The Monsters Inside and Out (Scott Howl x Depressed Reader)

112. Another Lesson

Stan and Lucien lead you outside, to their front yard. Lucien begins by saying, "Alright, (Y/N). You remember a while back, when you almost died trying to learn earthquakes?" He looks over and gives Stan a dirty look. Stan chuckles and scratches the back of his head awkwardly. Lucien continues, "Well.. As you might remember, I came in and saved you just before it was too late. Today, I plan on showing you what exactly I did, and we're gonna see if you can do the same. Alright?" You nod your head, "Yes, sir!" "Perfect. Now, grab on." Lucien holds out his two hands for you to grab. You grab onto them, and Lucien looks over to the side, at a tree. The tree is at least 30 feet away. He says, "Stay calm." He continues to focus on the tree, and he slowly closes his eyes. As you watch him concentrate, you also see something flicker in the corner of your eye. You look over to the spot, and see nothing. You see another flicker out of the corner of your eye again, and you look at it. The flickers quickly become much more frequent, and you notice they're small flames. Soon, the flames grow massive, and you're engulfed in them. They all swirl around you, but after a moment, they begin to disappear. It's not until they're completely gone that you realize you're now under the tree.

You blink for a few moments, trying to comprehend what just happened. Once you realize, you snap back to reality. "Oh my gosh, you can teleport?" Lucien chuckles and scratches his head. "Eh, kinda. It's more like our bodies turned into a giant fireball, and then that ball moved from there to here. There is like a spell that you can do to make a portal that can teleport places, but that's much more complicated, and this is better for beginners." You excitedly ask, "Well how do I do it?" "It's very complicated and difficult, okay? So you must listen to my every instruction, you got it?" "Yes, sir." "Great. Now first, sit down like this." Lucien sits on the ground, his legs crossed. You do the same, watching him for hai next instruction. He continues, "Now, clear your mind and take deep breaths. We want to start by making sure you're calm. It's much easier to do it if you are. The more you practice though, the easier it will be." You deeply exhale and say, "Okay.. What now?" "Feel the air around you. It's warm, right? Well.. Make it hot. Make it hotter and hotter and hotter until you've engulfed yourself in flames. Then, become the flame as you propel yourself forward, moving faster than you've ever moved before! Look over there." Lucien slowly lifts an arm and points over towards his house, right at Stan. He continues, "I want you to try going over to him." You swallow, feeling intimidated. You close your eyes, calm yourself, take deep breaths, and do your best to make all your stress and intrusive thoughts go away. You open your eyes again, imagining flames surrounding you. A small circle of flames quickly surrounds you. Your breathing starts getting a bit faster as you try to keep it under control. You do as Lucien said and imagine the area getting hotter and hotter, until the flames grow, and they slowly surround you in a dome shape. You feel your own body get warm, and when you look down at yourself, you are just fire. This causes you to freak out, and the flames disappear into fluttering embers.

Your frustration is visible, so Lucien puts a hand on your shoulder. He says, "It's okay. It can be daunting the first time you try. Just stay calm and try again." You nod your head and look back at Stan, seeing him give you some thumbs up. You repeat the process from before without issue. You look down at yourself again, seeing nothing but fire. You feel as though your soul has been absorbed by the fire, but it doesn't hurt. Although you can't see him, you can still hear Lucien's voice. "Now, (Y/N)! Propel yourself forward!" You get yourself up and go forward, moving quickly. In fact, your movement is much faster than you thought it would be, which again causes you to lose focus, and the whole things fails. You turn back into a physical form and fall back on the ground, sliding forward. Your hands and knees are covered in scrapes, and have already started to bleed. Stan rushes to you, "Oh shoot, (Y/N)! Are you okay?" "Y-Yeah, I'm fine.. It just stings.." Lucien comes up behind you, helping you up. He says, "Well, let's get you inside and patch you up. I think that's enough for today." You nod again and follow the kings back into their house.

Stan leads you to their bathroom, and takes out a first aid kit. You say, "Wait.. Can't I just heal myself?" He begins to patch you up as he replies, "Well, you could, but that would take up energy. See, you're a higher level of demon, which means you are generally stronger than other demons. Some demons, such as myself, Lucy, and Damien, can't really heal ourselves, so we just have to wait for our injuries to heal on their own. Being a higher level, you only get extra abilities. You're able to withstand elemental magic pretty easily, but more advanced spells or abilities require energy. And some require a lot, like healing. But don't worry, you should be good as new by tomorrow. You still heal faster than others, but you just can't do it all at one go." He finishes patching you up, and you gently rub your bandages. You ask, "But what about the mirror? I didn't feel like that took a lot of energy." "Well, a mirror is different. You're fixing an inanimate object, not replenishing an injured body, with cells and tissue." "Yeah, that makes sense.." He pats your head, "I'm glad you understand, kiddo. Now, you hungry? Lucy and I were probably about to get dinner started, if you'd like to join us?" You happily nod your head.

After sending a quick text to your mom, you eat with the LaVeys, and even help them with making dinner. After you're all fed, Lucien encourages you to practice when you can, and Damien takes you home. You lay down in bed after an exhausting day, and nod off to sleep.