Although their goal is to complete the third magic and save humanity, the android family Einzbern has never considered themselves as humans and has no habits of human society.
When people die, they are buried in cemeteries; when androids die, no, it should be said that they lose their functions and are directly abandoned and thrown into designated locations, waiting to decompose naturally. The so-called android grave is just a private name given by those in the know. The official name for that place by the Einzbern family is "garbage dump."
This place is not only used to place the "corpses" of androids, but also the failed products in the manufacturing process and the androids that cannot be repaired are discarded here. For the android family who value efficiency and practicality, useless things are garbage and should be discarded.
As a betrayer of the family, Emiya Kiritsugu's daughter Illyasviel von Einzbern is just such a failure and garbage in the eyes of the head of the family, Ahad. Garbage should be thrown into the garbage dump. From the moment it was confirmed that Saber destroyed the Holy Grail, Illya's residence changed from a warm castle to a cold, damp garbage dump full of android parts.
This was almost a hellish nightmare for the little Illya, who was only nine years old and whose body was more slowly developed than her peers. However, Illya survived, and the belief and motivation that supported her survival was the promise she made with her father, Emiya Kiritsugu.
Before Kiritsugu Emiya left the "Winter City" and went to Fuyuki City to join the war, he made a promise with his daughter that he would definitely come back and take her to find Kurumi, which was Illya's favorite game.
Whenever she thought of riding on her father's shoulders and running around in the woods, with her mother following behind the father and daughter and watching them smile happily, Illya would feel an endless amount of motivation in her heart, supporting her to survive in hell.
Today is the 30th day since my father left. I was thrown here. There are many people here, and they won’t move. It’s so cold here, and Illya is so hungry...
Today is the thirty-second day since my father left. I made a quilt using my sisters’ broken clothes, and now I’m finally not cold anymore.
Today is the fortieth day since Dad left. My dying sister told those around me that all fresh parts can be eaten. Although they don’t taste good, I will try my best to eat them. So, Dad must come back soon.
Today is the fiftieth day since my father left. Another sister was thrown here. She told me that there was a frozen wolf outside the garbage dump. The wolf was very big. I had a lot of trouble dragging it in. Now I can eat it for several days.
Today is the sixtieth day since Dad left.
The ragged Illya sat in a small nest built with android parts, holding her chin and staring at the sky in a daze.
A few snowflakes swirled into her nest and touched her fair face. The cold touch brought Illya back to her confused consciousness.
She tightened the blanket around her body and muttered softly:
"Dad and Mom haven't come back yet, huh, liar, liar, big liar, Illya decided not to talk to you for one day, no, three days... Woo woo woo, but I still miss Dad and Mom so much."
"It's okay, Illya will persevere and wait for you to come back, hehehe."
"I'm a little hungry. Let's go eat something. This is the last meal of wolf meat. Tomorrow we'll have to eat parts again."
"Okay~ I'm going to eat slowly today."
Illya stretched and staggered out of her "nest", looking around carefully with the same red eyes as her mother's.
The garbage dump has no protective barrier and is not safe. Wild beasts often roam around. Illya, who is very weak, has to be careful. When she first arrived, she was almost caught by a black bear. Fortunately, she got into a gap in the garbage mountain and the bear couldn't get in, so she escaped.
Just when she was relieved after confirming that there was nothing unusual around her, she suddenly heard a voice:
"Ah, I found it."
"Who!" Illya jumped up in fear like a frightened little rabbit.
"I'm sorry, I think I scared you."
As soon as he finished speaking, the air in front of Illya suddenly twisted, and a boy who was much taller than Illya walked out of the twist.
"You must be Illya."
"Yes, Illyasviel von Einzbern." Although her clothes were ragged, Illya still performed the ladylike etiquette of lifting her skirt and bending her knees. "Brother, who are you?"
"My name is Matou Shinji, and your father asked me to pick you up."
"Kiritsugu?" Illya's eyes lit up.
Shinji thought it was inappropriate to call his father by his name, but since both father and daughter were willing, Shinji didn't say much and just nodded.
"Yes."
"Why should I believe you?" Illya took a step back, the joy in her ruby-like eyes faded, replaced by a layer of vigilance.
Shinji was stunned for a moment, but soon realized that this was a normal behavior. Illya had been abandoned in the garbage mountain for so many days. If she had not been sufficiently vigilant, she would have died long ago.
"You want evidence? Your father's name is Emiya Kiritsugu, and your mother is Irisviel. Your father is very tall, with black hair and black eyes, and your mother..."
As Shinji described, the vigilance in Illya's eyes gradually turned into trust.
"I believe you."
"Then let's go now." Shinji extended his hand to Illya.
"Um!"
Illya put her hand in Shinji's hand. Her hand was very cold and she could hardly feel his body temperature.
Shinji looked at the "nest" where she lived, and then at her ragged clothes, and his nose felt sore. He began to regret why he didn't come here earlier and take her away earlier.
"Brother Shinji, why don't you leave?" Illya asked innocently.
"Wait for me, brother."
Shinji took off his down jacket as quickly as possible, wrapped it around Illya, and picked her up again.
"elder brother?"
"Is it still cold?"
"It's not cold anymore, it's warm and comfortable." Illya's smile was purer than the snow around her. "Thank you, Shinji-nii."
"Illya is really sensible"
The more sensible Illya becomes, the worse Shinji's impression of Einzbern becomes.
If Shinji hadn't come here, Illya would have continued to suffer this miserable treatment for nearly ten years, until the eve of the Fifth Holy Grail War. In these ten years of hell, her heart would fall into despair little by little, and her father's love would gradually turn into hatred. She would become strong in despair and hell, but the price of this strength was too cruel. Fortunately, everything is different, and Illya will no longer feel "cold" in the future.
"Come on, I'll take you home."
"Home? Isn't this my home?"
"No, this is not home. Home is where there is a father, a mother, and a warm place."
"Where is Illya's home?"
"In a place called Fuyuki, your father bought a big yard there, and your mother is waiting for you to return there."
"Is there snow there?"
"Yes."
"Are there any walnut sprouts?"
"Well, my brother doesn't know walnut sprouts, so he doesn't know."
"Then Illya will teach you. Illya is very good at finding walnut sprouts."
"Okay, I'm looking forward to it."
... ...
The cloak wrapped around the two children gradually moved away and disappeared in the wind and snow, leaving no trace.
PS: Let me say a few words. Normally, it takes 60 years to accumulate magic power for a Holy Grail War. The reason why there was only a ten-year gap between the Fourth and Fifth Wars was because no one made a wish, a large amount of magic power was not used, and the time for accumulating magic power was shortened accordingly. This was a result that no one expected. Illya's life span was short, and it was impossible for her to live for another 60 years. In Yahad's eyes, she was just an experimental platform, an experimental platform for the birth of a higher-performance Holy Grail than Irisviel. According to the fact that Illya was not treated normally in the Einzbern family after the Fourth War and the mechanical and rigid style of the Einzbern family, the treacherous young master believed that Illya should have been thrown out to fend for herself until Einzbern discovered that the Fifth Holy Grail War was coming, and she was taken back to continue the transformation and participate in the war as the Holy Grail. The evidence is that before the war, the Einzbern family gave Illya a maid. Obviously, she was a useless prop before, but she became a useful prop after becoming the Holy Grail.
PS2: In FateZero, Kiritsugu did not go to pick up Illya right away. First, he may not have expected his daughter's situation to be so bad. Second, Kiritsugu is a pragmatist and will definitely take care of the people in front of him first. In the original world line, he took care of Shirou, and now he takes care of his wife. As for Shinji not going to Einzbern right away, there are two reasons: first, Irisviel is not in good condition, and he habitually believes that Illya can survive until the fifth war and suffer at most; second, if the father does not mention it, then I, as an outsider, cannot mention it either.
PS3: Do you have the urge to tear down Einzbern