»Of Godhuman Nature« [Five Nights At Freddy's]

Chapter XVII - For(n)ever

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           A great amount of time had come to pass since Elizabeth's unexpected appearance, yet Lily was still standing there in the middle of the dining room as though struck by lightning, completely immobilized & rendered speechless by the events of the past few minutes. Hundreds of thoughts rushed into her head at once & at such an alarming pace that she started feeling dizzy; she ached to say something - anything - to remedy the the situation & bring at least some comfort to a visibly distraught little Elizabeth, however the right words continued to elude her... If there existed any right words for a situation such as this one at all.

         As for now she was still recovering from the impact of her words; words that had literally knocked the air out of her lungs & planted a knot the size of a fist in the pits of her stomach. A knot that, of that she was already certain, would not easily unravel anytime soon...

'This is going to make mommy in heaven sad, right?'

           Slowly but surely Lily snapped out of her mental paralysis, most of it thanks to Mr. Afton who was the first one to show any kind of visible reaction by approaching Elizabeth with slow steps until he was close enough to go to his knees & place a hand on each of her shoulders.
" My dearest, beloved Elizabeth... It seems like I have some explaining to do ~ "

" What you did, daddy... What you & princess Lily just did... You also did that with mommy... when she was alive. Mommy said you did it because you two loved each other...
But now... Now you're doing it with someone else... Does that mean you do not love mommy anymore? "

" No, darling, no! That is not at all what it means! Don't you ever think that, Elizabeth,", he responded almost immediately & slightly tightened his grip on her shoulders.
" But these things are a bit... Complicated. There is more to all this than you think, my sweet. Why don't you go to your room? I will be there in a few minutes so we can talk, okay? "

             A weak nod was given after a moment heavily dripping with hesitation, followed by her big round eyes rolling past her father to settle on a quiet Lily, still standing motionless as a wax figure behind the table. Her face looked vacant from her position, ominously stoic for a child her age. It was thoroughly impossible to read anything in her eyes, as radiant as they once were, the vivacity & immeasurable joy she'd seen within their glow only two days ago now nothing more than a distant memory.

Feeling compelled to lower her gaze towards the floor in shame Lily visibly startled as the sound of Elizabeth's fragile voice rang out again: " Do you love my dad, princess Lily? "

" Wh--- " Lily's heart took a leap right into her throat to choke whatever reply she was about to give, the knot in her stomach now beginning to torment her with subtle surges of pain.
             " N--no... I... I don't... "

" Then why did you kiss him? "

" Elizabeth, this is not a good time, " William Afton said & got up, his voice now fairly stern. " Please, be a good girl & go to your room. Mrs. Johnathan will be here soon & prepare your medicine. I will bring it to your room so we can talk things out, I promise! "

          Elizabeth's eyes incessantly rested on Lily, wouldn't even wander off when Mr. Afton spoke to her, & just when she was about to feel uncomfortable the little girl averted her eyes at last & nodded. " Okay... "
She then turned without losing another word, without even sacrificing another look at her or Afton, & made a beeline for her room.

           The moment the door fell shut behind her William Afton arose with a pained sigh & stared at it for a while, engulfed by tantalizing silence. Lily could tell solely by his posture that he was currently at the very mercy of his own feelings; feelings of guilt & ruefulness, the two rabid wolves in his fatherly heart, fighting like the unforgiving beasts they were. She knew there was only so much she could say, but she knew just as well that anything was better than this awful silence she had unintentionally become part of.