by SK Benton
"Cool! I like her even more already!" Pandy squealed.
"I do believe our new friends here could use a trip to Krynos' castle one day in the future," said Bagatelle.
"Agreed. Most definitely agreed," added Max, "and then to Azul, once we have defeated the Vrol."
"Jennie, you're a non-mage like us, right?" asked Pandy.
"Yup - a regular, old lycan. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I figure as your husband, father-in-law and grandfather-in-law are power-mages you probably got set up with some pretty outrageous magic-enabled objects, eh?"
"Well," she giggled, "my katana is embedded with magic, as well as my gauntlet."
"Gauntlet?" asked Pandy.
"Yeah, a spiked, metal glove that I once used to decimate a…"
"Heya! Jennie! Would you like another drink?" asked Max, trying to steer the conversation away from what was going to be his wife's description of how she killed a vampire. Lennie and Jelly were close by outside, had excellent hearing, and he only sought to keep anyone from having any uncomfortable feelings.
"Jen, please, nothing about how we kill vamps, ok? At least not here, right now."
"Oh yeah, right. Got it, sweetie."
"Um, yeah, sure hun. That would be great."
Pandy, being sharper than she let on, noticed that some sort of communication had gone on between Max and Jennie. Figuring it was something similar to the bracelets that Feral had, thanks to Max, she just let it go.
Everyone seated kept themselves busy with light conversation as Draagh and Liliana prepared food. Roughly 20 minutes later the two exited the kitchen, both levitating large plates of meats, fruits and cooked eggs, and then setting them down at the large table where everyone was seated. Pandy watched Liliana with great interest, noting how to little girl naturally handled magical skills. She observed, not out of envy, but with pure, innocent admiration. She was also an orphan, without siblings, and although she loved Jessica very much, she started to wish that she could have a little sister like Liliana.
"Wow, that is quite a layout, eh?" exclaimed Dons, totally happy that there was decent food to eat, and not the noxious substance that the well-meaning Liliana had earlier created.
"Grandfather and I prepared this for everyone. Oh, did you all drink your nutritious smoothies?" asked the smiling little girl, prompting everyone to nod their heads.
"Oh yeah!"
"Mmhmmm, good stuff!"
"Wow, liquefied yumminess!"
"Um… no. Absolutely not." (Dons)
They all dug into the food, mixing eating with conversation of various sorts. Liliana sat up on the counter top, nibbling on some bacon strips and watching as the adults were engaged in telling jokes and stories. The little lycan was the only one to notice when Gabriel and Jessica entered the room, preceded by a light, popping sound.
"Mornin', all!" Jessica said brightly, causing everyone to look up.
"Heya, Jess! Come and have some foodies. Mr. Draagh and little Lili made some awesome breakfast," Pandy said invitingly.
"Brother, it is good to see you. Did you rest well?" asked Michael.
Looking at Jessica, and then back at Michael, Gabriel said, "Yes. We went to a place where we could rest and watch the sunrise. You know, throughout the eons we have visited countless numbers of worlds, but I still find the sunrises on Earth to be among the most beautiful."
Jessica plopped down next to Pandy, grabbed some food and started to tell her about her evening in modest tones- giving special detail to the beautiful tropical island they had visited.
"Oh wow! Did you see any sharks? I want to see a shark," said Pandy.
"Um, I don't… think… so. Why?"
"Liliana has sharks as pets. How cool is that?"
Jessica gave her best friend a blank expression, wondering if Pandy even knew what a shark was, and then cracked a smile and went back to eating some of the expertly prepared breakfast.
After breakfast, Draagh pulled Max aside, wanting to work with him for a bit.
"My boy, yesterday we discussed your new phase between battle and death form. I would like to see it now, as it seems you have loaded up with proper nutrition. Could you show me, please?
Max took a deep breath and dropped to his knees. He started to go into what looked like a phase 3 transformation, but after less than sixty seconds, stopped short while maintaining his full bipedal form. The transition was indeed painful, and there were decent amounts of shredded flesh and some bodily liquids on the ground, but it wasn't quite as messy as a full phase 3 shift. Max was breathing heavily, so Draagh approached him cautiously, as Max was never previously able to maintain sapience during his death form transformations. He truly looked like his change had stopped between phase 2 and phase 3.
"Max, are you with me?" Draagh thought to his grandson.
"You bet, pops! I look pretty handsome, don't I?"
Draagh procured a modified version of his infopanel, forming a 360 degree display that slowly circled Max, taking in every bit of data, genetic or otherwise, that he could get. After having Max perform a number of tasks, such as jumping, rolling, howling, talking and lifting some heavy objects, he allowed his grandson to revert back to his phase 1 form. Fortunately, Jennie and Liliana were there to watch, along with Bagatelle, Michael, Gabriel and the Feral clan.
"So pops, what do you think? Will I be able to do this off-world?" asked Max, as he ate a sandwich.
"That and much more so, I believe, my son," stated Draagh. It seems that there was a protein inhibitor in your system that had previously negated your extra-normal capabilities. In fact, if that inhibitor had never existed you would have started to experience phase transformations upon reaching puberty while living on Azul. Thanks to the nullification of the protein inhibitor, you are now immune to frequency shifts, so theoretically you could perform any sort of skill on your home world if you were there today. And now that we have identified the protocols, we shall see about facilitating this phase level with other lycans - kind of like a vaccine. It very well could save your species, as well as save me an enormous amount of time reprogramming all of the particles on your world. This very well could be the dawn of the next stage in human evolution."
"Um, save my species? Evolution?"
"Yes, my boy, lycans are dying out due to a low birthrate and lack of normal-to-lycan turning. Aside from living in Krynos' kingdom, and even living for a very long time, what benefits would a normal see in becoming lycan? Families are never turned, only individuals, so the newly-turned watches his family for decades as they die off, and to make it worse, the turned get to experience a massively painful phase 3 transformation every full moon. No my boy, the time of voluntary turning needs to come to an end."
"But Pops, aren't there other kingdoms and settlements? There have to be other lycan clans elsewhere," Max said with no small amount of distress in his voice.
"Yes my son, there are, but they are suffering the same fate as Krynos' kingdom. Perhaps we can make a change, what say you?"
"I'll turn some normals!" Jennie interjected.
"Against their will?" asked Max
"If it means the survival of our species, then yes. Max, great leaders have had to do horrible things for the betterment of mankind in our storied past," she said.
Max thought for a moment, and looked over at his grandfather while asking a very logical question.
"My entire planet is full of inactive lycans. Well, also inactive vampires, but they kinda come with the whole enchilada, right?"
"Yes - that much is true, my son. Why do you ask?"
"Well, that means that if we execute a frequency shift in Azul we will have millions of lycans, right?"
"Multiple tens of thousands, but close enough," responded the ancient Primulus.
Then, why don't we start at home? We can procreate from there. I would really like to turn Alicia," said Bagatelle.
"So, can we activate the lycan population without affecting those with recessive vampire gen
es?" asked Max.
"No my boy. Sadly, all species operate on the same frequency, so you cannot have your cake and eat it too. Plus, imagine tens of thousands of lycans and vampires running around, unaware of who or what they are. It would be a bloodbath. We would be doing the Vrol's work for them."
"Father," Gabriel interjected, "we once affected only a quadrant of a world doing something similar. We used magnetic fields to create a degree of separation."
"My son, as good as your idea sounds, we would still have masses of confused people. I believe that what we must do would border on kidnapping."
"Kidnapping?" everyone shouted out in unison.
"Bagatelle, you have intimate knowledge of Azul and its moons, am I not correct?" asked Draagh.
"Yes sir, that is correct. Why do you ask?"
"Of course!" exclaimed Max. "We can make a secret base on a moon and take the best individuals with recessive lycan genes with us. Then we convert their frequencies and train them. It will be a controlled change - slow, but without the chaos of a mass effect. G can guide us and help to locate the best area for an ops base."
"Genius," stated Michael, as Draagh nodded in agreement.
"Yes, yes, quite so. I do so enjoy being very smart," the old mage said jokingly, as he pointed to his temple, while displaying a sparkle in his eye.
"And I will be able to turn Alicia?" asked Bagatelle.
"You betcha, Brother. She'll be the first one," stated Jennie.
"Excellent, oh, and we should probably build our base on Vera, as it's the least populated of the three system moons," the deposed rear admiral continued.
"It's a cold moon, and there are mostly mining operations there anyway, right?" asked Max.
"Yes, but we shall build the base underground where it is warmer. We can slip recruits directly to the base and keep the actual location a secret, lest one of them decides to defect and report us to the federal authorities," said Draagh.
"Sounds great, but before anything, I want to retrieve my mother and bring her to the Rhönen," said Max.
"Can I go with you to get her?" asked Jennie.
"You and Liliana, both. Maybe Draagh can slip us over there. It would be a death sentence to take the Machu Picchu back. And I am sure she has heard all kinds of nasty, untrue things about me."
"Um, yeah, Max. Johnson's government told her that you were a traitor to the human race, and that you had created an alliance with Earth savages and were going to return to Azul to take over. Unfortunately, they also told her that you were possibly killed in battle, so I wouldn't recommend simply knocking on her door," said Bagatelle.
"Good idea," said Max.
Draagh looked at Max, but didn't agree on or deny going to Azul with them. It was as if he had already made up his mind on something else.
"So Draagh, what are we going to do today? Are we leaving already?" asked Jennie.
"My dear, I would like to remain one more day and leave tomorrow. There are a number of tasks that need to be completed here."
"Such as?" asked Max.
"Max, my boy, look at the street. I believe that we can fix a number of roads. These people have been extremely gracious to you, and we are immensely thankful. It is only fitting that we leave them a bit of whatever we can before we depart, would you not say?"
"But won't fixing roads enable enemies to get here more easily?" asked Bagatelle.
"Nothing is without risk, my young ones. Nothing is without risk," stated the old mage.
"Pops, I have a connection for a boat to get us up north. He's in Ventura. Should we go up in the boat, and let Michael and Gabriel fly up on their own?
"Neither, my boy. We are going to slip there."
"But aren't things messed up here? I haven't been able to slip since I arrived at this place!" exclaimed Max.
"Without a ghanlo, no, it is not possible. The magical energies on this world are not consistent. However, you shall soon see. Do not worry about protocols, my boy. Just go with the flow."
"So you are going to slip us all up there, then?" asked Jennie.
"Yes my dear, but we must first repair the streets in this town. I have decided."
After going over some specifics, Draagh, Michael, Gabriel and Max all got to work leveling the roadway. Max handled most of the physical moving of rubble and chunks of concrete and rebar, as his magical skills were not as refined as those of his elders. Jennie brought him generous quantities of meat and water as he performed his duties, keeping his levels peaked. Once the road had been prepped, Gabriel went to help Jessica work on a barbeque in front of Seven Sins, while Michael and Draagh used heat cantuses to melt a nice layer of slurry over the street. By the time they were done they had repaired Santa Monica Boulevard from Wilshire to La Brea - nearly eight kilometers of road, all done in a matter of a couple of hours.
Max sat at an outside table with Jennie and Liliana, eating some grilled meat of unknown origin (but it still tasted nice) while looking out over the new, improved landscape. It no longer looked like a post-apocalyptic wasteland (unless one looked behind the immediate buildings) - it more resembled a 21st century Los Angeles neighborhood.
Seeing Dons exit Seven Sins with Pandy made Max think how sad it was that the diminutive human would have such a short lifespan. The girl couldn't turn him, as her lycan genes were mutated and resembled more of a watered-down version of what he carried. Then it suddenly dawned on him - he could turn Dons. He had never turned anyone, although it was relatively simple. All he had to do was bite Dons and share a spot of his own blood in the man's open wound. The virus in his blood would effect the change to lycan, and hopefully turn Dons into a more powerful version than existed on his world.
"Pops, I know that Pandy wanted to turn Dons, but she can't. So, would it work if I did?" Max asked his grandfather.
"Hmm, well, I do believe that it should work. And if something were to go wrong I could always heal him. Why do you not you ask him if he would like to be changed?"
Max popped up and walked over to Dons and Pandy, who were enjoying a cold drink while standing on the newly refurbished street.
"Dons, could I speak to you about something?"
"Oh yeah, mate, sure. By the way, the street looks sharp. Thanks!"
The two walked over a few meters on the new, smooth pavement.
"Yeah, um, I was gonna talk with you about another improvement. How would you like to be turned? To be a lycan? You could live a whole lot longer, be stronger and heal quickly."
"No thanks, mate. I'm good," Dons responded flatly.
"Huh?" responded Max, totally surprised.
"That's just it. I like being a human. Never wanted to be enhanced or special. So thanks, but no thanks."
Max continued to look at his friend, slack jawed and unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Look, Pandy doesn't change on the full moon like you. If you turn me I'll probably end up like you. No more full moon parties, which are the biggest events of the month. Plus, it looks painful as hell. So thanks Max, but no thanks."
"Ok, however you like it, my friend. But if you ever change your mind, all you need to do is ask and I'll set you up."
Finished with his odd rejection, Max walked back to his wife and daughter, taking a seat next to them.
"Papi, Mr. Dons does not desire to be lycan like us because he enjoys the challenge."
"What challenge is that, sweetie?" asked Jennie.
"Lycans are naturally stronger and live a long time. There is less of a struggle for us. Mr. Dons likes the struggle and the challenge. Is it not obvious?"
"Umm, Lili, how old are you, sweetie?" Max asked jokingly.
The little girl grinned and went back to eating her hamburger.
Michael and Draagh sat in the coffee shop of the new hotel, catching up on some things and discussing others, as Michael still had many questions.
"Father, are you sure that Marnn's ghanlo is meant for Max?" asked Michael.
"I am quite certain, my so
n. In fact, the only reason I sent it off during the Battle of the Blood was that I needed to get it away from Marnn in case he somehow escaped banishment. Once the ghanlo has joined with Max it shall be unavailable to Marnn in the unlikely event he escapes and returns to the universe-at-large."
"Is the boy aware of this - the power he shall possess?"
"No - not in the least. And we are going to have to guide him very carefully. He will immediately have massive destructive capabilities in his hands. However, I believe that with the proper mentoring he shall do quite well. He is a remarkable lad, you know."
Michael grinned, and was in total agreement with his father.
"So we are leaving soon for the north? You are certain that is where it resides?" asked Michael.
"Oh, of course my son. It is embedded in a wooden totem pole of indigenous design, on the island of Revillagigedo, in what was once called Southeast Alaska. The totem pole is in Saxman, just south of Ketchikan. I have already identified the precise location, but when we go… please, do not tell Max anything. He needs to be drawn to the artifact. If he is not, then we may not be sure that the ghanlo is meant for him. But as I said before, I am quite certain it is meant for the boy."
The Gunnarssons went back to their suite in Hotel California, where Max had gathered his few belongings. They started to pack their gear and prepare for an early morning departure. Liliana pulled her lessons book out and showed her father her increased proficiency in Castilian, and drawings she had created during his absence. Jennie was happy being near Max, and kept pulling him over to the sofa, where she would crawl up into his lap and act more like a cat than a canid. Finally reunited after all those long months, they were determined to never be separated again.
"Max, I think we should take Lili with us everywhere we go. At least for the near future," said Jennie, as she watched their daughter cheerfully drew pictures of the Feral Kids clan, paying special attention to Pandy's likeness.
"That would be fine, hun. I really kinda planned on keeping you two close by anyway. You know, I didn't experience six months away from you, but she obviously grew a lot. And more than in just height."
