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

Different Fates

Prologue

"You're going…?"

"Yes, I'm going."

The little girl looked away at that. "What's wrong?" Tokiomi Tohsaka asked.

"First sister…" Sakura Tohsaka replied. "…now you…everyone just keeps on leaving me behind. Will mother be next?"

"Now, now…" Tokiomi chided her, sinking to a knee in front of Sakura. "…don't say that. That's bad luck. And besides, you already know this don't you? Magi walk with death. And your sister…"

Tokiomi trailed off, and he sighed. "It's for the best." He said softly, and Sakura looked at him.

"You miss her too." She said. It wasn't a question. Father and daughter locked eyes, and after a few moments he nodded.

"Yes…" he said. "…I miss her too."

Sakura was silent, and then her eyes seemed to light up. "Then how about we go see her after the war?" she asked, tilting her head like a bird. Tokiomi blinked and laughed.

"Tempting…" he said, getting to his feet and running a hand through her hair. "…but you know we can't. That was part of the agreement between me and her grandfather."

"But you're the Supervisor, aren't you father?" Sakura asked. "And it was your and Matou-san's agreement, so why don't you just change it?"

"It's not that…simple…" Tokiomi began, and then he sighed. "…I understand. I'll see what I can do."

Sakura brightened up that, and Tokiomi couldn't help but smile at that. He never could, no matter how much he had hardened his heart to face his duty as a magus and the head of the Tohsaka Clan, or for the sake of this contest for that matter. The smiles of his children always made him smile in his turn.

"But in return…" he told Sakura with a raised finger. "…I want you to do something for me."

Sakura looked quizzical at that, and Tokiomi slowly drew a large, glowing, red gem on a fine silver chain from a pocket. He held it up, and as Sakura held up her hands, he dropped the gem into her palms. "I'll leave it with you for safekeeping." He said. "I'll want it back when I come back, alright? So don't lose it."

Sakura smiled. "You promise you'll come back…?" she asked, and he laughed. He ran a hand through her hair again, and she giggled and leaned into his hand.

"Of course I'll come back." Tokiomi said. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "How could I get it back if I don't? And have I ever lied to you?"

Sakura raised her face and shook her head. "No…" she said. "…never…"

Tokiomi smiled, and turning with a hand raised in farewell left down the street. Behind him Sakura continued to watch, and as a strong breeze blew sending leaves and grit flying through the air, her smile faded.

Will you really come back? Will you keep your promise? As you said, magi walk with death. Can you keep your promise? Can you come back?

Callused fingers caressed the gem, still glowing with the energies kept within as it did ten years ago. Sakura sighed, shaking her head clear of the memories. "In the end you never kept your promise." She said softly. "But I don't blame you. People die in war. Even back then I knew that. You were in a war after all. Not a war between nations, but a war fought by seven magi. And now, I'm about to go to another war like that, just like you father."

With another sigh she dropped the gem into her jewel box, and hopped off from the desk in her workshop. Taking a single glance at a clock mounted on the wall, she then glanced at a picture of her father on her desk.

"Wish me luck, father." Sakura thought. "Both now, and when the contest begins. If I fail here, I won't be able to join the contest. And if I fail there, well, I'll consider myself lucky if I lose but live. If I don't, then that's the end of our family."

Sakura laughed to herself at that, a hand dropping to the sword at her waist. "Those who live by the sword die by the sword…?" she said. "Oh well, I chose this path six years ago. I might as well put it to the test."

Her eyes hardening, she opened a drawer and withdrew the case carrying her catalyst. Opening the case, she withdrew the catalyst and placed it carefully in the middle of the summoning circle prepared in the middle of the room. After placing away the empty container and closing the drawer, she took another look at the clock. "It's time." She said, moving to stand at the edge of the summoning circle.

In her mind's eye she could see a pool, still and clear in the night, a waning Moon reflected on the surface. A single drop of water shattered the stillness, breaking the Moon's reflection in waves of silver. At the same time, a familiar numbness spread through her body, as prana flooded through her magic circuits.

A figurative twist and she projected a dagger in one hand, which she used to slit a finger on the other. Squeezing her muscles, a few drops of blood trickled out and dropped on the summoning circle which began to glow.

Discarding the dagger and using a handkerchief to stop the bleeding, she held out a hand over the circle and began to cast the summoning spell. "Let silver and steel be the essence." She said. "Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate."

The circle glowed brighter, prana beginning to visibly coalesce around the catalyst. "Let it be declared now…" Sakura continued. "…your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. Answer, if you would submit to this will and truth. An oath shall be sworn here. I shall attain virtues of all of Heaven; I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell. From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the circle of restraint, protector of the holy balance…!"

The summoning circle flared bright with power, prana coalescing into a towering, hugely-armoured figure that cast a long shadow over Sakura. As the circle's glow faded, the eyes of Master and Servant met. An impossibly-long instant passed, and Sakura's eyes narrowed.

Metal flashed in the darkness, and stone flew explosively into the air.


Elsewhere in the city, another summoning ritual was also taking place. In fact, it wasn't very far from the Tohsaka property, within range of something of a long walk.

Beneath the Matou mansion, a similar summoning circle glowed in the darkness, the light reflecting off slick, sticky ichor and multi-faceted insect eyes. But where the Tohsaka summoning circle glowed bright and white, the Matou summoning circle dully glowed red.

Zouken Matou was silent, impassively watching as his granddaughter spoke the words of the summoning ritual, a hand held out over the summoning circle. She had foregone a catalyst, preferring to summon a random Servant attuned with her spirit over one selected by a catalyst but would potentially clash with her.

It was a sound argument, but considering the angry, sullen glow of the summoning circle, he would not be surprised if the girl botched the ritual up one way or another.

Well, if she did then she knows what's coming to her. The worms are always hungry, and it's not like some part of her doesn't enjoy it. She just doesn't want to admit it.

The worms stirred with excitement at Zouken's thoughts, for while they could not understand higher concepts of emotion they knew that whenever their nest and in a twisted, perverse way mother opened herself to them, they would feast on her flesh and spirit both. For a moment the background sound of chitin against chitin or stone and the slick sound of wet flesh against wet flesh grew ever so louder, though to her credit Rin Matou was able to keep herself outwardly steady despite the stirring of the worms in her body.

At that moment the circle flared bright red, and Zouken slowly nodded. So, the girl succeeded. Pity for the worms, but she did succeed. A night's rest would be in order at the least.

And then the circle exploded.

Dust and debris, bits and pieces of flesh from those worms and insects unfortunately too close to the summoning circle flew through the air, and with the sound of breaking bone Rin struck the edge of the basement stairs at the wrong angle. She crumpled to the floor, and as she struggled to her knees she clutched at her side and coughed up blood.

It wasn't serious.

And even it was, and even if it wasn't, it wasn't as though the worms wouldn't let any lasting harm come to their nest. Even now, they were already working to repair the damage, the familiar sensation of flesh distorting and being pushed aside as the worms moved on their accord and went about their business inside of her stirred near the injured parts of her body.

Something loomed through the darkness of the basement, and then Zouken appeared next to her. He spoke a single word in Russian, and with a gasp it took all she had to keep from collapsing flat on the ground as the worms stirred up her body.

"Imbecile…" Zouken hissed. "…months of preparation down the drain…all because you…"

"I didn't…" Rin gasped out, struggling to keep her mind clear of the fog of all-consuming pain and pleasure that filled her body. It was a familiar sensation, though one she would never truly get used to, even long after she'd learned to let it fade into the background and stay coherent through the torturous training methods of the Matou Clan. "…I…can feel…the Servant…drawing on my…"

Zouken sneered, but the words died on his lips as a third voice spoke up in the darkness. "Is that really necessary?" it asked.

At once, Zouken ended the spell. He slowly turned away from Rin, and in the direction of the voice. Rin did so as well, slowly getting to her feet, one hand clutching at her side. Already the pain of her injuries was subsiding, and given 'punishment' for apparent failure wasn't even close to what she went through on training nights, her muscles were shaky but well in her control.

A gesture from Zouken increased the ambient light levels of the basement, exposing a male Servant seated on a small pile of rubble, dusting himself. As he rose to his feet and the light grew stronger, he was revealed to be of impressive height if not too tall, with tanned skin and white hair. He wore dark clothes under black, metal armour which covered his chest and torso, while a red cloak hung draped over his shoulders.

"That was a rather…explosive summoning." He quipped with a smile. "And I certainly didn't expect to be summoned in such a dismal place like this."

"I would say sorry for that…" Rin said, drawing herself up. "…but it's not like I had much choice where to summon you. And even if the summoning was…explosive, you are here now and that's what matters. My name is Rin Matou. I summoned you as your Master, and seeing as you answered my call I assume you are my Servant, isn't that right?"

The Servant smiled and briefly closed his eyes. Had the light been stronger, they would have noticed that his smile and expression held more than a hint of bitterness to it. As it was, not even Zouken noticed.

"So I am…" the Servant said. "…I am the Servant Archer. And it seems, I truly have something of a Master."


A/N

This will be the final version of the prologue.

I've already rewritten this once, it went out of control (I've re-read it countless times and to be honest I cannot figure out where and when it began to slide the slope), but seeing as some people I know in alternate history dot com have rewritten their TLs more than once (one TL I know – involving Germany winning/drawing WWI – has been rewritten five times though hopefully I won't have to go that far) why not? This idea was my first Fate story, so I'm willing to do it as many times as necessary until I get it right.

Finally, should I take down the earlier version? Or should I leave it up?