owo... Is it the end of the world? Have i REALLY updated?... Wow. o.O

But... HA. HAHA. FINALLY i begin to think of how to end this, AND LO AND BEHOLD, i have two more chapters after this planned. IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?!...I think it is!

Ah, must make an announcement. Thank you SO much, Sarah303, for being the only one to respond to my pleas for ideas. xD And to anyone else i may have forgotten that sent me a PM about it, i thank you too, but i'm too lazy to search through my long list of messages from FFnet to actually see who helped (.-. I haven't updated this in about two months, i get a lot of emails in a month time span alone.). So in case i've forgotten, thank you. But Sarah, you made my day by actually suggesting something, so thank you. ;-;

So, yeah, kind of a short chapter, but give me a break. -3- Seriously. (no, i don't want a kit kat!...Although i would like some more Flower's Kiss Candy as i'm almost out... xD)

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Konjiki no Gash Bell so shush and enjoy this pathetic excuse of a fanfic.

NOTE: Oh, by the way, i'm so tired of referring to everyone by their English names in this story. I'm leaving the previous chapters alone, but for now on, they'll all be called by their original names. ;D Deal with it, nyeheh. :3 And because i ALWAYS refer to them by their Japanese names now anyway, i'd have probably messed up and typed one in, so this is safer. e.e;

Chapter 18

Words from a King

Sherry smiled sadly as she stared out into her yard, her daughter in her lap. Beyond the sweeping landscape was the nearest town, where she had met Richard so many years ago. Her eyes slightly narrowed at the thought of the man who tricked her into 'loving' him, and not Brago, whom had just returned from the Makai after 4 years. But that was so long ago… all of that was over now…

Somewhat.

In truth, it all started when Brago's book burned that one day… it was that particular moment when everything began to change. Sherry knew that if his book hadn't been destroyed then he could have stayed with her longer and become much stronger, possibly even the king of his world. Then she wouldn't have had to have stayed in the human world and could have gone with him to his home. Richard would have never gone after her nor would he have used Noru, and then none of this would have happened. Everything would have been just fine…

The woman glanced down at her daughter, who looked back up at her and giggled, reaching up to try and grab her nose. Sherry smiled as she kissed the little one's forehead and continued to stare at her eyes. They were a deep, crimson red… just like Brago's. Oh, how she looked so much like him… the resemblance was almost uncanny.

She remembered looking up into Brago's crimson orbs the nights he would stay with her and reading his expressions. It wasn't the desire in his eyes at those hours that caught her attention, but rather the loving look they held, the pure opposite of what she first saw of him when they met. How he had changed! If one ever mentioned that people couldn't change from bad behaviors to good, Sherry would always disagree. There was always the possibility to become better, even if Brago wasn't human, she knew this quite well.

With a sigh, the woman averted her gaze from her daughter back to the landscape in front of her as she wished for her husband again. Her gaze was blank as she stared in front of her for a moment, but then her eyes widened as she saw a car pull up to the side of the driveway as a man stepped out of the car.

Sherry blinked and rubbed her eyes just a little as she watched the said man begin to walk up the pathway to the front porch where she sat. Her azure eyes slowly began to widen even more as she recognized the Japanese man she hadn't seen in a couple of years.

"Ah, this place still looks the same…" Kiyomaro said as he glanced around, his eyes soon landing on Sherry. "But you look a little different." He rested his hands on his hips as he gazed upon the scenery around him.

"Kiyomaro…" Sherry murmured slightly, a look of awe taking hold of her features. She blinked again.

"Well, it's good to see you again," the dark haired man said as he smiled somewhat. "Don't always see a lot of former bookkeepers, do we?"

The woman shook her head. "No."

Kiyomaro laughed a little. "Well, I see Megumi all the time, don't really see much of Folgore or Sunbeam anymore. I suppose we're all preoccupied with our lives outside the battle now, huh?" Sherry grinned just a little as she caught the man's gaze leading towards her daughter, whom was looking up at him with a curious look in her eyes. Kiyomaro smirked a little as he shrugged. "Well, I guess we've all changed since then, haven't we?"

"Yes," the woman nodded in agreement, her expression somewhat saddening. The other continued.

"Heh, it's certainly a lot easier to study without Gash around, although I still miss him. But anyway…" Stopping, Kiyomaro then noticed the solemn expression overwhelming the French woman's features as her head lowered a little. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head before straitening his position and staring down at her with a serious look. "I heard news from Gash the other week, too," he suddenly said, and Sherry's eyes widened as she immediately looked up at him.

"Y-you did?" she said aloud. "B-but I thought he was being controlled?"

"Well, I take it you know about that," said Kiyomaro as he rubbed the back of his head. "But he still is being controlled, he came to visit me the other week and told me he managed to break free of the spell temporarily and came to visit me as soon as he could. Frankly, I had no idea this was happening until then, but he managed to inform me of everything."

"W-what? What did he have to say?" Sherry said, now standing up and holding onto her daughter tightly. "You have to tell me!"

The brown-eyed man nodded. "He told me everything Noru's been planning up to this point. He's using Gash as a method to come in and out of the human world, and is taking up all his power at the same time so he can use his powers while here as well. That's all Gash knows, but from what I can tell he's planning something, probably trying to take over the Makai as well."

Sherry's eyes widened as she mused over everything he said, mulling it over as she bit her tongue. "…Did he have any news on Brago?" she inquired hopefully.

"All he said was that Brago's been taken captive, but… I think you probably know that already." Kiyomaro watched as the blonde's expression saddened and he glanced to the side for a moment before continuing. "But he said he's trying to figure out how to stop him. I don't know how he's going to, but he's planning it. Gash may not be as stupid as he was before, but I'm sure he could figure out something. But I don't know if he'll be able to make it in time, he looked really bad when I saw him…"

"Hmm?" Sherry inquired, turning her blue eyes up to meet hazel. "He's sick, right?"

"Yeah," the other nodded. "You knew?"

"…I heard a rumor about it, is all," Sherry said quietly, glancing down to the ground. "But I couldn't tell if it was true, nor could Brago. It was a while ago when we heard it, actually, before he was… taken."

"Ah," confirmed the other, nodding his head. "Then this has been going on for a long while. I wonder what he's up to?"

"I don't know," said Sherry heatedly, her golden brows furrowing together. "But I don't like it! But there's nothing I can do, Gash is sick and Brago's held captive in the mamono world, what could we humans possibly do?"

"Well…" the Japanese man trailed off, "I do have a source. Megumi still talks to her mamono, Tio, as she always comes down here to visit. I could see if Tio could possibly tell some of the other mamono about the situation and see what happens from then on."

"Megumi?" questioned the blonde as she turned her eyes to look at the other with interest. "The pop star? She was a former bookkeeper too, you mentioned, right?"

The man flushed somewhat as he sheepishly looked to the side. "Aha… hai. I've been dating her for a while now, so Tio can help out." He straitened up a little more again as he redirected his attention back to Sherry. "Anyway, I came all the way down here just to tell you that. I figured you'd like to know…" Kiyomaro then stopped talking as he noticed the woman was then walking up to him and he blinked when she stood directly in front of him, an illegible look in her eyes.

He then glanced down at Fae, whom was still in her mothers arms and he just barely gasped. "She really does look like him," he murmured, and then looked back down at Sherry, whose expression had slightly changed, her features softer with her mouth slightly curled into a soft smile.

"Kiyomaro…" the woman paused just slightly, tears gently beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. "…Thank you. Thank you so much…" The blonde then began to softly cry as the tears of hope rolled down her cheeks, staining her already pale face. "Thank you… thank you…!"

The Japanese man smirked a little. "No problem on my behalf," he said, but then became a little surprised when Sherry rested her head on his shoulder as she continued to weep softly, still holding onto her precious baby girl. To think this is the girl I knew from the demon war, he mused as he smiled and rested one of his hands on her shoulders, shaking his head as he laughed a little. "No problem at all."

Next chapter... Blinded
A twist of events, a powerful ally, things start to look better already.