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

Everything and Nothing

Chapter 13

The key enters and turns.

The gates open.

Water guides the flow through the gates.

Earth maintains the path.

Fire governs any changes to the path and flow both.

Air balances all.

Everything is at it should be.

The reservoir fills.

Blood calls to blood.

The call is answered.

"So, the bitch is finally dead." Cecilia Icecolle-Forvedge said, before putting the report down on the office desk. Then pulling her robe closer to herself, she slowly walked over to the glass doors, and opening them, stepped out onto the balcony. A smile crossed her face as she looked out over the flower beds outside, and then up into the clear blue skies above. "Finally, some good news."

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Caules Forvedge asked back in the office. "When it comes to the Tohsaka family, there can be no chances."

"Our and the Icecolle's men made a thorough sweep of the church." The master-at-arms replied. "Or what was left of it, at any rate. From the look of things, Tohsaka successfully infiltrated the ritual site, but was cornered and left with limited options against our necromancers on prepared ground."

"So they chose to go out in a blaze of glory instead of being taken prisoner and sacrificed to fuel our relatives' mysteries…" Cecilia remarked as she walked back into the office. "…how very like those Japanese monkeys. I believe their countrymen did something similar back during WWII…what did they call it? Kanekame, or some other uncouth term…?"

"Kamikaze," Caules corrected in a dry tone. "It means divine wind, referencing a pair of typhoons that smashed Mongol invasion fleets back in the 14th Century, and saving Japan from Mongolian and Chinese domination."

"Ah, I see." Cecilia said with a grateful nod. "Not that it mattered much in the end, of course. Whether it was their countrymen back during the war…or the Tohsaka dragging our necromancers into the grave with them."

"…we've been trying to kill Tohsaka for years now." Caules softly said while pushing his glasses up his nose. "Somehow, this all seems too easy."

"It might seem that way," Cecilia admitted. "But we've always attempted to eliminate her on her terms, or on unprepared battlefields. Here, though, she and her cousin were confronted on our terms. How can the outcome not be anything but in our favor?"

"From the moment she stepped foot in Romania," the master-at-arms said. "We had already won. With all due respect, Lord Caules, our defenses and contingency measures have been prepared for centuries. While I must respect our enemies' ability to survive for so long, to say nothing of the rank she'd gained in the Clock Tower, this outcome could have been the only one for her intrusion into our territory."

"Maybe…" Caules conceded. "But let's not get careless. If nothing else, assuming the Tohsaka really are dead, those infiltrators that accompanied them successfully escaped after the Tohsaka magi killed our necromancers. And those may not be the only infiltrators running about."

"A prudent call…" the master-at-arms admitted, and Cecilia nodded.

"Yes," she thoughtfully said. "And I agree. We should continue hunting for the Tohsaka infiltrators, while reinforcing our other hunters on the field."

"We should also keep our defenses here on standby." Caules added. "If they ever manage to come this far, better to break them on our walls before they step foot in our homes."

Cecilia nodded her agreement, and the master-at-arms bowed. "It shall be as you say," he said. "My lord and lady."

"That said," Cecilia continued. "Now that the Tohsaka have been eliminated, we can take some chances. Capture the infiltrators if possible, while simultaneously neutralizing any capacity for action on their part."

"My lady…?"

"…planning to make a spectacle of their deaths, Cecilia?" Caules asked after a moment.

Cecilia gave him an unimpressed glance. "It's surely no coincidence that Lord Edelfelt arrived as a Clock Tower envoy shortly before the Tohsaka began moving to attack us on our home ground." She said. "More than that, even, seeing as the topic of her visit is specifically over our families' repeated actions to vindicate ourselves from all the insults the Tohsaka have inflicted against us over the years."

"True," Caules conceded. "But it is a valid concern for the Clock Tower lords."

Then he paused, holding up a hand to preempt any outburst on the part of his wife. "Whether or not they sympathize with Tohsaka is immaterial." He said. "You know as well as I do that the lords and bureaucrats alike focus so much of their concerns on the Masquerade at the expense of all else. And not without good reason, you have to admit."

"…a fair point." Cecilia grudgingly conceded.

"In any case," Caules said with a small smile. "The possibility does exist that Tohsaka's actions may have only been taking advantage of the Clock Tower's own actions. A smokescreen, so to speak, in a failed attempt to cover their own movements."

"That is plausible." The master-at-arms noted.

"…even so," Cecilia continued after a moment. "It still poses no obstacle to making an example of any infiltrators taken prisoner. We are, after all, well within our rights to deal with interlopers on our land as we see fit. If they were solely aligned with Tohsaka, then all well and good. We eliminate the last echoes of their failed grab for power and status beyond their station, and in such a way that proves our families' power and grandeur for all to see."

"And if they are aligned with Edelfelt as well," Caules said. "We show Lord Edelfelt we are not as fangless as she and her family may assume."

"…they may have been bastard scions," Cecilia pointed out. "But the Tohsaka were of Edelfelt descent. Even in the best-case scenario, let us nip any…ideas, that Lord Edelfelt may have, over her bastard kin's deaths."

"A spectacle is fine," Caules finally said. "But there's no need to make it too…graphic. If we can afford to take chances, we can afford to show mercy. And it would add depth to any message we send."

"That we are not unreasonable…?" Cecilia asked, then nodded herself at her husband's answering nod. "I suppose that is not a bad idea. Very well, so be it."

"Then I have my lord and lady's permission to proceed?" the master-at-arms asked.

"You do." Caules said with a nod.

"Then by your command, my lord and lady." The man said, bowing low and staying bowed while leaving the office. Alone together now, Caules shared a look with his wife before also heading out onto the balcony, and looking out over the grounds.

"Feeling regretful, my dear?" Cecilia asked.

"…we've been married for six years now." Caules answered after a moment. "Maybe a few years ago, I would have had regrets. Now, though…?"

Caules paused, turning to head back into the house, and standing next to his wife, cupped her face with a smile. "What's in the past, belongs in the past." He finally said. "You are my wife now, and the mother of my children. And that is all that matters."

Cecilia smiled back, and hugging her husband, rested her head against his chest. "I won in the end." She said. "Both against that Japanese upstart, and the childish you back then."

"…how do the British say it?" Caules mused while keeping his arms around his wife. "When I was a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man I put away childish things."

"Well now," a bespectacled woman sitting across the breakfast table remarked with a cruel smile. "Things have…how do the British say it? Gone tits-up, I believe."

Luviagelita 'Luvia' Edelfelt gave her…collaborator – ally was much too strong a word to use, and even the thought of using that word to refer to the other woman made Luvia feel dirty – a dirty look. "We haven't failed yet." She said. "The plan is still in motion."

Celenike Icecolle, head of the Icecolle family of magi chuckled. "Your confidence is…singular." She said, lasciviously sampling a Danish before setting it down on a plate. "Even if your cousins are dead."

"Are they?" Luvia sourly said. "The other one, sure. Murderer Blue…? I don't know. She's a bad weed, sure, but that's just it. She's a bad weed. And bad weeds don't die easily."

Celenike laughed. "Oh, my apologies." She said. "But I have to say it is very amusing. You have no love for your cousin, but you cannot help but respect her ability."

"Family is everything." Luvia added just as sourly, bitterly remembering the whole reason Celenike was even collaborating with her. "Not just for magi or even people in general, but especially for my family. Sakura Tohsaka, though…you know how she got her title, don't you?"

"I do." Celenike said, resting her chin on fingers steepled against each other. "And while I see why it might…upset you, it's nothing particularly unusual by the standards of magi society."

"You and her would have gotten along just fine then." Luvia thought, but didn't say. Instead, she just said something else. "My cousin's past aside, no one receives a color designation lightly. And yes, I know that Sakura and Rin faced off against your family's necromancers on the latter's terms, but I doubt if that should have been enough to kill them. No…half-breed hyenas or not, Blues don't die that easily."

"…I'm inclined to agree." Celenike admitted after a moment, sitting back on her seat while running a hand over the white uniform jacket she wore. "The necromancers are…resourceful, but they lack imagination. Subtlety…! Refinement…!"

"So you don't actually think they're dead?" Luvia asked. "My cousins, that is."

"No, I don't." Celenike said, looking and sounding completely serious.

"Then why even bring up the notion in the first place?" Luvia asked. "Or for that matter, why give even the passing appearance of concern at all?"

Celenike's smile returned. "Oh, I'm not really concerned." She said. "On the contrary, I am very excited."

Luvia looked confused, and Celenike sighed, before leaning forward and resting her chin on steepled fingers again. "That was for your sake." He said. "After all, if your cousins have only…pulled the wool, over my relatives' eyes, then it means they're free to operate as they please."

"…shit." Luvia said, pale-faced at the thought of what Murderer Blue could do without supervision.

Celenike's smile widened. "This is going to be fun." She said. "Regardless, I will hold you to your word, Lord Edelfelt, when this all finally boils over."

"What is it?"

"My lady…" Celenike's advisor, or consigliere, even, if you asked some of her relatives, considering how much of a maverick she actually was, family head be damned. Not that she particularly cared, of course, if anything their opinions were frankly a nuisance, obstacles even to her grand vision of the future.

It was only natural that she build a separate organization to support her plans, to say nothing of subverting any…interference, from the rest of the family.

Soon, though, I won't have to worry about that any further.

Whether it's Lord Edelfelt or Murderer Blue behind it, this can only end one way for Forvedge and Icecolle.

And then I'll be free to do as I please.

"…aurora." The advisor said, pointing up at the sky. Celenike blinked, as the rest of what the man said sank in, and then she was stepping up to the window, where her eyes widened.

He was right.

There, up in the sky, the aurora borealis, the so-called northern lights, were shining and dancing. It was faint, given how it was nearing noon, but it could not be denied. The aurora borealis was overhead, nor were they the only ones to notice. On the grounds outside, as well as near the other windows, Forvedges and other Icecolles – Yggdmillennias – were pointing and murmuring to themselves over the aurora.

But this should not be.

The aurora never shone this far south.

And yet there they were.

How can this be?

"…is this Murderer Blue's doing?" Celenike thought. "If so, how and why?"

She paused, and then narrowed her eyes. "Could it have been unintentional?" she thought. "Or even the result of not something she and her relative did, but as a…omen, to what they will do when they make their move? If so, is this a fortuitous omen, or an ominous one?"

"What should we do?" the advisor asked.

"Nothing…for now." Celenike said, already striding away. "Seeing as we're Forvedge's guests, to say nothing of my cousin Cecilia, we'll let them handle this. It's their house, after all."

"As you say, my lady, it will be done."

Celenike nodded, but then she narrowed her eyes. "I wouldn't trust Cecilia with a potato gun, much less putting her – or anyone else's – house in order." Celenike thought in disgust. "Still, this only plays into my hand. No need to look a gift horse in the mouth, as the old saying goes. If nothing else, it would be amusing to watch Cecilia and that fool Caules Forvedge flail against true power to the bitter end."

Luvia was angry.

No, more than that, she was furious.

"Forvedge and Icecolle are not only alerted," she thought as she paced her guest suite, her personal retainers looking very concerned from where they stood next to a wall. "But worse than that, Murderer Blue and that…Rin Tohsaka, oh the irony of that name, are on the loose completely without supervision."

Luvia paused, and looked out the window. The aurora had not faded ever since it first appeared in the morning, on the contrary, it had only grown brighter and more active. Now it was early in the afternoon, and were it not for the sunlight, the sky would be shimmering and dancing with green.

More importantly, she knew, she just knew, that the Tohsaka were behind it.

How, though?

And why?

…it better not be just to send a message, though.

"Oh, look at me, you tried and failed to kill me so many times, now I'm finally going to kill you back, and once and for all this time." Luvia thought up a possible message her poisonous cousin could be trying to send with this…flashy, display. If that was the case, though, she – Luvia – was going to punch Sakura in the face – for starters – if they ever saw each other again.

Does she even understand the meaning of subtlety?

I mean, she should. She did poison her sister as a child, after all.

…with rat poison…

…in bed…

…while holding her down…

…that was subtle, right?

Right…?

Shit…

…Murderer Blue might not actually be as subtle as I thought.

"My lady," one of her retainers began. "What should we do?"

"…we'll have to advance our timetable." Luvia said after a moment. "Our hosts will be holding a celebratory ball tonight, over finally avenging the…insults, my cousin supposedly piled up against them over the years."

"Then…?"

Luvia nodded. "Tonight," she said. "We'll see what Forvedge has to say, and whether or not they'll toe the line. Either way, the die will be cast."

The aurora danced and swirled happily in the skies of night, almost as though in tune with the orchestra performing in the grand ballroom. Currently they were performing a rendition of Handel's Water Music Suite No. 1 in F Major, IV. Minuet.

All the guests were Yggdmillennias, or at least could claim the name, had the family not fallen apart centuries ago, with the only man who could have pulled them back together, Darnic Prestone, having died in WWII. Most of those present belonged to the Forvedge or the Icecolle branches, or had more or closer ties to them than to the other branches of the family.

Many of them were dancing in the ballroom's center, while others feasted on finger food while sipping wine. Others held court in various parlors and balconies.

As for Luvia…well, she was busy examining the various paintings, sculptures, and other artworks that their hosts had brought out for the night. Meanwhile, Celenike was in the main ballroom, escorted by an honor guard of five captains, or caporegimes, from her organization. Unlike the other guests, or even Luvia, for that matter, the head of the Icecolle hadn't settled for a traditional gown or dress, but remained in dress whites, complete with gold braid and epaulettes.

"Your cousin is causing quite the stir." Caules remarked disapprovingly, looking down from the second floor.

"She has an unfortunate habit of doing that." Cecilia said just as disapprovingly, her face turning sour at the sight of the five captains. "That said, she's gone too far tonight. I can understand her bringing one of her personal thugs tonight as an escort, as distasteful as that would have been, but five…? No, this is too much. There will be words, whether tonight or tomorrow."

"Should I do it, or will you?" Caules asked.

"…tempting." Cecilia admitted. "But let's not be too confrontational. We'll see which of our relatives could prove the most diplomatic…"

"…or the least costly as a sacrifice…" Caules remarked.

"…and send them to convey our concerns to Lord Icecolle." Cecilia finished with a nod at her husband's words.

Caules opened his mouth to speak…

…only to break off as murmurs and whispers went up around them. Then he and Cecilia were heading over to the windows, along with many other guests, at brilliant green light shining through. The sight that met them had them gasping in shock and disbelief.

The aurora wasn't simply dancing in the sky anymore.

No, it was flowing up into the sky from the main courtyard, out of what looked like some kind of cut in reality itself. As they watched, blinding light erupted from the cut, when then dimmed as energy seemed to fall in on itself, turning into real matter, emerald-like crystals forming a glowing boulder in mid-air, from which extended man-sized shards in every direction. All the while more energy just kept on spilling out, flowing up into the sky and fueling the dazzling aurora above.

An instant passed. Most didn't even realize it.

But Caules did. He had seen his one-time lover bend space itself to her magic, after all, and even knew just a bit of how she did it.

Luvia noticed it too. Not because she'd seen or knew what her cousin was capable of, but because she'd stepped onto so many battlefields that she knew when to take cover by instinct.

Space itself exploded.

Blood calls to blood.

The call is answered.

The reservoir is tapped.

The destination is set.

The path is defined.

The seal is released.

The movement is prepared.

The trigger is pressed.

The composition is performed.

This is Requiem.

A/N

One thing you must never do: leave Tohsaka unsupervised, especially when they have something like the Holy Grail or the Jeweled Sword of Zelretch on hand. Remember: that whole mess in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, which resulted in a time loop and fractured space-time continuum, was the accidental – yes, ACCIDENTAL – result of Rin's fumbling experiments with the Jeweled Sword.

How badly could the sisters screw things up, now that they've had around ten years of practice with their respective crafts, and can play around with the Jeweled Sword unsupervised?

You will see soon enough.