CHAPTER 5: 1st GAMBIT

(Ilya POV)

"You have some nerve picking on the weak and helpless," said Ilya in a cold voice to the hooded figures.

There were twenty people in all. She could not see their faces, but she knew that they must have been surprised that someone had the guts to walk up and face them. Then she heard a running sound, and the next thing she knew, Sev was standing by her side, his want out.

Upon his arrival, five of the masked people cringed and two of them even made a squelching noise, as if disgusted by something they just confirmed. Another one pointed his wand at Ilya and was starting to mutter what she could guess as a spell, but the one in the center raised his hand to stop him. The man complied. Then, he raised his own wand and muttered something. Ilya guessed that the spell must have created some sort of bounded field which blocks out sounds (probably for privacy purposes), as the screams and cries of the people running around could no longer be heard.

"Put away your wand Severus," said the man. Then he turned to his companions. "The same goes for the rest of you." The hooded people reluctantly began lowering their wands.

"Lucius?" Ilya heard Sev speak.

"Indeed I am," replied the man, as he took off his mask. He a pale face and long whitish-blonde hair. He had the air of a sadist and opportunist, similar to that of Matou Zouken, but on a much lower level.

"What are you doing here?"

"We were tasked by the Dark Lord to with an important mission," said Lucius smirk, apparently pleased with the raven-haired boy's questions. "We were tasked to abduc…ah… I mean escort the girl behind you to Him." He pointed at the brown-haired girl who was shaking uncomfortably behind them, tears flowing from her eyes, occasionally crying out for her brother.

Sev opened his mouth to say something, but Ilya cut him off.

"And what, pray tell, are you planning to do with her?" said Ilya, her hostility now rising.

"That's none of your business, Mudblood," spat a female. One of the hooded figures replied, who was obviously looking through her mask at Ilya with disgust.

"YOU!" shouted Sev suddenly.

Ilya felt a sudden wave of hostility from the person beside her. She didn't understand what the words means, but she guessed it must have been some kind of down-to-earth insult: Sev was furious.

"Now, now, Bella," said Lucius in a soothing voice, but the way he eyed her made Ilya quite sure that he shared the same sentiment. "This isn't the time for petty arguments, and your words will be wasted on someone like Lily Evans."

Lily Evans? thought Ilya… I see… Lily…they're confusing me for her…do we really look so similar…I guess I'll find out when I meet her…for now though…

"I think it's best that I get straight to the point then." He still kept the smile on his face, but his eyes narrowed. "Severus, bring the girl over here. You can come with us if you like."

Sev remained silent, but Ilya could tell he was contemplating on things. Based on what she had seen and heard, she was sure that Sev was well acquainted with these people, and was probably even planning to join them, serving the Dark Lord, whoever it was. As far as Ilya can tell, these were definitely not good people.

The stillness went for a little while, and then…

"It's because of that Mudblood," said the man who standing at Lucius' right. "It's cause of her that he can't decide… I'll take care of that… CRUCIO!" he cried.

"PROTEGO!" another voice shouted, and the ball of light heading for Ilya stopped in midair, colliding with something unseen.

Sev stepped forward, in front of the white-haired girl. The hooded figures were whispering, as if surprised: Lucius' face, however, showed bored disdain.

"Ilya," started Sev, in a low voice, as he pointed his wand at the hooded figures, as all of them pointed theirs at the two of them. "Take the girl and run. I'll hold them off."

"So, you're going to oppose us? You dare defy the will of the Dark Lord," drawled Lucius, as he too pointed his own wand and pointed it at Sev and Ilya, as he put his own mask back on. "The Dark Lord will have no more use for you. You might turn out to become a liability, so this is where we end our conversation. You've made your choice, and a foolish one it is."

The air became stiffened, a number of harmful curses about to be fired.

-BREAK-

(Severus POV)

He was in a dilemma. He was not sure what he should do next. When he rushed to Ilya's side, he knew he had probably blown his chances of joining the Death Eaters. He thought they would try to eliminate him at once, like a piece of trash on pavement.

And then he discovered that Lucius Malfoy was among them. So was Bellatrix Lestrange. He did not like it when heard her called Ilya a Mudblood. He was angry because he knew they thought she was Lily, he knew the insult was meant for Lily, but for some reason, he was more furious with the fact that the one who got insulted was Ilya. No matter how identical they are, even though they have exactly the same eyes, Ilya was Ilya, not Lily. Emotions he felt at the same time, meant for two similar yet different individuals greatly confused Severus, but it was not the time to dwell on that.

Then Lucius Malfoy said, "Severus, bring the girl over here. You can come with us if you like." The blonde-haired man, Severus knew, was in the Dark Lord's inner circle, having shown him the Dark Mark burned on his left hand when the man was still at school. Severus was stuck. Although his resolve was strong, he was still a bit tempted, thus the dilemma.

But then one of the masked Death Eaters, who Severus immediately recognized from the voice as Mulciber, tried to attack Ilya with the Cruciatus, an Unforgivable Curse meant to torture the victim.

If I join them, they will definitely hurt Ilya. I can't let that happen. I can't let them hurt her. I can't let them hurt the only true friend I have left. I can't let them hurt the girl I like…

"PROTEGO!" he cried, and the ball of light heading for Ilya stopped in midair, colliding with something unseen.

Severus stepped forward, in front of the white-haired girl, confronting the Death Eaters.

"Ilya," he told the white-haired girl in a low voice, as he prepared himself for the end. "Take the girl and run. I'll hold them off." He cast another Shield Charm, as strong as wide as is possible for him. He knew it would not last from a barrage of curses, and if a Killing Curse was fired, it would be over for him. Still, he thought it would buy Ilya enough time to get to safety and call for help.

"So, you're going to oppose us? You dare defy the will of the Dark Lord," drawled Lucius, as he pointed his wand at them. "The Dark Lord will have no more use for you. You might turn out to become a liability, so this is where we end our conversation. You've made your choice, and a foolish one it is."

He could feel the air fill with malice, as the Death Eaters prepared to fire their spells. He braced himself… then, he heard Ilya whisper something.

All of a sudden, numerous glowing jet black balls shot, not towards him, but in the direction of the Death Eaters. When the barrage stopped, half of them, including Lucius Malfoy, were lying first face on the pavement: the other barely managed to cast a Shield Charm on time. Noticing the fact that the spells came from immediately behind him, they could have only been cast by one person.

"Gandr," said the white-haired girl quietly.

Severus could only watch in awe, as Ilya wandlessly fired more balls of black light from her finger, not giving the servants of the Dark Lord time to recover.

-BREAK-

(Ilya POV)

Take the girl and run. I'll hold them off, huh? thought Ilya to herself. She couldn't help but smile internally. More like trying to look cool while dying in process.

Having experienced numerous battles in her world, Ilya knew that running away in this case was the worst possible option. She was not yet familiar with the way magic works in this world. Attempting to flee, going on the defensive, would be tantamount to suicide. If the hooded people aimed to kill as Ilya knew they were, from the killing intent radiating in the air. She was not sure she could escape. The brown haired girl's leg was injured, and although Ilya knew she could move at really quickly if she needed to, the extra luggage would slow her down.

No, escaping would mean abandoning Sev. sacrificing him, I can't let that happen. I can't let him die. I won't abandon him, thought Ilya.

Also, she had very little knowledge on her enemy's abilities. The only times she saw a wizard in this world cast in earnest provided very little information. However, based on these few times, she noticed she might have one small advantage: speed. It is true that these wizards can cast spells and the effect was almost instant. However, when they fire spells at other people, it goes in the form energy, which flies towards the victim. She hoped her theory was correct, but she was almost certain. The casting may be fast, but the spell itself was slow enough to be easily evaded. The best part, Ilya thought, was that they were nowhere as fast as some of the attacks of people she faced in the past before, not to mention her training with Shirou and Rin (as well as the time she saw her brother fighting the King of Heroes.). Then she remembered…Gandr… a spell meant to bring about illness but was turned by Rin into a nightmarish strike. Other than the promised effect of lowered health status, this version can literally cause instantaneous immense pain and scorch the skin, landing with the force of bullet. Disease, a mean punch, and hot coal, all in one. Hmmm…

Now, I know what to do…smirked Ilya inwardly. In this case, offense is definitely the best defense.

Having mastered Gandr to a level that compares to her teacher Rin, Ilya is able to cast it in machine gun fashion. Concentrating her prana, she hoped could get the timing right and set the pace…

She got it.

The followers of the Dark Lord, fufufu…thought Ilya. They spend too much time on gloating.

Before they could even fire one spell, Ilya launched a barrage of Gandr shots at the hooded figures.

Taken completely by surprise by the numerous spells assailing them, they barely had time to defend themselves. Ten of them fell on the ground, having taken in several hits, unconscious, while the other ten frantically cast protego (which, Ilya realized, created some kind of invisible shield) to defend themselves.

But Ilya wasn't finished yet. Casting numerous Gandr shots is taxing, but she had a lot of prana. She kept up the pressure. The barrage went on for ten more seconds, and then…

"AURORS! THE MINISTRY!" screamed one of the masked figures, pointing towards their left, as streams of red light flew towards them.

Flanked from two sides, the servants of the Dark Lord immediately twirled and vanished into thin air, ignoring the pain from the Gandr shots that grazed them as they lowered their shields. The one called Bella grabbed Lucius and another one of her allies before vanishing. Five remained sprawled on the ground, however.

Ilya grabbed Sev by the hand and dragged him towards the little girl on the ground as the Aurors from the Ministry, as Ilya heard a hooded figure say, ran towards the unconscious figures on the ground.

The girl was no longer crying, possibly in confusion and awe by what she had seen and experienced. She was looking at Ilya intently.

Ilya knelt down beside the girl and looked at her. She took a closer look at the girl's injury and sighed in relief as she noted that it was just a small graze, which she probably got when she tripped.

"Don't worry…Everything will be okay…you are safe now," Ilya assured the girl soothingly, as she took a handkerchief from her pocket and gently wrapped the girl's leg wound with it.

Suddenly, despite her injured leg, the girl jumped onto the white-haired girl and hugged her tightly, crying, not in fear and desperation, but in relief and gratitude, her face buried in Ilya's chest.

She was a stranger to Ilya, but resolved to allow her(the brown-haired girl) to remain that way until she calms down.

After all, she was doing the exact same thing Ilya did to a certain raven-haired boy (just the day before), who was presently gazing at her, with a small smile on his lips. He was there for her when Ilya needed a shoulder to cry on.