<i>"My fellow brethren, the time is now. The Loh'skaran is dying. Years have passed in this desolate place, but the barrier weakens as we lie in wait. However, as the barrier weakens, as do we, the creatures of ancient times. Our offspring yet grow into their power, and they shall press past the barrier into the human world. The Loh'skaran is the last remaining bastion of hope for those pitiful creatures, and their world will soon be ours! We shall send only the strongest of our spawn to find destroy the Loh'skaran, and then, we shall overrun the human world with power that only we can provide! Go forth, children of the dark, and destroy the light!" <br/>
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-</i><br/><br/>Kalustrata rolled her eyes as she recalled the Archdemon's rallying speech only weeks ago. It was true that she and many of the younger<i>kura</i>were stronger than the older ones, but the older ones could still crush any who opposed them while barely lifting a finger. She had decided that they were simply too damn lazy to do their own dirty work, which was why she now found herself standing outside an old temple. While the Archdemon had indeed said that the<i>Loh'skaran </i>was weak<i>, </i>it had still taken her some time to actually locate the stupid artifact. The last time any of the demons had tried to destroy an artifact of balance, it had taken years to crack the barrier. With the power of the light weakening, she wasn't going to have to work as hard.<br/><br/>"Not as much fun, if ya ask me," she muttered to no one in particular. She was standing on the backside of the temple, an area hidden away by lush grass and the beginnings of a forest. The temple was situated on the outside of the city known as New Haven. It didn't look much like a haven to her, but humans had strange ideas on what that looked like. Interesting... but still strange.<br/><br/>"Oh well, better than the crusty old demons down below," she huffed, looking the building up and down. For how ancient it supposedly was, the family had taken good care of it. It had some chipped paint and likely some weakened foundation, but it wasn't crumbling like she'd expected it to. Maybe the humans were still upholding traditions. She didn't know what family was protecting this place, but considering she was looking at the backside of their building without being disintegrated, they didn't seem to be doing a good job.<br/><br/>Still, for all her power, Kalustrata took a few cautious steps forward. She reached out with one long leg, tapping the side of the temple with her toes. She snapped her foot back, bracing for pain that never came. Cracking one bright eye open, she blinked at the building, placing her foot against the wall again. "...Huh." The Archdemon had been right after all. Demons could walk on supposedly sacred ground once again.<br/><br/>Kalustrata retracted her leg, replacing it with her hand against the wall. She scraped her nails into the stone, watching her fingers gouge lines. She grinned, flicking the scraps of stone from her nails. She was just as strong as before, and even more so now that she was in the human world.<i>Kura</i>fed from food as humans did, but they also fed from energy from all sources, and this city was overflowing with it. It was big, loud, and full of humans to provide her with strength.<br/><br/>"Interesting<i>and </i>filling," she said, inhaling deeply, as if she could taste the sweet energy from behind the temple. As she started to walk around to the front, she paused. She couldn't go as a<i>kura</i>. As strong as she was, if the humans were upholding their traditions, their magic would exceed hers. Not to mention that she would be outnumbered by all the priests. With a sigh, she wiggled her toes, staring down at her feet. She clasped her hands together, willing her form to change. The transformation started at her feet and worked its way up slowly. Pale indigo skin became a russet brown tone, toe and finger nails rounded out to a normal shape, and her hair brightened and became more blonde. She winced as her curved horns shrank into her head, and she swore she could hear a few cracks in her skull. Her jaw shifted to accommodate duller teeth, and her eyes watered as they shifted and changed color to a dark blue. As the transformation came to a final point, Kalustrata felt her power forced into a tight spot deep within her, the demonic strength masked with the human facade. It hurt like a bitch, but she bit her lip and made no attempts to stop it.<br/><br/>She blinked as the change completed, inspecting herself as much as she could. She still looked damn good as far as she could tell, and she still carried her height and muscle.<i>Not bad at all, </i>she thought. Luckily, she had stolen some clothes the day she had arrived, so she didn't have to worry about that too much. The black tank top had some strange flower design on it, and the lacy bra under it was itchy, but she quite liked the way the jeans hugged her legs all the way down to her ankles. She had no socks to go with the flats that barely fit her feet, but she'd find something better soon enough.<br/><br/>Satisfied that her appearance wasn't going to get her killed on the spot, Kalustrata emerged from the backside of the building, spotting a large group of humans gathering at the doors to the temple. She squinted at the sign bolted to the wall, but it was in a different language. She heard a singular voice talking over the crowd; it was saying something about the special rules one had to follow inside the temple. She scoffed as she snuck into the back of the group, her entrance masked by a couple who was also fashionably late. Many of the women in the group were far shorter than she was, and she was on par with the men. It made her stick out just a little bit, but she tried not to draw attention to herself, as much as she loved being in the proverbial spotlight. For once, she had to lay low and hide her work.<i>Not as much fun indeed.</i>