Episode 30: Phoenix's Training Days
Somewhere outside of Pentagram City, Charlie along with Vaggie and young Zǐ Māo is in the limo driven by Dazzle and Razzle. The limo continues to drive towards the royal palace that is soon at it's reach. Soon enough, the limo arrives in front of the mansion. Charlie, Vaggie, and Zǐ Māo leave the limo with their suitcases and soon head to the front door. Charlie knocks on the door, and the Imp servant answers.
"Hello your highness and friends, your father is waiting for you," The servant says.
Charlie nods her head. With that, she along with Vaggie, and Zǐ Māo walk inside and the servant closes the door.
In the royal study, Lucifer along with Llith, and Satan are going over the paperwork and other essentials needed for the Hellfire Conference. Momiji is sitting on the couch and is rather worried for her daughter from the incidents. Momiji lets out a sad sigh of concern.
Satan sits on the couch next to Momiji, "You're still worried about Phoenix, my dear?"
"Yes. Ever since the incidents, I feel that she's being put in more danger. It's also very worrisome that we have to expose Phoenix's identity to them," Momiji sadly says.
"I know. I'm reluctant about this as well, but Sirius is making himself more known and now Asmodeu knows about it. And with many already gaining knowledge about Phoenix being my daughter. I feel that we are unable to hide it any longer," Satan says.
"I know. We need to tell them the truth. I'm just worried about how they're going to take it, especially on how long we've tried to keep it a secret," Momiji says.
Lilith says, "Do not worry, my husband is going to be very clear that no harm will come to you or your daughter."
"And believe me. I am a man of my word. I won't show mercy if anything happens to you or my niece," Lucifer says.
Satan chuckles and says, "Funny, you're not usually the guy to anyone's mercy. You even act strict to your daughter when she becomes an adult."
"Too true," Lucifer says with a big grin on his face.
Just then, they hear the door knocking,
"Come in," Lilith says.
The door opens to reveal the servant and says, "You majesties, the princess and her friends have arrived."
"Alright, bring them in," Lucifer commands.
The servant bows his head and opens the door fully as Charlie, Vaggie, and Zǐ Māo enter the room.
Charlie turns to the servant and says, "Thank you."
The servant bows his head again and closes the door.
Then Charlie turns to them, "Hi mom. Hello dad. You too, Uncle Satan and Aunt Momiji."
"Hello Phoenix, it's nice to see you again," Momiji says.
Then Satan asks, "How are you and the others doing? And how are things going at the hotel?"
"We've been doing fine, and well... the hotel is still under development, but I don't plan on giving up on my goal," Charlie says.
Satan chuckles, "I have to like your attitude and perseverance."
"I do find it rather annoying on a wasteful goal," Lucifer comments.
"Come on Lucifer, even you have to admit, it's rather interesting that she's taking rehabilitation seriously," Satan says.
Lucifer rolls his eyes and says, "If you say so."
Lilith walks over and says, "Hello Charlotte, it's good to see you again. As well as you Vaggie"
"Um hello, your majesty," Vaggie says.
Zǐ Māo shyly peaks out from behind Charlie and says, "Hello."
"Oh and Zǐ Māo. It's good to see you too," Lilith says.
"You sure got here earlier, of course, I did ask for you for great importance," Lucifer says.
"Of course dad. We need to discuss the Hellfire Conference, and of course, to reveal to them about Phoenix," Charlie says.
Then turns to Satan, "Of course, I'm very surprised that you arranged the conference."
"Yes. The Hellfire Conference is a serious conference. It's when all the high class demons, Overlord, Elite Demons, Goetias, even the Seven Rulers of Hell. Where we discuss very important matters that go around in Hell, important and yet, secretive situations in Hell," Satan explains.
Then Lucifer says, "In this case, we're discussing about Siirus' return and has sent his Dark Sombras and other subordinates causing trouble, especially for your daughter. Of course..."
Then narrows his eyes with a serious demonic look, "We're also going to discuss the truth and existence of your daughter, who is a half bred of both human and demon."
Satan turns to Lucifer giving the same expression, "Indeed."
The two brothers firmly glare at each other, and it's known to Charlie, Lilith, and Momiji that the two are various serious about the discussion. Dead serious.
Meanwhile, in the woods not long ago, Cloud left Phoenix in a different part of the woods alone. She looks around to notice the thick food, thick trees and branches, and the less breathable atmosphere in this part of the woods. It feels that she's further up the mountain.
She looks around and says, "Okay, so I just need to figure out where to find the shack."
She then begins to walk around and trying to figure out a way on how to find her way back to the shack.
"Hmm, the shack is down the mountain, but for I know, I could be in a different part of the mountain all together," Phoenix says to herself.
Suddenly, Phoenix begins to feel something off, like she's getting chills on her body. And yet, she can feel body heat, that isn't her own. Phoenix hugs herself as she feels the chills around her own, but feels body heat from different directions. Soon, she looks to see what looks like a wolf, but it's fur is deep black with red paws and demonic eyes. Phoenix stares at the fox and notices her vision is seeing red in the fox's body.
"What am I seeing? Is this body heat?" Phoenix says, confused.
She then has an idea. If possible, then she can use the body heat to find the shack where Cloud and the others are. Phoenix then places her fingers and hands together and concentrates really hard. Soon, she feels the body heat of Cloud and the others, but the main source is her pet fox Kyuubi.
"Alright, I got the directions..." Phoenix says.
Phoenix then begins to walk down the mountain by following the body heat. As she hurries down the mountain, she trips on something.
"What did I just...?" Phoenix asks herself.
But then, she senses something. She quickly turns around and quickly dodges. She falls down and looks up to see a log that is hanging by a rope.
"What the fuck?!" Phoenix asks herself.
Phoenix stands up and continues down the mountain. But then, she falls down a hole hidden in the leaves. She falls on her back and looks up. Phoenix feels the pain, but doesn't plan on giving up. She climbs out and continues to follow the body heat and goes down the mountain. She also has trouble breathing as she does so.
She says to herself, "That's why this is a test. Not only do I need to find my way back while doing the traps, but I need to endure the lack of oxygen here. I need to control my breathing, and dodge whatever trap comes my way. I just hope I don't pass out first."
Phoenix stops for a minute and uses this new ability to sense the different body heat. For some reason, she's able to sense many from the animals of the forest, but also senses some demonic life from the city.
"So that's it..." Phoenix says in thought.
Phoenix then begins to run down. Soon, she notices a small fragment of body heat on the ground, to notice some ropes a little bit off the ground. She is able to jump over one but trips on another. She notices a log swinging towards her and doges, but ends up getting hit on the back with another. Phoenix continues to run down the mountain, tripping on some of the traps and dodging them. She moves left, right, and speeds forward. Suddenly, a large bamboo swings from behind and strikes her on the back. She gets up to notice multiple ones are flinging towards her. Phoenix dodges and quickly moves out of the way. The bamboo continues to slam to the ground as it covers the area in dirt. Phoenix continues to run and follow the body heat the best she can, as she continues to either get bruised, cut, and dodge the traps that are set.
Phoenix knows that the training is going to have strong endurance, but she knows that she can't give in. She knows that she has to get stronger, she needs to get more skillful. She needs to become stronger to withstand Sirius' spells, Dark Sombra attacks, and to face other demons that might come her way. She needs to get stronger. Phoenix can only think of those she cares about. Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Octavia, Kuroi, her mother, father, pet fox Kyuubi, and many of the friends she has made. She remembers that they have been put in danger because of her, so she remembers Angel almost being killed during the Dark Sombra attack. She decides to use the training to make herself stronger, to stop Sirirus, protect her friends, and to continue the life she has in Hell.
Back at the shack, Kyuubi waits patiently with Cloud standing next to him waiting for Phoenix to come back. Conan and Grace wait patiently, sitting next to Kyuubi. They wait patiently for Phoenix to return. Kyuubi lays around waiting for her. Soon, his ears perk up to hear something, and it is very familiar to him. Cloud, Conan, and Grace turn to see Phoenix running towards them from a different side of the mountain, and reaches the porch as she heavily breaths, having a cut on her right cheek, and a bruise on the left side of her forehead.
Tired, Phoenix says, "I... I made it."
Cloud looks at Phoenix with a serious look, but he is rather impressed, despite not showing it.
Conan says, "Wow Phoenix, you look like shit."
"Geez thanks Conan," Phoenix mutters, annoyed and tired.
Grace sternly toward Conan, "Like she needs to hear it coming from you."
Cloud calmly says in thought, "Hmm, I suspect she was able to detect the body heat already, but she has a lot to learn."
The next day:
Conan is the one that will be training her today. The two are both wearing their training outfits. They have no swords, no weapons, or other needs. All they need are their bare hands as they stare at each other.
"Alright Phoenix, today we're going to work on your speed, agility, and strength," Conan says.
"Right," Phoenix says.
Conan then brings out a plank of wood and places it on two cinder blocks.
"I'm sure you'll know how to do this from your karate classes," Conan says.
"Of course I do," Phoenix answers.
Conan then karate chops the plank in half with one swoop.
Conan then places another on the blocks, "Now your turn."
"Okay," Phoenix says.
Phoenix then performs a karate chop on the plank and it breaks in half.
"Now then, it's time to try on some more planks, and some are even thicker," Conan says.
With that, Conan and Phoenix have been practicing with their karate chops in breaking different kinds of wood. Some of them get tricky when she has to break tiles and cinder blocks, even when they're stacked up. Phoenix continues to practice the karate chops with both hands, slamming her foot on to it, causing them to break.
After that, Conan and Phoenix are standing face to face.
Conan gets into a fighting position, "Ready?"
"Ready," Phoenix answers, getting into a fighting position.
"Alright. Now just remember, I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're a girl," Conan says.
"Right," Phoenix answers.
With that, Phoenix and Conan begin to have their karate battle. Conan throws his karate moves, but Phoenix dodges the attack. Phoenix tries to counter attack, but Conan also cancels or dodge the attack. Phoenix performs the Ashi Barai or the Foot Sweep with her left foot, but Conan dodges, Phoenix does the same with the other food, but Conan dodges again. Conan then performs the jump kick, and kicks Phoenix that almost causes her to lose her balance. Phoenix continues to try to perform the attacks, but Conan seems to be dodging them more. In fact, Conan seems to be moving faster than she is. Soon, Conan gives her a spin kick in the stomach, causing her to fall on her back to the ground.
Conan says, "Told you I wouldn't go easy."
"Yeah... I remember you... saying that... you're a lot faster than... usual..." Phoenix says, tired.
"Well, I am a Dog demon, so I can be pretty fast," Conan says.
Phoenix then gets back on her feet, "I can tell. I'll have to be faster to compete with you."
"Alright, let's continue with the techniques. And then we'll train your speed on your feet," Conan says.
"Right," Phoenix says.
With that, Conan continues to train Phoenix with her physical strength involving combat, strengthening her arms and legs, as well as her speed and agility. Conan continues to speed as Phoenix tries to land a hit or a kick. Conan is able to use his move to land his attacks on her, but Phoenix refuses to give in. After that, Conan and Phoenix are running through the forest together. This one is a different path than the one Phoenix has taken earlier.
Conan and Phoenix continue to run down the path as they have to dodge swinging logs, rope traps, and trap pits, but some of them are even more dangerous like flying knives, pit traps with spikes, and bows and arrows. After that, Phoenix continues with the strength training with karate and fighting matches with Conan, or Conan uses dummies and large punching pads for Phoenix to practice.
The Day After:
This day is Phoenix's training with Grace.
"Alright Phoenix, today is my turn to train with you. We're going to work on your flying and defenses. You'll be in your transformation for that," Grace says.
"Right," Phoenix says.
She lifts her bracelet and it soon begins to glow. With that, Phoenix begins to transform.
Phoenix's body begins to glow red. Then coming out of her right hand is burning fire. She raises her hand in the air and controls the fire to fly around like a large, long ribbon. The fire then begins to coil around her upper body, her arms, and legs. The flames on her upper body transform into a red sleeveless kimono top up to her knees with a black emon and lace. It has a silhouette of a flaming bird on the left side and fire on the right side. Then a bright orange ribbon wraps around her waist and forms an obi ribbon on the back, a gold string buckle appears around the ribbon, and black tights that also cover her ankles.
And then, fire patterned gloves appear on Phoenix's arms that go up to her elbows. Instead of covering the hands, they only cover the backhands and have a band attached that is around the middle finger. The flames around her legs transform into orange ballet flats. The yellow ribbons are wrapped around red leg warmers.
After that, her small gold crown with a pentagram gem appears over her head. She puts it on and her hair begins to glow red. A black choker with a phoenix feather appears on her neck, a red star earring appears on her left ear while a black crescent moon earring appears on her right ears. Then her hair becomes covered in fire. And soon, her hair turns into a glowing color of flames and slightly moves.
Phoenix then lands on the ground, and enchanting wings of a fire bird appear on her back. The feathers of the wings are the colors of fire. She then opens her eyes, her sclera are red with gold yellow pupils in the middle. At a split second, fire flashes in her eyes. Lastly, a red lined pentagram a black crescent moon having two circles and symbols around it appear on her forehead.
Phoenix announces as she moves her hands around, "A Courageous and Majestic Bird that Soars through the Flames of Hell!"
Then fire appears from her hands.
Phoenix spins around in a circle, and announces, "Blazing Phoenix!"
And she positions herself to her usual pose.
"Alright, let's go," Grace says, and takes flight.
Phoenix spreads her wings and follows after her.
Grace turns to Phoenix as she flies up, "Follow me."
With that, Phoenix follows Grace to another part of the forest and towards the large mountain. Grace flies up the mountain with Phoenix following close from behind. Phoenix continues to fly up with Grace up the large mountain, to notice the area is even harder to breathe. She tries to concentrate on her breathing, but feels a little dizzy. She shakes her head and continues to fly up the mountain. Phoenix begins to struggle keeping up.
"This is starting to get tiring," Phoenix says in thought.
Then calls out, "Grace, where exactly are we going?"
"We're heading to the cave in the mountains to see your flying skills," Grace says.
Grace and Phoenix fly up in the air and find the entrance to the cave high in the mountains.
"Alright, this is the caves," Grace says.
"Okay," Phoenix says.
Then Grace says, "Follow me, this is going to get rough."
Grace then flies into the cave. Phoenix flies in after her. Phoenix flies through the cave while following Grace. Suddenly, she notices stalagmites and stalactites coming her way. Grace soon begins to turn to the side as she dodges from left to right, over and under. Sometimes it is a little bit of both or other. Phoenix soon begins to dodge them as well, but is very careful to not hit her rings at some of the narrow close calls. Grace then flies through the tunnel that is going right, and turns right.
Phoenix dodges another and says, "That was really close there."
Phoenix continues to follow Grace until they're out of the tunnel and on the other side of the mountain. Soon enough, they reach the forest where there are thick trees and branches. Grace continues to manicure and swerve around the branches with such elegance. Phoenix does her best to dodge the branches, but some of them are too thick, and it's difficult for her wings to go through. Finally, after a long flight, Phoenix and Grace return to the small cabin without too much trouble.
Grace turns to Phoenix and says, "You did a good job with your flight."
"Yeah. I didn't even know that there's a cave here," Phoenix says.
"That's right, but we still have some training, so we should make sure we stretch our wings after the flight we had," Grace says.
After a few days of training, it's night time, as well as night Hell can get. Phoenix is sitting in her room as she writes down in a book she is using for a journal. She turns her head to see Grace has been asleep. Meanwhile, Kyuubi is sleeping on Phoenix's bed.
She sighs in exhaustion and says, "It's already been a few days and I'm already feeling a little sore."
She finishes writing in the book, closes it and puts it in her backpack. She then lays down in her bed and turns off the lights that are close by.
She lets out a yawn and says, "I should get some sleep. I still got some more training in the morning. I need to make sure I do well with my training. For now, I..." Phoenix soon begins to feel tired, "Need to... sleep..."
Phoenix soon falls asleep after tucking herself into the covers. She knows that tomorrow is another day of training, and it will be like this for a few weeks. Unknown to Phoenix and Grace, Larry is still secretly spying on them and has been watching Phoenix for the days of her training. After that, he leaves the area before anyone can notice.
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