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

Different Fates

Chapter 39

"How is she?"

"The operation was a success." Kirei answered the baroness' question. "All the damage has been repaired, and despite the initial degree of nervous damage her magic circuits and crest – while strained – should be fully functional."

"And that means what exactly…?"

"It means she shouldn't push herself too far for a while." Kirei said with a smile. "Her magic is a dangerous sort, tampering with such a fundamental pillar of reality, space itself. The strain it places on her is only to be expected to be great."

"She can cope."

"At lower levels yes…" Kirei said with a shrug. "…but the more-profound mysteries…? No, perhaps this period of…rest for her will be a good thing, if only to allow her body to recover its strength and keep her from pushing herself."

"How long…?"

"I do not know." Kirei replied, and Anika threw a glare in his direction. He shrugged it off without a care. "You know as well as I do that spiritual surgery is just as strenuous on the patient as mundane surgery is. Between the recent procedure and the strain of using such…profound magic in her last battle, she is quite exhausted on all levels."

"She'll be vulnerable." Anika remarked, and Kirei nodded.

"Oh yes she will." He agreed. "The Association Masters – McRemitz and Archisorte – won't hold the recent action against you and Sakura. It is after all well within the bounds of acceptable operational losses, and you have the…law shall we say, on your side. However you have shown your strength, and no doubt they and their Servants will seek to answer in kind. Also if what I have gathered about Emiya is correct, he will seek to deliver…justice."

"Foolish boy…" Anika said. "…justice is such a relative term. What is just for some is not just for others. After all, if this had not been done, where is the justice for Sakura's sister? And doubtless Zouken Matou has inflicted himself on others more in the past."

"Indeed he has." Kirei agreed. "His own…son, Kariya Matou was one such victim during the previous war. To become the Master of Berserker, he was parasitized with worms that slowly tore him apart to provide him with prana with which to sustain Berserker. Needless to say, the agony drove him mad, and he failed to survive the war. Given that the grave is empty…well need I say what became of his body?"

"Despicable…" Anika said with her eyes hard as she stared at Sakura's slumbering form. "…and how fitting for Tokiomi Tohsaka's ally: a man who throws one of his daughters into hell and would seek for them to destroy each other in the future that their names may be writ into the pages of magus history, reflects a man, no not a man, but an abomination that would devour his own son. Do not the worms contain his soul? His very essence…? And that they had…violated Sakura's sister…does that not mean he might as well have raped a child again and again over the years? Where is the justice in letting him live?"

Kirei chuckled. "Earlier you mentioned the relativity of justice." He said. "No doubt the Emiya boy would ask: where is the justice for the thousand who were sacrificed? A thousand does not equal one after all."

"Sophistry…" Anika said. "…the man sought to become a vampire, even if our evidence is rather circumstantial. His method was flawed, it being a variation of reincarnation magecraft which is critically-flawed at a fundamental level, but if he had perfected it by gaining the Grail through Sakura's sister…what then? How many more thousands would have died, their blood drained to keep him in this world? How many more to satisfy his perversions…? A thousand to end the threat now is a small price to pay."

"Immortality by the Grail does not necessarily lead to one being a vampire…"

"You know as well as I do that only the Third Magic is capable of granting true immortality." Anika said. "The Grail is a product of that sorcery, I know that. I also know that True Magic principles are behind the wish-actualization process. But it is not quite the Third Magic! The immortality it would grant would be flawed, more than likely monstrously-so!"

"Your reasoning is sound." Kirei conceded. "But it is the reasoning of a magus. Shirou Emiya is a spell-caster. And more than that, what we know about him indicates that he would never accept such reasoning. At best he would seek to remove Sakura from the contest while at worst he would kill her."

"Over my dead body…" Anika spat and Kirei smiled. "…I will not see her die, or be disgraced by losing this war."

"Let us hope for Sakura's sake it would not come to that." He said. "With that said, you won't need to worry about Assassin. It seems he was the first Servant to fall. Whether or not he was caught in the bombardment I do not know, but he fell around that time. Also, despite her…professed hatred for her sister, Zouken's death may be enough to start reconciliation between Sakura and Rin. Despite the cost, she did save her from her tormentor and as you say, serial rapist."

Anika clenched her fists in sympathetic rage and disgust, but said nothing on the matter. "Caster…" she said instead. "…will that be enough to balance the hostility from Saber, Lancer, and Rider to say nothing of their Masters? And Berserker…judging from previous encounters, she too may wish to answer our show of force in kind."

"Who knows?" Kirei said. "However enough of a chance exists that I advise against rejecting the possibility."

Anika stayed quiet, reaching out from where she was sitting beside Sakura's bed to stroke a cheek. "We'll wait." She finally said. "This is Sakura's war, and I will not steal her thunder by making strategic decisions beyond what is necessary. For now we will remain on the strategic defensive behind the Tohsaka bounded fields and ignorance of our new location: none shall pass."

"And any who attempt to do so shall face the wrath which turned a would-be vampire to ash?"

"Indeed…"

Kirei chuckled. "So be it…" he said. "…oh yes, one more thing before I take my leave: you may inform Sakura should she wake, that I am willing to offer testimony on the veracity of her claim of Zouken Matou seeking to be a vampire. After all, I witnessed Tokiomi Tohsaka using magic to alter the memories of people who witnessed Zouken…ahem, devouring others or had lost family to him – they literally forgot their lost ones – as well as bribing the police to give up on cases involving said missing individuals."

"What?" Anika thundered, getting up so fast that her chair fell to the ground with a clatter.

"Tokiomi Tohsaka was my master at the time." Kirei replied. "Being an accomplice to his being Zouken Matou's…accomplice or ally – which is it I wonder – was something that could not be avoided."

Anika glared at Kirei with figurative fire burning in her eyes. Said testimony would undoubtedly clear away on and all doubts about Sakura's accusations, and doubts there would be: Orientals were not well-received in the Clock Tower in general, and Sakura was one of a few exceptions.

But the ramifications of such a testimony: Sakura was the daughter and heiress of a would-be vampire's accomplice. To call it a political disaster would be an understatement. Even with victory in the Holy Grail War to her credit…

"There won't be need for that." Anika said coldly. "If she can win this war, even without your testimony any doubts over the evidence behind her accusation will be dealt with sub rosa by our allies."

"Of course…" Kirei said with a bow. "…I defer to your political expertise baroness."

Anika narrowed her eyes. "One more thing before you leave, Kotomine." She said.

"Oh? And what might that be?"

Anika was silent for a moment. The answer would reveal much of the man standing before him, who stank of blood and death. Not quite like Zouken did when they met that one time in Kotomine Church after she and Sakura arrived in the city, or in the recent battle. But he stank of blood and death, far more than she and Sakura did.

Was it because he was a former – or was he still one – Executor…? Or was it…?

The little girl with blonde hair cowered in the corner, covered in blood while holding her bawling baby brother close to her. Tears ran from her eyes as she stared up at the man standing over the nurse's body and the overturned crib, cold blue eyes shining through grey-flecked blonde hair hanging down.

He raised a long-bladed dagger dripping with blood, the gems on the pommel and cross-guard glowing fiery-red. "Look away Anika…" he said softly. "…don't worry…uncle promises it'll be quick. It'll be quick…just don't fight like that bitch did…quick and painless…"

Anika held her brother tighter as her uncle approached, closing her eyes and whimpering as her uncle raised the dagger high…and then with a shout of pain, he fell against the wall, the dagger falling to the ground with a clatter as Christine Freifrau von Derfflinger immolated his right arm from the doorway.

"Run Anika…!" the baroness shouted. "Take your brother and go!"

"Bitch…!"

Anika did as her mother told her to, fire exploding behind her as two cousins turned the nursery to flaming ruins.

Or was it because he was just like Uncle Friedrich? A sociopath who delighted only in inflicting pain and death on whoever caught their fancy, no matter if something existed between them or not.

"What do you think of Sakura?"

Kirei smiled and glanced at the bed. "What do I think of her?" he said. "Well…I would say I see in her Tokiomi Tohsaka, if he had fire in his heart and allowed himself to actually live."

Anika's eyes flew wide, and Kirei's smile grew wider. "I know that Sakura seeks to become someone her father would be proud of." He said. "I also know though that she wishes to avoid repeating his mistakes. A piece of advice I would have you pass onto her: she who fights monsters should see to it that she herself does not become a monster. And if she gazes for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into her."

Smiling even wider at her lack of response, Kirei bowed and took his leave in silence. "What kind of man are you?" Anika whispered once the door was closed, and then turned back to Sakura. "But…Sakura…just as he said…are you teetering on the edge of the abyss?"

"Is there nothing more you can do?"

"Even my power has limitations." The pale woman with red eyes and platinum hair in robes of gold and white with a tall cap of white and gold answered. "Know my other self that while I am or was the last known user of the Cup of Heaven, I never mastered it. The true power of the Cup of Heaven was lost long before I came into being."

A woman who could pass for her twin looked downcast at her reply, turning to look at the pigtailed child seated on the ground, clutching her legs to herself while her eyes stared ahead blank and empty. Irisviel von Einzbern sadly closed her eyes. "So what becomes of her?" she asked.

"That is entirely up to her." Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern replied. "I have restored her memories and being, but her sense of self can only be restored by her own will. There is nothing more I can do to repair the damage done to her by Zolgen Makiri."

"Monstrous…" Irisviel said as her hands clenched into fists. "…to do something like that to a child…he should burn."

"Zelretch always did say there was an innate evil to him." Justeaze replied before giving a wintery smile. "He said the same thing about our family though."

"I cannot deny that." Irisviel said, and Justeaze's eyes flickered towards her. "I was created after all to be sacrificed to complete the Holy Grail. That was the only reason for my existence. Even after I gained a sense of self, my purpose was not allowed to change. They even tampered with my child in my womb, preparing her to take on the same role I would and have fulfilled."

Justeaze said nothing, and after a moment's pause Irisviel continued. "But…" she said. "…even if Jubstacheit would use his own blood as tools, he has not and would never sink so low as Makiri has. He…WE are better than that."

"A shade of grey better…?" Justeaze asked with a cold smile, and Irisviel snorted.

"If this girl's memories are to be trusted…" she said. "…far many more shades of grey better…tools we might be, but we at least are allowed to live and feel as Humans do, to gain and enjoy meaning at least up until we are called to fulfil our purpose. To Makiri tools are just that: tools, nothing more and nothing else. Once he is done with them they are to be discarded, and until then they are not allowed to be anything more than what he wants them to be."

"I see." Justeaze said. "So what will you do now?"

Irisviel looked at the other woman, and then back at Rin. "I would stay and help her as best I could." She said.

"Truly…?"

"She's just a child…" Irisviel said, kneeling down and placing her hands on Rin's shoulders. "…or at least in this form she is. Around my Illya's age from last I remember her. And what happened to her could just as easily happen to Illya."

"So you would take her place…" Justeaze said with a smile. "…and 'protect her' until she regains her sense of self…?"

"Is that so wrong?" Irisviel said softly. "As you called me earlier, I am your other self. And so is she, no thanks to Makiri's cruel and inhuman magic. We are one and not one all at the same time."

"Such is the miracle of the Cup of Heaven." Justeaze agreed. "Even flawed and incomplete as they are, mysteries born of the Third Magic still transcend the limitations of mere Thaumaturgy. Very well, if you wish to remain with her then so be it."

"I have been with her even before now." Irisviel said, pulling Rin into an embrace. "I shared her pain, and fought with her against the monster within until…until it was cast out at long last."

"Indeed…" Justeaze said, turning to disappear back into the void. "…enjoy your new lease on life then my other self. Who knows? Perhaps it might end better than the last time."

"It will." Irisviel whispered as Justeaze vanished, holding Rin close while rubbing her hair. "It won't end like it did the last time. For this child's sake, I won't let it."

Music played softly in the twilight of Caster's workshop, the Servant seated at his pipe organ-like mystic code. Gauntleted fingers played over the black and white keys, each tune accompanied by a response on the glowing screens that hovered before the Servant in place of musical pieces.

A single discordant note broke the performance, and Caster froze for a moment. And then in a theatrically-slow motion, he pressed a single key. A low note sang, and a screen brought up the disturbance.

Behind the golden mask an eyebrow rose in surprise. The next moment and he was gliding away, seeking his Master's regeneration capsule.

She floated inside in amniotic fluid, tubes and cables leading from the back of the capsule's interior and into her flesh, a breathing mask affixed to her face. Parts of her limbs and sides were still raw flesh and bone, but she was healing well. Gold-silver strands floated in the liquid, gleaming in the interior lights.

Caster leaned forward, the light reflecting off of his mask. He delicately tapped at the capsule, a screen coming to life and displaying recent changes in Rin's regeneration. Again, he raised an eyebrow.

"A variable factor…?" he mentally asked. "This was not foreseen. What is the predicted outcome I wonder?"

He tapped at the screen, and it displayed the predicted outcome. Crossing his arms, Caster tapped at his mask a few times. "She'll be taller…" he thought. "…and there are changes in bone and muscle structure consistent with an older woman who'd given birth, to say nothing of biochemistry. The conceptual structure…impossible to predict due to lack of detailed conceptual data…"

Caster paced a few times, and then he snapped his fingers. "I see!" he thought in realization. "Of course, of course…the Einzbern template encoded or rather engraved into her flesh must have influenced the regeneration cycle. I should have foreseen this. Will it cause negative effects?"

Again Caster tapped on a screen, and after a few moments his spells returned a response. "Hmm…" he mused. "…there doesn't seem to be anything to worry about apart from a longer regeneration cycle than originally foreseen due to physical adaptation…curious…"

Caster dismissed the screens and glided back to his inner sanctum. Returning to his seat he started on a new movement. Screens flashed and scrolled before him, his mask reflecting their light.

Why didn't the template come into play until this late in the regeneration? Has it something to do with the mind? Or perhaps…the soul…?

"Shirou I must ask." Saber said as Shirou after putting Ayako in bed. "What do you intend to do about the recent turn of events?"

"It's obvious isn't it?" he responded shortly. "We've got to stop Tohsaka-san no matter what. It's not that I don't understand her motivations, but she's gone too far!"

"Do you really think so?"

Shirou fixed Saber with a glare. "You don't…?" he asked.

"The enemy was heavily-fortified." She said. "So she used heavy siege weapons – in this case an anti-fortress Noble Phantasm – to bring him down. From a military standpoint, it is a perfectly valid strategy."

"And the nine hundred forty-two dead so far…?" Shirou demanded. "What about them? What happened to justice, King Arthur?"

"Then what would you suggest she have done?" Saber said. "Surely you would not have her storm a fortress by herself? Shirou, I am not a magus. However from my memories of the previous war, Lancer's Master constructed a magical fortress that would have been a threat to me and my Master had we chosen to storm it on our own. That man's niece is Rider's Master. If even she considers the Matou fortifications to be formidable then…"

Shirou slammed a fist on the table. "Then she should have asked for help!" he shouted. "If she and her friend couldn't do it on their own, then couldn't they have brought in another Master? I would have helped them! Rider-san too probably…! There was no need to drag in people who weren't involved! And now they're all dead!"

"True…" Saber conceded sadly. "…it would be possible to storm Matou's stronghold with superior numbers. Two Servants would be a formidable foe, three even more so, and that doesn't factor in their identities…me and the King of Conquerors…however the Masters involved in the siege would be risking their lives…"

"This is war isn't it?" Shirou interrupted. "Everyone involved in it is risking their lives! But there's also no need to involve ordinary people just living their lives! And that's what Tohsaka-san's done! I can't let that go!"

Saber nodded slowly. "Truly her choice of strategy cannot be faulted on its own merits…" she said. "…however as you said it involved an excessive amount of collateral damage and death. Setting aside military practicality, such cannot be tolerated."

"And she calls herself a knight…" Shirou snarled. "…it's a bad joke."

"However…"

"Hmm…?"

"Shirou I understand how you feel." She said. "But despite how much I hate the fact there is also the reality of things to consider. Justice and reality…that Sakura Tohsaka is able to have the law on her side in this matter…you should take it to heart."

Shirou made a sound of disgust. "People being allowed to get away with mass murder because the accused seeks to become a vampire." He spat. "I don't give a damn if an independent judge confirmed it that's just wrong. Killing nearly a thousand people for revenge disguised as justice, and getting away with it by using the law as an excuse…how is that different from using a child as a guinea pig and keeping her that way for years on end?"

Saber stayed silent as Shirou continued to rant. "People like that are corrupt!" he spat. "A society that thinks like that…a society which encourages its members to think like that…our society which lets things like that go is corrupt! And it's not just magi either: even in the real world people think and act like that! This whole world is corrupt!"

"But…" Saber said. "…that's the reality of the world we live in. Even I have to wonder…Humanity…the world…could they really change for the better?"

Shirou shot her a glare. "When one gives in to evil…" he said. "…it grows stronger."

"I never said I – or you – should give in."

"You might as well have said it." Shirou snapped. "But I believe in Humanity and this world. I believe that someday, somehow, we'll stop being selfish and change for the better! My ideal…Kiritsugu's ideals…they're not wrong! Justice…helping and saving others…I'll keep fighting for that and hope for a better tomorrow!"

Saber closed her eyes. "Because evil will never triumph over good…?" she asked.

"That's right."

Saber sighed sadly and opened her eyes, but said nothing. "Tomorrow we'll start looking for Tohsaka-san." Shirou said, refusing to look at Saber. "Her address should be available at the city office. She'll probably have moved someplace that won't be as easy to find, but it's a start."

"Will you kill her?"

"If I must I will." He replied. "But I'll be content with taking her out of the contest. I don't need to kill people in order to win. I'm better than that. I'm different from her, or the rest of our corrupt kind."

"I see." Saber said neutrally. "Then my sword is yours, Master."

Lancer and Bazett stood in front of the ruined chemical plant near the docks. The cyclone wire fence around the plant pitted with rust, the paint flaking from the sign boards, and the chains and lock around the gate worn and rusty.

Grass grew through cracks in the concrete grounds, while more cracks riddled the concrete walls of the plant beyond. Many of the windows were shattered, while the rest were fogged with dirt and moisture. Flaking paint and rust were everywhere.

"Why do they always hide in places like this?" Lancer asked. "Even back in my day, people on the run from the law always hid in rundown places in the middle of nowhere or in the dirtiest holes they could find."

"True…" Bazett agreed as she broke the chains with a single tearing motion with a hand. "…in my experience I've come across the same thing. People up to no good – as much as the term could be applied to magi – always seem to think that filthy, dilapidated, out-of-the-way places will make it harder for them to be found. What they don't seem to realize of course – or they simply don't care or can't afford to care – is that such places are obvious places to run to and are the first to come under suspicion."

"Well it's not like they could hide somewhere decent." Lancer pointed out.

"Not necessarily true…" Bazett said, warily walking into the grounds followed by Lancer. "…I've put down more than a few 'respectable' people before. Respectable that is, until you started prying at the walls."

"I'm not surprised." Lancer remarked. "I know how low so-called nobles can sink. The funny part is that so many of them seem so admirable otherwise."

"That's the usual story." Bazett agreed, coming to a halt and turning to the side. Lancer did likewise, and within moments three people emerged from the night. A blonde, adolescent knight in silver and red with a sword, a little girl in purple with platinum hair and blood-red eyes, and a woman that appeared similar to the child carrying a massive halberd. "Einzbern, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question." Illya answered. "I don't need to though, since the answer is obvious. You're here for Makiri aren't you?"

"That's right."

Illya tapped her chin a few times. "If I were to say that I get dibs on stepping on that worm…" she began. "…family history and all that, would you go away?"

"We were here first!" Lancer said at once, and Berserker grinned.

"So you are." She said, brandishing her sword. "Would you care to fight for that claim?"

"Hell yes…!" Lancer said, stepping into his stance.

"Lancer…!" Bazett barked before turning to Illya. "Einzbern, there's no need for us to fight here. Zouken Matou is slated for execution, perhaps we can cooperate in this instance…"

"Enough talk…!" Berserker shouted with the concrete ground breaking beneath her as she jumped forward.

"Bring it on!" Lancer shouted.

"Lancer…!"

"Our Servants want to fight." Illya said, pointing a finger and charging a beam. "That's that I suppose. Don't die too soon, Miss Enforcer. Though if you do, I'll be taking your Servant."

Smiling, Illya fired a ravening beam of blue.

A/N

Bazett vs. Illya and Lancer vs. Berserker continue in the next chapter.