Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon. I also do not own the Megami Tensei franchise, it belongs to Atlus.

Aftermath

Chapter 25

The Templars' base of operations was located fifteen kilometers from Fuyuki City, aboard a stealth ship out at sea. The lack of a superstructure along with an enclosing deck built and angled in a way to scatter incoming radio waves and microwave radiation effectively rendered it invisible to radar, while energy-absorbent external plating did likewise for infra-red and LIDAR. A magnetohydrodynamic drive stolen from the former Soviet Union allowed the ship to move quickly and quietly with only a minimal wake behind it.

All in all, the only way to reliable detect the ship was by visual identification, whether with the Human eye from land, a plane, or another ship, or by satellite. And even then, unless you knew what to look for, considering the vast spaces of the sea, finding the Templars' stealth ship was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

And it was virtually impossible to do so at night.

Deep inside the ship, technicians in blue jumpsuits positioned the hexagonal sapphire crystal in which the nascent Anti-Christ was sealed. Pressurized air hissed and servos whined as pneumatic clamps and electromagnetic locks latched into place.

More technicians attached leads to the crystal, feeding into the machinery and other instrumentation around the room. Guards kept watch, all in ring mail and great helms, wielding blessed polearms or crossbows loaded with sanctified bolts.

"The subject's life signs are stable." A medical technician reported from one station. "Brain activity is minimal: the subject appears to be in perfect hibernation."

"Metaphysical activity is nonexistent." Another technician reported from another station. "All values are at ground state."

"Commencing final diagnostics on the Psi-Interface." A third technician reported from his station. "Standby…standby…standby…system connections, all green."

"Set Protect Level to 12." The Grand Master ordered from the observation deck, looking at the operations deck through a sheet of glass-faced acrylic. "Have at least 3 backups on standby at all times. Containment Protocols are to be enacted at the deck officer's discretion."

The Grand Master looked on with expectant silence as his subordinates carried out their duty, and then a few minutes later, the deck officer looked up at the Grand Master. "…we're ready to begin on your command, Grand Master." He said.

"Begin." The Grand Master ordered.

"Connect the Psi-Interface to the subject." The deck officer ordered in turn. Once again, servos whined as a ring of segmented silver clamped onto the sapphire crystal. A sharp whine echoed across the room, and the crystal began to glow, a golden halo appearing the upper part of the nascent Anti-Christ's head.

"Brain activity detected!" the medical station reported. "Subject remains unconscious, but brain activity is indicative of lucid dreaming!"

"Metaphysical activity remains nonexistent," the sensor station reported. "But values have exceeded ground state, though remain within acceptable levels."

"Protect Level Two has been exceeded." The operations station reported. "Protect Level Three is holding at…twenty-seven per cent."

"Activate the buffers." The deck officer ordered. "Let's not take any risks here, and ground what little power this monster is able to use in her current state."

"Yes. sir." The operations station said with a nod before adjusting his controls. "Buffers are online…standby…standby…standby…Protect Level Three holding at eighty-four per cent."

"Hmm…better…" the deck officer said with a nod. "Initialize the AI component, and commence the operation. Let's see if there's any hope for this monster, and if not…"

The deck officer trailed off with a shrug. "…we do what we must." He finally said.

"Yes, sir." The operations station said while adjusting his controls. "AI component is active, syncing with subject's neural network. Standby…standby…standby…syncing complete, synchronization at eighty-five point six per cent. AI is commencing operational activities, Protect Level Two holding at seventy-eight per cent."

"And the buffers?" the deck officer asked.

"Holding at nine per cent of maximum capacity." The operations station replied, and the deck officer nodded in satisfaction.

"Very good then." He said, before turning back to the Anti-Christ to-be.

Sakura opened her eyes, and looked around her with a wary air. It was night, or it seemed to be night, given how dark it was. The skies above were shrouded with dark storm clouds, rumbling with thunder and flashing with lightning at random intervals.

Interestingly, she stood on the surface of a sea, except there wasn't any foam, even as the waves gently heaved back and forth. She didn't seem to be that far from shore either, but even there, the waves left no foam as they washed against the rocky ground.

Even more interesting – and curious – were the jagged chunks of rock floating above the waters. There were many of them, floating at various altitudes, and were just as varied in size. Here and there too, lances of blue light streamed up from the depths, rising high into the sky and vanishing into the storm clouds.

Sakura blinked, and narrowed her eyes at a figure sitting languidly at a rock near the edge of the waters. Walking closer, it wasn't long before said figure became a clear sight, and Sakura's eyes widened in shock and recognition.

It was her.

It was her as she had once been, violet-haired and violet-eyed, and wearing that damnable ribbon in her hair.

A last gift from a sister as a reminder of what they had once been, and what they would always be.

A last gift that had proven to be a mocking symbol of hollow hope. Hope from a sister who'd promised to always be there for her, who'd promised to always look out for her, and who'd promised to never leave her alone.

All promises that had been proven to be naught but lies, promises from a sister who'd been only one in name.

Even if that sister could have done nothing to save her, that sister could at least have spoken to her, tried to be there whenever she could. Instead, that sister had turned her back, cared nothing to even speak to her, or to treat her as more than a stranger.

The loss of that ribbon was no loss at all. It was of a past that had little to no value, and deserved to be lost and forgotten.

The wrath and the hate surged up, demonic power boiling from within, but it was cold. Sakura didn't waste any words. Kicking off with enough force to displace several meters of water around her down to the sea floor, she threw herself at her reflection, hand raised and claws extended.

The blow didn't connect. The reflection raised a hand, and Sakura cried out in surprise as a wave of concussive force slammed into her and threw her away.

"There's no need to be so violent." The reflection said. "For one thing, violence is bad. It does and gains nothing good. And for another thing, there's no point in fighting back."

For several long moments, there was only the sound of waves and the rumbling of thunder, and then with a boom of displaced air, Sakura was there. She looked evenly at her reflection, noting the white, modern-style dress she wore, in contract to Sakura's own Roman dress and mantle, albeit of a matching white.

"I disagree." She finally said.

"Haven't you learned anything yet?" her reflection said with a sigh. "Those first three days screaming and struggling in the pit…"

Sakura lunged forward with a cry…

…and was again thrown away.

"…or Uncle Kariya trying to save us only to get eaten by the worms." The reflection continued once Sakura had returned once more, teeth grinding against each other in frustration. "And when and nii-san first forced himself on us…do you remember? We scratched and pushed back against him, but what did it achieve in the end?"

"What's your point?" Sakura spat.

The reflection sighed again. "My point is there's no point in fighting back." She said. "What will happen, will happen. Both the bad…and the good."

"What?"

The reflection smiled. "Bad things happen." She said. "That's just the way the world is. But it's not all bad. Sooner or later, good things happen too. Do you really think we'd have met and known sempai if we hadn't become who were thanks to our experiences?"

"Bullshit." Sakura spat again. "We didn't become who we are today because of what grandfather and nii-san did to us. We became who we are despite what they did! We're free of them because we fought back! We fought back, and so we finally won the right to write our own future! Our own destiny! One we decide and make for ourselves without anyone deciding it for us!"

"Really?" the reflection asked. "Is that why you allowed the Fallen Angel to turn you into what it wanted you to be? A monster, one which denied the world rebirth into new life, and later on unleashed hell on the world? And one which will only unleash more misfortune and ruination in the future?"

"…I won't deny my actions allowed demons and aliens to rampage around the world." Sakura admitted after a moment. "But it doesn't have to end as you say it might. And you know as well as I do that the 'new life' the Reason Bearers would have given to the world isn't worth the death of it!"

Sakura paused, and then narrowed her eyes in warning. "And better a monster with the freedom to choose her own fate," she snarled. "For good or evil, than a helpless victim who can only lie and take it hoping that maybe things will get set right in the future."

"You really believe that, don't you?" the reflection asked, her voice and expression pitying.

Sakura just smiled. "What can I say?" she asked. "I'm my father's daughter."

"He's not our father, Sakura." The reflection said with a shake of her head. "No matter how much you've defiled the flow of time, our father will always be Tokiomi Tohsaka. And you need to forgive and forget. He did the best he could, and only hoped and wanted the best for us. You can't blame him for doing what he did. I'm sure, if he'd known what was happening to us, he'd have…"

"DO. NOT. GO. THERE." Sakura interrupted in a growl, mismatched eyes glowing with demonic power.

The reflection sighed again. "I guess there's no getting to you with words, huh?" she asked. Then she gestured, and Sakura gasped in surprise as an invisible grip took hold of her neck, and lifted her up into the air. "At the very least, you deserve an explanation. That way, when you wake up again, you will know, understand, and appreciate what was done."

"What?"

"You're half-Human." The reflection said before smiling. "The best part of you, because Humans are made in the image and likeness of God. By our very nature as He made us, we reject evil by merely existing. But that part of us has become twisted, thanks to the Original Sin. Our ancestors gained knowledge of good and evil, and passed on that curse to all of us today."

The reflection paused, and then smiled wider. "And that's the solution right there." She said. "Cleanse the Original Sin, and we return to what we were always meant to be."

Sakura stared at her reflection in disbelief. Said reflection twisted her head. "The Templars took the first step for us in cleansing that curse." She said. "And now I must make the second step. We will finally be who and what we were always meant to be. So…don't worry, and don't be afraid. When this is all over, I'm sure…"

"Are you stupid?" Sakura interrupted.

"What? The reflection asked, and then gasped in surprise as her grip failed and Sakura fell to the ground. The reflection held out her hand, and her eyes went wide as she failed to grasp Sakura.

For her part, Sakura just got to her feet, brushing rocks and sand off her clothes. "You use too many words," she said. "And talk too big trying to explain it. You see, you're wrong."

The reflection hissed and held out a hand, buffeting Sakura with a wave of concussive force. It barely fazed her.

"Long story short," Sakura said while walking closer. "You plan to take away our free will, and make it so that we reject any other option beyond what the powers-that-be define as 'good' simply because."

The reflection thrust her hands out desperately, and this time succeeded in pushing Sakura back a couple of feet, only for her to resume walking as the reflection spent herself. "Dress it up however you like," Sakura continued. "But that's all there is to it."

Again, the reflection tried to grab hold of Sakura, but while she managed to hold Sakura in place for several moments, Sakura's eyes flared, and blew the reflection and her grip away. Walking up to where the reflection struggled to rise, Sakura grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up.

"And despite what you imply," Sakura said with an unimpressed look on her face. "Humans always had free will from very beginning. If we hadn't, then how could we have eaten the Forbidden Fruit in the first place?"

The reflection's eyes widened, but Sakura spoke before she could. "Magma Axis." She said.

Sakura's eyes sprang open as alarms screamed, gauges exploded, and computers melted down. In the next instant, the prison of sapphire crystal the Templars had encased her in simply shattered, sending razor-sharp fragments flying everywhere, and shredding men and machines alike into bleeding or sparking pieces.

Sakura stepped down from the pedestal, looking around her with a seemingly-nonchalant air. She cracked her neck, stretched her limbs, and then cracked her knuckles. Then she raised an eyebrow as more Templars rushed into the room.

"Megidolaon." She said, and wiped them from existence. Light flashed, and she cast aside her school uniform for the Roman dress and mantle she otherwise favored. At the same time, she summoned three of her contracted demons, three out of Four Heavenly Kings.

Bishamonten, King of the North.

Zouchouten, King of the South.

Koumokuten, King of the West.

"Pierce." Sakura said, pointing a finger in front of her. The ship then reeled as Sakura gutted it, before turning to her summons. "Kill all the Templars. But I'll deal with the Grand Master myself."

The three kings nodded and then sped off, while Sakura leapt up to the observation deck through the broken windows. Grabbing one of the polearms on the floor from the hands of a dead man, Sakura ran a palm over the blade's edge, and let her blood flow over the metal. It hissed and boiled as the blessings made over the metal as it was refined and over the weapon as it was forged fought against the power in her blood, but the latter proved stronger, darkening the weapon's aura.

A full squad of Templars learned that the hard way, Sakura blowing them apart with a single swing, and painting the buckled walls all around with blood and offal. Then kicking off, she tore a hole through another formation of Templars, leaving torn flesh and broken metal in her wake.

Swinging fast and hard, she cut the rest of the Templars around to pieces, and similarly shearing the bulkheads apart. The deck buckled further, groaning under the strain, Sakura ignoring its protests as she cut a man in half before crushing another's chest. Then swinging her polearm, sheared three men in half, before bisecting a fourth and cleaving through the deck beneath.

Elsewhere on the ship, Bishamonten shattered the First Captain's sword before cutting him down, and then stabbed another Templar dead. A third Templar lost his head, even as the King of the North continued his relentless onslaught.

Zouchouten punched a Templar's head clean off, before doing the same to the Equerry. A Templar tried to tackle the King of the South, only to get reduced to a bloody smear against the wall for his trouble.

Koumokuten used his war fan to turn a Templar into mulch, before backhanding the ship's captain, and then killing him and everyone else on the armored bridge with a single swing. A single swing that unleashed hurricane-force winds inside the armored bridge, that is.

Sakura stabbed a Templar through the gut with her polearm, and then tossed him overboard. She beheaded another Templar with a swing, then stabbed another. Flourishing her weapon, she cut four men down in the blink of an eye, and then another two in another. Advancing, she cut down the Order's Honor Guard one by one, until at last, only the Grand Master was left.

The man raised the Apple of Eden, which blazed with golden light. It shone over Sakura, and once again, she felt herself buckle, her Humanity struggling to endure the onslaught…

…but this time she knew, and it was enough.

Even though it felt as though she was carrying a mountain on her shoulders, she refused to bow, to submit, and forced herself to her feet. "Impossible…" the Grand Master breathed.

Sakura raised her polearm, and spinning it in front of her let the golden light build against it, before breaking the circle and sending all the apple's energy rebounding. It struck the Grand Master and sent him flying, back and through the VTOL he'd been counting on escaping on, and wrecking it.

Sakura flourished her polearm again, and settled into a stance. She didn't have to wait long.

With a roar, the Grand Master leapt at her, carrying a golden sword that crackled with golden energy. Sakura fell back, deftly parrying or turning each of the Grand Master's strikes, and letting him exhaust the initiative, before immediately counterattacking and forcing the Grand Master back in her turn.

The Grand Master parried or dodged her strikes, the difference in power showing as the Grand Master staggered and struggled with every blow, his ripostes being turned with increasing ease. Realizing the danger, he fell back rather than take advantage of a feint, and briefly crossing blades, fell back again.

Sakura sneered and pressed the offensive, hammering the Grand Master into a corner, before forcing his guard open and striking him with her polearm's shaft on the head. The blow had the Grand Master seeing stars, and then he was gasping as Sakura drove her polearm into his guts and ripped them out.

Then Sakura grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up into the air. "Let's see what you know, old man." She spat.

"I will never talk." The Grand Master spat in her face.

Sakura smiled, and it was utterly merciless. "First time for everything." She cryptically said, her eyes alight. And then she inhaled, long and deep, ghostly streams of white being drawn from the Grand Master and into her mouth.

The Grand Master's eyes widened in shock and horror, and he struggled desperately but ultimately in vein. His hair and nails grew out, the former turning white before thinning and disappearing completely, even as his flesh withered and shrank. His skin likewise wrinkled and crumpled in on itself, and then the Grand Master's eyes shrank and disappeared, flesh and skin drying and shrinking to cling to crumbling bone before even they turned into dust on a cold wind.

Sakura wiped her mouth while letting crumbling cloth be blown away. Betrayal, resignation, realization, acceptance, rage, and hatred warred within her, before she brought them all to heel.

Even then, she could feel her shoulders heaving with the turmoil within. Turning around, she noticed the Apple of Eden lying nearby. She stared at it for a moment, and then stomping over, stared at for several moments more.

Then she decided to indulge herself.

With a shout of rage, she swung her polearm at the Apple of Eden, and crushed it beneath the blade.

It exploded with the force of a twenty-five kiloton nuclear device.

The night air was cold and still over the Tohsaka property, with only the faint sound of insects at night to be heard. The few guards outside the mansion stood out of sight in the shadows of the grounds, keeping wary eyes out for any potential threats. Powerful wards shimmered to those with the eyes to see, no longer merely of those mysteries passed down the millennia from the teachings of King Solomon of Israel, but now incorporating hexagrammic anti-demonic wards shared by the Church to their old allies.

They proved as useful as paper against bullets.

Wards exploded with the force of 250 kilogram bombs as Sakura dropped down from the sky, her face set with cold fury and mismatched eyes blazing bright as stars. A moment later, and three of Four Heavenly Kings dropped down around her as well.

Guards rushed to surround them, many more pouring from inside the mansion: Templars, Executors, even exorcists. Then Komoukuten was leaping forward, war fan sweeping out, and unleashing miniature tornadoes that spun five times as fast as the speed of sound. Twisting into draconic forms with burning red eyes, the King of the West's creations tore the guardians of law apart.

"Kill all who fight back." Sakura spat. "Spare those who surrender, but have them leave as quickly as possible. Mark my words, by the time the Sun rises, this place will be naught but ruins!"

Bishamonten and Zouchouten smirked with approval. "Relentless but merciful, if the latter only to those who deserve it." The latter remarked. "Very well."

"Do what you came here to do, Child of Darkness." Bishamonten said while brandishing his sword. "And we'll do ours."

Sakura nodded, and then crouching down slightly, sped forward at speeds too fast for the Human eyes to follow. She sped past the guards, the speed of her passing causing cloth to ignite, and her footfalls shattered marble like glass.

Wood exploded into splinters as she tore into the heart of the Tohsaka mansion, a mere fraction of a second before hexagrammic wards exploded as they tried and failed to stop her entry. The blast and shrapnel failed to faze even Sakura, but those in the wrong were not so fortunate.

Tokiomi had both his legs and his left arm blown off, and much of his clothes had similarly been burned off. Much of what was left had melted into his skin, along with his hair, while second and third-degree burns covered exposed flesh. Blood poured from his ruined ears, and he gagged and choked on blood as he raised a hand, imploringly, at Sakura.

She didn't even bother. She just walked over him, crushing his body underfoot, Tokiomi Tohsaka dying a slow and painful death from internal bleeding and organ failure inflicted by one who once called him father.

Reaching down, Sakura grabbed Rin by the neck, and held her aloft. Her right arm was gone, as was her left eye. Blood spurted in gouts from a torn artery in her neck, and like her father, much of her exposed skin was covered in second and third-degree burns, what was left of her clothes melted into her flesh.

Sakura tilted her head. "I am at a loss for words." She said.

Rin gurgled and weakly grasped at Sakura…

…and with a roar of rage, Sakura threw Rin through a wall and away. Heaving as she struggled to bring herself under control, Sakura reached out and sensed each and every soul in the building. The help had all gone, fleeing into the night, and while there still a few Templars and others there, only she and the Heavenly Kings were left.

Sakura sent out a thought, and the Heavenly Kings disappeared. Then letting loose, Sakura screamed at the top of her head, and obliterated the Tohsaka mansion.

No finesse.

No skill.

Just raw power unleashed in a moment of lost control, yet shackled by an iron will to prevent the devastation from going any further.

But it was enough.

The dawn fog rested heavy over the neighborhood, policemen and SDF soldiers standing guard along the street, while men in hazmat suits pored over the smoking crater that was once the Tohsaka property. Unnoticed by any of them, a priest coolly walked through the ruins, to where the few dead bodies recovered rested under tarps.

Halting next to one, Raphael sank to a crouch, and still unnoticed, pulled the tarp back. Rin Tohsaka was a burnt husk, bereft of life and breath by the hands of her own sister.

But death could be such a meaningless thing.

And Raphael knew it.

He ran a hand over Rin's brow, burned flesh flaking at his touch, and then the priest's eyes blazed. Rin gasped, forcing air into her lungs under her own power…

…and then she screamed, hoarse and choking, her broken soul finding itself trapped inside the corpse of her own body.

"And so the vessel is emptied," the Archangel Raphael said, picking up Rin's wailing, living corpse bridal style, a mocking smile adorning his face, one so very much like and yet unlike that of his brother Lucifer. "Ready to be filled anew with a greater calling, and remade in pure and noble purpose."

Chuckling to himself, Raphael walked off and vanished into the fog, and only then did the lingering echoes of Rin's screams become audible to those left behind. As one they shuddered, looking around in fear, feeling as though someone or something had walked over their graves.

They would find nothing to cause it, much less the cause of the property's destruction.

Still, they worked faster and more earnestly now, as if to get away as soon as possible. This place was cursed, and while it would have seemed nonsensical in times past, given recent events…

…that was all too plausible for comfort.

But it would not be the last that anyone would hear or see of Rin Tohsaka.

A/N

I am seriously disappointed that no one picked up the connection between Father Raphael and the Archangel Raphael.

And yes, Rin will be back. Sakura should really have made sure Rin was dead and couldn't be brought back to life. But she let herself get carried away by her emotions, and well…