Am TERRIBLY sorry for the long update. But now that high school is in session, i will not be working on my stories as much as i'd like to. So sorry. But i should be able to update on weekends mostly... And on my spare time on weekdays i'll try and write chapters, and then occasionally post more up if i have the time and one that's actually complete.
So anywho. I've noticed that most of the people i know that watch anime absolutely HATE Zatch Bell. I mean, it's not THAT bad, is it? Sure i like the Japanese version better but it WAS the dub that got me started... And then how can one shoot down the original if they haven't even SEEN it? Meh.
Oh, and a small warning. There WILL be some spoilers in this chapter about the talk Sherry and Brago have with Nazo Nazo Hakase (Doctor Riddles--i will be referring to him by his Jap. name, along with others) and Kid. But i edited the conversation a tad bit and such so i don't think it's too bad.
Disclaimer: There are 28 chapters to this so far and about 23 other Gash/Zatch Bell stories, some with chapters, and you still don't get the point?
Erased
Chapter 28
Millennium Mamono
Sherry and I immediately began traveling along the globe again after the incident with Fausuto and the others. I still couldn't believe what he had told us, about the one who erased Sherry's memories. There was no way in hell that demon's book had been burned. He was lying—I knew he was.
So anyhow, we ended up traveling in a place that I believed humans knew as the Andes Mountains in South America. The mountains were tall and rugged. Sometimes the woman and I would come across a few cliffs and have to find a different route to take as we wandered around the area, looking down below some areas I could see more vast groups of rocks, cliffs, and more sections of the mountains that looked more like hills.
As the woman and I clambered up another hill, I suddenly heard a call of what sounded like a mamono spell. I turned my head around and saw a large red beam quickly spiraling in our direction. I got myself ready for the assault and ordered Sherry to cast a spell.
"Giganoreisu!"
The mountains almost seemed to glow when the two spells were about to collide, but then the next thing that I knew was that the opponent's attack was redirected to fly over my Giganoreisu. Now it had a new course, though heading to the same end point, right up in the air, charging down upon where Sherry and I stood.
Since there was no more time to call out another spell and it would be completely meaningless to do at this point, I stepped forward and punched away the attack, ignoring the slight tingling sensation upon my curled up fist as a small bit of steam rose up. Looking around after the attack was shattered, I glanced up and was able to identify the location of the enemy.
Standing upon one of the cliffs on the mountain was exactly what I had expected, a mamono and human partner. Even with the distance between us, I could easily distinguish which was the demon of the two due to the bright orange and yellow colors on its facial design and how he was hovering in the air.
"Hey, you!" called out the demon angrily, pointing his finger at me. "How could you defeat my attack like that?"
I grumbled lowly to myself. "This guy's not serious enough."
Sherry strode up next to me, clutching onto my book tightly as it slowly started to shine. She nodded her head just slightly but remained quiet, I turned to look up at the other team again with a small frown.
I could just barely hear the other demon mutter something to himself, but then the next thing I knew he had ordered his human counterpart to cast another spell and the orange headed demon slammed his hands into the ground. Red cracks suddenly appeared everywhere around where we stood, I stared at it, sensing energy gathering up from underneath the ground.
Suddenly, just as I had expected again, red beams, similar to the previous attack, shot out from the ground and high into the sky. The other demon started to laugh like a maniac, telling me that I couldn't win this fight. I sighed. This was such a simple spell. I had seen better. Stupid Gash Bell could produce a better lighting spell, even at his weak state that I saw him in last.
"Brago…" I turned around to face Sherry as she called out my name, she had a strange look in her eye as she clutched onto my book tightly. "You go, I'll prove myself again right here."
I smirked. "You better," I said and began to run forward, avoiding all of the falling red beams as they crashed into the ground. Afterwards, I began to jump up onto different rocks and ledges sticking out on the cliff, slowly making my way up to the top where the other team stood. Behind me, I could see Sherry dodging all of the attacks gracefully as she twirled about, almost dancing, as she avoided each and every one of the beams that came her way.
I knew she wouldn't fail.
When I reached the top, the other demon gasped in surprise when he saw my bookkeeper's actions, not at all realizing that I was there. "Wha… how could that human dodge my attack? It's impossible!" he shrieked, staring with wide eyes. I smirked as I raised my hand, palm facing the opponent.
"Well," I began, and the other demon jumped backwards in surprise. "You could say she's improved, unlike others I know."
The demon screamed as Sherry suddenly called out my Dioga Gurabidon, I jumped back in the air as I sent the large attack right in the other team's faces. The force of the resulting explosion caused the other team's book to fly out of the human's hands, while the human himself was sent hurtling in the air. I caught him as I was sent backwards to the ground, doing a back flip as I landed next to Sherry, whom had turned around.
A sudden gust of wind from the collapse of the cliff was sent charging our way and I slightly closed my eyes to prevent any dust from getting in, it blew my cape and Sherry's dress while right on cue, the other team's book landed beside us, an orange flam eating away at its cover.
Well, that was easy.
However, it was then that I noticed Sherry had averted her attention to something else and I turned to look too. Off to the side, there was yet another team hiding behind the rocks, poking their heads out so that was all that could be seen. The two quickly noticed us staring in their direction and abruptly hopped out from their hiding spot, holding onto a bunch of white flags, screaming 'We surrender!' And just from the distance we were at, I could already tell that the human of the group had a horrendously gigantic nose.
I stared at them with a blank look. "Who are these idiots?"
"I don't know," murmured Sherry quietly as she gripped onto my book. "But from the looks of it, they don't want to fight." She turned to look at me, her expression pulled into a serious frown.
I scoffed as I turned my head away. "You know why they don't want to, they're weaklings."
"Yes, but…" The woman redirected her attention to in front of her again where the other team was still jumping about and started to walk forward, stepping over the remaining ashes of the previously burnt book. "Let's at least see what they want first."
Great, now we had to do some sort of stupid discussion with the enemy? Sherry should know better! But still, here lately all of our opponents were quite interesting; the last ones even had valuable information. Perhaps these two idiots did too?
Getting a better hold on the human I was still holding onto, I too began to trudge forward, not quite sure what to expect from these buffoons before us.
-o-o-o-o-o-
"You… want us to join forces with you?"
Sherry gave the other two a slightly bemused look as she took a sip of the tea she was drinking. We had resorted in going back to the hotel that we were staying at to have our talk with the other team, right after dropping off that knocked out human from the previous battle… turns out his mind was controlled too. The fireplace had a decent flame lit up and the room was warm. My bookkeeper sat on a couch in front of the other team, with the demon perched upon the other human's shoulder. They sat parallel to her on a different couch with a brown coffee table separating them.
My hands were shoved in my pockets as I listened in on the conversation. From listening to them, I learned that the old human's name was Nazo Nazo Hakase (whose nose, I soon discovered, was even larger than I had imagined—it was at least half the size of his face), which I found strange. So he was a 'riddle professor', eh? Stupid. What kind of dumb name was that? Although I found that his tiny demon companion's name was even worse. Kid? These really were a bunch of idiots, especially with their proposition.
"That's right," confirmed the elder man as he nodded his head, his long gray strands of hair wavering just slightly. His hat was off and in his lap, as the demon's was too. "In order to deal with the thousand year old demons that have been attacking many of the current fighters, all of which are controlled by Lord, we really need your—"
"—I'm not helping," I quickly interrupted as I turned around, crossing my arms together in front of my chest. "Why should I cooperate with you?" I asked as I slightly turned my head around to see the others' surprised faces. "I don't want to help you useless idiots, it would be a waste of time. Go find someone else to help you, if you don't have enough already." With that, I turned around and walked towards the window on the other side of the room, leaning my back against the wall as I continued to watch the others.
This was stupid, really, why did I need to help these losers? If they had problems fending for themselves, then they shouldn't even be in this battle. I was doing just fine, even after the incident with Hiebie—a normal demon at that. Although I had to admit, if these millennium mamono were as powerful as this old man said, then I couldn't help but want to battle more. The Silent Rulers were too easy for me, and even though the demon from earlier was one as well, he was still weak. I wanted to see if others could fight better.
Well, apparently there were over 40 of these demons running free in the human world, as this Lord character had set them loose. 'Lord', eh? Didn't Sherry and I conclude that it was merely Zophise in disguise?
"But…" protested the professor as he stood up. "Lord has numerous demons under his command, we have to work together to defeat them!" He turned around to face my bookkeeper, a slight look of hope in his eyes. "You can agree with that, right?"
The woman took another sip of her tea. Afterwards she sighed and shook her head, turning her azure eyes up to the man and his demon. "I'm sorry, please reconsider."
"But how can you—?"
"However," started Sherry, ignoring Nazo Nazo Hakase's protests as she stood up, holding her dress up just slightly. "I appreciate the information regarding Lord. But please understand that he is my old enemy and to defeat him, I don't need, or want, any help from you."
The human's large gray eyes widened in shock while Kid gasped, covering his small mouth with his even tinier hand. "O-old enemy?" stammered the old man as he turned to glance at me quickly before redirecting his gaze upon Sherry, who remained where she was. "But how? One against so many…" he trailed off as the woman began to walk in a different direction and he followed.
"In any case," murmured Sherry as she turned her head just slightly to see Nazo Nazo Hakase. "I am quite sure you've at least found some other demons that are assisting you in your goal, so please pass on this message: Don't ever attack Lord. If you do, then you're going to invite more trouble than you've already bargained for." At this, the blonde's blank gaze turned into a harsh glare, causing the other demon to slightly whimper as he grasped onto the older man's head. "I want to rely on my own powers to deal with these millennium demons. Do not hinder us with our own goals."
The man stuttered just slightly again as he tried to come up with something ingenious to say, but then he merely shook his head as he walked forward to catch up with Sherry. "But—at least tell us who Lord is exactly!" he said quickly while the blonde halted in her tracks.
The woman sighed unhappily as she glanced to the ground. "To thank you for your information about the millennium demons, I will tell you one thing about Lord." She opened the door while the ningen nodded and put his hat back on, the demon doing the same with his smaller one. "'Lord' is not his real name. The demon responsible for controlling people's minds is named Zophise. He stole the heart of my best friend and savior—he robbed her of her happiness. Keep that in mind that he's my enemy because of that."
Before he walked out the door, the professor gave her an inquiring yet serious look as she spoke and afterwards walked out the door, Kid still atop his shoulders. The demon glanced back at us as Sherry closed the door, sighing once more as she then turned to look at me.
"So, now we know that there have been demons from a thousand years ago freed by Zophise?" said Sherry as she rested her head against the door. I nodded my head.
"Or so this human says," I commented roughly, keeping my gaze a frown. "Obviously, that's what has been going on while we were stuck searching for your memories. These demons have been fighting against the original contestants."
The woman put on a saddened expression as she took a deep breath while running her fingers through her blonde hair, somewhat ruffling it as she stopped and shook her head. "I can't help that, Brago, and you know it."
I smirked. "Or, you were just too weak at the time, so it would have been your fault."
Sherry glared at me before standing up strait again as she began to walk. "That's not funny, don't even go there."
My smirk once again turned into a frown. "I wasn't trying to be funny, Sherry. I was stating a fact." After that, my bookkeeper shrugged and then rubbed her eyes. "But now I don't think I really need to worry about that, only to get the memories you previously made, and lost, back."
Hearing the words escape my lips, the expression upon the woman's face saddened even more as she turned away. I was somewhat curious as to what was bothering her this time when she suddenly stood up and stared at me, her deep blue eyes gleaming as she clenched her fists.
"I can't help it," she said angrily. "Do you seriously think I wanted this to happen? No! It's completely unfair and wrong, but I can't do a damn thing about it. Are you trying to make things worse for me? It's not my fault that you demons had to come here and ruin everything for us humans—"
Before she could continue, however, I quickly stormed over and halted her speech by tightly wrapping my hand around her jaw, preventing her from talking any further. She squeaked and then tried to squirm out of my grasp, but I tightened my grip to tell her that she had better stop soon, which she did, and immensely calmed down, though her eyes were wide in anticipation and what almost looked like panic.
"That, Sherry, is not my fault either," I hissed as I jerked her face closer to mine. "If you don't like it, then do something about it. I'm not here to listen to you bitch." I released my grip from around her jaw and backed up as I watched her tenderly touch her mouth where my hand had been and stare at me in disbelief, though I couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty for my actions. Yet I had to remain angry, I reminded myself, it was the truth I spoke. It wasn't my fault and I didn't want to listen to her complain.
She gently moved her jaw, almost as if testing to see if it was still in place and could work, before she glared at me and spoke, "That was uncalled for."
"What you did was uncalled for. Do you expect me to be the cause for everything, Sherry?"
At this, she paused. "N-no…"
"Then don't," I said bluntly so she'd get the message, though I decided to continue since she could get more of a picture of what I was saying. Perhaps it would be better for her to know more advice, anyway. "For example… I could do whatever I want to you right now. Would you consider it all of my doing if it really happened?"
She blinked before frowning. "Of course I would, Brago! You're the one who would have started it in the first place!"
"You're half right," I said, mirroring her glare. "But if you let me do whatever, then it would partially be your fault as well. There is always the option to stop me."
There was yet another pause as the woman mused over what I said. Finally, she looked up at me and slowly started to ask, "But what if I tried to stop you and it happened anyway?"
I responded, "Then you're not strong enough."
Sherry glowered as she shook her head, clenching her fists just a bit tighter. "That's not a fair answer. Give me something that is!" There was yet again another pause and then she turned to look at me again when I didn't respond, a strange expression formed on her face with her golden brows pushed down. "Say, while we're on the subject… What exactly would you do to me, anyway?"
I smirked. "That's for me to know and you to not."
There was no telling what I really would have done, even if it did happen… Honestly, in my mind, depending on the situation, there could be a chance and time where I would be the weak one. Like when I had fallen for Sherry in that one incident… I was so incredibly weak to let myself touch her in the way I did. At that time, it was the Sherry who was so fragile, and I allowed myself to take action because she was an easy target. Yet… here I wondered what would have happened if it had been the real Sherry, the one before me now. Would I have done what I did because I liked the strength to her?
Just great. I shouldn't even be thinking this, but it would prove me a coward to not. I was no coward, never have been, either; I'd have to face the challenges thrown in my face, as would Sherry. If I really did do something to her, then it would be both of our faults. She would have allowed it, or would have been too weak to stop me, which was a high possibility as well. But then I'd be the weakest out of the two for once, for even doing such a thing…
"That's not fair, either," said Sherry with a frown. "Are you hiding something from me, Brago?"
"No," I responded and turned away, walking in a different direction. "But I think it's time we trained some more. Now that we know for sure what we're up against, the preparation will be needed. Tomorrow morning we'll head out again and travel further to our target, since that human said Zophise wasn't too far away from here."
The woman sighed and nodded her head, slowly walking with me as she grabbed the black book, heading out the door to find a clear space where we could train. "You're right… We really should."
Though as I turned around to face the woman, I could clearly see something was bothering her. I didn't know what, but I wasn't too sure if I'd find out soon or what. She seemed to be somewhat depressed again since the saddened look in her eyes from before returned. Even if her fighting didn't waver, there was still a strange mood about her when not in battle.
Well, she had better solve her problem soon. I certainly didn't want to be the one to have to worry about it. It wasn't my issue, so why should I care?
Or was it mine to bear as well?
