Intertwined Fates: Sermo

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It was the next morning, and the dream I had last night haunted me during breakfast. But it wasn't something that I should worry about. So, I started out my day with buying supplies to help treat the wound that I had accumulated from the fight. Gilgamesh and I headed for the superstore just a few blocks away from the hotel.

Gilgamesh set off to find the winery while I headed off to the small drugstore built inside the superstore. I looked through the physical care section and found some gauze and asked for some medicines that would help heal the wound. I reunited with Gilgamesh afterwards, and found him holding on to basket five bottles of what he claims to be the most expensive wine in the city.

I'm not even going to try complaining to him.

We headed to the counter and purchased the goods we bought. As we were about to exit the store, the entrance door opened and came in a familiar-looking figure. Although, I wasn't able to catch the person's face, I felt an omnious presence when I passed by. Gilgamesh didn't notice it though, and so we started walking back to the hotel.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon were quite uneventful. We ate lunch; I changed the gauze on my wound, and freshened up before leaving to meet up with Shirou and Rin. We walked through the red bridge when I spoke up to make a conversation with the King of Heroes.

"Gilgamesh." I called out to my Servant.

He stopped his tracks and turned to me, "What is it, Hakuno?"

I stopped walking as well. "Did you sleep last night?" I asked, gazing at his red orbs as he stared back at my chocolate brown ones.

"No, what's with the sudden inquiry?" he inquired and we both started to walk again.

"You see, I encountered a dream last night. It was an odd dream...because I thought for a while that I was in the Moon Cell again." I explained, clasping my hands behind my back and looking at him intently.

He stiffened a bit the moment I mentioned the 'Moon Cell' but after a brief moment, he relaxed again.

"How interesting..." I heard him mutter.

We reached the school and found Shirou, Rin, and Saber waiting for us already. Saber's dressed in the casual clothes she wore yesterday. Meanwhile, Rin told me that Archer was in his spirit form.

"So you have arrived. I was almost expecting that you might never have come." Rin spoke when I walked up to her.

"O-Of course I would go! I'm still unfamiliar with many things around here and about the Grail War…" I uttered out.

"I see. Also, Emiya-kun told me that you were injured last night. He said that it was because of training but...really now?" Rin inquired and narrowed her eyes at me.

Shirou sighed, "Tohsaka, trust me when she says tha—"

"Shirou," I interrupted him, "I'm sorry for lying but I must inform you that it wasn't because of training that caused my injury but a Servant."

Rin gasped, "A Servant! And Shirou said you came from here yesterday afternoon so...there's a Servant in school?!"

"Y-Yes. I haven't confirmed the Servant's class, probably an Assassin..." I uttered.

"Well then, Archer! Do you sense the presence of a Servant?" Rin asked loudly and Archer materialized behind her.

"As of now, Rin, I do not feel the presence of a Servant." Archer spoke.

"I can say the same as well." Saber said.

"Hmph." Gilgamesh huffed out.

"Well, if that's the case...we better get going." Rin declared and she led us to the path of her home.

We started making our way to her house, passing through the route where most of the Westernized styled houses were located. We reached the front door of her home and she opened the door. The only thing I could comment on was this house looked amazing, like it was a house coming from the old British or French.

She led us to the living room and we sat on the velvety sofa. Shirou sat on my right and Gilgamesh sat on my left. Rin muttered some words and sat on the chair to our right and Saber sat on the chair to our left. In front of us, was a small coffee table. I saw Archer materialize in front of us and set down a tray with a teapot and five cups of tea.

Archer dematerialized again, probably going out to guard the house for any unwanted guests. We were left in silence; the only sound made was the tapping of Rin's fingers on the arm of her chair.

"Well then," Rin broke the silence, "Hakuno, right? Well, ever since our brief moment that night, I have been receiving this faint 'impulse' for a while now. Even my Archer feels it, and he says it's much stronger than mine."

"Are you claiming that we have some thing to do with that impulse, mongrel?" Gilgamesh asked, narrowing his eyes at Rin.

Rin smiled and took a sip of her tea, "Correct! And to understand why we are feeling this impulse, I need to know where you and Hakuno came from. Hakuno, you wouldn't mind sharing the story about yourself, right?"

I nodded, "Of course. Well, to begin, I will first explain about the history of my world…"

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I finished storytelling my experience in the Moon Cell, Sakura Labyrinth, and all the people I have met there. Rin and Shirou were left astounded while Saber was looking down at the teacup in front of her, holding a worried expression on her face.

"So you're saying that you came from another universe? But how?! Only Zelretch has access to the Kaleidoscope! Unless…unless unless—!" Rin stuttered out loud, sweat trickling down her face and her hand covering her mouth, "Oh dear, the Mage's Association might come here and investigate this. Or even Zelretch himself might come here! And in the middle of the Holy Grail War!"

"R-Rin, I'm not sure what you're worrying about, but...do you perhaps have any answers to why am I here?" I asked.

"H-How am I supposed to know? I have a theory, Hakuno, but I'm not sure if it truly is..."

Shirou tried to calm down Rin but she was fidgeting restlessly on her seat and pushed Shirou away from her. Perhaps questioning her for answers would not be the best thing to do now. I noticed though that Gilgamesh and Saber seemed to have disappeared. I wonder where they went off to, worried that they might argue again and end up starting to wreck up the place.

I excused myself to go to the bathroom, with Rin telling me that it's upstairs and at the end of the hallway. I walked into the hallway and up the stairs, following Rin's directions.

It was then I noticed a double door left ajar and subtle voices coming from the room. Curious, I crouched to the front of the door and peaked inside of the room. Inside the room was Gilgamesh, Saber, and surprisingly, Archer, who were looking out at the huge window.

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"It seems that you both have accepted my invitation for a private meeting here." Gilgamesh exclaimed, smirking at the two individuals who were with him.

"Well, we are both curious about why you called for us, Gilgamesh. And your Master has proven to us with her story that you are not the despicable Servant I knew from before." Saber answered.

"Despicable Servant?" Gilgamesh asked.

Saber nodded, "Yes, there is someone who bears a striking resemblance to you in the last Holy Grail War in this city. Although, he is no longer here."

"...How interesting."

Meanwhile, Archer just leaned on the window and watched the two Servants continue talking.

"Hmph, well then, I'm now going to introduce myself once again. I am Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes and ruler of Uruk. And muse me, Saber, what is your true identity?" Gilgamesh's signature smirk appeared on his face once again.

Saber chuckled, "I'm afraid, King of Heroes, that I will not speak of my true identity to you…just yet. But, from your Master's story, I may hint that you have met a colleague of mine from your previous universe."

"And who might that be?" Gilgamesh asked.

"That is for you to find out yourself." Saber replied and Gilgamesh frowned a little.

The King of Heroes faced Archer and the red Servant did so as well. Archer kept a stoic expression on his face as Gilgamesh started to walk up to him.

"And you must be the Archer of the Tohsaka head, I presume?" Gilgamesh inquired, taking small steps to Archer's side, "I don't know why but I feel quite hostile being in your presence."

"I feel the same way as you…Gilgamesh." Archer spoke, standing up straight from his leaning position and eyeing Gilgamesh warily, "But, that is not the point of why you brought us here, right?"

"Oh, it is, actually. I just wanted to understand on who the Servants that my Master's new acquaintances are." Gilgamesh explained, "And let me tell you, you are both quite entertaining, mongrels. Especially you, Saber, despite you treating a King with such arrogance. You runt should learn to tame yourself when in anger."

"I am not a runt!" Saber exclaimed, changing to a hostile stance and summoned her invisible sword. Gilgamesh twirled around to face Saber, only to meet Saber's invisible sword a mere inch away from his throat. Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon was activated and a sword from the Gate is facing Saber's neck. They gazed at each other's eyes.

"Mongrel, lay down your sword and don't offend your King again." Gilgamesh asked, "Tell me, if you dare kill me now, how closer do you think you are from obtaining the Grail?"

Archer placed his hand on Saber's shoulder and murmured something to her. Saber's eyes widened and relaxed her stance, taking her sword away from Gilgamesh's neck. The Gate of Babylon disappeared as well.

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I gulped and moved away from the room, scared that they notice sooner or later that I could have been watching. I raced to the bathroom, did my business quickly, and ran back downstairs to the living room. Rin seemed to have finally relaxed and Shirou drank the tea.

Rin placed her hands on her hips and smirked, "Well, since you're finally back and Shirou and I have been discussing this for awhile. Would you like to have an alliance with us?"

"A-An alliance?" I asked.

"Well you see, there has been gas leak incidents for a while now in the city and ever since you arrived, it seemed to have grown even worse. I believe that these gas leaks are the work of a Servant. There is also that Servant from the school. The best way to deal with it is to ally with you and Emiya-kun until we manage to defeat the Servant." Rin explained, lifting her finger up in the air.

"…Sure. Why not?" I said with a smile.

"Wonderful! We start searching tonight. It is already nighttime, we might as well go ahead and start patrolling the area!"

Shirou stood up from his seat, "Patrolling? Tohsaka, we have school tomorrow!"

"Don't worry about school, Shirou. It would only take three hours at most. It will be fine!"

Shirou scratched his head, "I guess…also, do you know where all the Servants went?"

"I am here, Shirou." Saber's voice spoke up. She walked out from the hallway and followed by Gilgamesh. They were both now in their armor and Saber was already wielding her invisible weapon.

Archer materialized behind Rin and she pointed to the front door, "All right then, let's set off now! I'll fill you in on the plan when we reach outside."

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— interlude: Let the games begin —

"Did you know that I have stumbled upon an interesting couple today?" the monotone voice inquired the man before him. The man who he was talking to was lying down on the sofa and taking in small sips of the finest wine in his treasury.

"Oh? And what of it?" the other man asked, sitting up straight from the sofa. He set down the wine glass he was holding onto the table in front of him.

The man standing before him made a small, yet creepy smile, "You see, I was grocery shopping today. As I entered the store, a couple was also passing by me but they were walking out of the store. They were a Master and Servant from the mana they're putting off, but I have not seen them at all."

"So?" He picked up the wine glass and took a sip of the wine before setting it back down.

"You see, one of them just looks like you." He finished.

The man who was drinking the wine pursed his lips. He looked at the man who was standing in front of him in bewilderment. Then he chuckled, and it followed with a smirk. He stood up from the sofa and started to walk to his room.

"Well, Kotomine, you have given me quite interesting information. Who is the other person with the person who dare imitate my face?"

"A young girl, she is the Master of the man who looks like you…or perhaps, is you." The man named Kotomine replied, following the man to his room.

The man snickered and opened the door to his room, "I think I have a new reason on why I should join the Fifth Holy Grail War. I want to meet this man, Kotomine. Would you join me?"

Kotomine nodded, "Of course, Gilgamesh. I myself am interested with this turn up of events."

A/N: Wooo! I'm back with a relatively 'short' chapter! I actually really wanted to make it longer but I kind of have writer's block as of late so...mmhmm.

Also, I have already planned out a not-so-clean layout for what I want to go with this story. It doesn't really follow the Unlimited Blade Works route from the VN but it does have some elements to it (especially Archer versus Shirou). As you have noticed with this chapter, it's slowly straying away from the UBW storyline and growing into another story, but it will convey the same message UBW has. There's also two endings for this fic, the True and Good End!

By the way, there are moments in the fic where 'interludes' will happen, and take note: They're all in third person! Just like the VN!

Other than that...for the next chapter, expect a fight scene! And hopefully, it would be really long! Also, I might not be able to update this fic until December so hopefully you wait for the new chapter till then!

Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, follows! I appreciate them, truly! Hope to see you all in the next chapter, and do leave a review!