Episode 7: The Dog Demon and Apprentices

A few days have passed and Phoenix is up early to help Niffty with some of the cleaning as Kyuubi is sleeping on the sofa close by. They clean up the lobby that is full of old furniture, cobwebs, and anything that seems to be dirty, dusty, and such. Husk simply leans on the front desk as he continues to be lazy and lets out a yawn. Just then, they hear footsteps and Phoenix turns her head to see Angel Dust walking downstairs. He seems to have all four hands behind his back for some reason.

"Morning Angel, you're up early," Phoenix says with a smile.

"Yeah. Heard some noises and came down to see you three, and I want to introduce you to someone," Angel says.

"Who will that be?" Phoenix asks.

Angel then shows Phoenix what he wants to show her. What she sees is a Pig Demon, and also holding a large pink bag. The pig demon is pink with various darker pink and black spots on his body, large black eyes, both pink and black spikes along its body, and a curly tail with a quadrilateral barb at the end of it.

Phoenix can't help blushing a little and walks toward Angel with the little pig.

She then asks, "Who... who is this?"

"He's my pet pig. His name is Fat Nuggets, but you can call him Nuggs for short," Angel says.

Angel then notices the face Phoenix making as she reaches her hands out towards the pig.

"He's... he's so... so cute!" Phoenix says.

She then hugs the little pig with glee, "Oh, I just love him. He is super adorable."

"I knew you liked him. He's a cute little guy isn't he," Angel says with a grin.

"He sure is. He got some cute little horns and an arrowhead on his curly tail, and cool patterns on his back," Phoenix says.

Husk grunts and says, "Why would you like a little porker like that?"

"Come on Husk, Nuggs is really adorable. Tell me you can't resist a cute little face," Phoenix says, and snuggles her cheek with Nuggs.

"I guess it takes a fucking pet owner to love a pet like that," Husk mutters.

Phoenix sternly glares at Husk, "Very funny."

Phoenix walks to Kyuubi and says, "Hey Kyuubi."

Kyuubi wakes up from his sleep and sits up to see Phoenix holding the little pig.

"We got a new friend. This is Angel's pet pig demon, Fat Nugget," Phoenix says.

Nuggs and Kyuubi sniff each other with curiosity and then begin to smile at each other. Fat Nuggets oinks and Kyuubi barks with happy expressions.

"I knew you liked him. I know you two are going to be good friends," Phoenix says.

Nuggs moves his nose with a calm expression as Phoenix places the pig on the couch. Nuggs and Kyuubi look at each other and show happy expressions as they wag their tails.

"Aww. This is so cute," Phoenix says.

"Yeah. It kind of it," Angel says.

Suddenly, they hear the knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Niffy happily says, grabbing the door knob and opens the door.

The one at front appears to be a boy, by the look of his appearance and but also the appearance of a wolf. The boy looks like he's a few years older than Phoenix, around his twenties.

The boy has brown wolf ears and a wolf's tail. He also has a slight tan skin, with blue eyes. He is wearing a white shirt, a black leather jacket with matching jeans and black boots. He also wears silver stud bracelets on his wrists and a black headband on his head. He has a suitcase as he walks inside and places it on the ground.

"Hello, can I help you with something?" Niffty asks with a smile.

"Yeah. Is there a girl named Phoenix Magne? She's supposed to be here," The wolf demon says.

Phoenix walks over and says, "That's me."

The Wolf demon smirks and says, "Thought so."

The next moment he jumps in the air and tries to give her a kick with her foot. Phoenix quickly dodges the attack.

"Hey!" Phoenix exclaims.

The Wolf Demon continues to dodge as Phoenix dodges the attack. Finally, she jumps up and gives him a hard kick to the stomach. She then grabs him by his left arm and flips him over from behind and throws him to the ground. That's when Charlie and Vaggie hurry down stairs to hear the noise.

"What's going on here?" Charlie asks, panicking.

Angel says, "Niffty answer the door and this wolf demon asked for Phoenix. When she answered, this overgrown mutt attacked her on the spot. Luckily, Phoenix is able to turn the tables on him."

They soon stop to see the Wolf Demon on the ground and let out a groan as he begins to sit up.

The Wolf Demon smirks and says, "I guess it is true from what we saw, you're an awesome fighter."

"Conan..." A voice says.

The group turns their heads to see two more demons. The first one is a grown man around his thirty, but he has long silver hair and dog ears. He wears a black Japanese outfit that looks like a school uniform, along with tabi socks, a pair of zōri with red straps, and wears a black and red gakuran jacket, and has a Japanese sword in a scabbard.

The second demon is a girl around the age of a high school girl. She has short dark purple hair that the bangs cover her forehead, and the length is about her shoulders. The ends have a slight color of blue. She also has light blue skin and purple and black color butterfly wings. She is wearing a strapless purple dress with a light blue dew drop pattern on it that goes up to her ankles, black high heels, a crystal shape necklace and earrings on her pointed ears. She is also holding a fan in her hand.

Each of them walk inside the hotel with a large suitcase.

"Hey Cloud. Hi Grace," The boy, Conan says.

The girl, Grace sighs, "Seriously Conan, you can't just pick fights with someone, especially a girl. She is Satan's daughter after all."

"I just want to test her strength. Turns out she is better at fighting than she looks," Conan says.

"Is that a fact," Phoenix firmly says.

Vaggie sighs as she places her hand on her forehead, "Now that we got this problem out of the way, mind telling us what's going on."

Charlie walks down stairs and walks to the Dog demon with a smile, "Hi Cloud, it's great to see you."

"Hello Princess Charlotte, it's good to see you. I haven't seen you in a while," Cloud says.

Charlie giggles and says, "You don't have to be so formal, just call me Charlie, remember."

"You know him?" Phoenix replies.

"Yep. This is Cloud Strikes. He's the second in command of the Royal Guard and a powerful Overlord as well. And his apprentices Conan and Grace. He's actually one of the rare few who knows your existence, and is going to be your personal trainer," Charlie happily says.

"Hello Phoenix, my name is Cloud. It's an honor to finally meet you," Cloud says.

"Nice to meet you," Phoenix says.

"I'm Grace. I'm one of Cloud's apprentices. It's a pleasure to meet you," Grace says.

Then she turns to the wolf demon, "And the Wolf Demon is my brother, Conan. He's also Cloud's apprentices."

"It's nice to meet you," Phoenix says.

"So are you three like Phoenix's trainers?" Vaggie asks.

"Well. I'm the one who will be teaching, and it will be a good idea to bring my apprentices with me so they can train together. What we saw, Phoenix is already able to use her skills, powers, and wings in her first fight, but we like to help her get better control and help her grow stronger. Besides, Grace can also teach Phoenix how to use her new wings, and Conan can help perfect her strength, agility, and combat while using their abilities. I will be helping her with her sword wielding and weaponry," Cloud says.

"I see. That's good," Phoenix says.

"Well then, since we'll be staying, can you book us a room," Cloud says, calmly.

Charlie smiles and says, "Sure. I'll get you rooms right away. Nifty will clean them up for you."

Charlie then rushes over and brings out three keys. Each key has a key chain that has a picture of a wolf. Each has the number of, 15, 16, and 17.

She then says, "All three will be staying on the fifth floor. That's where Phoenix and Zǐ Māo are sleeping at."

"Who's Zǐ Māo?" Conan asks.

"Zǐ Māo is a small cat demon I found, and uh... rescued him from being exterminated. Anyway, we've been together since, and I really like him," Phoenix says.

"How small are we talking about?" Grace asks.

"He was forced to murder his parents when he's eight because they were going to kill him, and then committed suicide soon after," Phoenix says.

Charlie, Vaggie, and Grace become stunned to hear this.

"He's that small?!" Grace asks, shocked.

"I thought he was just short, but I didn't know he was that young," Charlie adds.

Vaggie says, "Hmm, I guess things can happen these days, even young kids."

"True that. Anyway, let's focus on getting you three settled in and we can discuss what we need to do about my training," Phoenix says.

"Sounds fair," Conan says.

"And be glad we're not going to press charges on you for attacking Phoenix and almost breaking something here," Vaggie says, glaring at Conan.

"Fine," Conan groans.

Sometime later, Cloud, and his two apprentices have put their suitcases in their rooms and meet everyone else down stairs. Charlie and Phoenix made some french toast for breakfast. She and Angel turn her head to see Fat Nuggets and Kyuubi eating together and they seem to be getting along.

That's when Alastor walks into the dining room, "GOOD MORNING!"

That causes everyone to scream in fright and turn to see the Radio Demon walking down the stairs.

"Alastor, don't do that! You'll give us a heart attack!" Phoenix exclaims.

"Sorry, but I just thought about living things up a bit," Alastor says.

"Doesn't mean you get to scare us! "Vaggie angrily says.

Suddenly Cloud says, "Well well, this is a bit a surprise. Didn't expect to see you, Alastor. It has been a while hasn't it."

Alastor turns to see the white haired demon with a sinister grin and glowing red eyes, "And the same can be said about you Cloud Strike, the strongest dog demon. Didn't expect you to drop by today."

Phoenix and Charlie look a bit confused to see the two talking.

"Uh... you two know each other?" Phoenix asks.

"Yes we have," Cloud says.

"And how are you two with your two students?" Alastor says.

"Just doing fine, and if you're wondering I've also got my own job to take care of," Cloud says, sounding serious.

"Indeed," Alastor says, and his eyes glow red a little brighter.

Phoenix can sense tension between them and wonder if those two have a bit of a rift between them.

Grace turns to Charlie and Phoenix, "I must admit, this actually tastes good. I can think of a few friends around here who would love to enjoy it."

"Thanks. I'm glad you think so," Charlie says.

Conan says, "Still, I'm surprised when Lord Satan told us that he has a daughter, and one that is a skillful fighter, and is actually a good cook."

"Thanks," Phoenix says.

"But, you're going to need more than that to survive in Hell," Conan says.

"I can tell. After dealing with that Turf War and those Shadow monsters. I do know that I need to step up my game if I'm going to live here," Phoenix says.

"I don't think you need to worry too much about it," Charlie says.

"If you say so," Phoenix says.

"The first business in order is to have a place for you to train. It will be safe to have the training in doors, somewhere where we won't be bothered and so no one will spy on us," Cloud says.

Charlie then smiles with glee, "I know just the place!"

A little tile later, Charlie has taken the group to a gym that is actually on the lower floor of the hotel. However, the gym is well... worse for wear to say. The gym's floor, walls, and ceilings are covered in cobwebs, dust, grime and other kinds of filth. The floorboards are loose, the basketball hoops are broken and look like they can fall off. And the locker room looks worse, and has mold around the area.

"Wow..." Conan says, dumbfounded.

"This place is well..." Grace says, concern.

Angel then says, "A fuckin wreck."

"Yeah... that's um, one way to put it," Charlie says, blushing.

"This place could use a real clean up," Phoenix says.

Suddenly, Nifty runs at front with a lot of cleaning supplies: A Vacuum, feather duster, broom, mop, tool box, and other supplies. She's even wearing a face mask and a goggle for her eye.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to get this place cleaned up in no time. Nothing should go unclean on my watch," Niffty says with confidence.

With that, Niffty begins to clean up the gym. She sweeps, mops, vacuum, and dust away any dirtiness in the gym. Charlie, Phoenix and the others can only watch as Niffty cleans the entire gym herself. What surprises the others is that she is cleaning up the gym with top speed.

"Whoa! That girl is a cleaning machine!" Grace says, surprised.

"She sure is very fast," Zǐ Māo replies, amazed.

"She cleans like a maniac," Conan says.

"At the speed she's going, the gym will be cleaned up in no time," Charlie says.

"With Niffty, nothing gets dirty on her watch. Once something gets dirty, she has them cleaned up in seconds," Husk says.

"Go Niffty!" Phoenix cheers.

Niffty continues to clean up the gym as fast as her little skinny legs and arms can do. It actually has taken her close to an hour to have the entire gym and locker rooms sparkling clean, free of all filth and grime.

Niffty removes the mask and goggles with a smile, "And that's the way it's done."

Charlie and the others return and are amazed to see the gym has been cleaned up in like an hour.

"Wow Niffty, you were amazing. It makes me think I walked inside the wrong room," Charlie says.

Charlie and Vaggie then notice a cart that has a few baseballs, basketballs, soccer balls, volleyballs, and other sports equipment.

"Since when do we have sports equipment?" Vaggie asks.

"I found them in the mess," Niffty says.

"I have to admit, she really did a great job. She might even be good with New Years' Cleaning," Phoenix says.

Niffty says, "Alright everyone, you need to leave. The floor is still a little wet so you need to wait until it dries."

"Well then, how about we head outside and we can use the gym tomorrow," Cloud says.

Sometime later, Phoenix is outside of the hotel with Cloud, Grace, and Conan, Charlie, Vaggie, and Alastor are standing next to Zǐ Māo who is sitting next to Husk, Niffty, Kyuubi, Angel Dust, and Fat Nuggets who are curious about this training Phoenix is doing. Charlie is wondering how Cloud and the others are going to help train Phoenix to control her powers, and with her new transformation.

Cloud says, "Now then, I understand from your father that you've experienced a transformation when you were battling with the shadows. And that you used a powerful move while you're in the Turf War."

"Yes," Phoenix says with a nod.

"It's not surprising since you are Satan's daughter. Like your father, you have the power to control fire. To be clear, I'm actually one of the rare few who knows the truth about you being his daughter and he informs me of you're developing your demonic powers," Cloud says.

Phoenix says, "Yes. Even though I trained myself to develop my abilities, I feel that I need to learn more about my powers now that I'm eighteen, and with this new transformation I got, I know I have a lot to learn. So I'm willing to do the best that I can."

Cloud calmly smiles, "I knew you'd be up for it. You're like your father when he trains to perfect his abilities. Before we get started. I want to see the transformation for myself."

"Right," Phoenix says, with a grin.

Phoenix places the hand with her bracelet on her chest as she creates fire around her body. Soon her bracelet begins to glow bright and disappears. And at the moment, 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.

Just then, a 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!"

She then finishes with a pose. Her left knee is bent while her right leg is in a forty degree angle. She has her right hand with the palm down across her body while her left arm is presented forward with the palm facing front.

After the transformation, everyone is surprised to see the kind of form Phoenix has taken. Alastor simply smiles to see Phoenix able to transform.

Charlie shouts with excitement, "Wow! This is amazing!"

"So this is the transformation Phoenix took, she looks almost like a full fledged demon. It's still a mystery about the kind of power half demons possess," Vaggie says.

"I have to agree. There isn't that much information about them, but this could be our first step to not only understand half demons, but to understand Phoenix too," Charlie says.

Zǐ Māo says, "I saw it the first time, and it still amazes me."

"You can say that again. We also saw what she could do with that sword of hers," Angel Dust says.

"And she looks so pretty," Niffty happily says.

Conan laughs with a grin, "Wow! Talk about awesome!"

"I especially love your clothes, your wings, and her hair moves like fire," Grace says.

Cloud walks over to Phoenix and says, "Hmm, impressive, but you will have a lot to learn to control that form. The more you work on it, the better control you have, and the less you feel tired after using that form."

"Right," Phoenix replies with a nod.

Cloud says, "Alright. Let's start by practicing your flight. After seeing your skills with Conan and what happened on the news. You'll need to control your new wings."

Grace walks over and says, "And I will help you learn how to use your wings?"

"Okay," Phoenix says.

Grace then flaps her butterfly wings and begins to take flight. Phoenix turns her head to see her wings and begins to flap the left wing. And then the other. She struggles to have them flap at the same pace. She jumps up and begins to take a little flight, but she begins to move around as she is having trouble keeping her balance.

Phoenix yelps, "Whoa! Flying on wings isn't easy!"

Grace takes Phoenix's hand and helps her keep her balance.

"It may take some time, but it will take some practice. Of course," Grace says.

She then has that strange look in her eyes and shows an evil smile, "I do like to see how you fly with those majestic wings. I sure like to have one of your feathers."

Phoenix looks weary and says in her thoughts, "That girl has a different side to her. It's kind of scary."

"Hey sis, stopping with her fucking fantasy and help the kid fly," Conan says.

Grace angrily shouts, "You shut up you dimwitted ass!"

"Who are you calling an ass, you bitch!" Conan shouts.

Grace lets go of Phoenix and flies to her brother, "What did you call me?!"

Phoenix begins to wobble as she flies again and tries her best to focus on flying. She is finally able to, but turns her head to watch the two siblings fight each other. Charlie and the others become confused to see the two fighting each other. They're calm with each other not very long ago.

Phoenix flies to Cloud slowly and asks, "Um, Cloud, do those two always fight?"

"Regretfully yes. They usually get along, but once one of them is pissed off by the other, their fight will be almost impossible to break up," Cloud says.

"Really?" Phoenix replies, confused.

Then remembers and shows Cloud the handle, "Before I forget, can you tell me a bit about this. Apparently my dad gave this to me for my birthday."

Cloud looks at the sword and recognizes it in his thoughts, "That sword... It's one of Satan's greatest swords."

Then says to Phoenix, "I see."

"Yeah. It was a sword's handle before, but when I transformed, I was able to create a blade on it. Then I used it to beat that shadow in no time," Phoenix says.

"I see. I will need to find a way to train you with that sword of yours. Just to advise you, I'm a hard teacher," Cloud says.

"I'm good. I'm a hard working student," Phoenix says.

As the siblings continue to fight each other with fists, Charlie walks to Phoenix who is still flying a little in the air.

"Still, I have to admit, it's really amazing to see you like this. You look just like your dad," Charlie happily says.

"Um, thank you," Phoenix says.

Vaggie, Zǐ Māo, Niffty, and the two animal demons walk over to see Phoenix.

"I must admit, that transformation of yours is very impressive. No wonder Angel is amazed by it," Vaggie says.

The mutters, "Much as I hate to admit."

"You look very pretty," Niffty says.

"Thanks," Phoenix says as she lands on the ground.

As the others are talking to Phoenix, Alastor and Husk are the only one who stay close to the door.

Husk turns to Alastor, "So, that hybrid is really Satan's kid, is she?"

"Yes indeed. She's the spinning image of him and even seems to possess his powers, and some of her own. So it will be best not to upset her too much," Alastor says.

"Yeah. You'd be in deep shit if you mess with someone like her. But I do admit, the kid is different alright. Never expected her to be the kid of the second most powerful demon in Hell," Husk says.

"I have to agree. She'll make things even more entertaining," Alastor says, showing a slight evil smile on his face.

Husk rolls his eyes and mutters in his thoughts, "Fuckin annoying smiling radio host."

Phoenix then also remembers something too, "Before I forget, I found something after that monster when I was with Angel and the others."

"You mean that strange pearl you found?"Angel asks.

"A Pearl?" Alastor asks, curiously.

Phoenix then takes out the pearl from a small pouch of hers.

"I don't know why. I think it fell out of the monster after I defeated it. And I noticed that it's pure white," Phoenix says.

"Hmm, I've never seen a pearl like that before," Cloud says.

Charlie looks at it, "It looks very pretty."

"But why would it come out of that strange Shadow monster?" Vaggie asks.

"Who knows. Do you think our dads know about it," Phoenix replies, turning to Charlie.

"Hmm, I'll have to ask them about it. I have never seen a pearl like that before," Charlie says.

"We'll just have to wait until we see what happens if another monster decides to attack," Cloud says.

"I just hope we don't run into anything else. I really do," Charlie says, concerned.

Phoenix can understand Charlie's concern. If another monster comes, Phoenix knows that her own life will be put in danger. She can only hope that she'll get some training before another monster decides to make another appearance.

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