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

Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi

Chapter 17: L'Imperatore (Part III)

"So…" Yvette teased while sidling up next to Caules.

"If this is another one of your hairbrained schemes to get into Lord El-Melloi II's bed," Caules wearily said. "I am getting up and walking away."

"Oh don't be like that." Yvette said with a playful slap on Caules' arm. "Besides, I don't need your help to make Lord El-Melloi II mine. Nothing gets in the way of true love, it's just…fate."

"Uh-huh…what do you want Yvette?" Caules asked deadpan.

"Oh fine…" Yvette said with a roll of her eyes. "Do you remembered what Kuchinashi told us a while back? You know, those snippets of other worlds she managed to catch glimpses of, from working with the Wizard Marshall?"

"I try not to." Caules said firmly.

In all honesty, Caules had his suspicions that every bomb – figuratively-speaking, of course – that Kuchinashi dropped once in a while was more than snippets from brief glances of other worlds witnessed through the Second Magic. They were much too detailed, too…real, to be just mere glimpses. If anything, Caules suspected that Kuchinashi was actually from another world herself.

But what were the chances of that?

…

…

…

…

…

Not really something he'd like to think of.

Caules blinked as Yvette thrust a set of a pictures into his hands. They were of a pretty brunette who was clearly related to Luvia, between her facial features, as well as her style of dress. Well, in the latter case, only in some of the photos, but that was semantics at best. More immediately, Caules felt a pit open up in the pit of his stomach.

"Yvette, what are these?" he asked.

"Pictures…"

"I can see that!" Caules exploded before regaining control, and then with a cough, pushed up his glasses. "Who is this?"

"Why," Yvette began, looking and sounding for all the world as though it should be obvious. "That's our world's version of Sakura Tohsaka, the one Kuchinashi said was your girlfriend in other timelines. Or rather, in our world, that's Sakura Edelfelt-Tohsaka…"

"YVETTE!"

"It's been a long time." The last of three magi to enter the dark, windowless room in a country villa located somewhere in the Crimea remarked. "The last time any of our families met together like this…it was over a century ago, wasn't it? Lord Makiri was still with us at the time too."

"We didn't come here for small talk." One of the two other magi curtly said. "Times are hard, let us get to the point."

The third magus hummed in agreement, and the last one to enter took his seat before taking a look around the room. "It's gotten lonely." He softly said. "But that's why we're here, isn't it? Bodrov, Derzhavin, Solovyov, Bolshov, and most recently, Vasnetsov. All lost to Einzbern's petty grudges. And any of us could be next."

"Einzbern's motivations aren't in question here." The first magus said. "Nor are their actions. It's how they're doing it, and with what?"

"What do you mean by that?" the third magus asked, but it was the second magus who answered.

"We got our hands on one of the Vasnetsov survivors." He said.

"Now there's a surprise." The third magus said. "Einzbern's not the merciful kind, and it's pretty clear they're in this to wipe the Zolgen lineage from the face of the Earth. So, why and how?"

"As strange as it might seem," the second magus began. "They do have a twisted sense of mercy. From what our healers could gather about the few survivors we managed to gain custody of, all their magic circuits are burnt out, and the conceptual markers and affinities inherent to the souls of our bloodline scoured away."

"…so that's how it is." The third magus said with a snort after a moment. "Death would be kinder, eh?"

"So it would seem." The second magus said.

"Yes, yes," the first magus began with a wave of a hand. "But by allowing those survivors to live and escape, we managed to gain clues to what we're dealing with. Or rather, what sort of monstrosity Einzbern has up their sleeve that could take on and destroy Vasnetsov's Salvation Engine."

That had the third magus sitting up. "What did you find then?" he asked.

"First of all," the first magus said. "Keep in mind that our cousins had their minds broken and their souls scoured, so anything verbal would be meaningless at best and misdirecting at worst. So instead, we took apart their brains, and reconstructed the imprints left by what it was that damaged them so, to infer the cause."

The third magus nodded in understanding, and then the third magus pressed a mystic code on the table, made of metal extending from a fleshy, throbbing bulb with the color and texture of a tumor. Faintly luminescent veins ran over the metal to and from the bulb, and at the magus' touch, an eye opened to project a hologram above.

It wasn't much, in fact, there was so very little to see. It was like looking at a drawing made with chalk on a white background, or the faint imprint of a person burned into concrete by a nuclear blast. Whatever it was, it was vaguely humanoid, and even that much took several minutes of close inspection to separate the humanoid form at the center from the energy that seemed to shroud it. And in its hands, it seemed to have a weapon of fire.

"Do you have the conceptual breakdown?" the third magus finally asked.

The first magus pressed the mystic code again, and pulling up a stream of mandalas, hermetic calculations and formulae, as well as various diagrams that linked them all together. The third magus sank wearily into his seat as he too realized what they were dealing with.

"…are you telling me that Einzbern not only managed to work out what they did wrong during the third iteration of Heaven's Feel," he began. "But actually went beyond said grand ritual, and now have a leashed Divine Spirit at their beck and call?"

"Yes." The laconic reply came. Nothing more needed to be said, really.

"How?" the question pressed.

"The Third Magic, no doubt." The second magus replied. "Most likely aided by a relic or two from the Age of Gods, and a purposely-grown vessel to contain and control its power."

"And to shield it from the effects of the Age of Man," the first magus added. "Which should cast it back into the Reverse Side of the World otherwise. At least, that's our working hypothesis."

The third magus hummed, and then narrowed his eyes after several moments. "And even if it isn't automatically cast into the Reverse Side of the World," he said. "The Age of Man would keep said Divine Spirit from being able to use its full Authority. And that gives us a chance."

"Precisely." The second magus said with a nod.

"Indeed." The first magus said.

The third magus leaned forward over the table. "What do you have in mind?" he asked.

"We must find Lord Makiri." The first magus said. "The likes of Tohsaka much less Emiya cannot slay him so easily. The same goes for those semi-tame dogs from Edelfelt that Barthomeloi set as sentries over our patriarch's demesne in the east."

"And we must find the Seventy-Two Keys of the King of Mages." The second magus said. "Only a god can kill another god, after all."

"I see." The third magus said. "So that's how it is."

"It is." The other two magi confirmed, and the last magus smiled at last, his face literally splitting from ear to ear.

"How do we go about it then?" he asked.

A man stood in a vast room, before a thirty-six-inch monitor and a personal terminal hooked up to massive mainframes behind the room. Pumps gently hummed in the background, superfluid liquid helium keeping the mainframes and other electronics in the room and its adjacent areas from overheating.

The man's eyes flicked from one part of the monitor to the other, taking in the streams of data scrolling over the screens and the live reports from places around the world with ease. In this, he was aided by extensive modifications made to his body, combining the best alchemy Atlas could provide to those not of their order but with the money and standing to afford their services, as well as various experimental technologies that governments covetously kept to themselves and away from their citizens.

"Spectrum," the modulated voice of the man's familiar began, moments before a glowing wireframe of a ball projected from a fluorescent orb in its middle floated through the air to stop next to him. "We have received an update from Agent Kesha in the Crimea. It pertains to the recent blood feud between the Einzbern and the Zolgen families in Eastern Europe. Given your recent interest in the matter, I thought it prudent to draw your attention to this particular matter."

"Thank you, Cipher." Spectrum said with a nod. "That will be all."

"A pleasure to serve you as always, Spectrum." The familiar said before floating off, to continue with its other tasks.

Spectrum continued staring at the screen for several minutes, and then reaching out, operated his primary information terminal. Boxes popped up on the screen, various tasks and queries were responded to, and then the information on the Einzbern-Zolgen feud was pulled up. It only took a few seconds for Spectrum to read and understand it, along with its implications.

"Interesting…" he mused before inputting more commands into his terminal. A moment later and more information went up, specifically that of the current location of the Dirty Red, Grand Magus Touko Aozaki, and a woman who might have just what the surviving Zolgen were looking for.

Or at least, half of what they were looking for.

Even Spectrum didn't know the current location of Makiri Zolgen, or as he currently called himself, Zouken Matou.

No one did. Not the Edelfelt hyenas and their Barthomeloi and Trambelio masters, not the Einzbern crusaders, much less the Tohsaka upstarts and their vassals in the dregs of Emiya.

A shame…

…such a fortune could be made from such information…

…still…

…even this much is an opportunity…

Smiling to himself, Spectrum sent out his messages, and then dismissing the matter for the time being, returned to his usual routine. There was just so much to do, gathering information from around the world, and beyond simply selling to the highest bidder, managing the flow of knowledge to preserve the zero-sum games played by both the mundane and supernatural realms alike.

But of course, stability was good for business.

That said, a little bit of chaos every now and then kept things interesting, and any one player from getting too big for their boots.

And the situation as it was at present called for just that, with Einzbern and Zolgen's bloodletting providing the perfect opportunity.

This was going to be fun.

It had taken days for Illya to recover from assuming the form and, in part, the essence of Brynhildr the Valkyrie. Well, she had been released from a regeneration capsule after only a few hours, but her supernatural abilities had taken days to recover before she could use them as they were before her battle with the Vasnetsov soul-abattoir-parasite.

Now though, she was back to full strength, and had been summoned to meet with her grandfather. And so she was here, marching past twin files of homunculi in honoris plate, ceremonial weapons held at the ready. Reaching the base of the dais, she sank to one knee in silence.

It took a few minutes for Jubstacheit von Einzbern to arrive, emerging from the shadowed doorway atop the dais, and walking to stand on the topmost stair to regard his granddaughter and greatest creation in one. "You have done well, Knight-Champion of Einzbern." He formally said. "In just three months, you have more than simply decimated Makiri Zolgen's brood. No, with more than half his maternal descendants dead, his bloodline is effectively extinct."

"I am honored by your praise, Lord Einzbern." Illya formally responded, and followed up with the expected platitude. "But such has only been possible through your influence."

Jubstacheit waved a hand dismissively, and yet somehow managed to pull it off with an air of gravitas. "Through our vassals in the Musik family," he said. "We've managed to acquire certain information on Zolgen's response to our campaign against their accursed lineage."

Jubstacheit paused, his eyes going hard and ice-cold. "Illyasviel," he said. "Return to Japan, and exterminate the male line of the Zolgen family. Walking mockeries of their bloodline they might be, there is still power in their blood. Deny it to their maternal cousins."

"I hear and obey, grandfather." Illya said before raising her face. "Though if I may ask, what exactly do Makiri's maternal descendants plan to do?"

"They seek to find their patriarch," Jubstacheit said. "And return him to his glory…as if such a thing were possible, of course."

Illya laughed mockingly. "He failed as a magus, a patriarch, and even as a vampire." She said, and causing Jubstacheit to smile with approving agreement. "Do they really think that walking disease can turn the tide against us?"

"Desperation makes fools out of men." Jubstacheit said.

Illya's smile turned cruel. "And by targeting Makiri's paternal descendants," she said. "We use them as bait to draw him out, and those of his maternal descendants looking for him in, so we can wipe them out in one fell swoop."

"How you choose to do so is entirely up to you, Knight-Champion of Einzbern." Jubstacheit said.

Illya pressed a fist over her heart. "Yes, Lord Einzbern!" She said with head bowed. "By my and mine's hands, Makiri Zolgen shall fall, as will those of his accursed line that dare stand against us! With courage and honor!"

Jubstacheit raised his hands in benediction, and then turning away wordlessly, left. Illya stayed silent and kneeling until her grandfather had vanished once more into the shadows, and then rising to her feet, the Knight-Champion of Einzbern also left to fulfil her duty.

Sakura started as the teacup she was holding shattered in her grip. It quickly had Rin in consternation, while Sakura was more thoughtful. Consternation turned to curious confusion as Sakura pulled out a tarot deck and shuffled it.

"Do you actually believe in that stuff?" Rin asked.

"Are you a magus or are you not a magus?" Sakura asked back.

"Fortunetelling isn't exactly magic, Sakura." Rin disapprovingly snapped.

"Yes, you're right." Sakura said, and throwing Rin off. "Fortunetelling isn't magic. Divination is, though."

"T-that's semantics!" Rin spluttered out.

"Not really," Sakura said while laying the deck down on the table between them. "Fortunetelling is kids playing with stuff they don't understand, and thankfully with no way to get any real results from their pantomimes of the Art. Divination, though, has actual theory and prana behind it to get real results."

Sakura paused, and then nodded. "Think of it as something similar to Formalcraft." She said. "Not the most profound magecraft in the world, but it's a solid school of mystery, with its own secrets and storied history worthy of respect."

"…that is fair." Rin finally conceded.

Sakura beamed at Rin for being so open-minded, and then turned back to her cards. An eyebrow rose at the inverted Ace of Cups. "So…" Rin began. "What does that mean?"

"Hmm…" Sakura hummed with thought. "Considering the question involves the meaning of the bad omen of a teacup just breaking for inexplicably no reason…something is acting on the connection between the past and the present, and circumstances need to be examined to see what's in the way of moving forward."

"That…doesn't really tell me anything." Rin said.

Sakura hummed again, and then drew another card to see if she could clarify the answer further. She drew the Two of Cups, again inverted, which had her humming in thought.

"Well?" Rin prompted.

Sakura scratched her head. "Normally, the Two of Cups represents two paired…ideas, people, factors, circumstance…things like them that come together to create great things." She said. "Inverted, though…it means two of those are coming together to nothing good for everyone and everything else."

"So…another bad omen?" Rin asked dryly.

Sakura made strangling noises in her throat before shuffling her deck, and then drawing another card. It was the Hierophant, again reversed. "Well?" Rin prompted again, and causing Sakura to give her an evil eye.

"An inverted Hierophant usually means a challenge to tradition, or against superior authority will come in the future." She said. "Whether by yourself, or someone else, such as the source or object of the inquiry. At least, when it comes to the nature of this inquiry."

Rin sighed. "In other words," she said. "Something bad is about to happen, which may involve someone picking a fight with you the Second Owner. That's…clear, I suppose."

"…can I trust you'll help me out if that comes?" Sakura asked after a moment.

"Do you even have to ask?" Rin asked.

"…no, I shouldn't have. Sorry." Sakura admitted.

"Then there you go." Rin said with a smile.

Sakura smiled back, and then shuffling her deck, drew the Seven of Cups. "What's that?" Rin asked.

"A humble and hardworking person," Sakura said. "Someone who doesn't make excuses, who goes through their tasks with dedication and diligence, doing them right without wasting time counting their chickens before they hatch, and more likely than others to reap the rewards of their labor in the future."

Rin was speechless, and then Sakura smiled wider at her. "This is your reading." She said. "How's that for divination being bogus?"

"Um…sorry…"

Sakura laughed, and then shuffling her deck, drew another card. Her face fell. "What is it?" Rin asked.

"Four of Swords inverted…" Sakura said. "…it means someone is too isolated for their own good."

"Who'd you draw it for?" Rin asked again.

"Our mother." Sakura replied, and Rin winced.

"…a little too accurate this time." She said with a sickly tone of voice.

"Yeah, no kidding." Sakura said, shuffling her deck, and then drawing the Temperance. "Oh yeah, mother needs to start, well, living life instead of just going with the flow – and letting a dead man's memory control her – if she's going to get any better. Maybe find another man…"

Rin choked at Sakura's idea that their mother start a new relationship with someone else, though a part of her did admit it might just be what their mother needed. In the meantime, Sakura was shuffling her deck, and drawing another card.

"Shit…" she muttered.

"What?" Rin asked.

"Four of Swords inverted again…" Sakura darkly said. "It's likely if she goes looking for love, she'll find it with someone who's just like her, and is likely to feed into each other's issues."

"…maybe they might cancel each other out?" Rin ventured.

"We'll see." Sakura said, shuffling the deck and drawing a card. Her eyes went wide at the Knight of Cups. "Huh…you just might be right."

"Oh?" Rin asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Sakura said with a nod. "The Knight of Cups represents finally coming home after a long journey. Home is where the heart is, as the old saying goes. The circular connotations of the card also represent looking back into the past, not at what's always dwelled on, but at what's been missed, forgotten, or carelessly thrown aside. Looking at them with new eyes, and finding what the heart and soul has been looking for all this time."

"…so an old flame?" Rin asked with a certain catch in her voice.

"Wait, mother had an old flame?" Sakura asked in surprise, and making an intuitive leap.

"Kind of?" Rin answered questioningly. "Her childhood friend, Uncle Kariya…they used to be engaged while they were children, but then Uncle Kariya broke it off, and mom married father instead."

"Hmm…that could work." Sakura admitted. "Why'd he break it off, though?"

"I'm not really sure." Rin said. "But I can guess. Father rarely spoke of him, you see, but when he did, it was with contempt. Mom never really made her opinions clear, and she does keep in touch, but she also keeps her distance, probably because of father's disapproval. Considering her devotion to father's memory…"

Rin trailed off while Sakura slowly nodded. "Go on." She prompted.

"I'm guessing Uncle Kariya disagreed with how his family did things, and forsook the path of the magus out of disgust." Rin said with a sigh. "In hindsight, he was probably the only one among their whole family, maybe out of all the magi – or would-be magi – with business involving our families, who did."

"Just who is this Kariya, anyway?" Sakura asked.

"Kariya Matou." Rin replied.

"WHAT?"

Shirou was a magus.

That meant he didn't easily get surprised when strange things happened around him. Like, for instance, and the most significant out of all the strange things that happened recently, a death battle between seven Heroic Spirits summoned as Servants by seven magi as their Masters, all for the right to make a wish upon the Holy Grail.

Oh, and said Holy Grail turned out to be a scam in the end. Not only that, but it was broken, and trying to use it wouldn't even make it do what it was supposed to do, instead unleashing a dead god of evil to devour the world.

So yeah, strange things happening around him…

…been there, done that. And what were the chances he'd encounter something stranger than the Holy Grail War so soon after its end?

Apparently, quite high, considering he was being stalked by a priestess with white hair, golden eyes, and a serene expression on her face. Shirou tried to ignore or shake her off while doing his Saturday groceries, but she just kept on his tail, and finally forcing Shirou to confront her.

"Can I help you?" he asked politely.

The priestess gave a bow. "Good day, Mister Emiya." She said. "My name is Caren Ortensia, Father Kotomine's successor as parish priest, among other positions."

"Um…nice to meet you." Shirou said, wondering what Kirei's successor wanted with him. "So…Sister Ortensia…is there anything you need from me?"

"Hmm…I was just trying to see you for myself." Caren replied.

"…may I ask why?" Shirou asked after a moment.

"I wanted to see what kind of person you were." Caren said. "You are the heir of the Emiya family, after all. And yet all reports indicate you act nothing like your ancestors, who, if I may be so bold, would have acted in the complete opposite of your actions during the last Heaven's Feel ritual."

"…I'm not really sure about that." Shirou said after another moment, and deciding to keep the secret of his father, Kiritsugu Emiya being one of two culprits behind the Fuyuki Great Fire over a decade ago. Sure, Kirei made the wish that triggered the blast, but by ordering Saber to destroy the Grail, Kiritsugu caused its corruption to spread over a much larger area.

Then again, it might also have prevented a much larger disaster by keeping the Grail from having more energy to work with in granting Kirei's wish.

…

…

…

…

…

He'd have to ask Rin about it later.

"Besides," Shirou added. "I was adopted."

"Even so," Caren disagreed. "You were raised from childhood by Kiritsugu Emiya. Enough so that he and his personality traits should have imprinted on you. Then again, acting like the Magus Killer would probably be preferable compared your grandfather, Norikata Emiya."

"Wait, what?" Shirou asked in surprise.

"Yes?" Caren serenely asked.

"What did you call my dad?" Shirou asked.

"I called him Magus Killer…ah, you did not know?" Caren responded.

Shirou's response in turn was to grab the priestess by an arm, and drag her off. "Come on." He said. "We need to talk about this, in private."

Caren was completely unaffected, and just let Shirou drag her away. "As you wish." She said as she and Shirou vanished into the crowd.

A/N

So the Zolgen are starting to finally get their act together, though, it remains to be seen how successful they will be. All the while Illya is trying to live up to her title of 'Knight-Champion of Einzbern'. She's certainly got a lot more ground to stand on compared to Zouken's brood of bloodsuckers and flesh-eaters.