The King of the Grail's Fate (Fate/Nasuverse)

Chapter LXVII: Please

Harrison once again found himself in the presence of a new field, that brought with it its own challenges. Unlike his seemingly fairly even arena earlier the one he and Salter currently found themselves in seemed blatantly skewed in Jessica's favor. As the two of them stepped out of the portal they found themselves at the base of a large hill maybe a mountain it was hard to be sure. However, what Harrison could be sure of was the small lake to their left and the barrier to their immediate right and rear, meaning they were in the corner of the arena and a very bad corner at that, as there were no easy means of escape meaning they could easily be trapped.

"Salter are you sure you are ready for this," Harrison said as worry still plagued his mind at Salter's condition. Salter stepped out to the side of Harrison. "I am the antithesis of everything the king of knights stood for, this feeling you have is misplaced as there is no room for doubt in a battle, especially in one with such overwhelming advantage to one side," she said assuming her calm and collected knight persona once again. "Haha alright Salter, don't get carried away now," Harrison said with a laugh ruffling Salter's hair good-naturedly. Though Salter was all business now, that or her mind was else whereas not even a hit of a smile made its way to her face. 

"Alright let's give it our all," Harrison said with a fist pump trying to hype the two of them up. "Accepting bet of all possible command seals," a robotic voice echoed in Harrison's mind. "WAIT NO WAIT!" he called out panicking. "Your wager of 12 command seals has been accepted," the robotic voice answered once again. "I- that fast she took it..." Harrison felt a sense of dread reach his stomach as his eyes slowly drifted to the top of the mountain. Despite it being hundreds of feet away he could see the rough shapes of three figures. "Yep that confirms it she is a core master as well, and she brought the big guns too, damn," Harrison exhaled trying to calm his nerves, as once again basically all his command seals were on the line because of some stupidity.

"Are the two masters ready for the 3-on-3 match, it will begin in the next 30 seconds so take your ideal positions now," the game master's voice echoed over the entire arena. "That also confirms that, guess it wouldn't forcibly move Jalter, so that means there is an extra fighter to go around. Let's show her what we are made of Salter," Harrison stated to himself as he began to take slow deep breaths watching the blue flame counter he became all too familiar with. "Righter don't be so nervous you will only lock up that way just do as we practiced and trained for," Salter recited as her eyes gained a new level of focus. "That's easy for you to say, King of Knights-" Harrison was surprised by the stern response he got from Salter that cut him off. "That is not me," she said with a scowl.

Harrison wasn't stupid he could clearly tell something was very wrong. Not like when she dawned her crown while fighting Sakta, but no, this was something different. That was a different saint graph, but this was still the same Salter, she just seemed to be going through an internal conflict as if she couldn't figure out who it was that she is. Harrison didn't know what he could do, but at the end of the day, he was positive that whatever she was struggling with, she would pull through. 

From all the experience Harrison had with Fate and the like, with Heavens Feel and Fate Grand Order Salter had always been an odd servant to him. It was as if she was restrained by her surroundings and now as her master, he had full proof of that, as she had grown in ways that people in the Fate fandom would have outcasted him for thinking. She had a broad emotional range, a fear of crowds, and a calm attitude in the face of danger, learned and grew as a person as the days went on. She cared about the people around her, and "I-," Harrison started before the words caught in his mouth.

"Hm?" Salter said looking up at him with a face of concern that Harrison definitely recognized. It took everything in Harrison's power to smile down at her and say, "Nothing don't worry about it." With another deep breath, Harrison steeled himself to look up at the mountain and at the clock that was seconds from zero. Harrison understood what must be done, and like many of the fights that he had pushed through, he knew it wouldn't be easy, especially with Salter's head not in the game. 'GAH WHAT AM I THINKING RIGHT NOW' Harrison said to himself trying to calm down. Apparently, his head was also not in the game right now this might prove to be the thing that unwinds the two of them.

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(Back at Team Harrison Headquarters)

Alice watched the two of them leave through the door in the rear of the room after she promised Harrison that she would make sure Jalter was fully recovered with Morgan. Alice however couldn't stop the feeling that she was missing something, however, that she forgot... "THE PICTURE HE LEFT CASTER I FORGOT TO GIVE IT TO HIM," she called out astonished at her terrible memory. "I am sorry Alice I'm sure he will come back and you can give it to him then," Morgan's strained voice was the reply Alice got as most of her focus was on her work with Jalter. "What if he doesn't though," she said more so to herself than to Morgan who didn't hear regardless.

Alice pulled out the art piece of the girl she now recognized to be Jalter. "You'll make sure he gets this right," Alice said unfolding the piece of paper and putting it on Jalter's chest. For the first time in hours, she stirred her left eye was slammed close, but her right eye strained to open looking at Alice. "Yeah I-I'll make sure of it, now where is that sly f-fox," her voice strained as she forced a smile.