THE VROL TRILOGY (105 page)

"Gabe, could I ask you something?"

"Sure, Jessica, what would that be?"
responded Gabriel.

"I'm kinda worried about Pandy and Dons.
Could we go to Sins and check up on them?"

"I don't see why not. When would you like to
go?"

"As soon as possible. Maybe after lunch?"

"We shall, then," said the archangel.

The team had a steaming-hot lunch, brought
over by none other than Krynos (which was an oddity in itself)
through his personal portal via the Hub and his office. He felt
quite proud of his contributions, and was enjoying his time away
from Earth immensely.

"I must say, my friend, this is excellent
roasted elk," exclaimed Draagh, as he dutifully stripped the bones
clean.

"Yes, I must agree! The castle cooks are in
great form these days," Krynos said proudly.

"Jessica and I are going back to her home for
the afternoon. We would like to check on her friends and, of
course, the hotel. Is there anything from there we can bring
you?"

"There is nothing you can bring me, but… may
I accompany you to this Old-Earth?" Krynos asked quite nicely.

Gabriel was about to respond when Jessica
blurted out, "Of course, King Krynos. I really want you to meet my
family there. I know you wanted to go before."

The archangel grinned at his friend's
interruption, but still added his own thoughts, which were the same
as Jessica's. "Yes, I agree. King Krynos should come with us. Sir,
I believe you will like the good works we have produced on
Jessica's homeworld."

###

A small concussive blast blew out some dust
in the middle of Santa Monica Boulevard, as three individuals - a
local lycan female, an archangel, and an incredibly large lycan
king who was looking around while wearing a huge smile - suddenly
appeared. Krynos sniffed the air deeply, analyzing his
surroundings. Before he could say anything, he heard a scream and a
squeal, and Pandy went flying out of Seven Sins, nearly tackling
Jessica.

"Jessie! Oh my god! What took you so long?"
she yelped.

"Sorry hun, but we've been busy. It's a whole
new world out there!"

"So, where are you living these days?" Pandy
asked excitedly.

"We're splitting time between Earth of
the 43
^rd
century and a moon in
Max's system in the
29
^th
."

"A moon? Like, that moon up in the sky?"

Earth's moon was waning crescent and showing
in the afternoon, as the sky was so clear and had relatively little
pollution, aside from the small fires that littered various
encampments throughout Los Angeles.

"Yeah, but bigger. And there's air. We're
building an underground base, so I'm either way underground or over
at King Krynos' castle. By the way, this is King Krynos." Jessica
smiled and nodded her head in the king's direction, and watched
with amusement as Pandy's jaw dropped slightly while she looked up
at the massive, bearded lycan king. Krynos wore a beaming smile and
extending his hand out in friendship.

"I am Krynos, king of a distant land, young
one. I understand you a very special to my friend Jessica," he said
solemnly, as he graciously bowed his head in a slight fashion.

Pandy just stood in place, jaw agape, when
Jessica punched her in the arm.

"Hey, say hello. He won't bite. Well, not
until the full moon anyway."

"Uh… hello!" she responded, breaking out into
a smile and surging forward and hugging the ancient king, much to
his surprise - and to that of Dons, who had just peeked his head
out of the club.

"Oy, Pandy, whatcha doin, love?" asked Dons,
who was completely mystified until he saw Jessica.

"Oh, heya Jess! And Gabriel, right? And
humongous, large, strange man whom my girl is hugging. What might
your name be, eh?"

Krynos was very kind when he met Pandy,
partly because Jessica had spoken so highly of her, but she had
said very little about Dons, and his approach was not something
that the king was used to. Lumbering over, he stood directly in
front of Dons and then simply looked straight down, glaring at the
diminutive clan leader.

"I am Krynos, king of the Rhönen Dominion. I
have been alive for over a thousand years, and I have never, in my
entire life, wanted to do this any more than I have, until this
very moment."

"Um, what's that mate?" Dons asked nervously,
seeing that his girls were not flanking his position as they
usually would in a dangerous situation.

"Why, drink a refreshing beer, of course!"
Krynos boomed, gaining a huge smile. Shooting his hand down, he
grabbed Dons' hand and shook it furiously.

"Psyche!" bellowed the laughing king, having
learned the art of bluffing for humorous effect from Liliana. Dons
did his best to reciprocate the handshake, his whole arm being
pulled up and down by the massive king.

Both Jessica and Liliana practically wiped
their brows of sweat after believing they were going to witness the
demise of Dons. Fortunately that was not the case, so the group
walked into Seven Sins to have some cold refreshments. There wasn't
any music playing at the moment, but the band was setting up. Upon
entering the bar, Jessica noticed Krynos again sniffing the air and
then training his eyes on Lennie, who was on the stage playing
around with the PA system. She quickly and stepped in front of the
king, beckoning him to lean forward.

"Vampires aren't bad here. Remember what Max
said? In fact, Lennie up there is a good friend of Commander Max,"
she said quietly.

"Ah yes, I do remember. A friend of Max's is
a friend of mine! I shall greet him!" the king boomed.

"King Krynos - would you like to do it in a
really super cool way?" asked Pandy.

"What do you mean? Do what?"

"Greet Max's friend?"

"Yes, of course! It is my first time in this
strange land. I must learn all customs! What is it I must do, young
lady?"

"Here, when you say hello, give him this,"
said Pandy, handing the king a beer with tomato juice.

"Ale, with tomatoes. This is an odd custom,
but I shall do it," he said with a smile.

Gabriel simply sat back and watched everyone
quietly, as was his way, but a few people recognized him from his
recent visit when the group had found Max. It was very difficult
for anyone to forget seeing an archangel for the first time.

"Greetings, small vampire! I am Krynos. I
understand you are a friend of Max Gunnarsson!" Krynos said loudly
while holding a beer and tomato juice out to the drummer.

"Um, heya! Yeah, that's me. Lennie's my name.
So, you're the king of where Max lives?"

"That is correct. I must say - it is quite
odd meeting a vampire. On any other world I would be forced to
squeeze your head like a swollen pustule on my butt-"

"Hey Lennie!" Jessica interrupted, "wow, hey,
yeah, you met King Krynos! Cool, huh? A real king."

"Um, yeah, except for the zit reference. Oh,
thanks for the beer… king. Just how I like it. So Jess, you here
for the show, or what's up?"

"Dunno, wanted to see the hotel, and Pandy
and Dons. Really I wanted to see Pandy. How have things been the
past few days?"

"For us? All good. Jelly is coming along
well. Pandy and Dons, well, they seem kinda distant. I didn't tell
you that, ok?"

"But they are right over there, at the wooden
servants' counter!" said Krynos, a bit too loudly.

"King, please, shhhhhh," said Jessica as she
gently caressed the kings massive forearm and gave him a sweet
smile. "It is a saying. Let's just drink our refreshments, ok?"

"Hmmph, of course, little one. So, Lennie,"
he continued, "you are of a musical troupe? Which instrument do you
play - the lute or the tambourine? Or perhaps you sing poems?"

"Umm, the… tambourine… sort of, but a lot
bigger and louder. Anyway sir, we will be playing in about fifteen
minutes. If you are here I'd love it if you listened to our
music."

Krynos nodded politely and turned to go back
to Gabriel, with whom he was much more comfortable, while Jessica
giggled lightly.

"Lennie, don't worry. He's never been
friendly with a vampire before. This is a different world, and it's
his first time here."

"I understand. Max explained some stuff to
me, though I reckon he didn't tell me everything."

"Yeah sweetie, but you can trust Max.
He's tops," Jessica said knowingly, as she looked back at the bar
where her best friend was talking with her archangel
friend
.

"Pandy, what do you desire here? Is it the
club, or battling the insects? I personally find them revolting,
but if that is what you like then…" Gabriel stated with a bit of a
pause, and without showing any sort of emotion.

"Oh, I'll discuss that with Jessica, ok Mr.
Huge Wings Awesomesauce?"

Gabriel looked curiously at the small lycan
girl, nodding his head, and then turned to listen to Krynos'
grumblings, intent on pacifying the king, as he had been instructed
to do by his father.

The two girls walked over and plopped down
onto Dons' couch that Max had provided for him many days. Back in a
dark corner of the lounge, Pandy was able to confide in her best
friend and virtual sister.

"What's it like over there? Are you having a
good time?" asked Pandy, as Jessica sat holding her hand.

"It's really cool. I haven't seen a whole lot
of Max's planet, because we're mostly underground on a moon, but
King Smartypants over there has a super cool castle. It's our
world, in the future, sweetie, it's so beautiful. But you seem sad.
What are you asking these things?"

"I want to leave this place. I know Max's
family worked hard to make the hotel, but it's just not… the same
without you. You are my family. I really miss you a lot."

"Are you sure? You know, we are nothing in
the whole grand scheme of things. When we were here, before Max
showed up, we thought we were everything. Sweetie, we are nothing -
nothing at all. Not even a spec in the galaxy. Not even an atom. I
have learned so much, and life - even though we live a long time -
isn't forever. Draagh, for example, has been alive since the
beginning of this universe. He saw the first organisms form on this
world as it boiled - he saw it all. We are nothing. So, if you ask
me if staying here with Dons is really important… I say nothing is.
We are so inconsequential it's mind-boggling."

"Oh wow, that's so deep," said Pandy,
completely flabbergasted, "where did you learn to talk like
that?"

Jessica stopped, stunned, as she had never
really considered it before - her sudden acquisition of knowledge.
She remembered sitting with Draagh and Gabriel, in the former's
office, and then having a bunch of information appear in her head -
that was all.

"I think they made me smarter, sweetie. I
don't remember. Anyway, if it's not good here, come back with us.
You'll really like it. It's like a whole, new adventure."

"Take me with you guys, please," Pandy
whispered to her best friend in the world.

"That's really why I came back, hun - to get
you."

"Oh Jess, that's so awesome. And Liliana -
Max's daughter. Is she really kick-ass? Or was it an act?"

"Oh, I believe she was being humble when she
introduced herself."

"No way! And the sharks… does she really have
sharks as pets?"

"Sadly, yes."

"Wow! Are they big?"

"Gigantic."

"OhMyGod so cool! When do we leave?"

Over at the other side of the expansive room,
Krynos was engaging in some light conversation with Dons. The king
had taken a liking to the Feral leader, and saw more than a bit of
potential in him.

"So small proprietor, tell me about your
operation. It seems as if you have developed your own small fiefdom
here. I should want to assist you in becoming a king!" said
Krynos.

"Well, mate. No desire to become a king, but
to have this spot of land with no issues would be just fine for
me."

"Commander Gunnarsson shall have a need for
soldiers quite soon. Will you be a volunteer as one of the
officers?"

"Hmm, if he asks me, maybe. We'll see."

"He is a good man."

"I reckon he is. I reckon he is."

Jessica went back to Gabriel and whispered to
him that Pandy wanted to return with them, which the archangel had
figured was the case in the first place - they had returned to
retrieve her best friend. They just needed to leave when there was
plenty of commotion, not wanting to make a scene between the
soon-to-be unconnected couple.

Lennie's band was about to start, and Krynos
had a front row seat. Actually, he was standing in front of the
stage, blocking everyone else with his large frame, and it seemed
that no one was more excited for the show to begin than the lycan
king. But while he was expecting a medieval performance of lutes
and tambourines, he was instead treated to what was the same exact
battle dance song that Max had played at the celebration
immediately following the Battle of the Blood.

Then, totally excited, Krynos started the
mosh pit with the utmost exuberance. People flew - people who did
not intend on flying. Dons sat back on his couch with the girls,
watching as Krynos, a lycan king from centuries in the future,
decimated the paltry furniture on the dance floor perimeter. Even
Marko didn't try to intervene. However, Gabriel threw a protective
barrier cantus on the outsides of the dance floor that had two
purposes. One - to guard the rest of the club, and two - to give
any flying dancers a soft landing. There was minimal damage after
that, and the revelers seemed to pick up on their good fortunes
quickly, bouncing off the invisible walls and jumping back in for
more punishment.