Author's Note: Unlucky chapter 13 for Kopii and Vrumugun. I was dreading an encounter with my mom when I wrote this, so her scary side comes out in Eris. It was stressing me out just writing her, so I had to have Kopii fix things, which came as quite a relief. Good and bad in this chapter. Next chapter, important stuff happens and I get to have some fun with everybody's subconscious. Review, please!
Ramblings of the Doomed
Chapter 13: Untimely Encounters
Rezo was inordinately pleased with his great-grandson's training. The boy had recently turned 18. He had surpassed Rodimus in swordsmanship a while ago. He had also learned all Zolf and Eris had to teach him of black and white magic. And he could even almost match Rezo himself in shaman magic, if nothing else. He was so good that Rodimus and Zolf called him 'master' now. They had become very good friends with him, which Rezo was glad to see.
The mazoku Rezo had made his contract with had recently told him something very interesting. Apparently, a Philosopher's Stone had appeared. Supposedly a fragment of the staff of the gods that held up the world, this magical artifact magnified magic to an enormous degree and was said to change the course of history when it appeared. With something like that, Rezo figured he should have enough strength to summon the great Dark Lord, and hopefully enough left over to kill him. If not, he had great faith that Zelgadis would at least put up a good fight.
In the meantime, Rezo had sent Zelgadis, who in turn had sent Zolf, Rodimus, Dilgear, and the other animal chimeras to find the stone. He looked himself, when he could. But his mind always felt fuzzy. As if it were being smothered between two pillows stuffed full of needles. It was very hard to speak or act for himself, so most of the time he retreated to the safe corner of his mind to hide and save his strength.
Since Rezo had no more use for Eris, he sent her home. She protested a lot, but he held firm on this point. She needed to be out of his way and out of danger. He told her to go keep an eye on the house for him and continue her work with the chimeras and kopii-related things. So Eris reluctantly Ray Winged herself back home.
* * *
As Eris walked up the path leading to the house, she was surprised to see all of the window open. Laughter came from inside. It sounded almost like Rezo-sama…. That Kopii! Eris walked faster and more purposefully. She opened the door and glared at what she saw.
It looked like all the little kopiis had cast light spells and were making their little balls of light into dotted pictures. They were laughing hysterically. Vrumugun was sitting at the table, his normally blank expression lightened into a smile. Kopii was sitting in another chair, laughing at the other kopiis' pictures. And his hair was pulled back into that horrible ponytail again! He was sitting there like he owned the place! How dare he!?
No one noticed when Eris quietly opened the door. They were having too much fun. But when she slammed it shut behind her, they all looked up. All the kopiis' light spells went out. Kopii and Vrumugun had almost identical expressions of horror on their faces. The little kopiis ran away, chattering fearfully to each other.
"Kopii, how DARE you!!!!" Eris shouted. Kopii flinched. "You're not dressed the way you're supposed to be. Even your hair is wrong again! You let this creep out, which I told you NOT to do. And you had the nerve to teach the kopiis magic!?" Eris couldn't think of anything else. She had become speechless with rage.
Kopii stood up, trying to use his towering height and strange eyes for intimidation. "Eris, I am NOT Rezo. I don't have to dress like that when I'm here. My hair is my own as well. You said not to let Vrumugun's KOPIIS out, and I haven't touched them. You said nothing of the sort about the original. And the kopiis already knew magic, we just taught them to concentrate enough to actually use some," he said sternly.
Eris stepped back for a moment. This wasn't good. Then she glared at him and exerted her will over him with the gem on his forehead. Kopii went stiff for a moment. Then she made him sit down. She took out her comb and furiously combed his hair back into Rezo's style. Then she made him go put the red outer robe and shoulder guards on while she trapped Vrumugun in a Ray Wing and took him down to the lab. She paralyzed him with a spell, ripped his robes back off, and attached the blood and nutrient tubes back onto his body. Then she levitated him into the tank, shut the lid, and set it to fill to the top with syrupy suspension fluid.
When she returned to the kitchen, Eris found Kopii standing in his Rezoish clothing, awaiting her orders. She took her control off of him momentarily. "Where's the staff you were supposed to pick up?" she asked angrily. Kopii frowned, but he went and got it from the living room.
"What's this! This isn't Rezo-sama's staff! I'll have to go have a word with that fool blacksmith," Eris said. She was just angry with the whole world right now.
"You can't!" Kopii said, anxious to save his unique staff. "He said the mold broke. And it's already paid for. And… There's a no-return policy!"
"Rrgh…" Eris growled, gritting her teeth. "Well you'd better have been doing something useful all this time!"
"I was!" Kopii said defensively. "I helped a lot of people. And I'm giving a girl magic lessons."
"Well cut them short. You're not fit to be outside by yourself," snapped Eris. "I'm going upstairs. You tell that girl she's learned everything she can, because you're not going to teach her anymore. And come right back when you're finished." With that, Eris stomped up the stairs to her attic. She slammed the door, threw her bag down, and flopped down on her bed, sobbing. 'Why couldn't Rezo-sama have just stayed? Things were so wonderful with him here…'
* * *
Kopii left quickly, wanting to get as far away as possible. He was far too upset over Eris's return to go straight to Sylphiel's house, so he wandered around town for a while to calm down. There was one of those 'hit the bell, win a prize' things near the market, and everyone cheered in amazement when the ancient, blind red priest hammered it so hard, the bell nearly fell off. That made him feel better, so he walked from there to Sylphiel's house carrying his prize. The sight of the graceful, dignified aka houshi Rezo walking through town carrying a stuffed golden dragon almost as big as he was proved hilarious to anyone who saw him. It was hard to walk varying it in front of him, and he almost fell a few times.
But finally, Kopii made it up to Sylphiel's house. She saw him from the window and ran out to meet him. He smiled at her.
"Ohayo, Sylphiel. Here, I won this. You can have it," he said, holding out the huge stuffed dragon to her. She took it and set it down beside her.
"Oh Rezo-sensei, it's so cute! It's wonderful! I love it," Sylphiel said, smiling at her teacher. "You're a bit early today. Should we start the lesson already?"
Kopii's face fell. He really had enjoyed teaching her. "No Sylphiel. I'm afraid there will be no more lessons. I've taught you all I can."
"Really?" Sylphiel asked.
"Hai. You can do just about anything short of bringing the dead back to life. It's been a pleasure teaching you, Sylphiel-san," Kopii said. Luckily, it was true. She had learned pretty much all the white magic he could teach her.
"Oh, arigato Rezo-sensei! Thank you so much! Would you like to come in? I'm sure my father wouldn't mind having you over for dinner!" Sylphiel said. It was the least she could offer her beloved teacher.
"I would like that very much, Sylphiel-san," Kopii said sadly. "But I'm afraid I have a prior engagement that I can't cancel. Perhaps another time."
"What about next week?" Sylphiel asked eagerly. But this made her teacher look even sadder.
"I really wish I could, Sylphiel," said Kopii. "But I have a feeling I'm going to be kept very busy for quite a long time. If me schedule would happen to clear up suddenly, though, I'd love to take you up on that offer."
So the two sadly parted. Sylphiel hauled the gargantuan stuffed dragon into her room while Kopii walked slowly, feet dragging, back to his house.
* * *
Eris was back in the kitchen with some coffee, ready to start yelling at Kopii again when he got back.
"That took a while. Are you sure you didn't stop along the way?" Eris asked suspiciously.
"No, it just took a while to explain to her," said Kopii.
Eris stared at him for a while, obviously not believing him. Then to Kopii's horror, there was a knock at the door. He panicked, praying that Sylphiel hadn't followed him. He didn't want that sweet girl exposed to Eris's wrath! Eris went to the door and Kopii leapt to follow.
Eris opened the door, and Kopii saw that it was Zangulus. "Hey K –" he said, stopping when he saw Eris.
Eris sneered at him. "What do you want with aka houshi Rezo-sama?" she demanded.
Zangulus, seeing Kopii's look of pure terror, realized that this must be that horrible Eris he'd been told about. He changed tactics.
"Uh… I wanted to ask aka houshi Rezo to make me an enchanted sword," he said quickly.
"Hmm… an enchanted sword? Why can't you just go find one? Or ask someone else," said Eris, quite unreasonably.
"Well I want THIS sword enchanted," Zangulus said, pointing to the one hanging from his belt. "Everyone knows the best enchanted swords are made specially for the wielder, not found in some old ruin. And everyone knows that Rezo-sama's the best at things like this. Who are you anyway, his bodyguard?" he said, trying to bait her. It wasn't hard right now.
Kopii saw that Eris was about to explode at Zangulus. He understood her anger and grief, to a point, but she was completely out of control. This could not continue. He quickly cast a mind-calming spell on her. Then he stepped forward, and in his most regal Rezo voice he said, "Of course. Just let me borrow it for a while. I'll let you know when it's finished. Now, perhaps we should step outside to discuss a price." He carefully brushed past Eris, exerting a small bit of control over her to make her go upstairs and go to bed. Hopefully that would help. Then he stepped outside with Zangulus.
"Lord of Nightmares, Kopii! What a bitch!!" Zangulus exclaimed. "How can you stand her!? No wonder Rezo left!"
Kopii sighed, opening his eyes to look at the swordsman. "Yeah, I know what you mean. She was nice to Rezo, though. And she never used to be THIS bad!"
"Well I guess I dug myself into a financial hole here, ne? How much is this thing gonna cost?" Zangulus asked, patting the sword at his side.
"Oh don't worry about it. Consider it an early birthday present or something. If Eris asks, I'll tell her I put the money in with her supply," said Kopii.
"Really? You sure about that?" Zangulus asked. Kopii nodded. "Hey, thanks!"
"You're welcome," said Kopii. "Now I'd better go back and get to work. I had to force Eris to go to sleep. I really hope it helps. Your sword shouldn't take too long."
So Zangulus handed over his sword and Kopii took it inside. He brought it down to the lab, snagging some bread and butter to eat on the way. He set the sword on a stand near his cage and ran his hands over it, careful not to touch the sharp blade. Kopii opened up a small pocket of astral space around the sword and then carefully sealed it shut. He would let it sit overnight and tomorrow it would be very receptive to his enchantments. He mentally checked on Eris. Luckily, she was fast asleep.
"I calmed her mind and put her to sleep," Kopii told Vrumugun. "I really hope that helps!" Vrumugun nodded slightly in agreement.
All that magic had tired Kopii out. Thinking wistfully of the warm, soft sofa in the living room but knowing that Eris would likely catch him there, he lay down on the floor to sleep. The little kopiis gathered around him, and that made him feel better.
And up in the attic, Eris dreamed of Rezo talking to her, though she couldn't quite make out the words he used. The little kopiis chattered into her ears.
*Some Japanese for You*
Ohayo – hello/good afternoon
Sensei - teacher
Ramblings of the Doomed
Chapter 13: Untimely Encounters
Rezo was inordinately pleased with his great-grandson's training. The boy had recently turned 18. He had surpassed Rodimus in swordsmanship a while ago. He had also learned all Zolf and Eris had to teach him of black and white magic. And he could even almost match Rezo himself in shaman magic, if nothing else. He was so good that Rodimus and Zolf called him 'master' now. They had become very good friends with him, which Rezo was glad to see.
The mazoku Rezo had made his contract with had recently told him something very interesting. Apparently, a Philosopher's Stone had appeared. Supposedly a fragment of the staff of the gods that held up the world, this magical artifact magnified magic to an enormous degree and was said to change the course of history when it appeared. With something like that, Rezo figured he should have enough strength to summon the great Dark Lord, and hopefully enough left over to kill him. If not, he had great faith that Zelgadis would at least put up a good fight.
In the meantime, Rezo had sent Zelgadis, who in turn had sent Zolf, Rodimus, Dilgear, and the other animal chimeras to find the stone. He looked himself, when he could. But his mind always felt fuzzy. As if it were being smothered between two pillows stuffed full of needles. It was very hard to speak or act for himself, so most of the time he retreated to the safe corner of his mind to hide and save his strength.
Since Rezo had no more use for Eris, he sent her home. She protested a lot, but he held firm on this point. She needed to be out of his way and out of danger. He told her to go keep an eye on the house for him and continue her work with the chimeras and kopii-related things. So Eris reluctantly Ray Winged herself back home.
* * *
As Eris walked up the path leading to the house, she was surprised to see all of the window open. Laughter came from inside. It sounded almost like Rezo-sama…. That Kopii! Eris walked faster and more purposefully. She opened the door and glared at what she saw.
It looked like all the little kopiis had cast light spells and were making their little balls of light into dotted pictures. They were laughing hysterically. Vrumugun was sitting at the table, his normally blank expression lightened into a smile. Kopii was sitting in another chair, laughing at the other kopiis' pictures. And his hair was pulled back into that horrible ponytail again! He was sitting there like he owned the place! How dare he!?
No one noticed when Eris quietly opened the door. They were having too much fun. But when she slammed it shut behind her, they all looked up. All the kopiis' light spells went out. Kopii and Vrumugun had almost identical expressions of horror on their faces. The little kopiis ran away, chattering fearfully to each other.
"Kopii, how DARE you!!!!" Eris shouted. Kopii flinched. "You're not dressed the way you're supposed to be. Even your hair is wrong again! You let this creep out, which I told you NOT to do. And you had the nerve to teach the kopiis magic!?" Eris couldn't think of anything else. She had become speechless with rage.
Kopii stood up, trying to use his towering height and strange eyes for intimidation. "Eris, I am NOT Rezo. I don't have to dress like that when I'm here. My hair is my own as well. You said not to let Vrumugun's KOPIIS out, and I haven't touched them. You said nothing of the sort about the original. And the kopiis already knew magic, we just taught them to concentrate enough to actually use some," he said sternly.
Eris stepped back for a moment. This wasn't good. Then she glared at him and exerted her will over him with the gem on his forehead. Kopii went stiff for a moment. Then she made him sit down. She took out her comb and furiously combed his hair back into Rezo's style. Then she made him go put the red outer robe and shoulder guards on while she trapped Vrumugun in a Ray Wing and took him down to the lab. She paralyzed him with a spell, ripped his robes back off, and attached the blood and nutrient tubes back onto his body. Then she levitated him into the tank, shut the lid, and set it to fill to the top with syrupy suspension fluid.
When she returned to the kitchen, Eris found Kopii standing in his Rezoish clothing, awaiting her orders. She took her control off of him momentarily. "Where's the staff you were supposed to pick up?" she asked angrily. Kopii frowned, but he went and got it from the living room.
"What's this! This isn't Rezo-sama's staff! I'll have to go have a word with that fool blacksmith," Eris said. She was just angry with the whole world right now.
"You can't!" Kopii said, anxious to save his unique staff. "He said the mold broke. And it's already paid for. And… There's a no-return policy!"
"Rrgh…" Eris growled, gritting her teeth. "Well you'd better have been doing something useful all this time!"
"I was!" Kopii said defensively. "I helped a lot of people. And I'm giving a girl magic lessons."
"Well cut them short. You're not fit to be outside by yourself," snapped Eris. "I'm going upstairs. You tell that girl she's learned everything she can, because you're not going to teach her anymore. And come right back when you're finished." With that, Eris stomped up the stairs to her attic. She slammed the door, threw her bag down, and flopped down on her bed, sobbing. 'Why couldn't Rezo-sama have just stayed? Things were so wonderful with him here…'
* * *
Kopii left quickly, wanting to get as far away as possible. He was far too upset over Eris's return to go straight to Sylphiel's house, so he wandered around town for a while to calm down. There was one of those 'hit the bell, win a prize' things near the market, and everyone cheered in amazement when the ancient, blind red priest hammered it so hard, the bell nearly fell off. That made him feel better, so he walked from there to Sylphiel's house carrying his prize. The sight of the graceful, dignified aka houshi Rezo walking through town carrying a stuffed golden dragon almost as big as he was proved hilarious to anyone who saw him. It was hard to walk varying it in front of him, and he almost fell a few times.
But finally, Kopii made it up to Sylphiel's house. She saw him from the window and ran out to meet him. He smiled at her.
"Ohayo, Sylphiel. Here, I won this. You can have it," he said, holding out the huge stuffed dragon to her. She took it and set it down beside her.
"Oh Rezo-sensei, it's so cute! It's wonderful! I love it," Sylphiel said, smiling at her teacher. "You're a bit early today. Should we start the lesson already?"
Kopii's face fell. He really had enjoyed teaching her. "No Sylphiel. I'm afraid there will be no more lessons. I've taught you all I can."
"Really?" Sylphiel asked.
"Hai. You can do just about anything short of bringing the dead back to life. It's been a pleasure teaching you, Sylphiel-san," Kopii said. Luckily, it was true. She had learned pretty much all the white magic he could teach her.
"Oh, arigato Rezo-sensei! Thank you so much! Would you like to come in? I'm sure my father wouldn't mind having you over for dinner!" Sylphiel said. It was the least she could offer her beloved teacher.
"I would like that very much, Sylphiel-san," Kopii said sadly. "But I'm afraid I have a prior engagement that I can't cancel. Perhaps another time."
"What about next week?" Sylphiel asked eagerly. But this made her teacher look even sadder.
"I really wish I could, Sylphiel," said Kopii. "But I have a feeling I'm going to be kept very busy for quite a long time. If me schedule would happen to clear up suddenly, though, I'd love to take you up on that offer."
So the two sadly parted. Sylphiel hauled the gargantuan stuffed dragon into her room while Kopii walked slowly, feet dragging, back to his house.
* * *
Eris was back in the kitchen with some coffee, ready to start yelling at Kopii again when he got back.
"That took a while. Are you sure you didn't stop along the way?" Eris asked suspiciously.
"No, it just took a while to explain to her," said Kopii.
Eris stared at him for a while, obviously not believing him. Then to Kopii's horror, there was a knock at the door. He panicked, praying that Sylphiel hadn't followed him. He didn't want that sweet girl exposed to Eris's wrath! Eris went to the door and Kopii leapt to follow.
Eris opened the door, and Kopii saw that it was Zangulus. "Hey K –" he said, stopping when he saw Eris.
Eris sneered at him. "What do you want with aka houshi Rezo-sama?" she demanded.
Zangulus, seeing Kopii's look of pure terror, realized that this must be that horrible Eris he'd been told about. He changed tactics.
"Uh… I wanted to ask aka houshi Rezo to make me an enchanted sword," he said quickly.
"Hmm… an enchanted sword? Why can't you just go find one? Or ask someone else," said Eris, quite unreasonably.
"Well I want THIS sword enchanted," Zangulus said, pointing to the one hanging from his belt. "Everyone knows the best enchanted swords are made specially for the wielder, not found in some old ruin. And everyone knows that Rezo-sama's the best at things like this. Who are you anyway, his bodyguard?" he said, trying to bait her. It wasn't hard right now.
Kopii saw that Eris was about to explode at Zangulus. He understood her anger and grief, to a point, but she was completely out of control. This could not continue. He quickly cast a mind-calming spell on her. Then he stepped forward, and in his most regal Rezo voice he said, "Of course. Just let me borrow it for a while. I'll let you know when it's finished. Now, perhaps we should step outside to discuss a price." He carefully brushed past Eris, exerting a small bit of control over her to make her go upstairs and go to bed. Hopefully that would help. Then he stepped outside with Zangulus.
"Lord of Nightmares, Kopii! What a bitch!!" Zangulus exclaimed. "How can you stand her!? No wonder Rezo left!"
Kopii sighed, opening his eyes to look at the swordsman. "Yeah, I know what you mean. She was nice to Rezo, though. And she never used to be THIS bad!"
"Well I guess I dug myself into a financial hole here, ne? How much is this thing gonna cost?" Zangulus asked, patting the sword at his side.
"Oh don't worry about it. Consider it an early birthday present or something. If Eris asks, I'll tell her I put the money in with her supply," said Kopii.
"Really? You sure about that?" Zangulus asked. Kopii nodded. "Hey, thanks!"
"You're welcome," said Kopii. "Now I'd better go back and get to work. I had to force Eris to go to sleep. I really hope it helps. Your sword shouldn't take too long."
So Zangulus handed over his sword and Kopii took it inside. He brought it down to the lab, snagging some bread and butter to eat on the way. He set the sword on a stand near his cage and ran his hands over it, careful not to touch the sharp blade. Kopii opened up a small pocket of astral space around the sword and then carefully sealed it shut. He would let it sit overnight and tomorrow it would be very receptive to his enchantments. He mentally checked on Eris. Luckily, she was fast asleep.
"I calmed her mind and put her to sleep," Kopii told Vrumugun. "I really hope that helps!" Vrumugun nodded slightly in agreement.
All that magic had tired Kopii out. Thinking wistfully of the warm, soft sofa in the living room but knowing that Eris would likely catch him there, he lay down on the floor to sleep. The little kopiis gathered around him, and that made him feel better.
And up in the attic, Eris dreamed of Rezo talking to her, though she couldn't quite make out the words he used. The little kopiis chattered into her ears.
*Some Japanese for You*
Ohayo – hello/good afternoon
Sensei - teacher