I swear i've been working on stories all day, particularly my AGftD story (trying to finish that up before i update it again), even through watching the Miyazaki movie i was writing stuff. And now Zatch Bell has aired and Patie finallyappeared... Speaking of which...

WHY THE HELL DID THEY RENAME HER PENNY?

Anywho... Hope the fight was alright, i was trying to get it to how it was in the manga. Yes, i wasn't doing it like the anime scene, the manga scene is MUCH better and MUCH cooler than the animated version... THUS i am going to go by that. But of course, since this ispretty much an AU and the characters are acting differently towards another and i'm making Sherry act like a little 5-year old at times, of course i made it slightly different at the end! XD

Yeah. Now i'm babbling. Just read the chapter already...-. -.

Disclaimer: I don't own this so le'mme alone.

NOTE: Oh, yeah, forgot to say this but i've now adapted the Japanese spells so they're in here in this chapter. n.n


Erased

Chapter 13

Ice Cold

I stared in the direction of the only team we had failed against. Furigaro was walking, more so crawling, next to his human bookkeeper. The human carried the demon's pale blue book to his side in his right arm. I could see them, walking right towards us. Apparently they hadn't noticed us yet considering the fact that the human was somewhat looking around the village, talking to his demon counterpart who couldn't speak the same tongue as he.

They were quite a few yards ahead of us but I could see them quite clearly traveling on the pebbled road. Both were now in front of a pastry shop that a few other humans just walked into.

Sherry clutched onto my arm, still holding my book in her arms. I didn't flinch when she did this; I was too preoccupied with what was in front of me-- who was in front of me...

"Brago... Are we going to fight?" asked the woman in a quiet voice. "Last time we failed against these guys..."

I said nothing still but noticed that the other team finally spotted us. The human stopped and a second later, Furigaro noticed his bookkeeper's actions and stared in front of us, soon emitting low growls.

The human and I probably held eye contact for at least a minute: He stared at me with a blank look while I merely glared. It was then he smirked, tilted his head to the side and finally spoke.

"Look, Furigaro, it's those weak failures again," he said with a cocky tone to his voice as he tilted his head to the side, resting his hand on his hip. My glare deepened.

"Who're you calling weak, ningen?" I snapped back, now taking a step forward. Sherry silently glanced in my direction, apparently wondering what I was going to do next. Beat the crap out of him if he doesn't shut up, that's what I would do. But I think I'd hurt him anyway even if he did...

"Heh," The human chuckled a little before shaking his head. His arrogant look and attitude soon vanished and was replaced by a serious, determined look, his brow deepened as a frown overtook his features. "Well, now that we've had our little reunion," began the human, drawing his book close to his chest, "I think it's time for a rematch."

It was then that I heard Sherry gulp and I turned to look at her. I could see a bead of sweat trickle down the side of her face, probably from anxiety. Her grip around my arm tightened and I finally decided to point this out to her.

"Sherry... You can let go of my arm now."

She blushed but reluctantly released her grip from me, bringing my book to her chest, blocking it in a protective manner. I turned my attention back to the other team whom still hadn't moved from their spot.

"So, where are we to fight?" I asked, aiming my question towards the other human. He seemed to pause for a moment, most likely thinking of the best spot where there would not be any distractions. The man cupped his chin with his hand and thought for a moment, only after a minute dropping it and turning to look in my direction once more.

"On the hillside at the end of this village," he said. "That's where we'll fight. Be there in twenty minutes."

I nodded my head to show that I understood and accepted the terms. Alright, we were to fight again in twenty minutes. How would Sherry cope with this though? In response to my personal thoughts, I looked down at her and saw that she was biting her lower lip, her golden brows arched down. She was still holding onto my book rather tightly and she soon glanced up at me after realizing I was looking at her.

"We're going to fight... Aren't we?" she inquired softly, a hint of nervousness in her voice. I nodded my head and she sighed, glancing at the ground, and said nothing more.

"Be there," said the other human, now turning away. Furigaro stayed for a moment, staring at us through his baggy hair over his eyes, and soon followed his bookkeeper. After a moment they disappeared from sight, probably heading to the designated area where we were supposed to have our rematch.

Sherry whimpered and took a wary step back. I stared at her. "We're going to have to fight sometime or another, Sherry," I said quietly. "You have no choice but to fight."

"I know, I know, but..." She trailed off, looking to the other side of the town as she avoided eye contact. "We lost against them when we first battled them... Do you really think we could win again?" The woman now turned her head to look at me after asking her question.

"Hn... We can win," I said reassuringly. But it was true; Sherry still wasn't as good as she had been in the past when it came to fighting, unfortunately. Would we lose? No, I wouldn't allow it, but we hadn't even gained the third spell yet... I didn't know what to think.

With a nod of her head, Sherry gazed in front of us where our rivals had previously stood. She clutched my book tightly in her arms before stepping forward, almost unwillingly.

"Well, we should get this over with then," she said as she walked ahead. I followed her and we headed up the pathway, walking towards where the battleground was located.

I knew that Sherry wasn't looking forward to this battle. Although she wasn't, I was, and I even smirked a little just thinking about what was ahead.

I still enjoyed the thrill of being pushed to my limits and facing strong enemies. The need for a worthy battle coursed through my veins, through my very blood. I needed a good fight. Though I knew if we had more spells and if Sherry hadn't lost her memory or personality, we could take this team on without a sweat. But now I was curious as to how well she could fight. Yes, she had gotten better since the last time during training, but still... What would happen?

I would soon find out.

-o-o-o-o-o-

We had finally reached the battlegrounds where we were to have our rematch. Off in the distance I could see mountains rising up to the sky, along the borders of some of them I could see buildings. One of them was the village we had just left, where we met up with Furigaro and his bookkeeper.

Everyone stood on grassy ground, the wildflowers swayed gently in the wind to the side, and Sherry kept her distance from the team. She stood right behind me, perhaps about arm's length away. Located in front of us was the other team, book already opened and I could tell they were very well prepared for this fight.

They were almost as excited as I was.

And then the fight started with the call of the first spell...

"Raajia Furizudo!"

The quick, surge of ice swept across the field, aiming towards Sherry and I. Both of us dodged the attack easily but watched as the lush, green grass on the ground turned rigid and solid; part of it was now a slick sheet of ice. I turned around only to see Furigaro charging towards where Sherry was and I growled.

No way was I letting him off that easily!

I jumped forward and managed to get in front of Sherry before the ice demon could. Just as I leapt in front of her I hissed, "Cast a spell!" She got the message.

As quickly as I had ran in front of her, Sherry held up my book in her hands and it started to glow brightly. Sucking in a breath of air quickly, the woman soon cried out my second spell.

"Gurabirei!"

I felt the same, gravitational energy gathering in my palm as I thrust my hand downward, aiming my attack on the enemy. Furigaro was engulfed in the energy and rapidly forced to the ground.

With a smirk I jumped backwards a few feet, Sherry mimicked my actions. "Call out another spell," I said and she nodded her head, flipping the page of the book.

"Giganoreisu!"

This time she called out our most recent spell; my larger version of Reisu soon appeared and was quickly launched from my hand. Unfortunately the effects of Gurabirei had ended, thus freeing Furigaro from its grasp. The demon stood up and avoided the attack just in the nick of time. I glared as he jumped backwards and then ran around my attack, now heading back towards me.

He jumped forwards, tackling me while doing so, sending us both to the ground. I fell to my back and kicked the shaggy demon off of me, sending him flying a few feet away from my standing point. While he was in the air his book owner called out yet another spell, yet this time shards of ice shot out of his mouth instead of a stream.

I immediately covered my face with my hands, shielding myself from the attack. The blades of ice scraped my bare arms, piercing my skin slightly as they rushed by quickly. As soon as I was hit I stood back up and ran forward, Sherry called out another spell while Furigaro's bookkeeper did the same.

"Reisu!"

"Ganzu Gikoru!"

Both of our attacks, my gravitational and his ice, swept across the field and came in contact with one another, causing a clash to occur and a small explosion. Dust was sent racing my way and I moved my hand in front of my eyes, trying to sense where the enemy was.

At least I knew that this time we had a better chance against the enemy. Sherry wasn't panicking as much as she had been last time; in fact she seemed to be in control of herself...

It better stay that way...

"Raajia Furizudo!"

"Hn?" My head jerked to the side only to see ice coming my way. Quickly I ran out of its path, narrowly escaping. More ground was turned to ice and I watched as it spread out over a large distance. Over to the side, Sherry stood there, staring at me and Furigaro as we fought.

I gave her a look that clearly said 'Another spell!' and she nodded her head. Flipping the book open to another page she screeched out, "Reisu!"

As the energy gathered in my hand once more I ran up beside Furigaro and shot out my spell. He dodged it.

Damn...

So the fight continued on, me vs. Furigaro, the ice demon. I was unsure of how much time swept by, but it was good enough to suit my liking. At least I could have some thrill in fighting for once... It had been a while since I fought an enemy that brought at least some form of excitement, though I always had to be cautious of Sherry's actions and where she was and minor details like that.

Time swept by and we both inflicted great damage to each other, bruises were forming on my arms from colliding with Furigaro's fists and there were a few cuts too from his ice shards that he would occasionally shoot out. Sherry had her fair share of the fight as well. There were a couple of times where I had to knock her out of the way in order to dodge one of the other demon's attacks from hurting her or burning my book.

The other team seemed to be losing though, and that was good. I smirked maliciously at the thought of winning. I could barely taste victory... It was almost here! Victory would be ours...

But suddenly, as we were going through the entire routine of the battle, Sherry slipped on some ice that was scattered across the ground and fell down hard. I heard her scream and turned to look at her, she was laying on her back with her eyes wide. And unfortunately she did this right when Furigaro was letting out an attack... Dammit!

"Sherry!" I shouted, but it was too late. The shards of ice that were emitted from the ice demon's mouth came shooting across the field. Sherry's eyes widened in terror and she shut them quickly, turning around to block my book from the attack.

She screamed as the ice sliced the edges of her back, ripping some of the dress off as well. The woman rolled a few feet away and slid a little more from where she had previously been lying; I could see hints of blood stains on her back and a few red droplets were seen on the ice, staining it with its crimson color.

I cursed under my breath and instinctively ran over to her to try and get her up. It was hard to keep my balance over the slick ice but I managed quite well and skidded to a stop when I reached the woman. Bending down, I helped her stand up and asked if she was alright.

She nodded her head and replied a little shakily, "Y-yeah... I'm OK..." There was a weak smile forming on her face but it soon went away, I said nothing.

Suddenly there was a bright light blinding me for a quick second as it caught me off guard. Both Sherry and I stared down only to see that my book was glowing more vibrant than ever...

"Brago..." The woman's eyes widened and glittered as she looked up to me, soon turning her attention back to the book. She flipped it open and, to both our surprise, a new line appeared in the book.

In other words...

"It's the new spell..." she breathed, her expression brightening. Sherry looked up at me again and then down to the book, and then up to me again. "Brago! It's a new spell, I can read it now!"

"Good," I said as I stood up, facing the enemy who was staring at us in disbelief. "Use it." If I was correct, this was my fourth spell, and I knew exactly which one it was...

"Hai!" Sherry stood up, now more determined than ever. The other team was staring at us with eyes wide in horror. Did they know what was going on?

Maybe, but that didn't matter.

I finally heard my fourth spell again when Sherry cried it out, "Aian Gurabirei!" More energy than what was gathered with my second spell began to form in my hand and I took a step back in order to regain my balance as I thrust the attack forward. The heavy load of gravity poured out from my hand like water from a cup and was sent directly to the other team.

Ah, how this spell brought back memories...

In a desperate attempt to escape being injured any further, Furigaro's bookkeeper shouted out, "Sukeipu Gishirudo!" and then in an instant, his demon counterpart summoned an ice shield around both of them.

I smirked when I saw my attack shatter their shield like glass, the fragmented barrier collapsed right over their heads and the two dodged my attack. This was a great spell of mine; I knew this would help us win the battle.

After hearing the other curse slightly, I began to run forward in attempts to try and end the battle quickly, and lay some damage on the ice demon. However, the next spell they sent forth surprised me...

"Ragikoru Fangu!"

What? I had never heard this spell before... I didn't know what it would do! I watched in bewilderment as Furigaro slapped his hands against the ground and I paused. Suddenly the earth beneath our feet began to shake and I looked all around me.

What was going on? Where was the spell?

"BRAGO!"

"Nani?" I spun around and my eyes widened in horror when I saw energy being released from the ground. Both Sherry and I stared as a sudden wind swept across the area, blowing her hair and dress around and my cape. It was then I realized it wasn't wind, it was a spell.

The spell was coming from underneath her!

"Sherry!" I roared. Without thinking I ran forward as fast as my legs could carry me, trying to reach where my bookkeeper was. She stared at me in a helpless way and I reached my hand out to her in attempts to push her out of the spell's path. I looked down and saw an icy wolf emerging from the ground, its jaws wide open.

My hand then came in contact with Sherry's body and she was forced to the ground, away from the new spell's wrath, but it was too late for me.

All of a sudden I felt as if something was immediately missing. My entire left arm went numb and I stared bemusedly in front of me in the middle of nowhere. The events of what just happened to me didn't register until a twinge of pain finally shot up my shoulder and slightly on my neck. I growled and staggered forward, my right arm clutching my left, and looked to where I rested my hand. I couldn't help but gasp in shock.

My left arm wasn't there anymore...

Instead of where it should have been I only saw my incomplete left arm with blood dripping down my side; the feeling of something missing completely overwhelmed me. Of course there was something missing, dammit, it was my arm!

Sherry wheezed as she stared a few feet away from me, I looked too. Well, at least I knew where my left arm was... I watched as she closed her eyes and I growled to myself, now running to go grab my detached arm. Since there was no place to really carry it with I just seized it and placed it in my jaws, now darting towards where the other team stood. Apparently they had forgotten about me, since they were now taking interest in where Sherry was.

I heard Furigaro's bookkeeper command him to kill her (no way in hell would I let him do that) and then I shouted out, "Sherry!"

In the distance, the woman's eyes bolted open and she stared to where I was. Her mouth was slightly agape and the other team turned to look where I was too, they looked as equally surprised as her.

"Keep your eyes open, woman!" I said as I continued, I raised my right arm in the direction of the enemy. "For in our battles, whoever keeps their eyes the open the longest wins!"

I gave her another look and she stared at me blankly but soon nodded, holding up the book. In a loud, clear voice, she shrieked: "Giganoreisu!"

Once again the energy gathered in my hand and my more powerful version of my first spell was sent hurtling towards the other team. Furigaro's book owner screamed out a curse as he ducked, dropping their book in the process. His demon took the full impact as my gravitational attack overwhelmed him and his book, burning it in the process.

The human looked back up only to see that his demon counterpart was slowly dissolving away, and he quickly shot a terrified yet nasty glance my way before running off into the distance, heading towards the village.

In a matter of seconds Furigaro left the Ningenkai and completely disappeared; ashes were all that remained of his book.

I probably stood there for about a minute before the realization that we actually won sunk in. I took a deep breath and sighed heavily before I sat on the ground, holding onto my left arm. Opening my jaws a little I let go of my arm, which had been in my mouth, and watched as it fell to the ground. There were a few teeth marks where I had bitten into the skin of my arm, a few trickles of blood fell down the sides of it.

I sighed again and then turned my head in the direction of my bookkeeper. She was running over to me, her golden hair swaying side to side behind her as she ran. When the woman reached me she fell down to her knees and took one good look at me and then my arm, right before crying out something completely incoherent and reaching forward, grasping my shoulders with her arms as quickly as she could.

"BRAGO!" screamed Sherry as she jumped forward, dropped her book, and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. As she clomped onto me she knocked us both to the ground, me on my back with her on top of me, though I did manage to support myself just a little with my right arm, the one that wasn't separated from my shoulder (this was rather uncomfortable and hard to do with Sherry over me but I managed).

I stared at the human as she began to cry. She buried her face in my chest and kept her arms wrapped around me tight, not giving any signs of letting go or loosening her grip. With a curious look I gazed down at the distressed woman who was pouring her emotions out all at once.

"Brago, I was so worried!" she wailed, "That fight right there, it was so hard, I thought we were going to lose, I thought I would lose you!" With this remark, she nuzzled her face into my shoulder, still sobbing. From the corner of my eye I could see her distraught expression: Her face had become slightly pink and the blood trickling down the side of her forehead added another effect to it, so did the scratches and marks from the previous battle. It made her look more...

Unhappy...

"Sherry, it's over now..." I said quietly. I didn't move my good arm so I wouldn't move my balance, but I managed to shift my position ever so slightly to give myself a better angle to look at her.

As soon as those words escaped my mouth the woman turned her tearstained face to look up at me, her eyes shimmering. "But Brago," she said, "You... Your arm... Look at it, it's completely gone!" With this comment she averted her gaze to my left shoulder. A sickened look overwhelmed her face and she turned away. "I think I'm going to be sick..."

"Well that's what happens when you don't pay attention during battle," I said lowly. A hurt expression took over her face and more tears trickled down her cheeks.

"But I didn't do anything!" she said, the pitch in her voice rising.

I said nothing. What could I say?

For a minute the two of us just stared at each other long and hard, tears still dripping down Sherry's cheek. Oddly enough, I had the strangest temptation to wipe them away (what the hell was this all about?). I fought my desire and came to the conclusion that, one, I was missing an arm so I couldn't use that one, and two, if I moved my other arm my support would be gone and I would fall over. That was out of the question.

"Sherry..." I said quietly and her eyes watered. Once more, she cried and buried her face into my chest once more, holding onto me tightly again. Never knew she could have such a tight grip...

"Brago, I..." she said between her weeping, "I... I... Th-thank you... Thank you for saving me!" she cried and then gripped onto me tighter. I gritted my teeth.

"No need to thank me, now could you loosen your grip?"

But she didn't listen. Instead, she completely ignored me and continued on with her blubbering. "I know we won, but this was a close match!" she said. "Do you think that we can really win the next one so easily?"

Again, I was silent. There really wasn't much I could say, but I gave it my all. This wasn't exactly my strong point in any conversation. "We will win. I know we will."

With an unhappy sigh she looked up to me and stood up. At least she got off of me... Still feeling morose, she bowed her head and stared at the ground. "I'm just concerned what the next fight will bring. This was... so very intense... And your arm... What are you going to do about it?"

"Put it back on."

"WHAT?" Sherry stared, bewildered, at my previous words. "Now what the hell are you talking about? You can't just put an arm back on-- it's disjoined for crying out loud! Stop lying to me, Brago!" Her voice was full of anger.

I glared at her and she quickly shut up. "I don't lie, Sherry," I hissed and stood up, Sherry winced at my words and a sudden surge of guilt overwhelmed me. Why was I feeling this way? It was only the truth, I didn't lie.

"R-right... Sorry," Again, she bowed her head and then glanced over to my arm on the ground and then quickly turned away. I looked down at it and came to the conclusion that I really needed something to help me actually get it back on. Looking around the area I saw nothing.

"Is there anything I can support my arm with?" I inquired, now turning to look upon Sherry. Her expression enlightened and she smiled sheepishly before opening up one of the pockets she had on her large, white belt, rummaging for something. Curiously I stared and watched as she finally pulled out some white bandages.

"I have these," she stated, holding out the long, thin strips of material. "I decided to bring some just in case, lucky I brought them, huh?"

I said nothing but smirked rather. Yes, it was a good thing. I couldn't be more... What could be the word...? Almost glad that she was my bookkeeper? Mentally I sighed. Sherry, Sherry... What was I going to do?

"How do you want to put this on?" the blonde inquired, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned to look at her and shrugged.

"I don't care, as long as it supports my arm." Sherry nodded in an understanding way and then confirmed that she knew what she could do. I pulled my shirt and cloak off of my shoulders and tossed them onto the ground so I could get the bandages on.

Sherry moved up closer to me, the bandage in her arms, and began to wrap the white material around my shoulder and then around my chest for support. While doing so I could see she had a large blush spread across her face, and when there was eye contact between us she flushed an even deeper shade of red. What was her problem?

So we managed to get my arm through the loophole Sherry made with the bandages for it to go through and wrapped more bandages around it to for support. I grumbled slightly when she touched my damaged shoulder. Although I wouldn't admit it out loud (especially not to her), it did hurt some, but it wasn't too bad. All I did in response to the small tinge of pain was lightly grit my teeth.

Soon the woman finished up the work and stood back, making sure she didn't miss any place that needed to be fixed up. She stared at me oddly and went back through the small first aid kit she had with her.

"You've got scratches all over you," she said, taking a cloth and wiping away some blood on my face. For some reason I didn't stop her from cleaning up the wound I had on my forehead where the blood was trickling down. I just... didn't find any need to.

"I know," I said idly. "They'll heal, so there's no need for any more bandages."

She nodded her head and a saddened expression overtook her face again. "I'm sorry for being such a burden..." she whispered under her breath. I didn't give any notations that I had heard her.

You're no burden, Sherry...

I sighed and stared up to the sky. It was probably getting later in the day, the sun was already coming close to the horizon and I could tell that Sherry was exhausted. With a nod of my head I stood up and so did my bookkeeper, picking up my book as well. At least I knew that she would take care of it. The two of us began to head back to the hotel that we stayed in so she could get some rest.

But the entire trip back I knew that something was still bothering her... I couldn't tell what, but I would soon find out.


What did y'all think 'bout Patie? (I think it's ridiculous that they renamed her Penny... Then there's her bookkeeper, Ululu, who they renamed Uli or however you pronounce it. -.-)

Yeah... now that that's over with, i have a lil' something special in store and plannedfor the next chapter. n.n Muwahaha... Well, read n' review!