Chapter 12
She didn't know when, but she had stopped running and started walking instead. Ahead of her, she could see the Einzbern mansion with all its lights on, the windows glowing with warmth. Yellow light spilled through them, illuminating the white snow on the ground and reflecting off the snow, bathing the surroundings in gold. She walked up to the great doors, where Sella and Leysritt stood on either side. In a daze, she walked up to the door, and it opened for her.
Standing under the bright lights of the chandelier, was her mother.
"Illya, I've missed you so much, come here!"
Rushing over, Irisviel bent down and hugged her mother. Illya's face became the very picture of shock.
"M-mother?"
A single tear rolled down her face as the warmth of her mother registered, arms wrapped around her body as the distinct smell surrounded her. The long white gown tickled her legs, exactly the same as she last remembered it.
"Mother!"
Burying her face into her mother's shoulder, she started crying, streams of tears flowing down her face, while a damp spot grew on the white fabric of Irisviel's gown.
Her body shook silently with each sob as Irisviel gently lifted her up, putting one arm under Illya's thighs while the other hand went around her back to secure her. Taking care not to trip, she went up the stairs and brought her back to her bedroom.
Upon entering the room, she slowly put Illya down on the bed and sat next to her, patting her head.
"There, there, you know I'll always be here at your side, there's no need to cry."
"B-but, *sniff*, I've really missed mom, a-all these years without you, *hic*, it's been so lonely." Barely able to finish a sentence, she burst into even more tears after saying it.
"Don't worry, I'll never leave you again."
She hugged Illya, pulling her into her bosom for a tight embrace.
*BANG*
Illya jolted in the hug. Irisviel grinned slightly and pulled away.
"Must be your father, why don't we go see him, hmm?" Illya's eyes sparkled after hearing that, her heart squeezing tightly.
"H-he's here as well?*sniff*"
"Of course, he's alway around our home silly. Let's go!" She took Illya's hand and led her out of the room, out the great doors in search of her father.
They went out the main doors again and trudged through the snow, searching for Kiritsugu. It didn't take them long, soon they found him looking for pinecones like Illya liked to do.
Wait, who was that on his shoulders?
She blinked and rubbed her eyes, looking at the boy who sat on Kiritsugu's shoulders, the only features she could make out from the back was that he had red hair.
"Dad?"
He didn't respond, instead seemingly focused on helping the boy grab a pine cone on one of the pine trees, like she used to do. The boy laughed as Kiritsugu said something, the boy still trying to grab the pine cone just out of his reach.
"D-dad?"
Without turning around, he put his right hand into his coat while his left hand remained to stabilize the boy on his shoulders. Turning slightly, he pulled his right hand out of the coat, pointed it at Illya and pulled the trigger.
*BANG*
Illya stared at her chest in shock. A crimson stain was slowly spreading across the front of her burgundy blouse, a hole the size of a coin over where her heart should be.
"Why?" Feeling no pain, she still collapsed backwards onto the snow, staring up into the sky uncomprehendingly.
*BANG*
She heard a *womp* besides her, and turning her head slightly, she saw her mother's body fall next to her, a smile still frozen on her face and a bullet hole between her eyes.
"MOM!"
Her eyes widened to an almost comical degree as she yelled, her throat catching near the end. One hand reached out to touch her as if to confirm her death, praying to whatever gods that listened that she would feel the warmth in her body, the endless black hole she saw a lie.
She blinked.
And her hand came into contact with a smooth metal surface, cold to the touch. Her mother was gone, in her place a golden cup, it's smooth surface reflecting Illya's distraught face.
"M-mother…"
She heard the crunch of footsteps next to her. Looking back up, she saw her father aim his Thompson Contender at her head.
"Why did you leave me alone?"
Even while asking this, she tried to reach out to touch her father as well, a fragile hope that he would somehow put down the gun and embrace her again, to smell the smoky and yet comforting scent of his faded trench coat once more.
*BANG*
Like a freight train, the bullet seemed to push her through the snow, breaking through the boundary and throwing her into a limitless void. The light of the world above rapidly shrank as she fell, yet there was no wind, but she still felt the vertigo of falling.
Without warning, her body slammed into the ground, this time made of cold, hard marble. She was back in her familiar bedroom, but this time with all the lights dimmed. It was cold, featureless and grey, with only a single sliver of moonlight peaking through the clouds, shining through a window to offer the only source of illumination.
*Scrtch*
Illya turned her head to face the corner where the sound came from. As if on cue, the moonlight shifted enough to shine on that very corner. A shock of red hair came into view, prompting recognition from Illya. It was the boy she'd seen earlier riding on her father's shoulders.
All at once, her hate and frustration welled up from the depths of her being, her fists clenching and her whole body shaking. Pushing herself back on to her feet, she strode over to where he knelt in the corner, seemingly focused on drawing something.
"You son of A BITCH. How DARE you steal MY father away from me like THAT!"
She screamed at his back with her as much strength as she could muster. All her anger poured out, every single fiber of her body quivering with malice and rage against this boy, who had come from nowhere to turn her own father against her.
Slowly, as if reacting to her outburst, the boy turned around. He gradually stood up from his kneeling position, and then his head started turning to face her.
*CRICK, CRACK*
His head turned an unnatural degree until she could hear the bones in his neck crack, and then she clearly saw his face. And took a step back.
*Gasp*
He had no face, being merely a smooth wall of flesh, with no features to speak of all. Holding up his hand, he lifted the drawing he had been focused on earlier.
What Illya saw was a drawing of her family and her as stick figures, with her in the middle of her father and mother. As she looked however, the stick figure representing her in the middle was crossed out, hidden by dark lines, and another person appeared above her. It was the boy, identifiable by his red hair in the drawing.
Then all of a sudden, he rushed forward, moving in the blink of an eye to right in front of Illya. She barely had enough time to try and take a step backwards before she was pinned down by the unnatural strength of the boy. Straddling her waist, he used one hand to keep her mouth open while he forced the now crumpled ball of paper down her throat.
"Noo, NOO-ngghh, gahkhh"
*schlick*
Not just the paper, but the entire arm seemed to push itself down her throat, forcing her to gag as it forced its way into her stomach.
Without warning, the entire ceiling right above them showed cracks, and then it crumbled and fell, completely crushing Illya and the faceless boy. Illya closed her eyes out of reflex.
When she opened them again, she found herself in a golden room, with some type of black mud clinging to the ground, staining her dress and blouse. With difficulty, she stood back up and looked around.
*SHRRKKKK*
At that moment, the room suddenly started shrinking. The shriek of metal resounded in the golden room.
She realized she was trapped in there, frantically looking left and right to find a way out. The black mud was also rising in level, threatening to drown her before the room crushed her. She screamed and begged for help, but no one answered. As if attracted by her yelling, five hands reached out of the rising mud and clung to her blouse, trying to drag her in.
"No, someone save me! Anyone, please, PLEASE!"
The mud eventually reached her nose by the time she felt the golden room's walls touching her and crushing her. As the mud entered her mouth and nose, sliding into her belly, she realized she wasn't in a golden room, but a giant golden cup all along. The mud completely filled the cup, covering her eyes until her entire body was submerged in the foul liquid, then she lost herself in the strangely warm embrace of the mud, like a child in a mother's womb.