[i]Huff... Puff... Huff... Puff...

Running. Endless running. Continuing through ever-expanding, ever darkening tunnels.

"Someone! Anyone! Please... help me!"

Desperate cries, spurred on by shadows behind. They lash, whip and scrape skin. Every little misstep bringing them one step closer to catching you.

"Mom, dad, granny... where did you all go?! Why is it me... just me?!"

Your legs give out, you collapse. The shadows make their move. They grab you, lift you up, force you to look at their horrible, disfigured face. An inky substance oozes through their cracked features. A desperate struggle, you try to get loose, but it doesn't work. It's the end, your end, nobody to help.

But predator and prey are caught, caught beneath the crashing from above. Something presses down on you, heavy, slams you right down to the floor. It pins you, you can't move. A sharp pain shoots through your back, red mixing with black in a pool right before your eyes. You try to push, but to no avail. Strength is quickly leaving you. Your eyes glaze over and you... you see images, dancing in the liquid. They're, they're five happy figures. They're vanishing one... by one... by one... by one...

but then again,

you,
too,
are... 
[/i]
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Chie's eyes slowly flutter open, her vision initially greeted by a brief white haze. She needs a moment to gather herself, dazedly turning her head left-to-right.

"Oh... this is..."

She figured she must be awake after the surgery. It only felt like a couple of minutes had passed since she went unconscious and then woke up again, but it had to have been far longer. She tried to move her arms, and succeeded, but not without difficulty. They felt heavy and tingly, as if the muscles spasmed with every little exertion. Her lips were dry, her head was foggy, but she was awake and aware. Awake enough to try and sit upright, at least. Chie gave herself a little push, trying to bend herself over forwards.

"Ow...!" she winced. A pain shot through her abdomen when Chie had tried to move in the way she did. She shuffled back a bit, supporting her back on the pillow beneath her, to try and bend her head forwards. The pain lessened, slightly, but not enough for it to stop throbbing. Chie reached out with the arm attached to her IV drop, getting a good view of being hooked up, in order to touch around her stomach. More stinging each little prod. Something hard was there, something that wasn't there before. Right... she had her... 'Ars Amagus' now. It felt slightly surreal to have it there. She pulled her hand back and saw blood, splattered across the palm and fingertips. She must've opened a wound. Too dazed to be worried about it.

Her experimenting would need to be put on a hold anyway. A sudden onset of nausea- most definitely because of her efforts so far, forced Chie to lie down again as quickly as possible. Her breathing was a bit hoarse; that wasn't helping the situation much. She closed her eyes for a bit. It was hard to distract herself from the various discomforts she felt. Her body was hurting, her head was foggy and she felt like she could throw up at any moment.

She needed to get her mind off her discomfort. The others were there too, she figured, for there were a couple of beds she spied in her initial scan of the (admittedly barren) room. Chie opened her eyes again, but she kept her gaze fixed firmly on the ceiling.

"Is... everyone feeling okay?" she asked the room, her voice quiet and slightly hoarse from a lack of fluids. She wasn't actually even sure if the others had [i]woken up[/i] yet. Hopefully they had. She didn't want to suffer alone.