Felt like updating this today considering i really probably wouldn't have time to tomorrow, considering it's the 4th of July and that i'll be heading somewhere sometime 'round two and i'll be wakin' up sometime 'round one, like i had done today... >.>

Erm, yeah, i like sleepin' in. n.n' Eheheh... Speaking of the 4th, happy early 4th of July, everyone!

Oh, and who can guess who makes an appearance next chapter?

Disclaimer: I do not own Konjiki no Gash Bell, so leave me alone! I'm just another fangirl writing stories... . Ah, well.

And i think i'm gonna torture y'all with a short chapter. It's kind of a filler one, but still, it's a chapter nonetheless, and i didn't want to rush into the action right away after it all ended last chapter. 'Cause i have something planned for the next chappy, muwahahaha... (rubs hands together evilly)

READ!


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Chapter 18

Patience is a Virtue

Yet a few more days had passed and Sherry and I continued to train each and every day, all the while searching for the enemy as we scoped through the town and forest. I had to admit it, but the woman had become a lot stronger ever since this whole fiasco started, though she wasn't nearly as close to the level of how she was before. But however the case, I had to remind myself that this was truly great improvement.

And it was. Sherry had not only managed to become physically stronger, but I also noticed that she had become mentally stronger as well. It had been a very long time since I saw her cry, which was good. In fact, she hadn't done so since the discovery of that stone slap. She really had made improvement.

But even though she had the small light of success shining upon her, the woman still had her faults. Though she didn't cry as much anymore, there were still those damn mood swings. Even if she did declare for the second time that she would make me king, she still became immensely happy a lot of times and would go back to acting somewhat childish at the most random of moments. This greatly annoyed me. However, it wasn't as frequent as it used to be, so I was grateful for that. If I had to deal with her childish antics at handling things much more than I already had to, then I would go insane…

But in any case, there was much improvement on Sherry's case. Though I had to wonder about something that had been nagging me for a while now…

No matter how much or how long we trained, I had yet to see or sense any signs of the fifth spell's appearance. I knew that it took time for a new one to arrive and that I had to be patient, but I really needed that spell back. Spells required specific situations to occur and I had no idea how to make one happen. Usually it would be with something unique and important, or if I was feeling an unusually great amount of emotion (which I didn't particularly enjoy), as I saw that a spell would normally show itself on these occasions. But still… the damn spell wouldn't appear! What was taking it so long? It should have come around by now!

I hoped that in our next fight the incantation would appear again, as the fourth spell had done so in the battle with Furigaro. That was pure luck that it appeared when it did, and I needed more luck in order to regain what was lost.

Though I also had to realize that it wasn't just the fifth spell I had to regain. There was still the issue of Sherry's lost memories and personality that had to be found, and as said before, she did have some improvement, however it wasn't perfect. I needed the perfection that the original Sherry had in order to complete this quest for king. Unfortunately the old Sherry had yet to appear and I wondered when she would.

I wished that she would appear again… One could say that I somewhat missed having her around… But the only thing closest to her at the present moment was the woman that she had been replaced by, the new Sherry. Although I had to admit it, when she stopped her fussing and crying and completely annoying mood swings, she wasn't too bad, but if I had to choose, I would go for the original.

And here I found myself debating over two different women whom were actually the same person… With a mental sigh, I turned and stared at Sherry as she stood next to me on my right. We were out in that field again where we carried out our training while waiting for the enemy to show their faces. Today was yet another long, uneventful day where all we had done was trained and searched. Still no luck, however, and it had been such a long time since we arrived here. But the enemy was somewhere within the area—I just knew they were! And since it was hard to sense them, I also realized that it had to be a powerful team.

Knowing this, I couldn't help but feel a thrilling sensation well up within me. Never before could I resist a good fight, I wondered when I could finally find them and actually have the face off. Perhaps Sherry would do well during the battle…

But I had to consider the fact that since they most likely would be a powerful team I had to be concerned over Sherry's well being if we did fight. She would probably not do as well as I would wish, so I had to train her and prepare her for the future battle. We both needed the preparation and thus we trained harder and longer, that was the only best option for us.

Not only that, but the new Sherry didn't enjoy fighting too much, which was a disappointment. I couldn't understand how one couldn't resist standing up to a challenge to see how well they would do and compare themselves to others. The thrill of being pushed to the limit in order to defeat one's foe was exhilarating; there wasn't any other better feeling than that.

So Sherry and I continued to train that day and I could feel the both of us getting stronger as we did. There was something about her that made me wonder if training her like this helped make her harsher, like the original Sherry had been. I needed her strict behavior again because that was one of the key factors that helped us so much in the past: She was confident and knew that we could win every battle without mercy, and sure enough, we did.

So why couldn't this Sherry be the same? I wondered why. They both had the same body, looks, but not the personality. They were too damn different. Fine, I admit it. I missed the old Sherry. Whatever, but this was completely insane.

I could sense whenever this Sherry was feeling down… Sometimes when I was too (the damn personality was rubbing off on me), she would act morose… which was annoying. Did she somehow feel what I was feeling now? Great.

Well… At least I knew that in a matter of time, the new Sherry would be back and so would all of my spells that I had lost. Not to mention the ones I would gain in the future. I merely had to be patient and wait for that time to come. After all, I had all the time in the world… right?

No, I didn't, and as Sherry continued to remotely stay as she was, the teams around us continued to get more powerful each and every day. This was infuriating to realize how far behind I was. I had to get as strong as they were—No, I had to get stronger!

And as they increased in power, the throne would surely disappear from my reach, something that I would never, ever, let happen.

Not in a million years, because I would outmatch them all.