by SK Benton
"Ok, pops, can you quit, please? G, let's go get some breakfast. We need to start planning, because what we're doing next isn't playing with swords, or impressing ignorant locals with feats of strength and magic - we're going up, initially, against an entire solar system's military armada, and then against the Vrol. If we don't get our act together we'll have our asses handed to us in a box. We'll meet you all in the dining hall."
Max led his wife, grandfather and brother-in-law back to the expansive dining chamber, where everyone was seated at a long table. Jessica had been the most quiet out of everyone, probably because she felt so out of her element. She didn't know what to expect and Jennie could feel it.
"Hey Jessica, now that you're here, why don't we see what you can do physically, how much of a difference there is between us as lycans and what we can do to bring you up to speed with what we do - and maybe learn a thing or two from you," Jennie said, finishing with a kind wink to the cute lycan foreigner.
"Um, yeah, I'd really appreciate that. I'm kinda lost. I mean, Gabriel showed me around, but I am so used to taking care of myself."
"We all care for each other, here, Jessica," Bagatelle added quickly.
"Yes we do, my dear young lady, yes we do indeed. Gabriel, have you done a full DNA scan on your young friend here?" asked Draagh.
"I did, indeed, Father. While she slept," responded the archangel.
"Hey! With my permission, please!" cried out Jessica, half-joking.
"It was for your safety, Jessica. I needed to be sure that you would not suffer any adverse effects in this world, but what I found was indeed interesting."
"What did you find, my son," asked Draagh.
"Her system started to regenerate immediately upon arrival. It was almost as if it had rebooted. It now basically functions exactly as any other lycan's here in the Rhönen Dominion," Gabriel said cheerfully.
"What does that mean, Gabriel?" asked Bagatelle.
"Well, it means that as long as she is on a world attuned to the proper magical frequencies, she will basically be immortal."
"Wow, that's a long time, but I've been around for a long while anyway. Can't say I don't like the present company… you're all really great people," said Jessica graciously.
"Long while? Like, how long have you been around?" asked Jennie.
Jessica rolled her eyes and looked at Max, saying, "At least you didn't blab it off to everyone, Max." Then looking at the rest of the group she said, "I'm seventy-five years old."
"You are but a child, my dear," said Michael.
"Wow, you look great for your age!" exclaimed Jennie.
"Be prepared, young lady, for you shall find yourself completely rejuvenated to your absolute prime very quickly. I believe young Jennie here can tutor you in the particular ways of the sword, and I would very much like to assist you with your magical object. It appears that Max here did a fine job in modifying your device. However, it will need some enhancements if you are to assist with the tasks we have ahead." Draagh then took Jessica's wrist into his hand and visually examined the device. Setting her arm down gently, he looked at his younger son and said, "I am sure you will be eager to assist, am I not correct?"
"It would be my pleasure, Father," said Gabriel, as he slipped his hand under the table, clasping Jessica's.
Draagh then stood up, and, picking up a turkey leg, started to walk around and talk, swinging the leg in his hand, almost as if it were a laser pointer.
"Very well, then. Now that we have determined what our new companion is going to do, we must start to plan diligently regarding our base of operations. We were discussing a moon base earlier, and I believe Max had suggested Vera. My boy, can you detail why you think Vera would be a good location?"
"Sir," interrupted Bagatelle, "no insult meant towards Max, and I believe his choice is best, but I believe I am more qualified to answer that, being as I have had months of experience on that moon itself."
Max looked at Bagatelle and nodded in agreement, as the former rear admiral continued.
"Vera orbits the gas giant, Vesuvius. The moon itself is unremarkable, but we were able to terraform an atmosphere on it. As it is so far out, it is the least popular of the habitable celestial bodies in our system. It is cold, but not frozen, as some might think. It is always bathed in sunlight by either of our twin stars and has a 32 digital hour rotation period. Now the thing about Vera that is advantageous to our cause it that it is sparsely populated by miners. There are no fancy resort destinations, and the only recreational activities there are geared toward extreme skiers."
"What is an extreme skier?" asked Jessica, obviously confused, which prompted Draagh to dramatically point his turkey leg into the air and produce a hologram of an alpine skier barreling down a snow-covered mountain.
"Oh… wow! That actually looks like fun!" she exclaimed.
"I always wanted to try it, but my adoptive parents were paranoid. They wouldn't even let me play footie," said Jennie.
"Erm… footie?" started Jessica, slightly confused.
"We'll have a girls' night with popcorn and vids and show you all sorts of stuff later on," Jennie said with a grin.
Jessica nodded her head enthusiastically.
"So, moving on," continued Bagtelle, as Draagh waved off the hologram, "even though Vera is so far out, 2 days on full fusion-ion burn, it's obvious we can come and go via slipping with our friends here. No need to have a ship, though we will eventually need a few, especially if we are to assemble a small army there. I assume that slipping, although one of your innate abilities, can be taxing and cause you to tire, am I not correct?"
"Yes, my son, that is correct," Draagh stated solemnly.
"Wipes me out quickly. Man I can only do a-"
"Max," Draagh interrupted, "you will soon find that your reserves shall not be so depleted as they were previously. Your ghanlo affords you many new skills, and we shall have to tutor you on them quite soon. So, Luigi, please continue."
"The bedrock on Vera has an odd combination of metals, lead being prevalent, making it difficult to send or receive electromagnetic signals of any sort from underground. Mining operations always have hard lines run down into the catacombs where the workers reside. We could build a base on the southern pole and remain undetected. Plus, the moon is really so insignificant that the military pays it nearly no attention. We could work with near impunity."
"I shall modify the comms to function via the Hub," said Draagh. "utilizing it as a sort of a relay, but shall be most instantaneous. It will be quite… magical," Draagh snickered, causing everyone to burst out in laughter.
"That sounds great, but I do want to get my mother and bring her here, if that's ok," said Max, while giving Michael a guilty look. "I hope it won't be awkward for you or anything."
"Well, we all have to deal with our demons, Max. I do not foresee a happy reunion, but I will do my best to be a good friend to the mother of my son."
"So pops, can we get her today? I haven't seen her in the longest time and-"
"Not without me - you aren't going anywhere," demanded Jennie. "There is no way I'm losing you ever again, Gunnarsson."
"Jennie, I thought you might appreciate this. Your comm device is also a tracker. As we all wear one, as long as you do not lose it, no matter where you are in the multiverse you can be located from the Hub. No more lost angels - anywhere," said Gabriel, wearing an unusual, but honest grin.
"I still want to go," said Jennie flatly.
Max took his wife's hands into his and looked into her huge, cocoa eyes.
"Jen, I would never think of going without you. And besides, I want my mom to meet the most beautiful woman in all the nine realms."
"Nine realms?" asked Bagatelle.
"A myth we created centuries ago," said Michael.
"Yeah… Thor, with the broken hammer," joked Gabriel.
"Huh? It's a myth?" asked Max disappointedly.
"Well? It looked formidable!" responded Michael.
"It looked like a warped axe, not a hammer," coughed Draagh.
"And you, Father, walking about with that silly eye patch, taking about frost giants and such. The closest thing I ever saw to a frost giant was that species on the fifth planet from Halidrim 65b, in the Andromeda Galaxy. The looked like frozen trees, and did not move much faster," Michael joked.
"Well then, was there a Loki?" asked Jennie, causing Max to quickly turn in surprise.
"His true name was Samyaza," claimed Michael.
"And he was a trickster too?" asked Max.
"No, more like a murderer. He is one of The Grigori," said Gabriel.
"The Grigori?" That sounds ominous," Bagatelle commented.
Draagh nodded solemnly, and took a deep breath. He would eventually have to address that particular bit of nonsense also. He had long suspected The Grigori to be operating behind the scenes in one way or another.
"Yes, quite so, and they are incredibly dangerous," claimed the old mage.
The team started into breakfast, and then tracked off to take care of their morning duties.
###
At lunchtime, Liliana found her mother and father seated at their usual table. Giving each a kiss on the cheek, she sat down as a plate was set before her by a castle servant.
"Smelting is so much fun! We should really make a smelter, Papi, the little girl proclaimed.
"Sure, Lili, we can do that - on Vera," Max said with a grin.
"Do you mean the moon in which you are to make a base of operations?" she asked excitedly. "Where the miners are… oh… yes, it is a moon, no?"
Liliana quickly tried to backtrack, and grew a look of absolute guilt on her face.
"Lili, did you skip class today?" asked Jennie.
"No, Mami. I am sorry, I modified a comm to hear verbal conversations and transmit back to me. I am just so excited about our next trip!" she said pleadingly.
Jennie couldn't get too upset, as the little girl had shown creative ingenuity. It was exactly what made her a Gunnarsson, blood or not.
"Well, Liliana, later today we are taking a trip to Azul, my homeworld. Now I know you have been there, but this time I will be with you, and you are going to meet your grandmother," Max informed the young girl.
"Oh, so we are going to see Abuelito's wife? How nice!"
Both Max and Jennie got uncomfortable looks on their faces, and the little girl sensed that it was a difficult subject. Then whispering, she said, "I bet she comes here, becomes young and super pretty, and then Abuelito asks her out on a date."
Max and Jennie prompted their daughter to finish her meal while attempting to stifle their laughter. Children always saw the pure truth in things. Then, finishing up their meals, they made for Draagh's offices so they could plan their journey to Córdoba.
Chapter 25 - Welcome to the Fourth Dimension
Draagh was preparing some scrolls (which were completely unnecessary, but looked cool) in his study when Max, Jennie, Liliana and Bagatelle entered. Michael and Gabriel were off doing some recon over the Dominion borders as a favor to Krynos, and Jessica was in lycan skills training, as she had just inherited a whole new set of nearly-unnerving abilities and needed to be able to take command of them as soon as possible.
"Good morning, my children. Yes, a very good morning to you," Draagh greeted the group, as he accidentally knocked a couple of his scrolls from a large, wooden table. "I thought you might be interested in knowing that today we are going to do some on-the-job training."
"What kind of training, Draagh?" asked Bagatelle.
"Max is going to learn 4D slipping techniques, and the first place we are going is back to his ship. From there we will go directly to the home of Max's mother."
Jennie and Liliana both gained worried looks on their pretty faces, but Max stood confident. He had his own ghanlo, and even though it had yet to be tested, it was bound to his immortal soul. It was for that reason that he trusted it. He had to - he had no choice.
"So, am I porting everyone, or are you going to take someone, "Max asked Draagh.
"No, my son, you will be taking us all to Peru. However, from there we shall all split up."
Jennie got an alarmed look on her face, but Max put his hand on his wife's shoulder and looked at her, nodding his head reassuringly.
"Yeah, Jen. I need to be able to do this on my own. Plus you know we'll never be separated again," Max said reassuringly.
"Very well, then! Now that we agree on our travel arrangements I would like for Bagatelle, Jennie and young Liliana to go and pack some overnight gear. Jennie, Bagatelle, please bring your technology - pistols and whatnot. You may have need for them on Azul, as you may remember that your magical devices will not function there."
"Oh, I have a question," said Max, "and I think it's kinda critical. Will my ghanlo work on Azul? And how does this all work? You earlier said that magic wouldn't work on Azul due to frequency incompatibility."
"Yes, I did say that, but thanks to your little foray off into the weird world of Hollywood we have discovered something that will be of great assistance, and that is precisely what I was attempting to ascertain with the help of young Bagatelle here."
"Protein synthesis inhibitors?" asked Max
"Speaking specifically about Max, to answer your question my boy - yes, with your Ghanlo you have command of your abilities on any world. It also appears, or so it will appear, that young Bagatelle shall be in full command of his skills on Azul. In fact, he shall be able to do anything within the range of his abilities anywhere else in the universe thanks to our enhanced inoculation. This is quite exciting, I must say. Quite exciting, and is something I had not previously planned on."
"So, using my brother as a guinea pig was so you could-"
"Make our allies multi-frequency compatible, yes," Draagh said, finishing Jennie's sentence for her. "You see, when we tinker we tend to wreck things. It is simply a danger of making mass changes to nature. It is much more logical to simply change the individual, and not the environment."
"Sounds logical," said Max in agreement.
"So what you are doing now is trying to see if the nullification of that particular inhibitor will facilitate full lycan skills on target individuals?" Jennie asked rhetorically.
"Correct, my dear daughter."
"Then inject me too," she said.
"Hey, little sister, you should probably wait to see if it works on me," Bagatelle said with a strong cautionary tone.
"Do you trust Draagh? Well, I do," she shot back, while pulling up her sleeve. "Let's do it, Pops."
"I'll keep an eye out, along with the old man," said Max, not willing to endanger his wife, but knowing full well that she was stubborn as an ox and wouldn't have it any other way.
Draagh conjured what appeared to be a syringe big enough to inject an elephant, causing Jennie's eyes to grow large with panic. Then laughingly, he conjured a smaller syringe that he used.
"I just wanted to see the look on your face, my daughter. That is always such a funny joke."
"Oh yeah, funny-funny-ha-ha. Just wait till your colonoscopy, old man," she shot back.
"What is a colonoscopy?" Draagh asked curiously.
Bagatelle leaned over and whispered into the old mage's ear. After ten seconds his eyes grew a bit and he said, "I do believe I shall desist with the syringe jokes, my dear. Now, let us see if my serum is having an effect on your brother."
With that Draagh put his hand on Bagatelle's shoulder and said, "We shall return in but a moment's time," and the two popped out of existence.
Bagatelle found himself standing in Draagh's study in the Hub, the center of all time and space. He was there previously, when the whole team had first set out to retrieve Max, but this time he was confused. He had no idea why he was there.
"Um… Draagh, why don't we just go someplace directly? We aren't going back to Hollywood, are we?"
"Oh no, my boy. No, no, no. We are going to Max's ship. I simply did not wish to lay waste to
my room in Krynos' castle, as the ghanlo's sphere of influence is rather large and powerful. We can avoid it by navigating directly from the Hub. We do use the Hub as a pass-through if we desire to go directly to our destination, but that requires a lot of energy."
"Oh, ok, that sounds good to me."
Draagh put his hand on Bagatelles shoulder and the lycan watched as his view quickly shifted from an ancient office to a jungle - and a space ship.
"Now, my good Bagatelle. Smell the air, run around a bit. I assure you that it is perfectly safe."
"Luigi Bagatelle gave the old mage an odd look, and then took off, tearing up the switchback road that led from the banks of the Urubamba River to the ruins of Machu Picchu.
"My young friend, can you smell the fragrant smoke from my pipe?" asked Draagh through their comm.
Sniffing the air Bagatelle found that he indeed did easily smell the weed, although he found the scent to be quite unpleasant.
"Yeah, I can smell it. It stinks. What's next?"
Before Bagatelle even expected a response, Draagh was standing next to him and had put a hand on his shoulder. The old mage instantly slipped them to Hollywood, but it was quite a different Hollywood than he had visited in Jessica's timeline. It was devoid of all life, and most of the buildings were still intact. He found himself standing in the middle of the street, with what would have been Seven Sins right in front of him, except for this place was called The Troubadour.
"Ok, my son. Give me your hand," commanded Draagh. Grabbing the lycan's hand, the old mage nicked his palm, drawing a bit of blood.
"Hey! What's with… oh, you're checking for salubots - healing."
And Bagatelle was indeed correct. He watched as the small wound quickly closed itself, his skin even absorbing the blood that had seeped from the cut. Nothing left to waste with salubots.
