SailorStar9: Anyway, Chapter 15 goes up. This is Chapter 16. 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 16: WARNING! Eris' Wrath!
"I found that first!" Lina snapped. "Give it back!"
"Give it back?" Eris echoed. "Don't be absurd. Reo got this before any of us. Shouldn't it go back to irs original owner?"
"Perhaps, however." Lina pointed out. "Only if that is the real Rezo over there."
"Just what are you implying?" Rezo inquired.
"Burst Rondo!" Lina released her attack.
"You're wasting your time." Eris used the tablet to absorb the fire, only to have Zelgadis use the cover to slash off Rezo's headband.
"You've added some jewellery since we last met." The chimera remarked. "It suits you nicely, Copy Rezo."
"You created the other copies with your magic experiments and implanted those magic items to control them." Aria reasoned. "Not too bad for a third-rate sorceress who could do anything by herself. But, in the end, a copy is just a copy. You couldn't get him to work the way you wanted. And so, to create your perfect copy, you went after Rezo's legacy. And to break the ward of the laboratory, you needed the Sword of Light more than anything else."
"Now I get it." Gourry realized. "So that's why Zangulus was after me all the time."
"And we ended up breaking the ward on the lab for you." Lina shrugged. "Isn't that right, you overgrown puppet?"
"I give you credit for figuring that much of this out, however," Eris snorted.
"Now that you know it, what are you going to do?" Rezo finished.
"Take our revenge." Zelgadis retorted. "We won't let you have that tablet." On cue, he, Gourry and Lina charged in.
"You still don't understand the power of this stone tablet." Eris scoffed and blasted the three back with the tablet's power. "This magic was created to battle the Dark Lord, Shabranigdo. Did you really think you could break through it so easily?"
"Eris, now that you have that thing, what are you planning to do with it?" Zelgadis demanded.
"'What', you ask?" Eris echoed. "I'll use it to kill all of you. Rezo-sama will finally have his vengeance today."
"Hold it." Lina exclaimed. "You caused all of this trouble just to get your revenge on us?"
"As Rezo-sama's last living follower, his revenge is my duty." Eris declared. "It's only right that I do it. It was in this laboratory that Rezo-sama and I researched white magic. I followed him from kingdom to kingdom to assist him in performing miracles. I wanted with all my soul to give him true happiness. But, Rezo-sama, a prisoner of his own despair and half mad, seized upon one last hope in the legendary Philosopher's Stone. And so, he left me behind and went out to find it. And then…"
"Totally misplaced resentment." Zelgadis snorted.
"Silence!" Eris snapped. "It doesn't change the fact that you took Rezo-sama from me. How can you understand how I felt when I learned he was dead? Well, that's enough. With Rezo-sama's legacy, by the power I shall release from the stone tablet, Lina Inverse! You shall die."
"Stellar Barrier!" Aria's spiked, star-shaped shield was instantaneously in place, blocking off the energy wave.
"I expected nothing less from Ragradia." Eris noted, levitating into the air, the tablet raised above her head. "After all, the Claire Bible had been your heritage in the first place. But, there is a limit on how much Shinzoku magic a human body can withstand, is there?"
"That's true." Aria admitted, kneeling down in exhaustion. "Lina, stop her before she releases the power in the tablet." She requested, powering down from her Ragradia form.
"Right." Lina nodded. "Levitation!"
"Rezo, I'm the one you'll fight." Zelgadis blasted the staff off.
"You have become a nuisance." Rezo snapped, the two males clashing.
"Eris!" Lina charged straight up, only to be blasted back down by the tablet's power.
"You think after we beat the real Rezo, we'll lose to a copy?" Zelgadis snapped.
"If you truly believe that, you'd better open your mind up." Rezo advised. "There's no rule that states, a copy cannot surpass the original."
"Please, Lina." Sylphiel begged as Gourry tried to shake Lina awake. "You have to stop the tablet's power."
"What do you think I've been trying to do?" Lina snapped.
"Sylphiel's right." Aria agreed. "If you don't…"
"Resurrection beyond the bounds of earth, grant thy power to the one who swears loyalty to you." Eris chanted. "Demon Beast Zanaffar!"
"The rebirth of Zanaffar is the true form of this ultimate power." Aria supplied.
"The beast which destroyed the ancient Sairaag." Sylphiel breathed. "Zanaffar, whose infinite evil continued to exist as a miasma even after the Warrior of Light slew it."
"He might be an even match for Shabranigdo." Lina admitted. "But more than that, you seriously expect to use that thing?"
Eris just grinned and let the tablet fly towards a niche in the wall.
"Oh no, if we don't do something, the beast will be reborn." Sylphiel gasped.
"Water Prison!" Aria managed to lock the tablet in a water bubble.
"Huh?" Amelia blinked, Lina, Gourry and Sylphiel using the opening to intercept Eris.
"Amelia," Aria voiced. "Help Zelgadis."
"Right." Amelia nodded.
"Just be still for a while." Eris snorted and tossed a control jewel at Lina, the sorceress' headband shattering the gem.
"Too bad." Lina winked, breaking Eris' concentration with her sword.
"I see." Eris realized. "Then how about this?" she flicked a gem towards Gourry.
"Mono Bolt!" Lina blasted Eris back. "Okay Eris, just give it up. You can at least get out of here alive. Gourry, what's the big deal?" she snapped, the swordsman knocking her on the head.
"Must… kill… Lina…" the mind-controlled Gourry muttered.
"Knock it off!" Lina screamed, dodging the attack.
"They can play together for a while." Eris shrugged. "While, I, in the meantime…" she resumed.
"What's wrong?" Rezo taunted, electrocuting Zelgadis. "Already at your limit? Now you understand. I may be a copy, but I have all of the original's power. Or rather, once I have Zanaffar's power, my abilities will far exceed the original's."
"Hold it." Amelia cut in. "Diem Wing!" she broke the pair apart, allowing Zelgadis to jump to safety. "Better think twice before you forget about me."
"I see." Rezo nodded. "But you may regret saying those words. It's about time I began to show my real power." With that, he shot up behind Eris.
"What are you people doing?" Zelgadis sighed, Lina, Gourry and Sylphiel breaking out into a fight cloud underneath him and Amelia. "Great, at a time like this." he muttered. "Sylphiel, a Flare Arrow please."
"What?" Sylphiel exclaimed. "Me? Are you sure?"
"I'll do it." Amelia stepped up.
"Not you." Zelgadis deathpanned.
"Why not?" Amelia whined.
"Sylphiel, hurry." Zelgadis urged. "Aria's already at her limit."
"Sorry." Sylphiel blushed, summoning a 'Flare Dart' instead.
"This will do nicely." Zelgadis grinned and sent the dart flying towards Gourry's forehead the dart went off, covering Gourry's face in soot and breaking the control gem.
"What?" Gourry blinked, confused. "What happened to me?"
"Hold it, Gourry." Lina twitched and started pummelling the swordsman.
"Guys, if you're all done with the comedic relief, how about a little help here?" Aria was struggling to maintain her 'Water Prison'.
"When did they get up there?" Gourry gaped, Rezo shattering the water bubble with a flick of his finger.
"Remind me to 'Snow Twister' him later." Aria muttered, Zelgadis supporting her.
"Will do." The chimera grinned.
"Oh no." Sylphiel gaped. "The beast is going to be reborn."
The tablet fitting perfectly into the niche in the wall, causing energy to stream up and down the wall from it; the ceiling far above was disintegrated as an immense magic circle, etched into the floor of the laboratory, began to power up - destroying everything on the floor in the process and forcing the group into the air.
"This is…" Lina gaped. "The whole lab's becoming a giant magic circle."
"Magnificent." Rezo gushed. "Is this… is this the power of Rezo's legacy?"
"Damn it all." Zelgadis cursed.
"We're too late." Aria breathed.
"The demon beast is reborn." Eris laughed. "To avenge Rezo-sama." Her laughter was cut short when Rezo blasted her from behind.
"I'm afraid you misunderstand all this." Rezo tsked. "I'm the one who has gained the power Rezo left behind. Meaning that you've just become a liability."
"No…" Eris muttered. "Why?"
"ERIS!" Aria shot off after the falling Eris.
"What?" Zelgadis exclaimed, the control gem separating from Rezo and the clone crushed the jewel in his palm.
"Rest in peace, Eris." Rezo stated. "Rezo's vengeance shall be carried out. However, it will be on my terms."
SailorStar9: Okay, this chapter is finally down. Read and review folks.