Here's the Chapter where explanations on the Holy Grail War happen!
NOTE: How the Holy Grail War is explained is partially taken from the Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works animated TV series so everything belongs to Ufotable and the creators of the Fate series and Type-Moon.
Also, the ending is kinda rushed. Sorry about that. Please leave a review!
Chapter 4- The Holy Grail War
Cleo silently followed Gawain through the empty halls of Camelot, with Natalya at her side. As it happened, once the battle with Lancer was over, Arthur had to do damage control with his people, so in the end, he still hadn't gotten his explanation of the Holy Grail War, which Cleo assumed was frustrating him to no end.
But he would now, once everything had been cleaned up through the use of Merlin's magic and King Arthur had been able to placate the concerns of his lords and people, he had immediately called a council; calling back all his Knights of the Round Table so that Cleo and Natalya could explain the Holy Grail War to them all. Well, at least they wouldn't have to keep explaining it if all the key players in Camelot were present.
"Master." Saber's voice echoed in her head, and from the lack of responses from Gawain and Natalya, Cleo knew she was the only one who could hear her Servant who had chosen to go into spiritual form. "Maybe we should just leave. Staying here would just endanger the people of Camelot."
"As if King Arthur would just let us leave." Cleo shot back, she knew her Saber was trailing behind them. "Besides, after the mess we made, don't you think we owe them an explanation? And what if another Servant attacks?"
There was a pause and for a moment, Cleo thought that Saber would leave it at that, but then her voice once again spoke to her. "Could it be that you expect me to protect them?" Saber sounded completely exasperated. "That's impossible."
Cleo ground her teeth, speaking aloud in her frustration. "Aren't Saber-class Servants supposed to be the strongest?"
Gawain and Natalya looked at her in confusion, but they kept walking to the council hall. Cleo gave them a nervous smile and shook her head.
"Strongest doesn't mean invincible." Saber countered. "Yes, Saber Servants are usually stronger than any other class, but in part, it's just a title. Being Saber doesn't make me unbeatable. I would need help in battle if I was outnumbered and if I were to go head to head against a Berserker, there's a good chance I'd lose based on strength alone. Protecting a Master can be hard enough, protecting a city of people is impossible when you can't see your enemies strength and weaknesses."
Cleo didn't respond to that; in part because she knew Saber had a really good point and because Gawain had just pushed open the doors to the council room. Cleo gulped when she saw King Arthur sitting at the head of the Round Table, his Knights flanking either side of him. Merlin sat to his left and to her surprise, Guinevere was there too, at his right. Merlin she understood, but Guinevere?
Arthur stood at their entrance, his eyes serious. "Ladies, thank your for coming. I'd like you to meet my Knights of the Round Table." Everyone's eyes were on the girls, and Cleo could tell by the tenseness of Natalya's shoulders that she was as nervous as she was.
"And," Arthur held his right hand out, a smile appearing on his face as the honey blonde woman beside him took it before standing up. "My Queen, Guinevere."
"N-nice to meet you." Cleo stammered out, her face reddening at the attention they were giving her. She was stunned by the Knights, most of them were extremely handsome men, but one Knight had kept his helmet on, and much to her surprise there were even a two females at the table. Who would have thought?
Laughter filled her head and she scowled. "Aren't you the shy one Brat? Your face is pretty red." Saber's amused voice filled her head.
"Don't call me Brat." Cleo looked at the empty space beside her, where she thought Saber was. "And would you materialize already?"
"You're looking in the wrong place." Cleo's head swung to the other side as Saber materialized into physical form, the air rippling around her. "And what else am I suppose to call you? You said, Master was too formal for you and you don't look like an adult. You've forgotten one important aspect of our contract, Brat."
"Stop calling me Brat!" Cleo snapped in frustration, forgetting that they had an audience. "My name is-!" She cut off abruptly, her face getting even more red as she realized her mistake.
Saber tilted her head, amusement dancing in her dark eyes as a small smirk formed on her lips. "I was wondering how long it would take you to remember. It took you an entire day, so what is it?"
"It's Cleo." Cleo sighed in defeat. "Cleo Everett." How had she forgotten to tell her Servant her name?! "More importantly, Saber. Tell them about the Holy Grail War." She didn't feel like explaining anymore. Not after how she had just embarrassed herself.
Saber blinked and looked at King Arthur and the rest of his Knights, Merlin and Guinevere; all of them, but Merlin and Guinevere looking slightly impatient. Merlin had an amused look on her face and Guinevere was just sitting quietly, the absolute picture of a proper and beautiful Queen.
"We can do that!" Both Cleo and Saber stiffened at the cheerful male voice that filled the room. Clearly everyone could hear it since they all went on the defensive. "We mean no harm! Cleo and Saber can attest to that!"
"It's the voice from before! The one that brought me here!" Cleo said, looking around frantic.
"Really? Those Infernal Twins brought you here?" Saber asked in confusion.
Cleo didn't get a chance to respond since a glowing orb of light suddenly engulfed everyone in the room.
"What is this?!" Natalya asked, panic in her blue eyes. The council room and the round table were gone and everyone was floating in a completely empty void.
"What's happening?!" Demanding one of the Knights of the Round, his voice muffled by the horned helmet he wore.
"My King!" a Knight with long silver hair in a ponytail and gentle green eyes looked at Arthur worriedly as the King tried to steady his Wife. "Are you unharmed?"
"I am fine, Bedivere." Arthur said, his eyes going to Cleo, Natalya and Saber. "What trick is this?" He demanded, voice cold.
"It's not one of my tricks." Saber said, anger in her own eyes as she looked around the void. "Eirelyn! Olliviere! If you want to tell them fine, but at lease show yourselves!"
At Saber's words, what looked like a chess board formed under their feet so that they could stand instead of just float around and soon after, two individuals appeared in front of them. Both figures looked near identical in appearance with thin, beautiful, ethereal bodies, pale creamy fair skin, and fiery red hair. The main differences were that one was a boy and the other a girl. The girl's hair was much longer, going pass her waist and her eyes were a glowing amber. The boy's hair stopped just short of his shoulders and his eyes were a brilliant blue.
"That's Eirelyn and Olliviere." Saber sighed, looking at the two near identical faces. "I guess they'll tell you what you want to know about the Holy Grail War."
"Right." Eirelyn said, looking at the Knights, "You have no idea what you're caught up in do you?"
"We don't either! How is this even happening? The Holy Grail War only happened once in Fuyuki City about nine or ten years ago!" Natalya said, sounding confused and annoyed.
"In this world at least." Olliviere spoke up. "You modern day humans have a theory about multiple parallel worlds don't you? Surprisingly, it's right. There are many parallel worlds akin to yours. While the specific world you're from has only had one, other worlds have had many Holy Grail Wars."
Cleo and Natalya both gaped at that. The parallel world theory was never proven but could it possibly be real?
"Olliviere, the Holy War." Saber snapped, trying to keep the auburn haired man on track.
"To be blunt, a battle royal for the Holy Grail has started up in this Britain." Olliviere began carelessly. "And to make matters worse, it's double the number of Servants, it should be a slaughter."
"What?!" Arthur demanded, his fingers moving to grip Excalibur at Olliviere's words. "What do you mean by slaughter?!"
Saber, who was standing near Olliviere quickly reached over and punched him in the back of the head, "Don't just say things like that." She looked at Arthur and sighed, "He's not wrong though. The Holy Grail War is based on the idea of modern day Mages, or Masters defeating each other."
"Usually it's only seven Servants, but here it's fourteen." Eirelyn picked up, "The Master who defeats all the other thirteen Masters will get the Holy Grail and get a wish."
"The Holy Grail?" The Knight with the helmet on his head spoke up. He wore thick white Armour with red accents and the helm he wore had horns on either side of it. "That's what we've been searching for!"
"It's not the one you've searched for. It's more of a ritual invented by the Magi. The Holy Grail War, usually fought by seven Masters. Only this time it'll be fourteen." Saber sighed, running a hand through her curls. "A battle to the death by Mages."
"Are you serious?!" Gawain demanded, looking at Saber stunned. He then looked over at Cleo and she looked away. "How do you know who these Masters are? And what exactly is a Servant?"
"The stigmata on the back of Miss Cleo and Miss Natalya's hands signify them as Masters." Eirelyn answered back. "They are also known as command seals, spells that can control your Servant. As long as Masters have those, they can keep their Servants under control."
Bedivere frowned at that, he didn't like the idea of control and command. "What do you mean by that?"
"Command Seals are inviolable orders." Saber sighed, she didn't particularly like them but, it was what it was. "In other words, Command Seals are spells that can force the Servant of a Master to obey them, even if they disagree with the order, it can bend the Servant towards the Master's will."
"They can?" Cleo asked, looking at the mark on her own hand. She remembered reading how Command Seals worked in Chaldea's archives before but hearing it actually spoken was surreal.
Saber glared at her Master, "Yes, however you only get three of them, so try not to waste any." She then sighed.
"Back to the question of what a Servant is," Eirelyn said, "Think of a Servant as a type of familiar granted to a Master by the Holy Grail to help them survive the Holy Grail War."
Merlin laughed at that, "Saber doesn't look like a familiar to me. She looks pretty human."
"While a Servant is technically a familiar, they are actually superhuman beings, heroes from the past." Cleo said, remembering having read that somewhere.
"Heroes from the past?" Arthur asked, he, along with everyone else now looking at Saber, who looked uncomfortable at the attention she was suddenly getting.
"That's right." Olliviere looked at Saber with a proud look, having recovered from her punch. "Servants are heroes out of legend, be it from the past, present or future, they are pulled into the time of the Holy Grail War and given form."
"It's the Masters role to summon them and then it's the power of the Grail itself that manifest them afterwards. Servants are almost always with their Master in spirit form and when it's time to fight, the Master has the Servant materialize and fight other Servants on their behalf." Eirelyn said.
There was a pause and Arthur looked between Cleo and Saber, a frown on his face. He didn't like where this was going and he had a feeling that this explanation was far from over.
Guinevere was frowning as well, but for a different reason. "That doesn't seem fair. Servants can be forced to do their Masters will and have to fight for them? The exchange isn't right."
"Well a Master can't fight a Servant, they would die in a few seconds." Saber said, "Besides, Servants maintain their existence in the world by being supplied by mana from their Masters, so having a few Command Seals seems fair to me. Servants would completely disappear if they didn't have mana from their Masters."
Lancelot frowned, "Is there anything else we need to know?" It seemed like they were keeping a lot of stuff out.
"You want to know everything? Fine." Eirelyn sighed, "In one way of explaining it, the Holy Grail War is a ritual to find the one who is worthy of holding the Grail. And yes, it is the genuine thing, how it can summon Servants is an example of that."
"And only one can have it?" Arthur didn't look happy at all. This was going to cause trouble, he just knew it. And even more troubling..."I can't fully believe that. To truly obtain the Holy Grail, I can't believe that the last Master has to completely kill the others. How can such an omnipotent power be achieved through killing?"
There was a pause after that, all of his Knights looked as thoughtful as he did. To some extent, they all thought he was right. The Holy Grail was supposed to be something that brought joy wasn't it? Bloodshed would cause the opposite. And how could something that made others kill each other for the prize be considered 'Holy'?
"I don't want to kill the other Masters!" Cleo cried out, looking at Natalya who had an equally panicked look on her face. They were friends! To kill each other would be a complete betrayal of that friendship and trust.
Saber sighed, she could see this was really troubling everyone. "Technically, you don't have to kill the other Masters. The Holy Grail that will appear is a spiritual object. If it's intangible, humans can't touch it. Can you guess what that implies?"
Merlin gasped, being the first to understand, "The goal is to get rid of the other Masters Servants. So there is no rule saying you have to kill the enemy Masters."
Eirelyn nodded, but there was a light frown on her face. "But it's like Saber said before, a Master can't fight a Servant, they'd be killed within seconds or minutes. Servants are difficult to beat even with a Servant. You have to look for the easiest way to beat the opponent. No matter how powerful the Servant, if his or her Master is killed, the Servant vanishes with the Master."
"In other words, killing the Master is the fastest way." Arthur finished, realizing what Eirelyn was saying. How absolutely disgusting. "What about the opposite? What if the Servant is killed first, and the Master lives? Would the other Masters leave the one without a Servant alone?"
"That's right!" Guinevere said, seeing where her King was going. Of course he'd find a way to hope that the Masters could live. "Since only a Servant can touch the Grail, a Masters value must go down."
"No." Saber said, completely crushing her hope. "As long as the Command Seals remain then that Master has rights to a Servant. Say a Master loses a Servant and there's a Servant without a Master. Those two could form a completely new contract. That's why Masters kill Masters, to get either their Command Seals or their Servants if they've lost theirs. Who'd give up a fight for the Holy Grail?"
Another long pause after that. Who would be willing to give up such a divine object? Especially when it was within their grasp? Eirelyn and Olliviere exchanged glances with Saber and she sighed. "There is one more thing."
"What?" Arthur asked, how could the situation become even worse than what it was now? He was already making plans on how he would protect Camelot from the Servants. He wasn't quite sure how he'd do it yet, but he would.
"Cleo and Natalya are modern day Mages from the present time, which is more than a thousand years from now." Eirelyn said, nodding to the two female Masters. "Haven't you wondered why they've been sent here?"
Gawain looked at the two girls and frowned. "I mean, they speak odd and Cleo is dressed... strangely. But, none of us knew until you started to explain the Holy Grail War."
"Well, Natalya was brought her through the forces of the people who moved the Holy Grail to this era." Olliviere said, "We brought Cleo over ourselves since she was the only one who could summon this specific Saber."
"Why is that?" Cleo asked confused looking at Saber curiously. Why this particular Saber?
"Because you were able to read the words on her vambrace. Otherwise, it would have been near impossible to summon her and we needed her here." Eirelyn began to explain. "The Grail in this Britain is corrupt."
"What? How?" Cleo asked, how could a Holy Grail be corrupt?!
"A Servant tweaked with the Grail, corrupting its nature. We don't quite know how, but we were able to sense it." Olliviere said. "We also don't know what forces the Servant is working with. Normally, Servant or not, he or she should not have been able to break through time. Let alone bring fourteen twenty-first century Mages here."
Natalya spoke up, "But why? Why would you even try to corrupt the Holy Grail? Are they trying to reach Hell instead of Akasha?"
"Perhaps. Or Perhaps they are trying to kill off humanity." Saber spoke up. "You wouldn't know this, but a corrupt Grail will turn into All The World's Evils. It can still grant wishes but at the same time, it will cause great destruction, letting out all the worst curses into the world. If that happened... most of humanity, especially in Britain would be wiped out."
Arthur's eyes widened at that. "So... whoever this is... wishes to destroy Britain?" He felt his heart sink and cold dread pool in him. After all he had done to try and save Britain and now this?
Merlin grew serious at the state Arthur was in, she could see he was clearly pulling away from them. Could see his walls go up as he tried to remain calm. Now was not the time for such things. She looked away from the King and towards Eirelyn and Olliviere, "Why now? Why Britain during this time?"
"To change the future or perhaps he just wishes to see the world burn. It would be easy to cut the numbers of humanity in such an early era. And here, during a time when the Holy Grail War isn't supposed to happen. No one would stop him. Not the church or the Mages Association." Olliviere observed.
"He didn't count on me appearing then." Saber said, "I can stop him. Or at the very least, I have the power to destroy the Grail. But whoever has done this must have allies in place. Which is something I don't."
Merlin looked up at that, "You have King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table."
"But they are not Servants." Saber snapped. "Servants are the best force to fight Servants. Eirelyn, Olliviere, are there any Servants summoned that may be willing to ally with us?"
"Well you have your Saber friend don't you?" Natalya asked. "And the Lancer doesn't seem bad either."
Cleo looked towards Natalya a look of disbelief on her face. "That Lancer tried to kill us!"
"That Lancer was ordered to attack." Merlin remembered, "But, she wasn't bad in essence. If we can convince the other Saber to fight with us, she is sure to follow."
"And Miss Natalya hasn't summoned her Servant yet." Olliviere stated, looking at the auburn haired human girl. "Whoever you summon will be an ally since you and Cleo will work together."
Natalya gulped. She had been hoping no one mentioned her lack of Servant. She really didn't want to participate in this War, but now it looked like she had no choice. She would have stated her hesitance more openly if the void around them didn't start to shake. "What's happening now?!"
"This discussion is over." Eirelyn stated calmly. "We've used much of our magic to bring you all into this void. For the coming, War, we will be able to speak to you, but not to this extent and you will be on your own. No physical help will come from us."
"Of course." Saber rolled her eyes at that. Of course when the fighting would really start neither of them would have the power to help. Why did she think for a second they would. "Anything else before this reality marble collapses?"
"Just choose your allies carefully." Olliviere said. "And to be careful with your Noble Phantasm. You, more than anyone know that you only have one chance of destroying the Grail."
Saber nodded as white cracks appeared in the voice before the blackness shattered altogether, blinding every single one of them for a moment. She blinked the stars out of her eyes to find herself back in the council room of Camelot, the Knights around the Round table as if nothing had happened and Cleo and Natalya beside her.
"That was a reality marble?! And what did those two mean that they can't help us?!" Natalya demanded.
"It may not have seemed like it, but those two are stuck on a different world because of a curse. Reaching out to the extent that they just did used up a lot of their magic." Saber explained. She could see worry etched onto all the faces around her, but none looked more worried than Cleo.
Cleo sighed, her eyes going to Saber. "I don't want to do this." She said, allowing the terror she truly felt to slip into her voice. "I just want to go back home to Chaldea."
Saber looked back at her Master, sympathy in her dark violet blue eyes. "I promise that after this, I'll get you home." She made her way over to her Master, a gleaming pale gray sword with aquamarine and diamond gems embedded in the metal appearing in her hands as she did so.
Without a word, Saber knelt down on the ground in front of her Master, the point of her sword down and her fist resting on her chest. "As the Queen of Celestial Heavens, Master, you have my word, when all this is over, you will be home and safe. For my sword shall create your fate and my body shall be your shield."
Cleo blinked stunned, before a slight smile appeared on her face. She wasn't sure if Saber could keep such a promise when they faced something so dire, but there was so much sincerity and confidence in her eyes that Cleo couldn't help but believe her. "Alright." She said after a moment, looking over at the others who were now watching them. "What now?"
"Now," It was Natalya spoke, taking a deep breath, trying to rid herself of the apprehension building in her. "I summon my Servant."
WISE UP!
Class: Female Saber
Master: Cleo Everett
True Name: Ariene Direcrest
Sex: Female
Alignment: Lawful Good
Hidden Attribute: Star
Noble Phantasm: Celestial Soul
Parameter
Strength: A
Endurance: A
Agility: B
Mana: A+
Noble Phantasm: A++
Class Skills
Riding: A- All vehicles and all creatures but those of Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast-rank can be used as mounts. This rank is high enough to have an aptitude for the Rider Class
Magic Resistance: A- Cancel spells of A-Rank or below, no matter what High-Thaumaturgy it is. In practice, the Servant is untouchable to modern magi
Personal Skills
Mana Burst: A- Rank A, even a stick can become a weapon of great power. A normal weapon that is not on the level of a divine Mystery can be destroyed in one blow. Can also raise one's defense several times over
Mana Burst (Light): A- is a subspecies of Mana Burst that is allowed only to saints, holy maidens, and holy knights. It endows him with an advantage against the evil aligned.
Mana Burst (Purity): EX- This gives Ariene the ability to purify or easily destroy any corrupted being before her. Besides being to expell pure mana, this also makes Ariene's body completely pure and uncorruptible to outside forces. This ability goes hand in hand with her divine Noble Phantasm.
Noble Phantasm
Celestial Soul: A- this allows Ariene to switch between and use the swords of all the past Queens before her. It also gives her access to her three "divine" swords.
Please review and tell me what you think!