(hey, i know you.) ~ pt. 1
prompt: what if elluka wakes up in the heavenly yard to meet the two candidates who have died before her? challenge: 30 minutes, not counting time spent checking the ecwiki for info word count: 1500+ accurate to canon?: idek at this point, but probably not.
The first thing Elluka notices when she regains consciousness is how bright it is. Incredibly so, like the sun is only a stone’s throw away from where she is, yet the harsh heat she expects to come with such a peculiar circumstance is practically non-existent. In fact, if anything, she feels much colder than she should be. Cold as ice.
The next thing Elluka realizes is that she’s awake. Alive and breathing.
How? The last thing the blonde remembers is a crying Irina, a bloodstained knife, and pain, so, so much pain. The fight for the right to become the mother of gods still fresh in her mind, Elluka shivers, torn between the feeling of betrayal and pity. Betrayal because she had believed Irina’s seemingly-innocent words, had put so much trust in the harmless-looking girl, only for it all to be taken advantage of in the end.
Pity, because she’s sure that Irina hadn’t meant to, what with the tears the younger girl had shed upon witnessing her sister-in-law collapse to the ground. That the stress and the paranoia caused by the survival game and the temptation of the throne was the one to blame. That the HER syndrome was at fault.
In retrospect, she probably should have cured Irina of it as well as Kiril.
But here she was, alive in some way, in a strange and desolate world with only endless stretches golden rice fields in every direction to keep her company.
Until she hears a familiar voice. Two of them, in fact.
“Hey, I know you.”
Elluka turns around to see a sultry smile and icy eyes, two women whom she had just recently became acquainted with. Two women who had just recently died.
“M— Milky? Ly?”
The prostitute’s smile grows wider, in stark contrast of the aristocrat’s increasingly sombre expression.
“Took you quite a while.” A voice tinted with amused concern.
“She killed you too, didn’t she.” A statement, not a question.
Elluka blinks, once, twice, before realization and horror dawns on her face, twisting into a myriad of emotions fighting for dominance in her head.
“Too…? Then, Irina… she really did—“
Ly nods, flicking a stray strand of hair over her shoulder before crossing her arms over her chest, while Milky brings her palm to her lips to stop a cynical laugh from escaping.
“You know, Elly~? Ly’s supposed ‘accident’? My sudden ‘heartache’? All. Lies!”
“That sister-in-law of yours, she truly is an evil person.”
Elluka shakes her head, not wanting to believe the words of the two women before her, but not even a minute passes before she feels hot, bitter tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She gags and chokes, unable to keep the bile from rising in her throat, retching and heaving from the nausea caused by the reveal of Irina’s true nature.
For a few agonizing seconds, there is nothing but quiet, the gentle breeze and the sound of muffled sobs. Right before Elluka feels like fully breaking down in her misery, a gentle touch on her shoulder prompts the former priestess to look up and meet the gaze of the aristocrat, her usually cold eyes softened with sympathy.
“But the past is past, Chirclatia. If our deaths were meant to be, then so be it.”
The prostitute nods at Ly’s words, reaching for Elluka’s hands and clasping them in her own. The three women share a moment of contemplation, sifting through the conflict fresh in their minds, before Elluka pulls away and sucks in a deep breath.
“So. Where are we?”
“The Heavenly Yard.” “Heaven, of course!” Ly and Milky answer in unison, not even batting an eyelid as Elluka recoils in shock. A cheeky grin graces Milky’s lips before she grabs Elluka’s arm and dashes off, dragging the helpless Elluka behind her.
“W—wa—wait! Ly, are you saying we’re in the afterlife?!” Elluka yells, struggling to keep up with the running Milky, whose grin only grows more maniacal at her silly, silly question.
“Well, we did die after all!” The aristocrat’s shout resounds from quite a distance away, having been left far behind by the two. “I’ll catch up with you two later, alright?”
“Wh—where are we going, Milky?” Elluka pants, brushing away the strands of hair whipping against her face. “A—an—and what about Ly?”
“Somewhere special~!” The prostitute responds with a mischievous giggle, not even bothering to look at the woman she’s dragging behind her. “And don’t worry, Ly-Ly did say she’ll catch up with us later. Earlier, she told me that she’s got something to do, before you came along!”
Milky continues to run, with Elluka close behind, until they come across a large lake in the middle of a clearing, quiet and serene. The prostitute pauses to let the former priestess regain her breath, before leading Elluka to the edge of the lake. She bends down to dip a pale hand into the calm waters, watching as the disturbance causes ripples to travel across the blue surface, while Elluka wordlessly observes her, unsure how to break the abrupt silence between them.
“So, Elluka… how did she kill you?” Milky asks in a quiet murmur, startling Elluka. “What did Irina do to you?”
Elluka balks at the sudden intrusive question, practically feeling the air around them drop a few degrees in temperature due to the drastic mood shift. She shuffles around a bit, before taking in a shaky breath and moving to stand beside the kneeling prostitute.
“She… she told me she was going to step down. Forfeit the competition.” Elluka starts, unable to help the bitter tone from seeping into her voice. “Told me that Kiril chose me, so she would do the same. And I was grateful, so grateful! I promised her that I would protect her, no matter what.” A shudder, and then, the bitterness in her throat replaced by weak resignation, she continues, faster. “I really thought… Irina, she was such a sweet, kind girl… Kiril loved her, I loved her, so I just— she stabbed me. In the chest. Right into my heart.” Unconsciously, her fingers brush over her chest, a phantom pain still manifesting somewhere in there.
Milky nods, humming a three-beat lullaby as Elluka sits down beside her, the edges of her dress just barely touching the water.
“Taking advantage of love, huh… sounds just like what Pale did, to Meta. And myself as well, I guess. Jerks. Well, at least I knew I meant nothing to him.” The prostitute snorts disdainfully, drawing her knees closer to her chest.
“Pale? As in, Pale Noël of the Apocalypse?”
“Hey, I was his mistress once, you know! Besides, we don’t judge each other in the afterlife, Miss Disgraced-Priestess-of-Lighwatch~!” Milky teases, laughing as Elluka splutters incoherently in response, her lips curled into a childish pout.
“Ahaha… in any case, Irina won. I hope Levianta can handle having a HER as a queen.” Milky muses, stretching out her arms and laying down upon the grassy earth. “Not to mention the mother of gods.”
“I really hope things will turn out alright…” Elluka groans, all animosity and hatred towards Irina having melted away after recalling her last moments and reflecting on them. “And Kiril, too… I hope he’s okay…”
“Hm, that Clockworker artisan? Might wanna look in that there lake, Ellukes. He’s probably preparing for Irina’s coronation or something.” Milky drawls, lazily pointing towards the lake’s surface with her pinky.
The lake? Peeking into the still waters, Elluka’s eyes wander aimlessly across the clear surface, searching for something, anything, but all she sees is the reflection of the brilliant blue sky, clouds and all. “I don’t see anything…?”
“You forgot to tell her about the lullaby, you idiot.” Ly’s voice suddenly breaks through the whispering breeze, the aristocrat herself strutting over to the two women and settling down beside Elluka. Reaching an arm around the other blonde’s shoulders, the aristocrat pulls her closer, gazing down into their reflections on the surface of the lake. Milky mumbles a quiet “whoops, forgot” and joins the other two, staring down into the calm waters.
“Everyone in the Heavenly Yard can hear it.” Ly assures a bewildered Elluka, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, while Milky places a hand on Elluka’s chest, right over her heart. “You just have to listen to your heart, and… sing.”
Puzzling over their esoteric words, the former priestess half-closes her eyes and tries to steady her breathing, unsure of what exactly she’s supposed to be looking for. Or listening to, going by Ly’s and Milky’s advice. Still, a little soul-searching never hurt anyone, right?
‘Lu… li… la…’
Huh? Lu li la?
“Lu, li, la, la, la, la…”
Elluka’s eyes slowly flutter shut as she attempts to recreate the song she can just barely hear, its three-beat lullaby becoming more and more distinct and clear as her voice grows louder and stronger until the song resounds throughout the entire Heavenly Yard, bringing with it a sense of agitated peace, like the calm before a storm.
“Is that Kiri— what is he… no! He’s going to—” “Elluka! Elluka, open your eyes! You have to see this!”
Jolted out of her trance by the frantic voices of the two women accompanying her, the former priestess opens her eyes, just in time to see the lake’s surface reflecting an image—
Of Kiril, throwing Elluka’s lifeless corpse into the out-of-control ark, Sin, followed by an explosion of bright lights and a deafening noise.
“Kiril! KIRIL!!!”
