Note: Phew! Haven't updated in a long time. I hope you haven't forgotten the story (or me) yet... Been too busy trying to animate for the past few months. No, you can't see. I'm not done yet. Just be patient so I can finish animating. OK, enough of this nonsense (and I mean nonsense) just read the story will you? And I recommend starting from the beginning...

Disclaimer: I Zatch Bell own not. Haha, you need to know standard Japanese grammar to comprehend that sentence. The order goes like this: Subject-object-verb-negative. Never mind, just read the chapter, will you?

Remainder: Please do not submit any fan mamodos. I'm using the millenmium mamodos only.

Chapter 6: Searching for Goren

Brian and I walked along the path, with neither of us knowing where it leads. I had sensed Goren ahead, but I lost track of him a long time ago. We didn't really pay attention to where the mamodo was headed. Just knowing that the path lead away from the tragic site satisfied us. So far, our minds were being flooded with thoughts about past events.

"You," Laila had said. "You are responsible of all this. If you had let me go, Pamoon would still be here!"

Me? Responsible? Go figure! I cursed under by breath.

"Pamoon and I made a promise," Laila had said. "We were to become bonded together forever. He would be king, and I would be queen. We vowed to become kind rulers, and to stop anybody evil."

"What kind of ruler are you going to be?"

We continued walking for several hours, and soon, the sun was rising to our left. We were heading south. Not that we cared where we were going. Just tracking down Goren and teaching him a lesson was good enough for us.

"Goren," I muttered. "He's the one causing all this grief." Brian didn't respond. "He already wiped two of my friends." There was a brief pause.

"I'm going to fulfill Pamoon's wish to avenge Laila!" I declared. "And I'm going to do it for Gelios too." We were headed towards a town.

"I'm hungry," complained Brian.

"Let's go get some food that that store," I suggested maliciously, still thinking about Goren. "We can't battle Goren on an empty stomach."

Brian just gave me an odd look and pulled out his spell book.

Neshir

I blasted the entrance open and calmly walked inside. By now, people were desperately screaming and running away from us.

"What did you do that for?" yelled Brian.

"How else are we going to feed ourselves?" I said calmly as I took a bag and began stuffing bags. Brian just sighed and didn't argue back. We exited the store to see some soldiers rushing to the rescue.

"Take this you monster!" yelled a man as he threw a spear at me.

Neshir

"You mean demon," I corrected as I knocked a few of a soldiers out with my energy ball.

"I suggest you stop while you're at it," commented Brian.

"Fine, let's get out of here," I said as we ran for it, dragging our bags. Then I turned to our pursuers. "Be glad we're only using our weakest spell!"

A few hours later, we were still on our long, quiet journey, eating bread on the way. Dusk had already fallen, and Brian broke the silence.

"Someone's following us," said Brian.

"Shut up, it's just your imagination," I snapped. I was getting eviller by the minute, and I was beginning to understand why. I was angry. I was angry at Laila for thinking it was my fault that Pamoon was turned into stone. I was angry at Laila for not trusting me. Most of all, I was angry at myself for not being able to defeat Goren at the first place.

"You seem different," said Brian cautiously. "From when I first met you. Is there something wrong?"

Darn it. Since when did humans have mind-reading skills?

"No, it's just your imagination," I said again, trying my hardest to feign a smile. But Brian turned away.

"When I first me you, I looked forward to traveling with you and fighting our way up and... having fun," he said after a few minutes. "But this..."

"My goal would be to beat up Goren and become king," I cut in. "And your job is to help me acheive that goal no matter what it takes."

Brian fell silent.

"Someone's following us," said Brian again.

"Now that you mentioned it," I said. "I do sense anoth-" I was interrupted by a snake wrapping itself around my mouth. I heard a cry and I saw Brian being knocked onto the ground. My spell book was in the enemy book owner's hands. Ambushed.

Dioga Gorgogeo

Note: In case you're wondering why the story's going so slowly, it's because I have writer's block. I haven't updated in a long time and even I have trouble keeping track of the story's plot. ...I hope the next chapter will be more exciting, since it'll be about battling Goren.

Anyway, review!