Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, names, and any copyrighted material used in this work. This is a fanfic, period. Everything belongs to their respective owners. Comments and constructive criticism are all very much appreciated.

Shadowed Sisters

Prologue

Kiritsugu Emiya hit the floor hard, a homunculus' foot planted on his back pressing him down and with at least half-a-dozen rhenium alloy blades placed at his neck and around his face. Slow clapping filled his ears, and the already broken man felt despair and terror grip his heart.

"You are truly an incredible man, Kiritsugu Emiya." Jubstacheit von Einzbern said with mocking respect in his voice. "Not only have you the audacity to return to this place after your betrayal, you actually have the gall to attempt to attempt to bargain with us!"

Jubstacheit laughed loud and hard, and turned to another homunculus who held fast onto a silent and unflinching girl in tattered winter attire, her purple eyes empty and her face expressionless. "I must applaud you for actually daring to break into that fool Makiri's home and take his prize as an asset to be exchanged for your daughter." He continued. "Whether or not it will be enough remains to be seen however."

At a gesture another homunculus stepped forward and began a series of tests on the girl. "Forty A-rank magic circuits…" the homunculus reported. "…no elemental affinities, but sorcery trait detected: Imaginary Numbers. Origin…"

Jubstacheit waved the artificial woman down, and turned to Kiritsugu with a nasty smirk on his face. "A marvelous specimen indeed…" he said. "…but it's not even close to what is needed to ransom your daughter. Let's see…what will be sufficient…ah yes: nothing! You forfeited all rights to even see her from the moment that you betrayed us! Now get out of my sight! At the very least you have earned your life by bringing this child here, but never return or I will kill you myself!"

The homunculi hauled Kiritsugu to his feet and dragged him away shouting and raging impotently. Jubstacheit sneered as the man was taken away, and turned back to the child. "Your name girl…?"

"…Sakura…Matou…"

Jubstacheit scoffed. "A foreign name…" he said. "…one I refuse to allow to be spoken in these ancestral halls. And you are tainted…if you are to be of use to us then you must first be cleansed and be given a proper name."

The old man strode off with an imperious gesture, the homunculi leading the girl in a different direction. "Purify the girl…" he commanded. "…we shall see if she survives or not, and then we can make use of her."

The girl lay naked on a slab of metal, surrounded by spider-like mechanical constructs with tool-ended limbs. "Subject has been analyzed." A homunculus reported to the alchemist in charge of purification. "Purification procedures may begin as planned."

The man nodded, and pressed the activation rune on the bronze-inlaid wooden panel before him. Holographic displays came to life around him, displaying the girl's vital signs, information from the sensor and medical constructs, as well as a conceptual diagram of the girl's body. "Commence purification." He said.

The constructs sprang to life, plunging syringes into the girl's body and injecting a blue serum into her blood vessels. The effect was immediate: the girl's body began to twitch and spasm violently, cuts and gashes ripping open on their own volition across her body to weep black ichor.

The alchemist had to give the girl credit: despite the terrible agony of the purification procedure – anesthesia would have rendered the serum useless hence it wasn't used – her face remained stoic as her body seemingly destroyed itself. Sliding his hands into a pair of gauntlets linked to the controls panel by an array of wires, he activated the surgical instruments and proceeded to cut into the girl's body.

An hour later and Jubstacheit strode into the control alcove. "How goes the operation?" he asked, observing the bloody girl below as a homunculus took away a receptacle filled with dead Matou familiars.

"It goes well." The alchemist replied. "Her blood is clean, and her organs are functional. There is considerable trauma from the procedure, but nothing the regeneration serum won't fix later on."

Jubstacheit nodded as the alchemist deftly maneuvered and inserted into the girl's body a series of syringes that began to pump her with synthesized blood. "A transfusion…?" he asked.

"Blood loss was significant." The alchemist answered. "Furthermore the integration of the Makiri familiars into her magic circuits meant that there is significant damage during removal. As such I'm implanting ether crystal substitutes to stabilize and compensate. However chemical modification and even follow-up surgery may prove necessary in the future."

"Understandable…"

"What use will you make of her?" the alchemist asked as he began to fuse the ether crystals into her magic circuits and nerves.

"…she is a tabula rasa." Jubstacheit replied. Strictly-speaking the man was being overly-familiar by asking such a question, were it not for the fact that he was only a 'mere' alchemist because he had refused repeated offers of higher rank in Jubstacheit's inner circle. As one of his older and more trusted associates, the Einzbern lord granted him much leeway. "The experiment with Irisviel and Emiya was not a complete failure. They did reach the final stage of the Heaven's Feel. The problem was however that Emiya's foolish adherence to his ideals of justice and other such nonsense."

"I see…" the alchemist said with an understanding nod. "…you intend for her to assist Illyasviel in the next Heaven's Feel ritual."

"That is correct."

"Should I prepare for mind-wipe and neural reprogramming then?"

"That won't be necessary."

The alchemist blinked in surprise, sheer skill preventing him from making a potentially-fatal mistake in the girl's magical surgery. "With respect, I do not understand my lord." He said.

"The girl – Kirsche – is of comparable physical age as Illyasviel." Jubstacheit explained. "I will leave imprinting onto her. She will be loyal to Illyasviel, and Illyasviel will be loyal to me. Both will be loyal to Einzbern."

"I see."

Jubstacheit smiled at the man's decision to not make any sycophantic additions to his words, and coldly watched as the purification ritual came to an end. The probes and syringes were withdrawn, and regeneration serum was injected into the girl and causing her body to seal itself without the smallest scarring. "Should I sedate her, my lord?" the alchemist asked.

Jubstacheit nodded. "Sedate her, and then have the homunculi clean her up." He ordered. "Have them dress her appropriately as well once she wakes up. She may not be of blood and she is a mere tool much like little Illyasviel, but an Einzbern is an Einzbern and must always look the part."

"Yes my lord."

Illyasviel von Einzbern blinked as her grandfather arrived accompanied by a servant who was leading an expressionless and black-haired girl into her quarters. "Grandfather…" she began. "…who's that?"

"This is your sister, Kirsche von Einzbern." Jubstacheit said without preamble. "She will be your responsibility Illya, and the same will go for her in time. There will be no training for either of you in the near future, the better for you to learn about each other. This is of great importance, as you will both be going to Japan when the time comes."

Illyasviel blinked again at the reminder of the Heaven's Feel, and after giving her a cool smile and a pat on the head Jubstacheit and the servant both left her alone with her new sister. "Well…" Illya began hesitantly while looking the girl over. She didn't look like an Einzbern, but she felt…different. "…I suppose we should get along. Grandfather did say that we're sisters, even if we don't look alike. My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern, but you can just call me Illya."

Kirsche blinked and bowed in response to Illyasviel. "Hello…" she said tonelessly. "…I…I'm Kirsche von Einzbern."

Illya scowled. "What's with that reaction?" she asked irritably. "Aren't you supposed to smile or something when introducing yourself?"

Kirsche flinched and Illya's eyes widened in surprise. "I…I…I'm sorry…" the girl stammered out. "…but…I…I don't know…how to smile anymore."

Illya didn't say anything, and merely settled for reaching out with both hands and feeling her sister's face. She stared into Kirsche's lifeless, blue eyes…and slowly nodded. "I see…" she said softly. "…you're just like me, aren't you? You were…thrown away…left behind…just like Papa and Mama left me behind."

"I…" the girl said as Illya pulled her into a comforting embrace. "…I…don't have…parents…or a sister…I was told…that it was better to forget that they ever existed."

"It's alright…" Illya whispered soothingly as they sank together to the floor. "…I'm here now. I'll be your sister. I won't you leave you alone. You can't smile…so I'll smile for the both of us, until the day you can smile again."

Kirsche's eyes widened as she pulled away from Illya, who smiled and felt her face again while looking into her eyes. "Can't you cry either?" she asked, and Kirsche shook her head.

"I…stopped crying long ago. Crying and screaming…they don't do anything…"

"You're right." Illya said much to Kirsche's surprise. "You're an Einzbern, and we don't scream or cry. As grandfather told me, if you have time to scream or cry, then shouldn't you use that time to make whoever is hurting you pay for it?"

Kirsche was silent, and Illya pulled her into another embrace while rubbing her back. "You…I…we are not alone anymore." Illya said. "We…we'll become stronger together, until the time comes when no one can hurt us anymore."

Kirsche closed her eyes and returned Illya's embrace, and cried for the first time in a long while. "…yes…yes…Illya…"

Illya just smiled and let her sister cry into her shoulder while holding her comfortingly.

A/N

The final re-write of Purple and Black. Nothing else to say for now.