Meant to be Fate

At the Clock Tower in London, the seven Masters of Red have gathered at Lorelei Barthomeloi's orders since she is the de facto leader of the Masters of Red. By her side were Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, a woman with shoulder-length red hair and sharp brown eyes, and Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, a petite young woman with hip-length blonde hair and fierce green eyes. Both were in the Aristocratic Faction of the Clock Tower, along with Lorelei as the faction leader making the Queen their direct superior.

Then there is Waver Velvet, an adult male with long black hair with matching eye color; in other World Lines, he would be Lord El-Melloi II serving under Reines in the Aristocratic Faction instead of the Democratic Faction. As a Master that survived the previous Holy Grail War, his experience would have its uses. Atrum Galliasta is from a rising Mage Family in the Democratic Faction and stands out with his tan complexion, long blonde hair, and sea-green irises.

Kairi Sisigou is from a Mage Family in Japan, but due to a curse of sterility that appeared from the previous generation and now him, he is the last of his line. He is a broad man with sun-kissed skin and shoulder-length brown hair, and he wears sunglasses over his eyes. A scar of a claw mark covered his right eye, which was a testament to his combat experience as he worked as a mercenary for various parties in the Mage Association. Luviagelita Edelfelt, a woman with long blonde hair in coils and brown eyes in a blue dress.

Bazett Fraga McRemitz, a woman in a maroon two-piece suit with short magenta hair and large red eyes. She is a Sealing Designation Enforcer, and God Holder, meaning in terms of combat ability, she is only inferior to Lorelei, the Queen of the Clock Tower. She fiddled with her earrings as she waited for the meeting to start. After a few minutes, a butler came in and greeted Lorelei as he brought some files for her.

" You are dismissed."

After sending the butler away, the vice director of the Clock Tower told the gathered Master.

" This will be your last chance to turn back, as I will not tolerate fools or cowards on the battlefield."

No one left after a few minutes, and Lorelei started the meeting.

" Now, let me start off by saying I do not have an interest in the Holy Grail as it is a wish-granting device that is dubious at best. My goal in this war is to confront Silva Branwen and drag him back to be the bridegroom of the Barthomeloi. So if you want the Grail, you can have it, as I do not care."

Everyone in the room looked at the Queen in shock at her blunt declarations, and the first to speak was Reines while holding her chin with a look of intrigue.

" Ho? Lady Barthomeloi, may I ask what makes this first-generation Mage worthy of such an honor?"

Everyone there was also interested in the answer as they perked their ears, and Lorelei had nothing to hide as no one would dare cross her.

" Magic Circuits of the highest Quality and Quantity if his combat performance is anything to go by, a unique and powerful Magecraft that has shown results in his adoptive daughter and can completely overpower me to the point that I don't stand a chance."

Hearing that, a lot of the Masters got nervous as Lorelei's reputation as the Queen of the Clock Tower is earned through awe and mostly fear since she treats even the highest level of Dead Apostles as insects, let alone other Mages that are primarily researchers. Lorelei then told the rest of the Masters.

" Anyone here should already know Silva Branwen's reputation as the Demon King of Japan, so I will brief you on what we know about his allies instead, or rather, the Masters of Black."

Everyone there paid close attention as they received the files that Lorelei had set out for them to peruse, and she explained.

" Sakura Matou Branwen, or more commonly known as the Demon King's Daughter due to her combat ability being on bar with my own. She follows in her adoptive father's footsteps in mastery over the Branwen Family Magecraft, which can significantly boost her parameters along with Reinforcement and Runes working in conjunction, making her a physical powerhouse not to be taken lightly. She makes use of Graduation Air with her unique Mystic Code to bombard from a distance with terrifying accuracy."

" So, a sniper then?"

Kairi asked as he was already starting to regret taking this job, but his payment was access to the Mage Association's resources to breaking his curse, so he could not, would not refuse. The vice director curtly answered.

" An over-simplification but not wrong. Next, we have Rin Tohsaka, the Second Owner of Fuyuki. She is talented but has not undergone an apprenticeship with Silva Branwen, so her threat is minor in comparison. Then there is the confirmation that the Einzbern Family is allied with Branwen Family, and unfortunately, we have three unknown Masters that we have no concrete information on. On top of it all, it has been confirmed that the Demon King has been gathering catalysts for ten years, so expect top-tier Servants."

Waver then added his thoughts to the matter.

" There is the Caster Class Servant that Branwen had summoned during the previous Holy Grail War that never appeared, so it would not be a far fetch assumption to say he will be the Master of Caster."

" Any ideas on their identity, Waver Velvet?"

Lorelei asked out of curiosity, as any information would be helpful in her endeavors of dragging Silva to her bed chambers.

" No, Caster never revealed themselves throughout the War, but considering the fact both Archer, who was King Gilgamesh, and Berserker were defeated in the same night, is all the confirmation needed to identify Caster as a top-tier Servant."

" Hmm... I suppose you have a point, Waver Velvet. For now, everyone is to summon their Servant and head to Tokyo by the end of the month before we make our move against the Demon King and his faction."

No disagreed, and then they went their separate ways to prepare for the Great Holy Grail War.

***

After a few days, my home felt like a madhouse, especially after Rin and Ishtar agreed to move in for the duration of the Great Holy Grail War, and I left to get some much-needed me-time. I went to a bar I owned so that I could relax for a while. It was called "Remnant of a Memory," which I picked to remind me of my home back on Remnant with a select few menu items that would be a favorite to some of the people I was close to back there. As I entered, the Barkeep greeted me.

" Welcome, boss."

" I'll be in the back."

I told him as I accessed the VIP section, which was exclusively for me and me alone. I sat down at my table and leaned against the couch as I relaxed. Not long after, my server showed up, Akatsuki Kurogane. In other World Lines, this girl would have been a gender-bent Shirou Emiya; she is Sakura's best friend in school and got a job here because she wanted to be independent of her parents. She had neck-length messy, dull red hair and amber eyes.

" How may I help you, Boss?"

" Tsuki, just call me Silva, your Sakura's best friend, and you can be informal with me."

" But I'm on the clock."

I waved off her concern and asked.

" How has work been treating you, Tsuki?"

" It's been going well, but I have a question. If you don't mind?"

" Shoot.'

Akasuki then asked me with an odd look.

" The menu has a lot of things that don't seem to fit in with a bar, so I was wondering why these items?"

I knew what items she was talking about; it was mainly the cookies, cupcakes, strawberry sunrise, and a few others that would've been the favorite food or drinks of the people I was close to back on Remnant. I did it to continue to remind myself when I wanted privacy, what was waiting for me back home. I told the redhead a vague truth.

" It's in honor of the memories of the people I care about but can't see anymore."

" Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to-."

" It's fine, Tsuki."

As I looked at the uncomfortable girl, I noticed her bandaged-up hand and asked with concern.

" Is your hand alright?"

" Oh, this? It just has some odd bruising, that's all."

" Can you show me?"

Akatsuki looked nervous and reluctant, but I was not going to ignore an injury of Sakura's few friends.

"Akatsuki."

" Okay..."

She complied as the redhead realized I was not going to let this go and took off her bandages, then got a surprise. On the back of her hand were unformed Command Seals! Well, that now fully explains the triggering of the Apocrypha Protocol within the Grail. Sakura nor I would want Akatsuki involved in this mess of a War, so I took her unformed Command Seals after putting her in a deep trance, then put in a hypnotic suggestion that the markings on her hand faded away naturally. It looks like I am also going to be the Master of Assassin as well.