Episode #7
Fish, fish, and more fish. Lina's quite hungry (big surprise there), and she's
got a whole stack of fish for dinner. Zelgadis warns her that they have to make
it to Madiran by nightfall. And, of course, there are the trolls who decide
to attack again. Lina, feeling better, decides to try out her magic again, and
roasts the trolls with a fireball. "That time of the month" seems
to be over for Lina. But her pile of fish? "They... they're charcoal!"
Then comes another round of attackers; Berserkers. Oh joy.
Rezo forms a magic circle and contacts Zorom of the Mazoku. Rezo asks for Zorom to get the Philosopher's Stone hidden within the Orihalcon statue, and to kill the betrayer Zelgadis. But for some reason he asks that Zorom make Zelgadis' death as painless as possible. Zorom agrees, "I will do enough to satisfy us both."
Lina and Zelgadis make it to the next town, which seems to have been abandoned for. Zelgadis tells her that Rezo's forces can track him down easily, since Zelgadis' chimera body was created by Rezo's magic and has a particular "scent." Lina senses the forces around her as they speak, and shouts for them to come on out. And so they do. Berserkers, trolls, zombies, and numerous other party crashers. Dilgear underestimates Lina, thinking she's still as weak as before. I don't think so. Lina blasts away with a fireball, and she and Zelgadis agree to split the battle between them, and they separate. Though Dilgear's forces seem to concentrate on Zelgadis...
But Lina has her hands full. Zorom confronts Lina, and easily dodges the fireball she tosses at him... until she makes it pull a U-turn. Ouch. The monster still survives, though, and makes an offer, "Tell me where the Philosopher's Stone is and I'll let you live." Lina declines, and backs away behind a building's rooftop. Zorom sends a barrage of energy blasts at Lina.
In another section of the city, Dilgear and his gang follow Zelgadis to the inside of a building... only Zelgadis makes the building fall down on top of them. Dilgear works his way out of the rubble, to find Zelgadis looming over him with a (very sexy) smirk on his face.
A sword flashes and deflects the energy bolts away from Lina. Enter Gourry for the first time in a long time. He stands over Lina as her "guardian" as Zorom repeats his request for the Philosopher's Stone, and Gourry says that they don't know where it is, he only knows about the Orihalcon statue. Which he then innocently shows to Zorom. Lina irritably calls for Gourry's attention, and when Gourry leans down to listen to her, Lina grabs him in a headlock and backs off.
As they hide in a barn, she informs him that magic and melee weapons won't work on Mazoku. Lina also tells him that the Stone is inside the statue, and that it has incredible powers. Gourry grasps the situation with his usual intelligence, and Zorom finds them in the barn.
Meanwhile, Zelgadis wipes out all of his opponents, and it finally comes down to just him and Dilgear. But who should arrive but Rodimus and Zolf.
Lina casts a flare arrow at Zorom
as a distraction for Gourry to leap in and slice Zorom, but it seems to affect
him not, except to provoke him into growing two more arms.
Dilgear thinks he's won with Rodimus and Zolf on his side. Poor dude. Both Rodimus
and Zolf stand by Zelgadis, and soon Dilgear is on the ground (unfortunately,
still alive) Meanwhile, Gourry tells Lina to cover him as he sheathes his sword
and withdraws a slender needle. Zorom looks curiously at Gourry as he sticks
the needle into his sword with a careful click. He then draws his sword, only
the blade is gone. "Have you figured it out yet?"
Zorom sure hasn't and neither has Lina, as they begin to form attacks. But Gourry grasps the hilt and shouts, ¡°Light, come forth!!¡± (you go Gourry) Bye-bye, Zorom. Lina is completely awestruck, and steps towards Gourry... "Gourry...."
"Give me that sword!" Figures, Without even a thank you for the effort, Lina tries to convince Gourry to hand over the sword. Gourry may be stupid, but he knows better than to hand over a family heirloom. Meanwhile, Zelgadis, Zolf, and Rodimus walk up, and Gourry stands ready for an attack. "Zelgadis is on our side now, just give me the sword," Lina snaps. Zolf takes off his mask and extends a hand to Lina, who smiles, "I forgive you!" as she shakes his hand. They all decide to defeat Rezo together. (aw, it's a Kodak moment)
Episode #8
Lina finishes recounting what happened in the past few days to the others as
they sit in a diner. Curious as to the blank stares, she asks, "What, don't
you understand? Should I start over again?" Rodimus protests, "It's
just... Good God, you talk a lot!", to which the others heartily agree.
Zelgadis asks Lina for the Philosopher's Stone. Lina and Gourry say no, on the grounds that they can trust Zelgadis about as far as they can trust Rezo. Then, food arrives. End of conversation.
Lina wants to relax in a bed, so they enter an inn. Zolf warns that they shouldn't be so quick to relax while Rezo's still around. While walking and looking elsewhere, Lina bumps into a small child, knocking him over. After apologizing (?), the group starts to go, when the child suddenly turns into stone! An eyeball hovers above, and an image of Rezo forms. He offers to pay for the Philosopher's Stone with the lives of the people in this village. The vision tells the party to come to Rezo's tower, then vanishes. Zelgadis, severely pissed, flings a dagger at the eyeball, which shatters.
The party spends the night in their own separate ways: Rodimus meditates, Zelgadis practices with his sword, Gourry practices listening to Lina, and the others muse on the day's events. The next day they proceed to the tower, which is about a thousand years old. Lina suddenly remembers that about that time, one of the parts of Shabranigdo was reborn, leading to the War of Mazokus' Resurrection.
The tower is empty, the bottom half abandoned. As they enter the tower, another vision of Rezo beckons them upstairs. Not wishing to take the long staircase up, Lina and Zelgadis cast Levitation, carrying the others. Gourry, carried up by Lina, seems a little suspicious of this method of flight, recalling the last time Lina used this spell with him, but everyone makes it to the top in one piece.
The group finds its way into Rezo's
chamber, finding a long table covered with candles, and Rezo at the opposite
end. Lina holds the Orihalcon statue, and says that she will give it up only
if Rezo answers her questions. "What are you really after?" she asks
him, to which Rezo responds that he wishes to see again. Lina then inquires
why Rezo didn't tell her the truth when they first met. She presents a theory:
Rezo made a deal with the Mazoku that he would resurrect Shabranigdo, the Dark
Mazoku Lord, in exchange for his sight. And that's why he needs the Stone.
Rezo applauds, "Brilliant!" in response to Lina's scenario... although she was half-kidding when she said that ("oops, I was right"). In any case, Lina won't give Rezo the Orihalcon statue, so Rezo calls upon the magic of Zelgadis' enchantment and forces Zelgadis to attack Lina. Zelgadis wrenches the statue out of Lina's hand, and Rezo snatches it away and runs to the roof. Gourry tries to chase after Rezo, but Zelgadis blocks the door.
Rezo steps into the magic circle on the roof and destroys the statue, freeing the Philosopher's Stone. Aiming his staff at the floating Stone, he calls on its power, and energy fills the air.
Lina, by this time, has realized that the possessed Zelgadis will continue blocking the door unless they get disenchant him. She casts Diem Wing, a pillar of wind, towards Zelgadis' stomach, knocking him into a wall, then drives her knee into his stomach. ("Lina?") and then an elbow smash to the head. "Lina, I think he's ok now." Zelgadis returns, the enchantment gone. The party rushes up to the roof, to find that Rezo has already begun the ritual. The wind blows fiercely, as Rezo screams in agony...Rezo's eyes open, red energy streaming. Lina finally realizes that Shabranigdu was not sealed within the tower but within Rezo's eyes!