I don't own Fate. Fate is the property of Type-Moon, and no financial gain is made from this or is sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Magic and Shadow

Chapter 1

Soft shoes padded on the stone pavement as Caster entered the front grounds of an apartment complex. The cloaked woman looked around a few times, but apart from the unconscious guard at the gatehouse – already drained of most of his current life force – and her retinue of Dragon Tooth Warriors there was no one around.

A cage carrying a fat pheasant was carried in one hand, while her other hand held her staff. She gestured with the staff, and her retinue marched forward and entered the apartments to start collecting prana. As for her…well she had work to attend to on her own. After all: the apartment complex was built almost on top of a node of a ley-line.

Caster's staff tapped once on the ground, a magic circle burning itself into the cement with the hiss of melting stone. Releasing her staff – which remained floating in the air beside her – Caster carefully opened the cage and took the pheasant out. As she dropped the cage on the ground, she pulled out a ritual dagger and slit the bird's neck, blood falling and hissing onto the still-hot magic circle.

Instantly the atmosphere changed, becoming thicker and denser as tendrils of fog appeared out of nowhere, coiling from the shadows and around the trees and bushes. Other tendrils slowly swept past her, bringing with it unintelligible whispers and murmurs. They swept over the magic circle, which glowed faintly as the fog hungrily ate up the blood.

Without a word Caster tossed the bleeding corpse into the fog, and causing cold green flames of corposant to erupt around the corpse as it landed on the ground. Caster felt the atmosphere shift even further and she quickly grabbed her staff and struck the ground once. "Seal…!" she commanded in Greek, and the circle flared once, the fog swirling in agitation before dispersing in an instant.

Only the cooling magic circle was left smoking slightly on the ground, along with the pheasant's corpse lying completely drained of blood on top of it. Caster reached out, and smiled as she felt the ley-line answer her inquiries.

She then looked at the apartments, and with a shrug turned to depart. There were still several hours before the dawn, and it was best to take advantage of the time and let them gather prana for her. As for her, she'd taken control of the individual ley-lines, but she still needed to tie them to her for good.

That could only be done at one of the convergence points, and she'd set up shop at one of them. As she passed over the threshold she paused, sensing that one group of her Dragon Tooth Warriors across the city was under attack.

"Interference…?" she whispered, and then she chuckled. "Well you win some and you lose some. I suppose I can let them enjoy this paltry victory."

Still chuckling, Caster wrapped her cloak around herself and teleported herself back to Ryuudo Temple.

One of the skeletal warriors was literally blown to bits as Kirei punched it…and then another…and then another…the priest steadily advanced down the corridor, the slow and ungainly magical constructs barely worth his notice. Oh they could be dangerous given their numbers, but given his training and experience as an Executor…

As it was he deftly avoided clumsy sword swings with slight shifts of his body, every step forward accompanied by a series of punches that left the ground scattered with crushed bone. Or at least, it felt and sounded like bone.

"Kirei-kun…" Tokiomi said from behind him, and he risked halting his advance, the remaining constructs holding their ground a short distance before him.

"Master…?"

"There are unconscious individuals in the adjoining rooms." Tokiomi said as he hefted his cane. "Deal with them."

"Of course…" Kirei said with a bow before retreating. As he turned his back and Tokiomi stepped up in his place, the skeletal warriors pounced. Tokiomi merely smirked and gestured, a magic circle coming to life above the jewel on his cane. Dragon Tooth Wars were blown apart they came close, and after a moment Tokiomi levelled his cane down the corridor.

"Intensive Einascherung…" he said, and the remaining constructs burst into flame. As they collapsed crackling onto the floor, leaving naught behind them but ashes, Tokiomi turned and followed after Kirei. "…well?"

The priest rose from where he'd finished healing an unconscious man. "Their life force has been drained." He reported. "But while I cannot replace what has been taken, I can however ensure that their lives are in no way at risk."

Tokiomi nodded. "Very well…" he said, already turning to continue clearing out the building. "…alter the memories and secure the lives of the people on this floor, and in my wake. I will move ahead, and we will rendezvous on the rooftop."

"I understand, my master."

Sakura winced as she watched Caster sacrifice yet another animal – a pig this time, stolen from a piggery just outside the city – and then watched in horrified fascination as its heart burned with cold green fire in her hand. The magic circle on the floor glowed even brighter as the sacrifice resonated with the other sacrifices made elsewhere in the city earlier in the night, and Sakura also felt the shift in the atmosphere. She shuddered in a mix of curiosity and fear.

That was not normal.

Caster observed her reaction with approval, though for the moment she focused on the sacrifice, and mentally using herself to focus the ritual's effect: namely binding together the numerous sacrifices that she'd made throughout the night into a single magic system centered on her fortress at Ryuudo Temple. She didn't have to wait long, as the flow of power through the ley-lines shifted and settled, the heart in her hand burning away and the green flames flowing like water to engulf the dead pig at her feet.

Sakura watched in morbid fascination, since the eldritch flames didn't burn the pig's flesh…they simply lapped up its blood, its very essence instead. A hand on her shoulder jolted her out of her reverie, and she looked up to Caster's neutral face.

"Are you afraid, child?" she asked. Sakura thought for a moment, and then she gave a slightly-embarrassed nod.

"Yes…" she said. "…a bit."

Caster smiled. "That is good." She said approvingly. "It is always useful to maintain a little fear to things that are beyond the scope of men. That fear is your friend it sharpens your reflexes, restrains impulsiveness, and warns you about the dangers of going too far. Respect that fear, cherish it, and use it to temper your judgment...and you will know no fear."

Sakura tilted her head in confusion, and Caster chuckled. "Confusing isn't it?" she asked figuratively. "I don't blame you. After all I did say that you should accept your fears, and then you will know no fear. But answer me: can you defeat an enemy, without an enemy?"

"What?" Sakura echoed in confusion. "No, of course you can't…oh."

"Precisely…" Caster said with a nod, and then she and Sakura paused as the flames went out, and the ghostly whispers faded along with the thin fog that had filled the room almost unnoticeably. "…before you can overcome your fears, you must know and acknowledge them. Only then can you face them, and then go beyond them. Do you understand?"

Sakura nodded. "I think I do." She said, and Caster nodded.

"Good…" she said, leading Sakura away from the ritual chamber. "...a respectable amount of fear is something that you will find useful as a magus."

"Will you teach me?" Sakura asked, brightening up at once.

Caster smiled mischievously. "A little." She said, and Sakura just as quickly pouted.

"Only a little…?"

Caster laughed and patted her on the back. "So young and yet so eager to seek the truth!" she said. "But while it is not wrong for you to think big, one must start small. Big things start from small things after all. And before one can walk, one must first learn to crawl. Do you understand?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes." She said, and Caster nodded.

"Good." She said. "But that is for another time. It is late, and it does not do for children to stay up so late."

"Caster is certainly aggressive in his or her prana collection activities is he or she not?" Risei asked as he conferred with Tokiomi and Kirei at Kotomine Church after they had finished clearing out one group of Caster's minions. "I have made arrangements for the attacks to be covered up as gas attacks. I assume that you altered the memories accordingly."

"Of course…" Tokiomi said. "…however even between Kirei and I, we cannot cover the entire city on our own. Given that Caster possesses a large number of familiars I do not doubt that we are barely denting his or her operation to collect prana. Of course every little helps."

"Of all the Servants to be summoned first…" Risei grumbled. "…why did it have to be the Caster?"

"There is no point in wringing hands over what has been done." Tokiomi countered. "We cannot change the past, and as such we should focus on the future."

"Caster has withdrawn into Ryuudo Temple on Mt. Enzo." Kirei reported. "The temple's original defenses have apparently been augmented, though to what degree I do not know. I would not recommend an assault on his or her territory, not without Servants of our own at least."

"And even with Servants of our own…" Tokiomi said. "…there is no guarantee that a battle with Caster would not end in victory without losses for our side. Attacking a magus in his or her own territory is a most risky venture. At best our Servants would be exposed for who they really are through the use of Noble Phantasms. And at worst, Caster could use a failsafe to destroy us along with him or her."

"A conundrum indeed…" Risei opined. "…even more so given that Caster has not actually killed anyone, nor has the contest properly begun, and as such I cannot censure him or her with my authority as the Overseer."

"Perhaps we could just let him or her go for now?" Tokiomi mused. "We will do what we can to curtail his or her operations, and summon our own Servants as soon as possible just in case he or she takes umbrage at our interference. Personally though, I am of the opinion that Caster is merely stockpiling prana for the coming contest, while there aren't any Masters in a position to oppose him or her."

"True…" Risei conceded. "…your family has been stockpiling gems for what, fifty years now, to prepare for this war, has it not? Caster is probably doing likewise."

"And when other Masters and Servants start appearing, he or she will probably draw down or even stop operations." Tokiomi concluded with a nod. "There's no need to draw too much attention to ourselves while our backs are exposed. In the meantime I will deploy as many familiars as I have to allow us to respond to his or her attacks as quickly as possible."

"We won't be able to stop them all…" Risei said. "…and we should be wary of a trap, in case Caster personally leads a sortie."

"A fair point..." Tokiomi conceded. "…I will decide accordingly to each situation as my familiars respond."

The priests nodded their agreement, and then Tokiomi then moved onto his next item of concern. "Has there been any word about the…incident at Matou during the previous night?" he asked.

"Unfortunately…" Kirei replied with disgust at the memory of simply talking to Zouken Matou. "…Matou is proving intransigent with regards to my requests for information."

"I can't blame him I suppose." Tokiomi replied. "Secrecy is imperative in magic after all. What of Sakura?"

"He assures me that she is safe." Kirei said. "However he has refused to display her or to disclose her location."

"Any thoughts…?"

"It's possible than an enemy Master broke into Matou and stole his catalyst." Kirei said. "The enormous damage to the mansion, as well as Byakuya Matou's recent hospitalization for critical organ damage all point to a massive battle of magic. And one that Zouken probably lost, given his disposition when I spoke to him."

Worry immediately crept into Tokiomi's mind. "Zouken lost…" he thought. "…but what if it wasn't just a catalyst that was stolen…or it wasn't a catalyst that they were after…Sakura…what have I done?"

Granted Sakura's enormous magical potential wasn't exactly advertised, but there were ways that otherwise sensitive information could get out. Tokiomi knew that quite well, given his spy within the Clock Tower. And the fact that Sakura, a spare child born to a magical lineage, was given away for adoption could be seen as evidence that she had something of value in her own right.

"Is it possible…" he began hesitantly. "…that Sakura was also a target?"

The priests jolted at the thought, and Tokiomi nodded slowly. "Zouken claims that she is safe." He said softly but with a hint of iron. "But unless he has proof, then I will have to assume the worst. Kirei, send out feelers for any sign of her."

"It will be done."

"And you Tokiomi?" Risei asked. "What will you do?"

"As the Supervisor of this territory I will do what I can to keep Caster in check." He said, his hand tightening on his cane. "And it seems that I have to contact an old friend."

He grimaced at that, as he knew quite well how he viewed magi and him in particular.

I hope that Kariya's in a talking mood. He might prove useful here.

The morning shone bright over the city…and played over a little girl and a cat engaged in a staring contest on a wooden porch in Ryuudo Temple. A little boy about a year older walked around the corner and stared at them for several moments. Sakura blinked, and the cat mewled, unconcerned or uncaring about the contest at all. Sakura made an angry sound at losing, and the cat ran off.

The boy laughed at the sight, and Sakura immediately sat up and looked at him in surprise. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Sorry for disturbing you…" the boy said. "…my name's Ryuudo Issei. You're Sakura aren't you? You're that woman…um…Medea-san's daughter, aren't you?"

Sakura blinked. "Daughter…" she thought. "…me…maybe it's just to keep up appearances but…I…I don't know. Would I want to be her daughter? She's a nice person but…"

She took me from there.

Mama…no, Mrs. Tohsaka didn't say a thing when pa…Mr. Tohsaka sent me to that place.

She doesn't care.

Caster took me from there.

Caster will teach me magic.

Mr. Tohsaka always stopped me from trying.

Would I really…

"Sakura…" Caster called to her. "…oh hello…you're the Head Monk's son aren't you?"

Issei nodded, and Caster smiled in greeting. "Well I'm certainly grateful that your father allowed us to stay here until things quiet down…" she began. "…and while I wouldn't mind that you befriend Sakura, I need to talk to her now."

"Okay." Issei said with a nod and then glanced at Sakura. "See you later Sakura. When you have time, I should be around here somewhere. Bye!"

"Bye!" Sakura said genuinely and with a wave. Once Issei was gone, she looked up at Caster. "What are we going to talk about?"

Caster raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you want to learn magic?" she asked, and Sakura's face lit up.

"When do we start?" she gushed, and with a laugh Caster led her back to their room. A bounded field to prevent spies and eavesdroppers from looking and listening in was laid down, and then Caster sat down opposite her on a small table. A notebook and a pen sat on Sakura's side of the table.

"Now then…" Caster began. "…let us start with basics. Magic is first and foremost…"

A young man sat in a small apartment in a foreign city, typing away at a battered typewriter. The phone rang, and the man rolled his chair back and towards the window-side desk. He picked it up. "Kariya Matou speaking…" he said. "…how may I help you?"

"Kariya…" Tokiomi began, only to be interrupted at once.

"I've got nothing to say to you." he said, but before he could put it down Tokiomi managed to get in a few words that instantly froze his hand.

"Sakura's missing."

"What?"

Kariya had always regretted leaving Aoi behind even more so once he'd learned that Tokiomi had ultimately married her. But that didn't mean that he didn't care for their – or in his head Aoi's – children. He wasn't the type to blame others for what wasn't their fault.

Well…his family and Tokiomi were exceptions.

"Apparently someone broke into the Matou mansion two nights ago." Tokiomi was saying. "Given the damage and your father's disposition, whoever they were they definitely came out on top. And while there's a chance that their goal was the Matou catalyst for the coming Holy Grail War, there's also a possibility that their goal was also to get Sakura."

"Wait…what do you mean to get Sakura?" Kariya said as the blood drained from his face. "Don't tell me…!"

"I would have thought it obvious. Given that she would have had no future as a magus in our family, when your father offered to adopt her…"

"You bastard…!" Kariya exploded while slamming his fist against the desk. "Do you realize what you've done? When, damn you? When did she go?"

"The same day as the mansion was attacked."

Kariya immediately ran the possibilities through his head. On one hand, Sakura could have been kidnapped. On the other hand…while magi in general were a bunch of assholes in his head, most were certainly more decent than the Matou.

Of course Sakura would only be breeding stock to them…but compared to parasites…

Kariya shuddered. "Lesser evils…" he thought angrily. "…it need not get to this if that bastard Tokiomi did his job as a father!"

"What do you need me for?" Kariya spat. "What would the great and all-powerful magus Tokiomi Tohsaka need from a renegade disgrace like me?"

"False flattery will get you nowhere." Tokiomi responded nonplussed. "As for why I need you, well Zouken claims that Sakura is in a secure location…"

Kariya's blood ran cold. Hopefully given the paranoid nature of magi there was only one facility for training but…

"…however I find that I cannot trust him with my daughter's safety in the wake of this exposure with regards to the weakness of Matou's defenses." Tokiomi concluded, and Kariya snorted.

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"You grew up in Matou." Tokiomi replied. "You have insight into Zouken's mind that I do not have. And in the worst case…"

"You want me to help you break the news to and to comfort Aoi and Rin?" Kariya interrupted contemptuously. "You cowardly piece of…"

"Yes, and to the void with manners and propriety." Tokiomi interrupted him in his turn, only for his voice to turn cold. "And I would have thought that you of all people, who have never hidden your hatred of your bloodline, would pass up the opportunity as I pay Zouken threefold for failing to protect my daughter."

Kariya fell silent, and after a few moments a satisfied grunt came from Tokiomi. "Well Kariya…?" he asked.

"I'll get there as soon as I can." Kariya replied neutrally. "We'll have a nice long chat, and then we'll look for Sakura."

"Of course, thank you for your cooperation."

Kariya didn't bother to respond, instead putting the phone down at once. "Funny…" he thought to himself as he paced in a vain effort to reign in his temper. "…since when did Tokiomi know how to use something as modern as a phone. Or more likely he had a lackey tell him how to use it."

He came to a halt before the kitchen counter, and in an instant his anger at exploded, as he grabbed a glass and threw it against the wall. "Damn you Tokiomi!" he roared. "Zouken…damn you all!"

A/N

Anti-hero huh…? Well Caster's still draining people of their prana, but that should do for now.

One of my issues in Legacy of the Ancients was Medea performing blood adoption so quickly. It will happen here, but not yet for a reason that I will not disclose for fear of spoiling the plot. And yes, Sakura is studying magic, but only the most basic of Medea's magic which modern Humans can learn (without Divine Words she can't use Medea's core spells)…for now. Although that shouldn't be an issue given that it would be beyond suspension of disbelief if a six year-old girl starts spamming beams.