WHO: Teruko Okura & Nancy Gama. WHAT: Teruko seeing Nancy’s demon side in the Upside Down. WHEN: During the Upside Down plot [backdated]. WHERE: The Upside Down. WARNINGS: Medium with violence, blood, and what not since Nancy’s got a demon inside of her in the beginning. STATUS: Closed | Completed gdoc.
Nancy knew she wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Was that the correct saying? Whatever, she knew she wasn’t in the Madison that she had grown to know and like. No, this looked more like the end of the world when it had almost come to an end back home minus it looking like Madison. Her phone wasn’t working, and she had no idea if her ward was down here, which worried her. She knew her ward could take care of herself, but that didn’t mean she didn’t worry. God when did Nancy become just a tad bit mature? It was a valid question, but one she’d worry about later.
Having stepped on a vine, she heard movement from somewhere behind her.. Turning around, she stepped back without watching and a vine nearby just missing the vine that could’ve led to a whole lot of problems by unleashing the side of Nancy that she kept hidden. A creature that was on the ugly side was coming towards her, which caused Nancy to tilt her head slightly. Until it’s hand swiped at her forcing her to move back. Only this time she didn’t get so lucky and a gash on her arm caused her eyes to widen. Forgetting about the creature in front of her as she knew what was going to be coming. Deciding that she might as well use it since a demon of some kind was going to be coming for her. Taking some of her blood with her index finger, she drew on her hand the symbols just as the demon who won out headed right for her body and going into her through her mouth.
The snapping of her neck and shoulders as her body adapted to the demon that decided to take over her body. Nancy was all gone for the moment and instead was a demon that could only be seen with a mirror or other surface that was reflective. While it sounded painful to anyone listening, her body would just be sore after once the demon left along with a bunch of spicy stuff to help sooth what had happened to her body and get her energy back. At the creature growling at her, Nancy growled back, her mouth opening much bigger than any normal human as the demon showed itself. Crouching close to the ground, the demon attacked the monster and while Nancy did get cut across the stomach, it would heal before the demon left her body. It didn’t take long before Nancy had gained the upper hand and had killed the monster with her own bare hands along with some teeth as the demon inside of her didn’t give a damn. Walking back, the demon cracked its neck again, enjoying the body and allowing it to heal while debating about whether it was going to leave or not.
Teruko was definitely starting to hate waking up in random places like this. How many times has it been now? A few? First the cruise ship, which once she figured what was happening, wasn't too terrible. But then waking up in a creepy clown motel was. And now this? This was really starting to get on her nerves and she was more angry than upset about suddenly being in the strange version of Madison Valley.
She had woken up in an empty house, having looked all over for Nancy. She tried texting her but her phone wasn't working. Great. Guess she had to go look for her or maybe find whoever else might've ended up here along with her. From the looks of things outside, it looked like she might need a weapon. Too bad she didn't have her sword with her, so she ended up with a knife and a crowbar.
She tucked the knife into her pants and held onto the crowbar, reading to strike if needed. She ended up somewhere in town when she heard some noises. Curious, she headed towards the source, walking as quietly as possible so as to not attract any attention to herself. There she saw someone very familiar and she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was Nancy. She was about to help but she stopped. Something was off about her guardian - the way she killed the creature and how she cracked her neck. It wasn't normal.
"Nancy?" she called out, still keeping her distance.
The sound of someone caused Nancy’s head to snap in the direction. A growl could be heard from within without her mouth even moving. Nancy didn’t have her headphones with her to help in fighting back against the demon that had taken over, which made her have to do it all on her own. Until the part of Nancy lurking beneath the surface saw Teruko and could feel the demon was thinking about attacking the girl. Trying to fight to regain her body back, but it wasn’t until she could feel it’s attention fully on her ward that Nancy managed to gain the control back. The black smoke leaving her body through her mouth and up to who the hell knew where.
“Stay back,” she said, collapsing on the ground in pain as her body fixed itself. Her body was exhausted and if she didn’t eat something soon to regain that energy, it was going to make her sick. Feeling more like herself than she had minus the feeling of hunger, Nancy remembered about Teruko, turning her head to look at the young girl as she pulled herself upright. Nancy shut her eyes, fearing what the young girl was probably thinking. Most people feared what she was and figured Teruko would be wanting someone new as a guardian. Honestly, Nancy wouldn’t blame her. Who wanted a monster to care for them? “I’m fine, you are free to come over if you want? You’re safe,” and she was. There was no way Nancy would allow any demon within her to ever touch a hair on Teruko’s head.
Teruko watched Nancy, more confused than frightened. She had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, it was strange and unnatural. The way she cracked her neck had been odd and how could she growl or make any noise come from her mouth when she didn't even move it? The more she watched, the more it seemed like Nancy was trying to take back control of her body. But from what? Teruko stepped forward but stopped when Nancy warned her to stay back. But only for a moment. Teruko wasn't afraid. If Nancy did attack, she could deal with it. She had the strength of a hundred men thanks to the surgeries she underwent.
There was a pause as she assessed the situation before she walked over to Nancy, kneeling down in front of her guardian. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice concerned as she looked over for any injuries. "What happened?"
The fighting to take back her own body had taken more energy than what was normally needed, but Nancy didn’t have the normal devices to center herself. Or Elvis to call her back when he could see that she was too far gone. It was refusing to let the demon inside turn on Teruko that got her to fight, but it had taken a lot out of her that it was taking her a few minutes to get her body back in order and to feel more like herself. The stiffness in her body was normal and god she could already feel it. Turning her head to crack it in a more normal way before rolling her shoulders. Her body starting to loosen a bit, watching her ward walk over and hearing the concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine. And there are no injuries,” she told her ward, knowing her voice didn’t match Teruko’s at all since Nancy’s was calm and collected. As if nothing weird had just happened since for her this was normal. “You know how you have your own abilities? Well, you can say that was sorta mine?” She offered, blowing a piece of her hair out of her face. Remembering what had happened during the fight, she lifted her shirt a bit to make sure that she hadn’t been lying on the injuries part. As she figured it was all healed, thanks to the demon. “I’m a demon vessel and what you had seen was me allowing one inside of me.” Nancy would be surprised if Teruko didn’t ask any questions, and she was ready. “Are you okay? Nothing has hurt you,” she had a guilty look on not checking right away. Nancy knew she should’ve, but she also knew her ward was quite capable of taking care of herself.
Teruko took Nancy's word that there was no injuries, but she still couldn't help but check for sure. She also noted that Nancy seemed okay mentally as well and was calm as far as she could tell. Which was a bit strange considering the circumstances but at least she wasn't completely out of it. "Okay, good," she said, glad there didn't seem to be any lasting damage.
She nodded as her guardian explained what happened. It all made sense now - the way she moved so unnatural, the growling, the way she killed the... whatever it was. There was nothing human about all that and now she understood why. "A demon vessel?" she repeated. "I never would've guessed. Is it a specific demon or does any one of them take control? How did you gain back control in the first place? Are there other ways?" Yeah, she had questions. She particularly wanted to know the answer to the last one, wondering if there was a way she herself could get Nancy back if she ever had to.
"No, I'm fine. To be honest, I just kinda got here and didn't run into anything until now."
When Teruko repeated what Nancy said, she nodded yes on the demon vessel question. “Not exactly something someone would guess unless they knew, and I’ve made sure no one really does,” Nancy admitted to Teruko. More to avoid the questions of how it happened because the pity look she always got annoyed her. Very few things pissed or annoyed Nancy, but people pitying her for the situation was a quick way to change that. Did she hate what she was? Yes, but she knew the reason she had ended up this way was for a reason and one that she would never take back.
“Whoa one question at a time or I’ll forget one,” she chucked to show she was kidding, trying to remember the questions. “No specific demon. If I’m hurt, make the signal or call for one, then it’s a game of whoever can come to my body. Though there are ways to call for a specific one; however, the person who knows the spells for that isn’t here. None will ever take over just because I’m sleeping, other things have to happen to lead to what you saw.” She wanted that clear so Teruko didn’t think she had to worry about Nancy coming out of her room in full demon mode or anything. “I’m still working on fighting back control. You know that Ipod I always have that I tell you if you touch to make sure to charge it? The music grounds me to where I can fight back over control for my body. Also have Elvis or Keta who know the special words to call me back, which I can teach you if you want?” Nancy was sure that might make Teruko feel better. Her knowing the way to call Nancy back if it happened and she couldn’t get the control. “This time, it was you. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you and I could feel the demon was wanting to tear you apart. That’s how I got my body back.” Her eyes on the girl, wanting to make sure she knew she was safe even if the demon had wanted to kill her, but Nancy wouldn’t have allowed that to happen.
“Sorry you had to see that and the first thing you ran into down here,” Nancy said, noticing some blood on her pants. Whether it was hers or the monsters was a good question with no real answer.
"I don't blame you. It's something I would've kept a secret too." So Teruko wasn't upset that Nancy kept something from her. She would've done the exact same thing if the roles were reversed.
"Haha," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She couldn't help it though. Whenever she discovered something new, she wanted to know as much about it as possible. And depending on what was happening, like now, she also wanted to learn everything quickly. Who knows if more of those weird creatures would come or what else there might be lurking around in this place. She fell silent as she listened, taking in every word and remembering as much as she could. "Well, I'm glad you managed to gain back control." If she hadn't, then things probably would've ended up terrible for the both of them. "And yeah, you probably should teach me those words just in case." Though she hoped no demons would take over Nancy again anytime soon, but it'd be useful information to know.
She shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Can't say I've seen anything like that before, but it could've been worse." She was just glad Nancy was back to normal and no major harm was done.
“It’s always been easier to keep it hidden, especially considering things that I have done when I was not in my own body,” Nancy knew it wasn’t all on her or at least, she did now. But she still blamed herself, thanks in part to her mother who left her at an orphanage after what she had done. It didn’t matter the reason all her mom knew was she didn’t want her daughter and left her with the nuns. A place that wasn’t exactly the best place for someone like her and one of the many reasons Nancy wasn’t exactly an adult, making up for lost time.
Nancy wasn’t at all surprised by her curiosity because it’d be the same if this was her facing what she had seen. Okay, maybe not as much since she was a go with the flow, but she’d be curious even if she didn’t ask the questions that she wanted. “Elvis had been working with me to learn how to gain back control. It’s harder when the demons are more powerful, the lesser ones are easier for me to gain control back from. He learned my music is the key with me, but for the ones I can’t get out then that’s when he comes in.” Nodding at her comment about the words, Nancy didn’t blame her and understood why she might want to know. “When we get on the other side, I’ll teach you the phrase that Elvis made as the one that breaks me back, okay? It’s not hard, just weird, hence me having to teach you.” Nancy knew it’d be good for the girl to know the words just in case. She had done well on avoiding the demons; however, one wrong move and there could be a problem, making this a smart choice.
“I doubt many have seen this type of thing. Yes, I know some people deal with demons but I’m pretty much an open body for them to use if I take the steps or have an accident. It’s been this way since I was about 8 years old,” she admitted to the young girl. Moving and walking with Teruko, hoping with moving her body would feel more like itself until she could get food into her system. Her nose following the smell in the direction of what she figured might be the exit or more like hoping.
Teruko nodded. So music was what helped. And a certain phrase. She wondered if it was a specific kind of music or just anything would do. But she'd ask more about that later. "Alright, you can teach me the phrase later. We probably should get going anyway." It wasn't the best idea to continue talking out in the open like this anyway. Plus, she could've sworn she heard some rustling nearby, which could be another one of those creatures Nancy - or rather the demon - had just killed.
Once she was sure Nancy could walk on her own, the two of them headed to hopefully find a portal back home.