{A/N: What have I written... I let the ideas flow without restraint. Jokes aside this chapter is pretty dark, but I've got a plan and for that this chapter was nessecary. Anyway check out my patreon @patreon.com/TheFudgeNPC and maybe donate some stones so more people can find this story.}
Waking up alone and in pain, unsure of her whereabouts, Evie panicked. Rolling around on the ground, her slightly healed hand beat against the coarse dirt beneath her as the stumps of her other limbs flailed aimlessly, phantom sensations tricking her mind into believing they still existed.
Sobbing loudly, she did everything she could think of, calling desperately for her dad, her mum, or anyone to help—no one came. Screaming in pain for hours on end, the sky began to darken as her voice grew coarse from overuse, settling into quiet whimpers as she lay back against the dirt.
'Why? Why is no one coming to help me? Where's Dad? I'm scared.' Left alone with only the sound of her own voice, thoughts drifted aimlessly through her mind, plunging her deeper into despair.
Gazing up at the distant night sky from where she lay—within a hollowed-out divot in the dirt—endless darkness looked back at her. Gone was the beautiful night sky she was accustomed to seeing with her dad; in its place, only an empty void remained, devoid of even a single star.
Shivering from the rapidly encroaching cold, the fingers on her only remaining limb began to go numb as the heat was sucked from them. Weak, exhausted, and starving, Evie slipped into unconsciousness as the night grew ever colder.
Morning dawned slowly, the sickly red rays of the sun creeping gradually upon the empty wasteland. Pushing back the bone-biting chill, the blood-like light finally fell upon the shivering body of a child.
Getting light in her eyes, Evie's cloudy mind slowly woke up—instantly greeting her soul with unbearable pain. Whimpering, the lonely girl attempted to cry, only to find her tears had run dry the previous day.
Stomach growling in hunger and lips cracked from lack of water, she desperately looked around the dirt concavity she was trapped in. Without help, her young mind defaulted to her go-to strategy when all was lost—calling for her dad.
Voice coarse and raspy, she called for half the day, pleading desperately for help—all her prayers though fell to nothing. Closing her mouth, Evie finally chose to stop yelling. Licking her cracked and bleeding lips, she looked up at the huge star burning brightly overhead.
Sunburnt and dehydrated, the sand man quickly reclaimed her. Falling unconscious again, she was helpless to the elements. Overhead, the sun slowly completed its cycle before retreating over the horizon so the cold could reclaim the land.
Moving in like an unrelenting tide, shadows cast across the world as the temperature dropped. Above the parched land, clouds ever so slowly began to blow in. Lightning arcing through the colossal clouds, rain poured in a relentless stream from below the storm.
Feeling the light fall of rain on her battered body, the young devil struggled back to consciousness. Choking on a mouthful of water, she leaned up with a start. Forgetting about her lack of limbs, the awkward movement sent her tumbling face-first into the forming mud.
Rolling and flailing like a fish out of water, it took her a few moments to flip back onto her back. Choking up mud, she coughed hard as she gasped for air.
Slowing her breathing, she stopped herself from hyperventilating and actually looked around. Waking up in the middle of a violent storm, the young girl couldn't decide if she liked the rain or sun more.
Boom! Tearing across the sky, a thick bolt of lightning hit the ground just out of her sight. Feeling a very minor tingling sensation go through the puddle of water forming around her, she didn't instantly connect the dots.
Boom! Another bolt crashed to the earth at the corner of her vision, the closer bolt causing a more notable tingling sensation. Face morphing into horror, she began clawing at the edge of the hole, trying desperately to pull herself from the slowly filling divot.
Hand sinking into mud, all her efforts proved pointless as she slipped down into the bowl-shaped divot again and again. Tears streaming from her face, she cried in fear as the unyielding sound of thunder acted as the soundtrack to her endless failure.
Sliding back into the water again, her body up to her head was submerged in a dark slop of mud and water. Boom! Striking again, a smaller bolt of lightning arced into the ground barely twenty meters from the hole she was in.
The high-current power spreading into the surrounding area traveled through the waterlogged dirt like electricity through a wire. Reaching the flooded divot holding a young girl, the lightning indiscriminately electrified the water.
Attempting to scream, all of Evie's muscles seized up as the uncontrolled electricity surged through her nervous system. Jaw slamming shut on her tongue, blood began to flood her mouth as she fell limply into the water.
Convulsing violently, it took a few seconds for her to recover. Pushing herself weakly above the water, she desperately gasped for air. As she did, blood, water, and mud flooded her lungs without restraint. Choking and coughing, her hand slipped, plummeting her back into the ever-rising pool of murky water.
Body reacting instinctively, she gasped for air, her lungs burning as more water filled her airways. Mind going cloudy, her movements became sluggish, and she began to sink. Rolling until she faced the surface, the last thing she saw was a thick bolt of lightning heading straight for her—then everything went dark.
Waking with a start, Evie gasped violently. Coughing and writhing, her body reacted to the lingering feeling of drowning, unaware she wasn't. Struggling for breath for a few seconds, her movements eventually slowed as her body caught up.
Breathing heavily with sweat pouring down her forehead, the young devil clutched her throat and looked around in confusion. 'What... What's going on? Where's all the water, and the mud, and the lightning?'
Taking a moment to look around, she found herself in the same dirt hole she had slowly begun to expect; however, what she wasn't expecting was for the hole to be bone dry—not a trace of the violent storm remained.
Groaning, she pushed herself up against the wall with her only arm. Groaning in pain, she looked down at her stumps to see them gushing blood rapidly. 'Huh. Urgh I thought those had closed up already.'
Pressing her hand against the bleeding stump of her leg, she could feel her mind growing hazy from blood loss. Panic rising through her, she looked around for anything to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, before she could stem the blood flow, she passed out again.
Growing accustomed to the horrid routine, Evie awoke again from her unconscious state, head throbbing but still alive. Shaking her head around to clear up her thoughts, she slowed her action to actually look around.
Feeling a burst of panic, she looked down at her legs. Sure enough, her supernatural healing factor was at work sealing up the open wounds. Only instead of continuing to regrow her limbs, a dark, sickening energy ate away at the flesh as fast as it could recover.
Gasping in horror, her gaze fell on her other injuries, and sure enough, save for her left arm, every open wound on her body had the same blackish-green energy eating away at it. Choking back her vomit, she heaved a few times before failing and vomiting a spew of blood and food.
Groaning in pain at the strained movements, she wiped her mouth against her sleeve and took a deep breath. Hearing her stomach growl, she remembered the unrelenting thirst and hunger she felt just hours ago.
Looking up at the edge of the hole, she called out to her dad for a few minutes. Receiving no reply, her shouts fell silent as her eyes glazed over. Sitting there injured, alone, and starving, she began recalling all her fond memories.
Five years wasn't a long time, but as a devil, she matured far earlier than human children did, becoming fully aware at just two years old. She remembered her first lessons, her first words, her first time meeting Rias and her extended family. Each recalled memory caused a tear to fall from her eye until she was silently sitting there with a river of tears pouring down her face.
Moving further through her memories, she eventually settled on one from a few days ago, just before the accident that sent her here. Waking up in the morning, she was greeted by her personal maid. After getting dressed and having breakfast, she was led to her uncle's office.
Sitting at his desk with a kind smile, he had motioned towards a chair in front of him. Jumping up, she had looked at him expectantly. "Do you know why I got you to come here?" Shaking her head in denial, she waited for him to go on.
"I called you here because I want to teach you magic." Sporting a wide smile, he had told her the seemingly good news; at the time, she had remembered her father's lessons on always being curious and had a question on her mind.
"Why do I need to learn magic, Sirzechs?" Smiling, he had reached out and given her a pat on her head, much to her displeasure. "Well, on top of being really useful, you can defend yourself."
"Don't I have you, Dad, and everyone else to defend me?"
"We'll always be here to support you, but there comes a time when you'll have to stand by yourself. You may need to buy time for someone to help you, or you might need to defend someone. You'll never know."
At the time, she had nodded along, not believing that her dad wouldn't be there to save her. Now, though, all alone with no help in sight, she was of a different mind. Face hardening in a show of resolve, she slapped her cheek to psyche herself up.
'Dad might not know where I am, so I can at least try to survive long enough for him to find and save me.' Nodding her head in resolve, she began maneuvering herself around. Falling a few times, she eventually got into a good position to look at the edges of the hole.
Around a meter and a half at its deepest point, the divot almost perfectly resembled a bowl in shape, its edges getting steeper and steeper the higher up she looked. At the edge of the hole, she could faintly see the rotted tip of a tree.
Dragging herself forward, she dug her hand into the dirt and pulled herself up. Teeth biting into a protruding rock, she carefully reached as high as she could. Then, digging her hand deep into the rough, rocky soil, she used her supernatural strength to lift herself up.
Straining, she could feel the dirt slipping around her hand, and in desperation, she found a harder object around head height and bit into it. Teeth sinking slightly into the unknown material, she quickly reoriented her grip, grabbing hold of a rock and giving it a few tugs.
Finding it held sturdy, she released her hold of the object in her mouth and leaned back to look at it. Instantly regretting that decision, she gagged and dry-heaved as she looked at the almost completely rotted skull she had just bitten into, the bone holding the tiniest bits of decomposing flesh but otherwise being just bone.
Tears pooling at her eyes, she hung there in shock for a few minutes before recovering. Still sobbing, she pulled herself up the rock she had hold of, and with a little hesitation, she bit onto the hard stone.
Feeling slight relief at the hard, sturdy texture of an actual rock, she reached up again. This time, the edge was within reach, and she grabbed hold. Pulling herself up, she with great difficulty got herself over the edge of the hole.
Laying down, she breathed heavily, mind cloudy with dark thoughts. Shaking them off, she sat up to look around, and instantly her gaze turned distant.
Surrounding the young devil girl for kilometers in every direction, the sparse remains of a forest acted as a grim omen of all to come. In the far distance, she noticed the crumbling remains of what seemed to be a city.
Finally turning her gaze upwards, the shattered remains of the moon formed a partial ring around the planet, the sight obvious from the ground where she was. All up, in every direction she looked, death, destruction, and decay were prominent.