SailorStar9: Anyway, Chapter 6 goes up. This is Chapter 7. To all my non-reviewing readers, I love you all! Will love you more if you review! *hugs all round!*
Disclaimers: Nothing here is mine, well, except the plot and the pairing.
Chapter 7: JACKPOT! The Great Life or Death Gamble!
"And man, are you gonna regret ever messing with us." Lina smirked.
"How foolish can you humans be?" Shabranigdo taunted. "By becoming my servants you would have guaranteed yourselves long lives. Embarking on a hopeless battle… that is the summit of stupidity. The sorcerer Zolf and the old man who died with him were fools. But compared to them, you are even greater fools."
"You call them fools?" Zelgadis snapped.
"You monster!" Gourry glared. "Is that how you see human lives?"
"You'll be sorry you ever said that to us." Lina agreed.
"Then by your deaths, know the level of your foolishness." Shabranigdo snorted.
"Exactly who's the fool…" Zelgadis drew his blade. "Is what we're going to see!" he charged.
Shabranigdo just blew the chimera off with a gust of wind.
"Who cares if it doesn't work?" Lina retorted, Aria's shield was already in place to condone off the raging winds. "Gaav Flare! Oh man, why'd I even try?" she sighed, Shabranigdo diffusing the blast.
"This is yours, I believe." Shabranigdo returned the attack.
"What did you do, Lina?" Gourry asked, dodging a wayward energy blast.
"I was seeing if it'd work or not." Lina replied.
"Infinite earth, mother who nurtures all life," Zelgadis started his spell. "Let thy power gather in my hand! Vlave Howl!" and doused the Dark Lord in a flood of magma.
"Did it work?" Gourry wondered, the lava solidifying.
"No." Aria corrected, Shabranigdo breaking free. "I'm not going to say I told you so." She muttered as boiling geysers burst out from the ground, followed by jets of magma erupting from the earth.
"Not good!" Zelgadis hissed, Shabranigdo emerging unscathed.
"An amazing trick, however," Shabranigdo noted. "You should use lava like this." with a wave of his hand, he called forth a group of lava pit dragons. "Go." He gave the command.
"This'll take forever." Gourry remarked, taking out a lava pit dragon coming at him.
"Guess we'll have to do this the hard way." Aria muttered. "Zel, I need a Van Rehl please."
"Gotcha." Zelgadis nodded.
"Shield of Cold!" Aria summoned a larger version of her barrier, Zelgadis reinforcing the shield with a 'Val Rehl' spell.
"Way to go!" Lina whooped.
"Aria!" Zelgadis pushed Aria out of the way of an incoming lava pit dragon, taking the hit.
"Gourry, let's go!" Lina turned to her partner. "Freeze Arrow!" she blasted her ice spike at the lava pit dragon.
"Ice Dragon!" Aria's massive ice construct fly-tackled the lava pit dragon and breaking its body into countless little pieces.
"Guess someone pissed her off." Lina joked. "And there's more!" she turned to Shabranigdo. "Fireball!"
"Do you still refuse to see this as futile?" Shabranigdo questioned, the attack barely fazing him.
"Do it, Gourry!" Lina gave the cue.
"Light, come forth!" Gourry summoned his light saber and gave the Dark Lord a downward slice with his blade. "It can't be…" he gaped when Shabranigdo blocked the blade with a bare hand.
"The Sword of Light doesn't work?" Lina gasped.
"The Sword of Light which slew the legendary beast Zanaffar," Shabranigdo started. "But it will not slay me." And blasted Gourry back with an energy blast.
"Don't sound so worried, Lina." Gourry assured. "I'm not quite dead yet."
"Neither am I." Zelgadis got to his feet. "I'm still ready to fight."
"You can still move?" Shabranigdo droned and showered the two males with a rain of fire needles. "Such lovely screams. Such screams as I've longed to hear. The power of the Monster race flows from the negative energies in the human heart. Terror, anger sorrow, despair… all of these become my power. For thousands of years, I have existed within the blood of men. Being reborn again and again. At last, I found this man, Rezo whose body would be most suitable for me. Now I must accumulate as much power as possible. And for that, the fear I find in your powerful human souls is most preferable." And released another stream of fire needles at the two swordsmen. "Let me hear your screams. Let them become my power. And by that power shall I destroy the world and return it to a sea of chaos."
"So that's…" Aria stated, her sapphire amulet glowing brightly. "That's what you Monsters are after."
"I give them to you as well…" Shabranigdo added. "Terror and pain!" he released his rain of fire at the two females when Aria's shield was erected almost instantly. "It's finished." He reached out to crush the shining crystal. "I will destroy you before you revive."
"I accept your determination." Ragradia's voice rang from the bright sapphire. "My spirit is sealed within the crystal. Prosper or ruin, do as you wish, my avatar. I've been waiting for you. You will succeed my will."
"What?" Shabranigdo demanded, the light suddenly expanded outwards, forcing him back. "So, you've been revived, Ragradia…" he declared, the light dying down to reveal Aria in her newest battle form; a light blue sailor suit with a pleated pale blue mini-skirt, the middle section of the skirt decorated with different shades of blue. She held a winged staff with the Ragradia Sapphire donned on the top and a shimmering watery cape completed her outfit.
"Ragradia…" Lina breathed.
"Lina!" Gourry tossed her his sword.
"Ice Prison!" Aria called forth her attack, numerous ice pillars surrounding Shabranigdo. Turning her staff anti-clockwise, she had the attack enveloping the Dark Lord, freezing him in a solid block of ice.
"Darkness beyond blackest pitch, deeper than the deepest night." Lina chanted. "King of Darkness, who shines like gold upon the Sea of Chaos. I call upon thee. Swear myself upon thee! Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess."
"Rezo, Priest of the Red, now you must choose." Aria pointed her staff at the frozen Shabranigdo. "Will you let your soul be consumed by Shabranigdo? Or will you take your vengeance on him?"
"Giga Slave!" Lina released her attack.
"A valiant effort, you humans." Shabranigdo complimented. "To have destroyed the Dark Lord, Shabranigdo. I have granted, you, Ragradia and Rezo the honour of having killed me." Turning into stone, he crumbled. "It was fun while it lasted."
"Did they do it?" Gourry wondered.
"Shabranigdo is no more." Zelgadis confirmed.
"We actually beat him." Lina sighed in relief, flopping on the ground.
"Even though it was a tough fight." Aria agreed. "And to think," she touched the Ragradia Sapphire around her neck, a silver dragon now coiled around the crystal. "I had the Ragradia Sapphire along."
"Lina, your hair…" Gourry gaped.
"It's okay." Lina assured. "I just kinda of overexerted myself."
"But how did you two beat the Dark Lord?" Gourry wondered.
"It was nothing." Lina replied.
"Does this mean you're more powerful than he is?" Zelgadis asked.
"Would you cut that out?" Aria punched him on the arm. "We had a snowball's chance in hell. We only won because of the Sword of Light, the Ragradia Sapphire and Rezo's help."
"What do you mean?" Gourry was confused.
"The very last vestiges of Rezo's spirit held Shabranigdo back." Lina explained. "So you can say we were half of what beat him. Maybe reviving Shabranigdo and turning Zelgadis into a chimera weren't the actions of the real Rezo. Maybe, as he was trapped inside Rezo's body, Shabranigdo took control of him over a long period of time."
"Are you saying I should believe that?" Zelgadis pressed.
"Well, if we were wrong, I don't think Rezo would've helped us." Aria pointed out. "Whether you believe it not, is up to you."
"Whatever the reason, you did great." Gourry praised, petting Lina on the head.
"You treating me like a kid again?" Lina deathpanned.
"I can see Atlas City." Gourry looked forward.
"Is that where you're headed?" Zelgadis asked.
"You said you'd only see us this far." Lina reminded.
"Did I?" Gourry mused.
"He's totally forgotten about it." Aria sighed. "As usual."
"Where are you headed next?" Gourry thought to ask.
"Gourry," Lina grinned. "Did you forget how you said you'd give me the Sword of Light?"
"Who ever said that?" Gourry snapped.
"You're not going to give it to me?" Lina whined.
"Of course not." Gourry retorted.
"Okay then," Lina decided. "I know where we're headed now. Wherever you're going." She pointed to Gourry. "We're sticking with you until you finally decide to give me the Sword of Light."
"I'm going to need lots of aspirin after this." Aria moaned.
"Well, here we must part ways." Zelgadis stated. "It would be dangerous for a man like me in a city that large."
"That's that." Lina grinned. "Let's get going!"
SailorStar9: Okay, this chapter is finally down. Read and review folks.