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

Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi

Chapter 14: L'Imperatrice (Part V)

"Are you sure you don't want me to come along?" Elisa asked as their car made its final approach to the Tohsaka property.

"Tempting," Sakura admitted. "But this is a lunch party, and the invitation was for me only. Sad as it is to say, I can't bring you along without insulting my host."

Elisa nodded. "Fair enough," she said before giving Sakura a smile. "Far from me to sabotage hopes of reconciliation between you and your sister, after all."

Sakura nodded back, and then Elisa continued. "Anyway," she said. "We'll be parking not far from here. So, if you ever need anything, I'll be close by."

Sakura nodded again. "That sounds good." She said. "Not that I actually think there'll be anything that'll have me needing you to shoot your way in. At least, I hope not. Though, just in case, precautions are in place."

Elisa nodded back. "I share your hopes, Sakura." She said. "That said, please don't worry about me, and just enjoy yourself."

Sakura smiled at Elisa's words, even as the car slowed to a halt. Then taking the paper bag carrying the watermelon – strange as it might sound, here in East Asia watermelons were apparently a traditional gift to be offered to a hostess on getting invited to her house – Sakura stepped out of the car, nodding once at Elisa as the latter held the door open for her, and then approached the gates of the Tohsaka property. They hung wide open, as though in welcome, and there was no hint in the air of anything amiss. With that in mind, Sakura crossed the threshold…

…and things went straight to hell.

For an instant, it seemed as if the entire Tohsaka property shimmered in an inferno-like haze, flames engulfing Sakura to burn/pierce her to the very bone. The bag in her hand turned to ash. The watermelon fell to smash against the ground, its watery insides boiling away into steam.

"SAKURA!" Elisa screamed in horror.

Then from the skies above, striking down from the zenith of the bounded fields shrouding the Tohsaka property, lances/spears/swords of energy/heat/light fell to pierce Sakura's heart/soul/being and turn every last hint of her existence to ash. Such was the intensity of the spells that even someone like Elisa, who lacked any magical ability whatsoever beyond the few mystic codes given to her, could see them with unaided sight.

"SAKURA!" she screamed in despair.

A star glimmered in the inferno…

…then light exploded outward, shattering the bounded fields and snuffing out their flames in an instant. The Tohsaka mansion and its surroundings trembled, even as the light went out.

"SAKURA!" Elisa shouted, running over to where the younger woman had collapsed on all fours. Falling to her knees next to her, Elisa immediately moved to help Sakura get back on her feet, the younger woman heaving and sweating, the front of her clothes burnt off, exposing her underclothes…

…and there, lying over her breasts was a single palm-sized diamond in a golden brooch, the latter fashioned as though of angelic wings flanking the diamond. It glowed from within, a single, near-blindingly bright point of light, and one that shimmered in a way as though it was alive.

"…treachery it is then." Sakura said softly, and with more than a hint of disbelieving betrayal. She clutched at the jewel at her chest as she did so, its light pulsing like a heartbeat at her touch.

"We should get out of here…" Elisa began.

"No!" Sakura interrupted sharply. "No…I want answers. And I want them now."

Elisa stared at Sakura, who met her gaze evenly. Then Elisa nodded, and wordless walked back to the car.

Elisa shrugged off her longcoat along the way, and then pulling at her tie, unknotted and then pulled it off. She rapped her knuckles once against the cargo compartment, the driver unlocking it in the next moment.

Opening the compartment, Elisa removed the false bottom, and pulled out a flak vest before putting it on. Her eyes glanced once at the H&K MP5A3, and then dismissed it. A submachine gun had its advantages in room-to-room fighting, but when storming a magus' lair, something with a bit more punch was needed.

The H&K G3 Battle Rifle should give that punch, with the A4 variant giving similar advantages as that enjoyed with a submachine gun. "Why the hell they didn't give us this in the army instead of those crap M16s I'll never know." Elisa silently thought to herself as she pulled the G3 out of its harness, and slid a magazine home. Then she grabbed the bolt to chamber a round, 7.62 NATO armor-piercing: just what was needed to punch through a magus' reinforced clothes and skin.

That said, she wouldn't say no to a HK79 Grenade Launcher, and indeed, mounted it under her rifle at once. She even loaded it immediately with a frag round, before sliding a bayonet into place above the barrel.

Additional magazines went into her flak vest's harnesses, along with more magazines for her sidearm. An additional harness went over her flak vest, and after loading it with buckshot, Elisa slid a Remington 870 pump-action shotgun into the holster behind her.

You can't go wrong with keeping a shotgun for close encounters.

A bunch of grenades like grapes was clipped into place. A bullet was loaded into a Derringer, which was then holstered next to a thigh. Then Elisa pulled out her sidearm, a Glock 17 loaded with 9x19 mm Parabellum, and sliding back the bolt chambered a round.

Then she headed back to Sakura, who'd discarded her ruined blouse and skirt, and was now wearing only her undershirt over a pair of leggings. "Let's go." She said, pulling out a dagger from Imaginary Numbers Space.

"I have your back, Sakura." Elisa said, keeping her rifle pointed to the ground but ready to bring it up on a moment's notice.

Sakura nodded in silence, and then advanced, down the path leading to the front doors of the Tohsaka mansion. They were closed, and no one seemed to be waiting for them. An iron knocker hung on one of the doors, but Sakura ignored it.

Instead, a single piece of jade thrown the doors' way disposed of them, along with the doorframe, with an inward blast. And then for the first time in her life, Sakura entered the Tohsaka mansion.

"Sakura, what…?" Rin began, only to break off as Elisa drew a bead on her.

Sakura held a hand to forestall Elisa putting an AP round through Rin's head, and made to speak. There was an expression of shock and surprise on Rin's face, and while it could easily be theatrics, a way to excuse herself after a failed assassination attempt, the beats of the Heart of Lapland on Sakura's chest were telling her that Rin was genuine.

If so…

…then what was that just now?

But before Sakura could speak, the air inside the foyer seemed to shift, a spell coming to life, both Rin and Sakura turning around while looking at the ceiling for its source. Then a voice began to speak. It belonged to a man, smooth and deep, filled with confidence and resolve in equal measure.

Rin's eyes widened in recognition.

Sakura's though, narrowed in suspicion.

My daughters, if you are hearing this, I am dead, but you both stand within our home as magi.

"A recording…?" Elisa breathed, aiming her rifle back and forth across the ceiling.

"So it would seem." Sakura hissed. "Could this be…Tokiomi Tohsaka…"

Yes Rin, you have a sister. Sakura was kidnapped when you were an infant.

Sakura snorted while running a thumb over the silver and jade of the raptor-shaped crossguard of her dagger.

Sakura, I am proud that you could achieve your potential despite my decision to discard you. Indeed, my one mistake was reporting your disappearance instead of realizing the boon I had been granted. Although it was a disgrace, I was saved from having to care about both of my daughters. As a magus I am sure you can understand this.

Sakura's eyes were wide in disbelief. "What?" she asked in surprise.

Rin, I expected you to die as an infant and had believed a replacement to be necessary, but had Sakura remained your survival would have created complications. Only one child can inherit magecraft while the other must fall to mediocrity.

Rin fell to her knees in shock and disbelief, that her own father had considered her survival of her childhood illness a cause for complication. It was…expected, but to actually hear it and in such a…objective, manner…

…it was heartbreaking.

Sakura, in contrast, was just spluttering in outrage. "It doesn't work that way!" she exploded. "And how dare you refer to us as though we were mere possessions and not your own children!"

The fact remains that you were both born with far too much power to be given the chance for a normal life. Yet if I had cared about both of my daughters, I would have to decide whose potential would go to waste and who would have the protection of their heritage.

"I could have kept her safe." Rin whispered to herself, clutching the balustrade to keep from falling on her face. "I would have kept her safe…given her a chance to be happy…to be all she could have been…I could have…I would have…why couldn't you…why…?"

I did not expect this message to be heard, but felt it necessary in the event that Sakura had returned alive and with a crest of her own. That Sakura is alive means she wasn't taken merely to be experimented on. Sakura, if your return is because you escaped or were rescued that is good.

"Don't…" Sakura snarled. "…don't pretend like you actually care when you've already admitted you only ever saw us as means to an end, and never as your own children."

The chances of the Tohsaka line reaching Akasha has increased. More so if you or your descendants are chosen by the Holy Grail along with Rin.

Sakura's eyes went wide with realization, as her mind caught onto and followed her father's train of thought to its conclusion. "No…" she breathed, first in horror then in growing rage. "…he's played us all…"

However, I must consider the possibility that Sakura returned as a tool and that she is here to kill Rin. Sakura, if this is why you are here, then I see no reason to talk you out of it. For even if that occurs the result is still happiness to the remnants of my family. Rin, if you defeat Sakura glory shall remain in our hands. Sakura, even if your sister fails glory shall belong to our ancestral name.

Words failed both sisters. Rin could only sob at their father admitting he saw nothing wrong with and was even encouraging his children to kill each other just so they could paint their generation with new and vibrant colors in their shared blood, and that somehow, they could be happy despite burning sororicide into their lives.

Sakura, though, was gripping her dagger so tight that her knuckles had turned white, while prana arced over and across her skin, from one circuit to the other. Her free hand spasmodically twitched, as though to strangle somebody, while her teeth were grinding hard against themselves.

He's played us…made sport of us all…he's turned our plans against us…unthinkable…how is this even possible?

Either way you two shall bring glory to the Tohsaka name…

"Enough!" Sakura spat in Finnish, clutching at the Heart of Lapland, which shone bright, and sending lances of light through the gaps between her fingers. "I won't listen to any more of your tripe! You are not my father, and I am not your child!"

The Heart of Lapland let loose with its power, bleaching the colors out of their surroundings, and leaving naught of Sakura's impression but that of a chalk drawing in the center of the foyer. Then the light faded, everything seemingly returning to normal.

But all across the mansion, smoke rose from singed frames, as each and every picture and portrait of Tokiomi Tohsaka had been reduced to ash. In the underground repository, powder was scattered on the floor, as mystic codes crafted by that same magus were broken by the Heart's power.

Even the picture of Tokiomi that Aoi wore on her neck in a locket was not exempt, ashes crumbling into the air as the frantic woman opened the locket to find her husband's image burned away with righteous fire.

For the man had shamed his family, conspired to break the bonds of blood, and perverting what was left into his own twisted vision of the future. Such crimes could not be allowed to stand, and so the Heart had passed judgment and retribution alike, by the oath she who had once loved an Edelfelt all those centuries ago had sworn on her deathbed.

So she had sworn. So she had foreseen. And so it shall be.

But the sisters didn't care for any of that. And so the Heart dimmed, returning to rest even as Sakura put her dagger away, and approaching Rin, sat down and pulled her into a hug. Rin didn't resist, clutching tightly at her sister while crying her heart out.

Shirou, Ayako, and Issei soon arrived, but said nothing as Sakura just put a finger to her lips, gesturing them to silence. Elisa took in the sight, and sighing, flipped the safety on her rifle.

The battle was over and won.

"Should we even still continue?" Ayako asked as they moved out onto the backyard, where the planned lunch party had been prepared. "I mean…after what just happened…"

"What?" Sakura interrupted with a raised eyebrow. "And let that damn Tokiomi Tohsaka have the last laugh, even in death? No…we should eat, drink, and be merry, thus spiting his accursed shade with the good life."

"…living well is the best revenge." Issei said after a moment.

"Is that really something a monk should be saying?" Ayako asked, her turn to raise an eyebrow this time.

Issei pushed up his glasses. "Technically, I'm not a monk yet." He smugly said. "I'm still just a monk in training. So, making such…vindictive, statements is something that can still be forgiven."

"Well, aren't you clever?" Ayako jibed.

"Of course I am." Issei said just as smugly as before.

"Besides," Shirou rose to Issei's defense. "Nothing in Buddhism says you can't live the good life. Just live it in moderation, and even then, have fun and enjoy yourself. Look at Lord Hotei, for example."

Issei nodded sagely. "I completely concur." He said.

Ayako hummed and hawed for a few moments, and then shrugged. "Okay, that is fair." She said, and both Issei and Shirou shared a smirk between them.

"What…what is that mystic code, anyway?" Rin asked as she sat down and finished a glass of water in a single go.

"You mean this?" Sakura said, fingering the jewel hanging from a golden chain around her neck. "This is the Heart of Lapland. One of our family's oldest and most powerful mystic codes, for which I have the humble honor of being its custodian…for the present, at least."

Beloved cousin, I offer you this gift in trust, the Heart of Lapland, that you might have the strength to go beyond the limit when needs must.

Sakura smiled and closed her eyes in recollection of Marjatta entrusting her with the Heart of Lapland just before her departure months ago. Until several minutes ago, the Heart had never seen fit to interfere, and Sakura had even started to think Marjatta ought not to have taken the risk of entrusting the Heart to her…

…but in hindsight, Sakura was most grateful.

The pieces of jade on her bracelet, anklets, and even her earrings had all crumbled to ash, the best personal barriers she could come up with no match for Tokiomi Tohsaka's traps, set over a decade ago for the eventuality when she entered the Tohsaka property. It was…

…humbling, in a way, to learn that that man could have prepared such a deadly 'welcome' for her. A lesson to be thankful for, as much as she'd rather not admit it, to improve her barriers and expect worse from the enemies she'd face in the future, lest she not have her family's power watching out for her then.

After all, if not for the Heart of Lapland earlier, she'd be dead.

As Sakura mused on her thoughts, Rin stared into the depths of the Heart, mesmerized by its seemingly-living light, and how it shimmered as though in greetings at her. Unconsciously, she raised a hand, as though to touch the Heart, only for it to repel her with a gentle, yet firm force.

Only the custodian and those she extends it to may touch the Heart.

"Anyway," Ayako cut in with a cough. "Let's eat!"

"Yes, let's!" Sakura agreed, followed by everyone else, starting in on lunch seeming the best way to move on from the haunting events of earlier.

"You shouldn't have done that."

Sakura blinked at the diffident voice, and turned to see her mother looking at her from behind a corner. "Done what?" Sakura asked, and gesturing for Elisa to stay back.

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about." Aoi chided Sakura, who raised an eyebrow in surprise that Aoi would do such a thing. "I know what your father said was very harsh, but I'm sure he had good reasons for saying and doing what he did, and it'll all be for the best."

Sakura stared deadpan at Aoi for a long moment. "Are you serious?" she asked.

Aoi briefly looked away. "I know you haven't had the chance to grow up with any parents in your life," she said. "But you do have parents, and it's your obligation to obey them."

"By that logic, I'm expected to jump to my death just because you or Tokiomi tell me to." Sakura dryly said. "Sorry, but no thank you."

"Sakura!" Aoi sharply said. "How dare you use your father's given name? Even if he's dead, address him with the proper respect!"

"Respect is earned." Sakura said with a hint of irritation, as though this was something she shouldn't have to be reminding someone so much older than her, and thus should know better, about.

Which, honestly speaking, was a fairly good point.

"And nothing I've heard or read about the man makes him deserving of any respect from me." She finished.

Well, that wasn't completely true, but Aoi didn't need to know that.

Aoi took a step forward, stepping away from the corner and hesitantly – shakily – raising her clenched fists, as though she wanted to physically reprimand her younger child for such…disrespectful, behavior. It might actually have impressed Sakura had Aoi actually carried through on it.

But Aoi stopped after that one step, her body language betraying her hollow resolve, and in the next moment, Elisa was between the two of them. They cut a sharp contrast, Aoi was all feminine with long, flowing hair and a soft and lithe figure that looked like it had never known any real exertion of any kind. The way she carried herself too was more of the same, that of a sheltered person who never had to make a stand in the past, and had no wish to do so in the future.

Elisa, though, was all professional, dark hair cut into a short bob, her body athletically-built and moving with the precision of long practice with plenty of energy ready to be unleashed the moment it was needed. The same went for the air around her person, that of someone who'd seen it all but carried on – and would carry on – regardless of whatever the world could throw at her.

"S-stay out of this." Aoi stammered out. "T-this isn't any of your business."

"With all due respect, ma'am," Elisa said with a small smile, and making it clear that when she said what she said, she actually meant 'kiss my ass'. "As Lady Sakura's chief retainer and personal bodyguard, this is my business."

"Not when it's family business, it isn't." Aoi blustered.

"Elisa's looked out for me ever since I was a baby." Sakura idly remarked. "She is family, in all but name."

Aoi looked away, closing her eyes while clutching a clenched fist to her chest. "If only…" she murmured, but trailed off before running away. Elisa and Sakura looked after her as the other woman fled, and then Sakura shook her head slowly, her expression one of pity.

"Sorry about that," she said to Elisa. "You shouldn't have to see that, much less get dragged into it."

"Shouldn't I be the one apologizing, Lady Sakura?" Elisa asked, turning back to Sakura and regarding her with a curious air.

"…no…" Sakura replied with a shake of her head. "…not this time, mom."

Elisa blinked, and then briefly looked away. "You know," she began. "I was the one to…"

"I know." Sakura interrupted with a sigh, and then gave a genuine smile to Elisa. "And thank you for that. I don't really know the how or the why, but I just know, Edelfelt sending you to get me, and then having you take care of me all this time, was the best thing to ever happen to me. I'm grateful to them…but I'm even more grateful to you, mom."

Elisa met Sakura's eyes, and then sighing, smiled back in the exact same way. "We're a mess, you know that, right, Sakura?" she asked.

Sakura just shrugged. "I guess," she admitted. "But like mother like daughter, so I don't mind one bit."

Elisa just hummed at that.

"You don't have to stay here, you know."

Rin blinked in surprise. "What?" she asked.

Sakura looked at her evenly. "If living here hurts you so much," she said. "If it means living under Tokiomi Tohsaka's shadow every minute of your waking hours, then remember that you are free to leave."

"But…I…"

"You don't have to barge into your friends' family homes either." Sakura added. "You can always just move in with your family. Yes…if you ever want to move on from this place, to step out of Tokiomi and his family's shadow looming over you all the time, then come to my place. Come to Edelfelt. I – we – will always welcome you."

"…will you?" Rin asked in a soft voice.

"Of course." Sakura said with a nod. "We're your family, after all. And unlike Tohsaka, Edelfelt always treats family the right way."

Rin silently returned Sakura's look, and then sighing, looked around her at the front of the Tohsaka property, and then back at her mansion. "I'll think about it." She finally said. "But thank you, regardless."

Sakura smiled and nodded, and then turned to leave. "No," she said. "Thank you for having me over, and not having been the one to cast those treacherous spells earlier today."

Rin smiled back, and waved Sakura goodbye as the latter got into her car and drove away. "Did you really mean that?" Elisa asked in the privacy of the car. "Your offer to Miss Rin?"

"I did." Sakura said with a sigh. "I never expected her to accept right from the start, though. Tohsaka is the only family she's known all this time, and she won't turn her back on it that easily. Which is actually a good thing, as she knows and understands the concept of family loyalty. It's just…misguided, in its focus at present."

"I see." Elisa said with a slow now.

"But," Sakura continued while sitting back to relax in her seat. "She now knows she has a much bigger family than she's ever known before. She also knows that unlike most of her immediate relatives, the rest of her family are more deserving of her love, loyalty, and respect. One day…someday in the future…"

Sakura trailed off, looking away into the distance, silently musing on when she and her sister would finally no longer be under Tokiomi Tohsaka's shadow. The thought caused the Heart to flicker reassuringly at her, while also pulsing with anger at the treacherous cur that had sired its current custodian.

"It's been a long day." Sakura finally said. "Let's go home, such that we have in this land, far from the green hills of Lapland."

"Yes, Sakura." Elisa agreed.

A/N

Hotei, the Buddha – it's actually a title, and one shared by many saints/sages who achieved enlightenment – Shirou and Issei mention is also known as Budai, the Laughing Buddha, or in the west, as the Fat Buddha. In Japan, he's worshiped as one of Seven Gods of Good Fortune, and in Buddhist tradition, embodies contentment and abundance in equal measure. He also loved children, could predict the future (the weather, especially), and had the power to ward off extreme cold with his sheer presence. Patting his belly – or the belly of his icons – brings good luck.

In other words, proof that enlightenment doesn't mean not being able to have fun or enjoy life at all.

Thanks to Cubia for all his help with this chapter, since he wrote Tokiomi's little parting message to his children.