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 26

"Sakura!" Shirou and Luvia alike shouted in relief as the half-demon jumped down from seemingly out of nowhere, and landed in the former's yard. "Where've you been this whole time? You were gone for two days, we were so worried!"

"The Tohsaka are dead." Sakura said without preamble. That brought Shirou up short, while Luvia just narrowed their eyes. "They conspired with the Church…sent Templars after me…they ambushed me, and used an Apple of Eden to knock me out."

Luvia's eyes bugged out. "An Apple of Eden…?" she incredulously asked. "How the hell did they manage to get their hands on one of those?"

Sakura shook her head. "The Grand Master's memories only tell me one of the Church's cardinals gave it to him." She said. "Gave it to him explicitly to use it against me. They knocked me out, and taking me to a ship out at sea, tried to cut out my demonic half and brainwash my Human half into…whatever they and Tohsaka want me to be! So I killed them all! I devoured the Grand Master's soul, slaughtered the Tohsakas, and destroyed their house!"

Taken aback by Sakura's shouting at the end, Shirou slightly lowered his head. "Sakura…" he softly said, and the half-demon looked away, an unreadable expression on her face.

"…I'm sorry." She whispered.

In the next instant, Shirou was there, hugging her close. Sakura didn't resist, though she looked up in surprise as Luvia joined in, hugging Sakura along with Shirou, offering what comfort she could.

"Even though we do not share the bonds of blood," Luvia began. "You are my friend, and for that alone I would offer what I can. Here and now, I will not pass judgment, but even if I should, you need not fear, for it was you who was wronged."

Shirou smiled and nodded, and after a moment, Sakura smiled as well. "…I want my daddy." She murmured.

"Then call for him." Luvia said. "Through the bonds of blood that the two of you share, call for him."

"I don't…"

"Just do." Luvia interrupted, stepping back from Sakura, Shirou doing likewise after a moment, and letting Luvia hold Sakura by her arms. "Don't think. Just do."

Sakura nodded, and briefly closing her eyes, took a deep breath. For a long moment, nothing happened, and then Luvia was turning as she felt reality shift…

…and Louis was walking around a corner, a concerned expression on his face.

"Sakura?" he asked. "You're…"

Displaced air cracked in a thunderclap, Sakura crossing the distance between herself and her father in an instant, practically throwing herself at him. Louis caught her, and sensing the turmoil in his daughter, the fresh hurt, the deep sense of repeated, constant betrayal, and vengeful, inhuman rage, hardened his demeanor.

"Sakura," he repeated. "What has happened?"

Sakura didn't hesitate. She told her father what she'd told Shirou and Luvia, only in greater detail and with more emotion. And at the end of it, Louis' face was as cold as deepest, darkest voids of space.

"Those bastards," he hissed, reality buckling around him from his sheer fury. "Those treacherous bastards…if I could get my hands on their souls…men would tremble at their fates for a thousand years and more…"

Sakura nodded, and then calming down, Louis reigned himself in. "I'm sorry." He said, and placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "I should have been there for you…taught you how to contact me as you did now…been more cautious…if I had been…"

"…dad," Sakura interrupted after a moment, and placing a hand on her father's arm. "It's not your fault. "You trusted me to be able to protect myself, and I should have been. Well, I came out on top in the end, but still…"

Sakura paused, and taking a deep breath, offered her father a smile. "It's how I learn, right?" she asked. "From making and remembering my mistakes…?"

Louis smiled and nodded, before hugging his daughter once again. Then stepping back, placed an arm around her shoulders, and began to lead her away. "We'll talk for a bit," he said over a shoulder. "So I'll be borrowing my daughter for a while, Emiya, Star Maiden."

Shirou and Luvia just nodded in silence.

"So," Shirou began after they'd returned to the inside of his house. "What exactly is the or an Apple of Eden?"

Luvia gave him a curious look. "You've never heard of the story of the Garden of Eden?" she asked.

"I have." Shirou countered. "It's basically a paradise, where the first man and woman lived. Also, at the center of the forest was a tree, the fruit of which God had forbidden them to eat. Tricked by a serpent though, they ate the Forbidden Fruit, for which God cursed them with mortality before banishing them from the Garden."

"Hmm…" Luvia hummed. "It's best not to take it literally, as the truth of the matter is more complex. No, don't ask, it'll take forever to explain, though the story is generally accurate. The details though…well, let's just say Humanity's role in that story and the events it recalls are just one more reason why Law and Chaos fight over Humanity's supposed role in the cosmos."

"Okay…I'll take your word for it." Shirou said. "Focusing on the important question though, can an Apple of Eden really do what it did?"

"It worked on Sakura, didn't it?" Luvia asked back. "That said, you heard what she told her father, and it's completely correct. The Apples of Eden didn't give Humanity free will, though it's commonly-misinterpreted as such. So much so, that the…lie, becomes reality, unfortunately thanks to Humanity's misconceptions across the whole of the cosmos."

"And that's what allows the Apples of Eden to take away free will." Shirou said.

"Yup," Luvia said with a shrug. "Though like Sakura said, Humans had free will even before Adam and Eve ate an Apple of Eden. If they didn't have free will, how could they have partaken of the Forbidden Fruit in the first place? It's quite obvious if you think about it. And once you realize the truth…well, like the old saying goes: knowledge is power."

"Right…" Shirou said while scratching his head. "…then…what did the Apple give Humanity?"

"…nothing."

"What?"

"The Apples of Eden are just fruits from paradise." Luvia said before giving a sigh. "Though I'd strongly suggest you not bring that up to anyone from Law. Like I said, it's a sore point between them and Chaos. Personally, I prefer to stand aloof from either faction, and to just focus on upholding justice across the cosmos, but if I had to say it, then I'd say Chaos is more correct in their interpretation of that old legend."

"Wait, no," Shirou said. "I don't understand."

Luvia smiled. "The Great Will picked a random tree in Eden, and told Adam and Eve not to eat its fruit." She said. "It was supposed to be an exercise in free will, to see whether they would blindly follow Its command and thus remain in Eden, that is the cradle of creation, or thinking for themselves, act on their own and prove themselves worthy to explore the rest of creation. The Great Will didn't exile much less curse Adam and Eve. They proved they had the bare minimum needed, and so he gave them the chance to become more, and everything they and their children could ever be."

"I…see…" Shirou said. "…then…the explosion…?"

Luvia grimaced. "An Apple of Eden is a…well, let's just say it's something that shouldn't exist on a mortal plane of existence." She said. "That's why it exploded when Sakura destroyed it. Kind of like how burning something releases heat out of its destruction."

"And that's what caused the explosion?"

"Pretty much." Luvia said with a nod. "To be honest, I think Sakura either downplayed the power of the explosion when she destroyed the Apple of Eden…or more likely, that Apple of Eden's essence had been diluted, probably from whatever process the Church or whatnot used to allow something from the Great Will's workshop to exist within a mortal plane without…undesirable, side-effects."

"Do I want to know?" Shirou asked, and Luvia smiled.

"I don't know." She said. "Do you?"

"Will you be alright now?" Louis asked, sitting with Sakura on a bench in a nearby park.

Sakura took a deep breath, and sighing, nodded at her father with a small smile. "I'll manage…somehow." She said. "Get through this…like I've gotten through everything the world's thrown at me my whole life."

Louis smiled sadly, brushing an idle lock of hair from Sakura's face. "You're strong," he said. "Stronger than anyone else could have thought possible. Maybe even stronger than I think you are…alright. If you say you can manage from here on out…I'll trust you."

"Thanks dad."

Louis nodded, and got to his feet followed by Sakura. "Come on," he said. "I'll walk you back to your friend's house."

"…wait."

Louis turned back to his daughter, a faint expression of curiousity visible on his face. "What is it?" he asked.

Sakura was silent for several long moments, face lowered as gathered her thoughts. "Do you remember back during my birthday?" she finally asked. "You said I haven't unlocked my full power as your daughter. That I could either grow into it over time, or face a series of trials to forcibly awaken it."

"…I remember."

"You also said that delaying would only give our enemies opportunities to take advantage of." Sakura continued. "I said I could handle it. And I did. But…"

Sakura paused, and taking another deep breath, hardened her demeanor. "…I'm tired of taking it." She said. "I'm tired of waiting for bad things to happen to me, of having to deal with whatever shit the world decides to force down my throat. I'm sick of having my face dragged through the dirt, and of having to get back up before being able to fight back. Why can't I kick the world in the balls for a change? I want to beat our enemies into the ground first, before they can hurt me or anyone that I care for! I want to tear them to pieces…burn them to ash…I just want to make them disappear!"

Louis stayed silent, looking on as his daughter ranted for several minutes straight, eyes glowing and fangs and claws bared. It was a beautiful and gratifying sight, Sakura's rage against the world and desire to fight back, to make it pay for daring to give her a poor hand in life, and rip from its broken, bleeding corpse everything and anything it denied and would deny her.

He was so proud.

"I want the trials, dad." Sakura finally said. "I want everything that's mine by right. I want all the power in my blood, so the next time the world or even the heavens decide to say 'this is your place in life, just suck it up or lie down and take it', I can break their faces and feed them their own entrails!"

Louis smiled, his eyes lighting up much like his daughter's had. Reaching out with a hand, he gently caressed a cheek, and then holding her by the chin, tilted her face up. Their eyes met.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Once you begin the trials…once you reach its conclusion…there won't be any going back."

"I'm sure." Sakura said without any hesitation. "I'll become the Anti-Christ, the incarnation of bane itself, a power of chaos…just like you, father."

"It will test you." Louis warned. "I do not call them trials for mere theatricality. It will force you to your limits, and beyond, in order to awaken your power. And if you cannot awaken them…then…"

"I don't care." Sakura said. "Besides…power's not given. It's earned. I'm not like my half-sister, who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and with everything she had in life handed to her on a silver platter. I bled, suffered, worked, and fought to reach where I am now. I made my own choices, faced their consequences, and always come out of it stronger and better than before. Not like her…not like her kind…always content to just follow the decisions made by others for them…refusing to accept much less face the consequences of their choices and actions…and for all that naught but weaklings and cowards in the end! I'm not like her! I'm not like her kind! I'm strong and brave! Just like you!"

Louis smiled proudly, hearing in her words echoes of his own words from the beginning of the Eternal War.

I'm not like you and others, always shouting 'don't think', 'don't question', 'obey'!

"Alright then," he finally said, and leaning forward to press a kiss to his daughter's forehead. "Give me a few days, and I'll arrange it."

"I'll be waiting, dad."

"Raphael."

"Gabriel."

The two archangels stared at each other as Gabriel approached Raphael, joining him before a large, floor-to-ceiling tank filled with thick, viscous fluid. Harsh, actinic lights around its base lit up the tank, and indeed, were the only sources of light in the room. The room itself was cold, not quite freezing, but enough to cause the breath of the two of them to fog with every exhalation.

Gabriel looked around the room, noting with amusement the quartet of Principalities present, cross-topped staffs held at the ready as they stood in every corner of the room. Then she looked at the tank, and the burnt, near-limbless figure within, a breathing mask affixed to its ruined face to give it the air it needed as the tank healed its injuries.

And then there were the feeds plugged into its – her – neck, through which blue liquid pumped into its blood. Gabriel raised an eyebrow, and then looked at her brother.

"You disapprove." Raphael observed.

"For someone usually so steadfast in opposing our traitor brother's actions," Gabriel began. "You certainly have no hesitation to use the same methods he does."

"There is precedent." Raphael began. "Enoch and Elijah…"

"That is not precedent." Gabriel firmly interrupted. "You forget brother, that it was not one of us who raised either of those two worthies among and above our ranks, but the Most High Himself. Do not presume to take His actions as worthy of humble ones such as ourselves. We are but servants to His glory."

"…very well then," a visibly-annoyed Raphael said after a long moment. "This servant…"

At that, he paused and pointed at the figure in the tank. "…was gravely-injured in an assault by an Anti-Christ-to-be." He continued. "That, even after this servant humbled herself more than once to extend the hand of forgiveness and peace, offering olive branches of reconciliation and understanding, and at the last, a chance to cleanse the Anti-Christ-to-be of the Fallen Angel's evil, and thus be returned to the loving fold of the Children of God."

"In short," Gabriel said dismissively. "You consider her a martyr."

"You disagree?" Raphael asked suspiciously.

"I will not dispute any of what you said." Gabriel replied with an unimpressed look on her face. "What I dispute is the necessity of going this far."

She looked again at the tank and narrowing her eyes at the tattered evidence of slow but steady healing of the woman within. Mortified flesh had already been excised, and now pale bone and pink flesh were beginning to grow out from healthy parts of her body, rebuilding itself thanks to the combined efforts of divine mysteries and technologies which should not exist on this mortal plane as of yet.

"Is she not worthy of reward?" Raphael asked once more. "Does not her suffering for what is good and just deserve recompense? I merely give her what is her due, and a chance to continue to do good in the future."

"All in service to the Lord?" Gabriel asked.

"All in service to the Lord." Raphael agreed.

"Humph…" Gabriel snorted skeptically. "If this goes wrong, then it's all on your head, Raphael."

"I am aware." Raphael dismissively replied. "And do not fear, either way."

"Really?"

Raphael now gave Gabriel an unimpressed look. "An archangel does not avoid his responsibilities." He said. "And there are measures in place to ensure nothing can ever go wrong."

Gabriel narrowed her eyes at the last. "I see." She simply said. "It seems you have everything under control here."

"Of course I do."

Gabriel scoffed, and then turned to leave. "Where are you going?" Raphael asked.

"I have other duties to attend to."

"Do you now?"

Gabriel turned back to Raphael, now looking angry. "Don't you dare take that tone with me." She snapped. "You know as well as I do that I only ever serve and answer to the Most High, and not once have I ever given Him reason to question my loyalty. Or perhaps you think yourself more aware than the Most High?"

"I would not presume so much." Raphael said, grimacing at the turn the conversation had taken.

Gabriel scoffed once more. "If you must know," she began. "My duty is to provide oversight, and if need be, direction to the Three Wise Men."

Raphael immediately winced, and his expression turned sympathetic. "My apologies," he immediately said. "I can understand why your temper seems to be simmering."

"Providing oversight is easy enough." Gabriel said with a nod of thanks at her brother. "But while there has been no need to provide direction as of yet, the very possibility gives me a headache just considering it. Were it not so treasonous, I'd be content to let those three, doddering, senile, old fools dash themselves to pieces against the Fallen Angel's schemes."

Raphael snorted. "Most treasonous indeed," he said. "Though it would provide the opportunity to replace the Three Wise Men with more…capable, leadership."

"Indeed…you won't tell Michael, will you?"

Raphael smiled reassuringly. "Rest assured, sister." He said. "I will not. Though even if he did find out, I doubt he'd do more than sternly reprimand you, and only for formality's sake at that. You know as well as I do that he'd sympathize with if not outright share your opinions of the Three Wise Men."

"And isn't that a relief?" Gabriel said with a sigh. "I take my leave."

"Take care, sister."

"Likewise, brother."

Aoi wandered in darkness, pain burning in her chest, where a blade of shame and self-loathing punched deep into her heart, shearing it in two. And how deserving it was, for even though she had promised so many times to never leave her alone, to always be there for her whenever she needed her, she had abandoned her own child.

Even if her husband had always been the one to make the final decisions, even if it that was just the way things were, and that her place was only to follow his lead, to support his every decision and see them for the best, she should still have spoken up. Even if it wouldn't have changed a single thing, even if it meant she failed as a good and proper wife, she should have risen to defend her daughter. Whether it was to keep her from the pain of losing everything and everyone she had ever known and loved, or asked and demanded to be allowed to see her once in a while, and to know what she was to expect in her new life.

But she hadn't.

She had been a good and proper wife. An example to follow, not just for her eldest, but for every Japanese woman of good breeding and social standing.

But she had also failed.

She had failed her own flesh and blood, the life she had nourished in her womb for the better part of a year, and birthed into the world. Life she had nursed at her own breast, and nurtured as a child, supporting dreams of a bright and hopeful future.

She had failed.

She let her child be torn from her, without speaking or even showing displeasure, only parroting empty words of comfort and arrogant expectation. She removed the memories of that child from her home, speaking and acting as though she'd only ever birthed one child, one child that would have everything that should have belonged to two.

She was a worthless mother, a pathetic example to be rightly pitied and scorned in equal measure by all those who had birthed children of their own.

And that child had rejected her. That child looked upon her with disgust and revulsion, turning her back upon her as she rightly deserved.

She was a monster. And she would wander in darkness forever more, as monsters deserved.

"If you are finished with your delusions of hollow remorse and disgusting self-pity, we have much to talk about." Louis dryly remarked, suddenly standing next to Aoi.

Aoi woke screaming, throwing herself upright from her bed. She screamed some more when she saw Louis sitting next to her, scrambling off her bed and falling to the floor, crawled over to cower against a wall. She screamed some more as he approached her, weakly clawing at him as he firmly picked her up with inhuman strength, and then placed her on her bed with surprising gentleness.

Still she screamed.

And then she stopped, spluttering instead as the annoyed demon lord picked up the pitcher of ice-cold water next to her bed, and emptied it over her head. "Well," he said with a small smile. "That went well."

"W-w-w-what do you want?" Aoi stammered out. "Please…just leave me and my family alone…you have what you want from me…leave me alone…please…leave me alone…"

"Your family is dead." Louis began without preamble. "I don't know if it was your husband or elder daughter, but they had the bright idea of conspiring with the Church to practically lobotomize our daughter. As you can imagine, she wasn't too happy about that."

Aoi gasped, both in shock and disbelief at the news that her husband and eldest would do such a thing, worry for her youngest, and fear at what her youngest might do. Louis quickly noticed though.

"Sakura is safe." Louis said. "But like I said, she wasn't too happy. And she made sure your husband and eldest paid for it."

A bottomless pit opened up in Aoi's stomach, along with a cold, stabbing feeling in her chest. "They're dead?" she whispered. "Tokiomi and Rin?"

"Yes."

Aoi let her face fall into her hands, and began to cry. Louis let her cry her heart out for well over ten minutes, her sobs and wails echoing in the room. Then stepping closer, he placed a hand on her shoulder, and handed her a kerchief.

"What do you want?" Aoi whispered as she dabbed at her face. "You've taken everything from me. My pride…my dignity…even my family…what more do you want from me?"

"Closure."

"What?"

"You gave me a daughter." Louis said. "And what a wonderful daughter she is. She's so strong and beautiful, intelligent and willful, but also kindhearted and even gentle, unlike her late half-sister. And she will only grow stronger and more beautiful in the future."

Louis paused, and sighed, looking off into the distance at something only he could see. "For all that," he said. "I owe you. And if nothing else, I always pay my debts. With your family gone, it is time to pay."

Aoi was silent, before Louis put his hands into his pockets, and pulled them out again, fingers closed over his palms. Smiling with evident amusement, Louis held them out before her, and opened them. "You can take the blue pill," he said. "And start over. You won't remember anything of what has led to here and now, you'll have a whole new identity, and your lifespan will even be wound back. Like I said: start over. A new life, entirely your own to make anew."

"Or…?" Aoi prompted in a whisper.

"You can take the red pill," Louis said. "And become one of us. Not a demon like me, but…more than Human, like that partly-insane teacher of our daughter and her friends. Start over, in this brave new world, maybe even reconcile with our child in the passing of time. Find new love and new friendships, atoning for the mistakes of the past in the here and now."

Louis smiled. "It's all up to you." He said.

Aoi stared at him for a very long time, and then looking down, looked back and forth between the two options offered to her. Then she looked up at Louis, taking in that enigmatic smile of his, and those entrancing, mismatched eyes.

Her – their – daughter's eyes.

Swallowing dryly, Aoi made her choice.

A/N

Happy Mother's Day.

With that said, what choice do you think Aoi made?