THE VROL TRILOGY (77 page)

Jennie looked at her daughter with masked
pride, knowing that Draagh would have never left the girl alone on
a strange world in order to wantonly torture her grandfather, but
at the same time found the threat rather amusing.

"So Gabriel, it seems that you have become
close with my granddaughter," stated Michael while showing a bit of
angst in his voice.

"Uncle Gabriel is not afraid of who he is,
father of my father. He helped us to find you, so that you could
help us to find my father. He has been gone for quite some time and
needs our help."

"Yes I have, Michael. For a
mon
…mage, she is quite amazing, but
Father has a need of your genetics. I only hope that they have not
been damaged due to your constant abuse of that infernal
plant."

Gabriel almost slipped and said
monkey
, and Jennie knew it, but let
it pass. Some habits are sometimes hard to break - especially
Gabriel's that went back hundreds of thousands of years.

"I believe I am quite well, thank you very
much. So, I understand you are acquiring your own world, if I heard
correctly. Good for you! My son must be pretty darned important for
our father to agree to give a psychopath like you his own planet in
order to find me. Chalk it up to genetics, dear brother-"

In a flash, Gabriel shot over and physically
pinned the powerless angel up against a large redwood tree, a
massive, clawed hand digging at his throat.

"You shall assist Father in his mission, and
he shall do for me that which Jah had denied."

"Yes, Gabriel. We made an arrangement, and
you shall have your world. In fact, I believe I have already picked
it out, but first things first. Let him go. Now," commanded
Draagh.

Gabriel released his brother, and then looked
at him scornfully.

"I only do this for your children. The
females are quite… amazing. I am also certain that your son is…
adequate. As he is technically my nephew - something I have never
had during my entire existence, I believe I should like to meet
him. Erm… again. You should also want the same, Brother."

"Oh, I do! I most certainly do, but I would
like to properly meet the others in this rescue party," Michael
managed to choke out, as he rubbed his neck.

"Michael, please meet Krynos, king of
the Rhönen Dominion of the 43
^rd
century. This is where your son trained and is also young
Liliana's home. Over here is Rear Admiral Luigi Bagatelle, the
brother of the amazing woman whom we know as Jennie Gunnarsson,"
said Draagh.

Jennie and Bagatelle waved to Michael, who
looked around at everyone, especially impressed by Krynos' large
size, and even more so by Liliana's use of magic that he had
earlier witnessed.

"So, as I have yet to brief my son on our
mission, I believe it is in the best interest of all involved that
we return to Krynos' castle at this time," the old Primulus
continued.

The entire group walked back to the campsite
so that Michael could make proper goodbyes to his friends. After
wiping the tears from the faces of a number of women, he collected
a couple of belongings, one of them being a rather large waterpipe.
That didn't go off too well, as Liliana glared at him and made
multiple glances at the ground, so he reluctantly set the pipe down
with some resignation.

"Um, King Krynos," Michael asked quietly, "I
assume there is a lot of meat served in your land, am I
correct?"

"But of course, good man!" boomed the lycan
king. "In fact, tonight I believe we have not only beef, but also
caribou on the menu!"

"Thank the stars," exclaimed Michael, who had
not eaten animal protein in over two decades. Gabriel had made sure
that Michael was on a world where animal flesh and byproducts were
indigestible by humans, thereby only facilitating a vegan
lifestyle.

Liliana ran over to the children whom
she had befriended, giving them all hugs (while holding her
breath), and then ran over to the porridge thief from earlier and
again wagged her finger at him, saying, "Hey loser, you had better
feed the kids before hitting the pipe in the morning. I shall find
out if you do not, and then I will come back and make
you
into a giant bug that the
children can push around.
¿
E
ntendés
?"

The man stared at her with a look of abject
terror and slowly nodded his head as he watched her turn around and
skip back to her group - just like a little girl - who commanded
nature… and thrashed grown men with mere words.

Chapter 16 - Welcome Home, Mickey

The team appeared in the same field out
in front of the castle from which they had earlier departed, and as
usual, Liliana went to take the newly-arrived to see various
things, the first being her
pet
sharks. Krynos allowed the little girl to claim the sharks as
her pets, partly because she gave them attention and feeding, but
also due to the fact that she had basically saved his kingdom a
year before. Liliana got a lot of leeway, even when castle servants
ended up in the burn ward. Jennie, however, was not so forgiving,
but this time she allowed her daughter to drag her new grandfather
(even though he looked like an uncle at best) to see her pet
fishies
and the rest of the castle.
It was early in the day, so there was plenty of time to secure
quarters for the archangel. Still, he was hungry, so he leaned down
and whispered into the girl's ear, "Liliana, I am so hungry. Could
we please first go and get something to eat, and then I promise to
go everywhere with you?"

"Of course… um… what shall I call you?"

"Well, I never really thought about
that. Here is an old name I know of - how about
Saba
?"

"That sounds silly. I shall call you
Michael," she responded matter-of-factly.

"Sounds good to me. Now how about some food?"
Michael asked as he salivated from the thought of delicious plates
of meat.

Liliana was about to answer when a massive
Great White breached from the moat, prompting the archangel to grab
the girl and jump back.

"Why does everyone do that?" she cried out,
pushing him away. "They are pets! Let us go eat. We shall come back
and feed them once our hunger has been satisfied."

Michael looked over at his brother Gabriel,
who was stifling a snicker as he shrugged his shoulders. Then,
spreading wings out wide and upward, he shot up into the air at
blinding speed, creating a mild shockwave behind him.

"I remember having those," Michael pined,
wishing he had his abilities back already.

The team, minus Gabriel, sat in the
main dining hall casually eating, but at the same time being
entertained by Michael's voracious appetite. He hadn't consumed any
animal protein in a quarter century, and was severely lacking; made
evident by his lean musculature. Liliana would occasionally stop
him and show how she used her eating utensils, like a
civilized lycan
, and urged him to do
the same. He just grinned and kept stuffing delicious, steaming
chunks of barely-cooked animal flesh into his mouth, his body
readily accepting the nutrition and almost visibly filling out, as
if everyone was watching a time-lapse vid.

"So, Michael - been a while since you had
anything decent to eat, eh?" asked Jennie, as she watched him wolf
down protein with a lack of table etiquette that easily matched her
worst.

"Mmmhmmm," he responded back with a mouthful
of food. Swallowing what he was chewing, he politely added, "Do you
have any idea how easy it is to get sick of carrots and kale? And
if I ever see another Portobello mushroom-"

"Well then, my son, it is a good thing that
we released you from your most unfortunate situation," added Krynos
as he enjoyed lunch at the same table as the others. "And to think,
you had desired to stay on that wretched world. Your son, Max, is a
most remarkable man, and I sincerely hope that our combined efforts
shall finally enable us to locate him," the king continued, "as I
am most certainly tiring of the many who ask if Jennie is yet again
available for courting."

"Never! I don't care if Max never shows up.
I'll never, ever go out with anyone ever again. I have Lili, and
we're family. That's good enough for me."

Draagh looked at his granddaughter-in-law
with a solemn grin, knowing that what she said, in her heart, rang
true. He only hoped that his scheme with Michael would work.

At the same time, Krynos looked at the lycan
beauty with a kindly gaze, and then, in a jocund manner, suddenly
blurted out, "My dear, if I were a few centuries younger I would
have-"

"Don't go there, my liege, please," the girl
shot back, "my respect for you knows no bounds, but we have yet to
search for Max."

"So, Father, what is your plan? I only know
that you need my help… and genetics," said Michael.

"Well, I plan on having you replicate Max's
activity on the day on his disappearance. In fact, I shall have
someone explain exactly what happened to Max, as I was not present
when he went missing."

Draagh held his staff and Socrates coalesced
into view. As the particles that made up his face gathered and
produced his familiar visage he gave his usual greeting.

"Good afternoon, my Lord. Query: How may I…
Michael - It is good to see you again…"

The computerized being almost had a look of
pleasure on his face upon seeing the Taxiarch.

"I am well, Socrates. It is good to see you
also. I only hope that I am able to help."

Suddenly, Socrates looked around in what one
could have described as state of panic, saying, "Query: Is… Gabriel
around here?"

Draagh laughed boisterously, saying, "No, my
dear friend. He took off to survey the surrounding region. As we
have you here with us, would you please detail to Michael exactly
what happened to Max on the day he disappeared?"

"But of course, my Lord," responded the
sentient computer, looking almost relieved. He then told Michael
precisely what had happened to Max. After some minutes Michael sat
with a thoughtful expression, and then looked over at his
father.

"That was about the dumbest thing I
have ever heard a supposed
genius
do. But it was his warrior instinct that forced him to act
without thinking. It is a natural reflex. With proper training he
should be fine - if we find him, that is. So, it would be best to
attempt the 4D slip without having my abilities restored. I am
unaware of the extent of Max's capabilities, but I may match him
more closely as I am right now. I mean, even though I cannot touch
magic I still retained my strength and regenerative capabilities.
What say you, Father?"

Draagh surveyed his son with a touch of
compassion. The archangel did truly desire to find Max, and even
though he had been powerless for near a quarter century he was
still willing to wait a little while more in order to properly
assist.

"That would be preferable, Michael. We all
appreciate your consideration, but you will need to be changed - to
a certain extent."

"I only hope that we can find the boy. I
haven't seen him since that day in Peru. And now that he's my
brother-in-law I have a familial responsibility," said Bagatelle,
who had been playing the role of quite observer quiet since the
group's arrival.

"I am confident we will succeed, dear Luigi.
However, in order to properly replicate Max's erroneous actions,
Michael will need to do things that Max had previously done with my
staff. Michael, it will indeed be necessary for me to restore some
of your abilities - mainly your ability to touch magic. Once we
have done this I shall have you use my staff to 3D slip around the
castle, which is what Max had done, and which also led him to
believe that he could use the staff to 4D slip. However, when you
attempt your 4D slip to where Max's ship resides I shall be with
you. You and I shall go alone, and if we are successful in finding
Max's new location I shall save the coordinates in the ghanlo and
return us here, where we shall gather our recon team and set out to
retrieve our lost family member."

"This sounds satisfactory, Father. When do we
start?"

"Right after we get you set up in your
sleeping chambers. Today I restore some of your abilities, matching
you as closely as I can to Max, and then tomorrow you shall
practice slipping while using my staff. Then on your own without my
staff."

"Tomorrow?" cried out Liliana, "but I want to
see my father now! It has been much too long!"

"Lili, love, your father has been gone for a
number of months, and we need to make sure that this is done
correctly so we can finally bring him home. Please be patient. It
is for the best," responded Jennie, who was slightly embarrassed by
her daughter's immature outburst.

"Very well then, Jennie," the little lycan
said. "Michael, once you have seen your room would you like to meet
with me so that we may go feed the sharks? They are quite hungry
later in the day, and they become restless."

"Sure Liliana. Let me take a
little
siesta
and then we can
go to feed them."

Liliana looked at her grandfather,
slightly surprised that he knew a Castilian word, but then
remembered that he was an immortal archangel, and figured that he
probably spoke dozens of languages. She decided to let him nap a
bit first; he had only eaten vegetables for many, many years, and
she found vegetables to be quite
yucky
, so she had a bit of compassion for him in
that aspect.