Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.
Snow White and Her Children
Chapter 2
"Hey…?"
Two sets of blue eyes turned in Shirou's direction, golden locks gently flowing with the movements of the twins' heads. "Hmm…?" they hummed questioningly in chorus with each other.
"I've been thinking about what you told me last night." Shirou said while replacing a set of freshly-washed bowls into a cabinet. "And while I think you and your mother have everything under control…well, I…I guess I just want to say that if you ever need any help, just ask. I might not be able to do much, but…well, every little counts, right? Besides, it's my city too. I have to look out for it too, in my own way. And you're the magical authority here so…"
Shirou trailed off as the twins smiled and glided over to him. "You don't need to say so much, Shirou." Rin began while taking one of his arms, her head resting on his shoulder.
"We completely understand what you mean." Sakura followed up, taking his other arm and also resting her head against his shoulder.
"And while we're flattered that you think we have everything under control," Rin said.
"You never know what might happen." Sakura then said.
"So thank you for the offer," they finally chorused. "And allow us to take you at your word if and when needed."
Shirou smiled back and nodded. "Don't worry," he said before giving them a wink. "I won't let it be said that I don't keep my word."
The twins giggled before letting go, and returned to their respective spots at the counter. Rin scrubbing and washing, while Sakura rinsed and wiped. "You not keeping your word?" Rin rhetorically asked. "How unthinkable!"
Sakura nodded in agreement. "I'm pretty sure pigs haven't started flying yet." She remarked.
"They haven't." Rin said.
"Oh? Then Shirou should be a man of his word." Sakura said.
"And he is." Rin said with a nod.
"As he should be." Sakura said, before both she and Rin beamed in Shirou's direction, who only laughed and scratched his head before he resumed stacking clean plates one on top of each other.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." He said. "But we do have a time limit, you know? I mean…we don't want to be late to school, do we?"
"Oh goodness no." Rin said, resuming scrubbing one of the pans used to cook breakfast earlier.
"Mother would never let us being tardy slide, especially since we have a car." Sakura said while rinsing the chopping board.
"And if she finds out we were tardy because we dawdled at your house," Rin worriedly said.
"There goes visiting privileges for the foreseeable future." Sakura just as worriedly finished.
"Well," Shirou said while lifting the stack of plates up to where it should be. "All the more reason to get to it. That said, let's not rush and get into accidents either. We're not really in any danger of cutting things close…yet."
"Point," Rin conceded. "But let's not risk it either."
"Agreed," Sakura said with a nod. "So chop-chop, everyone!"
Shirou laughed and nodded in agreement, his laughter taking a lot of the tension out of the air. The twins still worked hard and quick, though their shoulders were more relaxed now than they were a few moments ago.
It might not seem like much, but to Shirou, that looked like a success one way or another.
"Sakura?" Rin's questioning thought slipped into her twin's head.
"Yes, Rin?" Sakura threw a thought back into her twin's head.
"Did you feel that?" Rin asked.
"Yes, I certainly did." Sakura answered.
And the day had been going quite well too. They'd finished washing up to get to Homurahara Academy with fifteen minutes to spare, and while they'd had to deal with a surprise quiz in one of their morning classes, school had gone as well it usually did. Even said surprise quiz was nothing particularly troublesome, given the standards their mother, status, and birthright held them to, and which the twins were more than willing to live up to.
Then they'd had lunch at the rooftop with Shirou, before heading back down for afternoon classes. And so far the first third of those had gone as well as they usually did…
…until now, that is.
"Seems like someone's trying to sneak into our territory." Rin observed.
"More than one from the feel of things." Sakura remarked. "But they really do seem to be trying to hide, aren't they? I can't really be sure without a closer look, but I can feel active mysteries in effect trying to keep whoever these interlopers are below notice."
"Agreed," Rin said. "And it might have worked too…unfortunately for them, whatever they're using to try and hide just isn't good enough."
"No, it certainly is not." Sakura agreed. "Either they're underestimating us, or they didn't research and plan ahead properly."
"Neither of those are exclusive to each other." Rin pointed out.
"Point."
Tohsaka had only been magi for less than two centuries, but the family had lived on and governed the land Fuyuki City now stood on for nearly three centuries. This gave them an affinity for the land unmatched by anyone else in the world. And Rin and Sakura's parents had taken advantage of that fact to further reinforce their authority as Second Owners.
Making use of mysteries shared as was only right and proper to a recognized and honored branch of the Edelfelt lineage of magi, Tokiomi Tohsaka and his wife Valkolumi Edelfelt-Tohsaka had conducted a series of rituals over a period of years across the ley lines of the territory. The result was a series of interlocking and overlapping territorial fields over the whole of Fuyuki City.
They were simple and basic compared to those of older and more distinguished lineages, such as those which protected and shrouded the ancestral Edelfelt lands in distant Lapland, to say nothing of the properties of the great Barthomeloi and Valueleta lineages elsewhere in Europe. The fields couldn't keep magi or other beings out of the territory (yet), or be used to cut them off from environmental prana unless a Tohsaka magus was in close proximity to the intruders, but the sensor functions were undoubtedly first class.
Unless the intruders or their mysteries had accumulated historical weight (or its equivalent) of at least five hundred years, they would be noticed and even tracked at will the moment they entered the territory. Though, that meant that the Matou, descended as they were from the five hundred year-old Zolgen lineage of magi, presented blind spots in the territory.
At least, their mansion did. As did the last magus of their family, Zouken Matou. Shinji Matou, having dud magic circuits, did not benefit from this protection.
Another blind spot was the Einzbern Forest at the edge of the city, as the Einzbern were a thousand year-old (if not even older) lineage of magi. Their magi were similarly able to escape the eye of the Tohsaka territorial fields, much to Tokiomi's chagrin during the Fourth Holy Grail War.
He was able to cut Irisviel von Einzbern off from environmental prana though, on the one time they'd met and fought. It had been a…unpleasant, surprise for the Einzbern magus, and which forced her to flee with her figurative tail between her legs.
A triumphant cause for laughter for the man and his family…if a bittersweet one, as he had recounted that tale to them on the last time they'd ever met, the last time their family was whole, towards the end of the war. Then Tokiomi had left under the red rays of the setting Sun, never to return.
Sakura fingered a pair of sapphires she'd slipped from a pocket. "I'll send out a couple of familiars." She said. "Have them take a closer look."
"Isn't one enough?" Rin asked.
"Remember what mother always says?" Sakura asked. "Always have a backup."
Rin laughed, the thought-sounds sending pleasant ripples through their minds. "Good point," she agreed. "Alright, you do that. In the meantime, I'll get in touch with Arnold-san. I think we might need his help on this."
"Good idea," Sakura agreed in her turn. "Now then, let's get to it."
"Mm~"
Smiling at her sister next to her (abuse of telepathy…or because it was the only way to hold a private conversation on this topic in the middle of class), Sakura raised a finger. Just one gesture, and no one in the classroom would notice anything she did until she let them.
Mental interference, plain and simple.
Rin pulled out a phone, and dialed their home number. She sat back in her seat, waiting for it to pick up. In the meantime, Sakura walked to the windows, cupping the sapphires in her hands. Holding them close to her mouth, she murmured an aria, the gems beginning to glow brighter and brighter as the prana within resonated with Sakura's words, mysteries becoming real and reshaping what already was into something else in line with the magus' design.
Then Sakura held out her hands, allowing a pair of sparrows to hop onto the windowsill. "Take a good look." She ordered. "And find out what you can."
The sparrows chirped their affirmative, and then flew off. Sakura looked after them for a few moments, then turned back to the classroom. The teacher continued to drone on unaware in front, the rest of the class studiously listening and taking notes (or giving the impression thereof).
"I've told Arnold-san to get ready to head out, just in case." Rin said as Sakura returned and took her seat.
Sakura nodded. "Now then," she said. "All we can do for now is wait for my familiars to report back on who these interlopers are, and then we can come up with a plan to deal with them."
Rin nodded in agreement. "As you say, Sakura." She said. "As you say."
Then Sakura raised a finger, and they returned to their teacher's and classmates' awareness. The twins resumed taking notes, as it would take some more time before Sakura's familiars could report back.
And they were still in class, after all. They might as well do what was expected of them as students while waiting.
Hours later, and Arnold was perched on top of a water tower overlooking the suburbs of Fuyuki City in the evening. Well, less perched as much as he was lying prone on top of a blanket, behind a M107 Anti-Materiel Rifle on a bipod braced by a stack of small sandbags.
"Dawn and Dusk, this is Farmer." Arnold said into a walkie-talkie, while holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes with his free hand. As he spoke, he kept his eyes on the nondescript white van driving through the suburbs as fast as it could get away with. "I have eyes on the sheep."
"Understood, Farmer." Rin replied. "Stop them in their tracks. We'll take it from there."
"Will do, Dawn. Good hunting."
Sakura's familiars had homed in the van as it drove through the city from the waterfront, with Arnold's own discreet inquiries revealing the van had arrived at Fuyuki by ferry from Osaka. The familiars had also confirmed active concealment mysteries coming from inside the van, at which point the sisters had decided to treat it as hostile.
Of course, they had to act discreetly. The supernatural had to stay secret, after all. And that meant they couldn't strike until the van and its occupants were out of the busy city proper.
But, hostile as the van and its occupants were, the twins also needed to know why it'd come to their city. And where were they going? Were they simply passing through? If so, then they and their employer needed to learn courtesy, by not so blatantly trying to run people and whatnot through another magus family's territory.
Were they delivering something to other magi in the city? There were three others the twins knew of, but if it was one of them, then they could just apologize later if it came to that. Or not: while those three magi in the city were known to the twins and had received their (or rather their family's) permission to study and reenact their mysteries in Tohsaka territory, that came with the stipulation that they do so within reason.
There should be no reason they'd be trying to hide from Tohsaka eyes the transportation of…cargo. Unless it was something illicit, of course, in which case reprimand and not apology would be forthcoming once the twins found out what it involved.
That…or there were other magi in the city. Magi the twins didn't know of, and had never received their family's permission to operate in the city. If so…
…then there'd be hell to pay.
And it certainly seemed that there would be, as the van moved through the city, considerably delayed by heavy traffic, before finally heading towards the suburbs their house was located in. No…not just their house…the Matou mansion was there…
…so either the Matou were doing illicit activities under their nose, or other magi were squatting nearby.
Neither could be tolerated. Rin and Sakura gave the order, and Arnold had gone out to provide support.
Arnold steadied his breathing as he zoomed in on the van through the M107's scope. At this distance, he didn't just have to take into account the fact that the target was moving, but also wind speed and direction, as well as the Coriolis Effect.
"…steady…steady…steady…" he cautioned himself, finger ready to pull the trigger. And then narrowing his eye, he held his breath. "NOW!"
The M107 fired with a sharp bang, the stock slamming hard against Arnold's shoulder. He kept his eye on the van regardless, and smirked a moment later as the .50 round punched through the thin steel of the van's hood, and smashing into the engine in activity, tore each other apart.
"Dawn and Dusk, this is Farmer." Arnold said into his walkie-talkie, watching the van bank sharply to one side, before tumbling over and over several times down the street until finally slamming to a halt against a concrete wall. "The sheep is down."
"Farmer, this is Dawn." Rin replied. "Good shooting, we'll take it from here."
"Understood, Dawn. Will standby to provide overwatch just in case."
"Okay, we'll leave it to you."
Nodding to himself, Arnold lowered the walkie-talkie before adjusting himself and once again pressing an eye against the scope.
Rin and Sakura lay prone on top of a house, technically trespassing but needs must. Besides, it wasn't like they were going to steal or break something. They'd even gone through the effort to erect a bounded field along the entire street, to keep the ordinary people from noticing the ruckus as they dealt with these…trespassers, on their land.
Yes, they knew and understood the irony that in order to deal with trespassers, they became trespassers themselves.
No, they didn't want to talk about it. Besides, weren't they pretty? So enough about trespassing already.
Rin held up an amethyst, while Sakura held up a piece of smoky quartz. They looked once at each other, and then nodding turned back to where the freelancers were clambering out of their wrecked vehicle, no doubt having used reinforcement to avoid getting seriously injured by the crash.
As one, the twins reinforced their bodies, and then threw the glowing gems through the air towards the freelancers. The gems landed on the ground, and then erupted in a blinding blaze of light. No, not just light, or the light the Human eye was able to see. The eruption reached high into ultraviolet frequencies, and low into infra-red.
The freelancers screamed as their eyes fried from the onslaught of visible light and ultraviolet radiation, while exposed skin bloomed with first-degree burns from the accompanying heat. And then Rin and Sakura were getting up, and jumping through the air.
"To victory or death!" Rin yelled.
"For Edelfelt!" Sakura followed-through.
"URAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" they shouted in chorus, as they bounded off a wall and up, flipping and spinning through the air to land lithely on electric posts spaced wide apart. Under their sleeves, crests flashed to life, even as the twins pointed down. Then dark projectiles erupted machine gun-like from their fingers, Finn rounds raining down and pummeling the helpless freelancers into the ground.
And just like that it was over.
The freelancers lay unmoving on the ground, a couple apparently unconscious, two more groaning and moaning piteously, while one vomited his guts out before collapsing into the stinking fluid. The twins jumped down, and meeting up right next to the fallen freelancers, shook hands.
"Nice shooting." Rin congratulated her twin.
"Likewise." Sakura said with a matching grin.
Then a gunshot rang out, and the twins whirled to see one of the freelancers now without a head, a divot punched into the ground next to him by a .50 round. A small revolver of some kind was held loosely in the headless corpse's hand.
Sakura pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Thanks, Farmer." She said.
"Just doing my job, Dusk." Arnold replied.
Rin grabbed the buckled doors at the back of the van, the metal crumpling under her reinforced grip. The metal then screamed as she simply ripped them free, and then tossed them aside. Inside the van, a bound, gagged, and bleeding young man of their age looked up and stared.
Rin stared back.
Sakura stared back as well.
The young man resumed struggling against his bonds, muffled noises coming from his mouth. Rin and Sakura looked at each other, and then shrugging, reached inside and pulled him out. A couple of minutes later and he was free, using a borrowed handkerchief to wipe blood from his face.
"Thanks for the rescue." He said with a bow. "And…um, can I have a minute or two, please?"
"Uh…okay?" Rin and Sakura uncertainly chorused, and the young man gave a startlingly familiar smile.
"Thanks!" he said, before approaching the freelancers…
…and promptly started kicking away, again and again. Rin and Sakura looked at each other, and then shrugging…
…joined in on kicking the freelancers, who could only groan and cry out as three teenagers kept on kicking them for two minutes straight.
"Woo…that was…I don't know…" the young man began once he'd worked his frustration out.
"Therapeutic…?" Rin offered.
"Cathartic…?" Sakura likewise said.
"…therapeutic works." The young man said with a grin before stretching his limbs. "I think they had me tied up in there for over a day now."
"Yeah…about that…" Rin began.
"…why were you tied up in the first place?" Sakura finished.
"I have absolutely no idea." The young man answered with hands held up in exasperation. "At least…when it comes to the details, that is. All they ever told me was that someone important – at least I think they are, given how respectful these guys were whenever they mentioned whoever their client is – wanted to see me."
"They must really want to see you then." Rin dryly remarked.
"Well, they didn't take no for an answer." The young man said with a shrug. "Thanks again…though, where are we? And…who are you? I mean…I'm not trying to be ungrateful, but…um…are you…are you really in the business of saving people? And…why…?"
"In reverse order," Sakura said. "You're in our town, well, city…you get the idea. And no, we're not in the business of saving people, that's the police's job, unless it involves the supernatural. Which it does, since your kidnappers were freelance magi."
"Spell-casters, actually." Rin said with a disdainful sniff. "You are aware of the supernatural, right?"
"…I am." The young man hesitantly admitted. "I…my family, stopped being magi a while back. Dad…didn't really want to explain. I think something bad happened, our family got really burned, or something like that."
Rin and Sakura looked at each other, but after a few moments, Sakura shook her head. "Let's not get judgmental." She said.
"…hmm…fine…at least until we know more." Rin conceded before they turned back to the young man. "As for who we are, I'm Rin Tohsaka, and this is my twin sister, Sakura Tohsaka."
"And you're in Fuyuki City." Sakura finished with a grin. "Welcome! Though I am sorry you had to be introduced to our hometown like this."
"It's fine, it's the fault of neither of you." The young man said with a wave, before giving a polite bow. "Anyway…I guess it's my turn to introduce myself. My name is Hikaru Matou, pleased to meet you."
The twins' smile went out like a light. "Hikaru…Matou…?" they echoed incredulously.
Hikaru blinked. "Yes," he said. "Is there a problem?"
Sakura immediately pulled out her walkie-talkie. "Farmer, get the car here, now!" she said.
"W-what's going on?" Hikaru asked in growing worry.
"You are in serious danger, Matou-san." Rin said before giving him a small smile. "We'll explain, but first, we need to get you to someplace safe."
Shirou was washing up – it was just him and Taiga tonight since the twins had something to attend to – when the doorbell rang. "Who could that be?" Shirou wondered while wiping his hands. "And at this time of night?"
The doorbell rang again even as Shirou was walking through the front door. "Yes!" Shirou loudly said. "I'm on the way!"
Opening the gate, Shirou blinked. "Good evening, Shirou." Rin began.
"We need your help." Sakura finished.
"Can we come inside?" they chorused while indicating the uncomfortable-looking (and injured) young man between them.
Wordlessly, Shirou stepped aside, letting the twins and their…friend (?), through. Sharing a nod with Arnold (who was standing by the car), Shirou hurried after the twins.
"Okay, what's going on?" Shirou asked as he entered the living/dining room, where the twins were seated with their friend. "And who's this guy?"
"This is Hikaru Matou." Rin said. "And from the look of things, old man Zouken had him kidnapped."
"Probably to force him into becoming Matou's heir." Sakura added.
"Wait, what?" Hikaru asked.
"Your family didn't give up magecraft." Rin explained. "Or rather, the main line lost the ability to use it. Your cousin Shinji doesn't have magic circuits, and old man Zouken is the last magus they have."
"He doesn't have have working magic circuits." Sakura corrected. "From what I know, Shinji has magic circuits, only they're, well, duds."
"Yes, well," Rin said with a cough. "The point is, the main line of the Matou family is no longer able to produce new generations of magi. Though one way they can pass on their mysteries is by training apprentices in their Art, and through them carry on the legacy of the past. But…"
Rin trailed off, only for Sakura to carry on with a nod. "It's not true inheritance, because an apprentice wouldn't carry the blood of the Matou in them." She said. "Maybe it's being greedy, but…well, that's part of what it means to be magi. Each generation carries with them the legacy of the past not just in form, but in essence. Your own blood marks you as an embodiment of everything done by everyone who came before you in order to reach the point where you now stand, and from where it is hoped the path will be continued from."
"In short," Rin concluded. "Yes, an apprentice can learn the mysteries and carry on the form of the family's legacy. But they will never be able to inherit the family's essence, and with it, something…ineffable, will be lost, if the Art is carried on by someone not of the blood."
"…you two sound as though you sympathize with this…old man Zouken." Hikaru suspiciously said.
"We do." Rin immediately said.
"But sympathy and agreement are two entirely different things." Sakura added.
"We sympathize with his reasoning." Rin said.
"But we do not agree with his methods." Sakura said.
"Taking on the legacy of the past should be a choice." Rin said. "Because if it is forced, if it is not borne freely, then the inheritor will never be able to commit themselves fully 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 has been forced on them."
"If so," Sakura finished. "Then the legacy of the past might as well not have been carried on, or even if it is, it would have been stained and tainted by such…halfway, efforts."
"So…your parents gave you a choice whether or not to become magi?" Hikaru asked.
"No." Rin said with a shake of her head. "What we have the choice of leaving the path we are expected to take. There will be consequences, but our family will not stop us should we choose to turn our backs."
"And those consequences are?" Shirou asked.
"Well," Sakura said. "We'd stop being family. Everything else goes from there."
Hikaru snorted. "What kind of choice is that?" he asked.
Surprisingly, it was Shirou who answered. "Edelfelt is a magi family." He said softly. "There's no place in it, whether the main line or its many branches, for those who are not magi."
The twins looked at each other. "Well," Sakura said. "That's…something of an oversimplification, but essentially yes."
Hikaru hummed unhappily. "Is that why you're helping me?" he finally asked. "Is that why you're keeping me from falling into this uncle or whatnot of mine's hands?"
"Yes." Rin said with a nod. "Better the essence of the Matou lineage be lost by forcing old man Zouken to instead take an apprentice, or the whole of the Matou legacy cease to be, than to let it be carried on in such a way. Either would be a more dignified end, than to see it continue in such a…twisted, and debased fashion."
"That," Sakura continued. "And kidnapping is illegal."
Shirou and Hikaru's jaws fell open at such a…mundane, reasoning. "What?" Sakura asked with a twitching eye. "It is."
"We could probably find a way out of being charged with being accomplices to kidnapping," Rin said. "But it'd be really troublesome, and our mother would never let us hear the end of it."
"At the very least," Sakura said. "We'll keep you under old man Zouken's notice until mother comes back. Then…we'll see."
"So," Rin said with a smile that gave Shirou a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Shirou, do you mind hosting Hikaru-kun here in your house for a while?"
A/N
Now then, who could Hikaru's parents be? I'll give you two guesses, but you're only going to need one.
That bit about Tohsaka's territorial fields is creative license on my part, but one with a basis in canon. Territorial fields are a thing in canon, usually associated with really powerful Dead Apostles, but there's no evidence to say magi can't use them too. We already know that the Tohsaka mansion has powerful protective bounded fields, as does seemingly the Matou mansion, though the latter seems dependent on Zouken being there (Kariya couldn't get in until Zouken had briefly left or actively let him in).
There's also the Einzbern territory in Germany, which included not just the castle but also a large chunk of the surrounding portion of the Black Forest. From there, it's logical to assume that older, more powerful and more profound magi lineages could in fact erect their own territorial fields.
And ITTL, the Tohsaka have become a fully-recognized branch lineage (their proper name is the House of Edelfelt-Tohsaka) of the elder Edelfelt lineage (according to El-Melloi Case Files the lineage goes back to the Renaissance). Through Edelfelt, Tohsaka was able to get several mysteries that while taking time to put in place, gives them the in-chapter mentioned ability to detect and track any magus or being entering their territory without at least 500 years of accumulated historical weight or its equivalent.
That affinity for the land is canon, though. According to Nasu, having lived in Fuyuki for so long has given the Tohsaka incredibly affinity for and synchronization with their land. In fact, Nasu mentioned from there that if Tokiomi had been the Master for the fifth war and he'd been forced to fight Illya magus to magus, he could have significantly reduced her overwhelming magical power by using that affinity to keep her from accessing environmental prana. If he can do that to Illya, the ultimate homunculus of the Einzbern family (according to Jubstacheit no less), then he can do the same to Iri as mentioned in the chapter.