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

Different Fates

Chapter 16

A blonde girl collapsed into an armchair with a sigh of relief, stretching out toned legs before her and resting her feet on a convenient footrest. "Better now…?" Illyasviel 'Illya' von Einzbern asked as she too took a seat, flopping backward into another armchair like a child.

"People were made to walk…" Berserker replied while stretching out arms toned like her legs above her before relaxing into her chair. "…or run or ride or swim and sail…but never to fly. Whether it's magic or…machine-sorcery or whatever they call it nowadays…there's just something unnatural about people flying."

Illya smiled indulgently at her Servant, the blonde girl – though she preferred to be seen and addressed as male – not having enjoyed the flight from Germany to Japan at all, despite First Class accommodations. The fact that the girl who'd rallied the greater portion of Britain to her banner in rebellion against King Arthur without fear had quailed at the realization that she soared tens of thousands of feet above the ground in what was – to Berserker at least – a giant steel coffin kept aloft by esoteric 'machine-sorcery' amused Illya to no end.

That Berserker was also a Heroic Spirit with the power to raze entire cities with her Noble Phantasm – and which she was perfectly capable of doing with the vast amounts of prana Illya could provide her – was just the icing on the cake.

And the storm they'd flown through was the strawberry on top of that, Illya giggling at the memory of the blonde Servant petrified at the 'witch-fire' – St. Elmo's Fire – wrapping around the plane even as lightning flashed and thunder boomed around them, the plane shaking with the turbulence.

Berserker scowled at the sight of Illya laughing. "You're never going to let it go, are you?" she asked sulkily, and Illya laughed again. Illya quite enjoyed the flight, and not just because of her amusement at Berserker's discomfort. First Class was quite comfortable, even during the storm, the service commendable, and the food very delicious (especially the desserts).

"No." she said. "But don't worry it'll be our little secret."

Berserker growled her displeasure but decided to drop the matter. "So what do we do now?" she asked.

"We wait for now." Illya said as Sella arrived with a tray containing a pot of tea, a pair of teacups on saucers, and on another pair of saucers with cake: strawberry shortcake for Illya and lemon shortcake for Berserker.

"I'm not very patient." Berserker said while poking suspiciously at the confectionary offered to her. "What's this?"

"And you think I am?" Illya asked back, and Berserker had the grace to blush and look away, remembering Illya throwing a tantrum at the airport after their flight had been delayed…again…after an earlier seven hour delay. Apparently the girl found the terminal accommodations…uncomfortable, and had been impatient to avail of their flight's First Class accommodations over the terminal.

"Nobles…" Berserker thought with a mix of derision and relief. Derision because it was so typical of the soft dandies that were granted authority over the land despite most having nothing other than dusty lineages as their justification, and relief because that such a constant from the past still holding true was something of a source of comfort in this strange world of machine-sorcery, glass and steel towers, horseless carriages and other and stranger things beside.

"As for your other question…" Illya said while stabbing into a sliced strawberry with her fork and staining the cream icing red like blood. "…as I recall you didn't particularly enjoy the strawberry shortcake I ordered for you to help you settle down after the storm during our flight, so I thought you might want to try lemon shortcake instead."

"I'm not particularly fond of sweets." Berserker remarked while pushing the saucer away and Illya rolled her eyes.

"Just try it." She said with a childish pout. Grumbling at her Master's stubbornness, Berserker took the plate back, sliced a portion off, and put it in her mouth. And then time seemed to stop as a wonderfully-sour flavour exploded in her mouth, a delightfully-warm feeling rushing over her entire body and making her eyes go wide with wonder.

Illya could only gape, wide-eyed, as Berserker smiled like the young girl that she was while slowly sliding the fork out from between her lips. "What is this again?" she asked a little breathlessly, green eyes sparkling as she regarded the cake as though it were a priceless treasure. "I have never tasted anything so delicious in my life!"

"Lemon shortcake…" Illya answered absent-mindedly, still staring in surprise at her Servant. "…sour…well sour is the opposite of sweet, and since you didn't like strawberries I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you'd like lemon…"

From a bloodthirsty rebel to a starry-eyed teenage girl in a moment all because of a cake…Servants are weird.

"Whoever came up with this 'lemon shortcake' ought to be granted land and titles in recognition!" Berserker remarked as she happily took another, bigger slice, and popped it into her mouth. Again Illya could only gape as Berserker gushed with delight, eyes closed with rosy cheeks and lips set into a wide smile.

"More please…!"

Yup…weird…I wonder if King Arthur is like this too.

Elsewhere in Fuyuki City, Anika Freiin von Derfflinger and Sakura Tohsaka stood before wrought iron gates set into a stone wall surrounding a western-style mansion and its grounds. "So…" Anika began. "…what are we waiting for?"

"I have to reset the wards." Sakura replied.

"Didn't you do that already?" Anika asked again. "I mean you did send Flora over to clean house before we left, didn't you?"

"Hmm…? Oh Flora…no, I just gave her a mystic code to allow her to enter the wards, but they're still locking the place down. If she takes the mystic code off, the wards would fry her like an onion ring."

"Ah…" Anika said with a nod. "…so you need to do a ritual or something then?"

The baroness turned and looked at the afternoon Sun near the distant horizon. "It's probably best if we wait until nightfall." She remarked. "Or if you're in a hurry, you could set up a bounded field to cover you until the ritual is complete."

"Ritual…?" Sakura echoed with a blink. "There's no need for that, all I need is the password."

"Password…" Anika echoed.

"Yes…" Sakura slowly echoed, and Anika raised an eyebrow.

"How is that safe?"

Sakura laughed. "Anyone can guess a password true…" she said. "…but without Tohsaka blood in their veins, the wards would turn them to ash as opposed to resetting."

"Nasty…" Anika agreed. "…so what's this password?"

Sakura smiled. "Have you never read children's fairy tales?" she quipped. "The password is always open sesame."

Anika glanced at Sakura sceptically. "Seriously…?" she asked. "Go ahead pull the other one it has…"

She broke off and looked at the gates as a glowing magic circle appeared over them. The circle glowed and revolved for a few moments before flashing and vanishing, the magi sensing the wards resetting to a new configuration before Sakura stepped forward, opened the gates from the outside, swung them open and indicated for Anika to go ahead.

"Open sesame…?" Anika finally asked after she briefly fumbled and stepped forward over the threshold. Sakura shrugged as she closed the gate behind them both.

"I was a child at the time." She said, running a hand through her hair. "A cute little girl, but still a child for all that: what did you expect?"

"Fair enough…"

Sakura settled into an armchair in the living room of the Tohsaka mansion, looking around her with a strange expression on her face. "Flora…" she finally said, and the homunculus maid stepped forward.

"My lady…?" she asked.

"Tea please, and some biscuits…"

"Yes my lady."

The maid bowed and left, Anika following with her eyes. "Einzbern and other families with similar magical systems will probably dissent…" Sakura began, relaxing into her armchair. "…but Bayer AG's Magus Division's homunculi are among the best. Well maybe not when it comes to specialized variants, but general purpose ones…"

Anika nodded in agreement, looking around her as Sakura trailed off. The room was fairly generic, looking much like any other magus family's – or indeed like most western families' – living room. There was a couch, a coffee table, several armchairs and side-tables, portraits and pictures on the wall and on the mantelpiece, warm-looking curtains, and western-style decorations on the tables and walls. "This is a nice place." The baroness finally said, tearing her eyes from the large grandfather clock in one corner.

Sakura smiled weakly and nodded, hunched over her knees with hands clasped before her. Anika tilted her head. "Alright what's going on?" she asked. "I would have thought that you'd be happy to be home."

"They say that home is where the heart is." Sakura replied. "If that's the case, then is this really home?"

Anika blinked at that. "Somehow…" Sakura continued after a pause. "…this place doesn't feel like home. It feels…cold, distant…nothing at all like my dorm was in the Clock Tower."

"Eh…you're probably just…not…acclimatized…"

"It might be that." Sakura agreed but still looking unhappy. "But I doubt it. This place…it just feels so…empty. The Clock Tower's full of hypocrisy, jealousy, politics, and all the crap that comes with putting lots of ambitious magi under one roof, but my, our friends were there. Here…there's only you and me. And maybe that is the problem. There used to be more people in this house. People who made it home. People like you and Bess and everyone else do back in London."

"Do you want to visit their graves then?" Anika asked after a moment. "It might bring…you know, closure."

"Closure…?" Sakura echoed. "I came to terms with my father's death years ago. It's not like we were ever close after all. Before…before…I…he was close to Rin but never me. Even after I replaced her, we were never close. I was always the spare, and later on I was just the greater legacy that had escaped his notice in the past."

"He's still your father though."

"I know that!" Sakura said vehemently, her eyes closed and her teeth grit tight. "I know that…even so…he was a magus first, and a father second. He might have been different to Rin, but he was always like that to me. It…"

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

"How can it not?" Sakura said, finally looking at Anika who was unsurprised at unshed tears in her friend's eyes. "How can it not hurt, when your own father never saw you as a person, not even in the end? But even if it hurts…I don't mind giving only token grief over his passing."

"That's not true." Anika said. "You regret not being able to know if something more could have been in time."

"You talk too much." Sakura said shortly, hurling herself back against her chair and wiping at her eyes with a sleeve. Anika sighed sadly, and stayed silent as Flora returned, set down the tea set, and then left with a bow.

"What about your mother and sister?"

Sakura didn't answer at once. "Mother…" she finally began. "…I don't agree with what she did. The way she sacrificed everything for father's sake…I don't like it. I don't like it at all!"

Anika glanced sharply at Sakura, who took a biscuit and bit down sharply at it. "But even if I don't agree with what she made of her life…" Sakura growled. "…she was sweet…she was kind…she…even if she could never protect either of us from the sacrifices my father's ambitions as a magus asked for…she was the light of our lives…she…"

Sakura trailed off, silently finishing her biscuit. "She made this place home." She finished sadly, tears trickling down her cheeks. "Even with my sister gone…even with father's coldness…this was home because of her. And Emiya…he killed my father…I could have accepted that…a magus walks with death…I could have let it go…but because of what he did…my mother…it broke her…Emiya…"

Anika watched sadly as Sakura brooded angrily, and wondering whether it had been better if she hadn't started this conversation at all. At length Sakura wiped at her eyes and rose. "Sorry…" she said. "…I let my emotions get the better of me. Anyway I've…things to handle in the workshop. If you'll excuse me…"

Sakura made to leave but Anika made a decision and walked after her, reaching into a pocket. "Sakura wait." She said, and the other girl stopped and turned to face her.

"What…" she began only to trail off as Anika slipped a simple necklace around her neck. Sakura blinked, her hand rising to take and examine the piece of red coral attached to it. "…this is?"

"I was going to give it to you eventually…" Anika said, stepping back and pulling out a matching necklace from under her blouse. "…but I figured now's a good time as any."

"Anika…"

"It's not much I admit." The blonde girl continued with a small smile. "Red coral's fairly commonplace as jewellery but to be honest, something simple like this…I think it's worth more than thousands of pounds worth of gold or precious stones wouldn't you say?"

Sakura silently met her friend's eyes for several moments, and then nodded with a smile of her own. "Thanks…" she said softly, running her fingers over the rough coral. "…this means a lot to me. And sorry for making you listen to my worries."

"You're not alone Sakura." Anika said, and Sakura nodded again.

"I…I have to…"

"Alright…" Anika said, stepping back. "…do what you have to do."

Sakura turned back to the door but as she passed through the doorway she paused. "Anika…" she said, not turning to look. "…you're a good person."

Anika smiled as she sat on a chair. "I'm not that good." She said. "But thanks."

"No…you're a really good person." Sakura said, and she continued towards her workshop.

Anika sat silent, pouring tea for two. "Care to join me for tea, Archer?" she asked, and the Servant materialized from thin air.

"I suppose I could." He said, taking a seat opposite of her. Anika smiled and nodded.

"Take care of Sakura." She said as Archer took a sip of his tea.

"Isn't that your job?" Archer asked back. "My job is to fight. I'm her Servant after all. You however are her friend. Therefore it's you who has to keep her from losing herself."

"A man – or a woman – has the right to vengeance."

"Perhaps…" Archer said. "…but there's also a saying I once heard: if you seek revenge, dig two graves, one for your enemy and one for yourself."

"Then I guess I'll have to make sure the second one stays empty."

Archer smiled. "I'll leave it to you then." He said, raising his teacup in a toast, and which Anika returned.

Sakura did not leave her workshop until dinner time, though to Anika's relief, she was back to normal by then. The night would pass uneventfully.

"So…" Anika remarked as she and Sakura made their way towards Kotomine Church the following day. "…the family friend you mention from time to time…he's a priest? And a former Executor…?"

"That's right."

"How on Earth did that happen?"

"To be honest I'm not really sure." Sakura said while running a hand through her hair. "From what I know Kirei possesses magical potential, and as a member of the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament he is allowed to practice otherwise heretical skills in the pursuit of his duty, including Thaumaturgy. And the one who helped him bring that potential to fruition was my father."

"Sounds like your father was quite a politician…" Anika remarked. "…playing middleman between our Mages Association and the Holy Church…?"

"Something like that I guess." Sakura said with a nod, pushing open the doors into Kotomine Church and stepping inside. As the doors closed behind them, the knight and the baroness felt themselves tensing. They weren't quite…hardened veterans who'd survived a thousand battles and marched over burning battlefields past corpses of friend and foe alike…

…but they had gone to war, or as close to war as magi could get: the primary purpose of the Mages Association might be to preserve and advance magecraft, but much like the Holy Church its secondary purpose was to defend Humanity against supernatural threats to its existence. They might not have faced Dead Apostle Ancestors, but they'd faced heretics and lesser vampires in the past.

They had even at one point encountered cultist worshippers of a Divine Beast from the lightless depths of the abyss.

And one of the people waiting for them in Kotomine Church was setting off alarms in the noblewomen's heads.

One of the two waiting for them was undoubtedly Kirei Kotomine, a tall man with dark, hollow-looking eyes in a priest's habit. And he didn't look particularly happy for some reason.

The other man was an old, stooped man in a Japanese kimono, helped stand by a cane and with dark, seemingly-opaque eyes. He looked helpless at first glance, but he exuded a sense of…wrongness. Magi weren't necessarily normal, and both Anika and Sakura had encountered the stranger or more eccentric examples of their kind in the Clock Tower and elsewhere, but Zouken Matou…

Sakura found herself fighting down the instinctive urge to draw her sword, which she hadn't even brought with her.

And Anika much like Sakura was fighting down a similar urge to simply burn the old man to ash.

"Welcome to Kotomine Church." Kirei said, looking at Sakura and Anika. "Sakura…Baroness Derfflinger…now that we are all here, shall we get straight to business?"

"Yes we should." Sakura said.

"Very well…" Zouken agreed with a nod, producing a sheaf of papers from his robes. He handed them to Sakura who felt as though she wanted to wipe her hands…after burning the papers first. "…if you would sign at the appropriate places Ms Tohsaka, then we can complete the return of Supervisorial Authority of this territory to you."

Sakura nodded, and pulling out a fountain pen signed all the documents. Kirei and Anika signed as witnesses, and the transfer of authority was done. "Our business is concluded then." Zouken said, and Sakura nodded at him. "I take my leave."

"Just one more thing…" Sakura said as the old man turned to leave. "…the next Head of the Matou Clan is your…granddaughter, Rin Matou is she not?"

"And if she is?" Zouken asked cautiously.

"She's around my age if I remember correctly." Sakura answered. "Our family have traditionally been allies, and therefore I do not think there would be anything questionable about I, the current Head of the Tohsaka Clan, to be acquainted with her, seeing as in time she would succeed you would she not?"

"No I suppose not." Zouken said. Inwardly he was thinking of how the agreement between him and Sakura's father forbade something like this, but with Sakura operating under the excuse that she was merely pushing for starting a…good working relationship with her, he couldn't really refuse. Not that he would give in without token resistance of course. "However there is the matter of the current contest…"

"Understandable…" Sakura agreed. "…in that case a meeting in the day would be preferable would it not? We can hardly start fighting in plain daylight, can we now?"

"No, you cannot." Zouken said with a nod. For a few moments there was silence, and then Zouken spoke up again. "Is there anything else?"

"No, that is all."

"Well then…"

Zouken hobbled away, and several moments later and the doors to the church creaked open and shut. Once they were closed Sakura's expression twisted into one of utter disgust. "Verdammt…" she spat in German. "…how the hell did that bastard ever earn my father's trust? He gives off a…feeling that I normally get from people I'm supposed to kill or bring into custody."

"Your father was a magus…" Kirei said with a smile. Zouken's departure had greatly lifted his spirits, the only reason he'd allowed the worm to come and go with his life being that Sakura had requested the use of his church as a neutral location in the current contest to perform the authority transfer procedures in. "…but to my knowledge he never performed…combat field duties. And from your reactions, you two have."

"We have." Anika confirmed. "We've seen things, fought them, and lived past them. That…thing is something that I have no qualms saying I would wish to see burned as a witch."

Kirei laughed grimly at that, while Sakura cracked a smile. "Normally that would be very inappropriate…" she said to Anika. "…but I can't help but agree."

"Indeed…" Kirei said with a nod. "…and that was impressive diplomacy as well, Sakura. The adoption agreement did stipulate no contact between you and your sister, but you've managed to outmanoeuvre him quite well."

"Humph…" Sakura snorted. "…I didn't live in the Clock Tower for nine years and sit in Her Highness' shadow and not pick up a few things. I'll reconnect with my sister, and to hell with past agreements. My father is dead. I am Tohsaka now."

"Paraphrasing Octavius to General Rufio...? Really...?" Anika asked, and Sakura gave an embarrassed smile.

"And then what?" Kirei asked. "No offense intended, but I would remind you that you have usurped her position as the Tohsaka heiress. You will have to consider the possibility that she would resent you for that. And it has been ten, no eleven years. Plenty of time to fester I would think."

"In that light I would deserve it." Sakura said bitterly. "And I shall face it without flinching."

"Does that mean if she seeks to kill you, you would quietly let her do so?"

Sakura did not answer, and Anika threw a glare at the priest. "With respect Father Kotomine…" she began. "…that was hardly an appropriate inquiry."

"I meant no offense baroness." Kirei said, not losing his smile. "But in this situation – and I would assume that you know of the circumstances between Sakura and her elder sister – it is a possibility. Advice is not always pleasant to hear."

"True I suppose." Anika said, fixing the priest with a distrustful eye. The man's smile grew ever so slightly at the sight.

You distrust me child…? A wise decision…

"I don't intend to lose to my sister…" Sakura finally began. "…but it doesn't mean I have to kill her either."

She looked at Kirei. "Will that be all?" she asked.

"Just one more thing: might I see your Servant?"

"I don't see why not…Archer."

Archer shimmered into visibility, and Kirei quickly took measure of the tanned, silver-haired man in red and black, and taking note of his posture of veiled belligerence. "Archer hmm…?" he wondered aloud. "The most versatile of the Servants, and the best-suited for ranged engagements. Just a piece of advice: play to your strengths."

Sakura nodded, and followed by Anika and Archer, turned to leave. As she opened the church's doors however, she paused. "Kirei…" she hesitantly began. "…thank you."

Rin Matou did not expect to be summoned to the principal's office even as lunch break again. And she most certainly did not expect to see her grandfather there as well.

This can't be good.

"Ah Ms Matou…" the principal began. "…good afternoon…I was just speaking with your grandfather just now. And while his request is certainly…irregular, I suppose we can make allowances."

"Sir…?"

The principal turned to Zouken. "The Tohsaka Clan head has invited you to take lunch with her." Zouken said. He hadn't mentioned to the principal that said clan head was the only one left of her family, or that she was also just a child a year younger than Rin was. The man had been left free to delude himself into thinking that Tohsaka was a rich and well-connected – well she was – woman with an interest in one of his students.

And one did not cross such apparently powerful and influential people even in the 'modern and democratic' Japan after the Second World War.

"Ms Flora…" the principal began. "…is waiting with a car at the school entrance for you. I will speak with your teachers myself over the matters of making up for this afternoon. In the meantime please gather your things, and you are excused for the rest of the day."

"I…I see…"

Sakura…you are here…of course you're here you're going to fight in the war…but why…why are you trying to get involved with the Matou?

You…you…you can't…you shouldn't…it can't…all this…IT CAN'T HAVE BEEN FOR NOTHING!

"I trust you will do nothing to…burden our family." Zouken said neutrally, but the smile on his face was nothing reassuring.

Don't provoke Tohsaka.

"I won't." Rin said, her mind going a mile a minute trying to find some way to keep her sister from confronting Zouken. Fat chance of that…one glance at her eyes and hair, and it would be obvious that something had gone terribly wrong.

Sakura is not stupid. Father wouldn't have chosen her over me if she was.

No…no…no…if she tries to take on grandfather…

Rin swallowed as Zouken patted her right hand over the concealed command spells, a subtle reminder that she should use her command spells if something went wrong, but Rin's mind was elsewhere. Specifically, they were back eleven years ago, with the memories of terrible screaming echoing unheard beneath the Earth as a child was violated again and again night after night.

Only this time, it wasn't her who was lying in the pit, screaming and thrashing vainly as they tore at her clothes and forced themselves onto and into her, the screams turning into moans and the thrashing going from despairing to the ecstatic.

It was Sakura.

A/N

Sakura's home…is she really?

Rin…yeah she's worrying about Sakura, understandably so. Whether or not she's justified in her fears is up in the air though.