Welcome to part 2 of Parallels! Sorry for the wait; this chapter just didn't flow the way I wanted it to for a good few days… Fun fact: I rewatched the Ufotable UBW Episode 15 about 4 times to get the inspiration for this chapter. Kalafina's Ring Your Bell (in the silence) was stuck in my head while writing this. It was agonizing.

So… Yeah. Enjoy!

Illya sat on a bench in a park, watching the child in front of her play. She had places to be, people waiting for her, and was generally interested in staying alive – all valid reasons for leaving this place and going home. And yet, despite all those reasons, she stayed put on the bench without moving.

"… Hey," she said at last.

"Hmm? What?" the child trying to balance herself on a balancing beam asked.

"Can you let me go now?" she asked. Her limbs were completely stiff, and no matter how hard she tried she could not make them move. She was completely frozen and there was nothing she could do about it.

It had all happened far too quickly; one moment, she was walking out of a department store, and the next moment every single cell in her body was robbed of their freedom. The magus responsible, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, then proceeded to utter a single sentence and all of a sudden her body moved on its own, following her directions without hesitation. In no more than a minute, she had rendered Illya powerless, bending the child to her every whim.

And now, here she was, sitting in an unfamiliar park like a mannequin. She supposed using Ruby to transform was also an option, but she did not like her odds in a battle against that Berserker of hers. In short, there was no escape route for her outside of somehow convincing the magus to let her go.

"Sure," the girl, Illyasviel, replied. She was the splitting image of Illya, save for the difference in clothes. If a random person were to walk by right now, they would surely have confused them for being twins. If only they knew how terrifying she could be. "It's a simple spell anyway. Just dispel it and you can go."

"I can't," Illya explained. "I'm not a magus, so there's no way for me to-"

"Even though you're now a Master?" Illyasviel questioned. Even though her tone and expression had not changed, as she spoke those words her aura changed completely; in an instant, she became far more imposing than before, as though she was not the ten-year-old she appeared to be. It almost felt like she was actually older than Illya in that moment.

"T-that was an accident!" Illya exclaimed. "I really don't know anything about magecraft!"

Illyasviel opened her mouth, likely in order to voice her disbelief, only to shut it without a word. She hated being lied to, and anyone who ever dared to try and lie to her would be pummeled into oblivion without mercy. She could have done that to the fake in front of her – and should have done it, too – but for some unknown reason she actually believed her words.

"I-I won't run away," Illya promised. "Even if I run, your Servant… c-can catch me in a second, right?"

"Berserker's sleeping," Illyasviel replied before she could help herself. "He's not here. Though I could just call him here with a Command Seal if I want to. Or what; do you want him to be here so you can steal him from me like you did Lancer?"

"N-no!" Illya quickly denied. "I wouldn't do something like that! T-though I guess I kind of did…"

"Hmm…" Illyasviel hummed, looking at her like she was some weird specimen (which, from her angle, was true enough).

"So could you please let me go?" Illya tried again, cycling through all the possible excuses in her head. "I… um… need to go pick some flowers."

She was sure she heard Ruby do a 'facepalm' inside her hair.

"Flowers?" Illyasviel raised an eyebrow, her scarlet irises searching their immediate surroundings. "I don't see any flowers."

"I-it means I need to go to the bathroom!" Illya replied, going red in the face. Lame excuse aside, having to actually explain the expression was furthering her embarrassment.

"Huh? What do flowers and bathrooms have in common?" Illyasviel asked, looking genuinely confused.

"It's a Japanese expression!" Illya exclaimed. She could not tell if the girl was really that dense or if she was just messing with her. Either way, the strange mature vibe emanating from her seemingly disappeared then, leaving behind a young girl who had Kuro's attitude and Miyu's lack of everyday knowledge. Sort of. "Shouldn't you know this if you're a proper lady?!"

"Proper ladies don't need to be asked where they're headed," Illyasviel retorted. "They don't need childish expressions, either. Besides, isn't it enough to just say you want to go to the bathroom normally? Are you some little kid who gets embarrassed by something so trivial?"

She was getting needlessly worked up about a simple, inconsequential thing, and Illyasviel knew it. Despite that, against her better judgment, she refused to back down; there was an odd nagging in the back of her head telling her that she could not lose to this girl, whoever she was.

"Wha-" Illya stammered, unsure of how to respond to that. She even forgot about the state of paralysis she was in. "O-of course I'd be embarrassed! It's normal for an elementary schoolgirl like me to be embarrassed over something like that!"

"I'm only fine with being naked during my Magical Girl transformation scenes for fan service," Ruby whispered in her ears.

"I'm only fine with being naked during my Magical Girl-" Illya began, then stopped dead in her tracks. "What on earth are you making me say?!"

"… Magic?" Illyasviel echoed, completely ignoring the 'getting naked' part. "You expect me to believe that you're capable of performing True Magic when you can't even resist simple hypnosis?"

"True Magic?" Illya asked. "Is that any different from the magic Rin-san's been using all this time?"

"… Don't tell me," Illyasviel was actually starting to look annoyed. "You don't even know the difference between Magic and magecraft?"

"… Eh?" Illya blinked once. Twice. If she could move her head, she would have tilted it to one side. "There's a difference?"

"… I've changed my mind," Illyasviel declared, creating a moving, glowing bird from a strand of her hair. "I'll kill you now."

"W-w-wait!" Illya yelled in panic. "I-I don't know what's the problem here but calm down! M-Masters aren't allowed to fight in the daytime right?!"

"There're no people here, so it's fine," Illyasviel replied calmly. "Besides, even if someone does come along, I can just make them forget."

She's serious, Illya thought, unable to look away from the horror in front of her. She's really going to kill me.

"… You're doing it again."

Instead of sending the bird forward, Illyasviel instead returned it back to a single strand of hair, disappearing as abruptly as it had been summoned. Glaring at the petrified Illya, her murderous intent did die down a little, but there was still enough of it left for her to call out her Berserker.

"… Huh?" Illya asked, her mind completely blank.

"You were making that face again," Illyasviel clarified. "When Berserker was chasing you that night, when you tried to make me stop Berserker from killing Saber… and now. You were making that face. Why?"

"Why…?" Illya echoed. "Isn't it normal to be scared of being hurt or of dying…?"

"… 'Normal', huh," Illyasviel mused. She did not add on to that comment, but there was something in her tone that made it difficult for Illya to just ignore it.

The Holy Grail War.

Even though she was not physically there, Kuro's voice rang loudly in her ears. There was something in that voice that reminded Illya of Kuro, as though Illyasviel too rejected the idea of being 'normal'. And yet, there was something about this girl that was… different.

Illya and I were created for that grant ritual.

"Um…" she muttered, the terrible possibility she had been trying to ignore until now resurfacing in her head. "You… Are you…"

The Einzbern are no more. So there won't be another Holy Grail War.

"Were you created… for this Holy Grail War?"

"What're you talking about?" Illyasviel asked.

For a brief moment, Illya entertained a vague hope that she was wrong. Perhaps, even with the happening of a Grail War, there was a possibility that-

"Of course I am."

There was no despair in her voice. There was no will to fight back against the reality of her words. All there was in her voice, was simple resignation to her fate.

Like Illya and Kuro, she was created to be a part of the Holy Grail War. However, unlike either of them, she was actually being thrown into the very thing they were kept away from. There was no desire for a normal life like Kuro, nor was there a hint of wanting to return to something she once had like Illya.

She had nothing else besides this war, and she had nowhere to return to.

"What's with the response?" Illyasviel asked. "If you want to make stupid expressions, I'd appreciate it if you did it with a different face."

Illya offered her no reply. For a moment, Illyasviel wondered if her spell had somehow frozen her mouth as well. Instead of undoing the spell, however, she merely continued to observe the little girl. Under normal circumstances, she would have already gotten bored of her at this point, but there was still something about her that was still interesting.

"… Hey," she said at last. "You said something weird the last time we met, didn't you? Something about being from another world?"

There was no way she could believe something like that. After living her life up till this point, there was no way she could entertain something like that as a possibility. Yet, inexplicably, Illyasviel could not stop the words pouring from her lips.

"… Yeah," Illya replied, trying and failing to nod. "I-I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true! I don't know how it happened, but-"

"Was there a Holy Grail War in your world?"

"… Eh?" Illya blinked a few times in confusion, unable to immediately process the question. "Y-yes, there was, b-but…"

"But?" Illyasviel's tone was harsh, sharp. For the first time since their encounter, it felt like she was actually impatient to hear a response.

"But…" Illya hesitated for a few seconds. It was just a few seconds, but it took several hours for them to crawl by. "But Mama and Papa… put an end to it."

"… What's that supposed to mean?"

"Our – that is, Kuro and my – mother and father ended the war, so that we wouldn't have to fight," Illya explained. Even though it was the truth, and even though she had nothing to hide, the words burned like acid on her tongue. "So… the Holy Grail War… didn't happen."

"… Is that so."

"T-that's why there's no need for us to fight," Illya tried. "If it's possible for us, we'll be able to find a way to end the War without having to fight here too! There's no need for anyone to get hurt-"

"So in that world, Kiritsugu chose you."

The moment she heard those words, Illya froze. It was not a matter of being bound by magecraft; her entire being was constricted by the sheer weight of those words.

"… Huh?" was all she could manage.

"Let me ask you something," Illyasviel said, her expression unchanging. "If I stop fighting in this Holy Grail War, where can I go?"

"That… That's…"

"This is my battle," Illyasviel said. The moment she uttered those words, something inside her gaze changed. Even if she was just a kid, Illya could tell that at that moment, something in her eyes disappeared, as though a switch had been flipped behind her scarlet irises. "This Holy Grail War is everything I have. If I lose that, what will I be left with?"

She had no need to ask those questions. She had no need to speak anymore to a worthless fake with no answers, but she did. Without a logical reason behind her actions, Illyasviel continued to open her mouth, as though the act of moving her lips would reject the object placed in front of her.

As if she could erase the words she had just heard.

"… I came here to make him pay," she said. "That's why, so long as you didn't get in my way, I wouldn't have had a reason to kill you. But now… Even if you give up on becoming a Master, I will kill you."

"W-why?" Illya asked timidly. Any and all thoughts about the girl in front of her being a child her age disappeared entirely, replaced with nothing but fear – fear that the merciless woman before her would really end her life. "You don't have to do this! I've lived my life without the Holy Grail War! I was cared for and loved by my family and friends, so it's possible for-"

There was nothing but sincerity in her words. There was nothing but steadfast belief in her eyes. It was a child's way of thinking – believing that anything was possible, even if it was not backed by sound evidence or logic. It was a trait so innocent it was pure, and was surely something worth protecting.

"That's exactly it."

And yet, it was that innocence which prevented her from understanding that woman.

"That's exactly why I must kill you," Illyasviel said, her expression stoic. "You're living proof that what I went through didn't have to be my reality."

I don't need such a possibility.

"Your life is evidence that he – that they – could have chosen me instead of leaving me alone."

Even if that possibility exists, I don't want to know about it.

"Your existence is proof that you had one to call your own."

Her expression had not changed. Her voice was no different from before, and yet her words stung Illya's chest. She could not understand the meaning behind her words, so why did they hurt so much just listening to her speak?

"… I don't have much longer left to live," Illyasviel said, her lips curving to form the slightest of smiles. It was almost as if she pitied someone, but Illya had no idea who exactly she was pitying. "Do you understand? A world where Kiritsugu abandoned everything for me… I don't want to believe in it.

"That's why, don't make me see a dream like that before I die."

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She wanted to look away, but her eyes did not respond. Countless thoughts swarmed her head, but not a single one was clear; even though it was only a normal-looking smile, the mere sight of it had rendered everything pointless.

My… existence…

"Brat!"

A flash of blue entered her vision, blocking off her view of the girl. In her place was the back of a familiar man – a man with a crimson spear in his hands.

"Lancer… san…" she said, her voice sounding strange even to herself.

"You okay, brat?" he asked. "I came running when I got the message. Looks like I was just in time."

He released the object in his hands. Illya recognized it as Sapphire, Ruby's twin and a Mystic Code capable of communicating with her using one of their many functions. Ruby must have called them her via Sapphire when she sensed the danger.

"Yo, ojou-chan," she heard Lancer say. "I'm not sensing that Berserker around. If you're not here for a fight, do ya mind withdrawing?"

"… Fine," Illyasviel replied. "We're not allowed to fight in public during the day anyway."

The scratchy sensation of wood greeted her palms, and the familiar warmth of her clothes returned to her body. It took a few moments for that information to register, but when it did she realized she could move her body again.

"Wait!" she called out before she could stop herself, rushing past Lancer and stopping dead in her tracks at the look on her face.

She was smiling, but this time the smile was wide. She looked happy, like the carefree girl she appeared to be, and as she wore that radiant, childlike smile on her face—

"Goodbye! I saw a nice dream thanks to you!"

—she said those distant words.

"Oh, that's right," she added, turning her back on Illya and walking away. "The next time we meet, we'll be proper enemies, so I'll kill you then, onee-chan."

Leaving behind those words, the tiny girl disappeared into the distance, swallowed up by the scenery around them. She was gone, but the ghostly echoes of her voice remained stagnant in the air.

"… Hey, you alright, br-" Lancer began. "Oi, what's wrong? You hurt or something?"

"I'm fine, Lancer-san," Illya replied. "I'm fine, but… but…"

She could not rid those words from her memory. She could not forget the pain in her voice. But more than anything, she could not forget the smile she had on her face. The smile that, contrary to what it displayed, was anything but an expression of joy.

"But the tears… just won't stop…"

She brought her trembling fingers to her eyes, but that did not stop the tears. She tried to stifle her own voice, but she could not help but whimper. Her chest was tight, her lungs constricted, and she knew it had nothing to do with magecraft.

The playground was silent, except for the quiet sobs of a little girl. The air around her was devoid of sound, allowing her powerless voice to fill the space.

All alone in an unforgiving world, Illyasviel von Einzbern cried.