Zelgadis wasn't quite prepared for what kind of effect seeing his old comrades would have on him. Rodimus, the old soldier that had served his family for all of Zelgadis's life, the man who first taught him how to fight. Zolf, a fellow student of magic. He might not be as skilled or as powerful as Lina or even as himself... but Zolf was loyal and brave.
Then again, Zelgadis wasn't as powerful as he felt he should be. After so long of being part blow demon, he found that magic power was no longer as easy to draw as it once was. However, he was determined to work it out. He'd become just as powerful, if not more so, as a human, this time!
Zolf and Rodimus were amazed at the emotions Zelgadis seemed to display. "Master?" Rodimus asked in concern. "Are you... all right?"
"Yes, Lord Zelgadis," Zolf added, "you're acting as though you haven't seen us in years!"
Zelgadis shook his head. He had to deal with the here and now. "No time for that now. I was just attacked... by Rezo and his servants."
The other gasped, as they had been allied with Rezo for a while now. "Why would he attack you?" Zolf demanded.
"He wanted to turn me into a chimera, to bind me to his will, I think."
Rodimus snarled. "So much for that 'Holy Man.'"
"It gets worse," Zelgadis replied. "I have reason to believe that Rezo is possessed... by a Mazoku." Of course, he knew that Rezo was actually acting as a seal for 1/7 of Shabranigdo, but there was no way he could have just 'discovered' that.
Zolf and Rodimus grew grim at the thought. Rezo was an important person across all the lands. A Mazoku could cause all sorts of troubles with that kind of influence. "This is not good," Rodimus said at last. "What should we do, young master?"
"I... know some people that might help. We need to get to Seyruun."
Zolf and Rodimus nodded. Sounded like a plan to them.
As they prepared to leave, Rodimus finally asked, "Master... what is that thing you are carrying, anyway?"
Zelgadis blanked on how to explain Ragud Mezegis to them...
***
"So why are you here?" Gourry asked of Sirius. It had taken him this long to put things together, but Gourry finally got the idea that they were in the past, now. And then he remembered something about a barrier, and that Sirius was supposed to be on the other side...
Sirius shrugged. "I think I was dragged along with the rest of you, since you all came from this area. Right now, with that barrier up, I am trapped here as well. But, once we all gather, all five of the Darkstar Weapons might be able to break down that barrier."
"And then?"
Sirius grew grim. "Then I check if Darkstar is still around. If he is, then we should take him out before he merges his power with Valgaav."
Gourry shrugged. He wasn't going to remember this, anyway...
***
Amelia didn't know whether to be horrified, of just extremely embarrassed.
Prince Phil, on the other hand, was livid. "So you put her in an Iron Cage and sink her under water. If she drowns, then you know she is not corrupted."
"Yes sir!" The holy man replied brightly.
"No."
The holy man looked nonplused. "Um, well... there's always the stone press. Someone who has taken the Pledge of Immortality, her chest won't cave in when a large stone is dropped on her."
Amelia blanched.
"No." Prince Phil said.
"Oh!" Another Holy Man cried. "We could cover her in fish sausages and throw her in a pit of starving cats! Only someone who had made a Pledge could survive that!"
Amelia was truly tempted to use Lina's answer to this situation and blow these 'Holy Men' up.
Prince Phil, unusually subdued, looked the head Holy Man in the eyes. "No. Is there any test that doesn't involve trying to kill her?!"
The Holy Man considered that. "Um... no. That's the only accurate way to check, after all. If someone's made the Pledge of Immortality, then they are unkillable."
Phil glared at the man. "And if she hasn't, then you've just committed murder. Of a Princess, at that."
The Holy Man grew a large sweatdrop. "Um... never thought about that..."
"I suggest you devise a test that doesn't involve trying to kill her. I will not risk my daughter's life to your insane tests!!"
The Holy Men now paled. After a lot of bowing and scraping, they hurriedly left.
Phil sighed. Then he turned to Amelia. "I'm sorry, daughter. But until this is all cleared up, I'll have to ask you not to leave the city."
Amelia nodded. "It's okay, daddy. I'm just feeling a bit cooped up, here in the palace..."
***
Lina considered the situation as she flew across the country side. Naga wouldn't give up easily... but it should take her a few weeks, at least, to catch up again.
Honestly, Lina was of a two minds on that prospect. Naga was annoying as all heck, but she had been a good traveling companion. Near the end, Lina didn't mind her presence at all.
Then came the time she tested out a spell she found. The Gig-slave. Neither of them had been prepared for exactly how powerful that spell turned out to be. Lina had been expecting something like a Dragon Slave - what she got was many times more powerful. It completely decimated the bay she had tested it on... and Naga had got caught in the fringes of the explosion. For the longest time, Lina had thought that Naga had been frightened away by the power of the spell. Now she suspected that Naga had actually been touched by the Chaos of the Lord of Nightmares herself, and had lost something in the process.
Well, now Lina had no intention of casting the Giga-slave again. That wasn't supposed to happen for about another six or seven months... and now it never would.
If that meant that Naga would continue to hang around... well, so what? Naga was a powerful sorceress... not as powerful as Lina, but she wasn't second-rate by any means.
Actually, though, now that she thought about it... Naga looked a lot like an older Amelia... strange how she never thought about that before.
Lina shrugged. Probably a coincidence.
Then she stopped in mid air. Had she just seen Gourry and Sirius walking back there?!
Rezo was contemplating things. The survivors of the troop he'd sent after Zelgadis had brought some interesting news. "Are you sure?" he asked.
The tiger-man nodded. "Yes, master! He said Light Come Forth, and then that staff thing he was holding gained a blade made of light. And then he shot it at us!"
Rezo nodded. The part of him that was Shabranigdo recognized the basic description. Somehow, another of Darkstar's weapons had found its way to this world. And his Great-Grandson/Great-Great-Grandson had somehow found it, and unleashed its power.
Power that it could use to much better ends...
"Dilgear!" He called.
The half-troll/half-werewolf walked up to his master. "Yes?"
"Take a squad of your best troops off the search for the statue. I want Zelgadis and that weapon brought back to me... alive!"
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(Posted Sun, 29 Dec 2002 17:29)
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