(squeals) Last night when Zatch Bell was on, there were some never-before-seen glimpses of Brago and Sherry when Toonami was switching from commercials to the show! (squeals again) I'm so happy! n.n And THEN there's the fact that they appear in ABOUT TWO EPISODES! WH00T! We've all been waiting 2 months for them to appear! n.n This also means that as soon as ep. 48 airs i can start working on Silent Screams...

And then on YouTube there's another AMV with them, too... n.n

Anyway... Here's an update!

Disclaimer: I don't own Zatch Bell but i'm too happy to really care right now 'causeof multiple reasons why... or maybe i'm just on a sugar rush... Demo, Kalu is mine, everyone!


A Gift from the Dark

Chapter 29

Separation and the Beginning Fight

They had been training for a few hours until they felt sore. Brago knew that in order to take down Zophise--for the second time--they would need this preparation. It was mostly because of the two facts that the demon had grown in power over these years while Brago became softer. Indeed it would be a tough battle.

It was the next morning already and the two still had some time left before they headed up to the Mamodo World to rescue Kalu. Brago had been meditating all that night while Sherry received a good earned rest from the previous training. She too needed this work out... She hadn't trained with Brago as so since the last fight for Mamodo King. Oh, how that brought back memories...

Currently however, the two were sitting in the dining room having a discussion about the day's plan. Sherry was more anxious than ever and she wanted more than anything to have her daughter back. She had sworn that she would always be there for Kalu, yet what could she do now? The one thing that she told herself when Kalu was born was that she would always be the loving mother for the child... something that Sherry never had. Just because Sherry was abused didn't mean Kalu would be.

The woman sighed and ran her fingers through her golden hair as she rested her elbows against the edge of the table. So many thoughts were racing through her mind at the moment... what if Kalu died? What if she was already dead? She didn't trust Zophise at all... so there was always the possibility that he had already slain her daughter.

Her stomach twirled at the thought.

No, no, he wouldn't do that... or would he? There were no promises here, just words. One didn't always have to keep their word... or they could just lie. Was Zophise lying? Would he just kill Kalu anyway and have it all done? What was going to happen next?

"Sherry... you should really eat something."

The woman snapped out of her thoughts as her husband's deep, raspy voice sliced the silence in the room. He was staring at her with a look of concern when he said that. It was true, though, with all the anxiety going around, Sherry had lost her appetite for a short period of time.

"I'm not hungry," said the woman, leaning back in her chair. She glanced at Brago before continuing. "I can't eat anything... I'm too worried about Kalu."

"That is still no excuse." His glare was sharp, a look Sherry also hadn't seen since the Battle for Mamodo King… "Now eat. If you don't, you won't have any energy and will fail in battle. We can't afford that, Sherry."

Great, now he's acting a little like he was when we met, except with a slight difference, mused Sherry as she stared at her husband. His heart is warmed this time... He has concern for others. He knows what compassion is now.

"I'm sorry, Brago," responded Sherry as she rubbed her eyes. "I'll... I'll try and eat something. Some toast might be good..."

The mamodo said nothing but nodded in agreement as the woman stood up and headed into the other room. He sighed to himself and looked up to the ceiling, fantasizing about how much he would kick the crap out of Zophise. Kalu would be alright and Zophise...well, he'd either be dead or just seriously hurt. Brago liked the idea of Zophise dying much better though...

The demon clenched his fist when he thought more about how the other had taken hostage of his daughter. A growl escaped his lips and he continued to muse to himself. Anyone who hurt or gave any sort of threat to Kalu would pay dearly...

A minute later Sherry emerged from the other room with a plate with toast and a glass of milk. She sighed as she slowly began to nibble at the slightly burnt bread. There was a silence between the two as the blonde steadily ate her breakfast.

After she was done with the first slice of toast the woman took a sip of her milk as a thought penetrated into her mind. She laid down the glass and stared at her husband.

"Brago?" she inquired. He turned his gaze upon her, giving a curious look. "I was just wondering..." continued the blonde, eyes narrowing. "You don't need your book in the Mamodo World, right?"

"No."

"Then... why do you think Zophise wants me to come along too? The only good I can do is cast the spells for you using the Black Book," said Sherry. "In your world it's unnecessary to have it... So what am I to do? I can't match your own strength and tolerance because I'm a human. It's going to be harder for me to fight alongside you if I keep getting hurt from the other's attacks. And back in the Battle for Mamodo King, I could actually do something because of the Black Book... And that's only useful here. But we're not fighting here--we're fighting in your world."

"Hn..." The mamodo pondered about what Sherry just said. She's right, he thought, what is she going to do? Zophise said that we both had to come. He must have something planned... I need to be extremely careful and protect Sherry at all costs...

"Brago?" He turned to look at his wife, her eyes ablaze with concern. He sighed and shook his head before he stood up and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know, Sherry. That's all I can say." The mamodo glanced over to the clock. It was 7:47. He turned his attention back to the blonde before continuing. "We should really get going now. Are you done eating?"

With a nod of her head, Sherry stood up. "Yes."

"Good. We only have a short amount of time to get to the Mamodo World. We should get a move on..." He was about to walk out the room when Sherry tugged at his arm. He glanced back at her before she asked,

"Should... should I bring the book?"

Brago turned his gaze to the side before he looked back at Sherry. "No... I don't think it'll be necessary."

"Alright... but... what am I to--?"

Brago stopped the woman from speaking as he placed a clawed finger over her mouth. There was a glint in his eyes but he said nothing more about that topic. "Come on, Sherry. Let's go."

Sherry nodded her head and Brago removed his finger. "...Okay. Let's go." Secretly, Sherry was also worried about what would happen when she herself reached her husband's home world. Sure, Kalu had gone with him multiple times, but... Kalu could at least defend herself. Sherry didn't know what to do with all the other demons running around in the location they were to head to. After all, she was just a regular human. What could she do other than read spells--which weren-t even necessary in the Mamodo World?

The blonde followed the demon outside where he glanced at her with more concern in her eyes. He knew exactly what she was thinking... About going to the new world. But there wasn't much he could do... He couldn't help the fact that she was human.

He grabbed her hand before he said, "Hold on, I'm going to use the spell Zatch Bell taught me to use when traveling in-between worlds."

With a nod of her head, Sherry grasped onto her husband's hand tightly before she felt an odd sensation swim through her entire body. She could see her hands fading away... just like a mamodo would when their book was burnt and had to go back to their world in the battle 13 years ago... Soon the woman closed her eyes as her entire body disappeared, alongside with Brago.

They had just left the human world.

-o-o-o-o-o-

When Sherry opened her eyes, she was lying on the ground in the middle of a forest with abnormally tall trees and plants that she had never seen before. Slowly her eyes opened a little more before she realized that she was no longer at home…

She was in the Mamodo World.

Her azure eyes widened before she quickly stood up. "Brago... we're here! I'm actually..." she trailed off when she realized that she was no longer with her husband. "B-Brago...?" She looked around, eyes darting everywhere to look for a sign where the Dark Mamodo could be.

Oh, no, she thought to herself as she took a step backwards. We must have been separated from each other when we were teleported here... But how could that be? She couldn't remember what happened as they arrived here.

A slight tinge of panic rose through her as she realized the bad news this meant. If she wasn't with Brago, then Zophise's orders couldn't be completed.

Kalu would be killed if she weren't with him...

"No... not Kalu," whispered Sherry as she stared at the ground. Anybody but her daughter... Her eyes widened as she slowly started to walk forward, unaware of exactly where she was headed. But it was somewhere, and she had to get moving or the worst would happen.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Brago cursed under his breath as he looked around. "Damn it," he said, "How could we get separated like this? This must be his doings..."

So Brago ran along, now having yet another reason to beat up the mamodo that was causing such grief in his family. He darted through the woods he was in until he came across Kalu, tied up on a rock with a solemn look on her face.

"Kalu!" he shouted, and ran forward. But just as he was about to reach her a flaming shield stopped him. He took a step back, well recognizing that spell. He looked up only to see Zophise hovering some feet above him.

"Well, well, well... if it isn't the mighty Brago?" taunted the mamodo as he slowly drifted closer to the ground, but not by much.

Glancing at his daughter, Brago noticed that she still wasn't doing anything. However, she was looking up at him with a pleading look in her eyes. He could clearly see she was in pain.

"Da...Daddy..." She was barely able to speak, her voice was but a mere whisper, yet she had managed to summon up enough strength just to call out to her father. Tears instantly began rolling down her cheeks again as she said nothing more.

"Kalu..." Brago frowned and then glared up at Zophise. "What have you done to her?" he demanded, bearing his teeth as his crimson orbs disappeared.

Zophise was not paying attention to Brago's words. He sneered as he looked around. "I see that Sherry isn't here... Did I not say that she was supposed to come too?"

The other only clenched his fists in anger. He knew that Zophise knew he knew that he was the one responsible for separating Sherry from him. There was nothing that Brago could do about it, though, and he was pissed.

"What plans do you have of separating me and Sherry?" yelled Brago in frustration.

"It's simple," said Zophise, a large smirk spread across his face. "After I'm done with you I can easily kill her... Or, to make it more fun to torture you, I can have someone do it for me while I fight you. And after I'm done with both of you, it will be most delightful to hear your daughter's cries as I kill her myself." The demon let out a series of cackles as he threw his head back with laughter.

Then Brago snapped. He couldn't take it anymore. He had been restraining himself from attacking Zophise while he slowly gained more information from him, but now he went over the line. Nobody was going to kill the only two people he cared about...

He let out a roar as he shot his hand in the air and sent a Reis spell hurtling towards the laughing maniac. Zophise stopped chuckling as he disappeared, avoiding the attack, and ended up floating a few feet from where he was.

"Fool. Do not underestimate me--you may have beaten me once, yes, but I have grown in power!" cried Zophise as he raised his hand, a large energy gathering in his palm. Suddenly he thrusted his fist forward and the energy whip shot out from his hand.

"What the...?" Brago stared, all too well remembering the other's attacks. He knew they were powerful and he was hard to defeat.

But then again... so was he.

The whip crashed down on the ground next to Brago as he dodged the attack, careful to not lead it towards Kalu who was still immobile at the time. She watched in silence with teary eyes as her father began to fight with the evil mamodo.

Brago jumped off the ground and landed in a tree. He turned around and shot out a massive amount of energy from his palm. It was known as the Bidom Gravirei attack... It was useful when an opponent was in mid-air.

Unfortunately for Zophise, he was engulfed in Brago's gravity attack and was forced to the ground as the energy pounded against his body. He landed on the grass with a large thud and Brago jumped from the tree, aiming to land on Zophise and continue the fight.

However, the other saw this coming and quickly rolled out of the way as Brago slammed his hand onto the ground, using a Gravirei attack on his hand to increase his striking power. In result, a small but fair sized crater was formed from the mamodo's attack.

A low chuckle was released from Zophise as he turned to face Brago, whom was now standing up. "Idiot," he murmured with a grin. As a light pink energy began to gather in his hands, a dark purple one began to grow in Brago's. The two were glaring at another, and as both charged forwards, they thrust their hands forwards as their spells shot out.

The battle was on.


Yeah... i'm hoping that i can make this battle scene interesting... I do have the next chapter typed up and it has some fighting in itbut i'm not too sure how long i can make the fight without making it boring or just not enough action. I MIGHT bump this up to T if i have to... Does anybody think i should now because of the cursing going on?

And i should really draw another pic of Kalu for y'all to see if ya want to... 'cause i draw her slightly differently now and i draw her much better than how i previously did. She looks more like a child and i don't draw her head so big. XD

Uh... anyway... read and review!