SailorStar9: Anyway, Chapter 17 goes up. This is Chapter 18. 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 18: YES! A Final Hope: The Bless Blade

"Sylphiel," Aria instructed, in her Ragradia voice. "Close Lina's wounds. Amelia, help her."

"Right." the two clerics nodded and went to work.

"Injuring herself to save another." Rezo scoffed. "How foolish. Now, please don't interfere with me. To prove that I've surpassed the original Rezo, the Red Priest, I must kill that girl."

"Sylphiel, I want you to retreat to Flagoon to use a full healing spell." Aria ordered.

"Right." Sylphiel nodded and took off.

"You won't escape." Rezo declared.

"Splitting Void!" Aria's barrier was instantly in place.

"Keep going!" Zelgadis cast a 'Raywing' bubble to transport Sylphiel and Lina to Flagoon. "Surpass Rezo?" he echoed. "What a monstrous ambition. I wanted vengeance on him for giving me this body. But once you've surpassed Rezo, then what? Where do you go from there?"

"There is nothing beyond that." Rezo shrugged. "So as long as I can kill the girl, what comes next doesn't matter. Now then, will you get out of my way? If you don't you'll get hurt."

"Light, come forth!" Gourry blocked out the incoming attack which had pierced through Aria's 'Splitting Void' shield.

"Thanks, Gourry." Aria muttered.

"Idiot, what are you doing?" Zelgadis snapped. "Worry about your own hide! Seriously…"

"Quit hanging around back there and give me a hand!" Gourry shouted.

"Damn it," Zelgadis cursed, his 'Fireball' having no effect on Rezo. "The spells won't work."

"And the Sword of Light is no good either." Amelia wailed.

"Please, call Lina Inverse back." Rezo chuckled. "Without her, none of this means anything. How can I face the 'Giga Slave'?"

Why does he want to surpass the real Rezo so badly? Aria wondered.

"Prince Phil?" Gourry exclaimed, the said Crown Prince riding into the scene on his horse.

"Daddy?" Amelia echoed.

"And I was all ready for the big climax." Gourry sighed.

"Guess they won't let us turn this show serious without a fight." Zelgadis rested a hand on the swordsman's shoulder.

"Stop breaking the fourth wall, Zel." Aria muttered, unamused.

"Villain whose body hosts evil!" Phil declared. "Prepare to die! So you're the one behind all this. In the name of the law, I demand your surrender."

"Phil…" Gourry muttered.

"It's going to be one of these days." Aria shook her head.

"What's your dad's problem?" Zelgadis wondered.

"Isn't he cool?" Amelia announced.

"I don't like to fight, but if you don't submit to the law, I'll show you no mercy!" Phil declared.

"And just what will you do?" Rezo was intrigued.

"Gonna resist, huh?" Phil snorted.

"Uh oh, he doesn't know what he's getting into." Gourry realized.

"Pacifist Crush!" Phil attacked, only to have Rezo blast him off with Gourry diving to pull him out of harm's way.

"You can talk later." Zelgadis warned, cutting the family reunion short.

"Restrain!" Aria's binding spell held Rezo in place, arms locked behind his back.

"Dark Mist!" Amelia cast the fog, enabling the group to retreat back to Flagoon.

"Enough hide and seek." Rezo remarked. "Come out here. There's no place you can run."

"I think we got away." Gourry panted for breath as Amelia healed Phil.

"Somehow…" Zelgadis agreed.

"Anyway, Phil, what are you doing here?" Gourry asked.

"That's right." Amelia agreed. "What are you doing here, Daddy?"

"With all the bounty hunters after you, it didn't take me long to find out the truth." Phil replied. "I was worried about you fighting for your lives, since Amelia's such a delicate soul like me."

"Daddy, you were that worried about me?" Amelia gushed.

"What are you saying, Amelia?" Phil chided. "What father doesn't worry about his child?"

"Who's delicate like who?" Gourry sweatdropped.

"Gourry, that's mean." Amelia scolded.

"And pointing is rude!" Gourry shot back.

"Let me introduce you," Amelia started. "This creepy-looking guy is Zelgadis."

"Don't point at people." Zelgadis muttered.

"And where's the girl?" Phil asked, noticing Lina was missing. "I don't see her here."

"Lina is…" Gourry started.

"She's being healed." Zelgadis explained. "That monster hurt her."

"He hurt that girl?" Phil echoed. "He's really that powerful?"

"Yeah, but…" Gourry sighed.

"Forget it." Zelgadis waved. "At least he got it right."

"I'm so upping my aspirin medication once this is over." Aria shook her head.

"It's okay, Lina's with Sylphiel." Gourry assured. "I'm sure Sylphiel was able to save her. I sensed it just now. Lina's all right."

"But if her powers and your Sword of Light weren't enough, how do you plan to get rid of that monster?" Phil asked.

"Maybe if we tried a 'Megiddo Flare' at close range…" Zelgadis mused.

"Don't be stupid!" Amelia scolded. "It wouldn't work on that demon beast!"

"But I don't see any other way." Gourry noted.

"As long as black magic doesn't work…" Zelgadis agreed.

"It's impossible, I tell you!" Amelia insisted.

"What we need here is the spirit spell with all the spirit." Gourry determined. "The 'Ra Tilt' is our only hope. Exactly, spirit! And if we have more spirit than our enemy, then when we hit him with the 'Ra Tilt'…"

"Gourry, you may have forgotten…" Zelgadis reminded. "When we used 'Ra Tilt' against Shabranigdo, it failed."

"Miserably, I might add." Aria pointed out.

"It did?" Gourry gaped.

"Gourry, you never think anything through." Amelia sighed.

"More like he has a memory span of a goldfish." Aria muttered.

"You thought it would work against something that big?" Zelgadis scolded.

"Whatever gets in my way shall be blown apart." Rezo declared, blasting the surrounding area. "To surpass the original Rezo, I will use any means."

SailorStar9: Okay, this chapter is finally down. Read and review folks.