Alone
Stellar City is one of the main gateways for the Selection to occur. The Selection is an annual procession where every child turning 15 that year would be transported down to the Underworld.
With Stellar City just on the horizon, Eve hurriedly started running to one of the main gates of the heavily fortified city. He saw a seemingly endless line of wagons filled with teenagers, all dressed in white linen basic cloth along the main road. Luckily, Eve was wearing the same clothes and immediately started formulating a plan to join the wagons. Each wagon was being pulled by a pair of intimidating horses. At least one nurse attended each one of the wagons, each holding around 10 teens. Each of the teenagers had a unique tag on their right shoulder, marking their identity. Eve decided to wait a little longer to see when the wagon line would end and try to hop into one of these wagons undetected. He knew that a "special" product such as himself would never be allowed into the city without permission from the higher-ups, considering he was now a fugitive on the run...
After waiting for another 40 minutes, Eve finally saw the end of the wagon line. As soon as the wagon came to a stop for a quick rest, he ran up to the nurse in charge of the last wagon and utilized the best of his acting skills.
"Child, are you lost? Why are you all the way back here?"
"I'm sorry, miss, I seem to have been separated from my wagon by accident. I really had to go to take a pee, but the next thing I knew, I forgot my wagon number and couldn't find my way back. I'm so sorry to bother you, but could I hitch a ride on this wagon?"
"You got off your wagon to pee? Why didn't you just use magic to expel your waste?"
Oh crap, Eve thought to himself, this was really bad. He had never been exposed to the outside world. As well as possessing absolutely zero affinity for magic, he had never realized what humans have managed to accomplish with magic. By the time they turn 12, most children are expected to know the basics of first magic, magic used in everyday life to help with chores and other meager tasks. Dark magic's first form could be used to destroy one's waste from within their bodies, allowing people to completely eliminate the need to use the bathroom. The people who couldn't use magic wouldn't be sent down to the Underworld and instead became permanent residents of the Sanctuary, becoming nurses or part of the breeding factories that would create the next generation of children.
"Ah, you see, I was fatigued from getting almost no sleep last night, and so I couldn't properly focus enough to use magic."
"I find that really hard to believe, son; you can never run out of mana with just tiredness. If you don't know how to use dark magic, you don't need to find an excuse for me." The nurse pitied the boy who was being sent to the Underworld and didn't even know the basics of dark magic. This boy wouldn't survive for a day in that savage world.
"Alright, you can join the wagon with the rest of the kids, but let me first verify your identification."
Once again, Eve panicked. His cover would be blown if the nurse found out that he had an identification tag that had SPX in it, marking him as a special child. Eve needed to make sure it never came down to that and started to come up with another excuse.
"Miss, stop interrogating the poor boy and let him in already. The wagons in front have started to move again." said a feminine voice from inside the wagon. It was a girl with long and completely white hair, dressed in the same uniform as everyone else: white trousers and a white linen t-shirt. She had eyes the color of hazelnuts and had a petite figure. Despite her size, her voice and tone emphasized power and confidence that could strike at the heart of anyone listening. This girl was a natural-born leader.
"Just a second, dear, I just need to verify his iden-"
"Miss, I'm so sorry, but I think I lost my identification tag. Please, please, please just let me onto the wagon. They can verify my identification at the main gat-"
Eve couldn't even finish his sentence before the nurse's hand started flying in his direction and left a bright burning red mark on his cheek.
"YOU LOST YOUR IDENTIFICATION TAG?" the nurse roared. Eve stood there, stupefied.
"Are you slow in the brain? How could you lose your identification tag? That is the ONE thing you needed to hold onto. You have literally one job, and you can't even do that properly?"
The kids had been warned multiple times to never lose their identification tag, and obviously, Eve didn't know this either. Whenever he lost his identification tag, it didn't matter since he was an exceptional person and everyone could recognize him anyways. No one could be rude towards him because he had special privileges. However, for an average child, losing their identification tag meant heavy punishment.
"I-I"
"If you lost your identification tag, then you have no place in the Underworld. Just die, you trash."
With that, the wagons started to take off. The white-haired girl just sat in the wagon, with a pitying look on her face. Some kids began smirking at Eve and even giggled as they knew that Eve was a helpless cause. There was no way he could survive in the Underworld with this kind of carelessness, and everyone knew it.
"Ha-HAHAHAHAHAHA"
Eve started to lose his mind just thinking about the bizarreness of this situation. Never in his life has he been so humiliated. A slap across the cheek. This lowly nurse had the nerve to slap him on the cheek. And then she even called him trash! For as long as Eve could remember, although everyone would isolate themselves from him, he would still be treated with respect, almost like a king. This was the first time Eve's pride was hurt, and he couldn't stand for this.
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Eve wasn't alone his entire life. He had a singular friend, one that betrayed him. When Eve was 9, he was introduced to a room of other special children. These children were meant to form relationships with one another, and eventually compete with each other to see who would be at the top of the top. Among all of these talented children, Eve was the only child who didn't know how to use magic, and so he was once again ostracized by the group. The only person who didn't leave him was a boy called Miguel. Just then, Eve remembered a particular conversation he had with Miguel.
"Hey Miguel, why are you friends with me, someone who doesn't even know magic?"
"Good question. Why am I friends with such useless trash?"
"Hey- stop it! You're always so mean as well."They both started giggling, and it was one of the rare moments Eve would break a smile.
"Eve. Jokes aside, you aren't any less talented than us. Just because you don't know how to use magic doesn't mean you aren't talented. In fact, I think you have a way cooler ability."
"I... have an ability?"
"Yeah, in fact, the reason people here don't talk to you isn't that you are worthless, but because they are scared of you."
"Why would they be scared of me? What could I possibly do?"
"I'll let you in on a secret. The nurses didn't want us to tell you this, but... Eve. You. You are boundless evolution. Just listen to yourself, and you'll find the secret to your power."
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"You must be Eve. You have been sleeping for 15 years, and it's about time we got started."