Disclaimer- I don't own Zatch Bell.

Chapter 2 The chains we forged

That night

Brago turned off the light in his mansion and went to bed. Suddenly he felt a draft. "Stupid window!" He closed the window. He then walked back to bed. The draft was still present.

"Ah, this house is aging!" Brago said. Then he saw something sitting at his desk. "Huh? An intruder!" The back of the chair was facing Brago. He grabbed the chair and turned it around to face him. A ghostly white figure garbed in a floor-length gown sat in the chair, smiling. "Who are you?"

"Ask me who I was!" the figure commanded.

"Who were you?" Brago gasped.

"In life I was your partner, Zofis," the ghost said. "I'm dead now."

"You-You- YOU'RE NOT REAL!" Brago screamed. "You're just a bit of undigested potato, or maybe a bit of gator. You're not the ghost of Zofis! You're not a ghost!"

"Guess again, Brago!" Zofis snickered. He put one hand on Brago's neck. It felt icy cold.

"You're really a ghost!" Brago said. He then looked down at the floor. Zofis wore shackles on his wrists and ankles. "What are those?"

"These, Brago, were the chains we forged in life!" Zofis cackled. "If you think my chains look gruesome, wait till ya see the ones they've got for you! Because of you and your business ideals, I had no time for my wife or my children. Koko left me because all I could think about was work." Zofis sniffed. "Now to get to the real message! You'll be visited by three spirits. Maybe then you'll see the true meaning of Christmas!" Zofis left.

"Phew! I must be dreaming! Zofis didn't come up from the dead! And there will be no spirits visiting me!" Brago sighed. Before he could settle back in bed, he heard singing.

"Yo-po-poi! To-po-poi! Su-po-po-poi!" A voice said. The voice then repeated its song.

"Dumb choir boy!" Brago said. He then walked to the window and bumped into a floating little boy garbed in a green jumpsuit with a matching green hat.

"Greetings, Brago!" the boy said. He wore a translator box around his neck so Brago could understand him. "I am the Ghost of Christmas past!"