WHO: Slamet Smith [SIHIR] WHAT: A belated birthday present, sort of. WHERE: Boston. WHEN: Sunday evening. STATUS/RATING: PG-13 just because of swearing.
Slam had fallen asleep right after going to the infirmary. He’d fallen asleep around 4 and as usual, slept for five hours before he woke up. He’d never been able to sleep for more since the accident. Still it was the best sleep he’d had in years, he only remembered having one dream briefly and it was about the ocean, not the screams of torment that usually came when he closed his eyes. Madara had joined him to sleep at some point, when he got up, he pulled the blanket over her and left as quietly as possible.
He walked down the hallway and past the freshman who were assembled together for whatever reason, he wasn’t sure. He knew one had died, Krysta, that was her name. he remembered after thinking about it for a few minutes Her eyes were only a little less crazy than Robin’s. It was sad, but Slam tended not to focus on things that didn’t effect him immediately. Alex and Niz had died too and he was sorry that they were gone. They didn’t deserve to die in the tunnels.
Without thinking, he headed out of Victory’s doors onto the quad. It felt so good to be able to move after being trapped on the second floor rec room, he’d been so focused on healing that at the time it hadn’t bothered him but now his entire body screamed at the idea of being trapped behind the confines of Victory Hall for that long ever again. If he’d had the powers to swiftstep he probably would have gone somewhere like California for the evening, but he didn’t.
Instead he walked along campus, admiring all the broken things. Whoever had attacked them, they’d nearly destroyed everything and everyone. There had been moments when Slam had been worried if they would make it out alive. He slid his hands in his pockets and kept walking.
It had been hard to think about the people other than the ones in front of him. He probably should have been more worried for his friends, but they were fighters like Mira or Healers like Brielle. Yeon had kept in touch with him most of the week. He had faith in his friend’s abilities, perhaps too much.
He paused deciding if he should head towards Sorority Row or off campus and he opted for off campus. He wasn’t sure any of his brothers or sisters would be in the mood for company and he wasn’t sure he was in the mood to force conversation. It would be good to get some fresh air and to let his feet find some of his favorite late night haunts in Boston.
He had only gone a few blocks when he felt the familiar chills creep up his spine.
“Fuck,” Slam said.
“Hello Slamet,” Mephistopheles said to him, that familiar smug look upon his face. He looked human, but Slam knew he wasn’t, just a look in his eyes, black with fire where there should have been a pupil, gave him away. Besides he would have known Mephistopheles by his pattern of speech, the fact that he was far 'friendlier' than the other demons who visited, although friendly was relative. It had been the one who had come to him when he was five, nearly dead in his bed, and every year on his birthday since.
“You already came,” Slamet said. Even though he was used to these ‘visits’ he was still completely human and the prescence of this demon made his skin crawl and his adrenaline increase. He wanted to run, but that was no good, besides his legs felt glued to the ground.
“I do not always just visit once a year,” the demon reminded him. “We have been watching you. We saw what you did for those students. Your magic makes you great.” Slam said nothing, he stood frozen in place unmoving. The voice was more soothing than he would have liked, like a lullaby just nearly. “Imagine what you could do with it.” Images of what Slam could do with his magic flashed through his mind. “You could be great. You could be more than great. You have the abilities. Look at what you did with white magic, you saved the bionic girl.”
"That wasn't just me." Lani had worked on her parts, Slam couldn't use his magic on technology, Lani had been the one to piece Hyewon's bionic bits back together.
"Your magic saved her human life," the demon countered. "Imagine if you looked inside yourself and used all of your abilities. Imagine it, Slamet. You would answer to no one. Only yourself."
It was a trap. He should have known that he’d gotten off to quickly on his birthday. He hated it when the demons visited, it’s why he hadn’t Summoned any since the time that he’d accidentally Summoned Lilith. They got creepy and weird and made his skin crawl, not to mention that sometimes they were just fucking scary.
Images flashed in his brain though. What he could do with his magic, he could become powerful. He knew that much and one day the magic might take control of him like it had Niz, but his magic and what had been Niz’s magic were two separate things, their sources of power came from different places. Magic was not natural to Slam's body, it was a gift, not an ability he was born with. Everything came back to the gift, it's what his entire life circled around.
“You know what you can do, Slamet. Don’t be afraid. Embrace it, we can help you.”
Then as quickly as he appeared, the demon disappeared. It was hot outside, but Slam couldn’t stop shivering as he headed back to Camulus. When he arrived in his room, he slid back into bed next to Madara, although he was unable to fall asleep until the sun came up the next morning.