Hey everyone! Now I know, you're all probably thinking that I abandoned this fic but actually, I haven't. I've been reading Gash Bell 2 to get a better idea of our villains so that the ones I've come up with for this fic are similar to the original (to get ideas and inspirations in the future) so progress has been slow. However, I do not plan on abandoning any of my fics (unless I don't own a phone/laptop and internet to post chapters anymore) so please stay assured!
Also, I've tried spacing out my paragraphs a bit differently (though I don't know if that's a good change). Do tell me if you don't like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Konjiki no Gash Bell! or any of its characters (except the OCs) since they belong to Makoto Raiku.
"You can control the amount of lightning Gash shoots, trust me. But you need to practice a lot more", Marie instructed Kiyomaro and Gash as Shin silently observed the two of them.
Kiyomaro heavily panted as he clutched the red spellbook, while the training wasn't very physically tiring, he was completely drained. He had decided to stay back and attend class after their fight with Gofure and met Marie and Shin who wanted to train them as soon as they reached home. A part of him was scared and excited at the prospect of training with the two mysterious figures and the other part of him was annoyed. But he didn't have too much of a choice anyway.
"You're probably the first demon I've come across who loses consciousness as soon as they cast their spell", Marie sighed as she ruffled Gash's hair as he sat on her lap during their break.
Kiyomaro noted that despite her cool exterior towards everyone, she was a big softie towards kids. He had caught her staring down at every kid they had come across on their way to his house.
"Unu, it's why I am one of the weakest demons out there", Gash replied sadly. Kiyomaro stared at Gash and wondered how strong the other demons were if someone like Gash was considered a weakling.
"What was your life like in the demon world?", Marie asked Gash who squirmed uneasily on her lap.
"Marie", Shin spoke warningly but his partner completely ignored him as she egged the blonde on. "Maybe we need to continue practising", Kiyomaro suggested as he tried to provide an escape route for Gash.
Nobody should be forced to speak about their past if they don't want to. He could see that his partner didn't want to talk too much and Marie insisting that Gash opened up when he wasn't inclined was very, very rude. Had he softened a bit towards Gash? Even if he hadn't, he would've found it rude all the same.
"Nope, we need to hear this. Because you are very strong, Gash. So, I want to know why you think you're weak", Marie waved them off as she solely focused on the small blonde who gave her a tearful look and began speaking about his life in the demon world.
Kiyomaro felt his heart break at the unfairness Gash had to face in his world and secretly made up his mind that he would make up for all the bad experiences his partner had to go through. And he would start helping the blonde by finding his brother for him. He had a feeling that his Gash's brother would be equally as strong as the blonde if not stronger!
"Hmm, I see. So, everyone around you told you that you were weak, and you couldn't fight back because you would lose consciousness as soon as you used your spells. But don't worry Gash, it's because of this reason that you were paired up with such an excellent partner. Don't underestimate the genius of Takamine Kiyomaro. I'm sure he will come up with a solution to counter your weakness", Marie's voice choked towards the end of her speech.
'So even she was affected, huh?', Kiyomaro thought as he smiled softly at Gash who ran up to tightly hug him. It was evident by how emotional she sounded right now. As they embraced each other, Kiyomaro noticed that his spell book had begun to glow.
"Looks like you've obtained a new spell", Marie nodded toward their book and Kiyomaro eagerly flipped through the pages.
"The third spell, Jike- ahhh! Don't look at me, Gash!", Kiyomaro yelled at the blonde who quickly turned his face away from the teenager who sighed in relief. "Even if you would have cast the spell, it wouldn't have worked in this rocky and plain area", Shin grumbled.
"How did you know that?", Kiyomaro asked them curiously. "That's not important. What's important right now is that you get the hang of casting spells. Trust me, you will need to cast a very weak version of your first spell during emergencies. And your weak spells will only get stronger with time", Marie shrugged.
"R-really?", Gash asked her hopefully.
"Mmm, you have no idea what you truly are capable of Gash. With the right partner and the right training, you can easily become one of the strongest demons out there. I'm pretty sure that your older brother is in this battle too. Wouldn't you want to meet him? You can only do that if you truly believe you're strong enough to do so", Marie asked in a lighthearted tone.
Gash's eyes glowed at the mention of his brother, and he eagerly nodded, "Unu! I want to meet onii-chan, I'm sure he will play with and protect me! We can be a family together", he had happy tears in his eyes by the time he was finished.
Kiyomaro smiled and curiously looked at Shin who suddenly began coughing. Unlike Marie, who openly showed affection for Gash, Shin was silent and protective. He recalled how the demon earlier warned their partner to stop Gash from talking about his painful past.
'Could it be…?', he thought to himself before his thoughts were interrupted by Marie clapping her hands, "Break's over. Get back to training!" "But I'm hungry", Gash whined causing Marie to turn to Shin who simply nodded before completely disappearing from his spot.
'What just happened?! He was there a second ago! Where did he disappear off to? And without a spell? And why isn't Gash surprised?', Kiyomaro thought as Gash simply got ready for training. "Demons can do a lot of wonderful things, even without using their spells. Gash, if you train properly, you can also do such amazing things", Marie informed Gash whose eyes glowed in excitement.
"Start training. Shin's fishing some yellowtail for you and him and will buy something from the store for us humans to eat", Marie informed them (much to Gash's delight) and resumed their training.
A few weeks had passed since Kiyomaro had met Gash. Marie and Shin were currently outside Japan as they had to deal with some other demons and gather more allies for their cause. 'I wonder what this cause is', Kiyomaro thought to himself during one of his teacher's lectures.
He had slowly been trying to come to school (and begrudgingly accepted Gash's pleas to take him as well, albeit he hid the child in a green duffel bag). The rumours and whispers about him hadn't stopped, but they had reduced. Not that his classmates' opinions bothered him as much as they did in the first place. He softly smiled to himself as he thought about all the changes Gash had brought into him.
As soon as lunch break started, he barely escaped getting tackled by Mizuno who yelled his name from the other end of the long corridor.
"Mizuno", he sighed helplessly as the girl neared him and excitedly waved at him. "I'm so glad you're coming to school Takamine-kun! I thought you were serious about ditching school", she gave him one of her huge and dazed smiles which calmed him down.
Mizuno was someone who could anger and calm you down in moments. He simply nodded his head as the girl rambled on something about her friends and their classes as he thought about the demon battle. Whilst he wasn't interested in it, not doing anything would result in Gash's book getting burned. And he didn't want to separate from Gash, not so soon. 'I swear I will protect you, Gash', he thought determinedly as he clutched his bag tightly.
"Do we really need to team up with kind of a weakling?", Shin grumbled as he saw a demon calmly sipping some tea with his partner. "We don't have a choice here, Shin. Every demon counts. Besides, all of them are strong in some way. I thought we already went through this", Marie coolly chided him as she saw the pair chatting with each other.
"Fine but knowing this guy, there's no way he's going to join us", he warned her. "If they refuse to join us, we'll be on our way and look out for the next pair. Besides, I also want to check up on Dufort", she reminded him.
"As if these guys are going to let us leave peacefully", Shin muttered. "Oh, we'll give them a fight if that's what they want. We just won't burn their book. But we both know it's not going to come to that. Now, stay here unless I give you the signal", Marie smirked as she finally decided to greet the human and demon.
"Good evening. I'm sure you know what this means", Marie showed the two of them Shin's book before hiding it inside her cloak and continuing to the now vigilant pair, "Please calm down. We're not here to fight. We just need your help and are gathering allies for our cause."
The two exchanged a look with each other before bursting into peals of laughter. "Hahahaha, seriously! It's not even been a day and we've already found another idiot", the demon laughed as he shot out his hand towards her as his partner opened their spell book which began glowing.
"Garon!", the human chanted as a huge and spiked metal chain with multiple sections shot out of the demon's hand towards Marie who smoothly dodged the attack and kicked the chain at the end of one of its weaker sections, causing the entire structure to fall apart. "Wha-", the demon and his partner paled as their spell was subdued by this being in front of them.
"Rembrant, this one's a human. Look out for the demon, he or she should be nearby because there's no way the human's come alone with the book. Even my senses are telling me that there's someone nearby", the demon spoke worriedly as sweat gathered on his forehead.
"Do you two really want to fight? I'd rather not do it because I haven't come here to battle. We just need allies", Marie tried negotiating again. If the demon and Rembrant refused to listen to them, she would leave with Shin to talk to the next demon.
"Shut up! Don't think you've just won because you managed to dodge our first spell. We're not like the others you've come across before", the demon hissed, and Rembrant gritted his teeth as he considered the situation.
What would the demon be like if the human in front of them was strong enough to counter their first spell something that even the other demons succumbed to? He didn't want to find out. "Calm down Maruss", he ordered his partner, who took a deep breath before nodding and taking aim at the human.
"Ganzu Garon!", he read out the second spell using as much heart power as he could. To their shock and surprise, the human easily dodged all the spiky metal balls protruding from Maruss' hands with great ease and quickly made their way towards them.
"Stay back! We'll hurt you if come any closer", Maruss yelled frantically as the human neared them. "As if you weren't trying to hurt me before. Since you're so interested in fighting, I'm guessing that you won't listen to us at all", the human spoke before sidestepping Maruss' punch and easily snatching their spell book from a startled Rembrant's arms.
"Nooooo!", Maruss yelled as he tried to attack the human and take his spell book back but failed to do so. "Give it back, you piece of shit!", Maruss hissed dangerously. Before Marie could do anything, all of them heard a rustle before a famished and tired girl with bright pink hair stepped out from some bushes.
'Right now? But they're not supposed to meet this quickly!', Marie thought as she took in the girl's appearance with narrowed eyes and briefly glanced in Shin's direction. It seemed that there were other things affecting this battle other than them!
"Ma-Maruss? Is that really you?", the girl whispered with hope and happiness shining through her eyes.
"Tio?", Maruss called out disbelievingly before glaring at her, "I can't believe someone stupid like you managed to snag a partner this good. But seriously Tio, I never pegged you as the type to let your human partner do all the fighting whilst you simply stood aside like the weakling you are!"
Tio stared at Maruss in shock and despair as she took in his words. "Wh-what are you talking about?", she asked as confusion laced her features.
'This is bad, we can't let someone like Maruss use Tio. She's someone we'd already counted on joining our cause', Marie grimaced (unbeknownst to everyone since she'd covered her face).
Maruss had finally noticed that Tio's spell book was with her, indicating that she wasn't involved in this matter. He instantly changed his demeanour since he wanted to catch the other demon off guard and burn her book.
"I'm sorry for saying all those mean things, Tio. It's just that this human here has grabbed my spell book and I thought that this was your partner. Considering how close we were in the demon world, I simply couldn't believe that you would betray me like this", Maruss quickly apologised.
Marie decided to interfere before Maruss could convince Tio he'd spouted all of that nonsense in a panic (which he didn't), "Doesn't change the fact that you saw her as a stupid weakling who couldn't snag a partner as good as me. You truly are disgusting. You thought you could burn this demon's book as soon as you encountered her, didn't you?" Maruss hissed and swore at her as soon as she finished speaking, not knowing how to exactly counter that statement.
Tio stared at Maruss for a long while, not knowing whether she should believe the stranger or her friend. Maruss had been a very calm and collected demon in their world, a trait that she greatly admired. Along with his good looks, she'd even nursed a small crush on him. For him to suddenly spout all these mean things as soon as they'd come across each other in the human world, maybe he really did feel betrayed. But he'd apologised to her so it was all right. She could understand how frustrating remaining in the human world must've been for him. It had definitely not been an easy journey for her!
"I wasn't planning on burning your book in the first place so here you go", Marie tossed Maruss' book in Rembrant's direction before turning to leave. Knowing the classless demon, he would probably attack them as soon as Rembrant touched the book, not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to burn 2 books at the same time. She didn't want Tio to believe this guy's lies anymore and had to show Maruss' true colours.
"Hah, I can't believe you're dumb enough to do that. Just because you don't want to fight doesn't mean we don't. We're going to burn both of your books whether you like it or not", Maruss laughed as he extended his hand.
"Ma-Maruss? What are you doing?", Tio asked him, fear and surprise clearly present in her voice. She hadn't expected this at all!
"Trying to burn our books, what does it look like?", Marie replied monotonously. "Wh-what… I don't believe it! Why?! I thought we were friends", Tio yelled.
Maruss laughed, "Are you seriously dumb Tio? Don't you remember what conditions we were told to fulfil before we were sent here? Only the last one standing can become king!"
"Garon", Rembrant cast the first spell at Marie (who had lifted a shocked Tio in her arms) and Tio who simply stared at Maruss in betrayal as tears pooled in her eyes and finally let out a frustrated cry as the spiked metal chain neared her and Marie.
"Did we get her?", Rembrant asked Maruss who slightly frowned when he didn't feel his attack connect with anything. "I'm not sure. Cancel the spell, Rembrant", he suggested to his partner who immediately complied. Both of them were shocked to find out that the space where the mysterious human and Tio once stood was empty. There was no trace of the two of them.
"Impossible, where they could be?", Rembrant wondered out loud as Maruss shivered. Only a very powerful demon could have done something like this. Now that he thought about it… he had never been able to sense the mysterious human's demon at all. 'What the hell? Who could this demon possibly be?', he thought with wide eyes as he and Rembrant looked around for any clues.
"Why did you save me?", Tio asked Marie and Shin sullenly as she protectively held her spell book. "Because I need allies for our cause. I tried to talk to Maruss, but he refused to listen to us. Now I'm going to ask you if you're willing to join us for our cause", Marie answered right away.
"Your cause? If it doesn't involve hurting innocent people, I don't see why I can't repay the favour", the tiny demon answered timidly whilst trying her best to put up a brave front.
"Don't worry about that. We won't be hurting anyone innocent… only murderers who deserve a world of hell. All right, as thanks we'll help you find your partner", Marie shrugged and turned to look at Shin who nodded.
Tio stared at the two of them in surprise before a small and wobbly smile overtook her features. It seemed that there were still some people she could trust in the human world.
"All right Megumi! Another shot and we're done", a man called out to a young and beautiful girl who determinedly nodded before smiling at the multiple cameras around her as she began singing melodiously.
A few workers softly whispered how cool the idol was as the girl danced and sang without messing her performance up. Unbeknownst to everyone, three people had secretly appeared in a secluded area in the building where the recording was taking place.
"That girl singing over there, the pretty brunette with a good voice, that's your partner", Marie pointed out. "But how do you know that?", Tio asked her, a little hesitant to approach the popular girl.
"You're not going to lose anything if we're wrong. But if we're right, you're going to save yourself a lot of time. Don't forget that Maruss is still out there. If you want to defeat him, you'll need to quickly find your partner and get yourself more friends and allies", Marie shrugged before turning to leave.
"Wait", Tio whispered. Marie didn't turn back to face the demon but stopped moving, indicating that she was listening to the demon. "Thank you", Tio softly sobbed before embarrassedly running away. A few seconds later, Marie disappeared along with Shin after ensuring that the coast was clear.
Author's notes: To be honest, I did not expect to bring in Tio this early into the story. It sort of just happened… I don't know how. I actually wanted to bring Vincent Bari and Gustav in this chapter instead of Maruss and Rembrant but let's just say that my fingers had a mind of their own. Though I'm glad I did so, I think it's a good change. Anyway, please do leave your views and I hope to see y'all soon!