SLAYERS INHERITANCE
"The Hidden Menace! Parents Just Don't Get it!"
by Michael Hopcroft
"Anya Inverse here! If I don't look too happy right now, it's because that flirt Valgaav got me lost in the woods. What a jerk! Anyway, this big, strong ranger led me back to the inn where my family is staying and now he's going to be having dinner with us. Valgaav hated that idea, of course, and his foster-mother Filia is very angry with him. Serves the jerk right! But nothing really happened in the woods – besides the getting lost bit – and MY mother is furious with me too. What did I do to deserve this?"
Lina had sat Anya down at a chair in her room and was looking her over from top to bottom. Gourry was sitting one chair over, looking strangely bemused. Anya meanwhile was fuming. Why was Mom angry with HER when it was VALGAAV who'd been such a jerk?
"Now tell me exactly what happened in the woods!" Lina said.
"Nothing happened. I went into the woods, Valgaav followed me, we fought a Mazoku, we got lost, these Rangers found us, we got split up, and that's all that happened. Honest."
Lina began to mutter an incantation. At the end of it, Anya noticed a brief blue glow around her body that faded after just a moment. "What the hell was that?" Anya asked. What kind of spell did you cast on me?"
"Well, it's not that important. I just wanted to make sure you were OK."
Anya was ready to scream. "It was a virginity test, wasn't it? Mom! How could you even think such a thing?"
Lina stammered for a moment, suddenly extremely embarrassed. "Well, I just wanted to be sure that....."
"Well, now that you know I'm still pure as the driven snow, will you quit it with the third degree? Really, Mother! How presumptive of you!"
"You said you fought a Mazoku in the woods?" Lina said.
"That's right. Took it down with a Rah Tilt."
"And then you met these rangers out of the blue."
"Yeah, after Valgaav got us lost."
Lina began to place, her hand caressing her chin. "Hmm, Filia and I had no trouble navigating the woods. It's not that easy to get lost in there. And was Valgaav leading you?"
Anya began to think, and then her face took on a\n embarrassed crimson. "Well, not really. I just tried to go back out the way I came and got lost. But Valgaav should have been able to lead us out!"
"Not if there was an enchantment in place. I'm beginning to wonder about those rangers." Lina frowned. "OK, Anya, you're out of Dutch. And I'll go tell Filia to take it easy on Valgaav. That ranger – he looks much too good to be true to me."
"He doesn't read as Mazoku."
"Neither did Xellos when we first met. An intelligent Mazoku can conceal its aura to pass for human. Xellos did it for a long time when he was traveling with us in the old days. He might not be a Mazoku himself, though. But Titania does draw them like a beacon."
Anya got up. "I'd better check on Titania. With Mazoku about, she's not safe."
"You do that." Said Lina. Anya got up and left the room. Lina turned to Gourry, whose expression of bemusement had changed to concern. "You didn't notice anything odd about that ranger?"
"Just that he seemed awfully convenient." Gourry replied. "Rangers aren't very common in these parts."
"I'll talk to Filia." Lina said. "The sooner we get rid of that guy, the better I'll feel."
***
Titania was chopping vegetables when Gorvald walked into the kitchen. She looked up at the ranger with surprise in her eyes. "Who are you?"
"My name's Gorvald. I'm going to be joining you for dinner tonight. You work here?"
"No, I'm staying here too. I just needed to relax and get some practice, so Filia let me make dinner while she went out looking for her son. I guess she found him – I could hear her screaming at him all the way in here." Titania looked Gorvald up and down. She then began to blush.
"A pretty girl such as you is wasted in the kitchen," Gorvald said. "You should be a princess on a throne, not cooking food."
"If every pretty girl in the world became a princess, there wouldn't be enough thrones. And I enjoy cooking. But thanks for the compliment. I don't get very many of them, even from my friends."
Gorvald gave her a cheery grin. "You deserve a lot better than to be traveling the roads anyway. You could be Queen of the Forest if you let me take you away from all this."
"I thought you had a woman." Titania slid the vegetables into the stewpot and clamped down the lid. "I didn't think it was a particularly noble trait coming on to serving wenches."
"You're no serving wench." Gorvald replied. "You really are a princess. You just don't know it. And you really are utterly gorgeous."
"Really?" Titania began blushing furiously. "Nobody ever called me gorgeous before."
"What say we let the stew watch itself and...."
"Gorvald!" The two turned their heads and saw that Anya had entered the kitchen. "What are you doing here in the kitchen?"
"Just doing a little courting, that's all. This is quite a taking girl you have here. So much so that I was thinking of taking her myself."
"Titania is traveling with us, and that's the end of it, and if you don't want me to tell Filia what I just saw you'll leave her alone."
Titania walked over to Anya and, still blushing, took her aside. "Anya, it's all right. I know he doesn't mean anything by it. Nobody possibly could. Please don't tell Filia what you saw in here."
"All right, but keep your distance from strange men. Xellos is still out there, and he's not above using any trick he can think of to get you away from us."
***
A few moments later Filia and Lina were sitting down over tea. "And so," Lina said after concluding a long explanation of her conversation with Anya, "I think you should forgive Valgaav and be careful around this Gorvald character."
"You're worrying about nothing. If Gorvald really were a Mazoku, I would have detected it right away. I recognized Titania instantly. And as for Valgaav, I'm trying to get him to restrict his interest to dragons. Having him flirt with your daughter is not acceptable behavior. Surely you're protective of Anya yourself."
"I just remember being her age and driving away everybody who I thought might care about me. If Gourry hadn't been too stupid to recognize that I was trying to push him away, he wouldn't have clung as hard as he did. And then what would have happened? I'd have thrown away my one chance for happiness in this lifetime. Teenagers aren't as smart as they think they are – and, just between you and me, neither are parents."
Filia sighed. "I imagine we just don't get it anymore. And I'm not going to tell you where Valgaav's room is."
"What makes you think I want to know?"
"If Anya is that that hormonal a state she might try to sneak in there, and we can't have that."
"We certainly can't...."
***
Gorvald spent most of dinner talking about the legend of the woods, its appeal to lovers, and its reputation as a place where people tended to disappear. "We rangers find people in there all the time that've; been lost in the woods for days." he said. "The weird thing is that when you've been in the woods that long, you usually end up not wanting to leave. Maybe it's an old glamour from the days of the elves, or something"
Anya had noticed that Valgaav was not at the table. Titania was eating slowly, relishing the savory stew she had made. Gourry and Lina were eating like starving animals, and Filia picked at her food. Anya then looked at the plates in front of Gorvald and noticed something odd.
"Your bowl is empty," she said, "but you've been talking all this time. Didn't we serve you?"
"Oh, I ate my stew. Food just seems to disappear around me."
"Is that so?" Anya's eyes were narrowing. There was something not right about Gorvald, she decided. He was too perfect. Nobody was that attractive. She then noticed that Titania was staring at him wide-eyes and that her cheeks were red. This was beginning to look very bad.
***
Valgaav was lying in his bed, fully clothed and fuming. That Filia had gotten that upset wasn't really a surprise – Filia was normally a sweet and gentle soul, but the whole county knew not to arouse her temper. It was just that he knew the whole group was in danger and he couldn't do anything about it.
A knock came on the door. "Who is it?" he asked.
"It's Titania. I brought you your dinner."
"I'm not hungry. Set it outside."
"If I do that, it'll get cold. Let me in."
"The door isn't locked."
The door opened and Titania walked in bearing a steaming bowl of stew, which she set on the table. She then walked up to Valgaav. "I'm going to die soon' she said. "I just know it."
"Don't be ridiculous," Valgaav said. "You have Anya to protect you, and her parents. You'll be fine."
"I don't want to die in my innocence. Please, Valgaav?" Titania undid one button of her blouse.
"You shouldn't do this, Titania. I know you're not really interested in me, and I'm in enough trouble already."
"Please." She said.
At that moment a knock came on the door."Valgaav?" It was Anya's voice. "Valgaav, I just wanted to say I was sorry for what happened in the woods. Can I come in?"
"No...." Titania said.
"Titania?" Anya burst through the door to see Titania and Valgaav in the room, Titania standing and Valgaav on the bed. "Titania, what are you doing here?'
"None of your business, Anya. Why don't you leave me alone?"
"You don't mean that, Titania!" Anya said. "We're friends."
Valgaav frowned. "Of course she doesn't mean it – because she's not Titania."
Anya shuddered. "What?'
Titania shook her head. "You're not serious! What do you mean I'm not Titania?"
"Titania has no control over her powers," Valgaav said. "If you were her, this room would be reeking of Mazoku. But I can't sense a thing – like in the woods, with Kressida. Who are you, and what's you're game anyway?"
Anya held out her hands. "OK, time out. What brought Kressida into this? Did that ranger woman try anything?"
"Only to rape and murder me. Isn't that right – Kressida?"
Titania, turned around, hurled Anya aside, and ran out of the room.
"Titania!" cried Anya. "Wait!"
"We've got to follow her! I must have only wounded her in the woods. That's what I tried to tell you in front of the inn – Gorvald's a Mazoku!"
Anya ran out of the room, only to see no sign on anyone in the hall. Valgaav followed her out. Anya turned to Valgaav and nodded. "We have to find Titania – the REAL Titania – right now. She's in grave danger!"
"Indeed."
***
In the common room, Gorvald had insisted on helping Titania clean up from dinner. "So," he said with a surprisingly silky voice, "What do you say to my proposition?"
"It's very flattering, but no." Titania said. "I don't dare let anyone get close to me. I'd only be putting you in danger."
"You're putting Anya in danger by staying with her, even more so. If things are as bad as they say you are, Anya can't protect you. I can. Besides, you know that sooner or later she's going to have to turn on you. You can't trust sorceresses."
"I can't trust you either. If you're going to get a room, arrange it with Filia. This conversation is at an end."
At that moment Anya and Valgaav ran into the room. They immediately stared at Gorvald and Titania.
"It's definitely the real Titania." Anya said. "I can sense the aura all the way from here."
Titania looked at her puzzled. "What do you mean 'the real Titania?' What's going on?"
"The dragon and the sorceress have allied against you," Gorvald said. "Surely you can see it."
Anya walked towards Titania slowly. "Titania, I want you to slowly back away from that man."
Instead, Titania inched closer. "I don't understand. Gorvald's been nice to me. What are you going to do to him?"
"I'm only trying to protect you. This man is not who he claims he is, and he wants to hurt you."
"No," said Gorvald, "They're the ones who want to hurt you. She's allied herself with the dragon, and we know how much the dragons hate your kind."
Titania leapt away. "My kind? What do you know about my kind? What makes you think...?"
"Someone with your abilities, you talents, has no place among humans. And as for dragons, they'll hunt you down and kill you the moment they see you. Isn't that exactly what you two have been lying in wait to do all this time?"
Anya shook her head. "No. Titania is my friend. I will protect her."
Valgaav chimed in, "I hardly know Titania, but I do know that I have no intention of harming her. However the same cannot be said for...."
At that moment, clawed hands reaching from behind grabbed Anya and Valgaav by the throat. "NO!" screamed Titania.
"You forgot about someone." Said a voice that sounded just like Kressida's, yet deeper and more resonant. "This weakness of living things, that they have to breathe – I think I'll exploit it by depriving you of air." And the clawed fingers began to squeeze.
"NO!" cried Titania. In an instant, black flame shot out from her eyes and cut the monster in two. It dissolved and Anya and Valgaav fell to the floor, gasping for air.
Titania stood breathing heavily, a black aura surrounding her. Anya looked up and saw Titania. "You! You did that!"
Gorvald laughed. "Splendid! How does it feel to kill, Titania? Isn't it delicious? Wasn't Kuria's surprise and horror a delightful treat?"
Valgaav stood. "You sacrificed your companion just to give Titania a target?"
"There's more where that came from," Gorvald said. "There are many lives here to be taken. The sorceress, the dragons, the swordsman. The hunger must be growing inside you."
Anya stood up and began to slowly walk towards Titania. "You don't have to listen to him, Titania. The inn? Remember what happened at the inn?"
Titania spoke, but in a different, darker voice. "Anya, you held me back. I could have avenged my Master, why did you stop me?"
Gorvald cried. "Strike her down, Titania! Embrace your Mazoku blood! Do that and nothing will be beyond you!"
Black fire formed in Titania's hands.
"Titania, No!" cried Anya as the bolts of black flame discharged.
TO BE CONTINUED.....
"Anya Inverse here! If I don't look too happy right now, it's because that flirt Valgaav got me lost in the woods. What a jerk! Anyway, this big, strong ranger led me back to the inn where my family is staying and now he's going to be having dinner with us. Valgaav hated that idea, of course, and his foster-mother Filia is very angry with him. Serves the jerk right! But nothing really happened in the woods – besides the getting lost bit – and MY mother is furious with me too. What did I do to deserve this?"
Lina had sat Anya down at a chair in her room and was looking her over from top to bottom. Gourry was sitting one chair over, looking strangely bemused. Anya meanwhile was fuming. Why was Mom angry with HER when it was VALGAAV who'd been such a jerk?
"Now tell me exactly what happened in the woods!" Lina said.
"Nothing happened. I went into the woods, Valgaav followed me, we fought a Mazoku, we got lost, these Rangers found us, we got split up, and that's all that happened. Honest."
Lina began to mutter an incantation. At the end of it, Anya noticed a brief blue glow around her body that faded after just a moment. "What the hell was that?" Anya asked. What kind of spell did you cast on me?"
"Well, it's not that important. I just wanted to make sure you were OK."
Anya was ready to scream. "It was a virginity test, wasn't it? Mom! How could you even think such a thing?"
Lina stammered for a moment, suddenly extremely embarrassed. "Well, I just wanted to be sure that....."
"Well, now that you know I'm still pure as the driven snow, will you quit it with the third degree? Really, Mother! How presumptive of you!"
"You said you fought a Mazoku in the woods?" Lina said.
"That's right. Took it down with a Rah Tilt."
"And then you met these rangers out of the blue."
"Yeah, after Valgaav got us lost."
Lina began to place, her hand caressing her chin. "Hmm, Filia and I had no trouble navigating the woods. It's not that easy to get lost in there. And was Valgaav leading you?"
Anya began to think, and then her face took on a\n embarrassed crimson. "Well, not really. I just tried to go back out the way I came and got lost. But Valgaav should have been able to lead us out!"
"Not if there was an enchantment in place. I'm beginning to wonder about those rangers." Lina frowned. "OK, Anya, you're out of Dutch. And I'll go tell Filia to take it easy on Valgaav. That ranger – he looks much too good to be true to me."
"He doesn't read as Mazoku."
"Neither did Xellos when we first met. An intelligent Mazoku can conceal its aura to pass for human. Xellos did it for a long time when he was traveling with us in the old days. He might not be a Mazoku himself, though. But Titania does draw them like a beacon."
Anya got up. "I'd better check on Titania. With Mazoku about, she's not safe."
"You do that." Said Lina. Anya got up and left the room. Lina turned to Gourry, whose expression of bemusement had changed to concern. "You didn't notice anything odd about that ranger?"
"Just that he seemed awfully convenient." Gourry replied. "Rangers aren't very common in these parts."
"I'll talk to Filia." Lina said. "The sooner we get rid of that guy, the better I'll feel."
***
Titania was chopping vegetables when Gorvald walked into the kitchen. She looked up at the ranger with surprise in her eyes. "Who are you?"
"My name's Gorvald. I'm going to be joining you for dinner tonight. You work here?"
"No, I'm staying here too. I just needed to relax and get some practice, so Filia let me make dinner while she went out looking for her son. I guess she found him – I could hear her screaming at him all the way in here." Titania looked Gorvald up and down. She then began to blush.
"A pretty girl such as you is wasted in the kitchen," Gorvald said. "You should be a princess on a throne, not cooking food."
"If every pretty girl in the world became a princess, there wouldn't be enough thrones. And I enjoy cooking. But thanks for the compliment. I don't get very many of them, even from my friends."
Gorvald gave her a cheery grin. "You deserve a lot better than to be traveling the roads anyway. You could be Queen of the Forest if you let me take you away from all this."
"I thought you had a woman." Titania slid the vegetables into the stewpot and clamped down the lid. "I didn't think it was a particularly noble trait coming on to serving wenches."
"You're no serving wench." Gorvald replied. "You really are a princess. You just don't know it. And you really are utterly gorgeous."
"Really?" Titania began blushing furiously. "Nobody ever called me gorgeous before."
"What say we let the stew watch itself and...."
"Gorvald!" The two turned their heads and saw that Anya had entered the kitchen. "What are you doing here in the kitchen?"
"Just doing a little courting, that's all. This is quite a taking girl you have here. So much so that I was thinking of taking her myself."
"Titania is traveling with us, and that's the end of it, and if you don't want me to tell Filia what I just saw you'll leave her alone."
Titania walked over to Anya and, still blushing, took her aside. "Anya, it's all right. I know he doesn't mean anything by it. Nobody possibly could. Please don't tell Filia what you saw in here."
"All right, but keep your distance from strange men. Xellos is still out there, and he's not above using any trick he can think of to get you away from us."
***
A few moments later Filia and Lina were sitting down over tea. "And so," Lina said after concluding a long explanation of her conversation with Anya, "I think you should forgive Valgaav and be careful around this Gorvald character."
"You're worrying about nothing. If Gorvald really were a Mazoku, I would have detected it right away. I recognized Titania instantly. And as for Valgaav, I'm trying to get him to restrict his interest to dragons. Having him flirt with your daughter is not acceptable behavior. Surely you're protective of Anya yourself."
"I just remember being her age and driving away everybody who I thought might care about me. If Gourry hadn't been too stupid to recognize that I was trying to push him away, he wouldn't have clung as hard as he did. And then what would have happened? I'd have thrown away my one chance for happiness in this lifetime. Teenagers aren't as smart as they think they are – and, just between you and me, neither are parents."
Filia sighed. "I imagine we just don't get it anymore. And I'm not going to tell you where Valgaav's room is."
"What makes you think I want to know?"
"If Anya is that that hormonal a state she might try to sneak in there, and we can't have that."
"We certainly can't...."
***
Gorvald spent most of dinner talking about the legend of the woods, its appeal to lovers, and its reputation as a place where people tended to disappear. "We rangers find people in there all the time that've; been lost in the woods for days." he said. "The weird thing is that when you've been in the woods that long, you usually end up not wanting to leave. Maybe it's an old glamour from the days of the elves, or something"
Anya had noticed that Valgaav was not at the table. Titania was eating slowly, relishing the savory stew she had made. Gourry and Lina were eating like starving animals, and Filia picked at her food. Anya then looked at the plates in front of Gorvald and noticed something odd.
"Your bowl is empty," she said, "but you've been talking all this time. Didn't we serve you?"
"Oh, I ate my stew. Food just seems to disappear around me."
"Is that so?" Anya's eyes were narrowing. There was something not right about Gorvald, she decided. He was too perfect. Nobody was that attractive. She then noticed that Titania was staring at him wide-eyes and that her cheeks were red. This was beginning to look very bad.
***
Valgaav was lying in his bed, fully clothed and fuming. That Filia had gotten that upset wasn't really a surprise – Filia was normally a sweet and gentle soul, but the whole county knew not to arouse her temper. It was just that he knew the whole group was in danger and he couldn't do anything about it.
A knock came on the door. "Who is it?" he asked.
"It's Titania. I brought you your dinner."
"I'm not hungry. Set it outside."
"If I do that, it'll get cold. Let me in."
"The door isn't locked."
The door opened and Titania walked in bearing a steaming bowl of stew, which she set on the table. She then walked up to Valgaav. "I'm going to die soon' she said. "I just know it."
"Don't be ridiculous," Valgaav said. "You have Anya to protect you, and her parents. You'll be fine."
"I don't want to die in my innocence. Please, Valgaav?" Titania undid one button of her blouse.
"You shouldn't do this, Titania. I know you're not really interested in me, and I'm in enough trouble already."
"Please." She said.
At that moment a knock came on the door."Valgaav?" It was Anya's voice. "Valgaav, I just wanted to say I was sorry for what happened in the woods. Can I come in?"
"No...." Titania said.
"Titania?" Anya burst through the door to see Titania and Valgaav in the room, Titania standing and Valgaav on the bed. "Titania, what are you doing here?'
"None of your business, Anya. Why don't you leave me alone?"
"You don't mean that, Titania!" Anya said. "We're friends."
Valgaav frowned. "Of course she doesn't mean it – because she's not Titania."
Anya shuddered. "What?'
Titania shook her head. "You're not serious! What do you mean I'm not Titania?"
"Titania has no control over her powers," Valgaav said. "If you were her, this room would be reeking of Mazoku. But I can't sense a thing – like in the woods, with Kressida. Who are you, and what's you're game anyway?"
Anya held out her hands. "OK, time out. What brought Kressida into this? Did that ranger woman try anything?"
"Only to rape and murder me. Isn't that right – Kressida?"
Titania, turned around, hurled Anya aside, and ran out of the room.
"Titania!" cried Anya. "Wait!"
"We've got to follow her! I must have only wounded her in the woods. That's what I tried to tell you in front of the inn – Gorvald's a Mazoku!"
Anya ran out of the room, only to see no sign on anyone in the hall. Valgaav followed her out. Anya turned to Valgaav and nodded. "We have to find Titania – the REAL Titania – right now. She's in grave danger!"
"Indeed."
***
In the common room, Gorvald had insisted on helping Titania clean up from dinner. "So," he said with a surprisingly silky voice, "What do you say to my proposition?"
"It's very flattering, but no." Titania said. "I don't dare let anyone get close to me. I'd only be putting you in danger."
"You're putting Anya in danger by staying with her, even more so. If things are as bad as they say you are, Anya can't protect you. I can. Besides, you know that sooner or later she's going to have to turn on you. You can't trust sorceresses."
"I can't trust you either. If you're going to get a room, arrange it with Filia. This conversation is at an end."
At that moment Anya and Valgaav ran into the room. They immediately stared at Gorvald and Titania.
"It's definitely the real Titania." Anya said. "I can sense the aura all the way from here."
Titania looked at her puzzled. "What do you mean 'the real Titania?' What's going on?"
"The dragon and the sorceress have allied against you," Gorvald said. "Surely you can see it."
Anya walked towards Titania slowly. "Titania, I want you to slowly back away from that man."
Instead, Titania inched closer. "I don't understand. Gorvald's been nice to me. What are you going to do to him?"
"I'm only trying to protect you. This man is not who he claims he is, and he wants to hurt you."
"No," said Gorvald, "They're the ones who want to hurt you. She's allied herself with the dragon, and we know how much the dragons hate your kind."
Titania leapt away. "My kind? What do you know about my kind? What makes you think...?"
"Someone with your abilities, you talents, has no place among humans. And as for dragons, they'll hunt you down and kill you the moment they see you. Isn't that exactly what you two have been lying in wait to do all this time?"
Anya shook her head. "No. Titania is my friend. I will protect her."
Valgaav chimed in, "I hardly know Titania, but I do know that I have no intention of harming her. However the same cannot be said for...."
At that moment, clawed hands reaching from behind grabbed Anya and Valgaav by the throat. "NO!" screamed Titania.
"You forgot about someone." Said a voice that sounded just like Kressida's, yet deeper and more resonant. "This weakness of living things, that they have to breathe – I think I'll exploit it by depriving you of air." And the clawed fingers began to squeeze.
"NO!" cried Titania. In an instant, black flame shot out from her eyes and cut the monster in two. It dissolved and Anya and Valgaav fell to the floor, gasping for air.
Titania stood breathing heavily, a black aura surrounding her. Anya looked up and saw Titania. "You! You did that!"
Gorvald laughed. "Splendid! How does it feel to kill, Titania? Isn't it delicious? Wasn't Kuria's surprise and horror a delightful treat?"
Valgaav stood. "You sacrificed your companion just to give Titania a target?"
"There's more where that came from," Gorvald said. "There are many lives here to be taken. The sorceress, the dragons, the swordsman. The hunger must be growing inside you."
Anya stood up and began to slowly walk towards Titania. "You don't have to listen to him, Titania. The inn? Remember what happened at the inn?"
Titania spoke, but in a different, darker voice. "Anya, you held me back. I could have avenged my Master, why did you stop me?"
Gorvald cried. "Strike her down, Titania! Embrace your Mazoku blood! Do that and nothing will be beyond you!"
Black fire formed in Titania's hands.
"Titania, No!" cried Anya as the bolts of black flame discharged.
TO BE CONTINUED.....