amakusa Shirou Tokisada. Our main objective is to take him down. Through this incident, though, we have gained an ally formerly of the Red Faction." He gestured to Haruka, who gave a tired wave.
"My name's Fujimaru Haruka. Most of you I haven't told, but I'm a magus from the future. The easy story is I'm here to prevent Amakusa Shirou Tokisada from achieving his wish since that would bring ruin to humanity, but Zelretch actually sent me here for his amusement."
At the mention of the Wizard Marshall's name, Fiore and Gordes paled.
Noticing this, Haruka tried to smile sympathetically. "I'd apologize for messing up your war, but Amakusa's going to mess it up more than me. Zelretch also offered me a reward I couldn't refuse. Also, on an unrelated note. Vlad, how are you still alive?"
"I left Darnic confined in his room and barely alive," Vlad stated simply. "However, there is no other Master to contract with me and I must kill him soon for betraying me."
"Are you going to die then, and regret missing your opportunity to reach the Grail?"
"I would take the opportunity to contract with another Master, but there is no one here, is there?" Vlad asked, gazing pointedly at Haruka.
Noticing his gaze, she shot a questioning one back. "What?"
"Was what you were saying back at the Hanging Gardens true? And will you be able to contract with me?"
"No. Complete bluff. I am contracted to over 100 Servants—one of them being you, by the way—but it is impossible for me to call them here with just a Command Seal. I summoned Karna and Arthur with summoning circles, and even then, I've redirected Arthur's mana consumption to Sieg over here since I can't sustain the both of them during a fight. As for me contracting to you, I suppose I could because your Spirit Origin is different from the Vlad III I summoned back in Chaldea, but what would you do once the war is over? I doubt I can bring you back with me."
"That is fine. A temporary contract with you will suffice. I was summoned into this world and I will remain in this world until my end. The Black Faction is still able to redirect mana consumption, but it seems we are lacking homunculi…" Vlad turned to glare at Sieg, who stared back resolutely with no fear in his eyes.
"I will do it," a female voice spoke up, and all eyes turned to a short-haired homunculus with a bandaged leg.
"Tool?" Sieg asked.
"You rescued us, so this is the most logical way to pay you back," the female homunculus replied. She turned to Haruka. "What do I need to do?"
"Take this, for one," Haruka said, tossing a Book of the False Attendant and 3 quartz at Tool. "Drop the quartz into the book and I'll handle the rest." She went over to Vlad and took his hand, her Command Seals glowing brightly. They faded after a few seconds and she let go, and Tool nodded at her, feeling the slight prana drain.
Gordes eyed the book with obvious interest. "What does that do?"
"It's originally supposed to transfer Command Seals over to an unqualified Master and let the original Master handle the mana, but after I summoned Medea, she reversed the functions. I don't need to use them back home since we have prana generators that can sustain all the Servants during battle, but they have their uses. I believe the original creators were… the Matou? That's what Medusa said, at least."
"Matou? I have not heard of them."
"Uh… I think they used to be called the Makiri? One of the founding families for the Grail, or at least that's what Ishtar told me."
"And just how were you able to summon a goddess? Divine Spirits can't be summoned by the Grail!"
"Uhh… Ishtar's a Pseudo-Servant case. She possessed the body of a magus… I think her name was Tohsaka Rin. Look, you can ask me all you want later. We're here for a strategy meeting, not an interrogation session."
"You're working with us now?" Fiore asked. "Did you betray the Red Faction?"
"I never claimed to be part of them in the first place. Okay, I might have been leeching off them a bit, but I play for my side only. I'm working with you guys for now since that's clearly a better option. Don't worry; I have no desire to betray you. Our goals are the exact same; to take down Amakusa Shirou Tokisada."
"Do we have a concrete plan?" Caules asked.
"No; so we're formulating one. Where's Caster's Master, by the way?"
"Roche? He was pretty despondent after he realized Caster died, so I think he's sulking…"
Vlad subtly shook his head at Haruka, warning her not to tell the truth of what happened in the Gardens.
"Alright, so we're missing someone else, then…"
A loud crash caused some to jump, and everyone turned to the door to see a furious Mordred and a resigned-looking Kairi. "The party started without us?! Father! Why didn't you tell them to wait?!" Mordred stomped over to Arthur, causing most Servants to tense as they all knew the legend, but everyone gaped when Arthur simply smiled and ruffled Mordred's hair.
"Sorry, Mordred. I was about to, but they had other business to take care of. Now stop pouting. You're here now, aren't you?"
Everyone turned to stare at Haruka and Karna, who simply watched as if nothing was wrong.
"I thought King Arthur and Mordred had… issues?" Jeanne asked carefully.
"Not here they don't. Also, I know you know they're technically the Red Faction, but they're on my side. At this point, how about you guys just accept things as they are? It'll make understanding everything a whole lot easier. Oh, and by the way, Jack the Ripper is Assassin of Black and the cutest little girl you'll ever meet. I'll pass along any plans we make to her so we can include her in the fighting since she likes to dismember people just like she did with Astolfo's former Master."
"I don't think I get anything anymore," Caules groaned.
"Uuu!" Frankenstein agreed.