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

Purified by Fire, Dancing with Fairies

Epilogue Part 2

Lights shimmered across the darkened space, a hologram of Xiaolang Li flickering into solidity. A moment later and he sank to one knee, head bowed. "I exist to serve." He formally said.

"You may raise your head." Gilgamesh commanded. "I grant you leave to speak with and report to your king."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Xiaolang said, raising his head as commanded. The throne room was a vast, circular space, the floor and ceiling alike paneled with hexagonal segments of black marble polished to a mirror-like sheen. The walls in the distance were all made from glass-faced acrylic, able to withstand the force of winds and storms alike at this height, while providing a clear view of the Himalayas as far as the eye could see.

It was a breathtaking sight, but one which Xiaolang had no interest in, at least not at this time.

Here and now, all his attention was where it should be, with the Master of Mankind on his throne before him.

The throne was surprisingly-simple, just lacquered wood with crimson upholstery. Then again, the same could be said for the man seated on it, for all that he was tall and well-built, with hair the color of gold and eyes as red as blood. His clothes too were deceptively-simple, just a plain, short-sleeved shirt of bleached cotton over matching trousers, though his slippers glinted with light reflecting off gold.

"Kirei Kotomine is dead." Xiaolang said. "I personally beheaded him, and bore witness to the destruction of the so-called Holy Grail of Fuyuki City."

"Excellent work," Gilgamesh said with a smile. "Kirei Kotomine had his uses in times past, but ultimately he was of singular purpose, whose loyalty was only to himself. And while there were ways to bend him to our purpose, he was also a man marked by a dead god dreaming."

"As you say, Your Majesty." Xiaolang said. "I saw it for myself through the wounds I inflicted on him. His blood was as black as mud, if not darker."

"No doubt," Gilgamesh agreed. "The dead god dreaming which had marked Kirei Kotomine as one of its own was once worshipped by the Aryans as the god of evil. It only stands to reason that his very essence would have been saturated with its corruption."

"As you say, Your Majesty." Xiaolang said before bowing his head once more. "On another note, I express my humble apologies for the deaths of the rest of my cabal. As the leader of the cabal, I accept full responsibility for their deaths, and the loss of your servants."

Gilgamesh slowly rose from his throne, and approached a couple of steps. "As you rightly should." He said with a nod. "And it speaks well of you that you would know and understand this of your own volition."

"I am unworthy of your praise, Your Majesty."

"Are you?" Gilgamesh asked with an amused tone. "No matter how I look at it, responsibility for their deaths has already been taken. Kirei Kotomine is dead. The vessel through which a dead god dreaming sought to be reborn into this world and defile Mankind's cradle has been destroyed."

Gilgamesh paused, turning to walk several steps closer to one of the walls, and look through it at the snow and ice-capped peaks of the Himalayas, basking in the light of the Sun. "The tasks I set out for you and yours have been accomplished." He said. "Their deaths were not in vain. There is no further responsibility to be taken."

"Your Majesty…you honor me with your mercy…" Xiaolang said, bowing even lower before raising his head.

Gilgamesh just hummed while slowly returning to his throne, and sitting down, crossed his legs. "Have you anything further to report?" he asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Xiaolang said. "The Tohsaka and Matou lineages of magi have been destroyed, and by the hands of the same person. That is, the heir to the so-called Magus Killer, Kiritsugu Emiya."

"Yes…Ayame Emiya…" Gilgamesh thoughtfully said. A gesture brought a holographic display to life along one of the throne's armrests, and pressing a button the King of Heroes brought up Ayame's dossier. "…she shows much promise, does she not?"

"I would agree…whether as an ally or an enemy…" Xiaolang said with a bow.

"Hmm…we shall see…" Gilgamesh said, eyes narrowed at the picture of Ayame on her dossier. The King of Heroes rang a finger over his chin in thought, his thoughts following the infinitely-snaking paths of the future-present. "…judgment must be passed only once all scales have been weighed in balance, with all aspects accounted for. Anything less would be unjust, and thus beyond countenance."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Xiaolang said with a bow. "As you say."

"It is a shame though," Gilgamesh mused. "That she summoned a different form of the King of Knights. A queen would have been a most useful addition to our ranks, if not an indispensable one."

Xiaolang stayed silent, Gilgamesh continuing after a few moments. "For now though," he said. "She does seem to be an ally by default. She cleansed our cradle of a walking disease and its spawn, and put a mad bitch of a dog down. And the path she seems most likely to follow at this point in time appears to follow the trend."

Xiaolang still stayed silent, and Gilgamesh gestured in a commanding fashion. "We will continue with surveillance of her, along with other, potentially-valuable individuals." He said. "There is no reason to take more active action with regard to her at this time."

"Forgive me, Your Majesty." Xiaolang said with a bow. "But I may have let slip to her about your existence."

"Hmm…to what extent?" Gilgamesh asked.

"She now knows that one calling himself the King of Heroes walks the Earth," Xiaolang said. "And that I killed Kirei Kotomine at your behest. That is all, Your Majesty…that, and she would have me relay her gratitude for the assistance."

Gilgamesh laughed. "Is that all?" he said. "Such knowledge is a trifle, and of little concern. Her gratitude though is most impressive…yes, she may truly be valuable after all."

"As you say, Your Majesty." Xiaolang said while bowing his head.

Gilgamesh gestured dismissively. "If there is nothing more beyond the details of what you've told me in your written report," he said. "Then you may go. Miranda will coordinate with you in rebuilding your cabal, and brief you on your next assignment."

"As you command, Your Majesty." Xiaolang said, before his hologram flickered out.

For several long minutes afterwards, Gilgamesh silently sat on his throne, eyes distant as his thoughts traced the future-present once more. Then blinking, he returned to reality, and gestured for his control panel.

Pressing an icon, lights flickered once more as holograms came to life, displaying before the Master of Mankind hundreds of news channels from around the world. A chatter of hundreds of voices in just as many languages accompanied the reports on events happening worldwide at this time.

Opening a portal to the Gate of Babylon, Gilgamesh removed a golden cup brimming with wine, and taking a sip smiled as he easily took in all the events of the world around him at the same time. Of course he could. He was the Lord of the Earth and Master of Mankind, after all.

And he had to stay on top of things, the better to guide the world, and Humanity, to their rightful conclusion, at the end of the Golden Path.

Sitting back in his throne while swirling the wine in his cup, Gilgamesh regarded the world around him with a measuring and purposeful eye.

So many things to do. So little time.

"Make sure to properly package and catalog all the retrieved items." Luviagelita 'Luvia' Edelfelt commanded. "If any are missing on our return to Europe, then collective punishment will be leveled on charges of theft and looting. Am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the men assembled before her smartly said, before she gestured sharply.

They scurried off at that, to remove everything of value from what had once been the Tohsaka mansion. Over the next few hours, works of art, hardwood furniture, silks, linens, and brocades, decorations made from bronze or gilded metal were removed, meticulously-cataloged, and then packed away.

Luvia personally oversaw the removal and packaging of the Tohsaka library, and on finishing looked on silently as five Enforcers including two from Lorelei Barthomeloi's own Chelon Canticle Brigade, brought out with them the salvage from the Tohsaka workshop. Glancing regretfully at the chest supposedly-enchanted by the Wizard Marshal himself, Luvia sighed and moved on with her acquisitions, knowing better than to challenge the College of Law's claims.

Elsewhere, Ayame and Sella walked through the increasingly-empty corridors of the mansion. The former had started growing her hair out over the past few months, where once it was cut into a bob, it now spilled down over her shoulders. Here and now too, she wore the apparel of the Black and White Magician, sans her hat.

Sella walked a step behind Ayame's right, wearing her uniform sans the cap, her long, platinum-blonde hair worn in a long ponytail behind her. "Did you hear?" Ayame was asking. "Apparently they're going to leave me the empty husk of this place to me after they finish cleaning it out. As if I don't already have a house of my own to take care of!"

"I suspect you already have a plan in mind, my lady." Sella said.

"Hmm…once the people from the Association are gone," Ayame said. "We'll go over this place for anything they might have missed. We wouldn't any surprises, pleasant or otherwise, to be left in this place, would we now?"

"Yes, my lady."

"And once that's done," Ayame said with a grin. "I'm selling this place. The mansion aside, the land it stands on and around it is quite big. Do you know how much land costs per square meter these days? It's not that I'm short on cash or anything, but I'll be damned if I don't get myself more than a few zeros on a check for this place."

"I'll be sure to check on real estate values once we're done for the day." Sella said.

Ayame nodded in agreement. "After all the trouble Tohsaka caused in the war," she said. "I think it's only fair I get something back."

Sella nodded in agreement, and then both were falling silent as they saw Luvia approaching. The Edelfelt magus didn't speak to them though, hurrying along as she was, though she nodded politely at them as she passed. Ayame and Sella nodded back, and then resumed their conversation once Luvia was out of earshot.

"If I may speak freely, my lady?" she asked.

"Go ahead."

"It's ironic, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"How this whole affair started and came to an end." Sella said. "Over a hundred and fifty years ago, two arch-magi and a local lord banded together to craft a means by which they would make their dreams reality. And over the next century and a half, their families repeatedly used deception to ensure the bloodshed and ruin they needed to finish their great work, even going so far as to butcher, betray, and twist their own blood to achieve their ends."

"…hmm…not sure if irony is the right word there…" Ayame said.

Sella smiled. "Two archi-magi and a local lord…" she said. "By all accounts they were the cream of the crop of their generation, paragons of society and examples to look up to and emulate."

"Ah…I see…" Ayame said with a matching smile and a laugh. "Yes…how very ironic…they were so high and mighty, so very admirable…but for all the blood on their hands…"

"Hmm…and the one who ended their work and its bitter legacy was an upstart nobody fighting to simply keep the past from being repeated. No offense…"

"None taken…" Ayame said with a nod. "And I agree. Just goes to show that the old proverb holds true: gold and jade on the outside, but all rot and decay on the inside. A fitting epitaph, for three accursed families: Tohsaka, Matou, and Einzbern."

"Their time is over." Sella agreed. "Now it's your turn, my lady."

"So it would seem…" Ayame agreed with a solemn tone. "And I'll be sure to do better."

"I'm sure you will, my lady."

Purified by Fire, Dancing with Fairies

The End

A/N

And here's the conclusion. Gilgamesh finally makes his appearance, while Edelfelt and the College of Law pick over Tohsaka's carcass for anything of value, and leaving the bones to Ayame.

Yes, Einzbern also commits mass suicide in this timeline, except for Sella, who as per Illya's last command, now serves Ayame.