This is my first ever fanfiction I have written so try not to be too harsh.
Disclaimer: I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima and especially not Evangeline Mcdowell. (I'd want to though). Priest Barnabas and Phillip are OC characters created by me.
I decided to write this because I noticed how often her name comes up, and i always wondered where it came from. I incorporated both the manga and the two animes, plus various stories already written about her. Just in case you were wondering about Tzenntch, he is character created by Chaos Lord Andronicus from the 'Ask the Negima Crew' written by Lunardragon2607.
Anyways on with the show!
The Origins of the Dark Evangel
Evangeline A. K. McDowell looked like an ordinary middle school girl on the outside. She was relatively short, standing 4' 3,'' she had long, platinum blond hair that fell to her knees, and deep, penetrating emerald eyes. Under normal circumstances, one would not even look twice at her. She got decent grades in school, rarely spoke in class, and always sat in the very back row of seats. To her classmates of class 2-A at Mahora Academy she was simply known as 'Eva-chan,' just another quiet little girl in class. But to the outside world, she was completely different. If anything, her small size and schoolgirl complexion was merely a facade that hid her true, evil self.
If one looked carefully into her eyes, one will find that they looked far too deep for a normal ten-year-old, almost as if they lived for too long in a short period of time. One might argue that she has seem more in her lifetime than most of the other girls in her class. In fact Evangeline was anything but normal. She happened to be a six and a half century old vampire, "the most powerful shinso vampire in the world" in her words, she also happened to be a very powerful dark mage, a superb fencer, puppet master, master of aikido, and most recently, the Chaos God Tzenntch has inducted her as a Chaos Sorceress. In battle, no one stood a chance against her. She once took down Fate Averrnus and a 200-foot tall demon god in less than three minutes. In a Martial Arts tournament at Mahora, she took down a man twice her size in a the blink of an eye without her magic and she even fought off five mages and ended up killing four of them in one fight.
Why then, is a powerful being like her doing in middle school?
15 years ago, she was saved from falling off a cliff by a mage known as the Thousand Master, and for a while, she followed him mercilessly out of love. Eventually, the Thousand Master trapped her at the school in order to lose her, and to try and show her the path of light instead of darkness. Although he had promised to set her free of her curse, he vanished, leaving a poor little girl heartbroken and trapped. Before all this happened, she had many nicknames and aliases. At the height of her power, she had half the world trembling in fear of her, and her alone. She was called a variety of names. Doll Master, the Undying Mage, Dreaded Vampire, just to name a few. But there was one name in particular that became her signature name, one that would strike fear in anyone's heart just by mentioning it. Dark Evangel. It was a name that had a lot of weight behind it. When people write about her, or are addressing her directly, they refer to her as the Dark Evangel.
Here are a few references:
From 'Just a Date' by Frostedember:
'And with that, the Dark Evangel left, leaving a furiously blushing Takane D. Goodman behind. '
From 'Schola Femina Liber Amor' by Haru Matumura
'Negi's panicky face disappeared in an instant at this. The Dark Evangel, the Puppet Master, his harsh mentor, the very same vampire who had threatened to suck every last drop of blood out of him just admitted to having fun. The boy gave a bright smile to her as she conjured a nightie out of the clothes she had worn that day, slipping it on.'
In the on going story 'Ask the Negima Crew' by lunardragon2607, when reviewers send in their questions to Evangeline, they address her as Dark Evangel numerous times.
Even her wikipedia entry lists 'the Dark Evangel' as the first of her many alias, after her full name
'A cold and devilish little girl, she is actually a hunted witch and vampire. She once had a six million dollar bounty on her head, with nicknames such as "Dark Evangel", "Doll Master", "Maga Nosferatu", and others. She rarely says much in class, and anything she says tends to lean towards being evil.'
But why this name? Why is she not well known for her other names?
The answer lies in a number of things. First off is the etymology of the name. 'Evangel' shares the same Greek root as Evangelion and Evangelican, which means 'good news' or 'Gospel.' Ironically, adding Dark in front of it, the name becomes 'Dark Gospel,' or 'Gospel of Darkness' or more simply 'bringer of bad news.'
It was also rumored that it originated from 'dark angel' and later became a portmanteau of that and her name.
The closest thing that sounded like Dark Evangel was the term 'dark angel.'
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
In some Christian doctrins, a fallen angel is an angel that has been exiled or banished from Heaven. Often such banishment is a punishment for disobeying or rebelling against God. One early source for information on angelology and demonology is the Persian prophet Zoroaster. The best-known fallen angel is Lucifer. Lucifer rebelled and was cast out of Heaven and fell to Earth for his offense. According to some traditions, fallen angels will roam the Earth until Judgment Day, when they will be banished to Hell.
Fallen angels were often used to described angels who worked for Satan. There have been statues and paintings that depicted fallen angels with black wings instead of white. The term 'Dark Angel' was first coined around the early 1400s, and referred specifically to an angel that was a cross between demon and angel, and often depicted as an evil, feminine, seductive and often with bat wings. I was reading about something about rumors spreading across the countrysides of France and England during the late fourteenth century about some sort of 'dark angel' that appears only on nights of a full moon.
Several eyewitnesses claimed seeing a black figure fly over their towns. Many claim that the figure was at least seven feet tall, with a wingspan of about twenty feet, with long, platinum blond hair and glowing red eyes. Others have claimed the figure to have green eyes that conveyed a monster glaring at them. Either way, a story goes that a man yelled it was the angel of death that was coming upon them. People then translated the 'angel of death' as the 'dark angel.' Note that where there were several fallen angels, as mentioned in the Bible, there was only one 'dark angel.'
Now with that information in mind, let's begin the story:
The story of the 'Dark Evangel' begins on a cold winter day in 1487 in northern France. A young man about 16 years old was delivering a message in town. He was slightly rough looking, with shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes. He worked at a church in Avranches under the care of Priest Barnabas. He had taken him in when he was wondering around during a stormy night several years ago, and ever since then he had been grateful to the man who saved him. The young man's name was Phillip, and he was an orphan. The reason he was out alone that night, was because that night he lost his parents.
He delivered his message, and started back home. Suddenly, it began to rain. He darted down the street hoping to make it back to the church before the rain got any worse.
Tonight however would be a night he would never forget, because just when he was a few blocks short of coming up to the church, he nearly ran into a small figure walking in the rain. The figure had on a dark traveling cloak, and didn't seem to care for the weather around her. He ran up to the figure and asked, "What are you doing out here all by yourself in this weather? You're going to catch a cold."
The figure turned around and revealed to be a rather small, cute girl probably no older than eleven with long blond hair and green eyes.
"I can take care of myself thanks." She said in a slightly harsh tone.
Remembering what the priest did for him, it was his turn to do the same. The priest did not abandon him in the rain, and he wasn't about to abandon this girl either.
"Now what kind of attitude is that? Please, would you like to stay with me for a while?" the young man offered.
"Ugh, alright I suppose."
"Follow me. My place is not that far from here" he called as the two ran down the narrow street.
The two entered the church and took off their traveling cloaks.
"Well that could have been worse. It looks like we made it before the storm."
He turned to girl who was busy drying herself off. She had on a black dress with long sleeves, matching stockings and a dark blue vest.
"Where are your parents? You seem awfully young to be traveling by yourself." Phillip decided to ask to break the silence.
"They... passed away sometime ago..." the girl replied.
"Oh... I see. You're the same as me then. I lost my parents to a...a monster when I was 12. Afterwards, I was taken in by a kind priest here at this church. Oh, pardon me. I haven't introduced myself have I? I'm Phillip."
"My name's Evangeline," the girl replied.
"Evangeline, huh? What a nice name. I read in book once that the name 'Evangeline' means 'bearer of good news'."
"Is what my name means? Wow, thanks I guess, I am a little...stunned," Evangeline replied.
Phillip commented, "Hey, you're just like a little sister. I never had any siblings so I guess it's kind of fun. I promise I'll look after you. Why don't you come upstairs and warm yourself by the fire, I'll prepare a bed for you."
They walked up the spiral staircase of the church to the upper levels. They were greeted by a squat, plump man who looked to be in his late fifties with a neat beard and mustache dressed in robes in the hallway.
"Ah Phillip, you're back! I was starting to get worried too. And who is this pretty young woman here?"
"Oh, Priest Barnabas, this is Evangeline, I found her out in the rain and I remembered how you offered me shelter here and I decided to the same. Sorry I kept you, the place was a little hard to find" Phillip replied.
"No matter, anyways, please feel free to stay here for as long as you like. After all, you're always welcomed in the House of God." and with that, Barnabas left the two in the hallway.
Phillip prepared a bed next to his own. His room was small, but cozy. It had it's own fire place and the two were thankful for the warmth. They laid their wet clothes in front of the fire to dry. And got ready for bed.
"Oh, just to warn you, in case you have not heard, the dark angel has been spotted a couple of times around Normandy. Just telling you not to wander off at night."
"Really, I'll remember to be careful."
A dark angel, is that how people see me? Hehehe.
"Well, pleasant dreams and goodnight." Phillip said as he turned over and blew out the candles on the nightstand.
"Goodnight." Evangeline said.
For almost three years, the two did everything together. They helped out with cleaning, cooking, community service and so on. Priest Barnabas watched over them the whole time, and eventually the two seemed just like brother and sister. Phillip had a strange feeling after two and half years, that Evangeline did not seem to age at all. He was still in his teens so he grew a couple inches, but she would have been at least thirteen or fourteen by now, and she should have start hitting her growth spurt.
"Hey Evangeline, uh, have you been eating alright? Because it seems like you haven't grown an inch over these three years."
"Of course I've been eating alright! I just...grow slowly."
"Sorry for asking, because I think that you will grow up into a mature and very beautiful woman in the next few years!"
"Aww..thanks!"
Then Evangeline turned her head away and whispered to herself, "I wish that were true..."
Then one day, during the chilly spring season of 1490, the dark angel was seen flying over the town. Phillip had just came back from town and was shocked to see the people in chaos.
"What's happening?" He asked a passerby.
"It's the dark angel! That creature has come for us!"
Phillip looked up and sure enough, a black figure was flying east towards the Abbey of Mont St. Michael. He decided to follow, while most of the citizens fled. His parents were killed by the dark angel, leaving him an orphan and with no parents he was taken in at the church. Ever since that day, he swore revenge against that monster. Grabbing a stick, he chased after the creature, across the isthmus, through the windy streets, up the hill and finally into an empty courtyard, where the dark angel had landed. Her back was to him. He quickly stepped behind a nearby statue. And took a minute to calm himself down.
This was his chance, a chance to kill the monster who made him a orphan. This was his chance to end almost fifty years of terror. He took a deep breath, stepped out from behind the statue and yelled, "I've finally caught you! You're the one who killed my parents!" He ran forward, and just as he was about to strike, the dark angel slowly turned around to face him, and immediately his arms froze in midair and dropped the stick. It was Evangeline. There was no mistaking the green eyes, but gone was any hint of "No, it can't be...the dark angel... is Evangeline?!" This can't be right! Evangeline was supposed to be back at home sick and in bed.
"H..How can this be?! You can't be the dark angel! Evangeline! Please tell me this isn't true!" Phillip cried in horror.
"I'm afraid it is." she said with an evil smirk.
Phillip's entire body was frozen in place by those words. That did not sound anything like the Evangeline he grew to knew. Gone was the sweet little girl and replaced by an evil monster with no conscience or regrets.
Evangeline approached him slowly. He tried to move, but his legs wouldn't obey him.
"Is that fear I see in your eyes? I like that." she taunted sinisterly and before he knew what happened , the dark angel suddenly grabbed his neck, and started to squeeze with the strength far above that of a ten-year-old girl.
"Ugh.. .P..Please Evangeline, don't... I..I'm begging you!" Phillip sputtered as her grip tightened.
As the Phillip felt his life being crushed, his last words were, "how can you...Dark...Evangel.."
If it was possible, Evangeline's smile twisted even more until there was no human qualities left. "Dark Evangel huh? It has a ring to it... I love it."
Priest Baranbas had secretly followed Phillip and witnessed the whole account. He could not believe his eyes. Although she still bore the appearance of a little girl, her expression was what one would call demonic. Deep down, Barnabas felt like crying. How can she do this? To not show any mercy to the boy who showed her kindness for so long.
Then she spread her cape and took off into the sky. Evangeline swooped down and cried out, "Hear this loud and clear, I am evil incarnate, ruler of darkness, Dark Evangel! No one can stop me! Hahahahaha!"
Her voice pierced the sky like a thousand spears through the body. He later ran to townsfolk and started yelling "the dark angel is Evangeline!" Barnabas tried to shake off what happened, even though he knew that her name would haunt the rest of his life.
By nighttime, everyone brought out their torches and was chanting "down with the Dark Evangel!" many times and half the townsfolk went out in search for her. Soon the word spread to the neighboring towns and cities. So much was the commotion that it reached the King himself who ordered a search for the Dark Evangel and the burning of all witches. After just three years, practically everyone in all of Normandy or France knew who the Dark Evangel referred to. In another four years, word had spread across most of the Holy Roman Empire and the British Isles.
After that tragic day, there have been numerous stories that sprung up around the 'Dark Evangel.'
"Is it true that she can fly and teleport?"
"I heard that she can disappear."
"I heard that she eats human beings whole."
"No, no, no, that's wrong, she drinks the blood of her victims first then eats their corpses."
"They say that she is the vampire who's been haunting England for the past fifty years."
"Some say that if you look into her eyes directly, you will die in ten seconds."
"I once heard that she is so evil, that the devil himself expelled her from hell."
"Really? Even the devil was scared of the Dark Evangel?"
On top of the spire of a church against the backdrop of the full moon, Evangeline smiled, but it was not a genuine one. She was just remembering what Phillip said when they first met. Her name was supposed to bring good news. Hahahahaha, how wrong those fools are, she thought. She was smiling because of the irony behind her true nature. How ironic...that this new alias would spell trouble and fear for the centuries to come... she burst out laughing, a high, evil laughter that made even the darkest and meanest creatures flee in fear. Soon the whole world will know what it means to fear the Dark Evangel...
And there you have it, the origins of the Dark Evangel. It was her first alias but also happened to be the most circulated and popularized.
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