Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aurum, Sanguis, et Mors

Chapter 1

Valkolumi and Kaleva looked on as Luvia and Sakura sparred in a heavily-reinforced and warded fighting pit. Both girls wore had set aside aristocratic finery – more so Luvia than Sakura – for something more athletic for the spar, Luvia favoring a black and blue leotard with gold bands running over her thighs, torso and hips. Sakura, for her part, favored a more utilitarian approach, with a simple, dark blue bodysuit.

The two elder magi looked on as the two younger magi exchanged blows that would normally have been enough to shatter stone and crater the earth. And even with the reinforcement and wards placed on the fighting pit, the surrounding chamber shook with the force of their blows.

Kaleva shook his head as they continued to watch. "No matter how many years pass," he said. "I'm still in awe at your success with Sakura."

Valkolumi just nodded. "It's nothing special." She modestly replied. "While Imaginary Numbers have many possible applications, for what I had to teach her all that was needed was their affinity for spiritual entities. And even then it was just a matter of adding another two steps to bridge the gap keeping her from using her family mysteries."

"So you've said before." Kaleva replied.

"It's the simple truth." Valkolumi said, narrowing her eyes as Sakura caught a punch from Luvia on her forearms, and skidding back as Luvia followed through with several punches. Sighing, Valkolumi stepped forward. "Sakura, stop holding back so much! Use Zephyruksen Siivet if you have to!"

"Understood!" Sakura shouted back.

"Like hell!" Luvia also shouted, launching a powerful series of attacks faster than before.

"Good!" Valkolumi snapped, clapping her hands. "Remember; training is merely bloodless battle!"

"And battle is bloody training!" the girls chorused, moments before their fists met with a sickening crack. In another moment both girls were stepping back, faces tight with pain, before Luvia kicked out sideways with her right leg.

Sakura caught it with a raised left arm, skidding back with the force of the blow…and Luvia's eyes widened, Valkolumi smirked, and Kaleva tutted and shook his head at the mistake. "Zephyruksen Siivet!" Sakura cast, wind spirits emerging from gems in her bodysuit's forearm sockets. They briefly spiraled around her, and then inwards, Sakura's magic circuits flashing as she bound the wind spirits to her.

"Oh no!" Luvia snapped as she jumped back, opening the distance to regain freedom of mobility. Gandr rounds erupted from her fingers, but Sakura was already moving past and around in a blur, her crest glowing bright as lightning encased her right hand and forearm. "I won't let you…!"

Luvia whirled, magic circuits and crest alike glowing as she braced herself to meet Sakura's charge. Roaring, Sakura struck forward with her right hand, blazing with lightning, only for Luvia to divert the blow ever so lightly with a raised left arm, piercing her chest and a lung instead of her heart…and delivering a crushing blow to Sakura's chest in the next breath.

Kaleva and Valkolumi narrowed their eyes, the former's mouth opening wordlessly in concern as both girls staggered, and then collapsed away from each other, blood bubbling out from their mouths. "Luvia…Sakura…" he whispered.

Valkolumi was silent, but her eyes blazed at Sakura's still form, and the crest still glowing on her arm. The next few moments passed like caramel flowing outdoors in winter, and then she breathed a sigh of relief as Sakura chuckled wetly and spoke up.

"Hey, Luvia?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you feel?"

"Like drowning in my blood." The blonde said, coughing up blood as she choked out a few laughs. "You?"

"My chest…is…killing me…"

Both girls laughed at the dark humor, the elders above breathing sighs of relief. "So who won?" Luvia gasped.

"I think you did." Sakura said before coughing up more blood. "You caused more damage with that last bit."

"So…what's the score…?"

"Let's tally that…up, later…when we're not…drowning, in our own blood…"

"Sounds good." Luvia said, inserting a jewel into her chest wound and beginning to cast a healing spell. Likewise, Sakura ejected the wind spirits from her body, forced them back into their gems, and prying two other gems free forced herself to swallow them to start healing up.

"You girls alright down there?" Kaleva asked once both girls had finished patching themselves up.

"Somehow," Luvia replied, sitting heavily on the ground and rubbing her chest. Nearby, Sakura was doing likewise, prodding gingerly at one point or another with a hand and waving up at Kaleva and Valkolumi.

"Alright, that's enough of that." Kaleva said with a nod. "Get up here and get changed. Unless you have an objection, Valkolumi?"

"No, it's fine." Valkolumi said, fanning herself with her fan. Both girls nodded in the pit below, and helping each other up walked over to the stairs. Valkolumi followed them with her eyes, and then hiding the bottom half of her face with her fan walked over to wait for Sakura as she got out. "Didn't you make a fundamental mistake down there?"

"No, I don't think so." Sakura replied without hesitation, and Valkolumi snapped her fan closed, exposing her neutral expression.

"Explain."

"Never go all in from the start, unless you're certain of victory." Sakura said. "If you do, and the enemy ends up still having fight in them when you're spent, what happens next?"

Valkolumi stared into Sakura's eyes for several moments, Sakura making no move to break eye contact, and then finally, Valkolumi smiled. "Well-reasoned," she said, leaning forward to begin prodding at Sakura's chest and torso. "I understand questions like these become repetitive but…"

"Repetition is the mother of learning." Sakura finished with a smile. Valkolumi nodded.

"Indeed," she said, before straightening after several moments. "Well done with the healing spell, so off you go."

"Yes auntie."

Sakura hurried off, meeting Luvia by the doors, the two girls leaving while chatting at high speed. "Shame Luvia isn't a boy." Valkolumi observed. "If she was, they'd make a good match."

"I am perfectly fine with only daughters, thank you very much." Kaleva said deadpan. "How was Sakura?"

"Perfectly fine, though the muscles and other repaired tissues will be stiff and aching by tomorrow morning." Valkolumi said while tapping her chin with her fan in thought. "Or not; knowing the girls, once they get changed they'll take a shower, and then it's off to the sauna for some relaxation."

"Nothing wrong with unwinding in the sauna after hard work." Kaleva said thoughtfully. "Especially when they damn nearly killed each other."

"I didn't say there was." Valkolumi said. "And it happens regularly enough…though we'll never get used to it, it seems."

"How shameful for magi, isn't it cousin?"

Valkolumi was silent for a moment, and then briefly closing her eyes, smiled sardonically. "Magi are Human too." She said. "The best, and worst, part of us."

Kaleva smiled in agreement, but then his smile turned vicious. "Care to spar with me before calling it a night, cousin?" he challenged, and Valkolumi hid the bottom of her face with her fan. And then, narrowing her eyes, just as quickly closed it.

"Well, I don't see any reason why not."


Luvia heaved a sigh of satisfaction as she sat on a bench in the sauna, running a hand through blonde locks fallen out of shape, their usual curls straightened out by running water. Opposite her Sakura did likewise, reclining on her bench to better enjoy the heat of the sauna.

Luvia blinked then, eyes catching three tattoos carved on Sakura's right arm. Thinking it over for a few moments, Luvia shrugged and decided to press on. "Seeing as it's almost New Year," she began. "And you haven't seemed to be making any moves to prepare, I'm guessing you've either forgotten about it, are planning to cram the preparations afterward, or you're not going to join in."

"What?"

"Heaven's Feel? The Holy Grail War?"

"Oh that." Sakura said before shrugging. "No, I'm not joining."

Luvia's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"But," Luvia fumbled. "Aren't the Heaven's Feel rituals part of your family's legacy? Aren't you obliged to take part, no matter what?"

"Says who?" Sakura countered. "We're only guaranteed a spot as Masters, but we're not obliged to join in…well, yes actually we are, but…not under my circumstances."

"Your circumstances?"

Sakura sighed and paused for several moments. "As you said," she said. "It's part of our – my – family's legacy. But it isn't our whole legacy. In fact, you could say I am the legacy. Not the Holy Grail, or the contest for it. I'm the only Tohsaka left alive. If I die, then my family dies with me."

"Magi walk with death…"

"…in pursuit of the Root." Sakura interrupted. "And that's why I'm not joining. The Grail can only grant wishes within the limits of the World. When all is said and done, it's useless with regard to the ultimate goal of the magi. The Tohsaka are a family of magi. I'm a magus. I'm the only one left who can carry on our duty to find a way to reach the Root. I should not risk my life for something that could not fulfil that duty, especially when failure would be utterly complete."

Luvia nodded slowly in understanding. Certainly, the ultimate goal of the magi was to reach the Root. Everything they did, everything they sacrificed, it was all for the sake of that goal. It was a goal that was all but impossible to reach, with every generation simply doing what it could to push the path to it ever so slightly further, before passing on the task to the next generation.

Indeed, even death itself was not seen as something to be feared, for it was a constant companion along the path. Whether as a constant shadow, the threat of an end to one's journey along the path, or as an ally to remove obstacles along the way, it was always there.

Magi walk with death. That was the first lesson they always learned, and one of the few shared between all magi, no matter how different subsequent training might be between families.

And to the Tohsaka…yes, the Heaven's Feel rituals of Fuyuki City were a part of their heritage, something that should be honored…but not when it meant potentially failing at their true calling as magi. Sakura was the last Tohsaka. If she died, then it had to be in pursuit of that calling, and or had already secured the next generation to succeed her in her duty.

In that light, her decision not to join was completely justified.

"So," Luvia continued. "If you weren't the last Tohsaka, you would have joined?"

Sakura didn't answer at once, though she eventually closed her eyes. "Maybe I would," she said. "But if I wasn't the last Tohsaka, I probably wouldn't be a Tohsaka."

"Huh?"

Sakura smiled. "I was born a spare, remember?" she asked, and Luvia blushed.

"Oh right, I forgot about that."

Sakura giggled and shook her head. "No, it's fine." She said. "Still…let's assume that say…I was born the heir instead of my late older sister, father still died in the previous war, mother…well, your family still took us in. Would I have joined…"

Luvia looked on in confusion as Sakura trailed off with surprising uncertainty for several moments. "I'm honestly not sure, to be honest." She finally said.

"Why?"

"Well, for starters it's strategically unwise." Sakura said. "The objective of strategy is to win a war. And the basic condition for that is to make sure the difference between yourself and the enemy is at least equal, preferably skewed in your favor. Now, consider me as I am now: having barely finished my core training, and with little field experience. Then using the previous Heaven's Feel as a reference, it's clear that strategically-speaking I've already lost the war."

"It can be argued that as magi something like that is unimportant."

"Maybe," Sakura conceded. "But if that's the case, I revert to the same, fundamental argument behind why I'm not joining. Since it doesn't really advance the pursuit of the Root, is it really worth risking my life for it?"

Luvia nodded slowly. "I suppose there's a point there." She conceded. "And? I assume that's not the only reason why you still might not join the Holy Grail War, if there was a spare available right now."

"Heaven's Feel started forty years early."

"What?"

"Heaven's Feel is supposed to take place every fifty years." Sakura said. "To be honest, I never noticed it too until I was thinking deeply on whether or not to join the war. And that's when I realized it: it's too early."

"Coincidence?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "If that's the case," she said. "Then it becomes even more dangerous, because it means the system has grown unstable such that flaws have started to appear in its functions."

Luvia crossed her arms in thought for several moments. "Yes," she eventually said with a nod. "You have a point there. Heaven's Feel is an incredibly-complex system, far beyond even ten-count spells. Well, that's a given of course, it is a Grand Ritual after all, and one that includes numerous concepts and mysteries linked together in complex relationships in order to achieve a miracle that is a wish-granting machine. That much is obvious when it summons Heroic Spirits from the Throne of Heroes – which is beyond the World for one thing – and reincarnates them in the form of Servants."

"And it requires enormous amounts of magical energy to do so." Sakura added with a nod. "That's why there are supposed to be fifty years between wars. It simply takes that long to gather that much of the land's mana."

"Though that begs the question," Luvia said. "If it takes that long to gather enough mana for the ritual, how could it have started forty years early?"

"I don't know." Sakura said with a sigh. "I'm going to have to look around when I go back to Fuyuki in a few years, and see what I can find. Or make contact with old man Zouken, he's supposed to be my substitute as Second Owner while I'm gone. Though that's going to have to wait until after the war."

"Why not just contact him now?" Luvia asked. "Or the Church? Aren't they supposed to be overseeing the contest."

"So they are." Sakura said coldly. "But, that's a political decision, and you know it. After what that bastard Kirei did to my father, I wouldn't trust a priest any further than I could throw him."

"Understandable," Luvia said before taking a deep breath. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

Sakura nodded curtly before briefly looking away. "As for contacting old man Zouken," she said. "Well, if he hasn't noticed something has gone terribly wrong – especially given the last war's malfunction that burned half of my city to the ground – then he's going to be participating in the war. He might be too focused on victory, to give my warnings deep thought, and might think it part of a strategy to throw him off. Especially since I don't have any evidence for it, and the Church seems confident enough that the Grail is working right, that they seem to be letting it go ahead as…well, normal, as it can be."

"And he might dismiss claims of your non-participation as a ruse, at least until the war starts and it's clearly obvious."

Sakura nodded. "And I'm not walking into my city once the war is in full swing, until it ends that is." She said.

"Of course not," Luvia agreed. "That's suicide. As a magus, you're a potential Master. All you have to do is steal command spells. Difficult without a Servant of your own, but doable. And more than that, you'd be a target for just that. Without a Servant of your own…"

Sakura nodded. "But," Luvia continued. "If the Church thinks the Grail is functioning…no, you don't trust the Church. And I don't blame you."

"Old man Zouken might trust them, if he's still participating…" Sakura murmured. "He was old when my father was young. I…I do not think he's such a fool, that he wouldn't have noticed the…the same issues, as I have. Or at least, that's what I think."

"…you don't trust him completely, do you?"

Sakura didn't answer, but after a moment her fists clenched. "He might have disowned the man," she said. "But old man Zouken's son…he destroyed my family! He took my mother from me! He…!"

Sakura broke off, gritting her teeth. "Sorry," she said after a few moments. "I let my emotions get the better of me. It's old bile by now, so I shouldn't let it get to me like this."

Luvia looked on for a few moments, and then sighing, nodded in understanding. "Sorry," Luvia said. "I shouldn't have brought it up, and I didn't mean for the conversation to come to this."

"It's fine." Sakura murmured before taking a deep breath and letting out a shuddering sigh. "Let's just…move on."

Luvia nodded in agreement, but even then, it was several minutes before the uneasy and heavy atmosphere lightened sufficiently for them to find something else to talk about. "Speaking of New Year," Luvia began. "Do you already have a dress to wear? We only have a few days left, after all."

Sakura glanced at Luvia, and then briefly closing her eyes smiled in thanks and understanding. "Yeah," she said. "I have a dress ready. In fact, I had the measurements for it taken, materials selected, designs looked over and revised, and everything else that goes with a new dress done months ago. You know how Aunt Valkolumi is."

Luvia chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Oh yes," she said. "Though you know her better than I do, of course."

Sakura just shrugged, and as Luvia laughed some more, she too joined in, finally dispelling the last of the pall from earlier.


Sakura returned to her rooms after a relaxing hour in the sauna, and making her way to her bedroom made a beeline for the closet. Changing to her nightclothes, she glanced at a wall clock as it chimed the hours, and after some thought put on a dressing robe afterwards before heading back into the sitting room leading to her bedroom.

"Still too early to sleep…" she thought, perusing her bookshelves before picking a book and taking it with her to an armchair to read. Sitting down, Sakura's attention was drawn to the snow falling outside, and after another moment she set down her book to walk over to the windows.

A twist of the handle opened the big, floor-to-ceiling windows, and stepping outside Sakura stretched at the sharpness of the cold winter air. There was no wind though, just snow falling gently from the dark and cloudy sky.

Even then, Sakura stood there on the balcony, looking out from the walls of the main Edelfelt residence in the Lapland countryside at the snow-covered landscape stretching out before her. Inevitably though, the novelty faded, Sakura sneezing once before shivering with the cold.

Distant laughter greeted her actions, and blinking, Sakura turned her head to look down the Edelfelt residence's façade, gleaming with light from numerous windows and exterior lighting, to where a similarly dressed Valkolumi was likewise looking out into the night. "Great minds think alike, it seems." Valkolumi remarked across the distance.

Sakura laughed weakly and rubbed the back of her head. "No," she said. "I just…I don't know. I just felt like standing out in the snow, or something like it, I guess."

"Is that so?" Valkolumi replied. "Well, as long as you know your limit, there's nothing wrong with that. Though, I daresay you've reached that limit, haven't you?"

Sakura was silent for a moment, and then she shrugged. "In this case," she said. "Yes, I think so too."

Valkolumi smiled across the distance. "You should go back inside." She said. "You wouldn't want to catch a cold now, would you?"

"I don't." Sakura agreed. "Good night, then."

"Goodnight, Sakura." Valkolumi said with a nod, turning to go back inside her own rooms and closing the windows behind her. Sakura stared after her for a moment, and then looked back out at the winter landscape for a few more moments. And then sneezing a second time and shivering some more, also decided to go back inside.


Luvia was reading a book on fairy tales when she felt something heavy press onto her from behind, arms winding around her just above her breasts. "Did something happen?" Marjatta asked her twin.

"No, not really." Luvia replied.

"Okay," Marjatta said, resting her chin atop Luvia's head. "How was training?"

"Sakura punched a hole through my left lung."

"What about her?"

"I caved her chest in."

Marjatta whistled. "Not bad," she said. "What's the score now? And no, draws don't count."

"…I have three wins since my last loss." Luvia replied. Given that training regularly involved 'sparring' almost to the death, scores were reset every time the winner's winning streak came to a halt, otherwise the scores would certainly get ridiculously large. "You?"

"The score was reset the last time Sakura and I fought." Marjatta said with a shrug. "I all but sheared off an arm, but she ruptured my aorta. That was really nasty though, healing the injury and getting the liquid out was very much touch and go for a while."

"Sakura mentioned the same earlier." Luvia remarked. "Understandable, really, given how much damage a caved-in chest would involve. Without her crest, she'd be dead."

"Thank God for crests." Marjatta said with a laugh. "And Ore Scales. That way everyone has a crest."

"Thank God indeed."

It wasn't an exaggeration. Crest could keep magi alive, even in the face of critical injuries. So long as their brains were undamaged, they could still access their crest, and had prana to cycle through it, they could live. Live and recover, maybe even continue the fight in short order, depending on the injuries previously incurred. Such was one of many miracles crests bestowed upon magi.

The problem with that of course, was that not all magi had crests. For one thing, crests took time to make and stabilize, usually over several generations. And for another thing, only one per generation could inherit a crest, barring certain circumstances, such as the creation of a branch family, who were traditionally supposed to be bestowed a crest fragment. Both to serve as the foundation of their own crest, and to bind them to the main family. This however, came with several risks, including destabilizing the crest, or even effectively sabotage a family's magecraft.

As a result, family heads and their heirs were typically the only ones with crests, and indeed, many branch families lacked crests (or proper ones) of their own.

Enter Ore Scales, the Edelfelt Clan's Sorcery Trait, which allowed for two individuals per generation to inherit a crest. While it did not solve the problem in case more than two children were born, this was not really a problem per se, given that most Edelfelt clan members were content with simply having an heir and a spare.

More than content, actually, as it also solved the problem of jealousies tearing families apart, between an heir and a spare competing over the crest. Most solved this problem by simply not training the spare, or given them only basic training before trading them away or marrying them off for some gain or obligation or another such reason.

But with Ore Scales, Edelfelt spares could receive the same crests (and training) as the heirs, and thus resolve most factors leading to self-destructive jealousies from the very beginning. And even the position of clan head was not nearly as competed over as others might think, as the responsibilities that came with the post were more than enough to put off the majority of potential rivals.

All in all, this meant that for a relatively-young clan, the Edelfelt had a much greater number of branch families than other magi lineages, all of which were equals to the main family, who were essentially first among equals as opposed to ruling over the branches, as was usually the case. Not only that, but Edelfelt was also subject to far less inter-familial strife than might be expected from large magi lineages competing with itself.

"Sakura doesn't have Ore Scales though." Marjatta murmured thoughtfully.

"All the more reason she should marry a right and proper Edelfelt cousin." Luvia remarked. "If so, there's a good chance – better than most in fact given Sakura is already one-quarter Edelfelt – her children would inherit Ore Scales. And Imaginary Numbers."

"Two Sorcery Traits," Marjatta murmured before giggling. "Already playing clan head, aren't you? Trying to further tie the Tohsaka branch into the clan, all the while enriching it…"

"…and the clan in the process." Luvia finished before smiling at Marjatta over a shoulder. "Of course; father has high expectations of me, and I don't intend to let him down. As for further tying Sakura's family to our own…well, why not? Family is family, even if that is a rather sentimental reason. On another note, well, Imaginary Numbers have numerous possible applications, beyond simply what Sakura has already done with it. If we keep them close – well as close as a family whose home territory is on the other side of the world can be – then the whole clan could potentially harvest all the fruits without any need for any kind of unpleasantness."

Marjatta nodded her agreement. "Agreed on all counts," she said. "Though, is it really possible for them to gain more than one Sorcery Trait?"

That brought Luvia up to a halt. "I…do not know." She eventually said. "But even if it isn't, if she marries one of our cousins, then her husband would have a crest to pass on, just like Sakura has. She can have two children, and for another generation at least, her family can enjoy the blessings of not having its children either fight for its legacy, or favor one at the expense of the other."

Marjatta nodded sadly. "That's likely what might happen." she said. "But at the very least, Sakura should be happy."

"Yes, I think so too." Luvia agreed. "And after everything that's happened to her and her family, she deserves that much."

Marjatta nodded, the twins falling into silence for several moments. "Marjatta?" Luvia eventually spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Can you get off please? You're rather heavy."

"Hey!"


A/N

Magus training is supposed to be painful and brutal, if nowhere nearly as much as Matou 'training' (which isn't actually training at all). And considering the Edelfelts' background, it shouldn't be too surprising how (in this fic at least) they take the Roman concept of training as 'bloodless battle' to the next level (i.e. all but killing each other if not for their crests).

And yes, you're not mistaken in what you read. Sakura won't be participating in the Fifth Holy Grail War, for reasons outlined above. Remember: The Greater Grail's true purpose to open a path to the Root is a secret known to only a few people. Zouken for one, the Einzbern Clan (more like an AI and its bioroid assistants/creations) for another…and none for the Tohsaka, as Kirei and Tokiomi died before they could tell Sakura about the truth behind the Greater Grail. As far as Sakura and everyone else knows, the Greater Grail is just a wish-machine.