IT IS HERE!!! This took a long time and I am happy enough with it to put it up for others to view.......enjoy

Ch. 10

Unexpected Acquaintance

Olivia and Taylor continued down the block. Olivia kept her gaze downward as she continued to think about Stripes' safety. Taylor watched her from the corner of her eye and couldn't help but feel sorry for her sister. She looked ahead and noticed a crowd gathering at the gates of something. She squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at a sign nearby and then relaxed them and smiled.

She turned and walked backwards in front of her sister with her arms crossed behind her back "Let's do something fun"

Olivia looked up at her dully "What do you have in mind?" Taylor's smile grew, but she didn't get the chance to say anymore before her sister's attention was drawn away by a loud popping noise. Olivia froze on the spot and looked around "What was that?!"

Taylor glanced over her shoulder and shook her head before pointing towards the crowd "The fair has started "

Olivia looked passed her at the crowd of people walking through the now open gates "….Fireworks in the day time?"

"They don't have to be fireworks to make noise" Taylor said while grabbing her sister's hand "Now come on, you could use a stress reliever"

Olivia smiled as her sister pulled her along. "She's right, I can stop worrying for a little bit" she thought to herself and sped up to walk side by side with Taylor.

They reached the gate and looked in at all the rides and activities, which only made their smiles bigger. Another loud pop rang through the air, but it didn't come from the fair. The noise repeated each louder than the previous one, but they went ignored until the ground shook violently as if ready to tear in two. Olivia and Taylor, along with everyone in and around the fair fell to the ground; prizes and other objects not bolted down fell as well, some landing on unsuspecting citizens. Once the tremor died down some, people rose to their feet and began running for the exit and as far away from there as possible.

Taylor sat up and looked around at the ruined fair "What happened?!"

"I don't know" Olivia said as she rose to her feet. A small tremor caused her to teeter on her feet, but she quickly regained her footing and continued to look around until she noticed an unnerving sight.

"What?" Taylor said as she rose to her feet. She followed her sisters gazed and looked out at the sky. It was still just as clear as before, except for one spot, which was oddly dark "A storm?"

Olivia gritted her teeth and clutched her fists tightly by her side "A storm in that one spot and an earthquake all around it" she shook her head doubtingly "That's too much of a coincidence"

"Than what…" her eyes widened in realization "You don't…"

Olivia turned to face her with a stern face "That's exactly what I'm thinking" she started running, not even waiting for Taylor's response.

Taylor ran behind her and let out a shaky sigh "What on earth could she be doing?"

Olivia ignored her sister's comment as she sped up, hoping to get there faster than she knew she was capable of "Stripes, you better be okay"

Meanwhile, Stripes was struggling to fight with Demo and stay standing against the violent tremors he was causing. Brago glanced at her anxiously, though he was having the same problem. Another tremor and Stripes hit the ground, but he staid standing and growled in aggravation.

"Having trouble" Demo said with a malicious grin "Good, you deserve it and much more. He lunged at Brago, unhindered by the shaking ground and threw a punch.

Brago cursed aloud as he stumbled forward in an attempt to keep his balance. He held his hands up crossed over his face in defense of the oncoming attack. Demo smirked at his attempt and quickly redirected his attack, punching Brago in his unguarded stomach.

His grin grew larger when Brago let out a choked gasp "What's wrong, is this all you can do?"

Brago growled at him and then grabbed a hold of his arm. He quickly balled his other into a fist and raised "Shut up already!" in one swift move; he brought it forward and made contact with Demo's face.

The force of the attack forced his head back and left him a little dazed. Brago grunted and turned around swinging his hand over his head and throwing Demo into a far off tree. He grunted on impact and then slid down to the ground, landing on his head and falling on his side. Now that he had been disabled, the tremors stopped and his aura quickly faded.

Sherry nodded and stood straight up with a slight smile on her face "Good, now let's end it" she turned to face Drake, who was calmly leaning against a tree with his book closed at his side. "Why is he just standing there?" she thought to herself as she studied the other.

"Sherry!" Brago growled.

She immediately snapped out her train of thought "Uh, right" she began to pump energy into her book when Drakes book started glowing immensely.

Her attention was then drawn towards Demo as he stood laughing maniacally. He looked up at them, sharp teeth bared in a cocky grin "You are so right, it's about time I ended this"

Drake glanced over at him, receiving a slight nod from his partner. He nodded back and calmly closed his eyes "Darken!"

Demo raised his hand towards his opponents as a dark unfocused energy sphere formed in his hand. He quickly widened his fingers and let it explode, spreading darkness throughout the area.

Brago took a step back, his hand raised defensively as he looked around. It had become so dark that he couldn't even see his hand over his face. He took another step back and felt something break under his foot, it was then he realized that he couldn't hear either. He cursed as something struck him across the face. He swung back, but didn't hit anything and something hit him in the side, sending him to the ground.

Stripes looked around in slight fear, she had already noticed that she couldn't see anything and was trying very hard to find something with her other senses, but to no avail. Suddenly, her foot hit something and she fell on top of the object that was…soft. She felt it move beneath her and sat up, keeping her hand on it as they both rose.

"Brago?" she asked and then mentally rolled her eyes for her own stupidity.

She tensed as she felt something trace up her arm and stop at her hair. It gripped some and she felt claws lightly scrape against her cheek "Oh yeah, it's Brago" she thought to herself with some relief, but that quickly passed when something struck her hard in the stomach. She keeled over and coughed violently, before she was flattened against the ground by Brago's weight.

Meanwhile, Sherry stood just outside the dark sphere, listening to the grunts of pain. "Brago?" she said hoping for a response, but none came. She called out louder and added Stripes's name, but nothing changed.

"You're wasting your time" Drake said from his comfortable place against the tree.

Sherry turned and glared at him, gaining a small smirk from him.

"Darkness blocks out the senses. Sight, hearing, smell, all useless" he finished.

Sherry gripped her book tightly as she raised it and turned to a certain page "Fine, but that alone doesn't decide a battle" she took a few steps back and then turned to face the dome "Ion Gravirie!"

Inside the dome, Brago continued to fight in vain against his invisible enemy. He growled in aggravation as he was struck on the back. He swung back, hitting nothing and froze, feeling a sudden surge of energy. He felt something bump into him, knowing it was Stripes when she gripped his cloak. He quickly grabbed her hand and directed her behind him as he held his other hand forward and began to swing around. He had spun about half way around when he heard a grunt and smiled when the area began to lighten. The first thing he noticed was his glowing hand, quickly followed by Drake, who was forced on the ground, but where was Demo?

"Look out!" Sherry yelled a little too late.

Demo quickly grabbed Brago's outstretched arm from behind and forced it up, giving him a clear shot at Brago face. The spell ended as Brago staggered back and Demo moved to strike again, but Stripes stepped in the way.

Demo smirked as she blocked his attack and countered it with her own "Not bad, I guess you're not a rookie after all" he complimented as they fought on par. "But you can't be this good and have gone unnoticed. What are you known as?"

Stripes blocked another one of his attacks and countered "If you're asking for my name, its Stripes" she threw a kick and cursed quietly when he caught her leg.

Demo held her in place as he thought "Hmm, Stripes…….never heard of it" he twisted her leg slightly, causing her to wince "You must have another"

Stripes reached forward and grabbed his hand to keep him from going any further "One is all I need"

Demo frowned at her response "If you're going to be difficult, then I'll find out another way" he spun around, twisting Stripes leg further and causing her to yelp in pain before throwing her towards the ground.

She hit hard and twitched in pain, before moving her head to glare at him. He smirked at her before turning his attention to Brago charging at him. "Ah Brago, I'm sure you know who she is" he said while leaning back to dodge a kick. Brago continued his assault and after a few dodges and blocks, Demo began to return fire "You wouldn't mind telling me, would you?" he practically commanded.

Brago quickened his pace and soon landed a hit to the other's gut "Not on my best day"

Demo gagged from the pain before looking up at the other's pure white eyes "Really!" he said challengingly before jumping away from Brago. He wiped his mouth of a little blood and spoke again "Then maybe on your worst day" He lunged at Brago; hands balled into deadly fists, and let out an assault of attacks. Brago returned the gesture and they both stood there returning punches and kicks.

Sherry watched closely as they continued to return blows, waiting for the right moment "Reis!"

Brago's assault was interrupted when his hand flew up to let the gravity bullet out. "Sherry!" he growled angrily as Demo dodged it and Brago was left completely open.

Demo smirked and took advantage of the situation, catching Brago in the gut and face before he was pushed backwards from the force and hit the ground. Stripes watched as Brago flew to the ground with a thud and growled. She forced herself to stand, but her shaking leg threatened to collapse on her.

Demo appeared before her with a devilish smirk on his face "Having trouble"

Stripes eyes widened in surprise and she tried to back away, but he grabbed her hand to stop her. He pulled her forward and punched her hard in the stomach, temporarily stunning her. He then calmly walked passed her as she began to curl in on herself, making sure to firmly grasp her squirming tail, and threw her. Brago forced himself to stand, but wasn't prepared for another attack and hit head to head with Stripes, flying back into an unsuspecting Sherry. She hadn't even noticed that she was directly behind them until they slammed into her. They hit her with such force, that she didn't realize that Brago's book had slid out of her grasp.

Stripes head was thrown back when they came to an abrupt stop on the ground and she saw Brago's book as it flew from Sherry's hands, but her heart skipped a beat when she saw her own book coming out of its protective bag. Brago noticed this a second later and immediately wanted to grab it, but the pain in his head told him to sit still.

"Dizoru!"

The three gasped in unison shock. Sherry and Brago tried to move, but they were pinned under another's weight. Stripes, who was on the top of the pile, rose to her feet just as the tentacles sprouted from the ground.

"Please make it!" she said to herself as she ran towards the books.

Brago rolled onto his elbows and cursed as he watched the tentacles close in on his link to this world and battle. He saw no point in getting up, since he didn't have enough time to get over there "DAMN IT!"

Sherry also rolled over and sat on her knees to watch in horror. Stripes reached out to grab her book, but a tentacle swatted her hand away, leaving a pretty big gash over the back of her hand. She cursed inwardly as she was forced to dodge another that was aiming for her legs and another that tried to swipe her along the back.

"What are you doing?! Stay focused on your book!" Brago snapped, surprising Sherry, but he paid her no mind. At least she could stay in the fight if he couldn't.

Stripes winced at the anger in his voice briefly before looking over at their books. They were both still air born, but Brago's was a little further away then hers. "I don't have time to think about this" she said as she started running towards them, but the tentacles were closer, she didn't have the time to get there. She growled furiously as she took another step and leaned forward before pushing off, throwing herself forward.

Stripes quickly came within range of her book and reached out. Carefully going around it and grabbing Brago's, she pulled it to her chest and her body drifted a little to cover her own book as she prepared for the tentacles assault. The pain was worse than she expected. Two hit her sides and one hit her already hurt leg. Blood splattered around her, but she only clutched Brago's book tighter. The last one brushed her shoulder and struck the corner of her book, igniting it a light orange and yellow flame.

She hit the ground and immediately tried to get up, but her body wasn't as responsive as she would've liked. She gritted her teeth in an attempt to hold back a shriek of pain and turned her head to look behind her. She could barely see Brago through her peripheral vision, but could still make out the shock written all over his face. "Brago, catch!" she yelled, ignoring his reaction and the pain racing through her body to throw his book. It was a good toss, landing directly in front of Brago, who made no move to grab it.

Sherry scrambled for the book and brought it to her chest protectively "I've got it Brago, let's retaliate!" she looked at him expecting a nod of agreement, but he continued to stare in shock. Sherry raised a hand to shake his shoulder, which had no effect "We don't have time for this Brago! We have to…"

Her plea was interrupted by a shriek of pain. She turned and stared in shock at Stripes as tentacles lashed at her, staining the green ground crimson red. She attempted to move away time and time again, but the tentacles would just knock her down again, striking her in every possible place, luckily unable to penetrate her thick hair. Their attention was then drawn to the maniacal laughter of Demo a few feet away.

"That's right, fight for you useless life and die!" he laughed as he continued to torture her.

Sherry stared at him in pure disgust, but Brago was first to react. "Why?" he said as he rose to his feet "Why are you still attacking her?! You've already hit her book…"

"Why, you ask" Demo interrupted with a cruel smirk plastered on his face. "Because I feel like it" Brago's eyes widened from a mix of shock and building rage. Demo's smirk grew "Why are you so surprised? I don't need her alive to find out who she is. And you already know that I've killed for fun be…" he didn't get to finish his sentence when Brago's fists crashed into his face. He flew back a couple of feet before rolling to a stop back on his feet. He held his cheek in shock and growing anger "….you…"

"SHUT UP!" Brago yelled now completely enraged, effectively shutting Demo up and gaining everyone's attetnion. "At this point, I couldn't give a #*%$ about your reputation!" he said as he started to walk towards him "I'M GONNA KICK YOUR *%#* NOW AND EVERY TIME I RUN INTO YOU!" he shouted as he charged.

Demo stood there shocked that anyone would dare talk to him like that, but he quickly snapped out of it when Brago landed a clean punch to his jaw. By now, Sherry had also snapped out of her shock and opened her book.

"Gigano Reis!" she yelled, allowing Brago to unleash a large gravity ball in Demo's face.

The force of the attack pushed him back. He growled as he forced himself to stop and stare up at Brago "What's with this power?" he thought to himself, but didn't have time to linger on it when Brago came at him again.

Stripes stared quietly at her book as it burned at an unbearably slow pace and sighed "Well, it was going to happen eventually" not wanting to linger on it any longer, she managed to spin herself around on the ground and watched Brago lash out at the other in pure rage and then it turn into a stalemate when Demo started fighting back and pushing Brago back.

"I have to…help him" she said as she started to push herself off the ground, but stopped when she felt a sharp pain and spit up some blood. She began to fall again, but stopped herself and growled "No, I'll rest later. I…have to get up!" again, she forced herself up and managed to get into a crouching position.

"Stripes!"

She heard her name and looked up expectantly; it had been a while since she heard that voice. Some ways ahead of her was Olivia and a girl she hadn't seen before running towards her. Relief overcame her and she started to fall over, ready to rest, but she stopped herself

"Now isn't the time to rest" she said shaking her head. She then reached over and grabbed her book "Olivia, catch!" she yelled as she threw it, the force of her throw pulling her to her feet and she started running slowly towards the ongoing battle.

Taylor glance at her sister puzzled, but Olivia ignored her. "What are you doing Stripes?" she thought to herself before a flickering light caught her attention. She looked up at Stripes book as it flew towards her, but something was different…..it was on fire. She immediately felt immense sorrow and guilt, but that quickly passed when she saw her demon forcing herself to run and was replaced with an immeasurable amount of determination. She sped ahead of her sister and caught the flaming spell book, ignoring the searing pain as she opened the book.

Brago, having lost his advantage, was forced to block and dodge every one of Demo's attacks, but he wasn't able to avoid them all. He growled in aggravation as another punch hit his side.

Demo smirked victoriously "What happened to all that bravado you had before" he threw another punch, aiming right for Brago's unprotected jaw, but something stopped him. "Wha…?" he managed to say and get a brief glimpse of Stripes before her fist connected with his face. He staggered back holding his face and cursing wildly.

Brago smirked inwardly at his pain, but kept his attention on Stripes, who was still badly bruised and bloody. "What are you doing?!" he asked a little colder than he wanted.

Stripes glanced back at him and smirked, failing to hide her pain "Ending this fight" Brago growled quietly and wanted to say something, but Demo had recovered and was furious.

"Dizoru!" Brago and Stripes split up to avoid the oncoming attack and attacked form either side, but Demo easily countered their attacks and backed up for one of his own.

"Darkoren!" both watched as the area grew darker and a sphere of blackish grey light collected in Demo's hand.

"Satoren!" Stripes pushed Brago out of the way and extended her hand out towards Demo, a sphere of pale orange energy gathering in her hand and emitting enough light to counter the darkness.

The attacks released simultaneously, and the two beams collided head on, creating a sonic boom that knocked everyone back. Brago had managed to hold his ground until Stripes plowed him over and they both rolled to the ground.

Demo hit the ground flat on his stomach "Tch, who is that girl?" he thought as he waited for the intense wind to pass before trying to get up. "Drake!" he yelled once he had gotten to his feet.

Drake, still unable to stand, looked over at his partner in acknowledgement "Dizorendo!" Demo's ominous aura became visible and he charged at his targets.

After moving quite a distance away, the two finally came to a stop with Brago on the bottom and Stripes lying on top of him. They both groaned in unison pain before the enemies spell caught their attention. They both immediately sat up, but Stripes pushed Brago back down and stood up.

"Oliver, number two!" she yelled as she braced herself for Demo's assault.

Olivia glanced at her through one eye since the other was closed tight to keep the wind out "Satintense!" Stripes balled her hands into tight fists as her body was surrounded by a pale orange aura.

Demo launched his attack, but Stripes was ready for it and launched her own attack in between blocks and dodges. He growled angrily as a punch landed on his chin "Who are you?!"

"I already told you" she said as she dodged another punch and landed a few more hits to his face.

Demo blocked her third attempt as he licked the blood off his lips and continued their melee. An idea passed through his mind and a dark smile crept onto his face as he punched her in a wound on her side. Stripes groaned in pain and froze for a second, giving him enough time to hit her again in that spot along with a few others.

Stripes fell onto her back and groaned louder, her attempt to immediately stand resulting in a violent twitch. Demo stepped forward, putting a lot of strength into his back leg to kick her as hard as possible, but his concentration was interrupted when something hard hit him.

Brago had punched him in the back of the head. While he was temporarily dazed, Brago rapped his arm around Demo's neck and tightened his grip. Demo quickly came back to his senses and struggled against Brago's iron grip to no avail. He screamed out in anger as he slammed his elbow into Brago's unprotected gut, causing him to grunt in pain and his grip to loosen involuntarily. Demo took this opportunity to throw him over his head, right into Stripes as she attempted to get up, knocking her back down and they both groaned in pain.

"Dizoru!" Stripes wasted no time getting up and in between Brago and the tentacles. They hit her full force, cutting into her protective aura and giving her a few more wounds. She growled in pain before the tentacles moved away and her aura faded.

Demo balled both his hands into tight fists and glared at them "HOW DARE YOU MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME?! ME, THE STRONGEST DEMON AROUND! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY DEARLY FOR THIS EMBARASMENT!"

The rest of his rant was tuned out. Brago stood fast and stepped in front of Stripes, pushing her back in the process.

Stripes looked at him confused, but he didn't look at her "What are you doing?" she asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Stay back, I'll handle this" he responded without turning to look at her.

"No, we'll fight him together. Or better yet, I'll fight…" she said as she began to step in front of him, but Brago put his arm out to stop her.

"No, you'll just get in the way" he said coldly.

Stripes' mood quickly changed to anger as she pushed his arm away and spun him around to face her "What are you talking about?! It's not like you were doing that well on your own!"

Brago took a slight step back and his eyes widened almost unnoticeably "What?"

Stripes, to angry to care, raised her hand and poked him roughly on the chest "You heard me. If anything, I was doing better, so why don't you sit this out and I'll…" she poked him again, this time pushing past him, but Brago grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Doing better?! You're covered in injuries! Your book is already burning, so…"

Stripes tried to pull her arm away, but failed "So what, I'm still going to help you, for as long as I'm still here!"

Olivia and Sherry watched their demons fight; Olivia stared blankly, her eye slightly twitching While Sherry covered her face with her hand and shook her head.

Taylor glanced over at Sherry with a sheepish smile "So, how many times has this happened?"

"More than I'd like" Sherry said with a sigh.

"Great, I leave her alone for a few days and she gets herself a boyfriend" Olivia said with a quiet growl.

Sherry turned to her, ready to respond, but her attention was redirected to her book as it began to glow immensely. Its purple light quickly mixed with a bright orange one as Olivia's book began to glow with as much force. The book keepers exchanged a look of concern before turning to look at their demons again.

Brago crossed his arms and moved forward a little, hoping to intimidate her "No, you're not. You're going to stay here and rest until your book is gone"

Stripes leaned forward, bringing their faces a mere inch away from each other and glared "No, I'm not. I'm going to help you for as long as I can"

"Why are you being so thick headed?" Brago growled.

Stripes growled back "Your own to talk" They continued to glare at each other until a horrifying shriek drew their attention elsewhere.

Demo was glaring at them, his eye practically ablaze with anger. "AND NOW YOU'RE IGNORING ME! HOW DARE YOU, I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!" he screamed in a near inaudible shriek and sent the tentacles at them again.

They split up to avoid the attack, but it continued. Brago had very little trouble avoiding the attacks, but his attention kept drifting to Stripes, who was having a little trouble avoiding them, but she kept trying. Watching her struggle made him even angrier and he charged forward towards Demo.

Demo saw him coming and met him head on, breaking into another violent melee.

"Reis!" Brago held his hand to Demo's face as the attack came out, but he ducked and pushed Brago back.

"Darkoren!" Demo quickly charged up his dark beam and shot it at Brago.

Brago didn't have enough time to avoid the attack and braced himself for the hit when Stripes came from the side and tackled him out of the way. They both hit the ground and Brago growled in annoyance "Stop doing that"

Stripes ignored him and sat up, ready to continue the fight when Brago pulled on her arm, causing her to fall on top of him again.

She looked at him a little surprised, but tried to pull away again "What are you doing? Let go"

Brago kept his firm grip and looked over at Demo "Stay here"

Stripes pulled even harder and glared at him "No, I'm going to fight too" He looked back at her, his irises returning as he frowned; she was starting to become transparent. Stripes noticed and stopped pulling. She sighed before looking at him with a warm smile "He ruined our chance at a fight, I can't let him get away with that"

Brago looked at her thoughtfully before letting go and standing up "Fine, but…..don't do anything reckless" he inwardly rolled his eyes "If that's even possible" he thought to himself.

Stripes stood up next to him and merely nodded before looking over at Demo.

"WHAT IS THIS?! AM I INVISIBLE NOW?!" he yelled.

Brago grunted at him "What's wrong with you?"

Stripes leaned against Brago and continued to smile "Yeah, you're acting like a little kid"

Demo continued to fume "I'll show you"

"Dizorendo!" Demo charged, his dark aura quickly appearing around him.

Brago ran towards and began throwing punches and kicks, but they were all blocked and he was forced on the defensive.

"Satintense!" Stripes charged into battle, her aura glowing strong. She came up behind Demo and threw a punch, but he easily blocked it and threw a fast punch back while kicking at Brago. They dodged and started attacking with all their might, but they still couldn't hit him. Their book keepers watched in quiet awe as they fought, their actions appearing blurry from how fast they were moving.

Demo managed to knee Brago in the guts, but he expected that and held onto his leg. He threw a punch at Stripes to keep her away while he tried to free his leg, but she caught his punch. In a silent agreement, they extended his limbs, swung around and kicked him, Stripes hitting him in the chest while Brago catching him across the face.

They let go of his limbs and he flipped backwards from the force of their attacks. He landed on his feet and dug his hands into the ground, to stop himself.

"Gravirie!" He was immediately stopped and pulled to the ground by Brago's gravitational force.

Demo struggled for a moment before breaking free, causing the field to make a popping noise as it broke. "Did you forget about my spell" he said while waving his aura covered hand for them to see.

"Dizoru!" Demo summoned his tentacles again.

Stripes stepped slightly in front of Brago and held out her hand.

"Satoren!" she briefly charged up her attack before releasing it. The tentacles stood up straight side by side in front of Demo and when the beam hit, it dissipated without causing any damage.

Stripes looked surprised and Demo smiled triumphantly "I'm disappointed, I thought you would've noticed sooner" he said before unleashing the enhanced tentacles on them. "My spell enhances more than my physical strength"

Brago quickly grabbed Stripes' hand and jumped out of the way, but he was forced to let go when another came between them, forcing her to fend for herself.

"Dizoru!" more tentacles sprang up behind them and they were forced to dodge twice as many. Brago was managing, dodging most and hitting others away with his fists, but Stripes was too exhausted to hit them away, and getting worst by the second.

Demo laughed wildly as he continued to attack them "What's the matter? I thought you were going to finish me!" Neither had a chance to respond since they were forced too preoccupied with the tentacles.

Olivia watched with growing anger as Demo continued to play around with them "How long can his spell last?"

Sherry glanced at her, feeling just as much anger "I don't know, but we have to do something. At this rate…" she left her sentence unfinished.

Taylor watched the battle with a mix of awe and fear. She remembered something and looked at her sister "Oliver, why was your book glowing so much?"

Oliver's eyes widened in recognition "Of course" she had completely forgotten about the book. She lifted it up and started to flip through the pages.

"Forgotten what?" Taylor asked, feeling even more anxious.

"The glowing, it might be our way out of this mess" she said as she continued to flip through the pages until finally she found what she was looking for, a new spell.

Sherry watched as she turned to the glowing page and couldn't help but wonder about her books' glow from earlier when her attention was redirected.

"Saizoren!" Oliver said

Stripes dodged two oncoming tentacles and flipped backwards to avoid another. She landed on her feet, ready for another attack when she heard the spell and her body froze in place. "W-What?" she thought as a cluster of tentacles closed in around her. Her vision began to blur and she noticed that she had turned to face Demo before she blacked out.

Brago noticed that Stripes had stopped and glanced over to see why when he saw the tentacles closing in around her. "Stripes, move!" he yelled, but she remained perfectly still. The tentacles quickly wrapped around her with a sickening scrape.

"STRIPES!" the girls on the sideline yelled. Brago stopped completely and stared in horror, but he was hit hard on the shoulder by an approaching tentacle which brought him back to his senses.

Demo laughed maliciously at his handiwork, despite the glare he received from Brago. He quieted his laughter to a grin and looked favorably at the other "Well, now that she's gone, would you care to tell me her name?" Brago's glare grew to the point where his irises were no longer visible and his aura burned in their place as he charged at the other, but was met with more tentacles. "Oh, so you'd like to suffer a little more than" Demo said calmly, his smirk still present as he continued to toy with the other, but his joy was quickly interrupted by an odd light.

Brago refused to stop his attack, so Demo could only glance at the light emitting from beneath his mass of tentacles in wonder, keeping half his attention on the furious demon. The light grew brighter and quickly burned away the tentacles, revealing Stripes, completely unharmed and glowing brilliantly.

"What?!" Demo exclaimed, giving her his full attention and Brago enough time to progress forward.

Unlike the demons that were consumed in the battle, the girls took the time to study shining girl. Stripes' eyes glowed a distinguished gold color while her pupils dulled to near invisibility, her skin and clothes glowed with an angelic appearance, and her tail and hair were a shade lighter, excepts for the back stripes in her tail. She quickly set her eyes on Demo and crossed her arms, her scrunched clawed fingers pointing out towards him as they began to glow a pale orange.

Demo frowned at her and raised his hand to attack, when he remembered Brago. He had just enough time to dodge Brago's attack, before his foot crashed into his knee. He threw him a warning glare, for all the good it would do as he stopped in front of his partner and looked back at Stripes.

"Dizoru!" he summoned more tentacles and sent most of them towards Stripes while two kept Brago preoccupied.

Stripes calmly turned to face Demo again, not even noticing the approaching attack, and once she was facing him, unleashed her attack. A tentacle was about to hit her dead in the chest when she swung out her right arm, releasing four pale orange waves of energy that sliced it and all the others up before continuing towards the designated target. She then swung out her left hand, which late out the same attack, but these four moved in their own pattern, all heading in the same direction.

Demo stared in amazement at how easily her attack had decimated his before remembering the position he was in. "Trace, move away!" he yelled as he stepped towards the attack, his book keeper immediately following his order. He swung at the first four, his fist connecting with one, immediately cutting through his aura and burning his hand. He opened his mouth to scream when he was hit with the other three and thrown through a tree or two.

"Demo!" Trace yelled back to his partner, but didn't have time to look back as the four spinning ones approached him. He timed the first one and ducked out of the way, but he could still feel the heat as it passed and his book began to burn. He looked at it in shock, but another hit him dead on, throwing him to the ground burned and unconscious, and destroying the rest of his book. Demo was gone before he even had time to realize what had happened. Upon his immediate exit, the sky began to brighten, revealing the devastated area they used to battle.

Stripes stared at her handy work blankly as her surrounding glow faded. Her eyes reverted to their natural green coloring with naturally black pupils and she blink a few times as if she had just woken up. She looked around with wide eyes at the damaged area in amazement.

"Stripes" Olivia called to get her attention. "Nice job" she finished, giving her a thumbs up.

"Thanks……what did I do?" Stripes asked, more confused than before.

Olivia put her hand down and gave her a weird look "How could she not…"

Sherry interrupted with a quick roll of her eyes "Trust me, she can"

Olivia looked at her, slightly frustrated "How do you know?" Sherry mentally kicked herself for saying that. She looked at Olivia with a sheepish smile, trying to figure out what to tell her and if she told her the truth, how to explain it.

She was saved when Taylor grabbed hold of her sister's hand and pulled her off towards Stripes. She stopped before her and gave her a quick look down before smiling "Hi, I'm Taylor"

Stripes smiled back "Hi, I'm Stripes" she reached out her hand to shake Taylor's, but it fazed through. Stripes pulled her hand back and looked at it physically calm, but mentally in turmoil. She looked up at Taylor after a moment and smiled "Well, this isn't how I planned it"

Taylor smiled back, fighting the urge to cry "Y-Yeah well, at least we got to meet" her eyes started to tear up as Stripes became more and more transparent.

Olivia stared at her fading partner with bared teeth angrily "Idiot" Stripes looked up at her once she had heard this and saw her watery eyes. "You couldn't just hide until I got here to pick you up" she said through gritted teeth.

Stripes looked away in guilt when she noticed that Olivia was still holding her flaming book, at least the little that was left of it. She stepped forward, ready to remove it from her hand when she remembered that she could no longer touch anything. "Oliver, your hand. Let go of the boo…" she said concerned.

"WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST HIDE?!" She yelled; Stripes took a protective step back out of habit. A few tears seeped down her cheeks and Olivia turned away to hide them.

Stripes smiled warmly at her and then turned to look at Sherry and Brago, who had walked over to stand next to his book keeper. She smiled at him, but he looked away, so she walked over to him. It took some effort, but she finally got him to look at her with all the hurt and anger he was feeling.

"Gonna miss me?" she asked with a grin.

Brago crossed his arms defiantly and grunted "Why would I miss an idiot"

Stripes kept her smile "What make me an idiot?"

"You saved my book over yours" he replied, trying very hard not to show any emotion.

Stripes' smile grew from this answer "I couldn't let your book burn, not after everything I put you threw"

Brago took this moment to look away or be overcome with sorrow "And that's why you're an idiot"

Sherry glared at him ready to say something when Olivia yelled to them, not bothering to turn around "I agree!" Sherry looked at her back surprised while Taylor and Stripes just smiled.

Stripes glanced back at her book keeper to see the last of her book burning away and smiled more. She turned back to Brago and waved casually "Well, I'm glad I met you Brago. Good luck"

He didn't respond, didn't even look at her and then she was gone, her book leaving black scars on Olivia's hand. Without a word, he turned around and began walking away, mentally sorting through the feelings he didn't want.

Sherry looked back and forth between her demon and the girls. "Wait Brago!" she yelled as she ran over to Olivia, saying a quick apology while handing over her purse and then chasing after her partner.

Olivia watched them go before looking down at her bag with a heavy sigh. Taylor looked at her anxiously before she spoke "I told her to take good care of this bag for me when we got to the airport"

Taylor gave her a small smile and placed her hand on her sister's slumped shoulder "She did, after all, it is yours"

Olivia glanced at her before correcting her posture "I spent a lot of money on this bag. I should have bought a sturdy chain leash instead"

Taylor chuckled lightly, seeing that her sister's mood had lightened up a bit. She removed her hand and placed them proudly on her hips "Well, now that I've met her and you've regained your bag…"

"You want to go enjoy your little vacation" Olivia said with a dull look and flat voice. Taylor merely nodded and she sighed again "When exactly did we switch personalities?"

Taylor shrugged "Don't know, maybe around the time you met Stripes" she turned and began walking towards the town they had recently been in.

Olivia followed, reminiscing about Stripes as she studied her bag when she noticed something odd. "….%#$! She ripped the strap off!"

Well, I hope you like it, I had to edit it a few times to get it this way. Sorry it's so long, I didn't see a decent spot to cut it. Thank you for reading this story, I hoped you enjoyed it. Now that this is done, I can fully enjoy "The Blinding Book" and "Love, Family, and the Mamodo Battle" and finish or continue my other three stories^^ Oh, and my buddy Oliver wants me to put up bloopers and deleted stuff from this story, but I'm not so sure. Your opinion would be nice.

Please R&R and thanks again!