All right people! Time for one of the chapters you've all been waiting for! The beginning to... well, I'm not going to say, you'll just have to read this chappy and find out!

Now, I don't really like this chapter all too much... like I said with the 2nd chapter, I think this one is boring. And sorry if you think it isn't that great, I'll admit, I didn't do a whole good job with this chapter.

Brago: You didn't make me OOC again, did you?

Me: No, at least I don't think you are.

Brago: What kind of response is that?

Me: A bad one? Anyways, let's get on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Zatch Bell. If I did... well... let's just say I don't and end it there.

Come Back To Me

Chapter 9

Truth Be Told

A figure of a young woman was seen lying on a bed. She was on her stomach, and her face was turned to the side. Her hair was matted down on her head and scattered over her back. The girl's skin was a little pale, and her eyes were slightly red.

Sherry gave a moan as she stirred in her sleep. Then slowly, the girl opened her eyes and just stared out in the middle of nowhere. As she let her eyes regain focus, she thought back to what happened yesterday.

Brago… her first love… she sent him away. And away he went. He was no longer with her, and he'd never be with her.

Never say never.

The three words unexpectedly sprang up in her mind. Where did they come from? At least that annoying voice wasn't in her head at the moment…

Good, you're awake. You did a good thing by making Brago go away yesterday.

Spoke too soon.

Sherry gave a groan of protest as the voice continued to talk to her about how 'proud' it was for sending the dark mamodo away.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" Sherry spoke out loud. The voice gave a chuckle, and then continued to speak some more.

The mamodo is interfering with your life. It's a good thing that you sent him away, for you belong with Richard now and Richard only. Oh, and by the way…when he asks you today to spend some time with him… listen to him and do what he says.

Hmm? Richard was going to ask her to spend time with him today? How would that voice know?

Sherry ignored those thoughts. Was her head now some sort of battle zone for different thoughts and reasons to battle? It sure seemed that way...

"Just leave me alone, I'm tired and I want to sleep." Sherry mumbled. She rolled over to her side and tried to drift off to sleep again. Her eyes began to itch, so she scratched them, and then she opened her eyes.

Great, now her eyes wouldn't close now that she'd rubbed them. Just great… in her condition, she needed the sleep!

The girl sat up and continued to rub her eyes, and then she looked around the room. Standing up, the girl walked over to where her hair brush was. She picked it up and began to weave the bristles of the utensil to straiten out her hair.

After a few minutes of slowly brushing her hair, Sherry set the brush down and walked over to her bathroom, where she'd brush her teeth.

Oh, why did she have to be awake now? Still sleepy, the girl stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked worse than she had the other day, and her skin seemed a little paler. Maybe she'd take a nap in the sun later on… get some sleep and a tan… it was worth a try.

o-o-o-o-o-

It was now late afternoon and Brago was still out in the woods. He looked up to the clear, blue sky as a flock of birds flew by. The dark mamodo let out a depressed sigh as he turned his head to face the ground.

Go away. Those were the haunting words that took root in the mamodo's mind. The last words that Sherry had spoken to him.

Go away… that's almost what he wanted to do. But Brago had no idea how to get away from all that was happening, and he didn't know if he wanted to leave, either.

It was strange, really. He wanted to leave, and yet he didn't. Leaving would mean to leave behind all the pain that he was suffering from at the moment, and yet it also meant to leave behind Sherry. What was he going to do? Which choice would he make?

Brago gave another sigh and looked strait ahead. He then saw something walking in the distance… what was it?

Was it a mamodo?

He looked more closely, and saw that it was not.

Sherry?

The mamodo's eyes widened as he saw the figure become clearer. It indeed was Sherry, but something was different. Yesterday when he saw her, her skin was almost as pale as his, and her eyes were as red as an apple. Her hair had lost its shine, and also had a strange, pale color to it. But now, all those characteristics were gone, and she seemed to be all fine and well again. Though… her face showed no emotion.

Strange. Why couldn' he sense her coming? Brago could sense just about every single thing around him except for inanimate objects...

After about thirty seconds the girl reached where Brago was, and she stopped walking. Looking down at him, her azure eyes still gave no emotion.

"Hello, Brago." said the girl with no emotion in her voice. Brago felt a little surprised by her suddenly talking to him. Didn't she just tell him to go away yesterday?

The dark mamodo said nothing, but stared as the girl clasped her arms together. She too, said nothing, but merely stared at him as he stared back. Another awkward silence fell upon the two.

"How have you been?" asked the girl. She still continued to stare at the dark mamodo, who felt uneasy about that. Weird…

"What does it look like?" said Brago quietly. "I've been sitting here since you sent me away. Do I look like I've been doing well?"

Sherry made no comment, but continued to stare. After about another minute of silence, she raised her hand in a following gesture. "Come," she said. "I want to show you something."

A small spark of interest sprang up in Brago' mind. What did she want to show him? Strange... this didn't seem like Sherry at all... he'd better keep his guard up.

The mamodo stood up and looked at Sherry oddly. What was with her, anyways?

He decided to just follow her, and see what was going on. The girl then began to walk right after she made sure the dark mamodo was right behind.

She led him through the forest, and Brago could tell that they were still near Sherry's mansion. Where was she leading him? This was very strange…

They continued to walk through the forest. It seemed like they were going in circles… to Brago it did at least. He still hadn't become very patient… and he wanted to know what was up right then and there.

But he waited, and he remembered how Sherry always seemed to take her time at things, but she could have changed a little. He knew that she had changed, but she didn't seem like the warm, welcoming girl he knew four years ago. She was a little too different now…

The girl led the dark mamodo to a clear section of the woods. There were barely any trees, and there wasn't very much grass growing on the ground either. There were a few weeds sticking up here and there, but other than that the area was covered in dirt.

Brago watched as the blonde made her way to a tree. She faced it and then turned around to lean her back against it. The dark mamodo just looked at her curiously.

"Well? What is it you wanted to show me?" asked Brago, folding his arms. The girl didn't answer him right away, but she continued to stare off into space.

"You'll see soon enough." she merely replied. Brago gave an annoyed sigh and also leaned against a tree.

This was going to be annoying…

o-o-o-o-o-

Richard was walking up the steps to Sherry's home. He reached the door and rang the doorbell. After about a minute, an old man walked up to the door and opened it.

"Hello, sir. How may I help you?" asked the old man.

"Hi, uh, Sherry home?" asked Richard, leaning on one foot. The man looked at him and nodded.

"Who shall I say is waiting for her? She isn't feeling entirely well at the moment, and I wouldn't want her to waste her strength."

"Richard. Tell her it's Richard. She'll come."

Te man nodded, and left right after closing the door. The young brunet waited about a minute or two until a pale figure opened the door. Richard turned his head around to greet the figure.

"Hi, Sherry."

o-o-o-o-o-

Brago gave an impatient growl as he watched the young blonde continued to be so still. What was with her? When was she going to show him… whatever it was? Patience was never Brago's ally.

Then, the blonde blinked a few times, and turned to face Brago. She stood up strait and faced the dark mamodo.

"It is time." she stated. "You've gotten yourself into quite a mess, Brago." The girl began to walk forward.

Brago just stared at the girl. "What are you talking about?"

The girl stopped as she was about three feet away from the mamodo. She tilted her head to the side, and a slight hint of emotion emerged as a smirk crept upon her lips.

"What I mean is," she began. "Falling in love with a human. You really have gone low, you know." The girl began to play with her hair. "And then coming all the way back to the human world after four, long years, just so you could be with her again." Sherry gave an emotionless laugh. "It's really a shame, you know?"

What in the name of… what was she talking about? Brago stared with a confused look upon his face as the girl continued to talk.

"And to think that you, Brago, one of the strongest, coldest mamodos would fall for such a weak girl. And you called her and a bunch of other people foolish. Maybe you're the one who's foolish, Brago." Sherry stepped forward.

Brago, still not understanding what was going on, looked up at the girl. "What are you talking about?"

An evil grin played with the girl's lips as she let out a cold laugh, and spoke in an almost sing-song voice.

"You've fallen into a trap, Brago."

The mamodo's eyes widened as the image of the girl vanished, and a few feet away from him was Noru, but something was different. His eyes became slightly larger with strange lines coming out of them and sliding down his cheeks. A blood red design was around his face that gave him an evil look, and his teeth were bared in a sinister grin.

Noru looked at Brago in the eyes, and let out a cold, hard laugh. He then ran forwards and punched the dark mamodo right in the stomach.

The mamodo was caught off guard as he was swept backwards into a nearby tree. More birds scattered as the tree shook and leaves fell to the ground. Brago stood up, and gave a glare at Noru who only began to cackle.

"What the hell…?" Brago stared at the other figure. "You're a mamodo." he mumbled. Noru only began to cackle even more.

"What gave you the first clue, smarts? I've been a mamodo this whole time! Lucky that one of my spells kept you from recognizing me as a mamodo, or my plan wouldn't have gone as effectively as wanted. But thanks for not paying attention. It really helps a lot." He began to cackle even more as Brago straitened his posture, and then went into an attacking position.

The dark mamodo gave a growl. "You'll pay for that, you weakling."

"Weakling?" Noru echoed. "I'm stronger than you are! I could have beaten you in the battle for king in a heartbeat, but unfortunately I wasn't chosen to participate! And now, with the help of Richard, I shall own the crown!"

Brago gave another growl, and then he leapt forward. Noru dodged his attack as he stepped to the right. Brago only turned around to swing his fist at the other mamodo.

If only he had his book… if only Sherry could be there to read it for him…

The two continued their hand-to-hand fight. Brago and Noru would swing their fists and miss, and maybe hit the other one or two times, but most of it was dodging the other's attack.

Noru then stepped to the right as Brago stepped to the left. He gave a smirk and shook his head. "You'll never defeat me."

o-o-o-o-o-

The real Sherry and Richard were standing outside on the girl's front porch. They were talking, and enjoying being in each other's presence.

Sherry was leaning against Richard's shoulder as she laughed at a joke he just made. "That's funny, Richard." she mumbled. She closed her eyes and gave a sigh.

The two sat in silence for a while, when all of a sudden there was a loud crash. Sherry opened her eyes and looked to where the noise came from.

"What was that?" she asked, now sitting up.

"Oh, probably nothing." Richard commented, waving his hand to the side. The blonde gave him a strange look as he looked back at her. "What?"

"A loud crash is probably more than just 'nothing'." she said. The girl stood up and started to walk down the steps.

"Hey, where are you going!" asked Richard, now standing up. He walked a few steps towards Sherry.

"I'm going to find out what that noise was." said the girl. She continued to walk.

"No, wait! You can't just go out in the woods in your condition!" said Richard in a panicky voice.

"Then you can come with me to make sure I don't faint." Sherry said flatly as she continued to walk. Richard shook his head.

This wasn't going as planned… why did Noru have to choose to bring that dark mamodo so close to the house?

Richard then reluctantly began to follow Sherry as they made their way through the yard of the Belmond's home. After a few minutes of walking through the woods, and listening for more loud crashes – which were heard quite frequently – the two managed to find the source of all the commotion.

Sherry gasped as she saw what was going on. "Brago? Noru? What's going on?" The girl stood in horror as she saw the beat up dark mamodo and the hardly damaged Noru on the other side of the scene.

Brago looked up to Sherry. What was she doing out here…?

"Sherry?" he spoke.

The young blonde looked over in Brago's direction. "Brago?" she inquired. "What are you doing out here so badly hurt?" She was about to rush over to him, when something odd happened.

"Hipnorin!"

Richard held up a blood-red book and called out a spell. Noru?s hand began to glow as he pointed them at Sherry. The girl froze, paralyzed.

"Wha- what's going on?" The girl tried to move, but failed miserably. Sherry looked around the scene. A shocked Brago, an evil Noru, and Richard holding a strange book with an even stranger aura around it. Sherry looked closely at the book the brunet was holding, and a gasp escaped her lips as she recognized what it was. "A spell book!" she cried.

Richard let out an evil laugh as he stepped up closer to the blonde. "Surprised?" he asked. Sherry stared at him with an illegible look as the brunet began to laugh even more. Then he turned his attention to Noru. "Well, it looks like the plan was slightly altered, but it's still going to work out."

Noru gave a grin. "Yeah, I guess."

"What's going on here!" Sherry called out. The girl looked around as Richard walked up to her.

"You see… I never loved you, Sherry." said the brunet, holding up the blood-red book. "I'm only interested in your money."

The blonde's eyes widened as Richard stated his plan. Her money? "Richard…" Sherry spoke, almost disbelieving him. "Then… then why did you ask me for an interview when we first met?"

Richard gave a snort as the blonde said this. "Ha, I was looking for you so I could get Noru to place a spell on you so you'd think that you loved me. And it worked! He even put a spell on Brago so he wouldn't sense that Noru was a mamodo."

Brago gave a growl as the man said this. He clenched his fists tightly together and continued to give off death glares.

Noru also gave a laugh, and joined in the conversation. "Richard and I want our own dreams, I want to become king of the mamodo world, and Richard wants blondey's money." He turned to face Sherry. "And when Richard was distracting you, I'd take care of Brago over here. But, seeing that you weren't as weak as expected to be, you decided to come and see what the commotion was about. That's when the plan slightly backfired."

Both Brago and Sherry stared at the mamodo as he also spoke of the two's plan. Sherry looked at Richard's mamodo, then at the brunet himself.

"But… how did you two get a book? The battle for king is over." stated Sherry.

"I stole a book right after the battle was over, and I came to the human world when all the mamodos came back to the mamodo world." responded Noru. He laughed as he saw the faces on the dark mamodo and the blonde. "And when I arrived in the human world, I found Richard, who was also power hungry. We've been planning ways to get what we wanted ever since."

Sherry stared at the ground. What was happening? She loved Richard… and now… now he was betraying her… No, this had to be a lie; it had to be a lie!

The blonde continued to stare at the ground. Richard walked up next to her, and he opened his book and called out a spell.

"Hipnorin!" he called out. Noru's hands shot forward and they began to glow. The same glow then wrapped around Brago as he too became paralyzed. The mamodo struggled to move, but that plan was fruitless.

Richard stood next to Sherry and gave a laugh. "Well, now that that mamodo is out of the way, I think it's time to take care of you." Sherry watched from the corner of her eye as the brunet pulled out an object. The object had a slim shape, and shined in the light. The object was...

A knife.

Y'know... now that I think of it, I really don't like this chapter at all.It sorta went really slow... but I had to get the stuff out somehow. Hopefully the next chapter will be bettter.

And speaking of the next chapter, if none of you could realize, but the next chapter IS the battle scene thing... yeah. And I suck at battle scenes... so I'm unsure of how long it will take me to get the next chapter up. So y'all are going to have to be patient and wait. Ha ha...

Brago: I'm not patient.

Me: Yes, yes. Very nice, who cares. Anyways, you'll get a little more Richard bashing the next chapter...

Sherry: Didn't you also say that there'd be blood next chapter...?

Me: Um... maybe...

Sherry: -gets a sick look on face-

Anyways, on to my reviewers!

MadisonMohawksJD: Yup! Richard has A LOT to do with Sherry getting sick. More information on that stuff will pop up in later chapters... starting with the next chapter... I think... I don't know how much stuff I'm going to put in the next chapter because it's the one with a fight in it, and those I suck at writing. Yes, I know, I don't have a story with a battle scene in it (yet), but I'm working on something (not on this website) that has battle scenes, and I suck at them... -.- And, no, Richard and Noru didn't attack Brago. They were doing another spell thingyto confuse Brago and Sherry, because remember from one episode in Zatch Bell a character commented how they have to keep saying the spells or they'll wear off. So... yeah...

PsychicLunar: Dark chocolate twix, eh? Ha ha... twix... sorry, don't like those. XD Anyways, I had planned Noru to be psychic or whatever for a long time...

Alison: Glad you like it!

Kage Jaganshi: Brago angst means torturing Brago... which is FUN! XD Anyways, I don't think there's going to be much Brago angst after this... the story's getting closer to its ending point.

SilverMoons BlackWings: Who said you could try taking Brago with you? He's better off where he is right now... XD And you'll find out why Sherry is sick, and I will tell you that, yes, it is because of Richard and Noru.

Computerfreak101: Don't kill Sherry, or else then she and Brago would never be together... XP More human... hm, never thought of it that way. Kinda weird when you think about it though because Brago's a demon and all... ha. Well, I'm sure that every character who seems to have no emotions really do have them, but they sealed them away or something... but that's my opinion.

Yamia Ishtar: I don't think I'm going to have Richard die... but he's definately going to be badly injured. I sort of liked writing the chapter, in a way... :-)

anonimize: I couldn't help but make Brago a little off if I was going to make the chapter really angsty. Oh, and to let you know, XD and o.O are faces. If you can't see what they're s'pose to look like, for the XD, the X is the eyes and the D is the mouth. Same for o.O, the . is the mouth and the circles are the eyes. Well, there's other faces like them, but I'm not going to say what they are. You'll just have to find them for yourself. Don't worry, the time for Richard's punishment will come soon. :-)

Enula: Yeah, Brago grew some. I just never really mentioned it in any of the chapters... maybe I will later on... ah well. You didn't notice that Noru was a mamodo? I purposely made it look like Noru was a human, but others saw through my plan... :-/ Oh well, yeah, Noru's a mamodo.

There's the next chapter peoples! Hope it wasn't that bad!

Zatch: Ah... I can't think of anything to say...

Me: You just said something.

Zatch: Ah! You're right! I did!

Brago, Sherry, and Kiyo: So?

Me: Well, seeing that nobody can really think of anything to say, I'm just going to get this over with.

Wow, this has to be my longest chapter yet... with the spaces the story was 8 pages long... but I'm too lazy to see how long it is without the spaces...

Anyways, the next chapter's going to be a battle scene, so do remember that I suck at them, and I don't know how long it'll take me to update.

Hope you enjoy it!

Twilight Memories is signing off.