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

This Cannot End Well

Chapter 8

Luvia practically collapsed laughing into her seat after Rin asked her about the recent Crimean Incident. "…alright, first of all, who told you about that?" she finally managed to ask after no less than two minutes of constant laughter. "If it was Sakura, sorry, but I'm going to have to reprimand her, as she was told not to talk about it unless either me, Reines, or Waver explicitly told her otherwise."

"The Lord Second, Wizard Marshal Kaleidoscope mentioned it to me." Rin replied. "Sakura then told me to ask you about it, since she couldn't give out the details."

Luvia made a cursory gesture of disgust that the Wizard Marshal had been the one to point her cousin to her husband's latest…trip-up. "Oh fine." She said. "What do you know of recent events in the Crimea?"

"…assuming things went the way here as they did in my timeline," Rin said after a moment's thought. "Didn't the Russians conquer the Crimea earlier this year?"

"Oh good!" Luvia said with mock applause. "Things are pretty much the same there as they are here. Anyway, the gist of the matter is that things are pretty chaotic in the Crimea right now, given Putin's ambitions to restore the Soviet Union or the Russian Empire or whatnot. But as you probably know, the Crimea is home to quite a few ancient sites."

"Yes." Rin said with a nod. "The Greeks had colonized the region centuries before the birth of Christ, and it wasn't all that far – at least by sea – from the Colchis region that was home to Medea, greatest magus of her age and of the Greek civilization. Or at least, associated with the latter, but I digress."

"Right," Luvia said with a nod of her own. "The chaos in the region provides prime opportunities for…less-than-savory, characters or groups to take advantage of the ancient sites. And while there are a number of old magi families living in the area, well, they all happen to be jealous of and competing against each other. So, it wasn't as though we could task one or another, or even all of them with safeguarding the sites."

"I wouldn't be surprised if a week passed and those families were killing each other over a relic or two." Rin dryly said.

"I put money on first blood being shed in such a scenario within three days." Luvia brightly said, and Rin rolled her eyes with a shake of her head. "Back to the topic at hand, the Association decided to entrust the task to the El-Melloi. And my sister-in-law decided to give field command to my husband, considering his plentiful experience in such matters from when he was still Lord El-Melloi II."

"Sounds good so far."

"Quite, but as things heated up between Kiev and Moscow, the College of Law decided to take a direct role in the issue. Of course, to avoid insinuating the El-Melloi had failed in their assigned task in any way, the College of Law didn't require Waver or his agents to withdraw, just…reassigned them, to a support role."

"Let me guess," Rin began. "That's when things spiraled out of control."

Luvia snickered. "My dear husband argued that the El-Melloi shouldn't have to make any pretensions of appearing strong, because El-Melloi is strong." He said. "Fine and stirring words, with plenty to back it up, but Reines disagreed with the notion that we'd have to present a façade of noble detachment while the other nobles whispered and murmured for the next few months if her brother had his way. So, to keep Waver from making it fait accompli and just withdrawing along with his agents, Reines sent Sakura to keep him from doing so, by any means necessary beyond direct confrontation."

"And…what did Sakura do?" Rin asked with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Luvia snickered again. "Two things," she said. "First, she sabotaged Waver's plane."

"She did what?" Rin gaped in disbelief.

"She sabotaged his plane." Luvia repeated, her grin practically splitting her face. "Apparently, she set up a bounded field to keep anyone from noticing, before cutting the fuel lines. Then she let the fuel pool around and under the plane, before setting it on fire. Only then did she let the bounded field drop."

"That's practically terrorism!" Rin spluttered out, and Luvia burst out laughing.

"…she didn't actually hurt anyone, though." She said after getting her amusement under control. "Once everyone saw the plane – and runway – was on fire, airport security locked the place down and evacuated everyone. Of course, the Russian military started investigating, which made it even harder for Waver to leave."

"…and the second thing?" Rin asked dully.

Luvia laughed again. "She hacked Waver's laptop before using it to spread pictures of Vladimir Putin in his bathrobe." She said before laughing away, pounding at an armrest in glee.

"…Little Rin, no doubt." Rin groaned while palming her face. "I can guess what happened next. The KGB tracked the leak, and chased after Waver, forcing him to go underground. And to keep himself from going stir-crazy, he had to help with the Enforcers present, who could also help keep the KGB from dragging him off to the Lubyanka."

Luvia wiped a tear from her eye. "He might be my husband," she said. "But even he's not exempt from schadenfreude."

Rin shook her head. "What happened next?" she asked.

"Sakura spent the next month relaxing at a five-star hotel on the Black Sea." Luvia replied. "As you can imagine, this really pissed my husband off. I mean, he was working his butt off while she was sunning herself, boating around, having buffet meals, and visiting casinos. When he finally returned to London, he had her officially censured, demoted from Pride to Flame, and organized an inquiry into her Color Designation of Blue."

"Wait," Rin began, looking and sounding very concerned. "Could he actually do that?'

Luvia sighed. "Actually, yes." She admitted. "He is a department head, after all. Of course, Sakura wasn't going to take that lying down, so she appealed to both Reines and Lord Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri. They reversed her demotion, and had the inquiry aborted. The official censure stood, but they marked it as 'non-disciplinary', or basically just a procedural issue."

Luvia paused, and made a 'what can you do' gesture. "In short," she continued. "She got a slap on the wrist."

"And forbidden from telling anyone about what happened." Rin added.

"Well, yes." Luvia agreed. "Not that it really matters, of course, the gist of things is pretty common knowledge, at least among the Clock Tower elite. That said…as Waver's wife, please refrain from gossiping about this. I ask not as your superior in the Association hierarchy, but as your cousin."

"No need to be so formal, but sure." Rin said with a nod, before making a teasing grin. "You never know when I might need a favor from you or your husband, after all."

That had Luvia laughing. "I would expect nothing less." She said before finally starting on her tea.

"On a related note," Rin began after a few moments and tea of her own. "When did Sakura become a Pride, and how?"

"Oh?" Luvia asked in surprise. "She hasn't told you?"

"…no, she probably didn't want to come off as bragging or showing off."

"Hmm…she received the promotion soon after her transfer to Spiritual Invocation." Luvia said. "It's to officially recognize her…achievement, in producing a stable wraith from House Tohsaka's former heiress, and binding said wraith as her familiar."

Rin blinked, before narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Luvia. "Go ahead." The latter urged. "Say it. I won't bite."

"I'm surprised you didn't explode over that, considering your past relationship with my sister."

"Who says I didn't?"

"You really are the lowest of the low, aren't you, Sakura Tohsaka?" Luvia spat, as she confronted Sakura in the Clock Tower Commons.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." Sakura said, only for Luvia to grab her by the collar. In an instant, Sakura had her beam saber out, and while she didn't ignite it, she had the exhaust port pressed over Luvia's heart.

"Don't lie to me!" Luvia roared. "Bad enough you murdered your own sister just because you couldn't get your way as a child, you had to enslave her soul too! But even that wasn't enough, was it? Now you've offered her up for a promotion too? What's next, Tohsaka? Will you whore her out to become immortal? Or will you just finally grind her soul down to its component resources?"

CRACK

Both Luvia and Sakura were on their knees on the ground, after the latter headbutted the former. "Y-you…you broke my nose…!" Luvia wheezed, staring at Sakura in shock and disbelief.

"…and nearly gave myself a concussion…" Sakura groaned. "…more importantly, get the hell off your high horse, Lord Edelfelt. For someone of such…exalted, rank, you jump to conclusions all too easily. And most importantly, I don't answer to you."

"BASTARD!" Luvia roared, leaping to her feet and reinforcing her body, Sakura doing likewise while drawing a second beam saber and igniting it along with the previous one.

"That's enough!" an Enforcer shouted as several of his colleagues rushed to restrain the feuding cousins. "Murderer Blue! Lord Edelfelt! I will not have either of you causing a riot in the Commons!"

Sakura was the first to stand down, shutting off her sabers and putting them back in Imaginary Numbers Space. Then she was turning her back, and walking off without a word.

This, however, only enraged Luvia more. "What? What is that?" she shouted, struggling against the Enforcers holding her arms and shoulders. "You bastard…how dare you turn your back on me? Are…are you saying that I'm not even worth watching your back for? Come back…come back and face me…Sakura Tohsaka!"

Luvia sighed. "Not exactly my finest hour." She glumly admitted.

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't just force her to submit with your crest." Rin observed.

"What's the point?" Luvia asked with a shrug. "I mean, sure, I could have had Sakura kneeling before me, but if she doesn't submit of her own free will, then it wouldn't mean a thing. Everyone would know it, she would know it, I would know it."

"…so, what changed?" Rin asked after a moment and a sip of her tea.

Luvia sipped her tea before answering. "I did what I should have done before confronting Sakura." She said. "Used my head."

Luvia slammed her hands against Reines' desk, the other woman looking at her with an unimpressed look on her face.

"Why?" Luvia demanded. "Why would you sponsor someone as…disgraceful, as Sakura Tohsaka?"

"Disgraceful?" Reines El-Melloi Archisorte echoed. "In what way? No…do not answer that."

Reines paused to turn her chair, before sitting back to look up at the stern visage of her predecessor and late brother, Lord Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. "I already know what you refer to." She finally said. "I'm also honestly surprised that you're so naïve, Luviagelita Edelfelt."

"Naïve…?" Luvia echoed in an outraged tone.

"Well, yes." Reines replied. "After all, you talk as though Murderer Blue was the first magus to achieve her rank and status with red hands. The only thing unusual about her is that she did so at such a young age."

"It doesn't disturb you that she's enslaved the soul of her sister?" Luvia asked, aghast. "Reines…you love your brother…whether your predecessor or my husband…you love them both…"

"…so therefore I should understand…?" Reines asked, still not looking at Luvia. "While true, it does not detract from Murderer Blue's talent and achievement both. And it's not as though there isn't precedent for what she's done either, and I'm not talking about murdering her predecessor as their family's heir. After all, are not the crests of branch families as bindings to ensure their loyalty and obedience to the main family of their house?"

"That's different!" Luvia snapped. "This is…!"

"If not crests," Reines interrupted. "Then what of binding rebellious relatives or colleagues with geasa against their own will? Is that not a form of…slavery, as you call it?"

Reines paused, and then snorted. "It's not even just simple rebels and mavericks either." She said. "Or have you forgotten that arranged marriages and the like may also feature geasa? You and my brother are an exception to the rule, considering both your courtship and marriage were so harmonious. Others are not so fortunate, and not mincing words, would have the consummation of their unions otherwise constitute marital rape."

Reines paused again, and finally turned back to face Luvia, hands folded on her desk. "Grow up, sister." She said, and Luvia flinched. "Stop being such a hypocrite. You condemn Murderer Blue not because of her actions, but because of the blood you share, and which you find strikes at the very heart of your pride. That Murderer Blue…an Edelfelt in all but name and hair color…would sink so low as to spill the blood of her own family…"

Luvia flinched again at that, and Reines nodded slowly before narrowing her eyes, Luvia unable to meet them. "…if you wish for someone to blame for tarnishing Edelfelt's pride…" Reines continued, opening a drawer and taking a file folder which she slid over her desk to Luvia. "…then educate yourself."

Luvia looked back at Reines, but the Lord of El-Melloi had already turned away, again regarding her predecessor's portrait. Luvia then looked down at the desk, and after a moment, picked up the file. She skipped straight to the back, where she found the geis certifying its contents as true, and the signature in blood binding its donor.

Sakura 'Murderer Blue' Tohsaka.

Luvia's face twisted into a scowl as she returned to the first page, ignoring the warnings and certifications of the written testimony's secrecy. It didn't take long for the scowl to turn from one of contempt to one of confusion, then shock, and finally mounting horror.

"So," Rin said. "You finally found out the truth."

Luvia looked away with a scowl on her face. "I had to publicly apologize to Sakura after that." She said. "As in I confronted her in public and curtsied down to one knee while giving a prepared speech. Well, I suppose it wasn't all bad."

"Oh? That's a surprise."

Luvia smirked. "I wasn't the only one embarrassed that day." She said.

"S-s-stop it…" Sakura said, frantically looking back and forth at the whispering and murmuring crowd in the Clock Tower Commons, at the sight of Luvia curtsied down to one knee and having made a speech of apology for her misunderstandings in the past. "…people are staring…also, I don't really need people to humiliate themselves to show they're sorry for past mistakes. A simple 'sorry' will do, I'm not Tokiomi Tohsaka, you know."

"Damn that Tokiomi Tohsaka." Luvia unapologetically cursed Rin and Sakura's father. "If there's any shame that stains Edelfelt's pride black, it's all on him. Neither you nor your sister should have to pay for his mistakes."

"…we made our own mistakes…especially me…"

Luvia blinked, and then looked at Rin, who looked…tired, so much so that she looked…ten, even twenty years older than she actually was. "…I read your file too." Luvia said softly. "You made the right choice in the end. You don't need to castigate yourself over past sins."

Rin smiled sadly. "I know myself better than anyone else does." She said. "I have to. If I don't, I can't honestly say I someday won't turn back to the way I once was, or worse, become just like Tokiomi Tohsaka. But it's kind of you to say so. Thank you."

"Rin…"

Luvia trailed off as Rin looked down, into the depths of her cooling tea. "…it's my burden…" she whispered. "…my punishment…my atonement…"

"I talked with Luvia earlier."

Sakura looked up at Rin, who was now standing next to the piano in the lounge where Sakura was playing Beethoven's Piano Sonata 14 in C Sharp Minor. After a moment, she smiled. "So," she said. "You know all about what happened in the Crimea."

Rin snorted, turning to lean against the piano. "You're crazy." She said, and Sakura laughed, Rin joining in after a moment.

"First of all, please stop leaning against the piano. It's an antique, you see, let's not push our luck." Sakura said.

"…fair." Rin said, and doing as Sakura asked. "I also heard about your past confrontation with Luvia…you know, about your transfer to Spiritual Invocation, and a promotion I never heard about."

"Oh, that…sorry, I should have told you…"

"Sakura…" Rin interrupted. "…what have you done?"

"…what I had to do." Sakura answered after a moment. "You know Zouken is a wraith too, right? It might take centuries to really become a problem, but spiritual degradation is a problem for my little big sister too. And Lord El-Melloi had already discovered her existence…so, I made the best of a difficult situation."

"You revealed part of the truth," Rin said softly. "Cloaking it with Murderer's Blue reputation of sociopathy, with only Edelfelt, El-Melloi, and Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri's leaders knowing the whole truth. All so you have near-complete access to Spiritual Invocation's archives."

"Either my little big sister becomes a full-fledged vampire," Sakura said with a clenched jaw, all as her fingers continued to dance over the keys, making beautiful music. "Or I turn her into a guardian spirit, stabilizing her being either way, but with greater or lesser expense to her Humanity…or what's left of it."

"Is that your way of taking responsibility?" Rin asked.

"And if it is?" Sakura asked back. "El-Melloi and Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri are bound to respect my little big sister's cooperation in their examinations and experiments. And it's not as though she was unaware. Any and all negotiations were made with her presence and awareness. She might look like a child, but she isn't…not really…

"…we're messed up, aren't we?" Rin asked.

"And I wonder who's to blame?" Sakura bitterly asked.

"Damn them to hell and back," Rin spat, finally giving in to the temptation, the last of her love and devotion to her parents disappearing, replaced by hate and loathing. "Tokiomi and Aoi…everything that's wrong with us and our lives all goes back to them."

Sakura smiled chidingly. "Let's not get carried away." She said, smiling wider as Rin looked at her in surprise. "Neither of those two ever once considered themselves in the wrong, and they never would, even if we could confront them here and now. Let's be better than them, and admit that some of our problems rightly resulted from our own choices."

Rin stared for a long moment, and then smiling back, nodded. "Yes," she agreed. "You're right. We're better than those two, and should act the part."

Sakura nodded back, and focused her attentions back on her performance. Rin clapped her once on a shoulder, and then wandered off to find a place to better enjoy the music.

A/N

Character development time! So yeah, basically, Sakura joined Spiritual Invocation because Reines discovered Little Rin. Only, few people actually know the truth. Most magi still see – and are even more wary of – Murderer Blue as, well, the youngest magus known to have succeeded her family by killing the previous heir. That, and binding her victim's soul as a wraith familiar.

Those that do know the truth are allowed to make reasonable experiments and observations, with Little Rin's cooperation and informed consent. In return, Sakura has free reign to mine the department archives to construct a ritual to eventually turn Little Rin into a guardian spirit, nipping the soul rot issue in the bud before she can even start turning into an abomination like Zouken.