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

Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi

Chapter 18: L'Imperatore (Part IV)

"So…let me get this straight." Shirou began with a sigh, and rubbing at his temples. "My dad was, for much of his life, a freelancer who bordered on being a terrorist, considering he hunted down heretics and especially unsavory magi. Oh, and since he couldn't beat them in a contest of magic, he used bombs and guns a lot to finish them off."

"That is correct, yes." Caren serenely said.

"And because he got so good at it, the rest of magical society gave him the title of Magus Killer." Shirou continued.

"Yes." Caren confirmed.

"Then eventually," Shirou continued. "He dropped out of sight of magical society for a few years, before resurfacing in Einzbern's employ during the Fourth Holy Grail War."

"Yes." Caren confirmed again.

Shirou hummed softly to himself. It seemed the Church was unaware that his father had actually been a Master himself during the Fourth Holy Grail War, according to both Kirei Kotomine and Shirou's own Servant during the Fifth Holy Grail War, the Servant Saber, Altria Pendragon. Well, if it was just Kirei, then Shirou could have dismissed such a contradiction with the official record being the result of that crazy priest having lied to them just to get under Shirou's skin. He did also claim, after all, that Kiritsugu ordering Saber to destroy the corrupted Grail had contributed to the Fuyuki Great Fire at the end of the war.

In addition to that wish of Kirei's, for everyone around him to just die, of course.

But Saber had had no reason to lie to Shirou. It also wasn't in her character, or at least, not without good reason. Saber did lie about being 'Arthur', the King Arthur of legend, in fact, to her whole kingdom and people, as they'd never have accepted a woman as their ruler.

But again, Saber had no similar reasoning to lie to Shirou about having Kiritsugu Emiya – Shirou's own father – as her Master during the Fourth Holy Grail War. Or for that matter, that the man had used his last command spell to order her to destroy the corrupted Grail.

Not that Shirou could really blame him, of course. He'd seen the Grail's corruption with his own eyes at the very end of the Fifth Holy Grail War, as had Saber, who in hindsight had realized her grudge at Kiritsugu for ordering her to destroy the Grail during the previous war had been misguided in the extreme.

Kiritsugu had done the right thing.

That said…

…it was curious, that the official record was so contradictory. And yet, Shirou suspected it wasn't completely false either.

"Was dad allied with Einzbern during the war, in addition to being a Master himself?" he asked himself. "And why didn't Kirei correct the records either over the decade since?"

Shirou sighed and shook his head.

"I apologize if I caused offense." Caren said with a small bow. "No one would want to hear their parents or indeed, their loved ones in general, being spoken of in such a negative matter. But I had assumed that you had known, and when you did not, you had asked for the truth."

"It's fine." Shirou said with a reassuring smile. "Like you said, I did ask for the truth. But in any case…"

Shirou trailed off, and briefly closing his eyes, took a deep breath. Then opening his eyes, he sighed, and nodded resolutely. "The Magus Killer last appeared during the Fourth Holy Grail War ten…eleven, years ago." He said. "After the war…that man didn't exist anymore."

"…is that so?" Caren asked after a moment, a mixed expression of curiosity and skepticism showing on her face.

"Yeah." Shirou said softly, wistfully even, his thoughts on the small pieces of wisdom his father had passed down to him all those years ago.

When I was young, I dreamed of being a Hero of Justice.

When you save someone, it also means not saving someone else.

Shirou nodded again, several times in succession. "The Magus Killer died during the Fourth Holy Grail War." He said, meeting Caren's eyes with a sad expression on his face. Caren met Shirou's gaze with her own, but after several moments, nodded.

"I see." She said. "Then I shall take your word for it. Considering the lack of activity on the Magus…forgive me, Kiritsugu Emiya's part in the years between Heaven's Feel's end and his death, there is no reason for me to disbelieve in your assertions of the man's changes over the years."

Caren paused, and briefly closed her eyes. "Things change." She continued after a long moment. "Times change. People change. Not always for the better, but when they do…"

Caren trailed off, and nodded at Shirou. "You have my condolences for your father's death." She said, with a veiled air of genuine sympathy. "From how he raised you, he was a good man in the last years of his life, and I can only pray that he finds peace in the world that is to come."

"Thank you." Shirou said sincerely. "It's been a long time since then, and it's an old and well-healed wound, but still, thank you."

"You are welcome." Caren said.


"I need information."

Elisa raised an eyebrow at the non sequitur, but then nodded in understanding. "About what?" she asked.

"Not a what, but a who." Sakura said, settling into the couch and languidly slouching against a small pile of pillows. "The black sheep of the Matou family, to be specific, a certain Kariya Matou."

"A black sheep?" Elisa echoed. "What did he do?"

"Apparently, he found out what his family was really about." Sakura replied. "That is, a Dead Apostle for a patriarch, and everyone else just a bunch of slaves jerking around on strings, turned into puppets by parasitic familiars implanted into their bodies. I'm not really sure how he found out, much less how he managed to get away, but he did."

Sakura paused, and then sitting up, leaned forward. "I don't know either why Makiri Zolgen didn't chase Kariya down after the latter escaped the former's lair," she continued. "But my sister offers a clue."

"Oh?"

Sakura nodded. "Apparently, Tokiomi Tohsaka regarded Kariya with contempt." She said. "I imagine he regarded Kariya as someone who had turned his back on his family and everything they stood for, to pursue a path of selfish self-gratification."

"You disagree?" Elisa asked with a small smile.

Sakura snorted. "Accepting the legacy of the past should be a free choice." She said while leaning back to rest against the couch. "If it is forced, if it is not borne freely, then the inheritor will never truly commit themselves to the obligation that comes with the legacy. They will always hold something back, nurture resentment and ill will within themselves, and perhaps even seek to destroy that which was forced on them. If so, then the legacy of the past might as well not have been carried on, or even if it was, it would have been stained by such…halfway, efforts."

"…I'm not a magus, Sakura." Elisa said after a moment. "But even I know you make it sound so easy."

Sakura smiled ruefully. "I guess I do, don't I?" she asked, while looking out a nearby window and into the evening dark. Then she turned back to Elisa. "Anyway, back to the point, I suspect Makiri Zolgen did not pursue his errant descendant on the basis that Kariya had become a pariah within the Moonlit World. Even if he had leaked the true nature of his ancestor, whose word would the powers-that-be take?"

"Makiri Zolgen, and its ally the Second Owner, Tokiomi Tohsaka," Elisa said with a nod, and making the logical leap on her own. "Or Kariya Matou, who accuses without any evidence beyond his own word."

"Quite," Sakura said with a nod. "And having turned his back on his family, Kariya would have been cut off from their resources and contacts. He'd basically have to start over from the ground up. Oh, it wouldn't be impossible, but very difficult, especially with nearly nothing to his name to start with, at least from the sound of things."

"In hindsight, though," Elisa began. "Is the man really such a bad sheep?"

"Technically, he is." Sakura said with a sigh. "He did turn his back on his family. But, as usual, the deal is in the details. Considering what is now known about the Matou family, who can truly fault him for making the choice he did? On the contrary, he should be praised, in valuing his Humanity despite all that it would cost him."

Sakura paused, and then nodded with a hint of grudging respect. "All actions and choices have consequences." She said. "But Kariya made his choice, and accepted its consequences freely. That much is worthy of respect."

"Again," Elisa said with a smile. "You make it sound so easy."

"That I do." Sakura said with a laugh. "In any case, I need information on Kariya Matou. If Makiri Zolgen really is still alive, knowing how Kariya escaped its lair might come in handy. And if not…well, I won't pass up the chance to possibly get my hands on the secrets of a centuries-old family. A vampiric bloodline they might have been, but they might have something useful. Or valuable, for that matter."

"The College of Law did take everything of value from the Matou mansion." Elisa pointed out.

"That they did." Sakura agreed.

Elisa nodded. "Well then," she said. "I'll get in touch with our contacts, and see what they have on this Kariya. In the meantime, though, what will you do?"

"I've got homework." Sakura said with a sigh.

"Ah, I see." Elisa said with a nod. "I'll bring you dinner then in the library."

"Please and thank you."

Elisa nodded, and without another word, left to carry out her task.


The following day was bright and sunny, the morning warmth promising sticky heat for the rest of the day. Summer really was almost upon them, and many students were eagerly looking forward to the summer break that would come with the changing seasons.

Rin blinked in surprise as Sakura offered her a book, and then her eyebrows rose as she took it, taking in the archaic bindings and the faded brass lettering on the surface. "Buch des allsehenden Auges…" she read softly before translating. "Book of the All-Seeing Eye…what's this?"

"A primer on divination." Sakura said.

"I'm not really interested in…" Rin began, only for Sakura to lean in with a small smile.

"You won't be so rude as to turn down a gift from your little sister, will you?" she asked.

"…guess I won't." Rin said with a sigh, and smiling at her little sister. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Sakura said. "I'd give you a tarot deck too, but…well, the book will get into it with more detail, but it's best if you get and use your own personalized divining tools. You really won't get the best results otherwise."

"Hmm…makes sense…" Rin said with a thoughtful nod. "…if it's divination, divining tools would technically be mystic codes. And while you can use others' mystic codes, and vice-versa, it won't really be the same as using your own mystic codes."

"Precisely."

"What are the best divining tools out there, though?" Rin asked curiously.

"Divination is a very subjective branch of magic." Sakura said, carefully looking to make sure no one could see or hear. Rin noticed, and pulsing prana through her crest, placed a simple bounded field around them. Sakura nodded in thanks before continuing. "It varies from one diviner to another. Me, for instance, never managed to get any results using tea leaves or palmistry…"

Despite herself, Rin snickered at that. "Palmistry?" she echoed. "Really?"

"Yes, well…" Sakura began, only to break off with a cough and a blush. "…me and several of our cousins told each other's fortunes by playing palm-reading when we were younger…that said, don't be too dismissive."

"Let me guess," Rin said with a nod. "Depending on the diviner, palmistry can work as a divining tool."

"Strangely enough, yes." Sakura said in all seriousness. "Romani magi are especially good at it, as are Greek magi."

"…okay," Rin said with a nod. "Any other experiences with divination you care to share?"

"…I tried my hand with fire omens once," Sakura admitted. "Never really got into the hang of it…I also once tried haruspicy, but mom talked me out of it…"

"Haruspicy?" Rin echoed, and then raised her eyebrow. "Mom?"

"Oh yes…haruspicy, divination using the entrails of sacrificed animals." Sakura explained. "In hindsight, mom did have a point. It's both messy, and not the most refined of methods."

"Okay…and again, mom?" Rin pressed.

Sakura coughed. "Elisa's been there for me since I was a baby." She said, drawing herself up and seeming to stand to attention. "She practically raised me and has always looked out for me. I might as well stop beating around the bush and just call her by what she is to me."

Rin stared at Sakura in silence, who similarly stayed silent. Silent, and composed, as though awaiting judgment, but ready to accept it. And then Rin sighed, nodded, and smiled in acceptance.

"I understand." She simply said, and Sakura gave her a heartfelt smile.

"Thank you." She said just as simply, and Rin nodded again.

"So…divination…?" she said, trying to move on.

"Hmm…" Sakura hummed in thought, and then her eyes lit up, before she snapped her fingers. "Oh, that's right! It's not something I've tried before, but one of the museum exhibits at the Clock Tower has Urim and Thummim."

"What are those?" Rin asked, definitely intrigued now. While she still considered divination to be a…situational, form of magecraft, if a divining tool was worth publicly exhibiting at the Clock Tower, then it was almost certainly the real deal.

"They're artifacts from the Age of Gods." Sakura said. "A pair of stones, one white, the other black, symbolizing yes or no, though it's uncertain which of the stones represents which. The high priests of the Ancient Israeli Kingdom used them as a form of divination, the only one they claimed to be sanctioned by God. As you might guess, they asked a question, and depending on which stone they drew, they got their answer."

"Huh…I'm honestly surprised that the Clock Tower would publicly-display an artifact from the Age of Gods." Rin remarked.

Sakura shrugged. "They don't work anymore." She said. "There's still residual traces of power in the stones, but the general consensus is that when the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem way back when, the violation of the temple's ritual sanctity stripped the stones of their power."

"How did the Clock Tower recover them?" Rin asked.

Sakura thought it over for a moment, and then snapped her fingers as her eidetic memory allowed her to recall the information listed on a bronze plaque at the exhibition. "Oh, the court mage for King Philip the Fair of France donated them to the Clock Tower during the 14th Century." She finally said. "They were part of the stash of relics and other treasures that the Templars had hoarded for centuries since the First Crusade, and which the mage-nobles and high church officials of France split between them after the king obliterated the Templar Order."

"Wait, what?" Rin exclaimed in surprise, but any further conversation came to an end as the warning bell rang. Exchanging a look with Sakura, they parted ways, heading for their respective desks to prepare for the first class of the day.


"Did Philip the Fair really have a court mage?" Rin asked once she and Sakura were on the roof during lunch break. "I mean…sure, it was the 14th Century, and the Masquerade only fully settled into place at the start of the Renaissance, but still…"

"Good points all around," Sakura said with a nod. "And yes, while the Masquerade wasn't fully in place yet, even the King of France couldn't officially or rather openly keep a court mage."

"So…how'd he do it?" Rin asked while sitting down on the bench, Sakura sitting down next to her. "And who was it?"

Sakura hummed in thought, again scanning her eidetic memory for the donor of Urim and Thummim, and Philip the Fair's court mage. "Ah, now I remember." She said while opening her lunchbox. "It was Guillaume de Nogaret, Keeper of the Seal to King Philip IV."

"Guillaume de Nogaret…now where have I heard that name before?" Rin muttered to herself, now also scanning her own eidetic memory for that name. Then his eyes went wide, and she turned to Sakura in shock. "Hey, I know that guy! Wasn't he the guy who led the assault that wiped out the Burial Agency of his day, and took the Pope into custody?"

"Yeah, that was him." Sakura said before munching down on her lunch. "The man behind the closest we magi ever came to bringing down the Holy Church once and for all. Had the defanging of the Church that started at Avignon gone as de Nogaret had planned, history would have been very different."

"Maybe, maybe not," Rin said with a shrug of her own. "I'm sure you know about the concept of the Tree of Time."

Sakura chuckled. "Fair enough." she admitted.

The sisters focused on their lunch after that, and were nearly finished when the door banged open, and an unhappy Ayako marched in, Shirou and Issei trailing after her. "You're so mean, both of you." Ayako grouched as she saw the state of their lunchboxes. "Going ahead of us is fine, but to finish without us? Without me?"

"I was hungry!" Sakura protested.

"Likewise!" Rin said. "Besides, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Come on, Ayako!"

Ayako just sniffed and stormed away to eat in another corner of the rooftop, and causing Rin to chase after her. "Hey." Sakura greeted Shirou and Issei with a wave, the two of them waving back before joining her at the bench.

"Hey." Issei returned the greeting.

"What's up?" Shirou followed-through.


"Do you want to come along?" Sakura asked out of the blue later that day.

"To where?" Rin asked. "Wait, are you actually asking me to cut classes? Seriously?"

"Unidentified magi have entered the city." Sakura replied. "I could use the help."

"…where to?"

Sakura grinned while Rin sighed in exasperation at having to cut classes. A bit of mental interference, then some quick moving around, and in about fifteen minutes, both Sakura and Rin were in a car headed off into the city.

"Whoever they are, they're headed for the Matou Quarantine Zone." Sakura remarked. "This could be an attempt to break the seals I and the College of Law placed there, but regardless of their reason, we can't let that slide."

"Speaking of Matou," Elisa began, and handing Sakura a dossier. "I've received the requested information about Kariya Matou from our contacts."

"Wait, Uncle Kariya?" Rin asked in surprise. "You're looking into him? Why?"

Sakura handed the dossiers to Rin, who immediately began leafing through them. "Give it to me quick, mom." Sakura asked, Rin briefly jolting at seeing Sakura outright addressing her retainer with such an intimate familial title.

"Kariya Matou is a freelance journalist." Elisa said. "He primarily operates in Tokyo, but he's been known to go around and write articles about places, people, and events covering an estimated 80% of Japan over the past thirty years and more."

"Freelance journalist, eh?" Sakura remarked. "That means he isn't affiliated with any one big or whatnot media company."

"Right," Elisa said with a nod. "He also has no known contact with any major or minor Japanese magi family, at least outside of Fuyuki."

"Oh?" Sakura asked, but it was Rin who answered.

"He visits mom at least once a year." She said. "Not sure if he visits his family, but that doesn't seem likely in hindsight."

"And I imagine mother and Mister Kariya keep in indirect contact more regularly even if they don't meet each other that often." Sakura mused.

"Hmm…I know they call each other at least once every month," Rin replied after some thought. "Though I wouldn't say they're close. They're definitely still friends at least."

"I see." Sakura said with a nod. "Thanks for the input."

"No problem." Rin said, already turning back to the dossier.

Elisa nodded. "Anyway," she said. "Like I said, Kariya hasn't made any contact with any known magus family in Japan or abroad, outside of the Tohsaka matron. He also doesn't seem to be a magus, as none of his lifestyle points to serious research of any kind. He certainly isn't buying any reagents or any materials that aren't what you'd expect of a freelance journalist, such as hydroquinone and sodium hydroxide, among others. And film, of course, as well as printer ink."

Elisa paused, and shrugged. "Of course, he could also be a spell-caster," she said. "But there's not enough evidence to suggest that either way. Our contacts are looking into it further, but from the look of things, if he is a spell-caster, he's an amateur at best."

"Hmm…" Sakura hummed. "He has to be good enough to escape a Dead Apostle's lair. I mean, what are the chances his Dead Apostle of a patriarch would just let him go?"

"Not a magus," Elisa reminded Sakura. "But even I know enough about vampires that I'm more likely to win the lottery than any one of them letting one of their slaves go."

They both looked at Rin, who just shook her head. "I don't know either." She said. "All I know is that Uncle Kariya refused to train as a magus under Zouken, and left his family before finishing school. They cut him off from their resources, and…that's pretty much it, actually. He never said how he did it, and I really never asked."

Rin paused, and then shrugged. "I wouldn't say I wasn't curious," she admitted. "But it seemed private, and I really didn't want to probe. In hindsight, I really should have. It might have saved us all a lot of trouble. Come to think of it, if you need to ask Uncle Kariya some questions, why not just ask him directly? I can get the contact details from my mom easily enough."

"Just don't tell her it's because I'm looking into Mister Kariya." Sakura said. "Mother and I don't exactly get along, and it'll only make life harder for you. I don't want that."

"Don't worry about it." Rin said with a reassuring smile. "I have my ways, trust me."

Sakura chuckled and nodded. "Alright then," she said. "If you're that confident, then I'll leave it to you."

"…you're not going to hurt Uncle Kariya, are you?" Rin suspiciously asked after a couple of minutes. "I mean, sure, he's Zouken's descendant, but he's not a bad guy at all. He did turn his back on his family, after he found out what they really were."

"Don't worry, I won't hurt him." Sakura said with a reassuring nod. "Like I said, I just want to ask him some questions about how he got away from Makiri Zolgen's lair in his youth. And what little he knows about the Zolgen Magecraft, just in case there's anything worth salvaging."

Rin snorted, and then with a laugh, shook her head. "Scavengers…" she said.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Sakura said with a smirk.

"Of course," Rin said. "You're a hyena, after all. And hyenas are scavengers. You just happen to be the most elegant of them all."

"You can be too." Sakura observed.

Rin didn't answer at once, instead looking out a window at the city speeding past. "…maybe someday…" she said a few minutes later, and causing Sakura to smile wider.

Conversation during the rest of the trip was much lighter, so much so that it quickly jarred with the sense of urgency and alarm as they arrived at the Matou property's ruins, and found a number of Einzbern homunculi clustered around the gate. The woman at their lead, a beautiful and eerily-familiar one regarded them with a raised eyebrow as they approached.

"And so they arrive," she said with a dispassionate voice. "Barthomeloi and Trambelio's Edelfelt warden, and the disgraced Tohsaka heiress."

"I don't think you're in any position to talk about that, Einzbern." Rin testily said. "As I recall, your family received formal censure for everything that happened here too."

"Which wouldn't have happened had you Tohsaka actually done your jobs as Second Owners," the homunculus sneered. "And killed that walking corpse Makiri Zolgen centuries ago."

Rin scoffed. "You certainly didn't hesitate to work with him to setup Heaven's Feel at the time." She sneered in her turn.

"A mistake in hindsight…" the homunculus admitted with a bitter air. "…but Makiri Zolgen was Human at the time, and only forsook his Humanity after the first iteration of Heaven's Feel, and again, on your watch, Tohsaka."

"Alright, that's enough." Sakura crossly cut in. "This tit-for-tat isn't getting us anywhere. To start over, I am Sakura Edelfelt, Second Owner of this territory. Einzbern, I ask that you name yourself, the reason for your presence in this territory, and your business in the Matou Quarantine Zone."

"So officious," the homunculus grumbled. "But I suppose there's no point in picking a fight with Barthomeloi and Trambelio's pet hounds when we technically have the same interests here. Very well then, Magus Edelfelt, I am Illyasviel von Einzbern, and I am here…"

"Wait, what?" Rin interrupted. "Illyasviel von Einzbern? No, no, no, no…you're joking, right? That little psychopath was a little girl barely older than ten…"

Illya just grinned savagely. "Shows what you know, doesn't it, Tohsaka?" she asked.


A/N

Well, Illya's returned to Fuyuki. There's no way this could possibly go wrong.