"Hi! It's me, Anya Inverse! My parents are Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev, the legendary adventurers and monster-slayers. Anyway, I've just beaten my first bandit gang by myself and the whole family has come to Derlis for what was supposed to me my graduation party. But then this strange waitress comes to our table and asks me to kill her! Turns out she has this strange presence that makes horrible things happen around her. Well, I'm not going to kill an innocent girl -- I'm an innocent girl myself! But this girl seems seriously messed up. What's a girl to do in a situation like this?"
Lina and Gourry were done with breakfast and walked up the stairs to their room. But Lina then saw that Anya's door was open, and Anya was talking very seriously with -- the waitress?
Gourry looked in over Lina's shoulder. "I didn't think Anya was interested in girls. I wonder if this means no grandchildren." He got an elbow in the ribs for his trouble.
"Hush! I can feel a presence emanating from the room. Something incredibly powerful. I'd better do something." Lina walked into the room. "Anya! Are you all right?" Lina and the waitress looked at each other, and the new girl blanched.
"Mother!" said Anya. She only called Lina "mother" when she was angry with her. "Don't you know better than to barge in on a girl-to-girl talk?"
"I was just worried about you, that's all."
"Well, I'm OK. Titania, this is my mother, Lina Inverse. If anybody can help you, she can."
Now it was Lina's turn to blanch. "What do you expect me to say?" she stammered.
"Try 'Hello, Titania. How are you?'", Anya suggested. "I know what you're sensing from her, but it's OK. Titania doesn't want to hurt anybody."
Titania stammered. "Lina Inverse, the demon slayer? Then perhaps you could do me a favor and -- "
Anya put her hand over Titania's mouth. "Don't take Titania too seriously, Mom. She doesn't know how to deal with the situation she's in. That's why she needs our help."
Titania began to muffle, and her face began to turn blue.
"Oops," said Anya, releasing her grip so that Titania could breathe. "As for what you were about to say, don't say it. I never want to hear you talk about that subject again."
"What subject?" Gourry asked. "What does she want Lina to do?"
"You don't want to know." Anya replied. "Hell, -I- don't want to know."
Lina frowned. "I already know. And part of me wants to do it. That presence filling the room in the presence of a Mazoku -- and it's coming from her."
"What's a Mazoku?" Titania asked.
"The Demon Race. Beings who have sworn to return the world to a Sea of Chaos, and extinguish the spirit of everything that lives."
"But my mother is human!" said Titania. "I can't be a demon!"
Lina's eyes narrowed. "Who was your father?"
Titania looked at Anya concernedly. "Go ahead and tell her," Anya said, "we need to know everything we can if we're going to be of any help to you."
Titania looked Lina squarely in the eye. "I don't know who my father was. My mother was a shrine-maiden in the temple of Cepheid. A wandering priest with purple hair and a bemused expression cam to her shrine one day and before she knew it he had seduced her. When she found out she was pregnant, he laughed at her and left town, never to be seen again."
"Until today." Lina finished. "The description of your father reminds me a lot of a certain acquaintance of mine named Xellos. And he's a high-ranking Mazoku in the service of Beastmaster Xellas. I met him outside the inn just today. Normally Mazoku reproduce just by creating lesser Mazoku out of formless chaos. So I don't know how it happened, but I'm afraid that you, young lady, are the daughter of a Mazoku."
Titania backed away. "No! No, it's not possible! I can't be a Mazoku! I don't want to do evil! I don't want to return the world to Chaos!"
Anya put her hand on Titania's shoulder. "I know you don't, Titania. You don't have an evil heart."
"But I might turn to evil! I might turn out to be just like my father! You have to destroy me! It's my only hope!"
Lina shook her head. "Can't do it. And shouldn't do it. You see, your human body and human heart are the only things holding your Mazoku powers in check. Destroy those and the Mazoku in you would be unleashed, spreading untold destruction."
Titania looked at Lina in shock. "You mean if I die, people will get hurt?"
"If you die, thousands of innocent people could also die. There's enough raw power in you to obliterate this entire town, if not the whole barony."
Anya looked at Titania with enormous sympathy. She knew what it was like to have the raw power of black magic coursing through her body, but she could barely imagine what this girl must be going through. Just then a thought struck her. "Mom! You said Xellos was here?"
"Yes, he was." Lina answered. "We had a bit of a conversation outside as we arrived."
Anya stood up. "Then we have to get moving! Titania isn't safe here! If you're right, Xellos will try to destroy her human body and release the Mazoku! We're not going to let that happen! We can't!"
Lina and Gourry looked at each other. Then they looked at the trembling Titania, and then finally at their daughter. Lina could see righteous fury in Anya's eyes. She would have to do something about that, she decided.
Titania looked at Lina pleadingly. "Just how much power do I have?"
"From what I can sense, you could, if your power is left unchecked, destroy the world all by yourself."
"The whole world? Everything that exists? Everything that lives?"
"I'm afraid so, and what's more your power is like a beacon, attracting other Mazoku."
Anya stood up. "Then her only chance is to come with us! We're the only ones who have a chance of protecting her! And it's the end of the world if we don't!"
Lina thought for a moment. "I don't like working for free. What can you pay me?"
"All my saved wages. But then I'll have nothing to live on."
Lina looked at her. Then an idea popped into her head. "Can you cook?"
"I've been apprenticed to the innkeeper here for four years. He's taught me cooking, but I don't see how...."
"Fine. You can come with us if you can teach Anya to cook as well as any restaurant chef."
Titania shrugged. "If that's what you want. I'll have to let the innkeeper know. I don't know if he'll be willing to lose me..."
At that moment Lina felt a chill down her spine as she noticed an aura in the common room strong enough for her to feel it from there. Anya felt it too.
"Something's happened downstairs...." Anya said.
"We don't have much time!" Lina said.
The four raced downstairs to see a man in priestly robes, with hair of Titania's purple hue, standing in the center of the room. Behind the bar, the innkeeper was slumped over the tap.
"Master!" screamed Titania. She rushed over to his side, along with Anya. Anya grabbed the man's wrist, looked at Titania, and shook her head.
"Xellos!" said Lina. "This wasn't necessary!"
Xellos smiled at her. "What's wrong with going to an inn for a little snack? Besides, you should be happy -- now you won't have to pay for your rooms."
"Master!" Titania screamed again, and then looked at Xellos. "You! What have you done to him?"
Xellos turned his head to see Titania. "You've grown up nice and pretty, Titania. Someone with your heritage is wasted as a waitress. Do you want to see what you can really do?"
Titania's eyes burned with fury. "You... you... MURDERER!"
Xellos smiled. "Yes! Anger! Rage! Grief! Your emotions are such a treat, Titania! Now focus them into power! Strike me down if you can!"
Anya grabbed Titania's arm. "No, Titania! Don't do it! He's trying to goad you into releasing your power! Attack him and you'll be giving him what he wants!"
Xellos sent a bolt of shimmering black energy between Titania and Anya, blasting them apart. "Didn't anyone ever tell you children should be seen and not heard?" he then turned to Lina and Gourry. "I'll let the three of you leave now. I have no grudge against the Inverse family. You can leave and I won't go after you. But Titania is mine."
Lina's eyes narrowed. "I don't think so."
"I can give Titania what she really deserves; power and pleasure beyond the wildest dreams of any waitress. Together we can conquer the world as father and daughter."
Anya looked over to Titania and saw something that chilled her to the bone. Her body was being surrounded by dark energy, her eyes glowed a flaming red with power and rage! "Titania! No! You don't have to do this!"
Xellos noticed and turned to the girl. "Yes! Feel your power! Embrace it like a lover! See how wonderful the hatred feels burning inside you!"
"Titania!" cried Anya. "Think of the good times! Think of your mother! She loves you! Your master loved you! Think of me, Titania! I'm your friend! This man -- this creature -- has no rights over you! He has no control over you! You don't have to do what he says! Titania! Listen to me! YOU ARE A HUMAN BEING!"
The black energy dissipated around Titania and she collapsed in Anya's arms. "I'm sorry...." Said Titania. "I was too weak -- too angry -- too hurt."
"I forgive you." said Anya. "Welcome back to the real world." Anya then leapt over the bad and drew her sword. Gourry followed suit and drew the Blast Blade, and Lina began to prepare a spell. "All right, Mom and Dad! Let's show this guy what we think of people who abuse girls!"
Gourry frowned. "That's right. We don't like them very much, do we Lina dear?"
"We certainly don't," Lina replied. "There's nothing worse than an abusive father! I never took you for that kind of Mazoku, Xellos."
Xellos began to back off. "You'd really strike you old friend, Xellos?"
"You were never my friend," said Lina, "You were going to betray me first chance you got and we both knew it. Now, if you don't want to taste my magic, you'll leave that girl alone. She is under my daughter's protection."
"All I want," said Xellos, "is a reunion between father and daughter. You can't deny me that."
Anya stepped closer, brandishing her sword menacingly. "You don't know what it's like to be a father! A father loves his child! He cares for her and protects and nurtures her! He teaches her to care and create, not to hate and destroy! How can a monster like you know anything about being a father? I don't know if this sword can hurt you. I don't know if I have any spells that can hurt you. But if you don't leave right now, I'm going to try and find out!"
Xellos turned to Anya. "Well, aren't you the little spitfire? I can see the family resemblance on both sides. But can you really live up to your heritage? You're not your mother, Anya. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be Lina Inverse."
"I don't have to be Lina Inverse. I just have to be good enough to beat you."
Xellos smiled. Anya didn't like that smile at all. "I will have Titania, if not today that someday. If we continue this discussion I'll be forced to kill you, and I don't want to do that. A truce then. Today I'll leave. But next time we meet, I will take my daughter -- over your dead bodies if I have to." With that Xellos vanished.
"Coward!" screamed Anya. Gourry sheathed his sword, and Lina backed down and took Anya by the shoulder.
"It's all right, Anya. We saved Titania for today. That's enough. Xellos is more powerful than you realize, but you're strong too."
"Is he right? I'll never be you, Mom."
"You don't have to be. You're Anya Inverse. You're a sorceress and a warrior, a beloved daughter and a good friend. You are your own person, and that's the best anyone can hope to be."
Titania walked out from behind the bar. "Thank you, Anya, for stopping me." She said. "Who knows what I would have done?"
Lina looked at her. "You wouldn't have gotten Xellos. He'd just teleport away from your attack."
Anya hugged Titania. "It's all right, Titania. You stood up to him. You're a very brave girl, Titania. I'm proud that you're my friend."
Titania pulled herself away ever so slightly. "Friend? I've never had a real friend. With all the horrible things that happen around me, I felt I didn't deserve one"
"Well, you've got a friend now whether you like it or not, and don't you dare try to shake me, because it's not possible."
Lina shook her head. "We'd better hitch up the wagon and get on the road, then. Xellos is always going to know where you are, and if we leave you here alone he'll have you for sure."
Gourry asked. "Where are we going?"
"I was thinking Seyruun. If we can get Queen Amelia's help, Titania will have better luck containing her power. Who knows, they may even be able to seal it away completely. And Xellos won't dare show himself there."
"All right then," said Anya, "let's buy some provisions and head out. We're going to have to keep moving and try and stay one step ahead of Xellos."
"I'll say goodbye to my mother then." Said Titania. "Can you come with me, Anya?"
"Sure. Your mother must be a formidable person."
Back on Wolfpack Island, Xellos stood before his mistress.
"Is the experiment a failure, then? I see the girl is not with you." asked Beastmaster Xellas, her cigarette glowing and emitting a small stream of smoke.
"On the contrary, it was wildly successful. It seems that when the soul of a human in born with the power of a Mazoku, then the power of the being is beyond our wildest imagination. We came very close to achieving our goal today. Titania came within a hair's breadth of releasing enough energy to return the entire world to Chaos, and all because I did a little goading."
"I see. But you did not kill Lina Inverse. Why not?"
"It will be all the more pleasurable when the time does come. And I got to meet her daughter. A real firebrand, that one. She is going to be ever so much fun to play with!"
"Until you crush her like an insect?"
"Of course. I'll just let her think she actually has a chance and then, when the time is right, I shall feast on the agony of her defeat."
Beastmaster smiled wickedly. "Then I leave it to you. It should be entertaining to watch you play with your new toy. We were never able to make her powerful mother come over to our side. Do you think you have a chance with her?"
"Make Anya take the pledge? An interesting idea, My Mistress. She would be a truly formidable servant for us, and she's certainly capable of being tempted."
A handsome man suddenly materialized beside Xellos. Xellos looked at his with surprise, but then smiled. "I see. Go for the hormonal reaction?"
"Exactly." Said Xellas. "Gorian, are you ready for a new assignment?"
The handsome young man bowed deeply. "Always, My Mistress. I live to serve you."
"I created you, so you should. You assignment is to bring Anya Inverse into our little pack. You may use whatever means you see fit."
Gorian smiled. "Any means?"
"ANY means. Exploit every weakness she has until she sees she has to join us."
Gorian's smile became a grin. "As you wish, Mistress Beastmaster. The girl is as good as yours."
Xellos smiled. "Then you may do as you like to the daughter. But Titania and Lina Inverse are MINE."
"I would not dispute with the General-Priest. Consider it done, Mistress." Gorian then vanished.
"Do you really think he stands a chance?" Xellos asked.
"Gorian is my best temptation artist. He'll do it."
"Perhaps. But if he fails, Beastmaster, the girl is mine too."