Chapter 1
Happy Birthday
It was just a spur of the moment, a childish impulsiveness, a whim, an urge. It was her sister's birthday and Rin wanted to see her again.
Against her father's orders and her own judgment, she went to the Matou mansion to wish her little sister Happy Birthday; she even bought a small gift, a white teddy bear using the small amount of money she was given for her birthday earlier by that priest. She didn't know why her father was angry at the priest though.
It was quite hard to escape the notice of the priest and make some very good excuses for where she was going, yet at the same time it felt quite exciting, like some grand adventure. The fact that she was going to see her sister again made it all the more fun and exciting. After all she had not seen her in almost six months.
Carrying a few jewels for security reasons and Sakura's present Rin was happily walking towards the Matou mansion.
The walk may had been long and dull, slowly snatching away the excitement Rin had felt earlier yet when the Matou mansion was in sight, like a second wind, the excitement came back, there was a certain spring in her steps, with thoughts of spending time with her sister, playing with her again or just talking. Rin was not too sure what she would really do once she meets Sakura, but the thought of seeing her just brought joy so she continued to walk on towards the Matou mansion.
The Matou mansion was dark and forbidding, it was by all rights an old style normal mansion one that looked like it belongs to some high class family, yet it had a strange eerie feeling to it that scared many. Even Rin was feeling scared and unnerved by the forbidding feeling that the mansion had. How Sakura coped with this she might not know.
The gates were opened and the walkway looked abandoned. It was scary and unsettling, like a hidden monster was lurking in the shadow watching her. It was the thought of seeing Sakura again that kept Rin going towards the mansion or else everything from her mind and body was telling her to run, to turn back and never come again. It was telling her that coming here was a mistake. But the thought of seeing her sister again overwhelmed all rationality and fear.
The main door of the mansion looked old, not rottenly old just old. The designs unknown and unnerving and were equally old and combined it gave a very old and ancient feeing to it like it guarded an ancient horror. It was funny how a child's mind could make even the most mundane things scary yet sometimes conjure a scarily accurate picture.
Knocking on the door Rin waited and waited and waited. Seconds, minutes, hours and days might have passed yet Rin would not know for in her mind there was just the single thought of seeing her sister blocking away the cries to run to flee and hide, the fear, the anxiety locked away and only the single thought of meeting Sakura and wishing her a Happy Birthday remained.
There was no answer after knocking multiple times again and again, there was still no answer. Was everyone preparing for Sakura's birthday that they were not at home or did they go somewhere to celebrate it? Rin mused, her childlike mind conjuring all sorts of things of what they might be doing.
She thought of going home and coming back later but that thought was quickly squashed by her desire. She knew it was rude, she knew it was improper and she knew it might make the Matou angry, and yet she persists. She pushed the doors, which were surprisingly left unlocked, open and entered the house.
"Sakura, Sakura are you there? It's me Rin. I've come to wish you a Happy Birthday." Rin called out. There was no answer.
She walked through the hallway occasionally calling out to her sister yet was greeted with only silence. The silence only amplified her fear of the place, the corridors dusty and dark, and the hallway wide and empty except for a few chair and tables, old armors place at various corners like some quite guards, it created a very scary picture. Slowly but surely the place got to the young girl's mind and as time passed her calls to her sister began to drop in intensity and volume till it was almost but a quite whisper.
Rin didn't dare open any of the rooms as she had already intruded enough. She just quietly kept on calling to her sister, doll in hand, all for the sake of wishing her a Happy Birthday.
Then what felt like hours of wandering in the forsaken mansion. Rin heard a sound, a cruel yet almost inviting laughter, the only sound she heard in this scary mansion. And thus she walked toward the sound, almost running in the direction of it. It came from the basement.
The laughter almost as if telling her to open the door, continued to echo though the empty mansion.
She opened the basement door and began to go down the stairwell. It was dimly lighted and had just enough light to see the stairs but nothing more. Going down the stairs Rin noted that with every step the laughter became more pronounced and loud. It was a scary laughter one that scared her more than anything in the world. It was laughter full of cruelty and evil one that seem to enjoy basking in her fear.
She kept on going down the stairwell and she soon could see the basement floor. Taking the final steps she reached the basement and the laughter seemed to slowly quite down. It was still there reduced to an occasional chuckle yet one could not deny the evil and cruelty it had.
The basement was a bit brighter than the stairs that Rin had to shield her eyes for a bit. She could still hear the sounds though. Apart from the chuckle she heard, there was another sound like something soft and wet was rubbing each other yet something like it was chewing something and a soft sound of breathing.
Rin focused herself and noted her surroundings. It was adequately lighted enough to cover the entire basement and show its contents, one which were clearly not for the faint hearted.
The basement was filled with all sorts of thing some which were yet beyond her comprehension, some bone fragments, blood and misshaped hives of insects, and books. Yet what drew Rin's attention the most was the two figures in the basement, one of an old man and the other a girl.
The old man was the source of the laughter dressed in robes like the ones worn by the magi. He stood there not facing her yet standing as if he knew she was there which might be true, instead he stood watching the girl before her and enjoying every bit of what was happening to her.
The girl, herself looked like a doll. Lifeless eyes and a blank expressionless face with an almost perfect hair and skin, she looked beautiful. Like a piece of art a masterpiece, almost serene, if not for the worms that moved about her body, squirming and crawling their way through her body, occasionally biting her and drawing blood yet the wounds seemed to heal like they were never there and thus it continued.
Rin tried to comprehend the scene before her and failed.
She saw the man watching on as the girl continued to be violated by the worms, hurting her at every moment yet the girl seemed to endured it all, and the and just kept on watching with an expression of pure enjoyment.
She tried to comprehend the situation but could not make sense of the cruel scene before her. But what she did understand and recognize was that the girl was her sister, and she was in pain.
Like instinct she grabbed the jewel from her pocket and charging them she tossed towards the old man and ran towards Sakura.
The jewels exploded the smoke covering her as she tried to grab Sakura. She tried to shake and swat away the worms yet they seemed resistant to leave the girl. Seeing this Rin taking another jewel using it to cast a flame spell, she burned away the worms. In retaliation the worms attacked her left arm, the one still holding Sakura.
Rin screamed, she screamed as the worms dug into her arm and drawing blood and eating away her flesh. Yet she did not let go, she did not let go of Sakura. Taking the jewel still in her hand she casted the same fire spell and burned away the worms protruding from her arm.
It was painful, it was agony. The smell of burnt flesh and worms filled the basement. In all this Rin was cradling Sakura and dragged her with all her strength towards the stairwell. Her left arm burnt and almost useless, nothing but a mass of bones and burnt flesh, movable but nothing more than burnt flesh. It was a source of pain and agony but one that Rin still used to drag Sakura away from the monster in human flesh.
Every step was one filled with pain, every step was one filled with agony, each step filled with fear and each step taken in order to escape the monster.
Even after escaping the basement Rin could do nothing more than drag Sakura, who still looked lifeless and unmoving and still had worms crawling her body.
She dragged her and kept on moving away, away from the basement, away from the monster. Then she heard the footsteps, slow almost dragging, footsteps and even when she did not turn back she knew who it was and she knew why it was coming towards her.
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Zouken could not believe the sight before him. The young Tohsaka heiress dragging away that failure of a girl in the vain hope of escaping the mansion and rescuing her, he knew the Tohsaka girl had come from the moment she crossed the gate and thought that the Tohsakas had broken the contract of 'no interaction'. But upon seeing her alone he concluded that she came here on her own free will.
He was a bit impressed as the bounded fields in the mansion would make even magi a bit wary and scared of this place, if not outright making them avoid coming anywhere near here without any good reasons.
Yet the girl did not avoid this place. Scared? Yes. Running away from here? No. He even upped the effects of the bounded field and a bit of mental compulsion to go away from here. Yet, the girl resisted it all. The girl resisted what many magi would actually have a hard time resisting even when they knew what was happening and without knowing it would have surely succumbed to his compulsions. Still the girl had resisted it, even when it looked like she was no older than five or six years of age and had only begun training.
So he let her enter, it was good thing that Byakuya was not here and out in some bar drinking. It let him have some fun at the expense of the Tohsaka girl. Not that seeing his chosen heir Sakura suffer was any less enjoying; this just let him have a different variety of entertainment.
Using his various familiars he watched her move about in the mansion calling out to her little sister often hearing her mused about if they were preparing for Sakura's birthday. Ha! As if they would. He admitted that he did remembered Sakura's birthday. After all, how could he forget, it was this day that his precious tool was born. So, to celebrate her birthday he was lenient on her training today and sought to give her an early rest. Training was important after all.
The girl soon came near the basement and he could not help but laugh and seeing her face light up hearing his laughter, he could not help but laugh some more.
He kept on laughing, even as he knew the girl was coming to the basement, to his workshop. He kept on laughing and like a silent permission he allowed her in his workshop.
His laughter soon dwindled down to mere chuckles but he was still in a humorous mood. He could see the expression of the young Tohsaka heiress as she saw her sister in the pit of worms. It was an expression of utter incomprehension.
And in an instant the girl charge and threw a jewel in his direction, a good attempt, but poorly executed and slow one, as by the time the jewel reached him he already had a shield of familiar blocking its path.
Even when the smoke produced by the explosion obscured his vision, he could still see the girls due to the worms present. The Tohsaka was quick not a moment lost as she tried to grabbed her sister from the pit of worm even casting a minor fire spell to kill them. The retaliation was an automatic response one that Zouken did not even had to will it as the worms attacked the girl's arm. Though he did will it that the worm would not kill her nor eat her away her flesh in the same pace as the always did, it would not do to lose a new form of entertainment that quickly. Oh, it would not do at all.
The next thing that the Tohsaka girls did surprised him quit well even going as far as to impress him as he saw her used the same fire spell to burn her own arm to kill the worms. She did not kill all the worms as some of them went deep inside her bones but she did kill many of them.
He saw her drag the girl from the pits to the stairwell, unconsciously using reinforcement to help her. The girl might not know it but she was doing full body reinforcement. It impressed him, hell the girl seemed to impress him as more time passed by after all not many would try to attack him, not matter how feeble their attempts may be, not even the Magus Killer would do so unless he was certain of killing him. Yet the girl did and now was performing something that took years of practice to even do it for a few seconds. How could he not be impressed?
Then it was like a cat and mouse game between him and the girls with them running and dragging themselves throughout the mansion and him like a cat playing almost teasing them with the notion of hope and squashing said hope. It was horrid, it was terrifying but most of all it was fun to bask in the fear of the Tohsaka girl as she dragged her broken sister through the mansion in order to escape.
They came at the hallway and the main door laid open as before. He saw the light, the vain hope of escaping this place in the Tohsaka girl's face upon seeing the open door.
She moved towards the door, dragging both her sister and her body towards it. She had made it at last she had made it and like the villain, monster and demon he was proclaimed to be he appeared before them. Not by walking but by forming, himself out of the worms and familiars that his body was.
The mass of insects and worms forming a humanoid shape, hands and legs but no flesh except for the face made of human flesh that had the cruel smile of enjoyment etched upon it.
He did not block their path but had decided to form behind them, watching them as they dragged toward the door, toward their false freedom.
He could not help but laugh and that seem to have gotten the Tohsaka girl's attention.
He saw her defiant look on her face, filled with fear and acceptance of defeat yet defiant all the same. A trait Zouken had thought that the Tohsaka had lost over the years. He knew the girl could not escape, even the girl herself knew she could not escape yet that did not mean the girl would not try to.
Quickly she began to drag herself and her sister faster towards the door and at that moment Zouken will the worms that had dug themselves in the girls arm to begin the assault. At first the girl seemed to flinch but kept on moving seemingly gaining more and more speed.
When nothing seem to slow down Zouken thought that the worms from before had perished. But that was impossible the worms were still there he sensed them and they were eating away the girls arm. Yet the girl was ignoring the pain and kept on going. Zouken was getting more and more impressed as time passed by.
She tripped, Rin tripped, her strength almost failing her. The pain in her left arm becoming almost unbearable to the point of unconsciousness, still she dragged Sakura and her body towards the door, crawling towards it.
She could see the monster moving towards tem almost at a sedate pace sure of his victory and their capture. Stopping and standing she took out her jewels ignoring all pain as her body screamed enough was enough, yet for her it still wasn't enough.
Zouken was beginning to like the girl seeing no chance of escape she tries to make a stand against him, a foolish but respectable move.
"Why do you persists, young lady, why do you want to take the girl away?" it was sudden question on his part, the very first words exchanged in this entire affair. Though he had to ask what the motives of the girl were. Did her father put her up to this or did someone else.
"Sakura is my sister and I would never let a monster like you touch her again. Not after what you've done to her." She said with a venomous voice that even a basilisk might fall prey to it.
Ah, so the girl was doing this out of love for her sister. Such a trait he could admire, did admire and would always admire. Alas he had forsaken that trait long ago, the trait of loving one's family. All that remained was the magus within.
"She was given to me, to become my heir and what you just saw was simply part of her training, nothing more nothing less." It was simple logic, really. Since what Happened to Sakura was part of her Magecraft training, Zouken did not see any reason to lie or even twist the truth. So what if he took pleasure in the pain and agony that being inflicted on Sakura he did at least deserved that much for teaching her.
"Then…then such Magecraft should be destroyed."
Now that was a bit of a surprise.
"Oh, you thing my family's Magecraft, one that has been practice should be destroyed?" Zouken asked and how could he not. It was an utterly strange statement from a magus, stating that a form of precious Magecraft should be destroyed, when they seek to hoard it
"Yes, your Magecraft is despicable, it brings nothing but pain, thus has no right to exist." The Tohsaka heiress said with such certainty and defiance that even Zouken was a bit thoughtful for a moment.
"You say that my Magecraft should be destroyed, then, you don't know what it means to be a magus girl. Nor are you fit to be called a magus." Zouken sneered.
It was harsh but true. If the girl could not see someone in pain to further her Magecraft then she could take those extreme measures needed to further her own Magecraft. It was quite sad actually since she had the potential to really become a great magus but now it seemed that she would just be a spell caster. So much potential going to waste and he was starting to like her too.
"If you are an example of a magus then I don't wasn't to become a monster like you."
Another bold statement, one filled with the same certainty and defiance and also filled with conviction and determination. Is she even thinking about her father at the moment? Maybe not or else she might not have made such a statement.
"Hmmm, you know, you can't escape from here nor do you have the power to even destroy my Magecraft. So what do you plan to do now?"
It was a simply curious question on Zouken's part. He wanted to know what the young Tohsaka girl would do now after everthing she said. She would fight him, he could see it in her eyes even if it killed her, she knew it and even seem to accept that fact that if she fought him she would lose. Yet, she stands defiantly. So, what was she planning to do?
"I know I can't beat you. I know I can't hurt you enough to escape. But, that okay, because even if I can't escape or hurt you my father can and will come you and when he comes he will save me and my sister. Before that, I won't make it easy for you to capture us again."
Rin took out all her remaining jewels and charge them with as much prana as she could, charging them and getting ready to throw them.
Zouken saw this and was a bit disappointed. He could easily dodge the gems and the explosion and shield himself from and debris and come out unharmed. The girl should have thought of a much better strategy then a simple frontal attack. He was disappointed but he remembered he was dealing with a child not an experienced magus. He had almost forgotten it after seeing what the girl had endured till now.
"Even if I die here and now my father will avenge me and see to it that you are destroyed."
Zouken was really getting impressed by the girl. The venom, the hatred that which she spoke was one he had not seen even in his hated enemies. This girl truly wanted him dead and gone and if she could not do it herself, she fully intended to sacrifice her life to see it done. Now, that was a true trait of a magus.
Zouken also noted that with each word the Tohsaka heiress spoke, the mana in the room began to swirl around her and began to charge the gem increasing their potency. Each word spoken by the girl led to more mana and prana being stored in the gems to the point that he could see cracks in them. The mana stored in the gems kept on rising to the point that even he was sure that it would do great damage despite the magical protections in place and might even completely destroy his current body and forcing him to create a completely new one.
The mana seemed to follow the girl's will and had only one objective in mind his destruction, no matter how futile it may be. The girl in her rage and defiance was doing something akin to the second magic no matter how small the scale may be of gathering mana in an incredible amount at a short time. She really was an interesting child.
"You hear me my father will destroy you and he will ma-"
"He knows."
Just like that, just like that everything went quite. The gems broke down to fine dust releasing the mana in a trail of light. No explosion, no backlash, nothing, nothing but a few wisps of light. It took two words to stop a phenomenon of great power that may have been enough to destroy have the mansion, just two words.
Zouken did not need to set up a barrier of great mystery or use a spell of great power, when words could do just fine. After all a battle between magi was also a battle between minds and words played a big part of it and one did not live centuries without learning the power of words.
"He knows." Zouken repeated.
"Wa-wa-what?"
"He knows, your father. He knows what is happening to Sakura." Zouken said, though he knew it could be false but given whom Tokiomi was. Even if he knew what was happening to his daughter, Zouken doubted Tokiomi would care as he seem to care more about his prestige and traditions than his family.
"You're lying. You're lying, if my father knew he would never allow this to happen to Sakura." Rin cried out not believing the words that Zouken said.
"I'm not lying. The Matou and Tohsaka are old allies and thus even if the Tohsaka head namely your father does not know fully about our Magecraft, he should know the thing we the Matou do to use our Magecraft."
"Your parents were also great friends with my son. So I reason he must have told at least this aspect of our Magecraft to them."
Now that was bit of a lie on part of Zouken but seeing that Kariya and Aoi were friends and with Kariya forsaking Magecraft Zouken had a suspicion that Kariya might have told the Tohsaka about the Matou Magecraft. if not that's too bad.
He was quite pleased with the sight in front of him. He could see that his words were cutting the girl's beliefs like a hot knife through butter, slowly breaking down her perception of her world. He could hear the soft muttering and rambles of denial of the girl. Still he had enough entertainment for today.
"Sakura dear, come here to me will you?"
As soon as Zouken spoke those words, the broken purple haired girl, who had not made a single movement nor utter a single sound, stood up from her prone position and slowly started to walk towards Zouken's side.
Seeing this Rin snapped out of her shock from the sudden revelation and called out to her.
"Sakura, SAKURA! Snapped out of it don't go with that monster." Rin shouted.
Slowly turning the purple haired girl faced her and with blank lifeless eyes and a expressionless face she asked her.
"Who are you?"
It was not a question Rin had expected and with a feeling of growing dread she replied.
"It's me Rin your sister."
"My sister?" Sakura asked in a voice filled with confusion.
"Yes your sister, your older sister Rin Tohsaka."
"Tohsaka." Rin could see that look of recognition in Sakura's face.
"Tohsaka, the very same Tohsaka who abandoned me threw me aside and sent me to this hell to be utterly defiled, used and condemned to never ending pain."
It was a monotonous tone in which Sakura said those words yet were filled with hate and anguish, and the hurt Rin more than anything.
"The very same Tohsaka that cast me aside for the prodigious sister that took everything from me."
With every word she spoke she took a step closer to Rin till she faced her, eye to eye, and said.
"Tell me are you the same sister of mine that my parent favored? Tell me are you the sister of mine that was given everything where I was denied everything? Tell me are you Rin Tohsaka my sister?"
Her words filled with venom hurt Rin too much, they hurt her too much. So much she wanted to think this was not real but a dream, a nightmare. Alas it was real and her dear sister not only did not recognize her but also hated her.
"No I'm not Rin Tohsaka."
The words came out in a hoarse broken almost hollow voice.
"Then who are you?"
It was at this time that Rin uttered the words that changed her as it change the destiny of many.
"I'm Rin, Rin Makiri."
Hearing her response Sakura practically brightened up her face now adoring a happy smile.
"Then why didn't you say so."
Seeing her smile like that Rin did not know what to say. Her sister had been completely broken by the monster that loomed over her and she was helpless to do anything.
"Sakura, Rin has come to play with you. So why don't you take her to your room and play." Zouken told his adopted granddaughter.
The Tohsaka girl had dared to use the Makiri name to create a familial bond with his heir and for that he was going to have to devise a suitable punishment for her. In the meantime seeing her carry on the charade and playing with her broken sister and letting her anguish over her sister's fate would be a suitable punishment, until he was able to devise a better one.
The girl had dared to stake claim to a name that he had long discarded and for that he was going to make sure that she suffered for it with every breath she took for the rest of her life.
This he swore in the Makiri name.
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