She remembered when everything wasn’t so suffocating.

When everything seemed so simple and when they could run around in the grassy plain with the warm summer sun beaming down on them without a care in the world, chasing after their friends in a game of tag.

And when their parents would call for them to come back home for dinner when it started getting dark.

Then, everything changed for the worse.

She could feel the once gentle sun turn harsh, burning their skins, see the grass withering away and the soil below turning into sand. People screamed in pain as they felt their skin being melted off their bodies and then their insides as well from the sheer heat, reducing them into nothing more than puddles of blood.

Animals and plants mutated into gigantic grotesque monsters that later went on to rampage everywhere, causing even more death and destruction in their rage.

Yet, somehow, she was still alive, even as her loved died around her

And amid all of this chaos, walked what she thought was a man dressed in clothes of fine silk, like that of a noble before she saw his face. He was covered with eyes, skin that was leathery and blue, and horns stretched from its forehead. The more she looked, the more inhuman she found the man was.

It was tall, lanky, and was hunched over with arms that were touching the ground, and hands that had claws like daggers.

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It wasn’t a human nor a monster but a demon.

Its eyes looked around the chaos, revelling in the destruction, before one of its eyes noticed her. She shivered and swore that she could feel the demon smiling even though it didn’t have a mouth as it casually walked over to her with all of its eyes zeroing in on her.

She tried to run but found herself frozen in place, no matter how hard she tried to move. The monster stopped right in front of her and looks down.

“Oh you’re just perfect~,” The demon said, its voice sounding slimmer than that of a slime, deeper than that of a toad’s croak, and downright inhuman. “To think that someone like you would be here, I must be blessed,” It continued sounding happier with each word it said, not noticing her shivering and on the verge of tears as she looked down the ground, trying not to meet its gaze.

It reached its arm and then, her vision went dark and she found herself awakened in a cage.

Now, it hurt to even breathe and it felt as if a thousand hot needles were piercing their body at once, their limbs being crushed over and over again as they were assaulted by memories that weren't hers.

The cage was cramped and all she could see was darkness as she could not see and all she could hear was the constant screams for help that would never be answered, feeling bit by bit her humanity slipping from her grasp.

She wished that this would all just stop, that she would be able to rest, and be free from all of this suffering, but no matter how much she begged, pleaded, or wished, she will always be stuck in this cage. After a while, she just...given up.

There was nothing she could do. It was hopeless, nothing she did will work. She'll forever be stuck in this cage, waiting until the day her humanity fully slips out of her hands.

However, it would seem that something has changed. The screams for help were a little now. Not by much, but it was quieter than it used to be, and there was something out there, something different, something that could help her.

The only thing she could do now was to wait. Like she has been doing all these years.

But this time was different. This time she had hope and maybe, just maybe, she would be free soon, finally being able to rest after all this time.