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.

Divergent Fate

Chapter 4

Cattleya Velvet woke abruptly and with heavy breaths, sitting up covered in sweat and tearing off her bed covers. As happened every once in a while, her rest had been disturbed by nightmares. Or rather: the nightmare. She only ever had one nightmare and that nightmare alone.

It was a nightmare of that dark night in that dank place beneath the ground, fetid and musty with ancient evil. The old man leered at her, dwarfed and wizened with age, and his eyes black and his flesh corrupt. He grabbed at her, and dragged her towards the pit in the floor, and despite her screams and desperate struggles no one came to help her.

She fell.

And they were all over her. They were tearing at her clothes, at her flesh, getting all over her and into her mouth, her ears, and even into her…

Cattleya hissed in pain, and she glanced at her clenched right hand, only to blink at the sight of blood dripping down and staining the beddings below. She opened her fingers slowly and smiled slightly at the sight of her diamonds. Diamonds were her sword and shield. Diamonds were placed at her side-table just in case. Diamonds she'd grabbed reflexively when she awoke. Diamonds that shattered the nightmare's echoes, as they cut into her flesh as she clenched her fist.

Sighing, she threw off what little of the covers that were on her, and walked to her bathroom to wash her wounds and clean her diamonds. Knowing that returning to bed immediately afterwards would be of no use, she replaced the diamonds back on the table before heading for her closet to fish out a thick, crimson robe which she draped over her scantily-clad form.

Oh what a scandal it would be, for the fourth heir of House Velvet to wander around at night dressed only in a thin white nightdress.

Chuckling at the headaches her brother would undoubtedly have to deal with to quiet things down if she ever did that, Cattleya stepped out her room and proceeded towards the pantry. Surprisingly enough she wasn't the only person there. Reines was there as well, sitting at the small table and staring out the window at the snow falling outside with a faintly steaming teacup before her.

The blonde raised an eyebrow as Cattleya walked straight towards the refrigerator and after perusing its contents for a moment pulled out a bottle of aged Spanish brandy. Her eyebrows rose even higher when Cattleya grabbed a glass and filled it.

"You do realize that you are a minor right?" she asked. Cattleya responded by draining the glass in one go, and then refilling it. "Bad dreams…?"

"Is there any other reason why I would be drinking this late at night?"

"What was it about?"

"I only have one nightmare."

"Oh that's right. I'd forgotten about that." Reines said, deciding to drop the topic. It was perfectly understandable, given her experiences. It didn't show on the outside, but Reines knew that despite her escape Cattleya was scarred on the inside. And if someone ever had the chance to peruse her private research data – or as much of it was accessible for public (relatively) viewing – then it would be obvious that much of it was influenced by her past trauma.

She was a child at the time. Of course something like that would leave scars, even if she narrowly avoided being defiled.

Reines knew of the Makiri. They were quite infamous after all. Even if the archives of the Clock Tower didn't have details on their mysteries, enough was known to recognize the effectiveness of their methods but at the same time enough was known to repulse more respectable magi at their sheer brutality.

Considering that those same archives have been updated by Cattleya's descriptions, it's a wonder that they haven't been sanctioned much less sealed by now.

"What about you?" Cattleya asked her sister-in-law while nursing her glass of brandy. "Any particular reason why you're drinking tea at this hour…?"

"Morning sickness…" Reines replied, and she smiled as Cattleya choked on her brandy while turning red.

"W-w-what…?"

"…it's precisely what I said."

Cattleya glanced down at her glass, and then at Reines, and then back at her glass. And then she tossed its contents down the drain. "I think I've drunk too much." She said while returning the bottle back inside the refrigerator. "Now I'm imagining my brother actually knocked his wife up."

"What's wrong with that?" Reines asked. "We're married, aren't we?"

"It's not really amusing to imagine my brother…doing…that…!" Cattleya spluttered out, her face red and reddening even further as Reines laughed at her.

"Oh you can be such an innocent at times."

"I haven't been innocent in years….wait…that came out wrong!"

"Relax…" Reines said while taking a sip of her tea. "…I know what you meant. Well you should probably go back to bed. Sweet dreams, little sister…or should I say, the dream that you've always wanted to see?"

Cattleya stared at her for a moment, and then proceeded to leave the pantry. "There's only one dream I want to see…" she thought to herself as she walked down the corridor. "...I want to see them…I want to see those mist-shrouded shores that my brother told me about…"

Cattleya stopped and paused to look out a set of large windows at the pre-dawn skyline of London on Christmas day. "…but I know that I can't see them…not yet…so for now…I'll content myself by reaching out across the desert…to those legendary shores beyond the horizon…"


The Christmas celebrations at the Clock Tower were in full swing, for while magi weren't particularly religious, they were however quite fond of showing off whenever it was expedient to do so. Christmas was simply too good an opportunity to enjoy themselves to pass up, the religious background of the day regardless.

The celebration was being held at the Clock Tower's Grand Gallery, a large indoor area specially-reserved for celebrations of formal occasions and gatherings. It was even larger than the Assembly Chamber of the Assembly of Lords, and was positively glittering with the gathered magi and their finery, both nobility and commoner alike. Massive crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, lighting the gallery with alchemical light, with a second floor encircling it and providing a view from above of the floor below. Priceless works of art were on full display, while in the background music was softly being provided by an orchestra.

Cattleya Velvet wandered the floor, examining the paintings and sculptures as she went and exchanging pleasantries with the notables she encountered. "Well…" she thought to herself as she took leave of another nobleman and his wife. "…things are going as they did last year, during the first time I attended the official Clock Tower Christmas party. And like the last time all I can say is that this isn't exactly how I like to spend my Christmas."

The young magus stopped before a large portrait of a long-haired, blonde man dressed in a partly-open frilled shirt and dark pants. Cattleya's eyebrow rose as she regarded the subject matter and his setting. "Well…" Octavia Archibald asked her cousin as she approached, offering a glass of champagne as she did so. "…what do you think of this painting?"

"On one hand it's very realistic." Cattleya opined neutrally. "It is a fine example of the realist movement."

"But on the other hand…?" Octavia said with a wide smile, already predicting her cousin's words and barely holding her laughter in.

"It is utterly tasteless." Cattleya said, and Octavia finally burst out laughing. "Seriously…? A Don Juan…?"

"Well…" Octavia said while struggling to regain her composure with a sip from her own glass. "…art's like that sometimes. And speaking of art, you're quite artistic today."

"Excuse me?"

Octavia indicated Cattleya's attire. Normally female partygoers were expected to dress in ballroom gowns weighed down with lace, ribbons, and ruffles, and Cattleya had complied with that expectation last year during her first attendance.

Not this time.

This time however she'd chosen a more daring set of clothes, one that drew eyes wherever she went. A dress of blood-red with black trim, and over it a fine robe of black silk…the fact that she was rather curved in the right places and those same curves were emphasized by her dress had caused a storm of flattering and disapproving murmurs in her wake.

"What can I say?" Cattleya said smugly. "Everyone's enjoying showing off tonight, so I thought why not? And besides I'm not a big fan of those gowns everyone else wears."

"No kidding…" Octavia agreed. "…you complained a lot last year if I remember correctly."

"Sorry if I offended you, then and now." Cattleya said, indicating the gown Octavia was currently wearing. "It's just that…"

"Oh it's fine." Octavia interrupted while waving off her apology. "To each their own, and it's not like you're causing too much of a fuss."

"…a fuss…?"

Octavia smirked. "More than one male viewer has been…shall we say rebuked by their feminine companion for following you with their eyes." She said, and Cattleya giggled.

"That was the idea."

"What about the fact that you're being favorably compared to my late Uncle Kayneth?"

Cattleya choked on her champagne. "I'm what?" she asked, aghast at the idea.

"Uncle Kayneth had a subtle streak of individuality in the way he dressed." Octavia explained. "You are obviously individualistic, but with a respectable, archaic air about it, between your usual faux housewife attire and now…this."

"Faux housewife…?"

"You know: that ensemble you always wear."

Cattleya scratched her head uncertainly. "Well…" she said softly. "…I suppose 'faux housewife' is better than cosplayer I suppose."

"Cosplayer…?" Octavia echoed.

"It's a long story."

"Come to think of it, I heard Waver mention that word once. Something about Rumia cosplay…"

"I am not a cosplayer." Cattleya said icily. "If I were I'd have dyed my hair blonde and be wearing red contact lenses every single day."

"…hmm…" Octavia said thoughtfully as she mulled over her cousin's words. "…I don't know. You might look good as a blonde. But if you were blonde…you'd look…like…a…Edelfelt…oh my…"

"Yes…" Cattleya said while taking a drink. "…I'd look like my other cousins. And as the Americans would say, that'd cause all sorts of shit to come down."

Octavia laughed in response. "How gauche…" she said. "…and how typically American…."

Cattleya shrugged and Octavia took a drink of her own only to pause as she spotted someone in the distance. "…oh dear…" she said. "…sorry Cattleya, but I'm going to have to take my leave for now."

Cattleya glanced over a shoulder and narrowed her eyes at the sight of her cousin's fiancé in the distance. "I see your point." She said with a nod at the blonde, who nodded back before striding off. Cattleya emptied her glass and then headed for the refreshments table. "Fortunately I don't have to worry about matrimonial entanglements for the moment." She thought to herself. "But how long that lasts is a worry in itself."

She set her glass down, and the server took it and replaced it with a fresh one. She nodded her thanks, and turned only to meet a smiling Luviagelita Edelfelt. "That's a rather daring set of colors you have on Cattleya." She commented.

"I could say the same for you Luvia…" Cattleya commented back with a small smile. "…if it weren't for the fact that you're still using the usual set of colors you usually use."

"Oh very clever…" Luvia said with a matching smile and getting her own glass of champagne. "…or should I say observant…?"

"Feel free to use which is more convenient."

Luvia raised an eyebrow and took a sip of her drink. "It's not Tohsaka colors, if that's what you're thinking." Cattleya finally said. "The scheme is the same, but I assure you that I and my brother wear these colors for our own reasons."

"Care to share those reasons?"

"Sorry…" Cattleya said. "…but it's a family secret."

And you'll probably think we're crazy if we told you.

"Ah, I see."


"Would you care to dance my lady?" Shirou Emiya asked his sister, who blinked in disbelief and her companions giggled and whispered among themselves. After a moment she blushed and hesitantly took the offered hand.

"I-I-I'd be honored…" she said but refused to meet her brother's eyes. Shirou just smiled indulgently while leading Illya onto the dance floor, where other couples were already dancing to a slow tune. As might be expected, the Einzbern were holding their own Christmas celebration in their castle, their vassals attending alongside the family's extended members.

"…since when did you know how to dance?" Illya asked, letting her red eyes lock onto her brother's golden ones. Shirou chuckled as he led her in a waltz over the dance floor.

"Just because my training was primarily geared for combat it doesn't mean that I don't know how to function outside the battlefield." He said. "My studies also included moving about and inside the circles our family is expected to be involved in."

"I-I see." Illya said, already losing herself in his golden eyes and the warm feeling of his hands.

The sight of the siblings dancing together was causing something of a stir among the audience. "Aren't they siblings?" a female Einzbern commented softly. "Even if they aren't siblings by blood, isn't their relationship taboo or something?"

"Well as you said they aren't blood-siblings, so it shouldn't be so bad."

"That's true. And Emiya's actually quite good-looking."

"How would you know that?"

"Well I…"

"Illya's going to kill you for spying on her brother you know."

"...she won't find out unless someone tells her! And I couldn't help it!"

"Step-siblings in love…how romantic…!"

"Actually it's just Illya, Emiya doesn't seem to reciprocate."

"Oh that's so sad. I wish we could help her."

Bernhardt von Einzbern was making rounds on the ground floor of the ballroom when he overheard the gossip of his female relatives, the tall man directing his gaze towards the siblings dancing on the dance floor. His eyes narrowed as he spotted Illya clearly lost in her brother's face, although Emiya didn't seem to notice it at all.

This could be a problem.

The man subtly cast his gaze over the second floor, and upon finding Jubstacheit swept away to speak to him. Meanwhile the dance came to an end, with Shirou surprised to find Illya slow to let go of his hand. "Illya…?" he asked, finally noticing the slightly-mesmerized expression on her face.

The girl blinked and then blushed as she swiftly released his hand. "I…" she whispered while clutching her hand and looking away with a blush on her face. "…sorry…but I have to go!"

Illya ran off, and after a moment of confusion punctuated by whispers and murmurs from the surrounding crowd he ran after her. "Well this could be troublesome." Jubstacheit said, watching the whole scene from a second floor balcony. "It would seem that Emiya's boy is rather oblivious to his sister's feelings."

"For someone who can perceive the conceptual structure of things with but a glance and then twist them with the concept of 'sword' he seems rather oblivious when it comes to matters about people." Bernhardt commented with Jubstacheit nodding in agreement.

"I'm going to have to talk with that boy myself." He said unhappily while pinching his nose before directing a homunculus attendant to summon his grandson. At this point Shirou managed to catch up with his elder sister outside the doors to her chambers.

"Illya…" he said while grabbing onto her shoulder, and was surprised to find it shaking. "…Illya what's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"I don't buy that."

"Then don't!" she exploded, turning violently to shake his hand off. Shirou took a step back in surprise at the fire and pain in her eyes.

Why? Why is she angry? Did I…did I offend or hurt her in some way unintentionally?

"Look I'm sorry if I made you angry without realizing it…" Shirou began and causing Illya to look away, ashamed at her outburst. "…but at least tell me why."

"You don't know?" she asked softly, and causing Shirou to almost pull at his hair in frustration.

"Of course I don't!" he said, finally getting irritated himself. "That's why I'm asking."

Illya just smirked coldly before opening the door behind her. "That's precisely the problem." She said while taking a step back. "The answer's right in front of you, but you can't see it!"

"Hey Illya…!" Shirou said only for his sister to close her doors in his face. The young man knocked loudly several times to no avail, but Illya refused to respond at all. As he stood thinking hard in the middle of the deserted hallway, a series of soft footsteps caught his attention, Shirou turning to face the emotionless homunculus.

"Shirou Emiya…" the homunculus said. "…Lord Jubstacheit would like to speak to you in his private chambers."

As if he could refuse summons.

Sighing, Shirou nodded assent and proceeded towards his grandfather's chambers. Between angering his sister in ways that he couldn't even remember, and then being summoned by grandfather – probably over rudely storming out of tonight's party like he did earlier – this year's Christmas was definitely not the best that it could be.


Aoi Tohsaka closed Kenji's door behind her, and sighed while leaning against the nearby wall. Christmas used to be such a lively affair, and by all rights they should be. The Tohsaka had the means, they didn't have any real issues to weigh them down, and yet Christmas was always so formal and lifeless for them.

Ever since Sakura had gone things have gotten so lonely.

Wearily she pinched the bridge of her nose and made her way to her daughter's room. Rin…she used to be such a sweet child, but over the years the pressures and responsibilities of her station and anger and resentment against Sakura had crushed her heart and turned her cold. A part of her felt resentful against her husband for encouraging the latter issue, but she crushed such emotions down.

"He's my husband." She thought to herself as she stood outside her daughter's room. "I have to support his decisions, and believe that he always means the best for our family."

"Then why did you do that?" a treacherous voice that sounded like her own asked her in her head.

"No…! That's different!" Aoi silently shouted at her conscience. "I won't fail or lose Kenji, like I failed and lost Rin and Sakura! Not my son…!"

Shaking her head to drown out the whispers of her conscience, Aoi quietly opened the door and peered through the crack to see whether or not Rin was sleeping. Upon finding that she was, Aoi quietly slipped inside and made her way to her daughter's bed. She sat down at the side, and ran a hand through her daughter's hair. It was long and soft, so much like her hair, and Aoi smiled sadly at the innocence in her daughter's sleeping face.

Oh Rin…Sakura…what have I done?

"Rin…" she said softly. "…I know you can't hear me. I also know that I'm being a coward for doing this. But…what else can I do? I'm not strong…I…I…I'm sorry. I'm sorry for failing you. Thanks to me, you've lost so much. Sakura is gone, and you are slowly slipping away as well. But…I want you to know, that no matter what happens, I…I will…I will always love you, just as I love your brother and sister."

Wiping at her tears Aoi leaned down and kissed Rin on the cheek before standing up to leave, quietly sobbing to herself. A few moments after the doors closed behind her Rin stirred and directed her sapphire gaze through the darkness at the door. It was very much the same thing for the past few Christmases, and she found herself torn over her feelings regarding her mother.

A hand rose to touch the cheek her mother had kissed. "How foolishly sentimental…" she murmured before closing her eyes to try and return to her sleep. She'd always been awakened by her mother's Christmas visits, and she'd only pretended to sleep to indulge her mother's sentimentality.

But she did listen. And she did dismiss her mother's words and apologies.

And like always, as she fell asleep her guard fell and tears slipped past her eyelids and streaked down her face.


A/N

Everything isn't quite peachy with our AU characters as demonstrated in this chapter.

I hope the ones wanting to see some Tohsaka Clan drama are satisfied, and I certainly hope Aoi isn't too OOC here.

EDIT: Just in case of misunderstandings, Sakura never went/got thrown into the pit. She almost did though before she succeeded in summoning Caster, but she can imagine what might probably have happened. She's a smart girl. But even 'what ifs' can cause damage, especially to a child, hence the nightmares.