Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.
Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi
Chapter 19: L'Imperatore (Part V)
"Yes, well," Sakura said with a loud and very obviously forced cough, in order to keep the Einzbern and her sister from coming to blows. "Illyasviel von Einzbern…now where have I heard that name…ah. Yes, now I remember. From the dossiers of Master who fought and survived the most recent Grail war…I see. Your body has been upgraded."
"But of course." Illyasviel said, puffing herself up and showing her new and sizeable assets. Not as sizeable as Sakura's own, but compared to Rin…
…the older of the (Edelfelt-)Tohsaka siblings found herself twitching an eye out of suppressed…indignation, at such a blatant…showing off, moment. Not that Rin was jealous in any way. Of course not…she was a magus, the heir to the distinguished Tohsaka line of magi, and one who'd fought in and survived Heaven's Feel.
Jealousy was completely beneath it.
She just didn't think it was…appropriate, for someone of Illya's station to do as she did.
"Anyway…" Sakura said while pinching her nose, and eyeing both Rin and Illya. "… even though we now know each other, I still need to know what business brings you to this city. And more importantly, to this area of the city in particular."
Illya huffed at that. "Surely you don't think I'm here to help that walking disease Makiri Zolgen, assuming he's still alive." She snapped. "Your family may be jumped-up landsknecht, Edelfelt, but you certainly know what you're doing, much more than Tohsaka ever did."
"Hey, now, that's just…" Rin began, but Illya just carried on, and forcing Rin to trail off.
"So I'd be very disappointed if you didn't know what my family's been up to in Eastern Europe lately," Illya said. "And which should prove beyond any doubt our commitment to wiping Makiri Zolgen and his thrice-cursed legacy from the face of the Earth."
"…point." Sakura conceded.
"What?" Rin asked in confusion. "What are Einzbern doing in Eastern Europe? What does it prove?"
"Makiri Zolgen originally came from the Ukraine." Sakura said, and causing Rin to nod.
"Yes, I already knew that." She said. "They moved here nearly two hundred years ago, when they worked with our ancestor Nagato Tohsaka and Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern to start the Grail wars. Hence the name 'Zouken Matou', which is the Japanized form of 'Makiri Zolgen'. Never mind that the former should be technically incorrect, as its treats his family name as his personal name…"
Rin trailed off, realizing this was fairly academic. "…you were saying?" she finally asked.
"Well," Sakura began. "Shortly after the end of the Fifth Holy Grail War, Einzbern's gone on rampage. Turns out while the paternal line of the Zolgen followed their vampiric patriarch here to Japan, the maternal line stayed in the Ukraine and surrounding regions. So…Belarus, the Crimea, Southern Russia, even Northern Romania."
Sakura paused and nodded in Illya's direction. "Einzbern's been hunting them down and killing them all." She said. "From the last report I received, five families have been wiped out, their crests destroyed, their workshops scoured, their properties left in ruins, and all their research lost."
Rin looked at Illya in horror, but the homunculus spoke first. "Don't even think about going on a moralistic lecture here and now, Tohsaka." Illya coldly warned. "You know as well as I do what Makiri was capable of. You saw it with your own eyes. You nearly got consumed by it as well, and in more ways than one."
"…just because Zouken Matou was a monster…" Rin halfheartedly began, only for Illya to interrupt.
"…the rest of his family isn't?" she asked. "The paternal line, perhaps, if only because they'd died out. And even then, the possibility exists that Makiri might still be able to use them in one way or another."
Sakura nodded in agreement, having come to that conclusion herself.
"But to destroy everything they've discovered for the past five hundred years and more?" Rin protested. "I understand they have to be killed if they've become as much monsters as their ancestor became, but that doesn't mean all their achievements as magi should be deliberately lost and forgotten as well! Take out the dangerous parts, yes, teach the context so those who use it never fall the same way the Zolgen and the Matou have, but it's still knowledge to be valued! Knowledge about the World and its mysteries! Knowledge that could help lead to the Gates of the Root!"
"A valid point," Sakura chimed in. "But the College of Law disagrees."
"What?" Rin breathed in disbelief.
"From what I've been told," Sakura explained. "The College of Law, while not sanctioning Einzbern's actions, have not condemned them either. Also, according to our allies, vassals, and relatives in the Clock Tower, while officially it is very different, unofficially Her Excellency the Vice Director has expressed great admiration for Einzbern's…proactive, efforts to remove the stain the Dead Apostle Makiri Zolgen has left on the World."
Illya nodded several times, before giving a small smile to the shocked and horrified Rin. "We're not entirely without mercy, though." She said. "While most of Makiri's descendants are as twisted as he is, many of his youngest descendants are Human enough to earn a reprieve. And we have mysteries available to scour them of any latent taint, while also ensuring the enemy cannot use them in any useful fashion."
"And then what?" Sakura asked.
Illya shrugged. "We let them go." She said. "Eastern Europe might lag behind Western Europe or Japan when it comes to social welfare, it's no worse than in the USA."
"True…it's certainly better than Third World countries." Sakura admitted. "And in some way, even better than America's half-baked social welfare system."
"Quite."
"Let's just…" Rin began while pinching her nose and then running a hand over her eyes. "Let's just move on."
"Very well," Illya conceded. "I am here to ascertain the odds of survival for Makiri Zolgen, and act appropriately afterward. I'm also here – in Japan, and not just Fuyuki – to neutralize the paternal line of the Zolgen lineage of magi, before either Makiri or their relatives can use them in any way."
"Makiri Zolgen is probably still alive." Sakura said.
There was a moment of silence, and then Illya narrowed her eyes. "You fought him." She said. It wasn't a question.
Sakura nodded while pulling out the key for the Matou Quarantine Zone's bounded fields. "It showed up while I was containment procedures." She said, and keying the Einzbern to the wards. "I destroyed its body, but before its…spirit? Shade? Essence? Whatever it was, it fled, but not before warning me in Russian that its death was only the beginning. Of what, I do not know, but regardless, I have prepared and continue to prepare for additional confrontations in the future."
Illya's face twisted in contempt. "That filthy, disgusting, pig-fucking, son of a whore." She spat while following Sakura into the quarantine zone. "How much will it take to permanently put it in the grave?"
"Much more than we did back during the war, it seems." Rin grimly said, and Illya glanced her way. Rin met the homunculus' eyes, and after testing each other's wills, nodded in agreement together. No matter what else might lie between them, on this, they were in consensus with each other.
Makiri Zolgen had to die.
Everything else could follow that point.
As they entered the quarantine zone, eyes were drawn to a large sign standing to one side, bearing on top a massive skull and crossbones in black against the white background. Beneath it, there were several lines in various languages printed all caps in red.
WARNING: QUARANTINE IS IN EFFECT. ACCESS RESTRICTED TO AUTHORIZED PERSONS ONLY.
WARNUNG: QUARANTÄNE GILT. ZUGANG NUR AUF AUTORISIERTE PERSONEN BESCHRÄNKT.
ВНИМАНИЕ: ДЕЙСТВУЕТ КАРАНТИН. ДОСТУП ОГРАНИЧИВАЕТСЯ ТОЛЬКО ДЛЯ УПОЛНОМОЧЕННЫХ ЛИЦ.
AVERTISSEMENT: LA QUARANTAINE EST EN VIGUEUR. ACCÈS RESTREINT AUX PERSONNES AUTORISEES UNIQUEMENT.
VAROITUS: KARANTIINI ON VAIKUTETTU. KÄYTTÖÖN LIITTYVÄT VAIN VALTUUTETUT HENKILÖT.
警告:検疫は有効です。許可された人だけに制限されたアクセス。
"That's…a bit excessive, don't you think, Sakura?" Rin pointed out to her sister.
Sakura shrugged. "Sometimes you really have to hammer in the point to get it through people's heads." She said.
"I…fair enough." Rin said with a sigh.
Illya, meanwhile, was looking around the quarantine zone with an air of approval. "It's just what you'd expect of the Barthomeloi family's work." She finally said while clapping her hands in applause. "The bounded fields the College of Law set around and on this property are simply perfect. Flawless, even…even the Einzbern family must bow before such…artistry."
"As it should be." Sakura said.
"Yes." Illya said, now directing her attention to the ground. An eyebrow rose, Illya walking over to one of the countless ditches and trenching tearing up the ground, in many places down to the bedrock. "Plowed the earth and sowed it with salt, did you, Edelfelt? Not exactly the most efficient method, but one of the simplest and most effective. Well done."
Sakura just gave a small bow in acknowledgement, and then followed along with Rin as they made their way to where the mansion once stood. There, they stood before a cloudy plug of lead, a mandala engraved in silver on top.
"This was where Makiri made his nest?" Illya asked.
"Yes." Sakura said.
Illya snorted, and then laughed. "This is lead, isn't it?" she asked. "Don't answer, I already know. Oh, this is just rich. Unless Makiri has a Philosopher's Stone in his possession, he's not getting anything out of there. And I dare to say pigs will fly long before that proves the case."
"If he's still down there he's definitely not getting out." Sakura said.
"This is where you fought him?" Sakura asked before Illya could.
"Yes." Sakura said with a nod. "Considering how he did nothing while I was making my preparations, I suspect he didn't dare expose himself, not when the entire place is wrapped up in the College of Law's bounded fields. He probably only survived in the pit because, well, it was his workshop. Like it or not, the Zolgen are old. Coupled with the distance from Barthomeloi's power base, it allowed the vampire scum to survive against all odds even with all the wards around this place."
"But when you started filling the pit in," Rin said, and filling in the blanks by inference. "Zouken's hand was forced."
Sakura set her jaw and clenched her fists. "It killed one of my men." She snarled. "But even without that, I shot it to bits, and blew its pieces into the molten lead."
"And from there, Zouken said his – hopefully – last words to you." Rin said with a nod, before narrowing her eyes. "Do you really think it could have survived whatever method you used to fight against it?"
"Yes, that is a very good question." Illya chimed in. "What method did you use to defeat Makiri?"
Sakura smiled impishly, and pressing a finger against her lips. "That's a secret." She said, before winking at Rin. "I'll tell my sister later."
"Um…thanks?" Rin said, though, she did give a smirk at Illya's dissatisfied pout.
"Fine…keep your secrets." She said. "Still, you don't think you killed Makiri, do you?"
"Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst." Sakura replied, and Illya nodded sagely.
"Fair." She said, and giving the Edelfelt mandala another look. "Hmm…looks like a solid work, based on the Earth Element and oriented to the Lunar cycle. Silver's well-made too…oh, jewelry-grade silver too. Well…credit where credit's due. Well done, Edelfelt."
"I'm not quite finished just yet." Sakura said. "I plan to further reinforce the seal, both physically and metaphysically. A dome made from reinforced concrete, for starters, just to keep anyone from physically-accessing the seal. The rest…again, that's my secret."
"Again, fair." Illya said with a nod. "You seem to have everything here at hand, so I suppose I should move on. My family's own intelligence points to Makiri having two surviving paternal descendants, his actual son Kariya, and his grandson – by another one of his sons, Byakuya – Shinji. Still, I would appreciate it if Makiri does show up, you would contact and at least inform me of the matter."
"I'll keep it in mind." Sakura said.
"Taking responsibility for helping Zouken centuries ago by helping clean the mess up today?" Rin asked.
"You would know, wouldn't you, Tohsaka?" Illya asked back.
Rin pouted, but then Sakura coughed. "Before we move on, though," she began. "There are a couple of matters we ought to discuss, pertaining to Kariya and Shinji Matou?"
"Oh?"
"SHIROU!" Illya gushed as she grabbed her little brother from behind, and all but crushed him with a hug. "BIG SISTER'S BACK! AND THIS TIME SHE WON'T LET YOU GO!"
"W-W-What?" Shirou gasped out, struggling to breathe against Illya's superhuman strength. "B-big…sister…? It can't be…I-Illya? But how? How'd you get so big?"
Illya just giggled, sounding remarkably like she used to as a child, despite her body finally reflecting her actual age. "Magic, of course!" she said. "Just like you, I've got magic that makes Tohsaka and Edelfelt look like amateurs!"
"I-Illya…I can't…breathe…"
"Big sister?" Sakura asked in confusion, even as Illya let Shirou go, letting the redheaded young man collapse to the ground on all fours, struggling to catch his breath.
"Oh?" Illya asked. "You don't know?"
"Obviously."
"Shirou is, well, adopted." Rin explained. "His father was Illya's biological father, though Illya takes after and gets her name from her biological mother. Irisviel, I think her name was, Irisviel von Einzbern."
Sakura actually drew back in surprise at that. "Is something wrong?" Rin and Illya chorused, the two of them looking at each other in surprise.
"No…well, I'm not sure…" Sakura said, while spreading her hands and making waving motions to indicate her uncertainty. "…I thought homunculi couldn't reproduce naturally."
Illya sighed in resigned agreement. "I do see where you're coming from." She said. "And if my mother were a standard model, you'd be absolutely correct. Thankfully, though, my mother was the most advanced model of her kind, almost advanced as me, even. This meant she could reproduce naturally, no, more than that. She evolved the ability to reproduce naturally, something she originally had not the ability to do."
Sakura raised an eyebrow at that, but then her eyes went wide. "Wait a minute," she said. "You were born naturally, yes?"
"Yes." Illya replied.
"But you said earlier that your body had been upgraded since the war."
"Yes, yes."
"…you're not really a homunculus, are you? You're an augmented Human."
"…I…guess…?" Illya said. "I think you're overthinking it through, Edelfelt. I won't bore you by sharing the details, but let's just say despite my natural birth, I'm just as much a homunculus as my mother was. The most advanced model ever designed, even."
"…can you have children?" Rin asked. "Just curious, really."
"That's… a personal question, isn't it?" Shirou asked, getting back to his feet now that he'd caught his breath. Then he looked behind them, to where the other homunculi were waiting for Illya. Before he could say anymore, Illya was grabbing and hugging him again.
"Oh, Shirou!" Illya gushed, ignoring Shirou's frantic efforts to push her crushing arms off. "You do care! That's so sweet of you, little brother!"
"Should we…do anything?" Sakura asked, stepping back in discomfort, and watching as Illya practically dragged Shirou away.
"I'm not sure." Rin said, rubbing her temples at the migraine steadily building between them. "In hindsight, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to lure Shirou here and lead Illya to him."
"On the other hand, we needed to do that to get Einzbern to agree to our terms with regard to Mister Kariya." Sakura pointed out.
Rin hummed, still unhappy at how…callously, Sakura had treated Shinji. Sure, she didn't exactly see her former fiancée in a positive light, she never had, if she was being honest, but still. There was no reason to go out of the way to punish him for getting born into his family, for all that his bloodline could still prove useful to their enemy,
That said…
…remembering the dirt Sakura had brought up about Shinji to convince to go along had her blood simmering. They'd been…betrothed to each other for years before Luvia had annulled the match, and while she'd known he was womanizing all that time, she never thought he'd actually take those…flings, to their logical conclusion.
Are you any better, Rin, when you've been going out and even sleeping with Ayako?
"In any case," Rin said, and pushing away the mocking question of her subconscious. "Illya's not going to hurt Shirou. She might have, once, but now…? Unless he does something even we couldn't forgive him for, Illya's not going to do anything bad to him."
"Hmm…I'll take your word for it." Sakura said, waving at Shirou in the distance. "You could have told me about Shirou and Einzbern's relationship, though."
"I assumed you knew." Rin replied.
"Shows what I know, doesn't it?"
"Yup."
"I can't believe you guys." Shirou fumed a couple of hours later, as he met with Sakura and Rin at a certain café in the city. "Did you really use me as a bargaining chip to get Illya off your backs?"
"It was Rin's idea." Sakura immediately said.
"Well, you went along with it!" Rin immediately protested.
"You also said it wasn't like Illya would actually hurt Shirou!" Sakura shot back.
"And she didn't!" Rin defended herself, before putting on a smug smile. "She just wanted to talk, right, Shirou?"
"…my ribs are still sore." Shirou griped, as he took a seat. The conversation stilled as he flagged down a waiter and made his order. Then he took a few moments to center himself, forehead pressed against clasped hands. "How'd she get so strong?"
"She got upgraded?" Rin pointed out. "I mean…she had a child's body the last time we saw her, and now…now she looks like how she should look given her age."
"Yeah, I gathered as much." Shirou said with a sigh.
"Figure of speech?" Sakura asked.
"Yup." Shirou said.
"Oops." Rin said.
The three of them stared deadpan at each other, and then broke out into smiles. "Just tell me you sold me out to my sister for a good reason." Shirou said.
"It got a reprieve for my Uncle Kariya." Rin answered. "Oh that's right. I've never told you about him before. Long story short, he's the black sheep of the Matou family."
"Black sheep?" Shirou echoed.
"From what I know of the man," Sakura chimed in. "He left the family at around our ages, instead of letting Makiri Zolgen turn him into a slave and monster like it did every magus of its family. Sure, it meant Mister Kariya basically had to work for a living and start over from scratch, but there's no shame in either of those. I, for one, admire him for standing up for what was truly important: his Humanity."
Rin nodded in agreement. "For Uncle Kariya," she said. "Black sheep would be a compliment. He also happens to be mom's childhood friend. In fact, when I was a child, he'd bring me presents every time he visited. Not so much these days, but he does give me money every New Year's, so…"
Rin trailed off with a shrug. Shirou nodded in understanding, and then tilted his head as he remembered something Rin had just said. "Reprieve…?" he echoed. "Reprieve from what? Wait, no…my sister…oh no. Illya's here for the same reason you are, aren't you, Sakura?"
"Matou?" Sakura asked, and at Shirou's nod, sighed. "Yes."
Shirou made a tisking sound, and then ran a hand over his face. "Can't we just let bygones be bygones?" he asked in exasperation.
Sakura stepped hard on Rin's foot to keep her from saying something, most likely about Shinji. They didn't need to get into argument over him here and now, especially since it looked like they'd already expended all their capital over Illya to get her to give Kariya a chance. "We've done all we can." Sakura said instead. "But maybe you can do something more? I mean, Einzbern is your sister, after all."
Rin nodded a bit too quickly. "Yeah," she said. "Maybe you can talk her into, I don't know, lightening up? Good luck, though. Knowing Illya, and her opinions about the Matou, you're going to need it."
Shirou sighed in exasperation, again. "Yeah, I probably will." He said, even as his coffee arrived.
"I take it things went well?" Elisa asked, as they finally returned home after the day was done.
"Good enough, I suppose." Sakura said with a sigh. "I've have been happier if Einzbern hadn't gotten involved, things are already complicated enough as they are. We don't need bloodthirsty crusading Trans-Humans and bioroids expanding their extermination campaign outside of Europe into our areas of responsibility."
"Well, look on the bright side." Elisa pointed out. "If things go badly, it's better to have allies than not."
Sakura snorted, and then smiled at her mom. "Good point." She said, Elisa beaming back at her.
"I knew you'd see the silver lining." She said. "On another bright note, we've found out where Mister Matou is. You can go and see him anytime you want."
"…has Rin given his contact details yet?" Sakura asked after a moment's thought.
"Not yet." Elisa said, and Sakura frowned.
"Then we'll hold off on paying him a visit, at least for now." She said. "For courtesy's sake, we'll contact him first and make an appointment instead of just barging into his life out of nowhere. We owe him that much."
Elisa nodded. "Fair enough." She said.
"I should probably bring Rin along as well when I go and meet with that man." Sakura mused, while sitting down on a couch. A maid brought tea and condiments, Sakura fixing herself a cup while continuing to speak. "I'd be a stranger to him, after all. And given his experience with magi involves the likes of Tokiomi Tohsaka and Makiri Zolgen, he might understandably be less…diplomatic, than hoped."
"If so," Elisa agreed. "Then it'd help to have a friendly and familiar face along."
Sakura nodded, taking a sip of her tea while Elisa frowned in thought. "On that note," she eventually said. "I'd also suggest being careful."
"Oh?"
"What if we go and meet with Mister Matou, and Makiri Zolgen is there as well?" Elisa asked. "It's possible that our meeting would be coincidentally happen at the same time as that vampire making his move on his only son who can use magic."
"That," Sakura concurred. "Or he chose that moment to strike, for psychological effect."
Elisa nodded. "It's best to be careful, just in case the worst does happen." She said.
Sakura nodded as well. "Then that's what we'll do." She said, before giving a satisfied smile. "On a related note, it's a good thing then that we dealt with Shinji long since."
"If I remember right," Elisa mused. "If his vampire of a grandfather did go after him, it'd set off a nasty trap. That said…Einzbern is going after that shifty little twerp. Did you warn her about your little trap?"
"I told her about the trap." Sakura said with a nod. "I didn't tell her the details, though. Family secrets, and all that…besides, the trap is only meant to spring if someone magically tries to mess with either Shinji himself, or the trap itself. Or if someone tried to drink or use his blood in a magical ritual. Since Einzbern wants to kill him, it shouldn't be a problem."
"Then I'll take your word for it, Sakura." Elisa said. "That said, I do hope it really proves the case. If the trap gets set off, well…it could get really complicated, really fast."
Sakura winced at the thought. "Good point," she admitted. "I'll…think it over. If nothing else, Einzbern should be…good enough, to get around it, in case it accidentally goes off…I hope…"
Mother and daughter shared a concerned look, but it didn't really ease their concerns.
A/N
I used Google Translate for the passages in German/Russian/French/Finnish/Japanese, so sorry if it they come off as inaccurate.
Now then, anyone want to bet that Illya going after Shinji won't end badly for the shifty little twerp, as Elisa described him?
