"NO FREAKIN' WAY." THE seven sons felt their legs get weaker as they saw a phoenix appear above them. It was nothing like what they've ever seen before. It was a huge bird with fire as wings. It was beautifully dangerous.

     When the phoenix touched the ground, everything started moving again, and the sons immediately took a step away from it.

    "What the hell is that?!" Suho asked with shock.

    The sons watched as phoenix looked like it was transforming into something – a human form to be precise. Then the sons looked closer as the enormous bird finally transformed into a handsome, red-eyed man. He was wearing black leather pants and jacket with nothing underneath, making the tattoo of a phoenix on his chest visible. His nails were as sharp as a beast, and his face was something that could be used to fool others with one look.

    The name of this beautiful creature was Kharon the Third. (PRONUNCIATION: ka-ron)

    "W-Who are you?" asked Taeil as he was backing away from the creature who just transformed into a human a few seconds ago.

     "I am Kharon the Third. I am the one who drags the souls of the sinners to hell. I assist the sinners in crossing the river of death, and that was supposed to be my only duty as a ferryman, but the Rulers had given me this task to help you all understand the true nature of becoming a demon," Kharon answered, his voice lower than expected.

     The seven looked confused at first, but after a few seconds, everything was absorbed, and all of them reacted at the same time. Their reaction was something that Kharon did not expect because the sons started looking excited. Some even started jumping for joy.

     "So you're like our bird teacher?" Minhyuk suddenly asked, making everyone laugh.

     "Pardon me?" Kharon asked back as he quickly looked at Minhyuk's way.

     "You know, like a BIRD, transforming into a dude so he could teach us," Minhyuk explained, making Kharon look annoyed.

     "I will not allow a mere mortal like you to call someone like me a..."

     "Bird?" Jackson finished, making his brothers laugh again. But then Kharon snapped. His whole body turned into flames as he shouted, "Enough! You are just students and I am your teacher! You will not disrespect me like I am nothing!"

     The seven sons just stared at their burning mentor with shock.

    "I didn't know death guardians could be this high tempered," Jiyong whispered at Hyunseung, but it seemed like the phoenix still heard it. So Kharon went to where Jiyong was, and with nothing else to say he suddenly strangled him with his burning hands.

     "What the fuck are you doing!?" Sunggyu shouted. Then he ran to where Jiyong was and started pulling him away from Kharon. But Kharon's flames didn't allow him to do so. Sunggyu was too scared to touch the flames that he eventually lets go of Jiyong. 

     The sons didn't know what to do. They watched their brother in agony, but soon they realized that Jiyong wasn't hurt at all. It was like the flames were just water to him.

    "How the hell are you doing that Jiyong?!" Taeil shouted as he stared at his brother who wasn't affected by the man's red flames. After a few more seconds, Jiyong was now caught on fire as well. His whole body was covered in red flames, but he looked like he wasn't affected by it at all.

     "Sunggyu, what should we do?" Hyunseung asked as he looked at Jiyong with a worried expression.

     While the sons were thinking of a plan, Minhyuk suddenly felt something, like his body was telling him to just 'grab' the opportunity and help his burning brother. So he did. He bravely went closer to Kharon and Jiyong.

     "Minhyuk, what the hell are you doing!? Don't get too close to them!" Jackson shouted, but Minhyuk didn't even listen. He grabbed the phoenix's arm, and with just one touch from Minhyuk's hand, Kharon turned back to normal. He slowly removed his hand on Jiyong's neck, making them both fall on the ground.

     "Minhyuk..."

     Everyone was shocked by what Minhyuk just did, and so did Minhyuk himself. The words, "How did I do that?" was running around Minhyuk's head. Was it because of the ring's absence on his finger?

     "Jiyong, are you all right?" Hyunseung asked as the rest of them ran to where he was and helped him up. Good thing he wasn't on fire anymore.

    Jiyong shook his head in confusion and said, "I'm okay but..h-how did I ..." Before he could finish, their weak mentor forced himself to stand up as he approached the sons, "W-Well done...princes."

     The Seven sons just looked at Kharon with a confused face, and then Sunggyu ran to him and pulled his collar upward, "What the fuck is wrong with you?! You almost got my brother killed!"

     Kharon slightly pushed him away and calmly replied, "I could try, but that would be impossible. Kwon Jiyong has the strongest powers between all of you here, and I will not be able to kill him with mere flames."

     "So you really were trying to kill me?!" Jiyong asked in full rage.

     "What you did earlier is called Empathy. It gives you the ability the copy the powers of your opponent. You, Kwon Jiyong, just copied my powers a few seconds ago," Kharon revealed, then everyone looked at Jiyong with a shocked expression.

     "As for Lee Minhyuk. What you have is called life draining. You don't actually drain the life of your opponent, but you drain the energy and its powers. It's only temporary but it takes a while for your opponent to fully recover and gain their powers back. But I'm..."

     Kharon snapped his fingers, teleporting everyone into the middle of an unknown forest. Then everyone looked at Kharon confusingly because he looked like he wasn't even hurt at all. So Kharon smirked and continued his previous sentence, "Exceptional."

     "W-Where are we? Where did you bring us?" Suho confusingly asked as he was looking at the unfamiliar surroundings.

     "We're in a place where time does not exist. No one can find us here. But don't worry, we won't take too long. I know that I can teach you faster than any other demons since the seven of you have innate powers that are greater than most demons in hell," Kharon explained.

     "Then what you did earlier, will you do that to us again?" Sunggyu asked.

     "That was only a test to see if you all have the potential of becoming a demon. But like what Asmodeus and the rest of the rulers had said, all of you are not only human-demons but Princes of Hell. And have you forgotten? I'm a demon too. I know all the rotten attitudes that a human possesses. I won't burst in anger just because boys insult me and call me a bird," Kharon replied confidently.

     Everyone thought he was insane, but then again, the whole idea of being a human-demon child is crazy.

     "Whether you like it or not, I will be your teacher. I will teach you the basics of making your weapons appear and show you how to use it like a pro. I will also teach you how to control and use your powers, but making it stronger is not part of your training anymore. Your duty is to figure out how you're going to make your powers indestructible. So, are you ready?" Kharon asked the seven Demons in front of him.

     The seven looked at each other. They weren't sure if they have to trust this jerk that almost killed Jiyong (but not really), or will they just let him teach them everything he had just explained. But even if he was only making everything up, they had no choice but to agree. They were stuck in the middle of nowhere with a phoenix after all.

    "Deal," Sunggyu replied.

     Kharon smirked evilly as he stated, "Then let the training begin."

     With just one snap, fire surrounded them. The sons had to compress together just so they wouldn't be able to touch the fire. They didn't expect that they had to do the training right ahead without even doing any warm-ups.

     "Before we start with this training, I want to clarify things with you. To finally become a true demon, you need to pass three levels. For you to know if you're on the first level your eyes will turn red. The second level is when you start emitting a very dark aura, it will suddenly appear like smoke, and the last level, the third level, is your demon state." Kharon explained, and the demons couldn't even pay attention because of the fire in front of them.

     "Once you master all of your demon powers, then you're going to be able to transform into a demon just like your fathers. And before we start I would like to congratulate Hyunseung for being the first one to move to the second level, while still wearing his ring," Kharon stated, but Hyunseung didn't have the time to celebrate. He was too scared about the fire that's surrounding them.

     "Are you really trying to get us killed?!" Suho shouted. Then all the seven sons went even closer to each other so they wouldn't get burned.

     "This is your first task demons. You must cross these flames without getting burned. This is the most basic lesson on becoming a demon," Kharon explained, making everyone shocked.

     "Are you insane!? How the hell do you think we can do such a thing?! Jiyong has his advantage, so does Minhyuk because both of them have the ability to absorb and suck anything!" Sunggyu shouted angrily since he almost got burned with his first encounter with fire earlier.

     "Fire is not a weakness. You are demons for crying out loud! Your Fathers literally lives on fire. You must control fire like it's the wind. These are one of the strengths of a demon," Kharon tried to explain, but Sunggyu wasn't buying it.

     "Piece of cake," Jiyong said with confidence as he walked pass the flames like a pro.

     "Looks like I'm next," said Minhyuk as he happily followed Jiyong. And as expected, he wasn't hurt at all. He was even playing with it.

     "This is so cool!" He excitedly exclaimed.

     "You're next," Kharon said as he pointed at Hyunseung, making him flinch. He wasn't prepared for this at all, but good thing his brother Taeil encouraged him with a pat on the back, so Hyunseung slowly went closer to the fire, but as he went closer, he felt like his perfectly white skin would get burn.

    "I can't do this!" Hyunseung shouted with a bit of disappointment on his face. Kharon went closer to the terrified son and told him, "Don't be scared of the fire. Imagine it as the wind. It will touch and kiss your skin, but it will not harm you."

    Hyunseung nodded his head as a sign that he was ready, even though he didn't quite understand his mentor's word of wisdom. He gave out a loud sigh and closed his eyes as he went closer to the red, hot, flames. 

     After a quick second...

     "I did it!" Hyunseung shouted as he opened his eyes back.

     "Well done Hyunseung. Now for you my prince," Kharon called out as he looked at Sunggyu, signalling him to get ready.

     The remaining sons were now confident as they saw their brothers do the same thing, so all of them made it through the flames like an expert. When the fire was gone, everyone started jumping with joy because they didn't expect that they could actually walk through fire like that.

     "Good job everyone. As expected, you learned fast. Now we must proceed with your weapons." As Kharon finished his sentence, everyone started looking even more excited. This was the part that they've been waiting for. Demon weapons just sounded really interesting.

     "Summoning your weapons is similar to playing with fire. Both are easy to do. Summoning it doesn't mean you need to shout your weapon out loud, or close your eyes and imagine that it will appear in thin air. Summoning your weapons need focus and concentration. Imagine that you're holding something and it will just magically appear," Kharon explained, and the excitement that the sons had earlier turned into confusion.

     "How is that even possible?" Jackson asked.

     "Just imagine that you're holding something heavy, then whoosh, you'll find out you're really holding something heavy," Kharon explained, confusing them even more.

     "But father said we can only summon our weapons during times of danger," Hyunseung stated as he remembered what Asmodeus told them.

     "I believe he also explained that if you grow stronger, you will be able to summon it anytime." Kharon reminded them, and everyone did remember that small detail.

     The sons didn't know why but they suddenly found themselves smirking when they heard Kharon say that. So the seven did what their mentor explained. Something impossible like making a weapon appear out of nowhere was as hard as crossing a pool of fire without getting burned.

     Taeil was forcing himself that he thought that the veins on his head would pop any minute. But good thing Kharon stopped him just in time.

     "You're doing it all wrong! Imagine that your weapon is the person that you like. The more you force that person to love you, the more that they would move farther away from you. But if you patiently wait, they will come on their own, do you understand?" Asked Kharon, and everyone nodded and tried their second attempt.

      After a few more minutes of determination, weapons magically appeared on their hands. And as they saw their chosen weapon, they suddenly felt a strong connection with it. They knew that this was the weapon that truly represented them.

     NOTE: To those who are still confused: Lust - Hyunseung (JS). Glutton - Minhyuk. Greed - Suho. Sloth - Taeil. Wrath - Sunggyu. Envy - Jackson. Pride - Jiyong. Don't worry, I know it's hard to remember, but you'll get the hang of it in the future.

     "Cool! What do you call this?!" Suho asked as he was admiring his weapon.

     Kharon stared at the seven who looked happy with the weapon their fathers had given them. He knew that teaching them would be as easy as dragging a sinful soul to hell.

     "Okay princes, let's go with the basics," he said with a smirk, making the sons look at their mentor with determination.

     Kharon trained them like there was no tomorrow. From level zero, the seven sons became level two just in a few hours. And it may seem like it's not much, but the truth is, even leveling up once in only a few hours is a great achievement.

     "Are you tired?" asked Kharon as he was staring at the seven sons who were panting heavily. 

     What Kharon told them was indeed true. He did teach them the basics of the basics, to the most complex training of a demon-child. From controlling fire to teleporting, these were just some powers that a demon should know and have. But they still had their last training before they could finally be called a son of a demon, and that's...

     "Your powers," Kharon revealed.

     "Our powers?" Asked Sunggyu as he looked at Kharon with a puzzled expression.

     "You have two powers remember? Your first powers are the ones that I'll be able to teach you, while the second one is something that can only be unlocked if you are in your demon state, which is level three," Kharon explained, but the sons were still confused.

     Kharon sighed and looked at the sons with a serious expression, "Let me explain your powers first..."

     Prince Hyunseung of Lust, you have the power of Audible Inundation, the power to overwhelm someone's mind with voices. Just by staring at your opponent, voices of pleasure will suddenly be heard through their heads, bringing them to a world of lust and ecstasy. Your demon power is called Kiss of Death. With one kiss, your opponent will burn inside until his soul is completely dead.

     Prince Minhyuk of Glutton, you possess the power of life draining. This can drain your opponents' powers and energy. Your demon power on the other hand is called Soul Absorption. Like eating food, you absorb the souls of the dead and obtain all their past energy, powers, and strengths.

     Prince Suho of Greed, your first power is called Knowledge Absorption. Greed means wanting something more than what you already have, not just in money but also in skills. So this power helps you absorb all the knowledge your opponent has, from his known tricks, skills, and secrets. Your demon power is called Physic Reflection. This gives you the power to take and force back all forms of memory and emotions in order to overflow the mind until your opponent will be as good as dead.

     Prince Taeil of Sloth, you have Catoptromancy, the ability to see distant people or places through mirrors. Your demon ability is called Luring, The ability to tempt and persuade someone to obey your will and do your bidding. You're too lazy to accomplish something that's why you just ask others to do it for you.

     Prince Sunggyu of Wrath, your powers are as deadly as your sin: Fear Amplification. By looking at your opponent in the eye, you can let them see their greatest fears. Your demon power is even scarier than the first one, it is called Memory Manipulation. This gives you the ability to alter or take one's memory and use it to bring them into never-ending darkness.

     Prince Jackson of Envy, you possess Illusion Casting. This gives you the ability to create invisible objects that only your opponent sees, making it look like their fighting someone but nothing is actually in front of them. The demon power that you have is called Glamouring. This gives you the ability to change appearance with anyone you think of. It could be someone you know or someone you just saw. You can also transform into monsters and beasts.

     Prince Jiyong of Pride, as the strongest son, you have the power called Empathy. This gives you the ability to absorb or copy your opponent's powers, making you indestructible. Your demon power is called Cloning, this gives you the ability to duplicate yourself into tens, hundreds, or thousands, depending on your strength and energy. Your clones will also have the same ability and strength as you do, and they will disappear with one command.

     "Do you understand now my princes?" Kharon asked as he looked at the seven sons with their mouths and eyes all wide open.

     "You mean to say that we have that kind of power?" Hyunseung asked, still a little confused about what their trainer had told them. 

     Was it true? Was it true that with one kiss he could kill someone? 

     "I know you're all confused, but let's just proceed with our training so I could simply show you how to use it," Kharon told them, making everyone whine like a kid. They were too tired that they didn't even want to move an inch anymore. But Kharon didn't care. His mission was to teach the sons everything in one day. This was a request from Lucifer, and he had no right to decline it. Lucifer told them that their time was running out. The archangels will only grow stronger if they take too long in knowing all this.

     "We cannot stop now, this is your last lesson," Kharon encouraged them.

     "But we'll faint if we don't stop now, please let us rest," Sunggyu pleaded because as the leader, he was the representative of his brothers.

     "We can't," Kharon answered, but Sunggyu still insisted, "Please! Tomorrow, we promise we'll be prepared!"

    Kharon started feeling irritated by the attitude that the sons were showing. It seemed like they still haven't grasped their current situation.

     "We'll be too late! Every second you sit down and do nothing, those angels will grow stronger and stronger. The moment you face them in battle without knowing how to use your powers, all of you will be killed!" Kharon angrily shouted at them, making everyone flinch.

     When Kharon saw their reactions, he massaged his temple and looked back at them calmly, "Those angels have been training all their lives. They have been tiring themselves for years just so they could kill you. And you who are only going to tire yourselves for a day couldn't even endure it?"

     Everyone was suddenly quiet, so Jiyong stood in front of them and said, "Kharon is right brothers. We need to learn all this. We can't just give up now. Look at all the things we accomplished in one day. We can do more than this, right?"

     Everyone was shocked by what their prideful brother had said. Was this even the Jiyong that they knew and loved?

     "So, who's with me?!" Jiyong then shouted in encouragement, making everyone smile at the sight of Jiyong encouraging them.

     Sunggyu went to Jiyong and patted his back, "You just said the words that I couldn't even say," then he looked back at his brothers and shouted back, "Let's do it demons!"

    Everyone formed a straight line in front of Kharon. All ready to learn their hidden powers from this heartless yet considerate phoenix.

*****

Jackson just got home from a whole day of training. Well, he actually teleported, which he still couldn't believe he could do now.

     It was late at night. Jackson was at his room staring at the box Kharon gave to them earlier. Inside the box contained the seven sons' rings. Kharon told them to hide it for a while so they could practice on their powers more, but he strictly told him to give it back the next day.

     (Flashback)

     "Jackson, this is the box that will hide the rings. Only you have the power to open it," said Kharon as he gave Jackson the small, antique box.

    As he explained the rest to Jackson, Kharon was suddenly turning into fire once again.

    "What the hell. You're leaving us?!" Suho asked as he and the rest of his brothers were staring at their burning mentor.

    "Don't worry princes. You'll see me very soon, but for now, this is goodbye." Then Kharon slowly turned into a phoenix and vanished.

     (End of Flashback)

     "Hi Invidia, did you miss me?" asked Jackson when he placed the box on his desk and started feeding his snake some raw chicken.

     "Eat well Invidia." 

     Jackson was about to enter the bathroom, but then he suddenly saw a shadow near his window.

    "What the-"

    The owner of the shadow was so fast that Jackson didn't catch him. But when Jackson turned around, he instantly saw a man approaching the box where all their rings were contained. Jackson was just as fast thanks to their training earlier. Thank you Kharon! But his speed was no use because Jackson was too tired to even draw his weapon out.

     "You son of a bitch, what do you think you're doing?!" Jackson shouted instead.

     The intruder was about to jump off his window with the box at hand, but Jackson was able to pull the man's feet, making both of them fall on the floor. There he saw the face of the intruder.

     "You?!" Jackson shouted from shock. Before Jackson could say anything else, the guy suddenly looked straight into his eyes, making Jackson paralyzed and unable to move.

    "No way. The moment I have the box, someone tries to steal it?!" he thought to himself as he stared at the man who was just staring at him as well.

     It took about five seconds before the man could remove his eyes on Jackson. But before he could leave with the rings, Invidia was suddenly caught on fire, shocking the man, and Jackson as well. Slowly, the snake was transforming into a human. A naked woman to be exact. 

     It broke the cage and quickly ran to where the culprit was. Invidia grabbed the box from the intruder's hand and quickly bit his left arm. So the intruder had no other choice but to let go of the box and escape.

     When he was gone, Invidia hissed and took the box on the floor before placing it on the desk. Then she held Jackson's forehead, giving him the ability to move again.

     "T-thank you...Invidia. I...d-didn't know...y-you could do that", Jackson struggled to say, still shocked on what just happened. Invidia moved closer to Jackson, so Jackson shyly looked away since Invidia was naked.

     *Hiss*

     "L-looks like I still can't talk to you...b-but...why didn't you tell me that you could do that?!" Jackson asked as he stood up while avoiding the naked body of his female pet snake.

     Luxuria hissed again as an answer, almost making Jackson hit himself.

    "Of course you couldn't! I just literally said you couldn't talk! Jackson Wang you stupid idiot!" Jackson shouted at himself. Then without anything to say, Invidia transformed back into a snake.

     Jackson carefully carried him to the table. He told her that he'll buy her a new cage tomorrow with his brothers. It was alright to let him loose because he knew that his pet would never do anything bad to him.

    That night Jackson found out that their pets could literarily guard them. And he also found out that one of the jerks, namely Mark Yi-En of the Arcs, was after their rings, and was just as powerful as them.

     Kharon was right...

     Even with all the things that they could do now, they still had a long way to go to finally be called a demon.

- END -