※ Eliana's POV ※

"Come on, Eliana! Concentrate!" Dante said softly from behind me as I groaned, trying to think of a memory that made me sad or frustrated.

My veins glowed orange and my hands shook as they were outstretched in front of me, but it felt as if everything in my body was restrained. Blocked. No flame.

My concentrated angry expression with my furrowed eyebrows and my narrowed eyes hurt my face, as it was permanently glued like that for the past few hours.

I groaned in disappointment as I failed to conjure fire once again, my hands falling to my sides numbly.

"Again" Dante sighed and softly patted me on my shoulder. I nodded, taking in a deep breath as I extended my hands again.

"Ela gamo" I whispered underneath my breath as I focused on a sad memory again. My arms started shaking violently and the orange glow washed over my veins. (Come on, dammit)

I thought of my mother's death and the day that I heard the news, how numb I was, and how my dad screamed in pain. That day was by far one of the most horrible days that I have ever experienced.

My fingers were extended and clenched, hurting me. But I didn't care. I continued trying to remember the pain that I felt that day, hoping it would be enough to boost my power.

I felt my eyes sting as I recalled all the nights that my dad came stumbling in the house, every time being drunker than the night before. The tears pooled inside my eyes, blurring my vision as I focused my cold glare on the scarecrow in the middle of the field.

I screamed out in agony and I could sense Dante's discomfort and worry coming in waves from behind me. I felt the power surging inside my arms and my heart clenched tightly inside my chest, as a spark flew from my open, shaking palm.

A small flame engulfed my right hand, licking around my fingers. I exhaled shakily as the tears escaped from my eyes, falling down my cheeks.

It's not anything grand but it is a start, I thought as I smiled weakly, watching the flames hug around my clenched fist, flowing with the wind.

"Good job Eli!" Dante exclaimed and raffled my hair playfully.

I glared at the -still intact- scarecrow as I groaned out loud, concentrating on a memory where I was beyond mad at my dad a couple of years ago.

I felt the power flow through my veins as my mind drifted back, visiting the past once again.

I remembered how my dad had been so angry at me for having a little flirt with a guy from my class when I was 16, that he had locked me inside my room and taken away anything that had to do with technology; my laptop, my phone, my Nintendo, my mp3... Literally everything. He wouldn't let me contact any of my friends or the guy that I was dating at the time. I was forced to stay inside the house or preferably in my room while studying all day long.

He had grounded me not to go out for two months, and he had said that "I better forget about boyfriends until I raise my grades to straight A's again". I knew that his intentions were good but God, I was so infuriated at him during that time. Situations like this one may seem insignificant now, but then...They made me go feral.

Flame engulfed my fists and anger took over me as my whole body shook. I shouted again, as I did every time to help me unleash more emotions, and a spark of fire flew from my palm uncontrollably as it hit the grass inches away from my legs, making me screech and bounce back, falling on Dante, who was patiently waiting behind me for endless hours of training.

We fell on the ground groaning, as the flame died down on the grass. I looked down at Dante with a guilty look and he smiled brightly at me.

"I call that a success. Don't you dare feel bad about it! This is why we're training." He said as he stood up in a sitting position, placing me on the side. I sighed and nodded at him as I started getting up for the hundredth time."Patience, my dear phoenix, patience"

I seethed with my teeth grinding against each other as I extended my right hand in front of my body, bright orange veins covering my whole arm. Flames engulfed my fists and wrists as a small spike of fire escaped my open palm, sliding in between my fingers and flying away.

The spike flew straight ahead, and like an arrow slashed through the scarecrow's left arm, missing the heart for a few centimeters. The firey spike stayed intact for a few seconds like it was made out of stone, before dissolving and spreading fire on the region where it landed.

I closed my eyes and sighed in disappointment as Dante's hand touched my shoulder comfortingly.

"That was better than before, but you missed again." He said and removed his hand as he came into my line of sight. "Let's try again"He spoke with confidence and patience once again.

We were here for the past four hours, without a single break and I could feel the discomfort settling in my body as my legs and arms started aching from my training. I sighed tiredly but fell into position as I resurfaced old and unpleasant memories once again.

"Come on Eliana!" Dante grunted in exasperation from my right side as I threw small balls and spikes of fire to the new scarecrow that was placed in the middle of the field. Some of them hit its body, others hit its arms or legs. But I was aiming for its head.

I groaned and gasped as I continuously conjured fire in my hands, morphing it into sharp spikes or round shapes of numerous sizes. The flames were glowing with a bright orange color, lighting up the path from me to the scarecrow in the night as they flew away from my palms.

I and Dante have been training for the past two weeks, every day and every night. Countless hours of conjuring fire and trying to direct the flames in a certain way and target.

"Don't stop! Again!" Dante shouted as he watched me throw flames, one after the other, setting the scarecrow completely on fire. The yellowish flames lit up the whole field in a soft and warm glow, the sounds of fire crackling comforting me in the dead of night.

My powers and my abilities have evolved quite a lot because of my endless training with Dante. Every day we would come out here and he would guide me on how to generate flames, how to give shapes to them, how to throw them and direct them. I have achieved all of the above but I was struggling with the precision of the fire's direction.

We have also started training my body and mind for fighting. He showed me the correct positions and stances that I have to do when I'm either defending myself or attacking others. He taught me how to properly defend myself, but we haven't completely focused on that one yet. I still have lots of training to do.

The scarecrow burned in a very enchanting way as parts of it fell on the grass. I have been training since early noon and it was now beyond midnight, judging from the moon and the stars that shone brightly above our heads. I whimpered from the exhaustion that had settled in my body and from the emotional and physical pain that I have caused to myself and felt for the past hours.

The flames began getting smaller and smaller, landing everywhere besides the pile of burnt hay that was previously a scarecrow. My arms shook greatly as my knees buckled underneath my weight, no longer supporting me. I closed my fists, as the flames ceased flying from my palms, and I fell on the soft grass with a thud, landing on my butt.

I whined in pain again as I gripped my wrists with my fingers, letting the fire inside my veins slowly dissolve. My breathing was erratic and my heartbeats sharp and quick.

I heard the sound of Dante's wings being released from his back and felt the strong gust of wind for what felt like the millionth time for the past couple of weeks, as Dante used the power and speed of his wings to blow out the fires that I kept creating.

"Why did you stop?" I heard Dante speak up as he walked towards me. He started feeling a lot more comfortable around me as the days passed, and my training got harder and harder each day. At first, he was being very gentle with me but later on, he became more strict. However, he never made me feel unsafe or abused me in any way. He pushed me just enough for me to get back on my feet and keep trying.

"I'm... tired...Dante" I said in between loud exhales as I fell back, laying down on the grass. I watched the moon that radiated so brightly above my head, its silver light giving an ethereal feeling all around the dark woods. Dante came into my peripheral vision and then completely blocked my view of the moon as he stood on top of me while looking down at me.

His majestic red hair was flowing with the soft wind that blew as he kept his hard stare at my face.

"I know it's late and I know that conjuring fire isn't the easiest, but your body is burning up right now... We have to take advantage of your adrenaline. You won't be able to relax your body if you don't put out that fire inside your heart that is now blazing." He said seriously as he extended his hand for me to grab.

I groaned at the thought of continuing my training when all I wanted to do was fall into a coma for a week straight. Despite my sounds of disagreement, I placed my hand on his open palm and he lift me up with one smooth movement of his wrist.

"Come on, one more time and you can rest for the night," Dante said and I sighed as I dropped my head.

"No, Dante. I seriously can't do it all over again today. I'm too tired to go for another round." I said and my gaze found his as our eyes glowed in the moonlight. His stare softened and a ghost of a smile showed on his face.

"Okay, how about a jog in the woods and a fight?" He proposed and my face fell as I brought my hand on my hair, combing through it.

"How about just a teeny tiny fight because I'm ready to collapse?" I smiled hopefully up at him as I pushed my hair back, tying it with an elastic band.

"Okay Eli, you win. But I won't be gentle with you. I know you have more than enough power inside that small body of yours, and I can feel it surging through, keeping you restless. So, let's start." He said as he was smirking down on me while removing his large baggy shirt, throwing it on the ground.

His body had a soft yellow glow that illuminated underneath the moon. Silver clashing on yellow in the darkness. His physique never ceased to amaze me and always left me gaping like an idiot; Wide shoulders, strong biceps, and arms that were carved to perfection, a broad, tight chest with a strong abdominal area sculpted by God himself. His porcelain skin was complimented in the most beautiful way with his fiery red hair framing it.

As I shook my head, snapping out of my thoughts, I understood exactly what Dante was talking about. Some nights I would beg him to stop our training early and when he agreed, I would lie restlessly on my bed for hours and I could feel my arms and my chest hurt and burn every now and then.

So I nodded at him and fell into a defense position, bringing my right leg behind and my tight fists up in my face, shielding it.

"Oh no, Eli" Dante chuckled as he started walking in a circle around me. "Not this kind of fight...Let's fight with our powers" He said menacingly and I sensed the humor in his voice as he continued to circle me, looking at me like I was some kind of prey.

"That's quite unfair. I can't conjure a shield, I can't protect myself. And I only have a few weeks of experience, which is nothing compared to centuries." I said as I smirked back at Dante, never letting my guard down in case he only tried to distract me.

"You don't need a shield to protect yourself. I know you can dodge them pretty well and you can use the Flamesuit to send them bouncing back." He replied casually as his veins glowed yellow in the span of a second. "And remember...Fire can't hurt you"

The next thing I knew was a bright yellowish spike flying towards my head and my eyes went wide as I dodged it, barely missing my right eye.

"DAN-" I was interrupted as another spike, a larger one this time, flew towards my torso. I quickly stepped to the right, evading it once again. I gasped at him and he laughed out loud. "Oh, it's on!" I whispered at him and quickly run backwards, gaining ground.

He continuously threw spikes and balls, one at a time, and I kept dodging them left and right, up and down. He gave me a few seconds as he turned his back at me, his long hair flowing on his back. I immediately summoned the flames on my arms, fire tracing along my orange veins. Thin, glowing, orange sleeves made of pure fire covered my arms up to the middle of my biceps as I returned to my defense stance.

"Ooh hoo hoo! That's what I'm talking about!" Dante shouted while smirking as he looked at me from the side, his back turned to me.

I took advantage of his position and concentrated on conjuring a spike on my fingers as my mind drifted to dangerous places. My expression darkened as I noticed Dante gathering a very large sum of flames in front of him, trying to hide it from me with his big torso.

Before I even knew it, a large round shape of fire was directed at me and it was big enough to swallow me whole. My eyes widened and my body stilled, freezing at the sight in front of me. The flames were coming closer and closer and time almost stopped around me; I could hear the loud beats of my heart inside my brain as it pounded against my ribcage. My breath hitched and with a quick movement, I brought my arms up in front of me, shielding my body from the ball of destruction that seemed like it was chasing me.

I shrieked as anxiety oozed out of me, the protective flames around my arms enlarging and flaring. The enormous weapon clashed against my flamesuit and I closed my eyes tightly, fearing for the outcome. The force from the ball that crashed against my arms made me stumble back a couple of steps, before rooting my legs firmly on the ground.

I opened my eyes slightly and I was almost blinded by the glow around me. Warmth had hugged my body as the fireball was putting pressure against my arms. I groaned as I leaned my body forward, applying so much strength and pressure against it.

I felt my arms weakening and shaking as they burned brightly in the darkness of the night. The weapon that Dante had created was lighting up the whole field as I continued trying to dissolve it or even make it bounce back.

I screamed loudly with a final push of my arms and the fires weakened, the ball dissolving in front of me. I gasped, tired and in pain, as I looked at the flames turning into a bright, yellow liquid and dripping around my hands.

I was breathing rapidly and unevenly as I glared up at Dante who was looking at me, smirking his ass off. He had created a large, thick spike of fire almost half his size, and he was using it as a cane, supporting his weight on it.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" I shouted angrily at him as I seethed, my fear and anxiety slowly dissolving. His smirk deepened and his golden eyes sparked proudly as he gazed at me.

"I knew you could it... You just needed a soft push" He spoke up with a calm voice. My body was rigid and restless as my glare became harsher.

"Soft? You call that a soft push?" I said as I looked at him incredulously. He nodded his head towards my direction and his smirk turned into a proud smile.

"Look at you Eliana" He simply said, and he pointed at my body. Suspecting that this was a trap, I took a quick glance at my body, and then I did a double-take.

"Holy..."

My body was on fire. Every inch of me was covered in bright orange flames, like a skin-tight suit. The fire was weak and very thin, which was quite understandable because that was the first time that I managed to generate the whole flamesuit. I had only succeeded at conjuring protective flames around my arms but never for my whole body.

Bewildered, I kept looking down at my body as the soft, orange flames danced enchantingly around my legs and torso.

"Heads up, Eli!" I heard Dante shout and with wide eyes, I immediately looked up in his direction. Being caught completely off guard, I couldn't react as I saw the thick, fiery spear being a few meters away from me, whistling through the air.

Before I could even react, the spear slashed through the thin flames and my stomach, making my whole body fly backward.

All the air was punched out of my lungs and the pain in my stomach was barely tolerable as I smashed against the side of the large wooden wall of the cabin. The other end of the spike had passed through me and cut through the wall, keeping me a few inches off the ground.

I thought that fire couldn't hurt me...

I whimpered as I brought my hands around the spear, pressing down on my wound as I looked up, noticing Dante in the distance. He was frozen in place with a terrified expression.

"Eliana!" I heard his frightened voice, sound against the dead silence of the night as I glanced down on my wound once again. The spike of fire dissolved and my feet touched the ground harshly. At this point, my body was beyond weak as I swayed and then slid down against the wall.

I breathed heavily and glanced down on my stomach, noticing only a hole in my shirt. No blood, no open wound. Nothing.

I didn't feel any particular pain, but I could sense the fire sizzling around the place where the spear was. However, when the spike slashed through my stomach, I felt all the air escape from my system.

It might have been the force, the weird, unpleasant sensation of having something rip your insides, or maybe my fear. I wasn't sure what made me feel this way.

I peeked at the field in front of me, looking for Dante. I saw him running quickly towards me as I tried to gain my breath.

In the span of a second, I saw a large, dark figure running straight at Dante with inhuman speed. I felt the tingles bursting all over my body, giving me life once again.

Dante's body went flying as Lucifer tackled him to the ground. I gasped loudly as they rolled on the ground until Lucifer landed on top of him. As I tried standing up to break them apart before any serious damage was made, Lucifer started mercilessly landing punch after punch on Dante's face.

"Luc-" I started but a series of painful coughs stopped me mid-sentence, as I supported my weight on the wall, trying desperately to stand up.

"What the fuck are you doing? Huh?" I heard Lucifer's monstrous voice boom in the dead of night. He proceeded to stand up and he dragged Dante up with him as he landed another punch on his stomach, sending him flying backward.

"No...Lucifer!" I shouted at him but he ignored me, as he started stalking towards Dante's body on the ground.

I slowly stood up, clutching my stomach as I pushed off the wall and stumbled forward. I looked at Dante as he rose his head, his eyes shining bright yellow color. Oh no...

Suddenly, before Lucifer could grab Dante's hair, with a smooth movement, Dante released his enormous wings, slapping Lucifer hard.