Revert
Sera's knowledge of Karma City is limited to rooms, and the hallways that connect them. Most of the details are blurry and half remembered, and change depending on whether she was pushed along in wheelchairs or laying in a bed.
Either way, those memories are set far in the past, and that makes the insides of the Karma facilities almost completely foreign to Sera. To Varnani, they're incomprehensible.
The dim lighting doesn't hinder the demon when it comes to stalking the halls in the sub levels. It can smell, and sense easily to make up for the lack of light. She knows that there's food somewhere above her; the blood and magnetite in their bodies practically leaks through the floors and walls, although she can't figure out how to reach them.
For the moment, the distance isn't an obstacle. She still has the guard from earlier to keep running off of, and her hunger is a dull echo of what it used to be...Which is turning out to be a mixed blessing. Varnani isn't blindly ravenous anymore, but that also loosens the strangle hold the demon has over who is in control.
There's a pause in the demon's foot steps as Sera stirs, almost like the shaman is stretching after a long sleep and trying to get her bearings again. The girl's thoughts are still muddy and sluggish, which only causes the Atma to slow down instead of stopping.
Initially, Sera has been curled up in her own mind, not wanting to move. The pain from her initial transformation was enough to drive her back there. The fear of experiencing it again, in addition to the hole yawning open in her stomach, was enough to keep her in place, barely aware and unable of doing anything. Now, however, she's having a hard time staying oblivious. Whether she wants to or not, Sera is slowly becoming aware of what's going on.
The security cameras lining the halls are the only witnesses to that fact. They watch as the newly formed Asura staggers, but continues to push itself forward, refusing to stop moving. The demon's grace has changed in the last few steps, going from a predator that knows how to hunt to something that has to make an effort to stay upright.
Sera is wavering a little, herself. She's only half aware of her feet clawing at the ground, or how she has to shift her balance to stay upright. What's demanding her attention is the heavy knot of something sitting in her stomach, and the faint memory of how it got there. The details are blurry and red, but what she can remember makes the shaman twist and claw at the demon half of her mind, desperately afraid now. It's a different fear then what was holding her back; the sort that pumps adrenaline into her body, and urges her to run...In this case, run out from the mental corner she's been shoved into, and back into control over herself.
She feels her body writhe in response, and her mouth opens in an angry shriek, without her input. Her breath hitches in her lungs, cutting it off, leaving Sera gasping for breath as she tries to get more air-
And for a moment she almost forgets trying to breath, when she realizes it's her that's struggling for air. The boney plates on her back click together as Sera trembles, telling her new body that it needs to stay upright and keep it's balance, and above all else to listen to her.
That urging does nothing when something stabs at the side of her face. She can't feel Varnani fighting against her any longer...And soon enough she can't feel anything except for a wave of cold, and hot trails of light burning their way over her skin. Sera tries to move again, and her only reward is when her feet slide uselessly against the floor before giving way, and let her shoulder smash against the wall. That fresh spot of pain makes her cry out, and it's only after a moment that she realizes she's hearing her voice, and not the demon's.
It makes Sera open eyes that she didn't even know she had shut, and take in the hallway again. She's been left leaning against one of walls, and slowly she slides down to the floor. Her hands cautiously go up to her face, touching the skin. It doesn't feel any different, but somehow she can tell when her fingers brush over the Atma mark, freshly branded on her face. When she keeps them there for too long, her skin starts to burn, urging her to take her hands back away.
The next thing she should do is stand up and keep walking, she knows. But for now, Sera needs to convince her feet that they can support her...And herself that she needs to keep moving, despite what's happened.
Either way, those memories are set far in the past, and that makes the insides of the Karma facilities almost completely foreign to Sera. To Varnani, they're incomprehensible.
The dim lighting doesn't hinder the demon when it comes to stalking the halls in the sub levels. It can smell, and sense easily to make up for the lack of light. She knows that there's food somewhere above her; the blood and magnetite in their bodies practically leaks through the floors and walls, although she can't figure out how to reach them.
For the moment, the distance isn't an obstacle. She still has the guard from earlier to keep running off of, and her hunger is a dull echo of what it used to be...Which is turning out to be a mixed blessing. Varnani isn't blindly ravenous anymore, but that also loosens the strangle hold the demon has over who is in control.
There's a pause in the demon's foot steps as Sera stirs, almost like the shaman is stretching after a long sleep and trying to get her bearings again. The girl's thoughts are still muddy and sluggish, which only causes the Atma to slow down instead of stopping.
Initially, Sera has been curled up in her own mind, not wanting to move. The pain from her initial transformation was enough to drive her back there. The fear of experiencing it again, in addition to the hole yawning open in her stomach, was enough to keep her in place, barely aware and unable of doing anything. Now, however, she's having a hard time staying oblivious. Whether she wants to or not, Sera is slowly becoming aware of what's going on.
The security cameras lining the halls are the only witnesses to that fact. They watch as the newly formed Asura staggers, but continues to push itself forward, refusing to stop moving. The demon's grace has changed in the last few steps, going from a predator that knows how to hunt to something that has to make an effort to stay upright.
Sera is wavering a little, herself. She's only half aware of her feet clawing at the ground, or how she has to shift her balance to stay upright. What's demanding her attention is the heavy knot of something sitting in her stomach, and the faint memory of how it got there. The details are blurry and red, but what she can remember makes the shaman twist and claw at the demon half of her mind, desperately afraid now. It's a different fear then what was holding her back; the sort that pumps adrenaline into her body, and urges her to run...In this case, run out from the mental corner she's been shoved into, and back into control over herself.
She feels her body writhe in response, and her mouth opens in an angry shriek, without her input. Her breath hitches in her lungs, cutting it off, leaving Sera gasping for breath as she tries to get more air-
And for a moment she almost forgets trying to breath, when she realizes it's her that's struggling for air. The boney plates on her back click together as Sera trembles, telling her new body that it needs to stay upright and keep it's balance, and above all else to listen to her.
That urging does nothing when something stabs at the side of her face. She can't feel Varnani fighting against her any longer...And soon enough she can't feel anything except for a wave of cold, and hot trails of light burning their way over her skin. Sera tries to move again, and her only reward is when her feet slide uselessly against the floor before giving way, and let her shoulder smash against the wall. That fresh spot of pain makes her cry out, and it's only after a moment that she realizes she's hearing her voice, and not the demon's.
It makes Sera open eyes that she didn't even know she had shut, and take in the hallway again. She's been left leaning against one of walls, and slowly she slides down to the floor. Her hands cautiously go up to her face, touching the skin. It doesn't feel any different, but somehow she can tell when her fingers brush over the Atma mark, freshly branded on her face. When she keeps them there for too long, her skin starts to burn, urging her to take her hands back away.
The next thing she should do is stand up and keep walking, she knows. But for now, Sera needs to convince her feet that they can support her...And herself that she needs to keep moving, despite what's happened.