Even Demons Can Be Saved

Who's That Girl?

When Eve woke up, she was disoriented at first. It wasn't helped by the fact that her head ached, and her eyes felt like they were full of sandpaper. She sat up and tried to look around. Her heart rate increased when she didn't recognize anything in the dim light. She instantly went for the door and felt her heart nearly stop when it was locked. It was as she looked down at it that she remembered she had locked it herself. She also remembered where she was.

At that memory, she nearly crawled back into the bed so she could cry more. It was only the fact that she had been awoken by the need to empty her bladder that made her pause. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. There was no point in letting herself fall back into senselessness; not if she had any chance at surviving. Once her heart was beating closer to normal, she opened the door as quietly as she could.

She was glad the bathroom door was just a few steps away. She slipped in and closed the door behind her before she ran her hands over the wall looking for the light switch. Luckily, it didn't take her long, and she had to squint and blink several times before her eyes adjusted to the bright light. She looked around quickly before she moved to take care of business. She was glad to see it was mostly familiar.

Once she finished, she turned the light off before she opened the door. She started to head back to the bedroom, but something made her pause. She knew Sephiroth had told her the door would be locked, but would it be worth it to try it and see? For all she knew, he could be back already, and it would be a moot point. Even if she could leave, where would she go? She stood there indecisively for a few minutes before she decided to go ahead and look. Even if she didn't leave, it would be better if she was familiar with her surroundings anyway.

She walked into the tiny living room and tried to look around. It was dark enough that she could barely make out the vague shapes of the furniture, but she knew where the door was. She was taking small steps to make sure she didn't run into anything as well as to be as quiet as possible. She didn't make it halfway there when her gaze was caught by a flash of movement. She quickly turned her head and was shocked by the sight of Sephiroth asleep on his couch. He must have turned over and what little light there was flashed on his hair and caught her attention.

She froze and held her breath as she watched him. When he made no other movements, she allowed herself to breathe again. She finally noticed that he was too tall for the couch. His head was on one arm, and his feet were propped up on the other. She knew from experience that sleeping like that was a sure-fire way to wake up with a crick in the neck, but she didn't know if waking him to have him move was a good idea.

Despite her better judgement, she found herself moving closer to get a better look at him. Her sight was finally starting to adjust back to the darkness, but she still couldn't see much. She stopped a few feet away and watched as he slept. His face was peaceful, something it hadn't been even when he was calm and awake. She vaguely remembered what his childhood had been like; enough to know what she had felt was probably only a portion of what he dealt with. She felt tears on her cheeks again at the thought and angrily wiped them away. The last thing she needed was to be worrying about another person. She had enough to deal with just trying to figure out her own situation.

It was at that moment, the same voice that had spoken to her earlier in the day rang out in her head once again. "Child, he is one of the reasons you were given another chance. The Champions must be kept from falling."

Eve couldn't hold in her scream at the unexpected voice. She instantly stuffed her fist into her mouth and quickly looked to see that Sephiroth was already up. His sword was already in his hand, and he was looking around to see what the issue was. When his gaze landed on her, he relaxed slightly, but he didn't dismiss the sword. "Is there something wrong?"