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

Fairies and a Haunting

Chapter 4

Rubble crunched under Ayame's boots as she carefully made her way to where the flask was lying against the broken ground. Sweeping her cloak back and adjusting her hat, Ayame then crouched down, and reached out to pick up the flask for a closer look. It was made from glass, that much was clear, and stoppered with cork, while the fluid inside was viscous and wasn't actually black despite first impressions, but a very deep shade of red that could pass for it.

Then a voice spoke.

"Join us." it said.

"What?" Ayame asked, blinking in surprise.

"My lady," Sella said, stepping closer, a note of warning in her voice. "This is…!"

"Join us." the voice repeated, Ayame narrowing her eyes as she realized it wasn't just a single voice, but many. Dozens, at least, men, women, and children, all speaking at the same time. "Add your blood to ours, and bind your fate to a greater legacy. Take up the mantle of those who came before you, and together, we shall build a legacy to last for a thousand generations!"

"My lady…!" Sella barked, but Ayame just held up her free hand, her expression very unimpressed.

"Yeah, about that…" she began, her note one of mocking and false consideration. "...what's the word I'm looking for…oh, yeah, that's right: NO!"

"JOIN US!" the voices thundered.

"No." Ayame said, getting up and tossing the flask into the air several times, angry murmuring filling the air as the liquid inside was agitated around. "I killed the last Tohsaka, and I've never regretted it. Not even once."

"You are one of us!" the voices screamed. "Your blood is our blood, your power the sum and product of all our sacrifices since time immemorial! Join us and become who you were always meant to be!"

"I know who I am." Ayame firmly said. "I am Ayame Emiya, daughter of Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern. The Black and White Magician. The Witch of Gaia. Magus Killer 2.0. I do not need to be 'who I'm meant to be'. I already am who I want to be."

"JOIN US!" the voices screamed.

"No." Ayame repeated.

"It is your destiny!" the voices screamed again. "Your duty! Your obligation!"

"Whatever you say, ghosts of Tohsaka, whatever you say…" Ayame said before tossing the flask to Ayame, who barely managed to catch it, before pulling out a lead box and quickly stuffing the flask inside. "...a phylactery…I don't believe it…a phylactery…"

"It does seem rather…counterintuitive, does it not?" Sella remarked.

"Hmm…maybe not…" Ayame thoughtfully said, rubbing her chin while looking up at the night sky. "...magi have a tendency to try and find ways to cheat death, although that is fairly Human when all is said and done. Whether the 'normal' way by having their descendants carry on the legacy and work of their ancestors, or the…abnormal, ways, like turning themselves into vampires, revenants, liches…or in this case, creating a phylactery."

Ayame sighed and shook her head, hands dropping to her waist. "I think I can guess how they pulled it off." she muttered. "A few drops of blood from each member of the family collected in a flask, enchanted as part of a ritual to preserve the essence of every generation ever since the phylactery was made, then hidden away in case of a catastrophe, so the family can be…resurrected, in one form or another should something happen to them or the crest."

"It does assume, however," Sella pointed out. "That the phylactery would be found by a - and I apologize in advance for any offense caused - relative born the wrong side of the blanket."

"Not really," Ayame said with a shrug and waving off Sella's apology. She'd long since come to terms with her Tohsaka bastardry, what with her and her father having had suspicions thereof even before the Fifth Holy Grail War. Even Edelfelt's brutal description of her as 'the bastard heir to bastard heirs' just made her laugh. "That could just be coincidence, the phylactery's mysteries resonating with my Tohsaka blood."

Ayame paused and shrugged again. "Aside from that," she said. "Well, it's just basic spiritual magecraft, isn't it? The condensed essence - echoes, maybe? - of multiple Tohsaka generations stored in the flask would simply overwrite or graft itself onto anyone with magical potential that stumbles onto it."

Ayame paused again, an expression of disgust on her face. "How very Matou of them." she spat.

"...the parallel cannot be denied," Sella admitted after a moment. "But as you said, it's just basic spiritual magecraft. It could also just be coincidence."

"Hmm…maybe…" Ayame conceded, looking not entirely convinced. "I'm kinda curious, though. Why blood magic, and not jewel magecraft? The latter would be what you'd expect from the likes of Tohsaka."

"Perhaps they wanted to avoid…contamination, from lingering echoes of nature spirits which had previously influenced any gem they might use for a phylactery?" Sella offered.

"...good point." Ayame conceded, and Sella gave a small bow.

"What should we do now, my lady?" she asked.

"...give me the flask." Ayame said after a few moments' thought. "It shouldn't take too long to fly to Aso Volcano from here, and chucking that disgusting thing into a lava pool should deal with it once and for all without question."

"Edelfelt would be interested in it, if I may say so." Sella pointed out.

"I'm sure they would." Ayame said, and holding out a hand for the flask. "But I don't care. I don't leave things half done. I killed Rin Tohsaka and with her ended Tohsaka's twisted legacy. Like hell I'm going to give it a chance to rise from the grave like something out of a horror movie."

Sella sighed and handed the containment case with the flask to her mistress. "Unfortunately," she said. "The Tohsaka Crest is beyond your reach."

"Yes, very unfortunate." Ayame said with a scowl before smirking. "That said, there's a chance, no matter how small, that the Clock Tower might return a small part of the crest to Edelfelt. Assaulting the Clock Tower or the main Edelfelt territory to get at the Tohsaka Crest is suicide, but ambushing it en route to the latter? Doable."

"They, that is, the Edelfelts, might also offer it to you." Sella remarked. "Although the probability is very small."

"What do you think their reaction would be if I burned the crest in front of them?" Ayame asked, her smirk growing wider.

Sella smiled. "I'd say prepare for the fight of your life, my lady." she said, much to Ayame's amusement.

"True!" she said before summoning her broom and mounting up. "Sella, earlier you said you had ideas on how to explain all this to the buyer and the authorities. I'll leave it to you then. In the meantime, I've got a phylactery to destroy, and ghosts to banish."

"As you wish, my lady." Sella said, stepping back and bowing low. Ayame nodded and flew off into the night.

It took Ayame only an hour to reach Aso Volcano, and about the same amount of time to find a vent that wasn't simply fuming with toxic gas, but had molten rock pooling at the bottom. The lava glowed a brilliant red, bubbling with sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon monoxide. The air shimmered with the heat, and yet Ayame didn't feel the slightest discomfort as she descended down to hover just a few meters above the lava pool.

It wasn't just her affinity for Fire either, even the toxic fumes didn't seem to affect her. The answer came soon enough as the fabric of reality briefly shook and fairies flew out from the Reverse Side of the World. They danced around Ayame in greeting, before playfully racing out over the lava and riding the currents of hot air that rose above.

"Thanks, friends." Ayame said, grateful for their support. As it was, bathing in the heat radiating up from the lava was like…yes, it was like coming home.

The fairies glimmered in acknowledgement of her thanks, Ayame briefly wondering if finding an active lava pool was also their doing. Then, shaking her head at the unimportance of the thought, pulled out the containment case. She briefly considered just tossing it in as is, but decided the case was more valuable than what it currently held and shouldn't be destroyed with it.

Opening the case, Ayame pulled out the flask and sighed as the flask's voices started speaking all at once.

"No…no…wait…stop…don't do it…stop…stop…so close…stop…so close…stop it…so close…"

Then Ayame tossed the flask away with all the nonchalance you might expect from someone tossing trash away for disposal. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!" the voices howled as the flask fell through the air, tumbling end over end to land in the lava pool below.

It had been enchanted to resist magical and physical attack, the better to protect its precious contents, but against lava and that of one of Japan's most active volcanoes, it was like trying to stop bullets with sponges. In the end, Tohsaka's phylactery ended most anticlimactically. The flask shattered from the sheer heat of the lava, and the blood inside boiled away, the screaming of the echoes of past generations of the Tohsaka snuffed out by the infrasonic vibrations of the hot air above the lava.

Ayame scratched her head. "Well…that's done…" she said, before flying up and away, smiling and waving goodbye at the fairies who flashed their own goodbyes before continuing their games in the molten rock and hot air of Aso Volcano. "...now then…back to Sella…and whatever it is that she had in mind…"

Quickly picking up speed, Ayame flew back across the night sky towards Fuyuki City, and leaving Aso Volcano behind.

"A gas explosion…?"

Ayame lowered her bowl of steaming hot miso soup and followed Sella around the dining room with her eyes. "Yes." Sella said while placing a platter of fried dumplings on the table along with some hot rice. "Gas was leaking from the pipes under the house, causing hallucinations that made the people inside think it was haunted. The gas eventually built up and then exploded during the previous night, resulting in the house's destruction."

Sella paused, and shrugged. "Simple and straightforward," she said, putting rice into a bowl first for her mistress, and then herself. "Easily believable while also dispelling any notions of supernatural involvement."

"Well, I guess it's worked before." Ayame mused. "That was the standard cover story for when things got out of hand back during the Fifth Holy Grail War. It should work again."

"As you say, my lady." Sella said.

"Of course," Ayame said after another drink of her soup. "That leaves the issue of the gas company and building safety inspectors. They did certify the place was safe, and the gas lines fully functional."

"Mistakes do happen." Sella said. "Also, with a little mental interference, we can have them offer generous settlements to all concerned, compensating for lost time and property, endangered lives, and while also avoiding messy public litigations."

"Good point." Ayame said with a nod. "Yeah, that should work. Fairly standard practice here in Japan, to allow everyone to save face, and it's not like anyone got killed. Right then, let's go for it."

"Yes, my lady."

The Black and White Magician and her companion/partner spent the next several minutes just eating their late dinner, with Sella bringing up the next topic only after they'd finished. "While you were away at Aso Volcano," she began. "I received word from Sister Ortensia."

Ayame sighed. "And?" she asked. "What does that crazy priestess want now?"

"She said she wanted to speak with you over the current incident." Sella said.

"Well, I don't want to talk to her." Ayame crossly said. "That woman doesn't know how to hold her tongue. Tell her that I'm too tired or injured to talk, and if she's got any concerns, you can tell her all about it yourself."

"Then I'll take care of it myself, my lady." Sella said.

Ayame nodded. "Thanks, Sella." she said. "And sorry. Normally, I'd put up with Ortensia, but right now, with Tohsaka having crawled out of the grave and having to put them back in the grave, I'm not in the mood to deal with her."

"I understand, my lady." Sella said.

"Honestly," Ayame grumbled. "I swear, it's like dealing with a female version of Kirei Kotomine, only not nearly as crazy. Is everyone in the Holy Church - or at least the Eighth Sacrament or their specialists - like that?"

"I'm not entirely certain," Sella hesitantly said. "But I do recall Lord Jubstacheit once making similar remarks, so it may be a safe assumption to make."

"Figures." Ayame sniffed, taking a drink of coffee as she did so, and causing Sella to just smile indulgently as she did so.

With Sella spending most of the day dealing with Sister Ortensia and legal matters surrounding the destruction of the Tohsaka estate, Ayame was free to spend it as she wished. This included sleeping in, a heavy (and very sweet) breakfast, and a luxurious soak in the bathtub, before heading out for more important things.

First of all, a visit to her parents and sisters' graves. Well, originally it had just been her father's grave, but about five years ago she'd bought a bigger plot and moved Kiritsugu's ashes there. Then she'd added a memorial to both Irisviel and Illyasviel von Einzbern, before also moving (the posthumously-adopted) Sakura Emiya's ashes to the plot as well.

Rin Tohsaka's grave stayed with the rest of her family's graves, of course.

Ayame had cleaned the graves, added flowers, burned incense, and said prayers before returning home. And that was where Sella found her in the afternoon when she returned, Ayame sitting at the dining room table filling out forms in quadruplicate.

"How'd it go?" she asked, popping chicken nuggets from McBurger Kong while setting her pen down before stretching with the sound of popping joints.

"Sister Ortensia was most disappointed not to be able to meet and speak with you in person." Sella replied.

"She'll get over it." Ayame said with a sip from a float also from McBurger Kong.

"She also said she'd appreciate being updated as to the current situation," Sella continued. "Both in her capacity as the local representative of the Holy Church, and as the acting Second Owner during our frequent absences."

"She'll get it." Ayame said while gesturing at the forms covering the table. "Four sets of incident reports, one for us to keep for reference purposes, another for the Clock Tower, a third for Sister Ortensia, and the fourth for Edelfelt."

Sella blinked at that, but was preempted by a look from her mistress. "How'd it go with the buyer and the gas company, among others?" Ayame asked.

"The situation has been resolved," Sella said with a nod. "Though with a touch more use of mental interference than expected, as the buyer was rather…combative. In the end, though, reason prevailed, and settlements agreed upon. The final paperwork will arrive in a few days via email, in the meantime, everything has been mostly settled within our expectations."

"Mostly…?" Ayame echoed.

"The buyer was quite insistent that he and his family were not capable of finding a new, permanent residence in the short term," Sella explained. "However the gas company was willing to pay for their continued accommodations at a hotel until they found a new home. Similarly, the city government has also offered to assist in that matter, to further expedite the current situation's resolution."

"Oh, I see." Ayame said with a nod. "Well, good, then. Anyway, that aside, Sella, I need you to find where Luviagelita Edelfelt is currently at. Assuming she's not at the Clock Tower, or back in Finland, she's probably causing trouble somewhere else in the world, no doubt to steal some trinket or another."

"I assume then that you intend to make her take responsibility for this incident." Sella said.

"She was responsible for stripping the place of anything magical in nature." Ayame pointed out. "Being able to loot Tohsaka's valuables was just an added bonus on top. Not that I expect to get anything material out of her, of course. For someone so…gaudy, and flashy, Luviagelita Edelfelt is quite a miser. At the very least, I'll have her take at least formal responsibility…"

"...and have her owe you a favor in the future." Sella said with another nod. "I see."

"...as much as I hate to admit it," Ayame reluctantly conceded. "Luviagelita Edelfelt is one of the more respectable magi out there. She's vain, flighty, conceited, and selfish, but she's not one to slaughter innocents simply to get her way, unlike her late cousin. In short, she has a good heart, no matter what else she might seem to be. The same goes for her family."

"...do you truly think so?" Sella asked after a moment.

Ayame didn't reply at once, instead munching on chicken nuggets for several moments. "According to the Einzbern Archives," she eventually asked. "Has Edelfelt ever come to similar arrangements with other families as those between Tohsaka and Matou?"

"To our knowledge," Sella said, repeating the answer to a question often asked by her mistress to determine whether or not to extend her respect to any magi family she encountered. "They have not. I understand. I will locate Lady Edelfelt as soon as possible, my lady."

Ayame nodded, sipping from her float. Sella bowed and then left, leaving Ayame to her lonesome. Sipping some more and letting her thoughts drift aimlessly for a few moments, Ayame finally sighed, and set her drink aside.

"So much to do…" she thought to herself while picking up her pen and resuming work on all the paperwork that needed doing. "...might as well get to it so I can just relax the rest of the evening later."

A/N

And the haunting comes to an end, with Ayame and Sella finding out what caused it: a phylactery. Filled with blood from every member of the Tohsaka family from Nagato to Rin and Sakura, as a final backup in case anything should happen to the family as well as the crest. And while Ayame doesn't know it, there's also a few drops of her own blood in the phylactery, or at least, that of her identity from before the Fuyuki Fire, as Kuchinashi Tachibana.

It's just that so much of her identity has been altered down to the conceptual level by Avalon and repeated use of fey mysteries that while she still has the genetic markers of the Tohsaka Clan, her metaphysical signature is completely different as far as the phylactery is concerned. Hence its constant demands for her to 'join them'.

Sorry about not showing Caren, but Ayame does not want to deal with her personally if possible. Caren might not be as malevolent as Kirei, but in a way, she's actually got a sharper tongue than her father, not that Ayame knows they're related.

Up next, the epilogue (I did say this would be a short story), featuring everyone's favorite Finn.