THE VROL TRILOGY

by SK Benton

  "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.

  "Come at me, young whelps! Who dares challenge Krynos, king of the battledance?" he roared, while he flicked patrons off his back like flies from a pile of ripe fruit.

  Again and again he stomped and slam
med his arms out, as his play attackers rebounded off invisible walls as if they were in an inflatable bouncy room.

  "Wow, that kingy fella sure likes slam dancing, wouldn't you think Jess?" Pandy asked rhetorically.

  "He is usually much more calm. I think he's just letting off some steam," said Jessica.

  "It appears the song is ending. Not too soon, either," said Gabriel, releasing his protective wall around the dance floor. Everyone cleared the stage area, with Krynos returning to Dons' partitioned section. Gabriel quietly repaired the shattered chairs and cocktail tables that Krynos had so easily destroyed, and the lycan king carefully took a seat on a large bench that could support his substantial mass.

  "Ah, the battledance brings back memories of a great battle of near an entire seasonal cycle ago," exclaimed Krynos, in an attempt to yet again slide in an exaggerated account of the Battle of the Blood.

  "Oh yeah, I think Maxie told us a bit about it, but not much," responded Dons', mistakenly paving a path for Krynos to begin his long-winded, and completely amplified rendition of the fight.

  Forty-five minutes later, as Jessica and Pandy yawned, the younger of the two resting her head on her older friend's shoulder, and Gabriel sitting practically cross-eyed, the only one listening with rapt attention was Dons. The diminutive clan leader seemed utterly enthralled with Krynos' more-accurate-than-usual recounting of the fight in his castle.

  "And that, my good and very small friend, was how the brain stain on the mezzanine floor was created, cordoned off forever, and left as a reminder to any who would attempt unauthorized entrance into my castle," Krynos finished.

  "So, King Krynos, do you think Max will come back here and visit anytime soon?" Dons asked with a hopeful intonation to his voice.

  "I am unaware of the Commander's plans, but I shall certainly send back a recommendation, and let him know that his good friends in the Hollow Wood Street miss him a great deal."

  "Oh that'd be great. And, it's Hollywood, not HollowWood."

  "That is what I said," responded the king, displaying a bit of a glare.

  "Oh yeah, my mistake, mate, my mistake."

  The rest of the afternoon was eventful, as Dons took Krynos out for a leisurely demon hunt, the latter having extracted enough teeth to feed an entire family for a year. The king, having no need for the local monetary units, nor any desire to keep anything as a souvenir, gave much of the teeth away to a family of normals, not liking the local lycans and most definitely not liking the nekos. In fact, Krynos took an odd liking to Lennie, much as Max had done, as the vampire drummer had a very recognizable and easily detectable goodness to him.

  "Lennie, my good man. May I have a moment of your time?" asked Krynos as he approached the small stage in Dons' club.

  "Oh, hello King. Sure. How can I help you?"

  "I understand that your mate is with child. This is true, yes?"

  "Correct, sir. She is expecting. Why do you ask?"

  Krynos held out his hand, holding a bag of teeth. Lennie's eyes grew big as he tried to comprehend what was happening.

  "I have no need for currency on this world, but I wish for you to take this as a gift for your offspring."

  "Wow. Thanks King. I never thought anyone would… you know… wow. Thanks," Lennie stammered.

  "It is my pleasure, son. Might you tell me if you desire a boy or a girl?"

  "Oh, it's a boy, sir. We already know. I don't know if Max told you, but we're naming him Maximilianus. It's a bit of a tongue twister, but we'll call him Max."

  "Ah, a fitting tribute to the fine, young Max Gunnarsson. Did you have a name selected for him previous to having decided to name him after the commander?"

  "Oh yeah, we were gonna name him Ryder - it was Jelly's idea, but Max sounded better."

  Krynos gained a quizzical look on his face and appeared pensive for a moment, and with Krynos that wasn't usually a good thing.

  "Lennie, do you have a surname. A name from your father?"

  "Oh yeah, mate. It's Johnson. Why do you ask? Hey! Max asked the same thing."

  "Ah, and for good reason. You were going to give your son the same exact name as the evil vampire whom Jennie Gunnarsson so efficiently dispatched to the gates of Hell during the battle of the Blood."

  "Um, same exact name?" Lennie stammered.

  "Yes! Ryder Johnson, from what I recall, had murdered dozens of flying personnel aboard his starcraft, and then followed Max and Jennie back to my kingdom, where he allied himself with Vladros," the king flatly stated.

  "And the gates of Hell? What did you mean by that?"

  "Oh yes, Jennie pounded his skull into a puddle of mush whilst wearing a most impressive gauntlet of metal. We saved the stain it made on the mezzanine floor."

  Lennie stared at Krynos, jaw dropped open in disbelief. It was at that moment the lycan leader realized his error in judgment.

  "Oh, perhaps I should not have recounted that tale to you, my good friend. I do apologize, as I am sure that there is no connection whatsoever between your son and the most evil and very dead Ryder Johnson."

  "Oy, King, let's not recount this tale to Jelly, eh? I'd appreciate it a great deal," said Lennie with a bit of worry to his voice.

  He then graciously accepted the bag of teeth from Krynos and went back to going over his band's set list. But he knew something was wrong - he lived in an alternate universe, and he was no idiot. If Max had hidden some information from him then there was probably a lot more to the story. However, he pushed it all to the back of his mind and went about his duties.

  Walking back to Dons' cordoned-off area. Krynos again took a seat on his sturdy bench, while giving Gabriel a solemn look.

  "What seems to be your trouble, Krynos?" asked the archangel.

  "I believe I have again spoken too much. I tend to do that when I am in good company," responded Krynos, carrying an obvious tone of remorse in his voice.

  "Hmm, and of what do you speak, sir?"

  "I believe I said a bit too much to Lennie the kindly vampire. I revealed to him the name of the enemy that Jennie so efficiently dispatched nearly a year past. His name was the same as that which the good vampire couple were originally to have named their son-to-be."

  "Oh no, you told Lennie about Max and Jennie's enemy? Oh, man," exclaimed Jessica.

  "And this is a bad thing?" asked Gabriel.

  "Absolutely. Max surmised that Lennie the drummer is the doppelganger of some evil man on Azul, and that Lennie was going to name his son the same as the guy who Jennie killed, the killed guy being the son of the doppelganger," she responded, then immediately got a confused look on her face as if she didn't even understand what she had just said.

  "Well, it is common knowledge that there are some mirrors in the universe, and that this very well could be one of those," said Gabriel, assuring his friend that she had indeed conveyed her thoughts in an understandable manner.

  "Gabe, this could really mess Lennie up. He's such a good guy. What are we gonna do?" asked the lycan female.

  Gabriel thought for a moment, and then stood up.

  "I shall return momentarily. Please wait here."

  Walking over to the stage, Gabriel watched the drummer as he nervously fidgeted with his equipment. He was obviously perturbed by something, and Gabriel was certain it was due to Krynos' ramblings.

  "Hello Lennie. Are you preparing for another excellent musical performance?"

  "Oh, hullo Gabriel. Yup. Same as any other day. Why do you ask?"

  "It has immediately come to my attention that Krynos may have revealed a bit too much to you. Might I put your mind at ease, as I have intimate knowledge of the universe and what we call mirror dimensions?"

  "Oh yeah, sure. It's disturbing, for sure. I mean, what if the father of that Ryder guy Jennie killed was named Lennie. I mean, it would be too much of a coincidence, right?"

  Gabriel gave Lennie a forlorn look and nodded his head.

  "The deceased's father's name is indeed Leonard Johnso
n. But he is not you, nor are you he. You are Lennie, a kindly resident of this land and a fine musician. Your son shall also be a fine person, no matter what name you give him. I believe Krynos was careless with his conversation due to the fact that he indeed has taken a liking to you. And I must tell you that is quite unusual, being as he comes from a land where those of the vampire sub-species are his mortal enemies. It is different here. Please know that."

  "Thanks, man. I appreciate it, ya know? But still, I don't understand why Max would have kept that information from me in the first place. I remember when I told him I was naming my kid after him he asked some questions, and I detected a bit of stress when I told him our original name."

  "Yes, well, I can understand Max's quandary. In any case, please do not worry further. It is now gone from your mind."

  Gabriel merely waved his hand, and then waited for Lennie to exit his momentary state of blankness.

  "Oh hi mate! How ya doin', Gabriel? Ready to watch King Krynos destroy the stage again?" Lennie said merrily, having had his conversations with Krynos and Gabriel completely wiped from his memory.

  "Yes, good Lennie. I am indeed looking forward to your show, although I believe that Krynos will not be destroying any more furniture," the archangel said with a smile. In his mind he was already formulating a timeline for leaving during Lennie's show, but he needed to discuss the particulars with Jessica and Pandy. He was not so sure that the couple needed to be separated.

  The two lycan girls relaxed on their favorite couch as Dons surveyed the comings and goings in the club. Once he got up and walked to check out the club entrance, Jessica looked at Pandy and asked, "Sis, are you sure you want to come with us? I mean I don't see any issues between you and Dons. What if we asked him to come with us?"

  "He won't. He fought so hard to build this place, and without either of us he will be exposed. Not helpless, but definitely exposed. I mean, what if Adam and Marko were smart enough to join forces against him?"

  "That is assuming they have intelligence," laughed the older of the two.