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The heat from the demon bull palace could be enough to burn an average mortal, the lava flowing through the infrastructure of the mechanical design. Luckily, Mei has become accustomed to the high temperatures, both around her and inside of her. She was debating simply finding a way to break in, getting bored of waiting for Red Son at the door, when the loud sounds of metal hinges moving broke her train of thought. The flame prince stood on the other side, about to greet her properly, just to be interrupted by Mei tackling him to the ground in a very excited greeting.
Mei hugged him tightly, exclaiming, “RED BOY!! I feel like it's been ages since we last trained together!”
Red had to pry her off of him, hair sparking and briefly catching fire as he stood up and replied. “It's Red SON! And the lack of training with the Samadhi Fire is not a fault of mine, you kept texting me about being too busy, along with an absurd plethora of dog photographs.”
Mei giggled and said “First off, there's never a bad time for puppy pictures! Second, me and MK have been working our butts off trying to fix the city and get everyone adjusted after the whole pillar of heaven and color stone stuff went down.” Mei listed a small part of the most recent traumatic events her and especially MK have gone through.
Red rolled his eyes. “Yes I’m well aware. Do you have any idea how many mortals have tried coming here to beg for help with the fire abilities they got from the Vermillion Bird’s color stone?”
“Well MK was the one that sent them your way, he told them you’d be more than happy to help. Now, can we go inside, I’m sick of standing around. Let's get training!”
Mei shouted the last words, pumped to work with her hotheaded friend.
“SEROUSLY, THATS WHY THEY CAME HERE?!” Red Son’s hair lit up in a blaze before he cooled back down, “Ugh, I’m going to have to have a word with that newdle boy.” Red Son grimaced after the outburst.
This conversation digressed a little too far from his original objective of giving the dragon horse girl more fire training. He turned and motioned for Mei to follow him to the training room.
The two stepped through the palace, Mei’s green color scheme standing out against the onslaught of warm tones. They planned to spend a few consecutive days in order to review what Red already taught Mei back when the bone demon was threatening the world. As well as getting a few new lessons started so that Mei would actually pay attention.
Mei haphazardly threw her bag on the floor, completely missing the annoyed glare from Red Son as he ordered a bull clone to take to the guest room.
They started training almost immediately, it was almost the only thing they did, which just frustrated Mei.
It was already the third day and Mei felt like no progress was being made. The green flame in her hand fluctuated, fairly large but unstable. Mei was putting all her effort into it and she wasn’t getting the result she wanted.
In a fit of anger she gave up, causing all her fire to flare up strongly, quickly extinguishing immediately after. “This isn’t working! I don’t understand, did I lose this much power just by not using it for a year?” Mei said, exasperated. Red Son walked up to her, trying to reassure her. “It’s better than yesterday, dragon girl.” Mei sat down on the floor, finishing the sentence for him. “But worse than the day before that.”
“I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong, I got the gist of it so quickly when you first taught me! I just-” Mei signed before changing her mind. “Never mind , just forget about it.”
Red Son sat next to her, he was a demon that commanded respect and fear, that wasn’t the kind of person who was best at comforting someone, but he would try.
“You can tell me what's bothering you, maybe it’s connected to why you're struggling.”
Mei thought for a moment, weighing her options. In the end, she accepted the invitation to be vulnerable, she didn’t like feeling so weak when talking about her feelings but, against all odds, she somehow trusted Red Son.
“Growing up I felt like I was a failure to my parents. I was constantly getting in trouble when I was little for doing things that were frowned upon by a family of such high status. When I first got my powers I thought it was a chance to finally be seen as worthy of a member of the dragon clan. I suppose looking back on it now it makes sense, I had a piece of the Samadhi Fire in me, of course my powers would be on the more violent side. Of course fires can happen after lighting strikes. I remember showing my parents my lightning abilities, let's just say their faces were far from supportive.”
Red Son looked perplexed, in his home, power was more important than anything, it didn’t make sense for Mei’s powerful skillset to be seen as obsolete.
“I don’t understand, what kind of parents aren’t honored to receive promising additions to their families? For demons it means a family is becoming stronger, and is not to be challenged, lest they gamble with their own life.” Red Son explained, clearly showing pride for his own mother and father.
Mei continued sharing. “My family is a descendant of one of the dragons of the four seas, we are meant to be elegant and regal. My brash lighting didn’t fit my parents' serene control of water. No matter how hard I tried I was never able to do anything with water, which made me feel like more of an outcast from my family. The only member of the dragon clan who can’t connect with her own element. Ironic when you think about it, I ended up with the most uncontrollable wild fire instead.”
She tried to lighten the mood, she was used to, and enjoyed more upbeat hangouts compared to this. Seeing no change in the fire demon meant she had to keep talking.
“I thought, when I had the whole power of the Samadhi Fire instead of just a piece of it. When I controlled the fire in the fight with the Lady Bone Demon, I thought I had finally proved myself. That I had an excuse for why I was different. But after the fight, when I couldn’t summon the fire again for a whole year, I felt like I lost myself. Like I was back to being a little kid, trying so hard to impress my parents.”
Mei felt drained after that long winded explanation. But Red only felt a deepening connection with the dragon girl.
“I understand how you feel, I think better than anyone else.” Red Son stared, generating a fire of his own to look at while he talked. “I always felt like a disappointment to my father. I spent my whole life compensating for something I had no idea I lost. Every machine, every invention, all in an attempt to make my family more powerful, so I could be someone they could be proud of. That's why I tried to recreate the Samadhi Fire before we last met in person, I knew the risks of making a new world ending fire, I knew it could cause devastation, I just wanted to live up to my potential, I was born one of the most powerful demons ever seen, I had no choice in losing the fire. I still mourn the person I should have been,”
Red Son moved to a standing position and turned to face Mei, looking down at her before continuing.
“But that never stopped me from being The Demon Bull Flame Prince, child of both demonic and celestial blood combined. I will smite down all those who oppose me and I will never stop growing stronger! I might have been born with the Samadhi Fire but I struggled and learned without it, becoming all the better for it.”
Red Son reached a hand to Mei as he said the rest of his speech.
“Just as you are the descendant of the Great White Horse Dragon Ao Lie, Dragon of the West Sea. You are the wielder of the Samadhi Fire, keeping it from setting reality ablaze and able to bend it to your will. These are things to be proud of, not to define you or your worth. Never let anyone control you or your flame.” Mei took his hand, joining him off the ground.
She could feel her inner turmoil start to dissipate. As her confidence grew, a memory came to her, one she had forgotten about since she began to doubt herself.
It was when she first picked up the dragon sword.
Back then, she didn’t care about what her family thought of her, because no matter what they thought, she knew she loved them and would protect them with everything that she is.
Her mom said the sword only responds to those who embraced their family.
She laughed at herself internally, she really had lost herself when she was consumed by the fire for the first time.
She couldn’t believe how silly she was being. She already learned this and found courage within herself years ago. She was Mei, and it doesn’t matter if she's not dainty enough for her family, because she still loves them, and they love her too. Nothing can change that and no one can stop her.
Red Son cleared his throat, getting her attention. “Now, if you want to restore your full control over the Samadhi Fire then we better get back to training. Do I need to redo my whole demonstration since you clearly forgot the most basic steps of any fire magic!?”Mei smiled, seeing her friend return to his normal heated self.
Talking through her problems made the last few days of her stay loads more fun and productive. She wasn’t getting it as fast, but she could take as long as she needed relearning how to use her fire. She didn’t need to prove herself to anyone. It’s not like there's another danger around the corner for her and her friends to stop, right?