Change in Seasons

Crystaldaggerz

Chapter One

A/N: O.k! I can do this! I will correct every wrong doing! Let's hear it for a spelling check! -joins applause-

Disclaimer: I do not own Zatch Bell or any of its characters

Rating: T (entire story), for mild language and some sexual references and content Rating is subject to change.

The blonde woman squinted through the thick fog as it enthrallingly rolled itself around them, obscuring the object of her concentration. She was completely unable to see the dark mamodo in front of her, let alone their feeble destabilized opponents.

She gave a weary sigh. Pathetic mamodo such as these always gave unnecessary complications without fail when the whole ordeal could be easily avoided by simply handing over their books.

''Brago''

''I know'' he answered.

He raised his clawed hand in front of him in response, well aware of the location of the opposing team and the direction in which they were fleeing.

''Reis!''

His entire hand lit up with the command as a magnificent orb of powerful violet energy charged in the palm of his hand. He released it into the fog—straight towards its attended target. The attack pierced through the haze in a burst of purple light shrouded in shadow, illuminating everything around them for a tense second.

Sherry sighed in relief and closed Brago's black spell book with a thud when she heard the familiar sound of terrified screams tear through the air.

The thick fog rolled up into itself, a frail whisper, and silently rose up as it slowly dissolved into the sky; revealing the familiar surroundings of the greenery that had been veiled only minutes before.

Far off ahead in a diminutive canary patch of flowers, a, fiery haired man was frantically trying to distinguish the blue flames that hungrily devoured his book with the aid of his mamodo. Sherry glanced at Brago and watched as he turned disdainfully on his heels and stalked off with a low grunt. One team down, God knows how much more to go.

Sherry raised her forefingers to her head and vigorously massaged her temple. She knew that he'd be livid after the mamodo battle...those two were most definitely not worthy opponents.

''Aren't you tired?'' she asked weakly after catching up and matching his long strides, attempting to disguise the fatigue she felt without much success. They had been up and about since yesterday afternoon tracking down that team with no rest at all. Her body couldn't handle the new load of stress which she initially believed she could. It was as if she was being crushed; both body and mind. She didn't make her distress known to Brago either; there was no way she'd willingly deal with his snide remarks and his infuriating attitude.

Brago simply ignored her and continued walking.

''I asked you a question, Brago'' Sherry hissed irritably.

He stopped and gave her such petulant look, she closed her mouth and involuntarily twitched before grunting and looking away.

''Don't lump me with you humans that tire so easily, woman''

Pausing, a thoughtful look crossed his features that just as quickly disappeared. Turning his back to her, he walked away once more, not showing any signs of waiting for her.

''Why don't you rest then?" he added with some amusement. "It is all you ever do''

Sherry glared daggers at the back of his head, willing it to combust, and jogged lightly until she was ahead of him. Her pride and her tired body debated heatedly with each other. Should she simply faint from exhaustion or have her pride trampled unmercifully on by Brago?

Decisions, decisions…

Deciding that she would have to deal with his unbearable attitude either way, she looked back at him making sure to have a cross expression on her face. ''We're stopping as soon as we are able'' she announced, daring him with her storming eyes to disagree.

Brago smirked, obviously pleased to have won their silent war.

''Typical''

The stay at the two star hotel for Sherry could be accurately described as relaxing and well needed. The good change in mood aided her in looking beyond the depressing condition of the room and its service. The first deed she had done when they arrived was bathe, running the hot water in the faded tub and soaking her drained body in the bubbly water. Soon after, she had slept dreamlessly until the late afternoon, which of course, infuriated Brago.

However, being in total bliss, she completely ignored his constant complaints and even offered to fix a bath for him, which he snippily refused. Rest and relaxation was the last thing he wanted. As he informed her ever so frequently, they were "far too behind in the mamodo battles" for such ''luxury''

Upon refreshing and readying herself for their departure, Sherry merrily informed Brago that they would stop to eat someplace in town.

He didn't approve.

But of course.

Brago had his arms folded to his chest as he sulked, his crimson glare fastened on his black spell book within Sherry's protective care.

''We need to be looking for other mamodo Sherry, not wasting our time with such foolishness'' he remarked impatiently, spitting out the word "foolishness" with a look of such utter disgust, Sherry had to conceal a small smile.

The blonde said nothing at first, thinking before she decided to respond. ''Endeavoring to nourish my body for the purpose of not starving to death does not apply as foolishness, Brago''

He cursed before turning to glare at a tall scrawny kid with spindly limbs that had been staring at him intently for some time. The boy's eyes widened and he quickly tore his gaze away.

Brago couldn't begin to stand Sherry's human needs: if he could become mamodo king without her aid, he would. He loathed having to be dependent on anyone...especially if it was someone far weaker than himself; and his blonde partner was definitely weaker then him.

Sherry stopped suddenly. Brago followed suit and looked to her with an intense glare, hoping that it would be enough to make her want to change her mind. Her blue gaze was fastened on a small diner across the street from where they were. Clapping her hands together, she laughed; a display of ecstasy that had been gradually becoming more common.

The blonde dashed to the sidewalk and made a beeline for the diner, receiving constant stares from passerby's; possibly due to Brago's strange appearance, though neither took notice. Sherry had long since grown accustomed to the mamodo and no longer noticed how different he looked from a human; even with gray skin, piercing crimson eyes, pointed teeth, and apparel that would put a Goth to shame; and Brago frankly didn't give a rat's ass about what anyone thought of him. Especially humans.

When the pair made it to the Takahashi Diner, Sherry inhaled the scent that engulfed the entire inside as she threw open the metallic doors. She gestured to the annoyed mamodo behind her to follow as she strode over to a table far from the other dining customers.

They took their seats in silence.

Though that didn't last long.

"Gah!"

Sherry jumped up from her seat and stared in horror at the large roach crawling nonchalantly under her seat. Brago, who had jumped up with her in alarm when she had cried out, looked aghast when he saw what had caused such a reaction. He glared at her from across the table and sat back down again.

"Idiot" he accused.

Sherry glared back at him. "It surprised me is—"

''Irasshaimase''

Sherry's blue eyes flew from her irritated partner to the bright smiling face of a young waiter clad in a lime green uniform and holding a menu in his left hand.

''…Konnichi wa'' she replied politely, endeavoring to obscure the fear on her face. She took her seat again and looked back to see that the roach had disappeared. Brago didn't miss this and sent Sherry a meaningful smirk. She ignored him.

Sherry decided to pretend nothing had occurred for the sake of her appetite and sanity and took the menu offered to her with thanks. It was then that she noticed that their waiter made no move to offer one to Brago. In fact, he was either ignoring him or completely oblivious to his existence. His attention was fastened wholly on her, lips curled into a jubilant smile. Confused, she daintily raised a brow before looking down to her menu.

''Pancakes and a glass of orange juice, please''

The blonde waiter smiled and winked at her. ''It'll be right out miss'' he responded cheerfully. With that, he walked off, exchanging a look with another waiter as he left.

Sherry gave a sigh of relief when he was out of sight and she finally succeeded in getting rid of the small blush staining her cheeks. She could attack with a glare to kill vulgar men but it was the polite gentlemen that she really had trouble with.

Sighing, she shifted in the plastic seat and watched idly as he reappeared in the front of the store and began conversing with another waiter. Frowning, she realized the uneasiness she feeling was being caused by someone staring at her. Turning to face Brago, she saw that he was giving her an odd look.

''What?'' she asked innocently.

Instead of answering, her mamodo partner looked away. Not especially concerned with his strange behavior, she turned to look out of the window. She watched an elderly couple chat happily together as they fed a group of birds... probably reminiscing and talking about old times. A group of teenagers passed by them as they strolled down the sidewalk, laughing animatedly as they sang along to invisible lyrics on their iPod's.

Sad, that they were unaware of what was occurring all around them beneath their very noses. A fierce battle was taking place between mamodo, a foreign race not even human. It was rather unfortunate that one day they would discover the truth. About everything: when a kind king took the crown and brought peace, or a ruthless king caused their destruction. The thought brought up a question that the blonde had been meaning to voice for quite some time. She had often thought about it, though she never really gotten an opportunity to ask.

''What kind of king will you become, Brago?'' she whispered softly, watching the group of birds fly off from the grass and over the rooftops. Brago looked at her, surprise etched in his features by the question.

What is this all of a sudden? He thought as he furrowed his brows at her.

''Nani?''

Before she could explain, the blonde waiter returned, food in hand. Setting down her order before her, the odor from the steaming plate of food invaded her senses with ecstatic grace, making her forget what she had been talking about almost immediately. In response, her stomach growled loudly, reminding her of her hunger.

The waiter left them hurriedly, gone before she could ask for another order. Sherry raised a brow at his behavior. He was much more polite when they had first arrived. She hesitated for a moment, not sure whether she should eat in front of Brago when he didn't have a plate of his own. Her stomach growled another complaint as if to answer her inquiry.

Deciding that she was too hungry to wait for the cold mamodo to get his plate, she reached over to get the pot of maple syrup beside the shakers and napkins and poured the thick warm substance over the buttered pancakes. She then cut a large piece with her knife and stuck it in her mouth.

She closed her eyes and hummed her approval. It was wonderful.

Brago silently observed the woman's odd conduct, at a loss of why the blonde was so...dramatic at times. And even stranger, those times were becoming less rare and even more frequent. Frowning as he thought about it, he watch as her pink tongue flicked out from her mouth to lick the syrup from her lips. Her cheeks were stained rosy pink for a reason he did not know...she was not usually in such a good mood for long stretches of time.

Sherry looked up suddenly and caught him staring at her. Blinking a few times, she paused in the devouration of her meal.

''What?''

''Nothing'' he answered quickly, turning his attention to the window.

The confused blonde looked down at her plate in thought. Cutting another piece, she offered it to Brago.

''Do you want some?'' she asked, a smile tugging at her lips at the thought of him actually accepting her offer.

He glared at her.

''I only eat meat''

Sherry thought about this for a second as she stuck the rejected pancake in her mouth.

''Do you want to go and get a Big Mac from Burger King instead, Brago?'' she teased.

The irritated look he gave her told her he had no idea what she was talking about. The joke flew straight over his head.

Sighing in defeat, she gulped down the last of her orange juice and set it down gingerly back to its plastic mat. She had to admit, it was nice for her to relax like this after the many long and tiring mamodo battles. She wanted to save Koko from the grasp of Zofis, but she couldn't do that if she died from exhaustion or if she snapped and went completely insane before she got the chance.

She had to ensure that things like that didn't happen. She would save he friend...along with Brago's help. And until then she would keep her grip on sanity.

If only Brago could understand her logic.

Swirling her finger in the small pool of syrup on her plate, she observed the dark mamodo in front of her as he stared out the window, something she was unable to do often. A smile played delicately on her lips as she thought back to when she asked Brago to have ice cream cone with her.

''What the hell is that?'' Brago asked, eyeing the strange object Sherry held in her hand. It was a thick white substance that dripped shamelessly from its perch on top of a brown cone. The item was strange looking and he couldn't recall ever seeing one before. The blonde woman gave him an odd look.

''It's a…ice cream cone'' she replied, surprised that he didn't know. ''Do you want one?''

Brago's ruby eyes gave the cone a disapproving glare. ''No''

Sherry shook her head and gave Brago a smug look. Bringing the cone to her lips, she gave it a lick, pink against white vanilla. After she tasted it, she held it out to the dark mamodo, showing him there was no potential harm.

''It's not dangerous Brago, and it's not going to bite you. Just lick it''

Brago looked doubtful and quickly refused, saying that he wouldn't eat something that was made by a human.

She chuckled to herself at the memory and made a mental note to get him an ice cream cone later.

''Excuse me, miss''

Having her thoughts interrupted, Sherry turned to her speaker and nearly jumped away in surprise and fear.

''Eto...yes?'' she managed to say after regaining her composure and carefully scrutinizing the person. The individual who stood before was in fact not a Martian as she had initially thought, but a small elderly man. He was very bony and white hair harnessed the majority of his face and nostrils. However, there was no hair to speak on the top of his head.

He smiled broadly, revealing crooked pale teeth. ''Good afternoon, miss! On this magnificent Tuesday, we're celebrating my 20th birthday. As a glorious treat, every woman gets a special drink on the house! Why don't you have some too, lovely lady?''

Sherry's golden brows furrowed together slightly at the request. This man looked four times older then his supposed age of twenty and his overwhelming enthusiasm was disturbing, especially with the way the light hit his bald head just right so that it sparkled brightly at the same time he gave her a hearty thumbs up. Nevertheless, she nodded her agreement. She deserved it, right?

Taking the glass, she eyed the pink liquid oddly and looked up to see their waiter from before standing over her next to the elder. He gave her a friendly smile.

''Go ahead and drink it'' he encouraged kindly. As she brought it to her lips, the elderly man spun around and eagerly congratulated himself. Straightening out his long beard he thought of the success of his plan.

"Um…sir?"

How lucky was he to have such a beautiful fine lass come to him when he needed to test his new potion!? The thought of the woman as his prize made him laugh out loud.

"Sir?"

Calm down, the potion maker warned himself. He had a knack of saying his thoughts aloud and bursting out with laughter…now wasn't the time to do so when fate decided to give him such a lovely test subject. There was no way in hell the grannies that often came by were going to cut it. Chuckling, he turned with a large smile dominating his face to face the results of his wonderful genius, missing the swift goodbye his waiter gave him as he hauled tail.

His mouth nearly hit the floor as his brain tried to disagree with what his eyes were seeing. The celestial golden haired goddess was tending to the dark haired young man who had been seated at her table. And...the glass was in his hands! And it was empty? What in the…

''He's sick! That drink…what was it really!?'' she demanded, anger flashing like lightning in her sapphire eyes.

He put his hands up as if to shield himself. He debated quickly whether he should lie or tell them the truth. Curse his heart. He turned to see that his so-called partner had left him when he failed to get the girl to drink his potion. Sighing he coughed. He would tell them the truth. Something told him that lying would be suicide in this case.

''Well, he wasn't supposed to have drunken that in the first place…'' he answered inaudibly.

Sherry helped Brago to his feet, who was clenching his stomach and gritting his teeth from the excruciating pain he felt in his chest. His ruby eyes met the potion makers gray ones, promising a new kind of death for the pain he was experiencing. The older man winced in terror.

Sherry raised a dainty brow. ''Why not?'' she asked slowly as if challenging him. Her eyes were almost as fierce as her companion. Almost. The other customers looked back at the developing scene in interest.

Gulping, he prayed for protection from the God of Abraham. The young woman was truly terrifying...but then her companion…whoa boy.

''Well...uh, it was...ahhhhhh ...''

Brago cut his eyes at him, crimson knives of steel fury.

Geez, the older man thought. How much can a person glare? ''Well...it was a love potion'' he responded finally. He looked away quickly.

''What!?'' she exclaimed, feeling a mix of disgust and rage rise up in her.

''That potion was meant for you'' he remarked defensively, making sure to lower his voice so the other customers wouldn't hear. Lord knows he wasn't interested in young men.

''It takes effect on the individual who consumes it—causing them to fall in love with whomever they received it from. A strong love and lust that is undying'' He answered tenderly. Passion laced his words as he was blissfully reminded of his genius. He was truly wonderful.

Brago felt sick to his stomach as disgust and dread overwhelmed him in the form of grotesque images concerning the near dead thing before him. He was going to fall in love with an old, no ancient human male? Lust?! A low growl escaped him as he clenched his clawed fists. He wanted to become mamodo king more than anything, and he once believed that he would do anything to achieve his ultimate goal.

But living his life loving and harboring sexual desires for an elderly man was not on his things to do. Pushing himself away from his partner, he grabbed the old man by his collar and slammed him into the wall behind them. He glared fiercely and clenched the collar of the man's shirt even more tightly.

Sherry stepped forward in concern. She could understand how he felt, but she couldn't have him killing a man, especially in public. But then again…he did try to make her his love slave. She shivered at the thought.

''Don't kill him Brago'' she said regretfully.

Dizziness swept through his head as his insides seemed to flip about inside him. For a moment he felt weak and woozy, and he swayed, his grip gradually slipping on the shirt material he held. The feeling slowly passed, and he shakily regained his composure.

He snarled at the panic stricken older man.

''If I kill this pathetic creature, the potion will no longer effect me'' he replied cold heartedly. The elderly man's eyes went as round as dinner saucers.

''Don't kill me! You don't understand! I can make a cure!'' His pleads were rushed and high-pitched, proof of his fear.

Sherry gave him an odd look while Brago looked completely unimpressed.

''Besides...'' he began, joyful all of a sudden. Happiness lit up his face like a bright flash bulb.

''Besides what?'' Brago snarled irately.

The newly found joy disappeared as quickly as it had come. He sighed, his breath shakier than he ever heard it. If he ever had a chance of living past this horrid situation, this piece of information would be the cause.

''I wasn't the one who gave you that potion...was I?''

A/N: A cliffy? Me? Wow...:D

My goodness...so embarrassing...now that I've revised this, I reeeeally want someone to review this. I can't believe I messed up this chapter so much before, wow. This is MUCH better, so pleeease review! Pretty please? XD