D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

For a moment Lily felt like she was flying… but she didn't have any chance to get used to that sensation as soon the ground 'rushed' up to meet her and she felt her stomach hit the ground. Trying to take in air after the landing was a bit of a problem though. As she sucked in oxygen, the primitive part of her brain started screaming at her for having water in her lungs. This was countered somewhat by the more conscious part of her brain that realised she was in fact breathing normal despite this, but primal instincts were strong, especially in a brand new body.

Lily let out a harsh cough as large amounts of 'water' was released from her mouth as she both tried to get rid of it as fast as possible and keep breathing. The fact that the second thing on that list was mostly working fine only causing more confusion. Before it could get too bad though, she felt a soft hand on her back and all the 'water' was pulled from her lungs.

Lily let what tension had crawled into her legs leave as she collapsed onto the ground, or at least that's what she thought it was. In actuality what had happened was Nobody, still using Nira's body, had moved Lily from the tank her new, and now current, body was growing in onto an examination table. She had yet to open her eyes and look around properly to realise this fact though.

*Eugh, what was that. It tasted… well honestly it tasted like clear water. I don't understand how it can taste specifically like clear water, or why that part of the information feels notable but this was not a fun experience.*

"Hey Lily? I need you to give me a sign you're ok. What's the last thing you remember?" said Nobody softly from nearby. Yet, to Lily's new hearing it was like somebody was talking right next to her ear which flinched back in surprise. This started a small chain reaction as Lily realised her body didn't feel quite right.

*Last thing I remember? There was… something… what was it?*

Lily's thoughts slowly coalesced and her memory started returning. *I was… I was looking at my knew body… then I was supposed to do something… what was it? I… hmm… I should know what it was…* Lily could feel the answer on the tip of her tongue and pressed against it until a rush of information came through to her.

*Oh! I'm in my knew body. I… I still don't remember anything after Nobody asked me to get into the tank… which is a little weird but I know what's going on at least.* Lily snapped her eyes open and tried to look around, but she was immediately overwhelmed by the clarity of her vision. Little details could hardly hide from her now. She could see the little pieces of dust that were floating in the room, though she got a feeling there was a lot less then there would be normally.

Turning her head, she managed to spot Nobody and Nira standing nearby with Slethnoth further into the background. Seeing the two standing next to each other, Lily almost wondered how anyone could mistake Nira and Nobody, before reminding herself that she couldn't really see the difference before now. It was all in how they stood. Nobody was making no effort at all to emulate that and it really showed in their posture.

"I'm… fine… a little confused…" is what Lily wanted to say but it came out as a series of slight meows which caused her face to crinkle up in confusion for a moment before transitioning to annoyance. Looking around further revealed she was up on a table, around waist height, with a piece of thin cloth underneath her, but certainly nothing to actually communicate with nearby.

She tried to stand up to glare at Nobody properly for asking such a question but she stumbled as her legs fell out from under her after only a few seconds. Lily let out an irritated growl causing Nobody to giggle at the sight. Nira, however, sighed at Nobody's antics and walked over to a cupboard, another thing the office wasn't meant to contain and certainly hadn't been noticed before, even with her new and improved eyesight. Nira pulled out a board with Two large buttons on the bottom, and three smaller buttons at the top.

When Nira placed it on the table in front of Lily she saw the closer two buttons had 'Yes' and 'No' stamped onto them. The three in the back had, 'maybe, I have a question and I don't know' stamped on in that order.

*It still doesn't give me a way to tell Nobody off. She asked me 'what's the last thing you remember' which is NOT a yes or no question.* Still, it was something. Lily tried a few more times before eventually getting her feet under her. Once she was 'standing' it felt quite natural and she was able to walk all over the counter without issue. She wasn't quite confident in running but it didn't even feel strange to be on four legs instead of two, which was perhaps the weirdest part.

Once confident in her range of movement, she stopped and sat down so she could glare up at Nobody. "Aw, she's so cute glaring at me like that. I wonder what her issue is?" said Nobody in confusion. Nira just let out another sigh and wondered if the real reason she was here was to remind Nobody about common sense.

"Nobody, she can't talk, and the board we prepared for her can only really react to yes or no questions. You asked her a question she has no way of answering. So let me ask you, what could the issue possible be?" said Nira as if she was talking to a child, something she did very well considering her experience.

"Ooooh. Right…" said Nobody in realisation. "My bad. I mean, normally when we do something like this the person is allowed to transform back and forth and explain things to us. Slipped my mind a little" Nobody let out a little giggle as if she couldn't really be blamed.

Nira just held her gaze on Nobody as she tried to work out how that could have slipped the older demon's mind and how looking at Lily in Memphis form didn't jog that part of Nobody's memory at all. Nira had no ideas. "Anyway…" said Nira trying to get things on track now that Nobody had proven incapable, "Are you feeling ok?"

Lily hit the Maybe button.

"I see…" Nira pursed her lips and looked between Lily and the buttons wishing they could get more complete answers. "Is there any major problems you've already found?" Nira asked instead.

Lily hit the No button.

"Ok that's good, we can work with that. Just to check, you're breathing fine?" 'Yes' "You shouldn't feel hungry, but you may… I guess do you feel hungry?" 'No' "Feel weakness in any of your limbs?" Nira rattled of questions but Lily paused on the last one.

She padded around in circles a few times before swishing her tail in irritation as she tried to work out what she'd forgotten. The answer of course, was the very same tail she was moving around at that moment, but it took her a few seconds to work that out. When she did, Lily was rather glad she couldn't blush, or if she could, it certainly wasn't visible under her fur. 'No'.

"Ok that's good. Slethnoth how are things on your end?" said Nira as she looked away for Lily over to the shadow creature. When Lily followed her gaze, she noticed that while Slethnoth didn't look different the itching in her eyes had stopped.

Slethnoth bobbed his head in a weird approximation of a nod and spoke, voice sounding like the wind, flowing around Lily. It did help her notice she could hear the wind a lot better, but put that thought off for now. "I would not call the results great but they are at acceptable levels. Her soul is stabilising still despite having woken up which is certainly a surprise. While perfect stabilisation will always take a while, the fact she seems to have woken up around… I want to say 60% stabilisation? Maybe less? Is strange in the extreme. It is not dangerous as things are holding steady…

"Perhaps… hmm… I wonder if it is because she is searching for a bond. As a Memphis she must know instinctively she needs one to survive. Though I don't think we programmed that into Memphis genetic memory so maybe not? Still I'm not overly concerned. It is an issue to be watched but not a problem at the moment"

*I really don't know what to think of that. My soul isn't stable? What does that mean? I feel mostly fine, perhaps a little tired but I wouldn't have guessed my soul was the issue. I wonder if that means I'll be stuck here for a while…*