Hn, thought that i would update the second to last chapter and wait a bit before i updated this story again, because i am constantly editing the epilogue that i have planned and written and don't know how many times i'll do that. So, i'll just let y'all have this lil' chapter before i update the epilogue on June 15, how does that sound?

T.T I'm sad now... this is almost done, and now i'll be obsessively working on my story Erased after this. And then i haven't even TOUCHED Take Your Pick or The Tournament.. (sigh) Lack of inspiration, i suppose. But this is my last track out week ever and i'm sad now... (sniffle) That means i have to go back to school... >. Well, that's life.

Anywho, enough of my tirade. You peeps just read n' enjoy the chapter and do whatever it is you do after you review.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the pictures of Kalu (and Kalu XD) that i draw and the cute lil' fanarts that i draw... but i don't really own those either... (sobs) The world is out to get me! Ooh, lookie, the 6th manga has the scene with episode 12 in it. n.n Happy now. (saunters off to do more fanart)


A Gift from the Dark

Chapter 35

Out with the Old, In with the New

"Mmn..." Sherry stirred in her sleep, her eyes slowly opening. When her vision returned she realized just where she was and sat up, looking around the room. She was still lying on the bench in the same room as Kalu, a pillow underneath her, Brago's fur cloak on top of her. She turned her head to the side and saw that Kalu was still silently snoozing on the bed, her face buried underneath the covers. The only thing visible was a patch of blue-black hair sticking out from under the sheets; Sherry heavily sighed and turned to look around the room.

Brago was nowhere to be seen, as the woman quickly noted, seeing as she and Kalu were the only two in the room. Where was he, she wondered, probably either out doing some business of sorts or to grab something to eat... Maybe even both?

With another sigh, the woman laid back down on the bench, resting her head on the fluffy pillow. No way was she going to get up and look for her husband, or do anything else for that matter. Sherry was way too exhausted to get up and move about and she certainly didn't want to get lost again, nor come across an unfriendly demon, so sleep was the best answer she could come up with. She was awfully tired anyway. Closing her eyes, the blonde attempted to gain more rest, but found that instead of relaxing, she got worked up all over again; her mind was running on complete overtime and didn't seem to want to shut down again, though after the previous day, who could blame her?

So many thoughts swam through her head all at once as the minutes rolled by; she questioned things such as what they would do about Kalu's added personality or where they would live now that she couldn't leave the demon world, most likely they would stay where they were. And... just where was Brago? She wanted to see him...

Sitting up from the bench, Sherry glanced around the room, averting her attention from her daughter and then to the door; the door was closed shut and she couldn't hear any noise coming from outside of it and... no, wait... now she could hear faint footsteps. The woman waited patiently and somewhat anxiously, somewhat eager to find out whom it was; they grew louder and louder and echoed slightly through the hallway. Who was it?

The door soon opened and she sighed in relief.

"Oh, Brago... Good morning," she said warmly yet quietly as her husband returned the phrase with small smile on his lips. He entered the room and she stared at what he held in his hands. "Brago... you went back to the human world, didn't you?" she asked curiously, looking up into Brago's crimson eyes. In one arm was Kalu's kitten, Yuki, a look of pure annoyance clearly seen on the cat's face, and tucked underneath Brago's other arm was his book and Kalu's teddy bear.

The demon nodded his head. "Since Kalu can't leave here I figured she would want these," said Brago, gesturing towards the kitten and bear. At that moment, he let go of Yuki and she immediately leapt out of his grasp and quietly trotted over to Kalu's bedside, hopping up on the mattress, soon curling up next to the little girl's feet. Brago turned back around. "Anyway, as for this," he said, now holding up his book to Sherry, handing it to her. "I figured that even though it's useless here, you would want it."

With a smile, Sherry took the book from him and opened it up to a random page; the all too familiar strange language immediately greeted her and she began to skim through the lists of spells that she could read. "Ah... these trigger memories, don't they, Brago?" the woman inquired lightheartedly as she continued to flip through the pages, sometimes even tracing the spells with her finger as she gazed at the unusual writing.

Brago held his breath slightly. Even if he was in the demon world, the spiritual connection between him and his book was still quite there and as active as ever. The unusual sensation swam through his nerves as Sherry delicately traced the spells, her finger delicately sliding across the page. Although he didn't mind it as much anymore (or at least didn't complain about it), it still felt... weird. However strange it felt though, he had grown somewhat used to it by that point, considering how often Sherry did this in the past...

"Hn, they do," he agreed after a moment, averting his eyes to his daughter, whom was still sound asleep, not at all disturbed by the commotion going on around her, nor the cat that was cuddled up around her feet.

At that moment, Brago walked over to his child and set down the stuffed bear that he was still carrying by her side. Yuki's ear twitched and she opened an eye halfway to watch the demon place the toy next to the girl and quickly went back to sleep, not at all caring at what he was doing.

Staring down fondly at the girl, Brago sighed as he watched her breathe, her small shoulders gently rising and falling with each breath taken. To the side, Sherry sat up strait and yawned, placing the book down beside her and wandered over to her husband, wrapping her arms around his bare shoulders (he still hadn't gathered up his shirt yet). They stared at Kalu for a good long moment in silence before the woman began another conversation.

"You know that Kalu really is a spitting image of you?" she asked softly, turning her azure eyes to look at the other with a small laugh. He merely shrugged and Sherry grinned. "She is."

The demon rolled his eyes. "Hn... She doesn't look like me that much..."

"Yes, she does."

"No, she looks more like you."

"You only think that because she's a girl."

"So?"

"So, your opinion is different. She looks like you and that's that."

"Whatever..."

"Heh, heh..." Sherry laughed as she shook her head slightly, Brago was in denial. She sighed and turned away as she began to think about the past thirteen years, when everything started, and sat down on the bench. Brago strolled over to where she was and took a seat next to her as well, leaning over so his elbows were resting on his knees.

Picking up the black book once again, Sherry stared at the front cover and the silver pattern adorned on the black surface. She had always been fascinated with the book and its secrets; there would never be a time where she would give this book up to someone else for as long as she lived. If it were ever burned, however, Brago wouldn't have to worry about returning to his world, even if he was in the human world. A different spell had been activated and placed on it, and now the spell book was no longer a portal between the human and demon world. But Sherry couldn't possibly allow it to be burned, oh, no! This was something very precious to her... it was her tangible reminder of Brago…

Thirteen years ago, she had never let that book out of her sight, excluding during the final battle when it was at last, for the first and only time, burned. Even when she was asleep she kept it well protected or at least close by at all times. The woman thought back to the days when she became very nervous about the book--to the days before the last and final battle with Zatch Bell and when the king was finally decided.

Those were some of the most stressful times of her life...

Darkness engulfed the land and stars shimmered across the sky; night had befallen the world and it was fairly close to midnight. In the Belmond mansion, Sherry lay awake in her bed, her eyes wide and alert, filled with anxiety. She couldn't sleep...

There on the bed she laid somewhat on her side with her mind focused on only one thing: The black book. It was set out of the way on an end table next to the bed, so it was right beside where she lay. Biting her lip, the woman sighed and continued to ponder, something she had been doing ever since she climbed in the bed. The fight with Zatch was only a couple of days away...

They had recently discovered that they were the last two teams left in the entire war, and about a week ago they met up unexpectedly with the other remaining team and agreed to arrange the date for the last fight. The reason why it was a week later was because of a few reasons...

One was because of the fact that both of the demons desired to train before the final battle: To become the strongest and defeat all opponents and become king was the initial goal for the whole war. It also seemed fair that they should spend time with their partners before the end finally came. Plus there was the fact to consider that when they did meet up, Zatch had immediately noticed how close Brago and Sherry had become and felt it was completely unnecessary to separate the couple right away. Besides, he too wanted to spend some time with his own friend and bookkeeper before the final battle, so these were the arrangements taken and made.

Sherry's heart rapidly pounded against her chest as she thought about the upcoming battle. This could very well be one of the last moments she would ever have with Brago... The fight that would determine his world's king was near; he had told her that when he won, he was going to take her with him to his world and become his queen. But what would happen if they lost? This was one of the only times she had ever had any doubts about a battle... In fact, it was probably the only time.

She stared at the black book even longer and harder, wondering what was going to happen next. If that book ended up in flames, then Brago would disappear from her life forever... The woman tensed up as she thought about the unpleasant subject. No, no, no! Sherry couldn't let that happen! She couldn't, absolutely couldn't! After spending such a long time with Brago, he had become the most precious person to her. And she had promised him, sworn to him, that she would make him the king no matter what happened!

Behind her there was a muffled sound and the woman's attention was averted from the book to the demon next to her. Once again, Brago had been sleeping with her that night, trying to spend as much time as he could with her now that the upcoming battle was near. For the past week they had been training hard, preparing themselves for the fight, along with spending much time together which only caused their relationship to grow even more.

"Mm... Sherry, you still awake?" Brago asked somewhat drowsily as he sat up on the blanketed divan, using his right arm to support himself since his left was draped over the woman's waist. He turned his crimson gaze to the bookkeeper next to him and stared at her with curiosity. "Can't sleep again?"

Sherry shook her head slightly, "No..."

"Hn..." Staring at the blonde, Brago contemplated on what could possibly be wrong. Sherry hadn't been sleeping very well ever since they encountered Zatch about a week ago, but he couldn't really blame her for her reasoning. Both knew that these could very well be their last moments together, but Sherry was taking it harder than he thought she would.

His attention was then brought to the direction Sherry was staring at, and he turned to look too. It was his book. So, that's what she had been musing over, she had been thinking over the book again... This had been happening quite often lately; he should have known.

Brago sat up a little more and gently brushed his hand over the woman's shoulders, leaning over her slightly. "Don't worry about it," he mumbled in her ear, softly kissing the side of her neck. "We'll win... Go back to sleep..."

Turning her head around, Sherry stared up into Brago's clouded eyes as a tear trickled down her cheek. In a protesting way, she shook her head. "But Brago..."

"Don't worry about it," he repeated, "So it's the last fight, we've fought many other enemies before and that never stopped you from doing your best. We're going to win." Even if his words sounded somewhat encouraging to Sherry, Brago himself felt a little edgy about the upcoming battle. This would be his last moments with Sherry if he lost... And this was something he couldn't afford; he just had to win, just had to! He was going to win! He would accomplish his lifelong dream! The only obstacle was Sherry's emotions... They would most likely keep her from doing her best, as they made her even more overemotional than she already was. He didn't want that. Yet, unfortunately, he felt his own thoughts wavering slightly as well...

For a second, Sherry shifted her gaze from her partner before she returned it, an uneasy look still clearly seen in her eyes. "Alright, Brago..." she said quietly and received a smirk from the other before he closed his eyes and laid back down. Sherry rolled over as she turned around, now having her back facing the book so she wouldn't have to look at it, and curled up next to Brago. The demon held the woman close and they both soon fell asleep.

Those were really some stressful times... The memories of that night were still quite vivid within the woman's memory and she remembered it all as if it were yesterday, along with a few other similar occasions. She still wished that she could have made Brago the king like she promised, yet unfortunately that wasn't what happened in the end. Even to that day, Sherry felt bad about it...

When the book was burned, she remembered feeling like her entire world was completely shattered and crashing down on her. Brago would have to leave her and she downright failed to complete her promise to him. Luckily, Zatch wanted to become a benevolent king, so he let him stay with her... And since the Battle for King lasted about 3 years, she was at the age of 19 when it was over, so Kalu was born 5 years later... One of the happiest days of her life...

With a heavy sigh, the woman leaned her back against the wall behind her and Brago turned his gaze to look upon her. "Something on your mind?" he asked.

"Oh... just thinking... that's all."

"Hn," Brago stared over in Kalu's direction for just a little while longer as they both sat in silence. Kalu was still sleeping quite soundly and had grabbed onto her teddy in her sleep, thus removing some of the covers a little bit from her face. Yuki was still resting by her side and had also changed her position to lying on her back with her paws somewhat in the air.

Returning to her thoughts, Sherry continued to think on her past. After Zatch said that Brago could stay in the human world with her, she had felt so very relieved. She could finally relax again, but it was also around this time when she began to lose contact with Koko... Now it had been years since she last talked to her friend, but at least she knew that she was going to college at the time. Before they stopped talking, there had been past conversations about her school, and she was actually at the time doing quite well with it.

However, everything from the past was now over. The only thing that Sherry was concerned about at the present moment was the future--the past had been completed and now it was time to move on. All of the bad memories would forever linger, yes, but that was the same for the good ones too. There was always hope for the future, and Sherry had plenty of that.

Out with the old, in with the new...

-o-o-o-o-o-

Now currently later in the afternoon, the Belmond family stood in the throne room of the king's castle. Kalu held onto her teddy tightly in her left hand while she gripped her mother's in her right, staring at the ground silently. There was no way she was enjoying this situation... not one bit. She still felt immensely tired too, and hardly had the strength to stand, but her mother was at her side and so was her father. Yuki was also sitting next to her on the ground, curled up beneath her feet again.

Staring down at her daughter with a look of concern, Sherry gripped onto the small one's hand tightly and then averted her gaze to her husband. Brago stood there next to her, staring at the king before them. The woman redirected her gaze to look upon the king as well, still holding her daughter's hand.

Zatch wasn't looking too pleased about the situation himself. His usual perky, happy-go-lucky mood was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a solemn look was seen on his features, and his shining amber eyes glistened with emotion. He still felt really bad about Kalu's condition...

"So... what are you planning on doing?" questioned Zatch as he stared up at the two parents. "It's not exactly a good idea to leave here now that Kalu is in the condition she's in, so what will you do?" Hearing these words, Kalu's expression saddened and she continued to stare at the ground, her dark hair shielding her watery eyes.

"We were thinking on staying here since we don't really have much of a choice," answered Brago without hesitation as he stared firmly at the king. "No way in hell are we leaving Kalu by herself. Sherry is going to stay here too; I don't care what you say."

With a nod of his head, Zatch continued. "Alright... Is there anything from the human world that you think you may need?" he asked. "I need to know because I'm temporarily closing down the portal between the two worlds. This way it'll be easier to maintain and keep track of the portal. But if you ever need to go there for anything I can always open it up again, but it that could take a while, I'm not too sure."

"There may be a couple of things," said Sherry as she thought to herself of what was still in the other world that would be useful. They had never exactly moved back to the mansion, even though it had finally been all fixed up from when Zophise completely destroyed it. She would have to go back there and check for anything that she would want. "When would be a good time to go and pick them up?"

"Hmm... I would say sometime tomorrow," responded the king with a slight shrug. "But I think it would be better to find a place to stay first and know where to put your belongings when you finally retrieve them. Brago, what do you plan to do about that?" inquired Zatch, now turning to the darker demon in front of him.

"Not too far off is an old abandoned cabin that used to belong to my family before I left it," said Brago, eyeing Sherry before he continued. "It's not very close to any nearby villages, it's always been like that, so we won't have to worry too much on other demons coming in to try and bother us. I'm positive Zophise spread rumors about me to more than just our past opponents, the ones that tried to attack us."

Sherry turned to look at Brago. "You think?"

Brago nodded his head. "Either that or they spread the rumors among themselves without his help. I don't trust them."

Now it was Zatch who spoke next: "Alright, I'll also talk to my own friends and tell them to keep an eye out for anything or anyone suspicious that could do such a thing," said the king. "They'll be sure to tell me if they do spot something and then I'll inform you about it as soon as I can." While he said this, Zatch Bell eyed Kalu curiously. An unhappy expression was seen on the child's face and he tilted his head to the side. "What's wrong, Kalu?"

She didn't answer; instead she just shook her head, keeping her gaze away from the king. Both Brago and Sherry looked down inquiringly at their daughter but said nothing. They merely watched the scene go on with the two.

"Something's bothering you," said Zatch but Kalu insistently shook her head.

"I'm OK," she said.

The king sighed as he glanced to the hybrid's parents quickly before he continued to talk with the child. "You know, Kalu, I can always introduce you to some of my friends! I'm sure you would get along with them really well," he said somewhat enthusiastically, trying to get the girl to cheer up. Heck, he was trying to get himself to cheer up as well! Such strange tactics. "There's Ponygon who helped me bring you here the other day, you might remember him. And then there's Tia, she's a really good friend of mine, and Kolulu, she's nice, and Kanchome, who..." Blinking, Zatch stared at Kalu bemusedly. "Wouldn't you like to meet them?"

Kalu still said nothing; she didn't even turn to look at Zatch as she stared at the ground with a morose expression, she even backed up just a little behind her mother, who stared at her with a blank look. Emitting a sad sigh, the king turned to look back up to Sherry and Brago.

"Well, I'll let you two get a move on, the sooner the better, I guess." Once again, he turned to Kalu before he said anything else to her parents. "You know what always cheers me up? Eating lots of yellowtail! So make sure to do that, OK, Kalu?" he said with an optimistic smile. On Kalu's face there was just a faint grin, but she hid herself behind her mother's pink dress so no one could see. Oh, how could she resist smiling to Zatch's perkiness? With a last nod, the king turned to look back up to the two parents. "Bye."

Nodding their heads as well, the two turned around and began to head off. Kalu hesitated for a moment, glancing down at her kitten as she grasped her teddy a little bit tighter. She looked up to Zatch quickly before she heard her mother calling her. That was when she realized that Sherry had let go of her hand.

"Kalu, come on," called Sherry, now standing in the doorway of the room next to Brago as they both watched the scene.

Turning her head around, the little girl glanced at her parents and then turned to look upon Zatch one last time before she left. She walked up very slowly to the king, almost limping since she was still rather weak, before she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, giving him a quick, friendly hug. "Thank you, Zatch..."

A small smile formed upon Zatch's lips as Kalu let go. He was glad to see she was slowly recovering, even if she was still very upset and that it was hard to notice, but he knew Kalu was slowly, but surely, returning back to her old self. "Go on, I'll visit you sometime tomorrow, OK?"

With a tiny smile and a nod of her head, Kalu turned around and slowly began to walk back to her parents' side, her kitten following close behind. It took a minute but she finally reached the two and she stopped, staring up at her parents. She tenderly raised both of her arms and grabbed her parents' hands.

In return they smiled and then headed out of the room: Sherry to the right, Brago to the left, and Kalu in the middle, grasping onto her mother and father's hands. Her pet kitten was following too, trotting along next to her.

The doors to the room then closed, leaving behind King Zatch Bell as he watched the family make their exit. They left the throne room and then soon the entire castle as the family walked beyond the grounds. Kalu blinked, taking in the bright sunlight that beat against her face. She squinted her eyes, trying to block the sun from her now obscure view. The sun was bright and her vision became blurry, but she continued on as she adjusted to the light.

Sherry smiled slightly as she looked down at her daughter. Here soon the family would be back to normal again, albeit it was in the demon world, yes, but she knew things would turn out for the better sooner or later. At least Kalu was making some progress; she hadn't cried too much that day, which was a good sign.

Quickly glancing at her husband, Sherry grinned a little and he returned the gaze with a small smirk. She was glad to have her family, even if she was upset about having to fight in the demon battles in the past, there was no way could she feel that way now. No way at all.

Because if it weren't for the battles, she would never have met Brago, and if it weren't for him, she would be dead. Kalu wouldn't be there, standing next to her, walking along with them as she held their hands. Brago would have never given her Kalu.

Her gift from the dark...

Again, she smiled and looked upon her daughter. Yes, all the bad times were gone and hope was in the future. True, there would be complications ahead, but that was the way life was, however, she knew most of the main problems were gone. And although no one was sure of what to do with Kalu's other personality, the one Zophise gave her, there was still hope ahead.

As long as there was hope, good fortune would come...

And she had hope.


A/N: I hope that wasn't too bad at the end... RnR! There's still one more chapter left (the epilogue), so keep your eyes open for that! I'll update it on June 15. Bye bye!