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

Everything and Nothing

Prologue

"Do you regret nothing?"

Sakura Tohsaka looked up from where she was sitting at the piano, continuing to play Frederic Chopin's Nocturne in B major. All around them, the lounge quietly bustled, homunculi servants going to and fro serving food and drink, while magi chatted away at their tables. Then the Sixth Heir of Tohsaka smiled, and closing her eyes, turned back to the piano.

She knew exactly what the Wizard Marshal was talking about.

"No, I regret nothing." Sakura said, reopening her eyes. "If I hadn't killed her, then I would have nothing while she would have had everything."

"You know nothing, child." Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg said with a disappointed shake of his head.

Sakura gave a short laugh while continuing to play. "Don't I?" she asked. "Come now, my lord. Let us not dance around the topic. You would not come to me without first looking into the details of my past. You know as well as I do that if I hadn't killed her back then, my master would have simply given me away. You don't seriously expect me to have been content with that."

"Life isn't fair, Sakura." Zelretch said with a sigh.

"No, it isn't." Sakura agreed with a nod. "I won't deny it wasn't fair that my sister had to die for me to get to where I am today. But it also wasn't fair that she had everything simply because she had the luck to be born first."

"A circular argument?" Zelretch asked. "That's the best you can do?"

Sakura gave another short laugh. "I'll admit it's a fallacious line of reasoning," she said. "But that doesn't make it any less valid."

"The point here isn't that your sister was favored over you simply because she born first," Zelretch said with an air of exasperation. "But that you murdered her just so you could take her place."

Sakura snorted. "You talk as though that doesn't happen all the time in magi society." She said.

"…you're the only magus alive to ever kill their family's previous heir before either of you were even ten years-old!" Zelretch snapped. "Aren't you at all ashamed at the kind of reputation you have? What will you tell your children when you have them? Or do you expect them to kill each other until only one of them is left to become your heir?"

"Now who's dealing with logical fallacies?" Sakura asked. "I believe this is what's called whataboutism, yes? But to answer your questions…in the order you asked them, no, I'm not ashamed of my reputation. It's just a natural consequence of what I did before to become who I am today. I will tell my children the truth, that my master played favorites with me and my sister, which caused me to kill her to force him to treat me fairly. And finally, no, I plan to treat my children fairly, unlike my master who gave everything to my sister while planning to give me nothing."

Zelretch made a sound of disgust. "You really are something else, you know that?" he asked.

Sakura smiled. "I know." She said.

Zelretch sighed, and gave Sakura an even look. "Nevertheless," he said. "I make it my responsibility to ensure all succession candidates for the Second Magic are properly-grounded, or if not, to at least make an effort to correct their idiosyncrasies."

That finally broke Sakura's cool, the young woman skipping a note and causing her to end her performance on an abrupt chord. Eyes across the lounge turned her way in surprise, then looked away again at recognizing the Wizard Marshal. Whatever it was they were talking about, it was no business of theirs, and likely more trouble than any of them were worth.

"I must have misheard." Sakura lightly said. "It seems as though you just implied I'm a candidate to inherit the Second Magic, which couldn't possibly be correct…"

"And why not?" Zelretch asked, crossing his arms and giving a small, almost approving smile.

"You are the master of Jewel Magecraft." Sakura replied. "The same magecraft which you perfected allowed you to reach the Root, and to which the Second Magic retroactively operates through. As someone incapable of using Jewel Magecraft…"

"While it's true I used Jewel Magecraft to complete the path to the Root," Zelretch interrupted. "It and the Second Magic are two entirely different things. I use Jewel Magecraft to apply the Second Magic because it's convenient for me. However, I do not need Jewel Magecraft to use the Second Magic…and just maybe, neither do you, Murderer Blue."

Sakura clicked her tongue. "And?" she prompted.

Zelretch smiled wider, and gestured to another magus leaning against the wall in the distance, who approached immediately. As she came closer, Sakura saw it was another Japanese magus, wearing business-like attire under a red cloak, and with strangely-familiar features.

"Candidate Number Seven," Zelretch began, gesturing towards Sakura. "Sakura 'Murderer Blue' Tohsaka…"

That caused the other Japanese magus' mouth to fall open in surprise, not a surprising response, really, Sakura was used to it by now, but Zelretch wasn't finished.

"…meet Candidate Number Two," Zelretch continued, and gesturing towards the other Japanese magus. "Rin 'Jewel Sword Blue' Tohsaka."

This time it was Sakura's turn to drop her jaw in surprise. And then just as quickly she closed it, her mind already making intuitive leaps and making the necessary connections. "I see." She said with a slow nod. "So you're what my sister would have become had she grown up."

"…that says a lot already about what happened to my counterpart in this timeline." Rin said while massaging a temple.

"Well, then," Zelretch said with a chuckle, and a sideways glance at Sakura. "I'm sure the two of you have a lot to talk about. I take my leave."

With a curt nod, the Wizard Marshal left, leaving the two alternate universe siblings silent next to each other. The moment stretched out, awkward and uncomfortable, tension so thick in the air it was like caramel. In the end, it was Sakura who spoke first.

"So," she began. "Nice weather we have today, isn't it?"

Rin palmed her face. "Really?" she asked. "That's how you want to start the conversation? By talking about the weather?"

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"So…" Rin began as she and Sakura walked down the cold London streets to Hyde Park. "Murderer Blue? Where'd that come from?"

"Which part?" Sakura asked. "Murderer or Blue?"

"Both."

"Hmm…Jewel Sword Blue is fairly obvious in contrast." Sakura remarked instead. "Together with your status as Candidate Number Two, you replicated the Jeweled Sword."

"…eh, it's complicated." Rin uncertainly said. "But yeah, that's more or less how I got the title and color. And now you have me at a disadvantage."

Sakura snorted, but in a sporting way. "I got my color for figuring out the theory for and applying it to reach null space." She said. "You know…the void outside the time axis, which lies between timelines, as well as between reality and the Root. Of course, there's just the problem that there's no way to navigate in null space. Once you enter it, there's no going back. Not really that useful a discovery, outside of a convenient way to execute criminals they can't otherwise execute."

"Let me guess," Rin dryly began. "Dead Apostles and the like? They just throw them into null space?"

"Pretty much," Sakura said with a shrug, before scratching her head. "Not exactly the smartest idea, though…"

"…because just because it's impossible to navigate in null space now," Rin said. "That's not always going to be the case, right?"

"I can't navigate in null space." Sakura clarified. "No magus can. A magician, though? I wouldn't be surprised if Lord Zelretch can."

"True…" Rin agreed. "He must travel through null space to get to other timelines, or around it somehow."

"Hmm…"

"And…murderer…?" Rin asked after a moment. "How'd you get that title?"

Sakura didn't answer at once, instead looking straight ahead. Rin tolerated her silence for several moments, and then coming to a halt, likewise forced Sakura to halt as well. They were in Hyde Park now, and conveniently, this part of the park was empty. There would be no one to hear.

"Who did you kill?" Rin asked, her throat dry, as though she already knew who Sakura had murdered. After all, why else would she look as she did, and have the name and position that Rin's counterpart should have had.

Sakura sighed. "Master gave my sister – your counterpart – everything." She said. "He treated me like I was part of the background or something like that. Eventually, he even planned to give me away to those wretched Matous."

Rin dryly swallowed. "Master?" she echoed. "You mean father, don't you?"

Sakura gave a wry chuckle. "I haven't called or thought of him in that way in a very long time." She said. "He insisted on me calling him 'master' after, well, after I…"

"Killed your sister…killed me, you mean." Rin said in a whisper.

Sakura was silent for a long time, and then turning away, continued with an unreadable expression on her face. "Don't make the mistake of thinking I enjoyed killing my sister." She said. "I simply did what I needed to do."

"…how?"

Sakura was again silent for a long time, and then turned back to Rin, looking at her in the eyes before answering. "I mixed rat poison with water," she said. "And forced my sister to drink it while she was asleep. She never woke up again."

Rin opened and closed her mouth several times, and then turning away, unable to find the necessary words, hurried off. Sakura looked after her for several moments, and then with a sigh, picked up the pace to follow.

A/N

Hello, hello, hello, happy October, everyone. The COVID-19 Pandemic continues, but that's not stopping me from enjoying this month. Beer, sausages, ham, steak, chocolate, candies, and other sweets…

…not to mention horror movies. That said, I ought to give back, so here's the start of a new fanfic. Let's see where it goes, shall we?