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

Aurum, Sanguis, et Mors

Chapter 4

The Tohsaka mansion bustled with activity for the first time in years, maids in green dresses under white caps and aprons going to and fro, sweeping the floor, dusting the walls, ceilings, and furniture, wiping windows, books, pictures and their frames, even candelabra and chandeliers among others. Curtains were taken down and washed, mattresses and pillows taken out to be aired, carpets pulled out to be sent for dry cleaning, and many other things beside needed to make the Tohsaka mansion livable again.

Sakura stood in the living room, surveying her maids hard at work, and then patted an armchair before sighing. She looked up, eyes distant, and remembered.

Seven-year old Sakura stood quiet and despondent, in the foyer of her own house. The government representative quietly spoke to her new guardian, who silently listened before closing her eyes and nodding once, held a hand up for silence before stepping closer to Sakura.

Sakura looked up, into a face and eyes as cold and stern as winter, platinum-blonde hair perfectly matching the given impression. "Hello," she said softly. "I'm Sakura Tohsaka. It's nice to meet you…Aunt…Valkolumi…"

Valkolumi was silent for a moment, and then reaching out patted Sakura on the head. "It's nice to meet you too." She said neutrally. "I must say…you greatly resemble your mother. It's to be expected I suppose, but…"

The older woman trailed off as Sakura looked away, only for Valkolumi to gently take Sakura by the chin and turn her head back to look at her face once more. And then Valkolumi smiled, causing Sakura's eyes to widen. The smile…it was like a touch of sunlight, like dawn after a long, cold, and dark winter night. "But more than anything else," Valkolumi continued. "You have your father's eyes."

Sakura finally smiled, a small, very faint smile…it was just so hard to smile, after everything that had happened. But now…

"I am Valkolumi Edelfelt." Valkolumi said, kneeling down to Sakura's level. "You already know that, as well as the fact that I'm your father's second cousin. And of course, that I'll be your new guardian."

Sakura nodded, and Valkolumi patted her on a cheek. "But what you probably don't know," she said. "Is that I was your father's childhood friend."

Valkolumi smiled wider as Sakura's eyes widened again. "Tell me," she began. "Would you like me to tell you some stories about me and your father when we were growing up? It would help us get to know each better."

Sakura didn't need to think. She nodded a few times, and tried to smile again. It was small and faint…but it was a smile. "Yes, please." She said, and Valkolumi rose and patted her on the shoulder.

"Shall we go somewhere more comfortable then?" she urged, and Sakura nodded before leading the way to the living room.

"YES!"

Sakura sighed and shook her head, before taking a stroll around her living room, finally coming to a halt before a set of pictures on top of shelves. Narrowing her eyes, Sakura surveyed them and those mounted on the surrounding walls. Many were black and whites, dating back to her grandfather's time, while others were more modern.

Bitterness tasted heavy as she saw her…mother's, visage among them, along with grief at her father and sister's images. Fists clenched as she saw them standing together, along with her and…

Sakura sighed again, and shook her head. "We'll have to fix that." She muttered.

"My lady?" a nearby maid asked.

"Hmm…oh yes, good timing," Sakura said, turning to the maid. "While you're polishing the picture frames, please remove the pictures inside and set them aside for my perusal. And not just the ones in this room. Every last one in the house, so pass the word along. Some changes need to be done here, many overdue, but all necessary."

"Yes, of course my lady." The maid said with a bow. "It will be done."

Sakura nodded, and turned back to the wall before nodding again. "One more thing," she said before pointing at a picture of Aoi Zenjou standing alone in her wedding dress. "See this woman? I don't want to see her anymore. If there's any picture where she's all by herself, get rid of it."

"Y-yes, as you say my lady." The maid answered with another bow. "Might I ask who she is?"

"You have asked, and you will receive no answer."

"Please accept my apologies."

Sakura waved it off before turning back to the wall, and after a few moments nodded. "Keep the picture frames though." She said. "I have some pictures that could use them, and of someone better suited to grace my house than that woman."

"It will be done, my lady."

Sakura left the Tohsaka property, the outer grounds also busy with gardeners and landscapers hard at work at making the outer grounds just as suitable for a lady of good breeding as the mansion was. Content to leave them and her other servants to their work, Sakura went to see her cousin. She crossed the street, to the property exactly opposite her own…and she was there.

Like the Tohsaka property, the Edelfelt property bustled with gardeners and landscapers, and even plumbers working to fix a fountain on the front yard. Scaffolding had been erected along the exterior, workers hard at work fixing up the facade with others walking on or busying themselves on the roof.

Inside, maids in green dresses under white caps and aprons were going to and fro, sweeping the floor, dusting the walls, ceilings, and furniture, wiping windows, books, pictures and their frames, even candelabra and chandeliers among others. Curtains were taken down and washed, mattresses and pillows taken out to be aired, carpets pulled out to be sent for dry cleaning, and many other things beside needed to make the Edelfelt mansion livable again. Even more so than Sakura's own house: it might have unused for years, but the Edelfelt mansion? It had been decades since anyone had stepped foot inside, much less lived in it.

Sakura blinked as she heard Luvia's irritated voice barking out commands and brushing aside protests and remarks contrary to her intent, and as she approached a sitting room a column of men in black and white business ensembles walked out. Noticing her, they stepped aside and bowed, Sakura acknowledging them with a nod, and at an inviting gesture from her went on their way. Once they were gone, Sakura entered Luvia's sitting room.

"So," Sakura began. "What's gotten you so worked up?"

"There's another Edelfelt property in this city." Luvia replied, setting down her teacup on its saucer. She invited Sakura to sit opposite, and gestured at a nearby maid to get Sakura something to drink.

"I'm aware of that." Sakura said with a nod. "You want it refurbished as well? Well, that's your decision to make, even if it is rather redundant. Just on principle?"

"Yes." Luvia said, sitting back on her armchair. "Is that so wrong?"

"What?" Sakura said, also sitting back on her armchair. "Doing things on principle is rather expected for magi, isn't it? Of course it's not wrong…by our standards, at least."

The cousins shared a smile, before Luvia leaned forward and taking her teacup took a sip. "However," she said while replacing it back on its saucer. "That's not what's gotten me so worked up. It's more that someone's been squatting on my property, that's all."

"…what?"

Luvia tapped her fingers on her armrest. "Apparently," she said. "Enforcer McRemitz used the other Edelfelt property as her base of operations during the war. Without permission, I might add."

"That's rather rude, don't you think?" Sakura said with a smile. "No, more than that, it could be…misunderstood, that she has connections with Edelfelt, and that her participation during the war while based on your property seen as a product of such. It could become problematic in many ways."

"Quite," Luvia agreed with a nod, as the maid from before arrived and placed a teacup on its saucer before Sakura. A serving of milk followed, and with a bow the maid walked off to take her place along a nearby wall. "I've already ordered that a…complaint, be filed with the enforcer office on McRemitz's actions, along with a demand for compensation."

"Compensation?" Sakura echoed, while pouring milk into her tea. Ignoring the honey and sugar containers on the table, she stirred her tea with a teaspoon before picking up the teacup and taking a sip. "Isn't that going too far? No…that's not quite right…rather, do you really expect to get anything?"

"Probably not," Luvia admitted. "Father's currently in London after all, doing damage control on all the trouble that madman Matou has stirred up for us all. He, along with the enforcer office, will probably want to quietly sweep this matter under the rug with no undue complications. McRemitz would probably just get a reprimand, that's all."

"And are you satisfied with that?"

"No." Luvia said. "But what we want, and what we get in life, are hardly one and the same thing."

"True enough," Sakura said with a nod, and taking another sip. "Speaking of the Matou issue, once refurbishing of our properties are complete, would you like join me speaking with Emiya and Einzbern?"

"What exactly do you plan to do?"

"Invite them for tea in my house." Sakura said. "This is my territory, after all. They should be the ones coming to me, not the other way around."

Luvia nodded her approval a few times. "Quite right," she said. "Do you think they will come?"

"I think they would." Sakura said with a small smile. "The invitation will be on the pretext of discussing the events of the war…but I'll eventually steer it to the matter of Emiya's squatting on my territory. Einzbern's long had a presence on my family's territory, up to and including a property and residence of their own on the outskirts. That's no problem…Emiya though…"

"Careful," Luvia advised. "He's the son of the Magus Killer, after all."

"Don't worry," Sakura reassured Luvia. "I'm not planning on starting or picking a fight. I just need to follow the formalities and all, and besides, for disposing of Matou's flesh golem and patching up the Masquerade…I think I could count that as…time served, for squatting, yes?"

Luvia chuckled and nodded, and then reaching forward took her teacup and took a drink. "Is that all you will be discussing?" she asked.

"Perhaps," Sakura answered thoughtfully.

"Oh?"

Sakura didn't answer at once, instead reaching forward to take her teacup and take a drink for herself. "Have you ever heard of the saying," she began. "That the best place to hide a tree in is in the forest?"

"Yes, I have."

"Good," Sakura said. "Because while it's probably nothing, the possibility does exist that Zouken Matou might have doubled-back and given Enforcer McRemitz – to say nothing of the Church Executors after his head – the slip, and bunkered down on the Matou property. If he is…then he needs to be evicted, sooner or later."

"If he is there," Luvia said. "We'll have to be careful. A magus is strongest in their workshop, and if Zouken Matou really has holed up in his house…he'll be right next to it, and will want to fight us in it."

"It's going to be an uphill battle." Sakura admitted. "Which is why if things go well during our meeting, I'd like to hopefully invite Emiya and Einzbern to join us in…dealing, with Matou."

Luvia raised an eyebrow at the meaningful pause in Sakura's sentence. "The Association wants him alive for questioning, remember?" she pointed out, and Sakura shrugged.

"Battlefields are dangerous places." She said, and Luvia burst out laughing.

"They are." She agreed. "You do realize though, that if they join in, we'll likely have to divide the spoils between us."

"Considering all the trouble Matou must have caused them during the war," Sakura said. "I think they deserve compensation. Einzbern, especially: I believe I told you in the past of my hypothesis on the Grail system growing…unstable."

"You did."

"I imagine Matou's…sabotage, by making and using a fake, flawed, and unstable Lesser Grail would have made said instability in the system even worse." Sakura said. "And the Einzbern were the ones who actually built it, we just provided the land and Matou the means to power it."

"I see your point." Luvia said with a nod. "Certainly, Einzbern does deserve compensation from Matou for sabotaging a masterpiece of their magecraft. And if they help in dealing with Zouken Matou…why not get it then and there?"

Sakura nodded, but Luvia looked thoughtful for a moment. "Though," she asked. "What if Zouken Matou isn't there?"

"If he isn't," Sakura said with a smile. "Then he isn't. But what is there is there, and if so, then we should do as Edelfelt ought to do. Of course, Einzbern and her Emiya is free to join in as well, if they want to."

Luvia laughed and nodded. "True," she said, taking her teacup and raising it in a toast to Sakura. "Very well, I think I'll join you when you do go and have Einzbern and Emiya over for tea. If nothing else, even if they turn out to be hostile – which I doubt for a couple of reasons – then you won't have to deal with them on your own."

"Quite," Sakura said, raising her own teacup and returning Luvia's toast.

The setting Sun lit the sky gold and orange as a car drove up a street at a cemetery, slowing to a halt to park at the curb. The driver quickly stepped out, and coming around opened the passenger-side door to allow Sakura to exit. "Thank you." She said, carrying two bouquets of chrysanthemums with her. "Wait here, I won't take too long."

"Yes my lady."

Sakura nodded and strolled off, the driver closing the door behind her. She walked in silence, up the stone steps and then down a stone path, rank upon rank of tombstones marching along the hillsides on either side of her. At a certain point she stepped off the path, walking over the grassy ground for some distance before finally reaching a place where all the tombstones – with one and just one exception – had one common name among them.

Tohsaka.

Sakura ignored them for the most part, for all that they were all her relatives. Maybe later she'd bring flowers for them, but today…today she'd come to visit two people and two people alone.

Chrysanthemums were laid over the graves of Tokiomi and Rin Tohsaka, before Sakura sank down, seated before their graves with her legs folded beneath her. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" she asked with a small smile. "Sorry I haven't visited for so long, but Finland's just too far away to visit regularly."

Sakura paused and chuckled. Afterwards, she fell silent, just sitting there in the failing light with only the sound of the breeze to be heard.

"I'm terrible, aren't I?" Sakura asked, rubbing her face. "I've spent so much time in Finland, with our Edelfelt relatives, people who don't share the same names we do, that here and now…"

Sakura trailed off, and shaking her head sighed. "Here and now," she said. "I can't seem to shed any tears for you two, even though…inside…I…"

The wind briefly stilled and then picked up, Sakura sighing once more. "Sorry, father…onee-chan," she said. "I'm such a terrible person."

Sakura lowered her head and closed her eyes with a sad smile on her face. The wind died, silence and stillness ruling for several moments before Sakura raised her head and opened her eyes. "Though," she said. "It's the thought that counts, doesn't it?"

There was no answer, and Sakura sighed again. "Or…maybe…I'm just trying to convince myself that that's the case…?" she said. "I do know though, that you'd be more concerned that everything our family has done, was doing, and would have done, wouldn't end with you. Isn't that right, father?"

Again, there was no answer, but after a moment Sakura nodded slowly. "You always were a magus first and foremost, weren't you father?" she asked. "And if I remember right…so were you, onee-chan."

Sakura sighed and nodded. "Then," she said. "You can rest easy. I'm not sure if you'd approve of Aunt Valkolumi personally – though I will dare to say you were a fool to turn her away father – but as a magus…she's given me everything you'd have hoped and wanted me to have, and I know you wouldn't be disappointed if you could see me now."

The wind picked up, and after a moment bowing her head with eyes closed, Sakura got to her feet. Sweeping some loose strands of hair from her eyes, she smiled down at the two graves before her. "Once business here is settled, I'll be heading over to the Clock Tower." She said. "And when I come back…I'll definitely be someone you'd be proud of, father…onee-chan."

Sakura bowed low, and then rising turned to look at the other Tohsaka graves around her. "I'll be back before I leave." She said. "I'll bring flowers and incense, so until then…"

Trailing off, Sakura walked away, but as she left the Tohsaka plots behind her, she paused and turned, and again bowed low. Her respects paid for the present, Sakura turned and left as the Sun dipped below the horizon.

"My lady," a maid said while walking into a small parlor where Luvia was sitting at a table. "Lady Tohsaka is here."

"Send her in then."

"Yes."

Several moments later and Sakura was shown in, Luvia gesturing her to a seat before pouring white wine for them both. "How'd your trip to your relatives go?" she asked.

"About as well as might be expected." Sakura said, taking her wineglass and toasting Luvia before taking a drink.

"You don't need any…comfort?"

Sakura smiled and shrugged. "I'm stronger than that…I think." She said, before taking another drink.

Luvia raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, even as a maid arrived and placed a platter of cold meats before them before bowing and leaving. "You should visit yourself, though." Sakura said. "My grandmother's grave is there, and she is your grand-aunt. And the only one there whose tombstone doesn't have 'Tohsaka' as part of their name."

"I think I'll do just that when I have the time." Luvia said with a nod. "Oh yes, that's right. We'll have another guest joining us tonight, one Caren Ortensia, the Overseer of the Holy Grail War."

Sakura paused swirling her wine, and then slowly lowered the wineglass to the table. "The Overseer will be joining us?" she asked.

"Yes, that's right." Luvia said with a nod. "Is there a problem?"

"Not as such," Sakura said with a smile. "But is there a reason she is being so friendly? Or were you the one to invite her?"

"I did invite her to join us for dinner." Luvia said. "But I didn't contact her. She arrived to see you while you were out visiting your relatives, and came to see me instead. Apparently she wanted to talk to you about the previous Holy Grail War. But since it was getting late, I decided she might as well join us over dinner while discussing what needs to be discussed."

"I see." Sakura said, again picking up her wine glass and taking a drink. Moments later another maid appeared, and introduced the Overseer. As she entered the room, Sakura raised an eyebrow at the platinum-blonde, golden-eyed young priestess. "Caren Ortensia, I presume? It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Tohsaka." Caren said with a polite bow before sitting down, Luvia politely pouring her some wine. Caren nodded her thanks while accepting the glass, before turning to Sakura. "I must say our meeting has long been delayed. I had expected to meet you shortly before or during the war."

"My apologies for disappointing you." Sakura said, placing a table napkin on her lap before taking a sausage from the platter before her and putting it on her plate.

"Forgive and forget, as the Lord says," Caren said with a small bow. "That said, I am rather curious. Why did you not participate in the Holy Grail War? Of course, it was your prerogative to choose whether or not to participate, but as the last of one of the founding families, I'd have expected you'd…feel, obliged to join."

"That is a reasonable assumption." Sakura said while cutting into her sausage. The conversation stilled as Sakura placed a slice in her mouth and chewed before swallowing. "However, as you yourself said, I am the last of my family. There's too much to risk for too little gain for me to join the war."

"I see." Caren said, also taking a sausage from the platter of cold meats in front of them. "But, I was under the impression that magi were unafraid of death."

"So we are," Sakura agreed, and paused to take a drink. "But only in pursuit of our ultimate goal, that is to reach the Root. As useful as a wish-machine is, the Holy Grail cannot actually open a path to the Root, and can only grant wishes within the limitations of the World. Thus, risking my life for something that does not contribute to the ultimate goal of my family, to say nothing of my death ending my entire family's legacy all at once, is not something I can do."

"I see." Caren said, nodding while cutting into her sausage. The three young women ate in silence for a while, and then taking a drink from a glass of water beside her Caren resumed. "Your reasoning is sound, and in hindsight, it seems I've assumed ill of you to an extent: please accept my apologies."

Sakura bowed slightly in acknowledgment, and then Luvia spoke up. "I have to say though, Overseer," she said. "You surprise me."

"How so?"

"You are one year younger than Sakura, are you not?" Luvia asked. "And yet, even though you are even younger than she is, you were tasked with overseeing the Heaven's Feel ritual."

"With respect," Caren said. "Is that really a matter for you to question me on?"

"What?"

"While you are two years older than I am," Caren continued. "I can assume that as a member, no, more than that, the heiress of the Edelfelt Clan, you are not unbloodied. Furthermore, Miss Tohsaka here is only a year older than I am, and yet despite her reasoning, it would have been equally reasonable for her to have joined in the Holy Grail War despite her age. The same would go for Mister Emiya and Miss Einzbern."

"A fair point," Luvia admitted. "Though in my case, it's just that my father and the rest of the clan leaders considered my…abilities, sufficient to enter the…family business, as it was, despite my age, and begin filling my portfolio in preparation for…various, expectations of me in the future."

"Ah," Caren said, slowly nodding. "As it is, the same goes for yours truly."

"Oh?"

Caren nodded, though she paused to finish chewing and swallowing before replying. "Just like you," she said. "My abilities were judged by my superiors in the Church hierarchy to be sufficient for the responsibility of overseeing the Holy Grail War."

"I see."

The three young women ate in silence for a long while after that, only resuming to speak when the empty platter of cold meats was removed along with their dirty plates and silverware, the latter replaced with clean ones while bowls of hot, freshly-cooked clam chowder were placed before them. "We've read the final reports on the Holy Grail War," Sakura began while sampling her soup. "How it developed, and how it ended…I don't mean to disparage either your abilities or your superiors' judgment, but it seems things went quite out of control, did they not?"

Caren briefly paused at those words, while Luvia smiled, masking it by taking a drink at the same time. "Admittedly true," Caren said. "However, there were no indications that Zouken Matou would commit such an act of…treachery."

"Yes," Luvia said with a slow nod. "It caught us all by surprise too."

"Regardless," Caren continued. "The matter was ultimately dealt with, though it won't be closed until Zouken Matou has been apprehended and subjected to the judgment of the Church."

"Execution…?"

"Yes," Caren said with a nod. "The Holy Grail War, or Heaven's Feel, or whatever you wish to call it, is the responsibility of the Church to ensure the…proper, reenactment of. Thanks to his actions, we failed in part, and the outcome could have been so much worse. Therefore, it is only meet that he be made to suffer the consequences of his actions, and be made an example of, before others follow in his footsteps in similar matters."

"There is no question on any of that," Luvia said. "That said, there is something of a…conflict, of interest, in this matter."

"Conflict of interest, you say?"

"The Mages Association," Luvia said, swirling the wine in her glass. "As you may know, wishes for Zouken Matou to be brought in for questioning."

"I am aware." Caren said with a nod, pausing to take a couple of spoons of soup. "But, we are not under the Association's authority. That said, we do not wish for conflict to erupt between our two organizations. It would benefit neither of us, and we both have plenty of enemies who would not hesitate to take advantage of such an outcome. Therefore, should the Association manage to bring Zouken Matou into custody…then we will of course accept the Association's verdict on the matter. But until then or otherwise, then we will act as we deem proper."

"I see."

Silence again fell as the women continued to eat, and finishing their soup moved on to the next course. Breaded fish and fried chips followed the clam chowder, and another bottle of white wine was opened. "Overseer Ortensia," Sakura began while slicing into her fish. "If I may ask two questions?"

"I am of course willing to entertain your questions, Miss Tohsaka." Caren said. "Any number in fact."

"Then," Sakura said. "Might I ask if you are…acquainted, well enough to judge the characters of the former Masters?"

"At the risk of sounding presumptuous," Caren said. "I daresay I can to a degree."

"Then," Sakura continued. "Would you be willing to tell us about the characters of Shirou Emiya and Illyasviel von Einzbern?"

"But of course," Caren said with a nod. "What do you wish to know?"

A/N

There's a certain irony in Sakura's visit to the graveyard, especially considering Tokiomi and Rin would be rolling in their graves considering Valkolumi was behind everything that happened to them both. Okay, Tokiomi dying was not planned by Valkolumi at all, but still…