Chapter 6

"That should do it."

Somehow, the creature was knocked out by Zeno without spilling anymore of its blood, much to Zeno's relief; not because no blood was spilt, but because it was temporarily out of commission, and Zeno was already finding the creature to be too bothersome to tolerate. In its quiet state, Zatch and Zeno grabbed vines and tied it to a tree to keep it suppressed in case it woke up during their conversation. Zeno tied its neck and back limbs while Zatch tied its front legs.

Zatch was sitting on his knees in the grass across from Zeno who was sitting about two yards away in a crisscross style sitting position. Tia and Kolulu were sitting on either side of Zatch with Tia on his left, and Kolulu on his right. Kolulu was still wearing Zeno's mantle and holding her own clothes close to her in a wrinkled bunch.

Zeno looked from the creature to the three children in front of him. "What is it you want to know?"

"Zeno," Zatch started. "How do you know about Kolulu?"

Zeno did not hesitate to answer. "As the son of the previous king, I had the advantage of knowing the names of the other 99 contestants. I did some research and learned what spells they each had."

"So, you cheated?" Tia asked.

Stupid girl. Was what he wanted to say, but he held his tongue for he knew Zatch would not appreciate the unkind words toward his friend."No. It was not cheating. In fact, other demons of a certain class had access to this same list. The difference with me is that I took extra time to study each demon. Cheating would have consisted of befriending another combatant prior to the battles in an attempt to gain an ally only to backstab them later, but that method is ridiculous and beneath me."

"How is that cheating?" Zatch asked.

"Technically, there was no cheating since it was a free-for-all fight, but I think it's cheating. Say 'Person A' befriends 'Person B' and tells them to promise not to find a book owner until they reconvene in the human world to find their book owners together, so they can partner up as allies. 'Person B' does this, but finds out that 'Person A' already went ahead to find a book owner and burns 'Person B's' book to get ahead of the competition. Make sense?"

Zatch and Kolulu look over at Tia.

Zeno continued. "Personally, I think 'Person A' would be too low of a demon to even think of such a method. And 'Person B' would be too stupid to even trust 'Person A'. You can't be soft like that."

Tia looked down at her lap while Zeno was still talking. Zeno noticed this and grinned. "Oh? Did I strike a nerve? Let me guess, you were the victim of a betrayal?"

Tia looked up at him. "So, you think I'm stupid?!"

"Tia." Zatch patted her balled fists that were on her lap, gesturing for her to let him take over the conversation. "Zeno, since you studied all the contestants, do you know about a demon named Maruss?"

"Maruss…Maruss…" Zeno murmured to himself. "Vaguely. He didn't seem to be much of a threat. Like all the other weak ones, I didn't spend too much time on him, but if I remember correctly, he specializes in projecting metal weaponry from his hands."

"Yeah. He was the one who betrayed Tia."

"He was my friend," Tia mumbled.

"He was never your friend," Zeno spoke up a bit. "Do you not know that by now?"

"I know that!"

There was silence among them for a moment until Tia spoke up again. "I was betrayed, okay? And yes, it was dumb of me to trust him, but I don't want the same thing to happen to Kolulu. I don't fully trust you yet, Zeno, and I don't want you to hurt her the same way Maruss hurt me."

"You're even more stupid for saying that. Didn't I say earlier that that method was beneath me? What would be the point of betraying Kolulu? What would I gain from it?"

Tia took a moment to think it over. At least for Maruss, his objective was to ascend the throne by burning as many books as possible no matter the cost. In Zeno's case, he was not the type to even bother with someone like Kolulu, and thought that the weaker ones would have just weeded each other out during battle. To Zeno, Kolulu was just there, nothing more, which was actually better than befriending her and then betraying her later.

Zeno continued. "I have no intensions on hurting Kolulu. What happened earlier today was an act of impulsivity on my part."

Kolulu leaned over to face Tia. "It's okay, Tia. Zeno and I already talked about it. We're okay now."

"But…" Tia looked from Kolulu to Zatch, seemingly defeated. She then faced Zeno again. "But I thought you were after something relating to Kolulu, that's why I got worried. You don't seem to be the type to do something without an ulterior motive."

Zeno silently grinned.

Tia felt a chill when Zeno smiled and continued. "Didn't you say she can transform?"

Zeno panned his glance from Tia to Kolulu and locked eyes with her. "I spoke with your mother today."

"Don't ignore me!" Tia snapped.

Kolulu pointed to herself. "My mom?"

"Yes. It was right before Zatch threw the ball into my study."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Zeno paused from dipping his feather pen in its inkwell when he heard the laughter of other children outside his window. He first recognized Zatch's laughter, which was what initially pulled him from his writing. Apparently, the young king had brought some friends with him; two females to be exact. He recognized the vermillion haired Tia, but not the one with the short pink hair. On instinct, he tried to read her power level, but her readings were almost close to nothing, meaning that she was one of those weak ones. She was probably just one of Zatch's friends from school and only tagged along as a companion for Tia.

What is he doing outside? Zeno wondered. We have work to do.

He pulled away from the window when there was a knock on the door followed by the voice of his mother. "Zeno? May I come in?"

"You may enter."

His door swung open to reveal his mother standing there in a large white and purple dress that dragged to the floor. Her silver hair was almost just as long and fell down her back. Behind her were two women seemingly to be around her age. One of them looked like an older version of Tia as Zeno presumed that women to be Tia's mother, while the other woman had short pink curls that matched the other girl that was with Zatch. He presumed she was the mother of the other girl.

Putting two and two together, he figured this was one of those days where his mother would invite some of her friends over to show them around the castle until they would all sit under the gazebo in the royal garden to drink tea and gossip until dusk.

"Hello, Zeno," she said. "I'd like you to meet some friends of mine." She held out her hand towards Zeno, palm facing the ceiling. "Ladies, this is my first-born son, Zeno. He's older than Zatch by a few minutes."

Both women bowed. "It's an honor to meet you, sir," said the red-haired one.

"It's a pleasure to finally see you in person," said the pink haired one.

So, they both know who I am, and they're polite. That's a good start.

His mother introduces them as they stood upright. "Zeno, the one on the left is Tia's mother. The one on the right is Kolulu's mother."

Wait, whose mother?

Zeno looked back out the window at the playing children. He knew Zatch and Tia, which leaves the remaining child to be Kolulu, but it couldn't be that Kolulu, could it? Zatch always talked about how he met a girl who inspired him to become a kind king, but never bothered to describe her features, and when Zeno was researching the other 99 demon contestants before the battle for king started, there were no pictures or descriptions of her, just her name and the kinds of spells she had.

He pointed to Kolulu and referred to the pink haired woman. "You say that's your daughter?"

"Why, yes," she said almost nervously. "She is my only daughter. I have a son as well, but he's still just a baby. He's at home with my husband right now."

"May I have a word with you regarding her?"

Kolulu's mom faced the other two women, particularly at Zeno's mom for approval. Zeno's mom smiled and nodded to her. "We will wait down the hall in my study for you." She then nodded at Zeno with a soft look in her violet eyes. "I will see you later, my son."

When the two women left, and it was only Zeno and Kolulu's mom in the room, Zeno gestured towards the seat in front of him. She did not hesitate to follow his orders and sat down. She looked uncomfortable, slightly frightened even, but that was to be expected when you're called into Zeno's private study.

Nervous as she seemed, she started the conversation. "Y-you wanted to know something about my daughter?"

"Yes. What kind of spells does she have?"

She paused before answering. "She knows the same spells as I do. We have the power to protect the lives of others, like helping them breathe underwater if they're drowning."

Zeno kept silent as if her response didn't satisfy him. She noticed he was wanting more and continued. "That's why I work in the maternity ward as a midwife at Makai General Hospital. I can help any newborns breathe if they are having trouble."

"Interesting. Is that all she can do?"

"Well, uh…originally, yes."

"What do you mean by originally?"

She was hesitating again. She started fidgeting in her seat and mumbled inaudibility until she finally said, "Where should I begin?"

Growing impatient with her, Zeno reached into one of his desk drawers and pulled out several sheets of paper stacked on top of one another. "Let's start with this."

When he threw the papers down on his desk, she immediately stiffened.

He grinned at her reaction. Bingo. "So, looks like you know what this is. Then, tell me. What is it?"

She was slow to answer, but answered nonetheless. "It's…It's a list of children's names."

"Correct. And for what reason does this list exist?"

"It lists the names of the 100 children who were chosen to fight for the position as ruler of our world."

"Very good. And you and I both know that your daughter was a candidate."

Kolulu's mom didn't even nod. She just stared at him while shaking as Zeno continued talking.

"I've looked into each contestant to see what kinds of spells they possess, just so I know what I'm up against; however, what you have described to me about Kolulu's ability is different from what I actually read about her. You even used the word originally as if she has another type of spell." He leaned forward on his desk and lowered his voice a bit. "You're not telling me the whole truth, are you?"

At that, she lowered her face, but didn't take her eyes off Zeno, whether it was out of respect or fear, Zeno didn't mind either one. "Forgive me, prince. It's hard for me to talk about this."

Zeno had an inkling of how she may have felt. It was also difficult for him to recall – and still is – his life when he was battling Zatch on Faudo ever since he discovered he was in the wrong for faulting Zatch. "I assure you, this will be the only time I'll ask this of you, but such a discussion is important."

"I understand." She took a deep breath and fell silent. Zeno was normally patient, but all the hesitating and pausing was getting on his nerves.

She finally spoke. "Kolulu was always a timid girl, but very sweet and kind to others. She's a very unassuming person. She was never interested in fighting, and I thought it was an answer to prayer that she inherited my spells considering the way she is. One day, she came home from school with tears in her eyes and a scroll in her hand. The scroll read her congratulatory message on being one of the chosen candidates in the upcoming battle to potentially become our ruler. My husband and I were probably the only parents who were distraught for her. I held her and cried with her."

The woman wiped tears that started running down her face in the midst of her talking. "I'm sorry." She sniffed.

Zeno scanned the top of his desk to try and find something to give her.

She noticed this. "Don't worry, prince. I have my own." She took out a coral-pink handkerchief and wiped her eyes and nose with it. "Thank you though." She smiled. "Your mother was right. You really are a nice boy."

"Continue," he said immediately through clenched teeth.

"Oh, sorry." She finished wiping her eyes and put the handkerchief away before continuing. "There was an additional note to the scroll. Because Kolulu didn't have any offensive spells, she had to be given some, which were probably the spells you read about in your research."

"Makes sense." Zeno was piecing all the clues together. When he did his research, he only found her name and a few spells, which were Zeruk, Zerusen,and Shin Raifojio. He didn't bother to read her other spells since he didn't think her to be much of a threat. There was also no mention that she was given any offensive spells, so it seemed like her listed spells were what she knew naturally. He also recalled that whenever Zatch mentioned that Kolulu was given another personality to fight, Zeno didn't find any evidence that another personality was given to her either. Thus, in having the conversation with Kolulu's mother, it only validates that indeed the Kolulu that Zatch was always talking about was the very girl right outside his window.

He continued. "But the battle is over now, and my brother is the king. Shouldn't you be relieved that your daughter is home and no longer has to worry about the other spells she was given?"

"Well, there was…a condition."

Zeno furrowed his brows. "Condition?"

"Yes. The scroll also said that if Kolulu were to win the battle, her other personality and offensive spells would be taken away during her coronation, and she will be back to normal."

"And if she didn't win?"

"Then, she will get to keep her other personality and spells as a consolation prize."

Zeno leaned back in his seat. Even though he didn't find anything specifically about Kolulu, he has read about other children in past battles who were given other personas to fight, but there was no record of them keeping their new personas if they lost. He figured it was a way to motivate them; that if they fought hard enough to become ruler, they would go back to normal, but if they lost the battle, the scar of keeping the transformation spells would remain. While Zeno thought this was a benefit to gain some extra spells, he knew it was not welcomed among the weaker ones like Kolulu who despised fighting. It was a form of torture for them.

Zeno grinned. "Interesting."

Kolulu's mother brought her hands up in a begging gesture. "Oh, please, Prince Zeno. My daughter still suffers from this. If you can find a way to help her, I would be forever grateful."

"Hm. Foolish of you to ask me. What makes you think I can do it? It seems like an irreversible process at this point."

"Ooh, forgive me." Her face was downcast. "I just thought you had the power to do so."

Zeno was silent, trying not to show that he was the least bit flattered. He took the papers off his desk and waved her away dismissively. "We're done here. You may leave."

Confused, yet grateful, she got up from her seat. "Thank you, Prince Zeno."

He spoke as she was approaching the door. "One more thing. Not a word of this goes to my mother or that other woman. Understand?"

She turned, hand on the doorknob. "Forgive me, but may I ask why? Surely, they will ask. What should I say to them?"

"I don't know. Make something up." He grinned again. "A little white lie can't hurt anyone, right?"

She didn't respond. She didn't even nod. She just turned on her heels and left right before a ball flew in from Zeno's window and rolled over his carpeted floor.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''

By the time Zeno finished, Zatch and Tia were on either side of Kolulu, seemingly trying to comfort her as she sobbed.

Tia started. "Is all that true, Kolulu?"

Kolulu buried her face in her clothes and nodded.

"I'm surprised you didn't run away like you've been doing today," Zeno said.

Before Tia could give a comment to accompany her glare, Kolulu spoke. "I'm tired of running away. I'm tired of all this!" She shook her head. "I don't like that there's a part of me that I hate so much! I don't know what to do with it. I just want to go home!"

Snap!

All four kids turned to the tree where the beast was tied.

The creature had one of its front legs loose from the vine and was trying to free its other paws.

"Zaaaatch!" Zeno hissed. "How did you tie your knots?"

"I tied them really good! I promise I did!"

The beast easily ripped the other vine that was tying down its other front paw.

"Oops." Zatch scratched the back of his head. "I guess that's what happens when I don't need to learn how to tie my shoes."

The beast was trying to bite the other vines off, but it couldn't reach its hind legs since its neck was tied.

Sensing there was not much time left, Zeno referred to Kolulu. "Kolulu, you have to fight this time."

Tia hugged Kolulu and brought her close. "After what you just said, what makes you think she's even in the right condition to fight? Do you even know how she feels right now?"

"That's irrelevant," Zeno said.

"What? You're horrible!" Tia shouted.

"What else is new?"

"Zeno," Zatch was the one who spoke this time. He was standing in front of Tia and Kolulu who were still sitting on the ground. "I told you, Kolulu doesn't have to fight anymore."

"You're still on that, brother?" Zeno couldn't help but throw his head back for a quick laugh. "How amusing."

"You don't think I can help her?" Zatch asked, eyes shining under the sunlight.

"It's not a matter of can. It's a matter of should." Zeno glanced over Zatch's shoulder. "Kolulu! You want to keep hiding behind other people and have them do your dirty work for you? Do you want people to feel bad for you all your life just because of some sob story? Zatch said he'll always protect you. You do realize how flawed that statement is, right? Zatch may be the king, but he's one person, and I won't let you become a burden for him!"

"Are you saying this is all her fault?" Tia asked.

Zeno zipped past Zatch and managed to knock Tia out of the way. Tia fell on her back on the grass, making Zatch rush to her side, but she was unharmed.

Zeno cupped Kolulu's face with one hand as he did earlier that day in the tree hollow, forcing her to face him. "You have spells to protect others, but you can't even protect yourself. You're so pathetic!" Zeno forced her to face the creature that was still struggling to free itself. "What if that thing was about to devour your baby brother? What would you do? Cry for your mommy and daddy? What if you were the only one who could do something? What would you do?"

Kolulu didn't answer, and Zeno could feel her tears running between his fingers and down his hand. He forced her face to look at him again. "What would you do, huh? Answer me!"

Zatch tackled Zeno, which forced Zeno to release Kolulu, so he could hold back Zatch. Tia managed to rush to Kolulu's side and grabbed her hand. "C'mon, Kolulu, let's go before it gets worse." Tia tugged at her hand, but Kolulu didn't get up from the ground. "Kolulu? What's wrong?"

Zatch backed away from Zeno and jumped to the other side of Kolulu. He grabbed her other hand. "Kolulu? What's the matter?"

"Zatch, Tia," Kolulu spoke softly, but could still be heard. "Thank you for all your support and comfort today, but…Zeno's right."

"What?" Tia's grip grew a bit tighter. "Don't listen to him!"

"Tia." Kolulu looked up at her. "He was right about Maruss and he doesn't even know Maruss."

Tia's grip loosened. "Yeah, but…"

Kolulu faced Zatch. "Zatch, thank you for working so hard to be a kind king. I owe you."

Zatch's face softened as he remembered when she first talked to him about if there were a kind king in their world. "Kolulu, you don't owe me anything. I…I just want to help you."

"I know, but the least I can do for you is not be a burden to you or Tia." She stood up and started walking towards Zeno who just stood and stared at her.

Neither Zatch nor Tia had a comeback. They understood that this was solely Kolulu's decision to accept a part of her she didn't like or fully understand. Every step towards Zeno felt longer than the last as if something was trying to tell her to stop, but her motivation to no longer run away was the only thing keeping her legs moving. She turned to Zatch and Tia as soon as she stopped in front of Zeno and said, "I'm sorry."

She faced Zeno for a bit, face stained with tears, but no longer crying. She took a deep breath before asking, "Zeno, what should I do?"

Zeno crossed his arms. "I'm not obligated to help you."

"Bastard!" Tia yelled from behind Kolulu.

"However, if you're really serious about this and want my help…" Zeno grinned. "What's in it for me?"

"Well, the faster we can come up with a solution, the faster we can all get out of here, right? And you can get back to your work."

Smart girl. "True. I'll give you that. Alright, then." Zeno lifted his index finger on his right hand. "This sweet side of you that likes to protect…" He lifted his other index finger on his left hand. "And this uncontrollable side of you that likes to fight…" He merged both of his hands together until all of his fingers intertwined with each other. "Marry the two."

Kolulu raised a brow and tiled her head to the side. "Marry?"

"I'm sure you've thought of it, marriage that is."

She blushed. "M-marriage?"

"My understanding is that it is not unfamiliar to the female mind. In fact, I'm sure you've fantasized about it before."

Kolulu's blush grew deeper as she backed away a bit. "W-where are you getting at with this?"

"In order for the marriage relationship to work, you must have a partner who is compatible and cooperative. Otherwise, both parties would be in constant disagreement. The same works with you. If you can combined your physical strength with your strong will to protect, I'm sure the outcome will be a lot easier on your mentality."

Her blushed faded, realizing where Zeno was going with the conversation. "How exactly do I do that? What if I transform and hurt everyone without realizing it? What if I lose control of myself?"

He smirked. "I guess we're going to find out if that happens."

She froze, blood rushing from her face. The last thing she would want to do is cause harm to the environment, but even more so, she didn't want to cause harm to her friends. She started shaking, lips quivering. This was something she didn't ever want to do, but she did ask for help, so she may as well go through with it. Her first hurdle was to not back out of a decision she made mere moments ago. Plus, it would greatly upset Zeno if she asked him for help, and managed to convince him to advise her, only to decline. The outcome of upsetting Zeno was most likely far worse than what her beastly half could ever do, and she didn't want to think about that.

"Besides," Zeno continued, much to Kolulu's surprise. He nodded towards Zatch and Tia. "You have strong friends who are capable of defending themselves. I don't think you have to worry about harming them. If anything goes wrong, they're the types to protect you from hurting yourself."

"And…what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You only referred to Zatch and Tia as my friends. You and I are friends too, right?"

There was a pause and a shrug before Zeno answered. "If you want to label me as such, go ahead."

Kolulu didn't press it any further. Although a tad bit rude as usual, she figured it was the closest response she'll get from him in regards to his acknowledging their friendship. Content with just that, she smiled.

"Also," he opened his palm to her. "I would like my mantle back."

"Oh, right. Sorry." She took off his mantle to reveal that she was already wearing clothes underneath, which were dry by now. She wore a lavender and magenta tank top that showed her midriff a bit with matching shorts that fell just above her knees.

Tia zipped to her side, embarrassed. "Kolulu, what are you doing? You're undressing in front of a boy!"

"It's okay, Tia," she said as she dropped her own dress on the ground. "These are the clothes I'll wear anyway when I transform, so it's no big deal."

As Zatch was running up to meet them, Tia faced Zeno who just finished putting on his mantle. "So, what's the plan?" She asked.

"As I mentioned earlier, we need to cut the lightning rod off its tail." He faced Kolulu. "If you're willing."

Kolulu took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Kolulu, are you sure you're okay with this?" Zatch asked.

"Yes, Zatch. I'll be fine. Thanks." She smiled. "Don't worry about me."

Zatch nodded, knowing that there was nothing else for him to do since she made her choice. "I won't stop you, but just remember that I'm here for you."

"Me too," Tia chimed in.

Kolulu's smile grew a little bigger. "Thank you both."

She took another deep breath before approaching the beast and looked up at its struggling figure. For a moment, she felt sorry for it until it stopped struggling and looked down at her with its jaws dripping with drool.

She inhaled and shouted.

"Zeruk!"

Nothing happened.

She looked down at her hands. "Huh? Why didn't it work?"

Snap!

The last vine was cut loose and the creature bared its fangs at Kolulu.

"Kolulu!" Zatch and Tia cried in unison and were about to run to her aid, but were stopped by Zeno.

"Don't move," he said while holding each of them by the back of their collars.

"What are you doing?" Tia asked. "She's clearly in trouble!"

"She needs to do this on her own."

"I thought you said she has strong friends who can help protect her."

"You misheard. I said she has strong friends who are capable of defending themselves and can help protect her from herself."

"How could you just do nothing?"

"Just shut up and watch."

The beast stomped its feet, and Kolulu easily fell to the ground. Sensing his opponent to be easy, he swiped his paw at her, but she managed to duck out of the way, covering her head in the process. When she looked up, she saw the metal rod on its tail and started to run around its side to get behind it, but the beast snapped its jaws at her and she tumbled into a dip that was made from one of its footprints.

She didn't realize that the area was muddy and it suddenly became difficult to run, much less walk. Zeno was trying to hold down both Zatch and Tia who wanted to step in to help, but even if they managed to struggle free from Zeno, Kolulu knew that they would not have made it in time.

She backed into the tree where the beast was once tied, mud covering her. The creature howled and lunged at Kolulu with its fangs and claws. There was nothing she could do in her powerless state, and Zeno's words "You're so pathetic!" were echoing in her mind.

Despite all that, she felt the word on her tongue and decided to give it one last try. In a futile attempt to get herself out of this tight situation where she was trapped and cornered, she shouted her spell one more time.

"Zeruk!"